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A Thunderous Dawn
The summer
temperatures are rising, the traffic is traumatizing you, your
schedules are making you schizo and your performance is degrading?
Time to get out of Lusaka. And that is precisely what we did,
heading south down the Great North Road for Livingstone to a weekend
of pampering and indulgent bliss, at the Royal Livingstone.
Arriving hot and
travel-worn (this was early November and the rains had not yet
started), we were glad of the attention to detail which the hotel
offers. And this starts on arrival : no check-in desk; instead you
are ushered into the elegant, cool, high-ceilinged lounge and
served with a long, cold iced tea, whilst you go through the
formalities.
 Then it is off to
your cool, traditionally-styled room together with individual
butler; in our case, Luke. Soothing air-conditioning, a
rose-petal-strewn bed, robes and slippers, our own balcony looking
out over the Zambezi in the distance, although it is very low at
this time of the year.
As we had arrived
after dark, all we wanted to do was relax and unwind; the likes of
the casino, the activities and the wildlife could wait until
tomorrow. We had had a hectic month and this was just what we
needed.
The rooms were tastefully decorated in shades of beige, no
animal footprints to be seen; smooth, highly polished, cool concrete
floors (as Colonial houses of old); an enormous comfortable easy
chair (although only one which meant I had to lounge on the bed
propped up by dozens of enormous pillows) and a bar fridge stocked
full of ice cold drinks. The bathrooms with fabulous full showers,
high pressure hot water and a marble bathtub were spacious and
spotlessly clean and just what we needed after our long trip. A
good long hot shower with steaming water beating down on your back
loosened up the muscles tense from sitting in the car for five
hours.
We had plans for the weekend : there were many things to be
done although we hadn’t made the final decision on what exactly they
were going to be. There are twenty three different activities which
can be booked through the hotel and we spent some time discussing
these. Was it to be bungee jumping? Forget. Never in a million
years. Horse riding? I think not, we can do that in Lusaka anytime.
Helicpoter flight. Definitely; I’ve done it before and it was the
best $ 75 I’ve ever spent. Or perhaps we should try a Microlight
this time. Jet boating also sounds good, down in the Batoka Gorge,
and better do it soon because if they continue with plans to build a
dam there, there won’t be a spectacular Batoka Gorge to be seen. The
Sunset Drift also sounds good. But no rush; we can decide in the
morning. Amazing how in the right surroundings, you can get into the
swing of things very quickly : less than an hour there and already
we had started to unwind and lose any sense of urgency.
In fact, we were so unwound that we didn’t even
bother to have dinner. Instead we fell asleep on the enormous bed
and that was where we stayed until long after sunrise the next day.
Next morning, we
wanted to get going to have a good look around the hotel, explore
all the nooks and crannies, wonder around the grounds. But could
we? No chance. We could hardly drag ourselves out of bed and when
we did finally manage to do that, it was only to make a cup of tea
and shuffle out on to the verandah. The Royal Livingstone was
designed in clusters of two-story, 10-room buildings, each room with
its own terrace, to evoke colonial days. Our room had a view through
the forest of indigenous trees and across the manicured lawn which
runs all the way down to the Zambezi. Sadly, because the river was
so low, there was no thunder of the Falls that morning although
there was a small cloud of spray. But the river making its way
slowly past was relaxing on its own.
Finally after two
cups of tea, we managed to build up enough energy to get ourselves
dressed and down to breakfast. But first, we took a detour around
the gardens, down to the sumptuous swimming pool with sun-loungers
all perfectly laid out around it.
 And after
breakfast, still feeling extremely lazy and lethargic, we wandered
off down to the riverside deck, whilst the zebra were grazing on the
lush green lawn. I am sure this was not the plan when they were
brought in, but I think they can be forgiven for this.
On the deck, with a cup of coffee in hand, relaxing on a
comfortable wicker chaise, the antics of the brazen vervet monkeys
kept us amused, while we both agreed that this would be a perfect
spot to watch one of our brilliant blood-red sunsets whilst
enjoying a cocktail.
But that can wait until later. Right now we have to decide
what activities we are want to book. We have had a chat with the
people who do the bookings and can see that everything works like
clockwork. The staff at the desk can answer each and every question
knowledgably and always with a smile. They know their stuff, that’s
for sure. And everything is co-ordinated smoothly and calmly, no
mad rushing about, no last minute panics. But still we cannot make
up our minds. Rafting? Abseiling? Clay pigeons. Now that is new to
Zambia. Elephant safari? Done that. Quad biking? Done that too.
Perhaps canoeing? Too many choices!
So why don’t we just grab our books, put our feet up and
spend the day on the deck watching the river making its way slowly
down to the Falls. We were badly in need of a couple of days and
complete rest and that is what we did instead.
Photos courtesy Sun International
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January
2007