bush, of the daily campaign against hunger. As we drove
back to camp, Saturn and Jupiter glittered low in the sky,
eternal witnesses to all of the Earth’s tiny lives. How
infinitesimal existence is, and how infinite in its moments,
I thought, as the moon rose above us in a lopsided grin.
WE LEFT SOUTH LUANGWA’S stories to their unfolding
and took a tiny plane towards the Bangweulu Wetlands.
Rod pointed out the watershed that divides the Zambezi
river basin (which drains into the Indian Ocean) from the
headwaters of the mighty Congo (which flows into the
Atlantic). As we circled the airstrip, I gazed down on a sea of
green reeds, broken by the occasional sheen of open water.
The only road runs out at the airfield; beyond lie hundreds
of miles of water and wilderness.
As we stepped out of the plane, grasshoppers leaped away
from our feet in clicking shoals. The sky felt limitless, full of
light and a feeling of joyful freedom. We were met by Jackson
Ng’andwe, a solemn guide for African Parks, which today
manages these wetlands in partnership with the 50,000
people who live here. Jackson conducted us to a flat-bottomed
punt in which two boatmen poled us through ditches, then
channels, then lagoons, on our way to Shoebill Island Camp.
We scraped through tiny channels, the
punt tunneling through reeds. Rod was in
ornithological nirvana. Herons, stilts,
snipes, ibis, storks, cranes, pelicans,
ducks, marsh harriers, bee-eaters, and
kingfishers were all around, so close he
didn’t even need his binoculars.
Shoebill Island Camp stands on a rare
patch of dry ground. A deck and dining
area look out on a wide lagoon; behind
them is a line of simple, yet comfortable
tents. Paths lead away into the swamps
and marshes. The sensation of space and
scale gave me a feeling of euphoria, of
extraordinary fortune at being as far
away from the familiar world as it is
possible to be. We were the first guests.
I envy all who come after us.
“This is one of the last wild places
left where humans and animals live
together,” Rod said. “I knew you’d love it.”
I did love Bangweulu, utterly, from the
first moment. I loved the meditativeFishermen ply the fertile
swamps of Bangweulu.travelandleisureindia.in