So, this was an absolute blast for me and my friend ! We did a trip not a vacation, there is a difference.
One is sitting around all day drinking rum punch, the other is a high speed action adventure (drinking Tusker
lol) never a dull moment! We rented a car in Jo'berg, look around online earlier and hopefully you can get a
4x4 which is a world of difference. We drove to the border straight away to Lobatse...that took us most of the
day. Immediately you notice a huge difference! The blacks here all dress incredibly nice!! It s really a trip, things
were infinitely nicer than I expected. From there I took a scenic if boring drive through the Kalahari desert.
Watch for cattle on the road; also there are ostrich that do as they please, but other than that you can drive
140k the whole way. At the end of the day you will reach the dusty little town of Maun. The best backpackers
that we saw (at the time) and the most hopping place in town is "The Old Bridge Backpackers" though there
were nice places along the river further up. The Bridge arranges all things adventure: Mocorro tours (dugout
canoes that are poled through the delta), scenic flights over the delta, arts an crafts, cooking classes and game
drives etc. This is the best deal in the backpacking world anywhere: 2 day trip fully guided bush safari with porter and transport and several Game Hikes. You are picked up in the morning by motor boat and taken upriver through
stunning scenery to a native village where the guides are assigned and your gear is loaded into the Mokorro's.
We set up camp about 12 miles upriver on a secluded island on the riverbanks. Luckily, very luckily (if you've been to
the Amazon you will appreciate the hell out of this) there are NO mosqitos! We took a nap and had some down time before setting off on the coolest stroll I've had. We paddled into a meander off the main river and found a game
trail. After following it for an hour I decided it was a scenic walk; no doubt, but that was it. As I was wondering how warm my beer would be back at camp, I heard a crashing through the trees as I glanced toward the trees, looking over the guides head I saw his eyes; big as saucers and filled with terror. His complexion is the darkest I have seen, truly black, the contrast of his huge white eyes was sobering. He said "walk backwards, walk backwards very fast and keep walking" Out lumbered a proud bull. He is definitely the alpha boy, big man. He strutted slowly over to the
date palm that reigned about 35 feet above the savannah, swinging his trunk back and forth, in pace with his steps. He got up on his back legs, then lunged forward, slamming into the tree wrapping his trunk around it. He began shaking the tree , dropping the dates to the floor where they were retrieved and eaten. He was actually missing half of one of his massive trunks. Broken off doing battle.
That nite around the fire I saw what I thought was the constellation that is on the Aussie flag...jokingly I asked if it was a famous constellation? I was blown away when I was told that, "yes, that's the southern cross" not only was it actually a constellation and not random stars, it was thee second or third most famous one.
Next morning we went to another island further up the delta and within a mile or two found a small herd of zebras.
We stalked our way into the bunch of zebras and were moving slowly. There were more and more and more of them
surrounding us and the air was tense...until it spilled over and with an explosion of galloping feet they stampeded past us kicking up
a massive cloud of dust that hung around us minutes after they were gone, hanging in the cold morning air.
We hiked further in and saw different kinds of antelopes and wildebeest. We pressed on and came just out of close range of giraffe. There were two very smart and very handsome giraffe, as much as we pressed on to catch up, so did they.
I got some great pictures though...
On the way back we came upon a pod of hippos that would not let us pass at first. As you may well know Hippos are responsible
for the most animals deaths on the continent. I think they just wanted to flex on us a little.
So after the coolest game walk we broke camp, or actually; while we were on our hike, it was done for us.
So...from here we went back to the backpackers in Maun and after a night of rest we were off.
I drove to the Namib border of Shockawe and crossed into bright red soil and a very wide road with
a unique blue blue low sky. We had to swerve to avoid scores of elephants! About 15 to 20 miles into this surreal
landscape we chanced upon a river lodge that was def themed and inside of the game park. We saw elephants and rhinos on the opposite river bank oblivious to us. The resort was very cool but a bit of a rip off. It was owned by a German guy that was the greediest innkeep I've ever known. He lied to me and told me that he didn't know the official exchange rate, would not take travelers checks and his Credit Card machine was broken. I've found that 9 times out 10 when you say that you don't have any other form of
payment; it gets fixed! We drove the Caprivi strip which was ...mehh...and spent the nite in Katima Mulilo which has a certain charm to it. When we left in the morning, the border going back into Botswana at Kasane was insanely gorgeous. Massive river valley with livestock and wild game grazing in it. The drive through the game park is filled with so much wild life that they have deystroyed their habitat. If you like wildlife, this is the mecca for you.
There are some game trecks here that are supposed to be unreal. I was in a hurry to get to Vic Falls. So, I did.
Victoria Falls town has a certain charm to it. It is a town that was made to cater to tourists...there is a complete tourist first world style infrastructure. You can plan any number of adrenaline junkie exercises. I set my sites on white water rafting. I had no idea that this was one of the most technical and strenuous white water rafting runs out there.
Holy crap...what an ass whipping! I would also do the evening booze cruise. If I had to do it oer again I would have gone up in an ultr;a lite l also would have done the bungy jump there.. The falls themselves are epic! There is nothing else like them in rest of the world. It is truly beautiful!
I was enjoying writing it out and sorry if it's too long. LMK if you have
anny particular questions!
Best Wishes,
Jac
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