How to capitalize on near death experiences? Go to Mana Pools, Zimbabwe.

Some people will read this blog post and laugh at my over-reaction.  These are people who have grown up in Africa, New Zealand or Australia. Everyone else will think I’m a crazy lady for even doing the things I did (which is what I now think about myself).

An example of how close people can get

I’ve been on a number of safaris in the past two years, and even more during these past 3 months, but as I researched Zimbabwe, Mana Pools seemed like it would be a different experience.  Many places in the park, and Goliath Camp who I decided to go with, specialize in walking and canoe safaris.  Seemed like a nice change.

Stretch and I with JD (Juvenile Delinquent
is his name)

Walking safaris here are not like at other parks, where you learn about tracking, animal dung, and some indigenous flora and see animals from afar.  No.  Here, this means that you find lion tracks, park the car, and then trek 3-4 km into the wilderness, to get 40 feet from lions and sit and watch them.  Unfortunately (or possibly fortunately) for me, Stretch, who runs Goliath Camp and is really an amazing man (and character) had injured his foot, so we couldn’t do the hours walks through the bush as per usual.  So instead, we would spot a lion and THEN park and get out to walk towards it.  This was probably the least scary experience, as we walked much closer (maybe 15 ft) to multiple elephants, all the while Stretch is pulling your elbow to get closer as you subtly tried to back away.  Talk about adrenaline.  His animal knowledge and years of experience with the animals allows him to have relationships with some, and to read their moods. (But as I always think, animals are WILD!!) 

Not actually a pic from the canoe ride.
This was from a car, but it illustrates
my fear of crocodiles

My real moments of fear though, came with the canoe ride.  The first day, other guests (who lived in Harare and visited Goliath annually) had told me a story about how in 2006, an American girl, canoeing with Stretch, had gotten pulled out of a canoe and eaten by a massively large crocodile (this was not legend, Stretch talked about it himself.  They found her legs and torso in three different crocs).  Yet each day, people mused in the afternoon about going for a canoe ride, but it was always too windy.  On my last day, the wind had died down and three of us decided to go for a 2 hour canoe ride down the Zambezi (actually a channel of it).  I figured if these older, experienced people were willing to go, I should stop worrying.  I’m sure the multiple stories I had heard (many involving canoes being chomped or flipped by hippos) were exaggerations or at least rare occurrences.  I was in the canoe with our guide Reuben, so I got to sit back and take in the view.

This is from the canoe,,, with a zoom,
but they were close

We were 20 minutes into the canoe ride, having already passed a few hippos on the other side of the channel (it’s between 50-100 feet wide), when we’re near a high bank and Reuben says to the other canoe, “don’t get closer to the bank, there is a giant crocodile that may jump on your canoe”.  Five seconds later, a 12+ foot crocodile jumps off the bank and into the water maybe 5 feet in front of my canoe.  I am not kidding, it was people eating size.  I froze, let out a silent tear or two, and strongly considered getting out, but torn between fear of land and fear of water, I remained in the canoe.  The excitement continued about 15 minutes later, as we were charged by a hippo (it went underwater, heading towards us at a fast speed, about 20 feet from the canoes) and we paddled like the dickens to move forward.  Reuben played it cool, but later confessed that he was worried we were going to get flipped/chomped. I survived the rest of the trip by pointing out every object that may be a hippo or even the smallest crocodile, and telling Reuben how surprised I was that we hadn’t died yet.  When we finally finished, my legs were shaky, and it was confirmed that our canoe ride was “more adventurous” than most.  Let’s just say it was thrilling, and I don’t plan on ever doing that again.

Aside from the near-death experiences at the hand/mouth of animals, the wildlife spotting was wonderful.  We saw wild dogs (a first for me), kudu, eland, huge herds of buffalo, and many of our drives focused on a site where a large hippo had died, and two male lions (the “Backstreet Boys”) oversaw the carcass, with 15+ hyenas waiting for their turn.  Between the second day, where the lions still had control, and the third day when we went back to look, all of the meat was gone and only the bones remained.  Those hyenas were efficient. 

Day 2 of the carcas, with the
"Backstreet Boys" still in control

Day 3 of the carcas, after the hyenas
had taken over.  Impressive!

