Travels with friends

We recently had the fortune and pleasure to enjoy a natural wonder and a safari in the delightful company of the Noonan family.  Unlike them, we are not a family of avid writers, but thought we’d try our hand at a post for their blog all the same.

THE BIG FIVE FOUR

The Big Five is a list of large African wild animals said to be most difficult to hunt: lion, leopard, Cape buffalo, elephant, and rhino.  For us non-hunters, it’s a must-see checklist.  After reading that Botswana moved its dwindling rhino population out of the Okavango Delta a few years ago to stop poachers, we did not reasonably expect to see any rhinos.  But we did see The Big Four!

Staying with that theme, each member of our family compiled his/her own “Big Four” list to highlight our experience.

KELVIN

We’re going on a safari and what do you see?

• Reese - I see an elephant looking at me;

• Katherine - I see a zebra looking at me;

• Harper - I see a giraffe looking at me;

• Sadie - I see a leopard looking at me;

• Kaitlyn - I see a lion looking at me;

• Kelvin - I see an ALT (animal like thing, i.e., a tree stump) looking at me;

• Kristi - I see a warthog looking at me;

• Erin - I see a hippo looking at me;

• Chris - I see a crocodile trying to eat me

The safari guides will never promise that you’ll see a specific animal, rather they’ll say it’s what nature wants to show you that day and what fate has in store.  But their jobs are to try and put on a good show and find interesting game to see.  There is an anticipation of what could be lurking around the next corner, on the other side of those bushes or in the next open plain.  This gets harder each subsequent day on safari and the elephant that was so amazing the first few days, becomes “just another elephant” on day 4. 

Having the opportunity to be the assistant guide (i.e., sitting shotgun in the safari vehicle), it’s quite amazing the skills needed to be a good guide.  You’re driving down dirt roads, which aren’t straight lines by any stretch of the imagination, changing gears on a manual truck with your eyes scanning and your ears listening.  They are tracking, looking for fresh tracks, animal behavior (antelope running or vultures circling) or sounds to hear (birds or monkeys sounding their alarms) all to alert the trained guide to something potentially interesting.

On our last day in Botswana, we were able to track down the elusive leopard using some A+ tracking skills (the guide’s) and a little bit of luck.  While driving, Chili B (our guide the last few days) noticed fresh leopard tracks and started to circle the area.  Next thing you know, we’re off the road and driving around and through the brush.  A shrill of birds 100 feet away and he’s off in that direction, where we found the elusive leopard walking without a care in the world.  

Here are my four observations of the various types of safaris that one can take (they all have their positives and negatives) and I think we had a nice variety on our trip.

• The rubbernecking safari drive - these took place at the Chobe Safari Lodge near Kasane, where there is a concentration of lodges/camps for tourists to stay at due to the relative ease of getting there.  With more safari vehicles patrolling the area, the guides are looking for tracking but also looking out for other vehicles.  Like an accident in the states, if there was a mass of vehicles surrounding an area, you knew there was something to see.  

• The secluded safari drive - taking place at the more isolated camps/lodges, you’re driving around on your own or with one other vehicle looking for big game.  This is where tracking and luck is needed and if you spot something interesting, you’re likely the only ones to see it before the animal continues to another area.

• The river safari - taking a large boat down the Chobe river, it’s a relaxing boat ride and what you see is whatever animals decide to come to the river to eat and drink that day.  You can drive the boat around to see the different animals, but unlike the jeep, you can only go where the water flows.  On one afternoon’s ride we saw over 25 elephants, multiple bloats of hippos and some crocodiles and tons of birds

• The walking safari - none of our lodges were fenced so any number of animals could walk into the area.  We saw baboons, monkeys, warthogs, elephants and buffalo while walking around the lodges. .

kaitlyn

Scariest animal - That was a tie between a momma hippo and a 16 foot crocodile.  The Momma hippo was very protective of her baby so she was extremely wary of us.  However the 16 foot crocodile, while on the other side of the river was still vary scary and I would not have crossed the river if I was payed $100.

Cutest Animal - That would also have to be a tie between baby elephant and warthog.  The baby elephant we met was laying down beside his mother.  He got up but was standing in the middle of the street and we had to go around him.  When we started to go closer the mom moved off the street but the baby elephant was still there “challenging us”  as he flapped his ears at us then ran to his mom.  He was adorable.  The second cute animal was the warthog and although it might be an unpopular decision I believe it was very cute.  We saw some up close when we went for high tea at the Victoria Falls hotel and they were very cute as we saw them snuffling the grass.  We also saw some on the safaris and we even saw babies!  In my opinion they looked adorable as they ran around the bushes.

My favorite animal - that would have to be a tie between… Just kidding.  My hands down favorite animal was the giraffe.  They just looked so dainty as their around 17 foot bodies moved from tree to tree.  They were also very cute when they saw the safari car they would turn and look at us with leaves hanging out of their mouths.

Finally, the A.L.T — an “Animal Like Thing.”  We saw plenty of them.  I saw a big brown tree that was laying on the ground and was pumped at seeing our first “buffalo”.  The guides were laughing and gently told me it was a tree stump.  My dad also saw several A.L.Ts and was trying to get good pictures of the “elephants and lions”  when he realized they were bushes and shrubs.

KATHERINE

Favorite animals. There were a lot of animals in Africa: some were cute and others were scary. Here's a list of my favorite animals (not in order). 1. Elephants 2. Giraffes 3. Hippos 4. Lions 5. Leopard 6. Donkey 7. Impalas 8. Crocodiles. There were a lot of birds and other creatures that I don’t know the names of.

Favorite Lodge. We stayed in four lodges. They were all nice but my favorite one was Mopiri Lodge. It was so cute, they sang to us a lot, and their food was amazing. My second favorite Lodge was Batonka. When we got there we sat down for some orange juice and a very friendly greeting. Everyone at the lodge said “Hi!” — that made it more welcoming and loving. My third favorite lodge was Nokanyana lodge. The people were very nice and friendly but it was a two hour bumpy and hot ride from the airport. My least favorite was Chobe. It was really big (not my favorite) and there were bugs everywhere (including my bed). They did have the biggest pool and we got to see the most animals there but it still was my least favorite lodge. 

My favorite sight. There were a lot of cool sights but I had a tie between two. The first is Victoria Falls (the largest known waterfall in the world). It was very pretty and it had a lot of rainbows🌈. I did get soaked from head to toe but it was really worth it (the first time only). The other sight I loved was when we went to this cafe called the lookout cafe. We went ziplining over the beautiful river.

My favorite Activity. Right after we went ziplining we went on a gorge swing. Me and my best friend Harper decided to go together and we waited and waited then it was time for my sister Kaitlyn to go. After she went, it was me and Harper’s time to go. We were scared while getting buckled in and then the guys said “step forward” so we do and then he PUSHES US OFF!!!... But it was very fun and if I ever have the chance to do it again my answer is YES ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!    Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

KRISTI

Africa is not a country.  An article I read recently made me realize that I was referring to our trip as “going to Africa” instead of listing the countries we were visiting, as I would do for other continents.  Africa is home to 54 diverse countries, ~1.5 billion people, and over 2,000 languages. We spent most of our time in Zimbabwe and Botswana, with cameos in Ethiopia, Namibia, and Zambia.

Hippos are surprisingly cute.  Erin will not agree with this.

So many languages!! My ears were constantly engaged by the hum of mostly new-to-me languages.  It seemed like everyone we encountered in the tourism industry spoke at least three languages fluently.  Incredible.

The best biltong. One of the guides told me Botswana has the best biltong (dried, cured meat). My taste buds are inclined to agree.