Elephant Camp - Victoria Falls

Elephant Camp in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe was our last stop on this amazing adventure of eastern Zimbabwe. It was also where we did the most variety of activities and had the most luxurious accommodations. In an attempt to cover most of what we did, the video, click here, is the longest in the series.

View of Victoria Falls from Elephant Camp

We arrived by caravan plane on day 12 (April 13). The caravan plane arrived at Robins Airstrip with 2 passengers and gathered the three of us and the family from the other lodge that we had run into while out on safari. The flight was a quick 15 minutes and would have been 3 hours by drive.

We were picked up at the Victoria (Vic) Falls airport and driven to Elephant Camp a short distance away. You can see the Falls from Elephant Camp. Carol, Camp/Lodge Manager, fooled us into believing that the mist coming from the Falls was in fact smoke from wildfires. We actually believed her for a bit.  She wasn't the only Zimbabwean that tried to practical joke us. I promised her we would get even. 😊 It is also true that the local name for the Falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya, "Thundering Smoke."

Susan immediately had a massage after our orientation.

Continuing the tradition of sundowners, we had a short safari drive with our guide, Wonder, to the Zambezi River Gorge. We did see lots of animals along a small waterway including a troop of baboons playing in a tree.

After being cloudy all day, the sun came out for sundown and lit up the gorge in spectacular fashion.

The foursome at the very misty Falls

On Sunday Wonder took us to tour the Falls. Because of the pour rainy season, the Falls are only at about 50% volume. When you see the photos, note that there would normally be 50% more water flowing over the Falls! Also, to be honest, since the Falls are so enormous, stretch out for almost a mile, and create their own micro-climate of tropical forest; the impact is muted.

There are constant helicopter tours where I'm sure you get the full impact. But the constant helicopters are a noisy annoyance when viewing the Falls from afar.

Wonder told Pam and I the story of how he got his name. It is a beautiful, sad, and inspiring story and meant so much that he shared this with us.

From the Falls we went across the street to the appropriately named Lookout Cafe and a canopy zipline tour. Susan opted not to do the zipline. The zipline is in a very lush gorge downstream from the Falls. Our guides were Joe and Gift. The zipline consisted of several lines between the two sides of the gorge. The climb out was on the strenuous side. We rejoined Susan for a lovely lunch at the Lookout Cafe.

We must have gone back to Camp/Lodge though my notes do not indicate that.

Wonder took us on an afternoon safari drive into Zambezi National Park. We saw a very large herd of elephants that were right among us along the drive. Since this national park is close to the town and to Zambia, we crossed paths with more people than the previous three places combined. We did learn that there was a large herd of Cape Buffalo at the opposite end of the park, and we convinced Wonder to take us all the way.

Zambezi National Park is where the elephant and giraffe at the watering hole video clip was taken. I consider this one of the highlights of our safari drives. We saw lots of animals on this evening drive and had another situation where we kept our guide in a national park after hours.

The Bridge

Day 14, April 15, was another full day. George took us shopping in town and for a walk across the Victoria Falls Bridge. The bridge is 100 years old, and some really big trucks drive over it...thankfully, one at a time. One can bungee jump from the bridge but surprisingly none of us did that.

We went back to Elephant Camp where I told Carol, the manager, that we were not able to walk the bridge because structural faults were found. She took the bait for a bit then realized I had gotten her back for her practical joke. 😊

That afternoon Susan, Marlin, and Jeff took in the Elephant Experience. There was a short safari drive to find the elephants. You got to "pet" them and to Marlin and Susan's absolute delight, feed them. You do get a real sense of how big these animals are when you are standing right next to them.

Sunset cruising

Our last night consisted of a Zambezi River sunset cruise. You don't get very close to the Falls (probably a good thing) but you can see the mist. We saw crocodiles and birds along the way and lots of other sunset cruise boats. Back at Camp we could see a drone display over the Falls featuring the Top Five African animal images. It was really quite spectacular and unexpected. Turned out there was a convention of travel agents at the Lookout Cafe and the display was part of the tourism board promotion.

Day 15, April 16, we departed Victoria Falls for Johannesburg and our connecting flights. George took Pam and Susan into town for another quick shopping excursion. He also showed them the township he lives in.

The trip home was thankfully uneventful though the flight from Johannesburg was very full and very long (an additional 3 hours longer than the same flight over).

