DAY 12: Adventure at the Falls!

It's 21:36 and I'm running on battery power... Today was HECTIC, but in a very good way. First we went for a half-day of white river rafting and then we visited the spectacular Vic Falls! I'll let the photos tell the story:

A shot from the GoPro video camera (fastened to my head)

JI takes on the rapids! (no, he didn't fall off - we all jumped in!) (taken with GoPro)

The rafting was 100% worth it! We're already planning the next trip when the rapids are even rougher. The scenery is spectacular, the guides fantastic and the waves insane!

Villiers and JI with all the Wild Horizons guides

Colgate, James and all the other guides from Wild Horizons were FANTASTIC! Don't forget Isaac who shot the video - they're all legends. Thanks guys for making the river rafting extra special!

After the rafting we walked from our rest camp to the Victoria Falls - one of the seven natural wonders of the world. And man, is it a wonder!!?!

The Vic Falls are currently pumping!

JI takes video footage of the Falls with the GoPro

Villiers with the power of the Zambezi in the background

Yes, we got VERY VERY wet!!! (taken with GoPro)

We got completely soaked by the spray, which is more like a downpour than anything else, and we LOVED it! Just a pity our phones got a bit wet. We were hoping to chat to Martin Bester of 94.2 again, but no luck. Let's hope the phones dry quickly - they're acting a bit funny tonight to say the least.

All in all this has been one of the most exciting days of the Serengeti Trip so far! Tomorrow we head north...to Lusaka!

Night night

Villiers

Highlight of the day:

Villiers: Rapid no. 18!!! Yes please!!!

JI: Rapid no. 16B - the Terminator!

Lowlight of the day:
Villiers and JI: Getting our iPhones wet!

DAY 11: Football with the locals

After a long day of fishing yesterday we decided to sleep in this morning, at least until 07:30. We departed from Mlibizi around 10:00 and took a slow drive towards Vic Falls - our next destination. Our plan was to find someone along the way to play football with. We saw a small group of boys playing on the roadside just north of Crossroads and decided to stop. Within minutes we drew a crowd and bingo, we had ourselves a football game!!

Our football "field" next to the road

We had players of all ages, including two very young and talented goalies! JI was on fire and scored five goals!!...which is five more than I scored...

JI in action!!

Team Side-of-the-road

JI hands over one of the footballs to Stanley

As I've mentioned, we've brought a lot of footballs to give away on our journey. You can meet a lot of people through sports, and in Africa football is the way to go! We also gave the small boys a ball.

JI shows the other players some of the photos we took during the game

It really was one of the most enjoyable afternoons on the trip so far! I have to admit - these guys are much fitter than us, have better skills and played barefoot! Respect (we had to dodge a lot of thorns and rocks)!

We are in Vic Falls now and plan to go river rafting tomorrow, so the next post should be a good one! We also hope to speak to Martin Bester of Jacaranda 94.2 again, so keep your radios tuned into his show between 4 and 7pm! Let's hope it goes through.

Cheers

Villiers

Highlight of the day:

Villiers: FOOTBALL!!!

JI: FIVE goals!!

Lowlight of the day:

Villiers: I got a speeding fine! (68 in an 80-zone)

JI: Vic Falls is expensive!

DAY 10: Tiere Plesier

Dit is ons tweede dag by die asemrowende Mlibizi en vandag is die volgende groot jagtog op ons reis, - die soektog na tiervis. Die reenerige weer het nie ons missie makliker gemaak nie. Ons was so opgewonde oor die dag dat ons alreeds 06:30 ons visstokke begin regmaak het, met die wete dat ons eers 7:30 ons gids ontmoet. Dit het gelyk of ons 'n film op die meer gaan skiet met al die kamaratoetusting wat Villiers saam gevat het!

Dis hoe Villiers dit doen, met 'n Coke in die hand, natuurlik!

