Safari in Review: June 22, 2013

We got up a little earlier than usual this morning to take our final game drive of the safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana. As we started out this chilly morning, we saw plenty of giraffes and elephants, some with youngsters. This is always a joy to watch!

We were also treated to another sighting of the unusual looking Kori Bustard bird; pretty lucky! We even saw some baboons fairly close to us.

When we continued a little father, we were treated to a sighting of two lionesses with two little cubs! We wanted to get a better look, but our vehicle decided that this would be a great time for the 4 wheel drive to break down! No worries though, our guide knew exactly what to do. We were still able to drive a small distance to a safe area, where we waited for another vehicle to pick us up. In the meantime, we enjoyed watching a beautiful, iridescent blue starling strut around like he owned the park!

As we got going, we spotted a huge herd of buffalo crossing the sandy road. My personal favorite was one large bull who was wearing two Oxpecker birds on his face! :-)

Once we got going again, it took maybe just an hour to reach the border crossing with Zambia. From this vantage point, we could see four countries: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. We took a speed boat across the river (waiting for the slow moving ferry would have taken hours), and then it was not too long before we were able to get going past the border crossing within Zambia. We did have to fend off several aggressive vendors trying to sell their trinkets, but though they were a bit aggressive, they were also friendly.

In Zambia, it was a quick drive to reach Livingstone, and Victoria Falls! We stopped for an hour at the Falls area so that everyone could really get a good impression of the Smoke That Thunders! The Falls did not disappoint and were extremely loud and full of water! We were pretty limited by how far we could walk without getting wet and requiring a protective poncho.

When we finished the Falls viewing, we proceeded to our lodge, checked in, and enjoyed showering with running water again – what a treat!

We had a lovely final group dinner together at the lodge. Everyone enjoyed discussing all that we had seen and experienced on the safari during our sunset dinner.

After dinner, only two of us ventured back to Victoria Falls. Though it was dark outside, this was only one of three nights during June when the lunar rainbow would be visible! It was not difficult to get back; the lodge arranged for a taxi to take us. What we saw was truly delightful. You could see the falls from several vantage points, as you can during the daytime, but the lunar rainbow is something else. It started out being fairly faint at 8pm, but seemed to intensify as we stayed for some time.

Each vantage point gave us a different viewing angle. I would definitely recommend experiencing this if you are in the Falls area during one of the nights of the lunar rainbow (during the full moon). What a way to cap off an adventurous day!