Link to Elephant Camp video.

Link to Hwange Bush Camp blog post.

Link to Khulu Lodge and Tent Camp blog post.

Link to Amalinda Lodge blog post.

Africa Animal Video.

Hwange Bush Camp

The baboon tree.

Zimbabwe, Africa adventure continued. Quick link to video (best viewed landscape).

I'm going to try to make this quick as this trip was back in April and I've fallen way behind in posting this blog and creating the video. Editing the photos and putting the video together takes way longer than I think it will. Besides that, summer in Minnesota is the time to get out and about and I have been trying to do just that.

Back to the adventure and this is now Day 9. We flew in a very small plane from the east side of Hwange National Park to the middle of the Park. It was pouring rain as we landed at Robins' Airstrip. We were met by Sean and Ant (Anthony) who would be our assistant guides (think Marlin Perkins and Jim from Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom- you'll meet Mr. Perkins in a bit) for the stay at Hwange Bush Camp. It was Ant's sixth day on the job at this Camp.

The Camp wild cat, Pavlov, on my lap.

The Camp is a semi-mobile setup in the middle of the Park. We actually never saw anyone else except one day we crisscrossed three times with another safari vehicle from a lodge several miles away. We were also the first guests of the season at the Camp and had it to ourselves with the amazing staff which included Sophie, the Camp manager and also married to Ant. She really made our stay so comfortable. She had gone to college in the United States!

Our accommodations were actual tents - rather luxurious tents - but actual canvas sides and tent poles. Showers were provided by ordering a bucket of hot water! There were flush toilets which I have no idea how that works. 

We each had our own tent which meant some alone time, but it also meant you had to sleep alone in the wilderness with strange noises and lights. You weren't allowed to leave the tent at night by yourself because we were in the wilds with lions and other possible scary animals. But the scariest thing was the frog that took up residence in Marlin's toilet! It took at least two catch-and-release programs to get it to stay away.

The mornings at Hwange Bush Camp were probably the earliest ones on our trip. We were awakened at 5am by a very gentle "good morning" from Samuel and escorted to breakfast by 5:30am with a 6am safari departure time.

Jeff, Dave, Cani, Pam, Sean, Susan, and Marlin
having coffee at the "Africa Tree"

Day 10 - first full day and a very long safari drive searching for lions. We did see a lot of other animals including black stork, great grey heron, roan antelope, hippo, wart hog, kudu, African grey hornbill, crocodile, reed buck, saddle-billed stork, and giraffe.

I don't remember going back to Camp but my notes indicate that we did. We were out again at 4pm to a large man-made watering pan and "meadow." We were constantly confusing and confounding Dave (our Marlin Perkins though much younger), who owns the Camp and another one in Botswana, with our questions and terminology. I think we almost brought him to the breaking point a couple of times.

On the way to the "meadow" we had an incredible encounter with a group of giraffes. (Watch the animal video (link below) to see the giraffes. Dave commented that with all the rains we brought the watering pan was now a true lake and the fullest it had been all season.

We saw lots of impala and zebras and a hippo sleeping on the shore. We did not see any lions. The drive back to camp was in the twilight after a particularly beautiful sunset. We came upon the giraffes again this time silhouetted against the orange sky. It was one of those moments we truly won't forget.

This turned out to be our first full day without rain and were able to see a sky full of stars. Ant pointed out the Southern Cross - remember we are south of the equator.

Day 11 was another early start.  We had a walking safari and were joined by Cani, Dave's personal assistant. Cani was a man of few words but obviously knew what he was doing. We tracked elephants for 3.3 kilometers though we never saw them but saw lots of indications they were close by. Again, think lots of trees and bushes and not a lot of open spaces. Also, you will notice that Dave and Ant carry rifles on our walking safari. This was for our protection with a pride of lions that do live in the area.

In the afternoon we returned to the "meadow" and stopped at the location where the Camp had previously been setup. Dave moved the Camp to its current location because the previous spot was too close to a lodge that was built in the Park. He showed us the remains of an elephant that had died or been killed the previous year. There was some skin and a few toenails still left.

Past the "meadow" we met a large herd of elephants, some with babies. We had to race back to Camp as the safari vehicles are not supposed to be out past 6:45pm.

Lion(ess) sighting.

