Africa – The Adventures of Bill & Nancy

SERENGETI

As I mentioned in the intro, we crossed into Tanzania to get to the Serengeti and changed guides. Our guide in the Serengeti went by the name Wazeri and was equally as interesting as our first guide. He even had WiFi available in his truck as well as cold water, snacks, and fly swatters (Tsi Tsi Flies). So, here we are in the Serengeti. Quite different as there far fewer animals and the park rangers had been burning off thousands of acres of grass so the new grass could grow better. Here we go (Hope you are not getting bored with pictures of animals yet!) Of interest along the way …. When we first arrived in Tanzania we drove along a big lake and past several villages … then we got to the Serengeti Park. As we were leaving The Serengeti going to the Ngorongoro Crater we past two interesting points. One was a Hill where they had some information about the Serengeti and the other was a Museum where, in the 70’s, Archeologists discovered some very early human tracks. All interesting and all described.

The Serengeti was beautiful but the lack of game due to the migration, the burning, and flies was distracting. The place we stayed was very nice and we enjoyed it immensely. We left happy knowing we had seem both where the migration was and was not. Interesting aspects of this vast region.

VICTORIA FALLS

WIKIPEDIA: While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls is classified as the largest, based on its combined width of 1,708 metres (5,604 ft) and height of 108 metres (354 ft), resulting in the world’s largest sheet of falling water. Victoria Falls is roughly twice the height of North America’s Niagara Falls and well over twice the width of its Horseshoe Falls. In height and width Victoria Falls is rivalled only by Argentina and Brazil’s Iguazu Falls.

This was the next stop and our first “Non-Safari” part of the trip since we left Nairobi. We flew into Zambia and were driven to The Royal Livingstone Hotel which sits right on the edge of the Zambezi River and the top of Victoria Falls. We got there during a relatively dry part of the season so the Falls were not at the fullest. This was good because when they are you can barely see the falls for all the spray and mist it produces and you need to wear rain gear to go anywhere near it. As it was there was all the water, mist, thunder, and majesty you needed to see just how big Victoria Falls is. One of the evenings we were there we were treated to a ride on the Zambezi on the AFRICAN QUEEN, a local replica of a Paddle boat. It was a pleasant evening with abundant wildlife along the shores and a mild breeze to compliment the sunset. We had met two people earlier on our tour, J.D. and Julie, both from Santa Fe, so we shared the evening with them. They were doing essentially the same tour we were with Kensington so we had the pleasure of meeting up with them frequently at different stops … both very nice people to spend time with. Wildlife roamed freely around the hotel so it was not unusual to bump into a Zebra or an Ostrich while walking to your room. One of the features of the hotel was that during the low flow season you could walk out to nearly the center of the Falls, at the top, where you could swim in the ultimate infinity pool right on the edge of the drop (see Pictures). We found the Zambia side of the Falls to be difficult to tour so we told our guide we wanted to see the other side in Zimbabwe. He was hesitant as this would require a border crossing and he would have relinquish his job to a guide from Zimbabwe. We persevered and did the border crossing and picked up a new guide. The Zimbabwe side is definitely more impressive.

Pretty spectacular!! Timing is quite important visiting these places so make sure you know what you want to see and go there at the right time to see it. A long way to travel to be disappointed. From the falls we proceeded farther into Zambia along the river and ended up in a wonderful lodge near the Chobe National Reserve.

THE CHOBE

Coming down the Zambezi we ended up in a lodge on the edge of the Chobe National Park, close to the Namibian Border. That skinny sliver above the Chobe is part of Namibia, it is separated by the the jagged line which is the Zambezi River.

The Lodge is owned by an older English Couple and managed by a Gentleman and his wife who have lived in Africa for much of their life. The owner was there and this lodge had a tradition that everyone had their meals in one great room in one sitting. It certainly promoted fellowship and we met a number of interesting people. There were two couples there from the Midwest (Ohio or Indiana) and a couple or two from Europe. This was the only place where we did not have a private tour. To reduce the number of vehicles driving around the Chobe does not permit small groups . Consequently, there were 8 to 10 of us in the vehicle most of the time. The seats were tiered so everyone always had a good view. We enjoyed our group … they were all about our age and were easy to get along with. By This time we were getting a little animaled out so the tour had to be especially interesting to keep our attention. It was! We Flew to a city not to far from our lodge, drove a ways, then took a boat, then a short drive and we were there. Let’s check out the Chobe:

We finished up in The Chobe, said “good bye” to all our new friends and departed for our trip to South Africa and Cape Town. We did every kind of transport but trains on this trip and Kensington set it all up. We were always met, escorted, expedited, and had very nice transportation and accommodations. Everyone we met that was affiliated with Kensington was professional, polite, and extremely competent. No hassles, no arguments, just delivery. It made the trip so much more stress free and enjoyable.

