By Rebecca Clement
I have two words to say about Lukwe lodge in Livingstonia – Amazing – Wait was that two words? Oh well you get the idea. The place we stayed at this weekend was built on the side of a mountain, which creates many outstanding and breathtaking view points. Some are seen from the front porch of the cabins available to sleep in, as well as from the bar where you have staff happy and eager to help you. There were two options for the sleeping arrangements, cabin or tent. The cabins slept two and the tents also accommodated up to two depending on the size of the mattress inside. Yes, I did say mattress. I got to share mine with Annabelle and we had an absolute blast hunting insects at night before bed. I could do without the bruises however from her grabbing my arm whenever she would find one.
Oh and I didn’t even mention the waterfalls yet. Not only is this place built on the side of a mountain but there is a group of waterfalls within walking distance of the place. They were so close that we could constantly hear the sound of the rushing water. On Saturday we walked to three different locations where we could see the waterfalls from. Two of which brought us so close to the falls that if we were allowed and had enough bravery we could have touched them. This though would have been extremely dangerous considering the height of the potential tumble we could take. There was one place in particular that I really enjoyed which was when we went into a cave that brought us behind the falls. Here we could sit and watch the water come crashing down. The noise did not allow for much conversation since it drowned out any voices around. This for me would have been an ideal place to sit and rest for a while. I would have liked to eat lunch there (yummy yummy sandwiches) and just spend time in the silence that such noise creates. We haven’t had a lot of chances to do things like this due to how busy we are being kept and how we are often surrounded by someone. You tend not to realize how daunting this aspect of the trip is until the fatigue of it finally hits you and you need to get away at the most inopportune time.
The weekend on a whole was amazing however and it got me thinking as to why not many people are aware of this country’s existence considering what a beautiful place it is. Could it be that Africa has adapted such a negative name in the ears of the rest of the world? Is it because of the stereotypes that people have associated to it? Could it be because people have been thinking “Oh poor Africa” instead of “Oh wow Africa”? I don’t feel qualified to answer these questions since realistically I’ve only been here a couple of weeks. I don’t claim to be an expert but it is the questions I have been asking myself. How can such an amazing place go unnoticed?