Day 12 was our last day at Hwange Bush Camp. We were up early and as we were preparing to leave, Sean had a gut feeling that there were lions nearby. Dave sent him out to check and sure enough Sean found 2 lionesses on the move and radioed back to the Camp. Dave shouted for us all to jump in the truck and off we flew in pursuit. We had no idea these trucks could go that fast on the paths through the bush. Dave had really, really wanted us to see lions! We did see two lionesses as they trotted through the bush. It made a dramatic end of our stay.

Jeff, Pam, Marlin, Susan, Sean, and Ant
having coffee while we wait for the incoming plane.

Ant and Sean drove us back to Robins' Airstrip to meet our flight to Victoria Falls. Hwange Bush Camp is truly a magical place. To be setup in the midst of the African bush and feeling you are out there with just your group is so special. We cannot recommend this outfit enough.

Link to Hwange Bush Camp video.

Link to the Africa Animal Video.

Link to the Africa Birds Video.

Link to the Amalinda Lodge blog post.

Link to the Khulu Lodge blog post.

Khulu Lodge and Tent Camp

Khulu Lodge and Tent Camp

Zimbabwe, Africa adventure continued. Quick link to video(best viewed in landscape).

Day 6 we made it to Khulu Lodge and Tent Camp on the edge of Hwange National Park. The lodge and camp are on a concession which allows private companies/persons to lease land from the government to set aside for natural habitat and conservation. The concession and national park are only separated by a railroad - there are no fences - so animals can travel freely.

Khulu means "grandfather" in the local language. The lodge and camp are named for Cedric, Sharon (of Amalinda Collection) 's father. Cedric designed the lodge and camp and everyone calls him "khulu" hence the name. We had the good fortune to meet Cedric and Gay (sgogo = grandmother) while we were at Khulu. Cedric and Gay spend Thursday through Monday at Khulu and the other days at their home on Bulawayo. Cedric charmed us with many stories and jokes.

The amazing feature about Khulu Lodge and Tent Camp is the watering hole, called a pan, and the lodge's swimming pool. Certain pans are maintained by pumping ground water. We were told this is done so that the animals do not have a reason to leave the parks and concessions during the dry season. This reduces animal-human interactions which can end badly. The water pumps are run off electricity generated by solar panels so there is no noise, fumes, or need to run fuel to them. By the way, all the lodges/camps we stayed at are also run by solar-generated electricity with generator backup.

Jeff and Marlin's "tent"

The accommodations at Khulu are referred to as tents. They are canvas sided with thatched roofs that sit on a raised wooden platform. There are both indoor and outdoor showers. 

The elephants did come to the pan (watering hole) in the evening before dinner. They made their way to the lodge swimming pool which made for a fantastic photo op.

After dinner we went on a night safari with our guide Maiso, aka King. King used a powerful flashlight to scan the bush. The goal was to find lions but did not. We did see Spring Hares (lots), Bushy-Tailed Mongoose, White-Tailed Mongoose, Impala (lots), Springbok, and Elephants with babies.

The next day we got up early (before sunrise) to go on a safari ride into Hwange National Park. We tracked lions but did not see any. We did see a lot of animals (click here for link to animal video). We had breakfast at an overlook built in the park.

After lunch we were joined by two couples, one from England and the other from France, for another safari ride. Susan really wanted to see giraffes and King got word from the neighboring camp that there were giraffes near there. We drove in the direction of Ivory Lodge and encountered a herd of elephants. As the elephants were passing by us very close, we spotted 2 then 3 giraffes. King couldn't move the vehicle as the elephants were too nearby.

After the elephants passed in one direction and we were still hoping the giraffes would come out of the bush, the elephants turned around and came back the way they had come from. Now amongst the mostly calm elephants was a bull elephant that was agitated because he really wanted to get some "action" if you know what I mean. There were some very, very tense moments with the big bull. Ask Marlin and Pam how they felt as they were on the side that the bull was on. King gave us stern instructions to not move or make any sounds. After a few false charges, a lot of ear waving, and urinating all around, the bull left us alone....and miraculously two giraffes walked out of the bush and into the clearing. It was a real safari moment.

Sundowner on the savannah

After the excitement with the giraffes and elephants, King drove us to a quieter part of the concession, and we had our sundowner drinks and appetizers - happy hour on the savannah.

We were out late and had an impromptu night safari on the way back. We encountered an eagle owl right in the pathway. It must have missed it's catch and landed right in front of us.

