Beth in Africa

Day 1: June 24 - The journey begins

2007-07-21T17:32:00.000-04:00

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Yesterday and today were spent traveling. Rather, they were spent waiting. There was a ton of waiting to be had... wait to check in, wait for security, wait for plane, wait for customs... yawn. Now, my traveling roommate Joanne and I are at the "day room" in London waiting to go back to the airport to catch our overnight flight to Johannesburg.

I didn't sleep on the 6+ hour (red-eye) flight from JFK last night, so I'm almost ready to pass out now. Two overnight plane rides in a row is pretty brutal - especially in economy class. Since we had about 10 hours to waste here, I've gone to the gym for a workout, and had lunch to try to stay awake. Hopefully this exhaustion will mean I'll be able to sleep on the 11-hour flight tonight. But I'm so excited about the trip that I can't imagine sleeping!

But all the waiting has given me a chance to think about the important things I need to pay attention to when I'm in Africa... for example, see if the water swirls in the opposite direction when flushing toilets.

Joanne seems very cool - a retired music teacher from Wisconsin. It's always a crap shoot with roommates, so I'm glad she's pretty laid back (and she claims she doesn't snore - bonus!) She told me that she packed her winter coat... uh oh. :-/ I think I'm going to freeze my tail off in the next few weeks on these early morning and late night safaris. I'm going to steal a blanket off the plane to keep with me. (I'll bring it back and leave it on the plane on the return flight... hopefully my teeth will stop chattering and I'll be able to feel my fingers again by then... but I'm not counting on being warm again until August...)
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Day 2: June 25 - Pafuri, South Africa

2007-07-21T17:31:00.000-04:00

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I've arrived!! After an 11+ hour flight from London to Johannesburg (during which I slept an unimpressive 5 hours) we arrived at the airport bleary-eyed and late, but excited. My poor roommate's bag was left behind in London, so she's borrowing some clothing from me for now. (The same thing happened during my trip to Central America last year! Soon no one is going to want to be my roommate!)

From Johannesburg, we had a 2 1/2 hour flight on a 15-seater plane, and then a drive to the lodge. We're at Pafuri, a region in Kruger National Park, located in the northeast corner of South Africa: We arrived 3 hours later than scheduled, so we were starving and thirsty, but ready for our adventure! On the drive from the airport we were already seeing animals, and had to stop a zillion times to break out the cameras. I started indulging my anal tendencies immediately, and wrote down everything we saw on every trip...

Spotted on the drive from the air strip:
- Nyala (antelope only found at Pafuri park)
- Impala (another antelope)
- African Fish-Eagle
- Red-Billed Buffalo Weaver
- Hornbill

When we arrived at the lodge, we were met by a group of 5 elephants wandering around the riverside and the brush underneath our huts (which are on stilts.) It's so exciting to be here, I can't express how happy I am! Here is the first elephant we spotted, across from the main lodge: The other four elephants were right underneath our hut - here's a photo from our deck:
(Note: My new camera wasn't on a the correct settings this first day, so many of my photos didn't come out very well - and the night-shots were ridiculously laughable. But don't worry, there are plenty more where these came from.)

Our guide, Godfrey, is fabulous, and I don't know how he spies some of the animals through the growth. Tonight, we're heading out for an evening / sunset drive, and then we'll be doing what's called "spotlighting", which is scoping out the brush with a light, looking for the reflection of animal eyes. This is the best way to find the nocturnal animals.

Night drive:
- African Civet
- Three-banded courser (apparently the group before us were avid birders and have been searching for this bird for 3 days... we found it on our first trip out.)
- Large-spotted genet
- Scrub hare

The weather was warm when we arrived - probably about 75 degrees - but as I write this in the evening, it's definitely cooled off significantly. Since we're in lodges, there is no heat, but they give us a hot water bottle which is keeping my toes warm - it's divine!! The sound of frogs and a few crickets is ridiculously loud. I'm glad I'm tired, so I will be able to sleep through it! Tomorrow morning, we get up at 5:30am for a 6am game drive - and I'm sure I'm going to freeze my tush off. The safari trucks have nice thick blankets, though, which is awesome. Hopefully I can wear about 10 of them. Right now, I'm simply excited about the prospect of sleeping horizontally... for the first time in three days... G'night!
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Day 3: June 26 - Morning... brrrr!!!

2007-07-21T17:26:00.000-04:00

5:30am:
Holy shit it's cold!!!!!! 40 degrees this morning for our 6am game drive. Oof. I wish I had another hot water bottle to heat up my bra before I put it on this morning!!! Gotta run... morning drive is in 20 minutes. The sun isn't even up, and it's darker than pitch.... but I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!

(Note: A few minutes later, I did manage to catch a photo of sunrise as we headed to breakfast): AM Game Drive to Crook's Corner:
Crook's Corner is where the (dry) Limpopo River and the flowing Luvuvhu River join. (The Limpopo is dry during the winter months of June, July and August.) It's also the border between S. Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Ever since Zimbabwe has hit troubled times, people sneak across this "border" during the dry season to other, safer countries. Unfortunately, they have to contend with the animals, and Godfrey (our guide) told us that the week prior, one person was mauled by a lion as they were attempting to cross. Here's a photo of Godfrey standing on the Limpopo riverbed, looking for tracks. (Across the riverbed is Zimbabwe.) He did spot some lion tracks, but didn't catch up with the kitty...
Here are the animals that we spotted on the morning drive:
- Impala (the money-back guarantee in Africa.. they're everywhere)
- Yellow-billed hornbill (a.k.a. "the flying banana"). These guys were everywhere, too... at every single place we visited for the rest of the trip...- Nyala (a beautiful antelope that is only found in Pafuri. I love his yellow socks...)- Lilac breasted roller: One of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful birds I've ever seen. We spent a lot of time for the next few weeks trying to catch a photo of it in flight where it was - if you can believe it - even more colorful. But I don't think anyone quite caught it... - Warthogs (their tails stick straight up in the air when they're running... like an antenna! Too funny)

- Kudu

- Vervet monkey- Baboons (Most of the animals ran after they saw us... so we had a lot of these types of photos... )

- Crocodiles

- Waterbuck (antelope identifiable by a white ring around it's butt. The story is that the waterbuck was on Noah's Ark, and Noah told him not to use the toilets, but instead to use the bush as the other animals did. But the waterbuck didn't listen, and used the toilets, but he didn't know that there was fresh paint on it. So he got a ring of white around his tush. God was angry with him, so he cursed his descendants forever with a white ring on their butts. Poor things. In any case, for some reason, none of my photos of a waterbuck turned out, so you're spared the image.)

- Grey herons

- Vulture
- Crested francolins
- Go-away bird
- Natal francolins (a.k.a. "Road runner")
- Hippos (very far away. We didn't really count this as a sighting.)
- Steenbok

Another thing that is everywhere: Poop. Especially elephant poop. There were piles of the stuff on every road, path, field, forest and near every body of water. It didn't smell badly - it's only about 40% digested and all they eat are grasses and leaves. But it was, literally, all over the place:

11:30am:
Back for siesta after an amazing morning drive. The Makuleke tribe controls this Pafuri section of Kruger National Park. It's part of a restitution agreement made with the tribe in 1998 as an attempt at a "make good" for kicking the tribes off their land when the park was originally created. In 1998, the tribe was allowed to return to the land, provided that they manage it as a wildlife sanctuary. They have 25 years to prove that they're keen on managing the property, and so far, everything looks fabulous. Everyone who works at the lodge (except for a few trained personnel) are from the Makuleke tribe, including Godfrey, our guide.

During the drive this morning, we saw tons of animals, even if it wasn't any of the biggies. I'm not a big birder, but this is a fabulous place for anyone who is into bird watching. The variety is amazing. It warmed up nicely from this morning's chill, and now it's about 80 degrees outside. So I took a shower in the outdoor shower (and the monkeys watched... weird little voyeurs.) I'm on the patio of our hut now, listening to the elephants wading in the river, and watching the vervet monkeys play in the trees above my head. How cool is this? I'm still tired from the jet lag - and some strange screaming sounds that woke us up a few times during the night last night (eek!) - so I'll probably take a quick nap before our 3pm tea and our afternoon drive.
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Day 3: June 26 - Afternoon

2007-07-21T17:25:00.000-04:00

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3:00pm:
Pafuri Lodge's main lodge:
Kathryn and Mary Anne enjoying tea on the patio before we leave for our afternoon drive:
Animals on the afternoon drive:
- Cape Buffalo - Our first sighting of the cape buffalo! They were a bit far away (hence the furry photo below), but it was exciting to see them! We've now officially seen 2 of the "Big Five" (we've spotted elephants and buffalo, and have still to see the lion, leopard and rhino).

- Elephants - We got much closer to the elephants today! These creatures are so majestic and beautiful, it's hard to describe how it feels to see them in the wild. Below, you can see Godfrey's head, and the elephant is mock-charging our vehicle with his ears wide (to make himself look larger.) It was breathtaking to watch them in the wild...

You can see how close they came to the safari vehicles! They walked no more than 30 feet from the front of the truck ahead of us!

We saw quite a few more animals at night, but it was too dark for photos:

- Lesser bush baby

- Thick-tailed bush baby

- White-tailed mongoose

9:45pm:
It's not nearly as cold tonight as it was last night... but the hot water bottle is still very welcome on my cold toes! We figured out that the calls that woke us up a few times last night were bush babies. It's amazing how loud those little animals are!

We saw more lion tracks today, and poor Godfrey spend the whole day searching for them... but no luck. Oh well! I can't be disappointed, since we still saw an amazing number of creatures, including a HUGE herd of elephants - with babies! Too cute!

I did manage to pass out on the porch for 2 hours this afternoon during siesta. I guess I'm still feeling the jet lag.

Here's a photo of tonight's sunset:

Day 4: June 27 - Pafuri adventures...

2007-07-21T17:24:00.000-04:00

1:00pm:
Well, yesterday evening's journal entry was cut off abruptly because we lost power to the tents for a bit. The place runs on generators, and sometimes... well... they decide that they're tired and shut down. So we just took that as a sign that we should get some sleep.

In any case, last night for dinner, we had ostrich (a surprisingly dark meat - like a tough beef) with cranberry sauce. So far I haven't seen any live ostrich, so it seems quite unfair that I should be eating it. Unfortunately, I have to say that personally, viewing them will be more rewarding than tasting them.... the ostriches of the world are officially safe from my culinary experimentations.

This morning was another 5:30am wake up, followed closely by another stunning sunrise. I don't think it was quite as cold this morning as it was yesterday, but it may have just been wishful thinking on my part. Still, the mornings are gorgeous and the sunrises are just as colorful as the sunsets every day. The morning drive was filled with hopes of spotting the elusive lion that had left tracks for us once again. But alas he was nowhere to be found today, much to Godfrey's frustration. The drive was far from being a bust, however, as we had a very close encounter with a bachelor group of elephants - the leader of which got within about 20 feet of the vehicle. It was quite intimidating, and Godfrey told us no talking and no movement, lest it spur the elephant to charge us. Needless to say, most of us simply froze and held our breath... Gack!
We also added wildebeests to our list of sightings today - very exciting since they were just recently reintroduced to the park and they're quite shy around vehicles. We also caught our first glimpse of zebra, but they were disappointingly far away. We saw many more baboons, warthogs, kudu, nyala, impala and a plethora of birds. Me and Godfrey:
Upon our return to the lodge, we spotted a huge, 20-foot long crocodile heading up river, and a buffalo on the far shore. The buffalo is still enjoying a riverside siesta as I write this.

