Season: Spring Travel Agent: Lengau Wilderness Safaris
Day 1: We had a class of beer before we boarded our flight to Johannesburg.
Day 2: We made it to Johannesburg after a 15+ hour flight, and ate dinner at the hotel. We were able to sleep a bit on the plane, but we are going to bed early to catch another flight tomorrow to Maun, Botswana. Then the fun begins!
Day 3: We didn’t get any sleep due to jetlag, but had breakfast before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Maun. After a 1.5-hour flight, (great food and roomy seats), Phale Max Seele from Lengau Wilderness Safaris picked us up and we drove 3 hours south to Ghanzi. On the drive we saw two species of hornbill, warthogs and several birds. (No pictures because my camera was in the back of the truck).
Day 4: I didn’t get any sleep due to the dogs, but mom got sleep due to melatonin. We went to the Kuru Arts market where I bought a turtle sculpture (go figure), a museum that focused on the indigenous communities in the region, and then headed to the Cheetah Conservation Botswana camp to get a quick tour and care for a cheetah that was recently trapped by a farmer and being cared for by CCB until it is rehabilitated (we are watching the veterinary procedure tomorrow to treat a leg wound). We came back to Max’s house where we had lunch and met a couple from Berlin before we went on a bush walk with the Dcuikhoi people (often called bushmen). They showed us the traditional way of living off the land, including medicinal plants and other strategies to live in a harsh environment. The sunsets are incredible here.
Day 5: Today was mostly a rest day in preparation for our safari that begins tomorrow. In the afternoon, we watched the procedure to treat the leg injury on the cheetah. The outlook was great, so after treatment, he was released back into the wild. Max, Lucas (another CCB employee, not me) along with several others helped pack the truck for our safari that begins tomorrow. We won’t have access to WiFi for the next 7-9 days so no updates until then!
On the schedule: Central Kalahari Game Reserve, canoeing in Chobe National Park, Moremi Game Reserve, Makgadikgadi National Park, Nxai National Park, and crossing the border into Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls.
We’re back to WiFi!
Day 6: We *tried* to head out at 5:30 am to begin the safari, but the fan belt broke almost immediately after leaving Max’s house so we had to wait until 8 for the mechanic to open to repair it, so Mom and I went back to sleep. We set out at 10:00. Our first stop was the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and after we entered, we noticed a fire had recently gone through. We suspect it started outside the reserve and hopped the fences and continued to burn in the CKGR. We passed several flames. Once past the fires, we continued through the dry landscape to our campsite. The morning delay caused us to set up our tents at night, but luckily we had solar lights. We spent a total of 7.5 hours in the car, mostly on bumpy roads.
Day 7: We woke up at 5:30 to begin our game drive, but not before we had coffee and a small breakfast. We saw several animals on our game drive and came back to camp for a quick lunch and to pack up and move to a new campsite. There was a scorpion underneath a tent, so of course, I had to run over, take pictures and relocate it.
We entered Deception Valley for another game drive and saw tons of animals from gemsbok, black-backed jackals, korhaan (bird), bat-eared foxes and more. Max rushed us back to the perfect spot to watch the sunset in Deception Valley, and I don’t think we’ve seen a more beautiful sunset. We had to take cheesy sunset photos.
Day 8: We woke up early again to catch the sunrise in Deception Valley. Though beautiful, I still don’t think anything compares to the sunrises at the beach back home! We packed up camp again and headed to Makgadikgadi-Nxai Pan National Park. Along the way, we saw many animals again – Gemsbok, Springbok, Vultures, Zebras, Elephants and more.
When we exited the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, we stopped in Rakops to refuel and pick up some beer. In Botswana, coincidentally there is a beer called St. Louis, so that’s what we’ve been drinking.
When we entered the gate at the Khumaga village, we saw our first many elephants on our trip, and we had to pass through a herd of zebra to get to our campsite. Once we arrived, we unpacked, and Juliette began making dinner and we sipped Amarula around the fire.
Day 9: This was the first night I had a full night’s sleep. We woke up at our own pace to the sounds of zebras in the distance and took our time packing up camp again to travel to the Khwai Community Village in Moremi Game Reserve. Juliette made breakfast and all of us had to be diligent so the Vervet monkeys didn’t steal any of our food. They were cute though.
Once packed, we drove down to the river and saw massive herds of plains Zebra and Wildebeest. It was like being in a documentary.
We drove along the riverfront for an hour or so and headed to the next camp. We stopped in Maun to refuel again, purchase additional groceries and pick up some souvenirs when we ran into Katie Ahl in the market. Small world.
