Episode 5, Part 2: Chundu Island, Zambezi River

What better place to start filming our Food Safari than on the exquisitely beautiful Chundu Island in the middle of the Zambezi River, about 20km upstream from the Victoria Falls? Thank you for making sharing this magical place with us, and for giving us such a beautiful backdrop for this episode.

Chris’ hands. Guiding and leading and teaching us all.

This was day 1 of many. Day 1 of seven solid weeks. Day 1 of ‘oh boy what have we done’ and ‘please let this work’ of many. Day 1 of ‘I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to call this my job’ and ‘thank you for another epic, beautiful, precious day in Africa’ of many. If I’d had any idea how much hard work, blood, sweat and tears lay ahead of us at this point would I have got on the next canoe and paddled away? I think not. Because for every minute of hard work there were hours of beauty all around us, endless blue skies, unforgettable sunrises and sunsets and colourful moments and memories with a bunch of people that I was ridiculously lucky to work with. And right there with us, to make it even more precious and magical, my whole family – our Sophie and Isla and my parents spent a month with us traveling all around Zimbabwe, and Rob was with us as often as he could be outside of his work commitments, and it’s a time that I’ll always treasure.

Zahir, gearing up

Assembling our bush cooking station for the very first time. In the early days it was a fairly major operation, but we soon got the hang of it

Farrell looking effortlessly cool, as he does

Louise (Exec Producer) and Chris (Director) having a pre-shoot chat.
I love the campfire smoke drifting away in the background, it gives everything an ethereal feel.

I think this was a ‘oh boy, what have we done and oh boy, please let this work’ moment

Crossing the river to Chundu Island. Gleeful is the word.

Isla and I spying on a beautiful Bush Buck nearby

And then you wake up to this, and all is right with the world.

Sophie and her friend Portia

Zambezi River Sunsets

Isla Faye

My Mum (Wendy), Dad (Andrew), Portia, Isla, Rob and Sophie

Cooking with Sophie – few things make my heart happier

Rob, watching Sophie and I cook together

This is how the menu-writing goes down

Big Anne – loaded and ready to move on from Chundu Island to the Victoria Falls and Livingstone in Zambia

Our Suzuki, conquering wild terrain

The view down the breathtaking Batoka Gorge below the Victoria Falls – as you cross the bridge from Zimbabwe into Zambia

Photo’s from ‘Sarah Graham’s Food Safari’ by Ricardo de Leça.