Namibia and Zambia 2015 - What could go wrong this time

[Big Andy]

@@dlo according to my pocket guide to Birds of South Africa the Barn Owl stands around 33-36cm where as the Eagle Owl stands 58-66cm so quite a difference but I can't see any other candidates with the distinctive dark face outline and short ear tufts in that part of the world.

[Towlersonsafari]

@dio I do like the Scops owl-and of course the Aardvark sighting. i think you have to accept it, if only so your wife can continue to boast that she has seen an Aardvark!!! In a similar but smaller vein, Jane, who felt the need for a short break in dorset with her sister, just to recover from spending 3 weeks with me as her only company, has just phoned to say she has seen a Dartford Warbler-a bird i have spectaculary failed to se on about 10 occasions.I could call it an unconfirmed sighting and thus not allowed, but i'm not that brave! Continuing to really enjoy the report.

[dlo]

@@Towlersonsafari

 

I have to give it to her because I'm sure she saw it but she still brags about an admittedly amazing leopard spot 9 years ago! I may never hear the end of this one. Your wife and mine seem very smart, 3 weeks alone with us seems quite a painful task, maybe we should go on a safari without them. Can you imagine the carnage, more broken limbs and burns than you can shake a stick at, Africa would never be the same!

 

@@Big Andy

 

Chris has told me that it was not a barn owl it was a lot bigger. I barely saw it as I went to get help for it and when I got back it had already helped itself.

[dlo]

Driving to Caprivi I must admit I was somewhat ignorant of where to go and stay. The primary goal here is Livingstone and Luangwa so we'll just drive and really only lose a day at most if we flew plus driving is preferable to flying if you want to see the country. The drive is good tarmac the whole way with light traffic, it feels like it took longer to get from the airport to my hotel in Dar es Salaam than drive the Caprivi! We did not get our first choice accomodation in Rundu and we had to change another for reasons I don't remember. Everyone recommends breaking the journey up and so do I but looking back I would absolutely change my route. It's a little over 5 hours to Rundu and another 3 to Kavango so depending on your tolerence for long drives I would go straight to Kavango. We do the 8 hour drive to Minneapolis 2 or 3 times a year so it was nothing for us. Also I don't like doing 1 night stays yet I book 3 in a row and since Ndhovu was so great I would have loved a second night.

 

Rundu's a busy little town but we're through it before you know it and we stumble into the turnoff for Kaisosi Lodge arriving maybe 20 minutes later. It's definitely a strange sight pulling in and seeing 2 horses munching away followed by a peacock! and seeing a river and all that greenery after the deserts of Namibia. Kaisosi was fine but just a stopover with nothing standing out about it.

 

Can't disagree with that!

 

Road to the lodge.

 

Our room on bottom left with the peacock on top of the stairs

 

For some reason our only shot of lodge horses

 

Not a good shot but only one I got. I've never seen a peacock in Africa

 

The best thing here was actually a decent restaurant and a really good waiter who was really on the ball. Having ordered our meal and enjoying a cold Windhoek I nearly jump out of my seat as there is a loud crash behind me, we turn around to see a poor owl has flown into the restaurant and in trying to fly out the other side has crashed into the window. He is stunned but not down for long and while we try to think of a way to help him back outside someone is smart enough to tell someone to turn off the ceiling fans. For some unknown reason I look outside to find something to escort him out like its a sparrow or something! Good thing my help is not needed as he has already left the building.

 

Tomorrow we drive to Ndhovu and our very pleasant surprise of the trip, although not without 1 more thing going wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Towlersonsafari]

@dio " Your wife and mine seem very smart, 3 weeks alone with us seems quite a painful task, maybe we should go on a safari without them. Can you imagine the carnage, more broken limbs and burns than you can shake a stick at, Africa would never be the same! "-

 

I suspect that the authorities would stop us at the border as being a danger to ourselves and others without a responsible adult. However I agree that our respective wives are very smart-just look what fine husbands they picked!!!!

[dlo]

We continue down the B8 to Divundu and the road is great till the turnoff where we drive for a bit down the D3430 which is okay till we have to turn down a dirt path to get to the lodge itself. We bump along for a bit but directions certainly aren't clear as there are little paths everywhere not much different than the one we are on! Swinging side to side now to avoid massive puddles we have to stop so I can get out to check the depth of one particularly large one. We manage to go partially through it while avoiding some pretty good mud beside it and move on.

