Africa - the word conjures up visions of exotic game and endless plains under a sky that goes on forever. My first trip was over 20 years ago, a dream come true for a child who's favorite bedtime stories came from the books of Rudyard Kipling. At the time I thought a lifetime goal had been accomplished, my one and only visit to one of the places of my dreams. But Africa has a way of not letting you go and once you've been, you can only plan your return.
In 2006 I went to Botswana and South Africa. This trip was in August of 2009 to Zambia, a brief foray into Zimbabwe, and once again to both Botswana and South Africa to different locations than on the previous trip (see the 2006 journal/photo entry).
We arrived in Johannesburg which is the the usual first port of entry and for most travelers, a transit point. But having never spent any time there I wanted to learn something about it on this trip so arranged for a full day of touring with the supreme guide to Johannesburg, Mr. Robin Binckes. His family history in South Africa goes back to the 1800's and his storytelling made history come alive as we drove through all the different areas of the city. His depth of knowledge from prior to the Boer wars through the Apartheid struggles to the challenges of the current times is what made the day fascinating.
The next day we were up early for our flight to Maun, Botswana, made simple by staying at the InterContinental Sun hotel in walking distance to the airport. This is a super hotel, not at all what you expect form an airport location with a restaurant that makes hotel dining something to look forward to. Left Maun in one of the small plane charters that constitutes the highways of Botswana on the way to Savuti Camp, in the Linyati area of the Northern Kalahari.
If, like me, you're crazy about elephants then this is the perfect camp. It's a small and relaxed place that gives you an intimate bush experience. The Savute Channel, for years a dry sand river bed, began to flow again in 2008 and this new source of water has brought an abundance of big game and predators. Our tent was #7, the end tent and right on the Channel with a front row view of the "eles" crossing the river. One fella spent an entire afternoon mowing down the grasses beside our tent, and I got the pants scared off me while sneaking around the back of our tent to photograph momma and calf. Her trumpeting and ear flapping was heart stopping when directed right at you! The first game drive of our stay found us watching a pack of the elusive wild dogs waking from their afternoon nap. Instead of a bark they make a kind of whistling chittering sound. That drive ended with a juvenile leopard up in a tree - not bad for the first day.
It's still cold in the mornings at the end of August but by 8:30am the jackets and lap blankets start peeling off. Days 2 and 3 brought more leopard sightings, many elephant groupings, a lioness and her cubs, a band of brother cheetahs, and a rare sighting of a serval cat not to mention the variety of bird life. Also a recipe for the delicious tomato-orange soup served for lunch! And who knew that burning dried elephant patties around the camp would keep away mosquitoes??
Next we headed to Victoria Falls airport in Zimbabwe. Through my ground operator, I had made contact with a local school for orphans of the HIV epidemic and we were bringing in supplies for them. On arrival it was pretty simple to get our visas since our guide handled everything for us. Customs was a bit nerve wracking as the supplies were at the bottom of our luggage. The officious little man thankfully didn't dig down far enough - although he found Jim's vitamins and was sure those baggies were drugs! The sad fact of over 2500 orphans in the Victoria Falls area alone was overwhelming but seeing this little school for 100 was a hopeful sign. It was a day off but a small group of kids was there to meet us, very shy and giggly girls and solemn little boys. The highlight for them was our delivery of a brand new soccer ball, a luxury they could only imagine and would have to be locked up at the end of every day to prevent theft of this valuable item. We were deeply touched by learning from the head of the school about what they have to overcome and hope that someday soon, world aid can resume in that country.
We then were driven to the border of Zambia where, once again, our wonderful drivers and guide assisted with visas - would not have wanted to have to do this on my own. We opted to walk across the bridge over the Zambezi river that separates Zimbabwe from Zambia instead of being driven, what an experience - the hawkers made the beach vendors in Mexico seem like novices! Our destination for 2 nights here was Toka Leya, good location to go to Victoria Falls although too high end for our liking. It was lovely, don't get me wrong, but just too chi chi for us rustic types.
