Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Norma Jean's Resort, Great Zimbabwe National Monument, Zimbabwe

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Another driving day. I got one ticket from the police for a non-working brake light. I didn't check to see if it really was broken or not, I just paid the $10 and moved on.

We're at a resort overlooking a reservoir near the Great Zimbabwe ruins. We didn't get in until 3:00 or so, so we didn't get a chance to see the ruins.

The resort is very nice. It's built around the house a man built in the lat 1950's for his retirement. He had worked for decades in the area and made a small fortune. After he died, the resort was created and cottages were added. There is an extensive garden with walkways all through it.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Chinhoyi Caves Motel, Chinhoyi National Park, Zimbabwe

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Today was a driving day. The rest of the stops in Zimbabwe are just stopovers on our way to Kruger National Park in South Africa. We'll spend an extra day in Gonarezhou National Park on the southern border of Zimbabwe, but probably won't see much.

In the meantime, we didn't get a any 'tickets' from the police today and this is a nice place to spend the afternoon and night:

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Nkupe Camp, Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe

Our last day in Mana Pools. We drove some more new roads, exploring. On our way out this morning, we saw a leopard just 150 yards from camp. It quickly moved off into the trees before I could take a picture.

We explored some new roads and saw some mongoose:

And, later in the day got some nice elephant pictures:

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Nkupe Camp, Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe

More driving and looking for wildlife. We found lions this morning:

Then, we drove a lot further west in the park than we had been before and got to a spot where the river is right next to the road. It's a very big river:

On the way back, the same wild dog pack we say yesterday crossed the road in front of us and then they all just lay down and started napping:

Friday, August 26, 2016

Nkupe Camp, Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe

We went on a game walk this morning. That's where you hire a guide with a rifle to take you, on foot, back into the bush looking for wildlife. We were joined by an American woman from Louisiana – the only American we've met on the trip so far.

We walked a ways until we got to the edge of the river valley. There, off in the distance, we saw a hyena. Then there were 3. Then there were 6. Then, out of the trees came a pack of wild dogs that chased them off and went back into the trees. We worked our way over to where they were and found a pack of around 10 adults and 8 or 9 pups:

There was also a hippo.

We stayed until they all bedded down for the day.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Nkupe Camp, Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe

We drove around this morning looking for wildlife – lions and wild dogs, especially. We briefly saw a single dog and a hyena but no lions. Lots of elephants, though:

We talked to some people who said there were lions just down the road, but couldn't find them.

We tried again in the evening and had more luck.

First there was a leopard on the ground, but you could barely see it through the grass:

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But when several cars showed up, it climbed into a very leafy tree and we couldn't see it. So, we moved on. About ½ hour later, we came across another leopard on the ground:

After a while, it moved back into the trees, so we went back to see about the first one. It had come out of the tree and was laying in the sun:

It then moved off, stalking some impala, without success. We lost sight of it, and went back to camp. On the way, the road was blocked by a pack of wild dogs:

It was a good evening. We've been told that leopards are fairly rare here, but we saw 2 within 30 minutes of each other.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Nkupe Camp, Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe

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We got here in the afternoon and got set up. It's right on the Zambezi River with lots of wildlife.

This elephant passed by the edge of the camp:

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Chitake Camp #2, Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe

This is just an overnight stop after a long day of driving on a very bumpy gravel/dirt/sand road. It's the camp closest to the gate in Mana Pools Park. We'll move to our intended camp on the Zambezi River tomorrow.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Chilila Cottages, Binga, Zimbabwe

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Another driving day. Tomorrow will be, as well. We left the dam around 7:00 this morning and got here around 1:00 with no police stops. We passed a few but they were just sitting in the shade along the side of the road, except for one. It was at an intersection, with a gas station, but we avoided them by going into the station, filing up and then taking the road past the police.

The drive out of the park was a bit depressing. Right at the park boundary is a working open coal mine

At the end is this sign:

The cottages are a bit run-down, but they are right on the edge of Lake Kariba, the largest reservoir in the world, or so I'm told. Driving into Binga, it is believable.  You get a view of it from up on a hill.  It is reminiscent of one of the Great Lakes.

