Victoria Falls to Home

Victoria Falls

14th January 2014

As the majority of the family were leaving for Joburg on the Nomad truck today we got up to have one last breakfast with them and see them off on their new ride, Peter Tosh.

It was sad to see them off, once again I was surprised at how close we were and how much I like them all. (they were all the cool kids leaving on Peter Tosh)

Once they had driven off Lisa and I packed our bags and headed for our new accommodation, The Rainbow Hotel. A slightly more upmarket place with a really nice swim-up bar clean marble floors and customer service. We dumped all our crap, (which was a lot) and then headed for a real hotel restaurant, the service was impeccable and the food was great the only hiccup was the baboon. 

Whilst we were eating I saw a really large baboon enter from a side entrance walk around to the reception area and into the dining area, he then headed straight for our table. I told Lisa to cover her food and get out of the way as I did the same, it was only then that I realised I had left my tablet on the table so I grabbed my tablet and yelled at the baboon as he jumped onto the table snarling and showing his sizable fangs. It was at this moment my years of Karate, kickboxing and MMA training kicked in, I ran away like a girl...To say that being face too face with a massive baboon is scary is an understatement, (he was the size of a large rottweiler with even larger teeth) and I confess I wanted no part of him, I had my tablet and he could have what ever else he wanted. As it turned out all he wanted was the sugar sachets out of the bowl, he grabbed them and then ran off, (clearly I scared him off). About 5 minutes later the security guards swung into action with their sling shots, surprisingly enough he was gone...

Later that afternoon we went for an elephant ride, I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with this as I'm slightly conflicted about using animals for peoples entertainment. I'm glad I did it but I wouldn't do it again. The elephant was a15 year old female and it was nice to interact with her and learn abit more about them from her handler, we got some photos and got to feed her so that was nice.

15th January 2014

Today we had two activities planned a Lion walk at 6:30am and a 15 minute Helicopter flight over Victoria Falls. The walk was excellent value and I'm not feeling any mixed emotions over this activity because the lions aren't being ridden but are being used for educational reasons and then when they get to 18 months old they live a semi wild existence and their offspring get released into the wild or into private game parks.

The lions were two sisters that were 15 months old, one was slightly cranky and the other was slightly playful, but like all lions they like to walk 5 meters and then sit down for a little rest. We got to pat them, watch them play, watch them lay down and of course walk with them. Whilst it was only 45 minutes I loved every minute of my time there, turns out you can pay to volunteer there as well, but I suspect it won't be cheap.

The guides took the majority of the photos and I have to say they are pretty good.

Next was the Helicopter flight, as most of you know I love helicopters. (it reminds me of my time in the Nam) we basically did figure eights so people on both sides of the helicopter could see the falls. Its without doubt one of the best ways to see Victoria Falls, and now I'm convinced that it's the way to see Okavango Delta. You don't realise just how narrow the falls are until you see them from above, it looks like you could actually walk across the top of the falls in some places if you're game.

Later in the afternoon we walked down to the Zimbabwe and Zambian border, whilst we didn't get a stamp we did technically cross the border, the bungee jump site is right in the middle of the bridge which is where the countries meet. 

Vervet Monkey and them blue balls

During our last night in Southern Africa I ordered a Margarita but they didn't have any Tequila, (so half the drinks menu was out) so I went for a celebratory Moijto.

16th January 2014

It's all about planes today, we had packed our bags and got them weighed at the hotel, (Lisa's was 16.3Kg's, mine was 16.7Kg's) I'm blaming all the T-shirts!!! we then called our friendly taxi driver and headed for the Zimbabwean International Airport, its about the size of the average back shed but works really well. I even got a cappuccino, good times. Bad news Danny the American was there...

From there we boarded our fight into Zambia then onto Joburg, all relatively painless. We had to go through immigration where we were asked to queue in a particular line, whilst we were in that line we watched people that were behind us get served and depart immigration. That didn't make me happy and neither did the immigration officer that decided it was home time when it was our turn to get processed...Back to the lady who sent us up the garden path, at least she put us at the front of the queue this time. Picked up our bags and off to the South African Air check in counter, once we had checked in we sat in the lounge for a couple of hours.

