Canoes, sandboards, quadbikes and aeroplanes

Our crossing into Botswana from Zimbabwe was very straightforward, and then we headed for a campsite where we were hoping to be able to go out on quadbikes to see the salt pans, however the weather wasn’t playing along and due to recent heavy rains they weren’t running trips, so instead it gave everyone a chance to chill in the funky bar and swimming pool under the shade of a massive baobab tree.

Swimming pools are very welcome respite from the day's heat

Funky decorations, these aren't as comfortable as you think, they are made of concrete!

The next day saw us drive through the Nxai Pans National Park where we saw elephants and giraffe in the distance, and then a rather grumpy bull elephant meant we had to stop and wait for him to calm down as we were a bit concerned he was going to take on the truck!  Eventually he decided that the big blue and orange truck was a bit too scary for him and he retreated, allowing us to continue on our way.
No trip to Botswana would be complete without visiting the incredible Okavango Delta.  The Okavango River starts in Angola and runs briefly through Namibia before culminating in a maze of lagoons, channels and islands.  Wildlife is drawn to the delta, including all of the Big 5 plus an abundance of birds.  Some of the group chose to do a scenic flight over the delta, which showed an abundance of wildlife accompanied by stunning scenery that looked exactly like the postcards! 

Robin, David, Nigel, Sue and Jeanne

Elephants at a dry waterhole

Stunning scenery

Back on land, a great place to watch the sunset

The next day we headed out on mokoros, traditional dug out canoes and spent a night camped on an island in the delta.  After a relaxed lunch in the shade we set out on a game viewing walk in the hope of seeing the Big 5 and the many other animals that call the islands their home.  With the sun still fairly high in the sky, we didn’t get to see too much in the way of life as the animals all seemed to be hiding, but it was a great chance to stretch truck-weary legs.  With the only source of light being the campfire and a couple of head-torches, it was an early night for everyone.  The next morning, as the sun first started to show itself, most of the group headed off for another game walk, this time more successful with excellent sightings and close encounters with zebra, wildebeest, impala, hippo, elephant, the relatively rare red lechwe (antelope), as well as warthogs and many birds including the striking fish eagle.  On the way back to camp we saw a crocodile, which certainly made swimming in the delta a less attractive option despite the heat, and we waited for the swimming pool at our campsite instead!

Mark and Teri, our keen birders

Mokoro polers

David, Lesley and Terry on safari in the delta

Hippo

Red Lechwe

Zebra and wildebeest

A mokoro-eye view

Crocodile!

Leaving Botswana behind we had a long day in the truck as we crossed into Namibia and headed towards the capital, Windhoek (literally, windy corner). We stopped for the night at a campsite just outside the city, and the next morning we were able to eat our breakfast while watching giraffes grazing on the hills below!  Just another day in Africa…

The UNO championship continues...

Namibia is home to some harsh but beautiful landscapes

Namibia is one of the youngest countries in Africa, but is also home to one of the oldest (and driest) deserts in the world, the Namib Desert.  This was our next stop and we camped for two nights on the edge of the Namib Naklauft National Park.  We enjoyed sundowner drinks at Sesriem Canyon and then the next morning it was our earliest start yet as we set off for the famous Dune 45 and Sossusvlei at 4.30am!  The reason for the early start is to try to get to the top of Dune 45 to watch the sunrise and after a lot of huffing and puffing we all made it up to the top after a 20 minute slog up the dune. The views from the top were spectacular, and as the sun rose, the colours really came to life.  While walking up was a slog, coming back down was much more fun and took much less time as we were able to run straight down the face of the dune (or in Leigh’s case, roll down). A quick breakfast and we continued further into the National Park heading for the famous Sossusvlei.  We stopped off at the unattractively named Dead Vlei (vlei translates approximately to swamp, although these particular swamps are flooded only very occasionally) and had a wander through looking for the desert-dwelling animals.  What initially appears to be a completely barren and inhospitable landscape slowly reveals itself to be host to a wide variety of animals from antelope to beetles specifically adapted to survive the extreme weather.  It was a fascinating place to wander around for a couple of hours before we headed still further into the park stopping at Sossusvlei which is photographers paradise with a particularly well-positioned tree and sand dune combination!

Georgia and Athena

Sundowners at Sesriem Canyon

Walking up Dune 45

At the top!

Everyone made it

Sunrise over the dunes

Running back down, much more fun!

Terry showing us his surfing skills

Jeanne at the top of a dune

Incredible views

Sossusvlei

Our itinerary for our Cape to Cairo expeditions certainly doesn’t take us the most direct way as we start on the Atlantic Ocean coast, travel east to the Indian Ocean coast and then return to the Atlantic Ocean coast where we spend a couple of nights at Swakopmund, Namibia’s (and arguably southern Africa’s) adventure playground.  Almost every adventure activity you can think of is available – sky diving, sandboarding, quad-biking to name a few.  It was too good an opportunity for most of the group to miss – Terry, Lesley, Jake, Sam and Cecilia jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet, Georgia, Leigh, Mark, Teri, David, Mabel, Rogan and Kirsten took to the dunes on sandboards, Robin, Jake, David, Zan, Cecilia, Mabel, Pete, Rogan and Kirsten donned helmets and spent a couple of hours roaring around the dunes on quadbikes, and Lynley, Susie and Jeanne took the more sedate option of a dolphin and seal cruise accompanied by champagne and oysters!  For those not interested in any of the activities on offer, Swakopmund offered a great chance to catch up on email and phone calls home, enjoy the little luxuries like good restaurants and our first hotel for a couple of weeks, as well as being a lovely place to watch the sunset as you sip a glass of something cold by the ocean.