As gevolg van al die reen was die water baie vuil, en wou die vis vir die eerste uur glad nie byt nie. Ons gids, Joshua Mudenda, was vasbeslote dat ons wel tiere sou kry. Hy neem ons toe 5km stroom af, in Binga se rigting, en draai by 'n baie skoner baai in. Ons het nie lank gestaan nie, toe begin Joshua die Kurpers (of eerder Bream, soos dit hier bekend is) een na die ander in te trek. Ek en Villiers was nie opsoek na die klein vissies nie, maar eerder die vis wat hulle as prooi beskou! Na 'n hele klomp gooie, het ek uiteindelik 'n byt gehad, en so ook die eerste Tier van die dag uitgetrek. Daarna trek Joshua die grootste tier van die dag uit. Dit het Villiers baie opgewonde agter die kamera gehad.

Joshua en sy monster

Na 'n hele paar uur, sonder enige byte, en verskeie nuwe plekke, het ek uiteindelik my tweede en laaste Tier vir die dag uitgetrek. Teen die tyd het ek gewonder of die tiere ook so skaars gan wees soos die katte in Hwange.

Nie so groot, maar darm op die boot...

Die dag het al hoe langer geword en die son het ook later besluit om in te loer. Ek moes toe maar instem om 'n ander dag my 6kg droom Tier te kom soek. Een ding waaroor en nou sit en wonder: Hoe sou Villiers 'pose' vir 'n foto met sy vrees vir die vis reuk?! 

Ek het darm nog al my vingers!

Maar ek moet dit vir Villiers gee, hy het darm hard probeer om 'n vis uit die water te haal. Net jammer die oomblik wat die vis sy stok byna van die boot afgetrek het, was hy bietjie stadig. Sy dag sal nog kom!

 JI



Hoogtepunte:

JI: Villiers se gesig toe hy die grote mis!
Villiers: Toe 'n groot Tiervis uiteindelik gebyt het.


Laagtepunt:

JI: Net 2 visse vir so lang dag.
Villiers: Dat ek nie naby my stok was, toe 'n groot Tiervis uiteindelik gebyt het nie!

DAY 9: Our daily routine

First I would like to thank all of you who commented on our previous post. Servaas, Almarie, Rayno, Francois and Annie, you guessed right: JI took the lion photo and I took the one of the zebras! So it seems like JI wins this one 5/2! We'll go head to head again soon with two more stunning wildlife photos.

We left Main Camp around 11:00 this morning, but not before going on one last game drive. Although we didn't see much, we did find a small herd of roan antelope - not something you see everyday, at least in the Kruger National Park. During the game drive the Hilux, which JI now calls the Hyena (because its backside always sits below its head), had a special birthday - it reached 200 000 kilometres!

A special moment for our baby!

From Main Camp we headed for Crossroads where we filled up with fuel and then for Hwange town where we stocked up on meat, eggs and drinks. It rained all the way. Our final destination was Mlibizi Zambezi Resort next to Lake Kariba. On the way we found the biggest chameleon we had ever seen in the road!

JI with a monster of a chameleon

We've set up camp next to the lake and tomorrow it's time for tiger fishing, baby!! 

Oops, the rain is starting again...so here's a very quick look at our daily routine up to now:

1) We've got to pack up our camp in the morning, of course;

2) Throughout the day we have to make sure we get all the footage we need - photos and video;

Villiers fastens the GoPro video camera onto the Hilux

3) In the afternoon we often do a diary entry on the larger video camera;

JI doing a diary entry at Ngweshla, Hwange

4) In the afternoon the camp also has to be set up;

Villiers in our new camp next to Lake Kariba

5) In the evenings we have to cook, download photos and videos and then post the latest blog entry. We also check for important e-mails;

JI checks his e-mails at Masuma dam, all thanks to the Sat4Rent satphone

Sorry, I know this was a very brief description of our daily routine, but you get the picture. As you can see, it takes much more than game drives and afternoon naps in our hammocks to get this blog post out every evening...and we love every second of it! Let's hope tomorrow produces something special! Keep you fingers crossed for large tigers...!!