The tents at the lodge are all connected with raised wooden walkways, so that they animals can move freely underneath and the lodge doesn't block their access to the riverside. The paths are beautiful, and each room's walkway has a spear at the turnoff point. When placed across the path, it signals "do not disturb", and if it's left upright (like the one here), it means that we would like a wake up knock. Of course, it's also helpful as a weapon in case an animal attacks... but thankfully we haven't had to test that theory... 8:30pm:
This afternoon was quite fun. A family of about 30 baboons spent about an hour by the river outside the tent, drinking, playing and fighting ... and making quite a lot of noise! They were absolutely hysterical and I had a fabulous time taking way too many photos of them...

We also visited one of the largest - and oldest - baobab trees today, which I climbed into the middle of! I hope the photos turn out... quite an adventure! (Note: Later, I realized that I lost my little camera along the way, so I don't have any photos of the baobab tree adventures... hopefully one of my travel mates will send a photo to me and I will post it!)

We went for a third drive this evening. Godfrey is frustrated at missing the lion, especially since he's been following the tracks for three days! But alas no luck again lion-wise. We did manage to catch a glimpse of a civet, which was absolutely gorgeous. Here's a highly mediocre photo that doesn't even come close to capturing reality:
Also spotted tonight was the double-fisted, green-backed Mary Anne, whose photo came out much better than the civet's. A most generous creature, the Mary Anne, who shared her spirits with everyone...

Tomorrow we're off to start the main portion of our trip and transferring to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We'll spend the main part of the day in transit, so I'm not anticipating anything exciting until Friday.

Day 5: June 28 - So long Pafuri

2007-07-21T17:23:00.000-04:00

Geez, it was cold again this morning - no more than 40 degrees, is my guess. I'm going to try sleeping with my clothing tucked under the sheets and see if they are warmer in the morning!! Fortunately, I think I've finally figured out how to dress so that I am not completely frozen on the morning drives. If it was just the 40 degrees, it would be bearable... but with the wind while we're driving, it can get brutally cold on the safaris! Even the monkeys were trying to catch some of the morning sun's warmth this morning: This is our last drive in Pafuri, and we saw more lion tracks, and even saw where they spent the night (Godfrey pointed out the marks in the sand). Another truck radioed us when they spotted four lions on a riverbank, and we rushed to get there (over bumpy bumpy roads!) they had left before we could arrive and we never laid eyes on them. I did get a good shot of a print, though:

We also caught a quick glimpse of a hyena this morning as we were leaving camp - cool! They're much bigger than I had thought, but he ran off before my freezing fingers could manage to get out my camera. In any case, it would have been another "butt running away" shot, which I have a feeling I'll have a lot of by the end of the trip.

The morning drive was still gorgeous, with lovely flowers (I forget what this one is called):

Amazing scenery: And of course, tons of birds. Here is a Goliath Heron, which is - apparently - quite a rare bird to see. He was - true to his name - HUGE, and stood at least 5 feet tall on the riverbank. When he flew away, he had a wingspan of at least 10 feet... it was so majestic.

The abundance of wildlife is stunning, and many times you'll see animals hanging around each other. Mostly they do this for protection - more eyes to see predators coming - and they can use each other to watch for warning signs. Here is an Nyala and a Vervet monkey:

It does seem that every time we go out on a drive we see something new (although now that I've said this, I'll probably jinx us.) This morning, we saw a bunch of Rock Hyrax (also called Dassies) hanging out on the rocky outcrops. They are like huge rats with no tails... but apparently are most closely related to elephants. Shy creatures, they didn't let us get very close, but I did manage to snag a pretty good photo of one while he was sunning himself and trying to get warm:We are overnighting in Johannesburg tonight, and tomorrow, we're flying to Victoria Falls en route to Botswana's Chobe National Park. Thus begins the main portion of our trip, so hopefully we'll start experiencing some culture soon too. I'm looking forward to meeting more of the local people, trying the local foods, and learning about the culture...

Elephant - Loxodonta Africana

2007-07-21T17:22:00.000-04:00

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"Legend has it that elephants go to special places - graveyards - when they sense the coming of death. There is no substance to this tale, but these giants of the African savannas do show an unusual sensitivity towards, or curiosity about, the bones of their own kind. An elephant group will often appear to be fascinated by the bleached carcass of a long-dead animal, shuffling the bones about with their trunks and even moving them away into denser bush. They pay special attention to the jaw bone."
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Day 6: June 29 - Heading to Botswana

2007-07-21T17:21:00.000-04:00

11am: Flight to Zimbabwe
Thus far, today has been fairly uninteresting - no wildlife to speak of (unless you count the homo sapien variety.) We flew back to Johannesburg last night, and spent the night at the airport hotel, and had dinner at an "Irish Pub." I can't believe that I flew to Africa and had fish and chips. Oh well. So far, the food quality has been excellent, but hopefully we'll actually get to eat some African foods soon. Today we start the main portion of the trip, which I'm very excited about.

We're on the plane now, flying into Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. There has been much unrest in Zimbabwe recently, and news has filtered through of several tourists that were robbed recently. I think that was in another part of the country, but can't be sure since we don't have much access to news media here. I guess we'll see how things go when we get there. I'm hopeful that all will go smoothly.

My poor roommate Joanne is still missing her luggage. It followed us to Pafuri, but apparently missed our departure by just a few hours. So now they are telling her that they are going to try to catch up to her in Chobe in Botswana. Poor thing is very unhappy, but we're trying to keep her spirits up, and even strangers have given her extra clothing to supplement her wardrobe, and try to keep her warm.

Gotta run - we're landing now, and need to head to get our visas checked...

4pm: Driving through Zimbabwe to Botswana
We just crossed into Botswana from Zimbabwe, and everything was quiet and uneventful. Our guide - Priscilla - is a Zimbabwean and is just a gem. She's absolutely gorgeous and looks at least 20 years younger than her actual age (which I promised I would never reveal.) All of the people that we've met so far have physically been gorgeous. Their skin is flawless, facial features are dramatic and beautiful, and all are quick to smile and embrace us. There may be strife in the Zimbabwe country, but the people are absolutely beautiful.

On the drive to Chobe, we saw:
- Ground Hornbill (huge creatures! at least the size of a large dog)
- Elephants (with baby! too cute!)

- My first Giraffe!!! He wasn't very big, and just standing - like a statue - on the side of the road. But he was so beautiful, and just stared at us... he wasn't moving, except to blink. Yay!!!! Happy, happy Beth! :-) :-) :-) :-)

8:00pm: Baobab Lodge, Botswana (Chobe National Park)

Day one of the "real" tour, and so far it's fabulous. Priscilla is absolutely spectacular, and really quite fascinating and inspiring. My roommate got some new clothes and - more importantly - a lead on her luggage, so we're optimistic that it will arrive soon.

The lodge here is fabulous. Not nearly as luxurious as Pafuri, but the staff is so gregarious and friendly it's almost disarming. They were singing as we drove up, and every time you turn around, one wants to chat with you and give you a hug. These are amazingly warm and friendly people and I'm falling in love with all of them.

Upon arrival, we spied a kudu herd, buffalo and impala, all from the patio of our tent. The rooms smell of sage and campfires (note: must get some sage for my new home when I have it... the scent is divine!)The sunset was wonderful, and a haze made everything look almost like a dream. I don't think my camera captured the feeling exactly, but hopefully you'll get the drift. The acacia tree on the left was beautiful... but while I took too many photos, I don't think it quite captured the subtle colors and hues as I'd hoped:

We spent the evening by the fire pit, telling tales and drinking wine... relaxing from the travels today, and - for the first time - really feeling like we've arrived in Africa... Yay! Happy!

Day 7: June 30, Chobe morning

2007-07-21T17:20:00.000-04:00

We had our first official game drive in Chobe National Park this morning... PHEW wow it was cold. The wool-lined ponchos they gave us just barely kept us warm enough not to turn into popsicles. They woke us up at 6am (sleeping in here!) with drums, and it was still dark. Then we were off at 7am for our 5-hour drive:

The terrain here is much different than in Pafuri - more open and arid... Much more like I'd anticipated Africa's climate to be. We followed more tracks of lions (including a lion cub), but never caught up with them. We did, however, catch a quick glimpse of a leopard walking through some shrubs, which was quite exciting! It was too brief of an encounter to take a photo, but it was magical nonetheless.

Our guide - Matelu - and Priscilla are fabulous at spotting animals, and it's become a sort of game for the rest of us to see if we can spot the animals before they do. We usually don't. But we did manage to catch a few things on the way. Here's some of what we saw this morning:

- Helmeted Guinea fowl:

- Zebras - including a little one:

I asked these zebras to smile, but only the one on the right actually did...

- Warthogs (they didn't run quite as quickly this time and we were able to get much closer to all of the animals.)

- Kudu - this one had a gorgeous rack of horns... really quite stunning animals.

We stopped near an open area for tea, and there were animals strewn all around the area. If you look at the larger version of the photo below, you can see all sorts of antelope (and maybe some zebras) in the background:

We also saw:

- Giraffe

- Impala

- Banded mongoose

- Knob-billed Duck

- Hippo (a very quick view - again, we decided it didn't count)

- Red Lechwe

- Marabou Storks

- Saddle-billed Stork

- Hamerkop

- Cape Turtle Dove

We returned to the camp around 11am for brunch (here's a photo of our tent):... and right before lunch, we had a demonstration of basket weaving. A few of the women from the local village stopped by and showed us their beautiful work... really quite beautiful. I remember baskets like these selling in the U.S. for gob loads of money, and here they were being sold for $5, $10 or (at the most) $12. Markups are amazing.

So I bought three bowls for $11. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but that's OK. Here I am with the ladies who made them, as well as two members of the lodge staff. These people LOVE to have their photos taken!

This afternoon, we're off on another game drive. The density of animals here in Chobe is spectacular, and we're seeing more here than in Pafuri. The guide says that this is because Chobe is an older reserve, and the animals are used to people and aren't as afraid. Since Pafuri is a much younger park, the animals are more skittish and shy. Interesting.

Day 7: June 30, Chobe afternoon... a Nat Geo day!

2007-07-21T17:19:00.000-04:00

Wow, this afternoon was like living in a National Geographic magazine! The afternoon drive started out quietly, and we weren't seeing much in terms of game. By the end, I was literally crying I was so overwhelmed. But I'll start from the beginning...