Upon boarding we discovered we weren't sitting together, I thought this could be my lucky day, but alas Captain Cranky Pants complained and some dude swapped seats with me. Fortunately for me we swapped, because he got stuck next to some big dude who probably took up half his seat.

Australian customs is just as bad as everywhere else in case you're wondering, we queued for ages as there were only three immigration officers on duty and at least two full planes had landed and were waiting to get processed.  Eventually we made it through and I was happy to be home, how I missed my old friend....

So my thoughts on the trip are this.

Research People Research!!!
1:  If you're going to go to Africa in the wet season, don't complain when it rains...or because its hot.
2:  If you're booking a camping tour, then decide you don't like camping don't then spend the next 20 days complaining you don't like camping.
3: If you want to drink yourself into oblivion every night, find an appropriate drinking tour. Or just stay at home.
4: If you want to see animals, go on Game drives, your not likely to see them at the bar.
5: The amount you will get out of the tour is exactly what you put in.
6: The shared experience is what makes the overlanding trip.
7: I'm really glad I did the trip, I enjoyed 99.9% of it, seeing the sights, seeing the animals, meeting some really wonderful people (you know who you are)
8: Learning some really cool things about Africa, its people, the various cultures and traditions of Southern Africa.
9: I would travel with Nomad again in a heart beat.
10: Great tour guides


A few of my highlights would be, (and there are so many to choose from)

Kruger: Game drive with D (our guide), the big five before lunch, doesn't get any better.
Etosha: Watching the lion, rhino and elephants coming to the water hole at night. (Johanna you legend)
Etosha: Game drives with the Rhino Spotter (Christoph)
Sossusvlei: seeing the desert, Boesman (the guy is awesome, worth the price of admission alone)
San People bush walk
Okavango Delta
Chobe National Park game drives

But most of all, the people I got to do the tours with. From the Tour Guides (Owen & Rimson, Zenzo & Shingi) and then all the wonderful people I did the tour with, (too numerous to list) but in the words of Jeff Fenech, "loves you all".

You helped make the trip what it was  - really enjoyable and incredibly memorable. And for that I am and will be eternally grateful.

Thank you all,
Peace out, until next time.

Day 20 Victoria Falls

Day 20 Victoria Falls
Officially your tour finishes after breakfast but most people will spend the day White Water Rafting, a not-to-be-missed experience of a lifetime! Vic Falls offers many exciting alternatives such as a walk with lions or a bungee jump from the bridge that joins Zimbabwe with Zambia.
Optional Activities: Full day white water rafting, Flight over the falls, Full day low/high water river boarding, sunset cruise, bungee jump (solo), morning/afternoon lion or elephant encounter.
Meals: Breakfast

13 January 2014
Today Lisa and I were headed for the white water rafting. It was us and two of the Brisvegas six, (Mark and Millie) we got up and headed for breakfast, whilst I was eating Millie (otherwise known as princess) walked up and asked could she leave her stuff in our room as they had to check out and weren't comfortable leaving anything with reception.
"no problem" I said getting up to go and open the room for her,
"It's okay, I'll wait until Mark gets here" was Millie's reply,
"no worries" I said sitting back down,

With that Millie walked off sat at another table and had breakfast. The puzzling thing was that there were plenty of spare seats at our table, nor did she bother with any pleasantries like good morning how are you? Mark also came past and nor did he bother, I think that they seriously lack some social skills to say the least.

Another starter turned up - a Japanesse girl who was not staying at the Adventure Lodge, so we had 5 punters altogether. We got the usual sign your life away before the rafting and then it was onto the truck to the jump off site. I had jarred my right knee the day before so the walk down was a little on the painful side but I sucked it up and walked down the 4 billion steps to the bottom of the gorge.

A quick rafting lesson from Simon our guide and we were good to go, Simon suggested we take a dip before we departed so he could get himself sorted and with that we all went overboard. Everyone except me chose to gently enter the water, I chose the jumping backflip of the edge of the raft, It was perfectly executed as there was almost no splash and I didn't lose my sunglasses (Joram) nor did I lose my Panasonic underwater video camera. (it was attached to my life jacket) We got back on the raft with Mark being the last one on board, as he got in he realise that he had lost his Gopro that was attached to his chest harness. But the really dumb thing was that they/he hadn't changed the memory card at all, it was the same card that they had used from the beginning of their trip. Stupid, really stupid, now people get why I use 4Gig cards and change them regularly.