And can I just say: This Sat4Rent satellite phone is amazing!! It's raining now, but we're getting signal with the terminal placed UNDER the car! This really is an incredible piece of equipment!

Highlight of the day:

Villiers: Mlibizi - I love this place!!

JI: My wonderful long telephone conversation with my girlfriend Talita!!!

Lowlight of the day:

Villiers: My hunger pains around 5pm! (nothing a few rusks couldn't sort out)

JI: Seeing the Gwayi River in flood - not good for fishing, people!

DAY 8: Hwange delivers!

It rained a lot last night at Ngweshla and by 05:00 it hadn't cleared...so we slept in. To be honest, both of us needed it. So we slowly started packing up before spending a bit of time with Binga Dube and his family. We pumped up the first of about 25 footballs we plan to give away during the trip and made Binga's two young sons smile big time!!

Villiers at Ngweshla with Binga Dube's two young sons

We left Ngweshla around 10:00 and drove a very scenic road to Main Camp. At first the light was fantastic, and so were the sightings. A herd of giraffe drank in the road right in front of the car! We really enjoyed the sunlight and dark dramatic clouds in the background.

Giraffe drinking in the road between Ngweshla and Main Camp

The Hilux couldn't look any better, could she!?

Soon after we took these lovely shots, the weather turned. It started bucketing down and within 15 minutes we were driving in a river! Fortunately the road surface was very sandy as opposed to muddy. We arrived at Main Camp just in time for lunch...

BUT, it was cut short with news of a lion pride that had caught a giraffe nearby! We raced to the sighting and finally saw our first cats for the trip! Seven lions (two adults, two sub-adults and three small cubs) used the wet weather to chase a giraffe across the slippery tar road and managed to pull the animal down. To our surprise the youngsters started playing in a tree near the carcass, making for some great video and photos! 

After about an hour with the lions we headed back to Main Camp for cheeseburgers and Coke at the Waterbuck's Head restaurant. Of course we had to top it off with an afternoon nap! Our late afternoon game drive produced sightings of honey badger (in the road), zebra, hippo, crocodile, kudu and giraffe.

Our good friend Servaas suggested that JI and I have a little photographic competition! So this is how it works: Below we have each posted our favourite shot of the day. What we want to know from you is: Which one is the best and who do you think took it??? This should be fun! We look forward to your comments!

Photograph A - taken at our first lion sighting of the trip!

Photograph B - taken near Nyamandhlovu hide

I hope you've enjoyed today's blog. We've had a wonderful time in Hwange and have only one game drive left in the morning. From there we head to Mlibizi to catch some tiger fish!!! Trust me, JI can't sleep at night that's how excited he is!

Highlight of the day:

Villiers: The lions, of course!

JI: For me too - the lions!

Lowlight of the day:

Villiers: That I couldn't get photos of the sables and the honey badger - they were to quick!

JI: My ear is not feeling well.

DAY 7: The ups and downs of road tripping

Before I start, here is a picture of our sunset-view from Masuma hide yesterday afternoon:

Sunset at Masuma Dam, Hwange, Zimbabwe

Okay, here goes... Today was a shocker! We were tested to the limit, but not by getting stuck, lost or sick. Things just didn't go well. After a perfect cup of coffee in the hide at sunrise, we decided to put up some photos of our friends and family on the inside of the Hilux's cab flaps. I set up the video camera to record it and realised with a shock that the microphone was plugged into the wrong port! Yes, we had recorded without sound for the past three days!! Both of us were speechless. It took us a moment to calm down and fortunately we had all the fantastic photos of our loved ones to cheer us up. Man, we couldn't have chosen a better time to put them up!

