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.

Day 13 Botswana- Ghanzi

Day 13 Botswana - Ghanzi
After an early start, we cross into Botswana and drive to Ghanzi. After setting up camp we meet with a local Bushman (San) community and experience some traditional tribal dancing.
Optional activity: Bushman walk
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

6th January 2014

Today is once again all about the drive, about 9 hours in total today. Having said that although we had lost four great family members last night we were gaining another six members, anticipation was high as to who they were. They were late at getting to Marilyn, but when they did arrive it turned out it was a group of friends all the way from BrisVegas. Two couples and two single guys, I haven't learn't their names as yet so mate will always do.

We hit the road after a brief welcome speech from Shingi, Dipti then went about the business of introductions on the bus.

The only thing of note for the rest of the drive was the border crossing, out of Namibia and into Botswana. We spotted bucket loads of these dead dung bettles, they were huge! I'm certain that you could have thrown a saddle on them and ridden them to glory in the Melbourne Cup if they were alive. By the way the border crossing was painless.

When we arrived at camp we setup our tent and then headed off for a walk with the Bushmen (San people).It was brilliant these people (three young guys, three older ladies and a toddler) showed us lots of natural medicines and various important plants and how they make fire. They were all very slightly built and not very tall.

The amazing things were the clicks in there language, (we tried and failed to pronounce various San words) the second was how expressive they were at describing things and what they were used for. They were so good at it whilst I could not understand a word they said I was able to get the jist of what they were talking about. For example one of the young guys described with words and actions (Marcel Marceau style) the process of tanning and water proofing Kudu skins and I could actually follow along, it was only when the translator explained it did I really get everything, but I also realised how much I had actually followed along.

The sad thing was that only four of us did the walk, Christoph, Martina, Lisa and me. However this walk did tie in nicely with the Boesman's desert talk as he explained their history really well and these guys covered how they survived.

After that we had dinner at the camp, a briefing from Papa (Zenzo) and then headed off to watch some traditional dancing. It was entertaining, Lisa got all the quiz questions right. What is ...? Aardvark etc etc. Next was the group participation section of the evening, women sitting in the dirt clapping whilst the men stamped their feet in some sort of rhythmic way. Once again we failed miserably, but it did make everyone laugh.

Digging for roots

Starting a fire the traditional way

Success

Day 12 Windhoek

Day 12 Windhoek
After an early morning game drive we set off towards Windhoek, the Capital city of Namibia.  On the way we stop at a popular craft market where you can barter for handmade gifts to take home.  Windhoek is not only the capital; it is also the cultural, social and economic centre of Namibia.  On arrival in Windhoek our guide will take us on a short city tour in our truck.  Joe’s Beer House is an exciting dining experience for our optional dinner out.
Optional Activities: Dinner out. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

5th January 2014
Today started off just like most days, except we didn't have to pull down our tent and could shower in our upgraded room which means no queueing for cubicles... good times. Because we had less to do we walked the 4 steps out our front door to checkout the waterhole, there were a few people around but sadly no animals. (we did see a tree lion)

Whilst we were there I started chatting to a guy about the previous nights excitement, he told me he was in his shower when the male lion rumbled and therefore missed the sighting altogether. He did have an interesting story to tell about the lions in the area hunting and successfully killing rhino's, the story has it that over the years the lions have killed about 12 rhinos. He didn't know if they were black or white rhinos though.

After breakfast we had an extended short game drive on the exit out of Etosha National Park, I say extended because we had done about 5Klm's when someone (who will remain nameless) realised that she had forgotten to hand back the room key...Ohh in case your wondering it wasn't me. Zenzo turned Marilyn around so we could return the keys and get our 500 Namibian Dollars back. Unfortunately we didn't see any of the big ones we were after.

The rest of the day was just about the drive to Windhoek, unfortunately the stupid people just wouldn't shut up and there was no escape this time!!! So for the first time on this entire trip (since the 29th November 2013) I borrowed Lisa's headphones, put my music on and drowned out the dribble, happy days...

