It took almost an hour to drive to Shiwa on the dirt road, passing various homes along the way. We were supposed to pay at the Estate Office, but this seemed deserted so we continued to a junction with a sign asking all visitors to leave their vehicles. Here we took the wrong path but it didn’t really matter as it too led to the house. As we approached we met Rosemary who told us that she was the guide – she read text from some notes as she showed us round – it was quite difficult to understand at times. The house is surprising and amazing – very much like an English manor house but in Africa. It’s absolutely full of old photos, paintings, sculptures, old furniture (some of which was built inside the rooms themselves). From the outside it’s clear that some maintenance is needed, some of the other Estate houses are run down too. Maybe the current family members (Jo and Charlie) will be able to get round to it in time. On our way out we met Jo and had a nice chat about good place in this part of Zambia to visit, vehicle storage issues and things to do on the Estate. We walked through a quiet wooded area up to Peacock Hill which is named after an airman who was buried there in the thirties, Sir Stewart Gore-Brown the founder of Shiwa and his daughter and husband are also buried there – a beautiful spot with views down onto the lake.
Back at Kapishya we sat in the garden by the river and had lunch, choosing simple rice dishes because things are a bit pricy here. Later in the day a couple of other vehicles arrived , one with a lovely South African family towing a trailer that included integrated awnings, pop-out kitchen and more – a very impressive bit of kit. As usual with South Africans they were very friendly, as they are headed north we gave them all the info we could for their travels. The other vehicle was British – a couple heading to Malawi to run a lodge – again very friendly.
Back at Kapishya we sat in the garden by the river and had lunch, choosing simple rice dishes because things are a bit pricy here. Later in the day a couple of other vehicles arrived , one with a lovely South African family towing a trailer that included integrated awnings, pop-out kitchen and more – a very impressive bit of kit. As usual with South Africans they were very friendly, as they are headed north we gave them all the info we could for their travels. The other vehicle was British – a couple heading to Malawi to run a lodge – again very friendly.