Welcome back! Happy to hear you have "the fever"! Trip report due in 2 days...!

What all camps did you stay at?

We leave Thursday evening for Botswana/Zambia (stopping in Paris for a few days on the way over) - Glad to hear that you guys had such a great trip & that the weather was good! Hope to hear more about it before we head out.

Raelond,

Welcome to the "club"!!! I'll add to what Dennis requested.......pictures, please!!!

Hari

Welcome back and can't wait to hear all about your experiences!

I have no excuse for not starting my trip report as I am off work until September when school starts again. However, my son is getting married in less than 3 weeks so I may have to stretch this out.

We left Vancouver and had an uneventful flight on BA to London where we watched a World Cup game while we waited for our flight to Joberg. We lucked out and had an empty seat beside us on this flight. After a 2 hour wait in Joberg we got our flight to Maun and arrived at Riley's hotel about 1:00pm. We couldn't believe how great we felt. We took pills called "No Jet Lag" while in flight and they made a real difference. Once again we were able to see a World Cup game at the outside bar while enjoying the local beer. We had a great dinner at the hotel and tryed some traditional dishes. After sleeping from 8:00pm to 7:30am we were ready for our first camp. We were picked up at 10:00am and taken to Kwetsani camp. After the 30 minute flight and a 30 minute ride on a boat through narrow channels we arrived. The camp is beautiful with lots of wood and raised wood walkways. We had #6 the furthest away from the main area. It was the only one with a king-size bed. As we settled in an elephant was by our deck enjoying the vegetation. After something to eat we went on our first game drive and the first animals we come across were two lionesses and two cubs. A sight so beautiful I was moved to tears! I just couldn['t believe I was finally in Africa. As we waited in our tent to be escorted to dinner lions could be heard very close. That night we could hear the lions all around our tent (tents are raised). There was more water than normal in the concession due to the high rainfall in April. Despite all the water game viewing was excellent. The next day two male lions were fighting over a kill right in front of our camp while two females and two cubs watched. We went out in the vehicle and I couldn't believe how close we were to this amazing sight. Our guide Vundi was excellent and we did a walk that day to get as close as possible to an elephant. We set out single file and walked crouched down until we got as close as we could without the elephant knowing we were there. It was very exciting sitting in the bush watching the elephant. We spent the entire day out of camp, from 7:00am to 5:00pm, having a picnic lunch. The mornings were very cold, however sleeping wasn't a problem. We needed our thermal underwear and heavy coats and gloves on the morning game drives. I enjoy this kind of weather and putting on the heavy clothes reminded me of getting ready for a day skiing. By the time we got back to camp around 11:00 it had warmed up considerably. The next morning we were leaving our tent to go for breakfast (they didn't escort you) when we were surprised to find a elephant eating by the walkway. We weren't able to pass until a staff member came to our rescue. We did a mokoro ride to a hippo pool and drank tea in the mokoro while watching the hippos (at a safe distance of course). Kwetsani is a beautiful camp with great staff and we would go back there in a minute. Next up Duba Plains.

More! More! More! I just love reading these trip reports. I had no idea one could find so many lions at Kwetsani. I can't wait to read your report on Duba Plains!

Thanks raelond! Great start! I'll have to get some of that No Jetlag.

Hi Raelond -

On my first trip to Botswana in 2000, Vundi was a trainee guide being tutored at Jao by a masterful guide named Frank. Vundi was with us for several days and you could just tell he had a great deal of potential. He was so genuine and enthusiastic. Yours is not the first positive review I've heard of him since that time. It's great to know he has become such a wonderful guide.

Can't wait to read your Duba post. Let me guess ... you saw lion and buffalo interaction? and maybe even a kill?

Susan

Welcome back!

Don't apologise, get the report out as you can. Just be aware many people's lives are on hold and only partially complete till you've finished - so no pressure there!

