Nsobe - A Favourite Place

Nsobe Game Camp is one of my favourite new places. It's about 90 minutes away from where we live in Kaniki so it's near enough to visit in a day, yet it's such a different environment that when you visit you feel like you've really got away. It's a beautiful place and very peaceful too.

Nsobe Game Camp was started in 2001 and takes its name from the Sitatunga Antelope. It only costs 20k to visit (about £2) which means it is a bargain. Orphans are given free entry.

http://www.nsobegamecamp.com/

I've already visited Nsobe four times! Three of my visits were day trips, with the team that visited here from Birmingham in January, when I took my Dad, and then with some of the Arise children more recently (a separate blog post will follow about this). I've also stayed in the bush camp there for a weekend away with a group of friends. The bush camp is a group of chalets with a central dining area and people to cook for you. There’s no electricity so it’s a bit like camping. Some of the bathrooms are partially open too – so you could see a giraffe walking past whilst you’re sitting on the loo!

Our bush camp chalet

During each visit we have seen (or in my case, held!) snakes, stroked an owl, had a barbecue, sat by the lake, done a spot of fishing or swam in the pool, and of course, been on a game drive. 

At the park you are taken on a short tour to see snakes and some of the other smaller animals. You are given the option to hold some of the snakes if you want to. Not everyone was keen like me!

Cute little bunnies - food for the snakes!

As I was passed the first snake to hold during my first visit there, the man explained that it was only slightly venomous! It is known as the 'Friday Night Snake' because apparently its venom gives you a similar feeling as having too many beers on a Friday night!

Holding the 'Friday Night Snake'

Dad looks happy here but it took some convincing!

Look who else I held!

  

Rosie and Maxwell the Owl

Although the park itself is very small in comparison to the main game parks in Zambia, we've still managed to see several giraffes and lots of zebra from close up. As there aren't any lions or hippos, it's safe to get out the car to get a closer look or take better photos. The zebra let me get surprisingly close to them before they ran off! Other animals spotted were impala, kudu, bushbucks, bush babies, crocodiles and monkeys.