JI next to his "wall of fame"

We left Masuma around 11:00, still a bit in shock from what had happened with the microphone. The road through the centre of the reserve is in a horrible condition and frustrated us even more as we dodged pothole after pothole on our way to Ngweshla - our next campsite. We finally arrived just before 16:00 and saw virtually no game along the way. The only thing that lifted our spirits at this stage was the incredible scenery around Ngweshla! Stunning grassy plains with tons of game and majestic leadwood trees surround our camp and gives us a great taste of what the Serengeti must look like...

Before we set up camp, we went for a short game drive. Despite the fact that the cats are still eluding us, we did see over 50 elephants, including one that gave JI a bit of a scare when he got out to fiddle with the GoPro video camera on the front of the Hilux. 

Ngweshla is a tiny picnic site campsite in the east of Hwange and has a fence that might keep a sheep out, if it's really stupid. Anything can come in, but our camp attendant, Binga Dube, assured us that we're safe. I can hear elephants close by as I'm sitting here and the whole camp is surrounded by the sounds of frogs. 

It was a long, hard day, but we survived. We even got some good wildlife photographs! I didn't take any today, so here are three of my favourite ones that JI took:

A small herd of elephants taking a mud bath near Ngweshla

Zebra & Giraffe - a scene from Nyamandhlovu hide

The bravest little warthog in the whole of Hwange!

Highlight of the day:

Villiers: Elephants taking a mud bath next to the car.

JI: Toasting all the good things that happened today and that is going to happen over the next few days next to a fire with my friend Villiers.

Lowlight(s) of the day:

Villiers: Realising we didn't record sound on the video camera for three days! Getting really bad hay fever. Driving the tar road from hell through the centre of the reserve. 

JI: Getting up at 06:00 to look for cats at the hide and seeing none. The whole sound-issue. The GoPro's battery going flat at a really bad time. The GoPro-clip that broke at a really bad time.

DAY 6: Magical Masuma!

We got into bed late last night - it must have been midnight. Soon after a spotted hyena tried to steal something from our outside kitchen, but fortunately we chased him away in time. We got up at 05:00 and left just before 06:00...hoping to find lions in the road! We found their fresh tracks again, but our count remains on zero.

Fresh lion tracks near Robins Camp

Game viewing was very quiet this morning. We stopped at Sinamatella for a few minutes and admired the spectacular view from next to the old restaurant. On the plains below we saw three bulls elephants grazing. We also stocked up with Coke at Stanley's little shop.

The view from Sinamatella

Here they sell only bottles of Coke

From there we headed for our next stop - Masuma Dam. Masuma is one of a few picnic sites in Hwange were visitors are allowed to sleep, providing you've made a booking of course. Without delay we put up our hammocks, but the view made it difficult to fall asleep. This must be the most scenic waterhole in the whole park! Although Masuma attracts much more game in the dry winter months we still saw the resident pod of hippos, a small herd of waterbuck, impalas, zebra and, for a brief moment only, a pack of five wild dogs. They ran past the dam in the distance, but never appeared from the thickets as we had hoped.

Masuma magic!

A very relaxed skink welcomes us to Masuma's hide

It's 18:00 and we're still hopeful that something interesting will come down to drink tonight. Lions are roaring in the distance and those wild dogs can't be far... 

Thanks to everyone who's making comments on our posts everyday! Ons waardeer dit ongelooflik baie!! Ons wens julle kon almal saam met ons hier wees...!!! Jammer as ons nie altyd tyd kry om op alles te antwoord nie.

Keep following our posts for a behind-the-scenes look at the Serengeti Trip 2011 - we'll have that one up soon!

Cheers

Villiers

Highlight of the day:

Villiers: The view from my hammock!

JI: Spending the afternoon on my hammock with a view to die for!

Lowlight of the day:

Villiers: Not finding those lions...again! :)

JI: The wild dogs that didn't want to come closer for a photo.

