We are currently in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Three days ago we met our new guides -- they are Kenyan and one is a Masai tribesman (he carries a stick and wears a Masai blanket, we're almost totally convinced that he's a superhero). We also had to say goodbye to half of our group and welcome two new group members from another trip.
Thankfully, we've been able to write a few posts and upload a bunch of pictures today, so be sure to check out the gallery. Unfortunately video uploads don't seem to be working, but I'll keep playing with it.
Zambia is our first foray into what our guides refer to the "heart of Africa." Agricultural villages have replaced towns, and thatch is the most widely used building material; though, there are anachronistic touches like cell phone sim card stores and internet cafes. Our next stop is Lake Malawi...though we will be sad to leave our current campsite, Flatdogs -- we're escorted by guards at night because elephants and hippos regularly walk through the camp. Last night we woke up to the Jabba-the-Hutt-like sound of a hippo calling to it's herd just outside our tent. Awesome.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Dr. Livingstone, I presume?
Livingstone, Zambia, which has replaced Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe as the local tourist mecca, is named for the eponymous Dr. Livingstone who is the first white man to discover the falls. Livingstone named the falls Victoria after his queen, replacing the much more colorful local name Musi-ao-Tunya, which means "the smoke that thunders." The famous quote and title of this post was supposedly uttered when one of his countrymen also traveled to Northern Rhodesia and spotted the only white guy within a 100 mile+ radius. Such a small world.
Today's Livingstone is full of opportunities to injure oneself -- from bungee jumping, to gorge swinging, from lion walks, to elephant back safaris. Never mind the highly persistent guys trying to sell you worthless 100 trillion dollar bills in defunct Zimbabwe currency. Pete and I managed to navigate all of the above dangers -- except we didn't visit the lions, we needed to leave something to make us come back!
An alternate title for this post could have been "The Post Our Parents Should Skip" -- not because both of us zip lined across a gorge and jumped off a bridge twice (bungee jump and bridge "swing"), but because the next day, after talking to many locals, we decided to head over to Vic Falls, Zimbabwe. About 15 of the 20 people in our group made the trip across the border, and 6 of us headed over early in the morning to do our elephant safari there (amazingly, it was much cheaper in Zim).
We were ferried across the border by the elephant safari operator, who also has an operation in Zambia since tourism to Vic Falls has dwindled to a relative trickle. Our transfer guide drove us over shockingly well maintained roads (apparently Vic Falls is hosting a major conference for African leaders in a few weeks) to a gorgeous lodge within national park property. After meeting our elephants, and a couple who were in training, we mounted up and went for an incredible hour long ride through the national park.
Afterward, we got to feed the elephants and then were served the best breakfast we'd had in about a month. While we ate we chatted with the Scottish owner and his Zimbabwean colleague about the state of Zimbabwe. People are hopeful, and Vic Falls has remained in a bubble thanks to tourism.
After our breakfast, we got a ride to falls, which is incredible from the Zimbabwe side. Since the water level is so high right now it 's actually impossible to see the falls through the mist on the Zambian side. We hiked around and got soaked thanks to the spray from the massive waterfall. Rainbows appear everywhere around you because there is so much water in the air, and "thunder" is the best way to describe the sound of all that water careening down.
We grabbed lunch (pizza and milkshakes, ha!) and headed for the craft market. In the market it was much more apparent that Zimbabwe is hurting thanks to the government's policies. We were the only group there, so the ratio of sellers to buyers was about 10:1. It was overwhelming to have so many people aggressively trying to gain your attention -- but we managed to drive some hard bargains and walked back across the border with some fantastic crafts. All in all, we were really glad we went across the border. We never felt unsafe and we got the chance to experience the falls at it's best.
Today's Livingstone is full of opportunities to injure oneself -- from bungee jumping, to gorge swinging, from lion walks, to elephant back safaris. Never mind the highly persistent guys trying to sell you worthless 100 trillion dollar bills in defunct Zimbabwe currency. Pete and I managed to navigate all of the above dangers -- except we didn't visit the lions, we needed to leave something to make us come back!
