10 days in Southern Africa

[NSun]

Time to have a go at another trip report. I just got back from a very long trip by my standards - 10 days in Southern Africa.

It consisted of:
- 2 nights in Johannesburg at opposite ends of the trip
- 3 nights at Victoria Falls
- 2 nights in Chobe National Park in Botswana
- 3 nights in Cape Town, staying at the beautiful Camp's Bay

I had long wanted to do a safari and it was a round birthday for a couple of close family members so this was the perfect excuse to take the trip. We saw a lot of animals, a lot of border control points, a lot of cloud-covered mountains at Cape Town and a lot of Embraer flying. Let's go.

 

[NSun]

The trip began in the usual place, although with my breakfast tradition rather than lunch/dinner. I take whatever fruit smoothie is on offer (was strawberry flavoured this time), muesli and honey-covered yogurt.





For the first time post-COVID, I was able to get a spa treatment and so I went with a back massage. I do miss the days of the full body massages though.



Off we go on QF63. Boarding was at Gate 9 so I wasn't able to get good pics. Aircraft was VH-ZNC, Quokka, which I actually saw undergoing takeoff tests when I visited the Boeing factory in early 2018. Managed to get 12A, last row in the business cabin - it was either that or a middle seat in Row 2 (Shudder).

Captain announced a 'very fast' flight time of 12 hours and 50 minutes due to tailwinds. 10 minutes after takeoff, they had to put gears down again for exactly 8 minutes due to sensor guidance and the seatbelt sign had to be put on. It was bumpy for that time but was smooth sailing after that. We went 63 degrees south so saw Tasmania and a couple of icebergs but only intermittently given cloud cover.

For lunch I had chicken skewers to start, a beef fillet as the main and ice cream sandwich for dessert.










Passed the time by watching movies & TV shows. Watched Silence of the Lambs, Barbie and then the reboot of Frasier. As someone who loves dogs, I miss Eddie but this dog was a decent attempt at a replacement.



Karnakata Chicken Curry as dinner - was great to have Indian food on a plane given our taste buds drop in the air. Meringue as dessert.

 

[NSun]

We crossed into South Africa with 40 minutes in the flight to go, flying right over Durban.



And landed. Great to see 747s again. Immigration took 15 minutes but at least our hotel for the night was a 5 minute drive away - the Emperor's Palace casino.

















Thunderstorms hit and went quickly, so went for a swim in the pool and had it all to myself.

 

[NSun]

After a good night's sleep, we had a light breakfast the next day and went back to the Airport for our flight to Victoria Falls.






There would be 4 internal flights throughout our trip, all on Airlink Embraers. I wish I could've flown Comair when they were around because I could've earned a lot of SCs. It was a remote bus to the gate and a 2 hour flight to Victoria Falls. We got some good views of plenty of aircraft, but I'll save pics for our return leg because I got better photos then.





There's the airport. We had to do a holding pattern as the airport was busy. It appears flights only land for a few hours per day and there's quite a few squeezed into there considering the side of the airport.



Had some dramas at immigration because we were told we could go visa-free but had to buy visas, then having been sold visas, only found there were single entry (we were hoping to do a day trip to Zambia). Ah well, what's done was done. At least I got a big visa sticker in my passport. From the airport, we were met by a driver who took us on a 30 minute drive to the lodge where we'd be staying the next 3 nights.

The hotel was called 'The Palm Lodge' and was only opened in late 2021, personally by the country's President.

 

[NSun]

More of the hotel and a taste of the wildlife we shared it with - mongeese and monkeys (but paled in comparison to our next hotel).

 

[NSun]

The plan for the next day was to see Victoria Falls and the day after to go to some authentic Zimbabwean dining experience one of my companions had organised. For our first evening, we went on a river cruise organised by our hotel. We were thrilled to see a lot of hippos, although each cruise/drive we took throughout this trip ended up being better than the last. Despite not having visas to exit Zimbabwe, go to Zambia and come back, we must have because the river was the border and I kept getting those texts from my mobile carrier saying 'Welcome to [this country]'.









Look carefully at this one and you'll spot a juvenile crocodile.

 

[bPeteb]

Time to have a go at another trip report. I just got back from a very long trip by my standards - 10 days in Southern Africa.

It consisted of:
- 2 nights in Johannesburg at opposite ends of the trip
- 3 nights at Victoria Falls
- 2 nights in Chobe National Park in Botswana
- 3 nights in Cape Town, staying at the beautiful Camp's Bay

I had long wanted to do a safari and it was a round birthday for a couple of close family members so this was the perfect excuse to take the trip. We saw a lot of animals, a lot of border control points, a lot of cloud-covered mountains at Cape Town and a lot of Embraer flying. Let's go.

Looking forward to this NSun. We're off to Southern Africa for most of August and we'll start in Zambia, flying into Livingstone for a couple of nights before crossing over.

