{"id":5819,"date":"2018-05-29T14:57:11","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T04:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=5819"},"modified":"2025-11-16T05:49:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T05:49:37","slug":"out-in-africa-a-shaking-scrubby-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2018\/05\/29\/out-in-africa-a-shaking-scrubby-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Out In Africa – A Shaking Scrubby Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cEverything is under control\u201d\u00a0 Jorge Ndawa \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

The flights to fly to Livingstone in Zambia were booked in October 2017.\u00a0 The \u2019Wildlife of Botswana\u2019 tour with Bench Africa was also booked.\u00a0 Exciting!<\/p>\n

We checked the flights midweek. We got the packing done.\u00a0 We got a lift to the airport in plenty of time for a 7pm flight on Saturday 12 May 2018.\u00a0 Here we go, we\u2019re off to Africa to see beautiful scenery and lots of wild animals.\u00a0 Or are we?<\/p>\n

We looked at the board to see which desk to go to for check-in and there was no 7pm SAA flight to Johannesburg via Perth !!!\u00a0 We queued at the Virgin Airlines desk (codeshare with SAA) and were a little bit stumped when the lady confirmed there wasn\u2019t a 7pm flight, there was a 7:35pm flight, but we weren\u2019t booked on it.\u00a0 \u201cAre you definitely supposed to be flying today?\u201d she asked.\u00a0 Our jaws were dropping at this point and we pointed to our printed itinerary we\u2019d place in front of her which had all the details there, even down to the seat numbers we had chosen.\u00a0 She agreed she could see that and suggested we phone our agent, Expedia. While Rodney went through the whole, press 1 for this, press 2 for that, press 3 to find out what you want, I continued conversing with our check-in lady and now another Virgin lady.\u00a0 They walked us over to a supervisor, who tapped and tapped on her computer to see what she could come up with.\u00a0 \u201cAh ha\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cYou were supposed to fly on the 9:35 am flight this morning!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWHAAAT!!!!\u201d I said.\u00a0 Panic, we felt.\u00a0 There had also been a 1:40pm flight that day, which might have been better, but we hadn\u2019t been moved to that one\u2026?<\/p>\n

By now Rodney had got through to a human being at Expedia and on telling them our problem, the chap agreed that we had been moved and no-one had informed us.\u00a0 We had been moved to a flight which left Sydney 9 \u00bd hours before the one we chose and booked!\u00a0 This would have meant that, after a 5-hour flight to Perth, we would have had an 11-hour wait for our late night, 11-hour flight, to Johannesburg.\u00a0 Even after all that, we still had a 6-hour wait at Johannesburg for our 1 \u00bd-hour flight to Livingstone in Zambia.\u00a0 There is no way we would have accepted the change of our first flight, if we had been informed! We\u2019ve since found out that \u201cno replacement ticket was issued\u201d to us.\u00a0 Hence the agent never told us. Hmmm.<\/p>\n

At this point I was deciding that this was not a good start to what was already a slightly daunting trip to me.\u00a0 Mr Expedia offered Rodney $200 for the stuff up but, with the now five helpful Virgin staff, shaking their heads and muttering figures like $1,000, Rodney declined the offer and told him we would be discussing the issue on our return from Africa\u2026\u2026that is, if we ever got there and back.\u00a0 The Virgin staff whizzed around trying to get us onto an already full flight and managed to come up with two seats in Economy, in separate rows, sat in middle seats between strangers.\u00a0 One of the Virgin ladies gave us passes to use the business class lounge while we waited for the 7:35pm flight and it was here that we discovered that the lounge was full of players, coaches, managers and fans of the West Coast Eagles AFL team.\u00a0 Our brains ticked and clicked, and we reckoned that the footy team had wanted our seats and needed to fly a little later following their afternoon match against a Sydney team. And that was why the flight was delayed to 7:35pm, and why we got bumped.<\/p>\n

\"A
A lilac breasted roller<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The man seated in the window seat next to me sniffed and snorted all the way to Perth.\u00a0 The man on the other side of me in the aisle seat had constantly twitching legs. Sometimes the left leg, sometimes the right leg, sometimes both at the same time.\u00a0 He also had unpleasant b.o. and constantly fidgeted.\u00a0 All three seats vibrated and shook which annoyed the sniffy snorty man and gave us absolutely no chance of reading or snoozing all the way to Perth.<\/p>\n

To add to our woes, the delayed flight took off 25 minutes late, putting me in another panic that we would miss our connection to the Johannesburg flight, especially as we had to change terminals in Perth.\u00a0 As it turned out, the flight made up a lot of time and we did manage to catch our next plane to Africa.<\/p>\n

The frustrating thing was that we had checked our itineraries on paper and on line during the week.\u00a0 Rodney even phoned SAA on the Wednesday to ask if we needed to confirm our flights and was told we didn\u2019t need to; they were all already confirmed.\u00a0 Our only cheerful thought was that our return flights seemed to be in order when our Virgin lady checked them at the airport.\u00a0 But should we take that as red?\u00a0 We checked our return flights again before leaving Africa; just to be sure; ever hopeful and with fingers crossed.\u00a0 \u00a0All of this palaver was really not acceptable as a terrible start to a holiday and a cause for anxiety throughout.<\/p>\n