An alternate title for this post could have been "The Post Our Parents Should Skip" -- not because both of us zip lined across a gorge and jumped off a bridge twice (bungee jump and bridge "swing"), but because the next day, after talking to many locals, we decided to head over to Vic Falls, Zimbabwe. About 15 of the 20 people in our group made the trip across the border, and 6 of us headed over early in the morning to do our elephant safari there (amazingly, it was much cheaper in Zim).
We were ferried across the border by the elephant safari operator, who also has an operation in Zambia since tourism to Vic Falls has dwindled to a relative trickle. Our transfer guide drove us over shockingly well maintained roads (apparently Vic Falls is hosting a major conference for African leaders in a few weeks) to a gorgeous lodge within national park property. After meeting our elephants, and a couple who were in training, we mounted up and went for an incredible hour long ride through the national park.
Afterward, we got to feed the elephants and then were served the best breakfast we'd had in about a month. While we ate we chatted with the Scottish owner and his Zimbabwean colleague about the state of Zimbabwe. People are hopeful, and Vic Falls has remained in a bubble thanks to tourism.
After our breakfast, we got a ride to falls, which is incredible from the Zimbabwe side. Since the water level is so high right now it 's actually impossible to see the falls through the mist on the Zambian side. We hiked around and got soaked thanks to the spray from the massive waterfall. Rainbows appear everywhere around you because there is so much water in the air, and "thunder" is the best way to describe the sound of all that water careening down.
We grabbed lunch (pizza and milkshakes, ha!) and headed for the craft market. In the market it was much more apparent that Zimbabwe is hurting thanks to the government's policies. We were the only group there, so the ratio of sellers to buyers was about 10:1. It was overwhelming to have so many people aggressively trying to gain your attention -- but we managed to drive some hard bargains and walked back across the border with some fantastic crafts. All in all, we were really glad we went across the border. We never felt unsafe and we got the chance to experience the falls at it's best.
Crocs to the left of me, Hippos to the right...
Sorry again for the delay in posting -- transitioning from one leg of our trip to another kept us very busy...so did jumping off of bridges in Livingstone, but more on that later.
After we wound our way out of the Delta, we headed up to the Chobe River in Botswana. Our campground had been flooded only weeks earlier, and there were lion prints in the mud which was super conducive to a restful night... Nevertheless, the next morning we woke up early to do a game drive by boat up the Chobe River.
Within minutes of our captain gunning the engine, our boat had spotted both mongoose and monkeys on the coastline. I was psyched about the mongoose because of that kids' book where a mongoose kills a cobra (Ricktickitavi? I dunno, something like that). Many, many croc sightings soon followed; however, our Australian friends were unimpressed because it apparently they were not large by Aussie standards. After about a month of hanging out with Australians I've figured out that they have a whole different understanding of wildlife related danger.
About a third of the way into our cruise some suspicious "rocks" were sighted. Eventually, these rocks were confirmed to be hippos -- the Chobe is known informally as "Hippo Heaven." Luckily our boat was way too big for even the grumpiest of hippos to consider attacking, so we were able to observe without anxiety.
We also saw a whole herd of elephants cross the river using their trunks as snorkels. In short, our cruise up the Chobe was very productive. After it was over we did a 4x4 game drive to our camp for the night, which was in the middle of the bush, sans fences. Suffice it to say that we weren't allowed to go to the bathroom alone that night. Lions were honestly the least of our concerns -- Chobe has 30,000-40,000 elephants. Elephants, despite their adorable attributes, are prone to charging and running over humans.
Luckily, everyone remained in one piece and the next morning we headed across the border to Zambia.
After we wound our way out of the Delta, we headed up to the Chobe River in Botswana. Our campground had been flooded only weeks earlier, and there were lion prints in the mud which was super conducive to a restful night... Nevertheless, the next morning we woke up early to do a game drive by boat up the Chobe River.
Within minutes of our captain gunning the engine, our boat had spotted both mongoose and monkeys on the coastline. I was psyched about the mongoose because of that kids' book where a mongoose kills a cobra (Ricktickitavi? I dunno, something like that). Many, many croc sightings soon followed; however, our Australian friends were unimpressed because it apparently they were not large by Aussie standards. After about a month of hanging out with Australians I've figured out that they have a whole different understanding of wildlife related danger.
