October 1-2, 2025

October 1-2, 2025

Aimee grinned when I told her we are turning around now. Unfortunately we are a long way from home. We got a little stressed at breakfast when we learned our flight is delayed three hours making it likely we will miss our connection. Luckily we found open seats on another airline.

After breakfast we met our driver who transferred us the seven miles to the Botswana border. After walking through the two border checks, we met our next driver who ferried us back to Victoria Falls. We stopped at a cafe that has a great patio overlooking the Zambezi River gorge below the Falls.

At the airport we caught our first of three flights to Johannesburg. We had more than enough time to make it through customs and board our second flight to London Heathrow. We are flying on a British Air A380. It is a doubledecker plane just like the doubledecker buses the English love. Aimee and I don't like the seating configuration though. We are not together, and we are both flying backwards staring at some stranger in the face. Luckily my seat mate was a cute English girl. Despite the oddity we both slept almost the whole flight.

We circled several times around London before finally using autopilot to make the landing. Aimee and I both used the shower facilities in the lounge. It was a nice badly-needed luxury.

Our last flight to Phoenix started in typical London fog. The clouds parted over the southern tip of Greenland giving me a great view of this mountainous, glacier-fed, fjord-filled landscape. 

Later we flew right by Pikes Peak reminding me of our trip there last month. The Colorado Rockies were ablaze in Autumn color with the turning of the Quaking Aspen trees. Whole groves are the same color because they are a single organism connected by a massive root system.

After two days and almost 24 hours of flight time we land in Phoenix. I can barely keep my eyes open as our driver ferries us home.

September 30, 2025

September 30, 2025

Happy Independence Day to Bo'tswana, (land of the Tswana people). They achieved their self-rule 59 years ago from Britain but remain part of the Commonwealth. All the locals are dressed today in blue, the main color of their flag. We help them celebrate by toasting with blue cocktails at lunch.

We are up before dawn for a morning game safari. After climbing aboard our jeeps, it is a 15-minute drive to Chobe National Park. We see lots of baboons running through the little town of Kasane like they own the place. They must reproduce like rabbits as many have babies clutching their underside. Our driver said elephants wandering through the town also. Mostly desert, Botswana is one of the least populated countries in the world. The few people they have are mostly far away on the southeastern border with South Africa.

Once in the park, we navigate bumpy sandy roads to the river. We see lots of elephants and Kudu antelope on the way. During the dry season, the animals have to hang close to the only water source for hundreds of miles.

We see numerous water birds in the river again. Africa’s birds seem to be more colorful and more diverse than what we see in the US. Not surprising though bird watching takes second fiddle to the extraordinary big game animals of Africa. We see African Spoonbills fishing in the shallows and a White Crowned Lapwing with yellow wattles hanging off its beak. There are lots of Helmeted Guineafowl running on the beach and an African Sea Eagle in a tree. We also spy a rare Puku Antelope with a relatively hairy coat. We see a few hippos in the distance.

Just off the beach we pass a baby elephant carcass being consumed by Vultures and Marabou Storks. It was killed by lions. With abundant game the lions concentrate on large easy meals instead of wasting their energy chasing the very fast and smaller Impala.

Our driver got word of a lion sighting so we sped down the beach and inland. We met up with a pride of nine lionesses. The first was sprawled out on her back sleeping. Just like me after I have overeaten. They are all very close within yards but very tired after the feast.

Returning along an interior road we pass small groups of Elephants and giraffes. We learned giraffes' spots start out light and get darker as they age.

After three hours we are back at the lodge for a late breakfast. Like the animals, we are relaxing during the heat of the day. I spend it reading the paper and downloading photos. Aimee knits and reads.

In the late Afternoon we load onto our jeeps for a second game drive. Once inside Chobe NP we see a pack of Mongoose scamper across our path, and then just a little further we come upon several more digging furiously at the base of a tree in pursuit of something.

At the river front we get the land version of yesterday’s elephant experience. Apparently Cape Buffalo spend the entire dry season on the island grazing. The elephants require a more diverse diet and must make the river crossing frequently. We watched a group of elephants swimming back to shore earlier than yesterday. The group leaves when the matriarch decides it is time. After crossing one youngster uses the tree in front of us to relieve an itch. Several recoat themselves in protective dust.

We saw a couple giraffes along the shore too. We pass the baby elephant carcass again. This time the Vultures have been replaced by a lone Black-backed Jackal. He is very skittish and keeps looking for danger.

