27th - 28th - Horror and return

As my flight departed in the evening I still had a day available to do something before leaving, and as I was not the only one we ending up being a small group wanting to go to the Apartheid Museum. We were told it shouldn’t take the driver more than half an hour to get there, but unfortunately it took him double that. This included going too far on the highway which resulted in him reversing (!) to get back onto the off-ramp. Yeah, we felt very safe.

Arriving at the museum we only had a couple of hours due to some of ours departures, so we ended up rushing through. We could easily have spent 4 hours there without feeling we were wasting our time. The museum was very interesting, but it was – naturally – very uncomfortable to read and study some of the things. It is highly recommended – but I would suggest to not do it as the last thing when in the country because you would want something a little more bright and optimistic to conclude your visit with.

We wanted to take a quick drive through Soweto before returning to the lodge, but we hadn’t gotten the company’s best driver. 20 minutes after leaving the museum we came past it again, and it wasn’t until all of us pointed it out to him that we were back where we started that he actually realized why we were yelling at him.

We changed our minds and asked to go straight back to the lodge. At least that only took half an hour this time.

We were told to have plenty of time to check in and get through customs and security. The fact was, though, that it took 10 minutes to drive to the airport, and less than half an hour after leaving the lodge we had gotten through all the steps and were now facing quite a few hours to walk around in the departure areas.

Oh, well – rather that than stressing and being late.

Flew home the same way I came, and Sunday morning I arrived safely back in Copenhagen, concluding another successful vacation.

26th - Return

In the early morning we packed up and left the site to go and visit a local school that has been established and financed by the Planeterra organization, a volunteer program under G Adventures. Here we got to see the facilities and meeting the kids (2-5 year olds) arriving in the morning and having their first class.

After this we were back in the truck and in a straight line towards Johannesburg.

We came back to the Airport Game Lodge at around 1600 where we had a couple of hour’s rest before we took a taxi to a place near the airport that best can be described as Johannesburg’s version of Cesar’s Palace. Casinos, restaurants, bars, whatnot. Here we had our final dinner together – a not bad buffet with plenty of local foods to choose among. Especially the amount of desserts was lovely (not if you ask my arteries, though, but who cares about them anyway?).

Not much else happened during that evening. We had a good time and slowly began saying our goodbyes if we wouldn’t meet the following day.

25th - Kruger, part 2

Today we were picked up in the morning by two safari vehicles. While the wildlife watching from the truck yesterday was good, we were limited by the fact that it is only allowed to drive on paved roads. These specialized safari vehicles (similar to those in the Serengeti, just slightly bigger) are able to drive on any road, paved or not, giving us more chances to get closer to the animals.

The day was to be a mixed experience, though.

Our driver/guide had from the beginning been informed that lions were the only one of the bug five we hadn’t seen yet (in the wild), so focus was to be on those. Also, having seen so many elephants already, we wouldn’t need to stop every time we saw a new group wandering about.

Up until lunch we had a good drive; saw quite a few animals, no new ones, unfortunately. We even stopped for a break for half an hour. While there was a nice view of the area from the seating area in the café that also was there, it all felt more like a way of getting us to do some shopping in the souvenir shop. But we kept driving around, until we at lunchtime parked at another site in the park after which the driver left us – without any plans or arrangements of when we were leaving again. Slightly confusing, but we ended up relaxing on a patch of grass for an hour while having lunch before returning to the cars.

At the various sites in the park there are large maps of wildlife sightings the last couple of days. We had seen that the last couple of days lions had been spotted daily in an area a couple of km east of our lunch spot. We pointed this out to our driver, and therefore he did the sensible th… no he didn’t. He drove west. We started complaining about this, and the only real reaction was to circle around, look at some elephants (yes, you do get tired of looking at them in the end, especially when you know there might be lions nearby) and continue west.

Later, we had another clash with the driver; someone spotted a leopard in the bushes and told him to stop. Being on the phone he had a very long reaction time, so we all ended up yelling at him to stop before he reacted – after which we yelled at us for scaring the animals away. He reversed quite a bit, and we did just manage to see the leopard disappear deeper into the thicket.

Not too happy about the afternoon’s drive, we exited the park and drove to our last camp site before Johannesburg.

The site was almost like a small amphitheatre where we set up the tents on the top level. After setting up camp Jaco pulled out a sling and played around with that for a while before showing off his whipping skills again. No twigs in mouths this time, but still very entertaining.

After dinner a group of locals came by and danced and sang for us. A little like when we were in the Delta, but not quite as frivolous.

Giraffes always run in slow motion.

Bateleur eagle.

Greater blue-eared starling.

Turtles.

Elephant (again!).

An eagle of some kind.

Zebras and wildebeast.

Kudus.

Ground hornbill.

A.... bird.

Leopard tail.

The rest of the leopard.

23rd-24th - Kruger, part 1

The 23^rd was eventless. We had a 7 hour drive getting into South Africa and our next camp site. As usual the long drives on the trip were eventless and even crossing the border this time wasn’t a big hassle. Or we are just getting used to it. In any case, nothing to report.

