29th of March – Welcome to the concrete jungle

I had to get up early to catch my flight – my alarm went off at 0500 which I wasn’t a big fan of. And even on a holiday!  Apart from me not being a morning person everything went as planned. Unfortunately the steak restaurant at the airport wasn’t open when I arrived so I couldn’t fulfil my plans with having steak and wine for breakfast. What a disappointment.

Flight to Riga went well, I had a much-needed nap and one of the few on the flight who had a free seat next to me which gave me an isle and window seat! Going from Riga to Kiev we were stuffed into a Dash8 with less space (seats and for carry-ons) so it got a bit cramped. At least I must have been more comfortable than the guy I was sitting next to who was a fair bit taller (and equivalently larger overall) than me.

Got picked up at the airport, passed by an ATM (apparently Ukrainian currency can not be bought in Denmark and exchange in Riga was atrocious) and was delivered to my hotel. After getting settled I went for a walk at 1630 – first to see how long it would take me to get to tomorrow’s meeting point and after that just to have a look around.

Kiev is very Eastern European; blocky, concrete and… grey in more ways than one. It has its own kind of charm. And it’s cold and snow is found in piles all around. As opposed to the normal grey blocky-ness their churches look pretty nice, though, colourful and well maintained.

St. Volodymyr's Cathedral.

Mural outside St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery.

St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery.

Starting to look for a place to eat I took an underpass below the street instead of looking for a crossing and stood face to face with a heated 1-floor mall below street level! I followed the maps put up along the many exists and returned to the street, being confused out of my mind as I had passed through enough twists and turns I couldn’t relate the location to anywhere on my street map. It took me multiple tries and several walking back and forths before I finally found myself again.

I located a place to eat – which was needed at around 2000 and not having eaten anything since a small disappointing piece of chicken pie in Riga airport – at a fancy-looking restaurant called The Silver Spoon. The food was good but I had expected larger portions. Half an hour later I was on my way back towards my hotel for some much-needed sleep. Something that got a bit postponed due to the well-functioning internet connection at the hotel. Oh, well.

The hotel is located in an apartment building where they have bought a segment of one of the floors which they have closed off from the rest of the building. This means that they have no restaurant so if you want breakfast you order the day before (a range of various sandwiches) and have it delivered to your room at the agreed time. Room service!

I am being picked up at the train station tomorrow morning at 0800 which means I’ll leave half an hour before that. Breakfast can be served from 0700 which to me sounds like perfect timing.

Going east!

My interest for travelling to Asia has been on a low if it didn't involve some kind of trekking or climbing. This view has started to shift a bit in recent years as this part of the world is probably soon the only part I haven't visited yet and it being very different than what I am used to, I am starting to feel if I am missing something.

Because of this I have been thinking whether to do something about it. 

And it helps when finding out that Laos has removed visa requirements for Scandinavians this year. So...

22^nd – 23^rd of July

Flight from Copenhagen to Bangkok, Thailand. Arriving early in the morning which will give me time to roam the streets and do some sightseeing. And when I mean sightseeing I mean eating.

24^th – 25^th of July

Going on a tour of Bangkok before getting on an overnight train to Chiang Mai. When arriving the next day we will be getting a guided tour of the Doi Suthep temple before having the rest of the day off for relaxation or other activities.

26^th of July

Today we will leave Chiang Mai and head towards Chiang Khong via Wat Rong Khun where we will get a view of the Mekong river.

27^th – 28^th of July

Crossing the border into Laos and then getting into traditional boats on the Mekong and travelling to Luang Prabang. On the way we will get a guided tour of the Pak Ou caves.

29^th – 30^th of July

Spend time in Luang Prabang where it will be possible to go on tour in some of the local museums and see the Kuang Si waterfalls. Apart from that it’s free time open for relaxation or whatever activities that might be located and catch your interest.

31^st of July – 1^st of August

Travel to Vang Veng where we will have free time and spend one of the nights in a local village where we will get to see how to eat and live like a local.