Day 8 - it rained again overnight (no surprise anymore). Marlin, Susan, and I took a walking safari with Bryn. Bryn is the father of Shaun who had made our trip accommodations with Pam. Bryn showed us some of the smaller things that you don't necessarily see when being driven around. We investigated Spring Hare burrows, Dung Beetles (all the guides like to pick up dung), and Elephant tracks and eating habits.

That afternoon Marlin and I took a break from safari drives. Susan and Pam went out but didn't see anything.

Dinner plate

That evening was a barbecue which, of course, was delicious. We said our goodbyes to the French and English couples. We said hello again to the couple from Maine/Florida as they had come from Amalinda where we met them first. We also said hello to a gentleman who spends a great deal of time in Africa on his own with his own safari vehicle. He was taking a break from being out on his own.

The next morning, Day 9, Marlin, the visiting safari guy, and I went out on a safari ride with King. King really, really wanted us to see lions but, alas, we did not find any. We encountered a large herd of Cape Buffalo and ended up kind of following them around and back to the lodge's pan. We also got to see Vervent Monkey, Black-Backed Jackal, Kudu (several including a large male), Ground Hornbill, and several Lilac-Breasted Roller.

Late that morning (or was it after lunch?), we flew by charter plane -- 4-seater plus the pilot Tayne -- from Hwange International Airport (it is a paved runway at least) to Robins Airstrip (grass/dirt runway) on the other side of Hwange National Park. I sat in the co-pilot seat. Susan got the way-back which was basically the tail! When we landed it started to pour down rain!

Khulu Lodge and Tent Camp video (best viewed in landscape).

Link to Amalinda Lodge and Matobo Hills post.

Link to Africa Animal post.

Africa Adventure - Amalinda Lodge and Matobo National Park

There is so much of the adventure to Zimbabwe, Africa to recount. This blog post covers some of the adventure at our first location, Amalinda Lodge and the Matobo National Park. Quick link to video.

The adventure started Monday, April 1 for Marlin and Tuesday, April 2 for Pam, Susan, and me. We met up in Johannesburg, South Africa on April 3. And on April 4 we flew together to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Other than my pocketknife being confiscated (my mistake) and me forgetting deodorant, the travel went smoothly. There was some confusion about luggage going all the way to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe or whether it could be intercepted in Johannesburg.

We landed at Bulawayo International Airport on Thursday, April 4 and were met by Phil, the co-owner of Amalinda Lodge. Phil took us to the Amalinda offices in Bulawayo. We got to meet the staff including Shaun who was such a great help setting up our entire tour and was so willing and able to answer all our questions before the trip.

I have to mention the weather early on. Southern Africa is in the midst of a very dangerous drought. April is the end of the rainy season however the area did not receive nearly enough rain during the season. The lack of rain was universally attributed to the El Niño in the Pacific Ocean. The good news for Southern Africa was that we brought an incredible amount of rain. It poured while we were in Johannesburg and rained a little or a lot every day until we were in Victoria Falls at the end of our trip. We certainly could not complain and while it was mentioned that the rainy, damp weather impacted the animals being out and about, we were still able to find nearly every animal that was expected.

View of pool and pool house

From the Amalinda Collection offices, we soon arrived at the lodge which is outside of Matobo National Park. Driving on the left side in Zimbabwe takes a bit of getting used to. We were able to relax for the remainder of the afternoon. The lodge has an amazing (you are going to see that word a lot) pool that is actually a giant rock depression filled with water. But every time I got in the pool, there would be a crack of thunder and some lightening followed by some much needed rain.

Mother and Child formation

We met Edward who would be our guide during our stay at Amalinda. After dinner and a long day, we were in bed by 9pm.

You are constantly reminded of the striking geology of the Matobo Hills. Formed by volcanoes a long time ago, erosion has left stunning and unbelievable rock formations that seem to defy gravity.

Our first photo safari ride was to the Northern Wilderness Area of Matobo National Park in search of white rhinoceros. We stopped at the Park Headquarters to pick up Shelton, a park ranger to assist. Shelton carried a rifle as protection against poachers.

After a lot of driving and tracking, Shelton trekked us through the bush and tall grass to two rhinos. We had lost Edward at this point. Shelton's ability to guide us and track the rhinos at the same time was much appreciated. We were just 30 feet from two white rhinos!