DAY 5: Uit op 'n Leeujag

Sjoe, hierdie 'trip' is sekerlik een van hoogte- en laagtepunte. Ons was vanoggend vroeg op, of te wel, ek was. Villiers het gisteraand so warm gekry, dat hy so mal was om met oop hutvensters te slaap - die uiteinde daarvan was dat ek hom probeer verduidelik het dat my vleis anders is (met ander woorde lekkerder as syne!). Ek het gesukkel om te slaap en was weer vroeg wakker. Daar het omstreeks 04:00 'n paar leeus besluit om te brul, en dit was juis hulle na wie ons 06:00 gaan soek het.

Met sulke mooi strepe sou ek nie so sku gewees het nie!

Die veld het die afgelope paar dae baie water gekry. In hierdie omstandighede maak die veldwagters baie van die paaie toe (hulle is nie meer lus om laat aand mense te gaan uitsleep nie). Dus is ons leeujag beperk tot die 'main road', - 'n tweespoorpaadjie wat die bakkie ook maar toets. Water is orals in die veld beskikbaar, wat beteken dat die diere nie so vollop is soos in die droe seisoen nie. Maar omtrent 15 im buite die kamp kom ons toe op vars leeuspore af. Nie ouer as 30 minute nie! "Hierdie leeus is naby" se Villiers, en die jagtog begin!

Ons ry op en af, soek links en regs, draai toe op 'n tyd by 'n onbekende paadjie in, met die wete dat die pad baie sleg kan raak. Maar ons was vasberade, katte moes in die sig van ons lens verskyn. Die senutergende soektog het vir sowat 40 minute aangehou. Net om te sien dat hulle toe weer terug op die "main road" gestap het, en op een plek saam met ons hoop in die ryg bos verdwyn het. Dit het my skoon depresief laat voel. Vyf dae al op die 'trip' en nog geen katte.

Na 'n lang middagslaapie (4 ure!) het ons weer nuwe hoop gehad, en weer na die omstrede katte gaan soek. Die keer darm geen vars spore om my senuwees te toets nie, maar ons is wel bederf deur twee witkwasjakkalsie wat in die pad afgedraf gekom het.

Pragtig, maar ongelukkig nog nie 'n kat nie. (Witkwasjakkals)

By Datema dam wou oom Seekoei nie sy tuiste met ons deel nie en ek en Villiers moes vinnig sorg dat ons nie in sy pad beland nie.

Sy tanne lyk beter as myne

Ons het 'n opwindende dag afgesluit om die kampvuur saam een van Villiers se plaaslike vriende, Rhinos Kunze. Hy het hom tydens sy vorige besoek aan Hwange ontmoet. Ek kon sien waarom Villiers so baie van die man gepraat het.

Ek, Rhinos en Villiers

Wel, more is ons weer oppad, die keer na Masuma Dam. Ons gaan net een aand daar slaap. Ek weet jul smag na 'n foto om te sien hoe dit hier lyk, so hier is 'n lusmakertjie. Vir meer oor Robins en die res van Hwange moet julle maar na Villiers se WEG-artikel oor Hwange gaan kyk - dit sal vroeg in 2011 op die rakke wees!

JI

Ja, dis is so lekker soos wat dit lyk. Ons braaiplekkie by Robins.

Hoogtepunte:
JI: Hoe goed ek in my uitrusting lyk, Yeah!
Villiers: Die leeujag ekspidisie.

Laagtepunte:
JI en Villiers: Geen leeus op ons leeujag ekspidisie.

DAY 4: A fun day on the road...

Our campsite at Njuca Hills

I know a few of you wanted to know what our campsite looks like at Njuca Hills. This was taken early this morning before we departed. We spent most of the day on the road, but not before taking a much-needed bucket shower at Njuca.

The light was beautiful on the pans as we left the Makgadikgadi, so we spent a good 30 minutes taking photos.

Ji and our baby on the pans

Team Serengeti Trip 2011!

