Category: 2013 Africa

The Plan

Today, enjoy your Included Scenic Enrich visit to a local village to gain an appreciation of traditional tribal life.  You will also explore the quaint town of Livingstone which is rich in heritage, and visit the Livingstone Museum.  This afternoon board your vessel for an Included sunset cruise on the Zambezi River.  FB

Some Information

The area of Chobe National Park is more than 11,000 sq km and is about the size of Jamaica.  We are in Chobe at the best time of the year when in a single day, you can see thousands of animals – elephants in unparalleled numbers, buffalo, hippo, giraffe, kudu and impala.  More than 250 species of birds are also viewable.

How the day turned out

The ‘some information’ above was for the previous day.  The two days were swapped around after the itinerary had been set.  Yes, things here are very much ‘This is Africa” (TIA).  Changes do happen.

Visiting local villages is often confronting to people as the locals do live a different lifestyle to us.  Chief Mukunis Village is not far from our accommodation but we ‘leg-over’ to get into the 4WD again and slowly down the road.  We see a guy along the way using two donkeys as his bullock team; no reins, but he does have a whip for control.

On arrival at the village, we are separated into two groups and guides take us through the village describing how they live and how their judicial system works.  We are explained their marital system and that it ‘stands the test of time’.  “Now how many wives do you have?”  Inside their cramped dwellings we see ‘used’ lounges and other “guess what I found” furniture.  The ground is very sandy and our shoes get a heavy coating of African Red soil.

On entering the market area, we are confronted by pedlars wanting to become friends before ‘forcing the sale’.  I notice a sign on the front of a bench “You are part of my business” and have a little chuckle to myself.  But what a good tagline?  Our guide tells us when we get on the bus that ‘You haven’t seen anything yet.  Wait until we get to Kenya”.

On entering the school, we are spoken to by the principal.  He mentions they have over 1,000 students.  Many of them are on holidays while the senior students are preparing for upcoming graduation exams.  A very high percentage of the students are orphans because their parents have died from Aids. We enter a classroom and are treated to a special item from the class.  The students seem to enjoy our visit as we mingle amongst them for 10 minutes or so.  English is the teaching language and subjects are similar to what is taught in Australia.  However, an important point is made around the school on signs that ‘There is NO cure for AIDS”.  Aids is very big in African countries and it is good that even elementary students are taught how this has come about.  Some gifts and money are left with the teachers.

Today is our helicopter flight over Victoria Falls.  This means we can have some spare time at the resort while small groups take their exhilarating flight over those magnificent falls.  We have a female pilot born in South Africa and does a very good job indeed.

Our cruise along the Zambezi River leaves from another resort up river.  Local musicians entertain us until our ship leaves for a lazy ‘look and see’ at crocodile and hippopotamus. We come across a herd of 6 or 7 just lazing in the water near the bank.  Everyone has their camera at the ready for the hippo yawn to happen, and we get them.  Wow! what a big mouth you have!  The blood red sunset is magnificent as people get photos for their photo albums on returning home.

Another day of short awesome experiences that will last a lifetime.  Tomorrow, we head back to Johannesburg and then on to Kenya.

The Plan

Today, we take a transfer into Botswana and enjoy a cruise around the waterways of the Chobe National Park in the morning.  After lunch, enjoy a safari along the banks of the Chobe River marshlands and see elephants, impala, giraffes, hippos and much bird life.   FB L

Some Information

Shaped by three great rivers, the Republic of Zambia lies on a high plateau of Central Africa with chains of hills rising as high as 2,100 m.  So although it lies within the tropics, its elevation tempers the high temperatures and humidity usually associated with tropical countries.  The country covers 752,620 sq km and some 11 million people including more than 70 Bantu-speaking tribes live here.  Lusaka is the capital and the main towns are Kitwe, Ndola, Kabwe and Livingstone.  Livingstone is named after the famous Scottish explorer David Livingstone who explored the areas around the Zambezi River and arrived at the stupendous cataract of “the smoke that thunders” on November 17, 1855.  Patriotically, he named the Falls after Queen Victoria.  Zambia shares the Victoria Falls with Zimbabwe, and many visitors are day-trippers coming over from the Zimbabwe side of the falls.

