Ah, Africa

I have been home for almost a month - it's time to get back to life in Portland. I must admit, however, that my mind still strays to Africa. So, here it is, final thoughts about my trip.

Our Guides and Staff:

James 

I realize I never mentioned James in earlier entries and that isn't right. He was the Overseas Adventure Travel guide who stayed with us the entire time we were on safari. We met new guides and staff at each of the four safari camps but James was a constant and what a constant he was. He is a true gentleman with all this connotes. He is kind, knowledgable, honest, thoughtful and honorable. He is from Zimbabwe and taught us much about life in a nation that is governed by a long-term dictator. Well, he had to be careful - he shared his thoughts while we were still in Zambia. As he said, "In Zimbabwe, you never know who may be listening."

He is proud of the beauty and traditional culture of his homeland. This enthusiasm was palpable when we stayed at our camp in Zimbabwe and our two days at Victoria Falls. He grinned when we got wet from the mist while looking at the falls (as he helped us put jackets and ponchos on over our clothes). He shared stories of his family that illustrated traditional Zimbabwean culture. He worked with us to make our visit at the Zimbabwean school and village as meaningful as possible.

Godfrey

If I had to pick a favorite guide from the four camps, Godfrey is my choice, hands down. He enthusiastically taught us about life on the savanna - the animals, their behaviors, what their tracks teach and so on. For example, here he is illustrating uses of elephant dung. Who knew that, if you are on the savanna and have run out of water, you can squeeze fresh elephant dung (believe me, it is EVERYWHERE) and drink the brown liquid that oozes out? Yes, bless those herbivore elephants - no bacteria from digested meat - so it is safe. And, in case you are interested, if the brown liquid has a slightly sweet taste, it is from a female elephant. 

I did not test either theory.

The other way you can use elephant dung is to distract tsetse flies. All you have to do is put a chunk of the dung in a container, light it, and voila, no flies. Our vans had containers attached to their fenders for this purpose and we used them two afternoons when flies were present. No smell by the way (was it from female elephants?).

I wonder if it would work on mosquitoes here at home? If one lived near a zoo . . . .

These guides taught us local history, flora and fauna. The pod in the above photo was heavy - do not stand under these tree unless wearing head gear!

The first and last jobs of our guides at each camp was  to pick us up and return us to the landing strip where we would fly to the next camp. Here Godfrey is getting ready to send us off. Note the security color of his vest. He is dressed for his job of greeting the plane and chasing animals off the landing strip before our plane lands or takes off - another possible career path for me with my own yellow jacket!

In addition to guides, the staff at each camp worked hard to make our stay enjoyable. They cooked our meals, tucked that lovely hot water bottle in our beds at night, served us drinks in the evening, met us with damp washcloths when we returned from animal viewing drives and entertained us. They were all wonderful.

The Land:
What can I say? It surpassed all expectations. I thought I knew what the savanna would look like but nothing prepared me for the reality. The grasslands, water holes, scrub forests, termite mounds, rivers, channels of the Okavanga Delta - all amazing.

Elephants gather at a water hole in the early morning - it was cold.

  

In the heat of the afternoon even the elephants take a break. 

Yes, they are resting, not dead!

The incredible termite mounds.

Sunset on the Chobe River in Botswana

Just after sunset in Zimbabwe

Early evening on the Lufupa River in Zambia

The Animals:

Baboons

I haven't shared much about baboons other than that you don't want to get their dung on the soles of your shoes - the smell will NOT come out - but they were the animals who first taught me to stop, listen and carefully look at the land in front of me. What I discovered is that, when you look carefully, there are far more animals in a vista than initially thought. 

Here is what happened. My tent cabin at Chobe (our first safari camp) was perched on a hill that sloped down to the river, with scrub forest between our tent and the river. On my first afternoon at camp I sat on the stairs leading down to the path to the main lodge. When I spotted a baboon, I called to my cousin to come join me. As we watched we realized that there were actually lots of baboons cavorting in front of us - you just had to take the time to see them. Their color so closely matched the colors of the scrub forest that they weren't initially visible but, once we carefully looked, we saw mothers with babies, silly adolescents playing with each other and some posturing by adult males. Ah, the benefits of taking time to slow down and watch what is around you.

Baboons discussing life on the savanna.

Giraffes

There is something about giraffes. How can one animal look both so outrageously odd and, at the same time, graceful? I never ceased to catch my breath when we suddenly came upon giraffes. They are gangly when the move, their ears are funny, their whole shape is awkward and yet, there is just something so appealing about giraffes.

