Dateline: Friday, October 6th,
Chobe Safari Lodge, Chobe, Botswana 👍
Maun, Botswana - Lokatula Lodge, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
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| The Herero people. This pix cost me for 3 Pula |
Our final act, before we head out from Maun on
Oct 2nd, is to leave a message for RCI (the time share agency) in Jo'burg, to book us
into Vic Falls for a week, once done, we head out.
On the road outside of Maun, we pass back over the sand covered road
(the road melts here between 11:30 & 16:00, so the sand stops
the tar from flying away under the tyres), and there is suddenly a
southerly wind flying through the window. It is so hot, it leaves me
breathless. Once again, there are chickens, goats, beef on the hoof and
donkeys wandering by the side and on the road all the way up.
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Drotsky's Cabins on the river.
A perfect stopover if we can't get
into the Okavango today |
Our trip west and then north from Maun toward the Namibian border
takes us to Etsha 6 (there are lots of Etsha's, from 1 to 13).
En
route, we pass through three or four check points, all requiring us to
stop, but nothing else. Some are to prevent various cattle lung
diseases, others, who can say. We pass on our way merrily. Our goal was
to get to Makewa Lodge, which has all the bits of touring
facilities that we are after, but you have to be taken by boat the last
kilometre. To do this, it's best to contact them first, before you
head out to the rendezvous.
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Heading back to Maun, we spot the freshest
evidence of poor driving ability and judgement |
We arrive at their mainland head office, and
as luck, or whatever will have it, the phone is on the blink.
This area appears to exist without any cogent form of organisation.
In short, this is totally Africa. Hundreds of K's of nothing but
bush, sand, dust and then small villages with maybe an ice powered cool
box containing questionable refreshments. Wrecks litter all
the roads here, and there are on average by the side of the road, the
consequences of these long animal infested roads, and poor
driving ability and judgement. This is simply the freshest evidence.
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I got this one for and 2 apples
|
Stopping once at Gumare, 250Km from Maun for a few cold pops, - it's
very easy to dehydrate in these hot, humid and dusty
conditions, we end up in Etsha 6. This was once on the border of the
delta, now it's at least 6 - 8 Km from the water. There is next to
nothing here.
Although it's not Sunday, it's still a national holiday, nothing in
the "town" of Etsha 6 is functioning (does this sound familiar?).
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| And this one for free. Just as well huh? |
We
try for an hour or so to contact the lodge, from their head office this
side of the delta, but after several concerted efforts, with poor
phone lines, we eventually have to give up on Makewa, and find somewhere
to stay for the night.
Another 100Km North, just south of the Caprivi border with Namibia is Drotsky's Cabins, a somewhat upmarket fishing lodge on the
Okavango river. We have driven 300Km to get this far. 400 Km - another long days drive.
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We check into the Sadia hotel in Maun
which has a clean pool
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| Maun District Head Office |
The lodge is quite an oasis,
and after the hack into this outback, the $C200 per night for a very
pleasant A-frame with hot and cold
hornets and spiders, is at least relatively low compared to the
$US300.00 per person in the delta. Once again, no facilities for do it
yourself, so it's dine out again. I'd rate the food as average here.
Come morning, and we have a pile of choices. The owner here says the
Caprivi Strip in Namibia (the thin tongue of land between
Botswana and Angola which occasionally is known for the sport of tourist
hunting), is fairly safe these days, you need to take a
military escorted convoy for 180Km across the strip toward the Eastern
end. "No Problem" we are told. There is also a small game
park just inside Namibia, proverbially teeming with stuff. In the end,
we decide to head back to the Etsha's to seek a few nights in the
delta camp.
Well, we can only say we tried, for two hours we patiently got hold
of the lodge, and tried to call multiple times. The phone lines
were up and down, and eventually, around 1:00PM, we've had a collective
"enough", and head back to Maun. After doing this "lets
see if we can" approach to travel, finally our luck hides from us.
Returning to Maun, we see two women getting off a bus, they are in typical Herero garb, so we buy a couple of shots for 3 Pula and 2
apples. They thought we should pay more, I thought we should pay less.
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Chobe Safari Lodge. Here with my family
As opposed to the last few times
I was here (see previous posts) |
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House speciality
Mopane Worms, buffet
format.
All you can eat.
Help yourselves |
We check into the Sadia hotel in Maun which has a clean pool, and we
organise ourselves for our remaining few days. We dine at the
Sports Bar again - great pasta here FYI. And yes, for all/ any of you
who have made it this far in our travelogue, we are all putting on
weight - and it's not very pretty!