I hate to say the rest of the rafting trip was not as eventful as I would have liked, we went down two Class 5 rapids and I didn't even notice. The whole day's rafting seemed like a pretty tame affair, the guides basically suggested that I need to come back in low water because that's when it gets hard core. Simon pointed out how high the water can get during high water which was about 10 meters above the level we were at.

The guides on our raft and the other rafts tried to make it as entertaining as possible by dragging people of each others rafts, sledging each other etc. Simon referred to one of the other guys as fat boy for obvious reasons, but I think I got the best sledge in on Simon as he was using sunscreen... I mean seriously what is a black man doing using sunscreen?

After my sledges Simon wanted to see me go in, but the rapids were just too tame for the most part, Lisa and I both fell out on the last rapid a Grade 2 rapid. It was more like a ripple rather than a rapid, just goes to show you shouldn't fall asleep whilst white water rafting. When I fell out I took in some Zambezi stomach cleanser and then realised I was facing the wrong way so I turned around to see Lisa had also fallen out and lost her paddle, so instead of filming I picked up her paddle and then headed for the rescue kayak.

Later Lisa would tell me of her near death experience, trapped under the raft for hours not knowing which way to go and in desperation releasing the paddle to fend for itself.... blah blah blah. Seriously it was a ripple!!! Lisa would just like to point out that time moves slowly when you are underwater & you haven't figured out which way is up yet.

Some of the crew were still around so we went out to dinner with them, which was nice as it truly was our last hurrah. I also learnt how ugly the Brisvegas six really were, they didn't really affect me as they kept out of my way but the guys really were the ugly Australians abroad. With the only exception being Sam, she was actually nice and from what I was told she didn't really like the boys much either, she just got stuck with them.

Day 19 Zimbabwe - Victoria Falls

Day 19 Zimbabwe - Victoria Falls

Today we cross the border and enter Zimbabwe.  Once in Victoria Falls town, we have time to plan the next day’s adventure activities before we visit the spectacular Victoria Falls and experience the thundering of the mighty Zambezi. An optional dinner out is a friendly way to end your tour with all the new friends you’ve made along the way.  

Optional Activities: Chobe morning game drive, Zambezi Sunset Cruise Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

12th January 2014

Up bright and early for another game drive in the Great Chobe National Park, this time there were sixteen of us including the Brisvegas six. Of course they were all running late as I suspect they were all hung over, and yes that ticked me off somewhat!!! They were eating into my game driving time...

We got to the gate and went through the formalities of signing in, then it was off. What I can say is for the first two and a half hours we saw nothing absoutely nothing, I'm not sure how so many elephants and hippos can simply disappear but I'm telling you they did. They were nowhere to be seen. The only animal to be seen were the baboons, they were as per normal everywhere. It's times like these it would be tough to be a game driver, he had nothing to show us and as a result nothing to talk about, I truly felt sorry for him and the guys that came on todays game drive expecting to see something.

It was only on our way back did we see this impala standing as still as a statue looking straight ahead, not even the noise of the vehicle made him look around. We searched the bushes but didn't see what the impala was looking at, so our guide started driving off when Isabella spotted a lion hidden in the bushes. Our guide reversed up and sure enough there he was he was a long way off and lying down under a tree, it was only when he lifted his head did we get a look at him. My lens came in handy once again.

After watching the lion and the very motionless impala for a while we headed off, as we neared the spot where the leopard had been I said to Christoph there has to be something up ahead as there were a stack of vehicles parked, (it's always a good sign) and sure enough the leopard was back. This time he was up the tree just having a bit of a nap, Lisa and I couldn't see him from where we were sitting as the canvas roof of the vehicle obscured our view, I solved the problem by climbing out and sitting on the railing with my upper torso and arms leaning on the canvas. This enabled me to get the photos I wanted, with some encouragement Lisa did the same. 

As we were now running late the guide had to leave after about 10 to 15 minutes, he shot off at the speed of light, we then had one of the best encounters ever, Painted Wild Dogs!!! 

