Summer in Africa 2013: Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana

Our transition out of South Africa and into Zambia started off a bit tense.  We arranged for a 3am departure from the lodge to the Durban airport, some 3 hours away.  We actually wanted to leave at 2:30 just to play it safe, but after shivering in the cold until 3:30 wondering if we were forgotten, our driver pulled up assuring us that we would get there on time.  I believed him though I was watching the clock closely and noted that as long as all went well, we would arrive at the airport at 6:30, just 30 minutes before takeoff.  You can imagine our horror when the driver pulled off the highway just 15 minutes from the airport to fill up the very not empty tank.  Our disbelief had to be visible on our faces as our eyes followed him into the store only to stand in front of the drink aisle making what appeared to be an important soft drink decision.  Despite our interpretation of this behavior as severely lacking in the time management department, we nevertheless made it to the airport at 6:37.  Luckily, printing  boarding tickets and security took only a few minutes and we were to our gate before they closed.  

Overall, the game safari at Zulu Nyala went really well.  We met some really nice folks and I, for one, learned quite a bit about the flora and fauna of the region.  At the same time, I am feeling a bit antsy to get moving again.  The game lodge was somewhat closed in and there wasn't much of an opportunity to get some exercise.  The activities were great, but they invariably had me sitting  for the vast majority of the time and combine that with the 3 meals per day and I felt myself getting lethargic.  I usually just eat one big meal per day and because of that, all other forms of caloric intake are based solely upon an opportunistic basis.  Here, there are three buffets per day and my inability to pace myself, judge appropriate portion sizes, and make quality food choices in this system was apparent.  Despite a cognitive recognition of this behavior going on, I was simply unable pass up a chocolate piece of cake if there was one there.  Nor could I pass up the pudding, or really any other treat for that matter.  Opportunistic eaters eat when there is an opportunity, and here, opportunity prevailed.

We arrived in Livingstone via Johannesburg and hopped off the plane in the old fashioned style by simply walking down the stairs and across the tarmac.  Inside, we were granted a multiple entry visa, which was good because we were only expecting a double for $80, and we walked outside to see a guy with a placard with my name on it.  The man holding the sign was a driver for the hostel Jollyboys, which we would call home for the next four nights.  

Jollyboys has a great reputation and they certainly lived up to it.  There were lots of different people here, young and old, and much to our enjoyment, people from many different countries.  We quickly settled into our dorms and signed up for a game drive at Chobe National Park.  It may seem strange that we spend 5 days doing game drives and en immediately sign up for another, but we had several reasons.  For starters, I need to see a lion before I leave and Chobe has lions.  In addition,  Chobe is located across the border in Botswana, and for your passport stamp collecting nut, you don't pass up a chance to see another country when it is that close.  In fact, when we boarded a little boat to cross the river, our guide pointed in four different directions showing us how this was the spot where Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia all come together.  

Once in Chobe, we did two different excursions.  The first was a boat cruise where we caught sight of crocodile, monitor lizards, hippo, elephant, and tons of birds.  The second was a game drive in a 4x4 where we encountered dozens of other elephants, kudu, impala, buffalo, hippos, and giraffe.  The best part was when we took a break and got a off the truck near the river.  The scene that unfolded before us was straight out of a biology textbook where they conveniently place all the animals living in harmony along he river delta.  Turns out they weren't just trying save space.  I tried to take a few pics that showed several animals all at once, but when I look at them, they seem insufficient.  Of course, the one animal that can cause this scene to disband in several different directions at once, the lion, wasn't spotted.  I guess this just means my three days in Nairobi might involve some more game drives!

The game drive was quite fun, but we returned with more than just good pics.  While we didn't make friends with the family of the kid that threw up several times on the way to the drive, we did with a couple from Germany named Ulf and Anke.  We also met Sophia, who along with the German couple satisfied Clark's German speaking bug.  Sophia, in addition to speaking English, German, and Greek, was also able to shed light on all the Australian slang words I didn't know from a tv show called "Summer Heights High." It was with these people that we spent the next few days with doing various activities around Livingstone, and it was a good reminder that the most colorful aspect about traveling is the people you meet.

We visited the Livingstone museum, took a sunset boat cruise along the Zambezi, visited various curio shops, and said no to countless offers of copper bracelets on the streets, but most visitors to Livingstone come for the falls.  And this is not just any falls, but Victoria Falls.  Whiles others were ziplining through the gorge or bungee jumping off the bridge 100 meters to the river below (yes, it was scary looking), I was content with just looking at the falls.  The problem is that you can't see all the falls at once.  At one point I was taking pictures of the falls and noted that what I was looking at, and really could truly only see at that moment, was a section called the Eastern Cataracts.  The rest of the falls continued for another 1.5 kilometers.  It was crazy.  And crazy beautiful.  Another section of trail descended to the river below and I was anxious to get some blood flow to my trail legs.  We saw several signs on the way down warning us of baboons and it was on the way back up we found out why.  We came across a terrified group of people frantically trying to decide how to react to a fairly scary looking male baboon who had just walked up behind one of the women and yanked her bag from her.  He was sitting up on  a bank above the trail busy going through the bag looking as though this wasn't his first time inspecting the contents of a backpack.  Apparently he was unsatisfied with the bounty and made his way back towards the group with lightning speed and leapt up on a bench amongst them.  I think it was the reaction of the older lady that really scared me, but my heart was pounding a bit when I made a quick move towards him and he submitted a bit and backed off.  I was really hesitant at first because those things have really big teeth, super strong limbs, and otherwise should be able to deal me some heavy damage in no short time, but it became apparent that he responded to males moving towards him and identified females as the ones that bags are easily taken from.  I made him move down the trail a bit which allowed the others to move back up the trail.  There was a female baboon with a really young baby with her at the same spot so while I stood between the male and the trail heading up, I took advantage of the opportunity to take some close photos.  Although my heart was still pounding a bit from the close encounter, we had a good laugh about it back at the top.  

Livingstone and Zambia in general has given us a good time.  We met several Zambians who were keen on late night political discussions, history of the United States, and Zambian history.  Zambians by and large are super friendly, very engaging and willing to let you try your hand at any of their 72 different dialects spoken in the nation. Whenever we seem to leave the store, the backpackers hostel, the bus, the same question gets thrown back at you. "When are you coming back?"

"As soon a I can!" I say, and I secretly wonder if I telling my self the truth.

We bade farewell to Jollyboys but more specifically to our travel the Group of Ulf, Anke, and Sophia.  We especially want to acknowledge the Scottish women from the boat cruise.  They kept us entertained  without fail for the evening. And a bit past when we were trying to get some sleep, but no harm done.  That's the nature of shared lodging.  You get up close encounters with lots of other travelers which can lead to great opportunities, but you can also have up close encounters with lots of other travelers who in turn deprive you of sleep, make you paranoid that your stuff will be stolen, and still act as though they are children who recently discovered the frayed end of the parental rope.

All in all, Zambia has been a blast.  We took a 6 hour buried north to the capital of Lusaka where we found a mall to kill time in while we waited to get a taxi for the airport.  We leave shortly after midnight so we killed two hours by watching White House Down.  Jesus.  That's all I will say.  If you know me personally, 

You will hopefully be able to figure out whether I just gave it a thumbs up or not. Regardless, two hours were done with so we cause a cab and we are now at out gate awaiting the boarding of the overnight flight to Nairobi and then a connection to Kigali, the capital off Rwanda.

This looks like a long entry which means under no circumstances will I look it over for any errors.  My eyes are starting to droop a bit.  Perhaps this will be the first time ever I can sleep one a plane.  Wish me luck!  We will be in Kigali by 8am.