3rd July - Vic Falls

Oh Joy!!!  Another day of getting up at stupid o’clock. This time up at six am!  Sarah gets so excited about these mornings.

But it was worth it.  Today started with a visit to the see some Lions.

In the last 30 years the population of African Lions has dropped by80-90%, taking them from the threatened status to Endangered. We went to a group called ALERT - African Lion Environment Research Trust, a not for profit group that raises Lions for re-introduction into certain areas.

They have a great four-stage plan. There is a game farm 600km away where they breed lions. Cubs are taken for the parents at three weeks old and are hand raised. At around six weeks they start going on walks with the handlers. These cubs will never live in the wild.

Stage Two sees their cubs raised in family groups with genetic compatibility.

As the stage One hand reared cubs get older they are used in a program called “Walk with the Lions”. This is where tourists – read Raina and Sarah- have the opportunity to walk through the bush with both three month old and seven month old cubs. As they get older they have the opportunity to chase game. After this age, they move away from the humans into stage two. 

The year old lions in stage Two are encouraged to kill – given access to small game. By the time they breed they are self-sufficient and are in massive reserves with no human intervention.

Their cubs are Stage Three.

They live a wild life (in a reserve with no human contact) – again in genetically compatible groups.

Their cubs are Stage Four – totally wild lions who are shipped off to various parts of the continent where lion numbers have fallen. They never leave Africa and do not end up in Zoo’s or worse, as pets or in circuses etc.

We spent about an hour walking through the Vic Falls National Park. First with two three month old cubs, then with two seven month olds. Walking, patting, watching and laughing. Fantastic.

After that we then went back to the lodge, got a packed lunch and headed back to town.  Back to see the Monkeys and the Baboons, and the Warthogs. The day before we saw four juvenile warthogs who had somehow lost their parents. They were so obviously lost and were trying to find their way out of the National Park fence. They would snuffle around for a while then huddle up – four noses together making a cross. They squeaked and grunted, a few got cross then the huddle broke up and they all tried again.  We watched them for 20 minutes having the same problem trying to get through a drain. Very entertaining.

As we were walking along near the boarder crossing we saw them again. Happily united with the parents and all so happy.  Good team work kids!!!

Back for another look at Victoria Falls. We caught a taxi to Zambia – well three taxis. One from town to the Zimbabwe exit point. Through immigration, then another taxi across 3 ks of no mans land to the Zambian entry point. We walked around for a while and went to the most aggressive markets ever. And it was stinking hot. In the mid 30’s.

The guys at the markets nearly attacked you and tried to keep you in their stalls, hounding you to buy from them at any cost – almost with physical force. But they were so aggressive Raina thought it was no fun. Sarah loved it though, being firm when you have to and then eventually bargaining them down. Figuring out the best bargaining tricks for each place and person. Here the trick she learnt was to offer a price first, not let them suggest one. They would offer up stupid prices, like $60 for a bracelet if you didn’t start the ball park at your level.

We hired another taxi for a few hours to take us around to see a few sights.

We saw an awesome train rattling through town. It could have been from a Depression movie it was so old. It had people travelling on open cars, cattle in others.  All the school kids walking home ran and climber on and went for a ride all whooping and cheering without the train stopping.

We went to a tourist market – but much nicer than the markets near the Falls, and bought a few things.

We then went to the local markets where there were about 100 stalls selling plushy blankets – it was winter after all. Others were selling grog. It took a while for our brains to click that there were stalls at the markets selling every kind of spirit imaginable.  There was a stall of dried fish. Many selling electrical plugs and cord and another selling used nuts and bolts. So cool.

We then bid farewell to Zambia and returned to Zimbabwe. We decided that we would try High Tea again, but again went for the lovely cocktails. Sarah was allowed to chose her own this time and had an Espresso Martini – her first decent coffee hit in three weeks.

We had so much fun on the houseboat we decided that we would do the Sunset cruise…… It was OK. Saw a few Hippos and to Crocs.   We did see a young bull Elephant on a tiny island. Poor guy. Four very large boats full of yelling tourists got really too close to the island and herded him from one end to the other. Then back again. It was very sad to watch. We so strongly believe that if you are disturbing the animal you are too close. And these guys were certainly too close.

