Here are a few images from Mashatu Main Camp, including the resident bushbuck.
We had decided to do the Predator Drive instead of the regular game drive, so that afternoon we separated from our friends Michael and Gary, and our regular team of Elvis and Aaron, and went off with Andrei Snyman of Mashatu Research in search of one of the recently tagged leopards. The animal led us on a merry chase, but eventually Andrei was able to spot him and download some data from his collar.
We didn’t see nearly as many other animals on the Predator Drive as we had on previous drives, so if you are there for a short time I wouldn’t recommend it. However, we were at Mashatu for three days and had plenty of opportunity to see a variety of animals, so it was very interesting to see how the research process works.
Mashatu would be a wondrous experience under any circumstances, but without a doubt, it is the people that make it so very, very special. While I am sure that all the rangers and trackers are excellent, because everything about Mashatu was, we considered ourselves very lucky to have Elvis as our ranger and Aaron, our tracker.
And not just because they knew their stuff, cold, which they did. Each drive exceeded the last, to the point where my brother joked to Elvis that he fully expected to see the (rarely seen) Honey Badger on the next drive.
It worked so well because not only did they get the jokes, they jumped right in themselves.
And there were more than a few jokes. Doug, Mum and I tend to “situational” humor, and so, it turned out, did our safari companions Michael and Gary. The jokes (mostly made by us at our own expense) flew pretty fast and furious.
I will never forget when we saw the aardwolf, Aaron commented that it was too bad there was a branch in front of its face, but if someone would hold the spotlight, he’d hop down and move it. Gary, bless his heart, immediately piped up that he would… then realized it was a joke and laughed as heartily (but quietly) as the rest of us.
Which brings me to the tigers.
There are no tigers in Africa. Except in zoos. But we figured that since Elvis and Aaron had exceeded expectations at every turn, they’d be able to do the impossible and find us one. I started it, after chatting with Mark Hardon on the Ivory Drive about tiger conservation efforts in South Africa, but it soon became a running joke. As we started each drive, we felt confident we’d finally spot the Tiger of Mashatu.
Our day started very very early. We caught a 6:30 flight to Polokwane, South Africa and then transferred by road, about 2 hours, to the Botswana border. Mum’s friend Afke, who runs the webcam at Pete’s Pond, met us there. After clearing customs and immigration, we continued on to Mashatu Main Camp, now in the capable hands of Elvis and Aaron, the ranger and tracker who would be our hosts and guides for the next three days.
We arrived at Mashatu around noon. Our first game drive would start later that afternoon, but there was no shortage of interesting wildlife right around the camp, including this bushbuck, who seemed to be a permanent resident, and all sorts of birds and lizards.
photographed from our room
just outside our door
Around 3pm. we reconvened on the terrace for a light snack, and met the fellow guests who would be joining us on the game drives, Michael and Gary, Aussie expats living in Hong Kong. As Mum relates in her Mashatutiger.com post, we all hit it off tremendously, which really added to the experience for everyone.
Selected Photos from the Drive (Full photo set from the day)
Elvis and Aaron really set the bar high on our first drive. Everything was amazing, from the first impala to the setting sun. A real highlight, though, was the rare aardwolf.
Return to camp, dinner in the boma (highlight, the choral performance by the kitchen and wait staff) and then off to bed. One important note: your ranger accompanies you back to your cabin, and once “tucked in” for the night, you are requested to remain in your room. The information packet for guests clearly states:
Please do not leave the confines of your room after you have been walked back after dinner. The wall around the camp is not totally impermeable to some of the larger predators, which may enter once everybody has retired and all is quiet. There is a fog horn in your room which may be used during a night time emergency to summon the night watchman. Please be advised that an animal on your terrace, or roof, does not constitute an emergency. An animal inside your room does.
One of the things that sets Mashatu apart is its integration of active research programs into the tourism program on the Ivory and Predator Drives. The next morning, we were set to learn a bit more about the elephant research on the Ivory Drive.
We took our first game drive that afternoon. Mosi-O-Tunya National Park in Zambia is the nation’s smallest national park. It also has no predators.
Our lovely Bushtracks Africa guide, Purity, managed to show us quite a lot in about three hours. Starting with a herd of elephants even before we got into the park.
A family of zebra — pictured at the top of the post. The one lying down is a heavily pregnant female, and her daughter is checking to be sure she is okay.
A ranger guards the male rhino to protect the rhino from humans (poachers) not to protect the humans from the rhino.
Toward the end of the drive, we saw a group of very young baboons playing and teasing each other.
We also saw many giraffe, impala, a few warthogs, various birds and a herd of Cape Buffalo. All in all a terrific introduction to African wildlife.
After breakfast, we departed the Southern Sun for the terminal and our flight to Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls. It was about a two-hour flight, and we caught our first glimpse of the Falls from the air.
The terminal in Livingstone is exactly what you might imagine a colonial African airport to be. One building. Lots of people. Seeming chaos, but not quite. We had to wait in quite a long line to purchase our visas, definitely a strong revenue stream for the Zambian government given the political situation in Zimbabwe next door. When we were planning our trip and mentioned we would be going to Victoria Falls, everyone we spoke to — everyone — said: Zambia, right?