Having missed seeing the Falls on the last trip, it was worth the excursion. In early September the bulk of the water still flowing is on the Zimbabwe side even though the Zambian side is longer, but it was still quite a show from Mosi-oa-Tunya or the "smoke that thunders". Taking a flight seeing trip over the area is well worth it to absorb the full scope and power of this spectacular World Heritage site.
Travel to our next camp was a safari within the safari. First a flight from Livingstone to Lusaka by small aircraft. Then off again to the Lower Zambezi Royal Airstrip - a big name for a humble dirt strip. Waited and waited for our next pilot who turned out to be a Welsh expat with a great story. He and his family has moved there after selling everything they owned and buying a small reserve. Upon arriving they found out that the person who sold it to them didn't even own it. Finally making a home far into the country, he decided he had to learn to fly in case his kids needed medical care etc. So he did - and then opened his own flight school as well as operating his own charters. Quite an interesting tale, particularly the way he told it while giving us an air tour of the varied and different terrain. Seeing the Zambezi from low altitude was an amazing sight, long lazy bends with tremendous sandbars and large pods of resting hippos. Two rocky dirt landing strips later, we arrived or so we thought. Loading into jeeps we headed to camp, or so we thought, but appearing ahead was a pier and a boat waiting to take us by river to camp - the only way to get to Chiawa Camp. Now that was a way to arrive. Set on the banks of the Lower Zambezi, this family owned and operated camp is rustic luxury but not at all pretentious, it has a homey welcoming feel. Tents are all on raised platforms with interiors that made me feel like I was living in Victorian Africa with a four poster bed and clawfoot tub, except with running water and electricity! In addition to game drives there's also boat trips and fly fishing and a menu that would give a city restaurant a run for it's money. How they manage that is a story of it's own. And there's a resident elephant named Lumpy who wanders into camp regularly and just hangs out - but the camp managers never let you forget that he is wild so while he's wandering through everying comes to a stop and you have to wait till he gets where he's going before you can head back to your tent. The game viewing is the best on the Lower Zambezi, the guides are fantastic, I just can't say enough about this place except that it was my favorite of this trip.
Leaving Chiawa was sad for all of us, we'd really made a connection to this place and hope to come back on a future trip (on safari it always becomes the "next trip" conversation). But we were on our way back to South Africa. After another overnight at the lovely Airport InterContinental we shoehorned ourselves into our 4 passenger aircraft and took off for Phinda Mountain Lodge in the KwaZulu-Natal province. It was a bit of culture shock to stay in a larger more accessible lodge after our remote camps but the game viewing here was superb, including black rhino. There's about 3,000 left in the world and 22 of them are in this private 56,000 acre reserve, we were lucky enough to see 2 of them. On a morning game drive our guide was following thre lions who obviously had breakfast in mind and were hunting. A warthog was the prey and we spent over an hour mesmerized by watching the hunt/kill/feeding. As we were on our very last game drive, leaving the reserve, it was as though an artist scheduled an African diorama for our final sightings. We drove over this dam and there were all 3 lions drinking on the side of the lake, hippos coming out of the water like huge submarines making landfall, warthogs, impala, beautiful cranes by the water's edge - it was just an unbelievable sight.
I'll end this journal with a legend about one of my favorite trees in Africa, the Baobab. Many African tribes call it the "upside down tree" because when it drops it's leaves the branches look like roots sticking up in the air. Legend has it that the Baobab was one of the first trees on Earth. When the palm tree, flame tree and fig tree appeared, the Baobab complained that it wanted to be taller, have flame colored flowers, and bear fruit. The gods grew frustrated with the incessant whining so they pulled the tree up by its roots and replanted it upside down to keep it quiet.
Africa draws you back again and again, for its savannas and golden light, the huge spaces and vast skies, for the awesome quiet and the awesome sounds of all its creatures. But it's the people of Africa that you'll never forget.
