Friday Relaxing & Reminiscing

As I was relaxing in the sunshine, gazing up at the chickadees in our front yard tree, I was reminded of being pooped on by a baboon.

True story (both the reminding and the poo).

I then realized that I stopped writing about Malawi without sharing a heck of a lot. I've been known to talk for at least an hour straight or show all 800 of my pictures (thanks, David) to unsuspecting inquirers. But not here. And wondering if I would be pooped on by a little bird brought me back to that fateful night under the baobab tree and irritated, loose-boweled baboons.

Here's Mary's Zambian Safari

After living next to and working in the midst of severe poverty for three weeks, Nichole and I joined a team of about a dozen missionaries on a safari in Zambia. We were greeted at the Kafuntu Lodge with glasses of cold juice, our own huts with porches and bathrooms, and four-course dinners. It was a little shock.

The rainy season keeps tourists away and makes animal watching a little risky. The Jurrasic Park-style vegetation is easy to hide in, and animals don't like rain either. However, we happened to hit the jackpot. The weather was rainy in the mornings (we were soaked through), but sunny and hot in the afternoons. We saw everything. Everything.

The most unusual things we saw were the very rare African Wild Dogs. We ran into a pack of thirteen dogs taking naps twice. The first time our guide Mayem was so surprised to see them (they are very rare) that we stayed and watched them for 20 minutes. We also saw a warthog family twice. Leopards, hyenas, a miniature owl, and a python were also on the Oh! I Didn't Expect to See That List.

We also ran into hippos (dead and alive), zebras, giraffes, elephants, baboons, and a few lionesses. The baboon poop shower took place on a night safari. One of the land cruisers got stuck in the mud under a baobab tree, and while the other vehicle tried to tow it out, the baboons sleeping in the tree became upset. And pooped on the lot of us. Seeing the lionesses guarding a hippo they killed was also amazing. They are so powerful and beautiful and frightening in the way that you can only admire. We were really really close to them. THe thought crossed my mind that I would die right there. But I only really feared for my life once - far away from lions. There was a group of young male elephants hanging out in the park. Elephant males usually enter musth (take a guess. I don't feel like explaining it) one at a time, otherwise their hormones are so out of control that they fight each other or anything near them. We happened to run into two male elephants fighting. In the road immediately in front of us. I can't put the scene into words. It was terrifying, and I was sure at any moment they would either just trip over us or turn on us.