Back to Civilization...Briefly

Today is another travel day. We leave Zimbabwe and fly back to Johannesburg (or Jo'burg as the locals would say). After spending the night in Jo'burg, we then fly to Mozambique and stay four nights along the beach of the Indian Ocean. The island we will be staying at is very remote...so remote the only way to access it is via helicopter. So once we helicopter in, that will probably be the end of the blog until we get back. Also, we don't expect to have cell phone coverage (so, Zach, no good morning texts for a while). We should resurface again on Saturday when we take an international flight back, home sometime Sunday afternoon.

Elephant Crossing

Hippo Pod in Zimbabwe, Elephants in Zambia

This is the pod of hippos Tom spotted from the helicopter. We were able to circle them and watch for a while. Tom also spotted a large herd of elephant under a tree, but since the elephants were in another country, Zambia, we were not allowed to fly over them. The four countries (Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia) are very close together and join at the Zambezi River. Last night we watched the sunset from a boat ride down the Zambezi River near the falls. I'm sure we crossed in and out of several countries, but no one seemed to care.

Air Africa

Tom makes friends with one of the helicopter attendants and manages to get us on our own private helicopter tour. We put Tom in the front seat because after viewing Victoria Falls we will go on a mini game drive via air. I call Tom 'Spot' because he has such sharp eyes and can always spot the game before anyone else. Even most of our guides comment on his 'piercing, penetrating eyes'. We see a few giraffe, lots of elephant and plenty of hippos. Tom spots a pod of hippos on a small island and asks the pilot to take us there. It was incredible. From this perspective, you can really appreciate the majesty and vastness of it all.

Helicopter Tour of Victoria Falls

After a walking tour of the falls we take an unforgettable helicopter tour. The falls are amazing. Named by David Livingston (Dr. Livingston, I presume?) for Queen Victoria. Everyone here is so British. We drive on the left side of the road. High tea is at 3 pm every day, and high tea is serious business here.

Victoria Falls

Walking tour of Victoria Falls, known to the locals as 'Smoke and Thunder'. The mist looks like smoke or clouds rising up from below.

Put on Your Dancing Shoes

An evening of dancing with the local tribe at Chobe Chilwero. That's me in the second picture ducking underneath the gauntlet with my new-found Botswana friend. He was a little shorter than I.

Day 9, Country 3

Today was a travel day. We slept in this morning (finally) and then got ready to transport to Victoria Falls. We've been in the countries of South Africa, Botswana, and today we crossed the border into Zimbabwe. And, we are no longer staying in "camps"; although all the "camps" we've stayed at so far have been more luxurious than any hotel we've ever stayed at in the States. The last place had two showers, one inside and one outside, and the outside shower was the best!! Now we are at the Stanley and Livingstone hotel. But it doesn't really feel like a hotel...we have our own private "hut" just like the other places. The grounds are surrounded by an electric fence and the dining area overlooks a watering hole where the animals come to drink. Tomorrow we start the day early with a walking tour of Victoria Falls. Then it's a helicopter tour of the falls. We will get to see the falls from the Zambia side (even though we cross into another country, we won't have to go through customs). Then in the evening we are taking a sundowner boat cruise along the falls.

Jesus Bird

The locals call this the Jesus bird because it walks on top of the lilly pads in search of food, aka, walking on water. There are a lot of bird enthusiasts here with their checklists of birds they have spotted. Tom and I enjoy the large birds, but mostly we just call them 'squirrels' and look for game.

More Cats

On the game drive last night we find more cats. Our guide spotted five giraffes looking in the same direction...turns out they were watching a male and female lion.

Hungry Hungry Hippos

The most dangerous animal in Africa, the hippo. This is the only place in Africa where the hippo will leave the water during the day to graze. There are so many elephants-too many actually-that the hippos must eat during the day before the elephants consume all the vegetation.

Baboons

Every morning when we get back from the game drive at Chobe Chilwero the grassy area overlooking the Chobe River is usually full of one creature or another. Yesterday there were mongoose everywhere, today baboons.

Camp Selinda

Although Nxabega camp was very nice and not even close to roughing it, Selinda is definitely a step up and very luxurious. After the plane ride, we take a jeep through the bush, and then a boat ride right up to the camp. We have a huge porch that overlooks the spillway full of elephants and hippos. When wwe arrive, there is a herd of elephants playing in the water going for a swim. One of them comes ashore and takes a walk in our backyard.