How the day turned out

The weather is much warmer in Livingstone compared to South Africa.  We are into shorts and summer wear, and the sunscreen is being applied.  Breakfast is at 6:30am before a bus transfer to the crossing into Botswana.  We arrive at the crossing and as was explained to us on day one, “expect the unexpected in Africa” and the ways of Africa are quite evident here.  This is a customs and immigration point and there are plenty of people milling around, just watching.  We are not too sure who the officials are, so we allow our Tour Director to do the immigration departure formalities on our behalf before boarding little boats to cross the great Zambezi River into Botswana.  At this point, there are four countries meeting at the one point – Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

Once across the river, we have to complete immigration for just the day, and individually. An interesting point is we have to step on a greasy rag to decontaminate our shoes for foot and mouth disease.  This is done out in the open and doesn’t seem to have anyone  controlling the process – you “just do it”.

At the Chobe Lodge, we board our water transport for what starts off as a relaxed routine, “this is a bird”, “this is a crocodile”, “this is a hippopotamus”.  Our guide notices quite a number of elephants up the way a bit and suggests that if we hang around we may see something fantastic.  He is right on the money.  Gradually, a whole herd of over 40 elephants gather just up from the swamp and then together, make their way towards the river’s edge.  Earlier, one “mother” elephant had tested the waters, crossed on her own, and waited around.  There are many little baby elephants amongst the group too.  Slowly, the herd start to cross the river.  It is obvious that the water depth is higher than the little elephants but the larger elephants keep them in between and they are safe.  You can see trunks poking up from the water like periscopes.  The whole herd move together as one and then slowly walked up out of the water, with some little ones staying for a short break before moving to the greener pastures.

That was a “two thumbs up” experience.  “Just amazing”.  I just felt we had witnessed a ‘sacred moment of awe’, always to be remembered.  Nature doing its own thing, guided by inbuilt wisdom and an attitude of care.  And this was just the second game reserve we are visiting out of a total of 8.  What else is in store for us?

We are running late for lunch, which has been prepared back at the Chobe Park Lodge, but the return voyage is taken up reflecting on what we had been so privileged to experience.

Our afternoon safari commences at 2:00pm and we board 4WDs in groups of 9 or 10.  Chobe Game Reserve is both swamp and African bush.  We see giraffes as we make our way to the edge of the wetlands and a bright little bird sitting high in a vegetation-bare tree.  Just after we photograph, the pretty bird flies off and the bright blue colour of it’s wings is just magic to me.

We pass many more elephants making their way towards the wetlands, for the afternoon ‘glass of water’.  A giraffe comes down too but doesn’t take on board any liquid.  It would have been nice to have filmed it spread-legged having a drink.  There are many hippopotami in the distance, grazing on the short vegetation.  A few crocodile ply the waters nearby.

Ever too soon, our safari has come to an end, and we make our way to the border again and on to Livingstone for dinner and a must sort after rest.

The Plan

Fly to Livingstone, Zambia.  Your hotel is located a short stroll from Victoria Falls, on the banks of the magnificent Zambezi River.  This afternoon see the powerful and majestic falls at close range during your Included tour of the Zambian side of one of the seven Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls.  FB D

Some Information

About twice as wide and twice as deep as Niagara, the Victoria Falls carry the mighty Zambezi River over a sheer precipice with a maximum drop of 108 m into a chasm whose width varies from 25 to 75 m and into what is known as the Boiling Pot.

How the day turned out

When you’re on tour, you need to fill the day with something to do.  So, we have yet another early start.  Our bus collects us for our transfer to the airport at 8:00am.  Moving through Johannesburg Airport can be a laborious task; with 29 people all being told to go different directions and check-in counters by ground staff, we eventually come out the other side at the departure lounge.

