Sketchy bush walk

Mid afternoon we had a coffee break stop in a lovely spot out by a small pond. We drank tea, and observed the wAter bird on the pond. Then we set out on a trek across the marshlands. I know many of you wonder if u have boundaries if what ill do... Well, this walk pushed them. Andy decided to take us creeping silently through the bush to try and sneak up downwind of of popular rock where big crocs sun themselves. Really? Sneaking up on crocs? Are you kidding? This was by far my least comfortable walk in Africa, and I was not bummed that there were no crocs to be found!

Rainbow colored lizard

Yeah, can't remember this guys name, but he was cute!

Checkin us out!

That close

Andy was very comfortable with our proximity to the rhino. Me, not so much. But, trust the experts, right? Right?

Yes, they realized we were there!

Yes. Those are rhinos! And yes, we are that close. Big big animals!

Nap time!

Our first bush walk wasn't so productive.... But we drove on down the road, and quickly found 3 napping rhinos. Yes, really. There they were. Andy walked us up to a "safe" distance, and we observed as the rhino realized we we're there....

Bush walking

As we drive into the game reserve part of the park... It became obvious that Andy's forte was really the animals, and tracking. He was very in tune to the tracks and migrations of each animal. He was adamant that he wax going to find us the rhino, the gem if this park.

Andy grabbed his shotgun, gave us our bush marching orders, and we set off on a walk following rhino tracks...

Big awesome bug

Can't for the life of me remember what this is.... But it was a cool bug.

Andy flicked the bug a little, and it secretes a nasty smell to repel it's predators. Good going bug, cuz you are too cool to be eaten!

Rock formations

One if the main draws if the national park (other than the wildlife and cave paintings!) are the granite rock formations. After the flat landscape we had seen up to that point, it was quite wonderful to see some variety! And gorgeous at that.

Green dung beetle!

The guy was disco!

Granaries

The sticks covering the clay/mud structures were recent additions to keep animals and looters from destroying the artifacts in the cave. We could wander freely around the cave, and Andy mentioned the the pottery and pieces are regularly broken by careless "observers"! Ugh.

Layers of cave paintings...

The paintings on the walks of the caves covered many different time periods and styles.

The motopos

It's almost a month later, and I still need to finish blogging the last few days if the Africa trip! I spent a good deal of time over the holidays describing bits and pieces to people I visited... But the details fade soooo fast!

Don't know that I have as much detail to offer right now on some of the places and experiences, but here are the pic's.....

We were picked up at the hotel in the am by Andy, our guide for the day... And we climbed into yet another safari vehicle. As we drove out of town to pick up a few more people, I quickly realized that I had made some major assumptions about Bulawayo the precious day. As I mentioned, lori and I were the only white people we saw all day... I was really embracing the idea that we were in the Africa where people live and work... And I wasn't wrong, but there was another very separate side to the city. The very wealthy white suburbs. Very separate. I was beginning to understand that we stood out less as being tourists the previous day, and more as why are theses white people in downtown? Anyhow. That's what you get for making assumptions!

A 40 mi ute ride out of the city, we came to the entrance to the park, and made our first stop at a cave full of cave paintings, and granaries from a variety of time periods. The cave was believed to be used as a storage place for grains as late as the independence revolution in the late 70's, early 80's.

Our guide's forte was not necessarily historical artifacts... But as a lifelong Zimbabwean, he was fascinating in his narrative of common life in the country through the last 30-40 years.

Quiet night

Back at the hotel, I had high expectations of getting some postcards done... But the second I laid down and chilled out, I was out!

What? No city pics?

Funny thing. I have been flicking through hundreds of pictures of elephants to find the best one to post... And it comes to our travels off the tourist grid in Africa, and I only have one single picture from our first day in bulawayo. And I only have this picture because it has a rainbow in it!

I was so happy the previous day to have a plan in place, I really didn't spend any time thinking about what this trip might entail. The bus ride from vic falls was over 5 hours. In the scheme of things, I guess this isn't so bad, but it seemed long. Along the way, I was definitely questioning the wisdom of traveling this far for 2 nights. We had traveled 2 hours along the same road on our way out to hwange days before, and I stayed alert the whole ride so as not to "miss" anything.... But it was all pretty much the same until the moment we drove into the city. Flat landscape. Trees. Small villages along the way. Lovely, but fairly monotonous.

After a short wait, we were met at the bus drop off by a guy from the hotel. He walked us the 5 blocks or so down the road to get us checked in. "downtown was a small grid of a city... About 10 blocks wide by maybe 20 blocks long. On the way to the hotel, we passed the open market... Split into 2 sections, clothes and food.