The 24^th we had our first full day in Kruger. The day was spent in the truck, going from a northern entrance into the park and getting quite a bit south into the park to get to the site where we would be spending the night. While the drive was interesting enough in the sense that there was wildlife to look at and look for, the drive itself was just, well… driving.

The sightings today were quite a big mix of various animals. We saw plenty of elephants – many more than I would have expected. While in some areas the elephants are threatened, they are apparently have so many in Kruger that there are discussions on whether or not they should be culling some of the families. They are reaching a point where the number of elephants is reaching an amount where the areas will not be able to sustain the large number of herds walking around. It is quite interesting, especially considering what you usually hear about elephants in Africa.

We saw two small hyena cubs lying in small hole. Despite not being very pretty when grown up, the two cubs still managed to get some awww’s from the truck.

And we saw a cat today, more precisely a leopard. Not very visible, but it was definitely there! The 5 five was thereby crossed off for the trip (even though I would have preferred seeing lions in the wild and not just in the sanctuary).

Getting to the camp site – big fenced in area with supermarket and good toilet facilities – we had an early dinner as we would be leaving again at 1930 to go on a night drive trying to find animals that tend to be more active during the night than day. We were given two projectors which would then be used to light up surrounding areas in an attempt to spot anything that wasn’t a rock. Yes, we saw plenty of impalas. And a bunch of elephants. No cats, but a group of hyenas playing around. Generally the drive could be considered a success.

Zebras.

Saddle-billed stork.

Yellow-billed hornbill.

Buffalo.

Two hyena cubs.

You might not be able to see the leopard, but the leopard has definately seen you!

The leopard got tired of the attention and got up to walk away.

Elephant under the moon.

Hyena.

14th - Departure

We left the lodge early in the morning – 0700 – to start the longest drive of the trip.

Not much happened on the drive, we had a pit stop where we could buy supplies (snacks) but nothing else before reaching the border out of South Africa at 1300-ish. After maybe half an hour we had all had our passports stamped and a few minutes’ drive later we arrived to the Botswana border. Here the process was identical, with the only difference that the stamp proved that we were allowed into the country.

After a quick pack lunch we continued on and at around 1630 we arrived at Khama Rhino Sanctuary and our campsite. Camp was set, food was made, fire was made and at around 2000 people were surprised it wasn’t later than it was as we began feeling ready going to sleep.

My tent mate is another Dane in the group, Tobias, from Århus.

Tomorrow we will be departing at app. 0530-0600-ish to make it to Maun not too late with a 6 hour drive. Here we will be able to get a flight over the Okavango Delta before entering it by canoe the following day, and otherwise just relax and set camp when we all are gathered again.

The truck. Jaco is seen bent over getting ready for cooking dinner.

The camp site.

13th - Arriving in South Africa

After a long but eventless flight to Johannesburg via Frankfurt (A380 from Frankfurt!) I was picked up as agreed and taken to the first night's lodge. We didn't take the direct route, though, as the driver hadn't gone to that specific place before. But after som driving around we finally made it.

I arrived at around 1030, so there wasn't a room ready for me yet. I should have then have gone out and been cultural,  but due to almost no sleep on the plane I ended up hanging around, talking with people returning from their trip, trying to find someone who was in the same group as me, and generally as little as possible.

Tomorrow there will be breakfast at 0630 after which we will leave, go north and get to Khama Rhino Sanctuary before we stop for the day. This will result in probably the longest drive on the trip.

I must admit that the conditions here surprised me a little when arriving. When arriving in Tanzania there were almost only badly paved roads and very dusty ones, and people drove like crazy. Here the conditions are very good with nicely paved broad roads and people are generally much nicer behind the wheel. A pleasant surprise, but I'm sure that will change when we put some distance between us and the big cities.

Second confirmation

... and shortly after this year's first confirmation the first trip of the year (for now...) was also confirmed.

12th of July

Departure from Copenhagen

13th of July

Arrival in Johannesburg after a short layover in Frankfurt. Looking forward to it - second leg is with an A380!

14th - 15th of July

Going north into Botswana we aim for Khama Rhino Sanctuary, including a visit of nearby villages Serowe and Maun.

16th of July

Further north we end up at the Okavango Delta where we will spend time in a bush camp where we will be going on game walks and getting around in mokoros, a traditional dug-out canoe.

17th - 18th of July

A quick trip back to Maun where we pick up any luggage we didn't bring to the delta and we continue on to Gweta, located in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, apparently a great place to see some beautiful sunsets. We continue on to Chobe National Park which can boast of having the largest elephant population in Southern Africa.

19th - 20th of July

We cross the Zembezi river and enter Zambia to go to Livingstone. Here we will have access to various activities, including the Victoria Falls.

21st - 22nd of July

Crossing into Zimbabwe, going to Bulawayo which will function as our base when visiting Matobo National Park. We will be exploring the national park by both foot and open safari vehicles. Among many other things it will be possible to see both white and black rhinos.

23rd - 25th of July

Going back south back into South Africa we spend a single night in Musina before going to Kruger National Park.

26th of July

Return to Johannesburg.

27th - 28th of July

Return back home, same route as before. Including the A380.