And then suddenly there’s a giraffe by the roadside. 🦒
However, our speed isn't enough for a photo – by the time the phone is ready, the giraffe has already passed us. 😂

The further we drive, the more we notice the landscape itself. Many trees are damaged, branches broken, trunks stripped of bark, some trees completely toppled. Traces of elephants, as we learn. 🐘 They don't just eat leaves and twigs, but break branches and peel bark – and can thus completely change landscapes. What initially looks like destruction to us is likely part of the natural dynamics of the savannah. However, with a very large elephant population, the impact becomes unmistakable.

Fenced fields keep appearing at the roadside. And suddenly wildlife protection takes on another aspect: For us, elephants are fascinating creatures that must be protected at all costs. For the people who live here, whose fields and crops are directly affected, living alongside them means restrictions and probably very real damage.

And I can't help but think of our discussions at home about a few wolves. The world expects Africa to protect its elephants, lions, and other wildlife – and for the people here to learn to live with them.

That sounds easy to demand from a safe distance.

How much wilderness are we actually willing to endure when it takes place right at our own doorstep? 🤔

"Born, bred and buttered" in the town of Victoria Falls, as he puts it, he can still remember how tranquil the place must have been with just 2,000 inhabitants. Today about 40,000 people live here, most of them relying on tourism – and they greet us just as warmly.

A herd of around 50 elephants is also part of the town and is known to cross the streets from time to time. However, today we only see their droppings. 😉

At the entrance to the Victoria Falls, there are not only souvenirs but of course also raincoats. Naturally, we are supposed to buy these from King Bambino’s friend Ben. Unfortunately, we have our own with us – well prepared as we are. 😉

As it turns out, the rainforest at the edge of the falls lives up to its name: Due to the massive spray, it is indeed raining quite heavily here.

At the same time, it is slowly getting warmer. We still stay in long sleeves because we don’t want to rely only on the prophylactic malaria pills and Anti-Bite Tropics. Stuffy? 😇

Initially, it’s so foggy that you can hardly recognize the dimensions of this wonder of the world. But as the designated tour progresses, the visibility improves – and gradually you can begin to fathom how immense these waterfalls truly are.

An elderly lady from South Africa points out people on the opposite shore: “They shouldn’t be there.” As a guide, she is here often and is likely to know.

We prefer to stay on the safe side ... 😉

The roar of the water is at least as loud as the engines of the helicopters that continuously circle over the falls to offer tourists an even better view from above.

On the way back – passing the famous Victoria Falls Bridge – we are then surprised by the first wild animals. And with them, one truly has to summon the courage to just keep walking. 😳

Later this afternoon, there is still an excursion from the tour operator planned.

We are excited. 🌍

In between: a layover in Johannesburg and waiting in rather wintry temperatures at – according to a British co-traveler – the “worst airport in the world.” His reasoning: the legendary long queues that apparently even transit passengers can't escape. We can at least confirm: quick is not how it goes here. 😂

However, the airport does offer some exotic shopping options: very colorful clothing – and real zebra skins. 🦓😳 I left both behind.

And then came the moment when fatigue suddenly didn’t matter much: just before landing in Zimbabwe, we could actually see our first herd of elephants from the plane. Can you spot them? 🐘🐘🐘
Africa. Really now.

Our accommodation is great, and at dinner, instead of background music, we were treated to a rather impressive frog concert. 🐸🎶

By the way, there’s no picture of us today. After 30 hours of travel, we agreed to spare posterity this sight. 😂

Tomorrow we are heading to the Victoria Falls. We could already see their mighty spray from a distance today.

But first: sleep.
We have arrived. 🌍❤️

Our vacation is coming to an end with the grand finale in Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls. In March and April, the falls are spectacular due to the rainy season.

Goodbye Africa 🥰

Before breakfast, we quickly flew over the falls, sorted our luggage, and off we went to the airport.

It has been a very impressive time. We learned how the people live here, got a small insight into the economic situation, and most importantly, we got very close to some of the animals living here.

Again and again, it became clear how much the people here love their animals (with the exception of poachers, who unfortunately still exist) and a lot is being done for them within the framework of the national parks.

The journey will resonate for a long time and, as our tour guide Nathan beautifully says, a little bit of Africa sticks to you when you leave.

At this point, a heartfelt thank you to my ]]>https://vakantio.de/en/blog/susanna-auf-reisen/eine-letzte-aktionhttps://vakantio.de/en/blog/susanna-auf-reisen/eine-letzte-aktionSun, 29 Sep 2024 08:14:00 GMT-17.931580325.8301677

A hot day is on the horizon.

We have planned a roughly two-hour walk at Victoria Falls and are therefore leaving an hour and a half earlier than planned, at half past seven, so that we don't have to walk in the midday heat.

After 60 km of gravel road, we reach a paved road again, and we continue quickly towards Victoria Falls.

It is very touristy here, quite different from our last lodge, where we could relax with coffee and tea while watching the watering hole in the morning.

