Photos

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

We spent two nights in Victoria Falls and on our full day there, we did three optional tours. We did the walk with the lions and the elephant ride in the morning and we did the sunset cruise on the Zambezi river in the afternoon. We had our included tour of the falls in the early afternoon. So it was a nonstop day. The walk with the lions was the first thing we did and we had to get up very early in the morning to do that. There were 4 lions-two that were 22 months old and two that were less than a year old. When the lions reach 2 years, they send them away from this preserve back into the wild. It was fascinating to be with the lions though. They were so playful with each other and it was fun to watch the interaction between the four lions. We got to pet them and even let them lick our hands-they like the salt. The trainer got me to hold the lion's tail at one point! Then we went from that to our elephant ride. In Thailand, we had ridden an elephant and they had a seat for us to sit on. Here, they just had a blanket and we had a rope to hold on to and stirrups to put our feet in to help us balance. But it was actually pretty comfortable and very enjoyable. We did a big circle through the preserve. We saw waterbucks and impala on the ride and it was fun. We were back at the hotel in plenty of time to go shopping for a little while and to check and see if the internet was up working. It had been off in the entire town when we arrived. By lunchtime, we found an internet working and were able to send email. After lunch, we headed to the falls and had a pleasant walk to all the viewing points. This is the time of the year when the falls are at their lowest so it was not as impressive as some of the postcards show it is at full season. But it was still pretty and there were pretty flowers blooming along the way as well. We got back from that just barely in time to get on the bus to go to the sunset cruise. That was very pleasant and the sunset was beautiful. We saw hippos, crocs, monitor lizards, birds, and other assorted things along the shores. When the cruise was over, it was time to go back to the hotel for our farewell dinner together. We had a great meal and we toasted the end of a wonderful trip.

The next day we got up early and Ntando took Jim, me and Rosanne in his car to the bridge that spans the Zambezi between Zimbabwe and Zambia. We had wanted to go to Zambia and they just changed the day visas so that we could go for $20 instead of about $130 each. So we paid the fee and went though the passport control for each country and walked over to the Livingston hotel where we could see the falls from the Zambia side. It is a beautiful hotel and we enjoyed seeing it. There were vervet monkeys all over the hotel grounds which was fun to see. At one point I looked up and there was a guy on the roof of the hotel with a slingshot shooting at the monkeys to keep them away from the area where they were serving breakfast! We enjoyed our stroll there and we retraced our steps and drove back to our hotel in Victoria Falls in time for a good breakfast and some last minute trading before we went to catch our plane. The people here are not able to get so many things like clothing so they want to trade their carvings and such for your shoes or socks or shirts. We took a sack down to the market and made some trades which was a very interesting experience.

We left the hotel for the airport but stopped by the local hospital first to see how it is run. It was a very sad situation because there are no doctors since they were not being paid. And there was no xray film so the xray lab was closed. They were doing the best they could with what they had but it really tore our hearts and we wished there was more that we could do than just make the donations that we did.

At the airport, we said our goodbyes to Ntando and went through security and caught our plane to Johannesburg. There we said goodbye to our tripmates as they went on to fly to London and fly home from there. We had gotten our own airfare so we got on the hotel shuttle and went back to the hotel for a night. It was good to have that time to rest and repack and get ready for the long flight home. The next day we checked out and went to the airport and shopped and read our books and killed time until our overnight flight to Atlanta. It was as easy a 18 hour flight as we could have and we were so thankful that we had done it this way. Going by London was a 38 hour trip for at least some of the group, counting layovers and that is a LONG time.

