sa-fa-ri [suh-fahr-ee] ~ noun 1. a journey or expedition, for hunting, exploration, or investigation, esp. in eastern Africa; 2. any long or adventurous journey or expedition. (www.dictionary.com)

~*~*~*~

There have always been only two items vying for the top spot in my “Things I Must Do Before I Leave Zambia” List—apart from the actual work that I came to do in my placement, that is. The first one is to see the world-famous Victoria Falls in Livingstone, which I got to do in May, just a month after my arrival in this country. The second one is to go on a Safari adventure because, as they say, you haven’t really been to Africa if you haven’t been to one. I had been planning to have this as my “big vacation” for 2008—but alas, the opportunity to do it earlier than scheduled came this month, and after much deliberation, I decided to go ahead with it. And boy, I’m sure glad I did.

The three nights and two days (September 15-17) that I spent in South Luangwa National Park in Mfuwe were definitely worth the long and bumpy ride traveling from the Southern Province to the Eastern Province and back. I had a grand time trying to spot all those magnificent animals in the wild—lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, hippos, hyenas, giraffes, zebras, crocodiles, warthogs, baboons, impalas, pukus, kudus, a variety of birds, and a host of other creatures of the land, sea and sky! It was like seeing the characters from my youth (think Tarzan, The Lion King, and Pocahontas) in the flesh, or watching The Animal Planet or Discovery Channel live.:) Those herons and otters befriending the hippos and the crocs, those male antelopes fighting each other over their “lady love”, those monkeys having a cozy afternoon picnic…they don’t just happen in the movies, you know.

Unlike in movies, however, we did not see all these creatures all at once. Just right after my South Luangwa adventure, the bus that I was riding from Chipata to Lusaka was showing a film about a family going on an African Safari. Like in most Hollywood flicks, this family immediately saw all these wild animals meandering about in droves just along the main road upon their arrival in Africa. That made me laugh silently, knowing that it doesn’t happen that way most of the time, as most animals prefer to roam deep into the woods where they are not intruded upon by those meddlesome creatures called “human beings”.:D Safaris, in fact, are usually characterized by long periods of waiting for evasive creatures to come out of their hiding… of being surprised by the unexpected appearance of rare species and of learning many new things about not-so-rare ones… and of savoring each of these moments, for one can never tell if any given animal will ever show up again.

~*~*~*~

Come to think of it, this month of September has been one big “Safari” for me. It consisted of long periods of waiting, unexpected surprises, and gaining new insights about old things.

The following were the highlights of my 5th month in Zambia:

A series of despedida parties for fellow Filipino volunteers in Luska who, by now, have headed back to RP…

Laborious nights working on a children’s book project for a daycare in Petauke District and a send-off video for my abovementioned friends…

A small dinner party with friends in Mazabuka, featuring dishes from all over the world…

And then another dinner gathering with friends in Petauke, featuring all-veggie local dishes…

A gruelling 17-hour journey from Mfuwe to Chipata to Lusaka to Mazabuka…

Back-to-back DDCC (District Development Coordinating Council)-sponsored “workshops” on decentralization which had us working ’till Saturday (which is not common in Zambia)…

Marathon Budget Committee Meetings that had us knocking off as late as 21:30 hours (9:30 pm) for three consecutive nights (again, totally un-Zambian)…

A learning visit by S—a volunteer friend from Petauke—to Mazabuka, and a Monitoring visit by my VSO Programme Manager…

Updates from back home regarding the Blue Eagles’ heartstopping wins over the Green Archers that had them vying for a finals berth—Ateneo lost this last one , but it was nonetheless another season of grace for our team…

And after all these… my laptop completely (and I mean, COMPLETELY) konking out this weekend!!!

These are just a few of what September had in store for me. Too bad…like my South Luangwa Safari adventure, it’s ending way too soon.

But then again, there’s always October to look forward to.:)

~pol, 09/29/07, 9:15pm

~*~*~*~

Note: Click here for more Safari Photos