At the time of publishing this, we\u2019re still waiting to hear from Expedia and South African Airways to find out what happened.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When we got to Livingstone Airport a taxi took us to the Ngomo Zanga Hotel, which was very cute but a little far out of town.\u00a0 We sat by the tiny swimming pool for a while but could feel ourselves falling asleep.\u00a0 We were hungry, but the hotel restaurant wasn\u2019t going to open on a Sunday, dang! We desperately needed to stretch our legs, so we opted to walk the dusty roads to a shopping centre and not a lot else.\u00a0 We later discovered that we hadn\u2019t reached the centre of town, it was a lot further up the main road.\u00a0 But we found Olga\u2019s Italian restaurant and ordered a pizza, which was actually just as good as anything we\u2019ve had in Italy.\u00a0 We managed to get back to the hotel before dark and despite desperately trying to stay awake for a while we had crashed to sleep by 8pm.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rodney at Victoria Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you ever get a chance in your lifetime to visit Victoria Falls, Mosi-oa-Tunya, \u2018the smoke that thunders\u2019, do it.\u00a0 We watched the water falling from the Zambia side on the Sunday and again from the Zimbabwe side on Monday 14 May.\u00a0 The noise and the spray at this time of year, when the falls are in full flood, is awesome.\u00a0 We were soaked, despite wearing raincoats.\u00a0 We wandered along almost every footpath to almost every viewpoint we could find, but some of them we couldn\u2019t access because of the amount of \u2018rain\u2019 falling on us and the fact that you wouldn\u2019t have seen anything from the viewpoints if you had walked down those paths.\u00a0 We laughed, we shouted to each across the noise and we constantly said \u201cwow\u201d.\u00a0 Rodney now wants to see it all again when the falls are at their lowest volume of water, just to see the views more clearly and compare the difference.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Laura getting soaked at Victoria Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
Livingstone Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Our taxi driver taking us from our Livingstone Hotel to the Zambia\/Zimbabwe border waited for 1 \u00bd hours with our bags, while we walked to the falls viewpoints, crossed a very slippery bridge and also walked down to the Zambezi River at the Boiling Pot; all of which were spectacular and quite exhilarating. The driver then dropped us and our bags just a hundred metres down the road at the border post.\u00a0 We got through quite quickly and waved away all the taxi drivers wanting to drive us over the Livingstone Bridge to the Zimbabwe border post. We wanted to walk over the bridge and take photos and being a narrow one-way bridge, there was no way a taxi would be able to stop for photos. We have to admit that we were the only ones walking over the bridge dragging our luggage.\u00a0 We stopped to watch the bungee jumpers and took photos of the falls from another angle.\u00a0 When we got to the Zimbabwe side of the bridge there was a sign advising us that the border entry was quite a long way up the road. Dang!\u00a0 Suddenly dragging our wheelie bags wasn\u2019t such fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The A-Zambezi Hotel outside the town of Victoria Falls was a nice introduction to what was to be a very tricky tour.\u00a0 Our lovely room overlooked a lawn and the Zambezi River and at night you could hear the hippopotamus doing their thing.\u00a0 We almost had a close encounter with one, when we all returned to the hotel from dinner on our second night.\u00a0 A hippo was grazing on the grass at the front of the hotel and seemed completely oblivious to us driving past. An even closer encounter was had with a boomslang snake.\u00a0 I was a little relived that we weren\u2019t allocated a room on the ground floor, but when we got back to the hotel after our visit to Victoria Falls, the snake was slithering down the outside stairs from our floor!\u00a0 I was glad to see it slither away on to the grass lawn.\u00a0 Note to self, don\u2019t walk across that lawn to the bar this evening !!!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Between May 12 and May 16, we managed to cover six countries: Australia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and into Botswana.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve ever managed to do that number of countries in that short time before!<\/p>\n