Then we spot an even larger pack of elephants in single file ready to cross. They are towards the sun, so we race past them and turn around. They passed very calmly right between several jeeps. They are nicely framed with Hippos in the distance. While watching the group, one stray elephant suddenly appears within arm's reach giving Aimee a fright.

We raced further down the beach to catch up with the Lion pride we met this morning. We find them but they are now at the river edge a few hundred yards off the beach. I am jealous as there are several cruise boats parked within feet of them getting the close-up photographs of a lifetime.

Circling back inland to go home we pass lots of elephants migrating, a few Zebras and a giraffe crossing the road ahead. Then suddenly we encounter six running giraffes. I wonder if they are playing or being chased. We also watch a huge troop of baboons heading towards the river.

Before leaving the park, we see a lone Sable antelope and then watch the sun set in a blaze of orange.

Since our room is on the ground floor, we have been careful walking especially at night. As we opened our door to go to dinner, Aimee jumped, seeing a Bushbuck antelope staring right in her face. One of the buffet items tonight was Phane, a fried caterpillar of a local Emperor Moth. Crunchy!

September 29, 2025

September 29, 2025

Our room in Victoria Falls has 20-foot plastered walls with a very steep thatched roof atop it. We had some wind and rain last night. I think the Mosquito net over the bed also helps keep thatch dust from settling on us overnight.

When you adjoin a national park, you inherit some interesting neighbors. In the two days we have been here we have seen lots of animals in the waterhole down the hill. But we have also seen some closer. In the front entry we have seen deer-like Bushbuck and several Mongoose. A friend saw a snake at the pool. From our balcony we have seen Warthogs and Kudu antelopes below. This morning we woke to three Cape Buffalo foraging. Aimee is glad we are on the second floor.

We spent an extended breakfast watching the Masked Weavers again in the Palm below us. The bright yellow birds are certainly industrious and the most skilled craftsmen in the bird family.

After a late checkout, we drove from Victoria Falls west cutting across the center of Zambezi National Park paralleling the Zambezi River upstream. After about an hour we reached the border with Botswana. After another two border stamps, we arrived at our lodge on the Chobe River about six miles upstream from where it meets the Zambezi.

Our room is not ready so we have the lodge’s lunch buffet. I have the Impala steak. It was very tasty and tender. I ordered the local Botswana beer and shockingly it is named after my hometown, St. Louis. I also learned a second wife here only costs seven cows. I like Botswana already.

Our room has a ground floor patio with a view of the Chobe River. We might need to be more careful here. Don’t want a crocodile or hippo walking in unexpectedly.

In mid-afternoon we walk down to the dock and load onto the lodge cruise boat. We motored upstream on the Chobe River to Chobe National Park. We then traveled clockwise around the large river island of Sedudu. It is a lush marshy island irresistible to the animals on the arid mainland of the park. Lots of animals made the swim to graze. We see our first hippopotamus walking out of the water. He is a big fat boy who apparently can run faster than a human making them the most dangerous after the mosquito.

We also see a large herd of Cape Buffalo on the island. I didn’t know bovines could swim. Not surprisingly we see lots of water birds along the shore including a Spoonbill, a Yellow-billed Stork, and an African Jacana (nicknamed the Jesus bird because it can seemingly walk on water).

We sailed right next to a Nile Crocodile basking ashore. He never moved an inch. I could have easily reached down and touched him. That is probably what he was waiting for.

The highlight of our Safari cruise though is elephants. We see lots of them. Chobe is home to the most in all of Africa. We first see a solitary male, and then a half dozen feeding on a small islet. It is three mothers with three calves. They methodically scrape the ground with their feet and then use their trunk to gather up roots. It seems a lot of work for little nutrition.

A little further down we ran into the main herd with dozens of elephants. They are towards the setting sun so photography is poor. They understand my pain, so a group of them accommodate me and get in the water and swim to the opposite shore. It is even better than last time because we watch the youngsters try to piggy back the adults during the swim.

We circled back to our lodge swerving into the territorial waters of Namibia enroute. A few miles downstream the Chobe flows into the Zambezi. There the four countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia touch.

September 28, 2025

September 28, 2025

Breakfast this morning was on a wooden deck that overlooks our water hole. We don’t see much activity; only a couple Buffalo and some some female Kudu. Aimee and I are more fascinated by a colony of Southern Masked Weavers in a Palm Tree below us. We watch them as they bite off a frond one at a time to weave into their nests.