Kudulicious

The kudu is an antelope found in South Africa only. We call them African camels because of the hump. They are not very attractive, but I have to admit they are delicious, especially with a red wine rosemary sauce. I had kudu for dinner at Camp Selinda.

Praying Warthogs

The warthogs, also called Pumbaa by the locals, get down on their front knees to graze on low grass. They look as if they are praying. Praying that a hungry leopard doesn't find them.

Blogging in Africa

Have iPad, will travel.

For Jessica

We thought you might like this.

Sun Downer

On the evening game drives we find a scenic spot to have a drink and watch the sunset. Africa is beautiful.

Lions in Camp Nxabega

Another photo of the male lion at the giraffe kill in Nxabega. There are two prides of lions here at Chobe Chiwalo, but only one male. We hope to see them tonight.

Near Miss at Chobe Chilwero Sanctuary

We are now at our third camp, Chobe Chilwero. Last night we went on a game drive on the Chobe River in the National Park. We saw many crocodiles and hippos. On the game drive this morning we found a leopard stalking an impala. The impala was oblivious to the leopard and almost walked right into her. Just at the last minute the leopard pounced but the impala darted and got away. Then the impala turned back towards the leopard and began hissing and spitting at it. The leopard backed away and almost looked embarrassed. The impala grew braver by the minute and began approaching the leopard all the while making loud noises at it. The leopard started up the hill in retreat. Our guide took a side road and we got to the top of the hill just in time for the leopard to cross right behind us. Tom got this great photo.

Leaving Camp Selinda

As we are leaving Camp Selinda, on the boat, we spot a hippo getting into the water. Soon after we go ashore,climb into the jeep and immediately begin tracking three female lions in the tall grass. We've traveled to Indianapolis International Airport many times, but have never had such an exciting trip to the airport!!

This is the Kasane International Airport. Dirt landing strip, but very sophisticated stairs upon departure. Then in a jeep, for a dusty ride to camp.

Tom the Co-Pilot

Tom co-pilotig one of our many transfers between camps in ever increasingly-small planes.

King of the Bush

The male lion near the zebra kill. We watched the females eat on the giraffe, drink from the spillway and then take turns napping. The male lion, however, spends most of his time hiding in the bushes. He was very shy.

Camp Selinda

On the game drive that night we find a giraffe taken down by four female and one male lion. We watch and take photos for what seems like hours. At one point, one cat walks around our jeep to the other side. I stand up to get a better view. My movement attracts the attention of the other females. One stands up and walks near me...within 10 feet. Although I am safely in the jeep, our guide, Kops, keeps whispering my name so I remain still until she passes to the other side near Tom. Breathtaking!!

Bridge to Camp Nxabega

Kux in the Jeep

Tom's View in the Canoe

Baobab Tree

A Baobab tree that has been eaten by elephants.  Our guide, Kux, wanted his picture taken by the tree while it was still standing.

Nxabega Okavango Tented Camp

We will remember Nxabega for the leopards, the elephant that provided our morning wake-up call and our guide, Kux.  We made good friends with Kux and discovered that he was quite photogenic.  He loved havig his picture taken, so we took a few photos of him and I promised to email them to him when we got back.  He wants to put them on his Facebook page.

We're Back!

Hey everyone.  We left Nxabega Camp on Tuesday.  We flew out of the Pom Pom Airport (really, only a grassy strip, we had to get there 15 minutes early in case there were any animals on the runway we needed to shoo away.  And by the way, “pom pom” means mosquito).  We then went to Selinda Camp, which was very beautiful, but no internet.  So before I move on to the Selinda Camp experience, I want to post a few pictures of Nxabega Camp.  Some of them may be boring to you, but Tom and I liked to use the blog as our scrapbook as well, so we are including some of our favorite memories. 

Pachyderm Morning Wake-Up Call

If they could only train those elephants to bring us coffee!

Elephants

A small family of elephants pass right next to us in the jeep. Later, the next morning while we are still in our cabin, Tom hears something. We go out on the deck to find an elephant walking along the path eating branches. He comes next to our cabin and stares at us as we take his picture. He is more interested in breakfast and finally then moves on. Later, we have breakfast outside as the monkeys sit within feet of us watching and waiting to see if we drop any crumbs.