Entering into Namibia was the only border control that made our group of ten, plus our cheery guide, Jorge from Harare, Zimbabwe, have a good laugh and a chuckle.\u00a0 Our tour group consisted of four men and six women, all of roughly the same age.\u00a0 Karen and Sharon were from Adelaide, Australia, Peter and Kim were from the Gold Coast, Australia, Patrick and Jocelyn were from Belgium, Sandy and Carolyn were from Vancouver Island, Canada and then there was us.\u00a0 Before being allowed into the border control building, we had our temperature taken by a man who pointed an infrared laser thermometer at our foreheads; seemed a little unfriendly.\u00a0 He also had a basket of free condoms\u2026\u201dif you would like one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When we entered the building, there were a few travellers ahead of us and a young African lady.\u00a0 When the chap behind the desk got to the young lady, he beckoned her to stand aside and he pointed at Sandy and Patrick to come forward. They did, and he studied their passports, stamped them in and waved them on.\u00a0 He then pointed to Rodney and Peter to step forward and processed them.\u00a0 We all assumed that he was being sexist and doing all the men first.\u00a0 The young lady in front of us then stepped forward, but he waved her aside yet again.\u00a0 Another older black lady had now entered and joined in with us querying what the desk chap was up to.\u00a0 He called Kim and myself forward and asked how old we were, we obviously said something right as he processed us next.\u00a0 At this point the older African lady asked him why he wasn\u2019t serving the young lady and he told us all to \u201crespect our elders and shut up\u201d.\u00a0 He then asked how old Carolyn and Jocelyn were and processed them next.\u00a0 By this point we were actually quite impressed that he had managed to get us ladies in correct descending order of age.\u00a0 Despite our muttering protestations (don\u2019t argue with border control in any country), he still wouldn\u2019t serve the young lady and asked Karen and Sharon to step forward.\u00a0 There\u2019s only a year between them, but Karen wasn\u2019t too impressed that he served her first, he got those two the wrong way around, oops.\u00a0 He then served the older black lady and when Jorge approached the counter the sexist bureaucrat waved him away and finally served the young lady, who was by now very annoyed that her husband was still waiting outside for her and she had a 6-month old baby at home that she was anxious to get home to.\u00a0 More people had arrived by now and we thought we might be waiting ages for Jorge to be served, but he did get stamped in next and we all piled back on the bus and headed off across the Caprivi strip of north-eastern Namibia.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Late Afternoon On The Zambezi River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

By the time we arrived at Camp Kwando, the sun was setting.\u00a0 We were given a welcome drink and sent off to our tented rooms with a staff member carrying each suitcase, or holdall on their heads.\u00a0 The girl that carried mine was no bigger than me and I have no idea how she managed to swing my bag up on to her head and then look like she was carrying it with ease.\u00a0 I was very glad that I was travelling light for her sake.\u00a0 We were forewarned that our rooms might contain stink bugs, and they did; tiny little things and lots of them.\u00a0 We were still finding the darn things in our bags at future accommodations.\u00a0 Even at our last camp, I managed to find one at the bottom of my bag when I emptied it out to re-pack for the journey home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The following morning, we popped into Kwando village next door, before heading off to Botswana.\u00a0 As always happens to me on these occasions, I got picked out from our group to dance with the witch doctor and to be given some advice.\u00a0 Apparently, I was going to have a good journey and good luck; I sure hoped he was right! \u00a0To support the village in their tourism efforts, a few of our group purchased baskets and bowls from their tiny dark shop.\u00a0 But having already bought a beautiful bowl made from coloured telephone wires, back in Victoria Falls, I went for something a bit different, a kalimba or African thumb piano.\u00a0 It is tiny, very rough and only has four keys, but I can get a nice, simple sound out of it.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dancing With The Witch Doctor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Later that morning, on the 17th<\/sup>, we were stopped by the Namibian Police.\u00a0 We were told to stay seated on the bus and the very thorough police officer checked around the vehicle.\u00a0 She looked decidedly happy when she spotted that the South African registered tax discs were out of date and proceeded to have a slightly heated discussion with Jorge.\u00a0 He was taken across to a desk under a tree on the opposite side of the road to continue with the argument and show the paperwork proving that the discs had been renewed.\u00a0 We all piled off the bus and tried to find a tiny bush for a private wee\u2026hmm\u2026 and we waited and waited for the police to let us proceed. They wanted a fine of 1,000 Rand to be paid, because Jorge only had photocopies of the renewal paperwork from Jenman Tours.\u00a0 They also wouldn\u2019t accept the company credit card so Jorge, looking rather embarrassed, asked if any of us could cobble together enough Rands to pay the fine until he could get to a bank and repay us.\u00a0\u00a0 We had none, but fortunately some of those going on to South Africa afterwards did have enough and the police released us to carry on with our journey.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When it took half an hour to fill up with petrol at a service station\u2026the pumps are very slow and the staff kept wandering off mid-service\u2026. we were glad to be leaving Namibia and thankfully, passing out of the country through the border control on the west side, was a lot less discriminatory than the entering on the east side.<\/p>\n

