Sunset on the Chobe River
Jump back to spring break. Sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to Johannesburg and I struck up a conversation with the man sitting next to me in the crowded terminal. He was from South Africa and he was in Lagos to do some work in the Nigerian TV industry. By the way, Nigeria, or Nollywood, is the film capital of Africa. Well, actually it is the made-for-television movie capital of Africa. The gentleman asked how I liked living here. I answered that we are enjoying our time here. That the increase in family time is important to us. That the travel opportunities are incredible. He asked, “But how do you feel about Africa?” Umm, the big question. You hear about people who step foot on the continent and totally fall in love with the people and the land. People talk about feeling they have come home. I think that is the answer this man expected. I answered, “ I like it here.” Like it, but not enraptured with Africa. A wonderful place to travel through, amazing people to know, incredible weather, but at that point in time it was just, “I like it here.”
I wish that the same gentleman had been in Johannesburg Airport when we came back from our spring break trip because my answer became much different. During that week we sat in the mists of Victoria Falls, watched the sun set over the Zambezi River, and fell asleep looking at a sky filled with clouds of stars. After spring break, I understood the power of Africa to capture and fill a person’s senses.
Zimbabwe has been in the news on a regular basis lately as they struggle with runaway inflation and one of the most inept President currently in power. When we arrived on Thursday morning one US dollar was worth 1.5 million Zimbabwean dollars, that night, when we paid for dinner one US dollar was worth 1.75 million Zimbabwean dollars. It is one of a few countries in the world that actually likes the US dollar. In fact, we paid for everything in dollars while we were there.
We had a packed schedule that included a ride through the bush on the back of an African Elephant. A flight over the largest waterfall in Africa and a sunset river cruise. With each outing, I could feel the landscape pulling me into its grip. Rolling green hills, more trees than we saw in Kenya, and feeling of light kept my constantly looking around. In Lagos, I never felt the light, I felt the heat of the sun, or the sweat soaking my clothes, but here I was feeling the sunshine.
We had been told that you could see Victoria Falls from the air as you fly into the airport, and that is not quite true. You can easily see the scar that the Zambezi River cuts as it runs between Namibia and Zimbabwe. The falls are hidden in the twists and turns of the canyon the river has carved on its path to the Indian Ocean. The white spray from the falls rises above the green vegetation and drifts across the town of Victoria Falls. The falls themselves are even more impressive than the cloud of mist that rises above them. The river stretches almost a mile as it plunges into a narrow ravine that can’t me more than 70 yards wide. All the water bubbles in this ravine before it explodes out of the narrow opening at the base of the falls, and shoots down the canyon that provides some of the best white water rafting in the world.
There is so much water flowing over the falls that it creates a constant cloud of mist and the park that sits opposite the falls is officially a rainforest. When you are in the park you can practically reach out touch the falls. You walk through a fine mist with which muffles the roar of the water plunging over the drop off. At many points in the park, you are at eye-level with the falls. From the air, the mist is highlighted with a rainbow, and from the park, the mist is highlighted with jungle green plants. Either way it is an amazing sight.
Victoria Falls from the Air
Victoria Falls from the Park at the Base
We left Victoria Falls and headed to Botswana for a wild life fix. Our first stop was a National Park alongside the Chobe River. The park is home to over 10,000 elephants and we saw them from the road, from the boat, and while we were walking. We saw elephants bathing, elephants rolling in mud, elephants eating, elephants being eaten, and elephants expressing their desire that our vehicle move. Crocodiles seemed to be just as numerous as elephants and definitely higher on the fear inspiration scare. We saw crocodiles swimming in the river, sunning on the bank, and crocodiles feasting on the body of a dead elephant. As the boat approached the elephant carcass the stench nearly over-powered us, but the fascination with the beady eyes and teeth of the crocodiles quickly blocked out the smell. Once again, we were treated to beautiful sunsets every evening.
Chobe River Crocodiles
Elephant from the Water
Elephant Pool Party
The next part of the trip involved a little more adventure. We were traveling to a lodge in the middle of the Okavonaga Delta. There are no roads that stretch into the delta because the water from river would wash them all out during the wet season. So, the next part of our trip began when we climbed into the single-engine plane that would fly us to Delta Camp. As we bounced into the air, I became glued to the window. You could see giraffes and elephants moving across the grasslands below us. There were brown paths that criss-crossed the plains and it wasn’t until I saw a man poling his canoe along the path that I realized we were flying over water. Nobody else noticed this because the bumps and turbulence had taken their toll and they had their faces glued to the airsickness bags. When the plane landed an hour, half later Gina, Emily, and Jacob were too exhausted to cheer, and my hands were filled with full vomit bags. Not the best way to start the trip.
After everyone got some color back in their face, we started the trip to the lodge with Mataode and Ossi, our guides for the next four days. We sat in handmade dugout canoes that were poled through the water trails. As we traveled quietly through the tall grass and water lilies, Mataode explained where we had to stop and watch for hippos, what the splashing sounds we heard were, and how the elephants moved from island to island.
Mokoro Transport
Delta camp is made up of 13 reed cottages and a large dining area at the end of one of the islands. The reed cottages are built around the trees that mark the edge of the island and the lodge sits right on the edge of the island. We walked to our chalet and sent baboons scampering into the trees and were told what to do if we ran into an elephant on the way back to the dining room.
Okavango Delta Sunset
Over the next four days we feel into a routine of waking before the sun came up and grabbing a quick breakfast before we headed out to one of the islands for a morning game walk. Birds, warthogs, impala, an elephant, and a lion all crossed our path on the morning walks. After a couple hours, we would head back to the lodge for a big breakfast followed up with a nap. Lunch and then another walk. A shower and snacks, then we would sit on the deck of the dining hall and watch the day end. It is at these times that I started to feel the pull of Africa. It was not the muggy sticky hot of Lagos, but the true heat of a summer sun. It was not the smoke filled air that drifts across the compound, but the smell of warm grass. It was not the sun reflecting off of a sea of cell phone towers, but the orange sun melting onto the horizon. From the roar of the Victoria Falls, to the sounds of elephants bathing in the Chobe River, to the sound of the elephant pulling grass from under our cabin in Okavango Delta, my senses had tuned into an Africa that I did not quite understand in Lagos.
Okavango Delta Landscape
When we packed our bags to fly back to Lagos, it was with a new appreciation for the chance to spend time in a place with the power to capture your imagination.
Kids on Safari
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