Lions in Chobe National Park, Chobe Safari Lodge Game Drive 6 am

Puku on alert, where are those lions?




Ahh, here they come, how awesome!






And, wouldn't you know it, here come the dang game drive vehicles. The guides radio each other when they find something big like lions.


Early morning game drive with Chobe Safari Lodge


We had been invited to go on boat ride on the Chobe river Sunday afternoon. We needed to pay our
park entry fee and Finn had suggested it might be cheaper to go through the Lodge than pay 130 pula
each for the entry as individuals. We decided to do the early morning game drive with Chobe Safari
Lodge. Finn was correct---we paid only 70 pula for the entrance fee through the Lodge. Of course, we
had to pay for the game drive also.

Got up early and fixed our coffee, heated a roll and went up to reception to go on the drive. It was very
cold that morning and I had on t-shirt, shirt, sweater, long sleeve shirt, and windbreaker! I also was
wearing my winter hat. Fortunately, I had a blanket to cover my legs. It was especially cold as we drove
to the park.

There were only six of us in our vehicle which was nice. In the beginning we were not seeing much in the
way of game but were enjoying the rising of the sun over the river. You can see how much the water is still
up and the lushness of the place.

The guides do communicate with each other by radio and alert each other when they have something in
sight. Our guide had told us we might not see any "cats" because they are usually seen later in the day,
when suddenly we could see off in the distance what looked like animals jumping across the plains. It
was lions! They did not catch what they were after and stopped and come right at our safari vehicle. they
were very, very close!

We got to enjoy watching them along with several other vehicles that had come driving up. The two we were
watching were females and our driver said the males are staying with the young cubs. We then continued
on our drive. We saw a huge male kudu with four females. He was so kind as to pose for us until we had
all gotten our shots.






Finally we experienced the Kori Bustard, the largest flying bird in Africa actually flying, scared up by a lion!

We saw two different kinds of vultures, but did not see any evidence there had been a kill in the area. We also
saw our first jackals for this trip. As we were driving back from the park, there were three elephants in the
bushes by the road. All in all, a very nice game drive.

More Adventure with Safari Mike: Luangwa Lions Lounging, Male Giraffe Necking

Lounging Lions of Luangwa

Because the park entrance fee is good for 24 hours, we were able to do both a late afternoon and early morning game drive with Mike. He had been working for Born Wild Foundation in Malawi. According to Mike, this organization was founded by the actors from the classic movie.

When we set out on the early morning drive, Mike informed us if we saw lions, be prepared to sit and watch them for a couple of hours. We said that would not be a problem for us. He had been on several safaris at Flatdogs and had yet to see any lions. And, afterall, since he had been working for Born Free wildlife conservation in Malawi for several years, we simply had to help him study his lions! We had noooo problem with that idea at all!

We drove through parts of the park we had not been to but were not finding any lions. We would get hopeful when we would either see very little in the way of wildlife and what looked like an animal alerting as if there might be a lion around.

Finally we came on a safari vehicle and stopped and asked them if they were seeing anything. They said there were lions right back where they had been. As we approached the area where they had been, we saw a giraffe sitting on the ground. We wondered if the lions were still there because the giraffe did not seem concerned. We drove into the clearing and there they were! It was 10 lions in two groups sitting on the ground.








Suddenly, they got up and looked like they were getting ready to start hunting. Some began to move out and others went plunk, back down on the ground! They moved into several groups and began to do what according to Mike they do 80% of every day------resting! Mike hopes one day to become a safari guide and has a book with facts and figures about the various animals.

Mike drove from the open area where some were resting, "off road!" ,to a place where another vehicle had gone. They turned around and left, we saw nothing, turned around barely missing trees and such, when Laura cried "look", two lions were coming up behind us. They, too, went plunk, and began to rest. We watched them for some minutes up close and personal, and it was thrilling, I tell you.

Then off stage, we heard a thundering of hooves. What was that?
Later we learned from the folks in the Flatdogs game drive vehicle that the lions all of sudden got up and chased the giraffes! No luck, though.

Just after we heard the hooves another self drive vehicle drove up, this one carrying people in muslim dress, one man driving, three women passengers. Laura commented that the back window had been broken out, and she wondered if by elephants. As if the man read her lips, he began telling us that they had been in a lodge near Flatdogs and had left oranges in the back. Oops, seems that "Wonkie Tusk" had been busy....

