A Three-Dimensional Canvas

When with my class on a long trip I went
To the Hot Springs of Kapishya where we spent
Hours of fun as we hiked and we rafted
And many witty stories were happily crafted

Either on hilltop, river or beside the lake
Or under the stars where we lay awake
Around a fire that blazed, blew and bristled
“And this is Zambia?” a newcomer whistled.

This young lad, of course, on many trips had been
Much of the bush and the veldt he had seen
And this remark was exhaled in a spirit of awe
For this was as good as anything he ever did or saw.

He hadn’t expected to have so much fun
Whether under the stars or the blazing sun
And had to admit it was the “best trip I’ve had
For Zambia is great, it is not at all bad.”

This remark immediately took me back into the past
To a moment that will, in my memory, always last
When a friend asked me, “What on earth will you do?”
In Zambia, a land most of us hardly knew.

Palms over the fire, I now quietly mused and thought
The world’s ignorance of the wealth this land has got
For in the five summers that I have, on trips, been
My admiration has grown with each new locale I’ve seen

Of course, most obvious, is the mighty smoke that thunders
Zambia’s greatest export, one of the world’s natural wonders
Yet, there is much more to Zambia than the Victoria Falls
There are miles of beautiful bush, animals, birds whose wake-up calls

Chirp through the bush, in its crisp and refreshing air
As into glowing sunrises, one can only “stand and stare”
For in this world, yes, we have just enough time
To admire the rhythm of nature, each tune, each rhyme

There is the Kafue National, country of the Big Five
Where diverse animals, in unspoilt wilderness, still do thrive
Or the Luangwa Valley, where the leopard lithely leaps
While you enjoy a walking safari, with an experience for keeps

I remember ‘raucous ruffians’ on a prefect training camp
As their days they would record near a fire or a lamp
While the mighty Zambezi, it foamed and it roared
And its ferocious inmates, calmly slept and snored

I recall walking through bush that towered over my head
And in the hills of Mutinondo, making my fire and bed
In the midst of which, many new friends I had made
As with banter and chatter, our way, we’d waddle and wade

Singing songs, as we would, our own music make
And on some deserted hillock take a much needed break
Making plans for the rest of the arduous hike
And prepare a bushman’s dinner in a spot we like

Far from its crowded cities, we would have so much fun
Be it climbing baobabs or fishing under the Kafue’s sun
And in such a milieu, I learnt more of each lass and lad
Than anything they could write on an examination pad

Yes, this is Zambia, a land profuse in natural treasure
Of valleys, hills, plains and parks in equal measure
Ready to offer the intrepid explorer or the traveller new
A three dimensional canvas in its most natural hue.