By the time we arrived at Windhoek most of us had, had enough and just wanted to get away from stupid people. However as part of the itinerary we did a town tour on Marilyn but because it was late Sunday afternoon everything was closed so instead of doing a "free time activity" of walking around Windhoek we out voted the keen (possibly drunk ones) and headed to our accommodation.

Things that never cease to amaze me, whilst I was using the Wi-fi by the pool I had several members of our group come up to me and complain about the fact that it was raining heavily in the Okavango Delta??? Research people, Research!!! In the politest manner possible I asked them "what did they expect?  and that they had chosen to visit the Delta in the wet season". Research people, Research!!!
The sad thing was we were losing four of the really great family members at Windhoek. Joram, Annabel, Iris and Johanna - we really liked them as they were all great to be around. We had a dinner out at Joe's Beer House to celebrate the journey we had taken with them and the fond memories we now have, Iris gave a lovely speech and we drank some, ate some and then headed for our accommodation.

Day 10 to 11 Etosha National Park

Day 10 to 11 Etosha National Park
Etosha is the venue for some of the most unique game viewing experiences in Africa. The sparse grasslands allow great opportunities to see animals normally hidden in dense vegetation. You may even see some of the amazing animals crossing the road in front of your truck!  We will go on various game drives and spend our evenings at the abundant waterholes for some excellent game photography.
Optional Activities: Night or dawn game drives in safari vehicles.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

3rd January 2014
Pretty much everyone was excited to be going to Etosha National Park, for some of the folks on this tour this will be their first real game drive so I can understand their excitement because  I know I'm pretty happy to be doing a real game drive again as its been awhile. (the last one was on the last tour)

Our first stop was a small town for coffee, pee, wi-fi and a bank. (not necessarily in that order) We also caught up with the accommodated tourists on Peter Tosh (great reggae singer), when it was time to board Marilyn again I noticed the "Kenyan's" (Dipti and Needy) had cracked open some beers, normally this wouldn't rate a mention but it was 9am on the road to Etosha, the game park we were all looking forward too. I seriously don't get them!!!

Much excitement occurred when we pulled up to the gates of Etosha National Park, there was clapping, cheering and celebrating Zenzo's greatness for getting us there in great time. Then a brief stop for the newbies to read the park rules whilst I got my camera and lenses sorted.

The windows were down, cameras and binoculars were at the ready, minds focused on the task at hand, spotting Southern African wildlife, then it came "contact, right side, 2'Oclock" five minutes in the park we had spotted two lions under a tree, one big male and female. Now Dipti claims she was the spotter, but I suspect that the beers had taken effect. Dipti was in the middle of Marilyn but had a window seat on the left side and she was looking directly out her window...None the less we got the camera shutters going, an excellent first 5 minutes game drive.

Next was a Bushy Tailed Ground Squirrel, (it looks like a meerkat from a distance) and it even does the Meerkat lookout pose, but the easy distinguishing feature is the bushy tail when it runs.  We the excited fired off plenty of shots, but the other Kenya / Australian (Needy) mocked everyone taking photo's because "she can see squirrels at home in Melbourne" and for the record in Australia we don't have Bushy Tailed Ground Squirrels... Once again I suspect the beers had kicked in...

We got to the main campsite in Etosha and it was my turn to help Shingi in kitchen, whilst I was helping I met a Namibian Park Ranger told us about a Lion v's Rhino fight!!! Basically 3 male lions tried to take down a Rhino, two of the Lions were injured and the third escaped without any damage, from all reports the Rhino was unscathed. Joram came running back from waterhole with the good news that one Lion was still by the waterhole, I was dismissed from my kitchen duties and bolted to the waterhole. Lisa was already there with my camera and big lens so all I had to do was point and shoot. Some time later the ranger came by and showed me where one of the injured lions was hiding / recuperating he was under different tree but he was really well camouflaged.
At 4:30pm we headed off on our afternoon game drive, Christoph  has earned the new nickname "the Rhino spotter" he seems to be able to see them from Klm's away. We were really happy as we saw heaps of animals (antelope mainly) but as we say "it's a great day to be alive".