A parade of baboons led off the afternoon, and they were playing in the road as we drove by. The little ones were playing in the sand (see below) and reminded me of my nephews digging holes in the beach. Too cute.
When they decided to move off, the little ones jumped on mom's back, and rode off with the group... it's like a baboon Harley Davidson! They use the mom's tail as a backrest, and just sit back and enjoy the ride. There were at least 30 baboons, and probably 5 of them had babies riding on their backs. It was amazing to watch them interact.A little further down, we found the remnants of a buffalo. There were bones all over the place (along with elephant poop) but this one stood out like a Georgia O'Keeffe painting.We also saw some of the usual suspects, like the zebra by the water hole... (I like this photo... it's kind of serene.)... and we finally came across the Red-Billed Hornbill (a.k.a. the "flying chili pepper")...We'd seen many fish eagles flying around, but never had a chance to get a good photo of one. The light was not perfect for this one, but once he turned his head, it wasn't a bad shot:Here is one of the smaller termite mounds in the area. (I'm not kidding - this is a small one. The larger ones grow upwards of 8 feet tall.) Here, our guide is giving us a lesson on termite lifestyle... wild stuff.We also spotted our first "official" hippopotamus today! He was alone on the riverbank, enjoying some grass. This was kind of odd, since hippos usually eat during the night... but I guess he was hungry:Here's a front-end shot of the waterbuck. Unfortunately, he didn't turn around to show us the ring on his butt. (It's funny... whenever you want them to show their butts, they won't!) I even asked politely, but he just stood there staring at me. Oh well... he's still a beautiful animal, even if he wouldn't moon me.As the sun began to go down, things began to get very interesting. It started slowly... with one giraffe...... and then two zebras crossed the road to join him. But as soon as we pulled forward a little bit, it's like Noah's Ark just let off all the passengers.... and suddenly, there was a....... GIRAFFE STAMPEDE!!!!Pretty soon, the whole field was full of giraffes, zebras, and impalas. There were at least 100 animals milling about, all hanging out and slowly meandering off into the deep brush....... some even got so close, I felt like I could just reach out and touch them....We were all chattering wildly about the amazing group of animals, and the sun started setting, giving everything a really beautiful glow.We headed down to the water hole, to watch the sunset... and there was a breeding herd of elephants enjoying a drink...What happened next was so beautiful that I can't even describe it in words. I took so many photos, I am embarrassed... but I can't choose just one, so I'll load up a bunch and you can see the progression of events for yourself:Every photo was better than the last... It was as if I had asked them: "Could you please pose for a postcard for me?" and they complied. This is about the time I started crying, because it was so beautiful and I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing this in person. About 5 minutes later, though, I was laughing hysterically... because as the elephants moved on in front of our vehicle, they all looked like they were wearing little grey ankle socks from where they waded through the water:
Perhaps part of my crazy brain was due to the fact that it was a full moon. I tried to get some shots of the moon from the truck, and got one that was sort of creepy in a Halloween kind of way:
But I wanted to see if I could get one with the full brightness... so I adjusted my camera... and the results were ridiculous... but funny:The whole group was hysterically giddy at this point, and we just started taking stupid photos with weird settings to see what happened. These are a few of the sunset photos I got while bouncing around in the back of the safari vehicle. I think these turned out to be kinda cool:

This is what this trip is all about! Happy!

Day 8: July 1, More Chobe adventures

2007-07-21T17:18:00.000-04:00

This morning's drive was through the opposite side of Chobe National Park, and the number of animals was just stunning. The number of safari vehicles was stunning too - we've been spoiled by being the only people around until now. Along the way, we spotted an ostrich (quite rare for this particular ecosystem - they prefer much more open spaces), but she ran away before I could catch her photo. We also spotted a sable antelope - another very rare sighting! The sable are very shy, skittish animals, and haven't been spotted by many groups at all. The guides and Priscilla keep telling us how lucky we are... I hope our luck holds!

Here's what we spotted on the morning drive:

Finally, a clear photo of Cape Buffalo: And a clearer photo of the Southern Ground Hornbill. His little neck pouch was all poofed up, and he was calling the other hornbills from his group that were nearby. By the time we left, his cooing calls had summoned 5 or 6 more to the site. We also caught a few elephants, one of which raised his trunk trying to smell us:Why did the baboon cross the road?... because apparently, everyone else was crossing too...Hippo lumps... funny:And of course, we saw plenty of impalas:

The Gray Go-away-bird - I didn't make that up! The call it makes sounds like it's saying "Go-away!"

Aaah, yes... another butt... this time, of a Black-Backed Jackal. It's a cute butt, don't you think?This time, the elephants were wearing knee-socks.... (and trunk socks?)

Look waaaay over there! Baby giraffes! This is quite rare as well - usually giraffes keep their young very well hidden until they're too big for predators. But we lucked out!

And finally... FINALLY... we found our lion! After a week of following tracks, and hearing about other people who saw them, we spotted our first lion. Of course, she was sleeping... behind a bush... and we couldn't get very close... but if you look very carefully, you can see her head:Here, I'll zoom in for you... this is all we managed to see... about 1/6th of a lion:

In the afternoon, we went out on a cruise on the Chobe River in the hopes of catching sight of game coming down to the water to drink. Since the animals in Chobe are far less shy than in Pafuri, we are able to get much closer to them...
Elephant breeding herd on the riverbank:Baby elephants don't know how to use their trunks to drink until they learn at about 1 year old. Until then, they use their mouths, as you can see in the photo below. This little guy, according to our guide, was about 3 months old:

Requisite cheezy "Beth with elephants" photo:

This poor hippo was in a fight, probably with another hippo for domination in a group. He lost the battle and retired to this mud bog to soothe his wounds. He was alive when we left him, and the guide said that he'd probably spend a few days here, and then move on and be OK. I hope so... poor hippo dude...

We spotted these Water Monitors on the shore, and couldn't figure out what was going on. We eventually realized that the two on the right were mating, and the one on the left was trying to butt in! Kinky little things...

After the cruise was over, we decided to take a quick trip back to a location we'd spotted from the boat where many safari vehicles were hanging around. We didn't know what to expect, but as the saying goes, "If you want to find game on a safari, follow the herds of people." Sure enough, we got our first real look at a Leopard! It never turned to face us, but I got some great shots of (of course) it's butt:

Unlike most of the other butt shots, however, the leopard couldn't care less if we were there or not... he simply ignored us completely. I don't know why this photo cracks me up... I think it's the dude on the left side of the photo:

A couple of Kori Bustards (no, not bAstards, bUstards). These are massively huge birds - I think they're the largest flying birds in Africa, weighing in at about 40 pounds.

Some sort of stork... I forgot to write this one down. Poor thing looks like a normal bird body, but someone stuck a weird bald head on the top...

Since we delayed heading home in order to see the leopard, we were running a bit late. But on the way out of the park, we spotted something quite amazing and exciting... a pack of Wild Dogs were making a kill! We drove furiously after them as they darted after various antelope, and watched as they took down a kudu. It was brutal - these dogs simply rip their prey apart, quickly and voraciously. There was blood all over the place. Thankfully this kudu was killed quickly, but there are tales of dogs that begin eating their prey before they're dead. Here are two of these gorgeous wild dogs standing over the young kudu they just brought down moments before:

Critically endangered, these dogs were hunted nearly to extinction by farmers in nearby villages. The dogs would hunt their cattle, so the locals considered them a nuisance and killed off nearly all of them. There are only a few left in the park, and they are very rare to see, much less watch them make a kill! The guides said that wild dogs hadn't been seen in Chobe for years, and were ecstatic. They were absolutely gorgeous animals, with oversized ears, and mottled colors (each dog has a unique pattern), with long, thin legs for fast chases.

The dogs are further hindered in their re-population by their breeding habits: They don't reproduce very prolifically since only the alpha male and alpha female of the pack are permitted to breed. As a result, the numbers climb very slowly. (By the way, they don't have red faces - this guy is just covered with blood):

Here's a shot of our other vehicle looking on at the scene:

Of course, making a kill means other predators can hear - and smell - the prospect of a meal. This jackal showed up quickly, and started circling around the dogs, figuring out how to approach and get a bite. While the wild dogs are relatively small in the world of large-game predators, they are incredibly vicious, and will kill anything that comes within striking distance... including jackals.

When the dogs felt like the jackal was getting too close, they would chase him off of the kill...This happened several times, and the jackal would slowly circle and approach, and then run away quickly. It was like a yo-yo.... he came back over and over again, playing with his life every time he wandered near:

Eventually, a second jackal came along, and at one point, while the dogs were getting a quick drink (apparently they can't eat without taking water breaks) the carcass was unguarded and the jackals grabbed a piece. It was a close call, though, and the dogs gave them a good chase after they'd snagged their chunk.

We finally headed home, exhausted from the drama, and so excited about seeing so much great game in one day. I can only say that this was an incredible, once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. It's too bad we have to leave Chobe so soon - the game viewing here has been absolutely stunning, and the atmosphere and scenery is breathtaking:

The staff welcomed us back with a traditional meal, and we ate by the fire pit using our hands. We had polenta (easy to eat with your fingers), and steamed spinach (not so easy), and impala kebabs.... yum! After dinner, we enjoyed dancing, stories and singing by the staff:

Here's one of their short stories:

God made the baobab tree and planted it near the water, and the baobab tree complained that it was too wet. So God put the baobab in the plains, and the baobab complained that it was too hot. So God planted it in the desert and the baobab complained that it was too dry. By now, God was tired of listening to the baobab complain, so God picked it up and threw it aside. It landed upside down, with its roots sticking up in the air - and thus it remains today. This is why today, the baobab tree is sometimes called the 'upside down' tree.

I joined in the dancing at one point later in the evening. While I've always loved the rhythm and harmonies of African music, to be surrounded by the voices was so moving and beautiful, I was completely swept up in the moment. It was beautiful. The Botswanean people have been overwhelmingly generous and hospitable to us, and I loathe the idea of having to leave their company.

Day 9: July 2, Namibia

2007-07-21T16:49:00.000-04:00

3:00pm:
We arrived in Namibia today, at our lodge near Mudumu National Park
We had to take a few tiny planes, and here I'm taking a photo from the last row towards the front of the plane:
It was a nice smooth ride, and we saw some game while we were leaving, but I didn't get any good photos (and mostly they were elephant butts running away from the sound of the planes.)
The transfer to the lodge was by boat, and we enjoyed a very serene ride on the Kwando River into Namibia. The papyrus and reeds on the river edge is beautiful.Priscilla told us that we wouldn't be seeing as many animals as we saw in Chobe, but that Namibia was more of a cultural experience. We did, however, get a quick glimpse of a hippo peeking out at us through the reeds at one point:

Later, we spied an adorable hippo "family" on the shoreline - the baby was so adorable! They didn't stick around very long after we spotted them, but it was just enough time to snap a photo. As we were pulling up to the dock, I looked down into the crystal clear waters of the river, and a hippo walked right under the boat! It scared the crap out of me, I'll be honest, and it was too quick for a photo... but it was a magical experience to see how gracefully these huge creatures move underwater.

Our lodge - the Lianshulu Lodge - is fairly simple, and doesn't have much light... but since we don't spend a lot of time in the lodges, it doesn't matter. More later...8:30pm:

Yay Hippos!!!! We found a pod of at least 9 hippos as we cruised the river this evening... one even yawned for us! Cool!!!

We also found the mosquitoes. I've been wondering every day why I've been taking malaria pills, since I had yet to see a bug of any sort (except flies and bees.) But now that I have two whopper mosquito bites on my knuckes (the only skin exposed except for my eyelids), I understand. Since we're situated on the banks of the Kwando River, I think all of Africa's bugs have migrated here for the winter. Bugs were literally smacking us in the face as we motored back to the lodge after sunset:Dinner tonight was ostrich again. It was OK. No, I take that back... I think I can unequivocally say that I don't care for ostrich that much. It tastes like a bad cut of beef. But still, it's part of the culture, so I can't complain... especially since so many people in this part of the world are starving.

