Day 15 Botswana - Chobe River Safari

We left our Livingstone hotel, The Waterfront, at around 10:20 PM. Our vehicle was a comfortable, large-ish bus with lots of seats. We rode for about an hour until we got to the Zambian border. There, we went into the customs office so they could check us out of the country.

The road had ended and we were facing the Chobe River. There, a boat was waiting to take us across. For some reason I was a bit nervous about the crossing and I was glad it was a short one. We had a hard time getting started and 3 men had to push us off.

From the river, in 4 different directions, the guides pointed out Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. After about a 5-7 minute crossing, we arrived in Botswana where we had to line up to get our passport stamped once again. Then we transferred to another vehicle, an open air one and headed to the restaurant where we were going to have lunch. It was called ‘The Old House’ and it was a cute B&B with great food.

When we were done, we transferred to yet another vehicle and headed to an ATM machine in order to withdraw the Botswana currency which is pula. We also stopped at a Spar grocery store. I was intrigued by the loud noise people were making by the door and went to investigate, of course! Women were putting loaves of bread they had bought into a machine that slice it for them. Then they bagged it and off they went. I longed to photograph the women doing this but settled on a photo of the machine itself.

After that, we headed to our lodge for the night. It is called Pangolin Photo Safaris and they are right by the Chobe River. Due to space constraints, there was no room for Donna and I in the main lodge. We get to stay in a tent which has the most amazing view!

To reach it, you must walk across the lawn, down a path (with elephant dung on it), then climb a ladder onto a wooden platform. There are 2 beds and a bathroom with a flush toilet, a sink and a shower. The floor is made from slats and the shower water runs through them to the ground below. And the view, did I mention the view??!!!

 We had just enough time to get a few things together, then we were off again. The 5 of us had pre-booked a river photo safari ahead of time. Although I have a very nice camera, I was more than willing to try something new and I am so glad I did!

The boat we were on had swivel seats, with swivel photo mounts, and we were given Nikon cameras with a 150-500 lens! Then we set off down the Chobe River. Oh my gosh! I was in heaven!!

We got so close to elephants, hippos, crocodiles, and many amazing birds.

Sometimes even when zooming out, we were too close to fill the frame with the animal! Everyone was super excited with the scenery and what their wonderful camera and lens could do. I was tickled pink that they were enthralled with photography and the prospect of getting such fabulous shots. We looked and felt like a bunch of National Geographic professional photographers! I took 926 photos with the Nikon (and a few on my own 2 cameras). Ooh la la!

We got to watch elephants swimming, took some amazing bird shots, and we were startled by a hippo that got too close to our boat. Oh, to be able to do this every day!

The sunset was gorgeous, as usual. Then we headed back to the lodge for drinks, supper and hopefully a good sleep in our cool little tent.

Day 14 Zambia - Helicopter, Falls & Elephants

Up before the alarm went off again. Sheesh! This morning we had a 7:30 AM pickup – for a helicopter ride! The hangar was quite nearby and it didn’t take long before we were up in the air. We booked a 30 minute ride rather than the 15 minute one and we were so glad we did.

The first place we circled over was Victoria Falls of course. As we approached it, I thought the white stuff in the air was smoke from a burning fire. As we got closer, I realized that it was the spray from all that water! It really is quite a narrow gorge. Like on land, the mist together with the sun created a rainbow in the sky. We circled around it several times then moved on over to the rapids.

We plunged over the edge of the land into the gorge and followed the path of the white water rafters. We started at rapid number 6 and made our way to number 10. We twisted and turned along the class 5 and 6 rapids and wondered how anyone could possibly navigate the raging waters from a raft or kayak. I would have liked to do an ultralight flight but decided on the helicopter because it skimmed the river.

After that, we headed over a small rural village and could see the huts below like the ones we visited yesterday.

Then we went back to the river area for a bit. I was absolutely amazed at the width of the Zambezi River and all of the tributaries and arms that feed into it. The vastness is really quite remarkable and awe-inspiring.

When we arrived back at our hotel we headed to the restaurant for breakfast and it wasn’t yet 9 AM. Rather than relaxing for 5 hours (are you kidding?!) I decided to hire a taxi and go back to the Falls Park area on my own. The last time I was there, I didn’t have enough time to look at everything I wanted and I kept thinking about a pretty tablecloth I had seen.