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As ever, Kayla determined to show that she's more
adventurous than Aiden
|
Wednesday, 4th. October, RCI has managed to get a half
arsed week (two "halves" Monday to Saturday, and Friday to Sunday!) in
Vic Falls, this gives us a few extra days to while away in Botswana.
So,
maybe a trip to the Delta for the missus & kids? Seems like
they are happy to swim, all the urgency & "once in a life time"
adventure bit being apathied out of them. Maybe they just didn't think
they would enjoy it after my editorial on the subject. Maun is simply not hooked up for tourists, only as a base for
touring. Now all you can do here is book trips etc and wait. We use the
pool, do some schoolwork with the kids and catch some cancer rays.
Dinner is once again at the Sports Bar
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I'm induced, against my better judgement,
to go with the others on a
sunset cruise of Chobe reserve
|
Edward, the chef at the Sadia, who is here on a contract from
Zimbabwe, inquires about the possibility of buying the LandCruiser
once we are finished our trip. I tell him how much it would cost, then
how much would need to be paid in taxes to "import" it. It
comes to be about $US20,000.00. This appears to be too much, so he asks
if we can load him into it when we ship it back, he can
stay with us in Toronto and cook for us until he finds a job there. We
all think it's a great idea.
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Once you are across the river,
there's a pile of animals.
Kayla displaying several elephants |
Come
Thursday 4th., and we are off to Nata (unfortunately without Edward). It appears that somehow or other, going to or from the
restaurant last night was enough to get a cracked windscreen - I'm cursed this way you know - that's the 4
th. In 18 months!
We stock up with liquids for the trip - very important in this heat,
and head out east. It's a 300Km trip, and once again we pass
through the Kalahari - this time through game reserves on either side of
the road. There are more fences/ game/ cattle grids and at one
the van is actually searched. I think he was looking for chickens, but
finding none present in bulk, happily waves us through the
check point. The roads are generally better than in the western sector,
but not quite as good as Namibia. The surface is smooth, but
much coarser and I know this will really rip the tyres down pretty
quickly.
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By and large a tourist schtick "cruise"
but fun for the rest of the family
|
200Km out of Maun, we check out Gweta, miles from nowhere. It looks, on the map to be a suitable place to hang out, but we drive
in, and drive out again, not even a café here.
More scrub, bushes and heat, but the road is still tarred and we happily make Nata, our next overnight stop.
Nata Lodge makes a welcome change from Maun, well thought out,
professional, (the pool however needs looking into with a bit of
technology). We opt for the tented option, and while away the afternoon
with a shandy or two and some chips (fries to you) around
the pool.
This lodge is obviously for travellers on business. It's a day's
drive from Jo'burg (800Km?), and most of the guests are not tourists. At
dusk, the bushbabies climb down from the trees for
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| Grazing buffalo are a big hit |
snacks thoughtfully
provided by the bar as we sit underneath with our bottle of
white wine. Shy and skittish, it's very hard to get a good look at them.
Friday, 5th, The family in the tent next to us is on the
road early (5:30), so we are awake, and up earlier than normal. By 9:15
we have
checked out, been and done the local Nata Game Sanctuary, 10Km south of
the lodge. The most surprising thing to me, is that there
is a huge lake here - this is a very dry area. Hardly any animals or
even birds are here though. It only takes us an hour to get around,
and we only see about 10 animals and 5 bird species.
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And dad accepts everyone's thanks
Well, I'm sure that's the concept |
This is our final leg toward Vic Falls, and it will be the third
"side" of the rectangle from Drotsky's Cabins. That is, from here, we
head north again for the 300Km back up to the latitude we were at 4 days
ago. We will have travelled 1000Km to avoid the Caprivi
treck of 300km - we do however expect to arrive in Kasane alive this
route.
The landscape is pretty familiar, except where it has been turned
into mass farmland and crop cultivation areas. After 200Km, the
fork off to the east to a Zim border post, where I saw a pride of lions
lounging 20 odd years ago, is now a gas station.
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We wander up and down the river
Really hot and sweaty. Great appetite builder
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We arrive at Chobe Safari Lodge at 2:00PM, and book into a 2 bed
chalet for the night. Much to your surprise no doubt, we spend the
rest of the day in the pool, and catching up with laundry etc.
I seek out my old haunts - this was one of my stop overs when heading
South, I was refused entry into Rhodesia in 1976 (I only had
US$75.00 in my pocket), and stayed here for a week or so, and also in
1978 on my way back up to Kenya (with a lot more in my pocket), heartbroken over having to cease and desist with any further emotional entanglements with my true love.
