Mushroom Lodge

As we approach the beginning of the rains in the Valley, we see a totally different park as the bushes get greener, the bird life phenomenal and the drops from the sky don’t keep the tourists away. Mushroom Lodge hosted yet another group all the way from Switzerland flown in by the Springbok Classic Air.Springbok Classic Air, is a full service luxury adventure travel company based at Historic Rand Airport near Johannesburg South Africa. They provide classic prop liner voyagers throughout Africa, Europe and beyond.

Above: The group arrives for their bush breakfast under a beautiful shady Natal Mahogany grove by the Norman Car memorial site.

Norman Carr was United Kingdom British conservationist working in Central and Southern Africa. He was influential in setting up National Parks in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Norman Carr was one of the founders of South Luangwa National Park, the place he called alternately the “Enchanted Valley” and the “Valley of the Elephants”.

The group sits down and enjoys a bush brunch set up over looking the Luangwa river, which has gone down tremendously through out this years dry season. In the wet season, the river fills up and tourists get a chance to see fantastic bird life across the river banks.

Guests arrive at our Special Sundown set up and capture the beautiful setup over the Luangwa river and its phenomenal sunset.

As the sun sets, the guests gather round the fire and listen to the sounds of the bush. At this time of the day, the most common sound comes from the hippos, also known as hippopotamus amphibious. The hippos, spend up to 18 hours a day in the water to keep cool and start to venture out onto land when darkness falls. They follow their well-trodden paths to their feeding grounds and return to the water in the morning.