A quick overnighter.

[onlyMark]

A couple of weeks ago we decided to treat ourselves to an overnight in a fairly posh lodge about 40km north of Lusaka. It's called the Protea Safari Lodge.
I'll get round to showing you more of the hotel in a minute, but as soon as we arrived we wanted to go and stretch our legs. The journey north from the capital should have been straightforward and only taken about 45 mins or so. But, due to a long length of road works whereby all the traffic was shunted onto a dirt track, and as it is the main road north with plenty of trucks, it took us nearly two hours.

The hotel is set in large grounds with its own sort of game reserve. I say sort of because the game consists of mostly deer and antelope. All well and good for us really as we wanted to go for a few walks in the countryside and not be bothered by predators deciding Mrs M would make a tasty meal. Me, they'd ignore. Too fatty and gamey.
We decided to have a stroll up the side of the dam/pond first. This was built forty or fifty years ago to form a place for fishermen when the land was originally a farm and then another lodge before the Marriott chain took over -










At the far side is an enclosure where they are keeping some lions. There are two older ones and two new ones they are for now, keeping separate. The idea is supposedly to introduce them back into the wild. I'm not so sure myself. I think they will be deemed "not suitable" and kept for the lodge guests to look at -














Mind you, the enclosure they have is quite large. This is just less than half of it –




I've stolen this photo from a website, it isn't mine. But I realised I'd not taken one of the room we had. This is similar –




Coming back round to the lodge and after a coffee or two, we noticed we weren't alone. Of the day and the next we were visited a number of times by the tame wildlife. They were quite happy to pose for photos -
























Tea on the lawn in the afternoon was the expected thing –




As was avoiding anything laying around also taking a siesta –





Or even a shower -




A few shots of how it is –










The pool looked good in the website photos, but does need a clear out more regularly -




Relaxing in the grounds for the adults and letting the kids blow off steam, seems to be the thing for the weekend –





We'll certainly be back as a short break to get out of the city, but I've no idea when yet.

[kerouac2]

Looks like a good place for a break. I bet more people would visit Africa if they thought (more of) it looked like this.

[onlyMark]

You certainly don't have to rough it to get a feel of what the country is, though at times you may think you are just in an "Out of Africa" environment. I can easily point anyone in the direction of where the rougher parts are though.

[bixaorellana]

What a great idea. It seems so comfortable and safe, yet out in the country with overgrown areas and lots of critters. You've been out in the real wild a lot, but still must be able to imagine what a thrill this kind of place is to city slickers.

Wonderful pictures. I'm fascinated by the engineering on that weaver bird's (?) nest.

[spindrift1]

This is a comfortable Lodge and your room looks particularly nice. Were the approach roads tarmacadem? or just dust? Also was the ground red earth? I am interested because Kenya's roads are mostly red earth. I don't know if you know but I lived there for a couple of years and we drove to a lot of Lodges. Well I think you're right that the lions will not be returned to the wild and will be kept for viewing. At least it's unlikely they'll be poached or shot. Poor animals. I am thinking it's just as well that the Big Five are not roaming in the high grasses otherwise you'd be in danger of rhino/buffalo attack! Even so I wonder whether you carried a large stick?

[onlyMark]

The lodge is about 40km north of Lusaka. In effect you travel about that due north and on tarmac. But then you turn right 90 degrees and go 7km along a non-tarmac track. In Zambia there is the whole gamut of road/track surfaces, from sand to mud. In Kenya if you travel around, which you did (I do remember years ago you mentioning it by the way), you get the same, from the black cotton soil and red earth to the more sandy Marsabit north. The classic red earth of Africa is the one though that jumps to mind easily enough. Something like this, which is Zambia near Kafue National park -




Not far away it can become lighter and with a higher sand content -




Not far from that again is black cotton, which I don't have a photo of because I hate the stuff and avoid it at all costs, especially after getting trucks stuck in it all too often. This is about the worst I've been through so far, but bear in mind, as I'm usually by myself, getting stuck isn't something I relish, so I am quite cautious now in comparison with how I used to be -






As for carrying a big stick, maybe when by myself, but as I've told Mrs M, I don't have to run faster than a lion. I just have to run faster than you.


Bixa, the place serves two purposes. In fact, three. One boring one is as a conference location for the big foreign companies in the country with their HQ's in the capital and they can spend a load of money transporting fifty or sixty people for the day to "conference", but basically to have a day out. When we were there were several representatives of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). I never saw them do a thing other than sit in the bar and restaurant.
Secondly, it serves as a bolt hole, an hour out of the city, for expats and actually mostly locals to spend the day at or maybe a weekend.
Thirdly, it is very popular with foreign tourists who come here for the first night or two before going off somewhere for a proper safari. To get a taster of what to expect, more or less. Or they will finish off here before flying out, just as an end point to relax a bit.
The grounds do hold quite a bit of game to look at and you can take driver and lodge 4wd to explore further. This is what those just flying in to the country do as a gentle introduction. Seeing a simple kudu for the first time, and up close, does leave an impression, even though later on in their safaris they won't even give them the time of day as they will have seen so many.

The birds are weaver birds/weaver finches, but not those classed as the 'common social weaver' who are a dull colour – I did post a photo or two, lost in Photobucket now, of a Namibia trip where I showed how they build big apartment type nests for a hundred or more of them. These aren't in Zambia but south west Africa, mainly Namibia/Botswana. Those here are the yellow weaver. However, there are a ton of different types of weaver birds, too many to shake a stick at.
They are good engineers. The males use their skill in building to attract a female. The males will build a nest before getting a partner and only the most discerning females will get the best ones. No doubt when they move in though they'll still have to rearrange the furniture and take the football posters down from the living room.

[spindrift1]

Thank you Mark.....so good to see the red earth again..........

I love to watch weaver birds. I seem to remember that the reason they build their nests in that particular shape is to prevent entry of snakes.....

[onlyMark]

Certainly makes sense.

[lugg]

Looks a nice place to stay for a break. I don't know what Black Cotton is ?? I can see why it may be a gentle introduction to a more exciting environment ( re the game) although Pic No 5 ( after the room photo ) made me laugh as it looks like he/ she thought the photographer looked tasty

[onlyMark]

I am tasty lugg.

Black cotton is just a type of earth that is clay based but has extreme qualities of contraction and expansion depending on water content. It is found in many countries and is very fertile - apparently good for growing cotton.
However, when dry it forms very small particles of dust that clog up everything. you think you've seen dust, but this is special and especially "dusty".
When wet it is a bugger to try and drive on as it is very soft, cloggy and extremely slippery. Imagine driving on fresh snow with normal tyres. I hate the stuff with a passion when I'm in a vehicle and it is the one type of surface I have been stuck on more than any other.
Tip - trying to drive a fifteen ton truck and towing a trailer on it when wet, no matter it is 4 wheel drive, is a guaranteed cock up waiting to happen.
You have probably seen it but not thought about it.