 

Driving up to an area with several paths Chris says which way, well there is a path to the left that might be it so she starts to turn just as I scream noooooooo. It's all sand and we are hopelessly stuck, she spins a bit but I just get out and check how deep we are in. Our little 4 cylinder is in some trouble so I find some rocks which is literally all I can find and place them under the tires. No way this works but what the hell I start pushing while simultaneously laughing and swearing because the car is so hot to the touch.

 

A little more work under the tires another push and we might have hope if we get some added muscle, a lot of muscle. Well what do you know 2 angels emerge from across a field in the form of 2 very young, very tiny, ladies each carrying a young child. Not even weighing what I do between the 2 of them they just walk up to the car and start pushing! On our second attempt we are out and I'm handing out awkward hugs and I'm out 2 more soccer balls.

 

Through the worst of it

 

 

 

Finally made it.

 

We finally make it and are greeted at camp by the managers Monica and Johan as well as there 2 dogs. Being back at a tented camp and one with dogs as well means this place will obviously be great. And so it is as I wish we would have had 2 nights here as we really like this little gem although for some it might be to rustic.

 

Lodge shop

 

Honesty bar

 

 

 

The couple on the left remembered us from Swakopmund

 

We arranged to go on a late afternoon boat cruise but before that we got 2 more owls that I've completely forgotten which kind they were( sorry I know that's really poor) and because they were in a very dark area we got no pictures, feel free to discount this sighting! The cruise was really rather good with obviously our first hippos and crocs as well as lots of birds and antelopes. We also moved fairly close to an elephant having a drink from the Cubango river (not sure of the river name) who became fairly upset with us. I'm sure poaching is a serious issue here with the Bwabwata park having a highway running through it and hearing plenty of stories of poaching and after a minute I felt we should have left the guy alone. We ended up moving away and then closer again and he continued to be pretty annoyed. I did a little video but stopped before he got really pissed.

 

 

Dust bath

 

Mock charge

 

 

 

 

So nice to see green again

 

Now mandatory sunset pictues

 

 

I'll finish Ndhovu on my next post as this one is probably to long already. Sorry for to many pictures.

 

I'm also getting lazy but not sure of what kind of heron that is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@dlo

 

With safari photos of this variety and quality, there are never enough!

Your patience and effort to prepare and upload so many great images is greatly appreciated!

Tom K.

[Big Andy]

Your heron is not a heron it's an African Darter. Please keep the report coming I'm enjoying every bit, and there's no such thing as to many pictures.

[xelas]

@@dlo

 

Is Ndhovu Camp = Ndhovu Safari Lodge = http://www.ndhovu.com/ ?? As it looks luxury enough for me, with the bar and the porch over the river ...

[dlo]

@@Tom Kellie

 

As usual you are to kind, as long as anyone is getting something out of this I enjoy doing this. The main effort for me is the writing as you can tell. I don't take any notes and type as I think of what I want to say and sometimes my memory escapes me and I spend way to much time trying to think of some unimportant fact(way to many and's in that sentence)

 

@@Big Andy

 

When I'm done with this you're name definitely rolls in the credits!

 

@@xelas

 

I thought it was Ndhovu Tented Camp but you are right as usual. It's certainly not roughing it but it is probably luxurious enough for me and probably most others. Like Flatdogs it was great value for money run by friendly knowledgeable people.

[Marks]

That hippo photo is simply perfect.

 

The camp itself looks great to me, too.

[dlo]

There are a couple of firsts for me on this trip. My first shared game drives in Luangwa after 3 trips to East Africa with the normal driver private vehicle routine. Governor's has been the only place with shared vehicles but we had a private vehicle all 4 days for some reason. This is a huge concern for me as we are very patient and like to linger if even a chance of something interesting might happen. The other first is there is communal dining here which isn't as concerning. There is a group of 8 Italians that speak no English and stick to themselves but we meet a German couple pictured above that remember us from Cornerstone in Swakopmund and we join them and the hosts and enjoy a good dinner. Fantastic service on the allergy front as Chris has 2 pots brought to the table that are strictly for her, the German gentleman excited by food (like all men) opens 1 up but a tap on the hand lets him know it's not for him!

 

Monica and Johan are very knowledgeable about the millions of questions I have on Namibia and his previous work in Grootberg and Etosha is very interesting(when I said crazy honey badger he said Halali before I even could) and the evening passes very well with the added bonus of a hippo coming up to say hello. At the time we were there Johan was not doing drives to Mahango so even though he made us a map and encouraged us to go we did not feel brave in our little Polo. There are several small game parks around here and most have parts that are passable in a regular car but I really really would use a 4x4 to get the most out of it. Not wanting to drive to these parks and with Camp Kwando being a stopover for us next time I would just drive straight to Katima Mulilo and get an extra night in Luangwa.