Tomorrow, we go to the village and visit a school... I am very much looking forward to experiencing and seeing some of the local culture...

No Fish for the Hippo

2007-07-21T16:48:00.001-04:00

"This is a story about why the Hippo scatters his dung about. The story is common to most tribes of Africa, although it started with the Bushman.

When the Creator was giving each animal a place in the world, the pair of hippos begged to be allowed to live in the cool water which they dearly loved. The Creator looked at them and was doubtful about letting them live in the water. Their mouths were so large, their teeth so long and sharp and their size and appetites were so big, He was afraid that they would eat up all the fish. Besides, he had already granted the place to another predator - the crocodile. He couldn't have two kinds of large, hungry animals in the rivers. So the Creator refused the hippos' request and told them they could live out on the open plain.

At this news, the two hippos began to weep and wail, making the most awful noise. They pleaded and pleaded with the Creator, who finally gave in. But He made the hippos promise that if they lived in the river, they must never harm a single fish. The were to eat grass instead. The hippos promised solemnly and rushed to the river, grunting with delight. And to this day, hippos scatter their dung on the river bank so the Creator can see that it contains no fish bones. You can still hear the hippos laughing with joy that they were allowed to live in the rivers at all."

Day 10: July 3, Ngweze, Namibia

2007-07-21T16:45:00.000-04:00

Early morning photo of the fire pit at our lodge: We drove to a nearby village today - Ngweze - which was really not much more than a few homesteads and huts, cows, goats and dogs. The homes are built with termite mound clay, and topped with roofs made with thatched reeds. Each of the family homesteads are surrounded by a "wall" of thatched reeds.

The villagers had put together an "authentic" village for us to tour, which was - contrary to its name - quite contrived. But it was still an interesting education nevertheless. (I especially love the traditional boxer shorts.)The Namibian people in general seem far more reserved and less gregarious than the Botswana people, but they are still warm and friendly to us. One thing I have noticed is that singing, clapping, humming and rhythm are all pivotal to their way of life, and it seems that everywhere we go, we're greeted with a song. Even the grinding of maize is done with a rhythm and a song. I thought I had a photo of myself attempting to shuck maize, but I can't find it...

The women routinely carry heavy loads on their heads - anything from water from the river (which she's demonstrating below) to packages from town to bundles of reeds or vegetables for the market. They can walk for miles carrying these things on their heads perfectly.

In the interest of maintaining my perfectly dorky reputation, I gave it a shot. I unfortunately failed miserably, and let's just say that if my family was relying on my success to get their ration of water, they would quickly die of dehydration.

Dancing and music, in the special-occasion costumes. Keep in mind, it's about 50 degrees out...

We then went to a real home of a real family. Two women were watching their grandchildren, and making mats out of reeds when we arrived. (Women in the culture don't sit on chairs, they sit on mats on the floor.) I knew that we would see poverty, but it still doesn't prepare you for just how simple life is here. There were flies everywhere, and everything is coated with dust from the arid landscape. We met a grandmother and her sister, and three grandchildren - ages probably seven, three and one. The guide told us that they had never seen a white person up close before, and that when we left, they would use it as a threat to make the kids behave: "Don't do that or I'll call back the white people and have them kill you." I don't know if he was being sarcastic or not... I hope so.

Apparently it is only in Namibia's recent past that non-soldiers came to visit, so they are only used to seeing white people as military personnel. Not too long ago, they said, the children would run away and hide when white people came through the village. Now, they run to see us, wave and dance.

AIDS and HIV is a prevalent thing here, with something like 25-30% of the population afflicted. It's stunning, really, to see so much of the culture revolve around it (even at the immigration point in Zimbabwe, there was a free condom dispenser on the wall.) But that is the way of life here, and the only way to reduce the spread of the disease is through education.

We also visited a school, which was also lacking in so many resources. The primary school we visited was opened in 1974.

In the class, the children sang us a welcome song, and then we had a chance to hang out with them for a while. I met Memory (in orange) and Henri, two beautiful girls who lived nearby. I looked through their sparse workbooks, covered with protective paper and decorated with a page ripped from a New Zealand clothing catalog and stuck on the front page with pieces of chewing gum.The kids were gregarious and friendly, after they warmed up to us. I don't know why, but they smiled the whole time, but whenever a camera snapped, they seemed so solemn and serious! I wish I could have let you hear the laughter and giggling in the room.

As with everyone we've met so far, they loved the digital cameras we brought. They had never used a camera before, so I let Memory and Henri snap a few photos. Here, Memory took a photo of me with Kathryn, one of my traveling companions:

Then Henri wanted to take a few photos:And thus the group hanging out to get their photos taken grew:

When we left, we noticed a bunch of children sitting outside... apparently this was a 5th grade class that had to sit outside due to lack of rooms at the school. There was a general lack of everything at the school, and it is in desperate need of - well - everything, from paper and pens to water and chalkboards. It makes me want to return to the US, shop for a box of stuff at Staples, and send it all back to them... or bring it back myself and teach English for a while.

On the way out of the village, I took more photos of some of the homesteads:

Here is a view from my tent of Kathryn and Mary Anne walking at the lodge:

I did buy a few key chains from the local market at Ngweze, made from palm nuts. I would have bought more, but I can't shop for much since our 26-pound-luggage-limit flight is coming up soon.

Another token dorky shot of me holding a fruit from the sausage tree... There was also a brush fire burning as we returned to the lodge...

...burning fields is a common practice for farmers in the area, but this one was set probably by a cigarette and was burning out of control. Thankfully, they had been fighting it all day, and it was beginning to burn itself out. (By fighting, I mean they were beating it out with blankets and branches.... proximity to the water of the river doesn't mean that they have the technology to use water to put out fires...

The sunset was spectacular, again:

We did stop on the drive for a break and a beverage (they bring beer and wine on the safaris! Cool!) We stopped near a tree which was literally filled with baboons. They were watching us, playing, and swinging through the trees... it was magical.

Continuing the dorky-photos-of-Beth theme, here's me on the night drive, trying to keep warm and trying to keep the bugs out of my eyes. I know you can't tell, but I'm smiling:Here's my photo of our spotlighting in the evening. Think of it like modern dance... if you squint or take heavy drugs, you might be able to make some sense out of it. The orange on the left is the spotlight, and the twigs on the right are - well - twigs. (I told you night photos were terrible. Now you see for yourself!)

Day 11: July 4, Namibia safari

2007-07-21T16:40:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned that we're touring around Mudumu National Park: But within the parks, and the surrounding areas, there are what's called "communities." These communities are responsible for the wildlife management of their areas of the parks, and most of them are arrangements between the government and the local tribes who were (usually) kicked off their lands. When they are looking to create a park, usually there are several villages that are displaced. In return for moving off the property, the villagers are offered perks (like solar panels for electricity, etc.) and are at times, given the professional responsibility of maintaining the areas as wildlife rangers and keeping them safe as animal sanctuaries, or whatever.
I say "whatever" because not all of the allocated land areas are necessarily for wildlife viewing only. Some are for touring, safaris, and research (like the areas we're visiting) and some are set aside for hunting. You can hunt many things in Southern Africa, including elephants, lions, zebras, any of the various antelopes, etc etc. There are several factors regulating hunting and they are required to follow the rules and regulations of the countries they are in, which include adhering to hunting seasons and hours (i.e. no "spotlight" hunting is allowed), using certain caliber weapons, etc.

Hunting is also quite expensive: A permit to hunt an elephant, for example, costs at least $15,000, and requires a minimal stay at a hunting lodge of 18-21 days, costing usually $1,000-$1,200 per night (and even if they kill your prey on day #2, they are required to pay for the entire bulk of those 18-21 days.) Hunters are also required to hire a professional hunting guide who will accompany them on your hunting excursions (they help track the animal they are hunting, and make sure they're following the rules. They'll also save their butts if they are a bad shot and the animal is about to kill you.)

While animal activists are up in arms about the hunting, the countries of southern Africa see it as a multi-level blessing. First, it brings in much-needed income to these poor countries, and the funding usually filtered into wildlife management areas. Second, by controlling the hunting, it avoids the need to cull overpopulation by simply going out and shooting masses of them. Third, when a hunter is successful, the trophy (usually the head or the pelt) is given to the hunter, but the meat and other parts are given to the local people to help feed them. Needless to say, the hunting areas are clearly marked, and no tourists are allowed in those areas.

Anyway, back to our non-homicidal journey... This morning was freezing cold - the coldest it's been since Pafuri - and we looked like a bunch of Eskimos all bundled up on our truck. The drive, however, was beautiful, and we saw a herd of roan antelope: Our guide, Victor, and Priscilla were very excited about spotting these animals. They are extremely rare and apparently quite shy, usually running from vehicles before they're even spotted. They are rarely found in groups as big as the one we saw, so once again, our reputation as a lucky group is holding. These roan seemed quite relaxed around us, surprisingly. I have to admit, though, for all the awe I was supposed to be feeling about seeing these magnificent animals, I personally think they look absolutely ridiculous.
I mean really - was it a joke to stick donkey ears on such a regal animal as this? And couldn't they have at least gotten some decent-sized horns so they could kick the butts of other antelopes that are undoubtedly laughing at their donkey ears? Okay, okay... in the interest of giving them a fair shake, here's a perfectly gorgeous pose that one of them struck for us... right in the middle of the main road:
We also stopped at the wildlife management office, where we played "name that skull" with our guide, Victor. Here, he's holding a zebra skull:
More buffalo:
We also saw:
- Double-banded Sandgrouse
- Zebra
- Warthogs
- Slender Mongoose
- Blacksmith Plover (gorgeous birds - one of my favorites)
- Wattled Plover
- Coppery-tailed Coucal
- Impala (of course)

The evening boat cruise was wonderful... as you can see below, the reeds on the riverbank can grow up to about 20 feet high, so there were times that it seemed that we were completely encased in foliage. Pretty cool. Baboons playing in trees again:
Ever feel like you're being watched?
Here's a better show of some hippo teeth... Wow. All I can say is thank goodness these guys are vegetarians.
We also saw elephants, and another Coppery-tailed Coucal.

The sunset was - once again - totally gorgeous. We stopped to watch it alongside some baboons who were trying to soak up some of the last of the sun's warmth:
It made for quite a nice little photo:
The sunset... I couldn't figure out which photo I liked best, so I'll put both of them up:
Here is the other boat, as we dash home after the sun sets.
And here is the last photo I took that night because I went blind about two minutes later.

You see, the reason we dash home after the sun sets is because that's when all the bugs come out. And when I say "all", I mean plagues of them... billions of them. The mosquitoes are nothing compared to the little gnat guys that suddenly appeared everywhere. I felt them in my hair, on my neck, on my cheeks, and started at one point feeling them crawl into my ears and breathing them up my nose. At one point, I looked down at my bag on my lap, and the surface looked as though it was alive - it was literally crawling with millions of them. I got a few in my eye, even though I was wearing my sunglasses, and eventually wrapped my scarf around my whole face to keep more out of my eyes and nose. (Thank goodness for contact-lens-wearing travel mates, who gave me some saline to wash out the bugs that night - thank you Pam!!!) Later, I even found several had flown down into my bra. Ew. I can't imagine how bad it is during the "heavy bug" season!!! I took a long shower before I went to bed.

