Sunset X - Victoria Falls
Like all our safaris, todays started in the dark of night on a chillier than normal morning but thankfully only 30 metres away from camp. As an optional extra, our whole crew elected to join the Thebe River Safaris for an overland trek through the Chobe National Park before departing for Victoria Falls later in the day. With a few safaris now under our belt we knew the drill and quickly slipped into the routine together with a fleece blanket to combat the chill.
Having seen a fair swack of the NP from the river last evening, today we’d be land based with the goal of seeing as many species as we could. Of course we weren’t alone in that endeavour, and as mentioned in the previous post, there may have been perhaps too many vehicles traversing the park to make it as eutierrian as it should have been. Nevertheless, we sat back and allowed our guide to sniff the breeze and find those illusive African beasts. First cab off the rank was our very first lion sighting, and of it, a majestic male with the darkest of manes and body scars echoing his jungle dominance. Just cruising through the undergrowth we got a good look at the predator not withstanding the many other vehicles in our way. With hearts a flutter, and honestly, seeing a male lion in the wild will do that to you, we only travelled a few hundred metres to meet up with the kings family down by the riverbank. The lionesses and adolescent cubs were even more beautiful than Simba if not for the ring of land-rovers encircling them and their camp. Ok, no more of that, you get the point.
Moving on we sighted elephant, hippo, giraffe, warthog, impala, a few black-backed jackals and some very cheeky monkeys, but the bingo card winner was the African buffalo completing our Big 5 checklist. By day nine Botswana had given us lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, and the African buffalo. Many come to the continent and see only a few of these so perhaps we got lucky, we’re unsure. Safaris are all about luck though, and good guides, and we’ll be honest in admitting that before leaving Australia we thought we might at some point get safaried out. We learnt very quickly though every day is different and nature will often surprise and by the time we left African shores we’d done many safaris and can assure no two are ever the same.
Back at base we hooked into breakfast and struck camp in the usually efficient manner honed since leaving Jozi. For us it would be the last time we touched that tent as you will learn below. The drive through to Victoria Falls was a taxi ride by Botswanan standards, 80km and 1hr in total with the only hinderance being the border crossing into Zimbabwe that when taken with a deep breath, and the patience of Mother Teresa, really wasn’t that confronting. Another passport stamp made it worthy and we rolled into Shearwater Explorers Village early afternoon.
Along our journey many of the campsite resorts offered upgrades to glamping style tents or lodge rooms that a few of the crew took advantage of on certain occasion. We hadn’t thus far but always planned an upgrade at Victoria Falls to get some laundry done, repack the seven or so bags we’d been living out of and to slowly escalate our expectations for our onward journey. Prearranged days ago with King Richard, we checked into a bog standard hotel room while the team pitched their tents in a private compound for the next 2 nights. Dropping off what would be USD$65 worth of laundry - 3 shirts and a pair of undies being Fatpaps - we parked ourselves by the pool, took a dip and ordered, oh we don’t know, some gin & tonics perhaps? Anthony and Gillian soon joined us and we whiled away a few hours poolside with the roar of Victoria Falls clearly audible less than a kilometre away.
Intrepid had organised a traditional African dinner for the group this evening with Mammas coming in from all over town to help prepare the dishes. We however had pre-organised a Zambezi River dinner cruise as we only had one night in town and it was deemed a bit of a priority for us both. Tomorrow would be the end of this Intrepid leg with a second connecting for the southbound component. We didn’t option that so this was our last night with the guys and with Intrepid Travel.
Scrubbed up and shaved we waited on our car for the short trip to Wild Horizons and our Sundowner Dinner Cruise. It was a pretty swish affair starting with upper deck canapes and drinks before moving downstairs for a 4 course dinner as the sun did its African thang. There were a few animals out and about but to be honest, it was a little more about kicking back at this stage and not plucking the dust and gunk out of any accessible orifice for once. The sunset as you would expect was again absolutely stunning with light bouncing off the Zambezi River that we couldn’t help but photograph and post. Sorry.
