Week 6: Zimbabwe/Botswana

We’ve had a lot of time with animals this last week!

On Wednesday, August 30^th, we were picked up at 4:00 AM to drive to Hwange National Park, which is a two-hour drive from Victoria Falls. Our driver, Eddy, was a great guide in the park, and answered a lot of the questions we had about the Zimbabwean lifestyle too.  We arrived at the park just as the sky was turning a beautiful orange-pink! The roads around the park were pretty bumpy, but we drove for hours on many different trails, searching for animals. Hwange is a HUGE park, so we only managed to cover a small section of it. Our best sightings were from these wooden platforms that have been built beside watering holes throughout the park. These platforms serve as a form of blind, so you can get out of the vehicle and walk up the stairs to sit and watch the animals below. We watched the glossy starlings and curious hornbills near us, and looked out at the hippos poking their eyeballs out of the water. We also saw a number of crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the water and lots of wildebeests, zebras, and warthogs on the waters edge. We even brought our lunch up to the platform and were able to eat while watching the animals through binoculars! We kept our eyes open for lions and elephants while driving, but by the time we needed to leave the park, we still hadn’t seen any. Not seeing the animals we expected to see was a great experience too, because it taught us to really appreciate the sightings we’ve had and gave us a greater appreciation for the size of the park! However, as soon as we left the park, Eddy excitedly announced “elephantaes, elephantaes, elephantaes!” and we pulled up beside twelve elephants eating near the road. There were a few large males, some females and a couple babies, but the babies were pretty well sheltered by the males. One of the males kept his eyes on us and even gave us a warning, but didn’t come any closer to the car. We were able to stay and watch until they moved on into the trees. On the drive back, we got to see the traditional Zimbabwean houses made of mud walls and thatched roofs, and hear stories about the history of the land. Certainly an amazing day trip!

We MAY have spent our last day in Zimbabwe by (and in!) a hotel pool…

It was such a peaceful, quiet spot to lounge! Plus, they had great food and drinks, so we took advantage of that. When we arrived back at the house in the evening, there were women outside styling one of the village woman’s hair. I watched in amazement, and then they let me at the hair and yarn! She loved knowing that she might be the only woman in the village to have a “kewa” do her hair!

I have absolutely loved watching women carry their babies here. They look so cozy laying against their mama’s back. After a comment about this to our host, I was quickly fixed up with one of the little ones to carry around.

We left Zimbabwe Friday morning, and hitched a ride with a guy going to Botswana to buy gasoline. He must have had at least 10 gas containers stuffed into a tiny car with us and our bags! Seventy kilometers and lots of gas fumes later, we arrived at the border, moved through seamlessly and then got a ride just down the road to the cottage we’re staying at!

From Saturday to Monday, we were on a safari with Kalahari Tours in Chobe National Park. We went on a three-hour boat cruise, two afternoon game drives, and two morning game drives. In between, we had really yummy food and lots of fun with the other guests on safari. We stayed in a tent in two different areas of the park, and enjoyed campfires each night. Chobe National Park features such a diverse landscape- we moved between barren, desert grasses in open fields to lush, green grasses growing out of the water. We also saw densely treed areas, perfect for hiding leopards from our eyes.

Top 10 Safari Moments:

Croc spotting: while we were on our boat cruise, we saw a number of huge crocodiles, and were able to get so close to them! Most of them were sunning themselves on the banks of the water, and we got to watch one whip himself into the water!

Heaps of hippos: we also got to see so many hippos on our boat cruise. There were hippos eating the grasses in the middle of the water, and lots of them lounging in the water in pods. We were able to watch a whole group swim across the water too!

Elephants: we finally had our first elephant sighting, which was followed by SO many more elephants. While on the boat cruise, we watched as elephants moved down the banks, into the water, and across the water in a line. We even got up close while they were eating!

Found my favourite bird: I really didn’t have much interest in birds before coming to Africa, but how can one go without a favourite bird when there’s birds like the lilac-breasted roller?

Lazy lions: with a tip from another driver, we were able to find four female lions and three cubs lying beside a bush. They didn’t seem bothered by us at all, but would raise their heads to look around every so often.

More elephants: while driving around in the safari vehicle, we had two incredible encounters with elephants. We drove right down to the waters edge as a herd of elephants was emerging from the water. The elephants didn’t seem bothered by us, and the younger ones were actually very curious about us. They walked right beside the vehicle on their way up the bank behind us. We also had another experience where we saw a large group of elephants from a distance, and we drove right up to where they would be crossing the road and parked in the middle of where they were walking. They walked around the vehicle on all sides! I absolutely loved watching the babies.

Mating lions: during our first morning drive, we came upon a dominant male lion and four females. He was resting out in the tall grass, and we sat mesmerized by his mane blowing in the wind. We were told this is mating season, and sure enough, we watched as a female walked over to the male and disappeared for a moment in the grass. The male then faced us and belted out what we learned was a mating call. Watching him roar through the binoculars was absolutely incredible.

Same place, more animals: while out on each of the game drives, we returned to some of the same places and saw new/different animals. We never drove very far before spotting more zebras, giraffes, cape buffalo, kudus, impalas, baboons, and a huge variety of birds. During our second afternoon drive, we returned to the spot we saw the dominant male lion and the four females. As we were nearing them, we spotted two more males on the other side of the vehicle. We were told these three were brothers, but these two have to stay away from the females, especially during mating season.

Special dinner guests: on our second night, we had two elephants very close to our campsite. We ate our dinner while watching them move around and eat. We also woke the next morning to the distant sound of a lion’s mating call, which we heard repeated many times while enjoying our breakfast.

Africa sunrise and sunset: we feel like our camera and phone have done a decent job with pictures so far, but they really have not been able to capture the stunning colours of the sunrise and sunset. On our second night, the sun was a perfect bright pink ball, and it painted the rest of the sky in such rich yellows and oranges.

We have taken SO many videos on this trip, so we are just crossing our fingers that a future wifi connection can support adding them to the blog at some point!

Across the miles…

This past week, there have been a few things happening back in Canada that have been on our minds.

• First off, my longest lasting childhood friend Sarah just got married this week. Obviously I wasn’t able to be there for her special day, but I sent all my best thoughts her way. Lucky for me, social media exists and I was already able to see pictures of the beautiful bride and my lovely friends.
• There have been wildfires raging through BC this summer, but we learned that they have recently come even closer to the homes of our friends and family. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the smoke and fires, and we are hoping so hard for rain!
• Today marks one of the first ever “first days of school” that we are not participating in. Although it feels a bit strange to think about our friends returning to classrooms and students, we are appreciating the anxiety/excitement-free sleeps we’ve had leading up to this day! I would be lying if I said we wished we were there for this day, but we ARE excited to see picture of kids on their first day, and hope everyone has a great start to this school year!

Random act of kindness: We shared our safari trip with a great couple from Paris, Mohammed and Kate. These guys have travelled SO much, and we spent hours playing games and sharing travel stories. They gave us a long list of ‘must see’ places to add to our travel dreams, and their advice might have actually changed some of our plans for this very trip!