We then spent the next two and a half hours ,moving between and watching the resting lion small groups. Many times they were very "cat-like" in their behavior--rolling over and stretching, preening and cleaning and yawning and stretching. It was all very entertaining!





Male Giraffe "Necking"
We also came up to three male Giraffe doing the strangest thing. According to Mike, the males were "necking." They were butting each other with slow but great force, apparently in preparation for the mating season. Mike told us that male Giraffe are distinguised in part from females by the hair being worn off their horns.

Baby Hippo Heaven: Luangwa River, Zambia

Hippo Heaven: Luangwa River, Zambia

On one of the mornings when we went down to the bluff to enjoy our coffee, breakfast, and wildlife viewing we were lucky enough to see a baby hippo and it's mother across the river. The baby was about the size of the mothers head and was quite entertaining to watch as it walked about. We are not sure how old it was but it was so very small in comparison to its mother. He walked around a bit sticking his head into various holes made by the hippos as they had walked about the shore.

He did this for time and then wandered over near the water. He seemed to hesitate and then-----splash into the water. The mother also got into the water and stayed nearby. He did not venture far from the shore and then you could see where the mother and the baby were resting near the shore. We have not seen the baby since that first morning and so are not quite sure where the mother and baby went.

Part 5, Traveling by bus Lusaka to Chipata to South Luangwa National Park; Places to Stay in Chipata and Mfuwe areas

Lusaka to South Luangwa National Park/ Mfuwe and Flatdogs:

(Note: We are just getting used to the mechanics of blogspot-- the pictures should be views bottom to top.)

As was mentioned to us, there are several places worth visiting in Zambia, but unfortunately it is difficult to reach them very easily travelling on a budget. Traveling to get to Flatdogs/Mfwe the cheapest way was by bus to Chipata and then on to Mfwe by minibus. Visiting with other travelers at Chachacha, the option of taking the Postal bus was brought up. According to this one traveler, it was dependable and a good way to travel.

We went to the Post Office and checked out the Postal bus. It was fully booked and so was not an option for us to travel that way. Another person had told us the Postal Bus was slow, crowded, and made many, many stops. So as information goes, much of it is in the eye of the traveler.

We next checked out the bus to Chipata. Going to the bus station is a trip in itself. The touts hit you the minute you enter the station grounds, hollering the names of places, busses and so forth. They are not deterred by a simple no, a forceful no, they just are not deterred. We had been given the name of a bus company by one of the employees of Chachacha and so we went to the Juldan Bus Company. There is still some confusion in my mind as to the correct name; because it also had the name Marks on the side of some of the busses and Juldan on others.

They had two buses heading to Chipata in the morning--one at 4:00 a.m. leaving from Freedom Way and one at 9:00 a.m. leaving from the main bus station. We had been told if you leave early enough you can make it all the way to Flatdogs in one day so we decided to try for the 4:00 a.m. bus. We arranged with the reception at Chachacha for a taxi to take us there at 3:30 a.m.

Got up early and were ready to go by 3:30 but no taxi. We are not sure what the glitch was; we had made arrangements to be picked up at the airport when we arrived in Lusaka and no problem there. I feel certain it must have been the early hour. At 5:00 a truck dropped a backpacker off at the gate, told us it was not a taxi and the night watchman offered to find us a taxi. Came back with a taxi and off we went to the bus station.

Be ready for the touts again. This time they run alongside the taxi and if they know where you are headed are running ahead leading the taxi to the proper bus. Since Juldan did not have a bus until 9:00 a.m., they took us over to a bus called Zambia-Botswana buslines. The ticket issuer assured us this bus did go to Chipata. Another word to the wise, lock your door, and if you have luggage in the backseat, lock that door also. While Robert was outside making arrangements, the back door opened and guys began to try to pull our luggage out. I won the tug of war with the taxi driver telling them I didn't want the luggage out yet. Finally all was settled, K115,000 per person to Chipata and K5000 per piece of luggage.

