An Intense Travel Day

See our Safari  album link at African Safari

This African safari is an organized tour. Although we have traveled a lot, the idea of Africa was intimidating, and Overseas Adventure Travel was our go-to company for this trek. The basic itinerary took us from Detroit to Atlanta, to Johannesburg South Africa, Chobe National Park in Botswana, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Kafue National Park in Zambia, Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. We added an additional 6 days in Capetown, South Africa on our own with friends Gail and Janet since we were in the neighborhood, and didn't know if we would ever pass this way again. We took a total of 13 flights and about two dozen game drives, so we spent a lot of our trip in motion. The description that follows is one of several similar travel days that would have been a nightmare to arrange on our own.

"You had me at $40 Million!"

Today our group was scheduled to switch hotels, from Banoka Camp in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, to Lufupa Camp in Kafue Park in Zambia. That sounds simple enough. It turned out to be a wild ride. We began with a very civilized 7:00 am wakeup and hit the road in our caravan of three land rovers at 8:00 am, right on schedule.  The drive to the airstrip only took about 15 minutes. We were in the third truck with six other travelers. We drove through a wet, muddy, deep boggy area that both other vehicles had already traversed. Alas, we did not quite make it through. Linda took responsibility because she had had that second piece of toast with lime marmalade for breakfast.  We bottomed out on some hidden object, and the four-wheel drive couldn't dig us out. Chief, our resourceful guide and driver, called his colleagues to help out, so Moses dropped off his passengers and parked nearby, just close enough for us to make a dry crossover to his vehicle. Whew! Problem solved! He proceeded to head towards the planes, drove twenty feet when, surprise, immediately got stuck. Sort of a vehicular Tar Baby.  A THIRD driver was summoned, looked at the vehicle full of Americans with an expression that could only be translated as WTF!!, and told us we needed to take off our shoes and walk through the muck to his truck.  We decided not to tempt fate a third time and opted to walk all the way to the plane this time.  A few moments later, slightly muddied, we were ready to board the 12-passenger plane that had been waiting for us. Oops, a slight issue....the PLANE was stuck in the mud. A little shoveling and engine revving, and we are off to Kasane airport.



Zebras on the airstrip? We never had THAT in Detroit!

 On arrival, we made a quick transfer to a minibus, and drove to the Botswana exit border, where our papers were checked and we were permitted to continue a few miles to the Zambia entry point. Most African land borders are set up this way, with a country exit, a "no man's land", and a country entry. Thank goodness that we had Wallace, our trip leader, handling our visa applications.  We never left the bus.  He bundled up our passports, collected our fees, and turned them in wholesale to the immigration office.  We were given our entry visas and admitted into Zambia sight unseen. Roger was appalled. What kind of security is THAT? The area was very intimidating, full of trucks, people, touts selling everything, and it was a wonderful thing to NOT be on our own. Group travel can be a great thing!



Here's the plane; now will we actually fit inside?



A short drive later, we hopped off the bus and onto a ferry that crossed the Zambezi River, then onto another bus for an hour-long ride to the Livingstone airport, where we were rushed to our departing flight. This time, we boarded a 4-passenger plane for the hour and half ride to Kafue Park, landing on a gravel airstrip in the forest. A 15 minute land rover drive brought us to the Lufupa Camp, where we were greeted by the staff playing drums, dancing, and singing. You know how restaurant staffs sometimes sing a dismal version of "Happy Birthday"? Well imagine that the waiters, busboys, chambermaids,and dishwashers are concert-quality singers and dancers, and look happier than Disney World employees. It was impressive. A welcome drink and snacks (we are not talking Doritos and carrot sticks but wood-fired pizza and chocolate brownies) were served by staff that immediately learned our names (which is more than we can say for some of our fellow travelers) , and we lounged on the deck overlooking the Kafue River, where hippos and crocodiles live.

We had an hour or so to relax before supper and a night drive, similar to deer-spotting in northern Michigan, except we didn't have an open beer between our legs;  it is legal; and you see hippos in the woods. We were quite astounded to see an enormous hippo cross the road in front of our vehicle and disappear into the woods. How, in God's name, did he fit his two-ton body between those densely packed trees? I guess when you are that big, you blaze your own trail every time you move. Our bedtime orientation talk stressed that we must never walk at night, since the predators are active and there are no fences to keep lions, crocodiles, leopards and the like away from the camp. Hippos can roam up to 20 miles away from the river at night to eat, have a top running speed of 40 mph, and are the leading cause of animal-related human deaths in Africa. It seemed prudent to follow the rules since our plan was to return home alive. We had a long, extremely tiring day, and we were very ready for a good night's sleep. Tucked in under our mosquito netting, we felt secure until about 2 am, when we were awakened by 2 hippos eating grass just beyond our tent's deck..about 10 feet from our not-so-secure, lightweight, non-locking screen door. It was a thrilling reminder that we're not in Allen Park anymore.

 

Next Post:  Animals of Africa



Pretty sweet accomodations for a "tent"!



 

This is Africa

As I begin to write this, I must tell you that I am looking across a pond at a father and three baby ostriches eating and drinking at the edge of the pond. Flocks of birds are flying, and dozens of termite mounds are poking out of the grass, like small monuments at an overgrown cemetery.  Everyone else in camp is having a siesta, so I am alone on the open deck of the lounge with my feet on a table, sipping a cold drink. Heavenly.

