My Next Adventure Starts in the South Luangwa

So I have lasted my first week in my new role as Operations Manager for 5 bush camps in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. It was hard saying goodbye to everybody in Dubai, I didn’t want to stay but I was very nervous about what was in store for me in Zambia. I hadn’t worked for such a long time I’d forgotten my own capabilities and was beginning to doubt whether I could do the job or not. My first few days at the lodge I read as much information about all the bush camps as they could give me so I could get an idea of how it all works. I hadn’t realized how big the lodge was so I have to admit I’d started to panic slightly. But slowly I’m starting to feel a bit more at home. The wildlife is beautiful here and the game viewing is brilliant. Every time you go out you see a big herd of elephants. I have to admit that there is a lot more sitting in an office than I imagined being in the middle of the bush but I am definitely starting to enjoy myself. We try to get out in the bush as much as possible and we’ve had a couple of staff sundowner trips, which have been fun. I’ve seen plenty of elephants with tiny little babies with them. But still yet to see any cats. We get quite big prides of lions out here and more often than not the clients come back having seen a leopard on their drives.


On Monday I went down to see a few of the bush camps, which are about 3 hours away. I went with my boss Andy and the design team (the lodge and bushcamps have been under major refurbishments these past few months). The bushcamps are stunning. Each sleeps about 8 people and they are all different but very remotely situated, which is great if you enjoy the bush. We stayed in Zungulila, which is a tented camp with thatched roofs. It is set on the Kapamba River and the scenery is truly stunning. We had a Mongolian braai that night, which is a stir fry cooked in a wok over a fire. The food and atmosphere was amazing. One of the girls with us was even more scared of the bush than me, which seemed to make me braver so I ended up sleeping in the furthest tent away on my own. The tent was lovely and it was so nice to sleep in my own room for a change. I have been sharing a room with someone else, whether it was David, Francesca or Chooks for a few months now so it was nice to have some time to myself. We had an early start and the chef cooked us toast on the fire. We went back to Kapamba, which was opening on the 6th May to help get it ready for the beginning of the season. As we were opening different boxes I noticed a little frog inside one of them. Lisa, one of the design team has a big phobia of frogs so I now had to get rid of the frog before she saw it. It was a very cute reed frog which was sitting very still as it was probably hoping he could hibernate there. I plucked up the courage to pick up the frog but it wasn’t as easy as I’d imagined it to be. As soon as I tried to pick it up it flew into the air in a starfish position but after a few attempts I finally caught him. He was very cute and was a creamy colour with little orange feet. He eventually took one final jump off my hand and free falled from the balcony onto the ground below. Unfortunately I left my camera in Dubai and nobody believes me that I picked up a frog. So as soon as I get my camera back I will have to stage a photo for you all.