Day 14 - A guided tour of the Falls

Our last activity on our last full day; a guided tour of Victoria Falls.  Another amazing sight. 

We had our first storm last night, which was rather large.  Dean and I had opted to sleep in the sitting room, as our bedroom was a bit of an oven and the fan was placed rather high up for it to be very effective.  One wall of the sitting room is a bit like a canvas tent, which you roll up in the day so that the outdoors comes in, and at night you roll it back down again to keep the wild animals out.  We cosied down and fell asleep quite early, then at about one o’clock something hit the side of the canvas, so I swapped ends of my sofa, but still something kept crashing into it, so I woke Dean and said there were animals trying to get in, and I thought they might have got through.  I don’t think I have seen Dean move so fast, he hit the canvas a few times to ‘frighten’ away the animals and got up to turn the light on – it was then that we realised there was a raging storm blowing outside and it was the wind hitting the canvas!  Feeling a little bit foolish, I snuggled back down to sleep!  (It was much cooler in the sitting room, under the fan!)

When we surfaced this morning it was to a much cooler Africa after the storm, which was rather pleasant.  We then headed off to the Falls.  We walked along the track and caught our first sight and sound of the falls on foot, breathtaking!  I have never seen anything like it.  The spray from the falls is caused by the sheer force of the water hitting the Zambezi at the bottom of the falls, we managed to get soaked by the spray!  The African name for the falls translates as Smoke and Thunder!  The Gorges were spectacular, we got quite close up and personal with the edge (much to my trepidation) and managed to get some fantastic shots of the falls.

Afterwards we went to the carving markets where Ricky and Vron bought a (large) wooden Giraffe – after much bargaining by Ricky, which is now suitably wrapped for it’s journey home.  We walked round to the Victoria Falls Hotel and met up with Roy and Audrey, (who Vron rescued the other evening) and they bought us a cocktail whilst we sat in the grounds of this grand old (colonial) hotel, with a view of the spray from the falls – a very special end of the day and a very special end to our amazing African Adventure!

Day 13 - Helicopter Ride Over the Falls

A huge big WOWOWWOW!  What an amazing experience!  Vron and I had our first helicopter ride ever and what a better way to do it than over Victoria Falls!  I was a bit worried about the ride, but from the moment we set off the adrenaline was running!  We had a 15 minute ride over the falls and it went past far too quickly.  David Livingstone had said that what a sight the angels would have above the falls and he wasn't wrong.  I keep thinking that I can't see anything else to match what I have already seen, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

We had had a very relaxing day, first at the Water Hole and then relaxing by the pool before heading off for our experience - just love it all!

Day 12 - Early Morning Game Drive; Botswana

We had one of our best game drives yet!  We had an amazing guide who took us on a bit of a different route.  We spotted a pair of male lions (brothers) lazing in the shade.  We then saw a leopard shading himself in some bushes, but he ran off before we could get a good look at him.  We saw a tiny, tiny baby elephant, so cute and also a baby baboon that was only about a week old.  Then amazingly we saw another leopard up a tree, and we managed to get much closer to this one, a remarkable experience.  We also saw some more giraffe on the way back.  Birds seen were the Lilac Breasted Roller which was rather special, along with a young Bateleur Eagel.  The brightly coloured Carmine Bee Eaters were flying around in abundance.

Sadly, we left the Mowana Lodge in Botswana and headed back across the border into Zimbabwe, on what was the hottest day of our tour so far.  We arrived back at Lokuthula Lodge and collapsed for the rest of the afternoon, relaxing and ruminating on the sights we had seen over the last few days.

Day 11 - Still on Safari in Botswana

We have had amazing safari experiences.  On our first game ride we saw giraffe first, then saw a very unusual lion, with a dark head.  We drove past a dead elephant with a lot of vultures and marabou stalks munching away at the carcass.  Apparently the day before, a pride of lions had a hefty meal from it!  We were then amazingly lucky and managed to see a leopard up a tree, very unusual to see so we were very grateful!  We saw more elephants and baboons and again lots of varieties of birds.

