Travel&Leisure

I awakt'ri,@clto a familiar grumbling noise and is~uedmy usual plea: "Rick,please stop snoring:' However,.my outstretched arm landed not on rriy-sleepi~ghusband, but .an empty spot in the bed.

"It's not me. It's the hip-pos in the river;' a voic~responded from a moonlit corne~ cifour tent ..

- "They're ~eallymaking'a rackeJ:'

. . - .I sat up and listened to the clJ.orusof hippos, .elephants, aDdexotic pirds echoing in the nigh0-"Holy cow. We really are in Africa:'

After morith~ of ariticipati(lI~,_w~hadjust arrived atChiawa Camp in Zamb~s Lower Zambezi NationalPark So far, e¥erything.aad-€xceeded myexpectations. The boat carrying,us from ~the airfielcLpassed dozens of .!'lodsofhipp'os and had Slowed to give u's a good,view of a mother elephant and'her

offspring. I was also awedby the"'tieauty of the area: »

I Travel&Leisure I

Elephantsswim outto islands

in the lowerZambezi

river tofeast on

soft grass

« a steep escarpment in the distance, redsoil down to the water's edge, greentrees lining the bank, and low grassyislands stretching lazily in themeandering river.

At Chiawa, the staff greeted us on thedock with refreshing beverages and awarm welcome, and I was greatlyrelieved to see that our "luxury tent"was, in fact, spacious and verycomfortable. (www.chiawa.com)

Built on wooden platforms, the sixclassic tents here include beds withmosquito netting, Egyptian cottonlinens, solar-powered lights, a river-viewdeck, and an open-air bathroom with aflushing 100, a sink, and a shower. Thethree superior tents are larger, offermore privacy, and come with king bedsand fantastic outdoor bathrooms. Oursincluded two showers - one traditionaland another built into a hollowed-outtree - and a claw-foot tub, from whichI watched a "bachelor herd" of capebuffalo grazing along the shore.

Days at Chiawa start with a "knockknock" at 5:30.Then everyone gathersaround the fire circle for a lightbreakfast before climbing into opensafari vehicles for a game drive orloading up boats for fly-fishing on theZambezi or heading out on a bush walkin the surrounding area.

We opted for the drive and wererewarded with sightings of wart hogs,baboons, monkeys, elephants, kudus,impalas, bushbucks, and spectacularbirds. However, the most memorablesight was the four lions we founddevouring an unfortunate cape buffalo.I was surprised and somewhat nervousabout how close we were to thesepowerful cats, but our guide assured methey weren't interested in us.

Lunch, served on a pontoon boat, wasfollowed by an afternoon of canoeing,pre-dinner drinks on the riverbank, and

a candlelit dinner accompanied by ana cappella African chorus. The magicalmoments of wildlife adventures andgracious hospitality flew by until wesuddenly realized it was time to moveon to our next destination.

we headed north to South LuangaNational Park - home to Norman CarrSafaris. In the 1950s,Carr, a devoutconservationist, pioneered the conceptof walking safaris, for which the SouthLuanga is now well known. He alsobuilt four rustic bush camps in remotelocations, which provide guests withauthentic and personalizedexperiences.(www.normancarrsafaris.com)

Zambia, often called "the last realAfrica;' has few areas witl1tourisminfrastructure - and almost nothing ona large scale. From the Lower Zambezi,

On a before-dinner game drive fromNsolo Camp, om sharp-eyed trackerKephas spotted an impala that aleopard had hauled up into a tree andtwo female lions - one of them veryobviously pregnant.

The next day Kephas and guideAbraham narrated an on-the-groundview of the bush as we walked to LuwiCamp. From this perspective, I was ableto spot a blue-headed agama lizard onthe side of a sausage tree andappreciate the beauty of the mahoganytrees' seed pods. We came quite close toa dazzle of zebra and stopped formorning tea under a tamarind tree, butthe best part of this safari was seeingsubtle elements of the bush.

Breakfasts atChiawa Camp are

cooked over anopen fire

The fom bungalows at Luwi are cleverlyconstructed from yellow thatchinggrass and timbers lashed together withpalm leaves. Large, open-air bathroomsincorporate majestic trees, and splitreed mats cover the floor. This lodgingwas the most basic of om whole tripand also the most memorable for itscharming simplicity. The food at Luwiwas also om favorite - starting with alunch buffet that included a great fava

bean salad, freshly-baked bread, quiche,and a tasty casserole.

Game highlights at Luwi included theghoulish glowing yellow eyes of dozensof crocodiles spotted in a lagoon on anight drive and the early morning sightof a pack of painted wild dogs and theirpups hunting in a dry river bed. On theway to Mchenja Camp we stopped to

ogle a flock of grey heron and gave wideberth to a large herd of cape buffalo.

Lodging at Mchenja is in five luxurytents set in a beautiful grove of ebonytrees next to a river with year-roundwater. Dinner that night - om last atNorman Carr Safaris - was sharedunder the stars with a family fromEngland and a Zambian couple. Wedined, of course, to a choir of grumblinghippos. - Elizabeth Hansen, photography by

Adams/Hansen Stock Photos

Getting ThereWe flew South African Airways (SAA) from

New York to Johannesburg and connected w

one of their flights to Lusaka, Zambia. SAf\s I

flat business class seats, equivalent to most

airlines' first class offerings, made it possible

sleep most of the way. Ialso appreciated the

adjustable lumbar support and the chair

massage feature that sent rollers up and do

my back. My favorites of the several meals w

the Chilean sea bass on wasabi mash after

leaving JFI< and the delicious scrambled eggs

after the re-fueling stop in Dakar.