About a third of the way into our cruise some suspicious "rocks" were sighted. Eventually, these rocks were confirmed to be hippos -- the Chobe is known informally as "Hippo Heaven." Luckily our boat was way too big for even the grumpiest of hippos to consider attacking, so we were able to observe without anxiety.
We also saw a whole herd of elephants cross the river using their trunks as snorkels. In short, our cruise up the Chobe was very productive. After it was over we did a 4x4 game drive to our camp for the night, which was in the middle of the bush, sans fences. Suffice it to say that we weren't allowed to go to the bathroom alone that night. Lions were honestly the least of our concerns -- Chobe has 30,000-40,000 elephants. Elephants, despite their adorable attributes, are prone to charging and running over humans.
Luckily, everyone remained in one piece and the next morning we headed across the border to Zambia.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Who poles your mokoro?
After Etosha our standard for African wildlife was set pretty high. Luckily, we were headed towards something comepletely different -- the Okavango Delta.
Okavango is the worlds's largest delta, with seemingly neverending channels cutting through tall hippo grass, papyrus, and long reeds. Somehow, the guides who navigate those channels never get lost, and know the territory of every hippo (especially the grumpy ones).
Our entry to the delta was complicated by the devastating flooding that occured last month in the Caprivi Strip -- over 30,000 people are displaced. Though waters have subsided somewhat, our put in location was literally swamped. After ferrying across to it (we weren't allowed to walk across because of crocs -- the reptile, not the shoes for you New Yorkers), we headed out by motorboat to the town of Seronga, nestled at the top of the delta.
The next day we met up with our mokoro polers -- ours had been navigating the delta for 27 years. We immediately started cruising to our campsite on an island in the delta. Mapowa, our poler, seemed to propell our boat effortlessly. Pete and I gained a new respect for his ability when we tried it ourselves that afternoon. Pete took to it quickly, I got the hang of it by the time we were done, but bottom line, we were a far cry from being able to ferry 2 Americans and all their gear around the delta. We are, however, considering constructing our own mokoro when we get home.
Hippos are the big kahunas in the delta, and we saw a couple of them -- thankfully they kept to their territory and stayed away from our boats!
The next morning we headed to Seronga for a town tour. We visited a school run by missionaries and taught the kids the Hokey Pokey before heading out to our accomodations for the night -- a houseboat with REAL beds (wooooooooot). That afternoon we went for a scenic flight over the delta. The flight was unforgetable for two reasons:
1) Game. We saw hippos out of the water, elephants, cape buffalo (completing our big 5, which is the list of animals where a hunter's survival rate is 50/50), and a pride of lions.
2) I didn't get airsick, which means I am renewed in my ambition to get a pilot's liscence (watch out, Tennessee)
The flight was unforgettable.
The next day we headed out of the delta, bound for Chobe National Park. More on that tomorrow ;).
Okavango is the worlds's largest delta, with seemingly neverending channels cutting through tall hippo grass, papyrus, and long reeds. Somehow, the guides who navigate those channels never get lost, and know the territory of every hippo (especially the grumpy ones).
Our entry to the delta was complicated by the devastating flooding that occured last month in the Caprivi Strip -- over 30,000 people are displaced. Though waters have subsided somewhat, our put in location was literally swamped. After ferrying across to it (we weren't allowed to walk across because of crocs -- the reptile, not the shoes for you New Yorkers), we headed out by motorboat to the town of Seronga, nestled at the top of the delta.
The next day we met up with our mokoro polers -- ours had been navigating the delta for 27 years. We immediately started cruising to our campsite on an island in the delta. Mapowa, our poler, seemed to propell our boat effortlessly. Pete and I gained a new respect for his ability when we tried it ourselves that afternoon. Pete took to it quickly, I got the hang of it by the time we were done, but bottom line, we were a far cry from being able to ferry 2 Americans and all their gear around the delta. We are, however, considering constructing our own mokoro when we get home.
Hippos are the big kahunas in the delta, and we saw a couple of them -- thankfully they kept to their territory and stayed away from our boats!