Dinner was - as usual - fabulous, and the staff at the lodge sang "Happy Birthday to America" for us and gave us champagne to celebrate Independence Day. Cool.

Day 12: July 5, Moremi, Botswana

2007-07-21T16:01:00.000-04:00

8:30am:
Today we're heading back into Botswana from Namibia. Overall, the Namibian people were far more reserved than the Botswana people were - at least at the lodges and in the villages that we've been to thus far. Perhaps that's because Namibia just won its independence in 1990 through a lot of heartache and bloodshed, whereas Botswana won its independence without conflict.

It's quite an adventure to get out of here - we take a 45 minute jeep ride, to a 1 1/2 hour boat ride, to a 40 minute small plane ride, to a 40 minute jeep ride. (I'm writing this on our morning boat ride, and I picked the wrong side of the boat - the shady side. I'm freezing my tush off. Oh well. At least my diarrhea has cleared up from yesterday - yay!! Oh, that was probably too much info, eh?)

4:00pm:
Some photos from today's journey... here is our international departing airport (and my plane):Here's our international arriving airport: And here is the bathroom (the "loo with a view"):
This is the women's room. The men's room doesn't have toilet paper. Whenever we need to "water the flowers", euphamistically speaking, the guide has to check out the area to make sure no predators or snakes are going to (literally) bite us in the ass.
The lodge here is gorgeous, and our tents are canvas-sided, but have plumbing. Yay! This place is so romantic... it would be perfect with someone to share it with. Especially the stars. I can't explain or capture a photo of the stars here. The Milky Way is like a silk ribbon across the sky, and there is no light pollution to hide any of them. I've seen the Southern Cross, Scorpio, Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter... one thing I really want to do before I leave is spend some time staring at the night sky. (I know someone in particular who would really appreciate it as much (or more) as I do... been thinking about him a lot...)

Anyway, back to our tent:
The lodge's bar... a fabulous view...
The lodge bathrooms are a bit more refined, but not quite the 360-degree views of the loos in the bush: Here's the sign for the girl's room:
And this for the boy's:
The drive to the camp from the airport was beautiful, and we had a picnic lunch en route. Some zebras wandered by while we were eating, and so now I can truly say that I've had lunch with zebras. We also saw:
- Steenbok
- Black-tailed mongoose
- Kudu
- Baboons
- Red- and Yellow-billed hornbills

Here's a magpie that I snagged a photo of:
This is the first camp we're staying at that doesn't have locks on the doors. The locks, however, aren't to keep the people out, but to keep the baboons from entering your room and "messing it up" (i.e. pooping on your bed). Apparently, the baboons can open unlocked doors, but they can't open zippered tent flaps, which is what we have here. We've also been warned not to leave any clothing to dry outside the tents / lodges, since the baboons love to play with things, and take your colorful undies and display them in nearby trees. Personally, I think it might be worth losing a pair of my knickers to see a baboon wearing them... but maybe that's just me.

We had one elephant on the horizon to greet us when we arrive - along with the staff, of course. This staff is also extremely gregarious and outgoing, and once again sang as we came into camp. I guess that singing and music is simply a part of their daily lives... everywhere we've gone, someone has been singing to us.

Moremi Game Reserve - in the Okavango Delta region of Botswana - has fascinating topography. During the rainy season, it rains (duh), but the rivers actually flood during the dry season. This is because it takes 6 months for the water from Angola's rainy season to flow through the ground and into the Delta. As a result, the rivers are full now, so they have water source all year round. I think that's kinda cool.
The British influence is still very strong here, and we have high tea every day at 3:30 or 4pm, and they call the bathrooms "loos".

At this camp, we can do more activities than just sitting on our toosh for game drives. We can also do game walks, or a trip on the river in a traditional canoe. I'm looking forward to doing more than sitting on a land rover on my toosh every day, so that's exciting. I'll bet any animal looks very different (and much more terrifying) from the perspective of your two feet, instead of the back of a truck.

P.S. Toilets really DO swirl in the opposite direction here! Whoo hoo!

8:30pm:
Tonight's drive was OK, but I don't love the guide as much here as I did in the last camps. Oh well, I guess I've been spoiled. He's not bad, but just... well... quiet. We did catch a quick glimpse of an African Wild Cat, but only for a moment, darting behind some grass. It holds to our record, though, of seeing at least one new animal on every drive we go out on! (I hope I didn't just jinx us, though.)

We've also managed to see three and a half of the "Big Five". We've seen a leopard, elephant and buffalo. We've also sort of seen a lion, but I didn't count it as a full sighting since we only saw a head (hence the 1/2). We have yet to see a rhino (the final of the five), but they're so rare that we're not holding our breath.

We did see a Tsessebe antelope, which is the fastest antelope in the world:
We also saw zebras: And did our "sundowner" drinks at the "Hippo Pool":
Gads, you just can't get tired of the sunsets here... note the hippo heads on the right side of the photo:
The clouds, on fire...
Here's a weirdly furry photo of our group enjoying our "sundowner" (which is basically just another excuse to stop and drink alcohol... like we need another excuse?)
Other stuff we saw on the evening drive:
- Warthog
- Senegal Coucal
- Nile Crocodiles
- African Civet
- Wildebeest
- Springhare (which was hysterical to watch.... boing boing boing!)

Tomorrow morning, Joanne and I are taking our tour of the river on a mokoro canoe, a traditional form of transportation for the villagers in the Delta. We're going to freeze our butts off.

Another amazing thing here is the sage bush growth. There are two types of sage here - silk sage and wild sage. Each has a unique scent, and it grows invasively here - the amount of sage is insane, and the scent is positively overwhelming. They burn it back to allow some grasses to grow, so that grazing animals can eat. I love the smell, though everyone seems to be tired of it except me! Am going to have to find some sage when I get a home...

Day 13: July 6, Mokoros & Cats

2007-07-21T15:00:00.001-04:00

The mokoro ride this morning was very calm and serene. On the way to the launch, we spotted more of the uber-rare roan antelope, which had never been seen in this portion of the park, according to our guide: The ride reminded me a little of gondolas in Venice, but completely different, of course.

We didn't spot a lot of game, but did see a few very cool birds, including a lesser jacana, which the guides were very excited about. The guides were fabulously sweet, and told us stories of their home (they grew up in a village in the delta, and had been "polling" the mokoros since they were 6 years old). They made us bracelets from palm leaves, and told us long African lore tales of crazy mother-in-laws and witchcraft. There are a few bugs and mosquitoes here too, but not nearly as many as were in Namibia. Still, I can't imagine how bad they are in the rainy season.

The dry, winter season in this part of the world is painfully dry. There is absolutely no humidity in the air at all, and my skin is cracking from the lack of moisture. I put on sunscreen every hour or so, and it just soaks right in. After showering, I slather on moisturizer, and it's gone within minutes. I feel so high maintenance (and for those of you who know me, you know I'm not high maintenance at all!) But the dry air just sucks the moisture out of you, and the dust coats everything. The grasses are all crispy and dry, and if it weren't for the river, I would swear there hadn't been water here in decades.

Here's a photo of the fire pit at the new camp:

This afternoon was another game drive. We saw quite a bit, including another baby giraffe - who was quite happily munching on this acacia tree, even if his three guardians weren't so sure about us.

No ostrich today, as I was hoping, but on the drive back to the lodge, we came across a serval (a small spotted cat) sitting literally in the middle of the road! The guide had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting him, and he darted off into the bush. He was absolutely gorgeous, and of course, I didn't get a photo, but here's a link so you can see what he looks like. Gorgeous!

About 2 minutes later, two caracals (more cats) were also sitting in the middle of the road, and dashed off into the sage brush when we approached. They lead us on quite a chase... We spotted them, and they darted into the bush, so we went around the bush to get a better peek. As soon as they saw us, they ran behind another bush, and we followed them again. This happened about 5 times, and the guide said that they were a mating pair who was playing with us. They certainly weren't panicking when they saw us - it was more like a domestic cat playing hide & seek... too funny. I still can't believe that I'm seeing this for real...

The stars are - if it's possible - more incredible here. I am in awe when I look up at the sky at night. I'm going to try some long exposure photos one night to see if I can capture even a bit of what it looks like. It's unbelievable. And if I wasn't terrified of being eaten by lions (or freezing to death), I would sleep under the stars every night.

As I lay in bed writing this, the frogs along the Delta are deafeningly loud. I can't imagine being a nocturnal predator around here and trying to locate anything other than frogs in this din. Crazy. The people who really need to come to Africa are serious bird watchers. The variety is amazing, and so exotic. I've also come to the realization that I'm going to be seriously disappointed in zoos from now on, having seen the "real things" in action like this. At zoos, the animals just seem to lie about, doing nothing and bored to the point of catatonic states. But out here, animals are always doing something - even if it's running away from us.

Tomorrow morning is my first game walk... yay! Very excited... Hope I don't get attacked by anything...

Day 14: July 7, Botswana Drama

2007-07-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

Whew! We had crazy adventures this morning! Last night, Joanne and I were kept awake by some very loud noises - low grunts, growls, groans, and scraping sounds along the wooden walkway outside of our tent. It scared me to death, and I was convinced it was lions, until I realized that whatever it was was munching on branches and grass. I talked myself into believing that they were elephants, but was too scared to poke my head out of the tent to find out (they tell you *never* to poke your head out of the tent at night!)

We woke up (and the sounds were still there) to find ourselves surrounded by a herd of about 50 buffalo! (We found out later that one of the guides had also heard the sounds of a leopard mixed in with the buffalo grunts. I couldn't tell the difference.) The buffalo scampered off to a safe distance when we exited the tent, and I tried to take a photo, but it was dark, so I don't know how the the pictures came out. (Note: Here's the photo. It came out kind of blurry, as I had suspected it might.) At breakfast we fed the francolins rice krispies:
And before we left, it was light enough to get one last, clear photo of one of the buffalo that kept us awake all night:
This morning, I went on a "game walk" with our guide, Sam. This is basically a walking wildlife lesson that puts you distinctly on the bottom of the food chain. Sam carried a shotgun, and we had to walk single file, and keep our voices down. He showed us tracks of various animals, poop of various animals, and roots of trees that elephants like to eat. It was cool. (Apparently, the local villagers use impala poop to treat chicken pox. With so many impala around, I'm sure there's plenty to go around when there's an outbreak.)

