Zambia and Botswana

I caught my first sight of Victoria Falls from the air. In the rainy season, so much water passes over the falls that it creates a vertical plume of mist visible from miles away. We checked into our hotel in Livingstone, Zambia and ran for the showers - no one looks or smells good after 50 hours of travel and we were no exception. After settling in and cleaning up, we had a nice dinner at the guest house and made some friends.


The following morning, we went to Victoria Falls with Richard and Courtney. Following some advice from a roommate, I wore only a t-shirt and bathing suit, this was the best decision I made all day. Richard brought a backpack with a copy of the Lonely Planet and his passport - he had to wring both out later. That evening we decided to venture out for dinner with some friends. I had a chicken and bacon sandwich and celebrated my escape from the involuntary vegetarianism that defines much of India.

Victoria Falls is part of the Zambezi river that forms the southern border of Zambia with Zimbabwe. From close up, the water coming off the falls is so dense that only small portions of the falls are visible at any one time. The falls are more than a mile long and 306 feet tall but it is not the largest waterfall by either of these measures. What is most impressive about Victoria Falls is that the one mile width is entirely unbroken, making it the longest falling curtain of water in the world. During the rainy season, that falling curtain of water expands out from the falls and begins to cover the viewing areas. Even the most well covered visitors end up drenched but that is an essential part of the visit.

The following day Ellie went canoeing down the Zambezi and I took the opportunity to update my blog and get a little reading done. Livingstone is home to a thriving adventure sports industry and visitors can do seemingly anything from walking safaris to micro-light flights. While Ellie was canoeing, I was waiting for my adventure the next day. That evening, we had dinner with Katy and Justin at a Chinese restaurant down the street from our guest house.

The next day (March 10th, I walked half way across the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe

And stood on the ledge, looking at the water 111 meters below then...


Jumped off!

I also tried the gorge swing, check out the video here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8vCIG4-yFWE

That evening Ellie was feeling sick so she stayed in while I went on a sunset cruise up the Zambezi.
I saw a few crocodiles and, for the first time in the wild, some hippopotamuses.

The morning of the 11th, we woke up and had to run some errands before meeting up with our safari group. After some frantic running around town, we took a cab to the airport where we met one of our guides, Victor, and another guest, Simon. From there we headed back to Victoria Falls, this time with a camera, and took pictures.


That evening, we drove to a camp on the Zambezi where we had tea as the sun was setting and, after dinner, fell asleep quickly.

The next morning we drove to the border where we met up with our other guide, Andy, and four Norwegian guests, Gro, Willy, Anna, and Erling. On the shore, we were standing in Zambia but about halfway across the Zambezi river, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia meet at one point. We hopped on a small boat and quickly crossed into Botswana, bypassing the three day line of people, cars and trucks waiting for the official ferry (pictured below).



Once we cleared customs, we drove to Kasane and hopped on a boat for a tour around Chobe National Park. Our first animal sighting was a herd of impalas.



Next, we saw kudus (pictured below), followed by a family of elephants bathing, hippopotamuses and more baboons than I can count.


After the boat ride, we drove to Kasane airport and met up with a bush pilot. Since there aren't many improved roads in northern Botswana, traveling by car takes a lot of time. Fortunately there are many little runways around the country so traveling by plane is quick and easy. The flight to Kingspool took less than an hour, but covering that distance in a car would have taken more than 12 hours. A group of warthogs scampered off the runway as we were landing.


We unloaded our bags from the plane and onto our safari truck then took off on a game drive. We saw more kudus, elephants, and for the first time, a giraffe!

After the drive we settled into our camp at Linyanti, a private park next to Chobe, that would be home for the next three days. Ellie and I shared a dome tent with cots that was surprisingly nicer than much of our lodging in India. We ate dinner in the common area, a larger tent with removable sides, a big table and lantern. Although there was no running water, we had warm showers from a hanging bucket with a shower head on the bottom and somehow the staff had rigged up a flush toilet. Although the camp was temporary and collapsible, it had all the amenities and comforts of home.

The next morning we woke up, bleary eyed but excited, before dawn for our first full day game drive. After following lion tracks all morning, we finally found a group of three males sitting under a tree. There were kudus, giraffes, elephants and a whole host of other animals, but the most exciting sighting were the lions. We tried to find them again after lunch but they had moved. We drove away, slightly upset but were surprised to find them laying nearby in the middle of the road. When you're a lion, I guess you can sleep anywhere you want.

After driving around more, we stopped for cocktails at sunset.

On the ride home, we spotted another group of lions sitting on a termite mound. The two lions on the right are older females while the one on the left is a young male.