Oh well, I coped, mostly and moved on, mostly
Once again, there appears to be little correlation between my memory, of what it was then and current reality.
We seek out the towns pie shop, and take the economical route to
food. At 2:00PM the heat, although actually being bearable, feels
not to be.
The lodge is right on the banks of the Chobe river. LARGE coloured signs tell you to stay away from the river bank as there have
been several spotting's of LARGE crocs on the river banks.
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Good to get a bit of "tourist" stuff over with
It's all just fluff really, but real animals
|
This is definitely the tourist set here. I hear English, South
African and Kiwi accents, German, French, Italian all around. It's
obviously a location for Europeans to "do" Africa in total comfort.
There are also several rotund grannies here (various nationalities).
From the banks, next to the swimming pool, you can see on the Chobe reserve 1 Km away across the river, the herds of elephant,
Cape Buffalo, and just out in the river, see and hear the hippo's grunting through the afternoon heat.
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Well. this is exactly what I took 6 months off for
Family time |
This
being Friday, there is a heavy duty braii and buffet here. - very
expensive (we think), but probably North American levels of
pricing, so not desperately so. Lots of veg, some of which we have not
seen for a few weeks, meat, of course including Kudu and
Impala. There is also something I'd describe as "neither" (or should it
be both?), this delicacy being Mopani worms.
These critters are huge caterpillars and are everywhere. After an idle life of browsing on
leaves, they grow to between 2 - 5 cm long and 1 cm thick. In the
normal manner of local caterpillars, they then climb up a Mopani tree,
spin a thread as they drop to the ground, and draw themselves
up to the top branches of the Mopani tree as they spin their cocoon
around them. Eventually they turn themselves (if they are not
turned into food), into a large moth.
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Lots of Buffalo.
|
The chef tells me they are boiled
and then fried and the final result are black and grey and limp .
Hey, this is Africa, you never know when you are going to run out of pie
shops..... so I give it a try, Aiden is not so sure.
It's like a long piece of pig grizzle that just will not allow teeth through it. Fairly tasteless, and very crunchy. Mostly due to the dust around here I think.
Hmmmm, I stop at one in case I become hooked.
Come Saturday, 6th, as we overheard some of the
overlanders complaining that they have not had much sleep because of all
the lion
and elephant noises all night, we move into the campsite which has a
once had-been fence which abuts onto the actual Chobe reserve.
We are lucky enough to get a shady site, right next to the river (lucky
as long as no hippo's or crocs want to share this area with us),
and camp.
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Whole herds to the horizon
as the sun sets |
My Economists are rapidly being used up, (I'm now only 5 weeks behind with what has been happening in the world - we did not
miss much it seems), so the afternoon is passed in the pool and in reading.
As a final "that's it" for Botswana, I'm induced, against my better judgement, to go with the others on a sunset cruise of Chobe
reserve - against my judgement as I consider all Botswana to be a rip off by now. We see the usual stuff - elephants - lots, hippo,
crocs, live and remains of water buffalo, we meander around for a couple of hours. Although the lions are full timers here, try as we
might, none show themselves. As it's a camping night, we celebrate our October camping early (at
one a month so far), so we live off of rice and canned beriani as
the stars come out. An unexpectedly quiet night passes with no one being
eaten, or even severely maimed.
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A couple of hours of this and that's more than enough
But family still having fun |
Sunday 8th., and it's time for another country - Zimbabwe.
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Lots of these, and other
Not my bag though. Give me meat eaters |
We have been told many times that there is no, or at least limited amounts
of Diesel in Zim, so we shake the Cruiser until we can get no more fuel in the tank, and say farewell to Botswana, although,
personally, I'm glad to be leaving (once again, this is a familiar feeling).
I wonder if Zim will be another casualty of African advancement.
Distance travelled this entry: 1450 Km.
Distance moved on trip this entry: 1250 Km
Tuesday, October 10th,
Lokathula Lodge, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
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This was great. My first Zambezi beer on board
I told the captain the last time I was in Zim:
he said he wasn't born then |
Well, what can we say except, "Told you so"....... This is a truly fantastic place to vacation in.
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Oh yes, it's great to be here again
This time in pretty luxurious mode |
Zim
is still a wonderful place, spectacular areas, masses of wildlife,
lovely people (if you avoid being ripped off by the street
currency exchangers - I did...avoid it that is), a great tourist
infrastructure (without many tourists), a really cheap dollar and plenty
of
cool places to spend it.
