Zambia & Botswana II - May-June 2006

Zambia - Victoria Falls and Botswana II

May - June 2006

Note: click on the photos to enlarge them - particularly helpful with the route map.



At the end of my last journal we were over-nighting in Katimo Mulilo (far east end of Caprivi Strip) on the Namibian side of the border before crossing into Zambia (May 29) on our way to Livingstone, on the banks of the great Zambezi River and gateway to Victoria Falls.

Zambia - Victoria Falls (May 29 - June 2)

Victoria Falls is on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Since Zimbabwe has pretty much had a meltdown under Mr. Mugabe (who turned one of Africa’s most prosperous countries into one of its poorest), we stayed on the Zambian side in the town of Livingstone (guess whom it’s named after?). We had been given a recommendation for a whitewater rafting company to ride the Zambezi River below the falls. We contacted them as soon as we got into town and they recommended a hostel. Though not officially open, Marie, the manager, was happy to give us rooms. In fact, each couple had a huge room to themselves and we had use of the kitchen. We got on so well with Marie that when she had to drive into Botswana to take care of business, she left us in charge of the hostel. We were the only guests so that just meant that we got the run of the whole place - TV room to ourselves, etc. It was one sweet deal.

Our ride on the Zambezi River was fabulous. We have no photos of that day because none of us wanted to risk getting our cameras ruined, but we did buy the DVD they made and so have relived that sunny, exciting day many times since.

We also did a sundowner cruise on the Zambezi. Didn’t see many animals, but that wasn’t the point as there was an open bar, a full dinner and really nice people - fellow tourists and the crew.


As for the legendary, amazing, wet and wild Victoria Falls, well, you’ll just have to be sure to look at all the photos that accompany this blog.

From Livingstone we drove to Kasane and crossed the border into Botswana by ferry (June 2).

We had such a great time in Namibia, and our short jaunt into Zambia was superb, and so we were very excited about seeing the bulk of Botswana - home of Chobe National Park, the Okavango Delta, and the Kalahari Desert.

Chobe National Park (June 2 - 5). We explored Chobe from a base in Kasane, well, a 4-star hotel actually. We had been staying in a pretty basic (and very reasonable) hostel in Zambia, so we splurged and stayed at a resort right on the Chobe River - each couple had a suite.

Our first venture into the park was a bit of a disaster. The book said that the roads in the park were accessible by 2-wheel drive, NOT! The 'roads' are in reality sand tracks. The staff at the entrance tried to talk us out of going in, but we told them we had high clearance and differential wheel locks, and won’t have a problem. Again, WRONG. We got bogged down in several places and almost got stuck in another. If it hadn’t been for Ernie’s experience on sand tracks and thus expert driving, we would have gotten totally bogged down. When we got back to solid ground, we left the park, and decided to take a guided tour with a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

The next morning we retraced our tracks, this time with a group in a Land Rover. Right away we came across a lion pride (1 mature, 2 young males, 3 females and a cub). It was just after dawn, so the lighting wasn’t good for my little camera. The other highlight was seeing a Puku, an antelope that isn’t seen often. As you can tell by now, we were pretty enamored with antelope, so spotting the Puku was a real thrill for us.

That afternoon we went out on a boat ride which turned into an elephant extravaganza - saw one herd of over 40 adults and teenagers, with 3 or 4 very young, perhaps 1 or 2 months old. The herd kept encircling them and it was hard to get a good shot, but you could see that they were so young they were awkward and barely had control of their trunks - really adorable.

As we headed back to the hotel we spotted two elephants swimming! What a sight, only their heads were visible with their trunks poking up - a natural snorkel. When they got near one of the grass islands where the water was shallower, they began to play - rolling over on their sides, standing on each other, bobbing up and down playing with each other. I imagine that for an animal of such girth, being in the water must be a buoying, liberating experience - they sure seemed to be having a ball.

It was almost dark as we boated to the hotel and in the sunset we could see elephant silhouettes - stunning.
A fitting end to our wonderful Chobe adventure.

Our next destination was Nata (June 5 & 6), just a stopover on our way to Maun to pick up our private safari into the Moremi Wildlife Reserve in the Okavango Delta.

One of the funnier nights of the trip was experienced in Nata. We had prepared dinner in our room (ignoring the signs saying not to) and that night we had a mouse invasion. We could hear them getting into the garbage, scurrying around the rooms and generally driving us nuts. At one point I went to the bathroom and while I was seated, a mouse came under the door. I screamed, he shrieked and ran back the way he’d come - really pretty funny. But what was funnier was later that night. Evidently the noises had been driving Ernie crazy. So with headlight strapped on and armed with a pole, he went on a mouse hunting expedition. He trapped one in the garbage can and was busy thrashing it, which woke the rest of us up. What we saw was a demented man in his underwear flailing around with a pole and his headlight creating somewhat of a light show. The mouse escaped the can and Ernie went in hot pursuit, whacking away at the mouse but missing and hitting all sorts of objects. From the safety of our beds (with mosquito nets tucked securely around us) we were laughing hysterically. Even Ernie, when he took stock of the situation, had to admit it was pretty darn funny.

The best part of Nata was seeing Bush Babies, nocturnal primates. We hadn’t yet seen these illusive, tiny creatures, so when they came to the tree platform (the resort had put out fresh fruit for them) we were entranced.