Our boat also went over the top of a Hippo. They were showing off a few on the left had side and didn’t see the one ahead to the right. As the Hippo swam away our boat happened to turn and go directly over the poor guy. 

We do love the whale exclusion zones in Australia.

There was a lovely sunset of the giant sun into the Zambezi River. Then the giant full moon hanging low in the sky, a blood red colour. Great.

It was then back to the lodge. We only just managed to stay awake and eat a few mouthfuls of dinner. It had been a huge few days. We slept!

2nd July - Victoria Falls.


Cannot believe the day we had today!

We had to get up early today – 6.30am as we had an appointment with Sylvester. Sylvester is the resident Cheetah at Elephant Camp in Victoria Falls. 26 months ago a park ranger was out and witnessed a lion kill a Cheetah and three cubs. He went to look around and found one cub alive and hiding. The ranger, named Sylvester took the cub with him and Elephant Camp became his home and he was named Sylvester. 

Cheetahs do not rehabilitate after being hand reared so he was to become a Cheetah Ambassador, raising awareness and meeting people. He has a great pen and a PA named Ed as well as an assistant.  We were lucky enough to get a special visit up to Sylvester’s pen. They imported a lure machine (designed for grey hounds) and have set up a 150 meter track where he chases it around as well as climbing all over his ramps platform (as cheetahs like to get a high vantage and look) etc. He also gets taken out for free runs with the wild game. As he has never been taught to hunt he has no idea how to kill but likes to chase things. The animals in the area know this and they then chase him back. Apparently it is very funny to see Warthogs chasing a grown Cheetah.

We learnt so much about Cheetahs.

They are not cats. They are close to cats but are of there own genus-  Acinonyx. And is the only living member of this genus (others are long extinct).

They are very similar to sight hounds – such as greyhounds or Afghans and are superbly designed to run.

Their claws do not retract (as a cat’s does). They stay out like a dog and act as running spikes.

A cat paw has a three lobed footpad. The Cheetah has two lobes and a space (almost a U shape) that acts as brake pads for turning.

The tailbone and muscles are not round like a cat but are a flat shape allowing it to act as a flat rudder when cornering at speeds.

Their head is tiny in relation to the body size and the neck is set on a horizontal gyro allowing it to move back and forth rather then up and down thus creating a more aerodynamic running machine and steady vision so they can keep their eye on the target.

They have the fewest teeth and smallest teeth of any of the large cat and dog carnivores and cannot kill anything much bigger than a small antelope.

They are also more dog like with their trainability and have been used as trained pets for centuries.  We saw Sylvester sit on command, came to a whistle and follow other commands.

After out private viewing he then went down to meet the guests before breakfast- so we got to cuddle him more.  His purr is SO loud. Almost a growl. It was fabulous.

Of course we could see the mist billowing on the falls in the background.

After breakfast we headed off for our fist look at Victoria Falls. From above – in a Helicopter. That too was fabulous. It is hard to understand how the Falls work and why they produce so much mist. But it is a waterfall into a great big slot canyon. The water flows over the long side of the canyon and crashes into the opposite wall, having nowhere to go but up.

Spectacular. 

We then went for a wander around town. The main attraction, being mobbed by the guys selling things – carvings, Zimbabwe money, tours, bracelets and on and on. Once again Sarah was a genius with these guys. Setting her price and refusing to budge!  She often won. Raina as usual hatted it.

We then went to the Victoria Falls Hotel. The hotel in town – built in Colonial times and still run in that manner. We went for the famous high tea but thought a cocktail would be far more appropriate. Raina had a “Dr Livingstone” and forced Sarah to drink an “I Presume”.  We then sat on the deck of this very grand hotel, being served by men in white safari-esque suits, overlooking Victoria Falls, imagining a bygone era and toasting, naming our cocktails…….”Dr Livingstone”….”I presume!” Hahahahah  

We then went back to Elephant Camp for lunch and to prepare for the afternoon activities.

 First up…an Elephant Ride. We ditched our first booking that we made with our accommodations as we found a far better deal. The place we were staying at was owned by a group called “Wild Horizons”, who have a total monopoly over the town. Most activities were run by them and were very much the big production, a pure money making factory.

The other mob we found was a small outfit, we were the only customers for the session. We each got our own Elephant and went for a lovely long ride through the national park.