Upon arriving at the hotel, the rooms, as expected, are not yet ready.

We pass the time until our bus arrives to take us to the Victoria Falls.

In the meantime, it is 34 degrees.

We walk along the falls for about two hours.

At one end of the path, the Victoria Falls bridge leads over to Zambia.

This bridge was once built by Livingstone after being constructed in England, disassembled, and brought in parts to Africa to be rebuilt.

Bungee jumping is possible at this bridge. We decide against it.

A little later, there is an opportunity for rappelling. We are also not interested in that.

Due to the season, the Zambezi, Africa's fourth-longest river, has little water, so we don't get too wet from the nonexistent roaring spray.

Nonetheless, it is a very impressive natural spectacle.

In the afternoon, a boat trip is scheduled, departing at 16:00.

Temperature 38 degrees.

We are on a boat with about 80 people, all drinks are free (the mood quickly rises) and snacks are served.

We lazily head towards the sunset.

Of course, we have seen a few animals as well.

Today is our last group dinner together.

Our conclusion: We all managed well together during these three weeks in this configuration.

We will soon encounter a pride of lions with some cubs. Our driver will bring us to within three meters of the kittens. We will be instructed to keep our arms and legs inside the vehicle and to remain quiet.

It is very surprising how calmly the animals allow themselves to be stared at.

The cubs that the lionesses have are already at least 2 to 3 months old.

Since the younger lion cubs cannot see properly yet, they are hidden by their mothers to keep them safe.

Just after nine, a table will be set with coffee, tea, and muffins.

We appreciate this provision, but it is a bit decadent.

As the morning progresses, the temperature steadily rises, and we occasionally feel like we are sitting in a convection oven.

Many elephants cross our path.

Our last destination is the hippopotamus pool, where we will be able to observe a scuffle between two hippos.

Unfortunately, there are some sick-related absences, and we are glad to be back at our lodge to escape the heat a bit.

Today we’ll do nothing, except wait a bit at the border from Botswana to Zimbabwe until the exit is stamped and the visa for Zimbabwe is properly glued into the passport.

After 40 km of bumpy roads, we reach Robin's Camp in Hwange National Park.

We are in the middle of nowhere and spend the afternoon sleeping, dozing, or by the pool.

Right on time for sunset, the elephants come to us, to the property's waterhole.

We are definitely seated in the front row.

In addition to the customs checks, health data was always collected regarding Mpox, meaning it was checked if one came from an Mpox country, which fortunately was not the case for us. Nevertheless, everyone had to walk through a bath of disinfectants.

After an hour's drive through Zimbabwe, we reached the Victoria Falls. After nearly 2 km of walking, we reached the Victoria Bridge, which also represents the border to Zambia. Then the first look at the waterfalls, which was initially sobering, as due to the months-long dry season, little water was plunging down. The further we walked along the Victoria Falls, the more impressive they became, and we were quite strongly impressed. How fantastic must it be after the rainy season when the Zambezi River pours down in endless masses of water.

Nonetheless, it was a unique experience.

After a lunch break, we then walked in the blazing midday heat past an endless line of waiting trucks across the border into Zambia, as we wanted to have a look at the Victoria Falls from the Victoria Bridge. 3 African countries in one day.

We then returned with the necessary border crossings to our hotel, where we could now actually move into the promised suites ;-)

Last day of our trip through Namibia, Botswana Zimbabwe…

What remains are 2,658 kilometers driven together and countless impressions.

The moments and the images remain in our memories, like those of people standing by the stove in 25 degree heat wearing hats and scarves because they are cold and at the same time we think, finally summer. The images of the sand dunes that rise out of the ground like pyramids, which we also climbed, remain, the 1000 year old dead forest with its impressive colors remain.

These are the people we met: our guides, staff in the lodges: Max, Costas, Otto, Adolf von Britz, or whatever their names were... The “breakdown family” from Bavaria, the Belgians we met twice, Michi and Moni from Switzerland with whom we spent a lovely evening together around the campfire.

The images of the kilometer-long drive through the Namib Desert remain in your mind, it is the animal world that has stuck in your mind, the first elephant you saw from afar and of course the icy herds of the gray cracks that move through the landscape and above all the images of the herds of elephants by the river, wow what moments...

The images of Kwando River on the edge of Mudumu NP in Namibia remain deeply etched in our minds because they are so impressive.

The two days in tent that were so unique...

What remains are the images from the “roadside” of the people for whom the road we were rushing along represents their lifeline; that is where their lives take place and we in our Toyota were only a part of it for a brief moment.

The “paparazzi grandpas” on the Chobe River who ran back and forth on the boat, blocked our view and got on our nerves.

It is the fantastic sunsets, the moments that were there and created only one feeling…

It is the people who were there that made this trip unique and the deep gratitude to be able to experience it with them.

Yes, we went to the falls, yes, it is partly inconsistent, no, I wouldn't drive or fly to Victoria Falls again because nothing has changed.

It's like a combine here, terrible.

Yes, people have become like this because the tourists are there and they get involved in this game and accept it (unfortunately we are a part of it).

Tomorrow we fly home and the question remains: will we come back here again?...

What do you think is the image of the journey for me?

One of all the pictures I posted!

We have arrived at the last stop on our Africa trip, this morning taken by a driver across the border to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

The positive thing is that there were no problems at the border; they charge 30 USD for the visa.

This extremely poor country has its own currency, but most people only accept US dollars. As far as I can tell, prices are comparable to those here. Entry to the waterfalls costs just 50 USD per person, while locals pay 1/7 of that, just 7 dollars. We decided not to pay for it.

That was the factual part, before I get too emotional I need to take a deep breath.

It's terrible here...

I was looking forward to a natural spectacle, but what I got was a different kind of nature marketing.

I, and I'm not just expressing my opinion, would NEVER have gone here (Victoria Fells) if we had known what kind of "fairground event" this was. Everything and everyone here has only one goal: to relieve the stupid tourists (of which we are now one) of a few hundred dollars. It's not as if everyone in Namibia were just Samaritans, far from it, but never was there such an obvious and extensive rip-off.

The noise level from the helicopters flying around constantly, non-stop, is so enormous that I have already asked for a quiet room - not really, but maybe this is a new economic idea!?

I've never been to Las Vegas, but that's what I imagine it to be like, at least from the noise.

This end to the holiday couldn't have been much worse, it is something that totally contradicts my idea of a holiday.

It's a shock! Everything is gone at once, the untouched nature, the peace and quiet, all gone at once, we got a bunch of cheeky Americans and their currency in return, a great exchange.

The question that arises is, what do we do tomorrow so that the day is not completely pointless?

Yesterday we arrived in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. And you know us: food is important. So we treated ourselves to crocodile fritters (tasted more like chicken), ostrich and antelope meat. Our favorite: ostrich meat, delicious, delicious.

This morning we visited the Victoria Falls. They are deeper than the Iguazu Falls (see South America blog), but not as long with just under 1700m. It roars and splashes, even though we are here in a season of low water. The pictures are not 'bad', but rather blurred by the spray - that needs to be said ;-)

The Victoria Falls form part of the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. You can easily cross over to Zambia without much control via a bridge - life can be so uncomplicated.

Our very British-looking accommodation increases our anticipation for the next destinations: even here we have already been visited by a warthog named 'Pumpa', mongooses and red deer.

Tomorrow we have to get up at 4:45 am, because then we will go on a birdwatching tour on the Zambezi River. In the afternoon we will continue to Chobe in Botswana

After not being able to include the Victoria Falls in our itinerary in 2019 due to time constraints, they were now at the top of our bucket list. Since 1989 UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Victoria Falls are among the largest and most impressive waterfalls in the world, along with the Niagara Falls and Iguazu Falls. We have to see this!

The best starting point from Botswana is the small town of Kasane, located in the four corners between the border crossings to Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Kasane serves mainly as a stopover for us to visit the Victoria Falls, but it also offers cozy river cruises on the Chobe River, surrounded by hippos and crocodiles. We would have liked to explore Zimbabwe and Zambia afterwards, but this proved to be quite difficult. While in addition to the visa for Zimbabwe, there is a fee of almost $200 for the car at the border crossing, we would not be allowed into Zambia at all, as we lack a specific document that can only be obtained in Namibia. So we have to skip Namibia completely and we also want to avoid the expensive car fee for Zimbabwe. It seems that many travelers here are in the same situation, as most only go for a day trip to the Victoria Falls.

Mr. T is now taking us to the border and we will stay in Zimbabwe for two nights to see the Victoria Falls!

The Victoria Falls, which have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1989, are the widest waterfall on Earth and are located between the border towns of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Livingstone in Zambia.

The Zambezi River carries a lot of water at this time of year, and the spray clouds produced by the waterfall, from which it gets its African name ("Mosi-oa-Tunya" - thundering smoke), produce a lot of rain - we get soaking wet and often can only watch in awe, but can't take photos, too much rain!

From the railway bridge connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia, you have a dry and breathtaking view - that was once again a spectacular experience!

We are completely overwhelmed by this force of nature and spend the rest of the day relaxing in our beautiful lodge,

and exploring the small town of Victoria Falls.

In the end, two nights are far too short for a conclusion. Unfortunately, this was a very short stay in beautiful Zimbabwe, but when we come back to explore the rest of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia must not be missed! Africa, we will come back soon..

After the excursion to the Okavango Delta, we continued to Chobe National Park in Botswana. During the early morning safari drive, there were territorial fights between a group of two lions and a group of three lions. We followed the 'escape' of the two younger males and heard a powerful roar from the older lion. In the evening, we went back to the park, this time on a boat on the Chobe River. From there, we saw hippos, crocodiles, elephants, and buffalos.

The next stop was Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. This is also where the first 22-day trip ended. Besides the impressive waterfalls, there are only overpriced restaurants and street vendors who advertise everything with 'today special price for you'.

From there, the second trip started, which takes us from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg over nine days. The first stop was Hwange National Park, where we saw lions and an incredible number of elephants. Unfortunately, there is a drought here at the moment, so the rangers find elephants dying of water shortage on a daily basis.

The next day, we visited the Painted Dog Conservation Center. There, we learned a lot about the life of wild dogs and also saw three of them that were being cared for due to their injuries.

July 1, 2019

After breakfast, we head back to Victoria Falls, but today we stay on the Zambia side and hopefully don't have to walk as far. The troop of monkeys from yesterday is gone, but there are a lot of trucks lined up at the border crossing.

We pass the border post and get our tickets at the Visitor Center (here we only pay 20 USD per person) and march towards the viewpoint. We already like the first viewpoint very much. You can see the falls through the gorge, and the whole scene is decorated with an almost kitschy rainbow. Oh, how beautiful!

A bit further up, we stand on the edge of the falls and look across to the Victoria Falls Bridge where we were standing yesterday.

We walk a bit upstream, but there doesn't seem to be anything interesting here until we suddenly come across fresh elephant tracks! Oh, we don't want to meet them here, so let's quickly go back to the falls.

There are monkeys in the trees, and they come out of the bushes and walk right past us on the path. I still have great respect for the "monkeys", so I keep my distance. But that's not always easy, as the monkeys walk right by us completely unbothered, just a few centimeters away. They don't seem to be afraid of us at all. The monkey mamas carrying their babies are particularly cute. Adorable.

We reach the "Knife Edge Bridge" and from there we have a gigantic view of the gorge and waterfalls, except for the Zimbabwe side where we were yesterday.

Normally, you get wet on the "Knife Edge Bridge" because the spray is usually so heavy that you can hardly see anything. But since the Zambezi River has little water, we manage to cross almost dry. Sturdy shoes are a MUST! The bridge is slippery and the paths to the falls are as well.

We see part of the Horseshoe Falls on the Zimbabwe side at the end of the trail. And a rainbow beautifies the scene at the river bend.

We take a detour to the "Victoria Falls Bridge Viewpoint" where we see the bungee jumpers from the bridge again.

At noon, we take a taxi back to the hotel. It was good to only plan half a day for the Zambia side and spend the whole day in Zimbabwe. This allowed us to enjoy both sides of Victoria Falls stress-free.

When we arrive at the hotel, we have lunch. The kids have pizza, and we have a salad. For tonight, we reserve our favorite table with a view of the Zambezi River for dinner. Before that, we booked a Zambezi Sunset Cruise on the "Lady Livingstone" ship. It starts at 3:45 pm on the shore of the neighboring hotel and will last about 2.5 hours.

We spend the 2 hours until then on our balcony, observing the "monkey theater" that is happening in the trees in front of our balcony. A group of monkeys are swinging from branch to branch with a roar, making me afraid that they might jump onto the balcony. Eventually, they calm down, and the parent monkeys sit on a branch just a few meters away from us to groom themselves. The little monkeys have funny colors - at least the male ones 😊

So "turquoise"....

At 3:15 pm, we walk to the neighboring hotel where our Sunset Cruise starts.

The Lady Livingstone has just returned from the Day Cruise.

When I booked it from home, I thought the price of 225 USD (2 adults & 2 children) was quite high, but since we are here, we have to do something like that!

We are even more surprised when we board the ship and get a glass of wine, beer (or water/soft drinks for the kids) for free. My husband jokes if there will be a "refill". The friendly staff member's answer: "Yeah! This is an all-inclusive cruise!"

Ohhhhh! Really???? Drink as much as we want? All-inclusive? Awesome! As we find out during the tour, even the food is included! Okay, then the price wasn't so high after all. Throughout the evening, we eat various snacks, vegetable skewers, antipasti, meat skewers, chips, nuts, and for dessert: chocolate brownies, cookies, and other sweets.

The glasses of wine and beer on almost empty stomachs quickly have an effect, so I switch to water soon.

We sail upstream on the Zambezi and after a short time, we already see the first hippos in the water. An elephant stands by the river and next to it, a warthog is sunbathing.

We are by far not the only ship on the river - but according to the kids, we are on the "coolest" one. Tourists from the other (mostly smaller) ships wave at us, and one boat next to us is hosting a birthday party. Wow, there is a lot going on here on the river!

If you are looking for a lonely and romantic sunset cruise, you are in the wrong place on the Zambezi. More and more ships appear on the river as it gets darker.

We watch the sunset - in the best sunset manner, of course, with a glass of whisky in hand - and enjoy the return trip to the hotel.

We arrive at the pier at 6:30 pm and are welcomed by a singing and drumming group by the campfire.

Shortly after that, we cancel our dinner reservation because nobody is really hungry anymore. Although it's still early, we retreat to our room, where we read for a while and then go to bed early. It was an eventful day!

June 30, 2019

Today we want to visit the Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side. Since there is a longer walk over the Victoria Falls Bridge / Border Bridge and the area (at least according to the map) is more extensive than on the Zambian side, we have planned a whole day for this.

The good news in the morning: we have no mosquito bites at all! And that, even though at least one of the unwanted bloodsuckers is under the mosquito net for each of us. Maybe they are not mosquitoes after all?

After breakfast, we take the hotel shuttle to the Victoria Falls. At the border post of Zambia, we are allowed to get off. In the morning it is very cool - not even 10 degrees at breakfast. By now the sun warms us and I am confident that we will soon be able to take off our fleece jackets.

While the other tourists storm the entrance building on the Zambian side without exception, we make our way to the footpath to the border bridge, where the border post of Zimbabwe is located - past at least 50 monkeys! They sit on the road, on the roadside, jump on passing trucks (like hitchhikers) or chase each other with loud roaring. These animals are not at all comfortable to me - quickly away!

After about 600m we reach the border bridge. In the middle of the bridge there is a bungee jump station, from which the adrenaline junkies plunge into the depths screaming. Of course, we have to watch this spectacle. After 2 jumpers, I turn my attention to the view on the other side. From the bridge, you can see a small part of the Victoria Falls on the Zambian side. The falls currently don't have much water, they are rather small streams in the distance. Let's see if it looks like that everywhere.

Below us to the right is the "Boiling Pot", the gorge at the falls where currents meet and rafting boats seem to have a lot of fun.

After another 1.1 km we reach the border post of Zimbabwe, show our visa obediently, get a stamp and are allowed to "enter".

There are a lot of big trucks and cars waiting here, loaded with all kinds of building materials to be allowed to enter Zambia. Here we also see quite curious "car transporters" and the African version of a "lowered" car.

A few steps away is the Victoria Falls Visitor Center. The entrance fee is 30 USD per person, payable by credit card. It's quite crowded here - we have to wait 15 minutes in line at the ticket counter (and the sun is warming up nicely by now).

Our path leads us first to the viewpoints towards Devils Cataract, where the David Livingstone statue is located.

On the way there, a warthog family crosses our path.

The view of the falls is amazing! There is significantly more water in play here than we saw from the bridge on the Zambian side. Very impressive!

The rainbow that is created by the fine water spray makes us take endless photos. So beautiful and colorful!

At the next viewpoint, we spot a small antelope. It grazes right by the roadside and is not bothered by the tourists in any way.

The footpath along the numerous viewpoints is great, sometimes you even get a shower included, as the fine water spray is carried by the wind over the paths. Fortunately, the Zambezi River doesn't have much water at the moment, otherwise we would probably only see the famous "spray" at the following viewpoints of the Horseshoe Falls.

In the distance, we see some people sitting in the 'Devils Pool', the infamous pool at the top of the falls, from which you have a direct view down into the gorge. Unfortunately, due to the spray and the long distance, I couldn't take a usable picture.

Firm shoes are highly recommended! Due to the constant spray, everything is very slippery and slippery everywhere, often field projections are not secured by fences or similar, so slipping would be fatal.

By now it is so warm that we are all wearing just a T-shirt and are delighted with every "spray".

The Horseshoe Falls give us a lot of spray and are very impressive. The path along the falls and viewpoints is getting wetter and slipperier here.

When we have visited all the viewpoints, it's already noon. We walk back towards the Visitor Center, where we have lunch at the "Sheawater Rainforest Cafe".

After lunch, we march back towards the bridge. A family of monkeys frolics in the trees next to the road.

On the way back towards the bridge, our feet are getting quite tired. Another bungee jumper is plunging into the depths just as we cross the Victoria Falls Bridge - with loud screaming, of course!

By taxi (Attention: negotiate!) we drive back to the hotel. On the way back, we see a zebra standing right in front of the Royal Livingstone Hotel. According to our taxi driver, quite a few zebras "come and go" there. How funny!

We spend the rest of the day at our favorite table on the restaurant terrace of our hotels. The kids work on their travel diary and we enjoy the sunset. In total, we have easily covered a 10km walk today.

A surprise awaits us when we return to the room:

We don't see a single mosquito!

Well then: Good night!

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Since Friday evening, we have been in Victoria Falls and once again we had a few free days ahead of us. Yesterday evening, we took a short walk through the small town and did some shopping. We were astonished by the sometimes very high prices in the supermarket. We already knew that it is difficult to buy certain groceries in Zimbabwe as everything has to be transported by land through other countries. But to see deodorant costing 17 Swiss francs or a pack of printer paper costing 25 Swiss francs left us a bit speechless.

Zimbabwe is in a politically and economically very uncertain situation. There is no financial means, the ATMs in the country are empty, and almost only US dollars or foreign currency is accepted. The local currency is sometimes not accepted at all. In 2006, Zimbabwe had a 100 trillion dollar note. These are now sold to tourists as souvenirs.