Back across Botswana to Maun (June 7 & 8) to pick up the private safari we had arranged from Livingstone through our hostess there, Marie. Annalies was our contact and her ex-boyfriend, Johann, was to be our guide (they were both Dutch). We had a beautiful house in Maun and took advantage of all its amenities to get reorganized, wash clothes, etc., before going into Moremi Wildlife Reserve (June 9 - 12).

Johann picked us up in his Land Rover in the morning for a long (9:30 to 16:45) drive to our tented campsite on a hippo pond within Moremi Wildlife Reserve, part of the eastern side of the Okavango Delta. The flatbed truck with all the camping equipment, food, and kitchen set-up had arrived earlier, and the staff of 3 (2 young men and a young female cook) had the tents up, kitchen established and were waiting for us with cool refreshments.

Our tents had comfortable cots and nightstands, and even flashlights and drinking carafes were provided. There were two showers and a toilet (with a real toilet seat!) erected behind our tents. When we’d get back from being out touring all day, the staff had hot water ready to pour into a container above the shower stall and which we controlled once in the shower. Ummmm, a nice warm shower after a long day was a real treat. In the morning warm water was put into our personal basins that sat in front of the tents and coffee was brought to us. Now THAT is what I call camping!!!

Everyday we were out all day and saw different things. An excerpt from Bernard’s journal: “Saw for the first time red lechwe; also suricat; dwarf, banded and slender mongooses; tsessebe; warthog; hippo; impala; zebra; elephant; giraffe; waterbuck; herons, goliath & gray; crocodile in fresh water pond; marabou, open-billed, yellow-billed and saddle-billed storks; paradise whydah; Senegal coucal; green pigeon; crested barbet; wattled crane; hammerkop; and a slaty egret - found only in the delta. MANY: squirrels, red-billed qualea, starlings, crimson-breasted shrike, guinea fowl, francolins, and hornbills.”


We had several elephant encounters, but the most exciting one was when we came across a breeding herd in a forested area - difficult for us to avoid them or backup should they mock charge, which two did. We backed up as best we could, which turned out to be good enough because the bull elephants stopped charging and let us go.

Nights were exciting in camp too because there was a pride of lions in the area and they were VERY vocal. It is amazing how far a lion’s roar carries and reverberates so that you feel it in your stomach.

One evening as we were getting ready for dinner - having our drinks by the fire - the lion roars seemed quite close and on several sides of us. Johann thought that the pride had gotten separated and were vocalizing to reconnect. The main pride was on the lakeside of us and a lone male was on the roadside - we were in the middle. That concerned Johann, so he had us get in the vehicle to see if we could locate the lions. Just as we left camp there was the lion walking directly toward our kitchen area! We immediately turned around and started yelling and honking to warn the staff, who heard the warning and had jumped into the flatbed truck. They did not see the lion, so we had no idea which way it might have headed, or if it had hunkered down near the camp.

With the lions so near and not knowing exactly where, Johann had us stay in the Land Rover. He wanted to hear the lone male again to ascertain his location before we got out. We sat for two hours in the vehicle, getting colder and colder and watching our fires die out and still only hearing the pride by the lake. Eventually, at almost 21:30 we were starving, and Johann felt confident the lone lion was gone, so we resumed our cocktail hour and the cook finished dinner. It was very cold as we were eating, so Johann shoveled warm coals under each of our canvas sling-chairs - again, THAT is camping, warm bums and all. Needless to say, you have to be careful with this system of heating, but Johann was an expert and kept us all snuggly.

Another day we took a boat through the delta. Didn’t see many animals and didn’t expect to. This excursion was to get a feel for the water world of the delta: the vegetation and water birds as we wandered through the narrow channels and lagoons. A great day.

We were exhausted by very happy at the end of our safari. We rode back to Maun mostly in silence, reliving our close encounters in our heads. We had a day in Maun, at the same great house we’d been in before, before heading down into the Kalahari.

Ghanzi (June 13) is the gateway to the Kalahari Desert, which, unfortunately, we were not going to have time to explore. We routed ourselves this way so we could at least drive through a corner of it and also visit Ghanzi that, while not an attractive town, has a certain outback charm. The big attraction for us was that it was a San (also called Khoi-San a/k/a “Bushman”) town. These ancient people have had a very hard time adjusting to the modern world, and have a problem with alcohol and unemployment. We went to a San museum and many craft shops, buying as much as we could because (1) the baskets and jewelry are very nice, and (2) we wanted to support the San people.

Next stop was Lobatse on the border with South Africa. We spent the night there and crossed into South Africa on June 15th (happy birthday to me). Even the immigration officer caught that it was my birthday and I got charming birthday greetings from them and the other folks at the border post.

We had called our friends, Peter & Sue Poole, who have a house on a dam lake, as they had told us to please use it. It was on our way back to Pretoria and is a lovely spot, so we planned to spend a few days there before heading back to Pretoria. When we got to the dam house, who was there but Peter! He had driven out from Pretoria to supply the house with food and drink and to greet us from our 3-month trip. Our South African friends, what truly friendly and generous people!! Ernie and Kaye stayed with Sue and Peter at their home in Pretoria and Bernard and I stayed at the pool house at our old compound (thank you Rebecca!) until we got reorganized. Ernie and Kaye flew home first and then we did as well at the end of June 2006 - the end of a fabulous year. One of the most enjoyable experiences we’ve ever had; we think about South Africa frequently - the people, places, animals - and yearn for it at times. It has become a part of us, an adventure we were fortunate to have and which we’ll treasure always.

Travel Journal
Kathy & Bernard Dougherty
2007

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