Thursday, October 25, 2007

Lebala, Botswana

If it starts looking like we're not lifting off, throw out some of the baggage.

The "rustic" tent.


Babysitting


You looking at me?



Awake at last.

Two days without a buffalo, and these tourists start looking tasty.



The babies.




More babysitting



More babysitting. Let the leopards have them, I'm too tired to care.









Chobe, Botswana and Namibia

Botswana border chameleon. Stands guard at immigration office

A sunset with elephants?

What happens when you fall behind the group


Japanese tourists and elephants. see above.


Brian's Giant Deadly Zambezi Tiger Fish.


Other swamp residents




Elephant taking a dust bath.





Songwe and Victoria Falls


Augie and Mo at Victoria Falls

Monkey baby at Victoria Falls


Elephants at the Stanley and Livingstone Lodge


Victoria Falls from the helicopter



Grub at Songwe




Lazy people taking baths at Songwe



Pumping water for baths



Just in case






Return to Botswana

Monday, October 22 – After breakfast, we were taken by boat to the Namibia border, then into Botswana and the Kasane airport for our charter flight to the Lebala Camp, located in the Kuando Reserve north of the Okavango Delta. After a 45 minute flight, we had a 30 minute bumpy drive to the camp. This is the first truly remote camp we have experienced, and our first tented camp.

Our tents are large and spacious, with a sleeping area, a dressing area, a large bathroom with claw foot tub, and an outdoor shower. There is no electricity, just kerosene lamps. But they have propane tanks for heating the water and cooking. The camp is not fenced, so we were not allowed to walk at night without an escort. We were told to not be alarmed if we should wake up in the night to find an elephant rubbing against our tent.

Our afternoon game drive brought us our fist zebra sightings, and we also found a pride of lions, with two large males lounging on the hill, and 8 cubs all under a year old playing. We were able to get close enough to scratch their tummies. We returned to a nice family style dinner. There are 14 guests at the camp at this time. There are 8 tents. It’s amazing what wonderful food they can prepare out here in the middle of nowhere. They have no phones, no internet, no TV. Their supplies are trucked in or flown in anywhere from every 2 weeks for some things and every 2 months for others. Even though it is remote and rustic, it is still luxurious in many ways. Augie thinks it’s primitive because there’s no air conditioning.

Tuesday, October 23 – After a 5:30 wake up call, we all met around the campfire for tea, coffee, and porridge before beginning our game drives. We went searching for the lion cubs to see if their mothers had returned. We found the cubs all alone on a hill. They were behaving nicely because they had no adult supervision. Our guide, Tabo, was a terrific tracker, so he began to follow the tracks of the mothers. After a while, Augie spotted one of them in the distance. As we drew closer, we found all 3 females and the two males. The females were in a hunting mode and the males would follow along for a while, then plop down on the ground to snooze for a while.

They eventually came upon a herd of impalas near a lake, a perfect place to trap them. We watched as one lioness circled around the far side of the herd, while the other two took up positions on the side where we sat in our vehicle watching. The two males found shady trees near us to watch the lionesses do all the work. We were told that if the females make a kill, the lions come in and chase them away so they can eat their fill. The females get the leftovers.

The impalas make a loud noise which sounds like static electricity when they sense danger. Suddenly the lioness on the right made her move and the impalas began to stampede toward our vehicle and the other two lionesses. The impalas were quick, and the lionesses did not get their kill. Exhausted from their efforts, they found a shady tree to rest under. The males soon joined them and we were able to get some great photos. We then headed back to camp for brunch.

The afternoon we spent relaxing in our tents, in the public area, or in the pool. At 4:00 high tea was served. They had a wonderful selection of cheeses, quiche, and pastries. At 4:30 we went out for another game drive. Before we left, the lions had been spotted moving in the direction of a herd of buffalo that were near our camp. Our guides said that, because the lions had not made a kill in a few days, they would attempt something as dangerous as a Cape Buffalo because it would provide them with enough food for a while.

