Thembi's Trip Report: 2005 Bots/Zam/ZA - Better Late Than Never
Mar 5th, 2007, 10:58 PM
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<b>Wilderness Safari’s Migration Routes April 2005 – Linyanti 1 Night/2 days</b>
We set off on our next transfer, again by road – along the track known as the Sand Ridge. Before we left the Savute area we spent one last morning checking the dry Savute Channel for leopard. We found tracks of a leopard and her cub near one of the stone massifs but no sighting. The most extraordinary track found here in the dry conditions was the spoor of a hippopotamus! How it came to be so far from permanent water was a mystery to Pilot. A band of dwarf mongoose, emerged from their nest in their adopted home of a termite mound – sunning themselves in the morning light. Heading out into the Mabebe depression we saw a nocturnal springhare – Pilot told us that in Botswana seeing a nocturnal animal during the day or vice versa was an omen of bad luck to come. An hour later we experienced our first (and only) flat tyre.
Peggy Sue and Michael packed up the Savute camp whilst we were on our game drive, as this whole camp travelled with us to Linyanti. We met up with them on the road a few hours later while we were stopped having morning tea.
The Sand Ridge is a long track that runs from Savute to the Linyanti River. The sand here is very deep. The track was narrow, rutted from previous vehicles, but no compaction - so the trip was slippery in the sand, overcrowded with branches and bumpy! Those towards the front of the vehicle spent a lot of time calling out to warn the rest of us - “Bush” “Bush” “Bush” to avoid being whipped by branches and “Bump” “Bump “Bump” and “Hang On!” to brace on the seats! We joked with Pilot that if he really cared about his clients he should come down here on his days off and prune the trees back from the road!
Arriving in Linyanti, our camp just inside the western boundary of Chobe NP and was yet to be set up, so we sat on the banks of the Linyanti River enjoying a salad and sandwiches and the beautiful view. The river was wide, we could hear, but not see Hippo. The trees were the largest we had encountered in our whole journey, shady, stately trees with wide canopies. When the camp was set up – we had an afternoon rest and a cup of tea. Whilst resting in the shade a squirrel entertained us as he scampered up the trunk of a tree. He climbed in a frenetic spiral around and around as he went higher. He made his way out on a limb quite near to us and pranced up and down the length of the branch metres away. Our cameras were in the vehicle– so we missed this cute opportunity.
A catering crisis lead to our next great sighting.
This was to be the last night in the wilderness – and surely would be memorable and need toasting. But we had run out of Amarula Cream. Pilot said he had never known guests to drink the camp dry of Amarula Cream before...
Luckily, Kings Pool lodge was only a round trip of 2.5 hours so Michael went to get some from there – this is real service. He had been gone about 25 minutes when his call came over the radio – WILD DOG! They were resting on the road. We all scrambled into the landcruiser and took off at a pace –slowing just before we rounded the bend to where we knew they were. We spent an incredible hour here, the late afternoon light throwing long shadows of the dogs across the sand. They had killed and eaten sometime earlier in the afternoon and were full as googs! Mostly laying about in the shade. So full was one male that lying on his side, he lifted his hind leg and wee’d on his other leg. Across the way there was a troop of baboon getting edgy at the pack in their territory – every now and then as the baboons barked particularly loudly – the dogs would lazily raise their heads and cock their ears in their direction. We would have happily stayed there until the pack moved on, but others were getting restless. We are posting photos at the end of report.
We came across an incongruous giraffe fight beside a waterhole; a juvenile male had challenged a full grown bull. The ensuing fight, a ballet of sinuous movement and slow neck butts to the opponents chest and side was such an unequal contest. We were a good 50 metres away but could still hear the thunderous thud as their necks impacted. Guess who won?
Later – we stopped to mark our territory and came across a hippo out of the water in silhouette with the rapidly darkening sky behind. It was late by now and we were all looking forward to dinner under the Linyanti stars. In the darkness Pilot “spotlighted” as he drove, holding the light out the driver’s side window. At one stage we were surrounded by dense bush and suddenly, seemingly out of no where we were surrounded by a herd of Ele’s – this made for a very tense moment. Pilot turned off the spotlight. The herd was fore and aft, we couldn’t turn around and backtrack to avoid them. Pilot just drove steadily forward, but you could sense just how concerned he was at this moment. We pulled clear without incident.
As we were nearing camp in the full dark, the spot light picked out, on the road coming toward us, a pair of two full grown male lion. Pilot stopped the open-sided landcruiser, turned off the headlights and tracked the leader with the spotlight. Our group, usually chatting about something or other – had fallen totally silent the moment we saw these magnificent cats. The lions continued straight toward us, in single file. The leader stepped to the side of the road and walked down the passenger side of the vehicle. The lead male was looking straight up at Kaye. At this point Pilot turned off the spotlight! Because he didn’t want to flick the light around and attract attention. The lion stopped just beside the vehicle. The lights all out. You could hear the lion breathing and smell the wild male smell of him.
Jude was on the driver’s side of the landcruiser and when Pilot turned on the light – the others were ALL LEANING VERY HARD over towards her side. As the light came back on the lead male was still looking at Kaye! The lead male padded on and the following lion cruised on by to join his friend and we could all breathe again!
Full grown male lion in the dark with nothing between you and them except air and a prayer ... look the same size as Holden Barina Hatchback cars !!!!
Back at camp, 300 metres up the road, there was much excitement as these two had just walked right through camp not 20 minutes before. That night, after a change of underwear, seated at our linen clad dining table in the open air we all had slightly hunched shoulders from the thought that somewhere close by were these two massive carnivores looking for their dinner too. Thankfully there was plenty (!) of Amarula Cream to soothe our nerves. It was our last night in the bush.
The following morning we set off toward the King’s Pool airstrip to make our transfer to Kasane. On the way, we stopped at King’s Pool lodge – Pilot told us we had to shut our eyes while we were there because we hadn’t paid to stay in a lodge! He is a funny man
. We had the opportunity to have morning tea on the deck overlooking the river at KP, and visit their lovely gift shop (we suspect this was our real reason for being there!). We purchased two lovely metal sculptures of giraffe made of Fanta can strips and wire. We were a bit restrained because we were still on our 12kg luggage limit. Whilst we thought KP was a lovely setting – it was a bit too big for our preferred lodging – the location was sensational, the Boma very luxurious and the staff who served us morning tea very welcoming to us dusty (smelly!) campers.
Arriving at the KP airstrip we were gratified to find a shade shelter – the temperature was well over 30C. While we were waiting for the 15 seater several of us made our way on foot the 150 metres or so from the vehicle parked at the end of the runway over to the shade structure. After a few minutes Pilot was driving towards us and suddenly stood up in the drivers seat and yelled out a warning “Snake! Snake!”. He was pointing at the track in front of him. Thrilled, we all grabbed our cameras and rushed toward the spot where he was pointing to take a photo. Stupid newbies!
On the track was a snouted cobra, 2 metres long and thick as a mans arm. It slithered off into the grass and we didn’t see it again. Pilot was almost hyperventilating at our idiocy. He parked the vehicle under the shade structure and we were on strict instructions not to step more than three feet from the vehicle, even if we had to mark our territory. He drove us back to the end of the airstrip when the plane arrived - 150 metres. We are sure he had visions of losing one of us out there that day! (Poor Pilot – it’s a snake thing).
<b>Wildlife Precis Linyanti</b>
Squirrel, Baboon, Kudu – juvenile male and adult female, WILD DOG!, Lion, Hippo, Giraffe, Juvenile Bateleur Eagle, Snouted Cobra, Honey Guide, Elephant (in the dark).
