Life List #2 Victoria Falls

A long time ago I put Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe on my life list, never thinking I would actually go there, but more because it sounded so exotic. Maybe writing it down, or saying it out loud was the thing that made it happen (or more likely because Drew and Sara moved there, making it much easier for me).

Drew and me on our first game drive

Last weekend we went there for several days, adding in Chobe National Park to the itinerary. Part of the attraction in these Parks is game drives through the preserves.  They are much like our national parks: the animals are free to roam throughout, and beyond the park borders. There are no fences. The difference is that the animals are not bears or elk or deer; they are elephants, hippos, giraffes, baboons, and Cape buffalo. We saw all those on two game drives and a river cruise.  Can you imagine being 20 yards away from a pod of a dozen hippos in the river?  Or just as close to a herd of elephants about 30 strong?

Afternoon water break

Pod of hippos

Although they roam in this park, we didn't see lions or leopards this trip. The folks on the drive the afternoon before did though; we were on the river cruise at the time. 

There is nothing like the sight of several herds of elephants walking (quickly) down to the river for a drink, and an afternoon swim.  I had no idea that elephants love the water as much as I do!  To watch them play in the water, submerging themselves with just their trunks above the surface, and rolling around just like kids engaged in horseplay was an absolute delight! The matriarch kept an eye on all the activity, acting a bit more dignified, and deciding when they had all had enough and it was time to go back to the forest.

Fun in the water

Crocodile -- we watched him slither into the water

Cape Buffalo

Fierce!

Closer to the river were a whole lot of giraffes (probably about 25-30 of them). They graze occasionally, spreading their front legs so that they can reach the ground. It's a funny sight to watch; I'll bet they are more comfortable browsing in the trees.

Four of the many giraffes

grazing -- hard work!

Our guide made a water lilly necklace for Lila, then we all tried it on

Botswana branch of the Schneider family

The second highlight of this trip of course was the Falls. I hardly know how to describe them.  They are so long that you can't see the whole falls from one end to the other from any one place. The mist coming up from them is sometimes so thick that you can't see across the gorge from the walking path to the falls. On the walking path, it's like being in a rainstorm. Luckily it was warm and our clothes dried out pretty quickly. Cameras took a bit longer though.

The Zambezi river feeds the falls, and they are in Zambia, but the viewpoints are all in Zimbabwe as the gorge forms the border between the two countries. The river flows into what is a huge crack in the earth, so there are high ridges on all sides. It's not like so many other falls I have seen with a cliff down which the water cascades and fairly level ground at the bottom. You never get to see these falls from the base.

My first view of the falls brought me to tears. 

the main section

Sara in the mist

We were delighted by the antics of a troop of monkeys that hung around one of the viewpoints (the one nearest the restaurant) until we were eating lunch and one of the monkeys leaped onto the table and stole half of Sara's sandwich! She was most annoyed because he dropped it on the ground and scampered off when the restaurant staff chased him with a slingshot. He didn't even eat the sandwich! It happened so fast we couldn't get a photo!

The monkey is teasing Lila.

Sunset on the Chobe River, looking into Namibia

Now we are back in Gabarone, visiting some local attractions (and I'm getting some good granny time with Lila). Next week is Capetown and the Penguins and Robben Island and Table Mountain, and the weekend after that is Madikwe Game Preserve where Drew has promised that I'll see lions!  I can hardly wait!