The Fluffy Bakery in Shakawe, Botswana, didn\u2019t look as enticing as a French patisserie, but they do sell \u2018fat cakes\u2019 there.\u00a0 I wonder what they look like, or does the name pertain more towards what they do to you\u2026.?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Local Barbers….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The roads in Botswana were appalling, at times there seemed to be more potholes than tarmac.\u00a0 Jorge spent a lot of time driving along the dirt verges, on either side of the road.\u00a0 Along some of those verges people rode donkeys; their legs spread wide and they were jiggled up and down with the speed of the animals\u2019 stride.\u00a0 It made me recall my jiggly ride on the plane from Sydney to Perth\u2026\u2026no, let’s not go back there. \u00a0 As the manager at the Guma Lodge commented to Jorge when we were leaving, \u201cit would be better if they skimmed the bits of tarmac off the top and let it be an unsealed road.\u00a0 It would be smoother!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 As we passed one large pothole I heard Jorge exclaim \u201cyou could fish in that one!!!\u201d \u00a0Jorge also reckons that the police cannot tell a good driver from a drunk one because everyone has to veer all over the road to avoid the continual potholes.\u00a0 I reckon if anyone needs to find a good slalom driver, check out the guys who have trained in Botswana, their very skilled in that style of driving!!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Most of our 14-day tour was along very straight, dusty, flat roads with no change in elevation.\u00a0 There was nothing to see except occasional villages and local people strolling about.\u00a0 The vegetation was low and scrubby with nothing vibrant to see apart from the huge blue sky.\u00a0 Coming across some damp brown lumps of poo by the side of the road was always cause for excitement or \u201cgood news\u201d as the guides called it.\u00a0 When we ever spotted the animals that had deposited them the cameras clicked non-stop.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Poo Inspection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The appropriately named Guma Lagoon Camp was set on the north-eastern edge of the Okavango Delta, beside the Guma Lagoon.\u00a0 From the main road it was a rough, bumpy ride on a sandy road for half an hour and we finally arrived at the camp in the dark.\u00a0 We were fed cold chicken and cold vegetables; I guess we did arrive a lot later than the chef had expected. Our bags were again delivered to our tented cabins on the heads of the staff and we spent the night listening to the strange sounds around us.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Keeping up the yoga practice at Guma Lagoon Camp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After breakfast we all boarded a fast boat and whizzed across the Guma Lagoon to a bit of muddy land on the far side.\u00a0 Here we were transferred to mokoro, dugout canoes; though they no longer use wooden ones \u2018dug out\u2019 from tree trunks, they\u2019re now made from very rough fibre-glass.\u00a0 The explanation was that they are now preserving the few larger trees that remain around the delta and the fibre-glass ones last longer.\u00a0 Two of us climbed into each one, apart from Jorge who had his all to himself, not that he got lonely as we all followed each other in a single line, almost touching each other.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The boats are propelled through the shallow, narrow waterways by a man standing in the stern and pushing with a long wooden pole, in much the same way as punting. When we set off, it seemed very wobbly and I\u2019ll admit to being rather nervous knowing there were plentiful hippos and crocodiles in the area.\u00a0 But Richard, our \u2018poler\u2019 said he had being doing it since he was a child and he was now forty years old.\u00a0 Once you got used to the wobble and into the rhythm, and tried to forget about the wild animals, it was a rather nice way to be moving along; certainly a very nice change from being in the rattily, shaky vehicles that we had already spent days in and had many more to come.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Papyrus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After an hour or so, we pulled up on Madikwena Island and Sunday, an elderly local man guided us around for an hour pointing out the hippo poo, various trees and flowers and explaining the various ways in which they use everything around them.\u00a0 He made a darn good sewing needle from an acacia thorn and then threaded it with an extremely fine strip of a palm leaf.\u00a0 The sausage tree, or Kigelia, was mighty impressive; the fruit can grow up to a metre long and can weigh up to 10kgs, they\u2019re huge and they look like an enormous pale sausage hanging on a long rope from the branches.\u00a0 Some trees are covered in them. They\u2019re very odd and you wouldn\u2019t want to sit under one, or even park your car there, in case one dropped.\u00a0 But Sunday informed us that they believe if you make a paste and rub it on a skin cancer, it will cure you\u2026.?!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Don’t park under a sausage tree !!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He also told us about the pointy termite mounds that we must have seen thousands of on our tour.\u00a0 They always point slightly to the west; \u201cit\u2019s an African GPS\u201d.\u00a0 The low growing mopani trees, of which we also saw thousands, are good for firewood and they eat the caterpillars that live on them.\u00a0 No, we never tried one.\u00a0 The ride back in the canoe was very relaxing as we floated through the narrow channels between endless papyrus plants, tall reeds and water lilies.\u00a0 You can\u2019t see anything beyond the edge of each channel, apart from the occasional tall tree and so it was lovely to see a fish eagle sitting near the top of one of them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Back at the camp we were presented with a lunch of cold beef burgers and coleslaw, not brilliant, but maybe we were late again?!\u00a0 At least there was some entertainment as we picked at our lunch sitting on the deck of the main building.\u00a0 Vervet monkeys jumped around in the trees above us and the owner\u2019s two cattle dogs would go bananas, barking and running around in circles below.\u00a0 That evening Jorge cooked up a pretty good spaghetti Bolognese, served hot, though we\u2019re really not sure why he had to cook a meal, when there was a fully paid chef in the kitchen.\u00a0 I thought perhaps that he too was bored of the cold food, but apparently he has to do it once on each trip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Saturday May 19th<\/sup> we had a very early breakfast and drove out of the camp at 7am; another long day ahead on the bumpy roads of Botswana.\u00a0 At Maun we stopped for lunch, in two sessions beside the road at the airport.\u00a0 Five of our group went on a 45-minute flight over the southern end of the Okavango Delta, pre-lunch.\u00a0 Then when Rodney, Sandy, Carolyn and I had finished our lunch, we walked over to the departure lounge to wait for our 3pm flight and on a TV screen we watched some highlights of the royal wedding in Windsor.\u00a0 The pilot was a rather gorgeous lady who looked like she should still be in school; another unnerving moment.\u00a0 But she got us up and back down safely, so we were all very grateful for that.\u00a0 When she wiggled the wings and banked very steeply so that we could see the elephants, giraffes and zebras below, it was a bit of a heart stoppage moment, but we all lived to tell the tale and have photos to prove it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
The city of Maun as we came in to land<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When we arrived at our next place of rest, a Bedouin Camp to the west of Maun, it was dark again.\u00a0 We had no idea of where we were, which is quite unsettling not being able to orientate yourself.\u00a0 No time for showers and no hot water anyway.\u00a0 We ate our evening meal, chicken again, and then piled into another safari vehicle for a crawl around our surroundings in the dark.\u00a0 Jorge waved his torch around and occasionally pointed up into the trees.\u00a0 Apparently we saw galago, also known as bushbabies and there was much excitement when an aardvark was spotted scurrying across the road.\u00a0 I was sitting in the centre of the vehicle, trying to keep warm wearing all my clothes and snuggling down under a blanket.\u00a0 My long sight is also not brilliant at night, so I never saw anything and was glad to get out of yet another bumpy vehicle an hour and a half later .<\/p>\n