I'm trying to do some things around the house, but I can't seem to think about anything else but our trip. So I will contine again. CheetahGirl, Vindi was amazing as he has such a passion for the animals. My husband seemed to really bond with him and they were constantly joking with each other. At one point Vundi said we were going to see a rare flower that grows only in Africa. He was tearing around off road going over large palms when he suddenly stopped. My husband started to stand up to see the flower when Vundi (in a loud whisper) told him to sit down. He then told us that we were there to see a leopard. Sure enough a beautiful leopard and her cub appeared. We watched them for a long time as they climbed a dead, fallen tree. They posed for us for a long time and then the mother went on a hunt. We followed and after a while had to leave. I was amazed at how many different birds there were at Kwetsani. It was very emotional leaving Kwetsani and our guide Vundi. We seemed to really make a connection with the staff there. It's amazing how that can happen in such a short time. We were told by more than one guide that there are people that go to Africa just to be able to tick it off as another destination. They take these people on a game drive and they show very little interest in the animals or anything else.

I've been on safari with those kinds of people and I just don't get it. After spending a few hours on this board, it's clear this community is populated with people for whom it has only taken one trip for Africa to touch their soul. Clearly you have joined our club! I'm headed on my eighth trip in September and I'm still as excited to go as I was the first time. The more you go, the more you appreciate it. I'm glad you noticed the birds on your first trip. They are amazing and the Jao Concession - where as you know Kwetsani is located - is jam-packed with birds. Having a good guide who is passionate about both the big and small things can really enhance the bird watching for you because he will be just as eager to show you a haededa ibis as he will be to show you a lion. And generally speaking, a good guide can make what would have been a great experience into an unforgettable experience. I'm not ashamed to admit that we've been fortunate enough to have had several guides that we loved so much that I have been brought to tears saying goodbye. It's amazing how quickly you can bond with someone over a matter of days, and that makes leaving tough.

I look forward to reading more about your adventure and seeing PIX!!

Raelond/Cheetahgirl,

That's why, i hv booked a private vehicle for my August trip to Kwando. Just want to enjoy every moment there is.

But love your trip report so far........cant wait to read more.......
and see some pictures after you catch up.......no pressure!!! hehee

Cheetah girl.....love the screen name.....

Hari

Raelond

Sounds like you had a great time, glad you saw Lion at Kwetsani, did you see Lesser Jacana? They are a very cool little bird, and that is a great spot to see them.

Thanks raelond, great reading so far but don't stop. Kwetsani sounds like a great place....I'm glad I've got 3 nights there in November.

You are now the third person I've heard mentioning that you saw lion action from the raised walkways at Kwetsani. Are the resident leopards still around at Kwetsani? I have been told that the cubs still use the walkways to play (although they must be quite big now).

Regards

Napamatt, I checked our bird list and we did see a Lesser Jacana. I will have to check with my husband if we have a picture as he was taking all the bird shots.

Africa, we saw a leopard and her cub at Kwetsani. Cub was about 8 months old.

At our next camp Duba Plains we arrived about 2:30 and immediately went on a game drive. The bridge was out that connected the camp to where the game drives are done, so we had to go by mokoro to where the vehicles were parked. This meant the afternoon game drive was done earlier as we had to be back in camp before sunset (6:00). We saw the 2 male lions (Duba Boys) and 2 females with one cub. The males are huge. As they are now 14 years old they will soon be challenged by other males to take over their pride. The guides are concerned about how things may change at Duba depending on which males take over. The females need to open a kill up before the males can eat as the males teeth are so worn down. We had another wonderful guide at this camp, Lebo entertained us with stories. We saw a water lizard and an aardwolf which is on the endangered list (aardwolf). We had a wonderful encounter with a herd of elephants when one elephant decided to check us out and came within 10 feet of our vehicle. Rather unnerving! That day we stayed out all day and had a picnic lunch. This is a wonderful option. We saw an elephant carcus with vultures and maribou storks eating what was left of it. We then came upon 2 female lions, a cub and an elephant. The lions were walking single file with the elephant trailing closely behind. Lebo said this was most unusual. At one point the elephant got between the females and the cub. We watched as the cub sat down and waiting while the 2 lionesses, followed by the elephant continued in single file. The females then communicated with the cub and the cub made a wide berth around the elephant in order to reunite with the females. It was a very interesting interaction. We enjoyed the staff at Duba and had long conversations with James (a guide), Paul and Eva (the managers) and Tony who trains the guides in Botswana and was visiting Duba. They kept my husband updated on the World Cup scores. We had lots of laughs with them and learnt a great deal. We saw lots of buffalo, but not many lions as the lions had killed a buffalo two days before we got there and the buffalo herd became split in three. When we went looking for the lions the next day we found their tracks. They had crossed the channel (where we couldn't go) in pursuit of the buffalo herd. Two days earlier and we would have seen lots of lions. Despite this we had a wonderful time at Duba. It was once again emotional leaving this camp. Tony and Paul gave us their personal e-mails so we can keep in touch.