Lions

They ARE majestic as they roam the savanna. I think my heart stopped each time 
we closed in on these regal animals. So sleek, so gorgeous, so deadly. 

Wart hogs

They made me laugh - but I was also appreciative of those tusks when I stepped out of my tent cabin at the Lufupa River in Zambia one afternoon and saw four of them approaching my front steps. They were, perhaps, 3 feet away. I ran inside, slammed the door - and then peeked out the window to watch them as they passed by on their way to the river.


The Elephants

I love elephants. I love the wisdom in their eyes. I treasure the times when elephants strolled right past our van and made eye contact. They greatly please me. 

But oh, the damage they do. This is just one tree after elephants have passed by. Multiply it throughout the scrub forest and you can get an idea of the extent of the damage.

The Birds:

I must admit I have never paid much attention to birds but the birds of the savanna made me sit up and take note. Gorgeous. Exquisite - all shapes, sizes and calls.


The People of Africa:
Simply amazing - their resilience, their pride in their traditions and their beautiful children.

Dancing!
We all danced.  How can you not when gathered around a camp fire in the dark of night, looking up at the stars and the moon while drums beat and the staff sing?  You can't stay in your seats, you just have to get up and join in.

This is how we were met when we arrived in camp - it set the tone.

They danced.

We danced. We all danced.

Okay, so now my absolute favorites:

Favorite Animal - The elephants? No. The lions? Nope. The zebras? No. The leopards? Gorgeous, but no. The giraffes? Hmmmmm, no. Get ready . . .  Guinea Hens!

They absolutely cracked me up. I loved watching them flutter around, scurrying this way and that. When we would come upon groups of animals our eyes would first go to the elephants or the impalas or whatever but almost inevitably, if you looked around, you also saw a flock of guinea hens cavorting, playing follow the leader. Their colors were amazing - brown through deep blue, some with checkered feathers, others mottled, some with bright beaks.  What they had in common is that they were all charming. When you visit me in Portland you will see guinea hen trinkets tucked here and there in my house. When I see them, I smile.

Favorite Tree?  The Baobab

What magnificent trees. They seem almost other-worldly with incredibly thick trunks and branches that stretch out like arms. In summer, their leaves soften the view but it was winter. We got to see the see the basic structure of the trees without their leaves - and it was glorious. 

Again, we can compare photos - mine and Anna's.  This is mine of the Chobe River - if I had just moved the camera a bit to the left you would see the whole baobob tree.

These are Anna's photos from Kroger Park - a pre-trip that Pattie and I did not take. 

I love the top photo of the van driving between two baobao trees. 

The baobab tree in the bottom photo is over 1000 years old. 

By the way, how do you pronounce it? One version is "bough-bob", another "bay-o-bob" - take your pick.

Favorite Single Memory

This is hard - there were so many wonderful things that happened, but if I have to pick one, here it is.

One evening Pattie and I walked back to our tent cabin in Zambia, on the Lufupa River. It was dark so staff members accompanied us. We said goodnight to them and then slipped into our cabin and started to get ready for bed. We discovered that the staff, by mistake, had not put up the coverings over the screen windows on one side of our tent. This meant more cold air would come in during the night than if they had been covered. What a wonderful mistake it ended up to be. Once we turned off the lights we realized that, right outside, about 25 yards away, stood 8 hippos, who had come up from the river and were now munching savanna grasses in front of our tent. We quickly pushed the table aside and moved the two wicker chairs in front of the screen. We sat and watched in the dark, quietly, for perhaps an hour. The almost-full moon shone down and we could see the Southern Cross in the distant sky. We later went to sleep hearing their snorts and roars and munches.  

Thank you, Africa. 

Much thanks to my wonderful traveling companions

Onwards to Turkey next year.

And, finally, thanks to my wonderful cousin, Pattie (in the dark coat next to me). We have traveled together in Egypt, England, France, Alaska and Hawaii (and lots of other short trips in between) and will join the group in Turkey next year. Although almost 20 years younger than me (she was 5 at my wedding!) we have become best of friends and there is no better travel companion. She kept me going, was always ready for any adventure, and didn't even groan when I kept uttering Meryl Streep's opening line from Out of Africa ("I had a farm in Africa"). I tried to say it with the Danish accent Meryl adopted - let's see - "I haad a fahrm in Afreecah." It was not pretty, not even close to Meryl, but Pattie not only endured it but found it amusing. I would say it whenever Africa overcame me - which was often. It got so she would look around, suspect what was coming, and say, "It's okay, go ahead," and off I went. Now that's a true friend.

Almost all of the photos (all the good ones) from this entry are from Anna.  Thank you, friend!