We had a relaxing day. Our planned adventure was dinner at The Elephant Cafe. We had a leisurely breakfast and went out to see the Baobab tree. We had heard the tree was nearby and quite incredible. We had seen several of these trees in Tanzania but they didn’t have leaves. This one was in full and in fruit. The Baobabs are endangered. They can live for over 2000 years and they are feeling the impact of climate change. Everyone who told us about this tree had a slightly different description of how far away it was. Apparently it was either 500 meters outside the hotel grounds or 3 km away. Some said it was a nice walk, others said it wasn’t safe as unsavory characters sometimes hung out there. We took a cab. It was worth the expense. By the way, everything here costs either 100 kwatcha ($10cdn) or 300 kwatcha. It is interesting what becomes normal.

We returned and had a delightful martini on the patio of the Royal Livingstone Hotel, the sister hotel to ours. It is definitely more upscale. We found it interesting that a martini was cheaper than the wine. A glass of red South African wine is typically 14-16$cdn. The martini was$12. A pint of beer is $5.50cdn. It’s a good thing beer is our drink of choice. It has been so hot here, even the locals have complained. One woman told us that the rainy season typically goes from October until The end of March. There has been no significant rainfall since mid January. The corn crop, a main dietary staple is failing and the water level is really low. Thus likely means food shortages and a lack of electricity later this year.

We went off to the elephant cafe at 4 pm without many details of what exactly to expect. We joined two other couples at the jetty and were taken 13 km upriver in a speed boat. For the first time, we were given life jackets. We sped to our destination with occasional showings to see animals or birds on the shore. The motor noise typically scared everything away, so we mostly saw animal rumps.

As we arrived, we were oriented to meeting the elephants. We then got to meet and feed a mom elephant and her two offspring. These were three of the ten elephants in the preserve. Six had been saved from death by predators or parental abandonment. Three had been born at the preserve and one had been found on an island as an abandoned baby by the elephants and brought back to the preserve. All of these elephants have been trained to work with people and there is no intention to return them to the wild.

After feeding the elephants bags of treats (grass pellets), it was out turn to wash up and eat. One of the couples hung back with the elephants a little. The man had planned a proposal. He had given the ring in a box to the handler who had in turn given it to the elephant. The woman was surprised when the elephant gave her the ring box and her boyfriend got down on one knee.

The restaurant was on a patio overlooking the river. We were served the following:all the food was sourced within 20 miles. They foraged many of the seasonings and reductions from indigenous plants that the locals eat regularly. However, they prepared more upscale presentations. Everything was amazing with tastes that were unusual but delicious. The duck was the best I have ever eaten with a tamarind-based duck sauce to die for. We learned that they grow both coffee and cocoa in Zambia and the mocha we had for dessert was reminiscent of hickory infused cafe au lait.

This restaurant is only a few years old and had already won “best restaurant in Zambia” awards three times. The chef/waiter/owner showed us his trophies. We were happily over-fed and content as we headed back to the hotel.