Thanks, Hari. After seven trips I've finally and unequivocally decided cheetahs are my favorite animal, closely followed by reticulated giraffes. So hence the screen name. (My real name is actually Susan.)

We've used private guides before, too, and that can be really great - especially if you have a wonderful guide who you don't want to share with less knowledgeable people On the other hand, we've also shared vehicles with some pretty cool people that we really enjoyed hangng out with, so it can definitely be a trade off.

Are you going anywhere besides Kwando in August? The Kwando camps seem to be a real favorite for people on these boards. What's the allure? I'm definitely interested in seeing for myself, especially since the only non-Wilderness camp I've stayed in over five Botswana trips was Chief's Camp - where, btw, we saw the most AMAZING wild dog and hyena interaction that I think I'll ever see.

After arriving at Duma Tau and having something to eat (something we seem to be doing all the time), we went back to our tent and discovered a squirrel had been chewing on our toothpaste and other plastic containers. We were amazed at how much damage he did in one hour. We had to get a metal container from the manager of the camp to put all chewable items in. This squirrel continued to reside in our tent the entire 3 days, even chewing on the label of the bottled water that sat on the night table as I slept. Despite the squirrel we had a wonderful time at Duma. Our first game drive we saw zebra, girafee, elephant and baboons along with various other animals. As we were driving by a small channel of water out of the bush 4 wild dogs appeared chasing an impala. We stopped the vehicle and watched the hunt continue. The dogs were so intend on the chase that they totally ignored us and ran very close to the vehicle in hot pursuit. The impala got away and the dogs ran off into the bush. It was a wonderful sight to see. On the drive back to camp after dark, we saw a leopard and a cub. It was a great introduction to Duma Tau. The next day we saw a dead lioness. Apparently two young male lions from across the channel had crossed and tryed to kill the female's cubs. The female would have tried to protect her cubs. As a result two lioness were killed. The dominate males of the pride were not around when this happened. At this time no one knew what happened to the cubs. It was very sad to see. As we continued on we found 2 cheeta lying in the sun. They were brothers and didn't seem to have a care in the world. We saw many more zebra, girafee, elephants and birds. The same day we found leopard cubs in a tree where the mother would have left them while she was out hunting. It was an amazing day and a half. We were kept awake that night with baboons above us in a tree throwing things on our tent and at one point we heard what sounded like something urinating on our deck. It seemed to go on forever. When we came out of our tent the next morning the smell was overwhelming! The next day we found the two male lions that had been away from their pride when the lioness were killed. The lions were near the channel from where the other lions had crossed. They were roaring continually, pacing back and forth and marking. This went on for a long time and was fascinating, yet sad to watch. Lions could be heard from the other side of the channel. Finally the males lay down. When we got back to camp we heard that the cubs from the dead lioness were seen with another lioness. Our guide never used the term dead, but said "the lioness that have gone to heaven". The two cubs were only one month old and the guides were worried about their chance of survival. On our last game drive at Duma Tau we went to an area that was thick with mopane trees. Before we knew it there was an elephant on the road in front of us. He was running into trees, forwards and backwards. He was making all kinds of noise and putting on quite a show. A hyena came out of the bush and the elephant started to chase after the hyena. The elephant was apparently in need of a female, which explains his strange behavior! We decided to back up and go another way. Before long there were elephants all around us. It's amazing how quiet elephants are and how hard they are to see with a lot of trees around. Every turn we took there seemed to be more elephants coming through the trees onto the road. We were relieved when we finally saw our last elephant that day. We got to the Linyanti River where it joins the Kwando River and Namibia was just across, about 30 feet from us. We watched mating hippos before going back to our camp.