The Wild Dogs are critically endangered and incredibly rare, but we were no more than 10 meters away from them. We sat there taking heaps of photos as this was truly "special", eventually they headed off and so did we.

When we got back to camp we had lunch and headed to the border, the sad thing was there was no Papa. When we got to the border Tom (one of the Brisvegan's) didn't have the correct change and that caused a delay in the crossing whilst he borrowed the money from Anja, (it also took some doing for her to get back).

Once across the border we headed to Victoria Falls, it's as impressive as they say the water isn't just mist coming from the falls, it's torrential rain in places.

It was a hot day so walking around in the spray / rain was kinda nice. I also go to test out the weather seals on the Pentax. They work well however the lens is not designed for such conditions and as such had a few issues. The problem was that the mounting plate had got wet so the sensors weren't working properly, as Craig say's Victoria Falls is the place where cameras go to die. Fortunately I'm good at bringing back the dead and everything is all right now.

After the walk around the falls we headed for a coffee, (a real one) the cafe at Victoria Falls cost me $4 US and I got an Amarula shot with it.

Later we had the final family dinner, which everyone attended except the Brisvegas six, it would appear they had better things to do. The dinner was great and it was the last time we would be together, so I was asked to give the farewell and thankyou speech to Shingi. From there Craig got a couple of family photos but left Christoph in charge of the remote, anything could have happened with Christoph in charge but I'm sure there were some great shots.  

Look carefully, two men on the edge of the falls

Day 18 Botswana - Chobe National Park

Day 18 Botswana - Chobe National Park
We travel to Chobe and this afternoon we enjoy a sunset river cruise as the animals are best spotted from the Chobe River.  Elephants, Hippo, Crocodiles, Eland and many other creatures reside in Chobe so keep your cameras ready.  
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

11th January 2014
We headed to Chobe National Park with high expectations because both Shingi and Zenzo have always said that Chobe is the best park, also Annabel and Joram said they stopped taking photos of elephants because there were so many.

We arrived just before midday and Lisa and I upgraded for two reasons firstly I thought it was going to rain and also because of my itchy rash. I figured that it had started the night before and given I'd been in my silk liner it might have something in it that caused my rash. (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)

Before we left the camp Dipthi told us that she had once seen cheetahs in Chobe but from everything I'd been told previously there have never been cheetahs in Chobe, so when our guide arrived I asked him "if there were any cheetahs in Chobe?"
"no, it's the wrong terrain and environment" was his reply. Just another tall story by Dipthi...
I knew there were leopards and lions so I asked about them.
"yes, and we saw a leopard this morning" he replied and walked away.
Most of the crew hadn't seen a leopard yet, so this was really good news and with that we were off.

Only eight of us had organised to go on an afternoon game drive in Chobe National Park, (Inge, Ingrid, Martina, Christoph, Isabelle, Beatrice, Lisa and me) I suspect that the Brisvegans and a few others were heading straight to the bar. It turned out to be a great decision on our part, the game drive was the best I've ever been on.

Earlier in the day on the way into Chobe we started counting elephants, I think the count was 23 (24 if you include the elephants donk) before we entered the park we decided to stop counting after about 10 minutes in the park. We saw hundreds and hundreds of elephants and on this occasion I'm not kidding, the same went for hippos they were everywhere. Our guide told us that in peak elephant season there is as many as 80,000 elephants in Chobe, now if that is true I'm not sure where they would all fit. It was an unbelievably impressive sight just to see what we estimated to be about 400 to 500 of them.

In regards to the hippos Isabelle spotted one in a pool of water and the guide basically said "don't worry, you'll see lots of them", he was true to his word we saw probably about 100 to 200 of them, with most of them wandering around out of the water. It was a great day that was about to get even better.

Our guide also pointed out a bird and its fishing technique, it basically formed an umbrella with its wings and because it has brightly coloured feet the fish were attracted to them. The birds wings (umbrella) was then used to shade their feet so they can see the fish. The bird would walk along, setup the umbrella, then move along again, very clever.