We set off on our next transfer, again by road – along the track known as the Sand Ridge. Before we left the Savute area we spent one last morning checking the dry Savute Channel for leopard. We found tracks of a leopard and her cub near one of the stone massifs but no sighting. The most extraordinary track found here in the dry conditions was the spoor of a hippopotamus! How it came to be so far from permanent water was a mystery to Pilot. A band of dwarf mongoose, emerged from their nest in their adopted home of a termite mound – sunning themselves in the morning light. Heading out into the Mabebe depression we saw a nocturnal springhare – Pilot told us that in Botswana seeing a nocturnal animal during the day or vice versa was an omen of bad luck to come. An hour later we experienced our first (and only) flat tyre.
Peggy Sue and Michael packed up the Savute camp whilst we were on our game drive, as this whole camp travelled with us to Linyanti. We met up with them on the road a few hours later while we were stopped having morning tea.
The Sand Ridge is a long track that runs from Savute to the Linyanti River. The sand here is very deep. The track was narrow, rutted from previous vehicles, but no compaction - so the trip was slippery in the sand, overcrowded with branches and bumpy! Those towards the front of the vehicle spent a lot of time calling out to warn the rest of us - “Bush” “Bush” “Bush” to avoid being whipped by branches and “Bump” “Bump “Bump” and “Hang On!” to brace on the seats! We joked with Pilot that if he really cared about his clients he should come down here on his days off and prune the trees back from the road!
Arriving in Linyanti, our camp just inside the western boundary of Chobe NP and was yet to be set up, so we sat on the banks of the Linyanti River enjoying a salad and sandwiches and the beautiful view. The river was wide, we could hear, but not see Hippo. The trees were the largest we had encountered in our whole journey, shady, stately trees with wide canopies. When the camp was set up – we had an afternoon rest and a cup of tea. Whilst resting in the shade a squirrel entertained us as he scampered up the trunk of a tree. He climbed in a frenetic spiral around and around as he went higher. He made his way out on a limb quite near to us and pranced up and down the length of the branch metres away. Our cameras were in the vehicle– so we missed this cute opportunity.
A catering crisis lead to our next great sighting.
This was to be the last night in the wilderness – and surely would be memorable and need toasting. But we had run out of Amarula Cream. Pilot said he had never known guests to drink the camp dry of Amarula Cream before...
Luckily, Kings Pool lodge was only a round trip of 2.5 hours so Michael went to get some from there – this is real service. He had been gone about 25 minutes when his call came over the radio – WILD DOG! They were resting on the road. We all scrambled into the landcruiser and took off at a pace –slowing just before we rounded the bend to where we knew they were. We spent an incredible hour here, the late afternoon light throwing long shadows of the dogs across the sand. They had killed and eaten sometime earlier in the afternoon and were full as googs! Mostly laying about in the shade. So full was one male that lying on his side, he lifted his hind leg and wee’d on his other leg. Across the way there was a troop of baboon getting edgy at the pack in their territory – every now and then as the baboons barked particularly loudly – the dogs would lazily raise their heads and cock their ears in their direction. We would have happily stayed there until the pack moved on, but others were getting restless. We are posting photos at the end of report.
We came across an incongruous giraffe fight beside a waterhole; a juvenile male had challenged a full grown bull. The ensuing fight, a ballet of sinuous movement and slow neck butts to the opponents chest and side was such an unequal contest. We were a good 50 metres away but could still hear the thunderous thud as their necks impacted. Guess who won?
Later – we stopped to mark our territory and came across a hippo out of the water in silhouette with the rapidly darkening sky behind. It was late by now and we were all looking forward to dinner under the Linyanti stars. In the darkness Pilot “spotlighted” as he drove, holding the light out the driver’s side window. At one stage we were surrounded by dense bush and suddenly, seemingly out of no where we were surrounded by a herd of Ele’s – this made for a very tense moment. Pilot turned off the spotlight. The herd was fore and aft, we couldn’t turn around and backtrack to avoid them. Pilot just drove steadily forward, but you could sense just how concerned he was at this moment. We pulled clear without incident.
As we were nearing camp in the full dark, the spot light picked out, on the road coming toward us, a pair of two full grown male lion. Pilot stopped the open-sided landcruiser, turned off the headlights and tracked the leader with the spotlight. Our group, usually chatting about something or other – had fallen totally silent the moment we saw these magnificent cats. The lions continued straight toward us, in single file. The leader stepped to the side of the road and walked down the passenger side of the vehicle. The lead male was looking straight up at Kaye. At this point Pilot turned off the spotlight! Because he didn’t want to flick the light around and attract attention. The lion stopped just beside the vehicle. The lights all out. You could hear the lion breathing and smell the wild male smell of him.
Jude was on the driver’s side of the landcruiser and when Pilot turned on the light – the others were ALL LEANING VERY HARD over towards her side. As the light came back on the lead male was still looking at Kaye! The lead male padded on and the following lion cruised on by to join his friend and we could all breathe again!
Full grown male lion in the dark with nothing between you and them except air and a prayer ... look the same size as Holden Barina Hatchback cars !!!!
Back at camp, 300 metres up the road, there was much excitement as these two had just walked right through camp not 20 minutes before. That night, after a change of underwear, seated at our linen clad dining table in the open air we all had slightly hunched shoulders from the thought that somewhere close by were these two massive carnivores looking for their dinner too. Thankfully there was plenty (!) of Amarula Cream to soothe our nerves. It was our last night in the bush.
The following morning we set off toward the King’s Pool airstrip to make our transfer to Kasane. On the way, we stopped at King’s Pool lodge – Pilot told us we had to shut our eyes while we were there because we hadn’t paid to stay in a lodge! He is a funny man
. We had the opportunity to have morning tea on the deck overlooking the river at KP, and visit their lovely gift shop (we suspect this was our real reason for being there!). We purchased two lovely metal sculptures of giraffe made of Fanta can strips and wire. We were a bit restrained because we were still on our 12kg luggage limit. Whilst we thought KP was a lovely setting – it was a bit too big for our preferred lodging – the location was sensational, the Boma very luxurious and the staff who served us morning tea very welcoming to us dusty (smelly!) campers.Arriving at the KP airstrip we were gratified to find a shade shelter – the temperature was well over 30C. While we were waiting for the 15 seater several of us made our way on foot the 150 metres or so from the vehicle parked at the end of the runway over to the shade structure. After a few minutes Pilot was driving towards us and suddenly stood up in the drivers seat and yelled out a warning “Snake! Snake!”. He was pointing at the track in front of him. Thrilled, we all grabbed our cameras and rushed toward the spot where he was pointing to take a photo. Stupid newbies!
On the track was a snouted cobra, 2 metres long and thick as a mans arm. It slithered off into the grass and we didn’t see it again. Pilot was almost hyperventilating at our idiocy. He parked the vehicle under the shade structure and we were on strict instructions not to step more than three feet from the vehicle, even if we had to mark our territory. He drove us back to the end of the airstrip when the plane arrived - 150 metres. We are sure he had visions of losing one of us out there that day! (Poor Pilot – it’s a snake thing).<b>Wildlife Precis Linyanti</b>
Squirrel, Baboon, Kudu – juvenile male and adult female, WILD DOG!, Lion, Hippo, Giraffe, Juvenile Bateleur Eagle, Snouted Cobra, Honey Guide, Elephant (in the dark).
Mar 6th, 2007, 03:06 PM
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We are almost there. Thanks for those who have commented and been visiting. Our final installment will be posted later today - Kasane/Zambia Transfer
Livingstone (Vic Falls)
Capetown and Home.
Will include the link to to our slideshow at kodak Gallery.
Mar 6th, 2007, 03:52 PM
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Your report has prompted me to make a career change. <u>I'll</u> do the pruning of the bushes on the mobile routes. I'm making a resume right after this post. I have experience as a volunteer who removes invasive plant species in our county parks.