I was completely unaware that I had not emptied the bladder of water in my backpack.  After proceeding through Melbourne, Perth, Johannesburg and Cape Town security checks, I was held up at Johannesburg security and had to do a U-turn and empty the bladder out before being able to ‘get on the other side’.  That meant ‘re-dressing’ and walking back about 150 meters to a bathroom to do the off-loading.  Time consuming!

Our flight was just an hour and a half to Livingstone but we find, yes, we are in another country.  Things ‘work’ differently here.  But, as a group, we managed to board our bus transfers to our magnificent accommodation in just 30 minutes.  “The Royal Livingstone” is situated on the banks of the great Zambezi River, just upstream from the famous Victoria Falls.

We have a few free hours before a 15 minutes walk to view the Victoria Falls, so some take a “high tea” African hospitality style.  Man, did we get cared for.  The best china and very nice cakes and scones to go with our English Breakfast tea.  We look out over the Zambesi and can see elephants grazing just over the fence near the river.  Zebra, giraffe and impala also graze around the grounds of the hotel.

Just next to The Royal Livingstone” is another resort, “The Zambezi Sun”.  We meet there and proceed to Victoria Falls.  Another exhilarating experience!  Thunder is the sound of the water and spray flowing over these magnificent falls – I wouldn’t know how to describe the noise if it was the height of the wet season when millions more litres of water passed over the crest per minute.  We are there for sunset.

Our dinner is at “The Zambezi Sun” restaurant and we are treated to many curries and ‘on-the-spot’ stir-fry which is done using your own choice of food.  The dessert wasn’t too bad either.

Early night tonight as we have to leave here at 7:00am after breakfast for another big day.

Seniors Moment/s

We have just heard that Sid and Sharon had a very early start the other morning.  When you go to bed, it is best to make sure that your watch is lying the correct way.  Sharon looked at her watch and got Sid out of bed, packed, had a shower, and started to make their way to breakfast.  The problem was, it was only 3:45am. The watch was upside down.

As you get on board the flight from Johannesburg, you are given an immigration card for entry into Zambia.  Lyn didn’t remember where she was born and wrote her birthdate instead. Earlene was born in Australia instead of Perth.  Sisters with birth problems.

The Plan

Travel via the magnificent ‘Panorama Route’, one of the most beautiful and popular travel destinations in South Africa.  Stop at God’s Window for breathtaking vistas before continuing to Johannesburg.  FB

How the day turned out

Everyone is still in disbelief  that we have been able to be so close to such wild animals over the last few days.  It has been just an amazing experience one will never forget – and we are only one-third the way through.  No-one will forget the ROAR of the male lion last night and those who witnessed the cheetahs’ meal will forever remember how nature works.  Our guide was telling us that if humans are the cause for an animal to be injured, they will call in a vet to help, but if the animal is damaged in a fight or falls or is lamed by another animal, they let nature take its course.  Sad, but probably the best action to take.

Today is really just a transit day with a couple of stops along the way.  Last night at drinks while on safari, one of the guests returned and realised his video camera was not ‘with him’.  His guide went back along the track they had travelled just after sunset and found the camera on the ground where the drinks were had – fortunate indeed.

We take a slightly different route back to Johannesburg and visit The Potholes.  Not a deep gorge but an interesting set of grooves caused by erosion over the years.  Lunch is at a pancake restaurant – very good indeed. “I’ll have one savoury and a delicious fig and nut with ice-cream, please. “mmmmmm”.

We are staying at the D’oreal Grande Hotel which is attached to the Johannesburg Casino.  Quite plush but our room is rather small.  A re-packing exercise happens tonight down to just the one suitcase between us for our 3 nights in Livingstone at Victoria Falls.

