29 August 2025 Off to Mauritius

 

Arriving at Victoria Falls airport, we found a long check-in queue. Where was Lance’s lovely customs man today?

We were in the front third of the queue, and it split into two. Sadl,y we were in the slow queue. One lady was at the counter for almost an hour! They pulled her to one side a couple of times and processed someone else, but then they brought her back again. Finally, she was done, and we were the absolute last people! Grrrrrrr!

Arriving at Johannesburg airport an hour and 49 minutes later everything went well and our accommodation for the night, City Life Hotel, is joined to the airport. In fact, the two terminals are joined, so we have not had to go outside. 

Lance is still unwell and is too scared to eat in case it comes back up or shoots out the other end. So it is good that we have finished our safaris and are off to Mauritius in the morning to relax. 

I thought that in this post I would add a few little things that I have noted as we have been travelling. 

According to an old African folklore, the wildebeest was created from the leftover parts of other animals: a buffalo's horns, a baboon’s face, a hyena's body with the hump and short back legs, a lion's tail, and a horse's legs. 

In several places, the pin digits are scrambled when you put your pin in. This is to stop someone from watching your movement and copying the pattern easily. Do you know how hard it is to put in your pin and not follow your normal finger movement!

Lance was chatting to the driver when we were in a taxi in Victoria Falls. The driver asked about the weather in NZ. Lance replied that at the moment it is cold and very rainy. “You are very lucky,” was the driver's reply. To him, it sounded like paradise!

Sandi and I have had to buy some nail polish remover because our toenail polish has melted in the heat!

On our way out of Namibia, we saw rough wooden stalls on the side of the road with huge sides of beef hanging and for sale. 

The giraffe is the only ruminant to have a gestation period of over a year. 15 months. 

If you ever get a chance to go on safari, you should take a good supportive sports bra!

Stopping at Katima Mulilo in Namibia, we all trooped into a cafe/ bar called Passione for coffee and toilets. Some of the group all sat at one table, and one of our ladies happened to be sitting at the end of the table. An African man came up to her and said that women should not be sitting at the head of the table, and why was she there! Apparently, he was quite gruff. Lesley replied that in her country, men and women were equal. He went and sat down, but glared at her. 

In the same township, I felt a little uneasy and not welcome for the first time. 

Botswana’s population is only 2,500,000, and Zimbabwe's only 3,000,000. They are both large countries with not a lot of habitable areas. I expected more people to be around, but I was pleasantly surprised.

An early start this morning meant we were at the airport at 6:20. But remember, the hotel is joined to the airport. 

Johannesburg Airport has the best airport shopping! So Sandi and I had a little wander through some really lovely stores and picked up a few bits and pieces. 

I write this on the plane flying to Mauritius and Sandi, and I have just ordered a G & T, which is quite strong but delicious. It is only 10:20am, so I am picking there could be a nap on this 4-hour flight!

Six hours later, we arrived in Mauritius and had a very easy arrival. The hour drive from the airport to the Intercontinental Resort at Balaclava was bump and dust-free! It is very lush and tropical.

This is the view that greeted us as we walked into the lobby.

I think this is going to be a very relaxing stay. 

27 August 2025 Goodbye to our tour group

Beautiful restroom at Victoria Falls Hotel. 

Today we had to say goodbye to our tour group. We have really enjoyed the people in our group and do hope to see some of them when they visit New Zealand, or our Italian friends when we hopefully visit Italy once again. And of course, our fabulous tour guide Richard.

If you have ever taken a tour, you will know that what makes a great tour is not only the sights you see, but also the people that you are with. And most of all, it is about having a great guide. Richard organised us and checked in with us when we inadvertently sat at a table by ourselves rather than with the group. “Was everything okay?” We could hear the concern in his voice, when actually we had wandered into breakfast and not even seen them! 

 The knowledge that he imparted was always interesting, and he has such a wealth of knowledge about animals, history, and geographical information that would surprise and interest us, he knew how to get us through boarder crossings with the least hassle, helped Sandi when she had her nasty border incident and his ability to speak the language as we crossed into different countries made everything appear effortless. I guess this is just part of the job, but he also shared some of his personal life as a Zimbabwean man and was interested in our cultures. 