A her of buffalo, moments before it ran from us

Stretch also got a permit to show us the Reserve park, which is car free and a space to allow for easy animal migrations and walkers.  In reality, the area is often used by the parks for “ration hunting” (government supported killing for meat), and it was eerily obvious how frightened the animals are in this part of the park.  No animals, including buffalo, impala, warthogs or any others, let us get within 200 feet of them.  They all began running the second they heard or saw the vehicle, which is a stark difference from the animals when you cross into the accessible park (an invisible line, with no physical separation), who may move away from the car, but relax when they are 30 feet away.

Wild dogs!  We spotted them on the
run and tracked them until they
settled in to play.

Mana Pools is a beautiful safari park, and offers so much more than looking at animals from the relative safety of a car.  I’m glad I had these experiences, but my guess is I won’t be canoeing down hippo and croc infested waters anytime soon… or anytime at all.  But I do love telling the story J 

After surviving Mana Pools, I headed to Malawi (with a one-night stop over in Zambia) for my last week of travel.  The only thing harder than spotting wild dogs in the bush is spotting bicycling Malawians, in dark clothes, on unlit roads.  As far as I know, no Malawians have been injured as a result of my trip.  But I do have a few more days of driving left…

Finishing up South Africa

I had heard a lot about the Garden Route, but didn’t really know any details about it.  The Garden Route is from just east of Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, and is a tourist route for people to visit small towns, each of which has a unique attraction.  Thanks to a quick overview with Alexa, I had a general idea of what the big towns on the Garden Route were famous for.  

I first head for Hermanus, hoping to have another few hours of whale watching bliss, but unfortunately moved on quickly as it was very windy and there were only a few whales.  Leaving Hermanus I headed for Oudtshoorn, where I did a meerkat safari (watching them come out of their holes in the morning, greeting and grooming each other), went to the Cango Caves and toured various stalagmites and stalactites (I may finally know which is which… I think) and visited an ostrich farm where I fed them, stood on the eggs (they don’t break if still full), and had the opportunity to ride one.  As they put the bag over its head to calm it down and reminded me for the second time that they did not claim any liability and the nearest hospital was 30 km away, I decided it wasn’t for me.

I later stayed in Knysna, and then headed to Tsitsikamma to do some hiking over the suspension bridges it’s famous for. As I left the Garden Route, I visited Alexa’s family in East London, where it was great to spend a night with a family away from my own J. 

Lesotho was next on the itinerary.  Lesotho is a small country, completely encompassed within South Africa.  It was a quick trip, including catching up with a friend from Dar who now lives in Maseru, and spending two days in Semonkong in the highlands where I complete the Guinness Book’s longest single commercial abseil (repelling) and then received an education on South African 90’s pop over a few beers.  It was only 3 nights in Lesotho, but it was the scene of my first, and only, snow in Africa (thank goodness I decided to spring for a room after camping the first night at Semonkong Lodge)!

From there, I raced to Joburg where I met up with four friends from.  Our long weekend consisted of wedding dress shopping (Dar doesn’t quite have everything), a Soweto township tour set up by our friend Kate (who used to live in Dar), more shopping, and an oil change for Baby Blue.  We stayed at our friend Anna’s house and it was great to feel like home came to me while I was traveling J 

It was sad saying goodbye to friends (or see you later since I’ll be in Dar in 3 weeks), but fortunately, Jessie stayed to drive to Harare, Zimbabwe with me.  We first drove to Musina, 10 km away from the border, to cross the Beitbridge border early in the morning, when we thought it might be better to cross (we heard it could be between 2 and 10 hours).  I now realize I have been Africanized.  I had a beetle like insect fall on my pillow from the ceiling, and I would probably still recommend the place we stayed at – it was relatively clean. 

We crossed relatively painlessly (it took 2.5 hours for us), and with a small stumble (my second traffic ticket on the trip), we headed to Great Zimbabwe, Africa’s 2^nd most important archaeological site after the Egyptian Pyramids (there’s a pretty big difference between first and second place in this ranking).  We took a guided tour (it was interesting, but maybe not worth a long drive just to see it), patted ourselves on the backs for negotiating a 50% discount on our hotel, and then cursed ourselves for falling for a $25 brunch… ah well.  Onto Harare where we sampled the best Portuguese

chicken at Coimbre  and saw live music at the Book Cafe.  We were both originally apprehensive about Zim (I emailed US Embassy  security to get safety advice) but everyone was incredibly friendly and we had no issues.

