Zambia

I started this post ages, ago, soon after writing about my safari in Tanzania 

After my safari in Tanzania I fancied doing another one, but this time staying inside a national park.

In 2014 I chose Zambia because I also wanted to visit Victoria Falls. My stay was in the South Luangwa National Park. The first 3 days were at Nkwali safari camp on the bend of the Luangwa River.

My hut

Those bamboo doors were all that separated me from wildlife at night time! It was best not to dwell on the nocturnal sounds, animals want a quiet life to go about their business undisturbed. 

Open air shower room

The very dry Luangwa River

Communal lounge area

Doesn't she look sweet

Those teeth will rip through the belly of her prey in seconds

Going through my photos later a shiver went through me as I realise just how close this

lion came to our jeep, and had he wanted to he could easily have jumped up into it!! 

Someone once said that buffalo look at you as if you owe them money!

Mid morning break on a walking safari

cute

deadly

Termite mound, difficult to believe that these tiny insects build such huge rock hard mounds

Sundowners on our evening safaris. That's me on the left.

After three nights at Nkwali I moved to Nsefu Safari Camp, still on the Luangwa River

My hut

Reception and lounge area

Although we had early starts I enjoyed this safari more because we were out early

enough to see more animals. 

Breakfast was about 6.oo then out in the jeeps. Me on the right.

It was cold at that time but soon warmed up to another gloriously hot day.

I think this is a Tawny Eagle

 How cute is this little Brown Hooded Kingfisher

Aren't their markings exquisite

This was a very unpleasant scene that we encountered whilst driving back to camp.

Hyenas and vultures fighting over the carcass of a baby elephant.

The stench was unbearable, it was grim, but it's what happens in the wild.

African Fish Eagle

Back to camp for a light lunch and a siesta. After a couple of hours rest we went out in the jeeps again.

Baby near my hut

Re-united with mum and on their way 

I could now go to my hut for a siesta

Chillin

I didn't see leopards on my first safari, I was very excited when we saw her, so beautiful.

Female leopard marking territory

Female Waterbucks

Pretty Carmine Bee Eater

Hippos are shy and usually run away, I think we accidentally startled this one, it just froze.

It had a lot of scars on its back and face. 

We stayed out until after dark which came quite early. Then back to camp for dinner.

The food was excellent and plentiful at both locations.

And finally 

something to make you smile!

After 3 nights at Nsefu I went to Livingstone - coming soon.

~ Be safe and well ~

Polly x

Pelican

Less words, just a picture

Pelican in Fremantle

~ Be safe and well ~ 

Polly x

A Good Read

The Muse by Jessie Burton is two interlocking stories about two women: Odelle in 1960’s London and Olive in 1930’s Spain.

The novel starts on a hot July day in 1967. Since arriving in London from Trinidad five years earlier Odelle Bastien has struggled to find her place in the city. Now she is excited to be entering the renowned Skelton art gallery to start work as a typist under the tutelage of the glamorous and enigmatic part owner Marjorie Quick. Quick takes Odelle under her wing and unlocks a potential she didn't know she had by encouraging her to follow her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. One day a young man Odelle met at her best friend’s post-wedding party walks into the gallery with a painting under his arm. It was left to him by his mother and he would like to have it valued and find out something of its history. Quick is sure she recognises it but says nothing. The owner of the gallery is excited by the painting, thinking it could be a lost masterpiece by Spanish painter Isaac Robles, who died under mysterious circumstances. 

In 1936 in rural Spain, the threat of civil war is present everywhere. The dysfunctional Schloss family are renting a finca in a village near Malaga. Arrogant Harold Schloss is a renowned art dealer, completely absorbed in his own talent he believes that females are incapable of great art. His wife Sarah hails from a wealthy background. She relies on self-medication, and pines for lost youth and a less wandering husband. Their daughter Olive harbours ambitions of her own. Unknown to her parents she was selected for admission to a London art school but declined the offer to spite her father.

Isaac Robles and his half-sister, Teresa, are employed by the property’s owner, to take on whatever tasks need doing. Isaac is a painter and an activist, working against the fascists. They insinuate themselves into the Schloss family.