2^nd of August

Travel to Vientiane, the capitol of Laos.

3^rd of August

Fly out to Hanoi, Vietnam.

4^th – 6^th of August

Spend a day in Hanoi of sightseeing before leaving late the 5^th and coming home the following day.

19th – Goodbyes and departure

I got up for breakfast with the others to say goodbye to everyone before they left. It was nice getting the last moment together before going our separate ways, and as the owner had let us remaining keep our rooms until 1300 there was only one thing to do; go back to the room and get a few more hours of extra sleep.

At an appropriate time we were picked up and brought to the airport. We said our goodbyes, I checked in, wandered the halls of the airport until departure, had my layover in Dubai and arrived home at the scheduled time.

And that was it. A short but satisfying (that leopard, though…) trip to do some wildlife watching in more luxurious conditions that what I am used was really nice, but I will admit flying for 14 hours for a single week is a bit much. But thanks to Shape of Water, The Snowman, Atomic Blonde, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Suburbica, Logan Lucky, 2307: Winter’s Dream (no… just no), Renegades, S.M.A.R.T Chase, 24 Hours to Live, What Happened to Monday, Shot Caller, S1E1 of Designated Survivor and Cardinal I kept my sanity during the flights and got caught up on movies I hadn’t gotten around watching yet.

Thanks to Soekie for being such a nice host in Johannesburg. While I do understand the security reasons for putting your house on lockdown in the evening it’s piss annoying that we on the last night together had to be in our rooms before 2130 because of that – and even more so when realizing the wifi got cut off too at that point. Thanks to Johan for being a great guide on the tour, and big thanks to Cobus and Adolf, our driver and tracker in the Karongwe Game reserve, you guys were fun.  Last but not least; big thanks to Andrea, Susan, Anu, Scott, Debbie, Gail, Bruce, Noreen, Paul, Stephen, Robin, Eliza, Steve and Aviva for being such cool people and making the trip memorable. It was a fun week and it’s too bad that we didn’t get more time together.

Full album can be found here.

18th – Last drive

The day started as planned like yesterday and at 0530 we were off on our last drive of the trip. The focus was to try and find the elephants further south in the park. There was a lot of driving and racing around but our driver and tracker had to admit that the elephants had gone into the thicket where we were not able to follow.

Despite the results of this hunt we consoled our selves with the fact that the weather for once was really nice and no ponchos were needed. It had turned truly enjoyable.

Gabar goshawk.

Brown snake eagle.

Rock hyraxes.

Lovely weather when crossing a riverbed.

The always elusive leopard was still on everybody’s radar and luck was with us – at least partially; we saw it for a brief 2 seconds while crossing the road in the distance. And that was it. Due to how fast it was over no one got a shot of it (including those in the other car) which was a bit of a relief for me as I didn’t even get to point the camera in its general direction before it had disappeared again. But officially the leopard had hereby been spotted.

A very short quill from a porcupine.

Having spotted to the leopard (albeit very briefly) I realized how much I had been focused on spotting one as I relaxed quite a bit afterwards and took the rest of the drive in a more mentally leaned back state than before. We did get a small bonus towards the end of the drive, though, as we (not literally!) bumped into the cheetah family again when we found them relaxing near the road. The cubs were more active than yesterday but otherwise there was still a lot of purring heard.

We arrived back at the lodge a bit past 0900 where we had breakfast after which I returned to my tent, had a quick shower and packed. The but got packed, bills were paid and we were off around 1030-1100.

African striped skink that seems to have lost its tail.

The drive back to Johannesburg was uneventful – we had our last break where all the rhinos were but this time we got lucky as they were all much closer to where we were. We arrived back at our destination at 1830 and an hour later we had our last dinner together.

More rhinos.

Sable antelope.

Even more rhinos!

I was not given my old room again so my 6’er streak was broken, instead I got room 9 which had a balcony form where I could see lightning in the distance. I set my camera up to try to do a time lapse with the view but it seemed as if I missed the majority of it.

