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"!