Sunday 20 March 2016

Victoria Falls - Day 3


Today we decided we would go and explore the city.  Patience had told us that you could get a crossing pass into Zambia to walk over the bridge and see another view point of the falls, bungy jump or just have a beer on the other side. We opted for the view and and beer. We took the hotel shuttle to the boarder and Patience helped us obtain our walking pass.  It was very hot so we only stopped for a few minutes to watch someone get strapped into the bungy ropes and then continued to the other side.





Joyce wanted to keep her pass because we didn't have to get a stamp in our passports.  That didn't work out, but what we didn't realize was that in a few days we would be actually going into Zambia to fly out of Livingstone so we all received stamps in our passports and our wallets were a little lighter as we had to pay $50 US each just to get to the airport!





The falls were just as beautiful from the Zambia side.





In our infamous wisdom we decided we could walk back to the hotel.  Ha, next time we are talking a cab.  It was so hot and humid by the time we made it half way, we had to stop in front of a hotel and run through their sprinklers to cool off.




From there we made it to the grocery store to purchase some snacks, beer and wine as we had asked for a mini fridge for our room.  Then we hit the pool and the shade.  This time we all had sun screen on!




Most of the things to do in Victoria Falls were very touristy and in US dollars so the only one we did was a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River.  It was nice and cool by that time as there was a breeze coming off the River.  It was a great way to spend an evening, however the animal sightings were limited to a crocodile and some hippos and my sunset pictures did not turn out.

The next couple of days we relaxed by the pool as we seemed to be the only ones using it.  Not a bad thing to do after an exciting 3 weeks of vacation.

Our trip home was very, very, very, long!  We started with a road trip across the boarder into Zambia to fly out of Livingstone.  When we originally booked the tour  we were supposed to be staying in Livingstone.  Prior to departure G. Adventures changed this portion of the tour to Victoria Falls.  What I didn't realize was that Victoria Falls is in Zimbabwe and Livingstone is in Zambia.  Our return flights were booked out of Livingstone and I didn't catch this.  These two locations are only about 30km apart, however, there is a boarder in between.  So two hours later we arrived at the airport to start our flights home.  42 hours later we arrived back in Kelowna.  Good thing our airlines served good wine and baileys for your coffee.  Note to self, book flights earlier to avoid this!


I have to say this was the best trip ever!  We experienced so many amazing things and we did it with our best friends.  If you ever get a chance to do this, GO!  I highly recommend G Adventures, they kept us safe and provided us with wonderful memories.



Cheers until next time.








Saturday 19 March 2016

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe



We arrived in Vic Falls around 3pm and were met by Patience and Timby. We made a quick stop at the hotel and then we're off to the falls for our guided tour. The Falls were spectacular!  The Zambezi river simply falls into a gigantic gorge or what appears to be a huge crack in the earth. The official name is Mosi-oa-Tunya or smoke that thunders.

They are 355 ft in height and as the water crashes to the bottom large amounts of spray rise up well into the air creating what was originally thought to be smoke. It was very cool and because we were there in the late afternoon there were beautiful rainbows in the spray.   There were 14 view points to take in this amazing natural wonder.



After we toured the falls the girls took us to a local food market but there was really nothing we could purchase but they walked us through and explained what the various bins contained. During one conversation they told us the names of a particular food but none of us really caught what is was. So Joyce started to ask a few questions and one of the answers was “ we harvest them twice a year when they climb down the tree”. Once we comprehended what had been said we asked again what it was  and it turned out to be a type of worm they dried and either ate that way or fried as a side dish. By the time we had determined what exactly it was Corrine had put one in her mouth. When we told her what she was eating she freaked and spit it out grabbed Sherry’s Coke to rinse her mouth out!  It was quite entertaining as this was not the first time she wasn't paying attention.


After the market we went to a home of a local woman named Fatter.  Fatter toured us around her small garden and explained what the plants were, she then demonstrated how to grind maize into samp by hand with a cylinder type container and a rounded pole. After we all tried I was glad I had a food processor at home. It was quite a difficult process. After this we went into her very basic kitchen and we pealed pumpkin leaves we would be having for dinner. Then we went into the living room where a table had been set for all of us. We washed our hands in a bowl by pouring water from a pitcher over our hands.
Our first course was samp and beans. There was a chili sauce to add to it but Fatter warned us not to use too much as it was very spicy and hot. Joyce was first to try and she also warned us so I only took a very very small amount it was very flavorful but HOT.  Our second course was chicken in a sauce, beef stew, very tiny whole fish smaller than a minnow, the worms that had been fried, pumpkin leaves cooked and mixed with peanut butter and kale. Fatter explained that these were types of food they would eat, but they would not have them all at the same time. It had been a very long day so after dinner we went back to the resort. It was an eye opening experience that made us appreciate being Canadian and very lucky to have all that we do.