Sarah commissions Isaac to paint a portrait of herself and Olive, but he knows he’s not up for the task so he asks Olive to do it and he take the credit. Olive is happy to be the anonymous artist, to enjoy the freedom of creating purely for pleasure, rather than working for praise or profit. She had no way of knowing the ramifications of her decision.

I didn’t like Isaac.

I thought the plot was somewhat predictable but nevertheless it's a good read and it held my interest all the way through.

∼ Happy Reading ∼

Polly x

More Chocolate!!

Look what arrived earlier today from my darling Aussie daughter, a gift card from Hotel Chocolat, beautifully packaged and with some lovely new tastes for autumn. Should keep me busy for a while!!

What diet?!!

~ Be safe and well ~

Polly x

Birthday, Chocolate And Weight

Pre covid I was doing really well losing weight. 

Half a stone from January to March, then lockdown + frustration + some boredom = binge eating. Weight has been see sawing for months.

but I have been back on track for the last two weeks.

see saw

My darling grandson bought me my favourite chocolate for my birthday yesterday,

a large Lindt teddy bear. I forgot to take a photo before diving into it! 

My desire to lose weight is constantly at odds with my desire to eat chocolate!  😋

~ Be safe and well ~

Polly x

Woodbridge and Aldeburgh

Woodbridge is a pretty market town on the banks of the river Deben in Suffolk. With lovely shops, pubs and restaurants, and on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty it is a perfect place to stay for a few days, or as a base to explore the Suffolk coast.

M and I visited a few weeks ago as one of our day trips. We had a lovely day with beautiful weather.

The Guildhall 

Market stalls behind the Guildhall with a lovely open air cafe

St Mary's Church

It's very pretty

 

And home to the Deben millenium frieze. A brief history of Woodbridge over the past two thousand years seen through the eyes of some of the creative and artistic people of the town. It grew from an idea by Sarah Evelegh and her husband Mike, chairman of the Woodbridge Millenium committee who, in 1998 approached the Deben Decorative and Fine Arts Society who agreed to support the project. It was a labour of love, started in September 1998 by sixty volunteers sewing individual pieces in their own homes, and completed in March 2000.

The Tidemill

A short drive away was our next stop, the seaside resort of Aldeburgh. The High Street offers wonderful opportunities for browsing, with trendy boutiques, antiques and arts, a glorious book shop, a cinema, over priced ice cream shops, and a huge variety of culinary feasts. Unfortunately the two fish'n'chip shops were take away only so we went to one of the many cafes. After browsing the shops and lunch we walked along the promenade.

Aldeburgh Lifeboat Station

Further along the beach is the iconic scallop shell. This four metre high sculpture was conceived by Suffolk-born artist Maggi Hambling, and made by Aldeburgh craftsmen Sam and Dennis Pegg, It was unveiled in 2003 as a tribute to Benjamin Britten who moved there in 1947 and was the founder of the Aldeburgh Festival. He wrote "I write music now, in Aldeburgh, for people living there, and further afield, indeed for anyone who cares to play it or listen to it. But my music now has its roots, in where I live and work."

I set off to see it up close, it was about a mile walk, M rested up and sat on a bench. I didn't get there though, not because of the distance but because the weather turned very hot, there was no shade and I didn't have any sun screen with me. I bought a postcard instead.

I saw this on my way back, perhaps I should have hopped in it :-) 

~ Be safe and well ~

Polly x

Libra September 23rd - October 22nd

Miss Claire Voyant's horoscope for Libra

Sharing your Libra birthday with ME, John Lennon, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Julie Andrews, and a few million others.

The Personality

Libras are best known for our love of balance, not in the way of tightrope walking, but in keeping everything on a fair and even keel, hence the scales. We thrive on making things orderly, harmonious and aesthetically pleasing. We cannot stand chaos or mess. We are the astrological equivalent of Marie Kondo!

Being ruled by Venus the goddess of art and pleasure we have a love for all things beautiful, and we ourselves are charming and beautiful social butterflies.  Relationships are important to us, we love being in love. We make excellent friends, being supportive and loyal confidants. 