More Linkwasha

This morning our group went on our walking safari. We walked about a mile and a half through the bush with our guide telling us about the tracks we saw and the plants and other things along the way. I was just hoping we would not have an upclose and personal visit with a snake, which thankfully, we did not. We did see several giraffes which was very neat. They were eating from the bushes and stood and watched us and we were far enough away to be safe and enjoy it. The guide took off the top of one of the huge termite mounds and showed us what they looked like inside and then gently replaced it and said they would repair it just fine. Those termite mounds were so big and there are so many of them. They were swarming with the first rains so they fixed them for a snack for us-I can't say any of us are going to go hunting for them in gourmet stores! We again saw leopard tracks...but no leopard. We saw several birds and a steenbok. It was very hot by the time we reached the end of the walk and we were very glad to see our vehicle and boy, did that Coke ever taste good! On the ride back to the camp, we saw more birds. Back at camp we enjoyed the animals coming to the watering hole-two warthogs with about 7 little warts between them. Then the baboons came swarming from all sides and played around. In the afternoon, a storm came up and it rained for about an hour and cooled things off so much. We have come to really appreciate these rainstorms. By the time teatime was over, we got on our ponchos and left on our evening drive. We did a get a great view of a rhino at the waterhole tonight. He walked right in front of us across the road to the water and stood there and drank for a wonderful photo op. We saw more wildebeast, steenbok, elephants, a couple more jackels and some more nocturnal birds before we returned to camp. We had our special dinner by the staff and this was the best yet. The food was wonderful and I really enjoyed it-beef, pork and chicken grilled over the grill and polenta, tomatoes-it was just really good.

The next morning we got one last chance to go on a game drive while the other group went on their walking tour. We saw a lot of things-hippos, steenbok, springbucks, wildebeast, rhino, zebra, cape buffalo and 4 bat earred fox. We saw 4 female lions up close, a red heartebeast and several new birds, a tortoise and a turtle. It was a fun morning and we enjoyed the warthogs and baboons again at the waterhole back at camp. After lunch, the first two planes took off which included Ntando and the 5 inner circle members of OAT (having taken at least 3 trips with them). That was a nice perk as we got to Victoria Falls two hours earlier than the others and also the weather was very clear at that time with the showers usually coming later in the afternoon. So I was relieved to go ahead and get the flight over with. There were 3 of us and the pilot in the 5 passenger plane. I definitely do not like the small planes but the only time I was really concerned was when the pilot was eating his lunch right after we got up and opened up the food and all....both hands on that wheel, fellow! Jim got to sit in the co-pilots seat on this one. We made it and that was the last of the small plane flights! Thank you for all those praying for me! I truly appreciated it. We got to Victoria Falls to our lodge and we got the nicest room! It is huge and so pretty and up on the 3rd floor so we can see the falls mist from our room. It was so nice to be back to air conditioning and an upscale bathroom and shower! The laundry was included at this hotel too so we gladly sent some things so we'd have enough to make it back to Johannesburg where we left our big suitcase for the flight home. We went to the market which is just behind the hotel. People here are having trouble getting basic things -they are just not available so they were wanting to trade for socks and shoes and shirts,etc. Before we left, we got some things together and went back and did that as we knew they needed things. They have tourist police which sort of escort you if you go up to the regular stores so people don't harass you with things. But going to the market, we were fair game. Their carving and things were beautiful though and they are very talented. We came back to the hotel and had a wonderful group meal outside on the terrace and enjoyed the flowers and the view.

Cultural Day at Linkwasha

This morning we went on our game drive on the way to visit the school and the village here in Zimbabwe. We saw another jackel on the way as well as wildebeast and zebra. We saw lion tracks but had no time to chase them this morning. We were met at the school by the 5th and 7th graders. This school is sponsored by the Grand Circle Foundation, which is operated by the tour company we travel with. They have just put in a bore hole at this school for a well which will help so much and they have built new bathrooms as well as other things. The children had uniforms which were bought by the foundation also. My two new friends were Julia and Lois. We talked for a little while and then they went back to class while we toured the school with one of the teachers. We saw the first grade class and they sang for us. Then we went to see the 5th and 7th graders who were meeting together that day. They sang and danced for us and had us get up and join them. We were oh so good-NOT. They asked us to perform something for them, so with Rosanne leading us, we sang Row Row Row Your Boat in a round. They all laughed and so did we. From the school, we went to the village where the head man, whose name was Johnson, told us about village life today. He is a Christian so only has one wife, whereas he said his father and the generations before would have multiple wives. The men sit on one side of the hut and the women sit on mats on the floor. It was very interesting and after we finished, we went to the market that they had for us in one area of the village. With things so hard in Zimbabwe right now, these crafts help the families with food and other necessities that are so hard to get. They are very talented and their wood carvings were just beautiful and very reasonable as well. They make beautiful baskets from the grasses and everything was lovely. We all did our part at helping their local economy and would have liked to do more if we had the money, time and no weight restriction on our luggage (we were limited to 26 lb total so that may well have been a good thing!) We bought a wooden wall carving that Mr Johnson made, but it got broken on the way home. We glued it back together and still treasure it but it is hard to protect things in the duffel bags. On the way back to the lodge, we saw a couple more jackels and a couple of new birds but not much else.