The next day was a rest/pool day so we decided to just hang by the pool. It was so hot we stayed in the shade, however, the shade we were under did not reflect the UV rays so those of us that did not use sunscreen burnt like lobsters.  We left the resort at around 5 to explore and find somewhere to have dinner. It was still smoking hot so we didn't go to far, but ended up in another resort having a cocktail with our feet in the pool until the restaurant opened. We had a great meal trying, crocodile, ostrich, and kudu Wellington .

Safari day 2



Today we are moving from Kruger National Park to Karongwe Private Game Reserve. On are way we visited a Planeterra sponsored children's day school. The children were ages 18 months to 4 ½.



They were learning their alphabet, days of the week,numbers, months of the year, family members etc in English as well as in their native language. It was a very basic building but through G Adventures help they had running water, flush toilets and cooking facilities.



 The children are fed breakfast, lunch and snacks. While we were there they came outside to play with us and have their morning snack of bread and tea. We played soccer, and pushed them on the swings.






We arrived at Karongwe which was a 9000 hectare game reserve with 4-5 guest lodges. Our lodge was had 24 raised tent units which were very luxurious and spacious each spaced out along a pathway. The main reception and restaurant/ bar was at the front.




My kind of tenting!







Our first game drive was at 4pm after high tea. While we were here we were assigned a team to look after us. Gilbert was our guide and driver and Johannes was our shangaan tracker.  The vehicle was an open air land rover 4x4 with great suspension. Each row was raised so every seat had a great view. The back row was the highest but was also the bumpiest, kind of like a fair ride. Marcy was a little nervous so we put them in the middle of the truck and we took the back row taking turns sitting with the sisters in the front. We were told to stay seated at all times as then the animals saw the vehicle as one large mass and were comfortable with that. If you stood up it broke the mass and they could attack. Everyone had their bums glued to the seat.  Bill decided to wear his buff, rather than a hat.  Marcy took an Instagram picture with a caption "Safari bound"!


On our first ride we were looking for the elephants. All the trucks were equipped with radios so the guides talked to one another throughout the trip. The elephants had been spotted south of the lodge so that's where we headed. We had a slight delay as the jeep had a flat tire, so we all had to get out of the vehicle which was not recommended but necessary.  Gilbert and Johannes worked quickly to change the tire and we were back on the road. The reserve has many dirt roads, none of which are marked but all of them have names. Gilbert has been working here for 16 years so knew the roads like the back of his hand, even in the dark. It was amazing.






Along the way we found giraffe, zebra, bushbuck, kudu, warthog



Then we started to see signs of a lot of elephant dung and broken trees. This was a sure sign we were getting close. A few more turns and Johannes spotted a whole herd of about 8 elephants of various sizes including a baby and a gigantic male.


We stopped the jeep about 10 feet away and watch them feed. They knock big trees over by simply leaning on them with what appeared to be very little effort. Then the younger ones maneuvered in to eat the branches and leaves.

 A couple moved out of the bush and into a clearing of dirt, then sucked up the dirt with their trunks and sprayed it all over their body. Gilbert explained that this was to help keep the flies off of them. They also sometimes roll in the mud and when it is dry they rub against a tree trunk to scrap the mud off which also takes the tics and parasites off as well. There was also a small bird that road on the backs of the Nyala that fed on the tic and parasites on their back as a well as cleaning any wounds they might have to help heal the would. The animal kingdom is an amazing thing.  The baby elephant was tired so laid down for a sleep. Most elephants sleep standing up as it is difficult for them to get up from the ground.



The largest male came over to stand guard and protect the baby while he rested. Elephants only sleep 6 hours a day sometimes just for 20 min at a time. The rest of the day they eat.










Due to the flat tire and the distance we traveled we arrived back in camp after dark.








Karongwe day 2



This morning Gilbert told us we were looking for lion. I was so excited.

We looked for a long time before one of the other vehicles found him. As we approach both guides and our tracker got out of the vehicle to confirm the sighting. Gilbert then radioed in to ask for permission to leave the road and take the vehicle into the bush closer to the lion. He was asked if the lion was static which confirmed and then was give permission to go in. My heart was pounding as we approached. He was lying down in the grass but as we approached he got up and moved away from us. The other vehicle then left us and moved over to the other side. Gilbert then re positioned the jeep and as he was backing up the lion came back toward our jeep. Joyce, Bill and I were in the back row of the vehicle so as we turned to look this 400lb lion was sauntering toward us about 10 feet away. It was so cool I could hardy believe my eyes. He stopped and lied down again. Gilbert turned the vehicle to everyone had a good view.

It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. What a majestic animal. He had a magnificent maine of various shades of gold to dark brown. We watched him for about 20 minutes until we had to leave to let other vehicles have a look. They only allow two vehicles in at a time. I had definitely lived the dream today, it was so amazing I had to pinch myself. We are so luckily to have experienced this.


After we had breakfast we went with Gilbert and Johannes on a bush walk outside the lodge fences.  This time Gilbert had a rifle just in case as we were on foot. He showed us many unusual things including a bush whose branch could be made into a toothbrush, dung beetles rolling dung into a ball for the female to lay her eggs, a bush whose leaves were soft enough to use as toilet paper, bark that could be used as dye and a knob off a tree that could be used to fill the hole a tooth left when it fell out. Marty, the dentist was a little skeptical. Then a whole herd of warthogs circled around us but were very tame. We wondered when we should get nervous, but Gilbert's gun was lowered so we decided we were safe.


The next activity was a giraffe dung spitting contest. Bill and Brian were the only willing participants.  Giraffe dung is a round ball the size of a large marble. Gilbert demonstrated and then handed a ball to Bill and Brian. They lined up popped it into their mouths and blew it out. Brian was the champion with the longest spit. The rest of us just had a good laugh.


 The next activity was termite eating. This time Gilbert had no takers. Johannes took a branch from a bush and gathered about 15 live termites. He then caught one of the larger termite very carefully as they bite, killed it by squishing its head on the branch and then popped it into his mouth. Crunch. Crunch !  He said they taste like peanut butter, which sparked Brian's interest but not quite enough for him to try one. He was still a bit skeptical. The walk took about an hour and was very interesting and entertaining.




We were all still full from breakfast so we skipped lunch and went to find the pool which was a short walk to the next resort. It was very lovely and nice and refreshing after our bush walk. After we cooled off we continued our walk to the watering hole and sat and enjoyed a bottle of wine while we watched the hippos snooze in the water. Other animals arrived to drink but we had to leave to get ready for our afternoon safari.

We headed out again in search of a cheetah . All the trucks were communicating with one another and we lucked out. They had spotted her in the southern quadrant. When we arrived there were already two jeeps viewing her so we had to wait. When it was our turn Gilbert instructed us to get out of the jeep. This was unusual as we had been told to never leave the jeep, not even stand up so we were a little leary. We were then told that this animal had been a rescue cat that they had reintroduced back into the wild so she was habituated and would allow us to view her as long as we stayed about 12 feet away. She had a collar but it was not active. They had been tracking her and she was doing very well in the wild, hunting and staying alert to the lions and leopards who were her preditors.  As we stood there she flopped over with her back towards us. She repeated this behavior 3 times as we moved to view her. We walked away from this safari a little skeptical as it appeared to be too good to be real. This had us questioning the lion siting as well. Which was kind of disappointing



We ended the day by stopping and having happy hour, safari style. Stainless steel wine goblets filled with good South African red liquid or cold beer.




Gilbert and Johannes put our a linen table cloth with snacks and happy hour was complete.








Had a great time on the ride back to camp!







The next morning we had a National Geographic representative join us for our final safari. Vincent was a cheetah specialist who was creating a data base on the cheetahs in South Africa. He was very interesting and cute!  So we took this opportunity to question him about our cheetah sighting. He assured us she was reintroduced into the wild and they had great hopes she would survive. He said she was very habituated and that’s why she allowed us to get so close and the reason she flopped over was because she knew humans were safe so there was no danger on that side so she rolled over to watch the other side for danger. We were also told not to crouch down as she would see this as a sign of weakness and we would be in danger. That is why they don't allow children or injured people to view her.  He assured us that all of the animal sittings were legitimate and they lived as any other wild animal. The only difference was they were used to the jeeps and did not see them as a threat. That made us all feel better and the excitement returned.

As we left camp this morning at 5:30 Johannes spotted a hyena.  He was wondering through the bush and looked similar to our coyotes but much larger. Nothing like the ones in the lion king movie!  He was on the move so we only caught a glimpse. Our goal this morning was to see if we could find a leopard. They do a cross grid search with the jeeps in the area of the park they believe he is in. Johannes also looks for tracks in the dirt. We got lucky again and Johannes found tracks. He believed they were from the day before as other animal tracks were over top of them, but they hoped he was still in the area.



 A little while later Gilbert spotted him and he walked across the road right in front of the jeep. But he also was on the move so we only saw him for a short time.

This morning we had time to stop for coffee and a muffin beside a watering hole. These guys are great, most outings we either stopped for coffee or beer and wine depending on the time of day. We felt safe at all times and having Vincent there with his third party knowledge from National Geographic was an added bonus.
We headed back to Joberg to Malikana Guest House where Soekie was waiting for us. This time we stayed in the upstairs suite with a lovely balcony and a double bed instead of two twins pushed together. Soekie cooked us a wonderful Sunday dinner of baked chicken and all the fixings. Too bad we were leaving in the morning as this would be a great place to relax for a few days

Kruger National Part SAFARI



We were all a little nervous but soon realized that most of the roads were paved or good dirt roads in Krueger and Piet seemed to know the park very well. I didn't really know what to expect but was soon very excited as we spotted our first waterbuck, Impala, Nyla and and Elephant. Piet told us the safaris started off slow and then the sightings  just get better and better as we go.



Everyone was really excited as we spotted animal after animal. The four of us took on the challenge of spotting and did our Canadian name proud as we were the best spotters in the van.




Piet spotted the tortoise as it was crossing the road.  Normally if the tortoises are on the move it means it is going to rain.









 Joyce spotted a rhino laying under a tree. Piet told us to look for a rock under a tree and when we stopped and put the van in reverse to go take a look it was actually a huge boulder under a tree not a rock and then it lifted its head much to our surprise. It was amazing to see as it is one of the very few that still has its horn. The rhino horn is extremely valuable on the black market and has fallen prey to poachers to the point it is danger of being extinct. To help save the rhinos from poachers they have been removing the horn safely so the poachers won't kill the animal. Very sad so finding one with their horn in tact is a treat.

  We also spotted two Sables which are very rare to find, Piet was very excited as he hadn't seen one in a while and you don't usually find two together. They were very beautiful animals. We ended our first safari on a high as we felt we had seen way more animals than we had anticipated. We headed back to the lodge for lunch and then a few hours of spare time before we headed out again with our safari guide Jose.









The second safari started off slow as it was hot and the animals were resting and hard to find.

The first animal we spotted was this magnificent giraffe.  They are huge, but very graceful with their long legs and massive thighs.  It was right beside us on the road!  


 However as the afternoon sun started to go down we heard that there was a leopard in the area. We headed out to another area in hopes of finding him. No luck at our first stop but we received another tip and took a slight detour to see what we could find.  We turned off the main road and over the drainage ditch and Jose slowed the truck. Piet then heard the monkey warning calls which could mean the leopard was near.  We came up onto the ridge and I happened to look to the left and holy shit there he was. I yelled “stop” as softly as I could and then we backed up slowly. He was crouched along a crack in the rock.

  A few seconds later a second leopard walked from behind the bush right beside my side of the truck. Freaking amazing!  They told us they were most likely brothers who had been kicked out of the den by their mother and were approximately 18 months old. Usually leopards are solitary animals but due to their age they were still together. We sat quietly and watches these two magnificent animals for about 30 minutes. Both Piet and Jose were very impressed with our find as we were the only truck there.


 It was getting dark so we had to head back.


 As we were travelling along we came over a hill and wham, there were two very large male elephants. They walked past us one on each side as we sat there as quietly as possible. Suppressing your excitement is really really hard!




The sun was now setting and we experienced a fabulous South African sun set. By the time we got back to camp it was dark and our African Safari was off to an amazing beginning. (Can't say awesome or I will have to buy beer). Apparently we say this word way to often so we are attempting to break the habit. WOW we weren't sure how we were going to beat this day, but Piet told us we would.

WEDNESDAY


Today we traveled from Joberg to our safari lodge. It took us about 5 hours to reach Graskop which is the small town we stopped at for lunch. The landscape is very similar to our Alberta prairie only they are growing Maze instead of wheat. South Africa is experiencing a drought right now so some of the crops are not doing very well and they are concerned about a food shortage as maze is their staple crop. Their other large industry is mining for gold and coal. They use coal to generate power so there are semi trucks full of coal travelling to generating stations through out this region.


 From Graskop we did a loop to see Lisben Falls, Bourke’s luck pot holes,

and God’s Window which were all beautiful view points and sightseeing stops. We then headed to Hazyview and entered Kruger National Park at the Numbi gate.





Our safari lodge was just inside the gate. This was the lodge that had tents. Marty, Carol and Marcy from the Jersey Shore N.Y. were a little worried about the tents but when we arrived they were pleasantly surprised that they were very large raised structures with heavy canvas walls with large windows and attached bathrooms with indoor and outdoor showers.















Jersey (as we nicked named them) had never experienced an outdoor shower, Joyce and I were excited to once again shower in the open air.






We all freshened up and met for dinner which was in an outdoor area and was a traditional African Braai. We had a great young fellow as our waiter who kept our glasses full of wonderful pinotage. We got to know our travel mates and then headed to our tents as we had decided to do an extra safari with Piet as our guide using our van. Our scheduled safari was not until tomorrow afternoon.