Another incident that happened while all this was going on, was our taxi driver was fined by the station security for parking in the wrong place. It could have been that, the fact he was not an official taxi, or just a new scam for the unsuspecting traveler. We paid the fine of K18,000 and got on the bus.

The bus was to leave at 7:30 so for the next 1 1/2 hours we watched the ebb and flow of the machinations of tout, ticket issuer, passenger, and who ever else was involved in getting someone on the bus! The bus left at about 7:30 and then we had a 15 minute stop to fuel the bus. Another thing to learn, when fueling the bus we all get off.

The bus is comparable in comfort to a Greyhound bus back in the states as far as seat room, etc. Except the seats are three across like on an airline. We were entertained by 'religious MTV' music and dancing most of the way but the scenery was both beautiful and interesting. The bus did not make many stops along the way except for what looked like three or four regular pick up and drop off spots.

Dean's Hillside Camp in Chipata
We made it to Chipata by about 4:00 p.m. and finally let a tout negotiate a taxi for us to Dean's Hillside Camp. The taxi to Dean's was much cheaper than one would be to Mama Rula's, another backpackers we had found on the web. Dean's Hillside Camp is very near town and if you are making an early getaway, it is a good place to be nearby. It is a lovely camp with places to pitch your tent and a house with inside guest rooms and an area on the second floor with room for more people.

The shower/toilet 'ablutions block' is very nice. The kitchen the staff uses to cook short order meals in we were told we were welcome to also use by the very helpful and friendly.

We were surprised to be have a horse and a rooster wander nearby while we were setting up our tent and enjoying the hill view. N'kwazi camp in Namibia near Rundu also let its horses have the run of the campsite. One interesting thing about this horse--while we were setting up our tent, it wandered through eating a few flower blooms along the way !

Dean, the owner, is a very interesting character and we had a nice visit about his story about coming to Zambia and how his place came to be. The price for camping is K25,000 per person.

Chipata to Flatdogs Camp
While we were visiting with some people that had just come from Flatdogs where we were headed to the next day, Moffat, a minibus owner came up wanting to know if we wanted to take his minibus (7-8 passengers) to Mfuwe. We had heard from the people we were talking to that the last 42 km of the road were very bad. We also were concerned about how long it could take given our experience of minibus travel where frequent stops are the norm. He offered a cost was $80.00USD since he already had booked to take passengers from Flatdogs, and did not want to drive there empty. We said we would go with him with the understanding that if he picked up other travelers he would reduce our fee. We suggested he stop at Mama Rula's and see if there were any, but he said he did not have time. Sure enough, he picked up two other locals along the way, one of which he claimed was his brother and another had a Flatdogs shirt on. Oh well....

Moffat was supposed to pick us up at 8:00 a.m. the next morning and was early and would not be able to let us go to the bank before we left Chipata because it did not open until 8:30 and he had to pick up his Flatdog customers at 12:00 He said he operated on "English time" instead of "African time." He had told us the night before that we could pay him in US dollars, but wanted an advance in order to purchase fuel.

We gave him two twenties, then to our surprise he went to a foreign exchange place. They wanted to give him a bad rate for small bills. Laura went in to change more than 50 and got a better rate. The rate was very low for small bills $20 or lower but higher for $50 or larger bills. The only problem they only had $300 on hand at the moment. Said it would be just "a few minutes" but we opted to move on.

The first part of the road is quite easy and the last 42km are just as everyone said, very rough, lots of potholes and slow going.

I was glad we took the faster, albeit much more expensive option, because after all we had been through to get to Chipata, we would have had another very long day. We were awakened in the campsite around 11:30 pm by some people setting up a tent that evidently had just arrived by minibus, but we do not know what time they left Chipata.

Africa Self Guided Safari Series Part 2: Water Purification and Responsible Tourism

Don't Drink The Water!
This sad little one liner about traveling has become watchword to some. We get asked a lot of questions when we travel about a variety of topics. One of the questions we get asked the most is, "Do you drink the water?" The answer is "yes," but with qualifiers.

Do Drink the Water?
Some of the countries we are visiting in southern Africa have tap water purified to international health standards. Do your research before you go.