The Plan

Experience an included early morning game drive through this amazing game reserve, which is predominantly open savannah.  Limitless game viewing is possible as your open top Land Rover traverses through this private reserve.  Tonight, an Included Scenic Enrich dinner under a starlit sky in the bush. FB L HD

Some Information

The Kruger National Park (Thorney Bush Game Reserve) is South Africa’s premier game viewing destination, home to 138 mammal species including aardvarm, buffalo, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, hippopotamus, hyena, impala, leopard, lion, rhinoceros – and so on through the alphabet all the way to zebra.  More than 100 different types of reptile are present, too.

The park extends over 19,000 sq km and has recently become the cornerstone of a much large trans-frontier park extending in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.  There are around a dozen large rest camps, most of which offer comfortable and affordable bungalows with all modern conveniences, as well as campsites, shops and restaurants.  There are in excess of 2,500km of well-maintained asphalt and dirt roads to explore this great wildlife arena.

Although the park is mainly visited for its large mammals, it is also a prime birding spot, with over 500 species recorded, of which the lively lilac-breasted roller and white-fronted bee-eater routinely delight visitors.  The park is a stronghold for several large birds – martial eagle, ground hornbill, secretary bird and kori bustard, for instance – that are increasingly rare outside protected areas.

How the day turned out

During our stay at Thorney Bush, our programme for each day starts at 5:00am so we can get out and see the animals in the early morning just beginning their day’s activities.  After a quick cuppa, we set off for ‘who knows where?’

Our guide is Charlie and his up-front tracker is Pete.  We find a lone giraffe and shoot with our cameras.  She is so graceful as she walks around chewing here and there – ah, that is the tops of the trees, I might add.  Along the way are some vultures in the high bare trees, waiting for a carcass to finish off.  “There’s a rhinoceros”, someone calls.  We venture into the scrub to take a closer look at a white rhinoceros.  They are BIG fellows indeed. Our tracker guide spots some cheetah footprints and we spend quite some time trying to work out which way they have gone.  The locals love to spot cheetah and so this is important to them.  Further along, another giraffe or, is it the first one second time around? and impala where we find a wart hog running scarred of us.

We return to the lodge for breakfast around 9:00am and have free time until the next safari at 4:00pm. Lunch is at 1:00pm and high tea at 3:30pm.  This is where I “chicken” out as another Menier’s ‘wave’ comes my way, mid afternoon, and my balance is not good for riding 4WD for the 3 hour safari this evening.  I have to rely on Lyn’s account for the PM venture.

“Another Safari awaits us at 4:00pm.  The main purpose of this Safari is to find Elephants.  After an hour and a half, we find a herd of 5.  They are eating trees as they love the material just under the bark.  They ‘bulldoze’ the trees to also eat the roots and some of the leaves.  Crushing the branches, they have an ample supply of tooth picks.  We are not afraid “not” when they come within 2 meters of our vehicle.

“We also see a jackal, giraffe, zebra, a herd of buffalo caring for a new baby about 3 or 4 days old, and many impalas.

“Happy hour in a game park is also a lot of fun as the guides treat us to wine and other drinks, and other nibbles.  Going to the loo in a game park is also very scary – “when will that leopard appear?”

“On our return to the Lodge, more drinks and warm hand towels await us before we have our evening meal under the stars.”  Thanks Lyn.

The Plan

Fly to Johannesburg. Board your coach for your journey to the Thorneybush Game Reserve, which is home of the ‘Big Five’ and a variety of other African Wildlife species.  Included this evening dine at the lodge whilst enjoying the views of  the surrounding African bushveld.  FB L HD

Some Information

Situated on a plateau at an altitude of 1,800m, Johannesburg is Southern Africa’s commercial and economic metropolis, and the focal point of what is certainly the largest urban conglomeration in Africa.  Yet, by the standards of European cities, Johannesburg is barely out of its infancy, found on an otherwise unremarkable tract of grassland in 1886, when a George Harrison found a hug nugget of gold and triggered off a rush that attracted thousands of hopeful prospectors.