 We are in Africa. The trip here was painless, as painless as 22 hours of travel can be. We all had aisle seats, decent food, and many, many movies to choose from. The one crying baby was more whiney than screaming, and we hardly noticed him after the first hour or so.  We arrived Sunday afternoon and  spent our first night at a charming hotel with excellent food and a lush garden. Roger attempted to go for an early morning stroll, but was advised not to leave the grounds. He explained that he had no money, so robbery would not be an issue, but out host explained that people would kick him since he was a foreigner. Good to know. He showed his maturity by NOT going out. Way to go, Rog! We have met an interesting man who went to Nepal in his 20's and never left...he's been there 30 years, and he and Roger shared memories of the hippie cafes from the 70s. He's in Africa visiting his wife, a physician in Madagascar, before he heads back to work. Fascinating.

 We transferred hotels to meet our tour group, and spent out first afternoon on a tour of Johannesburg and Soweto, a township where 3 1/2 million black citizens were forcibly relocated in the 1970's, and has since become a city in its own right. Jet lag and a historically confused  tour guide made it less interesting than it should have been (or, as Roger says, more interesting).  We did wave to Nelson Mandela, who was recuperating at his home. I am pretty sure I saw him peeking out an upstairs window when we shouted to him. I think he waved back.

Our group tour, Ultimate Africa, focuses on staying in tented lodges and seeing African wildlife, so it seems like a good idea to give you a snapshot of a typical day. With few exceptions, ALL of our time here is similar to the day we'll outline here.



View from Camp

Wake-up calls have either been drumbeats or a cheery "Good morning, tent three!", and have usually been at either 5:00 or 6:00 am. A half-hour later is continental breakfast at the main lodge, and a half-hour after that we board the Land Rovers. The trucks have two or three rows of tiered seating, a canvas roof, and open sides, all the better to see the animals. Our driver/guide changes every day as do our seats, so we get as much variety as possible with our vantage point and with the expertise of our guide. We drive for hours over a maze of roads through woods that sometimes look a lot like the Upper  Peninsula of Michigan, minus the pines. There are other stretches that look surprisingly like golf courses, with widely-spaced trees, shrubs, sand traps, and water hazards that have hippos instead of geese. Some of the landscapes look like farmland that has been abandoned is is covered with small trees that appear to be poorly pruned orchards.  That is done by the local elephants who eat the sides and tops of small trees, giving them a stunted look. Other areas are filled with the trunks and branches of huge fallen trees that the elephants have uprooted so they could eat their delicious leaves when other food was scarce. What has amazed us is the variety of landscapes and the lack of the typical African landscape imprinted in our brains by old movies: vast plains of  golden grasses or dense jungle with Tarzan -sized vines. I'm sure that they are here somewhere, just nowhere we have been.

 After a few hours of driving, seeing animals, and "learning and discovering", we stop for a short break. Men and ladies have separate bushes to use the "loo with a view", and the guides set out coffee, tea and cookies. Then, back into the vehicles until we return to camp about for brunch at about 11:00 am, followed by siesta until 3:30 or so. High tea is at that time, and we relax with snacks and beverages while we get a lecture by one of the guides about pertinent topics. Then, we clamber back into the vehicles for another game drive. During the game drive, we stop for a "sundowner", beer, wine and cookies.

The roads deserve some description. Nearly all are two-tracks at best. One park had put in gravel roads a couple of years ago when they built the gravel air-strip. Many of those roads are impassable at time of high rain, such as right now. At one point, we drove down a deeply rutted gravel road and it disappeared directly into a wide, swift river that had a small set of rapids, followed by a road coming out on the river's other side. Isaac, our guide, laughed and said in his James Earl Jones voice, " Those rapids are really the bridge on this road. Maybe we will not go this way today."  Good call, Isaac.

Because we are here during the rainy season, many of the roads are extremely muddy and rutted. Others are completely submerged, and driving down them gives us the feeling that we are driving down a river, or through a large pond. One group was stuck twice in one day. At one point, they all had to get off of the truck in the dark while Wallace, the trip leader, cut tree limbs with a machete to stick under the offending tire until they were able to finally move. One expression we have heard often here is, "This is Africa", which explains everything from the impassable roads, to intermittent electricity, to cool hot water, to huge changes in travel itineraries. The group traveling immediately before us missed 3 days in one of the parks because it was too wet to fly, or, more accurately, too wet to land.  One must be flexible here or it may not be a pretty picture.

Dinner is Served

When the afternoon game drive is finished, dinner is served. Like all the other meals and snacks, the food is plentiful and delicious. As tired as we are, I fear that we aren't burning off too many calories bouncing on the seats in those trucks. All of the lounge and dining areas at the places we have are open to the outdoors, and every lodge has had stunning views. By the time dinner is finished, Wallace gives us a schedule for the next day, and we make our way to our tent. Of course it isn't safe to walk without an escort to protect us from the animals. In Zimbabwe, they are armed with rifles with ammo the size of chunky dry-erase markers ( obviously a teaching reference). We head off to bed, usually too tired even to read. We climb under the mosquito netting, cover up with the warm blankets (yes, we are in Africa in the summer, so cool weather just doesn't seem right, does it?) and pass out. That wake-up call comes before you know it!