Bottled Water and Traveler Trash
Without being preachy, one of the things that is of top importance to most travelers is the ability to be able to drink water and feel that is not going to make you ill. Seems like many turn to bottled water as their primary defense. The problem for me arises when you have to buy bottled water in plastic containers, drink it and then have few options of what to do with the container! The infrastructure of many countries we have traveled in are not equipped to handle all the plastic trash that is left behind by we travelers. Rather than be part of the problem and rely on bottle water totally, Robert and I have used some type water purification system for the last 10 years of travel with good results.

SteriPEN
We have experimented with several different types with varying results. The one we have used the past two trips to Africa, Panama, and Belize is the SteriPen. This "pen" is a pocket UV-powered water purifier. You use 4 AA batteries to power it and swish it around in the water until the light goes out--one to two minutes depending on the size of your container. We carry rechargeable batteries to power the pen and so this is also another way to cut down on adding to the various countries' landfill problems.

Katadyn Base Camp hanging filter
For this coming trip to South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana, and for our recent trip to Belize and Guatemala, we have added another level: purify large amounts of water using a Katadyn gravity filtration system. According to the manufacturer : "The Base Camp comes with the cleanable, AntiClog Hiker Pro Microfilter Cartridge that removes bacteria, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium to EPA Standards." This is a bladder that is hung from a position high enough to allow the water to move from the bladder through the filter into a gallon container. No more pumping, though that is at least some exercise. The water seems to taste better when we use this, and we will use this water for cooking, etc. After it has gone through this container we then will probably still use the SteriPEN for our drinking water for good measure. Probably overkill, though.

Sweetwater Drops
We will be going on some very long bus rides on this trip to Africa. For this trip, we are trying out a new purification idea for our long bus rides where pulling out the rig at bus stops will be problematic. We bought Sweetwater chlorine drops at REI to refill our water bottles on the 8-12 hour bus rides we will be going on. According to the instructions, you put 3-5 drops into your water, wait five minutes and the water is ready. We will see how this goes.

One Last Word on Traveler Trash
Another hint for travelers not related to water issues. Just a suggestion: somewhere in your baggage, fold up or roll up one of your cloth grocery bags from home. These have so many uses besides just the usual one for carrying out your groceries. One of the things that impressed me in some stores In South Africa, Namibia and Botswana is the practice of charging you for the plastic bags for your groceries! I also usually fill a quart baggie with several plastic bags from home and find them very useful as we travel along.

Africa Self Guided Safari Series: Part 1 Prep

"Africa. Why are you going to Africa? How can you afford to stay that long? Is it safe? " These are all questions we are asked repeatedly.

Because of our trips to Africa, we have had over 1 million hits on another site where we post. Our work here will be more concise, and offer suggestions for having an adventure to remember!

Follow with us to Africa with us over the next weeks. We will post when we can. We will look forward to your interaction. It gets lonely on the road sometimes......

We will offer tips and strategies for getting the most for your travel dollar. Some of the countries we may visit are South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia. Zimbabwe and Malawi are also possibilities.

Pack Early
Cut down on stress and insure a more successful trip by packing early. Self guided safaris and backpacker style touring requires more planning than the all inclusive safari.

Write It Down
Laura uses lists in order to insure that all the essentials make it. She keeps a small tablet in a pocket and writes down things to purchase and pack as we think of them. Sometimes this occurs at odd times, i.e. late at night and she flips on the bedside light and writes it down.

Budget Planning
How many days is your trip? This summer we will stay 3 months ! We have researched places to stay where we can camp and cook 90% of our own meals. Because this is our 5th trip to Africa, and our 3rd self guided and self catering camping trip, we have an idea of what we want to spend. Staying in our own tent, and cooking 90% of our meals leaves money for guided safari drives. We have picked a number, $100 per day, and we aim to stick with this.

Money
Some folks take their ATM card and don't carry much cash. There are ATM scams and muggings in some countries these days, and ATMs are not always available out in the bush. Credit cards provide the latest exchange rate, but often include charges for use, and there are identity theft scams that raise concern. Traveler's checks are safe, but sometimes harder to use than cash, or cost a 5 % or more 'commission' at some lodges, etc. We use a combination of all of the above.

Checklists

Here are couple of links to packing checklists that include most everything we pack, and then some:

http://www.african-safari-journals.com/camping-list.html

http://www.african-safari-journals.com/safari-packing-list.html

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