They picked us up in town and drove us out to the place. We met people on the houseboat who were saying that one of their elephants was tiny.  “I want a big Elephant” was Raina’s quote. Well, be careful what you wish for, because as Sarah mounted her large Elephant we both realized just how big Raina’s was  - we both nearly had a heart attack. It was close to 3 meters tall. And it dawned on us how screwed we were if the elephants desides to ignor the tiny fleas on their backs with a stick to control them with and run off. There is no way you could survive bailing out, the fall would damage you severely and then you would be stranded on the ground at the mercy of a huge and intelligent creature. Luckily though, elephants are charming and gentle creatures. Not to mention, fond of a food reward.

So off we went on our Elephant ride – accompanied by a man on foot with a huge rifle and ‘Talent’ the videographer – running along with us.

The elephants are trained with food rewards. Sarah’s girl was still fairly young (only 16, Raina’s was 32) and interpreted this to mean that she would get a reward if she did something good. She had been taught to pick up items that the guide might drop and pass them to him. So all the way along the ride she would pick up stick and pass them to the driver, expecting a treat. “Tricks for treats?” Sarah kept saying she could as well as hear the elephant say. Raina’s Elephant was like a pony that needed grass reins and kept stopping to snatch a mouthful of food. But her idea of a mouthful was often a fairly large branch or even a whole tree.  She would strip off the leaves then chew the bark off and spit out the sticks. Some branches would not snap off, so she would give it a bash with her foot and break it.

Riding an Elephant was surreal and amazing.

 We then went back into town and walked down to ‘THE’ bridge. The one that joins Zimbabwe and Zambia, is three kilometers of no-mans land and is the one the stupid people jump off with a piece of elastic tied around their feet. NO, we did not even contemplate bungy jumping!  But we did watch idiots jump. 

Instead we looked at the magnificent falls and got wet from the mist.

And Sarah threw a  glass Coke bottle off the falls!  (as in, "the gods Must be Crazy)  

Not really. Just pretended.

We then went and fed the monkeys (the food we picked up off the cround that they were already eating) until it was time to go onto the next activity. At one stage one Monkey was cross that he was not getting the food.  He jumped off the fence, ran up behind Sarah and whacked her on the butt. Very Very funny!


A Lunar Rainbow or a Moonbow.

These happen at only four places in the world and are produced by light reflecting off the surface of a very full moon. They are fairly faint and appear off white as the light is too faint to make the cone receptors in the eye react. If long exposure photos the colours will come up. 

We didn’t take the good camera as it was pouring. Well not really raining, just dumping with mist.

The Vic Falls Lunar Rainbow can only be seen in the dry season, only of three nights a month and only when the sky is perfectly clear. About 10 or 12 times a year. AND WE SAW IT!

It was a funny tour. Cost $40 each to get in. We were then told that “This is a strictly guided walk….we will all stick together”. Then off they go bolting along the wet slippery track in the total dark – through a national park in which we had watched Baboons and warthogs and buchbuck to name a few, earlier in the day. Only took 10 minutes for us to be wandering along, alone in the dark through a thick rainforest. And dressed in our big heavy raincoats. But we did eventually make it to ‘Danger Point’ – great name for this walk and saw the rainbow. It was very cool.

We then bumbled along again in the dark, back to the start and made it out!

(This is not our photo - stolen from Google!!!!)

Our pick up was there waiting for us. Back to Elephant camp, to dinner then into bed and collapse. What a day!!!!

1st July - To Victoria Falls.

The baboons were very stirred up this morning, the dominant male running about establishing order. This was because the troupe had suffered a death last night. The lions had come in the night and killed one of them. We heard the shrieking screams from our beds. Very exciting. Raina also heard an elephant fight.

Today was very much an in transit day, but we started off with a quick stop off to look at some monkeys from the boat. They are adorable. And we also saw our first decent sized croc. Like a proper sized one, which actually made Sarah happy as it confirmed that her fears and flat refusal to touch the water were warranted, there being monster crocs in the river.

As, I mentioned, today was in transit as we took the speedboat from the houseboat to the Namibian exit border, then across to the Botswanan entry, then a bus to the Botswanan exit and then to the Zimbabwe entry point. Zimbabwe immigrations is interesting in that you can not apply in advance for a visa, but need to buy it there on the spot. The queues were not short and not particular ordered. It seemed to be pushiest tour guide wins. We then let the Melbournian couple that had been on the houseboat with us jump in front of us, as they had a plane to catch and were running late.