We quickly found the lions and began following them again. It was well after sunset before they finally got in they positions around the herd. Because there was a full moon, we were still able to follow them with our binoculars. Suddenly, there was a loud stampede of buffalo, which sent up a huge cloud of dust. We waited for a while before we could see the lions again. The buffalo stayed huddled together for a while, then began to move away. We followed the lions until about 8:30, when the guides decided that they would probably not hunt again tonight. So we returned to camp for dinner.

Onward to Botswana



Namibia, Day 2

Sunday, october 21 -- The 3 guys in our group opted for a morning fishing trip, while the gals took in a game cruise down to the Chobe area, the same area where we had cruised when we were at the Chobe Lodge. We had some terrific viewing. We came across a group of hippos lounging on the banks. We got too close at one point and the big bull started to come after us. We also watched a group of elephants crossing the river to join another huge group on the island. We got as close as is possible to a herd of Cape Buffallo because they were drinking on the banks of the river and they can't jump in the river to come after us.

We came across a large strip of land that was crowded with animals. We saw giraffes, baboons, wart hogs, buffaloes, impalas, elephants, and many types of birds.

We returned in time for lunch and found that the guys were all sunburned and only Brian had caught a fish.

In the afternoon, while everyone else relaxed in their chalets, Augie and I, and Steve and Mary Anne repeated the mornings' cruise. There were not quite as many animals as there had been in the morning. We returned after dark.

Final day in Victoria Falls

Sturday, October 20 -- This morning, 5 of us went on an elephant back safari. Augie and I rode the largest of the bunch, Miss Ellie, with Norman as our driver. It's not like the Asian elephants, where you sit on a basket. The elephant has a soft saddle. We rode for an hour, then we spent some time feeding our elephants and thanking them for the ride. Then we were treated to breakfast and taken to a large shopping area in the town of Victoria Falls where Rhonda bought 3 huge giraffes and Augie and I bought a large carving of elephants. We took all our treasures to the DHL office for shipping.

We went back to our hotel to shower (didn't want the others to smell elephant all the way to our next destination), pack and head off to Namibia.

Our next experience is the Impalila Lodge, situated on the Zambezi River. The entire trip was by boat. This was the first of our first rustic, bush experiences. The lodge is near where the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers meet, on a strip of land which runs along the border of Botswana but belongs to Namibia. We were at the point where Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia all meet.

Our private chalets were elevated above a lush forest, but it was back to air cooling, generator power, and mosquito nets. They do a good job, though, of making sure there is plenty of hot water available all day. Rhonda and Brian stayed home once when everyone else went off for a cruise, that they turn off the electricity when all the guests are gone. They also shut if off in the middle of the night.

Shortly after our arrival, we were taken on a sunset cruise. This was so much nicer than our boat cruise at Chobe, because we had our own private boat. We saw lots of crocs and hippos, and a gorgeous sunset.

Victoria Falls - Day 2

Friday, October 19 -- Today we visited Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side. It took us several hours to walk the many paths to the different viewing areas, through the rain forests (rain being the mist from the falls), and enjoying the monkeys that were entertaining us along the way. We were told that in the wet season, we would be drenched and that the roar of the falls is so loud that you cannot converse. We'll just have to come back......

Victoria Falls

Thursday, October 18 -- After breakfast, we experienced our first view of Victoria Falls from a helicopter. The gorge into which the water falls seems like a mere slit from the air. There was not as much water as you normally see in pictures because we were there in the dry season. But they are still quite spectacular and seeing them by helicopter is a must.

Afterward, we toured the falls from the Zambia side, which are not as long as the Zimbabwe side, but have the stunning Devils Chasm. We were then transported to the Zambia border and into Zimbabwe for our stay at the Stanley and Livingstone Hotel, and joining us there was the last members of our group, Mary Anne and Steve Hegedus. The 8 of us were the only guests at the hotel. This was the height of pampering and spoiling. We each had our own private chalet which had a tastefully furnished living room, a large master suite with sitting area, and a huge bath with claw foot tub and large shower.

