Masuku Lodge (take II)

You may remember my personal retreat to Masuku Lodge last year in May—a few days of much loved quiet, reflection, nature, prayer, and rejuvenation.

our private chalet

Last week, Amos ferried Sara and I out to Masuku. You’d never guess we were less than 30kms from home out there where cell service is available at just one small table in the main lodge. Masuku Lodge is a little Zambian haven of beauty, birds, and solitude. In the words of some good friends (Thanks, Chris and Marlys, for introducing me to Masuku): “The delightful thatch chalets and beautiful main lodge naturally elicit a contented sigh, and one begins to feel months of stress peel away about as soon as you arrive.”

Sara and I packed our pjs, day planners, and a basket of coffee grounds, carrot sticks, and Earl Grey tea. On the way, we stopped in Choma to complete the remaining weekly errands. It was an especially hectic day in town—people and vehicles EVERYWHERE, queues for everything: lunch, petrol, a parking spot, the ATM...

Once at Masuku, we entered another world. We really had no absolute plans, nothing we had to accomplish during our visit. We just relaxed. Every once in a while we chatted and jotted notes our date books as we discussed plans, ideas, and goals for the next several months. One afternoon, I crawled under my duvet (it’s winter here, remember) and listened to a dramatized version of the life of Hannah Moore. Sara read World War Z.

We drank tea, sat in the sun, prayed and processed, made lists (and lists and more lists. honest. What else is a holiday for??), and wandered out to the dam—where we saw zebra, cattle, sable, a monitor lizard, and lots of birds. We dined at a massive table, met new friends, and even watched an evening of World Cup matches. At night, we marveled at the incredible star-scape as we shivered our way from the cozy fireplace in the main lounge back to our private chalet.

the lounge in the main house

Our time at Masuku was a blessed.

sable

And… then we left Masuku for the real world… the one where we had 14 guests arriving that night (and we needed to prep the guesthouse rooms from the last guests), the one where we tried to contact our afternoon visitors but the cell service- as usual- was so spotty we weren’t sure the message went through, the one where we drove the opposite direction out into the bush again to accept a last-minute lunch invite (to which we were late), the one where we stopped along the road to buy a massive bag of oranges (what was I thinking?!), the one where we came back home and started writing all those emails and messaging all those people in response to all those things we’d ignored the past couple days…

That world.

notice the zebra!