The sales pressure was quite intense, more so than the downtown Livingstone Market, but I persevered. I’ve found that being polite but firm is the best policy. I bought a beautiful batiked tablecloth, not the one I had seen on Monday, but a nicer one. Happy with my purchase, I headed off to see if I could photograph some crazy bungy jumpers.

We had been told that we couldn’t cross the bridge from Zambia into Zimbabwe without paying a $110 USD visa fee. But I discovered that was wrong. After about a 10 minute walk past big trucks waiting to cross the border, I came to some kind of border office. They gave me a paper ticket with the date stamped on it, I passed that to a waiting guard, then I was free to cross the bridge.

Half way across the bridge is a sign saying “Welcome to Zimbabwe”. Hooray, I did it! Unfortunately I didn’t get my passport stamped to prove it, but oh well. I was able to see some of Victoria Falls from the bridge and also the foot bridge we went on the other day. I traversed the entire bridge and back again, stopping at the midway point. That is where the bungee jumpers leap from. Oh my gosh! I would try a lot of things but never that.

At the Zambian end of the bridge, there was a restaurant with a view of the bridge and the jumpers. I ordered a salad and some chicken with sweet Thai chili sauce – yum! Soon it was time to go back and meet Baison, the taxi driver that brought me there.

Just after 2 PM, three of us were picked up in a nice air-conditioned van and taken to the elephant safari park for our elephant ride adventure. The elephants at this park are rescue animals, abandoned for one reason or another. After a briefing and signing waivers (something we have had to do a lot on this trip) we were ready to meet our elephants.

My elephant was named Nandy.

To get on it’s back, you had to climb some stairs to a platform they have built. Elephants are really, really wide. In a way, it was similar to riding a camel and I was able to use my camera with both hands. But riding an elephant is not something I could do for very many hours in a day.

The elephant handler was very knowledgeable and answered any elephant question I had. The biggest elephant they have there is almost 4 meters tall! Mine was a bit shorter, but it still seemed like we were a long ways up.

The grounds are typical trees, grass and bush of the area and some of the elephants stopped to feed on whatever was handy. Half way along the trail, we got close to the Zambezi River. It was unbelievably beautiful and many of the elephants stopped for a drink there. I took lots of photos, needless to say. The hour’s ride was over before you knew it but I was ready to get off as my back was feeling the rocking motion.

The interaction didn’t end there, however. We got to feed each of ‘our’ elephants some treats. At first, I fed mine by throwing the food into his mouth. But then I wondered what his trunk felt like so I let him use his trunk to take the food. He kind of sniffed it in, then turned the end of his trunk up and put it in his mouth. He felt so cool and I didn’t want that part to end.

Before we left the park, they showed us the photos and video footage they had shot during the excursion as a sales pitch. I bought the photo DVDs as I knew I would hardly ever look at the video DVD. I am always behind the lens, not in front and the photos were very nice indeed.

We were late getting back to our hotel and to our 6 PM meeting with Anton and Mike, our Botswana guides for the next week. They gave us a run down of the itinerary and a few details not given to us beforehand. After that, we went to the 5 star hotel next door for supper and we were tired of our hotel menu. It was a marvellous smorg, pricey but oh so delicious!

It’s been a loooong, wonderful day!

Day 13 Zambia - Village of Musokotwane

There weren’t many people at breakfast this morning so we had to order off the menu instead of the serve-serve buffet. This is a process that takes much, much longer.

We were picked up in a van with a driver, our guide, Victor, and his assistant, Innocent. What an unusual name! We headed to a local market, much bigger than the ones I saw yesterday. Many people were just starting to set things up and I was fascinated by everything.

Again, I wanted to take photos I shouldn’t, so I did so surreptitiously. Victor said it would be OK to photograph the goods but that the people feel we are going to go back home and make money off of their photos. Not the case here!

Victor purchased various types of vegetables from different vendors and we walked through quite a bit of the market. He also purchased a live chicken which was trussed up and put in the back of the van. Yikes! I know, I know. I just hate the thought of killing a live chicken. Cèst la vie! 

Along with the vegetables, we also bought soap, salt, and charcoal. I spied a fabric booth on the way back to the vehicle and found a beautiful fringed rectangle which I shall use as a tablecloth.

