Africa: Day 28

Posted by Justin Carlson

I had originally planned to write every day or two while I was away in Rwanda & Zambia, but due to power outages, internet going down, and multiple travel days; it soon became apparent that I would just have to write a wrap-up post once I got back to Canada.

After leaving Rwanda, I was off to Mongu (Zambia) to film the beginnings of an orphanage in the western part of the country. Mongu is such a unique place! It’s right on the edge of a major flood plane and with all the sand around me it felt like a beach community without the beach. While in Mongu I filmed a lot of interviews with NGO heads, the school being built, and the people in the local community … which is great! (the kids especially!)

No matter where I’d go, there would always seems to be at least a few kids around wanting to see ‘the camera’ as well as look at themselves on the lcd. How can you say no?!

The school building went up faster than expected too with the team being able to construct up to the roof line in 3 days.

So on the last day in Mongu, the team went out to play a little soccer with the kids and tour the flood plane by boat.

I had really enjoyed my time in Mongu, it was a wonderful experience and I was sad to say goodbye … until I was attacked by ants!

On my last night in Mongu, I woke up to a bite on my face. Thinking that a mosquito had gotten into my netting, I turned on the lights in an attempt to swat it out of the air. I was wrong. Instead, there were thousands of ants crawling all over me, through my hair and on my bed. Needless to say I didn’t sleep the rest of the night.

Oh well, that was my last night there and I was now off to Mfuwe to spend the last few days of my trip at the South Luangwa National Park. All in all it was an extremely wonderful experience being able to travel around Rwanda & Zambia. They’re both beautiful and uniquely different countries that I would love to go back to again someday. Next time though, I’ve got to plan more time in Rwanda so I can at least see the mountain gorillas!

Here are a few pictures I took of wildlife while on Safari. (I’ll post the video I took of the animals next week)

Plains Zebra