Tomorrow most people will be leaving for the airport after breakfast at 0730 as they are doing this safari as part of a longer trip; some are returning to Cape Town, some to Vic Falls etc. 3 of us are staying a bit longer as our flights aren’t until almost 1900.

17th – Kitties!

As planned we were woken up at 0500 for a quick snack and tea/coffee/juice before departing on our morning drive half an hour later, slightly delayed. When waking up I thought I heard if still raining like last night but luckily most of the noise turned out to be coming from the ceiling fan. We were still suffering from a slight drizzle, though, but despite it at times turned into real rain it was nothing compared to what we had last night.

Wrapped up in our ponchos and trying to shield my camera equipment by covering it by a corner of the poncho (without being as panicky as yesterday) we were off to find more animals to spot.

Unfortunately, there was not much spectacular to see until we raced along – and kept racing – until we stopped and were told to dismount the car and follow the guide in a single file. After a short 100m walk we – 1 carload at a time – were standing not 5 meters from Kwesi, a cheetah female, with her three cubs. Our presence did not bother them, mainly because we did not smell like feline and we were too big to be edible. She had also been in contact with humans when a cub as part of the cheetah preservation we had been told about yesterday, so that probably also helped on their relaxed state. The purring that was going on in the small group was nothing short of impressive.

Jackal.

Grey go-away-bird.

Lappet-faced vulture.

Cheetah.

When returning to the lodge around 0900 we had breakfast and nothing planned until lunch at 1300 and high tea at 1530 followed by our afternoon/evening drive. Some people just relaxed, some booked spots at the spa and I and a few others spent time in the bird hide overlooking a nearby river. There was only a limited amount of birds (primarily small) and not much else. One could have hoped for hippos or crocodiles (or cats!) but that was not to be. We were graced by the short visit of two female waterbucks, though, but the impressiveness of that was pretty limited.

No luxury at all. Where is the AC??

Wire-tailed swallows.

Blacksmith plover.

Dung beetle.

The afternoon drive was done in dry weather; the rain had stopped and even the blue sky popped its head out occasionally among the otherwise still quite dense clouds. Once again there wasn’t much until we raced across the reserve to see a mal rhine (with an attitude) and having our snack break at a small lake where we saw a group of hippos interacting with each other and some even (play-) fighting. That brought me great joy as I haven’t really seen any of that before.

Adolf showing how big a termite mound can get.

Grumpy rhino.

Black-chested snake eagle.

Rhinos.

Lesser masked weaver.

Darkness came quickly and around 1900 we returned to the lodge where we had dinner half an hour later. Another group arrived; until now we have been the only 15 people here which has been feeling a bit weird considering the fairly large capacity of the lodge.

Sunset.

Tomorrow we will have one last drive in the morning like today but trying to focus more on the southern end of the reserve. The goal is to find elephants but all I can say is “what about the leopards??”.

16th – Wet cats

Today we were relocated from Muluwa to Chisomo Safari Lodge at Karongwe Private Game Reserve. As we weren’t supposed to be there until lunch and the drive was only 3-ish hours it gave us a late start in the morning. Our bags were picked up from our tents at 0800 and after breakfast we left, slightly delayed.

The drive was uneventful and arriving at our new lodge we were welcomed with a small drink and a moist hot towel before being handed our keys. It must be coincidence but the lodge in Johannesburg gave me room 6, Muluwa lodge had me in tent 6 and here I have tent C… 6.

Uuhmm... Excuse me? I believe there is an elephant in my tent...

Lunch was had and at 1445 we had tea and biscuits with a presentation of a wildlife preservation group with a focus on what they did for the cheetah population in sub-Saharan Africa.

