Africa 2013: Summary

September/October 2013

The glacier at the top of Mt Kilimanjaro

Highlights

• Tanzania in general - people were friendly, food was fantastic and the sights were varied
  
• Seeing the big 5
  
• The Devils Pool
  

Recommendations

• If you only have a few weeks I recommend Northern Tanzania, you can climb Kili and get a number of Parks in, with a variety of wildlife
  
• Be careful about going during peak, we were in off peak and it was still busy in parts. Some parks would be a nighmare in peak
• Its the wild not a zoo, don't embarrass yourself and request an animal, but by all means let your guide/driver know that you'd really like to see a rhino or your interested in birds or big cats - otherwise be like us and go with the flow, you never know what you will see when you least expect it!

Favoutite Photo
I have many but the below two are my absolute favourites.

The cheetah above sat quietly in the grass, she is so old that her spots are fading, she was so rare even the guides talked about her all night

Apparently Hyenas don't wallow in the mud, except for this one. S/he proves that even though people might think they've seen everything they usually haven't.

Favourite meal/dish
Most of our meals were included, but the "stews" in Tanzania were hearty, tasty, especially the fish and eggplant variety.

Lowlights
As usual its a vast continent, we only touched parts of Southern and East Africa, we met a large number of Australians on long service leave who did a lot in 12 weeks, but still only got through a large chunk of Southern and Eastern Africa.

Chobe Safari Lodge, Botswana

October 2013

Chobe Safari Lodge is located on the banks of the Chobe River and borders the Chobe National Park. The Lodge is old and overrun by pushy tourists. Having come from Pom Poms which is under the same management we were extremely disappointed. The Lodge comes at a high end price, without being high end.

The rooms are old and tired. The beds were lumpy.

All food is via buffet and repeats itself. The food was poor, but the service friendly.

The pool is located right near the dining area and bar, with great views of the Chobe river and a good place to cool down and watch the sunset.

I would not recommend staying here, you could get much cheaper options, of the same or better quality.

Chobe National Park, Botswana

October 2013

Chobe National Park is located in Northern Botswana and has one of the largest concentrations of game in Africa.

Located on the Chobe River, it is easy to see a diverse range of animals, and water cruises are common, particularly around sunset.

The park is know for its large elephant population, and it is easy to see the damage done to trees in some areas of the park.

Makadikgadi Pans, Botswana

October 2013

The Makadikgadi Pan are large salt pans located in northeastern Botswana.

The Makadikgadi Pans are not one salt pan but multiple pans. The area is also host to a large yearly migration of wilderbeast and zebra.

One of the main attractions of the pans is watching the sunset over them. We had the perfect night for it (except for the heat and the flies!), with great cloud adding to the scenery.

Pom Pom Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana

October 2013

Pom Pom Camp is located in the Okavango Delta of Botswana.

Flying into the camp its heard to site, but on arrival everything about it is impressive.

The camp consists of nine safari tents, situated around the water. These aren't your average tents.

The beds were comfortable with plenty of room to store all your stuff (the whole 18kg between us) at the end of your bed.

The bathroom was inside with a twin vanity.

The outdoor shower, while not being too much of a novelty for us, was the perfect addition.

I loved the added detail in the sinks.

The camp comes with a pool, which can be a welcome addition during the particularly warm months.

Activities are included, which for us consisted of morning and evening game drives and a trip in the Mokoro.

  

Food was served communal side, but there was a touch of class.

Okavango Delta, Botswana

October 2013

The Okavango Delta was one of my favourite spots on this trip. Maybe it was the accommodation (see next post for details), maybe it was the isolation and the fact you fly in or maybe it was the stunning scenery and the fact it was so different than most of our other stops.

The Okavango Delta is located a short flight from Maun in Botswana. Each year 11 cubic kilometers of water spreads through causing a change into the areas accessible by land and the type of wildlife found.

One of the most popular activities to do in the delta is to travel the "hippo highway" in a Mokoro (or canoe).

This is a particularly popular activity for birders, and gives you a totally different perspective to the landscape and the wildlife activity.

We had one person who was too nervous to get in the Mokoro, but your guides are local and know the waterways and animal behaviour well.

There is also plenty of opportunity for land activities.

There were a number of younger animals with their families and it was good to see the circle of life.

While we didn't see any big cats on this part of our trip, there was always something to catch your eye.

The backdrop also made for great sunrises and sunsets (also the best time to see the wildlife).