Zim-Zam-Bot - Part 3

The next adventure I went on was on a safari through Chobe National Park in Botswana. We woke up early to take a bus to the border. On the way to the border we saw a giraffe very close to the road. I thought that was a good sign we would be seeing lots of animals!

We had to take a boat to cross the river to get to Botswana. From this point you could see four different countries – Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. They are currently in the process of building a bridge, but must wait for the river waters to recede before they are able to begin. They have ferries that transport people, cars, and large trucks. But the ferry can only hold one lorry (18-wheeler) at a time, so there are 50+ lorries waiting in line to go across the river. We were told that it can take up to a month to get across at times.

The first part of the safari was on a boat. We rode along the shoreline looking for animals. We saw many birds, crocodiles, water lizards, hippos, elephants, impalas, baboons, and other monkeys from the boat.

After the boat ride we went back to the main building and had a delicious buffet lunch. Then after lunch we headed into the park to drive around looking for more animals. We started off by seeing some warthogs (Pumba!), impala and a water buffalo. The impalas we saw were in a bachelor herd/colony because with impalas there is one male with all the females. Once another male becomes stronger, he will fight with the male that is with the females and try to take over the lead. Later during the drive we saw the main male guy with all the females. He was herding the females together because another male was coming into his territory!

My favorite was seeing all the elephants. I love elephants and it was amazing to see so many in their natural habitat. There were quite a few babies which was fun to see.

We also saw giraffes and lions. The lions were in the shade resting, so it was difficult to see them clearly, but amazing all the same.

This was one of my favorite days seeing all the animals. Being in the South in Namibia, I don’t see many wild animals and it was great to now say I have!

Zim-Zam-Bot - Part 2

The hostel where we stayed had many different activities you can book. I decided to go on the Lion Encounter where you get to walk with cubs and adolescent lions. When we arrived at the site, we were shown a video on the lion project that this excursion helps fund. This project has four different stages. The first stage takes lions as cubs and protects them until they are mature enough to start learning how to hunt. This is the stage where they go on walks with people. The second stage is where they have to learn to hunt on their own. In this stage, they are in a sheltered environment with no competition for their meals. Also at this stage, human contact is cut off. In the third stage, the lions are released into a larger area (about 10,000 acres) where they still have to hunt on their own, but now with competitors such as hyenas. During the third stage they are monitored to make sure they are able to survive on their own in the wild and to ensure they are bonding with their pride. They must also reach sexual maturity during this stage. The fourth and final stage is when they are released completely into the wild. All lions do have microchips so that they can be tracked in the wild.

After the video we were given some rules on how to behave close to the lions. The lions are not trained in any way and are still wild animals, even though they are more used to humans because of the daily walks. We each were given a walking stick to use if the lions started to approach us to distract them. We were also told to stay behind the animals and to stay in the group – to not look like vulnerable prey.

Our group met Bisa and Bemba two 18 month old female lions. You can tell that they are still young lions because they haven’t lost all of their spots.

We were given a chance to pet them as they were laying there and it was crazy kneeling behind a cat this big! But very, very cool.

I also got to be one of the ones to walk beside the lions.

The walk lasted about an hour and we just followed the cats as they made their own path. They have a mind of their own and would just decide to lay down at times to rest. Eventually they would get back up and join the rest of us. It was a cool experience, but was a little pricey for the hour we spent with the lions. But at least the proceeds go to the project to help repopulate lions in the area.

We walked with the lions early in the morning and I was back to the hostel before the 10am shuttle to the falls, so I decided to go back to the falls, but to see the Zimbabwe side.

I went with three other volunteers, Quinn, Rob, and Sam. I’m really glad that I went with this group because the reactions of both Rob and Sam were priceless. They had not yet seen the falls and their enthusiasm and excitement were intoxicating. Also on this side of the falls, you get completely soaked with the mist. But you are able to see a little more when the wind cooperates and moves the mist aside for a moment. Because of all the rain, I wasn’t able to get too many pictures.

At the end of the trail, you can walk out onto some rocks and just let the mist soak you. As we were walking away, I looked back and the wind moved the mist enough for me to watch a whole tree go over the falls! Roots and all! These are some really powerful falls. I love waterfalls, so I would have loved to be able to see more of them without the mist, but the mist is what made part of the experience. I would like to try to go back during the dry season to see the difference. One thing that is so interesting about the park is that the only barriers between you and the drop off the cliff are natural shrubs. It’s nice to not have too much man made obstructions when you are seeing such natural beauty.

After a full day of exploring, I had a nice family style Chinese dinner with Rachel, Lindsey and Stephanie. A good way to end the day.

Zim-Zam-Bot - Part 1

What a wonderful holiday! Full of adventure and site seeing. My holiday began by taking an almost 24 hr bus ride from Windhoek, Namibia to Livingstone, Zambia. It was long, but nice to just sleep while traveling. After we arrived in Livingstone, we had a short walk to our hostel Jollyboys. This was my first hostel experience and this place was NICE! It had a nice “chill zone” area that was a sunken den area full of chitenge pillows.

Almost our whole group was in one dorm style room – 16 beds total. It was great to see everyone and catch up.

Day 2 began by getting a lift to Victoria Falls from the hostel. We first walked out on the bridge that spans the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe. They have a bunji jump area, which is the third highest in the world! Many people in our group jumped later in the week. I thought about it, but I’m not sure I could actually make the jump. Maybe another time…

From the bridge you could see beautiful rainbows. In fact, the rainbow that is in the picture below was actually a full circle – with a double rainbow circle around it! Amazing!

After the bridge we went into the Zambia side park. There are different trails to view the falls from different viewpoints. We took the trail to the boiling pot first which had a lot of steps to get down into it. On the way there were different little rivers, lots of trees, and some baboons. Baboons scare me some – they are very aggressive. One tried to get food from us and then I saw another one steal food out of a little girls hands!

Back to the boiling point…some pictures:

Another trail took us for more views of the falls. There’s so much mist at the falls right now because of the rainy season and there being so much more water right now. It was difficult getting a good picture because the sky and mist were so bright. But here are a few:

The last trail we took was over a bridge that goes right in front of the falls. I wasn’t able to take any pictures because you get absolutely soaked! It was like walking in a rain storm there was so much water. It was really amazing – a little cold at first, but not bad once you got used to it. I wasn’t able to see any of the falls from this trail because there was so much mist. But it was still a cool experience.