The night was absolutely lovely and a relaxing way to deconstruct the past 10 days and ponder the next 20 to come. From tomorrow we’d be on our own again leaving us both excited and saddened, we’d come to treasure our travel partners and it would be sad leaving them so soon. We got back to camp about the same time they finished their African dinner so we all walked into town for a final drink and dance, and all round shit stir at the local outdoor pub.
Ok, this website and its travel blogs are all about Fatpap and Lyndall and a vehicle to post our bangers. But we love being the centre of attention too, well one of us does anyway, and having little to no shame will post just about anything…(editorial note: insert relevant links to all bum shots taken over the years). But we also enjoy telling our tales and of the people we meet creating them. And these first 10 days of our African odyssey, our take on the dark continent, had more moving parts to it than just the two of us. There were the guides and drivers and cooks of course, but 13 more sitting in the row behind, or ahead of us on the Wilderbus making this entire journey as spectacular as it was. Africa is hard. It’s vast, it’s hot, it’s cold, it’s dusty, it’s….you get the idea, but the people next to you, the ones making you laugh and smile, those hugging you when sad or hanging shit on you because, well you deserve it, are the pillars to any travel success and as vitally important as the animals and buildings and culture experienced.
So after 10 days meandering north through Botswana from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls with these wonderful people, it’s time to thank them, and let them all know what an impact they had on our experience. Some haven’t been mentioned yet, nor photographed, but that’s organic and just how our stories roll at times. It doesn’t mean they weren’t integral to the narrative, it just means they weren’t standing next to Fatpap when he took one of his hundreds of selfies.
To Antony and Cleopatra, who after all these years still pinch each others arse…yes we saw it…two beautiful humans we easily identified with minus the profanity, booze and we suppose, the profanity and booze. We loved being with you and look forward to catching up soon for dinner and a slide night. To Biggles and Ricki, a pair of crazies just as crazy as us that never failed to bring us to laughter and worked us out in the first 7 minutes at Tambo airport. …as we did them, you guys were the best fun and so enjoyable to travel with, thank you. To Bubbles and Squeak whose marital antics were funnier than they’ll ever know but brought with it a sincerity and truth about the people they really are. You were simply wonderful to travel with and every day brought laughter and wonderful conversation. To the Canadian Do-gooding millennials Joanna and Duncan. Elbows up Canucks. You’re enormous fun in any group setting, showed some old dogs a few new tricks and so genuinely lovely we just wanna adopt you both. Bloody Canadians! And the enigmatic Cerys - our modern day Katharine Hepburn - who was as comfortable in her own skin as she was stinging you with that acidic tongue of hers. The quiet ones are often the most interesting and Cerys was definitely a marvellous travel buddy. Thank you for your constant smiles. To our English gal Maria and her transatlantic friend Heidi, you guys were so much fun to be around adding something new to our journey every day. Maria, we felt your pain but admired your spirit. You brought another emotion to the trip that in an odd way made it that much more special. Continue on in life our lovely, you’re a wonderful human being. And the beautiful Heidi, you know Fatpap will always hold a flame for you and if you and your husband ever…..well, you have his number. Thank you both for making our trip as pleasurable as it was and for teaching Fatpap how to make a real cup of English Earl Grey. To Ali Barber, the philosophical Rubik’s cube who brought intelligent conversation and that dry British wit of hers to every discussion. You were a wonderful travel companion who we both loved getting to know. And lastly the nomadic Julia who delivered something new to the mix everyday, thanks for the companionship and godspeed for all your journeys onward.
Thank you all for such a wonderful, fun experience through Botswana together and for putting up with our own idiosyncrasies and constant nonsense. Our photos captured the animals and the scenery, but you all captured our hearts providing a launching pad for our onward African odyssey to become as wonderful as it did.