We went for another boat safari in the afternoon and were very lucky with the hippos, which weren’t so camera shy as the previous day, and we even saw a hippo on the bank of the river, out of the water.  We saw even more elephants and some giraffe moseying along the banks of the river.  Another fantastic day of ‘getting close’ to nature.

We relaxed in the evening with a few cocktails and listened to a singer in the evening whilst eating our dinner – Vron and I joined in with a few of the songs, I  believe I even hogged the microphone – most unlike me!

Day 10 - On Safari in Botswana

We had our first Safari trip of the holiday; a river cruise along the Mighty Zambezi, though here in Botswana the Zambezi isn't quite so mighty!  We pootled along the river spotting hippo, elephants, buffalo and Impala, not to mention the veritable feast of birds, among which was a magnificent Fish Eagle!  It was such an amazing experience, one that will remain with me for a long time.  The African sunset was spectacular and everything I had expected it to be.

Unfortunately as we left the boat, an elderly gentleman, (fellow boat rider) had a fall and became unconscious for a short time!  Vron’s natural caring instincts kicked in, and she administered her first aid skills whilst a doctor was called!  We ended with a single cab truck and whilst Vron kept Roy conscious in the front, Audrey (Roy’s wife) and I climbed into the back of the pick-up. We spent two hours at the local hospital, making sure they were both ok before coming back to the hotel for much needed sustenance!  An experience in itself! 

Day 9 & 10 - Off to Victoria Falls

Yesterday was so exhausting that I have had to combine the blog!  We left Stellenbosch at 4.15 am and headed to the airport.  We flew up to Johannesburg and then caught a flight to Victoria Falls!  Entering Zimbabwe was an experience in itself.  We landed at 1.00 pm on the dot and then queued up for an hour and a half to pay for our visas and go through customs.  The airport was very third world, and the two officials on the desk took about 10 minutes to process each visitor, with them managing to stick my visa into Vron’s passport, which then took them about another 10 minutes to peel it off her passport and put it into mine; it would have been quite amusing if it hadn’t been so hot!  No aircon in the airport and also no baggage carousels, we just picked our cases up next to the runway!

We drove out to our lodge, which is very rustic!  Bit of a shock after our Garden Route accommodation, however, just right for where we are.  We have like a canvas wall which we can roll up and bring the outside into our lodge.  Ricky and Vron were sitting there this morning with wart hogs munching the grass at their feet.  Dean and I went on our lion walk this morning, getting up early again to be out for 6.15 am.  This was an incredible experience, walking next to young lions, touching them and interacting with them.  There used to be 200,000 lions in Africa, up until the 1970’s, now there are about 36,000!  Shocking!  The lion conservation programme is trying to build up numbers so that we may continue to see these magnificent animals in the future.

We decided to stay at our complex and chill out this afternoon and had yet another amazing experience; every day at one o’clock they feed the vultures here at the complex, and we must have seen over a hundred vultures, along with marabou storks and black kites, awesome!  We have had such a plethora of nature experiences here, with so many more to come once we set off on safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana tomorrow.  Sitting now in the bar with a cocktail in hand, overlooking a watering hole, where we have seen a herd of elephants, impala and some wart hogs!  Life doesn't get much better!

Day 8 - Table Mountain and Spier's

Had a lovely evening, staying at Aan Den Weg, a wonderful winery just outside Stellenbosch.  Breakfast was very tasty, with the landlady having a good eye for detail, making sure of her guests every comfort.  We departed at 10.00 am for Cape Town to go up in the cable car to the top of Table Mountain.  It was a great day for it, with blue skies and sunshine.  After a short cable ride we were at the top and looking at the fabulous views over Cape Town and down on to Robben Island.  We walked around the top of the mountain, where the winds picked up and all people were advised to stay near the cable car in case they needed to shut the cable cars!   We decided to exit the mountain pretty sharpish just in case we needed to walk down! 

We drove back to Stellenbosch, stopping at Spier’s Wine Estate on the way back.  Had a picnic lunch in the grounds and headed back to the ranch with a load of meat for a Brai (BBQ) in the evening.  A perfect way to end our 1^st week of our holiday and the end of our South African leg!  Up early for the flight to Victoria Falls, via Johannesburg.