\"\"
This ‘aardvark’ was spotted a few days later….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The camp guides then walked us all to our camp tents and we were zipped in for the night, with instructions not to leave the tent under any circumstances and to sound the horn beside the bed, if we were seriously concerned about anything more than a gecko.\u00a0 On the plus side, the hot bucket shower in the morning turned out to be alright, and the brilliance of the stars above us was spectacular.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Two mornings of early starts and two very long days driving around the Moremi Game Reserve was pretty exhausting.\u00a0 We saw plenty of animals, but I was getting very bored of the same old flat scrubby landscapes and the discomfort in the safari vehicles.\u00a0 It would be below 8 or 9\u00b0C when we set off; my one fleecy got a darn good wearing and the lack of gloves or hat was frustrating me.\u00a0 In an open vehicle, the wind chill brought the temperature down to not far above freezing.\u00a0 I really was wishing I had brought some of my ski clothing with me.\u00a0\u00a0 By 10am the sun would start to warm our bones and by midday, we were sweating in 30\u00b0C.\u00a0 By the time we got back to camp in the early evenings we were getting really cold again and all the clothes were piled back on and blankets pulled up.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
George seemed to find Daniel’s mobile phone far more interesting than the puff adder dangling from his right hand !!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
A sleepy painted dog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Returning to the camp on our third night we had another bout of bad luck.\u00a0 Rodney and I were sat at the back of the safari vehicle and noticed that a knocking noise was getting louder.\u00a0 Rodney looked down at the back wheel and noticed it was wobbling wildly.\u00a0 Jorge and Daniel, the local guide, took the wheel off but couldn\u2019t put the spare wheel on properly because two of the wheel nuts on one side had sheared off and therefore they could only screw three of the wheel nuts on.\u00a0 While they struggled with the wheel, we watched the crocodiles lazing on the river bank and tried to find private spots for much needed wees, without walking too far from our group.\u00a0 Keep an eye out for those crocs and be noisy.\u00a0 This all led to another arrival at our camp in the dark.\u00a0 We were always so cold and tired and rattled by so many hours in bumpy vehicles, that no-one ever sat around after dinner to chat, we would all slink back to our tents or rooms and save our copious good chats for during the day to fill the long hours in the vehicles.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rodney on crocodile watch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Tuesday 22nd<\/sup>, we left the Bedouin camp early and limped back towards Maun with only three wheel nuts on one back wheel of our chilly safari vehicle.\u00a0 Fortunately, by the time a third wheel nut sheared off, the temperatures were starting to lift.\u00a0 We all piled off again and had an impromptu yoga class in the road with Daniel, while Jorge hitched a lift in to Maun to collect our main vehicle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
An impromptu chicken dance with Itee before leaving the Bedouin Camp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Our bus (the mother vehicle) arriving to pick us up from the broken-down safari vehicle, after another long wait beside the road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We had hoped for an afternoon free at the next lodge, but with all the delays it was yet another late afternoon arrival at 5pm at the appropriately named Nata Lodge, near Nata.\u00a0 A rather large termite hill right next to our tented cabin concerned me a little, but Jorge assured me that the termites had vacated, and the large holes were made by small birds that were now using the mound as nests. Recycling at its best in nature.\u00a0 For some reason we had to buy our own dinner that evening, but as I had had awful heartburn during the three nights at the Bedouin Camp, I really didn\u2019t want much to eat and managed at last to sleep through the night.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was my turn to sit in the front of the vehicle with Jorge the next day, so when we approached the Makgadikgadi Saltpans I got the best view of the sprawl of water spread out before us. It was wonderful to see a change in scenery at last.\u00a0 When we arrived next to the massive body of water, we all climbed out of the vehicle and just stared out across the water.\u00a0 After all the scratchy dusty scrub it was a beautiful and refreshing sight to see.\u00a0 It was a shame we didn\u2019t have the day\u2019s lunch with us, it would have been so nice to sit there for our picnic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We set off to Kasane, stopping for petrol and eating hotdogs in a supermarket car park in Pandamatenga (not appropriately named as we never saw any pandas wandering around, only warthogs).\u00a0 Onions and sausages were cooked up by Jorge on a tiny camping stove.\u00a0 And while we were there, I bought two metres of a very bright and jolly fabric in a tiny shop next to the toilets; the colour just seemed to cheer me up.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We arrived at the Chobe Marina Lodge in Kasane at 3:30pm, lordy be, a shorter day!\u00a0 We didn\u2019t get a riverside room, but it was a very nice room with an indoor shower and an indoor bath, lordy be! \u00a0And, we had a great view of a crocodile and warthogs on the grass lawn in front!\u00a0 Nice!\u00a0 I wallowed in the bathtub, doing my best hippo impression, and then we wandered down to the bar to drink cocktails as the sun set over the Chobe River.\u00a0 I\u2019ll admit to having a tear in my eye with the feeling that I was back in a vague comfort zone. Dinner that evening was a spit roast lamb buffet; we were told it was lamb, but it was a darn big lamb?!!\u00a0 There was no apology drink for me, despite receiving a letter from Jenman tours regarding the police hold-up and breakdowns.\u00a0 Beer and wine only this time, so I bought my own gin and tonic and pushed the \u2018lamb to the side of the plate when I couldn\u2019t chew it.\u00a0 The vegetables were nice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