With the wild dogs, you saw everything! Even a 6-paw gift shop if you disobeyed Pilot and kept your eyes open.
Hearing the lions breathe and smelling them so close to the vehicle at night is a whole different experience from daytime viewing. Don't you wonder what that lion was thinking as he looked at Kaye?
With the wild dogs, you saw everything! Even a 6-paw gift shop if you disobeyed Pilot and kept your eyes open.
Hearing the lions breathe and smelling them so close to the vehicle at night is a whole different experience from daytime viewing. Don't you wonder what that lion was thinking as he looked at Kaye?
Mar 6th, 2007, 04:08 PM
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J & K,
We had a young tourist in the back row of seats nearly freak out when a big male did that to us next to a buffalo kill one night in the Selinda concession. Only reflected light from the driver's spotlight (aimed at the feeding pride ahead of the vehicle) revealed the presence of the male as he came right alongside from behind us. As Lynn says, a totally different experience from a daytime viewimg. Imagine the soiled underclothes if the lion had roared before his presence was revealed
John
We had a young tourist in the back row of seats nearly freak out when a big male did that to us next to a buffalo kill one night in the Selinda concession. Only reflected light from the driver's spotlight (aimed at the feeding pride ahead of the vehicle) revealed the presence of the male as he came right alongside from behind us. As Lynn says, a totally different experience from a daytime viewimg. Imagine the soiled underclothes if the lion had roared before his presence was revealed
John
Mar 6th, 2007, 10:45 PM
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<b>Transfer Botswana to Zambia – Lunchtime Kasane Visit – Chobe River Cruise</b>
The 45 minute flight over the vast expanse of Chobe was through a clear sky and uneventful. We were thoroughly seasoned light aircraft travellers now – so different from the green-around-the-gills of our first flight out to Baines just 10 days or so before.
Arriving at Kasane (Bortswana) airport we headed off to the Chobe River for a lunch time cruise. The environment here was riverine and lush – and the highlight was witnessing the Ele’s swimming over the 60 ft deep Chobe River channel from the Kasane shore to Sidudu Island. We had great views of the Ele’s from the water – swimming, snorkelling (!), grazing on the island and playing. The perspective from the water was something different and made the Ele’s look much bigger! We pulled up on a bank for lunch and watched a herd of impala browsing, the biggest pod of Hippo we saw during the entire trip were ensconced nearby in a reed lounge. We were in a Fish Eagle’s territory and he came to check us out as well. Crocodile sunning himself on the bank, monitor lizard – myriad water birds – cormorant, heron, ducks, geese. Swallows dipping across the water. Came to an end all too soon. We drove to the Kazungula border to cross into Zambia. This was really our first encounter with local people other than the staff at lodges and airports.
<b> Livingstone Zambia - Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) 3 Nights </b>
We waited by the side of the mighty Zambesi river for a water taxi that never came. It was the only real glitch of the entire trip (except running out of Amarula Cream!) it was trivial really. We eventually caught the public ferry over the river. There has been talk for years of building a bridge at this location but it is yet to eventuate – we believe that recent talks between the Botswanan and Zambian Governments have come closer to a commitment. The border post (our first outside of an airport) was an eye opener to us. The post was guarded with soldiers carrying AK47s. There were touts selling cheap copper bracelets, very insistent. As we waited for the bureaucrat to process our passports (in slow motion) we witnessed an interesting use for an AK47... a woman came out of the office and presented a bottle of coke to a soldier. He removed his clip from the gun and thumbed back the bullets, used the edge to open the coke and handed it back to the woman then reclipped. An hour later our whole group of 8 had been processed and we could enter Zambia. We were glad of the air-conditioned mini bus (bliss!) to take us the 60km to Natural Mystic Lodge for our last night with the Wilderness Migration Route safari and our last night with Pilot Manga... Here we were introduced to Kingsley, our local guide for this portion of the trip. Natural Mystic was about 30km up stream from the Falls.
The lodge had lovely architecture and grounds, thatched rooves, solid walls – plumbed showers with TAPS! Very comfy beds and was right on the river. The funny thing about it was the orientation of the chalets. Somehow – when they were built no one noticed that all the windows were facing the wrong way. The premier view out over the river could only be obtained through the front door of the room and a small window at standing head height above the toilet cistern – ok if you were a bloke The pool at the lodge was a welcome respite from the afternoon heat and slight humidity – our first swim since Baines. It was nice after 8 nights of Constant Company for us to be able to sit alone on the main deck overlooking the Zambezi as the sun set. We slept very well that night on a proper bed. Hippos rumbled in the river.
The next morning we assembled for our last breakfast together and group photo session. Leaving Natural Mystic to visit one of the seven natural wonders of the world at 8.30am. At the gate into the Falls we said goodbye to Pilot. This was a hard moment – most of us teared up – it was a quick and unsatisfactory farewell as he hopped out of the mini bus into a crowd of people and disappeared. We didn’t get to tell him just how much we appreciated his leadership, skill, humour, patience and enthusiasm for his beloved Country. (Danke - Bushman).
The Falls were phenomenal – for a couple of gals from the driest state in the driest continent in the world – the 190,000,000 (yes million!) litres a second that flowed over the falls that April, it was an obscene amount of water. We were lucky enough to be there one week after peak flow. The water THUNDERED over the chasm and the air was saturated with spray. The sound is as loud as a rock concert making it impossible to talk. We walked the face of the falls for over a kilometre, soaked to the skin despite having hired ponchos. Luckily though, the ponchos kept the camera gear dry, it was too wet to get the cameras out – but we were soaked! It was also interesting to see Japanese visitors with umbrellas (hired out by entrepreneurial Zambians) but completely useless with the spray coming from all directions!
Back at the car park we were excited to see our first market – this quickly turned into a bit of a trial. The salespeople were very insistent and as we had no previous experience in shopping at markets we were quickly overwhelmed by the assertiveness of the vendors. Each had a tiny shop crammed full of either carvings, fabrics, utensils or jewellery – after about an hour of being tentative and polite we took on a slightly sterner attitude and did some bargaining. We were now free of our 12 kg luggage limit . An effective routine employed by the vendors was to ply you with objects so your hands were full – it felt like if you were holding it, you had to buy it! While this was happening they would block your exit from the tiny stall. We bought more masks than we needed! Kingsley our lovely Zambian, Thomson’s guide for the day, bless his cotton socks, did come to our rescue a few times while we were bailed up in the back of a stall obviously freaked out with too many items and an insistent salesman. This is of course only our impression – others about seemed absolutely intheir element bargaining. haggling away!
We said goodbye to our camping companions at the Royal Livingstone Hotel and we went on to our new digs (on our own!) at the Zambezi Waterfront. Located just 4 km upstream from Victoria Falls, the Waterfront has a large serviced campsite, a tented village and en-suite chalets, the complex includes a restaurant, shop and the "Adventure Centre" to book activities. We dumped our bags in our room and had a late lunch and a long drink at the bar overlooking the Zambezi – it was very pleasant. We booked our activities for the following day and got an early night. Outside our room we were visited by Vervet monkeys and a monitor lizard. We had a riverfront chalet, it was reasonably comfortable.
The following morning (in clean washed, pressed clothes for the first day in over a week!) we embarked on our Helicopter flight over the Falls . Fifteen fabulous minutes – such a different perspective. It was interesting to see the great chasm from the air, like a great tear in the fabric of the earth and to view of the surrounding countryside. We got some great photos.