About half-way through our morning walk, we got a call on the walkies that there was a sighting... so we rushed back to the vehicle and drove like maniacs (my kidneys are still bruised from the bumps on the road.) At first, all we saw were more jackals...
...but then, through the brush... we saw LIONS! And not just one or two, there were 10 lions lying about, including a few cubs:
They'd just made a kill, and had eaten a large breakfast... so they were just laying around, dozing... and yawning:
They were stunning, inspiring and impressive animals, even while they were dozing... These are incredible animals, and to be as close as we were, and realize that if they got in the mood they could kill you with one swipe... gives me the shivers...
We finally found the male lion, lying a little further away from the pack:

He was gorgeous, and walked right by the trucks...
He just moseyed around... and didn't seem to have any direction, until we realized that a female was calling to him, and he was moving towards that sound.
So we left the two alone, and went back to see if we could find the lion's kill...
And sure enough, hidden underneath some brush, two females and a baby lion were finishing off a zebra:

On the drive back to camp after our morning adventures, we had a staring contest with a Yellow Mongoose. He just sat in the road, and we sat staring at him... I think he just wanted to make sure we got a good photo of him: We also saw some other animals, too... like a live zebra...
... and another fabulously gorgeous giraffe... (*smile*)
Later that evening, we went back to the lion site, to see if they were still there. The lions had left, but the remains of the zebra were still there. Here's a hoof and the lower jaw bone:
Here are the ribs, upper jaw, and part of the mane. The hyenas would arrive later, and eat the bones (their jaws are strong enough to crush bones... amazing.) It's stunning to me what an animal can be reduced to in a matter of hours, and it was a stark reminder of how brutal survival is out here in the bush.

There were about a thousand vultures circling the area too, including one with a tag on his wing: Number K064....
More giraffes in the evening...
And we also saw:

- Elephants

- Steenbok

- Saddle-billed stork

- Short-tailed Eagle

- Kudu

- Impala

- Yellow-billed Duck

- Red-Billed Teal

- Black-winged Stilt

- Spur-winged Goose

- Grey Heron

- Warthog

- Double-banded Sandgrouse

- Slender Mongoose

- White-backed Vultures

- Hooded Vultures

We returned to the hippo pool, and while the sunset wasn't as impressive as the last few evening's, there were two adolescent hippos that were playing and frolicking in the water hysterically. We went back to camp, exhausted from everything we had seen...

Tomorrow, we leave for Zimbabwe, so the staff at the lodge gave us a fabulous farewell. We danced, sang, and listened to them perform on traditional African musical instruments. I'll be sad to say goodbye to this beautiful place.

Why Lion does not eat fruit

2007-07-21T14:27:00.000-04:00

(A Hambukushu story)

Mbwawa, the jackal, one day discovered the delicious fruit of the thaa tree. But as he sat there enjoying his meal, he hear Lion roaring in the distance. He thought to himself, "Lion sounds hungry. I hope he does not come this way and find all my lovely fruits." He began to worry, since Lion, as everyone knows, has a huge appetite and being king of beasts, is entitled to steal anyone's meal.

Lion did come near, but crafty Mbwawa had thought up a trick to stop Lion from eating his thaa fruit. As soon as Lion was near enough, Mbwawa began to eat the fruit as fast as he could making sure Lion was watching this display of greed. Suddenly, Mbwawa collapsed in a heap on the ground, writhing and groaning, and then he lay still as if dead. Lion, of course, thought the fruit must be poisonous, so he went on his way and was soon out of sight.

Mbwawa got up, and remembered where he had seen the skeleton of another jackal lying near by. So he fetched and placed the bones under the thaa tree on the spot where he had pretended to die. Satisfied with his clever trick, he went home.

A few weeks later, Lion passed by and saw the thaa tree, laden with juice looking fruit. He walked over to the tree, but stopped with he saw the pitiful remains of jackal. The bones had been scattered by scavengers, and Lion then remembered seeing Mbwawa eating the fruit. He vowed to himself that he would never touch fruit again.

Since that day, lions have never touched the fruit of the thaa tree, or indeed of any other tree. This made the jackal, and the other animals of the bush, very happy. Now they could eat as much fruit as they wanted without having to share it with the lion's enormous appetite.

Day 15: July 8, To Zimbabwe

2007-07-21T14:25:00.000-04:00

Morning:
This morning was quite an exciting adventure! It was an early (and c-c-c-cold) start to along day of travel as we head towards our next lodge in Zimbabwe. It was definitely the coldest morning yet - close to freezing. All during breakfast we could hear the lions calling to each other in the not-too-far-off distance. But as we were driving to the airport, someone in our troop yelled "Leopard!" and pointed off to our left. It wasn't a leopard, but a hyena, sitting in the middle of a clearing. This was sort of weird, and he was just hanging out. We also saw a few jackals wandering around, and a giraffe that was just standing about... and then started running off suddenly away from us. We couldn't figure out the weird behavior until we caught sight of...
More lions!
Not only did we catch sight of the lions, but also caught the smell of their breakfast... another zebra. They allowed us to get frightfully close to them as they were cleaning off the bones of their kill:
We weren't more than about 20 feet away from them. But full bellies lead to sleepy cats, so this guy gave us a nice big yawn:
How'd you like this to be the last thing you see before you die? Ow.
We definitely got close to them, as they were lazing about in the sage brush... it was really eerie to be this close to a wild predator like this:
And a little further down the road, we spotted... yes... another lion with another zebra kill. That totalled three zebras killed by two lion groups in 24 hours that we saw. It was, in short, a really bad weekend to be a zebra.
And the hyenas were just waiting for the opportunity to steal some...
While it warmed up considerably, we took a flight from the lodge and are now in a bus heading through Zimbabwe to another teeny-plane flight to our next lodge. (I don't know why this shot is crooked - the sign was straight, but apparently my head was on sideways that morning. I'll have to straighten out my horizons when I get my 'puter up and running.)
(As I write this, there are baboons crossing the road in front of us... I wonder how much baboon road kill they have here.) The border crossing was uneventful (more free condoms on the wall), and we made it through the smuggling checkpoint in the highway without fuss.

Afternoon:
The drive to the lodge here was FILLED with elephants! Apparently they have a huge overpopulation of elephants in this particular park... so they are everywhere... One charged us: ... others mooned us ...
... and a few reminded me of Reservoir Dogs.
I love the camp here - Linkwasha 2 Camp in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. I think this might be my favorite camp so far. The tents look quite humble on the exterior:
But inside is quite luxurious... (see what I mean when I say it's romantic?)
Even the shower was cool! We have to be escorted to our rooms at night by an armed escort carrying a rifle. I assumed it's for the animals, but after hearing that there is a train station not too far off, I'm not sure if it's not for people protection, too. (I asked the guides later, and they said that it was for animals, so there's the answer.)

The evening drive was beautiful, with more elephants...
... more gorgeous sunsets (here's me on a viewing platform over a water hole. The black spot in the water to the right of my arm is a hippo.)
Tomorrow is another game walk in the morning. Tonight... hot water bottles on cold toes. :-)

Day 16: July 9, Hwange Park

2007-07-21T14:15:00.000-04:00

Last night, Joanne and I heard a lion calling right outside our tent. It's so weird that I can now recognize the sound of a lion call. (It's even more weird that I could fall asleep while listening to it!) In any case, when we walked to breakfast, we saw several tracks on our pathway - apparently two male lions had met up right next to our tent during the night. Wild stuff.

I walked through a lot of poop today.

I opted for the game walk this morning, which was a nice break from bouncing around in the back of a safari jeep. We didn't see as many animals on the walk, of course, but what we did see was great. I don't think this Vervet Monkey was sticking his tongue out at us (I think he was eating a berry)... but I can't be absolutely sure: We also wandered across the bleached bones of a giraffe, re-assembled on the path:
A huge bull elephant was close by as well, and knocked over an acacia tree while we were watching. He was eating the roots, and we could smell the scent of the roots from where we were standing:

We saw lots of poop (elephant, impala, giraffe, zebra, and leopard)... and now I know how to tell the difference between male and female giraffe dung. I'm sure that knowledge will come in very useful one day in New York City. We also saw tons of tracks (porcupine, elephant, giraffe, buffalo, spring hare, hornbill) and we followed the tracks of a leopard as well, but only caught a fleeing glance of him through some underbrush before he disappeared. At one point, we found an area where elephants had lay down for a rest, leaving their prints and dents in the loose sand. Overall it was fabulous.

It's hard to believe that this journey will be over in just over a week, and that our bush trip will be over in a few more days. Then it's back to civilization - Victoria Falls and Cape Town.... then home. Slowly, curiosity about things like my job, apartment and life have been creeping back into my brain. It's hard to fathom not having access to any form of communication for over 2 weeks now. Wow. I've been unknowingly going through an information and technology withdrawal. I've also been going through a chocolate withdrawal, but that I have known about for a few days. Haha.

Really the only regret that I have about this trip is not being able to share it with someone. Ah well, one day... I'll just have to come back... As I write this in my journal, I'm watching the Vervet monkeys play outside our tent. Three are sitting on a log in front of me, and it looks as though they're gossiping... but they're probably just waiting for us to hang out our laundry so they can steal it and hang it on the tree branches around camp...
Afternoon:

Our drive started slowly, but we did catch some interesting sights. Here is a wildebeest crossing:
And we finally found our ostriches! These two males were "fighting" over three females that were off to one side. One male would approach, and then the other would "chase" him off. Then the first would doggedly return, trying to interrupt the second ostrich's attempt to mate with the females. This happened three times in a row. I put all of this in quotes, because neither ostrich ever walked faster than about 6 inches per second. They just walked around each other. It was like watching a soap opera love story one... frame... at... a... time... in... very... slow... motion... (hysterical.)

We also spotted a bat-eared fox (which I've been hoping to see for a few days now):
and finally spotted the silly giraffes striking a most unflattering pose in order to eat some grass:
I like this photo:
Then, we saw some elephants digging for minerals. Since elephants don't get much nutrition out of their grass diet, they seek out mineral deposits in sandy areas, dig them up with their tusks, and toss the mineral-laced sand down their throats. Here, the bigger elephant is trying to dig up a rock to access the minerals underneath:
As this big female tosses the mineral sand into her mouth (they don't chew it, since chewing would grind down their teeth too quickly. Instead, they simply toss it to the back of their throats and swallow it.) The baby with her is trying to get his share too:

And then, the baby started frolicking. I have never seen an elephant frolic before, but it was hysterical. At one point, the cute little thing actually tried to charge the vehicle... hee hee:
We also saw:

- Steenbok

- Kori Bustard

- Lilac-breasted Roller

- Baboons

- African Wild Cat

- White-tailed Mongoose

- Springhare

Sunset was gorgeous... as usual:

I love the color gradation in the sky:
And finally, FINALLY we reached the climax of the evening! We have, so far, seen four of the Big Five game - Elephant, leopard, buffalo, and lion. The guides told us that we probably wouldn't see the rhino, so just forget about them. Tonight, just as we had started our spotlighting for the evening, we came across a pair of rhinos! A male and a female. It was quite exciting, and the guide was nearly jumping out of the seat he was so happy. It was too dark for any of our cameras to get anything close to a good photo... but I got the best that I could:
At least you could see the horn shape... (*shrug*)

Meanwhile, it's definitely colder here than at any other camp, and the morning drives are brutal, especially with the winds whipping through the vehicles. Honestly, though, the hardest part is simply getting out of bed and putting on cold clothing! Brrrrrrr!

Day 17: July 10, Zimbabwe

2007-07-21T14:10:00.000-04:00

This morning was another crisp, beautiful one and the camp was bathed in soft sunlight this morning. We visited Ngamo village today... ... and the school in the village...
The kids were fabulous - in 6th grade, aged between 10 and 13 years old. They were too sweet, and we talked about everything from customs to boyfriends, education system to favorite foods, etc. The girl who first approached me was named "Martha" (too funny) and she's in the center of the photo below:
She was too sweet, and once again, the kids had a great time taking photos with my camera:
They danced for us...