Nsvatuke Cave Paintings

Back to the lodge for lunch and a short rest before driving to another part of the park and the Nsvatuke cave paintings. This was a long and rough ride but really fun. There are caves all over the Matobos Hills and many of them have paintings and significant cultural uses and meanings. We drove back in the dark while avoiding many of the cattle that are allowed to graze in the parks and along the roads.

On the second day (Saturday, April 6) of photo safaring, Edward took us to the Whovi Game Park section of the Park. Our goal was to see black rhinoceroses but we were not successful. We did see a very large male white rhino and lots of other animals including our first hippopotamus.

From the game park we stopped at Ethandweni Children's Home. Pam has volunteered at this orphanage and wanted to re-connect with Lucien who runs it. She also got to meet two of the children she had met when they were very little.

After lunch Pam and I were relaxing at the spectacular pool when Edward brought the lodge zonkey and zebras by. Pam and I got stranded at the pool when a very heavy rainstorm came (oops, I got in the pool again!).

Bundled up against the wind and rain

The storm finally passed but the weather was very threatening. We were convinced to go out on our next adventure to Cecil Jones Rhodes grave site. Well, we didn't make it halfway when the next wave of a very severe storm came up. We turned around but stopped at Fort Inungu (a roadside plaque) so that Edward could give us the history of Rhodes and the indigenous people of Zimbabwe. Just as he was wrapping up the history, the storm descended on us. Poor Edward got completely soaking wet driving us home.

The heavy rains were the most the lodge had measured since December!

We were always treated to incredible meals at Amalinda. Travel opens your eyes to the rest of the world. We shared the dinner table with people from Germany, Denmark, Zimbabwe, and America. We had dinner with Sharon and Phil, the owners of The Amalinda Collection and founders of Mother Africa Trust. A portion of every safari reservation fee goes to support the projects of Mother Africa Trust.

Following dinner, we played a round of Five Crowns card game (Marlin won) under the gaze of a white frog. Be sure to ask Pam and Susan about the white frog in their room.

There are so many more little stories and encounters but don't want to make this blog too long. Ask about the resurrection plant 😊or all the cattle or the burned-out car that served as a mile marker.

The next day (Sunday, April 7) we were driven from Amalinda Lodge to Khulu Tent Camp and Lodge on the east side of Hwange National Park. The drive itself was quite an adventure. Be sure to watch the video to the end to see the "truck incident."

Video of the Amalinda leg (no music but some occasional audio commentary) - click here. The animal blog/video is available here.

Africa Adventure - Birds

Now it is the birds' turn. I was going to include the birds in the first blog/video post but realized I had taken photos of quite a few birds.

I am not a birder checking of a list world birds, but I did find it interesting and got a reputation of being the "bird guy." These photos would not be possible without the camera from Jenny B -- "thank you!"

The birds seemed to like when it was cool and wet in the mornings, and we had a few of those kinds of days.

Our guides were so good at pointing at the different birds and their characteristics.

You will notice that I was completely enthralled with one particular bird - the Lilac-Breasted Roller. It is incredibly pretty, very wide-spread and photogenic. I was not able to capture it in flight which is too bad because the wings are fantastically blue. We did catch a pair displaying which is how they get their names. The roll in flight! Here is a photo with the wings open.

Some of the bird names I remembered, some I got help with, some I looked up with a reverse image search, and some I couldn't figure out.

As usual, the video is best viewed in landscape. Click here for Africa - Birds video.

And a link to the Africa - Animal post and video.

Africa Adventure - Animals

Acacia Tree, Hwange National Park

Wanted to get out a video quickly about my recent adventure to Africa. Traveled to Zimbabwe with 3 friends for 2 weeks. We stayed at 4 different lodge/camp sites which were located in Matopo National Park, Hwange National Park, and Zambezi National Park. The video covers the animals we saw. There will be additional videos and blog posts on each of the lodges/camps and more of the adventure of it all. 

I am grateful to my friend Jenny for loaning me her Canon camera. The photos and videos you will see are primarily taken with her Canon PowerShot with 50X optical zoom. And full disclosure, the photos have been "cleaned up" using Microsoft photo editing software.

Click here for the video which is designed to be watched in landscape. The video is 6 minutes long.

Stay tuned for future blog posts and videos of this bucket list trip.

A link to the Africa - Birds post and video.