Africa - Passports Overloaded

Livingstone, Zambia

June 7th – 13th, 2016

June 7, 2016

We started our journey from Florida to Zambia. After an 18 hour flight, we finally arrived in Johannesburg for one night our flight to Zambia is tomorrow morning. The Hilton Standton Hotel in Johannesburg (Joburg) was very nice we only spent one night there.

June 8, 2016

Today we woke up and got a taxi ride to the airport to officially start our Zambia Zambezi River adventure. We arrived in Zambia and took an unbelievable helicopter ride to my friend Tina’s river lodge. We flew into the gorge which was incredible it was an experience you couldn’t have had anywhere else. We flew over Victoria falls the view was breathtaking about twenty minutes later we arrived at Royal Chundu River Lodge. Upon our arrival to our river lodge we were greeted by Aggie & Hessah after a brief orientation we then boarded a boat for a short trip to our island lodge where Tina had set up our five days four-night stay and our chalet number four. We had lunch upon arrival and about two hours later we had a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. After the cruise, we went back to our room to freshen up before going to dinner. When we got to our room we had a wonderful surprise at our room the tub on the deck was full of warm water waiting for us it was an unbelievable experience to be in the jungle and while bathing you hear the grunts of hippos is something city folk aren’t used to. After our amazing and relaxing soak in the tub we headed to the main area for our dinner we were very tired from jet lag.

June 9, 2016

The next morning we had a rough time with waking up at 5 AM to go on our first adventure, but we managed. We took the boat back to the River Lodge to meet up with our driver for the day. It was so cold on the boat that we nearly froze to death. It’s cold in the morning and by the afternoon it heats up and it’s much warmer. We drove about an hour away tomorrow to Mukuni Big 5. The first part was an elephant ride for 45 minutes which was fun. We saw what they normally do when they are in their natural habitat. Almost every step they took they would eat from the trees in the pathway.

After the elephant ride, we were introduced to two seven-year-old female cheetahs. Suzanne and Lulu were their names. At first, John and I were both nervous because even though they were raised from babies with humans, they are animals who belong in the wild and have natural instincts to hunt and kill for survival. One cool thing is that cheetahs are the only large cat that purrs so hearing the cat purr made us comfortable because you knew they were ok with you around them. After about half an hour we took them for a stroll in the bush.

After we were done walking the cheetah, it was time for them to get exercise. There was a lure attached to a pulley that the cheetahs chased while being timed and afterwards they got a chunk of meat as a treat.

The next adventure was the king of the jungle a 22-month-old female and male lion siblings. The lion’s name was Milo, and the lioness’ name was Dina. This experience was very different than the cheetahs because they don’t purr they are very quiet. The way we knew they were ok with us was by their body language. After about 40 minutes petting and walking with the two lions we were taken to meet two seven week old cubs

They were so cute and playful. We even got to feed the cubs milk from a baby bottle. Overall we had an unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime experience at Mikuni Big 5.

Our next stop on today’s day of harrowing adventure was to see one of the seven wonders of the world Victoria Falls. The first part was an incredibly wet walk around the falls which was pretty amazing. The sheer force of the water flowing down and shooting back up was like a monsoon rainstorm even though we had ponchos on our bathing suits were soaked.

John decided to be daring and swim in part of the falls which is called Angel’s pool. It’s pretty close to the edge which is crazy. After swimming in the falls, we took a picture while sitting on a rock right at the edge. One false move and we were going over. Luckily the guide told us they hadn’t lost anybody.

We then started our one hour journey back to Royal Chundu, and once we arrived, we had a lovely early dinner and then went to our chalet for our nightly soak tub and right to bed.

June 10, 2016

We woke up at 5:30 AM and took the same cold boat ride to the River Lodge to meet up with our driver for our safari guide to walk with the white rhino. The beginning of the excursion was cold but as the day went on the sun warmed us up while walking through Mosi-Oa-Tunya Park looking for the Rhino. We finally found the rhino and her baby.

