To safari in Africa with my children

As difficult as it was to say goodbye to the people I have come to love dearly over these past 18 months on my mission, the sadness was tampered by the arrival in Africa of three of my children and their sweethearts.  We all flew from differing originations and joined together in the Johannesburg, South Africa, airport to then spend the next 10 days on a whirlwind tour of southern Africa.  It turned out to be a blast of a trip ripe with adventure, near mishaps, and unfathomable scenery and wildlife.

             

                                    

                                              

Adventure #1:  Mosetlha Bush Camp, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa.  We spent two nights in this magical environment which is a completely unplugged, electricity-free bush camp where propane lanterns lit pathways to our tented bomas at night, luscious meals were prepared over coals, and donkey boilers provided hot water for screened outdoor showering.  We enjoyed four game drives, 2 each morning and 2 each evening. 

                 

                                               

To add to the magic of this experience, we were richly blessed to be joined by dear friends Caiphus and Wanja Manganela and Wame and Jocelyn Nyepi. Not knowing when I will see these lovely people again made parting rather tricky.

                 

This was our fourth visit to Mosetlha since coming to southern Africa, and while it never gets old or routine, it was made even more special by the presence of my lovely family and friends, all of whom were blown away by the number of wild animals we encountered on each drive. Truly was it an enchanting experience. Many people come to safari in Africa in hopes of encountering the Big Five, namely elephant, Cape buffalo, lion, leopard, and rhinoceros, but most are unable to accomplish this hope due to the elusive nature of the leopard.  Yet on our first evening drive, we spotted one sunning itself in a tree making for a truly iconic African bush adventure.  Indeed we enjoyed all of the Big Five in Madikwe.  As a bonus, we followed two cheetah brothers, and we were treated to watch as a lioness stalked warthog while teaching her young how to hunt.  We could not have had better fortune. 

                                          

                  

                                             

                   

                                                    

Adventure #2:  Chobe National Park, Kasane, Botswana.  World renowned Chobe boasts one of the highest concentrations of elephants anywhere in the world.  Additionally, the Chobe River draws an abundance of diverse animals to its banks, and our first experience here was a sunset cruise on the river. We were blown away by the size and numbers of crocodiles lining the banks.  The abundance and diversity of birds along the river was as awe-inspiring as any of the other wildlife we encountered which included jackals, massive Cape buffalo, elegant giraffe by the dozens (called a tower), troops of baboons, dazzles of zebra, wildebeest, a handful of ginormous hippo, and countless impala.  Additionally, we witnessed the most amazing number of graceful kudu that Aaron and I had thus far witnessed, the males sporting impossible double-spiraled horns.

                                               

                    

                 

                                                

               

Following on the river cruise, we next rented 4X4s to experience a two-day self-safari adventure along the shores of the Chobe River and were blown away by the sheer number and diversity of wildlife we encountered.  Each bend of the sandy road presented a new scene and endless encounters with wildlife in their natural habitat.  And then there were the incredible elephant herds, each family group complete with babies, teenagers, and massive matriarchs all communicating with each other through tummy rumblings and sometimes trumpetings.  The colossal male bull elephants we encountered took our breath away. 

                     

                                                      

The nights spent in tents on top of our 4X4s were ripe with sounds of our nocturnal neighbors including hippo bellows, jackal and hyena yips, zebra barks, and exotic bird calls.  Night time was frequently punctuated by various barks, yaps, yelps, growls, howls, and cackles.  Nightly heavenly visions in the pitch-black bush included The Southern Cross and the vast luminous Milky Way.  One cannot imagine but absolutely must experience the magical beauty of wandering through the desolate dry arid scrubby bush country of  Botswana's Kalahari Desert.  It is all simply impossible.   

                     

We arrived at our remote camp spot deep in the bush at Savuti and were enjoying lunch before heading to the baobab grove when a gargantuan bull elephant thundered directly into our camp with ears flapping and a clear disposition to clear a path by force.  We scrambled for the protection of our vehicles when Aaron's attempts to shoo said massive beast were met with a potentially lethal trunk swing and angry trumpet.  From inside our trucks and with cameras rolling, we watched as this behemoth approached the large tree in the middle of our site, head butted the tree, and then enjoyed the snack of pods dislodged by his head jars.  For several moments we watched as he pillaged our tree for its pods and then headed off to terrorize the next group of campers.  Wow.  Only in Africa.

                     

Unable to take it all in or to feel that we could ever see enough, we headed back from Savuti to Kasane along the same Chobe River tracks which we'd taken out.  The animal sitings were so frequent and so varied as to be both improbable and impossible, yet each bend revealed more animals to our view and to our utter delight.  And then we experienced the most rare siting of all, that of a leopard. Again. Leopard sitings are uncommon enough that visitors may safari multiple times without ever spotting one.  Spellbound, we watched this leopard for a long while, so long in fact that we had to then high tail it to the gate before they lock up just after sunset.  And that's when we discovered one of our truck's tires had popped.  Surrounded by a huge troop of gnarly baboons, we nevertheless spun into action, changed the tire in record time, and sped our way to the gate, making it just one minute before they'd have locked us in for the night.  

                   

Adventure #3:  Victoria Falls, where Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana meet.  These majestic thundering falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, were truly over the top.  It's impossible to describe the intensity and sheer volume of water roaring over the cliffs, the largest sheet of falling water in the world.  The mist and thunder of these falls must be experienced to be appreciated, and even then it's difficult to take it all in.  We were both drenched and awed by the once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

                  

                                        

                

                                   

               

A huge thank you to my children and the wonderful sweethearts they have brought into our family.  My heart cannot hold all the love and emotion I have for them, so it simply spills out onto my cheeks. My family is quite simply the best.