No-one stayed up after dinner, again, because we were under instructions to be ready at the front of the hotel at 5:45am for yet another safari, this time in Chobe National Park.\u00a0 It was still dark when we left and it seemed to take a while for the sun to fully rise.\u00a0 We shivered and shook under our blankets and some of us wished we had brought some snacks with us as we had set off before breakfast.\u00a0 We did get to see more of the same animals, my favourites are still watching a giraffe crossing the road and I do find the chubby helmeted guinea fowl scratching and running, around a very quirky sight.\u00a0 \u00a0We also got to see some lions; they were not very close, but Rodney was pleased that he finally gazed upon those gorgeous cats.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When we stopped for a morning cuppa under a tree in the middle of the park a little vervet monkey managed to sneak into the vehicle, creep under the seats without being spotted, and steal three packets of sugar from the open boot.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t take the tea bags or the coffee, he instantly selected the sugar; he\u2019s obviously learnt what\u2019s in the white packets.\u00a0 He sat in the tree, peeled open each packet, tipped the sugar into his mouth and threw the empty packet down.\u00a0 Not at all a good diet for a monkey, but rather funny to watch.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sadly our bad luck was still following us.\u00a0 Another break-down!!\u00a0 The driver couldn’t get today’s safari vehicle to re-start after our tea break.\u00a0 I assumed one of the other half-empty vehicles would have taken us back to Chobe, but they all gradually drifted away, and we were left standing beside our dead vehicle.\u00a0 We huddled a little closer and waited for the hotel to send out another one to rescue us.\u00a0 Breakfast finished at 9am, but when we finally got back at 10:30am we were very glad to find they had kept the kitchen open for us and we all filled our empty tummies with a darn good breakfast.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Today was the first day that gave us a bit of free time to sit by the pool, or to wander around a village, for which we were very grateful. So after the very late breakfast, we wandered down the road to stallholders for a mooch about.\u00a0 I bought another two lengths of brightly coloured fabrics and Rodney got himself a little wooden carving of a hippo, which has lovely patterns in the wood and feels so smooth in your hand.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t have long to wander, or enough time to sit by the pool, as we had to be ready at 2:45pm for a cruise down the Chobe River.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.\u00a0 It felt a lot safer than a dugout canoe, even when an elephant rose out of the water after feeding on the river grass and proceeded to wander ashore in front of us.\u00a0 We saw more hippos and crocodiles and even a water buffalo poking a crocodile with it\u2019s nose until the croc got peeved and ran off. I was waiting for it to attack, but maybe the buffalo was too big, and the croc wasn\u2019t hungry.\u00a0 Watching the sun set across the water on the Namibia side was lovely; everyone went quiet and the only sound was the clicking of camera shutters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
Spot the fish eagle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We slept well that night. Enjoyed a final enjoyable indoor shower before another big breakfast and departure at 7:30am.\u00a0 Crossing the border back into Zimbabwe was another event.\u00a0 We all had to pay another $30 US, because we had slept in Botswana and not just done a day trip.\u00a0 The advice on the multiple entry visa was duff.\u00a0 Poor Sandy and Carolyn had to pay $100 US each because Zimbabwe and Canada don\u2019t have the same agreement!\u00a0 It was all very confusing, but we all had enough money on us, and at least we weren\u2019t being held up, for up to a month, like some of the truck drivers who were queued up for miles either side of the borders.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We drove back to Victoria Falls and Jorge wanted to check that the transfer for Rodney and me to Livingstone Airport had been arranged by Jenman Tours.\u00a0 The office was closed and he couldn\u2019t raise anyone on the phone\u2026it was Africa Day, \u201ca public holiday for some people\u201d, but they obviously hadn\u2019t told him.\u00a0 We were now in the middle of a tourist town and most of us needed a wee, so Jorge checked that the restaurant next door, Mama Africa, (which we had had dinner at when we were staying in Victoria Falls the week before) would let us all troop though and use their loos.\u00a0 Thank you Mama Africa, it was much appreciated.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I was ready to get a plane home by now, but the tour still wasn\u2019t finished.\u00a0 We had to drive south now to Hwange for yet another safari.\u00a0 We stopped in the town of Hwange, a place that has one whole street full of churches of every denomination.\u00a0 We counted fifteen, but I think there were more, and it was a very curious thing to see.\u00a0 The catholic one was the biggest and the smartest.\u00a0\u00a0 At the far end of town Jorge dropped us off at a local market while he went to buy more petrol.\u00a0 We strolled around for fifteen minutes wondering what on earth most of the items were and then it was ‘back on the bus’ to drive to the Painted Dog Conservation Centre.\u00a0 It was closed.\u00a0 It\u2019s Africa Day.\u00a0 So we ate the day\u2019s picnic standing in the car park watching a large black dung beetle rolling around.\u00a0 Then it was off to Elephant\u2019s Eye Lodge near Hwange National Park.\u00a0\u00a0 It was still daylight, so it was lovely to see where we were and be able to stroll over to our tent cabin on stilts to unpack, remove the last stink bug from Camp Kwando, and have time for a G & T before dinner (pork loin for the second night in a row and the fourth time in fourteen nights).