That evening we splurged on a ‘luxury’ sunset cruise on the paddle steamer (?) The African Princess – all you could drink, lovely canapés. It was hot in the afternoon sun but we sat right up front on the deck on cane lounge chairs served by waiters, named Charity and Gift. Smart was the captain. Now, we do like a drink but even we were a bit gob-smacked that some of our fellow passengers sat at the bar with their backs to the view and drank steadily the whole time – not even looking at the Ele’s on the bank or the spectacular sunset...
The Zambezi Waterfront is located next door to a boating club – and their Saturday night dance went loudly on into the wee hours of the morning. We would recommend if staying at the ZWF to avoid the weekends or go to the boat club dance!
<b> Cape Town, South Africa 3 Nights </b>
The 2 hour international flight from Livingstone to Jo’berg passed over some rugged country – our last glimpse of our beloved Botswana. We passed through customs once more and caught our connecting flight to Cape Town for the end of our adventure.
We stayed at La Splendida Hotel, http://www.lasplendida.co.za/ at Mouille Point beachfront, it is a lovely little boutique hotel and we would highly recommend it. Being back in a big city we turned our thoughts to home and were missing our dogs terribly. However, we were still on a safari schedule, waking up before dawn, wondering why nobody was telling us what to do... Luckily, Mouille Point is a favoured dog walking area and we startled the locals by rushing up and begging to pat their dogs! Our stay in Cape Town was originally a shopping stop – but turned into so much more.
Spent too many hours at the Victoria &Albert Waterfront – but you do when you get there at 7 am in the morning and see the staff coming in. A large shopping mall the V&A had more things than you needed but we bought them home anyway. Of all the shops – the Customs House is the most interesting –prices were high however. We purchased two lovely etched ostrich-egg lamps, a customs problem when we came back to Australia. But we still have them after paying their worth over again to have them gamma-rayed. Some of the carved furniture at Customs House was amazing. One – a bedroom suite including a king sized bed fully carved with rutting everything! Lion, Ele, Humans! A settle, wardrobe and bookshelves completed the suite – deeply carved all over with African wildlife and rural scenes. The suite wouldn’t fit in our backpacks so we had to leave it there.
Green Market square in the city is a former slave market. It is a great outdoor market now – a bit more our style and the vendors were not as aggressive as at Vic Falls. They still haggled but it was a gentler art here. We purchased gifts for friends and family but regret not buying more fabrics – will on the next trip.
On our second day our agent had booked us in to a whole day Cape of Good Hope Tour. Our guide was a retired Marine Biologist, Alex – a white South African. Alex was really knowledgeable about the environs, marine, animals and geology of the area. The coastal scenery and massive rocks were such a juxtaposition to the wilds of Botswana. It was cool, grey and stormy in the morning – but cleared up to be a nice day. In a full size coach with only 6 others we stopped at Camp Bay for a short viewing to see the tremendous breakers rolling in against a back drop of mountainous scenery. We stopped at Hout Bay – more markets – more masks! On to the Cape of Good Hope. Wild wind, crashing waves, kelp forests and bracing sea air. It was fantastic. Travelled around the point to Cape Point and had plastic sandwiches for lunch from the kiosk there (we recommend you bring your own lunch!) in the company of some very bold little rock mice and miner birds. They liked the sandwiches better than we did. Heading up to the light house we took in some breathtaking views. We opted for the funicular (return) trip – a strange contraption a bit like a cross between a tram and a cable car. The shop at the top was also quite good – did we mention the shopping yet? Only T-shirts to prove we had been there though – no more masks!
The tour resumed and we stopped in the afternoon at Boulders Beach to view the African Penguins. Boulders is a suburban beach and by all accounts the locals live with the African Penguin colony in relative harmony. The infrastructure at Boulders is really good, with a raised wooden walkway and viewing platform just a few feet above the sand, but enough to keep the many visitors off the sand or getting too close to disturb the breeding penguins.
[An Aside: On our return home a week later we saw an Animal Planet documentary called City Slickers about this penguin colony – watch it if you can, it is a great story.]
Continuing on the Cape loop we made the bus stop (in the middle of the street!) - at nearby Simonstown so Kaye and I could pay homage at the statue of Just Nuisance. We had come across the story of this wonderful Great Dane dog whilst researching our trip. If you are a dog lover for Just Nuisance’s story visit http://www.simonstown.com/tourism/nuisance/nuisance.htm
The last stop of the tour was the beautiful and dramatic Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in the shadow of Table Mountain. It is representative of the floral kingdoms of South Africa, the view from the gardens across Capt Town were spectacular but because it was so late in the afternoon we did not take any photos here. There were resident Guinea Fowl on the manicured lawns and there are rumours that Leopard still live in the foothills of the mountain which form part of the gardens.
We had dinner that night in the Italian Restaurant attached to La Splendida – we didn’t venture out into Cape town after dark, we got shy. The food and ambiance at the restaurant was fantastic – locals eat there, which is always a good sign. We took large Amarula Creams up to our room in brandy balloons every night for night caps. All up, three dinners (6x2 course meals) inc. alcohol cost us $120AUD.
Our last day in Cape Town we had half hoped to visit table mountain but it had been shrouded in cloud for our entire visit – and the high winds meant that the cable car was out of action. There was abrief moment when the ‘tablecloth lifted while we were at V&A and Kaye was able to take a great photo. We schlepped back to V&A for a last shop and also visited the wonderful Cape Town Aquarium for several hours. We bought bubble wrap and tape and scored a couple of cartons from shop owners to pack all our masks for the trip home – we left Adelaide with 23 kg’s of luggage and came back with 40!
We were ready to be home, but we didn’t want to leave. Tim, our transfer driver picked us up early morning to take us to the airport and we drove past Cape Flats township. We had not seen the township on the way in because we had arrived so late, but gosh, it was confronting. Here in Australia there are similar sights but way in the outback not nestled in the suburbs of Adelaide. The people who live in shanty towns here are in dire straights – unemployed, no hope. We understand from Tim that the townships in ZA are the residential area for working class black people, it is here that the waiters and clerks and street vendors we met in Cape Town live.
We flew to Jo’berg to make a connection with our South African Airways flight home. This time direct to Perth with a connector to Adelaide. Jo’berg airport was a great airport – nicer than any here in Australia. It has smoking lounges for a start and you can get a decent coffee.
[An Aside: Last minute shopping saw us belatedly purchase a Southern African soundscape. This has proven to be a great addition to our slideshows, and in those moments of longing we put on the CD, spray ourselves with Bug-Off, pop on a khaki hat, close our eyes...]
The South African leg was 8 hours with a stiff tail wind. We still wept 4 hours into the flight. It was Kaye’s 46th birthday on the journey home somewhere over the Indian Ocean “what did you get for your birthday Kaye?”... “A trip to Africa”
We did not get any sleep. Tired irritable and already suffering Lack-of-Africa we stumbled into customs with four bottles of Amarula cream and a good proportion of Africa’s forests carved into masks. It took an hour and a half to process through customs, having to remove all that bubble wrap and tape and re-wrap.
Perth International Airport is inexplicably 13 km’s from the Domestic Terminal... Transport between the two was a1950’s school bus! Because we had been caught up in customs there was a busload of tired grumpy travellers waiting for us to board the transfer bus! The driver wrestled or 40 kgs of bags and boxes into the back of the bus. We had to stand the whole way as the bus careened around the back blocks of the airports... by the time we got to the Domestic Airport, sleepless as we were, we were almost hallucinating. The bus stopped a good 100 metres from the terminal entrance with nary a trolley in sight. As we plonked ourselves down on the Perth/Adelaide flight the conversation went like this.
K to J “ I think we should include in the price of the next safari a course in transcendental meditation or business class seats”
J to K “ I dunno – crying for hours seemed to work ok for us and it’s cheaper”.
