Something old, something new: Part 1 - Dulini Lodge, South Africa

[hannahcat]

@@SafariChick -- That is funny about the Winnie the Pooh references! Maybe for those cultures that read Winnie the Pooh books, it must be one of those really early childhood animal-love touchstones, and maybe people raised on Winnie the Pooh always have it a bit in the back of our heads when we look at animals?

 

@@michael-ibk -- I still can't believe I was able to see "my" leopard family again! And I'm still in touch with one of the Dulini hostesses (Jesse) and she just wrote to say "my" cub is hanging around the camp these days! As far as I can gather, Dulini has closed for a few days for cleaning/touch-ups, etc., and so the cub has taken the opportunity to try to make a territory out of it. It's a good choice -- there are lots of nyala around, and Jesse even got a video of the cub with a nyala kill. Not sure what they'll do when the guests come back though. Also, I'm a little worried about Jesse, but presumably she knows what she's doing.

 

@@Alexander33 -- HA! Thanks! As a clumsy photographer, it's nice to know my lack of coordination has its uses. I think there's supposed to be a really good perseid meteor shower this weekend in the northern hemisphere, though, so if you want to get a real shooting star, this might be a good weekend to give it a go.

 

I'm sorry for the long absence from here -- the U.S. was hosting this year the same conference that brought me to South Africa last year, and I've been heavily involved. It's been completely crazy, but good -- but it's taken all my energy and then some. It's over now though! I'm in Columbus, OH for the 2nd part of the conference, but thank goodness have almost no responsibilities, so I can re-join the SafariTalk herd. Thanks for your patience. It's not safari, or even animal-related, but the Indonesian delegation honored us with a lovely hospitality dance at the end of the conference, and it was so lovely I thought I'd share a pic.

 

 

 

[hannahcat]

I don't want to belabor the point, as I realize SafariTalk is not a therapy couch. So, just a few quick words on what in incredible job Dulini did in meeting the challenge my mom and I set for them: instead of celebrating a honeymoon or birthday or anniversary, we were there observing my dad's first death-day anniversary. I suspect what they did for us -- a picnic, by ourselves, in a dry riverbed -- is probably similar to what they do if you're celebrating any of the more common reasons to go on safari, but it was absolutely perfect for us too: it really helped us take a day that otherwise would have been a terrible one and spend it instead reminiscing about holidays we had been on as a family, nice times we had enjoyed together, and just in general to help us start turning the corner in our mourning process. I know it sounds a little odd, but if you ever have a death that you're struggling with a bit, I highly recommend it.

 

Here is the picnic setup. Dulini left a safari vehicle behind so that we could radio for help/hop in there if we needed it.

 

 

Also, not to get all spiritual or anything, but we did see elephants (my favorite) in the distance during the picnic.

 

 

And then we saw giraffes (mom's favorite) on the way back to Dulini.

 

 

What did I think about that? Well, some things are better left unsaid.

 

 

[hannahcat]

Mom seemed to be developing a slight cold, and it had been an emotional afternoon, so she decided to skip the evening game drive (the only time she skipped a full game drive during the entire trip). I was a little nervous on her behalf that we would end up seeing leopards juggling leprechauns, but fortunately, it was a quiet drive in the nicest way: we spent some time with elephants. For the first time, I really appreciated how spongy elephant feet are and how much they expand and contract as they walk. Those feet really have marvelous structures.

 

 

 

So, a few last pictures from Dulini before our early departure for the airport the next morning:

 

A millipede that is apparently usually content to be picked up, though this one seemed stressed so Fred put it right back down again.

 

 

A dung beetle going along his Sisyphean way.

 

 

A last sunset and landscape.

 

 

A tawny eagle at sunset.

 

 

 

A dark chanting goshawk (a better name than which I have never heard)

 

 

A landscape with skull, again underlining the drought. As a side note, I’ve been watching a number of “Intro to Photography” videos made by the National Geographic wildlife photographer, Joel Sartore, and there’s a pretty funny episode of his on landscape photography. It’s pretty clear that Sartore has little or no real interest in traditional landscape photography — he starts out in a hilly landscape, but ends up trying to take a picture of the cows in a nearby field. Then he transfers to another landscape where he’s got a prop skull along, and he spends the rest of the lesson taking pictures of the skull, with a little of the landscape in the background. Anyway, I think of this as the “Joel Sartore, eat your heart out” landscape picture — not because it’s particularly good, but just because the landscape came with a skull already included.

