Day 3, July 27: Dubai to Lusaka

 Up early to look for bulbuls. And I got both of the local ones!

This one is the white-cheeked bulbul, but I like to call him Abdullah Bulbul Ameer

And this is our old favorite red-vented bulbul, not exposing his red vent. I mean, how would you like to be known by the color of your excretory area?

And the common myna

My wife, of course, insisted we leave far too early for the airport, so we missed the very nice hotel breakfast, and instead squeezed into a cafe in terminal 3 and ate horrible food. And waited for two hours, because, of course, we were indeed far too early. You’d think she'd learn I am always right. Well, so often right it should be a presumption. 

In any case, we got off, eventually, about 10 am, to Lusaka. The usual great Emirates flight. 

Someone from Wild Dogs Lodge was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived at 2:30, and immigration and customs were a whiz, so we completed the ½ hour drive to the lodge at 3:30 pm. Lusaka looked poor but not destitute, and carefully scrubbed school-kids were walking home from school. 

But Wild Dogs camp itself was wonderful.

This was our cabin. A bit spartan, but fine.

After slugging down some coffee, we looked at some birds around the swimming pool.

A red-eyed dove

A copper sunbird

A brown-headed kingfisher

A very shy blue waxbill

A northern grey headed sparrow.

A red-bellied fire finch

A female village weaver

...and the inevitable fork-tailed drongo.

A female village indigo bird

Also variable sunbird, scarlet chested sunbird, yellow-vented bulbul (dark-capped bulbul), little beeeater, housewren, bronze mannikin, brown-hooded kingfisher, African yellow white-eye.