Arriving home our good friend had turned down our beds, cooked us lamb chops on the BBQ and sat patiently listening for hours while recounted our whole trip from beginning to end, pausing only to sip Amarula Cream and cry.
End of J&K’s Trip Report
A selection of photos of our adventure are here
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...0&y=xf80nd
Cheers
The 45 minute flight over the vast expanse of Chobe was through a clear sky and uneventful. We were thoroughly seasoned light aircraft travellers now – so different from the green-around-the-gills of our first flight out to Baines just 10 days or so before.
Arriving at Kasane (Bortswana) airport we headed off to the Chobe River for a lunch time cruise. The environment here was riverine and lush – and the highlight was witnessing the Ele’s swimming over the 60 ft deep Chobe River channel from the Kasane shore to Sidudu Island. We had great views of the Ele’s from the water – swimming, snorkelling (!), grazing on the island and playing. The perspective from the water was something different and made the Ele’s look much bigger! We pulled up on a bank for lunch and watched a herd of impala browsing, the biggest pod of Hippo we saw during the entire trip were ensconced nearby in a reed lounge. We were in a Fish Eagle’s territory and he came to check us out as well. Crocodile sunning himself on the bank, monitor lizard – myriad water birds – cormorant, heron, ducks, geese. Swallows dipping across the water. Came to an end all too soon. We drove to the Kazungula border to cross into Zambia. This was really our first encounter with local people other than the staff at lodges and airports.
<b> Livingstone Zambia - Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) 3 Nights </b>
We waited by the side of the mighty Zambesi river for a water taxi that never came. It was the only real glitch of the entire trip (except running out of Amarula Cream!) it was trivial really. We eventually caught the public ferry over the river. There has been talk for years of building a bridge at this location but it is yet to eventuate – we believe that recent talks between the Botswanan and Zambian Governments have come closer to a commitment. The border post (our first outside of an airport) was an eye opener to us. The post was guarded with soldiers carrying AK47s. There were touts selling cheap copper bracelets, very insistent. As we waited for the bureaucrat to process our passports (in slow motion) we witnessed an interesting use for an AK47... a woman came out of the office and presented a bottle of coke to a soldier. He removed his clip from the gun and thumbed back the bullets, used the edge to open the coke and handed it back to the woman then reclipped. An hour later our whole group of 8 had been processed and we could enter Zambia. We were glad of the air-conditioned mini bus (bliss!) to take us the 60km to Natural Mystic Lodge for our last night with the Wilderness Migration Route safari and our last night with Pilot Manga... Here we were introduced to Kingsley, our local guide for this portion of the trip. Natural Mystic was about 30km up stream from the Falls.
The lodge had lovely architecture and grounds, thatched rooves, solid walls – plumbed showers with TAPS! Very comfy beds and was right on the river. The funny thing about it was the orientation of the chalets. Somehow – when they were built no one noticed that all the windows were facing the wrong way. The premier view out over the river could only be obtained through the front door of the room and a small window at standing head height above the toilet cistern – ok if you were a bloke
The pool at the lodge was a welcome respite from the afternoon heat and slight humidity – our first swim since Baines. It was nice after 8 nights of Constant Company for us to be able to sit alone on the main deck overlooking the Zambezi as the sun set. We slept very well that night on a proper bed. Hippos rumbled in the river.The next morning we assembled for our last breakfast together and group photo session. Leaving Natural Mystic to visit one of the seven natural wonders of the world at 8.30am. At the gate into the Falls we said goodbye to Pilot. This was a hard moment – most of us teared up – it was a quick and unsatisfactory farewell as he hopped out of the mini bus into a crowd of people and disappeared. We didn’t get to tell him just how much we appreciated his leadership, skill, humour, patience and enthusiasm for his beloved Country. (Danke - Bushman).
The Falls were phenomenal – for a couple of gals from the driest state in the driest continent in the world – the 190,000,000 (yes million!) litres a second that flowed over the falls that April, it was an obscene amount of water. We were lucky enough to be there one week after peak flow. The water THUNDERED over the chasm and the air was saturated with spray. The sound is as loud as a rock concert making it impossible to talk. We walked the face of the falls for over a kilometre, soaked to the skin despite having hired ponchos. Luckily though, the ponchos kept the camera gear dry, it was too wet to get the cameras out – but we were soaked! It was also interesting to see Japanese visitors with umbrellas (hired out by entrepreneurial Zambians) but completely useless with the spray coming from all directions!
Back at the car park we were excited to see our first market – this quickly turned into a bit of a trial. The salespeople were very insistent and as we had no previous experience in shopping at markets we were quickly overwhelmed by the assertiveness of the vendors. Each had a tiny shop crammed full of either carvings, fabrics, utensils or jewellery – after about an hour of being tentative and polite we took on a slightly sterner attitude and did some bargaining. We were now free of our 12 kg luggage limit . An effective routine employed by the vendors was to ply you with objects so your hands were full – it felt like if you were holding it, you had to buy it! While this was happening they would block your exit from the tiny stall. We bought more masks than we needed! Kingsley our lovely Zambian, Thomson’s guide for the day, bless his cotton socks, did come to our rescue a few times while we were bailed up in the back of a stall obviously freaked out with too many items and an insistent salesman. This is of course only our impression – others about seemed absolutely intheir element bargaining. haggling away!
We said goodbye to our camping companions at the Royal Livingstone Hotel and we went on to our new digs (on our own!) at the Zambezi Waterfront. Located just 4 km upstream from Victoria Falls, the Waterfront has a large serviced campsite, a tented village and en-suite chalets, the complex includes a restaurant, shop and the "Adventure Centre" to book activities. We dumped our bags in our room and had a late lunch and a long drink at the bar overlooking the Zambezi – it was very pleasant. We booked our activities for the following day and got an early night. Outside our room we were visited by Vervet monkeys and a monitor lizard. We had a riverfront chalet, it was reasonably comfortable.
The following morning (in clean washed, pressed clothes for the first day in over a week!) we embarked on our Helicopter flight over the Falls . Fifteen fabulous minutes – such a different perspective. It was interesting to see the great chasm from the air, like a great tear in the fabric of the earth and to view of the surrounding countryside. We got some great photos.
That evening we splurged on a ‘luxury’ sunset cruise on the paddle steamer (?) The African Princess – all you could drink, lovely canapés. It was hot in the afternoon sun but we sat right up front on the deck on cane lounge chairs served by waiters, named Charity and Gift. Smart was the captain. Now, we do like a drink but even we were a bit gob-smacked that some of our fellow passengers sat at the bar with their backs to the view and drank steadily the whole time – not even looking at the Ele’s on the bank or the spectacular sunset...
The Zambezi Waterfront is located next door to a boating club – and their Saturday night dance went loudly on into the wee hours of the morning. We would recommend if staying at the ZWF to avoid the weekends or go to the boat club dance!
<b> Cape Town, South Africa 3 Nights </b>
The 2 hour international flight from Livingstone to Jo’berg passed over some rugged country – our last glimpse of our beloved Botswana. We passed through customs once more and caught our connecting flight to Cape Town for the end of our adventure.
We stayed at La Splendida Hotel, http://www.lasplendida.co.za/ at Mouille Point beachfront, it is a lovely little boutique hotel and we would highly recommend it. Being back in a big city we turned our thoughts to home and were missing our dogs terribly. However, we were still on a safari schedule, waking up before dawn, wondering why nobody was telling us what to do... Luckily, Mouille Point is a favoured dog walking area and we startled the locals by rushing up and begging to pat their dogs! Our stay in Cape Town was originally a shopping stop – but turned into so much more.