The "Berkeley house" was a clean place, but absolutely deserted! According to the nice lady at the desk, it wasn't travel season. I was also quickly observing that Bulawayo is a town people live in, not go to on vacation. After being the ultimate tourists for 2 weeks, this was both refreshing, and shocking. We joked all day that it was possible we were going to wind up in the local newspaper just for being white tourists in town.

After dropping our bags, and working with the nice lady at the hotel to book our trip to the park the following day... We set off on a mission. Food, find the bus station for Lori to inquire about further travel, groceries for breakfast, and Internet cafe.

And so went the rest of the afternoon. We wandered around. What we learned about Africa on Saturday afternoons is that not much of anything is happening or going on. Ed finally found an open restaurant for a late lunch. Bus station closed till Monday. Internet in the entire town was down for the time being. Found a little cafe where the local were starting to gather for sat night festivities. Made some friends over beers. Hung for a bit, then continued on. Internet finally up and running. Spent a hour or so online, then made our way back to the hotel shortly after sundown. Everyone we chatted with in town to ask direction was really helpful and nice. We stood our like sore thumbs, but no one seemed to care. The last few blocks close to our hotel were by far the sketchiest we encountered, but all in all... Not bad. People were pretty content to leave the only 2 tourists in town alone.

Breakfast of champs!

The early bus

Once again, we packed ourselves up, and were on the move. I split my stuff up, only taking what I needed for a few days. I left a big bag at the hostel, and just hoped it would be there when I returned in a few days.

We caught the bus at a hotel a short walk from the backpacker. Before leaving town, we stopped at the local chicken inn, and were provided a snack and refreshment for the bus ride.

Friday night!

After the fun performance if the kids, another beer and a little dancin... We made our way back into town for some dinner at mama Africa. Really yummy food, probably the most authentic Zimbabwean fate we had had to date. Peanut rice, polenta, and meat stews.

I had every intention of hanging out that night at the bar back at our hostel... Which was also one of the local hot spots on a Friday night. Things were just getting started when we got back... I made it through a fraction of a beer, went back to the room, and was out. So much for my big Friday night!

Sent from my iPhone

Tin can kids

Made it back to the backpacker just in time to catch a Friday evening performance of the "tin can kids". These kids were awesome & talented!!! You can check them out on YouTube and Facebook!

Beers behind bars

Not sure if the cars are there to keep the chaos out, or in? Hummm. Was a quiet afternoon, so guess it didn't really matter.

Victory beers!

We were returned to town, tried to get Lori our of paying for the aborted flight, but no dice. Another quick visit with the travel agent, and it was surely beer thirty!

We enjoyed a few cold beverages and time to sit and watch the town go by. Pretty sleepy town, but all the entertainment we need for that moment.

On my way back to solid ground

It was pretty short "flight"... And the dragged me back to solid ground. Not a minute too fast to get the stupid choking harness off!

Flying fox!

Jumped off the platform, and flew out over the river canton! It was fun, and a rush for sure... And of course, I was totally looking down and checking out the rapids below, trying to remember the boat line from high above! Dork.

3-2-1.... Go!

Next victim

My body's natural defenses against extreme actions were apparently on vacation. Clip me in and show me which way to run....

Not today

Lori got herself up on the platform, rigged into the wires and ropes... But was definitely not comfortable with the idea of jumping any longer. The guys did their best job to try to coax her into jumping, but it wasn't the day. Understandable that the human body has all sorts of defenses against jumping off a cliff, and harnesses, again, just not comfortable!

The second victim...

From the side of the jump platform, we watched another girl get roped in and fly out over the canyon. She was a champ. Came to jump by herself (in work clothes), Just got up there, and went without a thought.

Lori was looking more and more uncomfortable, so I volunteered her to go next.

The flying fox

While talking to the travel office at the airport earlier in the afternoon, Lori spontaneously decided that we needed to jump off the Zambezi river canyon wall, and hang on a wire high above the river, better known as "the flying fox". Me? I'm a good wing woman. My travel buddy wants us to jump off a cliff, who am I to rain on the parade?

We were picked up at the backpacker mid-afternoon, taken to the edge, and suited up in body harnesses. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike harnesses? Turned out, Lori was not a big fan either.

Back in town, time to lock in some plans.