 

Missing my dogs I play with their's while Monica looks on horrified as one jumps on me but that's normal rough housing for me and I have a great time as we putter through the morning before making the 3 hour drive to Kongola and on to Camp Kwando.

 

The drive is highlighted by some elephants on the side of the highway who move off into the horizon and pulling off the highway to grab something stuck under the car and having a young man point his finger at us and pull the trigger. That lovely incident is followed by the friendliest wave and largest smile ever by a lady on a dirt path who is extremely happy we stopped so as to not run over her chicken.

 

The Elephant highway

 

 

 

Camp Kwando

 

Road to Camp Kwando

 

The drive is highlighted by some elephants on the side of the highway who move off into the horizon and pulling off the highway to grab something stuck under the car and having a young man point his finger at us and pull the trigger. That lovely incident is followed by the friendliest wave and largest smile ever by a lady on a dirt path who is extremely happy we stopped so as to not run over her chicken.

 

 

 

We are off to Katima Mulilo in the morning as we are scheduled to meet our ride at 11. Unfortunetely someone wrote 9 on the arrivals board and there is a panic to get us going as the driver has to drive back to Namibia after dropping us off in Livingstone.

 

At least they only stole 1 hubcap

 

Our ride from Katima

 

Next post takes us to adventure at the falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dlo]

We arrive at Tutwa Tours office at 11 and need to hurry along so our driver can get back to Namibia before dark. First thing we need to do is get our car checked for damages but of course no one from Bidvest is there. Well this kinda works out well as the only local employee is picking up a car in Botswana. Someone kind of looks at the car, everything looks fine and off we go, no damage fees for us!

 

As far as the rental car there is a hefty one way drop off fee and we would have loved to take the car to Livingstone but cross border fees and insurance made it impossible for me to justify. The border crossing is easy and getting the visa is quick. We chose a double entry visa as Chris wanted to go crocodile cage diving in Zimbabwe or we would do a day trip to Chobe. For those interested there is now a Kaza visa for dual entry to Zambia and Zimbabwe but is only available at certain border crossings so obviiously wasn't available at our crossing. This was also our second time to see the falls but first from the Zambian side so the falls themselves were not our main priority.We arrived a little after 3 and i have to say our driver was a joy with a fantastic life story. He was so excited to see the couple who helped him off the streets and had not seen in 10 years since they had moved back to Germany.

 

The drive went quickly and on arrival we get a song and dance at the entrance and then try to get our activities booked. The bookings don't go perfectly but most things get done and we have a very late lunch and a quick trip to the falls. The Zambezi Sun is right in Mosi-oa-Tunya park so you can go see the falls at any time at no extra charge. The hotel grounds also have a steady stream of wildlife although it isn't to wild as the zebras are so used to people they don't even move off the path! We go for a quick walk in the morning and a long visit the next morning. After our short visit we spend way to much time shopping at the craft market at the falls, we are horrible knick knack collectors but please don't hate me for it

 

The views are amazing of course and yes not as good as the Zim side but I really think they are worth going out of you're way to see. Raincoats are rented out and even though I'm to cool to rent one don't be stupid like me and rent one as you will get drenched. Poor Chris showed what a fantastic wife she was that evening by patiently waiting while I watched the mighty Arsenal win the F.A cup and we then did a late dinner at the pool restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

That baby zebra was always soooo tired

 

Always lock your windows!

 

Monitor lizard

 

 

 

 

 

Bungee jumper

 

Victoria falls hotel

 

I'll add some falls photos later.

 

 

 

[dlo]

We arrive at Tutwa Tours office at 11 and need to hurry along so our driver can get back to Namibia before dark. First thing we need to do is get our car checked for damages but of course no one from Bidvest is there. Well this kinda works out well as the only local employee is picking up a car in Botswana. Someone kind of looks at the car, everything looks fine and off we go, no damage fees for us!

 

As far as the rental car there is a hefty one way drop off fee and we would have loved to take the car to Livingstone but cross border fees and insurance made it impossible for me to justify. The border crossing is easy and getting the visa is quick. We chose a double entry visa as Chris wanted to go crocodile cage diving in Zimbabwe or we would do a day trip to Chobe. For those interested there is now a Kaza visa for dual entry to Zambia and Zimbabwe but is only available at certain border crossings so obviiously wasn't available at our crossing. This was also our second time to see the falls but first from the Zambian side so the falls themselves were not our main priority.We arrived a little after 3 and i have to say our driver was a joy with a fantastic life story. He was so excited to see the couple who helped him off the streets and had not seen in 10 years since they had moved back to Germany.