\u00a0 Annoyingly, despite another long day on the road, another night safari had been arranged after dinner. Doomy drove around in the open vehicle for 1 \u00bd hours, but we never saw anything, and everyone seemed a bit grumpy and ready for bed by the time we got back to camp.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The tented cabin was lovely, with a bathtub overlooking the waterhole where animals gathered.\u00a0 But the shower was outside again and when I stripped off to wash my hair out there mid-afternoon on our last day, the mozzies came to visit again, along with three baboons who stared up at me and looked like they were assessing the distance between the tree and me and the height of the wooden stilts and me.\u00a0 It was very unnerving and hard to wash my hair with my eyes open to keep an eye on any unwelcome visitors.\u00a0 I got bitten again. By the mozzies, not the baboons, and I was very glad when the baboons lost interest in me after a while.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was yet another early start on Saturday and we left the camp at 7:15 after breakfast.\u00a0 We drove to Hwange National Park and spent all day on the road again. We didn\u2019t see any animals until 10am and I was getting seriosly fed up. Lunch was cold meatballs with cold pasta and a cold bean salad, not a favourite of mine, but it filled a gap after such an early breakfast.\u00a0 A group of cyclists clad in lycra came past, \u2018Friends of Hwange\u2019, and they were raising money for Hwange National Park.\u00a0 They identified themselves as \u2018lesser spotted lycra peddlers\u2019\u2026hmmm\u2026.. at least they were colourful.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
Yellow beaked hornbill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We saw a female lion with two cubs under a tree, they just snoozed and twitched as the shutters madly clicked.\u00a0 But most of the animals we saw were the same as we had seen every day, apart from our first sight of a secretary bird.\u00a0 By now, the sitting in safari vehicles every day was tortuous. \u00a0We got back to our nice camp just before sunset and not wanting to stand outside in the shower, I opted for another hippo-style wallowing in the bath inside….. for fifteen whole minutes…\u2026. as the sun set over the water hole.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dinner was a delicious steak with veggies, after a rather nice frittata and followed by a lemon meringue tart. Very gourmet. \u00a0 Only negative, it was eaten in the open air, in the cold and dark again.\u00a0 After two weeks of eating outdoors, I was looking forward to eating a meal in a warm, well-lit room one day.\u00a0 In fact, I was even looking forward to eating a meal on the plane.\u00a0 Sad eh?\u00a0 Somehow that evening we all managed to stay up until 9pm and we sat by the fire pit and watch the flames shimmer and shake.\u00a0 Everyone had a really good laugh when Karen took a photo that included Jorge and our local guide, Doomy.\u00a0 When we looked at the photo, all that you could see of Jorge and Doomy was their teeth smiling in the dark. Brilliant!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Sunday morning, I decided that even if it was our last day, I could not face another trip sitting in a safari vehicle to look at animals.\u00a0 I stayed in our tent on stilts, sorted our luggage, did a bit of yoga, read my book at last and rested in daylight.\u00a0 Zebras, baboons, warthogs and impala wandered past the window and I really enjoyed having the animals visit me instead of travelling miles in a shaky vehicle to spot them somewhere else.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t made sense to me that we had booked and paid for some lovely places to stay and yet had spent or seen very little of any of them.\u00a0 They all got back before midday and Rodney confirmed that I had made the right decision; I hadn\u2019t missed anything new. We filled in our trip review forms (which took ages) and then enjoyed being able to sprawl unshaken on sun-loungers beside the pool for a little while, for the first time in weeks.\u00a0 Dinner that evening was very good again and on our last night together we all sat by the firepit and talked over the flickering flames, before Rodney and I started to say our farewells to everyone. We were the first to bed that night as we had to be first to leave in the morning.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rodney, Sharon, Laura, Daniel, Karen, Carolyn, Sandy, Jocelyn, Patrick, Kim and Peter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monday 28 May came around and Rodney and I had to be up at 5:30am. \u00a0We had our breakfast alone until Peter, Kim, Sandy, Carolyn, Sharon and Karen wandered over for last minute hugs goodbye.\u00a0 At 7am, Given (love the name) appeared and took us to a car.\u00a0 A real car, with a heater and comfy clean seats.\u00a0 Jorge waved us off and we left Elephant\u2019s Eye, Hwange to travel to Livingstone Airport.\u00a0 For the first 45 minutes we passed endless groups of children walking beside the road to their schools; a lovely sight.\u00a0 Half way to the airport, Given stopped at a petrol station so that we could use the loo.\u00a0 Bad timing.\u00a0 There were already ten Indian women in there, queuing for the one filthy toilet.\u00a0 Ah well, we all had a lovely chat about where we were all from, and where we had been, and where we were going.\u00a0 As each one of them left, I got a hug and received multiple good wishes from them.\u00a0 I came out of that filthy loo with a smile on my face and a warm and fuzzy feeling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Given took us through Victoria Falls and then through the Zimbabwe exit border. While we were waiting to be processed, I noticed a large wood and glass box with a slot on top marked \u201csuggestions\u201d.\u00a0 The box was stuffed full and piled on top was another six inches of paper \u2018suggestions\u2019.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t look like it gets checked regularly, if at all.\u00a0 My suggestion would be that someone reads all of the suggestions and perhaps acts on some of them. \u00a0But then, as Jorge always said\u2026. \u201dit\u2019s Africa\u201d.<\/p>\n

