Under African Skies

I know...I know...but internet in countries other than South Africa seem to be spotty so I decided to combine all of my safari adventures into one big blog.

Ok so when last I left we were headed to Kruger...after like an 8 hour drive from JoBurg we landed at the Kwa Madwala Reserve. Our room here was nothing short of a fantasy suite from The Bachelor. It was shaped like a big rock and super remotely located down the side of this hill. The only shower was one on the back deck. (It didn't matter because nobody could see you but maybe the animals.)

The first night we went out for a drive and saw a hippo just walking around. As well as a bush buck, a water buck and a couple of giraffes. Reality set in. The next morning we got up and went for a nature walk where the only thing we saw was a group of impalas running in the distance.

I have to be honest, I was expecting opening scene of Lion King stuff. I wanted to see a baby lion held triumphantly in the air as other animals stampeded toward the celebration and then bowed down as the music played. (Read as: my hopes were set high.)

Well it turns out Kruger (our next stop) is the size of Wales, and isn't one for disappointing. Did I see the scene of my dreams? Not quite. But have I seen a lot of awesome stuff? For sure. We've also learned some interesting things.

Like how an impala's teeth become loose during mating so they can "scratch" each other's backs. Then they tighten back up.

We also went to an elephant rescue and played a game with an elephant wherein I was one of three people to take my shoe off and walk away from it. The elephant (who had been turned around when I put it in the shoe line-up) picked up my shoe and came and gave it back to me. Turns out their sense of smell is 40 times better than that of a dog.

We did a lot of driving that day, but were rewarded with sightings of crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, elephants, more impala, wildebeast, buffaloes, owls and rhinos. Phew! We got to our campsite after dark. There was a group of dad-age Italians in our group and they, taking us for city girl damsels in distress, put our tent up for us. In reality, it was the type of tent both Katie and I have set up before, but it was a nice gesture and we appreciated it.

Our tour guides (Zinzo and Thabang) were cool and in addition to the Italians we had a couple of Spanish friends and then an American girl currently living in London.

Our second day in Kruger meant a 6a-3p game drive. Driving around looking for animals is very similar to driving around trying to get a baby to sleep and then once the baby is asleep you keep driving around so that he or she gets a full nap. I say that because you take all the turn offs, and you just keep driving. And driving.

This day started off at high speed tho because our driver had heard lions so we sped toward where the roars were coming from. We weren't the only ones who got lucky that morning. We saw three lionesses and one male. Eventually the male picked the one whose turn it was going to be and as she lay in the street he totally mounted her...right in front of us. We had hoped to see a lion eat a zebra but this was so much better. But apparently not for her as she was not a happy camper. We asked the guide about it (as the entire act lasted 5 seconds)...He told us something about a lion having a barbed penis and how it hurt the female. We have yet to google this but it seemed believable.

By lunch we had seen everything but a leopard. Turns out we didn't see anything new the rest of the day. And after a while, an elephant turns into another elephant, the newness wears off and you're ready to be back at the camp. That night we fell asleep to what we knew by then were the roars of hunting lions.

We kept being told how lucky we were to have seen more impala and guinea fowl than we could count, white and black rhinos, wild dogs, zebras, and kudu, in addition to everything I've already mentioned.

Sunday morning we got up and once again our Italian pops took care of the tent situation. On our way out of Kruger we caught sight of the most elusive of the big 5...the leopard. He was running but I got a blurry pic. We took the panoramic view home. I should have bought stock in Dramamine.

Next stop: Livingstone, Zambia where 5k kwacha equals one dollar. Price tags look crazy. It's a better taste of "Africa." Markets get exhausting. Everyone wants you to got their shop. See things. Touch things. Buy things.

Tuesday we decided to head to Botswana. We took a cruise on the Chobe River. We saw lots of hippo families and elephant families. Basically exactly what we had wished for. Playing and drinking and babies! Lots of animal babies!

Chobe offered different scenery than Kruger landscape-wise, so that was nice. After the cruise we went for another game drive. Chobe is known for its huge elephant population. We saw hundreds. Getting up close and personal with some. We had a standoff in the road at one point. Luckily he decided to let us pass him but it was definitely a reminder of whose turf we were on.

We watched a dung beetle hard at work and an elephant herd playing by the water. A calf rolled in the dirt, having just as much fun as a human child would. And I'm talking within 10 feet of where we were sitting in the truck. We saw two giraffes gracefully gallop across the sandy road...(which looked more like running in slow motion). And then we saw two baboons getting it on in the road.

I feel like The Beatles must have gone on a safari before writing "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" because it seems to be a popular place. They got that whole "Nobody will be watching part" wrong tho.

The last thing we saw before heading into our camp was a pride of lionesses with their cubs. We watched as they stalked a lone impala. We tried to warn the impala, and tell it to run away, but it froze for a while. Eventually it seemed to get far enough away.

We went to our camp where the only thing separating us from the wild animals we'd just seen were lanterns. Needless to say, there were no night-time potty breaks. In that case the "toilet" was a plastic seat set atop a hole in the ground next to a shovel. Rustic!

The only animal sound we heard that night was a hippo. You know, only the animal that kills more humans than any other of the big 5.

We came back to Livingstone the next day and chilled out. Then today we headed to Victoria Falls. We fit 18 people in a minivan for the 10k ride. That's nothing for Africa.

We got to the falls (still on Zambia side) and checked them out from various spots. As we had heard from other travelers, water was very high. Too high for rafting. We walked to the top and then hiked down to the "boiling pot." From there we watched as people bungeed (sp?) off the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Came back up and did a little more photo taking before coming across a group of baboons. Big baboons. Males in search of mates baboons. They blocked our path and looked very menacing.

We had joined up with a mother/daughter who were staying at our same place. The daughter went first and just as she passed, one of the larger ones gave chase. (None of us had food, but they didn't know that.) We of course freaked out. (not a smart move) So he turned around and acted like he was going to charge. So there we all were, stuck in our various locations on the path. Me holding on to the girl's mom as if she were my own. (not good in crisis, remember?)

Then along came a man behind us. Like a knight in shining armour. He bellowed and stomped and (in the monkey world) claimed us as his. As we walked away with no further problems, the guy told me what we should have done. "You're bigger," he said. "Stand your ground. Don't cower or he'll see you as weak." Easy for him to say, I already pictured myself mauled by a baboon. Hard to not back up when you've got that image in your head.

All's well that ends well. We decided not to cross over to the Zim side as the view wouldn't be any different since it's so full. Zambia has really been a chill place for us. The backpackers we chose is an oasis of loveliness. And only $25 a night.

I got my first three bug bites of the entire trip tonight at dinner. Not a bad track record. We head back to Cape Town tomorrow night. It's airstream time. Which also means last night in Africa time.

I don't want to process that right now.