First Week of Safari

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Hi Folks,

Intrepid explorers here. It will probably be easier if we break this down into a kind of diary format taken from our written travel journal.

30/11/06 - Start

After a very early start we pack our things into the truck and set off on the adventure. We have a very long day of driving in blistering heat and arrive at Bushmans camp site near Kruger Park at about four in the afternoon. That was the easy bit, the hard work really starts now as we are allocated a two man tent and given the briefest of instructions, but after much grunting and sweating, the tent was finally up! For a girl who thought slumming it was the travel lodge, the bedding in period may take a while. The tent had one slight flaw though - the zip didn't work properly. Cue Mozzies. Cue lack of privacy. Cue the constant smell of cooking oil that we were provided with to lubricate the zip. Now if our sweet European blood wasn't enough of an invitation to dinner for every carnivorous insect for miles around, then the cooking oil ensured that we would have guests for dinner. Highlight of the day though, was a night drive where we encountered a bachelor group of 5 buffalo (huge sweaty heavy thing with a bad temper), a small herd of Elephants, but without doubt the best thing of the night was driving right into the middle of a pride of lions (yes on purpose). We have to say this was one of the most awe inspiring moments of our lives - we were literally within arms reach of wild lions and we managed to get some incredible shots on the camcorder (yes we will be uploading things when we get chance).

01/12/06 - Kruger National Park

Up bright and early again (4.45am) and set off for a full day in Kruger Park. Loads of animals to see, but we were lucky enough to see the big 5, which are Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalo and Rhino. The big 5 are famous for being the pick of the bunch and our guide said that we were a very lucky group to see them all on the same day. We saw 2 different leopards on 2 different occasions, the first 5 minutes after arriving at the park and the other with a kill up in a tree which was a very special sight. We also saw Giraffes, Impalas and Wildebeest and eagle birdy type stuff that we really didn't know anything about.

02/12/06 and 03/12/06 - Botswana

Keeping this brief - we drove for 2 days solid. Sand, trees, passport stamps were the highlights. Mind numbing, but neccessary.

04/12/06 - Northern Botswana - Elephant Sands

Unbelievable heat in this place (we were told something in the region of 38 to 40 degrees), not too much to say about it as we spent most of the time hiding from the sun, but in the evening we went on the Fish Eagle Cruise. This gave us a chance to see the wild life from the river. We saw Elephants (including a baby one and one dead one), Hippos and a Crocodile and in general got some really nice camcorder footage - beautiful sunset.

05/12/06 - Zambia (Livingstone)

Crossed the Chobi River across to Zambia this morning and made our way to Livingstone and Victoria Falls where we spent an hour and a half walking around the falls which are absolutely breathtaking. We could see Zimbabwe from the banks as the falls border 3 countries (if you count Botswana being a little further down the river). Later we attended a presentation for all the different activities we can do here at Livingstone. We settled on Quad biking, Helicopter ride over the falls and Vik went for abseiling (including a cliff dive and gorge swing over the falls). We finished the day with a sunset cruise down the Zambese river. Drink all you can followed by a barbie. Needless to say we took full advantage and got mullered and had a great night.

06/12/06 - Livingstone

At the time of writing this we have just done the Quad biking (really good fun) and are soon going for our transport to the helipad. We will update this as a full day sometime soon as we are staying here for a few more days.

Phew, that about covers it for now.

See ya soon!

Vik and Rik

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Comments

[Michelle]

Your email address?
Wow, it all sounds fantastic....You will have some right pictures. Im sooo pleased for you. Please can i have an email address for you so that we can have a chat?

[Ian Smallwood]

breathtaking !
The experience you're having sounds absolutely brilliant and as you say breathtaking. Makes excellent reading Richard. Must see piccys and video. Take care both. Ian, Jackie, David, Amy