 

The drive went quickly and on arrival we get a song and dance at the entrance and then try to get our activities booked. The bookings don't go perfectly but most things get done and we have a very late lunch and a quick trip to the falls. The Zambezi Sun is right in Mosi-oa-Tunya park so you can go see the falls at any time at no extra charge. The hotel grounds also have a steady stream of wildlife although it isn't to wild as the zebras are so used to people they don't even move off the path! We go for a quick walk in the morning and a long visit the next morning. After our short visit we spend way to much time shopping at the craft market at the falls, we are horrible knick knack collectors but please don't hate me for it

 

The views are amazing of course and yes not as good as the Zim side but I really think they are worth going out of you're way to see. Raincoats are rented out and even though I'm to cool to rent one don't be stupid like me and rent one as you will get drenched. Poor Chris showed what a fantastic wife she was that evening by patiently waiting while I watched the mighty Arsenal win the F.A cup and we then did a late dinner at the pool restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

That baby zebra was always soooo tired

 

Always lock your windows!

 

Monitor lizard

 

 

 

 

 

Bungee jumper

 

Victoria falls hotel

 

I'll add some falls photos later.

 

 

 

[dlo]

Don't know what happened so it would be great if a moderator could delete my gibberish above

 

sorry

[dlo]

We arrive at Tutwa Tours office at 11 and need to hurry along so our driver can get back to Namibia before dark. First thing we need to do is get our car checked for damages but of course no one from Bidvest is there. Well this kinda works out well as the only local employee is picking up a car in Botswana. Someone kind of looks at the car, everything looks fine and off we go, no damage fees for us!

 

As far as the rental car there is a hefty one way drop off fee and we would have loved to take the car to Livingstone but cross border fees and insurance made it impossible for me to justify. The border crossing is easy and getting the visa is quick. We chose a double entry visa as Chris wanted to go crocodile cage diving in Zimbabwe or we would do a day trip to Chobe. For those interested there is now a Kaza visa for dual entry to Zambia and Zimbabwe but is only available at certain border crossings so obviiously wasn't available at our crossing. This was also our second time to see the falls but first from the Zambian side so the falls themselves were not our main priority.We arrived a little after 3 and i have to say our driver was a joy with a fantastic life story. He was so excited to see the couple who helped him off the streets and had not seen in 10 years since they had moved back to Germany.

 

The drive went quickly and on arrival we get a song and dance at the entrance and then try to get our activities booked. The bookings don't go perfectly but most things get done and we have a very late lunch and a quick trip to the falls. The Zambezi Sun is right in Mosi-oa-Tunya park so you can go see the falls at any time at no extra charge. The hotel grounds also have a steady stream of wildlife although it isn't to wild as the zebras are so used to people they don't even move off the path! We go for a quick walk in the morning and a long visit the next morning. After our short visit we spend way to much time shopping at the craft market at the falls, we are horrible knick knack collectors but please don't hate me for it

 

The views are amazing of course and yes not as good as the Zim side but I really think they are worth going out of you're way to see. Raincoats are rented out and even though I'm to cool to rent one don't be stupid like me and rent one as you will get drenched. Poor Chris showed what a fantastic wife she was that evening by patiently waiting while I watched the mighty Arsenal win the F.A cup and we then did a late dinner at the pool restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay I'll add more later, hopefully this works better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Towlersonsafari]

So @dio your rarest sighting off the trip was an arsenal trophy! Loved the bridge pictures that brought back fond memories of the falls

[dlo]

So @dio your rarest sighting off the trip was an arsenal trophy! Loved the bridge pictures that brought back fond memories of the falls

 

[dlo]

A few words on the Zambezi Sun, it is a vast resort type hotel complex. There is a good restaurant hidden away that we didn't actually find until our third day. The pool restaurant is fine but I was not a fan of the buffet and I usually love buffet. There are a few shops on site and a large market by the falls entrance itself. We had already walked around Livingstone on a previous visit so we did not go into town this trip but I would recommend checking out the town if time allows. Our first choice was Chundukwa Lodge which @@Marks details very well in his report for those interested but the Sun was centrally located for our activities over the next day and a half.

