South Africa – A World in One Country
Day Sixteen – 7 October 2013 – Land of Confusion
Weather: Hotter than you know where
I’m up at 5:30 for the game drive. I packed everything last night so that I would be able to just come back, grab my bag and go on. This morning, I get a different guide and that means, in this case, a different route than yesterday. Our guide, Moshe, says that he’s going to drive deep into the park and not stop for most of the animals so that we have a chance to see the big cats and then will stop at everything on the way back.
No one complains.
We head in but are stopped by a parade of elephants much like yesterday.
Moshe, stops for them but then speeds on past a lot of other safari trucks. We stop by a large bush which other vehicles say there is a leopard in there. No one offers to get out and check.
Moshe doesn’t stick around to let us stare at a bush and a couple kilometres down the road, there’s a female lion lying in the middle of the road just minding its own business.
To our right another two are feasting on something in the woods.
We go on a feeding frenzy with our cameras.
We stick around until they disappear into the bush.
Unlike Kruger, this area has a lot of green bush that can hide the animals. Moshe says it’s an evergreen. So after we leave the lions, Moshe comes to a screaming halt and only a few metres from the vehicle are two blackback jackal pups.
The mother is just a little farther away and the dad is deeper into the bush, keeping a close eye on us.
From here we see vultures, giraffe and a leopard tortoise.
Well, at least I saw one “leopard.”
Moshe tells us it is very rare to see the tortoise out this time of year. He says it’s an indication that the rains are coming. Then we see a second one and Moshe is just shaking his head. Things are changing, he says.
We stop for our morning tea and carry on, seeing more elephants and giraffes and baboons.
We make it back to the lodge for 9 am and I have time to have breakfast before my transfer arrives. Turns out the transfer was for 10:30, not 10 am, so you just know that feeling of déjà vu that I was getting around 10:15.
We pick up a couple of Dutch girls and head back to Zimbabwe. I have a great chat with the girls – one of whom is a therapist who has worked with Bosnian refugees. Interesting chat given my background. At the border, we do the same as Saturday but in reverse and Zimbabwe happily takes my $75 again. I’m glad I brought a lot of US cash, which is the currency of Zimbabwe. Makes it easy to realize just how expensive it is here. I’ve paid up to $5 for a Coke. Average is $3. About $2 in some stores.
We are picked up by the transfer on the other side and after we drop off the Dutch girls, the transfer takes me to the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.
En route, he asks if we have any activities planned and I ask if it’s possible to do the helicopter ride today instead of tomorrow.
Mistake.
He never got back to me but he did get to the helicopter company which switched me and showed up at 1:30 looking for me, but since I hadn’t heard anything, I went into town. The guest services girl was able to tell them where I had gone and that I was going to do it tomorrow. Later, my transfer showed up and berated her for not getting the name of the helicopter transfer that she had talked to. I thought it wasn’t right the way he did it and when I saw her again, I gave her a $10 tip for helping me out and for all the confusion that resulted.
So, while I was in town, I picked up the usual fridge magnets but no t-shirts screamed out to me. I heard there was an informal market and walked across the train tracks to take a look. As I turned the corner, one of the tourist police officers comes up to me and asks if I am going into the market. I say yes and she says she’ll walk with me.
Oooookay.
So we get there and I start to walk into a shop and she says she’ll wait for me.
Oooookay.
Then it dawns on me. Mark had mentioned something about not going into the market in Vic Falls without an escort. So, she’s my escort. I look farther down to see other tourist police waiting outside the shops for other tourists. Apparently, Vic Falls has only one industry – tourism. So, the government goes all out to ensure the tourists can feel safe there. The informal market is just one spot where some tourists can be taken advantage of.
And one guy followed us all the way in saying I have to visit his shop but that it’s in the back.
All I can think is ‘who’s watching your shop?”
Among other things.
I pick up a set of the Big 6 in soapstone (yeah…he sold me an extra animal) and a giraffe statue that I had seen before and liked. Then I went back to the train tracks with my escort and gave her a $2 tip.
Yeah. This tour portion is affectionately called the Tip Tour. I can’t believe how many $1 bills I’m going through. LOL
I head back to the bus stop where the lodge shuttle will pick me up and get back to the hotel by 2:15. That gives me a chance to get settled before the Sundowner cruise on the Zambezi River above the falls. I get to my room and realize there’s no TV.
Yup, one of those lodges.
But the view is amazing and it overlooks a watering hole where we can see the animals coming to drink – like water buffalo, baboons, storks, giraffes and wart hogs.
The same transfer I had for the drive to Botswana, Sofret, shows up to take me and others to the cruise. It’s not much different than the cruise on the Chobe river except that Zambia is the country on the other shore and there are fewer animals. But this cruise has free drinks and snacks.
And our very own warrior who spends the cruise standing at the front of the boat with his spear. Just like the night before, everyone heads up front and creates a traffic jam. I sit by the bar and have a great view on both sides. We see hippos and a crocodile and the ultralight flying over the falls.
We go around an island and by the time we get to the far end, closest to the falls, the sun is going down. Very nice, but still doesn’t beat the first night in Botswana.
The nice part about this area is that the days don’t vary very far from 12 hours of daylight and dark so that it’s easy to schedule these cruises. The sunset will usually be within a half hour of 6 pm.
We get back to the hotel before 7 and I am wasted. I skip dinner and take advantage of the great internet to get caught up on stuff and download the next Patriots game.
Four and one. Darn.
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