Spent too many hours at the Victoria &Albert Waterfront – but you do when you get there at 7 am in the morning and see the staff coming in. A large shopping mall the V&A had more things than you needed but we bought them home anyway. Of all the shops – the Customs House is the most interesting –prices were high however. We purchased two lovely etched ostrich-egg lamps, a customs problem when we came back to Australia. But we still have them after paying their worth over again to have them gamma-rayed. Some of the carved furniture at Customs House was amazing. One – a bedroom suite including a king sized bed fully carved with rutting everything! Lion, Ele, Humans! A settle, wardrobe and bookshelves completed the suite – deeply carved all over with African wildlife and rural scenes. The suite wouldn’t fit in our backpacks so we had to leave it there.
Green Market square in the city is a former slave market. It is a great outdoor market now – a bit more our style and the vendors were not as aggressive as at Vic Falls. They still haggled but it was a gentler art here. We purchased gifts for friends and family but regret not buying more fabrics – will on the next trip.
On our second day our agent had booked us in to a whole day Cape of Good Hope Tour. Our guide was a retired Marine Biologist, Alex – a white South African. Alex was really knowledgeable about the environs, marine, animals and geology of the area. The coastal scenery and massive rocks were such a juxtaposition to the wilds of Botswana. It was cool, grey and stormy in the morning – but cleared up to be a nice day. In a full size coach with only 6 others we stopped at Camp Bay for a short viewing to see the tremendous breakers rolling in against a back drop of mountainous scenery. We stopped at Hout Bay – more markets – more masks! On to the Cape of Good Hope. Wild wind, crashing waves, kelp forests and bracing sea air. It was fantastic. Travelled around the point to Cape Point and had plastic sandwiches for lunch from the kiosk there (we recommend you bring your own lunch!) in the company of some very bold little rock mice and miner birds. They liked the sandwiches better than we did. Heading up to the light house we took in some breathtaking views. We opted for the funicular (return) trip – a strange contraption a bit like a cross between a tram and a cable car. The shop at the top was also quite good – did we mention the shopping yet? Only T-shirts to prove we had been there though – no more masks!
The tour resumed and we stopped in the afternoon at Boulders Beach to view the African Penguins. Boulders is a suburban beach and by all accounts the locals live with the African Penguin colony in relative harmony. The infrastructure at Boulders is really good, with a raised wooden walkway and viewing platform just a few feet above the sand, but enough to keep the many visitors off the sand or getting too close to disturb the breeding penguins.
[An Aside: On our return home a week later we saw an Animal Planet documentary called City Slickers about this penguin colony – watch it if you can, it is a great story.]
Continuing on the Cape loop we made the bus stop (in the middle of the street!) - at nearby Simonstown so Kaye and I could pay homage at the statue of Just Nuisance. We had come across the story of this wonderful Great Dane dog whilst researching our trip. If you are a dog lover for Just Nuisance’s story visit http://www.simonstown.com/tourism/nuisance/nuisance.htm
The last stop of the tour was the beautiful and dramatic Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in the shadow of Table Mountain. It is representative of the floral kingdoms of South Africa, the view from the gardens across Capt Town were spectacular but because it was so late in the afternoon we did not take any photos here. There were resident Guinea Fowl on the manicured lawns and there are rumours that Leopard still live in the foothills of the mountain which form part of the gardens.
We had dinner that night in the Italian Restaurant attached to La Splendida – we didn’t venture out into Cape town after dark, we got shy. The food and ambiance at the restaurant was fantastic – locals eat there, which is always a good sign. We took large Amarula Creams up to our room in brandy balloons every night for night caps. All up, three dinners (6x2 course meals) inc. alcohol cost us $120AUD.
Our last day in Cape Town we had half hoped to visit table mountain but it had been shrouded in cloud for our entire visit – and the high winds meant that the cable car was out of action. There was abrief moment when the ‘tablecloth lifted while we were at V&A and Kaye was able to take a great photo. We schlepped back to V&A for a last shop and also visited the wonderful Cape Town Aquarium for several hours. We bought bubble wrap and tape and scored a couple of cartons from shop owners to pack all our masks for the trip home – we left Adelaide with 23 kg’s of luggage and came back with 40!
We were ready to be home, but we didn’t want to leave. Tim, our transfer driver picked us up early morning to take us to the airport and we drove past Cape Flats township. We had not seen the township on the way in because we had arrived so late, but gosh, it was confronting. Here in Australia there are similar sights but way in the outback not nestled in the suburbs of Adelaide. The people who live in shanty towns here are in dire straights – unemployed, no hope. We understand from Tim that the townships in ZA are the residential area for working class black people, it is here that the waiters and clerks and street vendors we met in Cape Town live.
We flew to Jo’berg to make a connection with our South African Airways flight home. This time direct to Perth with a connector to Adelaide. Jo’berg airport was a great airport – nicer than any here in Australia. It has smoking lounges for a start and you can get a decent coffee.
[An Aside: Last minute shopping saw us belatedly purchase a Southern African soundscape. This has proven to be a great addition to our slideshows, and in those moments of longing we put on the CD, spray ourselves with Bug-Off, pop on a khaki hat, close our eyes...]
The South African leg was 8 hours with a stiff tail wind. We still wept 4 hours into the flight. It was Kaye’s 46th birthday on the journey home somewhere over the Indian Ocean “what did you get for your birthday Kaye?”... “A trip to Africa”
We did not get any sleep. Tired irritable and already suffering Lack-of-Africa we stumbled into customs with four bottles of Amarula cream and a good proportion of Africa’s forests carved into masks. It took an hour and a half to process through customs, having to remove all that bubble wrap and tape and re-wrap.
Perth International Airport is inexplicably 13 km’s from the Domestic Terminal... Transport between the two was a1950’s school bus! Because we had been caught up in customs there was a busload of tired grumpy travellers waiting for us to board the transfer bus! The driver wrestled or 40 kgs of bags and boxes into the back of the bus. We had to stand the whole way as the bus careened around the back blocks of the airports... by the time we got to the Domestic Airport, sleepless as we were, we were almost hallucinating. The bus stopped a good 100 metres from the terminal entrance with nary a trolley in sight. As we plonked ourselves down on the Perth/Adelaide flight the conversation went like this.
K to J “ I think we should include in the price of the next safari a course in transcendental meditation or business class seats”
J to K “ I dunno – crying for hours seemed to work ok for us and it’s cheaper”.
Arriving home our good friend had turned down our beds, cooked us lamb chops on the BBQ and sat patiently listening for hours while recounted our whole trip from beginning to end, pausing only to sip Amarula Cream and cry.
End of J&K’s Trip Report
A selection of photos of our adventure are here
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...0&y=xf80nd
Cheers
Mar 7th, 2007, 11:40 PM
#27
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Hey Lynn - our story did go on and on! Not suprised you got tired. Please, put on a sports bra and read the rest!
We just didn't know what to leave out!
Now there's a thought - We could start a company "Wild Prunings". To keep that grass down and the bushes pruned! Sharpening the secetaurs as I type. I am multi-focussed
As to what that Lion was thinking when he looked at Kaye - probably went along the lions of (hah! a typo!) probably went along the lines of... "Mmmm,small skinny white girl" - because fat tasty Jude was out of sight on the other side of the vehicle! And for that i am REALLY grateful.
Afrigalah - that young person who expereinced Lion-Eyes in the dark is probably still in therapy!
Hari - glad you enjoyed our photos - we took over 1500 in 20 days! it was really fun pulling the "short" slideshow together - and writing up our report so long after the fact. We are amazed at the detail we remember - every moment is embedded in our pores. in real-life we can barely remember what day it is... Re-living the trip has been a great feeling too. And reminds us why we are eating beans and rice saving to go back
Pred - we have put out feelers to various publishers and secured a lucrative book deal (only kidding)
Cheers all! J & K
We just didn't know what to leave out!
