Karongwe Game Reserve (South Africa)

Officially, this was our "pre-trip extension", which means that it wasn't part of the base itinerary, and we paid extra to include it for our trip. After a short flight from Johannesburg, we were transferred in a van to the Shiduli Game Lodge at the Karongwe Game Reserve. Our accommodations for the next three nights were a cabin in a comfortable compound on the edge of the Reserve. After getting settled in, we met our guide and tracker, who would be taking us on our twice daily game drives during our stay here. At this point, we really did not yet know what to expect from our game drives, but we were excited to find out.

Our first game drive was the afternoon of our arrival. We boarded our safari truck and set out into the reserve to see what we could find. We immediately found impalas, which, because they were still new to us, was exciting. It wouldn't take long before the sight of these smaller antelope would be so common as to not spark much reaction. We also found a small herd of zebras and a herd of Cape Buffalo. And just before sunset, we found a mother Rhino with its calf, which was an amazing thing to see, especially on our first day in the bush.

As the sun dropped to the horizon, we stopped near a watering hole for our "sundowners", a tradition that we would observe on almost all of our evening game drives. Our guide found us a safe spot and we got out of the truck to enjoy a beverage (wine, beer, soda) and snacks as we enjoyed the sunset. And the sunsets did not disappoint. Every evening, the sun set in a glorious show of orange and red, and then about 15-20 minutes later, the entire horizon would light up with the most incredible red/orange glow that was simply spectacular. I don't know when I have seen so many gorgeous sunsets.

The next morning, we did our first morning game drive, leaving the lodge area just before sunrise. On that first morning ride, we saw two juvenile lions resting along the banks of the dry river, and we also found a herd of elephants. Our guide positioned our truck ahead of the herd as it moved across the bush, so that when the herd reached us, they walked by on either side of our truck. The elephants were so close that we could have reached out an touched them, although that would have been unwise and unsafe.

 We continued to do an afternoon/evening game ride and a morning game ride every day through our entire stay here. Each ride was different, and we saw some amazing things. On one ride, we left our truck to walk into the bush to see three young cheetahs resting in the grass. These cheetahs had been raised in a sanctuary, so they were comfortable with people around, but we still were very much aware that these were wild animals, and we were in their domain. On our second evening game ride, as we stopped for our sundowners, our guide told us to stay quiet. He had heard on the radio that a herd of rhinos was headed our way, and he had positioned us across the watering hole from where he expected them to appear. Soon, a half-dozen or so rhinos walked out of the bush and down to the water to drink. It was a truly incredible moment to witness.

In between rides, we had free time in the lodge area. We soon discovered that the compound was open to wildlife, and it was common to see Nyala (another species of antelope) wandering the grounds. One day while we were eating lunch, a Nyala gave birth right outside our cabin, so when we got back to our cabin after lunch, we spent much of our free time watching the new mother lick her newborn as it learned to walk and tried to nurse. It was a remarkable thing to witness.

On our final afternoon game drive, we found an entire pride of lions resting on the dry riverbed after having eaten their fill of a kill. In an effort to position us for a better view, our guide followed another truck off road onto the river bank. Unfortunately, the river bank was very sandy, and both trucks ended up stuck. This provided us with a prolonged opportunity to watch the lions, while the lions watched the guides and trackers work to free the trucks. Ultimately, another truck had to come down and pull us out.

Finally, on our last game drive, the morning before we had to return to Johannesburg to begin the main portion of the trip, we found the alpha male lion, who was enjoying a "honeymoon" with one of the females from the pride. They were resting together in the shade, and we were able to pull the truck remarkably close to them without any reaction from the pair. We sat and watched them for quite a while before they got up and moved off into the bush.

After completing six game drives at Karongwe which included some truly remarkable sightings, we were concerned about whether the rest of the trip would live up to what we had already experienced. We still wanted to see a leopard, to complete our "Big Five", but we couldn't believe that we wouldn't become bored on our future game drives at other locations after what we had already seen. It turns out we didn't have to worry. There were plenty more incredible things to see.

