LIVINGSTONE - traveling to

This was our first 'puddle jumper' flight - going from Lusaka to Livingstone! Carries 26 max - had 24 on board. Had to stow everything - and actually we hit 'over weight' on our luggage - as they also weighed our carry on - 10 KGs - $20 USD - not to bad (beats repacking etc at the last minute). The Livingstone airport was kind of funny. We had to put our luggage on the 'security xray' machine - only to watch it fall off at the other end as no one was watching the machine and viewing the xray machine - we just walked thru the electronic sensor as no one was around and retrieved our luggage!! Finally - 15 minutes later or so - they started checking luggage and people - guess we 'lucked out'- sortof!!

PICS: LIVINGSTONE - traveling to

LIVINGSTONE - Victoria Falls

Here it is - the seventh wonder of the world - in all of its 'flood waters furry'! Probably walking along the path, trying to see enough to get one foot ahead of the other foot - was the closest we will get to going thru a car wash without the car! We had been warned - and it was true - we got literally wet to our bones!! They did have rain ponchos - but word was it did not really make that much difference. Fortunately it was warm and so we dried out fairly quick. The last couple videos are taken off youtube so you could see the falls when the water level and flow was more subdued and minimal. The feeling of the force and rush of the water was just incredable!!

And a few pics of some of the other critters around such as baboons - kind of like squirrels and 'camp robbers' - just a bit larger and a bit more aggressive!

PICS: LIVINGSTONE - Victoria Falls

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LIVINGSTONE - Victoria Falls - different views - off youtube

These clips are here to provide you an idea of the magnitude of the falls - as well as give you a better idea of what they look like then the water level is lower...I found these on YouTube - enjoy!!

#1 - contemplating the falls

#2-Vic falls during peak water flow

#3 - helicopter fly over the falls

LIVINGSTONE - Victoria Falls bridge - bungee and swing!

and then there was Victoria Falls bridge - where the mighty waters lured mortals into doing mighty feats - such as Bungee jumping, the Gorge Swing and the Zip line (no pics)!!  A few in the group took 'one for the team' and made the challange! Way to go!! (and lived to tell!)

PICS: LIVINGSTONE - Victoria Falls bridge events

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LIVINGSTONE - Ngoma African Restuarant

A restuarant where we had dinner at one evening. They prepared and served authentic african food - along with all of the decorations! Betty and I passed up the alligator but others in our group gave it a go - 'kind of like chicken' (pretty original line!)

PICS: LIVINGSTONE - Ngomo African Restuarant

LIVINGSTONE - Fawlty Towers - lodging

This was where we stayed. We had a nice little room - with a 'ripper' of a shower - such a nice surprise after our  'dripper' and bucket showers the two weeks earlier!

PICS: LIVINGSTONE - Fawlty Towers - lodging

LIVINGSTONE - traveling around

Livingstone was pretty touristy - just a few pics....

PICS: LIVINGSTONE - traveling around

BOTSWANA - heading to safari

Botswana is another country to the south of Zambia. This is where we headed for our jeep and boad safari's. We had to cross the Zambeize (?) River - which is the border of several contries. While we were on the skiff crossing the river we actually crossed thru the corners of Zambia, Botswana, Nambia and Zimbabwe(?)!! The river crossing was a bit of adventure in itself - especially coming back (see 'Botswana - back to Lusaka' post).

PICS: BOTSWANA - heading to safari

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BOTSWANA - jeep safari

The first half of our day was to go on a 'jeep' safari. This was a larger 'jeep' with bench seats in the bed of the truck and a canvas room. After we had been about 20 minutes into the safari - the skies just broke open and poured and poured. We had to stand as the water was hitting the bench seats and then running to the left/right depending on the direction the jeep was leaning as it drove along the road and ruts. Soon the water started flowing down the road making giant ruts etc. We opted to not return back to camp but to keep sticking it out - the guide (who had been doing this for 20+ years) indicated and another group (not related to us) had decided to bail - but he said he liked our group cause we were 'sticking with it'!!!! after about 40-50 minutes it stopped and started to clear out and we started to see more wildlife.

Once were were done - we were heading down to a large lodge that had a big buffet for lunch. We were running a bit late - and as we came aound a corner there were 2 wild elephants along the road munching on tree leaves!! We had no time to go back and could not pull over - that was the extent of our 'elephant shots'; just in our mind! Due to the late and heavy rains the plains were still flooded and the elephants had not yet come 'down from the hills'. A MWB group that did the same thing a year ago (also in April) had seen thousands of elephants! All about timing!

PICS: BOTSWANA - jeep safari


After lunch we had to head to the boat for the boat safari - which was docked at the resturant.....

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BOTSWANA - boat safari

Even though it was downpouring when we got of the boat - it quickly let up and stayed dry the rest of the day! The lazy sun came out and it became quite a calm, smooth afternoon on the water - very relaxing.  After we were done - we had to then stop by 'the office' and pay - which was also another lodge that had 6 foot electric fences to keep the elephants out!

PICS: BOTSWANA - boat safari

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BOTSWANA - back to Lusaka

Heading back from the Chobe National Reserve in Botswana back to our bus and Livingstone.....

PICS: BOTSWANA - back to Lusaka

LIVINGSTONE - Walk with the Rhino - "the Rhino"

Betty and I had a day to ourselves - before we flew to Johannesburg. We decided to try the 'walk with the Rhino' - there were two parts of this event. After our guide picked us up  - we went to the ???? National Refuge - and then picked up one of the crew that have the 24X7 duty to 'guard' this Rhino - second largest in the world. Then we all take off on foot to find the Rhino - (there are other guards by the Rhino and they communicate on where he is). We spent a fair amount of time watching this huge mammal - "walking with him" - okay about 100 feet from him.

At the same time our 'guide' told us about the flora/fauna and other animals in the area. An elephant had come thru just a couple days prior and pushed down a couple of 12 inch trees to get to their leaves! We also saw a couple of girraffes on our way back to our vehicle.

Then part #2 was driving thru the refuge looking for other wild life. (next post)

PICS: LIVINGSTONE - Walk with Rhino - 'the Rhino'

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LIVINGSTONE - Walk with the Rhino - other animals we saw

After getting up close and personal (how more personal can you get when examining the 'spray' the Rhino leaves to mark his territory!) we drove around the refuge looking for and at other wild life. We saw a pretty good variety. We had a good guide - it was a bit rainy so he even took the windows out of the side doors of the van we were in so we could see better and get better pictures!

PICS: LIVINGSTONE - Walk with the Rhino - other animals we saw

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