There were vervet monkeys in the camp this afternoon in the trees and they were fun to watch. Again there were babies. The animals have their babies right as the rainy season starts so there will be plenty to eat and we really did enjoy seeing all the babies and how the animals protect them. There are pink flowers that have sprung up on the plains as well-very pretty.

Our afternoon game drive was eventful in that we saw a cheetah sunning himself on a rock. He just stayed there and looked at us and we all enjoyed being able to get that close and see him. The other vehicle got to see a leopard that was in the grass but by the time our driver got us there, he was long gone. We had joked about a leopard the entire trip but we never did see one. Guess we will have to go back someday.... We saw a big male lion parked in front of a bush near the watering hole, waiting to take down his prey when darkness fell. We had our sundowner at the waterhole with the elephants and enjoyed another night drive back to the lodge. It is so interesting to see the eyes glow in the infrared light. We saw another african wild cat not too far from our camp. When we got ready to go to our cabin at night, the guide got to our path and told the others to be very still and wait while he walked us to the door-that there was an elephant by the tree. There was indeed! He spent the night right near us and the next morning he was over by the waterhole that our tent looked out on. We heard the leopard that night and the guide said he was very near the camp...

On to Zimbabwe-Linkwasha Camp #2

This morning when we woke up early and looked out, there was a large herd of impala grazing very close to our deck. I also heard a lion snort about this time and that was later confirmed by the guide. Today we had two flights, one on the bigger 12 seater plane and one on the small 5 passenger plane. We got in the game vehicles and drove to the airfield which was about a 30 minutes drive, looking for animals along the way. Right beside the airstrip, we spotted two big ostrich! They posed for us beautifully and we sat and enjoyed watching them for several minutes before driving on around to the "airport" which consisted of a canvas roof over poles. The plane landed and we all got on and off we went. We arrived at the Kasane airport, which is a regular airport, though very tiny. They do have security though and an xray machine for you to go through when you fly out. In Kasane, we got on our small bus and drove into the town of Kasane. We only had about 20 minutes here, so we ran into the grocery store and got some crackers to eat. Our guide picked up sandwiches, fruit and drink, for us to eat on the bus on the way to Victoria Falls. We had to stop at the Botswana border and go through customs and getting stamped out of Botswana. Then we stopped and were stamped into Zimbabwe just down the road. At the Victoria Falls airport, we got on two 5 seater planes and our trip leader, Ntando, came 2 hours later on a similar flight. So our two groups of 5 left at the same time and we could look out and see each other's plane part of the way. We had to fly around two thunder storms which was a big unsettling, but I just shut my eyes and prayed and made it just fine. To get in these small planes, the pilot has to raise his seat like you would in a two door car, to let those of us in the backseat. It is VERY small. When we landed, we were met by the camp's vehicles and it was about an hour drive to our camp, Linkwasha, which was a private concession in the Hwange National Park. On the way, we saw a big herd of wildebeastand many zebras. We saw another cori bustard too, the biggest flying bird. When we arrived, we were served lunch again even though we had had the sandwich on the bus. They definitely feed you well on these trips!
The tents here are basic looking on the outside but on the inside they were about the nicest ones we'd had. We looked out on another watering hole in the distance and the tents were really comfortable. We had a lounger couch in this one in addition to the beds. All the camps did your laundry for free, but if it was rainy, it took awhile for them to dry as they did not have dryers. When it was sunny, things dried fast fast fast. When it was rainy, they didn't. But we were lucky enough to have sunny days that would dry the wet things at just the right time so we never ran out.