.. and even though they were not supposed to, they asked us for pens and school supplies anyway (how could they not? they're in 6th grade!) Martha told me at one point that she liked my hair... and I told her that I liked hers as well. It was too sweet:
The school buildings:
We also visited Johnston, the leader of the village (called the Headman) and his homestead. Johnston oversees a group of about 50 homesteads, and his family was so warm and friendly as they showed us around their home. Here is his granddaughter, Sandy, who was born at the homestead two years prior... an absolutely gorgeous child:
Their homes are gorgeous, and follow the local tradition of painting the outside. The tradition in this part of the world is to keep the exterior of your home as gorgeous as possible, as this shows that you have a happy, healthy and well cared for homestead that you are proud of. Johnston's son - and heir apparent - had painted this on his home. (Note the solar panel on the left, which was given to them by the government.)
As we were at the homestead, the Johnston kids came home from school, so of course we had to play with the digital camera again:

On our drive back to the lodge, we saw lots of animals, including zebra, kudu, giraffes, warthogs, wildebeests, monkeys, bushbucks, bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal, baboons, duiker, dwarf mongoose, ground hornbill, and an eland antelope (below):
Here's the front of our tent:
The afternoon drive was wonderful as well, and saw tons of animals at the water holes. As we left, there was a group of very happy elephants playing in the mud. (I especially love the little baby on the left who was having a grand time rolling around in the muck):
Here's a very happy, very muddy elephant:

It was rather a night of romance as well, as we stumbled across a mating pair of lions. I did give them a bit of privacy when they did the deed, though, and didn't take photos of the mating moment. (The researchers that had stopped to study them, however, were not quite as discreet. Side note that's completely irrelevant: Lion researchers are really cute!) The variety of animals was fabulous:
Here's a local bar:
And token dorky shot of me and an elephant:
Even the baboons were getting in the romantic mood, and several of them were mating too. (I didn't get a photo of that... just a few sitting on a termite mound catching the last warm rays of the setting sun.)
Sunset...

On the way home, more lions:
And that night, we had a drumming circle and we danced until we were all out of breath. They taught us some traditional local dances, and we taught them the Bunny Hop. (Yay Joanne!)
The stars here - if it's even possible - are even more impressive, especially now that there is no moon until after midnight. The darkness is complete, and the heavens are simply stunning with all of the stars twinkling in the sky. It's so painfully romantic I can't even express to you how breathtakingly beautiful it is to see. I am so sad that I can't get a photo of the stars... but I'll have to just take a mental photo and keep it in my heart...

It's brutally cold tonight... but tomorrow morning is our last game drive so I have to suck it up and go. I can't believe this trip has gone by so quickly, and that I'll be back in the states in just a few more days. First, though, we slowly move back into civilization, with stays at Victoria Falls and Cape Town... looking forward to that.

G'night.

Day 18: July 11, Not a great day

2007-07-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

This morning we went on our last game drive, and true to tradition, we saw something we hadn't seen before - a banded mongoose. We also saw quite a dramatic scene of two lions hunting a warthog. The were slowly stalking the warthog, who was just blissfully grazing away unaware of what was going on. The big mouth baboons started screaming, though, and before the lions got too close, the warthog dashed off and the lions didn't get their breakfast. All of this drama happened to far away for my camera to get any photos, but we did spot another lion hiding in the brush on the way to the airport... can you spot her? We also saw some absolutely gorgeous zebras (too cute)
And said one final farewell to the collection of beasties at our water hole outside of our tents...

We also spied a herd of sable antelope which were absolutely beautiful:
We also spotted the remains of a 5-year-old elephant, who had - a day or two prior - fallen prey to some lions. The skin looked like a deflated Macy's parade float... and it was surrounded by hundreds of lion tracks.
A little steenbok said goodbye to us as we darted off, and we caught a glimpse of a steenbok calf before it dashed into the brush. (So cute!!!! These guys are tiny - about the size of a big dog.)
This is the Hwange Park international airport:
The day sort of went downhill from here. For some reason, I got sick on the plane ride back to Victoria Falls, and used up all of the barf bags on the plane. (Really weird, since I've never gotten sick on a plane before!) I felt pretty awful for the next hour or so after we landed, but I turned around OK and by the time we got to the lodge in Vic Falls, I was feeling much better. I didn't get a chance to take photos of the baboons hanging out in the central square or along the sidewalks - they were hysterical.

We dumped our stuff and headed straight out to see the Falls, and since I only had space for a few more photos on my digital card, I took it out and put in my extra card... and I broke the camera. Even when I tried putting in the original card, it said it was "unreadable". To put it mildly, I was really bummed out.

I did take some photos at Vic Falls (the photos are stored in the camera itself - so as soon as I figure out how to get them off the camera, I'll upload them and share.) The falls were stunning, and overwhelmingly huge. I got completely soaked and nearly froze my tush off, but it was worth it.

When I got back to the lodge, I noodled around with the camera and finally got the original card to work again... and there was no way I was going to take the card out and risk messing things up again! So tonight, I have to go through all of my photos and make some room on the card.

Tomorrow is "activity day" - lots of cool stuff to do in Victoria Falls - but it means an early wake up call, so I'm off to bed. Phew! I hope tomorrow goes more smoothly than today... bleh.

P.S. Joanne finally got her bag today! After 17 days of no luggage, she got it all back today... Joy!

P.P.S. We're in a "real" hotel tonight... which means we have heat! Ohhh, so nice....

Day 19: July 12, Victoria Falls

2007-07-21T13:15:00.000-04:00

Aaah, a much better day today! It started early - a 5:15am wake up call to head to a private reserve to do a "walk with lions." I wasn't sure what to expect when I signed up for this little activity - I figured it would be kind of like a petting zoo - lion tethered, pet it, take photos, and go away.

I was wrong.

We arrive and our guide - Simon - began by giving us the rules:
- No running (lion instinct says anything that runs needs to be chased);
- No screaming (screaming sounds like a dying animal, and a dying animal means a meal);
- Stay together (any single animal separate from the herd is weak, and is a target for a meal);
- No crouching (this means "playtime," which could also mean getting swiped with a claw or being gnawed on);
- Don't turn your back on them or break eye contact if they look at you (these are signs of weakness, which are also signs of lion snack food);
- Don't wear any backpacks or fanny packs (they associate packs with the source of their beef snacks, and... well... they'll eat your backpack even if there's nothing in it);
- Don't wear any dangling items (being cats, they like to play with dangling items... and if they play with you, you die.)

Then, Simon told us what order to walk in:
1st: Handler #1
2nd: Lions
3rd: Simon
4th. Tourists
5th. Handler #2

And the final rule: Never, ever get between Simon and the lions.

With these guidelines (and a serious sense of doubt as to whether or not this was a good idea), the group of us huddled together, stuck to Simon's backside... at which point we met our walking mates: Yep, that's right... we were going on a walking safari with the lions... exactly the same animals that you don't want to run into on a walking safari.

These three were far from tame. While they have been raised by humans in the reserve, they are wild animals and always will be. The three that we were walking with were named Easy (a 14 month-old female, named for her easy-going personality), Peace (a 16 month-old male) and another male (whose name I've forgotten.) We walked for about 45 minutes, out in the open of the reserve. At one point they started playing with one of the handlers, jumping after a piece of beef skewered on a stick, like cats with a toy:
But what kitty doesn't like a good neck scratch?
Such regal animals... at one point, one of them was staring off into the distance, watching something intently from the top of a tree: Yes, you heard me... from the top of a tree:
And after she got down, she wandered off into the brush. One of the handlers followed her, trying to "herd" her back towards us. But the handler came back alone, and shrugged when Simon asked where the lion went. (Apparently a few weeks prior to our visit, one of the lions had killed a waterbuck while on a walk...)

I'll admit it was a little disconcerting walking and knowing that there was a lion nearby that we couldn't see. After all, how were we supposed to keep our eye contact and not turn our back on a lion when we had no idea where it was? Eeek.

At one point, Easy lay down, and we had a quick opportunity to pet the nice kitty:
(Notice that I'm carrying a stick in my hand. This is called the "no" stick, and they told us that if the lions started misbehaving towards us, we should hold the stick out and say "NO!" firmly and loudly. Of course, I cannot express to you how glad I am that I didn't have to test out the ridiculous theory that my one little stick would stop one of Africa's greatest predators.)

And to answer a few questions:
- No they are not de-clawed
- No they are not de-fanged
- No, they are not sedated or medicated in any way
- No, they are never hit or beaten

This was an absolutely amazing experience that blew my mind. The animals were gorgeous, and so intimidating, knowing that they could just decide, on a whim, to eat you. Gack. Nothing like an in-your-face reminder that you are at the bottom of the food chain...

Eventually, the missing lion wandered back to us, after a few moments of dancing around, trying to re-establish our walking order... and before I knew it, the walk was over.

Then, the reserve gave us a lovely breakfast (notice they didn't feed us before we met the lions), and then we were off for a much more relaxed activity: An elephant ride... With two of us (and a "driver") on each elephant, we took a 45 minute walk through the reserve. The elephant that I was riding - Lundi - was the matriarch of the group, and the biggest elephant. She was 27 years old, and was rescued as an orphan (her parents were poached) when she was 5 years old.

The elephants come and go freely on the reserve - they are not kept in cages or pens or anything. Usually they wander off in the evening, and return to their "drivers" in the morning hours after wandering about and eating all night. Along our ride, Lundi grabbed snacks of grass, branches and twigs, at one point stepping - and then kneeling - on a thick bush in order to snap off a branch. Wild stuff!

The "drivers" gave them "elephant chocolates" as treats (made with grasses, oats, and molasses). It was a lovely, serene and amazing ride on these beautiful, graceful animals. We of course did the cheesy "photo op" with them afterwards - here I am, feeding her some chocolates:Lunch was a walk through a local marketplace, which featured not only local crafts, but also foods and other goods. Here's my favorite "vendor":
The kids, as always, were excited to see a camera... and as we walked, we eventually had quite a little parade of them following us, excited about seeing their pictures:
One gentleman was selling goat heads to make stew. (Here's the recipe: Stick your goat head on a stick, and place it over an open fire. This will burn off the fur and any ticks or animals on the head. Then, place the head in a pot with garlic, onion and whatever spices you like, and then boil until you have a nice stew. Yum.)
With the financial strife in the country, though, inflation has gone through the roof, and a single tomato was priced at 2,000 Zimbabwean dollars. This morning, there was a run at the local grocery store for bread, which is apparently quite hard to come by these days. There were literally hundreds of people at the market trying to buy their rationed 2 loaves.
And of course, seeing the people try to make a living under these circumstances was heartbreaking.
Still, everyone (adults and kids) were happy to see us, and incredibly welcoming... it was overwhelming when the kids would just run full-speed to get close to you and say hello:
We had dinner at a local home, and it was a modest meal, though from what I understand, this was a very special amount of food and we were given what would usually be served on holidays or special occasions. (And yes, I ate the fish, and no they weren't that bad.)
This afternoon was a quick helicopter ride over Victoria Falls... absolutely stunning:
Tomorrow is our last day in Zimbabwe, and we say goodbye to our main guide, Priscilla. A really amazing woman, she and I call each other "sister" and I am really going to miss her greatly.