We arrived at our new campsite and got settled in, I did a quick reccie to the watering hole, when I got back to the camp it seemed that we had upset some other tourists by placing our collective tents to close to theirs. The dad came over and gave Shingi a serve and told him to move them and then called him some expletives because he wouldn't remove the offending tents and relocate Marilyn. The dad came back for a second crack at Shingi whilst I was there, big mistake on his part!!! He began to rant about the tents and Marilyn it was about that point I couldn't help myself, primarily because he was attempting to intimidated Shingi, (who is very polite and mild mannered) so I bluntly told him we "were not going to move the tents or Marilyn as it was a free country and there are no allocated campsites so get over it."
At that point he realised he was now dealing with the "Alpha Male" so he actually said "I guess we are not going to agree so the discussion is over."
I agreed, but he started up again, so I interrupted him to say "I thought you said we are not going to agree so the argument is is over, so why are you still standing here?"
With that he left picked up his tent and moved it about 50 meters away from us...

Whilst we were having dinner some called out there was a honey badger at the camp, I love the Honey badger, its rapidly becoming my favourite African animal. I couldn't get a decent photo, I think I was too excited. Honey Badger !!!

Later that night at water hole we saw a brown hyena, unfortunately that was the only animal we were lucky enough to see.

Black Faced Impala

Red Heart Beast

4th January 2014

Some of the crew were lucky enough to see Honey Badger and a baby Honey Badger!!! lucky buggers. We started off with an early morning game drive and the first animal was a Honey Badger !!! We saw more Black Rhinos thanks to the Rhino spotter Christoph, one of the sightings had three grazing together we watched them for a long time because we knew that they were going to cross the road in front of us and sure enough they did. We also saw a couple of giraffes eating at the road side, one was actually on the road. Priceless!!!

We stopped at the famous Etosha salt pan and got a few happy snaps, then we headed slowly for our new accommodation in Etosha's Okaukuejo campsite. 

During the process of setting up his tent Joram put a hole in one of the water pipes around the camp. Now I wasn't there at the time but it was described to me by credible witnesses. they say it was like watching Thor wield his hammer as he drove the hapless tent peg in. the result was a huge waterhole in the middle of our campsite.

Lisa and I upgraded to a Waterhole chalet, it was 1800 Rand (which is about $180 Aus), cheap given the location and it included dinner and breakfast, it was an excellent decision given I needed to get away from stupid people by this stage. I have zero tolerance at this point, but the good thing is I'm not the crew, we had previously discussed voting the stupid one off the island. Lisa & Johanna had dinner in the restaurant whilst I had dinner with the group, over dinner we discussed the agenda for the Okavango Delta, Danny now thinks she will do Okavango, stupid.. not because its a must see in Southern Africa but because she doesn't want to be alone and the cost of upgrading from camping to accommodated might be the same, she has no idea what the Delta is let alone why it's significant.

So here is my tip for the day, if you're going to visit a country you might want to do some research and if all you want to do is skydive and bungee then just fly to those locations.

As I couldn't stand it any longer I bolted for the game viewing at the waterhole, the first animal was a Black Rhino, so I went and got Lisa. Great start, surely it can't get any better but alas I'm happy to say I was horribly wrong.

Johanna, Wanita and Craig joined us at the prime location I had staked out, I'm really happy that they did because firstly they are a great bunch of people (welcome relief) and secondly Johanna has the most unbelievable night vision. 

