Christmas Safari!

Well Merry Christmas from Zimbabwe!!!!  I apologize for the lack of blog posts, but we have been without internet access and only recently entered into cellular zones! The game reserves don’t have internet to make it more difficult for poachers to communicate. But I should start off saying that the past six days have been incredible! We have done and seen so much!! The past 6 days have been full of safari, heading into the game reserves to see what we can see. We started off 6 days ago in Maun, at Thamalakane Lodge. We went to Mokoro to go poling (similar to canoeing, where the poler stands in the back, using a large stick to push us along), which is a way to transport goods and people through the Delta. The boats only fit 2 people and our poler, Richard, who has been poling since he was 10 years old and was taught by his grandfather.  It was awesome to talk with him about his life in the village where he grew up, and what life is like for them. After Mokoro, we moved to a bush camp called Mankwe, located between Moremi and Chobe National Parks. We stayed there for 3 nights. The camp ran on generators, we were staying in raised tents, and animals roamed in and out of camp as they pleased. The place had a bar run by a man named Tears. He was really funny, and always had to escort us back to our tents after dark for our safety, even though it is illegal for any of the guides or camps to carry guns. They feel that if you need a gun, you are willing to risk too much, pushing the boundaries with nature. Without guns, you will keep enough distance and respect the animals. Our camp was visited by elephants during the afternoon one day, and we saw tracks of hyenas and giraffes in the morning, so they had clearly walked through at night. Beaman said he heard the roaring of lions at night also. The days started early, generally up at 5am or earlier for breakfast, then heading out into Kwai, Moremi, and Chobe National parks to look for animals. We spent 10-14 hours a day out in the parks. It was like an amazing game of hide and go seek with some of the world’s most astonishing animals. It is odd being out in the African wilderness. It’s like a reverse zoo, where we are in captivity and the animals run wild. We are to remain in the vehicle at all times, and if we do stop, Valentine and Beaman check the area before we get out, and keep on the lookout while we are stopped. We spent some days following different animal tracks, all in attempt to see something amazing, and always succeeding. Our guides, Valentine and Beaman are awesome! Beaman grew up wanting to be a guide like his father. It is incredible how they are so in tuned with nature. They can tell how fresh the tracks are, and how animals are feeling based on how they react. They seem to know everything about animals, including exact species, how old they are, and how they interact with their own kind and other animals. Over the past few days, we have seen tons of elephants, giraffes, hippos, antelope of all kinds (kudu, impala, steam buck, springbok, reed bucks, water bucks, eland, and wildebeest), birds like no tomorrow (storks, eagles, vultures, and a bunch others that I can’t remember the name of if my life depended on it), zebras, crocodiles, warthogs, baboons, turtles, monitor lizards, and the most amazing lioness I’ve ever seen. On day 3 out in Moremi national park we were really on the hunt of giraffes and lions, as we had only seen a lone giraffe on our first day, and had yet to see a lion. After lunch, we didn’t seem to have much issue seeing giraffes, and we’ve been seeing a ton of them ever since. But lions are much more difficult to track, as they often hunt and move in the evening, and during the day, they find cool places to hang out, as the heat exhausts them. We had been told that there was a pride of lions in the area, and we were on the hunt. Valentine and Beaman spotted a ton of vultures and other predatory birds flying above (and I’m not talking 3-4, but 15+), and so they said that when this occurs, they are often waiting for a kill to occur below them. So we were right in there, offroading, searching for a cat on the hunt. In the meanwhile, we got our truck stuck in the mud, and hit a pretty huge tree, throwing off our wheel alignment, but that didn’t stop us. We unfortunately didn’t spot anything, and the birds dispersed with time. We kept searching, following lion tracks. We had almost given up for the day, when Beaman spotted a female resting under a tree. We approached her, and she was the most beautiful and incredible animal I’ve ever seen. We were only 15 feet from her. She had been separated from her pride, and was roaring for them as a signal. The noise that came out of her mouth was the most primal and primitive noise in the world. It terrified and amazed me at the same time. Her roar chilled me to my core, and I was just astonished and speechless. She got up and went in search of them. We caught up with her down the way, while she was resting again due to the heat of the day, and we managed to capture some awesome photos. I’m still in complete and utter awe. Yesterday in Chobe National Park, we spotted another pride of lions, 2 males and 3 females. We couldn’t get nearly as close, as we were told that one of the males is quite aggressive, and we didn’t want to risk pissing off the top of the food chain. They were beautiful though none the less. Our days in the bush have really made you appreciate and understand the whole circle of life, and appreciation for mother earth. It's amazing!

Elephants in Moremi!



Our first lion spotting!!!

Other things that I’ve learned while in Africa the last 6 days:

1. Elephant dung and wild sage act as natural mosquito repellant.
2. Zebras raise their white stripes in the summer to stay cool, and raise their black stripes in the winter to absorb heat.
3. Giraffes have the largest heart of any land mammal, weighing in at just over 4kg (9lbs). They need it to be so large to be able to pump blood up their long necks to their brains. When they sleep, they have to keep their heads up (even if they are lying down) cause if they keep their head down, their brain will explode with the amount of pressure their heart pumps blood at.
4. Giraffes don’t have a voice box, and it is said that they are the quietest mammal. Some people say that they can hear them crying at times, but they don’t know how they produce this sound.
5. When giraffes are born, the mother doesn’t lower herself to the ground during labour, and the baby just falls to the ground. They say that when a baby giraffe hits the ground, it is similar to a doctor slapping a baby to start its breathing.  
6. Hippos are the number one cause of death in southern Africa. They can actually run up to 50km/hour, and they are terrifying animals. Yesterday, we stopped for a quick stretch break infront of a pond with 17+ hippos in it. They all started approaching shore, and the alpha male started gesturing creating a mock charge, to let us know who was in charge. I personally, was terrified. Their teeth are MASSIVE! He was growling, splashing water, showing us his teeth, and moving towards us. It was definitely a “get in the car FAST” type moment. But ultimately, it was amazing to see!
7. Crocodiles can live to be up to 150 years old. Their species has remained untouched since the Jurassic era, due to their incredible ability to adapt. They can go for 1.5 years without eating or drinking due to their natural ability to slow their metabolism to an almost stand still.
8. Dead elephant is the most putrid smell ever.
9. Vultures will eat anything (see number 8). It’s disgusting.
10. Baby elephants are probably THE CUTEST things you’ve ever seen. We saw a baby dumbo, probably 2-3 days old (as per Beaman and Valentine) and my heart melted watching her awkwardly run and stumble around, just wanting to constantly play.
11. You would not likely survive a swim in the Chobe River, as it is infested with more hippos, crocs and tiger fish than imaginable. One of them would probably kill you.  
12. A kudu tusk is hollow and is often used as a horn for musical fun.
13. Elephants eat approximately 600lbs of grass and tree bark per day.
14. Termites  taste like peanut butter.

This is the first Christmas that we’ve spent in 3 countries! We woke up in Botswana, spent the afternoon in Zambia, and are now in Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge for the next 2 nights. It is beautiful and located close the falls. We have been warned about hippos, monkeys, elephants and other animals that roam around here day and night. The fun will continue tomorrow when Shaun and I are headed white water rafting down the Zambezi River, and we are all then going to interact with lions in the afternoon. Should be interesting! Sorry for the minimal photos! Most of them are on the DSLR camera, and the files are too large for limited internet! Will post others when we get a chance. We miss you all and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and that you are all happy, safe, and lovely. With love from Zimbabwe!