We headed inland from the mighty Zambizi river after watching the elephants, hippos fish eagles, baboons, buffalos impalas etc and this is where it got really exciting. firstly we stopped to watch a elephant chase a baboon around and then we saw it up close and personal - a leopard. Martina and I were looking at this massive bull elephant to the left side of the vehicle when the guide casually said there is a leopard under the tree on the right side, he was literally about 3 meters away just sitting there. Now I have been accused of being the paparazzi on this tour and let me say the camera trigger finger went into melt down. Prior to seeing the leopard we were saying for the $45 US why wouldn't you go on the game drive and given what we had seen prior to the leopard we were all really happy and thinking we had got our monies worth, but seeing a leopard that close was over the top!!!

A couple of times we got over excited and stood up and the leopard got a bit cranky and started to snarl, and lets just say when that happens you get chills. I could rabbit on for hours but I won't, if you want to experience what its like to be that close to a wild leopard you need to go on game drives.

We then headed for the late afternoon cruise, as we arrived and were disembarking the truck Martina slipped and hurt her ankle, it was a slight interruption to her day but I reminded her to think about how good the game drive was and the pain would all be worth it.

The Brisvegas six filled the esky with alcohol so I should tell it was going to be a messy trip for some. On the cruise there were also some people from the northern part of NSW and the other Australians that had been doing the accommodated tour, we said hello and discussed how good the afternoon game drive was whilst we cruised along.

The funniest thing happened whilst we were on board the late afternoon / sunset cruise, Ivy and her husband said how they had only been on the boat for about half an hour and there were two people driving them insane... guess which two. Well it was Danny and Needie, (they just wouldn't shut up and were as usual, incredibly loud), my response was you want to try spending three weeks on a truck with them...

The game viewing was also fantastic, the boat headed in the general direction of where we were during the afternoon game drive, so we were guaranteed to see some animals. Lots of hippos, elephants a couple of water bucks, fish eagles and even a crocodile just for good measure.

So Tip of the day, if you want to go to Africa to see wildlife you might want to do some game drives, you're highly unlikely to see the good stuff getting blind at the bar.

Bird fishing

Croc

Unhappy Elephant

Poop & Pee at the waterhole

Fish eagle

Lilac breasted roller

Sable antelope

Day 17 Nata

Day 17 Nata
We leave the Delta behind us and travel east towards the town of Nata. The shady tree canopy surrounding the campsite is a hive of activity, with a bird feeding area and active water feature providing the bird watcher with the opportunity of viewing a variety of species from the comfort of the pool deck.  The Helmeted Guineafowl, Crested Francolin, Yellow Hornbill, Pied and Arrowmarked Babblers, Glossy Starling, Meyers Parrot and Paradise Whydah are just some of the species you may encounter during your stay at the lodge.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

10th January 2014

We were given the option of one last early morning game walk, of course us hard core enthusiasts were going to take it. The crew for this morning was Anja, (with her hat and sunglasses this time) Hildegard, Beatrice, Isabella, Christoph, Martina, Lisa and me but this time we were joined by two of the "Brisvegas Six", Millie and Sam. (Millie and Sam are the two ladies that are in the Brisvegas Six) It would appear the boys amongst them should have booked a "drinking tour" instead as drinking is clearly their priority. As the saying goes, why come all this way to Southern Africa if all you intend to do is drink yourself into oblivion? You can do that at home!!!

We headed out but were not fortunate enough to see any of the big animals we were hoping for (elephants, lions, hippos) but I'm sure that most of us were really happy to have had the opportunity to wander around the Delta in the early morning. It has some beautiful scenery and we had a great guide in Kandi so we got to learn alot about the environment and what animal makes what tracks etc.

Once we got back to camp we had breakfast, (most of the food was gone) so we packed up our tent (Lisa and I had packed all our gear way before the walk) and then loaded it into the Mokoro for the ride out.

Now most of you know my thoughts on culling the herd, and trust me when I say this was funny. As it turns out Hypo apparently really likes being on boats just not small ones (her dad the former CIA agent, who was shot in South East Asia, fell into a river then rescued by some local fishermen..., Vietnam Vet and all round great guy owns a huge yacht) and unfortunately mokoros don't quite make the grade. Her poler was somewhat bemused by her (as am I), once again covered up from head to toe but this time hanging on to the mokoro sides for grim death every time there was a slight rocking motion. The poler used this a motivation to rock it some more, (with slight encouragement from the group including me) it was very amusing to watch given Matthias was enjoying himself at the front of the mokoro.