Jessie flew back to Dar, and I spent my final day in Harare at Wild is Life (an animal orphanage/rescue) and then experienced an everyday scene – driving back into Harare and witnessing a complete city blackout around me.  But I still got a good night’s sleep and set off for Mana Pools.  That will be saved for a different blog, as it justifies its own…

Moving down the western coast

Well, I clearly haven’t gotten better at the blogging part, but I’m back with a long update. 

So let me take you back to my last days in Namibia.  I made it to Sossusvlei, where the picturesque sand dunes are.  I camped at the Namibia Wilderness Reserve campsite in the park, where I met Vezemba, who took me on a tour of the Deadvlei, and unfortunately, had to also help me push my car out of the sand.  We had stopped to help other people (rule #1 – never stop in deep sand) and then got stuck (rule #2 – remember to deflate your tires in sand… I had forgotten rule #2).  Baby Blue was struggling, but made it out.

  On the first day, I woke up before dawn to summit Dune 45 (the most popular of the five you can climb) before the sun rose.  While I didn’t make it before sunrise (no one did), it was beautiful watching the sun rise and great to be able to climb the dune with bare feet in cool sand.  I climbed the largest dune, Big Daddy the following day.  All I can say is driving around for 2 months has not helped my fitness levels. The views in Sossusvlei were spectacular.  I’ve never seen scenery like that, and highly recommend it (especially to my friends already in Africa).

 

I then made my way to Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon.  I was unfortunately (or fortunately maybe) a week too late to actually do the 5 day hike within the canyon, so I had to settle for the viewpoints.  So instead of trekking through hot desert, I went to another NWR camp in Ai Ais, where there are natural hotsprings and a spa… tough life.  As a note for anyone traveling to Namibia, the Namibia Wilderness Reserve has great lodging, including both rooms and campsites.  They are always spotless and everyone is super helpful. I got pretty used to having running water and electricity at my camp sites J

My last stop in Namibia was a three day canoe trip on the Orange River (it creates the border between SA and Namibia) with Felix Unite.  The scenery was amazing, but the highlight was going down not one, but two rapids backwards due to our lack of canoeing skills.  But somehow, we all made it through the three days without capsizing (and with a hilarious video of us that will make its way to Facebook at some point).  A great way to end a visit to a country with some of the most awe-inspiring, and varied, natural beauty I have seen in Africa.

And then HELLO South Africa! I took my time getting down to Cape Town: a day in Namaqualand (I was about 10 days late for the flowers blooming.  Disappointing, but the few remaining blooms were beautiful), a day hiking in the Cederburg Mountains, and a day in Paternoster – a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast.  I’ve actually gotten pretty good at traveling alone.  Then I was in Cape Town J 

I spent the first few days adjusting to city life, getting Baby Blue checked out (only to have her come back with more problems. Cape Town was not a good stop for Baby Blue, but she is back up, running, and with a new air compressor), and having LASIK surgery.  Yup – I decided to have surgery while on vacation.  I’ve worn contacts for 20 years, and now I have 20/20 vision.  Miracles can come true J  And recovery isn’t so bad, when you spend it at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Two Oceans Aquarium and the Fringe arts festival going on.

And then I had friends!  Aliza and Chelsea came all the way from the US, to meet me in Cape Town!  We had some packed days (busier due to Baby Blue’s appointments at the garage), but saw a lot: Table Mountain, penguins at Boulder Beach, Chapman’s Pass, shark diving (very cool except for the seasickness that prevented me from watching the sharks from the boat.. oh well), Cape Point and wine tasting in Stellenbosch.  There were a few things that didn’t work out as planned (a full moon hike up Lions Head turned into a rainy night at home) but some things were spur-of-the-moment but worked out (stopping by Hermanus ended up in 2 hours of whale watching of southern right whales!). It was amazing having them here, and even though it has been years since we’ve all been together, it was just like a regular weekend in the Slope… with a lot more beautiful and exciting things to do J.  Sadly, it ended as quickly as it started and 6 days after they landed, Aliza and Chelsea flew off to safari in Kruger, and I continued on through the Garden Route.

I’m going to end it here, and hopefully blog again before I’m back in Dar.  I’m right now just over 2/3 of the way through, and funny enough, my trip is feeling rushed.  Who knew three months on the road could feel like too little?  (more pics coming once I have strong internet :))