Johanna spotted a herd of 10 elephants, I know you're thinking how hard could it be to spot 10 Elephants, let me tell you in the day it's hard enough but at night its almost impossible. Once I looked through Lisa's binoculars I could just barely see them, it's almost a ghostly sight just watching these figures emerging from the darkness.   Once they got closer to the waterhole you could see them clearly, they all drank, the little ones played, it appeared one kept a look out or was not fully accepted in the group because it was always off to the side. The elephant that was primarily off to the side charged  at something to our right, we couldn't see what it was but it was impressive to see the mock charge, the herd continued to drink with the occasional trumpeting and glance back to the numerous onlookers. The herd did half a lap of the waterhole so they walked directly in front of us we estimated that they were only about 10 to 15 meters away but eventually moved off.

I love this place, we were doing plenty of silent high 5's.

Next Johanna's amazing night vision eyes really came to the party, at about 80 meters directly in front of us Johanna spotted a lion moving really slowly towards us. I had a look through Lisa's binoculars, it was a little orange dot, I could barely see it. The tiny orange dot turned slightly and gave me the left side profile, it was a huge male lion, I relayed the information to the group without looking away. The big male lion crouched down and then sat down at about 75 meters, it was time to celebrate with silent high 5's, fist pumping!!! There was much excitement for the word had got around, nobody else could see him but our group, none the less the rest of the folks were now filled with anticipation.

Johanna's eyes then discovered the reason for the lion sitting down a long way from the waterhole.... there was a rhino heading for the waterhole from the right hand side and behind him was the ghostly figures of another 6 elephants moving slowly in tight formation.

They must have known there was a lion around because they kept looking around in his direction, fortunately for the lion rhinos have really poor eye sight. (not sure about how good the elephants eye sight is). Slowly but surely the rhino and elephants moved in to drink, the rhino made his way into the water and stood in the middle of waterhole, it was funny to see as I never knew that rhinos like to stand around in water like people at the beach. The elephants followed the same path as the previous herd, circle to the left side of the waterhole directly in front of us, good times. 

The whole time we were watching the rhino and elephants at the waterhole the lion sat in the background, we constantly checked his movements via Lisa's binoculars as it was the only way you could really see him clearly. He was obviously waiting his turn, eventually the elephants departed and the rhino got out of the water, however he stood by the bank of the waterhole for a long time just doing the whole drip dry thing. There was a clearly visible waterline on the rhino, I'd seen the same sort of thing on another rhino earlier in the day and wondered how it had came about, now I knew.

Eventually the rhino moved on and the male lion moved in very slowly, we watched him through the binoculars and it appeared that he was injured as he was limping badly. The injury was to his back left leg, he could hardly put weight on it, we found it was hard to watch him in such obvious pain. At this point everyone wanted a piece of Lisa's binoculars simply because it really did give the best view in such low light. The lion eventually made the water and sat down and drank, he then rumbled more than roared but it was still such a intense moment, it was truly a privilege to be there to witness everything unfolding. 

We assumed he was one of the lions injured by the rhino V's lion tussle a couple of nights back. He really did look in bad shape he could barely walk or stand, at the waters edge he just lay down, we all felt really sad as we collectively thought he wasn't going to make it. I was fortunate that I was using the binoculars because I could see his eyes open and shut as he lay there as well as when he stuck his tongue out for a drink.

It seemed like an eternity that he lay there, but I can say when he got up and walked back to his hideout in the bushes about 100 meters away we were all relieved. The whole evening at the waterhole was just a magical moment in time for all of us there, there were lots more silent high 5's, fist pumping and hugs... Wow seemed to be the word of the day, I guess we just couldn't any other way of describing what we were seeing or how we felt. 

So here I have a confession to make, I had said to Lisa "don't bother about buying binoculars you won't need them or use them they are a waste of money and space"... I was wrong, horribly wrong and I'm really glad she ignored me. So next tip of the day, take good binoculars. For the record they are Vanguard Spirit XF 8 x 42, about $220 delivered - well worth it.

It's good to be alive

Shingi, Joram, Annabel (right to left)

check the battle scar on rear leg