ZIMBABWE: SUNDOWNER CRUISE ON THE ZAMBEZI RIVER AND A BOMA DINNER

Originally we didn't have our canoeing trip on the Zambezi AND our sundowner cruise on the Zambezi back-to-back, but because we had to reschedule the cruise, that's what we got.  It actually provided a fun contrast between an outdoorsy, natural experience and a more social experience.

There was a wonderful choral group of men in native dress singing on the dock, trying to sell their DVDs. We bought one for $10. However, when we watched the DVD when we got home, it wasn't nearly as good as the performance we heard at the dock.

The idea of a "sundowner," or a kind of happy hour held at sunset, was popular in all the countries we visited on this trip. We quickly discovered that all drinks--alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic--were included in the ticket price. Alcohol-based activities seem to be the rule for tourists in southern African countries. Just after we left the dock, a waiter came around with hors d'oeuvres that included samosas, meatballs, etc. EAT EAT EAT!

We headed upstream, getting a good view of houseboats/yachts anchored near the shore:

Some were in better shape than others:

We also saw what at first glance looked like smoke, but which we soon learned was spray from Victoria Falls:

ZIMBABWE: CANOEING ON THE ZAMBEZI RIVER

We started our first full day in Zimbabwe with a canoeing trip on the Zambezi River. We were picked up early and driven down a bumpy dirt road for over an hour. There were three guides and six guests. Besides us there were a father and his 13-year-old son visiting from Colorado (That's the son in the photo below with the towel over his head--still trying to adjust to the morning sun) and an engaged couple from Osaka, Japan (She was competent in English, but he couldn't or wouldn't speak any English). 

Some kind of antelope in the road in front of us

The Zambezi is the 4th longest river in Africa. At 1,599 miles long, it is much shorter than the Nile (4,258 miles long) and about 2/3 the size of the Mississippi River (2,320 miles long).

The Zambezi begins in Zambia and curves through northeastern Angola, returns to western Zambia, travels along the border between Namibia and Zambia, forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe (the part where we were), and then heads to the Indian Ocean through Mozambique.

Map from here

We didn't see other vehicles along the way, but we did see some wildlife, including this flock of guinea fowl:

Our guides pointed out several ancient baobab trees, sometimes called "The Tree of Life" or "The Upside-Down Tree." They can live as long as 1,000 years:

There had been a rainstorm the night before, and some parts of the road were pretty muddy:

When we arrived at our launch spot, we were given breakfast in a paper bag, which was Breakfast #2 for us. It was a good way to pass the time while we waited for the guides unloaded the rubber canoes. We needed four--three for the guests and one for two guides who would escort us. Two of the canoes were ready to go:

Two needed to be inflated:

It was fun to walk around, reminding ourselves we were at the ZAMBEZI River, a name and location that to me had always sounded so exotic:

Before we shoved off, we had a long, long lecture about what to do if we fell out of the boat, how to handle rapids, why we should stay away from hippos and crocs,  what to do if a croc tipped over our canoe, etc., etc. Generally scary stuff. Then it was time to launch:

We eventually got the hang of the kayak-style paddles and did relatively well, but the Japanese couple paddled wildly, zigzagging all over the place and bumping into people, all the while laughing hysterically:

Paddling down the Zambezi River was not something I thought I would ever do. It was yet another one of those "pinch me" experiences:

We hit some Class 1 and 2 rapids, nothing too scary but enough to get us a little wet:

We saw a few hippos and one croc, but they were all far away.

It took us a couple of hours to finish our run. We docked a few miles outside Victoria Falls:

The third guide who had taken the truck down the road to meet us had been busy cooking our lunch over a fire. It was quite a spread, including crocodile kebabs, chicken drumsticks, thin beef steaks,  fruit kebabs (which included chunks of pawpaw), salad, fire-roasted potatoes, julienned vegetables, rolls, and various sauces. Very impressive and quite delicious:

Our guides packed everything back into the truck . . .

. . . and we headed back to our hotel, but with plans to return to the river in a few hours for a "sundowner" cruise that we had rescheduled because of our late arrival the day before.

FROM BOTSWANA TO ZIMBABWE TO ZAMBIA: A CLASSIC BOB-STYLE ADVENTURE

We all know that my husband is crazy when it comes to travel. Well, YOU might not know that if you don't know him personally, but those of you who do definitely know this about him. Let's just say he doesn't let the grass grow under his feet. This post shares an example of a classic Bob-style travel day.