Susan/cheetah girl,

Hi! Yes, i'm going to Phinda prior to my trip to Kwando. I read a lot about Phinda's cheetah conservation efforts and hence want to chk it out.

Kwando.......i am really impressed with their USP, which is game viewing!!! On my previous trip, i routinely had 8-10 hour days in the jeep. This i have rarely done at camps of other companies. I do like Wilderness also, but, somehow Kwando is special to me.....their camp management is awesome too.

Sorry, Raelond didnt mean to hijack your thread, but......has been great reading..

Hari

Raelond,

You certainly had leopard cub luck at several points on the trip. That is really amazing. So you had toothpaste damage too. I experienced it once and figured it was a little mouse. But you apparently caught the culprit.

I hope the orphan cubs at Duma Tau can remain with the new lioness.

Another post mentioned that the owner of Duba Plains had his home at Duba burn down. Do you have any information on that? Also any new information on lion cubs being killed by a pride member at Duba?

Thanks and welcome back!

Lynn,

Welcome back!!! How were the pandas?

Hari

The final segment of my trip report:

We left Botswana and flew to Livingstone flying over the falls. It was an awesome sight. Arriving at the River Club we were looking forward to 2 days of not having to get up early. The River Club is a beautiful property with our individual bungalow overlooking the Zambezi River. The entire river side of the bungalows are open, with no walls. It is totally private with bedroom area, sitting area and bathroom. The private lawn area slopes to the river. Having a bath overlooking the Zambezi while the sun went down was wonderful. There was only one other couple staying at the River Club while we were there. We visited the falls with our own private guide who then took us to the museum and the market. We then visited a school and I gave the teacher of 60 grade 1 and 2's the items I had brought for the school. It was very emotional seeing what little they had and how excited the children were to have us visit them.

After 2 nights at the River Club we arrived at Tena Tena in South Luangwa.
As we didn't arrive until 4:00pm we had something to eat and went on a game drive. We saw 10 lions walking along the road. We followed them for awhile and then continued on our way seeing porcupine, civet, genet, mongoose and others. The camp is set up each May and dismantled every November because of the floods. As a result it was the most rustic camp we visited. A hippo was grazing near our tent during the night. We spend two nights here seeing more lions and a leopard. Our next camp Nsefu turned out to be one of our favorite camps. The setting is beautiful, overlooking a wide bend in the Luangwa River, home to a great number of hippos. We saw fish eagles, yellow-billed storks, maribou storks and pelicans feeding at a stream that was almost dry. It was fascinating watching the interaction between these birds, especially watching the fish eagle stealing fish from other birds. The staff was outstanding at this camp. Puku graze right in camp and a lion and a hyaena walked through camp one evening while we were having drinks. There was only one other couple for 2 of the 3 days we were there and we had our own vehicle on most of the game drives. We went to a huge stork colony where there were about 1000 storks nesting in 6 large trees The noise was very loud as the young cried for their mothers to bring food to them. Fish eagles and maribou storks were waiting to steal food whenever they could. We spent an entire day out in the bush doing a walk for part of the day and having a picnic lunch. We saw lots of giraffe, kudo, puku and buffalo. We were very lucky to see two leopards mating. On our final full day we finally saw zebra here. We also encounted a large herd of elephants that decided to mock charge us This was a little scary. Our last morning we visited a village and ate a tradional meal with some villagers. We then visited a school and once again we donated some school supplies, books and a soccer ball to the school. Our trip was sadly coming to an end. We spent that night in Lusaka at the Intercontintenal Hotel. It was a lovely hotel. We then flew to London and spent a night in Windsor staying at another great hotel called The Castle. Now to plan our next trip!