 

[RooFlyer]

What was Airlink like, @NSun . As in organised, disorganised or pretty straightforward? Asking because ...

@bPeteb I'll also be in RSA in August - 3 night trip to Madikwe game reserve before I head off to Namibia.

 

[love_the_life]

Looking forward to this NSun. We're off to Southern Africa for most of August and we'll start in Zambia, flying into Livingstone for a couple of nights before crossing over.

Reading with interest as we are sorting a trip for next year, though think it will be mainly Sabi Sands area. Interested like RooFlyer on Airlink as they may be the one which we use.

 

[LadyC]

Thanks for posting. Will be interested to know if you feel like it is a bit rushed or a good pace. I am planning a Southern Africa trip for next year and want to pack a lot in over 2 - 2.5 weeks.

 

[bPeteb]

What was Airlink like, @NSun . As in organised, disorganised or pretty straightforward? Asking because ...

@bPeteb I'll also be in RSA in August - 3 night trip to Madikwe game reserve before I head off to Namibia.

Sorry to hijack the thread NSun. We're heading southish from Livingstone through Zambia, Botswana and Namibia before RSA, ending up in CPT. We're might cross paths

We've also booked inter African flights with Airlink

 

[NSun]

What was Airlink like, @NSun . As in organised, disorganised or pretty straightforward? Asking because ...

@bPeteb I'll also be in RSA in August - 3 night trip to Madikwe game reserve before I head off to Namibia.

Overall Airlink were fine. All flights were on time and the planes were comfortable. Just don't eat the sandwiches as they're stale.

Thanks for posting. Will be interested to know if you feel like it is a bit rushed or a good pace. I am planning a Southern Africa trip for next year and want to pack a lot in over 2 - 2.5 weeks.

As someone who normally takes shorter trips, I don't feel this was rushed at all. Nonetheless, I do concede I could've stayed longer and seen a lot more. I could've gone into Nambia or Zamiba properly, or perhaps gone north into Kenya and/or Tanzania.

 

[NSun]

Day 3 of the trip, and it was all about Victoria Falls. We got driven to the falls and taken through them by a guide, then taken for lunch at a nearby restaurant. The falls span both Zambia and Zimbabwe and I only got to see one side, although there is a lot to see. It is not just one waterfall, it is a lot of them with over a dozen vantage points.








After about 10 minutes walk after the gate, we reached the first vantage point.

 

[NSun]

I was quite excited by this point, but little did I know so many more vantage points were to come. The further along we went, the more difficult it was to stay dry (even if you're standing 500 metres away from the 'edge' on the other side).















Eventually we got to a kind of T-intersection where there was a bridge to Zambia on the other side. This was the last vantage point. If only we'd bought the right visa, we would've gone over into Zambia. We'll have to do that next time.

 

[NSun]

After this, our guide took us to the Lookout Cafe to have lunch. It is still in Zimbabwe, but further along from the bridge to Zambia.





To drink, I had a vanilla milkshake - just out of curiosity of how it would be in Zimbabwe. My companions had what was apparently the local beer, with one exemption who had some strawberry daiquiri/white rum-based coughtail.







I ended up having ostrich kebabs as the main. I wasn't expecting this presentation! Was like beef, but tougher to chew on.



One of my companionss opted for crocodile kebabs.



Blueberry panna cotta to finish.



Here's the full menu.

 

[love_the_life]

Lots more water over the falls than when we were there in 2015. Looks wonderful.

 

[NSun]

The centrepoint of the next day was lunch at Dusty Road. This was the idea of one of my companions who was friends of a friend who owned the place - although we did not get to meet them. This place could easily have been in Australia given the outback setup.

 

[NSun]

The menu. This reminds me I forgot to mention in an earlier post (although some may know anyway) that Zimbabwe uses the US dollar because their currency became worthless due to hyperinflation. We came across several touts during the course of our trip trying to sell us several billion dollar notes - as in a note worth Z$40bn.





Unfortunately, I have only a vague memory of what all the food is because it was all bought out as one and we shared it. I remember this was Maize bread.





Two different types of stew in these pots.



Baobab cream pots and nut tartlets.

 

[NSun]

After this, we went and had a look around Victoria Falls town.










We saw a few warthogs and baboons walking nearby at various points.



There was a lot of shopping to do and it was fine to just look without buying anything. Unfortunately, we stumbled across one of the most persistent touts I ever experienced. I've had a lot of them before but my companions hadn't. And oh, he walked alongside us for 10 minutes even when we changed direction to try and get rid of him. I ended up tripping over a kerb and spraining my big toe as a consequence.

Sunset on the way back to the lodge. The next day we would be going to Chobe Reserve in Botswana, which would involve the crossing of an international border and seeing a lot of animals, even before we were officially on safari.

 

[bPeteb]

Loving the report so far NSun. Can't wait to get there!