We had spent the morning on a motorboat in the waters of the Okavango Delta, awed and inspired by what we saw. We came back to camp, packed our things, and were driven to a landing strip, where our driver drove the length of the strip (on a parallel dirt road) to make sure it was animal-free. We would later learn how important that was.

As we turned around at the far end, the plane came in and we followed it back to the other end. This time we were on a 12-passenger plane, still tiny but nothing like the 6-seater we had come in on.

The pilot was a very young woman from Botswana. She looked about 16, but we were SO impressed with her professionalism. She was very serious about her responsibilities, and we felt we were in good hands.

A brochure at our seat told us a little bit about her:

There was also interesting reading material about the Okavango Delta:

The advantage of a small plane is that it stays pretty close to the ground. Who would want to watch a screen when THIS is what we saw outside our window?

BOTSWANA: OKAVANGO DELTA MOTOR BOAT RIDE

Our makoro canoe ride in Botswana's Okavango Delta was an "authentic" experience, but our motorboat ride in the Delta was mind-blowing. In fact, it turned out to be one of our favorite experiences of the entire trip. Nothing I write here can truly capture the awe we felt as we puttered along this stunningly beautiful waterway.

Once again, we were the only passengers on a boat that could seat eight or more people, and during our time on the water, we didn't see any other boats, nor did we see airplanes, power lines, vehicles on roads, or any other man-made anything. The isolation is part of what made the experience so memorable. It was as if we had gone through the Looking Glass and were in a completely separate world, and it was a Shangri-La.  I know I'm mixing stories, but I can't help myself. Throw in some Jurassic Park (minus the dinosaurs) too. Maybe the best analogy is that it was like the end of the fifth day of creation, just before the creation of man, "and God saw that it was good."

We saw lots of God's creations on this motorboat ride, including prehistoric-looking crocs both in the water and on the banks, some quite ginormous:

Our favorite was the one who slept with his mouth wide open. We never saw him move even the slightest bit, even though we motored around him to get a view from several angles:

"Open wide!" He was a dentist's dream patient (or his worst nightmare):

I am not particularly into birds, but this boat trip changed me. I have never seen (and loved seeing) so many birds of so many varieties.

African darters

Kingfishers

Egret

Everywhere we looked, we saw birds:

African darters

Sacred ibis (birds with black bills on left)

Sacred ibis and egret

Egret

Grey heron (third from right)

Two painted storks and a glossy ibis

Painted storks with a grey heron between them

There were often dozens of birds of varying species hanging around together, like some big inter-cultural gathering:

Sometimes huge flocks flew alongside our motorboat or caught the draft behind us. We felt like actors in a movie. How could something like this be real?

I told Bob it was almost like there was background music playing. It reminded me of the scene in the movie Out of Africa when Robert Redford takes Meryl Streep flying, and it's just the two of them soaring over the savannah, animals running below. Meryl Streep reaches back and grasps Robert Redford's hand, weeping at the inconceivable, inexpressible beauty of it all. It was that kind of a moment for me.

We were like kids at the airport watching the planes take off and land:

Painted storks

Grey heron

Sacred ibis  

Blacksmith plover

African jacana

Sometimes we got crocodiles and birds together:

Cranky Mr. Crocodile wasn't the least bit interested in all the activity going on around him.

One of the highlights of the ride was the hippos. We had been warned many times to stay far away from these dangerous beasts, but our boat driver hadn't gotten that memo. We occasionally came across a lonely hippo:

. . . or a small group:

But all of the sudden we rounded a corner and there was a group of about 30 hippos of all sizes wading in the water. (Note the elephants in the background.) I rushed to get a few pictures before we scared them off:

As we approached, they went CRAZY, leaping like ballerinas and arching like dressage horses to get underwater fast, causing a great churning and creating huge waves.

Within seconds they were all underwater, not a twitching ear, a snorting snout, or a sizable flank to be seen. It was a National Geographic moment.

Of course, there were lots of elephants. There seems to be no shortage of them in Botswana, at least where we were--far away from civilization and hopefully far from poachers, too.

There were also plenty of termite mounds on the shoreline:

Even without the wild animals, the scenery was so pure, so vibrant, that it made my heart ache. 

The colors in the Delta are so rich--almost like a photo that has been photoshopped just a little too much.

All too soon we had to make our way back to the Land Cruiser.

We bumped along the road back to the lodge . . . 

. . . sometimes plowing through shallow lakes (and not so shallow lakes):

It was a morning we will never forget.