Spotted Leopards

Well, Monday evening didn't go as planned at all. We left early afternoon to take a boat excursion down the Delta. We knew it was going to be a great evening when we were stopped from crossing the first bridge by a crocodile that was sunning itself in the middle of the bridge. After we passed, we were within minutes of the boat when our guide got a call on the radio that a leopard was spotted in a tree having a gazelle for a late lunch. Everyone decided that the boat would always be there but how often do we get an apportunity like this? We turn around and drive 40 minutes to the site. Although we are on the edge of the Kahalari Desert, rainy season has just passed so there are plenty of bogs and marshes (plus we are along the delta). Well, a leopard had a gazelle (already dead) up in a tree on an small island in a marshy area. There were several jeeps there already. It was hard to see the leopard (or the gazelle) for the branches, but we caught glimpses and could see the leopard's tail. Our guide moved in a little closer than the others and drove into the marsh. After watching for a while we decided to move on (but our jeep thought otherwise)...we were stuck in the marsh. After several attempts, the drive radioed another jeep and they had to pull us out with the second jeep. So we kind of got that boat ride after all. We continued the game drive. Later as the sun is about to set, we stop for a sundowner (drinks in a scenic area while watching the sun set). Then it was onto the night game drive. We drove just a few yards when our driver stopped the jeep, got out and looked at some tracks. He said it was leopard tracks and they were very fresh, within minutes. (Tom and I roll our eyes, thinking, yeah-yeah, they must teach all the guides to say this to the naive tourists). We drive just a few feet, when we spot another leopard in the branches of a tree. We are able to get very close to this one. We watch for a while until she decides to get down from the tree. Tom and I are in the back of the jeep. When the leople jumps from the branch she crosses right behind the jeep within a few feet of us, we could almost reach out and touch her (unbelievable). She scouts for a while and we follow along in the jeep for 30 minutes or so. Finally, we decided to leave her with her hunting a return to camp. It was a full day.

Delta Dawn

This morning we get up at dawn for a quick game drive before we go to the Delta. Someone has spotted a den of hyenas, so we take off. We come across two large female hyenas and their three cubs. We pull the jeep up incredibly close. The moms are full and sleepy from a late night meal, but the cubs are active fighting over a piece of animal skin. One of the cubs finally wrestles the skin away and carries it around like a security blanket. Meanwhile, the two other cubs are now curious about us. They come right next to the jeep and look up at us (even National Geographic doesn't get a photo op like this). The two cubs play around the jeep, running underneath and coming out the other side. Tom takes some great photos, but the internet connection is a little sketchy here, I'll try to upload some tonight. We go to the Delta and take a very quiet, peaceful canoe ride. We spot the Kingfish Eagle and lots of other birds but, unfortunately, no rhinos today. When we get back ashore a few elephants come to the water's edge. They keep a close eye on us as we drink our coffee and we keep a close eye on them as they enjoy the water. We're now back at the camp for rest and lunch. We head out later this afternoon for a boat excursion.

Botswana Rocks!!

Well....after 17 hours on the plane, a quick overnight stay in Johannesburg (where I enjoyed a delicious penne pasta with Impala), two more small plane rides and a 3-hour jeep excursion, we are at our first camp. On the last plane ride here (a four-seater), I spotted a giraffe and Tom saw an elephant. On a game drive into the camp we came across a few giraffe, three HUGE storks, several herds of Impala (last night they were delicious, today they were beautiful), lots of monkeys and some elephants. As we approached the camp we saw several elephants with three babies. We backed up the jeep and parked in the middle of the road. The elephants approached us and crossed right beside us, it was spectacular. I'll try to upload a picture, but I know it just can't convey how close we were. So, tomorrow morning it's a canoe trip down the delta. Oh, and why do I say "Botswana rocks"? While we were at the second airport waiting on our connection, Tom and I went upstairs to get a drink. And what did they have? TAB Cola!! I love this place!

African Safari, Part II

Hi, everyone.  Africa is calling our name again.  We leave today for Safari, part deux.  This time we are going to South Africa, arriving in Johannesburg on Saturday.  Then its six nights of safari in Botswana and Zimbabwe.  Then onto Camp Stanley & Livingstone at Victoria Falls, and finally a mini beach vacation along the Indian Ocean at Mozambique. (Zach and Dad:  I think I will be able to see Madagascar from there).   Below is a pic of where we will be staying at Benguerra Island.

Instead of starting a brand new blog, we decided to just pick up from last year's blog.  So, all the posts from last year are in the archives...feel free to browse through them.  We'll post when we can.  Be back in September!   Love, Sandy and Tom