At the end of March my Mom traveled from Florida to Gaborone to visit Africa for the first time. It took a little convincing. You know the barriers we all have: money, time, etc. The thing that convinced her was when I told her that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that she couldn't let pass - and added that Abigail's parents came and brought her 80 year old grandmother! Well, if grandma could do it, so could she!
Our itinerary started in Maun in northern Botswana. We'd start with a 6-day safari in the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve and then Dumi would pick us up in Kasane and drive us across the border to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, then we would drive across Zimbabwe to Bulawayo and back to Gaborone.
The plane we took from Maun to Kanana Lodge was a tiny puddle-jumper that gave us an extraordinary view of the Delta waterways.
Not 5 minutes into our first game drive we came upon a classic -- a truck stuck in a flooded gully. Luckily that didn't ever happen to us despite crossing that flooded road numerous times. (For the record, those people in the picture did get towed out).
One of our first sightings was of an elephant, coming too close, which spikes my blood pressure every time.
We had some fabulous sightings... This might be my best Impala picture.
Our next game drive was on a motorboat. Water safaris are what makes the Delta so unique.
We wound our way through the reeds to an open clearing where our guide, Moja, suggested we go fly fishing. Although not normally our thing, we thought we'd try it, and Mom was the first one to catch something (a brim fish). Pretty impressive!
As it turned out, Moja had a plan. He took a reed from the water and skewered the fish onto it (not my favorite part). Then he waived the fish in the air and caught the attention of two Fish Eagles watching from the trees.
Moja threw the fish high into the air and both Fish Eagles dove for it. One got it.
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| Fish Eagle in flight |
On another land safari we ran into the Tsessebe, considered to be the fastest in the antelope family.
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| Tsessebe |
We found a tiny male Reed Frog that was so cuuuuute! The male is green (below) and the female is spotted (on a reed above the lily pads).
Kanana Lodge was great, due in large part to the excellent staff and Olivia's superb management. You can tell she is a very engaging story teller!
One afternoon all the staff brought an entire set of tables and chairs and arranged a full bar and hot lunch out in the bush. We were greeted with traditional singing and treated to an amazing meal.
On another of our boat trips, Moja took a water lily and started peeling the stem. We wondered what he was up to.
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| Beautiful! |
He took us to a little island where we got onto a mokoro (traditional canoe).
It was a completely different feeling being amongst the reeds in the water. It was so still and peaceful.
Then, before we knew it we were off to the second camp, Okuti, which is in the Moremi Game Reserve.
On our very first safari with our new guide we saw two Lionesses - Mom's first lions!
We had a lot of fun with our guide Isaac and guide-in-training, OT.
We saw many birds and animals with them.
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| Red-billed Hornbill |
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| Kudu |
We really liked Okuti Lodge.
Banaki was a sincerely friendly and helpful manager.
Pearl, who worked on staff in food service, won a scholarship to work for a year at Disney World in Orlando - about 45 minutes away from where Mom lives. So they will have a reunion in the States soon!
On our last game drive we hit a typical road block in the bush.
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| A herd of female Impala |
Amazingly, we finally saw what Mom had been waiting for -- the king of the jungle.
At the end of our safari we flew back to Kasane where Dumi picked us up and drove us to Victoria Falls. The first night we went to The Boma, a fun restaurant that was more about the "experience" than anything else. It was pretty "tourist-y" but they had great food and did some fabulous classic Zimbabwe singing.
The next day we were off to Victoria Falls. The end of March is the end of the rainy season, so the falls were full. That made for dramatic viewing, but it also created a lot of spray and we got very wet!
On our way out of Vic Falls we stopped at a village where Dumi is building a small medical clinic. We met with the village Head Man, Mr. Mpofu. He showed us around his compound.
This is the site where the clinic will be.
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| Me, Mom and Jane |
Perhaps it won't be a once-in-a-lifetime trip after all and Mom will return for more adventures in Africa.
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