My Uncle lives with his wife in a fishing lodge they built mudbrick by mudbrick on the Zambezi River in Zambia. We visited some years ago while the place was half built and I fell in love with the isolation, the views, the rawness and the mindblowing, brilliant red sunsets.
To get there, it took us eight hours of extremely rough driving over incredible roads which took us down through dry river beds and up over steep ridges. Several times we had to stop and move boulders aside so we could get through. My uncle has since built an airstrip and helicopter pad. He is a pilot and ferries people in and out with a microlite. The lodge is built up on a hill overlooking the river. You might ask why it isn’t down by the water. That would be because the water is teeming with crocodiles and hippos, which don’t take too kindly to humans inhabiting their territory.
When we finally arrived at the site of the half-built lodge, it did indeed feel like the end of the earth but, as we drove over the last rise and down towards the lodge, my breath was taken away. The aerial shot will give you some idea of what I saw. So beautiful, so rugged and nothing but wilderness forever and ever. During that stay, we slept in a tent and woke up to brilliant red sunrises which turned the waters of the Zambezi River the colour of rose wine. The long drop had thatched walls on three sides but was open on the other to the river – a more magnificient view could never be had while sitting on a toilet.
The property has been complete for a while and now has the main lodge, several chalets, a small village for the workers and various other service buildings.
We had a wonderful week watching the process of the building of the lodge, which eventually took several years to complete. It was built completely from the earth – mudbricks from anthills for the walls and grass for the roof. It was a majestic process which required a lot of sweat and tears and many workers from the local areas. My uncle should be very proud of what he created but he is now ready to move on to a new project – and he is 80 years old this year. You can see more on the lodge and game farm here.
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