Text and photographs by Yvette Cardozo
May, 2011, Vol. 15, No. 7
Oddly, the high point of my trip to Zambia wasn’t watching nearly extinct white rhinos from thirty paces or seeing, more than I could count, hippos in a river, or walking among zebras in a “National Geographic” while a treed leopard ate a fresh caught impala. Not even the private island or the surprise bubble bath with a river view.
No, it was dancing half the night with local folk in a village after helping them gather firewood and then sleeping in their huts.
Zambia is the place to go in Africa for a more intimate view … after you’ve done the wildebeest migration with thirty other safari cars on the Masai Mara.
My group of friends wondered initially about splitting the trip between a game park and Victoria Falls but in the end, it was a perfect combination. First, viewing game, which means getting up before dawn then another game drive at dusk. Many times not finishing dinner till quite late can be exhausting. Then you go to Livingstone (that’s “stone” like the rock, by the way). Here, you make your own schedule, sleeping in, partying late, and tasting the array of wild adventures. It’s like two halves of a single coin.