The border at Kazungula was, once again, a simple breeze. Leaving
Botswana was simple, almost just filling out our exit details form
and saying goodbye. Zim was even easier - not even a form to fill in and
we are stamped through for 3 months. We did need to get
third party insurance - $US10.00 for 2 months.
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| Oh god! I LOVE Africa |
Vic Falls is only 70Km from the border, we see nothing on the road as
we pass through the Zambezi game park, and it's a good road
so we are wandering around looking for our nights resting place - (our
time share starts tomorrow), by 12:00.
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Mating elephants.
Gentleman Elephants don't take their
weight on their elbows apparently |
There are lots of people simply hanging out on the main street - we
are not sure what this means yet. At the main garage, there is
Diesel and no one is queuing anywhere. We try the first place we see for
a brief overnighter - a fairly basic camping and overland
spot with some basic 4 bed rooms for $US30.00. It's not brilliant, but
it's a place to stay. The place is well run, clean, tidy and
appears to be pretty full. There is a foreign exchange desk, tour
operators and a fridge with pops in it. We move in and shower &
change.
Back at the office, there is a sunset cruise, including drinks and
snacks on the Zambezi for 2 hours at $US15.00 each, kids half price.
We book up for it.
In town, there appear to be quite a few tourists about, and at least
as many people on the streets trying to convince them to come on
one or more of their expeditions.
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And Zambezi beers and snacks
really make for a great sunset |
As we have had nothing except pops
since last evening, we check out a local restaurant. These
prices are silly! The total meal for the 4 of us is about US$8.00. The
recent 40% devaluation certainly works in our favour, plus
everyone is giving 10 - 12% more on top of that without any commission.
As ever - do not play with the street changers; the semi
official exchangers who have tiny booths on the street. All have a
security guard at the window and are honest and will not screw
you.
Everyone here smiles, is very friendly and we all have zero feelings
of any animosity.
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The local central community area
Been 23 years since I've been here |
After the indifference of Botswana, the
reservations of Namibia, and the out and out paranoia of everything that
moves in SA, this is an incredibly warm, wonderful feeling.
The Falls beckons us, but we'll wait a day or two for that adventure, so we return and do the sunset cruise.
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We check into our time share at 9:30AM
Move in, find vittles and relax |
The evening cruise is real enough, exactly what was advertised in
fact. The agent at the lodge takes us in his car to the banks of the
Zambezi. The captain is only 26, but is extremely professional and very
competent. I chat with him about the last time I was in Zim -
he was only 4 then. We are the only four on board, the others are late.
At exactly 4:30, we cast off to head downstream
where there
are about 15 - 20 elephant crossing the Zambezi river from Zambia to the
Zim side. Our captain wants to get there before they leave,
so we head out without the others.
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Aiden modelling our luxury accommodation
Actually inside a Zim game park
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When we arrive at the crossing point, he thinks they are mating - apparently this being in the water, hence less weight, is de rigueur for elephants.
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| KaywaB |
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| Aiden Bayden |
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| Chief Instigator |
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| Muses |
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This is our time share. Note low walls
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Time share with friends
These are designed specifically to avoid these
guys ripping the place apart |
The
elephants leave up the Zim banks, and the boat returns for the
remaining three adults and two babies and our snacks. The trip
now becomes a gentle meander between the banks of the Zim and Zambian
shores. The sun lowers, we take our pix, eat our snacks
(very good too!), drink our beers
, of which the Zambezi Larger is extremely good, and come dusk, we head
back. On the way we
take the other passengers to their lodge 4 Km up the road. When we
arrive there, there is an elephant tearing down the trees just
outside their cottage in the park. Heading back to town with the sun now
well set, there is a herd of 100 - 200 Cape buffalo by the
side of the road. Incredible!
Snacks in town - pizza's for the kids, and some really good "Zambezi" grill for me. Even cheaper than lunch. This place gets my
vote!
The accommodation was less then wonderful, but we survived, and come
morning, we are up early, and have checked into Lokathulu
Lodge by 9:00AM - quite a record for a time share anywhere in the world!
The manager tells us to drive everywhere due to the wild
animals roaming around, even in the immediate area. We have a very large
3 bedroom two story luxury house with huge canvas
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| Local game and tourists |
"windows" which are the entire front wall of the first floor which opens
onto the reserve. Once again it is totally serviced with beds
made and kitchen cleaned every day, dontcha just love Africa? - we did
invite you folks, where are you?
This place is truly magnificent - probably the best time share yet, ever.
It is totally inside the boundaries of a fenceless game reserve, and
the signs heading to the lodge have "Beware of Elephants" in several
places.
