28-Dec-2004 -- While on a visit to Mukambi Safari Lodge and Kafue National Park for the Christmas holiday, I decided to take a quick trip to 15S 26E. It was only 2.5 km from the lodge on the west bank of the Kafue River and I thought it would be an easy confluence visit. We had actually passed within 300 metres of the DC on a "game drive" (everyone rides in a Land Rover to look for animals in the bush) on Christmas Day.
The only problem I encountered was that it was a bit difficult to get Victor, our guide from the lodge, to schedule a visit for me, as he wasn't quite sure of the purpose of the confluence visit, especially as he is used to finding elephants and lions and other animals for the lodge visitors to photograph on game drives and walks, not imaginary points on a map!
Nevertheless, he eventually agreed (a foregone conclusion as the lodge gets US$ 25 for every visit to the park) and my Dad (George Lilley) and I set off with Victor and our guard from the Zambia National Park service, the latter armed with an AK-47 as a necessary protection against any belligerant lions or elephants that might cross our path (and I apologize for not finding out what Victor and Cedric's surnames were before we left).
We took the short boat ride across the Kafue River from the lodge to the west bank and set off at about 6:20 a.m. on a fairly easy walk for 2.5 km to the DC, me leading the way with my GPS. We didn't see any lions or elephants, belligerent or otherwise, on the way there, unfortunately. The only minor problem we had was a light rain for part of our walk, and the sky was completely overcast, and not the greatest for pictures, especially early in the a.m. (we reached the point just after 7 a.m.).
The actual DC point was next to a "termiteria", one of the giant termite mounds you see scattered throughout the woodlands in this part of Africa, and presented a typical view of a clearing with surrounding trees. It's about 350 m west of the Kafue River and is in the west view picture. I took the north, east, and south photos, plus a picture of my Dad, Victor and the guard near the point. I couldn't quite get all zeroes on my GPS, but we stayed long enough to get a position error of 2 metres.
To give a better view of the area around the DC, I also included a picture of the forest area that I took while standing on the top of a termiteria about 2 km north of the DC while on a game walk the previous day. It's a completely natural forest environment, as this area has been preserved as a National Park for over 50 years. We completed our game walk and saw lots of Kudus, Pukus and warthogs, but unfortunately no elephants or lions. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable DC visit.