For now, though, to sleep... the 5:15am wake up call is catching up with me.

P.S. Today was the first access to email since June 28th. So weird to be so out of touch for so long! Dang I miss my nephews!!! (And another boy, too... but that's for another time.)

Day 20: July 13, Bye Priscilla

2007-07-21T13:10:00.000-04:00

We said goodbye to Priscilla today - so sad. She's such an amazingly inspiring woman, and I will miss her. She even took us on a quick tour of her apartment in Victoria Falls before we left... how sweet!! I did a tiny bit more shopping before we left, picking up the Big Five carved in stone. (Not sure what I'm going to do with that, but whatever.)

We lost power today, which is apparently very common in Zimbabwe these days. The lodges have generators, but the stores do not, so they place candles all over in an attempt to provide lighting to customers. I feel badly for them because I know the economy is so weak that the stores need to maintain all the customer traffic possible... and with the electricity off, it doesn't look like most of them are open. Sad times for Zimbabwe, for sure. But the people are so resilient and friendly nonetheless... it's an amazing place.

The rest of the day was a travel day to Cape Town. Two flights, terrible meals, and ample downtime lead us to Cape Town around 9pm. (Apparently one thing women need after 3 weeks on safari is a newspaper):

Exhausted, we met with Kim, our guide, who gave us a brief driving tour of the town before dropping us off at the hotel. (One of my companions - as the flight was approaching Cape Town - told me to look out the window at the beautiful view of the lights through the windows. I couldn't help but think "It looks like New Jersey").

Poor Kim must have thought we were zombies, because we didn't say a word, and by the time we hit our pillows, we were exhausted....

Day 21: July 14, Cape Town

2007-07-21T13:00:00.000-04:00

First day in Cape Town, and this morning we're off to Table Mountain. We slept last night on the rock-hard hotel beds to the sounds of traffic in the streets... aaah, just like home! (Ha.) Our room is lovely, with a view of the laundromat. Oh, how I miss the sounds of lions and the views of water holes.

First, we took a cable car ride up 3000+ feet to the top of Table Mountain, which towers above the city:
The views are spectacular, and we were lucky that the haze had cleared enough to see both oceans... Atlantic: And Indian:
Even the guide said she was surprised at how clear the view was:
Then, we took a tour of the city, which is stunningly multicultural - really quite inspiring. We saw City Hall, where Nelson Mandela gave his "Freedom" speech when he was released from prison:

And then, toured the local market where we enjoyed many of the local delicacies, including samoosas (spicy meat wrapped in crispy dough - yum), mince pies (meat and spices in a flaky pastry crust - super yum!!!) and koeksisters (fried dough with syrup and coconut - WAY SUPER YUM!) I also bought sour figs, which were a little less impressive (bletch.)
But the market was wonderful, and there were tons of friendly people everywhere:
We also went to a jewelry center, where they demonstrated the process of cutting diamonds and other precious stones. We didn't get much info on the controversial diamond mining practices, which was slightly disappointing, but it was interesting to learn about the process nonetheless.

One new type of cut for diamonds is called the "10 by 10", which has more facets than the brilliant cut. I took a closer look under a jeweler's loop at a 3+ carat "10x10" cut diamond, and it was beautiful, but I think diamonds just aren't my thing (unless you're talking about the uniquely colored ones, which are beautiful.) Honestly, I was more taken by the tanzanite stones that were on display, which were in a brilliant array of deep blues and violets. Gorgeous stones. So I was a doofus and bought one. Dumb-butt. Don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I have a nice sparkly blue rock now. (*sigh*)

After jacking up my credit card bill, we drove through the Malay district, where the people of Malaysian descent live. The homes are brilliant colors, because apparently the workers couldn't find their way home at night, so they painted their homes different colors to tell which was theirs:

Next, we hit a brief view of the waterfront, where we took a ferry to the infamous Robben Island - the prison island where Nelson Mandela spent the majority of his 27 years imprisoned. Here is the lighthouse on the island:
And the limestone quarry where Nelson Mandela did his hard labor (the cave is where they ate, slept & relieved themselves during the day):
And here, the stone pile. When Nelson Mandela returned to the island, he toured the quarry, and at one point, walked away from the group he was with and placed a stone on the ground. Former prisoners came up behind him, and each took a different stone and piled it upon the other. The stones are all different colors and shapes, and are meant to represent the people of the world: All different shapes and colors, but all working together to build something bigger than themselves. The stone pile hasn't been touched since that day:
We then entered the prison itself:
Our guide at the prison was a former political prisoner from Robben Island, and he gave our group a fascinating history of the prison and the prisoners themselves:

On the way back, we spotted animals, including rabbits, otter (eating a fish), and whales in the distance. We also saw our first African Penguins:

Here's Table Mountain towering over Cape Town - a beautiful view at sunset:
And when we docked we spotted a baby seal:
And a few paces down, adult seals relaxing on the docks:I was craving pizza, so we had pizza for dinner, which was OK - but the food is so cheap here! Actually, everything is cheap here.

G'night.

Day 22: July 15, Cape Town Coastline

2007-07-21T12:17:00.000-04:00

Twas a long day today. We took a grand driving tour of the Cape and it was fabulous. We started with an early morning tour of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, and some of South Africa's most gorgeous flowers. Even though it is winter, the few blooms that were happening were stunning I wasn't aware that Cape Town was one of the most prolific floral zones in the world!) The bird life was amazing too - we were spoiled at how close we could approach the birds here, since they're so used to people milling about.
We then continued along the western coast of the cape, passing through the famous Constantia wine district. (I'd never heard of it, but apparently it was Napoleon's favorite wine.) We stopped at one overlook where we saw dozens of surfers in the cold waters, and we chatted with a professional "shark spotter." (If you look at the photo below, all the small dots in the water on the top left side of the photo are surfers.)
The shark spotters along the coast are former homeless / unemployed people who, well, spot sharks and call down warnings to the guys on the beach below. He was such a nice guy, our shark spotter, and his name was "Innocence."

We then went to visit a colony of African Penguins at Simon's Town:
Even the fuzzy babies were still around:These guys were not shy either, and this one wandered to about 3 feet from me... that's the only reason I got a closeup (I had brought my wide lens this day.)

Did you know that they mate for life? How romantic...A rare shot of a penguin egg - just under her belly: So gorgeous...We then hit the mandatory Kodak Picture Spot at the Cape of Good Hope (I'm grimacing because I'm blind.)And then we hiked to the top of the cape. The point closest to us is Cape Point, and off in the distance, you can see the hazy shape of Cape Agulas - the southernmost tip of Africa.

Cheezy photo time: The baboons in this area are very aggressive, and we were not allowed to bring any food or even bottles of water up to the area... the baboons would snatch them right out of your hand. We even had to chase them away from our van at the restaurant that we stopped at for lunch, as they were encroaching on our vehicle trying to climb inside to rummage through our bags.

The drive home was equally gorgeous, and very reminiscent of the Oregon and northern California coastline:

I didn't forget to take the sunset again... I know you can't get enough...

Day 23: July 16, The last sunset

2007-07-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

Another long day today, but fabulous, as we were fully immersed in the culture of Cape Town. We started in wine country, with a wonderful tour of a winery called New Beginnings in Nelson's Creek Estate. Our guide, Victor, took us through the entire process of harvesting, aging, and ... yes ... tasting! Victor is one of the "Cape Colored", who was given land ownership from his previous employer after apartheid ended. The dogs of the winery were wonderful puppies...
Good example of the thatched-roof, white-walled Cape Dutch architecture at the winery: We then took a quick tour of the Ikhwezi Community Center, where unemployed people can find jobs, youth provide peer counseling, and kids get daycare, all from impoverished nearby townships. The kids were wonderful, as usual, and once again loved having their photos taken (and muss my hair.)
Lunch was an adventure into the local township, where Victor (our guide from the winery) took us to one of his favorite local haunts called "Chippas" in the Bekweni township. Basically, the restaurant was a butcher shop (where you order your meat cuts) next to a family-style pub-like place with open grills (where you take your chosen cuts to be grilled while you wait.) There was a small restaurant next door, if you want more "formal" service, and we had some amazing soup, fresh sausages and steak which were absolutely succulent. The entire meal was devastatingly cheap - soup, fresh bread, a soda, and sausage was 25 Rand including tip (about $3.50). The food here is scary cheap.

But the real value was the atmosphere, and really venturing into some uncharted (and non-touristed) areas, where the people approached us with warm smiles and much curiosity. I am constantly blown away by how friendly everyone is here.

We then took a stroll through a small little town called Franschhoek, which reminded me of the quaint little New England towns in Massachusetts.... lots of little boutique stores and arts and antiques. I bought some chocolates there - whew! Been craving that! Also saw a great sign:

We then went to another, larger, winery, and then off to the town of Stellenbosch. It was fine, but I'm tired of craft markets. The architecture here is amazing, though.

Next stop, the cheetah reserve. (Since we hadn't seen them in the wild, we thought we'd catch a glimpse here.) So Bob and I - the only ones with a hankering to pet large, dangerous cats - decided to pay the extra 3 bucks to pet another large animal that could kill us... Meet "Johnathan", the cheetah:
Turns out it's OK that they are wild, cuz I'm apparently allergic to cheetahs. How's that for a useful piece of information?

Our luck held on the drive home, and we caught a glimpse of the Cape Zebras and a rare winter appearance of the "tablecloth" on Table Mountain. Both went by too quickly for me to get photos, though. Bummer.

I took a stroll along the boardwalk before sunset, and caught this girl tossing the seagulls some bread. I don't know why but the moment really touched me:Last sunset in Africa:

Day 24: July 17, Goodbye Africa

2007-07-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

This is our last day in Africa, and this afternoon we have a flight to London, and then back to the states. We had one last trip down to the Waterfront today for some last minute shopping:Ostrich pate anyone?
And as a final farewell, Table Mountain showed us a little tablecloth effect just to see us off:
Africa has been amazing... it has far surpassed everything I expected it to be. It surprised me, warmed me, chilled me, amused me, and showed me how large and how small the world can be.

I look forward to seeing friends and family again, though I know it will be quite a culture shock when I return. I have new beginnings to look forward to, in my personal life and my professional life. Reality is going to be quite a culture shock, and it's beginning to come crashing back into my head. But the entire previous 18 months of my life has been quite shocking, and I'm learning that life - if nothing else - is teaching me to roll with the punches, and to appreciate the joys of life when they are near.

I will miss Joanne, Mary Anne, Kathryn, Joe, Carol, Bob, Kathleen, Pam, Katie, Nancy, Sel and Bev. I will miss Godfrey, Priscilla and Kim. But I've learned that missing people is also about recognizing the value of their presence in your life when they are around, and I have appreciated - and loved - every moment with these wonderful people.

I'm sitting on the plane in Cape Town now, heading to London, with a bag full of souvenirs, a camera full of photos, and a head full of memories... and a lot of mixed feelings. I loathe to leave, but am ready to see the people that I love. I may be homeless, but home is where the heart is, so I'm heading home.

Thank you, Africa... I will always carry a piece of you with me in my heart.
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