Turns out this was an astounding act of fate, as the people in the line behind them were old friends. The people we sold Donnelly (one of Sarah’s ponies) to and who lived in Yass. Much changed with time, children grown close to eight years. But good old friends, at the Zimbabwe immigrations desk. Weird.

So we left there and headed off to Elephant Camp at Victoria Falls, where we were again going to be slumming it in a tent. We pulled up and two staff members were standing in the drive with wine glasses of iced tea waving. A hoard of men came to carry all out luggage down and we were ushered into the magnificent common area. Which technically is a tent. Though, it is mores then 50 meters long, 15 wide, stunningly furnished, complete with a bar and a deck that overlooks the watering hole at which we saw Kudu and Elephants at within the first two hours. We were liquored up and given a wonderful lunch. And ode to joy, given access to a decent internet connection. Fist time in a long time. News from home, time to update this blog a bit and for Sarah to get her uni results. (Two Distinctions and a Credit Andy, we thought you might like to know J).

And speaking of credit – “Thanks Crackers for sending Andy the blog!!!” And "Thanks" to Sarah Cox for putting up with the Shitty-Kitty!!

It was then down to our house – cannot call it a tent.  About 15 meters by 5ish.  Three room – massive bathroom, bedroom and sitting room. Plus an entry and a huge deck with a spa.  Told you we would be roughing it in tents.

Victoria Falls is basically an activity center built around the Falls.  You pretty well arrive  - hand over your credit card and bank account then go have fun! Much fun to be had in the next few days. 

But it was time for bed. Listening to "The smoke that thunders" from our beds.

30th June - On the House Boat

An African sunrise, across the Chobe National Park, greeted us through the bedroom window. As the sun rose higher the Baboons again swarmed to the beach to enjoy the morning sun. Elephants and Impala began to meander down and it all began again.

Our selected morning activity today was to go Tiger Fishing.  We know that this was one of the options, so were looking forward to it. Then someone showed us a picture of a Tiger Fish. They are the ultimate trophy fish in Africa and look like a cross between a Piranha and a Tiger.  Teeth much too big and savage then any fish has any right to have.

Raina caught one very small fish, though its teeth were vicious and best avoided. Sarah was the champion of the day, catching four. Her last a fairly decent sized one. 2Kg to be precise.

During lunch our view of Elephant Bay got entertaining. A large herd of elephants came down to drink as well as a herd of Impala. The elephants must have bigger eyes then stomachs because they seem to think that there is not enough water to go around and get rather territorial about the river (which is massive). The elephants had split into two groups at the riverbank and the Impala were making mad dashes to get to the space between the elephants to get a drink. And they really were in a bit of danger. The elephants were chasing them, swatting at them with their trunks, running at them with flapping ears and even trumpeting. Like full blown classic elephant trumpets. 

We then backed away from our mooring and headed up stream for another few hours. After our arrival it was back into the speedboat for another game drive.

This trip showed us Monkeys, more Baboons, and even a den of four Porcupines. They are so big and are very interesting. Being huge rodents they are huge pack rats and will steal whatever they can. There was a den of then at Ant’s and they would sneak up at night and steal shoes (but only one), cans, cameras etc. On a horse ride we found a wine bottle at least one kilometer from the camp- taken there by a porcupine.

A small troupe of Baboons (only about 200 in this group) had come down for the evening so we went and watched.  At times the boat was only two meters from them. Having a sundowner drink, sitting in a boat, watching Baboons – awesome.

The sun was almost gone so we started heading in – that is until we saw a herd of Elephants crossing the river.

Elephants swimming from Namibia to Botswana – without passports. It was amazing. In a neat little elephant line. Big ones up to their shoulders, small ones walking on the bottom with their snorkels up, then bobbing up and down, swimming with their trunks raised just a little to use as a snorkel still.  Once again we got really close, which was fine in deep water, but as they reached shallow water a big girl turned around a swore at us. Ears up and all!  Sarah who was sitting on the nose of the boat made a hasty retreat to a back seat.

It was magic!!!!!!!!

Back to the boat for a fun night with the six other guests on board. Raina stated that she liked ‘Youth Hostels for grown ups”.