Wonderful report, Raelond. I enjoyed every line.

Enjoyed your report. You are not the first one who thought Africa would be a once in a lifetime experience. Did you travel with the soccer ball deflated? Wondering how you fit all the school supplies in the severly restricted luggage allowance?

Fabulous report and what fantastic sightings you experienced!!!

atravelynn,
I have no information about lion cubs being killed at Duba Plains. Paul, the manager of Duba had his house burn down the week before we got there. He told us that he had been entertaining a woman and he gave her his bed upstairs and he was going to sleep on the sofa, when she told him she was cold. While being the gallant gentleman that he is, he went upstairs to keep her warm. He forgot to blow out the candle on the table and in the middle of the night they woke up to find the table engulfed in flames. They just managed to get out. Paul lost everything in the fire.

Kavey and panecott - thanks for the kind words.

clematis1

We took a deflated ball and a small pump along with small soccer balls that had Canadian flags on them. We gave the large balls to the schools and we gave the small ones to our guides or staff who kept my husband updated with the World Cup scores. We told a duffel bag which contained mostly the school supplies and balls and only a few of our things. We put all our clothes in bag we told on the plane and our camera equipment and meds in a backback which we also took on the plane. We dressed in our fleece and carried our jackets.

Raelond,

Great trip report!!!

Greetings,

Johan

Raelond,

Thanks again for detailed report and glad you had such a good time. I am sorry to learn the background of the house fire.

Raelond,

I just stumbled across your trip report, wonderful!...thank you. What were your trip dates? Did you post photos?

Thanks Carla. We left June 16th and returned July 7th. It was a wonderful time of year to be in Botswana and Zambia. We saved some money in Botswana by going before June 30th when the rates went up and we had wonderful sightings, including wild dog.

Forget to say that I didn't post my photos.

Hello Raelond,

Great trip report - thanks for adding it to the index! Sounds like Vindi was a spectacular guide, which always raises a trip to a new level.

Cheers,
Julian

Here's a question for you that I thought you might see if I put it in this thread.

You mentioned Eva and Paul were managers at Duba Plains. I met a woman named Eva at Little Vumbura who was a manager.

Was Eva very blonde, petite, and a cute young woman? I think she said she had been at Duba Plains, but maybe I'm imagining things. Just wondering.

Raelond

We must have missed you by a couple of days at Duma Tau. We too had the experience of looking in one direction to suddenly see Impala being chased by dogs in the other. That Squirrel took out a tube of Abreva, so shouldn't be having any problems with cold sores. She also chewed our space bags, which are handy for large coats, they stop your luggage being too bulky, but only when the air can be squeezed out.

atravelynn, the blonde woman you mention sounds just like Eva. I wonder what happened to Paul, the other manager.

napamatt, perhaps we had the same tent as no one else mentioned anything about a plastic eating squirrel. The woman in the tent next to us felt something crawl on her during the night and discovered it was a mouse in her bed. She spent the rest of the night in a chair. A squirrel I can handle, but a mouse crawling on me while I slept would have sent me over the edge!

Now I love critters and feel privileged to have bats roosting in my tent way up high, though I would not be happy with bat droppings falling on me as one Fodorite experienced. I love the little lizards that share my accommodations and once I even sought out a tent that had a shower chameleon. BUT, I would not be pleased about a mouse crawling on me. There are limits.

Paul may have been with Eva, but just not there when I stopped by. I only made a 15-minute visit to Little Vumbura because that was my original booking and my guide thought I might like to experience the boat transfer and see the place. I was upgraded, with my permission to Vumbura Plains because Little Vumbura was booked by a group.

The first night at Duma Tau, we had some little mouse with a big furry tail running up and down the dining table. DW scrunched her pant legs closed lest it venture up there in search of safety.

Leopards mating, tea with the hippos? Every day different in Africa!! Your trip sounds delightful!!! Thanks!!! Deb