An hour later we were off on the first of our 4 game drives here. We had a driver/guide (obviously…) and a tracker sitting on a small seat on the front of the bonnet. I have no idea how he managed to hold onto that small seat when driving, but my guess is dark magic. It was raining and being in a completely open vehicle (i.e. like the ones in Kruger, but without a roof) we were completely exposed so ponchos were handed out. While driving around we had an amazing view of constant lightning but despite struggling with the increasing amounts of rain we still got to see a group of female lions drinking at a small lake and a male hiding underneath a bush, not handling the thunder and lightning very well. At this point the weather had gotten so bad that our driver raced us to cover – the drive took 10-15 minutes and it was a struggle holding on, shielding the cameras from the rain and still seeing anything at all with the rain pounding into our faces.

Lionesses.

Male lion not too happy about the current weather situation.

Being in cover we had a short break with drinks and snacks that had been brought along and soon after the rain stopped, we wrapped everything up and got our fully soaked selves back up onto the fully soaked seats and continued on.

Unfortunately we didn’t really see anything on second leg of this drive and around 1900 we returned to our lodge. We got ourselves into dry clothes (and most of us had a nice hot shower) before coming back for dinner.

Sunset on the drive.

Tomorrow we’ll get up at 0500 and leave on a morning drive half an hour later for app. 3 hours before returning for breakfast. After that we’ll have relaxation time before tea at 1500 and an afternoon drive like today until around 1900. While some seem to be planning on spending time in the pool or spa (!) during the downtime I expect to sit in the bird blind by the nearby lake and see if anything interesting will come by.

15th – Kruger

The alarm went off at 0415 and half an hour later people were gathering in the common area for a quick morning drink before heading to Kruger where we arrived a bit past 0600. Here we split the group into two separate vehicles in which we drove around in the park until we were picked up at around 1600 to return to the lodge. The vehicles were open in the sides, i.e. apart from a room there were nothing shielding us from the outside. Apart from breakfast around 0930-1000 and lunch around 1300-1400 we drove around and looked for wildlife without stopping for breaks.

Zebras.

European roller securing its breakfast.

Saddle-billed stork.

Impalas having a drink.

Southern yellow-billed hornbill.

Lilac-breasted roller.

African grey hornbill.

There was a lot more thick growth than what I am used to from Maasai Mara and Serengeti (they did recently have a very wet week, though) so the visibility was low and therefore chances for seeing wildlife even at great distances were pretty much non-existent.

Blue-cheeked bee-eater.

Buffalo.

African fish-eagle.

Rhino!

Giraffe. Notice its one broken horn and the ox-peckers on its front right leg.

Southern ground-hornbill.

Red-backed shrike.

But one animal did make the experience fairly mindblowing; we saw 2 rhinos at two separate occasions (the other car apparently saw 4-5!) – already more sightings than I usually get on safaris, and this was just the first day! We also saw lions (though from a distance partly hidden). Buffalo, several elephants, a lot of birds that at times did get quite close, baboons, giraffe, a snake, monitor lizard, crocodiles, hippos and obviously multiple antelopes of different species. We did not get to see a leopard, but neither did anyone else; we were told by the day’s guide when saying goodbye that no such sightings had been announced over the radio. No cheetahs, either, but that didn’t surprise me due to the lack of open areas.

Small elephant.

Fork-tailed drongo.

Woodland kingfisher.

Tawny eagle.

Egyptian geese.

Another rhino.

As predicted it did get quite hot today – up to mid-40s. But because the vehicle was covered and open on all sides it meant that we were getting a constant breeze when driving which made the weather very tolerable. But when stopping for meals and stepping out it was obvious how hot it actually was.

Not so small elephant.

South African tree squirrel.

Baboon.

Coming back to the lodge a bit past 1700 we had time off before dinner a few hours later; BBQ with chicken and wildebeest. The latter was just like beef that wasn’t quite as tender as one might have liked, but otherwise very tender.

Sunset at the lodge.

We have a late start tomorrow – breakfast at 0800, departure at 0900. Lunch will be had at the next lodge we’re staying at, followed by a conservatory lecture (primarily on cheetahs) around 1500 before an afternoon drive in open vehicles. If the success rate is as high as today it will be very promising. Let’s see.