29^th June, The House Boat - Botswana and Namibia.

This morning we elected to go for a bush walk across Impalila Island, Namibia. And suprise, surprise we were prepared for a walk! Anton, took us through his village, to the local clinic and the school and to Impalila Stadium - the soccer ground attached to the school. They are hoping to be a contender for the next World Cup. Probably not, as it was 100 x 40 meter area of flat rocky sand! As well as a few more villages. :P

We got to see how the houses were made – using crushed termite mounds and the fields they plough and grow maize in during the wet season. Most of the men work in the tourist industry and the women stay in the villages with the kids.

The climax of the walk was a 2000 year old Baobab tree. It was amazing. So massive. Sarah climbed half way up – which was extremely difficult. They had put climbing spikes into the wood but were set for a very tall man – to stop kids climbing it. And the surface of the tree was like a polished table tap – so smooth and shiny. Nothing to grip onto or get your toes into.  If you climb to the top you can see four countries. Namibai, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Maybe you would get to see them as the helicopter comes to take you to hospital. This tree was huge.

It was then back to the lodge to move to the river boat – Ichobezi Moli. Moli means ‘the wife of the chief’. Anton loaded us into the speedboat and took us up to Moli. We then said farewell to Anton, a brilliant guide.

Moli is a four bedroom houseboat. 18 meters by 8 meters. She holds a maximum of eight passengers and has six staff. She also has four speedboats - one for each room. Again all is luxury.

Down stairs were the bedrooms with ensuites. Up stairs is a huge room with lounges, the bar and a big dinning table – all enclosed in retractable glass doors. Then the deck with the spa tub and sun lounges.

We had lunch then headed off up river – in our house boat.   We  motored for a few hours seeing magnificent sights.

After lunch we opted for another game drive.

Again we saw so much. We went back to the lion’s buffalo. 48 hours after the kill was a faceless skull, a clean rib cage and a hide and the bones of one back leg. The other back leg was gone as were the lions. 

We sat in our boat, drinks in hand, watching two giraffes parade around in front of the enormous red sun as it slipped into the horizon. We both burst our singing the opening number for the lion king.

Our houseboat had run up onto a sand bar and moored for the night at a spot called ‘Elephant Bend’, a regular watering spot for many animals. As we were watching Elephants have their evening drink a troupe of Baboons came down. Not just any troupe.  A troupe of between 400 and 500. They were like ants swarming down out of the brush onto the beach. Big males got into huge fights, teenagers wrestled, babies rode on their mother backs, sitting up beautifully. We even saw the victor of one fight, grab a female by the tail, drag her over, mate her then sit and flea pick with her. At times we were only a few meters from them. We stayed until it was almost totally dark then when back to Moli.

More great food then bed. We slept with window open and all night could hear Hippos blowing, baboons screeching and at one time hear something being eaten. Raina’s bed was up against the window and she was very careful not to fall out of bed to that side.

28^th Fly to Kasane then to The Caprivi Strip, Namibia

We had a nice relaxed morning where we went to the café with free wi-fi to post a few pictures. Then remembered we had almost run out of Botswani Pula (money).  The word Pula means rain – and as rain is their most important thing, they named the money after it. 

We scratched up all of the Pula (850) we had and worked out we could afford two egg and bacon breakfasts and a coffee (as Sarah is still trying to find a decent cup). When the bill came it was about 320 pula – about $4.50.  We had food and change.

The flight to Kasane was nice and uneventful. They did give bag of BilTong as their snacks. We arrived in Kasane to be met and collected by our pick-up.  As we were driving from the airport we saw baboons walking into town and where struck by how much the area looked like the Africa we had expected.

We went to Botswana Immigration to leave the country and head over to Namibia.  The office was a tiny building where we did our paper work. It was then walking out through the wire gate, down a dirt track to a jetty and into a speedboat, to meet Anton, our guide. The boat took us about a kilometer down river where we jumped out, with our passports, and were pointed up a rocky bush track. “Up the hill and turn left at the Baobab tree.” It was about a kilometre inland and was a tiny tiny building. So we were officially in Namibia. Back to the speedboat and further down stream on the mighty Chobe River. 

