Most Inspirational Moment
I have managed to limit it to three lifetime memories :-
1) The flight over the delta, in particular watching the elephants swimming/wadding in the water between islands.
2) Watching a pride of lions (thirteen including five cubs) that we had met the previous day, kill a warthog then walk towards us and drink next to our vehicle, before crossing the water and lying down to rest while the cubs played.
3)Seeing a pack of three Wild Dogs that we spent hours watching without any other cars as we found them ourselves.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Sam looked after the group throughout our trip and took good care of us, especially dealing with health and currency problems that a couple of people in our group had.
However, I was particularly impressed with our Botswana driver/guide in the parks, Kenny, who had a fantastic level of knowledge about the wildlife that he happily shared with us. He also had an almost a sixth sense and knew exactly how the wildlife was going to behave and therefore the best place to position our vehicle. At one point there was a tiny dot of a leopard on top of a hill. He told us that, as it was getting warmer, the leopard would come down and cross the road to the brush opposite. Almost to order it did walking a couple of feet from the truck! He also had the patience of a saint and somehow managed to please everybody making sure that all group members had at the opportunity to get a good view of the wildlife.
I also feel that I need to sing the praise of Mello and Paul who fed us and made sure that our every need was catered for. I felt very spoilt getting up one morning and realising that they had even refilled the hand washing water so that it was clean and warm before the group was up and heading to the toilets... luxury. Somehow Mello also managed to produce great grub using little more than a pot and campfire. In particular one of our group had a birthday and he produced a fabulous cake for her.
Advice for Potential Travellers
A few items that I am glad that I took include:-
1) not only a head torch but also small torch that I hung from the centre of the tent roof and lit up the whole space.
2) antiseptic hand wash and biodegradable toilet roll (for those times you have to nip behind a tree)
3) small first aid kit - plasters, antihistamine tablets, Paracetomal/Asprin, antiseptic cream and insect repellent 4) 4)South Africain phone charger for cameras, phones
5) Walk boots and flipflops
6) I took a really cheap pillow and it was heaven!
7) A sarong was really useful when traveling to prevent sun burn and also to wrap around your head to protect from dust.
8) I took some thermal pjs to sleep in as it did get really cold on some nights
Things that I forgot and wished I had taken were .. a biro (several in fact to fill in all the different forms required for Visa entries etc; a washing line and pegs so that I was able to wash and more importantly dry my clothes on a regular basis. Also it is difficult to imagine how cold it was for the first hour on a morning drive before the sun comes up - I would of sold my soul for a light fleecy pair of gloves, hat, scarf and top! I had no pride and wore socks on my hands at this point. They do give you a blanket but that really wasn't enough for me!
I decided that having travelled to Africa I was gong to embrace every opportunity and when an additional activity was offered do it. The small plane delta flight from Maun was fantastic DO IT! The helicopter flight over the Victoria Falls was exciting but I personally felt the short trip was enough as the longer one did not get you any closer. Some of the group had wanted to go on the 'Walking with Lions' excursion and it was fully booked - so if you want to do this I suggest you prebook to avoid disappointment. I enjoyed the short walk across the Victoria Falls Bridge to Zimbabwe to see the falls from the other side, you can get a bridge pass to do this. I also enjoyed the dinner cruise in the evening on river however as our transport was very late there was limit to the amount of wildlife we spotted before it was dark! The cruise dinner was also quite short and just as we were all relaxed and the wine was flowing it was over.
When we returned to Botswana the Chobe River Cruise was fabulous value for money- again DO NOT MISS IT! I was astounded at the amount of wild life that we saw over a quite small distance. The highlight here for me were the herds of elephants mud bathing and crossing to the other islands.