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What a truly fabulous place
AND! it's actually in the game park
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The chalet is brilliantly private - in fact we have very little idea
that any other rondavels are near. We are in number 23, they go up to
30, and the nearest inhabited one is currently #15. Almost our own game
park. As in time shares elsewhere in Africa, this is totally
serviced. Every thing re organised, made washed and put away where we
can easily find all the stuff to make dirty again. Now THIS
is Africa at it's very best.
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| The local breakfast nook |
There is a famous restaurant attached to the lodge (The Boma), and a
hotel 0.75 Km around the gravel road. The manager at the
check in tells us we get a 30% discount at both places. By 9:20, we are
having a slap up buffet breakfast overlooking a fairly lively
water hole down in the valley: the buffalo from last night have migrated
here for breakfast. Ours, bye the way, for the four of us for
$US12.00......... and this is top of the line luxury hotel we are
talking here. I'm really beginning to like Zimbabwe!
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As you can see, just another warthog
They are actually delicious, especially in a sandwich
which we have many of at the pool |
As we have kitchen, fridge etc, we head off to town to try the local
supermarket fare. Lots of aisles, but not much selection. Fruit &
veg are somewhat lacking - must be the heat, and the dairy leaves some
things to be desired. No scanning equipment here, still, the
tills do not have the chicken wire robbery diffuser we came across every
where else; maybe this is a more law abiding society.
We stock up with various stuff and stack the stuff in the lodge for
later investigation. Get a national newspaper. Gordon Bennet - this
is real news! There is nothing sycophantic about this lot! They are all
tearing into Mugabe with real enthusiasm, plus, everything I
read, even letters to the editor, are all not only cogent, but well
argued and based in Law and facts.
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Probably not going to dissuade an elephant
or Cape Buffalo, but the kids didn't
realise that |
Diesel is about the same price as everywhere else we've been - about
what it was in Canada before we left - $C0.70/ litre, probably
cheaper than N. America now! There are still no queues for fuel.
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One day the two elephant which now
appear to be residents here, come up
to the swimming pool for a drink.
|
God! Its bloody hot here, so we retire to the pool. Attempts at school work are pretty much no more than that.
Dinner at the Boma, it is in the top 3 restaurants in Zim, and once
again, there are Mopani worms on the menu, along with Crocodile
tail salad, smoked Buffalo, Kudu and Warthog steaks, Ostrich kebabs,
and Impala Bourguignon. I try them all, and so do the kids.
The restaurant gives you a certificate if you eat (and keep down) a Mopani
worm - we all get one except for the missus who is probably
avoiding them due to some religious issue.
This place does the real
total dining experience: Chibuku (a really sour poor mans beer)
to start, Ndebele dancing and singing every half hour, witch doctor,
fortune and story tellers wander around to every table. An
African twist on the Gypsy violinist I guess. We have a ball and are all
totally pigged (warthogged?) out and over indulged by the
time we leave. I'm not the only one putting on weight!
As
our chalet is a few hundred metres from this place, we have walked here
(in daylight), now it's time to go home. We walk 100
metres.....
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Spot Brian Mulroney's Mahout
|
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| Far too hokey for me |
Not so fast! What is that shadow just ahead of us? It's a
Cape Buffalo; this is not an animal you would like to meet
anywhere except from some secure position. Out on the manicured lawns,
it is only 20 metres away, is NOT that secure location or
where we'd like to be. However, the security guys are well ahead of this
situation, as soon as they saw us leave, they were in their van
and within the 15 seconds we have taken to walk here, they had located
us. We are escorted to our door. They radio back to HQ that
we are safely deposited. VERY impressive.
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Once again, you won't find many
school trips doing this |
During the night I wake up to scrunching sounds; its two bloody great
bull elephants, literally eating the trees just outside our
bedroom window! We head out of the door, one of them is only 5 metres
away from our door. We can actually smell the animals we
are so close. Photo ops - the video is the only one accepting this
amount of moonlight. About 40 metres away, we see a large Cape
Buffalo, within seconds it smells the elephants, and leaps away into the
night. The bulls amble around destroying whatever they feel
like eating, and we return to bed. During the day, we practice our
defences, I'm the one with the stick....
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Everyone gets their own elephant. Really!
|
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"Getting very close to the
animals is easy on top of an
elephant"
|
In the bar, there is a satellite based TV, CNN and BBC are on, plus
sport, US sitcoms, movie channels etc. CNN seems to be the only
channel with advertising.
After over 3 months, actual live news is a strange concept.