The village we went to was 30 kilometers north of town, then a further 7 kilometers on gravel. And what gravel it was. The driver slowed down to 5 k to bypass huge potholes in the road. We arrived at the village of Musokotwane shortly after 10 AM and were introduced to the host family.

Shortly after that, we went on a walking tour of some of the homes in the village. Each time we stopped, one of us presented the woman of the house with a long bar of soap (about 6 bars of soap altogether) as well as a bag of salt.

Each of the village homes have a cell phone for communication and we saw solar panels on some of the roof tops. I photographed some of the families and the children. They were tickled pink to see their photo on the back of my camera. I loved the experience and I was in my element.

When we got back to the host family, groceries were unloaded and the lunch preparation began. Veggies were chopped and the cooking started. Charcoal was used in their tiny stoves and once the food began to cook, it smelled fantastic!

Also happening in the yard was the building of an addition on one of the houses. Bricks had been made and had dried in the sun for 3 weeks. Two young men were building a wall using the bricks, and the mortar was made with the same material dug from a hole in the ground. They added quite a bit of water and stirred a great deal to make the mortar.

Some of the group helped with the cooking but we ended up leaving most of the job to the more than capable women while Victor talked to us about customs, and the history of the Zambian people. We could hear banging happening just outside the wall of the home and went to investigate. A young man was making the holes of a cooking stove by pounding a punch and making the small square holes for the stove to get air for burning.

Finally the meal was ready and one of the women dished it up for us. We were offered our choice of plates and when we sat down to eat, we weren’t sure what to do as there was no cutlery in sight. Victor showed us how to make the pap into balls with our hands, then use it to scoop up the various vegetables. I remember Abdellah eating that way in the Moroccan home we visited, while the rest of us asked for a fork.

The pap was quite good with all the various vegetables, much better than I recall it being on previous occasions. I found the chicken to be quite tough and it got stuck in my teeth. I didn’t eat much of it. I hope my leftovers went to good use.

After lunch, we went for a walk, a long, hot, dusty walk to the village’s dam. We met cattle who were on their way to have a drink. It was probably 33C and I was really feeling the heat. We were all hoping to tour the nearby medical clinic and see inside, but it was closed for the lunch hour. Around 2PM we got into the van and headed back into Livingstone. The air conditioning was a welcome relief from the unrelenting heat.

We had about an hour’s rest at our hotel and I had a quick shower to wash off the mountains of dirt on my feet and legs. At 4:10, we walked over to the hotel next door and went aboard the Lady Livingstone for a sunset cruise. It was the last hurrah for the whole group as the New Zealanders were leaving the tour tomorrow.

The boat wasn’t very full and we had a beautiful view from the top floor. Along the way, we saw impala, crocodiles and hippos along the bank. The sunset was truly beautiful.

The night wasn’t over yet. When we returned, we had a participatory drumming session with a fellow by the name of Boyd.

We each got a drum and he showed us various drumming patterns. It was great fun and we sounded pretty darned good I thought!

We have one more full, exciting day in Livingstone. It’s 9:30 PM and I am exhausted, again!

Day 12 Zambia - Livingstone

I awoke like I have most every day on this trip, before the alarm, not like home at all. Our hotel supplies breakfast, actually all of our accommodations do. I met with the others in the group and we discussed which activities we wanted to do for our 3 ½ days here in Livingstone. Without internet, telephone and our own transportation, it’s just easier to book through the G Adventures concierge here at the hotel.

Today we decided to go into town with the free 10 o’clock shuttle bus. There is no choosing stops. It dropped us off at Mukuni Park Curio Market, a string of about 40 small craft booths.

The salesmen tell you ‘welcome to my store’, “I give you good prices’, and ‘free to look’. My recent experiences in Morocco and advice from Abdellah helped me run the gauntlet and make some fun purchases – a couple of cloth bags made from fabric scraps, and 3 pairs of hand-made earrings.

While my roommate went off in search of cash, I headed off the main road and down a side street that looked interesting. I loved looking at the people, the signs and the storefronts. Many names put me in mind of Alexander McCall Smith’s “Number One Ladies Detective Agency” books. Hair salons were beside auto parts places and I thought about “Speedy Motors” and the “Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon”.

I went to look in a clothing store and was surprised to finding women inside getting their hair done in half of the store. I was hoping to buy some traditional African clothing for myself but was dismayed to find that most shops sell western-style apparel.

