By Jutta Seifriz
It was the trip of a lifetime. Now, early in the morning, it is not the call of the fish eagle, nor the tik-tik of the lapwing, it is not the laughter of a hyena, nor the roar of a lion or the bark of a zebra – it’s the twitter of more familiar birds and the tolling of church bells at seven. Grateful bones, appreciating a comfortable bed. Hot, clean water from the showerhead, instead of the hopeful search for a warm dribble. No protesting knees when performing bodily functions. Pure bliss!
But: A heart full of sadness because the trip of a lifetime we would not have missed for the world has come to an end. Already and again: A deep longing for Africa! The feeling of having been driven out of paradise, our familiar homeland, will prevail. As will be the yearning for africa’s untamed beauty, it’s warmhearted and cheerful people who know how to seize the day and enjoy the moment, instead of ceaselessly pondering the future and what it may hold in store. The extreme conditions on this continent do not allow much control of what will happen. The challenges are much bigger there than they are for us with all our material riches. Yet, the laughter of Africans comes deep from the heart.
Victoria Falls or Vic Falls, as it’s inhabitants call the city: JJ, our travel guide and owner of the company, his Canadian wife Steph, his sister Agnes and his cousin Moffet were welcoming us at the airport. Somehow we felt as if we have known each other forever, as if we were family. And during the days to come, this feeling will deepen.
We were taken to the Kingdom Hotel in our truck, and for the first time we slept in actual beds. From now it will be camping. We had pre-departure meeting which prepared us for the trip and set the mood. During dinner we were entertained by the traditional dance JJ once founded: Rousing music and cheerfulness. JJ joined in and sang along.
Chobe National Park: Forever etched in our memories is the evening boat cruise on the Chobe River. Countless elephants roam the valley, find food in the swamps and romp aboutin the water. Terrifyingly huge crocodiles rest on the shores. One that swam through the current was hard to tell from a tree-trunk. Even now I can still hear the call of the fish eagle, to me a typical sound of southern Africa.
Especially impressive was a small family of elephants that passed very close to our safari vehicle on the next day. A moment we will never forget, but at the same time very alarming to those who had never been to Africa before. Unfortunately some of our fellow passengers – let me stress that they were not part of our group! – spoiled the moment. They panicked and accused our guide of having acted in an irresponsible way. Fortunately we were able to clarify the issue.
Okavango Delta: In dugouts called Mokoros we floated through the reeds along hippo channels to our campsite in the middle of the wilderness. Silence, tranquility. We heard only animal noises and cheery voices of the polers, moving our boats through the water. We went on game walk and we looked for animals from the dugouts. Numerous elephants, zebra and lechwe – a species of antelope I had never encountered before – were spotted. We saw lots of birds like fish eagles, marabous, lapwings, African darters – and a hippo. And we swan in the crystal clear waters of the delta. Some tried their hand at poling a dugout, and we were spoilt with tasty meals at the camp fire. Stunning sunrises and sunsets became a daily occurrence. At night we listened to frogs and cicadas under a sky peppered with stars and to the songs of our African polers and guides. Africa at its purest. It was hard to leave this wonderful place behind.
We flew over the delta in two small planes, took in this natural wonder from above and spotted more animals, especially elephants.
Moremi National Park: A wildlife haven! Another place full of surprises and highlights! One was a group of seven lionesses and a young male which we discovered a short distance away from the dirt track we were driving on. As we were passing a big herd of buffalo, our guide pointed out that predators like staying close to such their food sources. A moment later we heard the warning calls of monkeys. Our guide watched them, noted where they were looking and checked the area. And lo and behold – very soon we spotted the group of lions that had just come back from the water where they had quenched their thirst after a hearty meal. Some of the cats still had blood on their faces. One lioness was wearing a collar with a transmitter around her neck.
In the evening we were sitting around the campfire, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, some red wine, a glass of whisky or amarula. Then a hyena we had spotted before stealthily crept behind our backs, grabbed our well-filled cooler box and ran off with it. JJ and our guide gave chase. The hyena tripped over a root and dropped the box. But its powerful jaws left marks where it had grabbed the container! We were impressed. Several times during the night the hyena returned to our campsite in hopes of finding food. This made us a little uneasy and we tried not to find too many reasons to leave the tent during the night.
Planet Baobab in the Makgadikgadi Desert: Salt pans, low acacia trees, amazing baobabs and the droll little meerkats which were busy looking for insects in the sand and stood on their hind legs making sure that no enemy was lurking close.
For the young ones racing into the salt pans on quads was the highlight of the trip.
Vic Falls: Well known for the waterfall which Livingstone named after his queen and which the indigenous people called “the smoke that thunders.” What a well chosen name. The waters of the mighty Zambezi thunder into a deep gorge and the spray rises like smoke. Even though we were protected by raincoats we got drenched. I was glad that my cameras survived the wet walk along the rim of the gorge undamaged!
Late afternoon was tea-time in the Victoria Falls Hotel! Colonial Africa revived!
We watched the vultures being fed at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, an unbelievable spectacle, hard to describe. The vultures were fighting for every scrap of meat, what havoc there was and there was much dust in the air. We heard the birds threaten each other with hissing sounds, and the marabous only ventured to the feeding place when most of the vultures were back in the trees or had left the scene altogether.
Sipping sundowners, we watched the sunset from the lodge. Suddenly, a gigantic cloud of dust moved towards the waterhole a little downhill from where we sat. Out of the dust, buffalos majestically strode to the water. An unbelievable sight to behold.
We had our farewell dinner at The Boma with delicious food and very good wine. The strongest impression was made by the drummers who ended up inviting the guests to join in: a perfect ending for our once-in-a-lifetime-journey!