 

 

And then it was time to leave. Mom and I packed up and were met early by the person who took us to the Nelspruit airport, and after a very heartfelt goodbye in which I listed all the drives I'd love to take when/if I ever get to go back, we took off for Victoria Falls.

 

Since we spent such a short time at the Falls (just one night), and didn't see much wildlife at all, I'm thinking of just putting a quick post in below this one on the Falls, then starting a new post in the Botswana forum for our time there, but @@Game Warden or anyone else, please do correct me if you would like me to change my approach.

 

[hannahcat]

I have to say that going to Victoria Falls was the biggest mistake I made in the planning process. At the time of planning the trip, of course, I wasn't sure whether my mom would actually like safaris or not, so I thought the day at the Falls would be a nice down-time in a pretty hotel. Plus, Mom wanted to see the Falls -- some friends of hers had been and said they were not to be missed. However, there were some factors I failed to take into consideration, some of which I couldn't have known about but some of which I should have predicted:

• My mom was getting a bit of a head cold. I couldn't have known this was going to happen, but looking back, it was fairly predictable after such a long flight and getting used to the safari schedule, etc. She's never been great about making time zone adjustments either.
• I had not anticipated how long the two border crossings were going to take. We flew from Nelspruit to Livingstone, Zambia, and then transferred in a vehicle to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Even though everything worked very smoothly in terms of transfers between the different drivers in the different countries, etc., the heat, the hectic customs office in Zimbabwe, standing in line in Zambia -- it was all visibly taking it out of my mom.
• Our travel agency kept telling me not to make tour arrangements for the Falls until I got there -- but that left us scrambling at the last minute. We were putting our papers through customs in Zimbabwe while our guide was talking to three different people on his cell phone, trying to get us on a boat tour. (Actually, he was really trying to sell us on the helicopter ride, but I could tell my mom was really not up for that.) I wish I had ignored the advice of Africa Travel Resource and gone ahead and booked a tour.
• If I had booked a tour beforehand, I would have realized that the sunset boat tours don't really take you to the Falls. We had a nice time on the boat, and my mom liked that it was "her speed" at that moment, but we realized that if we didn't get up very early the next morning, we would easily miss the whole reason for being there. I urged my mom to stay in bed anyway, and that I would bring her pictures, but she insisted on joining me. So, we got up at "safari time" and went down to see the Falls -- and ended up being a bit late anyway for our ride to the Kasane Airport in Botswana (via another vehicle and another border control point), and I felt really bad about making another couple wait 15 minutes (I had thought we had the bus to ourselves, so weren't inconveniencing anyone but us), but it ended up that we all had plenty of time at the Botswana airport, thank goodness.

Everyone's different, of course, but if I had to do it over again, I would either stay two nights in Victoria Falls or, preferably, skip the whole thing. The Falls are, indeed, gorgeous, but very touristy, and what can I say? They're not a safari.

 

The spray of the Falls, as seen from the sunset boat cruise on the Zambezi River.

 

 

Hippos in the Zambezi River.

 

 

Sunset on the Zambezi River.

 

 

The lit-up bridge over the Falls, plus the spray from the Falls.

 

 

Mom at Victoria Falls at dawn.

 

 

The Falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hannahcat]

To find a continuation of the trip report in Botswana, click here.

[Atravelynn]

What a touching report on this trip with your mother. Seeing the date, I was away when you started it.

 

The hyena pups are very worthy of starring role. Just too cute.

 

Mania, palooza, whatever you call it, the leopard family interactions are gems. What a privilege to see that. Winnie the Pooh has been making some appearances here on safaritalk lately! Too bad they lost their kill, but there's plenty to eat in Dulini.

 

You had just the right # of beers for your night photography. Stunning! That underbody light on the tawny eagle--superb.

 

I hope the male and female lion interaction made you mom smile. And the picnic had to be a very special time for you both.

 

Glad I found this!

Edited November 21, 2016 by Atravelynn