In the evening, we all went together for a farewell dinner. Many of us left in Victoria Falls. It was a fun evening where we talked about the best and worst moments and especially the best and worst campsites.

As mentioned before, we had a few free days in Victoria Falls. Free days that could be filled with optional excursions, and that's exactly what Cédric did on this Saturday. River rafting was on the program. I had the pleasure of river rafting in different countries before, so I decided not to do it this time. But Cédric didn't want to miss it.

The Zambezi River rafting is considered one of the best in the world with several class 6 (highest level) and class 5 rapids. Some rapids had to be bypassed as they were not navigable for ordinary people. We were three boats, and after the fourth rapid, 4 men gave up because they got panic. So it wasn't completely easy :-) But Cédric found the final exit from the gorge more challenging than the rafting itself. He came back exhausted in the late afternoon. The hunger was satisfied with a delicious hamburger in the evening.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

What would a visit to Victoria Falls be without seeing the world-famous Victoria Falls or also called Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders). With a width of 1700 meters and a height of about 100 meters, it is the largest falling water in the world and one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

After washing our clothes, we made our way to the park. The weather was very sunny, and the splashing water was a refreshing sight. Sometimes we got really wet and had to put away the camera. It's amazing that you can only admire the waterfalls from above. The water thunders down 100 meters onto rocks. Definitely worth a visit if you are ever nearby. We liked it.

Monday, January 14, 2019

We hit the road again. And we had to say goodbye to our old crew for good. Malinga, Steve, and Hesbon will drive back to Nairobi with a new group. We will spend the next few weeks with Dumile (guide), Benson (cook), and Moses (driver). The truck is also different. A bit more modern than the previous one. Three new fellow travelers will also join the new crew. After saying goodbye to eleven people, we are now 14. We will quickly notice how much more pleasant it is to travel with such a smaller group. Once again, we crossed the border into Botswana and a few hours later arrived at the familiar campground in Kasane. Another game drive and night in Chobe National Park awaited us. We did the same things as last week, which didn't bother us at all. We actually enjoyed it. So we packed our small backpack and were picked up by the 4x4 vehicles. Unfortunately, we didn't have as much luck as last week. The guide was not very motivated, and it started raining heavily. We didn't see many animals. However, the evening by the campfire was once again very nice. Instead of elephants like last time, we heard lions behind our tents this time.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

We woke up at 5:30 am. After breakfast, another game drive through the national park was scheduled. Unfortunately, we did not have much luck and hardly saw any animals. We were all relieved when we returned to our camp. We set up our tents and relaxed by the campground pool and in the bar for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

One of the longest drives was on the agenda. 620 kilometers from Kasane to Maun. Maun was our starting point for our trip to the Okavango Delta. Although we had to cover so many kilometers, we still arrived in the late afternoon. The roads here in Botswana are better. We set up our tent, took a quick dip in the pool, and then packed our small backpacks for the overnight trip in the Okavango Delta.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

We were picked up early in the morning. We drove about 1.5 hours from Maun northwards to reach the Mokoro Poler's Station. The Okavango Delta is a huge inland river delta in the north of Botswana. It is known for its vast grassy plains that are seasonally flooded, providing lush habitat for animals. The delta area is rich in many local villages where many families live in a traditional way. Some of the villages are very remote and can only be reached by a traditional means of transport - the mokoro. Mokoros are dugout canoes pushed through the waterways by local guides. Two of us took a seat in such a canoe, lying rather than sitting, and were pushed through the waterways for two hours. Past thousands of water lilies and the occasional hippo. We were asked to move as little as possible as the "Polers" stood at the back of the narrow canoe, balancing the load. A sudden movement could upset the balance and tip the whole canoe. We arrived at our campsite in the middle of nowhere dry and completely relaxed. Our tents had an en-suite bathroom this time (see photos), and we spent the afternoon in the shade or taking a dip in the river. Once the hot afternoon sun had subsided a bit, we set off for a walking safari. We wandered through the grass on foot, saw a few wildebeests, zebras, and hippos. After dinner, we sat around the campfire for a while.

During these two days, the world could have ended and we wouldn't have known... The nearest village was a 1.5-hour ride by mokoro, and there was no cell reception.

Friday, January 18, 2019

We took a short walk before breakfast. After breakfast, we packed our things again and made our way back to Maun. The mokoro trip could have lasted even longer if the sun hadn't been so strong.

A few days earlier, we had reserved a spot in a small airplane for the afternoon. We wanted to complete our picture of the Okavango Delta and treated ourselves to a scenic flight over the area. With a Cessna 172 and our pilot Vincent, we saw various animals from the air – even a family of rhinos. Unfortunately, from the air, we could also see what we were told in the morning. In this rainy season, there has been very little rainfall so far, which has led to many rivers and waterways completely drying up. It's unimaginable what this means for the many animals if a lot of rain does not come soon. We saw the black storm clouds in the distance already during take-off, and shortly after take-off, we already experienced strong turbulence. Luckily, no one of us got sick, and we were able to land again with a good feeling.