Lori and I got checked into the shoestring backpacker, and after dumping our stuff, we walked a few blocks back to the main street in vic falls, and went straight to the backpacker travel office. We spent a bunch of time talking through the different options people had suggested to us... And a plan finally took form. All the advice people had given us wax invaluable as the travel lady was able to assist in booking the things we had come up with, she really didn't have much to offer in terms if any new ideas.

Here's the plan. We were going to take the Citilink bus to Bulawayo (second largest city in zimbabwe) the following morning at 7:30am, arriving in town around 1pm. The travel lady helped us book budget accommodations in town (Berkeley house, sounded good to us ca girls!) and arrange for someone to meet us at the bus. We would have the afternoon to explore the city, and then we planned to book a tour to go to a nearby national park, Matopo, the following day (Sunday). The return bus to vic falls didn't run on Tuesdays, so I had to head back on Monday. Lori was still working on her "onward plan" from there. She was trying to find a way to travel to Kruger national park in south Africa to meet a friend, but was hoping to avoid having to go all the way to Jo-berg to get there (way outta the way, but the major route everyone was trying to send her on!). We also booked a tour from vic falls on tues to go to the Chobe national park in Botswana. I was scheduled to fly out of vic falls on wed, so every minutes was filled.

Excited to finally have a plan in place, we stocked up on a few provisions at the 7-11 market, and returned to the backpacker to rest for a bit.

Time to finish up

I returned from Africa a week ago. I didn't do a very good job of keeping myself to any kind of schedule upon my return, so jetlag has totally been kicking my ass. Sleeping and meal time have been all over the place! It was great to have the long thanksgiving weekend to unpack and clean up a bit, and getting back to work, as tiring as it has been this week, has done me some good to get back to a routine. In my haze, the trip seems so surreal. A world away, full of so many unbelievable sights and experiences. I've been at a bit of a loss to really describe the trip... Which makes me even happier that I managed to capture so much on the blog, relatively in the moment.

So, before it totally fades, I need to finish it up!

Sent from my iPhone

And then there were 2!

We arrived back at the vic falls airport, reconnected with the remainder of our baggage... And were transported back into town. Piero and Patty dripped us at the shoestrings backpacker lodge, and we said our goodbyes. They were spending the night on the Zambia side if the falls, then beginning their long journey back to peru the following morning. As for Lori and I, we were on our own, with 4 days to play, a lot of ideas, and no plan...
Let the last leg of the adventure begin! :)

Flying from hwange back to vic falls

The flight was an exciting hour smoothly sailing in the calm morning air over the hwange wilderness back to vic falls. 

The first 4!

Me, Lori, patty and piero just before boarding the flight! 

Another amazing ending!

Early the next morning, we packed up and said our dear goodbyes to the wonderful staff at little makalolo, and the bio bio crew we had been traveling with for two weeks, and Lori and I left for our transport out of the bush. were taken to the grass field "airstrip", and met up with our bush plane.  

I have never been on a plane this little before, so I was truly giddy with excitement! :)

The sundowner bush crew!

Again, a lovely time for a gin & tonic! :) 

Full moon in the evening sky!

Another day, another African bush sunset!

Erica basking in the late afternoon sun during our tea/cocktail break. 

Dung beetle honeymoon!

Our guide Lewis had a real soft spot for the dung beetles, and would swerve to make sure he didn't run them over or impede their progress with their balls of poo. We pulled over, and hung out with this little guy for a while. 

This beetle had made a ball big enough to impress the ladies, and scored himself a woman! The lady grabbed a free ride on her man's poo ball, while he rolled them down the road. He was sure working hard... And finally found a nice cool patch of sand, borrowed under the ball, and proceeded to submerge the ball and his lady in less than 5minutes. At which point we left them alone to enjoy the honeymoon! Wink, wink.

Happy thanksgiving!

Ha. A fine thanksgiving dinner, served somewhere over the Atlantic ocean... Might be the gin and tonic talking, but uncovering this unexpected turkey day meal struck a sentimental chord.

Sarcasm aside, I do give many thanks today. As I have said many times in the past three weeks, I am very overwhelmed by the fortune in my life. In soooo many ways. I have so many wonderful people, place and experiences that fill my life... And although I am often overwhelmed by the enormity of it all, I am forever grateful, appreciative, and strive to return the favors of all my fortune to those around me. Thank you all. :) xo.

Clumsy beasts!

It is amazing with the size of these animals, how quietly they tread on the ground. They are a but clumsy sometimes tho. Apparently, the aren't very good climbers because whole bunches if them got tripped up on this little hill to the side of the pond, and nudged each other and fumbled to get over the hump.

Safari!

