Departure Imminent
Just one day remains and there are a million things to be checked and rechecked. Our team is half assembled with Ian arriving a few days ago and Russell yesterday afternoon. They say ‘’many hands make light work’’ and this is certainly true of today - so far everything has gone smoothly, thanks to careful forward planning and a lot of hard work by the Siankaba staff.
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A good safari camp presents its guests with a vision of effortless grace - however behind the scenes a lot of frantic effort and good, old-fashioned elbow grease go into creating this illusion. Today at Siankaba, in the 40 Degree heat, this team has not only had to cope with their normal duties, but also with the final preparations for the expedition and they have risen to the challenge with enthusiasm and good humor. From Joe and his team in the kitchens to Boniface in the workshop and George (who kept the tea coming) these are truly the unsung hero’s who make the safari industry tick and we thank them for their sterling efforts today.
Simon spent most of the day with his ear permanently glued to the phone, ironing out the inevitable last minute problems. These are mostly unconnected to the actual expedition, but more about protocol and procedural issues relating to the memorial ceremony and cocktail party!
Ian and Russell took a run up to Mambova to finalise the plans for the second night stopover and as they drove into Mambova Village a young man came flying through the air, turned full summersault and landed on his feet in the middle of the road! Needless to say, this is not a sight one sees every day and on enticement he offered to repeat the feat for our camera. I guess it’s true what they say ‘Out of Africa- always something new’
We attempted to get some idea of what to expect from the weather, as we are concerned the rain is imminent so we contacted the Met Office and got the following reassurance-
‘’It will be partly cloudy with scattered thunder showers but if it’s not raining it will be sunny!’’ With this issue now resolved we look forward to the arrival of the rest of the team.
Guy, Sir Ranulf and Lady Louise arrive with Richard C.Grant in Livingstone tomorrow. From there they will travel up to Mwandi where they will join the rest of the team. The eve of departure will be spent camped on the riverbank.
Tomorrow’s update will be the last for two days and thereafter we will have updates for you daily.
Wish us Luck!!