This was the only thing we were doing today, so we drove back to Royal Chundu on the way there we saw a herd of elephants crossing the street. They were the biggest elephants we ever saw and there was a baby with them as well. We arrived at the lodge just in time for the daily sunset cruise which we looked forward to every day. After the cruise, we went back to our chalet to soak in the tub and get ready for dinner.

One thing I found comforting about the lodge was every night after dinner we had a guard walk us back to our chalet with a flashlight and a taser because in the evening hippos come out of the water and onto the island to eat. They are known to kill more people than any other animal in Africa.

June 11, 2016

Today we decided to relax and hang out at the lodge after travelling so far and doing the excursions the past two days we needed to relax and unwind. After lunch we decided to participate in a four-hour private river safari it was quiet and very peaceful.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see much we saw some birds, a lot of baboons, two crocodiles and a family of hippos. After the River Safari, we relaxed on the deck of our chalet once again and read our books. We took some time out of our relaxation to take part in the sunset cruise luckily we enjoyed a private cruise, and after that, we decided to have dinner and then went back to our chalet and enjoy our warm bathe before going to bed.

June 12, 2016

We had such a great time on the river safari yesterday that we decided to participate in one early this morning.

The only thing that was an issue if you were doing anything early in the morning it was freezing for the first two hours, but as the sun came up, it became warmer which is pleasant. We followed our river safari with lunch and the sunset cruise, soak in the tub and dinner.

June 13, 2016

Today we woke up completely relaxed and ready to travel to the airport to catch a flight to Madagascar after a final drive down the unpaved road as the driver called it a free African massage we boarded our plane for our flight.

Nelspruit – White River, South Africa

March 30th & 31st, 2009

Today we drove from Kruger National Park to Nelspruit (White River) to stay at my friend Tina’s house for a couple of days. The area she lives in is very private and gated. It was another short stop we were only going to be here for two days.

The next morning we had an exciting visit to this elephant sanctuary called Elephant Whispers. We learned so much about elephants that we never knew before this visit. We also had the pleasure of riding an elephant which was fun.

Six dozen roses that Tina bought for her home

Maria & John – Young Elephant at Elephant Whispers

Maria & John – Elephant ride at Elephant Whispers

Capetown, South Africa

April 1st & 2nd, 2009

Today we flew to Capetown and took a taxi to our hotel the 12 Apostles. It’s the only hotel that is not on the strip downtown. It’s exclusive and quiet which is what we wanted since this was our last stop on vacation. After checking into the hotel, we took a cab to the marina to meet up with our friend Tina’s aunt and cousins for a sunset cruise. We were lucky enough to be on an amazing Yacht and had a great time cruising around Capetown. After our cruise, we ended up meeting up with Tina’s father Hugh to have dinner which was great. Hugh is a great guy, and it was nice spending time with him.

The next two days we had a few tours set up Cape of Good Hope, penguins at Boulders Beach and a few wine tastings. Our private car picked us up and drove us to Boulders Beach which had hundreds of penguins. After taking a bunch of pictures, we then drove to Cape Point which is the southern tip of Africa. The following day our first stop was our first wine tasting. The building was stone, and it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the names of the places we visited; I guess we have another excuse to go back. This one vineyard was the best wine tasting we’ve ever been to. They gave us a lot more than usual at a wine tasting which was rough so early in the day, but we managed (wink, wink).

This was a short stop in Capetown we didn’t have enough time to visit Table Mountain, but we will be visiting again so the next time we will be sure to see it.

Safari – Four days on Safari

March 27 – 30, 2009

What a great day it is we get to spend four days on Safari. As soon as we drove into Kruger National Park and arrived at Jacobin we saw an elephant just walking around which was amazing. The only time I’ve seen an elephant was either at the circus or a zoo, and these wild and free elephants are tremendous. We hung out with my good friend Tina and her cousins Sass and Tom were a blast we had a lot of fun with them.