Tomorrow is more driving - on a mostly dirt road. People have said it's only 6 hours, but my GPS says 9. We've had various reports about the road conditions, but none say we will have any problems.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Mandavu Dam, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

We left early to visit another waterhole to see what was there. A fellow there said there was a whole pride of lions just down the road. We went there, but they must have left because we didn't see anything. We continued down the road and came upon this crossing the road:

Back at camp, we spent the day in the platform watching close hippos, elephants a long way off, giraffes a long way off and herons flying in building a nest:

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Mandavu Dam, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

It was a, mostly, long distance wildlife day. We spent most of the day on the platform watching as wildlife came and went. There were elephants a couple of times across the lake:

Then we had a hippo fight right in front of us:

At night we heard lions roaring and hippos making all kinds of loud grunting bellowing calls.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Mandavu Dam Picnic Site, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

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The morning was spent driving here. It was about 3 ½ hours through the park over crumbling pavement and washboard road.

It's kind of a nice place. There is this medium sized lake with a picnic area on one shore. The picnic area is available for camping for one group at a time. We're the group for the next 3 nights.

There is a covered platform about 50 feet from the camping area that overlooks the lake. Hippos and crocodiles frequent the area.

There is a hippo in that last picture, he's about 75 feet from the platform.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Main Camp, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

A day of waiting.

Josh and I went out for a drive this morning looking for wildlife. We found zebra:

warthogs:

and a giraffe

The rest of the day was spent waiting for the papers to arrive. They finally did around 8:30 in the evening – intact.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Main Camp, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

It was a day of driving and a short period of great worry.

We drove down to Bulawayo today in Josh's camper and got the gas cap. We found taillight lenses and also a tire pressure guage. When driving in soft sand, of which there seems to be a great abundance of here, you want to lower you tire pressure by almost ½. We have compressors with guages, but both of the guages are broken, so we had no real way of telling when it was right or when we had pumped them back to the right pressure when we got back to better roads.

We managed to make the whole trip with no tickets. We passed at least 10 roadblocks and all but the last time were waved through. The last time they didn't ticket us or anything.

So we got a pressure guage. We had looked for one in Kasane and Victoria Falls with no luck. We found one in Buawayo. But, it came at a price.

I have a folder full of papers, one is vital to traveling in the camper around Zimbabwe. The police ask for it at stops. I had taken the folder into the parts store where we got the lenses because it had the Land Cruiser model information and, after being distracted about paying for the items, left it on the counter. I didn't discover it was missing until we were nearly back at camp – 3 hours later.

After much anquish, one of the ladies at the registration office called the store and verified that they had the folder. We then made arrangements for a friend of hers to drive down tomorrow and get it. I will pay him $100 for that. It would have cost us about $50 in fuel and another whole day of driving. It would cost him much less in gas and the $70 or $80 he would make is about a month's pay around here for many.

Hopefully, by tomorrow evening I'll have the papers back.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Main Camp, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

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It was a day of tickets. We drove from Victoria Falls to here in 4 or 5 hours. The road was good, but there were adventures.

Zimbabwe police set up roadblocks every 20 or 30 miles, checking travelers for 'violations'. Basically, it's a way of extorting money. They have a long list of things they can 'fine' you for. We got stopped twice and got tickets both times. For me, one ticket was for a broken backup light – that was $10.00 The other was because the camper didn't have a fire extinguisher or the weight ratings for the vehicle printed on the side. That was $40.00.

Josh got one for a broken tail light, a missing gas cap (that he had left back in Kasane before we got into Zinbabwe), and the fire extinguisher/ratings thing.

Back in Victoria Falls, he had called around and found that the Toyota Repair place in Bulawayo, a fairly large town about 3 hours away had the gas cap, so our plan is to drive down there tomorrow and see if we can get it along with the taillight lenses.

In the meantime, we've got a whole “lodge” to ourselves for 4 nights. It's 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, bath, dining area, and a sitting room. All for under $90 a day. It's not fancy, or even new looking, but it is comfortable and fairly clean.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Another adventurous day.

The morning was spent looking for car parts and getting things fixed. I got the flat tire fixed, so that's not a worry any more.

