Missy’s African Safari—September 2-11, 2009

The African Safari was the most memorable experience I have ever had in my life. I was able to visit many different countries, including Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, (Victoria Falls), Johannesburg, and transit through Ethiopia!! it was so beautiful! it is so different than the media stereotypes, with great hotels, lots of activities, and the people all speak English and are so sweet!

One of the best activities was the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Elephantback Safari where I got to interact, ride, pet and feed an elephant through the bush. It was so much fun and not as scary as one might think! I also got to go on a Lion Walk, where we petted and walked with several lions throughout the bush, following them as they investigated the river, climbed trees and play fought together.  It was so unbelievable to spend time close to them and just hang around them as they wandered aimlessly around. The Kingdom Hotel was a beautiful place just next to the gorgeous Victoria Falls that pounded down the rocks as one of the 7 Wonders of the World, which was quite a sight to see. The super-tall trees bent together on top to intertwine overhead at the falls’ walkway (about 1 ½ hours for all of it), while the falls spritzed a refreshing misty rain on all the passersby. It was like being in the tropical Amazon Jungle or rainforest and felt so wonderful in the heat of the day.

The most exhilarating sports activity on the trip was the wild river rafting down the rapids of the Victoria Falls. The water was fast and the views were stunning of high naturally-carved canyon walls (it was very similar to the Grand Canyon in USA). There were crocodiles watching us from the rocks that the guide told us had probably fallen over as eggs or babies and then survived down below. As we approached, the crocs slid into the water silently coming toward us. Let me tell you, nothing inspires you to paddle faster than a 14 foot croc following your rubber yellow raft!  I imagined we appeared like an appetizer cracker with pate on top and did not really want to wait to see if a croc’s teeth could actually penetrate the rubber. We approached the final 10^th rapid for the half-day tour and it was aptly named “The Devil’s Toilet Bowl”. When we hit that rapid I only saw the sky since a couple of us went flying through the air and landed in the water. I was under about 10 seconds, but it felt like 10 years! It reminded me of that scene in the Tom Hanks/Daryl Hannah mermaid movie “Splash”, where you only see bubbles and hear that underwater sound all around you. You can’t swim, and are really at the mercy of the river to keep propelling you along the rapid until you can reach calmer waters and search for the surface.

 There were rescue guides that followed us the entire way alongside the raft in kayaks and one immediately headed toward me as soon as I resurfaced. I heard my raft guide yelling to SWIM!, but the excellently-made lifejacket I was wearing was so big (Thank God!) that I could hardly move my arms. I had no choice but to grab the kayak strap before it hit me in the face as I desperately clutched my paddle in my other hand (assuming if I lost it I would have to pay to replace it!). When the guide screamed let go of the kayak, my brain registered let go of the paddle…big mistake. So I grabbed the paddle again, the guide caught the end of it, and I straddled between the two of them as we continued over the rapids, then I finally let go of the kayak. We had all been briefed as to how to help anyone who fell overboard, and I was very happy a nice strong guy named Andrew (who reminded me of my brother Kevin) remembered that training under pressure. He grabbed me by my lifejacket and whipped me into the boat where I unceremoniously lost my shorts and had to snatch them back (making me thank goodness the cameraman documenting the scenario was too far away to capture that moment on film!)

I thought the rafting was so extraordinary and exciting, with only one major problem. To get to the river down below, you have to literally mountain/rock climb down these dangerously perilous stairs built into the side of the falls. It took about 45 minutes and there were only some safety handrails, but it was unbelievably far. However, nothing was as exhausting as the very long haul back up the side of the falls on a different mountain trail with no hand rail, carrying the lifejacket, paddle and helmet, and only bamboo and rocks for steps. That was so horrifyingly painful that a week later I was still sore and could hardly walk. They really should warn people about that, and possibly try to make a driving trail or helicopter taxi up and down because someone might get seriously hurt.

One of the greatest adventures of being in Africa was that many of the accommodations had certain animals that strolled the grounds and hotels, such as baby impalas (like deer) and baboons. Back at the hotel as I wandered to my exceptional room, a mother baboon carrying her tiny baby around her neck hanging from her chest was sitting right outside the exterior hallway near the natural pondwater (which had crocodile babies in it and signs telling parents to keep an eye on their children not to go too close to it). The mother baboon was waiting for her mate, who was bending over with his bright red butt in the air drinking from the pond. They all looked at me as I went to my room door as if I was invading their private moment, which of course prompted me to grab my camera and take pictures of the encounter since they were so funny to watch.

On the game drives at the Chobe National Park, it was exciting to have the animals walk right by the open 4x4…a giraffe actually leaned into the truck and I thought it would take a taste of my hair thinking it was food! He was so tall and close to me that I actually had to wait until we could reposition the truck a bit farther away to get a great picture. I only came up to his knees sitting in the truck and had to strain my neck to look up at his face...he was over 13 feet tall! We had herds of water buffalo crossing the road for a long time, and then ventured down by the river to see the hundreds of elephants, buffalo and impala all grazing near the grasslands and water tributaries. In the distance we could see a herd of about 20 zebras protecting their newborn baby. There were also five giraffes in the distance that were running to get to the water…so incredible to see such animals run!

