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Mvuu – The
Home Of The Hippo
At last, I was
going to make that trip to Mvuu Lodge. I had heard much about it,
but had not yet visited and when Arthur said he was visiting Zambia
and made me promise that he would catch a tiger fish, Mvuu was the
obvious choice. And Craig was happy to also try his hand at tiger
fishing, although his previous fishing attempts had really only been
exercises in drowning worms. Arthur would teach him how to fish
properly.
But before
Arthur got his treat, we had visited Victoria Falls, Arthur’s old
haunts in Kitwe and Shiwa Ngandu, all in a space of nine days. So by
the time Saturday came around and we were heading off to Mvuu, we
were tired of sitting in the car. But no problem – ‘we only have a
short drive today’. I had not counted on the deterioration of the
road since my last trip into that area a year previously; five hours
later we were still in the car. But eventually we arrived to a
welcome from John and Marcelle and most importantly, welcoming ice
cold drinks.
That evening
was spent relaxing and Arthur preparing rods and tackle for the next
day because they were to be out on the river by six. Which they
were, together with Samson, their boatdriver/guide and fishing
expert. As they disappeared up the river, I took myself back to bed
for a few hours, trying to catch up on the missed sleep of the last
few days and to recover from the many kilometres of driving. And I
spent the rest of the day just lolling about, doing nothing until
later that afternoon when we (myself and the other guests) took a
boat cruise for some game viewing – much was seen – huge herds of
elephant, including two young bulls that were play-fighting
(interesting to see how the victor placed his trunk on the back of
the loser), a big herd of buffalo and the inevitable mvuu (hippo).
The cruise also included a stop-off on one of the sandbanks to watch
the sun disappear over the horizon.
 Finally,
just before six that evening, I saw a boat making its way back to
the lodge and as they got closer, I could see some happy, smiling
faces, especially Arthur’s – he had caught his longed-for tiger.
Craig, too, had caught a tiger. And thanks to the wonders of digital
cameras, I was able to see the photographs of them immediately.
It goes
without saying that Arthur was going to be fishing for our entire
visit to Mvuu, so he was off early the next morning and not seen
until very late that afternoon and three tiger fish later. But Craig
and I had other plans – Canadians are supposed to be expert
canoeists and he was going to teach me how these things work, so
after a leisurely breakfast, we set off down the river in two
canoes. This was my first try at canoeing, and eventually I
mastered it although most of the work was done by our guide. I was
quite happy just to sit and let the river take us to wherever it was
going; to spend the time enjoying the peacefulness of the area and
the quiet out on the river. Our pickup from the canoe trip was a
little late (or it had taken us less time than expected to get
there), but we were still not over the tiredness of the last few
days, so sat dozing in the shade (this was October) before the boat
arrived and we made our way back up river.
That evening’s
excitement was Craig stepping on a scorpion. From the shriek, I
imagined it to be at least twelve inches long with an enormous sting
– what a photo opportunity! Sadly, I stepped on it (I had shoes on)
whilst looking for it – all of two inches - so the opportunity was
squashed.
On our last
day, we were heading for Siavonga and needed to be away fairly
early, but Arthur was not going to miss a minute of fishing. Again,
he was up and on the river by six for a few hours (yes, we had to
pack his bags into the vehicle). After a quick breakfast, we were on
the road again by ten, making our way back, but all feeling very
relaxed and ready for our visit to Siavonga and the dam wall, which
Arthur had never seen when he lived here forty year ago.
Mvuu Lodge is
a tented camp, but also has a camp site. The tents all have spacious
en suite bathrooms and overlook the Zambezi River. They have a small
swimming pool just off the main nsaka and a large lawn. Like all
lodges in and near our game parks, wild animals have right of way
and hippo and other animals are often found
wandering through the camp. They have a
good number of boats available for hire by keen fishermen (and
women) and their guides are certainly knowledgeable about the good
fishing areas.
Bookings for Mvuu can be made by email (
Photographs
by Arthur Steevens and Craig Hartnett |
July 2004