Hwange National Park (Zimbabwe)

 Our first destination for the main portion of our trip was Hwange National Park, in Zimbabwe. This is the largest national park in Zimbabwe, located in the northwestern part of country, along the border with Botswana. The park began as a conservation area in 1928 and was formalized as a national park in 1961. After flying to Victoria Falls, we transferred to the park by van minibus as far as the main camp area at the main entrance to the park, which took about two hours. From the main camp, the ride in safari trucks to our camp was about three additional hours, and was technically considered a game drive, although because of the distance and the arrival of sunset, we didn't stop often or long to look animals.

We spent three nights at the Mokalolo Plains Camp, deep inside the park, where our accommodations were semi-permanent tents mounted on cement platforms. The tents had king-sized beds, and were fully equipped with electricity and indoor plumbing (both the electricity and the hot water were solar powered). The accommodations were surprisingly comfortable, although we did appreciate the extra blankets that were available because it got quite chilly overnight. The camp did not include any fencing or other barriers to prevent animals from wandering through it, so anytime we walked outside at night, we were escorted by a safari guide, and even in the daytime, we needed to remain alert for the presence of wildlife when we moved around the camp. This would be the case for every camp we stayed in for the remainder of the trip.

The game ride on our first morning here proved to be spectacular, allowing us to witness a pride of lions attempt to bring down a Cape Buffalo in a drama that was worthy of a National Geographic video. We found the pride of lions not even a half mile from our camp, and followed them to the watering hole right in front of our camp, where they stopped to drink. While they were relaxing there, the alpha female of the pride suddenly became alert and started walking out across the field.

Soon, two bull Buffalos came out of the bush, and the female came around behind them. As the Buffalos began to run, the rest of the pride fanned out in an effort to flank them. Eventually, the pride separated the smaller of the two and attempted, unsuccessfully, to drag it to the ground. The Buffalo managed to fight off the lions and took refuge in a watering hole, with the lions waiting on the shore, pacing, and occasionally making attempts to approach the bull. Eventually, as the sun climbed higher and the temperature rose, the lions retreated to the shade and eventually went to sleep and the bull was ultimately able to escape and run away. Our guides speculated that the lions were not particularly desperate because they had eaten recently, but had they been hungrier, the scene might have ended very differently. This entire drama played out within a mile or so of our camp!

That afternoon, we returned to the same watering hole to find a very different scene. The pride of lions was still resting under the tree where we had left them earlier, but now the watering hole was surrounded by a large herd of elephants, along with some zebras and antelope. We spent some time watching the elephants, and observing their complex social behavior. Eventually, we heard that another truck had found some cheetahs, so we set off across the bush and found them basking in the evening sun. We then stopped for our sundowners next to a watering hold with hippos in it and watched yet another glorious sunset.

The next day, our game drives would be done as we traveled to and from the village of Ngamo, just outside the park. Our visit to the village was a cultural experience, and we visited a local homestead in the village, where one of the village elders and his extended family demonstrated the various chores that make up their daily life and we sat down for a cross-cultural conversation over tea and snacks. We also visited the local school, where we spoke with one of the teachers and got to meet some of the students.

On our way back to camp, our game drive continued, and we saw a number of animals we hadn't yet seen, including jackals and Kori bustards (the largest flying bird in Africa). Along the way, we stopped for a picnic lunch in the bush before returning to our camp in the late afternoon. By now we were becoming accustomed to the dry, dusty landscape, with its stunted and elephant damaged trees and plentiful termite mounds, which now were just part of the landscape and not something to be remarked upon, as they had been just days earlier.

The next morning, we packed our bags and retraced our route back through the park to the main camp area to start our transfer to our next location. Along the way we saw our first ostriches and a large troop of baboons, along with lots of zebras and giraffes. In all, it was another wonderful safari experience, but we still had more excitement in store.