Back to Africa

We had another lovely day. We both skipped the game drive in the morning. Too bad because they saw at least 15 lions in a group. However, we greatly enjoyed both late morning and evening cruises. We saw a lot of elephants. If I didn't say it before, Botswana has the largest elephant population in all of Africa. We also saw a lone hippo traveling along and then getting in the water. There were just a few baboons today, many lovely birds, a few giraffe, and tons of mongooses. The surprise of the evening was taking our boat onto the edges of Namibia. Vernae has a little piece of that visit below. Lunch was on the deck by the boats today and dinner was the boma, with entertainment. A great day for our last full day. We depart tomorrow at 11:15a after the morning game drive and breakfast. 

Today I slept in when most of the rest of them went on a game drive at 6a. June said they didn't see much and it was quite dusty with a lot of vehicles. This was what I wondered about coming to a National Park and not a private reserve. They got back for breakfast where we connected again, then we had a game cruise at 11a. At that time there was a discussion about skipping the afternoon game drive and opting for the sunset cruise instead. Bella said she would try to work it out for us. Today we had lunch and dinner on the viewing deck just past our rooms. It was nice but the service is slow. That is not a complaint, just a fact. They had a lovely setting for us. I am not sure how far they have to bring the food so it makes sense the service is slow. Their restaurant is being renovated. Overall, the food is very good here. I had chicken wings and a side salad for lunch and June had a halloumi cheese pita.  There was free time until our 4p sunset cruise. It was not like last night, b...

Today was great. We left Victoria Falls and made our way in a small coach over the border into Botswana. First we had to "exit" Zimbabwe at their check point, then drive a short distance to enter the check point in Botswana. In Botswana we had to have our shoes ready to dip the soles into a liquid that simply looked like muddy water. For the shoes we are wearing, we simply step in the shallow puddle. There is a dip in the road that the bus must drive through. I have my doubts if this really is effective but, of course we do what we are told when visitors in another country!  The Chobe Game Lodge transportation met us at Kasane Airport and transferred us to the lodge. It is LOVELY and truly amazing. Kapama was also great, both are just very different. There is a river here so game congregates around the river of course. We saw herds of elephants and hippos along the way. At one point we saw a leopard coming down from a tree with its kill half gone. I wasn't able to get a p...

Today we went for a tour of the falls. That was lovely. Truly an amazing site but I will say I am partial to Iguazu Falls! This photo of the falls is just one tiny portion! David Livingston was the first white man to see the falls. You can find info on that on the internet. We saw this tree that is supposed to be 1600 years old, I guess it is! Most of the group went on a helicopter flight over the falls, we opted out. We had a nice afternoon on our balcony watching vultures and warthogs! Then it was off on our sunset cruise on the  Zambezi River into Zambia! Of course it was amazing! Once again we are fed but as good as it looked, we only had one little veggie wrap bite. Drinks were also included. There was some wildlife along the river but difficult to see in the vegetation.  Boma Dinner tonight was a miss in my book. It was a great concept to have an authentic dinner and entertainment. It just wasn't great. The food wasn't even good, service was so slow, and the enterta...

Up and out departure at 9am. Plenty of time for a delicious breakfast at the Da Vinci Hotel in Johannesburg. It is about a 2 hour flight for us. The flight was uneventful. We arrived at the Victoria Falls Safari Club mid afternoon. It is a rest day for us, we have dinner together tonight at 7pm. Beautiful accommodations!   I was shocked by the number of greeters at the airport. I guess the only reason to come here is to see the falls. It seems like a very poor area. They use the USD currency here, though they will accept South African RAND. The food tonight was very good at th e Makuwa-kuwa Restaurant.  Appetizer was duck confit, main was chicken parmesan, and a trio of ice cream (date, passion fruit, and Amarula). The restaurant was a short walk from the Safari Club.  If I haven't said it before, we eat a LOT on safari! There is tea with snacks before a game adventure, then breakfast, a few hours later it lunch, then tea, then the next game adventure with sundowner,...

We had a nice morning game drive seeing hippos and more.  Our Ranger/Driver/Guide Siven is great. He is so knowledgeable about the bush and survival. Such a nice man too. Our tracker Busami is also wonderful but more quiet than Siven. I believe they train as the tracker for some time before they move up in position. Then it was time for our final breakfast and saying goodbye to all the lovely people here.  Our drive to the airport was uneventful. A very small airport... no conveyer belts here for luggage, 1 gate, security is a closet sized area! Gotta love rural areas like this. The one plane arrives and deposits the people, then we are loaded on for our departure. I don't know if they have more than one flight a day. The way they talked, I don't think they do.  The good news on arrival in Johannesburg, our traveling companion Dave finally got his luggage! I will say he has been a good sport about it!  Most of the group took a 25 minute walk to an Italian restaurant ...