We spent the night again at the campground in Maun. The nights here are now warm like in more northern countries, but still pleasant. However, we were woken up a few times during the night. And that was due to engine noises. It turned out in the morning that the police had to come. Our cook Moses' tent was robbed late at night. He only had what he was wearing. He was lucky to have his passport with him for once. Otherwise, we would all have had a problem because we had a border crossing in two days. They couldn't catch the culprit. It was probably someone from the campground staff.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

We didn't leave until 7:30 am. It was slowly starting to feel like vacation. The campgrounds are in much better condition. Rarely any rain, hot sunny weather, and much shorter driving days. We drove from Maun to Ghanzi. Our last night in Botswana was coming up. We arrived already after lunch. Our campground was a sandy desert, and it was incredibly hot. We washed our sleeping bags, had lunch, and headed off to spend the afternoon at the pool about 15 minutes away. There wasn't much else to do in this remote location.

After successfully crossing the borders of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, traversing the 70km long Chobe National Park and observing giraffes and elephants on the side of the road, we arrived in Victoria Falls after a very long day in the truck 🦒🐘 🇧🇼 🇿🇼 🇳🇦. Normally, when crossing the Chobe National Park, you can see numerous animals, but we only saw a few giraffes. The heavy rain was probably to blame. Nevertheless, it was impressive to see them standing at the roadside and gracefully crossing the road. Contrary to expectations, we didn't see any elephants, which is unusual for Lena, as you usually see numerous elephants there. Although we had already given up and no longer expected it, we finally saw three elephants relatively shortly before our arrival. We were all incredibly excited and I was very impressed by these huge animals.

Before driving to our campsite, we made a stop at a kind of travel agency to book our activities for the next two days. You probably all know my little difficulty in making decisions, so it was very difficult for me to choose from the wide range of options. Especially because the activities here are associated with a lot of money. In the end, I decided against any "adrenaline activities" like water rafting on the Zambezi, gorge swing, or bungee jumping, but instead for activities that I associate more with Africa and maybe can't do everywhere in the world. I chose "Elephant Encounter" and a "Lion Walk" 🦁🐘. More about that later 😊

Since we only have breakfast here in Vicfalls for the three days and it was already quite late, we quickly bought a pizza afterwards. When we walked to the campsite afterwards, our tents were already set up, luckily. However, getting the suitcase out of the truck and opening it was less pleasant. Half of my clothes were wet. The truck doesn't really withstand the heavy rain. I tried to hang up the wet clothes in the truck, but it didn't really work because they stay damp and musty. Well, I'll have to deal with it. At least the campsite has very nice showers, which I was really looking forward to after the long drive.

This morning at 6:15 am, we were supposed to be picked up for our first activity. Since we only booked late last night and apparently forgot to inform the driver, he arrived almost an hour late. Too bad for our sleep, but good because we were alone and the group we were supposed to do the tour with had already left. We drove for about 20 minutes to the Elephant Sanctuary. There, elephants live in a huge area who are injured, would be rejected, or for other reasons cannot live in the wild. However, when the elephants are ready, they can return to the wild at any time. However, some stay there for many years or forever. Our tour was sooo beautiful! We could see how the elephants live in their environment, we could "walk" with them, pet them, and feed them 😍 it was a really great experience and you really felt that the animals were well taken care of and really helped.

Now we are going straight to the Victoria Falls themselves, and tonight we are all going to have a traditional dinner together. I'll get back to you tomorrow and tell you how it was! Photos from today will follow, I still have to transfer them from the camera to my phone 😘

Today we were at Lake Skadar, or rather at its inflow. We are on a very sparsely equipped campsite with an additional function of cow pastures - cold water showers and a curtain as a toilet door. Dishes are washed with the garden hose.

The advantages of the campsite--> Cowbell ringing, access to the lake via the river, peace and a fish restaurant opposite that deserves a place in the Michelin guide.. Absolutely fantastic. Last night I had fish soup and today I had it twice, and I even got to taste Michelle's trout. Incredibly delicious.

We went canoeing on the river, which is perfect for it. Except for a tourist boat every 20 minutes or so and another canoe, we were the only ones on the broad, slow-flowing river. You really feel like you're in the middle of the Amazon when you paddle along, no sign of civilization far and wide, just forest, mountains, water lilies, and us.

We also experienced a lot. Suddenly, there was a snake lying next to us on the beach, we didn't take a photo of it, but I was quite startled.

Then we saw a turtle crossing the road in the town center, but all the inhabitants except us found it completely normal.

And the town.. It's hard to describe, the area is nice, the famous lake is very close by, there is a promenade along the riverbank, but well-kept small guesthouses and restaurants are lined up next to ruins and half-decaying buildings. There is already some tourism here, but very little. The supermarket is about the same size as Johann, and with a backpack, I could barely turn around between the shelves when buying bread.