 The border crossing from Botswana back into Zimbabwe was thankfully uneventful. I had felt that I had prepared well with getting our KAZA visas for 30 days, multiple entry into Zimbabwe and 1 entry into Zambia. Botswana did not need a visa, and I also got the Namibia visa online. 

Well, I was not the only one fooled by the KAZA multi-entry into Zimbabwe. I, and the rest of the group, had accounted for the three times that we would enter Zimbabwe, and the KAZA visa would be perfect. But, there was a fly in the ointment! In small print it says it includes ‘day trips’ into Botswana! And we had been in Botswana for several days. It wasn’t a big problem, and Richard said that he had asked the tour company to add this information to the trip notes. He also had the visa forms ready for us to fill out before arriving at the border and told us to have $30 USD ready. We had to have a health check before customs, and some of our party who had been to Kenya needed their yellow fever vaccination certificates, and we all had a thermometer gun aimed at our heads to check our temperature. 

Back in Zimbabwe, we quickly found ourselves alone in the back of our van, which by the way is named ‘Water Berry’ after anAfrican tree. The others had been dropped at the airport, but we had one night in Victoria Falls before our next chapter, which will be Mauritius. 

 It was nice to be back at the Cresta Sprayview Hotel at Victoria Falls. Sandi and I wandered down to the small township for some shopping. The paths, when there are paths, are really dusty; in fact, everything is dusty! My feet have never been so filthy, and that is after I hop out of the shower; it just seems to permeate your pores! 

 There was a lot of the same sort of tourist stuff in the many small shops, and much as we would love some of the baskets and carved items, we have been avoiding them because of problems entering NZ. Some things are cheap, and some are expensive. 

 After returning to our hotel, and yet another shower because of the heat and dust, the three of us caught a taxi down to the Victoria Falls Hotel for a high tea. The hotel was built in 1904 and overlooked the bridge linking Zimbabwe and Zambia. It has a real feeling of the past and is beautifully designed inside with artefacts and fabulous furnishings. Two huge paintings are in the main lounge, and they are of Queen Mary and King George V. 

Whilst it is a beautiful place and the staff are impeccable in their uniforms and hospitality, it also still has a colonial feeling that made me a little uncomfortable. Our high tea was great, and we sat overlooking the lawn and bridge. 

We tried our best to eat it all, but there were so many sweet things that we just couldn’t do it. Also, our main consumer had a tummy ache. 

 Back at our hotel, Sandi and I sat overlooking the pool for the evening and had a couple of drinks. Lance was quite unwell and has been popping anti-diarrhoea and anti-nausea medication like they are M & Ms. Hopefully, he will be okay for the flight to Johannesburg tomorrow.

26 August 2025 - Our last safari

 

The alarm was set for  4:30am, and we were off for another early morning game drive. Our meeting point was the car park, which fortunately was opposite our room, and tea, coffee and muffins were set out for a bit of sustenance, as breakfast would be when we got back at 9am.

As I said, our room was opposite the car park, and we found out later that when they went to set up the tea and coffee at 5am, they had to chase away a honey badger. Cute as the name sounds, they are actually quite an aggressive creature. Lucky he wasn’t there when we walked home from dinner the previous evening.

I say our room, but actually it is rooms. Yesterday, when we arrived, we unpacked and did some stuff and went for dinner. I was in the lead, and I am directionally challenged, especially indoors. I got to the small corridor and opened the large wooden door on my left, only to see some bunk beds! I quickly closed it, thinking that maybe I had entered an adjoining room. But on inspection, we have a small spare room with bunk beds and a desk! The front door is to the right!

Off we went on our game drive. There was a chill in the air, but nowhere near as cold as our last morning drive. And this time, there was no two-hour bumpy drive to get there. The Sedudu gate at Chobe National Park is a ten-minute drive from Chobe Safari Lodge.

Driving for an hour or so in the park, we saw only some giraffe, impala and birds. Impala are everywhere! We were starting to feel a little sceptical about this morning drive. I had expected loads of animals to be out and about in the cool air.

Cape water buffalo

Mongoose

Bat eared fox

Ground hornbill

And then we came across some elephants. We noticed on the previous evening’s drive that the animals here seem to be much closer to the track and much less concerned with our presence than the animals at Moremi.

