Our vacation in the bush

Hi there guys!  This is Kamryn, signing in again!  This time, I have a very long and exciting blog to write about!  It is about my family’s trip to Nsobe, which is a 4 hour drive away from Lusaka, where we live.  We went with this really fun family called the Dewets, who have two kids, Anna and Paula, who are 14 and 12.   This trip was especially special, because this is one of our last get-aways in Africa (because we are coming back to America soon.)   We had the best time, and I am excited to tell you all about it!  But bear with me, because you can’t really sum up a 4 day trip, nonethe less a really eventful one, in one paragraph!   So here I go!!!

Day 1- Thursday:  We got up really early, really excited!  It was raining, so we all very quickly ran and got in the car, not too wet, except for dad, who was loading the car.  We were ready right on time, and then we were out on the road!  We drove about an hour, stopped for breakfast, and after about a 2 hour drive, we arrived!  Me, Julia and Anna stayed in a chalet, and Bradyn, Rhoda and Paula stayed in one.   The following is a picture of mom and dad’s chalet, but it helps you get a feel for what the others looked like.  And the bathrooms were awesome!!  My chalet’s back was facing the bush, and because no one would be walking past, it was totally open!  You could sit on the toilet and watch the birds fly at the same time!!!This is a picture of mom and dad’s bathroom, but if you imagine away the wall, that is what ours looked like!!!  So besides the chalets, there was this dining room, right in the middle of the chalets.  That is where we ate and relaxed.  And from the dining room you had a perfect view of the feeding troughs filled with food where the animals would come and eat.  But I think the moms relaxed the most, because there were these people that did our dishes, set the table, and prepared all the food for us!  Not to mention making the beds, cleaning, and making fires!!!  

Well, a while after we arrived, we decided to take a walk through the bush!  We saw impala, a sesabe, and birds.  Here are some pictures from that.  When we got back, we had an amazing dinner, a game of capture the flag, and then bed time.  I slept great!

Day 2- Friday:  I was sooo excited for this day!!  Ever since Paula and Anna told me about the lake, I couldn’t wait!  And this was the day we were going! So we rushed through breakfast, (or I did) and us older kids decided to leave early so that we could walk part of the way to the lake.  It was 4 kilometers away, and we made 3 kilometers out of 4.   Rhoda and Jo were riding on the top of the car, and when the adults caught up to us, we piled in the back of Paula and Anna’s car.  That was fun!  So we arrived at the lake, we immediately ran to the canoes, and got in!!!  This was my second to third time canoeing, but I caught on fast!!!  

After canoeing for a bit, we headed to the snake park, where we held a crocodile (baby!) and saw some really cool snakes.  Then we went up to the bird park, and there we held some guinea pigs, rabbits, got bit by an owl (on purpose of course) and some really cool African grey parrots.   But we were really anxious to get back to the lake so we didn’t stay long.  We canoed, and then we found this surf board that Anna and Paula had told us about.  So we got on it,  paddled out to the middle of the lake, and tried to stand up all at the same time!!  The results were hilarious and fun!  Pretty soon we were all swimming round in the lake, which Dad wasn’t to happy about, because there is this disease called Bilharzia (I think) that is in the water sometimes and you get it from swimming.  Well, we didn’t see one snail,(which you get it from),  and the Dewets had swum in it a lot before so we assumed it was alright.  Well, after a lot of fun, we went back to camp and played capture the flag, and soon after had dinner and then we slept.  Julia fell asleep early, and so Anna and I played on my kindle.

The somalia's students in their burkas... Very interesting.

Day 3-Saturday:  Today was a day of relaxing.  Early in the morning, we set out to try and find the giraffe, and we had no idea where we were going!! So when we actually found the giraffe, we knew it was God!   We got really close, and there were 2 babies and 3 adults.  So after another trip to the bird and snake park(where I was bitten by a brown house snake, my first ever snake bite.)  Then we decided to go to the lake again, so we set out walking at 3:00, because we wanted to get there before the adults. But no.  We had a lot more fun swimming, and then we decided to go back.   We had an awesome dinner, and then went to bed.

I got bit by an owl and a snake this weekend:)

Day 4- Sunday:  We got up, cleaned our room, and stipped the bed.  Then we went on our final walk through the bush, where we saw no game but a meerkat but found a lot of really cool stuff.  At 12:00, we set out, and at 3:30, we arrived at home.  We had such an awesome time, and I hope you enjoyed reading this!!!!