Index to the
Safari into South Luangwe National Park
Departure from
Malawi, and transit by air to Zambia: Early
ambulance ride to Lilongwe, with a transport emergency
from unaffordable replacement parts, meet Nancy
Dimmock and send email and buy carvings, then,
fly to Mfuwe on Air Zambia: Enter the new world
for one of us, and rentry into African natural
history for me in luxury safari accommodations
in Buffalo Chalet of Mfuwe Lodge; begin immediately
with night drive to see lions feeding on a fresh
Cape Buffalo kill. 
An idyllic day
in the African bush of South Luangwe National
Park, with knowledgable guide Meshak and the superb
accommodations of Mfuwe Lodge and our Buffalo
Chalet: Our day begins with
awakening in pre-dawn with noises of heavy breathing
and tearing of tree branches over our bathroom
with a view; we are detained from early arrival
at breakfast tea by a herd of elephant feeding
around our chalet door! Game
Drive among rutting impala, and plains game while
focussing on the birds of the bush; return to
a lazy mid-day in the overhead sun, as I write
postcards on the Buffalo Chalet’s deck overlooking
wildlife that includes ibises, African Fish Eagle,
a leguan Monitor Lizard, and a rare sighting of
a palm nut vulture; sundowners at hippo-clogged
Luangwe River among crocodiles, then a long cool
drive for night view of the hyena which had serenaded
us, civet cats, hippos and yellow-billed stork.
A breath-taking
day from the start amid an elephant herd at close
range, to an elegant “bush breakfast,” lions
lazing in the tall grass, and a departure view
of an African Fish Eagle swooping down to catch
a barbel from the lagoon at Buffalo Chalet:
Fly Air Zambia to Lilongwe,
repack and board BA 747-400 through Nairobi to
London--a rapid transit from one world to another.
A phenomenal
glitch strands us in transit through London! In
flight “disappearance” of Virginia’s passport
causes denied boarding of our continuation flight
back to DC. so that we spend an unexpected day
in rainy London, queuing up in front of the US
Embassy, postponing our return until at least
tomorrow.
A further
long-distance day from another continental pair--London
to Derwood, returning via Washington Dulles and
GWUMC to turn in film packs for a homecoming in
Derwood springtime.
A very compacted
and efficient day in a drowsy re-entry to Derwood,
soon to be transformed by a series of highly competent
professionals with whom we have met all day, with
time enough to arrive late at the Cosmos Club
for the International Society for Panetics dinner
and the Ralph Siu Lecture by George Lakey.