Outside Given introduced us and passed us over to Mr Gideon who took us through the Zambia entry border.\u00a0 Mr Gideon was very chatty and on the far side stopped for a view of the falls and waited while Rodney took more photos from another angle.\u00a0 When we crossed the bridge in our second comfy car, we were very glad not to be walking with our wheelie bags that day.\u00a0 The wind was in a different direction and the spray from Victoria Falls was blowing heavily across the bridge.\u00a0 You could hardly see the falls and we would have been soaked if we’d walked that day. Seems we did at least have the wind in the right direction on our first visit, thank goodness.<\/p>\n

As Mr Gideon drove through Livingstone he pointed out the larger houses with fenced gardens and told us the Indians own those. \u201cThe Indians run all the shops and petrol stations, they are very economic.\u00a0 The black people here have many wives, maybe ten or eleven.\u00a0 The Indians don\u2019t, only one. They are very sensible.\u201d\u00a0 We asked how many wives he had, but he admitted to only one.\u00a0 We arrived at Livingstone Airport around 10am and had to sit with our bags for 45 minutes until they opened the security section allowing us through to the check-in desks. When we finally got through to the main area with cafes, shops and bathrooms, we were approached by a smart young man and asked to fill in a form.\u00a0 We sat down straight away and discovered that we were being asked for our opinions and suggestions regarding the airport.\u00a0 Tricky we had only just arrived in the area that we were being asked about, so we had no opinions as yet.\u00a0 My suggestion, ask the visitors when they look like they\u2019ve already had a bit of a wander, not just as they walk in the door!!!\u00a0 It\u2019s Africa, as Jorge kept saying\u2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Highlights and lowlights of the trip?\u00a0 Well we won\u2019t go into the many lowlights, that\u2019s been well covered.\u00a0 As for the highlights\u2026..\u00a0 Victoria Falls, of course. Our first sight of Southern Giraffes crossing the road in front of us. Watching the sun setting on the Chobe River cruise.\u00a0 Laughing together at the antics of the sexist, ageist, border control bureaucrat. The flight over the Okavango Delta, although I would have preferred to have done it further north over more water. First sight of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans and the way it lifted my spirits.\u00a0 Watching Karen\u2019s and Sharon\u2019s faces lit with joy whenever they sighted elephants.\u00a0 Floating between tall papyrus and reeds in a mokoro surrounded by water lilies. And the smiles of the vendors in Kasane. Plus, of course, the very good company of our eight fellow travellers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Things we learnt along the way:\u00a0 A group of giraffes standing still is called a \u2018tower of giraffes\u2019. \u00a0A group of giraffes eating is a \u2019stretch of giraffes\u2019. A group moving is a \u2019journey of giraffes\u2019.\u00a0 And a group running is called a \u2018stride of giraffes\u2019.\u00a0 They can grow to 6 metres in height; a lot taller than me. A group of zebras is called a dazzle of zebras; love that one. And we were also told that a group of hippos is a pod and one standing alone is an iPod\u2026.boom boom!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Just before sunset on the Chobe River, Botswana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published (after) 29 May 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cEverything is under control\u201d\u00a0 Jorge Ndawa \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The flights to fly to Livingstone in Zambia were booked in October 2017.\u00a0 The \u2019Wildlife of Botswana\u2019 tour with Bench Africa was also booked.\u00a0 Exciting! We checked the flights midweek. We got the packing done.\u00a0 We got a lift to the airport in plenty of time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8102,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5819\/revisions\/8102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}