That afternoon, we went on our evening game drive and it was a fabulous one. We saw our first rhino-a big white rhino which is the kind of rhino that are at Hwange. Ntando said he saw one on the way in from his flight not long before so the guides took us to that area and were able to locate him. We just sat and watched this massive creature. Awesome. We had our sundowner by a waterhole that had a huge herd of elephants, including lots of babies. One very small baby fell in the water and the mother had to use her trunk to upright him. That elephant had a bigger sister that was there too and you could almost see the sibling rivalry-She was a bit jealous of the new arrival. It was great fun to watch. By the time we got back in the vehicles, it was dark and the guides used their infrared lights to spot the eyes of animals in the bush. That was so much fun. We saw several nocturnal birds, a bushbaby, and quite a few spring hares, which are like tiny kangaroos. We saw a black backed jackel and several other things.

More photos

Ever see a lion's tonsils? How about those teeth! And look at his paws-he was not the least bit worried about us. One of these photos is of us on the bigger of the two planes we flew. Another is one of a couple of the baboons. The sunsets were just outstanding. And I love this baby's photo-he was so beautiful.

Back to Botswana

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, and put our duffels on the boats for our last trip out from the camp. We stopped along the way to enjoy the hippos and other animals and then stopped at the border crossing tent to get ourselves checked back into Botswana from Namibia where the Caprivi strip camp was. We then continued on to the river bank where we stopped, got out, walked the path back to the airstrip and waited for our plane to arrive. The plane arrived with the next OAT group. They got off and were anxious to hear about the camp and what we had seen which was fun. We boarded the plane (the 12 passenger one again) and took off for the next camp. The plane flight was about 35 minutes this time. We got off the plane and got into our safari vehicles and the guides asked us what we wanted to see most. We said more lions and almost immediately, they took us to a pair of lions nearby. There was a big male and his lady and they were courting, so we got an up close and personal lesson on lion reproduction. The lion we had seen before was a female so it was really neat to see this beautiful male up close. The vehicles are able to pull right up amazingly close to the animals and as long as we are pretty quiet and don't stand or make sudden moves, they seem not to recognize us as any kind of threat or as any kind of meal. We continued and saw giraffes, a number of birds, tsessebe, an elephant, impala, wildebeast and a python on the way to the camp.

This camp was an OAT wilderness tented camp and we really did enjoy it. The tents and lodge were built up on boardwalks and that felt really safe, somehow. There was evidence all around of the elephants and other animals visits-the elephants eat the bark off a lot of trees and rub them and destroy a lot of the vegetation. There were some steenboks wandering around between the tents when we arrived. I had rather expected this camp to be more rustic than the others, but it really was not. We had to zip and unzip the tent to get in and out, but it was very open and spacious and well designed. We could lie in bed and look out over the savannah and see the animals as they grazed. One afternoon there was a pretty terrific thunderstorm and rain and it was dry and beautiful inside the tent, despite the winds and rain. Before the storm, it was so hot we were just resting and sweating. The rain came and it cooled things off and it was just delightful. After the storm, we went on a later afternoon safari and saw several new things. We saw an African wild cat, a giant eagle owl, two types of mongoose (or is it mongeese?) a rabbit, and a tree monitor. At night the bell frogs at all these camps sang to us. They make a weird clinking sound. I heard a lion nearby one night and the guide confirmed that he heard one and saw the prints out nearby-he was stalking some cape buffalo that were grazing not far out.