We can also be super creative and clever, which is why so many Libras are artists, writers, actors, actresses, athletes, and dancers. Sometimes, we can even be politicians, especially due to our diplomatic nature. We are people-pleasers, which usually makes us popular with others, and if there’s drama afoot, we love playing mediator and exercising our diplomacy skills. We are the kings and queens of compromise. And we are extremely generous.

WOW we're almost perfect  😂

We're not though so let's look at the negatives. We can be:

Indecisive (yes often)

Overthinkers (yes)

Superficial (oh dear I hope not)

Shallow (ditto above)

Self-indulgent (occasionally)

Gossipy (well someone has to be!)

Libras prediction

The presence of major planets like Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn in the fourth house denotes that a major change is in the offing, so get ready to ride the train of success.

This is a good time to follow through on projects. Leaving many unfinished matters in your life only creates clutter that keeps other things from entering the picture. Either dismiss the project entirely or finish it and move on to something else. Don't leave things hanging, including people. Tell others what's going on and you'll be more successful in the long run. 

A Venus-Mars trine (an angle formed on a birth chart) can point to some romantic excitement or a rekindling of feelings. Love (or lust) may be starting to grow. For some Libras this could be a romance that makes your toes curl.

Some news that you've been waiting for could arrive, and it will leave you feeling pretty darned delighted! You need to find a way to share your happiness with the people who make you happiest. If you can plan something around food, try to arrange a small get-together. If not, just bask in the accolades that you so richly deserve. This could be the beginning of a whole new chapter.

~ Be safe and well ~

Polly x

A Good Read

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

For animal lovers this is a real tearjerker. It’s a story about love, a deep and beautiful love for that special someone you trust and can’t live without. For Ted that special someone is Lily, an ageing dachshund.

Ted is a lonely, middle-aged gay man who loves no one as much as he loves Lily. Lily ‘talks’, they have conversions. After ten wonderful years together Ted notices a lump on Lily’s head, which he calls the octopus (because it resembles said mollusc), an octopus that no dog or person should have. 

Everything Lily has to endure Ted is there to endure it with her. Like the time she has a seizure and urinates on him, Ted just keeps holding her. It's heartbreaking.

The journey to eliminate the octopus becomes surreal and Ted's constant repetition about it and how he "looks it in the eye" and actually talks to it becomes a little tedious. Despite this and the outpouring of tears I did enjoy this endearing story.

〜 Happy Reading 〜
Polly x

Another Nice Walk

Another walk you might like to join me on.

I like this walk but we don't do it very often because it goes round a fishing lake that is open all year round so I don't let the dogs off their leads. I went a couple of times during lockdown, but even without the fishermen there it was difficult to let them off because I couldn't see far enough ahead to get them on their leads if anyone was coming towards us.
I don't think I will do this walk with Buster anymore, he's doing very well, he loves to run off the lead, but this is quite a long walk and I'm not sure he would cope. It's difficult to gauge just how far he can go, he doesn't know that wherever we go we have to do the same distance home!

Back to the lake walk. From my house, down the road

Past the school

the horses

and the duck pond with a bridge across to their cute little houses

through the mighty oak trees

onto the field.

We're heading for that row of trees on the horizon. On hot days there is no shade, on cold winter days the wind whips around the fields, and with no trees or hedges for shelter it's mighty cold.

Arriving at the trees heading for that bridge barely visible behind the grass.

Dear Buster, before his operation.

more bridges into the wood

and we arrive at the fishing lake

There are over 40 pitches. It's a lovely site.

The guy at this tent had everything he needed for a few days stay. A comfy camp bed and sleeping bag, cooker, cool bag and food. All the comforts of home. I wouldn't mind camping in this pretty and quiet area, as long as it stayed warm and sunny!

These parents were making a heck of a racket which I thought was aimed at me

Then I saw the other family a few metres away

Continuing all the way round the lake coming back to where we arrived.

Back through the wood, onto the field and back home.

I hope you have enjoyed the walk.

~ Be safe and well ~ 

Polly x