Swakopmund coastline

Sunset over the Atlantic Ocean

Mabel

Teri

Leigh

Rogan

Mabel, Kirsten & David

Rogan demonstrating more stand-up sandboarding skills

Beaches, lions and ancient ruins

From Maputo we headed north to Tofo Beach.  Tofo is world-famous for its Whale Sharks and Manta Rays, and so diving and snorkelling were high on most peoples’ agendas, along with enjoying the stunning beach and the pool and bar at the campsite. 

Whale Sharks are the world’s largest fish, they can measure in at over 20 metres long (a Southern Right Whale such as those we saw in South Africa tops out around 17 metres).  Getting the chance to go snorkelling with these massive gentle creatures is a rare privilege, and as you are seeing them in their natural habitat, it also involves a bit of luck to find them.  Most of the group headed out on an ocean safari on our first day in Tofo and were lucky enough to be able to swim with the whale sharks twice, as well as the added luck of seeing manta rays on the way back to the beach.  Those who went the second day had rougher seas and unfortunately didn’t get to see either…  that’s wildlife viewing for you, it is the luck on the day!  There was also spectacular diving to be done with great visibility and warm water, and a huge array of marine creatures including a curious Green Turtle, Moray Eels, Sting Rays, Nudibranchs, Leaf Fish and Trumpetfish amongst many others.

 

From Tofo we headed further north to Vilanculos where we spent another couple of nights on the coast.  Our drive took us across the Tropic of Capricorn – during our expedition we will cross both tropics as well as the equator!

Our campsite in Vilanculos is stunning, right on the beach with a gorgeous infinity pool where you can sit and watch the local fishermen bring in their catch and land their boats.  But the main reason for visiting this part of Mozambique is to have the chance to do a boat trip on a traditional dhow, a single-masted sailing boat.  The group headed off to enjoy a day on the boat and a nearby island – snorkelling, exploring the island and feasting on a wonderful lunch.  The photos can perhaps start to do it justice…

A highlight of any trip to Mozambique is the food.  With a combination of a strong Portuguese influence and plenty of variety of seafood, it is a great place to feast, and as our journey after Mozambique would take us inland for a month, we made sure to enjoy plenty of the local seafood, cooking up feasts of prawns, crab, red snapper and calamari – sometimes it is hard to remember that we are supposed to be roughing it!

Dragging ourselves away from the coast, we reluctantly left Mozambique behind, and after a camp near to the border it was time for country number 4, Zimbabwe.

The name Zimbabwe immediately brings to mind a troubled country and for many years it has been neglected by tourists, However, as things have now settled down, the former “bread basket” of Africa is once again starting to come back, and our time in Zimbabwe has been so highly rated by the group that we may be spending more time here in future trips!  Zimbabwe is a stunningly beautiful country, and is made even more so by the friendliest, smiliest and most helpful people we have come across so far.

Our first stop in Zimbabwe was Great Zimbabwe Monument.  This ancient complex of ruins dating from the 13th to 15th centuries has still baffles historians, although many theories abound as to why the complex was built and why it was abandoned by the 16th century.  It also gave the country its name, Zimbabwe meaning “stone house”.  Camping in the shadow of the ruins (fortunately the sun had decided to show its face after hiding behind storm clouds and torrential rain most of the day while we were driving), a couple of folks decided to get up at silly o’clock to see the sun rise, while the others enjoyed their pancake breakfast before heading off with the local guides.  The guides were excellent, their knowledge and ability to explain the ruins really brought these impressive stone structures to life.  Georgia even received a marriage proposal from the guide, all he asked for was 20 cows and a mobile phone in return!  Somehow we think she will stick with Leigh…

After stopping off at the craft market outside Great Zimbabwe, and another quick stop at Masvingo to do a foodshop (the previous shortages in food and fuel that Zimbabwe suffered are now happily a thing of the past, the shelves are full of local and imported goods), we headed toward a private wildlife reserve outside the town of Gweru.  For those in the UK, this reserve is where the TV show “Lion Country” is filmed which focuses on the reserve’s 4-stage rehabilitation and release program for lions.  As visitors to the reserve there are plenty of opportunities to see the lions in action, from near or far whether it be walking with lions, watching the raw (or is that roar?) power of the breeding lions being fed, or even going out on a night safari to watch the younger lions learning to hunt, there was plenty for everyone to do.  Many of the group also enjoyed elephant-back safaris through the park, and elephant training, and there was fishing, bird watching and plenty of time to chill in the restaurant and bar area overlooking the dam.  It was a great couple of days and a rare opportunity to get up close to some of the more formidable African animals!

 

Our next stop, the Matobo National Park, gave everyone another chance to get up close – this time with rhino.  Heading off in Land Rovers with a couple of fantastic and passionate guides, the group visited a local village in the morning and spent the afternoon walking in the bush in search of rhino.  Although the black rhino continued to elude us, the experience of standing close to the larger white rhino as they grazed is one that will not be soon forgotten!

Next stop – Botswana…