We continued another 4 hours on bumpy roads and saw Elephants, Giraffe, Roan Antelope, Hoopoe, and more. The drive was longer than expected, causing us to arrive after dark, but it allowed us to watch the sunset through the leafless trees along the way. It was mesmerizing.
Day 10: This morning we woke up to the sound of hippos in the water near our tent. We could barely see them, but they eventually walked through the woods to another watering hole. We took our time getting ready and had bacon and eggs for breakfast.
We set out on a drive to a nearby river and on the way we saw a few animals but when we arrived, there were elephants everywhere! It was hard to focus on any one elephant because there were so many small herds. We continued along the river and came across a massive herd of Cape buffalo – 150 or more. We continued on and saw many new species we hadn’t seen yet. We came upon an elephant carcass in the water and two crocodiles feeding on it. Several other drivers told us a male lion was feeding on it earlier this morning, but we searched and couldn’t find him.
After watching the crocodiles, we came upon a river crossing where a couple was on the other side wanting to cross back over after they had successfully done it earlier, but they ended up getting stuck in the river and Max had to pull them out. Afterwards, we continued looking for the lion without success and headed back to camp for lunch.
When we arrived, we met Juliette and one of the camp staff members. After chatting with them for a bit, they told us the elephants passed right through our camp just an hour earlier!
Day 11: A LOT happened today. We packed up our camp because we wanted Juliette to join us on our drive so she can see the animals too. (She usually stays back to prepare food and watch over camp).
We went back to the same area as the day before to try and see the male lion rumoured to be hanging out near the river. While searching, we came across a leopard! An unexpected surprise of the day. It passed right in front of us and pooped in the road for everyone to see. It seemed to not care and wasn’t intimidated by vehicles. Today had the most vehicles we’ve seen so far on the trip. On most drives, we’ve had places to ourselves.
We asked a few other drivers about the male lion we searched for yesterday and they confirmed he was still feeding on the elephant carcass. We drove back to that area and found him resting in the shade of a bush with a VERY large belly. He seemed to have had his fill for the morning. When I got some closer shots, it looks like he had an old eye injury, presumably from a previous fight.
We chatted with another driver and they said there were two other leopards feeding on a kudu carcass nearby. We went to check it out and caught the cub feeding on the carcass with the mother watching close by. Super cool.
When we arrived back at camp, we didn’t notice anything out of place, but upon further inspection, we realized Mom’s tent wasn’t zipped all the way and baboons rummaged through her suitcase looking for food and left footprints on her bed. I also had a Baboon pee on the top of my tent.
After cleaning, we rested a bit before we set out for a sunrise mokoro (canoe) trip on the water near our camp. Eric, our guide, pulled up to camp and we got in the mokoro, which was more wobbly than we expected which made mom a bit nervous, especially since we were going to canoe near some hippos. She braved it for a while, but when we learned the trip was going to be two hours, as we passed by our camp, Mom got out and Juliette hopped in to finish the rest of the ride. We watched the sunset while on the water and passed by elephants getting an evening drink.
When Juliette and I arrived back at camp, we couldn’t find Max or Mom because they were hiding in the truck. There were two male Cape buffalo trying to access the water between our camp and a nearby one. They had been sitting in the truck for an hour! The buffalo hung around and watched us until nightfall. Once we got in our tents to sleep, we heard them walk to the water and nibble on the grasses along the shore.
Day 12: This was the longest day of driving so far – nine hours! Seven hours were on bumpy roads, probably the worst we’ve experienced, and another two hours on the blacktop. It was a doozy, but we saw plenty of wildlife toward the end. We drove from Moremi Game Reserve to Kasane, and along the way, we encountered the same couple twice that we helped tow out of the river earlier on the trip. The first encounter was because they had just fixed a flat tire at the gate of Chobe National Park and the second encounter was at an intersection of sandy roads where they got stuck and we helped push them out. They decided it was best to avoid us from now on because every time they saw us, they got stuck or had a vehicle issue.
We drove through the Ghoha Hills which were rocky outcroppings in the middle of flat land, a really cool landscape. This is where we started to see massive baobab trees. I realized that Kasane was just a couple minutes from the border of Namibia, so I asked Max if we can pop over just to get the stamp on my passport. Everyone begrudgingly obliged after being in the truck for 9 hours.
Near Kasane, along the blacktop road, we saw a herd of beautiful sable Antelopes and stopped for a few quick pictures. We arrived at Travelodge in Kasane (our first hotel stay of the trip) after dark and invited Max and Juliette to join us for dinner. We took nice showers and went to bed early in the air conditioning!
