We love Africa! We have had an epiphany and decided to see more of this vast continent. We did manage to see some of North Africa, Egpyt...that was in the Spring of 2006. The history there is fantastic and you can fill your senses with it all. The sight of the Pyramids and Sphinx, the smell of the burial chambers in the Valley of the Kings, and the feel (with your fingers) of the hyrogliphs in the Temples in Luxor. You can actually feel the carvings into the stone...made 2300 years ago!
In the winter of 2008-2009 we made arrangements to safari in the south of Africa. We chose to see Botswana's Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and parts of the Kruger National Park in South Africa.
This adventure started out rough. With winter weather up north, or flight from Orlando to begin our journey was delayed so long that we missed out international flight to Johannesburg. This just happened to be on Christmas Eve. So, since we had no other option, we spent the night in Washington DC close to Dulles Airport to try to get on the next flight on Christmas Day. We must have been the only people in the Crowne Plaza Hotel that night....everyone else was home with their family waiting for Santa. The next morning, the hotel restaurant was only open for a couple of hours for breakfast due to it being Christmas, so we ate and had to wait until the late afternoon to get booked on the next flight to S. Africa. We had missed one day on our itinerary, but with travel insurance, we would be reimbursed for this delay and missed time. So, no worries....
We did make it to S. Africa and spent the night in Pretoria (where I had a taste of ostrich for dinner....won't do that again!) until we could catch a small plane to Botswana.
We finally made it to Sandibe Lodge in Botswana's Okavango Delta the next day. The habitat here is lush with green vegetation and water. The dry season was just beginning, so there were still many great animals around.
The highlight of this place was a ride in a Makoro (shallow canoe type boat). Richard and I sat in the middle and Gee, our guide and naturalist, poled us through this marshy wetland. There were lots of reeds and water lillies around. Gee sang an African song to us as he poled us. It was a magical experience.
This place also had the opportunity to take a walking safari. Gee took us slowly through some bush areas. He carried a rifle for protection. There were antelopes around, but he was showing us the wild flowers and wild cukes that were eaten by small mammals. We actually inspected some elephant dung to see that the elephants only digest about 40% of the food they eat. The other 60% is pooped out and other creatures and birds get the left over seeds and nutrients. We tried to sneak up on some Impala, but weren't quiet enough and they ran off!
The next day we were off to see another habitat. This time we met a very small plane on a dirt runway. We had a breakfast on a snack table and when the plane arrived we boarded to go to Chobe Chiwero Safari Lodge. This habitat included the Chobe River and there were more trees and green areas. The animals we saw here included impalas, baboons, elephants (lots and lots), hippos, monitor lizards, and many birds.
The lodge overlooked the river basin and was very beautiful. For dinner we had a choice of filet of beef, fish or warthog! Richard took the risk of having the warthog. It was very good....just like pork at home. It was the next day that we saw our leopard and the rare sighting of a Sable Antelope.
The leopard was walking down the tree, very graceful and strong looking. I put his picture on this blog, hope you enjoy it!
More to come in Botswana!
In the winter of 2008-2009 we made arrangements to safari in the south of Africa. We chose to see Botswana's Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and parts of the Kruger National Park in South Africa.
This adventure started out rough. With winter weather up north, or flight from Orlando to begin our journey was delayed so long that we missed out international flight to Johannesburg. This just happened to be on Christmas Eve. So, since we had no other option, we spent the night in Washington DC close to Dulles Airport to try to get on the next flight on Christmas Day. We must have been the only people in the Crowne Plaza Hotel that night....everyone else was home with their family waiting for Santa. The next morning, the hotel restaurant was only open for a couple of hours for breakfast due to it being Christmas, so we ate and had to wait until the late afternoon to get booked on the next flight to S. Africa. We had missed one day on our itinerary, but with travel insurance, we would be reimbursed for this delay and missed time. So, no worries....
We did make it to S. Africa and spent the night in Pretoria (where I had a taste of ostrich for dinner....won't do that again!) until we could catch a small plane to Botswana.
We finally made it to Sandibe Lodge in Botswana's Okavango Delta the next day. The habitat here is lush with green vegetation and water. The dry season was just beginning, so there were still many great animals around.
The highlight of this place was a ride in a Makoro (shallow canoe type boat). Richard and I sat in the middle and Gee, our guide and naturalist, poled us through this marshy wetland. There were lots of reeds and water lillies around. Gee sang an African song to us as he poled us. It was a magical experience.
This place also had the opportunity to take a walking safari. Gee took us slowly through some bush areas. He carried a rifle for protection. There were antelopes around, but he was showing us the wild flowers and wild cukes that were eaten by small mammals. We actually inspected some elephant dung to see that the elephants only digest about 40% of the food they eat. The other 60% is pooped out and other creatures and birds get the left over seeds and nutrients. We tried to sneak up on some Impala, but weren't quiet enough and they ran off!
The next day we were off to see another habitat. This time we met a very small plane on a dirt runway. We had a breakfast on a snack table and when the plane arrived we boarded to go to Chobe Chiwero Safari Lodge. This habitat included the Chobe River and there were more trees and green areas. The animals we saw here included impalas, baboons, elephants (lots and lots), hippos, monitor lizards, and many birds.
The lodge overlooked the river basin and was very beautiful. For dinner we had a choice of filet of beef, fish or warthog! Richard took the risk of having the warthog. It was very good....just like pork at home. It was the next day that we saw our leopard and the rare sighting of a Sable Antelope.
The leopard was walking down the tree, very graceful and strong looking. I put his picture on this blog, hope you enjoy it!
More to come in Botswana!
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