Evening River Cruise
Trip Start
Sep 15, 2012
1
19
22
Trip End
Dec 19, 2012
Livingstone, Zambia
Sunday, October 28, 2012
There's a tradition in Livingstone of the 6pm "sundowner," a drink in a place suitable for watching the sun set. For those of us not wealthy enough to stay at one of the lodges along the river, and so watch from the veranda, there are these cruises on boats of varying sizes. Ours was one of the smaller boats, with maybe 30 people. A barbeque dinner was served, and there was an open bar.
That last part made it less pleasant for me, since most of the rest of the people were there to drink. These evening cruises are also known as “booze cruises” for a reason. Our group included a dozen young Australian and Irish (and some other) guys on the last night of their Africa tour, and let’s just say the second half of the cruise was exceedingly merry and song-filled.
It didn’t seem to bother the animals much. I guess they hear it a lot. I met some people who said their cruise was all families, so it’s the luck of the draw.
Anyway, I and the half dozen other people more interested in taking photos spent most of the trip weaving through the (eventually weaving) drinkers, one or another of us calling out “hippo!” or “elephant!” so the others could get a shot. The boat captain was game, too, looping as close as possible to them without disturbing them too much. On the smaller boats, that turns out to be pretty close.