Day 13: I don’t even know where to start with the sheer number of elephants in one place. Hundreds, maybe even over 1000 elephants come to the Chobe River each afternoon to drink, bathe and feed.
After we woke up, Max and Juliette picked us up from Travelodge to go on a game drive in Chobe National Park. We arrived and drove the river path to see some wildlife. We saw several new bird species, but were amazed by the number of elephants around every turn, all headed toward the river. We saw two prides of lions too. One consisted of three individuals and another consisted of 11 (they may have been the same pride since they were relatively close in range, but we saw the groups separately).
As we left, we were driven to the top of a cliff and had a fantastic view of all the elephants. I couldn’t get a good video there, so we went back down to the river and I tried to get as many elephants in the video as possible.
As we departed, we also saw a leopard hiding in a tree peering at us.
I managed to not get any in the photos, but there were several vehicles with people looking at animals in Chobe, but it was worth seeing all the species. We’ve been spoiled with our private tours over the past week!
Then we headed back to the hotel to rest for the remainder of the day.
Day 14: Everyone in Florida stays safe during Hurricane Ian!
We took it slowly today. No plans until our Chobe River Cruise at 2 pm.
We had beers at the hotel pool, took a dip, and made friends with people from the UK and France. I did some work (but not too much) since I’m notorious for working on vacation and hate coming back to an enormous amount of emails. While at the pool we had a group of 20+ Banded Mongoose.
We headed out to the river cruise where we joined a large group of seniors from the UK. Most everyone stayed on the lower level, but I made my way to the second level of the boat for some great views.
Even though we were in the same place as our drive yesterday, we didn’t see nearly as many elephants because they already started headed back to the forest, but we did see a massive herd of Buffalo, Fish Eagles, a Nile crocodile, a Monitor and several bird species we’ve seen prior. The best part of the cruise was the breeze and the sunset!
Day 15: Our journey is coming to a close. This was our last full day in Botswana. We crossed the border into Zimbabwe (another passport stamp!) to visit Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls). The indigenous name means ’the smoke that thunders’.
The Zambezi River forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, and when the rains are heavy further upriver in Angola, the falls are massive. Since we’re in the dry season, there wasn’t nearly as much water, but it made the gorge look that much bigger. There were a lot of tourists, souvenir shops and offerings of helicopter and plane rides, bungee jumping, zip-lining, gorge swinging, boat rides and rafting, but we opted to take it slow and walk the easy path to admire the falls.
We ate lunch nearby at Lookout Cafe which provided fantastic views of the water below. The views are not for those afraid of heights.
We head to Johannesburg, South Africa tomorrow for one more overnight before we head home. It looks like we’ll miss Hurricane Ian, but we’re watching from afar hoping everyone stays safe.
Day 16: We said our goodbyes to Max and Juliette when they dropped us off at the Kasane International Airport.
We got there early as requested, but the check-in counter wasn’t open. And once we got in, we got past security at our gate without any issues – no line or anything. I had an overly complicated issue buying skittles and a chocolate bar in the duty-free shop – the only store past security. Because of a ‘new rule’, I was forbidden to purchase anything in the store, even after I offered to pay extra and/or any taxes required. I ended up using my smile and being very gracious to convince her to let me buy the skittles and candy bar. The whole ordeal took about 20 minutes.
The flight was great and we landed in Johannesburg and hopped in a taxi to Thaba Eco Hotel and Spa, and oh my god. I can’t tell you how unexpectedly incredible this place is. Jennifer Clements found it on a whim just before we left for the trip, and it was super affordable, so I booked it.
When we walked into reception, they immediately knew my name, welcomed us with glasses of champagne and escorted us via golf cart to our top-floor suite with an incredible view. The package includes a complimentary mini-bar, breakfast and dinner, massages for both of us (tomorrow) and an eco-drive tour of their property.
It’s a very spoiled way to end a trip of a lifetime!
Days 17-19 (I think?): On our last day, mom had a small bout of food poisoning, so we relaxed and cleared any plans (except for the massages!). She is back to 100% today.
We headed to the airport early for the long flight home. It was a 15-hour flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta, where we split up. Mom went to St. Louis and I headed to Jacksonville. We both made it home safely. Totally exhausted, but worth it for a trip of a lifetime!!
I had turtle patrol this morning and got to see the impacts of Hurricane Ian while I was gone.
Even though Ian went further east and didn’t hit Jacksonville directly, we still had significant impacts from the storm surge. We for sure lost 11 of the 16 remaining sea turtle nests on the beach. We are keeping an eye on 5 nests for the next few days and will search for the clutches after/if they emerge. Lots of destruction and loss of sand on the beach.