After breakfast, we drive back down to the Zambezi River to visit Victoria Falls National Park, a World Heritage Site. Here the Zambezi River drops into a narrow fault zone spreading out on one side to form the world’s largest sheet of falling water. We hike the Rainforest Trail that faces the falls stopping at many viewpoints. Since we are looking across a narrow gorge it is hard to appreciate the gigantic size of this waterfall. At one point we can see Devil’s Pool, a cauldron on the edge of the waterfall face that the very brave can sit in.

The size of Victoria Falls surges during the rainy season to five times the flow today. We can see that as we near the Zambian side of the falls. Today it is almost completely dry. In the rainy season it must be an incredible (and soaking wet) sight.

We finish with an overlook to the bridge that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia. Built in 1905, it was the brainchild of Cecil Rhodes whose dream was to build a train that ran all the way from Cape Town to Cairo through this spot. It only made it as far as Tanzania.

In the park also is a statue of David Livingstone, the first European to view the falls. He named it after his queen. Livingstone was a famous British missionary and explorer of Africa. It was hard work. He almost died several times from disease and a lion attack.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped to see a 1200-year old Baobab Tree. It is enormous and can hold incredible amounts of water to sustain itself between long droughts.

Back at the hotel we have a quick lunch in the overlook bar. We finish in time to participate in the hotel’s Vulture Culture Experience. In anticipation of the feeding we are seeing hundreds of birds circling overhead with many landing in nearby trees.

At 1PM we are escorted down to a viewing area in the desert. Vultures are floating in by the dozens. It is already an incredible sight. Two rangers bring in a cooler of meat setting off a feeding frenzy. It kicks up a cloud of smelly dust. Oddly there are several five-foot tall Marabou Storks joining in the fun. They grab and swallow the pieces whole. This bird has the nickname of the Undertaker bird and is the last of the Ugly Five of Africa for us to see. Males have a large pink throat sac.

Aimee and I relaxed the rest of the day in our room. We are enjoying the break from non-stop touring. In the evening for dinner we share a Butternut Ravioli in Curry sauce at the hotel.

September 27, 2025

September 27, 2025

Last night we went to the rooftop bar for cocktails before having a group dinner. From the city night lights it is easy to see that Jo’burg is the richest city in Africa. I ordered the Savannah hard cider and it was surprisingly good.

Cecil Rhodes was a key figure in early South African history. We know him from the Rhodes Scholarship he set up at Oxford. Shortly after diamonds were discovered just west of here in Kimberley, he made his fortune using Rothschild money to buy up all the mines cornering the market. His company was called DeBeers. Not satisfied, he went north looking to find new opportunities. He formed the British colony of Rhodesia. After independence it was divided into the modern countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

We intend to follow in Rhodes’ footsteps, so we checked out of our hotel, and took a flight from Jo’burg to Victoria Falls. Our flight took us over the mostly barren Kalahari Desert. I was intrigued by some parallel lines I saw crossing Hwange National Park. An internet search suggests these are the shorelines of some ancient lake.

In Victoria Falls we are greeted by warm weather. Aimee and I are now desert rats and we welcome the change. We checked into our Safari Lodge. Our room has a terrace overlooking a watering hole on the edge of Zambezi National Park. It is empty. After resting for an hour, Aimee looks up and notices two elephants. We watch them drink water and then throw dirt on themselves for sun protection. Shortly after a herd of Warthogs, Helmeted Guineafowl and Cape Buffalo join them. We love it.

In the early evening we shuttled to the Zambezi River for a sunset cruise. It was a nice relaxing boat ride with cocktails and lots of light snacks. We all tried the local Zambezi Beer. Our cruise took us across the river and into Zambian waters so we can now cross it off our country list.

We saw a few crocodiles, hippos, and elephants but we are pretty jaded now. A little later though we were wowed. Two elephants on the river island decided to enter the water and after a couple minutes made the leap and swam to the opposite shore. I didn't know elephants were such good swimmers. They made pretty good time going up and down in the water. They were often fully submerged. I guess it is handy to have a built-in snorkel.

Sadly we also saw a dead elephant rotting on the shoreline. The carcass was being fed on by crocodiles.

After watching the sun set in a blaze of red, we made our way back to the lodge. The staff has lowered the mosquito netting on our bed. It is probably not necessary but a good precaution. We purposely came here in the dry season and are taking malaria pills as an added precaution.