NAIROBI

Our flight to Africa landed in Nairobi, Capitol of Kenya, where we stayed at the Crown Plaza in an upscale part of town. We were picked up by a Kensington Driver, taken to our hotel, checked in, were briefed about our next 12 hours and started towards our room. It was late, we were tired, but there was this bar along the way so we decided to try the local brew. The bar was closing but the friendly bar agreed we could have a beer, so we enjoyed our first beer in Africa. The next morning we got up, had breakfast and were met by a Kensington Planner who briefed us on our upcoming activities for the day, which included the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Shelter, and the next day when we would be picked, up by our Safari Guide and taken to the Maisai Mara.

Soon we were off to see the Elephant Orphanage. This orphanage takes in baby elephants who lost their Mother one way or another (Hunters, accidents, predators) or, quite often, fell into holes or wells and were not able to get out or be pulled out by their mother. They are brought to the orphanage and taken care of until they are about two years old. Then they are taken to an elephant Reserve where they have the opportunity to join an elephant family. They are cute little buggers and the people who care for them are very conscientious. The Elephant Orphanage:

We were so impressed with the work the people did there we adopted one of the elephants for our two Granddaughters. When you adopt you get a picture of your orphan, its history, and monthly updates regarding its life in the orphanage and eventually its transition to the wild. One of the best benefits to adopting was that you got to come back in the evening for bedtime activities … so we did. We returned later in the day for bedtime.

So, between the morning feeding and the evening bedtime with the elephants we went to visit the Giraffes. This is more of a shelter and zoo than an orphanage and most of the animals had been there for some time.

And … no trip would be worth while if there was not some SHOPPING included!

We ended our day at an interesting restaurant named “The Carnivore”. You have a seat, they bring your sides, then every couple minutes a guy comes by with a large chunk of some kind of meat and slices off some for you if you want. Every kind, inside and outside, you can imagine. You can say yes, more, or no thank you and they just keep coming by until you raise a little flag at your table, they know you are finished, and you get desert. Quite interesting and quite good … but not pictures.

Interesting City and many interesting things to see. As with so many of the developing countries you have such a diverse contrast between the modern and the natural or original. Progress is slow and in many places painful. We saw people carrying water to their homes from miles away. Our Guide said the schools that were most successful were the boarding schools because people would not send their children each day and the trek would be too far … so boarding there had the students present every day and undistracted.

AFRICA – AUGUST 2015

This was a trip of a lifetime. Nancy and I had talked of going to Africa on a Safari like trip for years … now we went. As I discussed earlier, we are not into big tours or big cities so we wanted to do this, more or less on our own, but with help. We booked our trip through Kensington Tours (you can find them on the internet) with the help of a couple of their travel experts.

Rather than load all the pictures and narrative into one post I am going to split this trip up into several portions. I think that will allow them to load easier and faster and be easier to read. There will be pictures and more narrative in each of the subsections. It is difficult to comprehend how big Africa really is so I present this map, in which everything is to the same scale, as an aid to help understand.

Africa on Scale … Big as The U.S., China, India, and Most of Europe all Put Together!!

Our trip took us from our home in Florida to Nairobi, Kenya via France. From Nairobi we traveled by a Safari Vehicle out into the Maisai Mara which can best be described as a huge grassland area somewhat like our Great Plains in the Western U.S.

From the Maisai Mara in Kenya we crossed into Tanzania which hosts the Serengeti (which more people are familiar with). After saying Good-Bye to our Guide from Kenya, we processed through the border and entered Tanzania we met our Serengeti Guide. Each country licenses its own guides and to keep their people employed, they do not allow guides from other countries to work in theirs. Consequently, even with the same company, we switched guides. This was not bad thing and both guides were excellent. They did offer different ideas, opinions, beliefs, and stories so we enjoyed them all.

From Tanzania we flew, over Mount Kilimanjaro, to Zimbabwe where checked into the Royal Livingstone Hotel by Victoria Falls. We spent two days in Zimbabwe and Zambia touring the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls and traveled down river to Botswana and spent several days touring the Chobe National Reserve. While there we also crossed briefly into Namibia.

The Maisai Mara, The Serengeti, and The Chobe all were incredibly populated with animals. No cages, no bars, no barriers, they were just there, right in front of you … living, hunting, playing, killing, sleeping … it was incredible. From Botswana we flew to Cape Town, South Africa to end our Safari trip to Africa. We spent several days in Cape town and then flew out to Johannesburg and connected to a direct flight to Atlanta and home.

So now you have the outline of our trip. Please select Nairobi, The Maisai Mara, The Serengeti, Victoria Falls, Chobe National Reserve, and Cape Town posts to get the details and see the pictures. Thanks.

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Tag: Africa

SERENGETI

VICTORIA FALLS

THE CHOBE

NAIROBI

AFRICA – AUGUST 2015

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