Now there's a thought - We could start a company "Wild Prunings". To keep that grass down and the bushes pruned! Sharpening the secetaurs as I type. I am multi-focussed
As to what that Lion was thinking when he looked at Kaye - probably went along the lions of (hah! a typo!) probably went along the lines of... "Mmmm,small skinny white girl" - because fat tasty Jude was out of sight on the other side of the vehicle! And for that i am REALLY grateful.
Afrigalah - that young person who expereinced Lion-Eyes in the dark is probably still in therapy!
Hari - glad you enjoyed our photos - we took over 1500 in 20 days! it was really fun pulling the "short" slideshow together - and writing up our report so long after the fact. We are amazed at the detail we remember - every moment is embedded in our pores. in real-life we can barely remember what day it is... Re-living the trip has been a great feeling too. And reminds us why we are eating beans and rice saving to go back
Pred - we have put out feelers to various publishers and secured a lucrative book deal
(only kidding)Cheers all! J
& K
Mar 8th, 2007, 08:11 AM
#28
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Great report.
You had me very jealous of your birds, but I don't think your photo shows a Palm Nut Vulture, it looks more like a white-backed.
Also I can't believe a Pel's sighting without a photo
Also the crying a lot to save money is a nice touch, but not sure I'm going there.
You had me very jealous of your birds, but I don't think your photo shows a Palm Nut Vulture, it looks more like a white-backed.
Also I can't believe a Pel's sighting without a photo
Also the crying a lot to save money is a nice touch, but not sure I'm going there.
Mar 8th, 2007, 03:41 PM
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I have my sports bra on and am ready to read further. My comment on getting tired referred to the thought of a 6-hour bumpy ride, not continuing with your excellent, detailed report.
Funny you should see a springhare during the day. I’ve asked guides if they have ever seen one in daylight and the answer has always been no. So that was a really bad omen. If the result was merely a flat tire, you got off lucky.
Your midday Chobe cruise was action packed.
I’m sure your enthusiasm throughout the trip was a good indicator of how much you appreciated Pilot. Those goodbyes are always so awkward. The guides have them every several days. Of course the clients are going to be more emotional.
I bet Coca Cola would like to use that bottle opening scene you witnessed in a commercial. It’s nice to witness things like that in addition to the sights in the bush.
Nice activities at the falls. When walking around the falls on the Zambian side that you were on, did you see any wildlife? Just trying to get a feel for how the Zambian side compares to the Zimbabwe side. There were mongoose, monkeys, and antelope all over on the Zim side.
I’ll visit Just Nuisance when I go to Simonstown in 2008. I had not heard of that. Thanks for the hint and the website.
And thanks for a wonderfully written and entertaining report. Now on to the pictures. No sports bra needed! I hope you included a few of the two of you in the photo gallery.
If your next trip is over 3 times longer than this one, and this 20-day trip took two years to produce a report, I think you better start working on your next trip report right now.
In fact I can start if for you.
"We did not invest in transcendental meditation lessons or book business class seats so it was necessary to shed many tears on the ADL/SYD/JBG flights."
Funny you should see a springhare during the day. I’ve asked guides if they have ever seen one in daylight and the answer has always been no. So that was a really bad omen. If the result was merely a flat tire, you got off lucky.
Your midday Chobe cruise was action packed.
I’m sure your enthusiasm throughout the trip was a good indicator of how much you appreciated Pilot. Those goodbyes are always so awkward. The guides have them every several days. Of course the clients are going to be more emotional.
I bet Coca Cola would like to use that bottle opening scene you witnessed in a commercial. It’s nice to witness things like that in addition to the sights in the bush.
Nice activities at the falls. When walking around the falls on the Zambian side that you were on, did you see any wildlife? Just trying to get a feel for how the Zambian side compares to the Zimbabwe side. There were mongoose, monkeys, and antelope all over on the Zim side.
I’ll visit Just Nuisance when I go to Simonstown in 2008. I had not heard of that. Thanks for the hint and the website.
And thanks for a wonderfully written and entertaining report. Now on to the pictures. No sports bra needed! I hope you included a few of the two of you in the photo gallery.
If your next trip is over 3 times longer than this one, and this 20-day trip took two years to produce a report, I think you better start working on your next trip report right now.
In fact I can start if for you.
"We did not invest in transcendental meditation lessons or book business class seats so it was necessary to shed many tears on the ADL/SYD/JBG flights."
Mar 9th, 2007, 12:02 AM
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Napamatt - Thanks for the tip re: the vulture - Will get out our SASOL again and compare. As stated several times in the report we are NEWBIES - but we take our viewing and reporting seriously! There was amoment there where we mistook a juvenile kudu for a nyala - until a wiser, older Safarist pointed out our error! (Thanks John )
Lynn - Re: <b>When walking around the falls on the Zambian side that you were on, did you see any wildlife?</b>
We saw a baboon mother and baby at the gate on the way is; see pic in slidehow, she was oviously stressed. A couple of vervet monkey but other than that the only others seen were tourists, Zambians and an interesting group being filmed making an HIV/AIDS awareness musical video. For us the Falls were; after Meeting the Ele's and the Lion on Kudu sighting the third top moment of the trip. That said though, "ranking" isn't really what it is all about is it?. But really, I think that the 1.5 km walk along the face of the Falls looking up at the awesome power of the water was Nature-Unleashed - if one believed in God - then one might make a natural equation...
If I had seen an antelope or mongoose I probably would have cried (more than I already was) again (!)
)Lynn - Re: <b>When walking around the falls on the Zambian side that you were on, did you see any wildlife?</b>
We saw a baboon mother and baby at the gate on the way is; see pic in slidehow, she was oviously stressed. A couple of vervet monkey but other than that the only others seen were tourists, Zambians and an interesting group being filmed making an HIV/AIDS awareness musical video. For us the Falls were; after Meeting the Ele's and the Lion on Kudu sighting the third top moment of the trip. That said though, "ranking" isn't really what it is all about is it?. But really, I think that the 1.5 km walk along the face of the Falls looking up at the awesome power of the water was Nature-Unleashed - if one believed in God - then one might make a natural equation...
If I had seen an antelope or mongoose I probably would have cried (more than I already was) again (!)
Mar 9th, 2007, 05:59 AM
#34
Another trip report that I didn't want to end! Great writing about a great trip, Thembi.=D> Thanks for sharing all of this with us.
Do you have the next trip all planned? I'd love to hear about it!
Cindy
Do you have the next trip all planned? I'd love to hear about it!
Cindy
Mar 9th, 2007, 06:24 AM
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Thembi - I really enjoyed reading your report. The sights, smell and sounds of the bush come alive through your words.
This looks like an affordable way to experience Botswana and one that I may consider in the future.
If you were to tweak the Migration itinerary what would you change? One thing at first glance is that I notice all the stays are 1 or 2 nights. Would you have preferred to stay longer in any locations? Did you do any night drives?
Fred
This looks like an affordable way to experience Botswana and one that I may consider in the future.
If you were to tweak the Migration itinerary what would you change? One thing at first glance is that I notice all the stays are 1 or 2 nights. Would you have preferred to stay longer in any locations? Did you do any night drives?
Fred
Mar 9th, 2007, 12:44 PM
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Yeah Jude, but it's <i>only</i> seven. There are some <i>real</i> ancients on the forum
Sorry, can't help you with the eagle. I suspect it may be a juvenile, as they're the ones that usually cause confusion. You need a bird expert.
John
Sorry, can't help you with the eagle. I suspect it may be a juvenile, as they're the ones that usually cause confusion. You need a bird expert.
John
Mar 9th, 2007, 02:29 PM
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Just saw the pics. Wonderful shots. Your first groups of animals (giraffe, zebra, elephant, impala) were so perfectly posed.
