AFRICAN TRAVELS (Part II)

Carrying on from the last blog, due to problems at Johannesburg Airport, Tim, Jo and Shula arrived with is in Livingstone a day later than expected but that just meant we started the trip immediately instead of enjoying a day beside the Zambezi. Jan and I along with Sarah had already stocked up of supplies so when met the newcomers at the border it was an immediate left turn to go and view the Victoria Falls. This was Tim, Jo and Shula’s first sighting of this “wonder of the natural world” During August through until December the Falls are at their lowest and this year they seem to be even drier. With the lack of rainfall a lot of the Zambian side is now just rock but it still looks spectacular. The Zambian side are better viewed in the late afternoon as the setting sun shines through the mist and spray making a glorious orange glow. 

Victoria Falls in the Sunset

A photo taken from my new drone over Victoria falls

Once the sun had set it was of for the obligatory sundowner (first of many) and dinner at Olgas in Livingstone. Once back at the camp beside the Zambezi it was a quick demo of the roof top tents, sort out supplies between the two cars then of to bed as it was a really long drive the next day.

Day two saw us drive up from Livingstone towards Lusaka in Zambia but turning of just prior and taking the road to Lower Zambezi and Lake Kariba. The stop here was on the shores of the lake at Eagles Rest Camp in Siavonga. From there is was just a short  trip the next day to Kariba Dam and crossing back into Zimbabwe. This was a first for all of us really as none of us had been to Zimbabwe before apart from Victoria Falls. Once all the border paperwork was completed (always a huge hassle) it was to the small harbour in Kariba itself where we were leaving both cars and taking a boat to Rhino Safari Lodge further down the lake in Matusadona National Park. 

On the boat out to Rhino Lodge

The lodge was amazing nd here we spent 2 nights. The food was superb as we the owners and our guide for the next two days, Steve. Lots of wildlife everywhere especially elephants who always seemed to be in the camp. We tracked leopard of foot with Steve but sadly did not spot any, in fact we did not see any predators at all.

This croc was by the plunge pool but quite harmless

sitting around the evening fire

Out for a walk with Steve the Guide

Under the Baobab Tree

This elephant leg bone is almost as big as Shula and Jan

Shula riding the jump seat on a game drive

Tracking a leopard, the gun is solely for protection

Sunset over Lake Kariba

Goliath Heron

Malachite Kingfisher

The day we left started with an early drive but the wind started getting up. We delayed the hours boat trip back until around 11 but had to leave as we had quite a long drive to our next desination Mana Pools. We had preordered some frozen meat (Sarah and I are carnivores with the other four being veggies) and fresh vegetables to collect in Kariba and these were ready. It was then a few hours drive to the gates at Mana Pools which you had to get to before 3.00pm. We made it with about 30 mins to spare then it is another 2 hours or more along a really bumpy track to the camp. Here we had 3 nights but again no cats but we did see the Wild Dogs. Elephants are everywhere and continually walking in the Camp. Shula was impressed on the first night when a hippo came out of the water just a few feet away from where we were sitting having dinner. The journey out was made a little more interesting when a pair of wild dogs accompanied us along the track for 10 kilometres of so.

Happy Hippo and friends

Beautiful Lilac Breasted Roller

Elephant reaching for high branches

First sight of the wild dogs

enjoying the sun

open Wide

Wild Dogs running beside the car

Marabou Stork

After Mana Pools it was another long drive along a dirt road to Chisarira National Park. First stop was a fuel station to get diesel then several hours of dusty bumpy road to get to our camp site of Muchenie View. This has to be one of the most spectacular camps Jan and I had ever been to. The camp site is perched on a ledge high above the plains below. It has a vertical drop as the edge so walking about at night after to many sundowners has its risks. Although animals are about we saw very few here but you stay for the view.

Mucheni View Camp in Matusadona

Sarah enjoying the view

The next and final park we were going to was Hwange National Park which is a huge park on the western side of Zimbabwe bordering Botswana. The drive from Chizarira was another quite long day broken up with stopping to change a flat tyre on our car just before we finished the end of the rough road, getting stopped at a police roadblock and having both vehicles fined for various infringements that are just made up and stopping in Hwange Town for supplies and a new tyre and finding out that we cannot get any cash as all international debit cards are blocked from using ATMs at the moment.

Hwange National Park was to be our home for the next 5 nights and the first couple were spent at a beautiful camp site of Deteema Dam. 

Another gin bottle bites the dust

life is hard in the bush

Deteema Dam

A lot of the sites in the park are called picnic sites and during the day they are open to anyone stop at as they have toilets, showers, firepits and Boma shelters but at sundown they are the exclusive use of one group of campers. Deteema Dam overlooked a waterhole and was superb. Enoch was our host here and he supplied the wood for the fire and looked after the site. The other placwes we stopped were Jimbili for one night and the host Simon then Kennedy with the great Vincent who had fantastic knowledge as well as making sure all our washing up was done and the place cleaned. We had heard that due to the political situation in Zimbabwe and the serious lack of money these guys have not been paid for a while. They live a lonely life out in the bush and seem to rely on campers giving them things at the moment.

In Hwange we managed at last to find cats. At one of the waterholes we fould a pride of 12 or 13 with a fresh kill one morning. Surprisingly the kill was an elephant. 

Lions at the elephant kill

Taken from the Drone above the kill

We also found another four at another waterhole and managed very close up views. Early on in the trip a battery bracket on Tim’s hire car had snapped and had shorted the battery. Although it worked with the engine running once we had lashed the battery down, it had stopped the battery holding any charge. We always had to jump start the car so after seeing these lions close up it was then time to get the two cars close together and one of us to get out and put the jump leads across.

Now what is the problem here

Jump starting the car with lion around

At Jimbili like at many of the other sites I had been putting a trail camera out at night to see what came around the tents. When I went to retrieve it the next morning it had gone. The strap locking it to the tree was there but no camera. After a bit of searching it was found, destroyed and the culprit was on camera as the memory card was still intact. A Hyena, of which we had seen many at pulled it from the tree and chewed it. Oh well more expense!!

My Trail camera after the hyena had finished

Kennedy was our final stop in the wild and it was a bit sad that we had not managed to find any Cheetah or Leopard.

Our last morning in the bush

The final stop on this part of the trip was back at Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean side. Here we stayed at a Lokuthula Lodge so Tim’s car could be returned. It was also time to go and see the Falls from the more spectacular Zimbabwean side. More water flows on this side so it is good to compare.

Victoria Falls from Zimbabwe

On the final morning it was sad to see Sarah, Tim, Jo and Shula leave on the courtesy bus back to Victoria Falls Airport and the flights back to UK. 

Jan and Sarah drumming at Victoria Falls

The team at the final goodbye in Victoria Falls

It had been a really great trip round part of a wonderful country and fantastic people. It is such a pity that the country is in political turmoil. Jan and I now had to decide whether to stay in Zimbabwe and travel south to see Great Zimbabwe and the Eastern Highlands of do something else.

Read the next instalment due out ……….L