We were told that they see the vehicles as something like a tree that moves and that it poses no threat.

These elephant were crossing, and some had babies, but they just wandered around our trucks. One even stopped to have a poke around in the truck in front!

And then we found them . . .

A pride of lions were sitting in the shade, just watching the world go by. We were quite close but surrounded by other trucks. We felt so lucky to have come across them as we were starting to make our way home.

They just took my breath away!

We had been hoping to see a mature male lion, but he was nowhere to be seen.

As we were leaving the park, we came across two male giraffe having a bit of a tiff. It is quite a controlled way of fighting and a lot of wait time between blows.

Back at the lodge breakfast was welcomed with gusto. They had everything, even someone carving off smoked salmon from a large fillet. We ate like kings and just had some cheese and crackers for lunch while we watched the warthogs outside our room.

After a very welcome restful afternoon, we set off on a game sighting cruise. This was our very last event on safari and we were hoping to see some good stuff.

The first hour or so was a bit of a non-event. A load of birds, and we did get closer to some water buffalo. and of course elephants.

These were all on a Long Island fluvial island in the middle of the Chobe River. The island has some floating parts and has water running through it, hence the abundance of life.

The Chobe River runs between Namibia and Botswana at this point, and there was some confusion over who should own the river. It was decreed that the Namibian side had the deepest water, and because of that, it was only fair that Botswana, with the shallow sid,e should have ownership of the island, called Sedudu.

Our highlight was the hippo. So far, we had seen and heard loads of hippo, but not a lot of their large bodies.

And then we found lions again, this time we were further away, but they were more active. The video is a bit pixelated as I had to zoom in to see them.

And then we came across a bloat of hippo who looked like they were settling down for a nap. But the baby in the centre wasn’t quite ready for a sleep.

Happy little Chappy. Actually, it is probably a girly, or it would have been chomped on by the bull hippo. 

So after an ordinary start, we found ourselves once again in awe of the animal kingdom.

And of course, the obligatory African sunset. 

25 August 2025 Chobe National Park, Botswana

 

It was hard to leave our beautiful accommodation, Zambezi Mutubala lodge on the edge of the Zambezi River. But at least we had a sleep-in because the drive for today was not too far. 

Our boat picked us up, delivering us back to the spot where our van had spent the night. Once again, we passed people going about their daily lives on the river banks. 

After around an hour drive, we were at the Namibian border to go back into Botswana. Once again, we pulled out all of our shoes and dipped them in the solution, which had turned into a thin muddy puddle after so many had been before us. Getting out of Namibia is painless, and Botswana does not require a visa, so getting back in was just a stamp in our passports. 

As soon as we were in the gate of Chobe National Park, we came across a grazing tower’ of giraffe.

And then we arrived at Chobe Safari Lodge, which was another step up in accommodation! This resort is much larger than any other on the tour, and luxury abounds.

Lunching in the terrace restaurant, we could see elephant and water buffalo on the riverbank just across the water. This is what movies are like!

Before long, we were on another game drive howeve,r this time the drive to the park entrance was only 10 minutes, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by animals. Chobe has around 50,000 elephants in the dry season, so it was no surprise to find elephants around every corner. There is also an abundance of giraffe. We found out that you do not need to look underneath a giraffe to tell its gender. The ossicles (little horns) are different between males and females. Females have slightly smaller ossicles with little brushy tips, whereas males have thicker, larger ossicles, which are good for fighting.

A highlight, apart from elephants, was finding a small pack of African wild dogs. These dogs are very rare and are endangered. One of our guides said that he had been working in the park for 6 months and had never seen any. And you could tell the guides were excited because they too had their phones out taking videos! There are only around 6000 African wild dogs left, so we were very lucky.

A ‘stretch stop’ came next, and out of the cooler came wine, beer, gin, and soft drinks. It felt very special to be drinking a G & T in the game park.

Along the side of the river, elephants roamed in abundance, and as the evening set in, the babies frolicked together, practicing using their trunks that at times seemed to get away from them, flapping wildly around.

Kudu

Even though we hadn’t found any lions, we left the game park as the sun set, feeling very satisfied.