The Middle East, Nobel Peace Prize and other esoteria. Gets a quick
viewing. Not sure if I want to know, but it's comforting in a way
to see that our host country is not currently making the headlines. The
week passes by, this really is a vacation station! The supermarket
supplies all the basics, even some locally produced red and
white wines are on the shelves, hmmm, taste as good as mine back in TO.
At $C4.00 a bottle this is pretty acceptable. We braai with
warthog, Buffalo, more elephant passing by on a daily basis. One day the two elephant which now appear to be residents here, come
up to the swimming pool for a drink.
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Exclusively exclusive ride in the park
Ilge had the mahout who took
Brian Mulrooney around a year ago |
We have lunch watching them no more than 40 metres away destroying the greenery around the
restaurant.
We talk to a few of the other residents, mainly white Zims, mostly
farmers, mostly phlegmatic and resigned to the current political
gyrations. Most are old enough to have fought in the last (pre
independence) war, on the wrong side.
There are not many young
whites around, but this is a weeks vacation for everyone here.
Initially, I'm amazed by the black populations perception of the sad
state of the state. To a man/ person, they are very unhappy, and some
want Ian Smith (the white prime minister who led the war
against Mugabe in 76 - 82) to come back to run the country.
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I stayed back at the ranch, eschewing
such tourist delights
|
And these
folks are not joking! This area is however Matabele, the
African tribe who does not have the political power in Zim. This is also
exclusively a tourist paradise, and tourism is waaaaaaay
down. We would certainly never get this time share at 3 days notice
under "normal" pre violence circumstances.
I'm constantly amazed at how friendly, articulate, educated,
immaculately clean and neatly pressed everyone is here. Even the
beggars read the newspapers and can discourse very well (this is a
debater & public speaker talking here!) and extremely politely
(they would make great Canadians), especially with regard to the current
government. The overall effect is that the Zimbabweans, do
not deserve
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| tourist |
Mugabe and all this destabilising crap. There appears to be
no safety issues here. We (and many other tourists) quite
happily wander around, well anywhere after dark, with no worries,
paranoia, or concerns for our safety. The only exception to this is
when I change a large pile of money, and have to get back to the van
with a pocket bulging with notes, but there is never any
problem, period.The
strange thing about .the Zim money, is that it is based around a unit
of money that has eroded incredibly over the past 5 years.
Twenty years ago $Z1.00 was worth $US1.50, now, its only worth $US0.02,
and that's at the official rates, less on the open market, consequently, we have to
measure our currency needs in "inches" or kilo's of $ZIM100 (about
C2.50) notes - that's as big as it gets here. The other side of
course, is that 4 can eat a good lunch for $ZIM400.
However, more pool, more food, more lounging watching the game run in front of our lounge - for us very few up market tourists,
this is simply vacation heaven: what a life!
Distance travelled this entry: 150 Km.
Distance moved on trip this entry: 75 Km
Sunday, October 15th,
Lokathula Lodge, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
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Victoria Falls time kids
Really humid, plus lots of mist and
spray to ruin your cameras
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Victoria Falls,
truly a sight you must see before you die
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It's 5:30AM, our last day here.
Once again, the cracking of branches, scrunching of leaves and the
occasional "Greip" of a tree being pulled down just outside our
veranda, gets us up. The sun is not up yet, but it's well past dawn. Our
friendly resident Warthog has just arrived in front of me, and
is doing a tour of the lawns checking for his breakfast.
The warthog
moves onto slimier environs, and the guinea fowl cluck through
town. We look over a small valley which occasionally has Water Buffalo,
impala, warthogs cavorting about in front of our house.
We have been in Zim a week, and apart from the first day, before we had any local currency, we have not seen Diesel available at
any of the gas stations. This could severely cramp our travelling plans!
We are awakened at 1:00AM by a hair raising scream.
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Danger Point,
unlike the rest of the
viewing areas
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The rains way up river take about
2 months to arrive. Dry now
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I think it's in
the house, and run up to the kids bedroom, but it turns out to be
on our veranda, thankfully. Later, Kayla told me that she thought me running up the stairs was what made the scream. That must have been one hell of a scary night
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Well, both kids did it well before
either of us, age wise anyway
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Aiden and Kayla have the upper floor here which also has a wall of
canvas screening, any screaming around, and they hear it quite
easily. They are both, shall we say concerned with the screaming. The
problem here is that you cannot see what is going on outside,
as the thick curtain material has no window in it. We hear something
scuffling outside, with no idea as to size or make/ model of
animal. I go outside, there is some rustling in the bushes 10 metres
away. I'm not that brave, and retreat back inside. Another restless
night.