The river narrowed to a thin rocky section above the rapids as we pulled into the Ichingo River Lodge. This was one of the places where we were roughing it. Sleeping in a tent. And you should have seen the tent!!!

About 4 meters by 10 meters – double skin, on a timber platform with a large front deck, full bathroom, electricity (when the generator was on) beds and wardrobes, bed lamps, etc. We ran around our room oh-ing and ahhh-ing, then went down for lunch.  The main common areas were built around the edge of the bank, and the rocky, fast flowing section just up from the rapids. The sound was fantastic. After a lovely lunch it was “what would you like to do now?” time.

We opted to go on a game drive – in a speedboat. Sensational. We went back up river into the Chobe National Park.  Boarded by the Chobe river and the massive floodplains. Three hours later our heads were nearly exploding.

Elephants – in their hundreds – marching along in their lines; standing out grazing. Some in herds of 40; some in two’s and threes.

Hippos – in the water eating; in the shallows sleeping. On the banks grazing; way back in the flat areas grazing.

Puku, Red (lychee-something-we-cant remember quite yet), Impala,

Fish Eagles catching fish, Kingfishers catching fish

Crocs, Water monitors, and more.

The day before we arrived some of the people from our lodge were out watching a group of five young lions. The lions came across a (stupid) lone Buffalo on the shore and decided to catch it. They stalked it and attacked. Of course they were not skilled enough to bring it down, being only young.  After a while with two lions hanging off each side and chewing, the 5^th lion ran away and got Mum.  Mum and a pride mates raced down and make the kill.

We went up to the kill site to see if any lions were around. We could see three that were sleeping. After a while one got up and went down to feed. The stomach of the Buffalo was ripped out and she (the lion) crawled inside, up to her ribs, and fed. We sat watching in total awe. How amazing to watch a lion feed.  The trees were covered in Vultures waiting their turn. A few brave ones came down to try their luck when the lion had had enough, but were hastily moved on.

Suddenly more lions arrived. We sat there watching nine lions feeding!!!!!!!! The male didn’t come down but the girls did. They were so magnificent. Healthy and fat looking, with shinning coats. 

And this was only Day 0ne in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia.

It was then back to the lodge of nibbles and drinks, then a three-course dinner and a few more drinks.  Ralph, the owner came to join us for dinner and entertained us well.

Sarah especially enjoyed a few drink and was then very entertaining ridding the tent (if we can call it that) of mossies by bouncing around on the bed, clapping them.

27^th June - Around Maun

After a good 12 hours in bed we finally got up and set out in search of breakfast and an internet connection. We went to a very phallic building and giggled in a mature way. The coffee still sucks in this continent. L lol.

We then headed out for a drive to the kfvbkhfebj/svbk/f/bkj in the Kalahari dessert. Sarah was driving and doing a swell job of avoiding the people, cattle, donkeys, dogs and goats on the road. Pretty much the whole way the road was lined with Horn Bill birds feeding, and Sarah dreaded the prospect of hitting one. She didn’t but we did pass one mushed up little pile with a banana shaped beak protruding from it. ZAaaaaaaazuuuuuuuu Noooooooooooooo!

Then we had to pass through a Foot and Mouth disease control area where we got stopped by police, had to get out and walk through a puddle of disinfectant (even had to do the same to any extra shoes we had) and then drive through a bigger one. Very exciting.

We passed donkey carts heading down the road, people on donkeys and on foot herding their cattle across the road. Many cows, goats and donkeys crossing the road of their own accord.

And then we hit the potholes, holes all over the road so deep you could hide a goat in them. And so many that there wasn’t really much you could do to avoid them.

The patterning on the road also did something very trippy to your eyes after a while; Sarah noticed that after she had been looking at the road for a while, when she would look at the speedo, her vision would warp. The speedo and dashboard looked like it was breathing, moving back and forward and bending. Tripy! Raina also noticed the same when she took over the driving.

We then came back and went to a café for lunch and to await our scenic flight over the Okavango Delta.

Then we flew over the OKAVANGO DELTA.  And cannot think of enough superlatives to say……………..

We saw huge herds of Elephants walking along in single file. A huge mob of Hippos in a giant pool. You could see then blowing as they surfaced, more Elephants, more hippo, many antelope, and the magnificent Delta itself!!!! The photos are not brilliant through the planes windows but the memories are magic.