In Johannesburg, I visited a rehabilitation research center and got to pet cheetahs and see the new baby cubs. They were so adorable and playful. I also saw lots of water buffalo, impala, elephants and baboons crossing the roads and throughout the bush on the safari drives. They were so close I kept wanting to reach out and touch them! (to the major distress of my safari guide who kept reminding me that they might just take my hand off).

By far the most animals were spotted as I took a 3-day Ichobezi houseboat cruise along the Zambezi river where we took out smaller boats and got right up next to the animals to get close ups!! it was so surreal! We snuck up on so many families of hippos, hundreds of elephants, loner crocodiles, huge lizards (some as big as the Kimodo dragons that looked like crocs!), and herds of water buffalo! Again I was so tempted to just reach out and pet them, which kept scaring the guides who let us get so close. I was surprised how calm the animals were to see so many boats and people so near to them, yet they must be getting used to all the tourists. There was no real danger and just being in such close proximity was like a photographer’s dream come true.

The hippo sightings were fun because they would sometimes just pop up next to the boat and scare the heck out of us. They were the silent swimmers who suddenly appeared as just a pair of ears and eyes and then a huge body that stood up to show that the water was not as deep as we had previously thought.

There were many crocodiles of all shapes and sizes along the river, from the cute baby crocs that were small and brightly colored yellow and green, to the huge 16 foot grampa croc that looked as if it had just swallowed a baby water buffalo (and probably did!) We were able to take the small jetty boat right up to where they would sit calmly sunning themselves on the black rocks or along the shoreline, usually half in the water and half out, as if ready for a fast getaway. However, there were few who actually moved at all when we approached, since obviously they were afraid of nothing and no one. They just stared at us as if we were intruding on their personal space, and we were able to take so many fantastic pictures.

One croc and another hippo actually opened up their mouths so wide that everyone went crazy just snapping photos at the site of such an action shot.

The most inspiring part of the safari was the daily monitoring of the huge elephant herds that visited the Zambezi Riverbanks throughout the day until sunset. They spent hours playing in the water and splashing each other with mud to cool down. There were babies that were only one month old, and the older bull elephants were 60 years old, according to our local African guides who were very knowledgeable on the subject since they had been living there for their entire lives.

Each day just before sunset, wherever we were, we rushed down to the area between the river and the island to where the elephants began to line up and swim back across to the other side. The babies needed help so the mothers supported them with their trunks as they swam in the deeper water. Some babies actually grabbed the mothers’ tails for help, which was so cute! They were all in a perfect line formation as they crossed the river for so long until the last elephant reached the other bank. The elephants all waited for each other and then all left to climb up to where they would spend the night in the bush until they returned again after the mid-morning sun. It was an incredible sight to see such a display of family-oriented loyalty and dedication.

As the bright red African sun set at 6 p.m. daily, we could see the elephants heading home while the hippos and crocodiles rested along the shores, just their ears and eyes sticking up above the water. At nighttime on the houseboat, we were parked by the peninsula and island, strategically positioned to see any animals that might come to drink while we slept. We could hear some animals and screeching Fish Eagles in the night, but otherwise it was pitchblack and very quiet. However, each morning at about 5 a.m. before the sun rose, there were the loudest lion roars as they hunted, chased and eventually caught their prey of impala or water buffalo. Unfortunately, no matter how close we looked, we could not see anything in the darkness and the boat captain did not want to intrude by turning on the floodlights. It really gave us that African feeling of being in the jungle and hearing the hunters capture their prey…incomparable to anything I have ever done before.

Although all of the hotels and accommodations were fantastic and had such delicious meals with very helpful service from the staff, my favorite was the Elephant Valley Lodge. It was a luxurious campsite of several luxurious tents with individual marble tiled bathrooms and showers included. All of the camp members ate delectable cuisine outside on the terrace overlooking the natural wonders, trees and strategically placed waterhole in the middle of nowhere. As we ate and chatted, huge herds of elephants and water buffalos came to drink from the water hole and watched us for hours. They were just outside of our reach, but so close we could have again reached out and touched them, if not for the almost invisible electrified fence that I had not even noticed before. The guides told us at first the elephants used to test the fence daily to see if they could cross it, but after awhile, they got used to it and just liked to watch the people.

At about 2 a.m. one night, while lying asleep in our very comfortable tents, we heard all the baboons (about 30) yelling like crazy as a pack of wild dogs attached one of their babies and tried to drag it away from the water hole just outside the fenceline. The screaming and barking went on for 2 hours until finally the security guys went to check it out (and I of course had to also see what was happening). Finally, there was total silence as the dogs got away with their prey and began to start eating while the baboons left in quiet sorrow for their lost loved one. It was the harsh reality of the circle of life as once again only the strongest could survive in the African bush.

Although I was very fortunate to never have been in any serious danger, I did hear a few stories I will share. One guy I met named Quinton was attacked in Rwanda by a silver-backed gorilla and ended up needing serious chiropractic therapy on his shoulder, back and knee. The 800 pound gorilla felt threatened when the group was taking pictures and just lunged at him like a linebacker while he was not looking. It was a miracle he survived. Also, one Australian girl did drown on the river rafting last year, but otherwise the safari tours were very well-guided and safe.