When we got back to the mokoro take of point we unloaded all our gear from the mokoros and back into the old merc 4x4 truck and then it was off to our previous campsite. We then unloaded the 4x4 merc truck reloaded everything back into Marilyn, had showers and lunch, then it was "on the road again".

Lisa and I debated where we should pitch our tent, the first spot was on a slope but had trenches dug around it and most importantly it was away from the kiddies... The second spot was on flat ground amongst some bushes even further away from the kiddies, why was this important I hear you say, it's really simple they like to party and keep the rest of us awake. The night before the Delta the kiddies were at it at the bar until very late, they were also incredibly loud as we could hear them in the chalet we had hired which was about 150 meters away.

On one hand it turned out to be a great decision, we weren't kept up by the kiddies partying Wanita had to tell them to shut up at one stage, on the other hand it was a bad decision because I must have brushed up against a bush and got a rash. The rash is pretty much all over the top half of my body, they are like tiny pimples, but red in colour which are incredibly itchy.

Where is a doctor when you need one, I'm missing my two favourite doctors !!!

We got some bad news at yesterday, unfortunately Zenzo's mother is unwell so Zenzo will be leaving us to be  with his mum. We organised a collection earlier and I was nominated to do the presentation, after my bit we convinced Zenzo to tell one last story, it was a joke but a good one. Zenzo has a great laugh which we will miss, I hope your mum gets well soon.

Day 15 to16 Maun – Okavango Delta

Day 15 to16 Maun – Okavango Delta
This morning we board the big 4x4 truck that will take us into the Delta. In high-water season it is sometimes necessary to take a boat to the poling station where we meet up with the members of a local community who will be showing us their homeland.  We spend 2 nights bush camping in the wilderness and, if the water level allows, we will take a mokoro (traditional canoe) trip through the waterways. We will also be going on some nature walks in the hope of seeing some wild animals in their natural habitat.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

8th January 2014
The excitment level was high around camp as the big one had arrived, we were finally going to the Okavango Delta. The really old Mercedes 4x4 truck pulled up and we loaded everything into it including the kitchen sink, Tents, poles, tent flys, (not that I was predicting rain, I had now also become the weather forcaster) chairs, sleeping mats, esky, gas bottles, cooktop, sleeping bags, cloths and most importantly cameras. I didn't think all the gear and all 23 (Zenzo was the only one staying behind, even Danny had paid her money!!!) of us were going to fit, but alas I was wrong, it was a tight fit but it all went.

Once we got to the mokoro's we were introduced to our polers, we were then approached by the lovely Jessica (a local girl with three children) she had chosen us to take into the Delta. Jessica loaded our gear and we were off, Lisa at the front and me in the middle with Jessica providing the power from the back. It's kind of a weird feeling crusing down the Delta after all the dreaming and planning this was my big one, the part of the trip I'd been most looking forward too. (that probably why I don't understand people who come all this way and don't wan't to see the Delta) The water channel has what looks like papyrus reeds on either side, the water is a brown colour, but is still clear as for the most part you can see the white sandy bottom and lots of lilly pads and flowers.

There is an amazing amount of water, (it was hard to get an idea how big the delta
is even from the air) and it flows really fast which makes the poler's job pretty demanding but they seem to make it look easy.

Shingi covered most of himself up with a towel over the head and had a bit of a nap I think, most of the folk wore some sort of scarf over their heads like the Bedouin nomads (kind of appropriate given we're on a Nomad tour) the Brisvageans all wore their Safari hats, I was contemplating wearing mine but thought I don't want to ruin it. It seemed to me like everyone was enjoying themselves (polers included) the exception was of course Hypo (short for hypochondria - aka Danny) there was no exposed skin and she was lying flat out on the bottom of the Mokoro. The rest of us were either in the reclined position taking photos or just enjoying the day, lets face it it's not everyday we get to do this.The passengers view from the mokoro is the "worms eye" perspective, you don't get to see much other than water lilies and reeds, however the poler is standing so they have a slightly better view of the land. On one occasion the polers spotted a herd of zebras so they parked the mokoros in the reeds so we could stand up and see, lets just say some of our land faring folk weren't game enough to stand.