The hotel itself was built in 1999 in the old Victorian Colonial style, and they spared no expense. It was beautifully done, and the main dining areas and each of the chalets faced onto a private game reserve with a lake right in front. All day, various animals would come down to drink. The highlight was the family of elephants who came every evening to drink and bathe, then go into the dry area to throw dirt all over themselves. It was very entertaining. In fact, it was all so perfect, we didn't plan any activities for the rest of the day. We all just either hung out at the pool, in the public areas, or in our chalets and watched.

The food and the service were all the very best.

Back to Civilization

We are finally back in Johannesburg and real internet services. The rest of Africa either has nothing at all or what they call high speed is really like our old dial up -- way too slow for us to add any pictures.



So here's the highlights of our trip so far....



Saturday, October 13 -- After an early morning departure from Cape Town to Jo-burg, we transfered to the Federal Airport for our meeting with Mary Ann and Naz and our charter flight to the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve, which is near the Kruger Park. Sabi Sabi has four camps, and we stayed at the smallest, Little Bush Camp, which only has 6 chalets. We knew we were in for some pampering when we saw all the staff waiting to serve us and only two other guests besides the 6 of us!



After a fabulous lunch, we were treated to the first of our 3 hour game drives. We got close up and personal with elephants, monkeys, rhinos, buffalo and many species of birds. We returned to another wonderful, intimate dinner, then retreated to our private chalets, which overlooked a small river and featured an outdoor shower. Mary Ann said she was afraid to use it because she thought the hyenas would show up and laugh.



Sunday, October 14 -- A 5:30 wake up call the next morning and we met for our 6:00 am game drive. Today we saw lions and tried to track down a leopard and her cub that had been spotted earlier. We never found her that day.



After breakfast, while Rhonda treated herself to a massage at one of the other resorts, we did a walking safari. It was so hot, the animals were smart enough to be hidden somewhere in the shade. We're obviously not as smart as the animals or as Rhonda!



On our afternoon drive, we found the leopard and spent some time trailing her through the jungle. It was amazing how close she got to our vehicles. She was inches from the tracker sitting on the front of our jeep.



Monday, October 15 --- After our morning game drive, we had the "Brian's Banana Incident" at breakfast. He waved a banana at the always hovering Vervet monkeys, set it on the table and turned his back to get a cup of coffee. Quick as could be, the monkey ran up and grabbed that banana and ran up a tree.



After breakfast, we were transferred back to the airstrip for our return flight to Jo-burg and our one night stay at the Michaelangelo Hotel in Mandela Square. The hotel is beautiful and Augie and I were treated to a two room, two bath suite.



Tuesday, October 16 -- Up early with no time for breakfast for our flight to Victoria Falls. The airport is in Zimbabwe, but our first stay was in Botswana, so we had to pay for a double entry visa. We were driven to the Chobe Safari Lodge, which overlooks the Chobe River. This lodge was very different from our Sabi Sabi experience. It had many rooms in buildings which had 6 rooms in each. We did an afternoon boat cruise on a boat that was packed with tourists. We are so spoiled! This just won't do!!



But the wildlife was incredible. We got our first view of hippos and crocodiles. We also saw herds of Cape Buffalos and elephants. Dinner that night was buffet style. We only had one night at this place, so we're off again tomorrow.



Wednesday, October 17 -- After breakfast, we were transferred back through Botswana customs, into Zambia and the long drive through dusty, bumpy, hot roads in an open vehicle through the town of Livingstone and on to Songwe Village. Just when I was beginning to think you would never send a client to this desolate place, we came upon this enchanting village, which is perched on a cliff overlooking the Zambezi River. It is designed like a Mukani village, with all 8 huts facing each other in a circle. The views from each hut are breathtaking, and each has a shower which is open to the view.

After we settled in, we were taken to the local village to see how they live. We saw their clay huts, outdoor and indoor cooking areas, and met the matriarch of the village, and sweet little 80+ year old woman who settles disputes and administers punishments (such as making the offender walk the distance up the hill to the well with a cup, fill it and return to the village to pour it into the barrels, and repeat until the barrell is full). We were then taken to their crafts center where we were all encouraged to "support the local economy" and happily did so.