Couldn't take my eyes off em!

Family

The elephant family units travel together, always keeping the babies real close.

Afternoon at the watering hole

We rolled up to the big watering home as the heat if the day started to fade, and were once again greeted by a parade of 100+ elephants converging for am afternoon drink and frolic. Lewis, our guide, pulled the truck up real close to one of the ponds, and we were up close and personal with the elephants! Close enough that I got a bit nervous as the teenage boys strutted their stuff right up in our faces a few times.

Another afternoon at the elephant watering hole!

Can't help myself!

Another cute pic!

Cutie pie!!!

In one of the open fields, we came across a herd of zebra. In the middle I'd the herd was a mama with a babe that couldn't have been more than a few weeks old at best! Soooooo adorable, ed sat there and watched the for a long time. The baby would gallop in spurts... Fling behind mama, then getting up some speed in the clumsiest gallop ever to catch up. Then would fall behind again, trip a little over it's own little legs, then start all over again. You will notice that the although the babe is tiny compared to mom, its leg height is almost the same. Zebras ate born this way with long lanky legs so they can be concealed in the herd. When the baby was behind the mom, you couldn't see it. Completely hidden.

Afternoon game drive.

After another siesta afternoon (much needed after the little morning walk!)... We set out in the trucks at 3:30, and tracked a herd of sable that was grazing in our "backyard". By far, the most unique and elegant looking of all the antelope!

Never a dull moment. Never.

And we walked... And walked.

The bush walk was fascinating. And LONG! I think Sibs wad having a little fun with this group of girls. We all said we were up "for whatever"... And when all was said and done, we walk the bush for 4 hours, and about 12km (8ish miles). A lot more than any if us anticipated! Our girls were troopers, but by the end, we were all out of water, hot, and soooo happy to see the truck that came to get us!

Bush carcass

Carcass of an impala calf. Whatever killed it ate out all the meat, leaving only skin and bone. Literally. It hadn't been found yet by the vultures (there was still an eyeball) or the scavengers. Once the rains picked up, Sibs said it was likely to soften up the hide, and start to smell... Attracting the scavengers. Yum.

Big skull... Little brain cavity!

We fully examined the skull of the animal. We put the tusk back on place, examined the honeycomb structure of the massive sinus structure, and took a look inside the back of the skull at the relatively small brain cavity at the top of the spinal column. Wicked cool!

Elephant teeth

Taking a look at the jaw, skull and other bones of the animal, we were able to determine it was a male elephant in it's mid years. It did not die of old age (and as far as we could tell, it was not shot). Elephants cycle through 7 sets of teeth in their lifetime, roughly one set every 6-10 years depending on the nature of the good they are eating. Most elephants die of starvation in their old age after the last set if teeth decay, and they are no longer able to eat. As you can see in the jaw of this animal, the teeth are not completely worn down, and new molars are forming in the back of the jaw.

(Hey Kate, you proud of your old buddy for some good bone talk??? Don't worry, I'm not gonna quit my day job anytime soon!)

An undisturbed Elephant skeleton

On our walk, we came across an elephant skeleton that was relatively undisturbed. It had been there for 10-15 years based on the decay, but one of the tusks was still present indicating humans hadn't seen it before. In the park, there us a lot of attention paid to protection of the animals against poaching. Unfortunately, elephant tusks and rhino horns still have a lot of value on the black market, resulting in an enormous amount of danger to the animals. When the park guides come upon the remains of an elephant, the GPS tag the location for the park rangers to come out to collect the tusks to prevent them from being collected illegally for sale. The guides could bring the tusks in to the rangers, but there is so much corruption and value that they are afraid of being suspected of poaching just by transporting the items.

This particular tusk was dehydrated and decayed that it had relatively no market value, but was enormously educational! We picked it up, and learned the formula for estimating it's approximate weight. Of course I can't remember the formula (something like length in feet times circumference)... But it was a lot heavier than you would think! We guessed it was about 25+ lbs. At least.

Termite mounds

Seen EVERYWHERE in Zim are the massive termite mounds. We talked about the termites, as well as how the other bush animals use the mounds as scratching posts, and headrests. We were following the tracks of a herd of buffalo... And were able to see how the buffalo rubbed up against the mound to rid himself if ticks and other bugs (black shiny areas on the sides had buffalo hair embedded).

A termite mound of this size could be up to 15-20 years in the making, and sti has an active queen. After the buffalo inflicted damage to the mound, you can see the repair work that had been efficiently done to seal the mound (the fresh soil clusters at the tip).