The next morning we headed to Seronga for a town tour. We visited a school run by missionaries and taught the kids the Hokey Pokey before heading out to our accomodations for the night -- a houseboat with REAL beds (wooooooooot). That afternoon we went for a scenic flight over the delta. The flight was unforgetable for two reasons:
1) Game. We saw hippos out of the water, elephants, cape buffalo (completing our big 5, which is the list of animals where a hunter's survival rate is 50/50), and a pride of lions.
2) I didn't get airsick, which means I am renewed in my ambition to get a pilot's liscence (watch out, Tennessee)
The flight was unforgettable.
The next day we headed out of the delta, bound for Chobe National Park. More on that tomorrow ;).
E-T-O-S-H-A
As our truck rolled past the gates into Etosha National Park, a herd of zebras immediately crossed the road. Then, suddenly, a tower of giraffes came into view on our right hand side. Etosha is a wildlife haven.
We spent three nights in the park, and we were completely awed. At our first campsite, we wandered up to the water hole and saw a bull elephant not 5 meters away. The next day, we came across a male and female lion and were able to follow them (in our truck ;)) and watch them lounging together in the shade. We also crossed paths with rhino, cheetah, badgers, springbok, ostritch, jackals, kudu, impala, and most incredibly, leopard.
Etosha was also unbelievably modern, with restuarants and pools at every campsite. The pool was a huge highlight midday between game drives as temps reached 31 degrees C. The sites were also fenced, so we slept safely in our tents with the sound of lions calling outside. We were sad to leave.
We spent three nights in the park, and we were completely awed. At our first campsite, we wandered up to the water hole and saw a bull elephant not 5 meters away. The next day, we came across a male and female lion and were able to follow them (in our truck ;)) and watch them lounging together in the shade. We also crossed paths with rhino, cheetah, badgers, springbok, ostritch, jackals, kudu, impala, and most incredibly, leopard.
Etosha was also unbelievably modern, with restuarants and pools at every campsite. The pool was a huge highlight midday between game drives as temps reached 31 degrees C. The sites were also fenced, so we slept safely in our tents with the sound of lions calling outside. We were sad to leave.
Seals are cute, but smelly
We've almost lived up to our promise, it's been a two weeks and a day since our last post in Swakop!
I'm going to put up a couple of new posts instead of one massive one, but since the internet is slower than molasses they will be picture light. We should have a few new pictures added though.
From Swakop we headed north up the Skeleton Coast (named for all the shipwrecks that lay strewn on the beach) to Cape Cross. The cape is home to the world's largest (and smelliest) seal colony, with over 200,000 seals. When we looked out on the beach there was brown fur as far as the eye could see -- seals were everywhere, on rocks, on the beach, surfing the waves. After our group finally got overwhelmed by their charming scent, we all boarded the big orange bus headed for Spitzkoppe.
Spitzkoppe is a series of rock formations that are the remnants of an older-than-ancient volcanoe. It's also called "Africa's Matterhorn." However, there were no abominabal snowmen to be seen (haha, get it? Disneyland?...nevermind). Spitzkoppe was another totally unique and breathtaking African vista. Namibia is just unbeievable -- everyone should check out flights into Windhoek.
We slept in a cave (after our guide "asked" the aboriginal spirits if we could) after getting to hear some traditional songs from locals. In the true spirit of modern Africa, one of the singers was a 13 year old boy who's saving up to go to school to be a doctor.
Next up...Etosha!
I'm going to put up a couple of new posts instead of one massive one, but since the internet is slower than molasses they will be picture light. We should have a few new pictures added though.
From Swakop we headed north up the Skeleton Coast (named for all the shipwrecks that lay strewn on the beach) to Cape Cross. The cape is home to the world's largest (and smelliest) seal colony, with over 200,000 seals. When we looked out on the beach there was brown fur as far as the eye could see -- seals were everywhere, on rocks, on the beach, surfing the waves. After our group finally got overwhelmed by their charming scent, we all boarded the big orange bus headed for Spitzkoppe.
Spitzkoppe is a series of rock formations that are the remnants of an older-than-ancient volcanoe. It's also called "Africa's Matterhorn." However, there were no abominabal snowmen to be seen (haha, get it? Disneyland?...nevermind). Spitzkoppe was another totally unique and breathtaking African vista. Namibia is just unbeievable -- everyone should check out flights into Windhoek.
We slept in a cave (after our guide "asked" the aboriginal spirits if we could) after getting to hear some traditional songs from locals. In the true spirit of modern Africa, one of the singers was a 13 year old boy who's saving up to go to school to be a doctor.
Next up...Etosha!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
5 Days in 14 Mins
Time is ticking away at the internet cafe, here are some bullets of the past 5 days:
-We went from pavement to dirt roads -- nothing like waking up from a nap airborne thanks to a particularly vigorous jostle.
-Mmmmmmmmmm Savannah Dry Cider and Windhoek beer
-NAMIBIA
-Sunrise from Sossusvlei -- barefoot at the top of a sand dune. Incredible.
-Zebras, Oryx, Ostriches, Jackals, Giraffe, Springbok, Camel
-Myriad dry river beds
-Cobwebs of canyons
-Camping in the middle of meercat manor
-Maize/pop mash, ostrich burgers, and chocolate cake (one of our fellow travelers had a b-day)
-Crossed the Tropic of Capricorn
-Quad biking the sand dunes
-Horseback riding the desert
-Knocking through books
-Having and INCREDIBLE time with fantastic people
See pics and videos for details :).
We're headed up to Etosha National Park and Zambia -- we should be back online and posting in about 2 weeks!
We're alive . . . in Swakopmund, Namibia
Hola! Sorry for the absence of blog posts. This is the first Internet connection we have found in the last 8 days. And now for the update . . .
We did not climb Table Mountain because of bad weather but instead spent the day relocating hotels, touring Cape Town and returning our rental car. We met our group that evening for dinner. Our group is 20 people total (2 Canadians, 1 Brit, 12 Aussies, 1 Kiwi, 2 Irish and us). We enjoyed a meet and greet dinner before heading to bed for an early wake-up. The next day we piled into our overlanding truck and went to the District 6 Museum. In the 1950's and 1960's, South Africa bulldozed black neighborhoods and relocated thousands of individuals (without warning or compensation)in an effort to segregate the country. We toured Langa Township in the afternoon, one of the relocation regions to see how many of the citizens live today and learn about the consequences of the government's actions. Very moving.
We headed North and slept in a vineyard in Cederburg that night.
We enjoyed a wine tasting after dinner at Highlanders and crawled into our heavy canvas tents for our first night of camping. the next morning we continued north towards the Namibian Border. During our drive, we saw Springbok and ostriches. Very cool. We camped on the banks of the Orange river which serves as the border with Namibia. After confirming no crocs or water snakes were in the river, we enjoyed a swim! The following morning we crossed the border which was surprisingly easy and continued our trek towards Fish River Canyon. We arrived just in time for an awesome sunset hike along the second longest canyon in the world.
We did not climb Table Mountain because of bad weather but instead spent the day relocating hotels, touring Cape Town and returning our rental car. We met our group that evening for dinner. Our group is 20 people total (2 Canadians, 1 Brit, 12 Aussies, 1 Kiwi, 2 Irish and us). We enjoyed a meet and greet dinner before heading to bed for an early wake-up. The next day we piled into our overlanding truck and went to the District 6 Museum. In the 1950's and 1960's, South Africa bulldozed black neighborhoods and relocated thousands of individuals (without warning or compensation)in an effort to segregate the country. We toured Langa Township in the afternoon, one of the relocation regions to see how many of the citizens live today and learn about the consequences of the government's actions. Very moving.
We headed North and slept in a vineyard in Cederburg that night.
We enjoyed a wine tasting after dinner at Highlanders and crawled into our heavy canvas tents for our first night of camping. the next morning we continued north towards the Namibian Border. During our drive, we saw Springbok and ostriches. Very cool. We camped on the banks of the Orange river which serves as the border with Namibia. After confirming no crocs or water snakes were in the river, we enjoyed a swim! The following morning we crossed the border which was surprisingly easy and continued our trek towards Fish River Canyon. We arrived just in time for an awesome sunset hike along the second longest canyon in the world.
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