We returned to our village, and there are also two extra huts which have only a claw foot tub and a shower which are open to the most stunning views of the river and are meant for sunset viewing. Rhonda and I took advantage of these, and I must say it was a spiritual experience. I stayed in there until way after dark.

When I finally emerged, I found all the guests and our host, Dorothy, gathered around the campfire, where she told stories of the Mukani people and their history. She showed us how to wrap ourselves in the sarongs the people wear from dining. The men tie theirs on their right side and the women on their left. We all got a good laugh because Brian looked like Barney Rubble and Augie looked like Fred Flintstone.

We moved into the area for our dinner (called a Boma) and found a small fire in the center of area, surrounded by many small black cast iron pots, each with a different local dish. One was even a weed! We were told that the natives eat with their hands, and the one dish that looked like mashed potatoes (but was actually a type of grain) was used to form into a scoop for eating the other dishes.

We sat in a circle and one of the staff came around to each of us with a water basin and pitcher so we could wash our hands. Then the men were invited to fill their plates first, followed by the women. The food was delicious, even though the only seasoning they use is onions and tomatoes.

After dinner, the staff played music and sang and invited us all to dance. We had a great time. Later, we retreated to our huts and got under the mosquito nets.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Zimbabwe

Well, this started out as a good idea, but in practice it's turning out to be a bit rough.

We're in Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls) after visiting Botswana and Zambia, and this is the first working internet we came across. Most of the places are so isolated there aren't even decent phone connections.

Unfortunatly the internet is run on a generator and it's running about 12kb, so it's imposssible to do much of anything. The rest of the block doesn't even have power.

The trips been good so far. We're staying at the www.stanleyandlivingstone.com hotel in the bush, lots of animals, but no communications.

Next big city we'll give it another try. That'll be a few days at least.

augie/mo

Friday, October 12, 2007

Monkeys at the Cape

Though you might not think a place with penguins would have monkeys, this place does. This is a cape baboon, a large troup live at the end of the world, and make a living stealing stuf from tourists.

Cape Town Part 2

Turns out there was another internet store in the mall at the other end open for another hour.

New York was the same ole town. Coming from a town were 5000 people share 12 squre miles to a place where 5000 people share a subway station is, as you might expect, a change.

Did the usual. Rode subways, eat eat eat, and did a lot of walking. Since we had been there before many times, there's not much new to report.

The final design for the world trade center site seems to be two big square holes in the ground that cover the original building footprints. The walls will have the names of the victims, and there will be small square lakes in the middle. The displayed plans didn't show any way of getting into the wells.

The "wells" will be surrounded with 7 new high rises, all smaller than the original buildings, except one that will have a large spire (al la king kong) that will reach the same height as the oiriginal twin towers.

Anyhow, we left wednesday afternoon for CT SA at around 5 pm and were number 42 in the take off line. 45 minutes we were airborne for 8 hours to Senigal, where passengers were booted off and the plane refuled for about an hour. Another 7 1/2 hours later we arrive in Johannesburg, and had a 3 hour layover until our Cape Town flight, and finally got to our hotel at 11 pm.


Next day (thursday) we did some touring.

first stop, penguins:





































































It was a bit windy, so the troops look cold. Penguins meanwhile are shedding their feathers, so the are looking a bit mangy.


Off to the southern end of the continent.























Cape Town South Africa

After 24 hours on the plane from New York, we finally wound up in Cape Town, South Africa.

Unfortunately, I found the internet 5 minutes before closing.

Tomorrow we leave at 5:15 AM, and are heading to a camp (with one small bag, no suitcases) and will look for an internet setup at one of the airports.

More detail then, so far it's been a fun trip.

augie/mo

Sunday, October 7, 2007

On our way

We're on our way to New York (the I heart NY one) for a few days before getting on the plane to Africa on Wednesday.

The message below has phone numbers of where we'll be, but there's no guarantee that any will work. Just in case for emergencies, which hopefully won't happen.

We'll try to post as often as we can, and if we get to sophisticated computers, attach pictures or videos of what we're doing.

Augie

Phone contact while in Africa

Click on Image to enlarge.