Josh had left the gas cap to his camper back in Kasane where we last filled up. We went to a couple of places here in town, but nobody had one, so he started calling around. He found a dealership in Livingstone, just an hour or so away, but that's in Zambia It would mean crossing back into Zimbabwe again and we wouldn't have the helper, so that was out.

Then, he found a dealership in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and they had one. It's several hours past where we're staying starting tomorrow, so the plan is to move to Hwange National Park tomorrow and then on Wednesday, driving down and getting the part.

This afternoon I went out to see the falls. Even in the dry season, they are impressive:

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Rainbow Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Another travel day. We left Chobe and, after fueling up in Kasane, made for the Zimbabwe border.

The border crossings into Zimbabwe are notoriously complex. There are stories of people being mobbed by people offering to 'help' but not doing anything. When we picked up the campers in Maun, the Bushlore people said to find the “Rasta Man” at the border to help us. When we arrived, a fellow in a bright red shirt and dredlocks came right up to us. We knew we had found the Rasta Man, or rather, he had found us. Apparently, he sort of works for Bushlore and looks for their logo on the campers. He handled the paperwork for getting the campers through the border with a minimum of fuss.

Then it was an hour drive to the hotel. This is an old world kind of elegant place. It's just a little tattered around the edges, but the service people are excellent. Bellboys to carry your luggage, laundry service, call the front desk for any thing you need.

The complex is built in a garden setting on the side of a hill and everything looks in to the garden.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Ihaha Camp, Chobe National Park, Botswana

We started the day back at the buffalo carcass watching the lions, but it was a bit chaotic. All the game drive guides had found it and it was just a mess of cars jockeying for position on the narrow 1-lane road. And then the parks people would come along and make people move.

So I went to another position and managed to get some pictures of the lions coming in from the river:

Then I decided to go down to the river to see if there was anything to see. Nothing to take photos of, but there were some jackals and another lion, but it was all very far away. So, I went back to camp. On the way, a giraffe posed for me:

The rest of the day was spent washing a few clothes by hand, watching the slow activity on the river and processing photos for the blog.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Ihaha Camp, Chobe National Park, Botswana

When we got back to camp lasts night after getting the camper out of the sand, we discovered that my camper had a flat tire. So, Josh went out alone today and I stayed in camp and changed the tire.

Around 10:00 am, he came roaring back saying he'd found lions, so we piled all my camera gear into his truck and took off. There were 3 lions around a kill near the river. They kept coming back to the road and resting in the shade and then going back out:

The lion in the shade was about 15 feet from the camper.

Then we heard that there was a kill near the road above where we were, so we headed that way. We found a dead buffalo and a single female with 3 cubs. On the other side were 2 males sleeping under a tree.

After a while, we went back to camp for lunch and waited for the evening. When we got back, the female with the cubs had moved closer to the carcass. They were about 100 feet from the road.

Later, several more came up from the river. By the end of the evening, there were 10 adults and 3 cubs in the area. We had lost sight of the males by then.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Ihaha Camp, Chobe National Park, Botswana

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It was about 5 hours of driving to get here, It was mostly sand, but we finally found some pavement. It was only about 20 miles, but it was very welcome.

The campsite is right on the Chobe River and there is all kinds of wildlife – elephants, giraffe, hippos, zebras, buffalo, impala, sable and several other antelope species.

Soon after we got here, we went into the town at the edge of the park for supplies and diesel. We took the scenic route back along the river. On the way, we came across a camper stuck in the sand. We tried to free it and was having no success when another camper stopped to help. Then, a tour truck came along and with all the people and the tour truck, we managed to get it out.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Savuti Camp, Chobe National Park, Botswana

We drove ourselves around a bit today and found lions.

First we found a small waterhole with lots of elephants, and more kept coming in.

They seemed to be all males.  There were a couple of warthogs and a jackal hanging around the edges.

Then, we saw movement along the edge of the brush and there were 3 lions lurking.  Then, an elephant came charging out of the brush, chasing this:

Went back in the evening and the whole pride was there, but they were all laying down in the grass. Occasionally you would see one sit up and move around: