Victoria Falls to The Chobe River and Beyond!

At the risk of turning this blog into a travel site, I feel as though I must begin with some local news before continuing with our African Adventure. Feel fee to skip ahead to the Elephants. My first announcement, however, is no minor development. -- I have officially packed up the thermal underwear for the season! -- Yes, I know, spring can be a fickle mistress. For example the East Coast of the US has been absolutely battered this winter, but here in the Duchy we had quite a mild winter. We are now we are in full bloom! Considering it was nasty until June last year (as I recall), this is cause for great celebration!

The fine weather also made my first official outing with the Luxembourg Explorer Scouts a real treat. Rather than battling the low clouds and torrential mist, we had two days of full sunshine and no one got lost…terribly. We leaders let loose three groups of teenaged Explorers and then pursued them in chase vehicles. Not exactly what I would call a backpacking excursion, but the kids got some real world experience reading maps and navigating the wilds of the Grand Duchy's north country. Camping here can be rather refined…heck, the second night our campground had a proper bar with Guinness on draught!!!

Roughing it - Luxembourg style

The kids did tent out…ya know for the experience.

Ah, my charges. Really sweet kids growing up in Luxembourg. Lucky little so-and-so's

OK. Okay. Alright….on to the elephants!

As I mentioned previously, the Victoria Falls Hotel is a throw-back to the times of pith helmets and jodhpurs. While she may be showing a bit of her age, she stands tall and still carries herself with the grace of The Dowager Countess of Grantham. In many ways the grand old hotel was the perfect doorway to pass into the unspoiled wilderness of the African backcountry. At VFH one really gets a sense of how things operated in the gilded age of British colonialism…probably because they make the staff wear uniforms straight out of a Michael Caine period piece.

A random collection of photos from around the Victoria Falls Hotel. 

Of course we just has to partake in the HIgh Tea on the veranda! I had coffee, though.

We even took a sundowner cruise on the Zambezi River…and totally got Bro'd by the other American on the boat (but that's a story for offline).

Before we depart the Grand Dame of Zimbabwe I'll share with you one last look at the stunning waterfalls that have beguiled travelers since time immemorial.

From Victoria Falls we were driven 60 kilometers to the Botswana border, and then transferred to a 'jeep' for another 45 minute drive into the Chobe National Park. This is where the real safari stuff begins! We stayed at the only game lodge officially operated within the park boundaries…funny enough it is called the Chobe Game Lodge, and it's located on the banks of the Chobe River just across from the flood plains in Namibia. So, from our posh digs along along the Indian Ocean to the refined colonial resort along the Zambezi river we now found ourselves in an upscale lodge in the middle of the Botswana bush surrounded by stunning landscapes and wild animals. Seriously, there was an electrified fence around the property to keep out the large game at night. This little piece of info will become more important later, so make a mental note ;0

The Chobe River 

To leave Zimbabwe you simply go through this pink house...

…and viola! You are in Botswana.  At least this border crossing was free of charge :)

Once in Botswana we travelled farther inland until we came to the National Park. From there is was a bumpy ride to the Lodge along sandy tracks. This is where we saw our first of many elephants! Chobe is home to approximately half of Botswana's estimated 88,000 pachyderms, and after a few 'game drives' (literally driving around the bush in open sided safari vehicles) we certainly believe this statistic. The guy that drove us from the border said not to worry about wildlife sighting. I think his exact words were, "You'll be sick of elephants by the time you leave." While the grandeur of the large game never became boring, I could certainly see how, if you lived in the area, elephants (and Impalas even more so) would become as ubiquitous as the gray squirrels back in Alexandria. Thankfully these guys aren't thuggy…'cause they're quite large, and would do a number on your window sills if they decided to build a nest. We did stir up one youngster by inadvertently driving between him and his herd, and he gave us quite the trumpet to show his displeasure. He even kicked a rock at the jeep! Who knew they could do that?!

Elephants, as you know, live in matriarchal herds with young males less than 14 years old. As they mature the adolescent boys scamper off to a somewhat solitary lifestyle. The females will naturally split the herd when resources become scarce. For this reason, most herds in a geographical area are more or less related, and often the males will come back to pay friendly visits to see their sisters and mums. Needless to say both Jeni and I are completely enamored with these colossuses (yep, I had to look that word up). 

Check out this little guy after his mud bath. Too cute!

Obviously the draw to any safari is the wildlife, and the sheer diversity of animals and the beauty of the African wilderness can't be overstated. From our base camp at the Lodge we were able to explore the bush and the river with our most capable guide, RB. She was incredible and knew exactly where to take us on land or water to see the abundance of flora and fauna Chobe had to offer. Once again we were spoiled rotten. The food at the lodge was excellent. After they realized we were vegetarians, there were always great options for us,  and don't get me started on the abundance of fresh fruits!

Our unit was the one downstairs on the left side.

Dinner by lamp light in the main hall of the lodge!

The viewing deck as seen from the river.

Now, what follows is my attempt to pare down the photos from the rest of our safari in Chobe. Please bear with me... 

Of course there were loads of baboons...

…and Warthogs...

…and huge herds of Impalas.

This is what an Impala looks like up close.

Don't forget the Hippos...

…and Giraffes...

…some Water Buffalo (which are apparently a rare treat to see)...

…and this massive male Kudu. 

I did mention Baboons, right?

Well that's about all for now, but check back in a few days because I haven't gotten to the myriad of other beasts including lions, dazzling birds, oh, and our Elephant Walk in the Okavango Delta! I'll leave you for now with one more landscape of Beautiful Botswana!

Ok, maybe two :)

Into Africa

One of the many benefits of living in Luxembourg is its 'centrality'. (Apparently this is a real word because spell-check didn't correct me…hope I used it correctly.) Of course the Grand Duchy is the Green Heart of Europe, but living in the Central European Time zone also means that we are within a one hour time difference to the plethora of neighbors to our south. The only hurdle to reaching southern Africa is that pesky equator….and Heathrow airport. That said, as Americans, it was a whole lot easier reaching South Africa from Luxembourg than, say, Washington DC, or Dubuque.

Ahem…Heathrow Airport. In the immortal words of
Ron Swanson, "We don't have clocks in America."

For reasons I shall not go into here, dear reader, I was obliged to take an extended stay in London. Suffice it to say that it would not be a Jeni and Brian holiday without at least one hiccup. The take-away message from my 24 hours in Olde Britannia is that people who work in airports seem to think that we travelers know the surrounding area as well as they do. Wether your passing by The Old Number 9 in Geneva or you need a hotel on The Bath Road in London, airport folks will send you off into the wilderness with a flick of the wrist. I did succeed in securing a hotel on The Bath Road, and the next morning I found myself with a few hours to kill. So, I hopped on the Tube and went to see London-town. 


The trip from Heathrow into the center of the city takes nearly one hour on the metro, mostly above ground through a dystopian version of the Mary Poppins' rooftops. In town I saw many of the famous sites (a first for me), and met this amiable bloke in a London pub. I sh#t you not, his name is Tommy, and he was utterly fascinated with my smart-phone.

By law there is to be at least one old codger per bar (British Pub Council Sec 1234).  Apparently there's some sort of loading capacity at the rail, or something.

Enough of that distraction. Let's go on to Africa!!!

Jeni and I made our rendez-vous in Durban, South Africa. Before I left, a French friend quipped that it was our wicked American geography skills that led us to Durban…you do realize that South Africa is the exact half-way point between Ice Station Zebra and Luxembourg :P

Back in Baby's Arms…

By far, the best part of the entire Africa trip was reuniting with my marvelous wife! We stayed in a part of Durban called Umhlanga Rocks which is a bit outside the city center. That was OK with us because we were able to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Indian Ocean just a stones throw from our hotel. Umhlanga itself is a self contained quarter of town that has an quaint Arcade full of restaurants, boutiques and shops. We relaxed, dined and did a bit of shopping. Jeni picked up a new pair of sandals, and we experienced the local liquor store firsthand. This last shopping excursion led to probably the funniest moment in Durban when we returned to our swanky hotel with our bag o' booze, and the doorman immediately called us out. "Ooh, Pick and Pay," he said with a wry smile as he let us into the lobby. (Please note the calculator at the bottom right of the link provided.)

We did bring a little Luxembourg Magic with us to South Africa, but after a couple of days the weather cleared up nicely. 

The view of the hotel pool from our room…it's literally 'on the rocks!'

Surely we couldn't be the only guests to BYOB at the Beverly Hills Sunset Hotel…well we do march to our own drums. The hotel was superb, and we discovered a few local wines from the Western Cape. Keep an eye out for South African Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. You won't be disappointed. 

Sunrise over the Indian Ocean. The lighthouse is fully operational as this is apparently a major shipping lane.

After a couple days to decompress and reconnect in Durban, we packed up the traveling circus and headed to Victoria Falls up in Zimbabwe. 

On the tarmac in Johannesburg. Don't worry…there's loads more selflies still to come :)

Now you may have heard the Zimbabwe has had some difficult times recently. This may be true, but the people are so warm and welcoming, you'd never know there was an economic crisis raging within the country. In fact the US dollar has replaced the local currency which made the math much easier for us. As a souvenir, you can purchase an entire set of the old Zimbabwean paper money, including the Fifty Billion Dollar note! 

We flew to Victoria Falls in a Boeing 737 (shown above), and landed in the middle of the savannah on a red packed tarmac complete with grazing animals. As we approached, Jeni and I looked at each other and said, "There's no way we're landing on that!" Well we sure did. 

As we disembarked the plane, the scale of Victoria Falls (the village) became quite evident. The single room 'airport' had no waiting room, and we were to queue up along the front of the building while customs officials checked everyone's documents. Each non-African visitor was charged between $30 and $60 on what was apparently a rather arbitrary scale. We got in for thirty bucks each, but the Canadians behind us (who thought they were so clever) pre-paid $75 per person! See what planning ahead gets you? We finally sidled up the the counter to be met by not one, but two customs agents who then commenced to stamp our documents like the passports owed them money! Jeni calculates that each stamp must have been worth around two US dollars…ka-chunk...ka-chunk…ka-chunk-kachunk-kachunkachunkachunkachunkachunkachunkachunkachunk. This is not an exaggeration. I just wish taking photos was permitted inside the 'terminal'.

Oh yeah, after the stamp attack we sifted through the pile of luggage to find our own bags and pop them on the conveyor belt through security. 

At long last we made it to our hotel. Our travel agent (who I shall heap praise upon later) booked us into the Victoria Falls Hotel which was built back in 1904 and the charm and character of a Rudyard Kipling short story. British Imperialism aside, it's easy to see why this was a popular destination for the well-heeled colonials who travelled, sometimes for weeks, to get  a glimpse at this most wondrous spectacle of nature!

The grand veranda at the Victoria Falls Hotel...

…and, of course, the view from the veranda. The mist you see rising from the left of the old bridge is actually the water spray from the falls. It hits with such force that water actually splashes up twice as high as the cliffs surrounding the waterfalls.  

I'll leave you with some photos of the famous waterfalls, but stay tuned as I sort through more photos. We still have to show you the rest of Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta. We encountered so may amazing landscapes, friendly people and crazy creatures on this trip that it would be impossible to write about them all in just one post.

The last gorges as the Zambezi River flows south toward Mozambique

Looking out over the Devil's Cataract.

At this point I said, "Let's keep going! We can't get any wetter."

You can just make out the Main Falls through the 'rain'.

Yes, we were, indeed, able to get more wetter, but we made it to the backside of the bridge!