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Aiden always way the artistic
interpreter in the family |
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Well, it's not as if you will ever get bored with this
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We have been utilising the local facilities here - there is a hell of
a lot of really cool stuff to do here - Vic Falls is in fact one of the
"adrenaline capitals" of the world. Everything from sedate river cruises
to abseiling, bungy jumping, elephant riding safari's and
white water rafting.
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There's not a lot "protecting"
you from these elements |
Ilge, Aiden & Kayla do an elephant ride in a game park
near by. This is the first thing in Zim that has pissed me off, was
when I
discovered that the agent for the elephant safari charges in US$ (92.00/
person), and then extrapolates this at the black market rate.
All fine and well if you have access to black market rates to pay in
local, or pay in US$. We paid via credit card, so ended up paying
10% - 15% more than we should, as the cards still only give us bank rate
of $Zim50.00 = $US1.00.......
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| Isn't this just such a lovely shot of a lovely kid |
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Nah! The rainbow is always there
Well. during the day anyway |
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We have both been here before
Not together until now though
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Good old Livingstone
"Discoverer" of the place
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| We wait till its sunset |
Won't shop there again. They
all enjoy the ride - "very smooth and comfortable". "Getting very close to the animals is easy on top of an elephant". Still no lions.
Ilge had the mahout who took Brian Mulroney (a recent Canadian Prime Minister 1984 - 1993) around a year ago. Personal service for all riders.
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Who would have thought? Can you spot the real thing?
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And these guys? There were whole tanks of them
One day they will make a nice handbag
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The local crocodile, leopard, lion etc park
These guys are really mean.
One slip here and there's no chance
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This is really organised,
and the staff here give a really good tour |
One afternoon, we trek to the crocodile ranch, only 3 Km away from us, just outside of the Zambezi Game park. This is really
organised, and the staff here give a really good tour, right down to the minuscule details of crocs. The kids get to play with a baby,
and we watch the crocs, lions and leopard (all captive of course) being fed. The crocs get fed elephant meat - from the parks culling
expeditions. Aiden buys a drum at the store - more space in the cruiser gone.
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I've never worked out why they don't just eat each other
Food for thought?
Apparently, these nightmares are fed bits of culled elephant from Hwange
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Kayla, of course is fearless
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Aiden is not so sure
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| Here, the lions being fed, again on culled elephants |
Friday,
October 13th. A full moon and we head off to The Falls
for the day show with sun light, and the night show with moon light.
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Aiden not too sure about this
But did it and had a blast |
Well, the charges have gone up yet again, we expected $US10.00, but now
it's doubled, and to boot, to see the moonrise, it's a
stunning $US35.00. The guy at the desk is embarrassed, but as he says,
"These are the prices, what can I do?"
We pay the tourist rate
and go in for a four hour view of the falls. It's pretty low season, and
the water in the Zambezi river is only about 60% across now.
Still pretty startling though.
We wander around the various parts - from
Livingstones statue, the Devils cateract through the various
western and central viewing points, personal stops, rain forest, central falls, danger point through to the view of the Vic Falls bridge.
to the eastern falls - now dry. We wait till its sunset and are escorted out by the same guy who let us in.
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Yes, but you don't really have any time to panic
A quick flip, and you're out |
Yesterday, Saturday 14
th,
Aiden & I do the Zambezi white water rafting. There were 15 class
IV and V rapids, and we went on the
semi wimp raft - the guide doing a lot of the work for us, mainly
because he didn't want Aiden to drown. "Bad Dog" is the only outfit
that would take him. Thanks Thebani!
We enter just behind the Vic falls
Hotel - passing Cape buffalo en route. We kit up with
helmet and GASP! Very tight lifejackets - that's ok, they probably save
our lives!
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There was one rapid that killed too many people
We walked around this one ("Commercial Suicide") |
The path is down a desperately steep cliff and is
very steep and quite dangerous down to the bottom of the second gorge
where we do some warm up exercises, then jump into the
river. Now we are ready to go into the first rapid. Once through we are
all elated and go onto rapid # 21. We all survived, including a
wipe out at rapid #6 -
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| And portage around it |
"The Devils Toilet Bowl" where we completely
turtled the boat and got swept downstream about 100 metres -
this with a current of about 7 - 8 knots. This was not a pleasant little
swim on the Ottawa river. Lost Aiden for about 40 seconds -
that was quite long enough for my imagination to come up with more than
one scenario. There were three rafts with 6 in each, by the
end of the day each boat has someone in it that gets quite a knock, one
guy needs a few days to recuperate.
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Aiden got tossed out too.