Nice to see a baobab with leaves on it.
You have a fantastic variety of elephant shots, closeups, the reflection, and the one frolicking in the water.
The wild dog face in the leaves and light was wonderful.
Some excellent croc photos. That is a tough subject since they don't hang around if you get close.
The canoe on the Zambezi was very creative. Your river and falls shots were beautiful, even a double rainbow!
On to your next departure...
What did you ever decide on Damaraland with Palmwag and the other property?
Nice to see a baobab with leaves on it.
You have a fantastic variety of elephant shots, closeups, the reflection, and the one frolicking in the water.
The wild dog face in the leaves and light was wonderful.
Some excellent croc photos. That is a tough subject since they don't hang around if you get close.
The canoe on the Zambezi was very creative. Your river and falls shots were beautiful, even a double rainbow!
On to your next departure...
What did you ever decide on Damaraland with Palmwag and the other property?
Mar 9th, 2007, 08:53 PM
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Howdy Cindy, Fred Thanks for your kind words - I am really glad you enjoyed our report. We had such great fun re-living it all and have stirred up all those "ARE WE THERE YET, ARE WE THERE YET" feelings about our next trip
Cindy - Yes the trip is all planned. We posted our itinerary here in January -
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34490394
Author: Thembi Date: 01/18/2007, 07:19 pm
Since then we have met with our TA - and have tweaked the trip a bit to bring down the cost. We were not interested in reducing the amount of time (65 to 70 days) but have reconsidered some of the camps/lodges and the fly-in portion in Northern Namibia and kept the duration and basic destinations the same. As soon as we have final costings (soon!) we will book and post the final itinerary.
Lynn - We settled on Doro Nawas - http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/ca...sp?map_id=8390 - this trip - instead of Palmwag or Damaraland partly because it is now part of our self drive (all of Namibia is now self-drive) and getting to Palmwag/Dammaraland in a Camry (!) would be too challenging. Doro Nawas is a community based (WS) lodge a bit bigger then our preffered lodging but cost, on such a big trip, was a factor.
Lynn -
Thanks for your comments on our photos -We were pretty lucky with some of the group shots - As Pilot would say 'We must have paid the Zebras to pose" in such a picturesque fashion!
Earlier you talked about the farewell from our group when Pilot left in Livingstone - I guess all guides on mobiles (we were together for 9 days) just have to turn around and meet up with the next group. I concur - this trip was so amazing and life changing for us and our repect for Pilot is immense - this is all tied up in our feelings and yes! we were another group in a long (20 year) history of groups for him. But still we do like to delude ourselves that we were special
Pred - are you lurking about? Maybe you can help with the identification of the eagle photo titled "Ayres Eagle" (?)
Any Herpetologists about? - there is an unidentified Lizard photo in the Cape Point photos section of uour slideshow that our Vincent Carruthers - Wildlife of Southern Africa doesn't list. Would be really interested in knowing who she is!
Cheers All!
Cindy - Yes the trip is all planned. We posted our itinerary here in January -
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34490394
Author: Thembi Date: 01/18/2007, 07:19 pm
Since then we have met with our TA - and have tweaked the trip a bit to bring down the cost
. We were not interested in reducing the amount of time (65 to 70 days) but have reconsidered some of the camps/lodges and the fly-in portion in Northern Namibia and kept the duration and basic destinations the same. As soon as we have final costings (soon!) we will book and post the final itinerary. Lynn - We settled on Doro Nawas - http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/ca...sp?map_id=8390 - this trip - instead of Palmwag or Damaraland partly because it is now part of our self drive (all of Namibia is now self-drive) and getting to Palmwag/Dammaraland in a Camry (!) would be too challenging. Doro Nawas is a community based (WS) lodge a bit bigger then our preffered lodging but cost, on such a big trip, was a factor.
Lynn -
Thanks for your comments on our photos -We were pretty lucky with some of the group shots - As Pilot would say 'We must have paid the Zebras to pose" in such a picturesque fashion!
Earlier you talked about the farewell from our group when Pilot left in Livingstone - I guess all guides on mobiles (we were together for 9 days) just have to turn around and meet up with the next group. I concur - this trip was so amazing and life changing for us and our repect for Pilot is immense - this is all tied up in our feelings and yes! we were another group in a long (20 year) history of groups for him. But still we do like to delude ourselves that we were special
Pred - are you lurking about? Maybe you can help with the identification of the eagle photo titled "Ayres Eagle" (?)
Any Herpetologists about? - there is an unidentified Lizard photo in the Cape Point photos section of uour slideshow that our Vincent Carruthers - Wildlife of Southern Africa doesn't list. Would be really interested in knowing who she is!
Cheers All!
Mar 9th, 2007, 10:22 PM
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GreenDrake (Fred) you asked: “If you were to tweak the Migration itinerary what would you change? One thing at first glance is that I notice all the stays are 1 or 2 nights. Would you have preferred to stay longer in any locations? Did you do any night drives?
Our next trip is how we would change the first trip
It was supposed to be “The Trip of a Lifetime” and now we have turned Africa into a Lifetime trip! We really packed it into those 20 days because we didn’t know we would be going back.
The “Migration Routes” was really good value for money – with such diverse environments. It is a great introduction to Botswana. True – we were on the move every couple of days and that is why in our 2008 itinerary we have, wherever we can, made each destination at least 4 days. There are still some shorter stays. We are gals who love just to sit and watch what passes by and there wasn’t enough of that on the last trip.
Where would we have extended our time? Definitely Savute – could have spent 5 days there or more. Linyanti was also really beautiful and we only spent one night there but could easily have spent three. We would be happy campers if we could LIVE in the Delta.
Did you do any night drives? Yes on Migration route at Kwhai and Linyanti. At Kwhai (not in the Moremi NP – gates close at 6.30) only out on the concession. The night drives here were not very productive, was a hunting concession fairly recently and the animals were shy and the bushy terrain not easy to spot wildlife at night – see trip report. At Linyanti – also see trip report – Ele’s Lion Hippo at night. The most interesting night drives were at Baines in the Delta - leopard, genet, civet, springhare, hyeana, bat.
However at Savute because it is NP – we did not drive at night had to be back in camp by sunset – in camp however you could hear screaming ele’s, roaring lion, cackling hyaena and you kind of didn’t want to go out there!
Our next trip is how we would change the first trip
It was supposed to be “The Trip of a Lifetime” and now we have turned Africa into a Lifetime trip! We really packed it into those 20 days because we didn’t know we would be going back.
The “Migration Routes” was really good value for money – with such diverse environments. It is a great introduction to Botswana. True – we were on the move every couple of days and that is why in our 2008 itinerary we have, wherever we can, made each destination at least 4 days. There are still some shorter stays. We are gals who love just to sit and watch what passes by and there wasn’t enough of that on the last trip.
Where would we have extended our time? Definitely Savute – could have spent 5 days there or more. Linyanti was also really beautiful and we only spent one night there but could easily have spent three. We would be happy campers if we could LIVE in the Delta.
Did you do any night drives? Yes on Migration route at Kwhai and Linyanti. At Kwhai (not in the Moremi NP – gates close at 6.30) only out on the concession. The night drives here were not very productive, was a hunting concession fairly recently and the animals were shy and the bushy terrain not easy to spot wildlife at night – see trip report. At Linyanti – also see trip report – Ele’s Lion Hippo at night. The most interesting night drives were at Baines in the Delta - leopard, genet, civet, springhare, hyeana, bat.
However at Savute because it is NP – we did not drive at night had to be back in camp by sunset – in camp however you could hear screaming ele’s, roaring lion, cackling hyaena and you kind of didn’t want to go out there!