the next day we divided into our 2 groups and our group went for a mokoro ride. It is a dugout canoe and the guide poles us through the water. You have to sit very still and not make sudden moves or you will tip over and with the crocs and hippos in the water, we definitely didn't want to do that. It was interesting to see things from so low in the water. We saw some the eggs of the Jesus bird (he walks on water, really the lilypads). The eggs were lying on the lily pads and were well hidden and neat. It was a very peaceful journey and we had our tea and cookes on the bank near a big pod of hippos. They were not too happy about being so close and it definitely felt closer than even in the boats from Lianshulu! But it was fun to stand around close to them and watch. The other group went on a safari while we did this and the next day, they did the mokoro and we did the safari. Jim's hat had blown off during one of the boat journeys at Lianshulu so he bought an OAT hat at the small gift shop at the camp. It became a joke to keep up with Jim's hat. But with the sun, he really needed one. It is easy to get burned even though there was a canvas top to the safari vehicle. We went for an evening drive and saw a pride of lions. There were two females who the guide said were sisters and they were raising the cubs of one of the females. The cubs were good sized now so were not small babies. There were 4 of the cubs and two of those were males. We sat and watched them for a good long time. We saw warthogs, impala, zebras,kudu, red leche, cape buffalo, a kori bustard which is the largest flying bird, a big group of giraffes among other things. On the way back to the lodge, we got a call that another vehicle had gotten stuck down near the water. So we went to help them. It was a research person from near Boston and his two associates who were studying leopards...but they had just gotten there so were not any help in pointing us to where some might be hiding! But we had to get out of the vehicle, which was a bit disconcerting at night when we could not see much of what was around us! After a bit, they were able to unmire the other vehicle and we climbed back in for the drive back to camp. On the way we saw a painted hyena as well as a spring hare. It was a fun adventure.

Lianshulu School and cultural visit

We took our 1 1/2 hour boat ride over to the main lodge at Lianshulu and got on our game drive vehicles. We had to drive through Mudumu National Park to get to the communities on the side of the park. It was a Sunday so the school was closed, but we visited the school anyway and met the school principal. The school was clean and neat but had very little. In fact, one grade even had to meet in a building that had not been finished-it had no roof. We all wished we had known what they could have used instead of the basics like pencils and pens. I would have liked to go to the teacher store and bought some posters for the walls, maps and such. The school was doing the best it could with what it had, but they had very little. It began to drizzle rain a little and we all got amused when we noticed the goats that belonged to a nearby family had all gathered under the eaves of the school to stay dry. From there, we went to visit a mock village that was opened to show what these tribes lived like a generation ago. Then we went and visited a family homestead of today to see how they live. The mock homestead was very interesting and nearby there was a Christian church that people were going to-barefoot and you could hear them singing and praying -it was a rather awesome experience to see their joy in the simple things of life and their joy and faith. At the village, Rosanne and I got a chance to grind the meal as they sang and beat the drums. We decided we were better at that than the dancing. Then we got to go to a market where crafts from all the local families were displayed. The items were spread on cloths on the floor and their workmanship was amazing. The baskets and carved wooden pieces were just beautiful. It was nice to help the local economy as we knew this was a definite way to help the families and show our appreciation. We went to one family's homestead and were welcomed and shown their huts and how they lived. All generations live and work together and are very close.

We went back to the main lodge for lunch and then headed back to our lodge and saw many hippos and other animals along the way-elephants coming to drink and eat the bushes by the bank-they just tear the whole plants out of the ground. The birds here are amazing and we passed the carmine bee eater location each time we went out which was just covered in them-see the photos I posted last night. They are beautiful. We went back on a sunset cruise and came back after it was totally dark which was really weird in the boat with no lights. But our guide knows these waters and lagoons like the back of his hand and can just zip right back. The last night in each camp we had a special dinner and performance by the camp staff. As always it was both a good meal and a great entertainment. The last night "Herman" hippo decided to come out of the water and tromp by the tent-we could not see him but we could hear what he was doing and got a big kick out of it.

