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).

Bush walk

The following morning, I opted to go for a bush walk instead of the drive. With our guide Sibs, 6 of us set off on foot from the camp to explore the smaller details if the bush environment. Our strict rules for the walk were to remain in a tight single file formation behind Sibs, and absolutely no talking while walking. It was important in the open bush for us all to be actively alert and observing our environment. Needless to say, I stuck close behind the rifle! I am such a nervous wuss sometimes! Ha.

Sibs was awesome about stopping and talking to us about the things we saw along the way. We found a good amount of bones, and each animal has different characteristics, and unique features. This is a male Kudu skull. At thus level of decay, we were able to see the bone and outer sheath covering the antlers.

The safari crew with cocktails!

Afternoon tea & cocktails

Watching the hippos bask in the late afternoon watering hole.

Gin & tonics sure are the perfect compliment to game viewing in Africa!

African sunset

I never get sick of the sunsets!

Lion siesta

As the sun was starting to go down, we returned to the field where the lion pride was hanging out. We found the ladies and cubs completely sacked out under some bushes. We cracked open a beer, and watched them as they snoozed and begAn to wake up. Entirely too cute to see these massive lions on their backs, bellies and giant paws in the air fast asleep! You just wanted to give them all a good belly rub... Until ya looked at how HUGE their paws, claws and leg muscles were! Unreal.

It's all about what you don't see in this pic!

As we were driving down the road, a few people in the truck yelled "snake", and Lewis managed to stop the truck just in time for us to see an enormous snake rear up a bit, flare it's hood a little, and dart across the road. We really almost ran him over... Or ended up with a big snake on the hood of the truck! Few seconds and it was gone Turns out it was an Egyptian cobra... A real big one, about 5' long. Check out the girth of the track he left across the road between the tire tracks! We were all stunned and amazed! And glad we weren't walking!

Giraffe

We came upon a small bunch of giraffe. About 6 or 7 if them, which is quite a large number to be traveling together. They are so funny to watch, because they just watch back. They kinda tuck themselves into and behind trees, and give you a "you can't see me" look. They really do have amazingly long eyelashes!

Frisky bachelor

The male elephants tend to roam and wander solo. The young males are kicked out of the maternal herd around the time they are in their teens, and starting to "cause trouble". They come into their sexual heats in their terns, but won't be mature enough to mate until close to 30. Talk about a lot of time to build the tensions, so to speak.

This male was in his sexual heat, and was marking territory with a constant urine drip as he traveled. Somewhat of a treasure trail for the females in heat to find him. The bachelor males are funny to watch... All crazy with hormones, and acting out.

Herd of buffalo

Back out on safari, we continued our bush education and viewing with the third guide, Lewis.

The main dining room

The little makalolo camp was so spectacular. Set up for 14 guests at a time, it was the perfect fit for our group! :)

100% solar powered

Each hut had a rack of solar panels that provided for the lights and hot water. The entire camp was solar powered, and they were making a lot of effort to be environmentally conscious and sustainable. Zim us not at a place in their development where they do any recycling, so the staff at thus camp did everything they could to minimize use of plastic bottles and such. The water in the camp was from a well, and completely potable for us to drink from the tap (as it was at the Stanley livingstone as well!).

As a whole, our group was pretty healthy and tolerant to all the goods and beverages we were served. The only food out guides kinda cautioned was lettuce, but I pretty much ate salads whenever they were served, and did fine. One girl had a bout of the shits the last 24 hours of the river trip... And then 4 of us (me included) had a minor bout of it the night before we left for safari, uncomfortable but not debilitating. Not sure what we all ate or drank in common that triggered it... But I just chose to go about the trip as usual (popping an immodium here and there), and it passed for the most part.

How did I get on this tangent?

The luxury facilities in our hut.

Complete with copper sinks and fixtures, an indoor and outdoor shower, and toilet room with a screen window directly overbought the bush.

My nap was hot, but just what I needed that afternoon. Woke up, took a quick cool shower outside... Had tea in the main lounge area, and we were back in the trucks for our evening game drive by 3:30.

Back to camp for brunch & afternoon siesta!

The three safari trucks returned to camp by 11am fir a big brunch with the group, then time for a little siesta in the afternoon heat. Lori and I had a chance to snap some pics of our amazing hut before I promptly passed out for a snooze. Not like we were super active while driving around, but the sightings and information we were taking in was simply overwhelming and exhausting!!