September 26, 2025

September 26, 2025

Two billion years ago, the largest meteor to strike the earth happened here in Johannesburg. The resulting 200-mile wide crater prevented erosion of mineral deposits. The trapped gold vein was the world’s largest producing an incredible 25% of the gold ever mined on earth. The crater edge, Witwatersrand or just Rand (Dutch for ridge) gave its name to the South African currency.

Jo’burg boomed overnight and the population swelled. On our tour of the area, we see yellowish mine tailing piles everywhere. They are from some of the deepest mines in the world. Much of the gold has petered out but the money to restore these sites has vanished. Dust from these piles obscures the horizon.

I grinned when I saw two more hyperbolic cooling towers. This time from a decommissioned power plant. They have been gaily painted. Jo’burg sits on an arid grassland plateau. It is the largest city not near a river, lake or shoreline. As a result these towers help conserve water.

The power struggle over this gusher of money was inevitable. The wealthy used apartheid to control the army of workers who did the work. Our first stop was in the old Southwestern Township (shortened to Soweto) where blacks were segregated. Soweto was the epicenter of protests. We stopped at the Nelson Mandela House where he lived before getting arrested. He spent 27 years behind bars and became the face of resistance.

Nearby we stopped at a monument to the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The catalyst was a new law that required school lessons in Afrikaans, the language of the oppressor. During a student protest several young boys were shot. A smuggled photo was sent round the world. We got a stirring description from the sister of the murdered boy in the picture.

Our next stop was the Apartheid Museum. We got a guided tour of the long struggle for equality. The story has echoes from similar problems all over the world. Each country has a different slant on similar issues especially colonialism. We had our own issues with Native Indians and Black Civil Rights. The South Africa story would have been totally different without the huge gold discovery. I am sure the money is still a corrupting influence in South African politics.

We had lunch in the museum cafe and then drove to a private market. Browsing the store was interesting even for me. While Aimee shopped for more African fabric, I was fascinated by all the taxidermy heads lining all the walls. Africa has lots of cool and unique stuff to buy. None of it would go with Tucson decor though.

September 25, 2025

September 25, 2025

It rained on us all night and we awoke to cool and rainy weather. The rainy season for Kruger National Park is not supposed to start until next month. So glad we had great weather yesterday. This is a good day if it has to rain as we are going to spend most of it travelling.

From Hazyview, South Africa we drove west. For the first two hours we steadily climbed higher. We are scaling the Great Escarpment that divides the South African plateau (Highveld) from the coastal lowlands. Our destination is almost 6000 feet elevation.

At our first bathroom break, we browsed the grocery store and bought some Rooibos (Red Bush) Tea packets. It is a local herbal tea we have heard a lot about. Rooibos is native to the Cape Floral kingdom.

Back on the road we reached the Highveld (high field) and found a flat grassland prairie. Just off the highway, I am amused by this huge coal-fired power plant with six giant hyperbolic cooling towers. We normally associate them with nuke plants. Surprisingly I see two more identical plants a few miles down the road.

I almost didn’t make it in time to reach our next rest stop. I had to make a mad dash to the men’s room. I am pleasantly surprised to discover I am using the coolest urinal in the world. I am facing a glass window with a watering hole that is surrounded by Africa’s finest; Rhinos, Cape Buffalo, Ostrich, and three different kinds of horned Antelope. What a menagerie! Aimee and I share a Grilled Cheese lunch and watch the animals feed at several troughs. It is fascinating. There is a definite pecking order with the Rhinos on top. But the Cape Buffalo are not far behind.

We finish in Johannesburg, the City of Gold. We are in the Transvaal Region, meaning “over the Vaal River”. When the British took Cape Town, the Dutch Afrikaner Boer farmers migrated north to escape British rule. Unfortunately for them, diamonds and then gold were discovered here, making this area irresistible to the Brits. After a short rest we took the hotel shuttle to the Sandton City mall. It is huge and upscale. We walk through it to reach Mandela Square which has a giant statue of Nelson.

We have dinner at a Greek restaurant. Aimee and I share a Moussaka. It is served with Peri-Peri Sauce. This is an African-Portuguese spicy pepper sauce. Aimee and I think it is delicious. We washed it down with a local beer with an unusual name. Afterwards back at the hotel, we celebrated the birthday of our friend with Champagne and a piece of cake.