Shower Views

Uncommon luxury … and an unexpected visitor

Not your everyday view from the shower… © Ron Smit, May 2023

Last Thursday was a public holiday (Africa Day) here in Zambia, providing the opportunity to create a long weekend by taking Friday off work. Marina and I used the days to visit our son and his wife, at the Kasabushi Lodge and Campsite, in the Kafue National Park.

We were prepared to camp, but as luck would have it, there was an empty lodge tent available. These are located between the trees on the western bank of the Kafue River. Some of those trees feature in my header image above. This is what you see if you lie down on the shower floor and look upwards. (I don’t usually do that sort of thing, but got down on the ground for your viewing pleasure, so to speak.)

You may wonder what happened to the roof? Well, there isn’t one, never was.

This must be my most favourite shower cubicle in the whole wide world. If you have a keen eye, you might see an unexpected (but fortunately harmless) visitor who came to look at me, from above. © Ron Smit, Kasabushi, May 2023

I could have titled this story “Snake in a Shower!”, but that would have been somewhat click-baitey and the snake wasn’t actually in the shower.

We think it was a South-eastern Green Snake or Green Water Snake, Philothamnus hoplogaster. These can often be found in trees near water, and eat frogs and lizards. They do not have fangs and are not venomous.

It seemed a bit nervous about my presence, and soon departed. Even though this species is not harmful to man (or woman) we nevertheless checked the shower before entering, in the next days. Must be some genetic memory thing, inherited from Adam and Eve.

That open shower cubicle provides a few more lovely views, including grand views over the river, towards the South.

Luxury soap and shampoo in the foreground, the Kafue River in the background. You can almost hear the water rushing over the rapids, in the far distance. And the grunting of hippos, somewhere to the left. © Ron Smit, Kasabushi, May 2023

On Saturday morning, just as we finished our shower, we spotted a large Nile Crocodile swimming slowly upstream. Probably about 3,5 metres long. These are definitely harmful to man, but they don’t tend to get into any showers. Bathing in the river is therefore not recommended.

I dashed out of the shower to grab my phone or camera, but it was gone with a splash before I could take a picture. Unfortunately.

Fortunately, the lodge tents are private enough, there was nobody else nearby to take a picture of a naked man on the deck.

Of course, we were very lucky that we could stay in that luxurious lodge tent, but even at the campsite, there is probably the most iconic shower in the country.

The shower “cubicles” at the Kasabushi campsite may remind you of something from the Flintstones, but it is really great to have a hot shower from a man-made “waterfall” under the African skies. © Ron Smit, Kasabushi, May 2023

So to all you Globetrotters and travelers out there, all of you who have not yet visited Zambia, why not? Just think of what you are missing!

You could experience the beauty of the bush, wash off the external dust in a fantastic shower, after which you could have an ice cold Mosi Lager to remove any dust from your throat, while you sit around the campfire and listen to the sounds of nature.

… and if you are in any way interested in nature and conservation, here’s another important story from Zambia:

Empowering villagers to combat illegal deforestation in Zambia