The morning of the 14th, we left our camp and private game park for a day in Chobe National Park.
Pictured below: lifting an elephant bone at the entrance to Chobe NP



We set out looking for wild dogs but didn't see any that day, or for the rest of the trip. Still the day was a great success since we saw a few zebra herds and gnu or wildebeest.

The highlight of the day was stopping for lunch at a watering hole and being surrounded by wildebeests and impalas.


The safari trucks generally have an open back with seats for the guests. On most days, the open sides were great and let in a refreshing breeze but that day was different. As we drove back through thick brush, branches bent against the truck and unwound, swinging violently through the cabin. We spent most of the three hour ride back dodging branches and leaning inwards.


We were up and driving again early the next morning but all the animals seemed to be hiding. We saw impalas and kudus but nothing that could compare with the zebras and lions from the day before. As usual, we stopped for tea halfway through the morning drive.


A brief stop saved the morning right as we finished the first drive. A herd of more than 50 elephants had taken over a pond and blocked the road back home.

The evening drive was unfortunately less exciting but we did manage to spot a leopard turtle.



Next morning, the 16th, we woke up and took a long drive where we saw ostriches and had a nice lunch by a river. Later that day we flew to Vumbara field where we were supposed to drive for a few hours to our next camp, Lechwee.


There was much excitement as we landed since a guide had recently spotted a leopard nearby. After searching fruitlessly for 20 minutes, we were about to give up when our truck broke down. We waited around for a few hours trying to fix the car and eventually had to call for a mechanic. Then the rain began. By the time the car was working again, we were all a bit damp and our spirits were low. Fortunately, as we were leaving, we spotted the leopard from earlier. Since the sun was nearly down at this point, we couldn't make the drive to our next camp and had to stop at the safari operator's closest available camp. That camp happened to have private, permanent rooms with plunge pools and a professional chef. That evening, our group jokingly discussed ways to ensure that our car would break down again the next day.

The next morning, March 17th, we woke up early to drive to Lechwee and get stuck a few times along the way. Once we got into camp, ate and cleaned up, we went canoeing. Aside from a few small frogs, we didn't see much but I was quite happy that the crocodiles and hippopotamuses were somewhere else.


The 18th was Simon's birthday and accordingly we all sang for him at breakfast. To stay on schedule we needed to get back to Vumbara air field that afternoon. Andy, and the rest of our group, was convinced this would be nearly impossible because the roads were so poor and he arranged for alternative transportation.


We took the helicopter to the Vumbara airstrip and waited there for a plane that would take us to Xigera, in the Okavango Delta. The plane was only on the ground for a few minutes since a major thunderstorm was was about to strike but we made it to Xigera with no problems. After landing, we still needed to get to our camp, a small island in the delta.

Since we couldn't walk or drive, we took a mokoro, a traditional canoe made from a dug out tree. Our mokoros were the slightly more modern, fiberglass version. We enjoyed a two hour mokoro ride from the air strip to camp through water lillys and reeds.

We finally got to camp in the late afternoon and a long, steady rain begain shortly thereafter. We spent that evening huddled in tents, chatting with Simon and the Norweigans.

The next morning Vic and Andy walked around the island with us, explaining the traditional uses for a variety of plants and berries. Although we saw leopard and elephant tracks the only notable sightings were impalas and giraffes. Later that day Andy gave a presentation on the Okavango delta and the vast Kalahari sands. The most interesting fact he mentioned was that 95% of all islands in the delta started as termite mounds. Later that evening we took another mokoro ride and everyone got to try their hand at steering a mokoro. I spent a few minutes prodding around with the stick and not moving the boat much at all before finally figuring out how to move myself around in circles. Steering those canoes with the grace and ease the mokoroers have is quite a skill. We stopped off at an island for our last sunset cocktails and found a pair of old elephant tusks.

Along the way, we saw a few frogs and snakes and fortunately no crocodiles!

That evening was our last but certainly not the least exciting. When we returned from the mokoro trip, our guide stopped the boat a few meters away to point out an elephant walking around the campsite. Unfortunately our Norweigan friend's tent was directly under a fruit tree and the elephant was quite keen on eating. Ellie and I returned to our tent to freshen up but Erling and Gro could not because the elephant was still busy eating outside their tent. Eventually the elephant left, but not before overturning and collapsing their tent.

The next, and final, morning at breakfast Erling and Gro looked a bit groggy. Apparently the elephant had returned for a midnight snack and woke them up as it was picking fruit. The elephant was not satisfied to just eat and became curious about the tent. Fortunately the tent stayed upright this time, but the elephant did stick its trunk inside while Erling and Gro were still there.

We took one final mokoro ride back to the airstrip and flew from there to Maun, Botswana. After a round of hugs, Simon went off to another safari, Willy, Anna, Erling and Gro headed back to Norway and Ellie and I tried to find a hotel.