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Published: July 22nd 2010
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Trace at Vic Falls
Me in my stylie new pants...so much cooler than jeans! Hey everyone
We're still in Victoria Falls.....not a bad place to be for an extended stay. After I wrote the last blog we spent a few hours down at the falls and were amazed at the water level as it was so much higher than last time we were here in September 2009. The spray from the falls was pretty intense and we got a bit wet. There aren't many people around at the moment so we were able to stroll around the grounds and enjoy the fantastic views and saw the odd babboon and a family of mongoose...very cute!
That evening we wandered back to the Vic Falls Hotel for cocktails on the veranda sitting amongst the granduer of the hotel with the sound of the falls in the background. We had decided to treat ourselves that night as we were celebrating news that my bag had made it to Johannesburg airport and was hopefully winging it's way to Vic Falls soon. We'd booked into the Illala Lodge down the road for dinner and had a fabulous meal....I had fillet steak with a dukkah crust while Kath had an eggplant and feta parcel washed down with a lovely glass
It's a mongoose!
We turned a corner on the path and came across these little guys :-) of red....sooooo yummy! I've decided if I ever make it back to the falls I'm definitely staying in the lodge as the grounds, lodge and service were all superb.
Wednesday saw us waking up early as we were being picked up to go on the Lion Encounter, this is an activity where you get to walk with the lions which is part of a program to assist the repopulation of lions into the wild using a 4 step program to first rescue lion cubs from the wild, breed new cubs that are then trained/socialised to survive in the wild....we were driven down a dusty dirt road and stopped in the middle of nowhere to be lead over a river to an area with a couple of huts. We were given a stick each and told to shove the end in the lions mouth if it turned on us and to never approach the lion from the front....wise words!! I was quite relieved to see a guy with a rifle with us...but it was explained that he was actually there for lion cubs safety as there were many predators around. And off we went, after walking for a few minutes
we were introduce to Jamaru and Jabaya, they are 2 lions only 14 months old and deceivingly cute. We walked with them for quite a while and had a chance to walk alongside them gently tapping them on the rump to keep them moving, had photos taken with them. We said goodbye to them and walked back to the huts but met up with the 2 younger cubs on the way....even cuter than the other 2 and a lot more playful...a very moving experience to get so close to them. So glad we did it!
I had hoped to get my pack back in the afternoon but received an email from Joburg to say that it would be on the next days (22nd) flight so had yet another night sleeping in my clothes!
And now it's Thursday and my bag has arrived! Kath and I made a trip out to the airport with Dixon our taxi driver to collect it and were treated to seeing a herd of elephants on the side of the road....you forget that we are staying in a national park and that the animals are all around us. We've come across warthogs and baboons
Tired little lion cubs
These are the 2 younger cubs....so cute! in the main street and our camp and apparently elephants wander into town quite a bit and were sighted just up the road from our camp just a few weeks ago.
So I've already lovingly been through my pack and now we're flaked out by the pool enjoying the sun and peace and quiet before the overland trucks come into camp over the next few days.
Here's a few photos from the last couple of days.
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Trudi
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howdy
OMG that is so fabulous getting that close to the lions...the lodge sounds fabulous...definitely add that to ur next trip. Keep Safe and have a blast.....we counting down weeks till we head to Spain...can't wait!! Trudi xxxx