Travelling Story by Theodor Sverkén Sjögren, February 22, 2010
After reading Africa House by Christina Lamb (see under Book Reviews) my family decided to fill up the Nissan Patrol and go the 750 kilometers up north. To fill up happened to be a very good decision since there are only two petrol stations on the way, and these are easy to miss, especially if you have a couple of kids playing in the back of your car.
It should not be any problems going the whole distance in one day, but the longer you wait until going on this holiday, the longer the trip will take, due to the escalating number of pot holes (Important note: in 2009 the amount and size of the holes were still okey, not as the 2009 status of the Livingstone road). My family decided to stop over (one night in each direction) at Forest Inn, in between Kapiri Mposhi and Mpika. A nice place, but with no activities or anything else to spend the time on apart from having your dinner, sleeping and leaving the place just after your breakfast.
From the main road there is a good sign indicating where to turn for Shiwa N'Gandu, and soon this old British estate house shows up in front of you. You can choose to spend your nights at the Africa House, but if you have a smaller budget then stay at Kapisha Hotsprings Lodge, some 20 kilometers further in on the estate. The lodge is run by Mark Harvey, the grandson of Sir Stewart Gore-Brown, who built the estate house in the 20s and 30s. Africa House itself is run by Mark's brother.
Sir Gore-Brown was a weird man with a weird dream. He wanted so much to have his own British estate house, but since he could not afford building or buying it in England, he decided to build it in Africa, funded with money from his beloved aunt.
This man was living for love, and married the daughter of his first love called Lorna. Losing his temper was apperently another common habit, but something people in the area had to accept since he was the biggest employer in northern Rhodesia at the time building the estate house.
For more information about Africa House and Sir Gore-Brown you can either read the book mentioned above, or visit the house, or, like we did, combine these two holiday activities.
At Kapisha Hotsprings Lodge there is (of course) a hot spring in which we started every morning. Starting off the day in 40 degree water is not too bad, actually. A river is alos running just a couple of meters down the chalets. If you are a true explorer you can even go camping here. Other activities include game drives, hunting, boat trips, horseback riding, and of course a visit to the Africa House. But the evenings you should definitely spend at the lodge because of the delicious food and, not to forget, Mark Harvey's stories about his family and the house. That is not only exciting, but also a piece of Zambia's history.
We spent three nights at Kapisha Hotsprings, which was enough. When leaving we could not resist buying some of the products made at the lodge, such as jam, marmelade, chutney and pickles. The strawberry jam was well appreciated on the pancakes the following weekend.
On our way back to Lusaka we bought some nice handmade baskets at the petrol station in Serenje. The packed lunch we got at Cims restaurant in Mpika.
If you are spending some more nights on your holiday, or prefer not staying at Forest Inn, you could also go to Mutinundo Wilderness Area on the way up to Shiwa N'Gandu, but that's for another explorer to tell us more about, in another part of this blog.
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