 

Our previous trip had us go horseback riding which was fun but scary when you're 10 feet from a buffalo and an inexperienced rider, we also did the elephant back safari which just left me very sore. I'll get to our activities on my next post but there is no shortage of things to do but every activity is very expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raincoat

 

No raincoat

 

After some tiring shopping back to our friendly zebras

 

We saw these guys with some impressive scores

 

These guys move surprisingly fast

 

 

With the falls now done its time to get the adrenaline pumping and we are off for my first microlight flight this afternoon.

[Marks]

Now I promised myself that I won't be jealous of your dog pics @@dlo, but the microlight might just be pushing it!

Just kidding, awesome shots; very cool to see the falls at a much higher water level than when we saw them last month.

[SafariChick]

@@dlo I especially like the first photo in post number 94 as it gives a sense of how wide the Falls are!

[Atravelynn]

The marine life closeups were really really close. What luck!

[Atravelynn]

You have several really good night shots. I know you mentioned that night photography was a challenge. The wild honey badger must have been fun.

 

Such variety of sightings, including that "in front of the car" in the headlights activity. Safety above all, I suppose.

 

"No migration here." ha ha

 

We'll all agree you saw aardvark!

 

Your report is most entertaining.

[dlo]

@Marks

 

The microlight was even better than I thought it would be, I really wanted to go in that helicopter though.@@SafariChick The overhead views from the microlight really give a fantastic view.

 

@@Atravelynn

 

If you take enough photos you're bound to get a few jewels. There's no question we saw aardvark!

[dlo]

An hour to kill before my microlight and suddenly my huge fear of heights starts to kick in. Having wanted to do this for years I suddenly realize the microlight has to leave the ground. That is a very worrisome condition to find myself in! At this late hour there is nothing to do but suck it up and go. Getting ready to go back at the room my lucky animal a crow lands on our balcony, obviously this is a good omen and this relaxes me a little bit and we head down for our ride. We pick up a nice Kenyan and his mom who are doing this as well and we have a nice chat about Kenya on the way.

 

The flight itself turns out great even though my calves start cramping half way through because I'm so tense.The pilot keeps telling me to wave to the camera so I stick my arms out for about 2 seconds and then quickly grab his seat again as if that will save me. The falls are predictably spectacular with some elephant and hippos thrown in for good measure. Now that I've survived it might be fun to do a flight in South Luangwa on my next visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning we leave early to join Abseil Africa for a half day of rappelling, zip lines and the gorge swing. I did say I was scared of heights and so is Chris so this is probably the stupidest thing we have ever done! I'm barely able to eat that morning my stomache is a mess when we arrive at the gorge.I ask the lead guide about the swing and how you land as I'm concerned about my back. I was barely able to walk for a month in January and he promptly tells me that he doesn't want me to do it. Secretly relieved(sorry Chris) we start with rappeling(abseiling) and Chris gets to go first. She does alright on her first attempt other than swinging in a circle for awhile. The pressure is now on and walking down the pallet at the top of the gorge my foot slips and I feel even more nervous. I want to nail this like guys I've seen on TV though and sure enough I bounce off the cliff face perfectly 3 times......thinking I'm a true pro I proceed to get a little stuck and then forget my 2 minutes of training and swing around in a circle for a minute while I get myself together.All in all that was great fun and we begin a very long walk uphill to the ziplines.

 

 

 

 

 

They give you the option of a superman zipline which involves running off the cliff but we both passed on this and it was fun enough doing the seated version. Chris now went to do the swing from which you fall backwards off a cliff for 4 seconds and then swing around for a while.She was so scared her legs were shaking at the cliff's edge and the guide even told me he never thought she would do it but damn there she goes falling down a cliff. Amazing I can't believe she did and I'm sooooo proud, a driver who I'm talking to while waiting for his people exclaims that I'm the man? well I ask him when he's jumping and he says no way I'm not crazy!

 

Back to some more ziplining I say lets do the superman, Chris tells me I'm on my own no way she's doing that. I get strapped up very uncomfortably and then take 2 steps and exclaim "I have to run off this,you're crazy" I think I added a few swears as well. 2 minutes later the hell with it I hobble down the platform and make my jump maybe letting go of my harness and actually doing the superman for half a second.

 

 

 

We bought the videos they put together that are fantastic but I put these little cell phone shots up just to give an idea of these activities. These are actually pretty embarrasing so please have mercy on me.Next post has us going to the amazing South Luangwa.