Remember to keep your lifejacket tight folks |
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No one died Not by the rapids anyway
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I took my underwater
camera - in fact, this is the sole reason I brought it, and took some
shots, even as I was being swept down the river. Even if there
were no rapids, the gorges are absolutely spectacular. They go on for 20
- 30 Km and are about 75 - 100 metres high all the way
down the river. There is something primordial about floating past rocks
that have been cut, gouged and weathered millions of years
ago, and you are right in the middle of this history. We finish off with
a braai at around 23:30, and everyone is wiped out.
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Oh yes, 23 rapids, all top rated I believe,
portaging one
Real excitement for all partakers
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Scary stuff!, but we all survive and invest $US45.00 (!!!) later that evening for the unexpurgated video of the day.
Several times during the week, I've tried to e-mail and hook up to
upload my pix to the web site, only managed to e-mail once, and
cannot get into the net from any café here. The pix will have to wait -
sorry folks.
This has been a wonderful break, especially after all the crap places
in Botswana. The people are lovely, even the beggars are
friendly and typically well educated - although what this says for the
future of the country does not bear thinking about! As Ilge
describes it "Zimbabweans are born with a smile on their faces". Once
again, we see absolutely no sign of official policy, or even
recognition of any AIDS issues; Zim has the highest (acknowledged) rate
of infection in the world.
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My final civilised write up for you
Dear gentle reader
It's 5:30AM, our last day here.
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More scary stuff.
This evening we are off to the Zambezi game reserve for the night, then off to Hwankie national park.
Distance travelled this entry: 75 Km.
Distance moved on trip this entry: 0 Km
Editors Note:
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| And these were just drinking out of the pool |
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| But I didn't bring the camera in time |
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| Our tour of the local crocodile farm |
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| Tis is the Big Daddy, about 68 years old |
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| Kayla has just found out these creatures |
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| Are being fed local Elephants |
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| And they are looking very well on it |
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| Rather culled elephants than me I guess |
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Luckily,
the railings didn't need urgent maintenance |
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| Feeding time |
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| Spot the dangling elephant |
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| These are killing machines but can't chew |
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| In the wild, they store their kills |
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| So, if you fell in, |
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you would be ripped apart
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| rather than eaten directly. YUM! |
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| As opposed to these guys |
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| Who would choke you |
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| As the rest of the pack |
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| Merrily disembowelled you |
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Our executive style mansion, maybe rondavel
Victoria Falls |
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| I'm not sure if these are turned into lunch |
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| And here, with the mighty cruiser in the background |
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| Bravely heading out in a totally nonchalant mode |
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| Which is ok with just these guys around |
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| Still a little concerned maybe |
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| But Aiden has the Afro beat |
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| Time to catch up on my Economist's |
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| We are now out 3 and a half months, I think I can still claim R&R |
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| What a luxurious, splendid life |
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| Now it's time for the family elephant ride |
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| Word has it, African Elephants can't be trained |
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| I guess that information was incorrect |
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| And then everyone gets individual attention |
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| Not exactly Kayla's idea of a pony |
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| Well, it's Africa |
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| And these guys are tourists |
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| The local wildlife is familiar with elephants |
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| Even if they are laden with cargo |
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| For a 10 and 13 year old |
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| This is, once again |
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| Quite out of their peer group |
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| experiences |
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| Talk about world travelled |
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| The full African exposure |
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| It's not as wild as a pony in the Lesotho mountains |
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| But it's another adventure |
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| But it was quite the experience |
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| I expect I was organising the rest of the trip |
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| But that's what a trip to Africa is all about |
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| Well, an hour and a half of the African bush |
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| With the option of |
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| making friends |
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| Wnhen you are finished |
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| I wonder if this will be a fond memory |
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| 25 years later |
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| Looks like a life affecting moment for some |
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| And with a fond farewell |
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We indulge in more recognisable tourist stuff
Here, Mr Livingstone peers out from his final
resting area |
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And here is a view of main falls from the
Devils Cataract |
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| Abothe African experience |
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| The cataracts directly from the viewing area |
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| And the main falls |
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| Which are exceedingly wet |
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| Even thought it's minimal at this time of year |
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| Here's some perspective of the dry season |
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| 110 metre drop off of here |
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| And the missus checking out the safety provisions |
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| And, early morning, next day |
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| At 5:40AM, the day we leave |
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| Today there are 4 or 5 of them |
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| Just outside our front door |
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| As the lawns are kept relatively watered |
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| The lusher foliage is more of a meal for the herd |
From your Correspondent, November 19th 2025
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