We plan to leave early tomorrow, but we will skip Sveti Stefan, we have already seen enough islands, peninsulas, city walls, red tiled roofs, etc. We will drive along the lake a little more and then chase the sun, and see if we can jump into the sea again in Montenegro or Albania - at least that's the plan.

A highlight follows the next. Today we had a Rhino Trekking. That means we walk through the bush and search for rhinos.

Neutral clothing was required for the bushwalk to blend in as much as possible. We were picked up from our campsite by a vehicle and driven to Matopo National Park. However, we didn't enter the park, but stayed a bit outside.

There are different ways to find a rhino. One of them is to climb a hill and search from there. Well, that's what we did. We drove with the vehicle near a hill, got off and climbed it. The rules of the bushwalk are pretty simple. The guide walks in front and the tourists follow him in single file. No talking and minimal noise or sudden movements. If a wild animal decides to attack, try not to move.

From the hill, we had a beautiful view over the bush. Now it was time to search for a rhino. Unfortunately, we couldn't spot any.

Back to the vehicle and to the next hill, which would give us a view into a different area. Unfortunately, this climb was also unsuccessful. But we didn't give up yet, we had another good hour until sunset.

Thanks to a tip from a park ranger who patrols the park to protect the rhinos and had seen a group of rhinos in the morning, we took a new track. And after 2 hours of searching and climbing hills, we found 2 rhinos. They were peacefully grazing and we were able to approach the animals to about 5 meters. A great moment.

We ended the day peacefully by the campfire under a phenomenal starry sky.

Another great day in Africa.

Today was all about history. We visited the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.

Great Zimbabwe was a great kingdom of the Shona people from the 14th century, stretching from Mozambique to Botswana. We visited the ruins of the king's palace from that time. Great Zimbabwe gave the country its name, Zimbabwe, in 1980 after gaining independence from England. Zimbabwe means "stone house" in the Shona language, and the houses of that time were all built of granite stone. The stones were simply stacked on top of each other with no mortar or cement. The roofs were made of straw and grass. The Shona people were the best builders of that time.

The king, who had his castle at the top of a hill, had around 200 women living in houses in the valley.

The path up to the castle was very narrow. The narrow passages were intentionally built so that the slim Shona people could pass through while potential enemies could not.

The king also had his ancient telephone booth to call his women up the hill. Up to 10 women would be in the castle at a time. The cave acted as a resonance chamber, and the echo would bounce back from the surrounding mountains.

In the heyday of the dynasty, more than 20,000 people lived in the vicinity of the castle. The dynasty had 8 kings, all of whom were of the same bloodline.

Spontaneously, we had the opportunity to visit a cave. I didn't have to be told twice. The visit was definitely worth it. The cave itself was not very spectacular, but the lake inside the cave was even more spectacular. The water was cobalt blue and crystal blue. I've never seen anything like it. Our guide told us that the lake is more than 180 meters deep, which is why it has this color. I've never seen such a blue lake before.

When we arrived at our lodge in Chegutu in the late afternoon, we went straight to a game drive in a private national park. We were very lucky, the animals were well-disposed towards us and we saw a lot.

For dinner, we had a beer tasting. We had Chibuku (translated Shake Shake), a typical beer from Zimbabwe. It is brewed from maize, millet, and water.

Well, let's just say if you expect a beer, you won't be very pleased with the taste. It tastes a bit like sourdough bread, just in liquid form. After one glass, I had enough. The beer is often drunk by the poorer locals because it is so filling that it can replace a meal.

By the way, I also received a job offer. When I was talking to the lodge keeper, he said I was likable and spoke English, so I should contact his boss. He would like me to become his boss and lodge manager. If I accept the job, I can manage three lodges. The next morning, he gave me his cell phone number and his boss's. I had to promise him that I would call his boss. When saying goodbye, he said, "See you soon, I'm looking forward to it."

So in the future, I might become a lodge manager in Zimbabwe.

After a short night (breakfast started again at 06:15 am), our journey continued. We crossed the border from Botswana to Zimbabwe and then drove to Victoria Falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. After a short drive, we got off the truck and immediately met some support from Switzerland. Hendrik (a school friend of Nathalie) was waiting for us. He has been traveling in Zimbabwe for a month and has added a weekend trip to Victoria Falls to his program just for us. We went to the waterfalls and expected some drizzle due to the stirred up water from the falls. Currently, the water level is relatively high due to the rainy season, making the waterfalls extremely impressive. However, we did not expect torrential rain at the falls. So within 2 minutes, despite having raincoats, we were completely soaked. After 1.5 hours at the falls, we returned to our truck. As soon as we were a few meters away from the falls, the sun was shining. We then visited the 'Big Tree' and walked around the shops and market stalls in the city. In the evening, as a group, we went for a farewell dinner together. After that, we were able to enjoy a bed for the first time this week and also sleep in a little the next morning. After a balanced breakfast, we flew back to Johannesburg from Victoria Falls Airport.