Ostrich

Mom and dad ostrich were munching away with their chickies. Those are some big and weird looking birds!!

The majestic crowned crane

Bird babe!

We spent a good amount of time in the later morning watching and learning about a lot of the birds. Lori is an avid bird enthusiast, so we had lots of questions and learned a ton. Unfortunately, birds are harder to capture and zoom in in on the iPhone camera... So I don't have a lot of great bird pics.

Morning tea on a termite mound

Pleantiful snacks

Came across a heard of wildebeast. Guess they are plentiful, but not the brightest animals in the bush... Hence a favorite snack fir the lions. I guess when the herd is attacked, chaos ensues for a short amount of time, then they forget what is going on pretty quickly, and resume grazing or hanging out.

Big mama moving the pride

We changed positions of the vehicles around the same time big mama decided to lead the pride outta the field in search of a shadier place to rest for the afternoon. She lead the pride in a line right past our trucks (within 5' of where I was sitting). Such gorgeous animals to watch them move and interact with each other. They look so peaceful that is is hard to remember that they are the too if the predator food chain in the bush!

Big daddy

Looking for a resting spot away from the rest of the family.

Cub looking for someone to play with

Wandering cub

The little Lion cub was quite the little wanderer! The guides were saying that they were pleased to see him back with the pride because he had been separated from them, looking pitiful, almost 1km away from the rest of the pride in the previous few days. I guess lion moms are protective of the pride, but aren't much on the parenting skills when it comes to the discipline of wandering cubs.

This little guy was so amusing to watch. You would think he would have been a little traumatized by his Aline time... But he continued to wander away from his family, relatively unaware of their movement. He was picking up sticks, playing around, and even got all up on his big lion daddy for a bit. Big daddy put up with the playful cub for all of 30 seconds (adorable little nuzzle in dads big mane) before he got up, and wandered off to find a place to rest away from the nagging family. Ha.

Morning with the pride

Quickly that morning, the guides (in the truck with Buli today) found the pride if lions catching a morning drink and rest by another watering hole. The pride consisted of a grown female and male, their 2 daughters, and 5 cubs ranging in age from a few years to the babe at about 4 or 5 months old.

The lions were resting and socializing with each other under the shade of some trees. They were aware we were there (maybe 20-30 ft away), but were relatively unfazed by our presence. The guides explained that ad long as we remained in the vehicles, the lions viewed us as one big thing. And they were familiar enough with the big thing to know it didn't pose any harm. If we were to get out of the vehicle, the lions would see us as a weaker entity, attracting attention. All fingers and ties stayed in the vehicle!

Sunrise at the bush camp

We were stirred early the next morning with a 5:30am wake-up "call". Opened my eyes with the first view out of our hut... Beautiful sun rising, and wilderness as far as the eye could see. There is a watering hole just out behind the camp where we heard animals roaming in the night, but until daylight, we had no idea where we were.

A quick turn in the am, we had coffee and pastries in the main sitting area of the camp, and were back in the safari vehicles at 6:30am fir the morning game drive. Early start is key to catching the animals out and about before it gets to hot in the heat of the day.

Bonus sunset pic!

Wildlife all around!

And so the afternoon went... We drove, identified, listened, learned, observed... And were simply overwhelmed by the diversity of things we saw. Mama giraffe with a baby on the left... Herd of zebra to the right. Kudu, impala, cape buffalo all around. Birds all over the place! Favorite bird I didn't manage to photograph was the Lilac breasted Roller. Look it up, simply gorgeous! Oh look... There's a herd of elephant crossing the road up ahead. Go figure. Just another day in the bush.

Zeeeeeebra!

I never get sick of seeing these guys! The guides are kinda like "there are some more cows" or something mundane like that.... But they are real live zebra! Horses with stripes! OMG!

Check out the pregger belly on the lady at the back. With the spring rains come the baby animals. Some animals such as zebra can hold off giving birth to their young until the grasses have grown in enough to provide food for the young! Jeez nature is smart sometimes. Didya also know you can tell the sex of a zebra by the width of the stripe on it's butt! Thick ass stripe is female. Thin ass stripe, male. Giraffe can be identified by the hair, or lack thereof on their horns. Little boof of black hair, female. Bald, male. Elephants? Shape of the forehead. Squared angle to the head, female. Rounded, male.