Upon arrival on terra firma we set about setting up camp, tents up, kitchen area and short drop loo with the occupied sign. (if you can see the shovel, then its vacant)
After lunch Christoph and Martina suggested that we get a guide for a short lunch time walk, Lisa and I were the only ones who also wanted to do a lunchtime game walk. As the walk started Kandi our guide explained the rules of engagement, "It's dangerous, hippos, buffaloes listen to my instructions, lion stare into their eyes..." I bet that is easier said than done. The thing I like about Christoph and Martina is their child like enthusiasm (I mean that in a good way) to seeing animals, it's infectious they are just so happy to be here and experiencing everything Africa has to offer. Whilst we didn't see much on the game walk it was good fun and exciting as expectations were high.

An amusing moment on the walk was when I spotted the rare "Pink umbrella elephant" in the distance. As we got closer it turned out to be a group of tourists with one carrying a pink umbrella, hence the name as we were staying with the "tree lion" "termite mound giraffe", (like I said expectations were high). We eventually met up with the "Pink Umbrella" tourists, so I asked them "how they were going and had they seen any animals", the reply was shall we say amusing.
The German lady holding the pink umbrella threw it on the ground in what I would describe as utter disgust and replied "no we have only seen zebras and have been walking for four hours!!!"
Okay then...

Her friends seemed a little more up beat and still happy to be in the Okavango Delta, the problem for them is that they were only in the Delta for one day so they were trying to pack everything in. Poor planning one would suggest, as they were also wearing jeans, open sandals etc, but the big one that the guides told us before we even got in the mokoros was not to wear bright colours as it will scare the animals away, I suspect the pink umbrella fits into that category, given I could see it for miles.


After a swim and a break in the afternoon we headed of for our scheduled afternoon walk, we were split into smaller groups for these walks, on this one Isabella, Beatrice and Matthias join Christoph, Martina, Lisa and me. We had Kandi leading the way upfront and another poler as tail end charlie. (sorry I can't remember his name) We crossed the river in our mokoros and headed off "into the wild" our first encounter was just after Kandi asked "could we smell the elephant", we couldn't but our expectations were now completely over the top.

The group dutifully followed Kandi in single file until we could all smell the elephant... or should I say the elephant carcass, it had been dead for about three months and the recent rain had helped produce a certain odour. Now I have to confess that I started to dry retch almost immediately after several attempts, the TEC (Tail End Charlie) showed me a path around which smelled less. In between dry retching I did manage to ask how the elephant died and were the tusks still attached. Thankfully it was old age and the tusk had been removed, we are not sure by who but suspect by the Park Rangers.

From there we spotted a herd of zebras and one lone wildebeest hanging with them, Kandi told us about the symbiotic relationship they share. One has good hearing one has good eye sight, (I can't remember which way round it was) also one eats the high grass the other eats the middle bit after the top has been removed. (once again, not sure which animal eats what)
The last animal we spotted was the warthog, (now known as pumba) it was a mother and three babies but they were at a fair distance, none the less Christoph and Martina were excited.

On the way back to the camp we heard a stampede in the bushes to our right, you don't realise how jumpy you can get until you hear a sound but can't see what made it. Christoph asked if we could go and investigate as the general consensus was it was buffalo, to which Kandi said NO and made a hasty retreat. It did turn out to be zebras on the move, but the guides are super paranoid about buffaloes, they would rather confront a lion than a buffalo.

Shingi smile and laugh

Short tailed Zebra

9th January 2014
We were given the option of a long walk or a short walk for our walk this morning, the hard core amongst us chose the long walk. Anja, Christoph, Martina, Neddy, Isabella, Beatrice,Lisa and me. We covered 11.1 klms in 5 hours, but trust me it was worth the walk in the heat.

We started off by wading through water to get to one of the main islands, we saw some zebras and the obligatory lone wildebeest hanging out with them, but the big sighting was the giraffe. Once they were spotted we were off, we wanted to get as close as possible, we kept following them until Kandi saw signs of buffalo from the night before so we took an immediate detour around where the buffalo might be resting. After the short diversion we got back on the giraffe track, when we caught up with them it was truly awesome, we counted 24 giraffes and we gave up counting the zebras.

After breakfast we basically just hung out, sleeping or swimming, I really wasn't going to give the Poling a second go. As I once said to Harry Callahan, "every man should know his limitations".

In the late afternoon we were taken for a Mokoro ride a little further up the Delta, it's a pretty good way to spend your time. Jessica made it look easy into the current again, (I felt even more stupid) we had a look at some fishing nets strung out in the water which had caught some fish. One of the polers liberated a couple of them for his dinner, according to him it was his nephews nets, we were not so sure.

Our dinner was followed by singing and dancing by our Mokoro Polers, you could see how much they really enjoyed this by their smiles and their engagement with us tourists. After there dancing and singing they "invited us" to join them in some celebratory dancing. (it was more like peer group pressure) the chant would be something like "andrew party, andrew party" until you got up and busted out some moves. Mine was a mix of break dancing and traditional Russian moves, Lisa's was somewhat less entertaining, I was hoping for the baby gazelle but I think I what we got was Elvis hip gyrations.

All in all, I loved the Okavango Delta, it's an incredible place where you can do game walks out in the wilds of Southern Africa... and if you want to test your senses, wait till you hear some strange noises as your out walking, you really know you're alive then.

Turquoise King Fisher

Craig & Wanita

Anja & Hildegard

Martina & Christoph

Day 14 Maun

Day 14 Maun
Our journey takes us from Ghanzi towards Maun. Maun is the gateway to the Okavango Delta and this afternoon we will prepare for this excursion, packing small overnight bags. There may be an opportunity this afternoon to visit the local crocodile farm or take a scenic flight over the Okavango Delta.
Optional Activity: Crocodile Farm visit, Scenic Flight (time permitting)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

7th January 2014

Today was a long drive with a stop to check out a huge Baobab (Boab) tree, Zenzo was trying to explain about the baobab but unfortunately the folks on Marilyn started talking so Zenzo stopped. Zenzo told me later that in his culture that when people start talking over you that means it's time to stop, fortunately for me he did go on to explain the details.

After we got to camp we had lunch and organised our gear for the two days in the Okavango Delta. In terms of clothes jocks, socks, long pants, boardies and two shirts but the most important gear was the cameras, so charging up all the batteries was key to the trip.

We then headed for our scenic flight over the Okavango Delta, because the airline (Delta Air) charges by the seat it turned out that we had a spare seat which we wanted to give to either Zenzo or Shingi. Unfortunately Zenzo gets air sick and Shingi had food shopping to do.

We all paid the extra to cover the cost of the e seat as it was about $5 US each, no problem. What happened next however was, going through the screening process we had at least $100 US stolen from Lisa's bag.

The Employees from Delta Air asked us to put our bags into a larger bag which would go through a separate security screening process, when we got to the other side Lisa's bag had been opened and the money belt had been removed, the envelopes in the money bag had been opened and a $100 US note taken from one of them. According to the employees they were the only ones that had touched the bags and that all the larger bags supplied by Delta Air were closed. The officer screening the bags showed us on her terminal that was not true.

To cut a long story short they couldn't show us the video footage and the money was gone. It would appear that the police weren't really that interested and therefore it was a lost cause. That's life, tip of the day don't trust anyone, keep your money in your sight and in your control at all times.

We jumped on the scenic flight with a slightly bitter taste in our mouths, but the scenery was amazing and worth the seven year wait to see the Okavango Delta. I saw a herd of about ten elephants, then some giraffes then the pilot circled right and I just caught a glimpse of a massive herd of elephants unfortunately they were on the opposite side of the plane to me so seeing them or anything on the right side of the plane was difficult. Taking photo's with the big lens was impossible as was filming with the video camera because of the perishing perspex window, so I decided that just watching was the best option. So from that moment on I got to enjoy the scenic ride, however I get why Zenzo didn't want to go up in the plane, as it made me feel slightly queasy.

The other animals I saw were zebra's, impalas or springboks (I'm not sure) and I also saw two big croc's, one in the water they both looked pretty big from where I was sitting. There were also loads of hippos on the land, because we were on the last flight they had come out to graze for the night. They look very shiny when they are out of the water, so  they show up quite well from the air.

If I had my time again I would see if I could do a Helicopter Flight as they can hover etc, but the flight was worth the effort.