If only you knew how far and how fast I had to run to take this second shot of the vehicle and us! Yep, I was too lazy to find and set up my remote so I sprinted instead to beat the 10-second timer on the camera. It came out pretty nice, though! :)

We left the park around 11:00 and headed for Nata. Along the way we had a picnic next to a massive baobab tree. The earth around it was completely under water, attracting a load of dragonflies, which JI tried to photograph (with some level of success I'm sure you'll agree!?)

JI in action at our water-logged picnic spot

One of JI's dragonfly photographs

From Nata, where we filled up with fuel, water, coke and St. Louis (the light local beer), we headed north to the Pandamatenga border post. Along the way we saw more elephants (33 in total) than we did in the Makgadikgadi National Park, and this next to the tar road! You've got to love Botswana!

We got through Panda without trouble and took a slow drive through spectacular scenery to our destination for the following two nights: Robins Camp in Hwange - Zimbabwe's largest National Park. And just so that you know, the Sat4Rent satellite terminal is now on a table...on the bakkie's roof! Yep, if it's not on JI's head, it's on something else that can give it height and ultimately, signal.

For those of you who guessed how many animals we're going to see during the trip, we've updated that specific post with our own guesses. Keep your guesses coming in, please! Here's the link to the guessing-post.

Let's hope we add to those numbers tomorrow! Night night.

Villiers

Today's Highlight:

Villiers: The breathtaking scenery between Pandamatenga and Robins Camp.

JI: All the elephants next to the main tar road!

Today's Lowlight:

Villiers: My runny nose! All I can say is: Hay fever!!

JI: The beautiful tar road north of Nata, which turned into the tar road from hell within seconds.

DAY 3: Our first wildlife in Makgadikgadi!

We left Njuca Hills at 05:45 this morning and headed for the Boteti River, which forms the western boundary of the Makgadikgadi National Park. The road was long, straight and relatively quiet. 

The road through the reserve.

In the sand we found a fresh set of lion tracks - a mother with a very small cub, but they were nowhere to be found. As we continued, more and more animals started showing themselves - steenbok, springbok and large herds of up to 80 gemsbok! To our disappointment we hit a massive fence next to the river and had to drive along it all the way north to Khumaga camp. Along it we saw plenty of cattle INSIDE the reserve (lion food if you ask me!!) along with two herds of elephant. JI used his 100-400mm Canon lens, sponsored by Outdoorphoto, to take some stunning shots!

Our first elephant of the trip. Yep, JI took this one!

We decided that Khumaga was too close to the reserve border (and people) and headed back to Njuca Hills for a second night. Both of us just love the wilderness feel here! We arrived back at camp around 13:30 and quickly put up our hammocks. The trees just didn't seem to line up correctly, so we used the Hilux and its Easy-Awn to make the perfect resting place for the afternoon! This is the good life!!

Relaxing at Njuca Hills...Island style!

After a loooong nap, we decided to play a bit. Before the Serengeti Trip started we promised ourselves that we'd make fire on the trip without using matches, flint or any other "easy" fire-making tools. We are only allowed to use the environment! So I tried. Armed with a log, a long narrow twig and some dry grass I made a massive fool of myself. There was smoke (I think), but no fire! I'll try again and I WILL succeed!

At least I tried, people!

We ended the afternoon on the plains next to Njuca Hills, filming each other as part of the documentary we're shooting. As amateurs we're still due to make a lot of mistakes and this afternoon it was JI's turn - after filming me and asking me questions for approximately 20 minutes we realised that he hadn't pressed record! Yep, we shot it all again... And to end a great day in the pans we were treated to a magical African sunset!

Filming at sunset.

Tomorrow we head towards Hwange in Zimbabwe, but we'll see how far we get.

Thanks for reading!

Villiers

Highlight of the day:

Villiers: Sleeping in our hammocks for almost two hours!

JI: The herd of 80-plus gemsbok we saw this morning.

Lowlight of the day:

Villiers: Finding a fence between the Boteti River and us.

JI: Seeing very little game in the Khumaga-region, after expecting so much more...