After settling in and unpacking it was the perfect time to take a drive and have our first sundowners the real way. Elvis who was our driver at Jacobin packs the truck with all kinds of liquor, wine and soft drinks and a basket of finger foods that Saloni and Nora cook fresh daily. Once packed and ready to go for our sundowners Elvis drove us to this perfect spot and set up a table with a tablecloth and made us all drinks and set up the food. It was a fantastic welcome and a great experience.

Once we were done with the sundowners, we then drove to have a bush brie which is a barbecue in the heat of the bush. Once again another amazing experience. One of the things they told us was not to walk away from the other people and the fire because if Hyenas might drag you off and eat you.

The next day Tina and her cousins had to leave, so we had the whole place to ourselves which was great. We woke up every day at 5:30 am and were on the safari by 6 am hoping to see the Big 5 and of course all the other animals as well.

We were lucky enough to see the following animals.
Leopard
Cheetah
Giraffe
WartHog
Spotted Hyena
Impala
Zebra
Black Rhino
Cows
Buffalo
Elephant
Wild Dog
Baboon
Jackal
Wildebeest
Reedbuck
Nyala
Steenbok
Waterbuck
Bushbuck
Kudu

We were very lucky to see a Leopard that had just killed and dragged an Impala up a tree. The next day we went back to that same spot and saw the leopard finishing off the Impala, and you could hear the Leopard cracking the bones while eating it was wild. That afternoon we saw the leopard feeding her two cubs which is a rare sighting.

The only animal we weren’t lucky enough to see was the lion. Hopefully, the next time we go on Safari we will see them in the wild.

The never-ending road to Kruger National Park

While at the Bush Braai we were told not to go too far from the fire because we could be attacked by Hyenas and basically any of the wild animals. In the two pictures below my friend’s cousin fell asleep on the truck and fell off on the opposite side of where we were. Luckily nothing happened to him.

Outdoor dining at Jacobin with view of the watering hole

Locals carrying sticks for a fire on their heads

Johannesburg, South Africa

March 25, 2009

Growing up I had family that lived in South Africa I always dreamed of one day visiting them and figured that would never happen because Africa is so far away. When I started dating my husband in 2008, I had told him that one of my good friends Tina had just moved back to her hometown of Nelspruit which is a town in South Africa. The last thing she told me was that I had an open invitation to visit her whenever I wanted to, as soon as I told John that she extended an invitation he jumped at the opportunity and started planning the trip the next day.

The flight to Johannesburg is 20 hours we flew from JFK to Atlanta, GA to catch our connecting flight from there we flew to Dakar where we had to get out of our seats while security checked the plane. The last thing we wanted to do after flying about 15 hours was to be hassled to check the plane. Either way, after they checked our plane and we refueled, we were off to Johannesburg. Finally, we arrived at our first destination after 20 hours.

Unfortunately, our luggage didn’t make it in time, so we were without our belongings for one day. We checked into an amazing hotel called the Four Seasons Westcliff. This hotel embodies luxury and style. With its beautifully landscaped gardens and sitting high above you have a fantastic view of Johannesburg’s suburbs. It is breathtaking. A must see if you are traveling to South Africa.

After checking into the hotel, we had to take a drive to the local mall which was the last thing we wanted to do to get a change of clothes. The concierge advised us to take security with us, and we told them that we would be okay without the security, but they insisted which kind of made me nervous even though I grew up in Jamaica, Queens and John grew up in the Bronx. If you are unfamiliar with New York, Jamaica is not the best part of Queens. I had to go through metal detectors every day to get into my high school, so I was used to being in a bad neighborhood. I survived so I guess it can’t be that bad. We didn’t spend too much time at the mall because it was nighttime and we still needed to have dinner and get settled in and rest since the next day we were flying to Mpumalanga. Follow us along our journey next stop four day on Safari.

Alphabetic Links of Where We’ve Been