 Some women wear long skirts, which are sarongs or pieces of fabric. I looked in wonder at the many women carrying large bundles on their heads, often balancing them with no hands! Most of the women wear modern clothing and often very dressy, i.e. skirts and blouses, some of which are made from satiny materials. Zambian women are very beautiful no matter what they are wearing.

Town was filled with people at shops, walking, standing, at restaurants and in the bank. Holy crow, it took my roommate over an hour to get waited on at the bank. She was given a numbered ticket and there were about 40 people in line ahead of her. There is a waiting room with rows of chairs but not enough for everyone. We are so very, very spoiled at home!

By noon we were famished and it was starting to get very hot out. Next door to the bank was a large busy restaurant by the name of Food Palace. Where DO they come up with these names? I ordered a chicken schwarma with fries and coleslaw and it was delicious. The pop comes in glass bottles and although I am a Pepsi girl, the Coke was most excellent.

Afterwards we continued to wander down the street and again, I suggested turning off the main road. The side streets were alive with people and the energy they bring and I wanted to photograph everything and everyone. Needless to say, I realized that people don’t really appreciate that so I shot from across the street or not at all.

We visited the Livingstone Museum for awhile and enjoyed their displays. I liked the art displays, especially 3 amazing drawings that were zentangle-like to me. I photographed them for reference.

The museum had a gift shop and there, I found elephant bookends carved from soapstone, an apron for a friend, and a necklace for moi.

Our last stop was a grocery store where I bought biscuits, pop (we have a fridge in our room) and some Smirnoff coolers! They look like ‘Ice’ but the label says ‘Storm’, haha. We took a cab back to our hotel where we enjoyed some refreshments sitting out on our deck on the banks of the Zambezi River with a monkey. Life is good!

For supper I ordered just an appetizer at the hotel restaurant. I am finding that the portions are quite big here in Zambia. Yeah, I am done writing and can hit the hay!

Day 11 Zambia - Victoria Falls

After a nice breakfast at our guesthouse, we headed off to OR Tambo. ‘Huh?’, you ask. That’s the present name of the Johannesburg International Airport. Piet says they keep renaming things like airports depending on who’s who in current politics.

We had an 11 AM flight to Livingstone, Zambia. Unfortunately, while putting my duffle bag onto a cart, I lifted, turned and my back felt instant pain. Fortunately, my travel mates were very sympathetic and helped me considerably all throughout the day. The Joburg Airport has lots of wonderful shops but we really didn’t have much time to spare.

We were supposed to begin boarding at 10:15 but it happened about 45 minutes later. The flight was an hour and 45 minutes and we got lunch – bangers and mash, a.k.a. sausages and mashed potatoes. The potatoes were nicely flavoured and it was served with cooked onions.

The Livingstone Airport is a small one and going through customs seemed to take an eternity. Visitors must buy a visa to enter the country: either single entry visa for $50, or multi entry for $80. As we are coming back to Zambia after Botswana, the $80 USD made the most sense. It’s a really cool entry in my passport book.

We were picked up by Brenda from G Adventures and taken to our hotel about 20 minutes away. It is in a national park right beside the Zambezi River. Our room had a patio door that opens onto a bit of grass, and then the river is right there!

We didn’t have long in our rooms before we picked up for a tour of Victoria Falls. Enroute we passed many people on bicycles, most of whom were carrying large loads, boxes, and big jugs of juice. It was hot out and they were pedalling slowly. The locals had a lot more clothes on than we did, after all, it is still winter here.

We also passed a couple of elephants wandering near the side of the road and our driver stopped to let us watch. The falls viewing area is in a park and our guide paid our admission. 

First we went to the upper falls and dipped our feet in the water. Then we walked back and onto the lower falls viewing area. They truly are majestic and far larger than Niagara. We kept stopping at viewpoints every so often and marvelling at the breadth and depth of the falls. The sun together with the water spray, created the most magnificent rainbow that seemed to grow larger we further we went.

We crossed a long narrow bridge along the pathway. It wasn’t a suspension bridge, but some people were nervous about crossing it anyway. It was impossible not to get wet but it felt wonderful. My camera got wet too but I didn’t care. The photos were worth it!

When we got back we headed to the hotel restaurant for drinks and supper on the patio by the river. The sun set as we were sitting out there and it was beautiful. After such a hot day, I was surprised at how cool the evening was by 9 PM.

It’s just after 10 PM and I am beat!