How the day turned out

Today started with things NOT starting.  We load into the bus at 5:30am to be transferred to the airport for our flight to Johannesburg, and the bus refuses to start.  I think the driver is a ‘touch’ embarrassed, but we do make it to the airport early enough to catch our flight.  On our arrival at Johannesburg, the stairs will not ‘park’ properly beside the aircraft; and it is raining, so another set is located for us to use.  We wait for ‘an age’ in the baggage collection hall for the bags to ‘come around’ and the carousel refuses to move.  We must have jinxed everything in the one-day.  This has meant that our whole day is peppered with delays.

We travel 500km in a MegaCoach towards Thorneybush, a private game reserve in the well know Krueger Wildlife Park region.  Lunch is taken in a little town at Rose Cottage.  We pass down from a high elevation through gorges, towards the east coast.  There is a short 15-minute section on gravel road to the reserve entrance about an hour later than expected.

Here, our wildlife adventure begins.  5 or 6 open four-wheel-drive vehicles are ready to take us on a safari en route to the accommodation lodge.  We don’t all travel together and so some spot a giraffe, others a deer with a ‘white toilet seat’ mark on its butt (water buck). Nightfall is approaching and so is a ‘whiz-bang’ African electrical storm with sheers of lightening exploding even before our eyes.  Just as full darkness comes, we all get to view three lions lazing after devouring a ‘kill’.  When lions get a meal, they tend to absolutely gorge themselves to a state where they cannot move and so a rest is take until they can gorge some more.  And then the rain starts.  Our driver gets confused with all the trails around and we head down the track only to do a U-turn in order to get us to the Lodge; thoroughly soaked.

After instructions on ‘behavior in wildlife locations, we are escorted to our separate villas in the bush.  Wow!  Livingstone never had anything like this.  The plush villa is very comfortable and roomy with a ‘wildlife view to kill’.  We need to be accompanied by an escort, as wildlife is free to roam around the accommodation reserve – and we don’t want to use our travel insurance claim forms.

Senior Moment/s

Ladies who hang handbags on toilet rolls should be thankful that the person to follow them into the cubicle is known to them.

Wildlife Game Reserves often have ‘different’ facilities and arriving in the dark can have its problems until the morning when those problems are de-mistified.  From the bathrooms, one looks out onto an area where animals frequent – there are NO curtains.  One person (unnamed, of course) thought it best to turn off the bathroom lights was a good idea in case the animals could see her in the shower.

The Plan

This morning enjoy your included city tour of Cape Town.  Take a cable car to the top of Table Mountain for outstanding views.  Enjoy your included Free Choice Activity

Some Information

Cape Town is surrounded by attractive and fashionable beaches and is one of the most enticing cities in the world.  It was founded in 1652 by Jan Van Riebeek to provide a port where the ships of the Dutch East India Company could take on supplies on their voyage east.  At the foot of the legendary Table Mountain, with ocean waves breaking on its shores, Cape Town’s old colonial houses rub shoulders with dissying skyscrapers.

The top of Table Mountain is reached by cable car in seven minutes, but 2 hours by walking.  The summit is 1,087 meters and presents a fabulous panorama of the Cape region.

How things turned out

After another great breakfast, thanks Scenic, we do a couple of hours riding around Cape Town in a bus. The weather is still ‘inclement’ but we get through even though some folk have left their rain weather gear back at their room.  The bus takes us up Signal Hill for photos of the city looking down – it must be a beautiful sight when the skies are blue.  We have to walk to where the bus has moved to and get caught in a rain shower, so cameras are put away and great photos get missed from our photo catalogue.

For the afternoon, some have chosen to take a boat ride out to Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner during apartheid (a report of that visit will come in another day’s post), while the rest of us took a small bus tour to the ‘wine farms’ as they are called here.

We visit just two wine farms.  The top money earner for South Africa is tourism and the second earner for South Africa is wine.  So wine farms are very big here.  There are many foreign owners of the farms who are non-resident.  The wine making industry has a law that no additives, like coffee, can be added to the wine.  There is also a problem that France is declaring world copyright on many of the terms used in the industry to declare the type of wine in a bottle and so different terminologies are emerging in the industry outside France.

Although the skies are grey, we are able to see rolling hills where the many wine farms are spread out.  In the restaurant/testing area of the second farm are many, many awards on the wall.  The current one they are proud of is the best wine for South Africa 2013 awarded by South African Airways.

I guess you have all heard about the fire at Nairobi International Airport.  We are to fly in there in 9 days time so things may be interesting for us.  A friend of ours arrived at the height of the fire and was kept on the aircraft for a few hours prior to having a stamp put in their passport and a search for their baggage on the ground.  It has been said that terrorism is not involved even tho it is the 15th anniversary of the bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

Senior Moment/s

The best senior moment is when one of you made a comment and mucked up the spelling and grammar, and then to ‘fix’ it, blamed her ‘senier’ problem for the error.

Hearing is often a problem for seniors.  Instead of hearing cellar, she heard we would be ‘salad’ tasting.

The Plan

Welcome to the cosmopolitan city of Cape Town. On arrival at Cape Town airport you will be met and transferred to your luxury hotel.  Tonight, meet your Tour Director for a welcome briefing.  Three night stay:  Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront

Some Information

The Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa.  The country is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometers of coastline and has a population is 50,590,000.  11 official languages are used with many speaking more than two.  English is the common language used in public and commercial life, however Afrikaans is commonly used among the white and colored peoples.  About 80% of the South African population is of black African ancestry.  The capital of South Africa is Pretoria which is less than an hour by road from Johannesburg.

How the day turned out.

Today has been a ‘rest’ day before our meeting with our Tour Director this evening where we meet up with the folk that are not in our group but doing all or parts of the same tour as us.  The weather is ‘sh…y’ although it cleared up enough for us to walk back to the hotel from the nearby shopping centre on waterfront.

We woke soon after 3:00am local time and went to breakfast soon after 7:00am.  In all the breakfasts we have enjoyed over the past tours, this has to have had the biggest variety of all.  And because you are never sure when/if the next meal is to be ‘on-time’, you tend to enjoy a portion of each food on offer.  (Oh no!!!)

At 10:00am, we catch the shuttle across to the Waterfront precinct for some ‘retail’ therapy and to see how the locals venture out.  Some of us have mobile phone questions to be satisfied – some still have those questions to be settled.  We find a souvenir shop early on and it gets attention from both our eyes and our wallets.  The handcrafts are just different to what we have seen on previous tours; some very tribal and some are of the type that would take lots of patience and time.  There is a statute of Nelson Mandela at the entrance, covered with beaded handcrafted material and just a magnificent piece of work. Much of the artefacts are very colourful and eye catching.  The dolls are so well done and Verley has her eye on a life size one standing near Nelson Mandela.

Further on, we find a Handcrafts Market and it is great to see that none of the tags say ‘Made in China’.  Traditional Drums are around $100 each, but it is too early in the tour to cart around a large item. There is a vendor selling wood inlay work which looked like they were paintings; so intricate and delicate.  Of course, there is a abundance of handcrafted jewellery.

After a ‘take-away’ lunch in the food court we wander around the rest of the waterfront area and notice an enormous crane, in the marina.  There are many vendors plying for our attention to take a cruise around the bay region – but the weather is not too good for tourists to enjoy.  We find carved rhinoceros just the right size to take pictures of ‘adults being children’.

Prior to our evening meal, we have a meeting with our Tour Director, Di.  She flew in from Sydney to do two tours back-to-back.  She will be with us all through the tour.  However, South African law requires that only local South Africans can ‘tour guide’ in the country; we will be introduced to him in the morning.

Seniors Moment/s

Someone has left their diabetes testing strips at home.

Some people didn’t bring winter clothes – we are still in the southern hemisphere people.

People who attempt to walk through glass doors should ensure that they are opened before doing so – they are not ALL automatic.  One teacher now has a flattened nose.