More Photos Lianshulu,Namibia

ON TO LIANSHULU LODGE, NAMIBIA

We got on the boats and just a short way down the waterway, we had to stop at a border crossing and get our passports stamped out of Botswana. No photos were allowed at this tent and the officials came in by boat just for us. We got back in the boats and proceeded to go through the canals and marsh for about 45 minutes until we got to our camp-Lianshulu camp #2. It was very different from our first camp. First of all, this time of year, it can only be reached by water. The lodge, like the first one, was open air and up on stilts so it could handle the water levels changing. Our tents were on level ground and came very close to the water's edge. When we first went in, I was a bit disappointed because we had had such a gorgeous view at Baobob and when we looked out our "window" (the backside of the tent that was almost all open mesh) we looked right at the marsh with its tall grasses and reeds. It was like looking at a corn field, only with water! There was a small waterway in front of the reeds and to the sides of the tent were a couple of trees. But basically, it looked like we were looking at nothing. The tent was nice and the bathroom part of the tent was actually constructed mostly of cement blocks or solid materials. The only complaint we actually had about the tent was the lack of lights at night. It was very dim and we soon found we were better off to chose our next day's clothing,etc during our mid day break so we could see what we were doing. The beds were surrounded by mosquito netting and actually, we had very little trouble with mosquitos on the whole trip but it was nice to have that protection. This was the only camp that did not provide electricity at night. The electricity was turned off at 10:30 and turned back on at 5AM so of course, the fan went off then too-the better to hear the night sounds though. However, this meant that Jim could not use his CPAP machine and even though the doctor had said it was fine for him to be without it for a few nights, he found he really did not wake up feeling rested. It surprised us how much he could feel it and for the next two days, he would come in the afternoon rest period and use the CPAP to sleep. He slept at night, just did not wake refreshed. But that was the only camp where he could not use it. Because of the electricity and the CPAP, we had to carefully time the camera recharging to get it all done, but we managed fine as they had two plugs.

Once we arrived at camp, we had lunch and took a nap and settled in. There are a lot of birds here so that was fun and the guides are all so knowledgeable about them and could tell us what every one is and helped us spot them. Later in the afternoon, Ntando talked to us about marriage in this region. Then we headed off for a late afternoon boat ride. The sunsets here are gorgous and with the terrain so different, being a wetland, we saw so many different things. We learned about waterlilies and how to make necklaces that they use at weddings. We saw animals come down to drink and enjoyed the many, many hippos that live in these waters. We had 5 of us plus the guides in each of the two boats and we would get very near to the hippos. They let us know when they did not like it! We had a dinner of ostrich and delicious homemade bread.

Again, we were escorted back to our cabins at night. Ntando saw a huge python next to the walkway on his way back to his tent after "tucking us in." His tent was next to ours so I walked with watchful eyes for the rest of the time in that camp! The first night here, Jim and I were in the bathroom brushing our teeth and getting ready for bed when all at once, there was a bellow that sounded like it was IN the tent. That is when we found out that we had two hippos that lived RIGHT behind our tent in that marsh and reed patch. At night you could not only hear them bellow but also hear them breathe and walk through the water and out of the water, beside the tent and into the common area of the camp to graze. It was both scary and awesome to be that close to such huge and powerful animals. We did have emergency horns we could blow if we ever felt threatened or unsafe, but once inside the tents, the animals just ignore the tents and whatever is in them. It is amazing. Again, we were never tempted to go outside the tent at night, however, one night we did open the door to see if he was grazing where we could see him.

We got up every morning at 5:30 so we could eat a light breakfast by 6 and get on our way by 6:30. At this camp, we have to ride by boat for 1 1/2 hours before we get to the main Lianshulu lodge where we do the game drives. So we enjoyed that time seeing the wildlife along the banks and always watching the hippos. The wildlife is not as plentiful at this camp as it was at Chobe. We did see some Greys zebras that are slightly different from the Burchells we saw at Chobe.

We saw the vervet monkeys at the lodge and a new type of antelope-the Sitatunga. Then we had lunch at the main lodge and headed back to our camp, another 1 1/2 hour in the boat. The water is like glass and the reflection and scenery was so peaceful and beautiful. On all the boatrides, we have coolers with Cokes or drinks on them and stop and just enjoy the scenery. On the second full day there, we were on our way back from the game drive at the lodge and about half way back to camp, a terrific thunderstorm came up. They have ponchos that are lined with blankets in the boats and we all donned one and hunkered down. The rains had started and the guide was driving as fast as he could to get us back. The boat is a metal boat so with the lightning crashing around us, it was a rather helpless feeling and as most of you know, I am really really afraid of lightning. So I was sitting there just trying to stay still and keep the cameras covered and dry (which was not easy even with the ponchos-the water was just pouring into my shoes and every which way). All at once, I was flying through the air (I was in the front seat) and hit the step and floor at the front of the boat! The driver had cut it too close to the reeds and the propeller got caught and stopped the boat instantly and threw me out of my chair! I was not hurt except for a nicely bruised knee, but I just lay there laughing so hard as it just seemed too funny to me. The driver picked the reeds out of the propeller and on we went. When it rains like that and your shoes and clothing get soaked, it is not easy for them to dry out in the humid climate! Our laundry (which we sent everyday to be done free by the camp staff) did not dry and now we had all these clothes soaked as well. That 26 lb limit began to take on new meaning about this time! The rain had come up quickly and had also come into our tent because the staff did not have time to come in and let the tarps down to cover the windows. We managed and they came in and helped us mop up and the sun came out the next day and we all survived.

Baobob report #2

Sorry for any repeats on photos-it is hard to remember which ones I have done since I can't see the old ones when I am writing a new post. At Baobob, we had to be out of the park promptly at 7 or they locked us in. I think we thought they were kidding but we gathered later that they were not. Shortly before time to exit, someone reported a sighting of the wild dogs that are almost extinct now. So we raced off to see if we could see them-which we did, but oh what a wild ride it was! There were four of them and it was almost dark so we were not able to get any good photos but it was really special as we did not expect to see those. We raced to get there over the bumpy roads but we raced even faster to get to the gate before 7 PM. We made it at 7:01 but it was so wild that Jim and I had to hold on to the railing in front of us with both hands since we were on the back seat which is bumpier anyway! It was quite exciting and I was amazed that Jim's back withstood it, but he did far better than we ever thought he would. One afternoon, two ladies from a nearby village came and demonstated how they make the baskets from the grasses and all. They were so pretty and it was really amazing to see them do it. We got a chance to do a little and it made us appreciate what a talent it is to make them. They make up the designs themselves and pass them down from one generation to the next. One afternoon we went on a Chobe river cruise and it was such a different perspective on things. We saw hippos grazing out of the water and a huge herd of elephants with babies and all sizes drinking and playing in the water. We saw all of the animals we'd been seeing on land but from the water, we were closer to some for the first time, especially the large numbers. The zebras are migrating this time of year so they were everywhere. We joked about being ho-hum about impalas, zebra, warthogs, etc right away since we saw them so often. How spoiled we became! At the end of the cruise, we were able to spend about 30 minutes in the town of Kasane where the cruise ended-we could use the internet (incredibly slow) or shop or whatever. We all wished we had had a little more time there. It is an interesting experience to be so far from all communication, news, no tv or radio or phones etc. The baboons near the camp were a constant source of fun to watch. One morning we heard a commotion and looked out and saw two of the guides chasing down toward the baboons. They were picking up rocks and throwing them at them and we could not figure what was going on. It turns out that the papa baboon had come into the lodge area and stolen a sofa pillow to give to his baby to rest on! The baby was up a tree and dropped the cushion finally when the guides were throwing the rocks and they were able to recover it. The papa also tried to come in and steal some breakfast. Every now and then, the baboons would come out of the trees like ants-all at one time-not sure what was going on with that but it was an amazing sight as there were just so many of them.

On one of our drives, the vehicle would not start and we had to get out and push-well, actually, I took the photo of the others pushing but it was a joint effort! It worked and it started.

Our last night at Baobob was pretty quiet except for one baboon fight during the night. We got to sleep a little later this morning since we would be flying to the next camp. We flew out of the Kasane airport which is tiny but actually has paved runways so it was nice to start that way anyway. With our group being so small, we were able to fly in one plane for the first three flights. It was a 12 passenger plane and I might have thought that was small at one time but now that I know what a 5 passenger plane is like, it really seemed quite large! As most of you know, I don't like to fly anyway but small planes especially are scary to me. But I knew that when we signed up for the trip and I was determined to shut my eyes and do it and I did surprisingly well, as you can tell from my photo.... From the air you could look down and see the elephants and animals near some of the water holes and that was sort of neat-when I opened my eyes.... It was about a 50 minute flight. We landed on a dirt runway and had to walk down a path for about 15-20 minutes to get to the edge of the water where we got in a motor boat to go to our next camp. It is accessible only by boat...to be continued