Once through immigration and bag claim, we were met by representatives from Bushtracks Africa, the travel company that has the concession for transport to and from the Sun Hotels properties in Livingstone. After about a 30-minute drive, we were at our hotel, the Zambezi Sun.
The Zambezi Sun is right on the edge of the Eastern Cataract of the Falls, about five minutes walk, so after we got settled, we decided to walk over to the Falls and investigate.
On the way, we were “waylaid” by Webster. Webster is a member of the grounds staff at the Zambezi Sun, and as far as we could tell, a big part of his job is feeding a small group of zebra, giraffe and impala. He invited us to join him to meet his friends during the day’s 3 pm feeding. It was a tremendously pleasant way to start our African wildlife adventure. I’m sure I will never be this close to a zebra again in my life.
After our mini-wildlife adventure, we walked over to the Falls. You can see the full set of my photos from that afternoon on Flickr, but here are some of my favorites.
That evening after dinner we attended a performance of Dancing Around Zambia presented by the Livingstone Performing Arts Foundation. There were not too many guests in attendance, and that was their loss because it was a terrific performance of African dance and song. My brother shot video, and hopefully he will post a copy online at some point.
A word about the Zambezi Sun. The rooms are quite small, and it is not as elegant as its sister hotel the Royal Livingstone. Luckily, Mum, Doug and I get on quite well, and we weren’t in the room that much anyway. However, I did feel a bit sorry for my mom as both my brother and I were fighting off colds when we were in Zambia and it must have sounded like a herd of elephants was IN the room at times.
The location of the hotel, however, cannot be beat and the service and food were excellent. I highly recommend it. The Sun is definitely the right choice for families. On your honeymoon? Maybe the Royal Livingstone. It’s not that far from the Falls and a bit more upscale. It also has gorgeous views of the river.
In both pictures, the land across the water is Zimbabwe. We are on the Zambia side of the Zambezi River.
In less than a week, we will be boarding a plane for a 15 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. I hope to be able to post at least every other day.
Here’s our itinerary:
Friday Sept 11: Boston to NY JFK. Staying overnight at airport Holiday Inn.
Saturday Sept. 12: NY to Johannesburg
Sunday Sept. 13: Arrive Johannesburg in am. Plan to visit Apartheid Museum in afternoon.
Monday Sept. 14: Depart for Livingstone, Zambia – Victoria Falls. We haven’t made any specific plans for the time in Livingstone as yet. We plan to get the lay of the land and take it easy for the nearly two days we’ll be there.
Wednesday Sept. 16: Depart for Johannesburg. This is basically a layover night at an airport hotel.
Thursday Sept. 17: Flight to Polokwane, South Africa, followed by a 2+ hour drive to the Pont Drift Border Post on the Botswana border, and then to Mashatu Main Camp.
Sunday Sept. 20: Flight to MalaMala Game Reserve in South Africa via light aircraft.
Tuesday Sept. 22: Depart for Johannesburg, and then in the evening, Johannesburg to NY
Wednesday Sept. 23: Arrive JFK NY in the morning. Once we’re through customs, we’ll catch a shuttle back to Boston.
In September, my mom, brother and I will be going to Southern Africa for 10 days. It’s not a place I ever imagined that I would travel to, but I am looking forward to it immensely.
Why are we going?
Long story short, a few years ago, my mom got really involved in watching the live activity on National Geographic’s webcam at Pete’s Pond. Pete’s Pond is a man-made reservoir in the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana that was created from an old irrigation system as an alternative to the Limpopo River and its poachers.
My brother Doug (not to be confused with my son Douglas) got the idea that we should go to Africa, and after crunching numbers, we decided to go for it. We also agreed that this was a trip for the three of us. My son, at nine years old, is really too young, and if he is to stay home, so must my husband. When we told Mum, she was flabbergasted, but quickly got into the planning.
We couldn’t see going all that way and not seeing Victoria Falls
We expected some layovers in Johannesburg
Cape Town would be nice (but was eventually eliminated from itinerary due to both cost and time.)
My brother took on the job of sourcing travel and safari operators and I handled the airfare search.
First, the safari operators. Doug contact Rhino Africa, Go2Africa and Journeys of Distinction (the travel agency associated with Mashatu and Mala Mala in South Africa.) Everyone was responsive but we decided to go with Journeys of Distinction. Angela, the representative from Journeys, was very helpful in narrowing down the options for the trip and because she was the “house” agency for Mashatu and Mala Mala, was able to offer us a package deal for the two reserves.
We’ll be flying into Johannesburg, with a very small window of sightseeing time there. Our main destinations are Victoria Falls (staying in Zambia), and the two game reserves. The most likely time for Johannesburg sightseeing will be the Sunday we arrive, although we do have another afternoon there between Victoria Falls and the game reserves. We are bound to be tired… but I really don’t want to miss any MUST SEEs because odds of a return are slim. I don’t sleep much anyway.
So readers, please chime in with your thoughts for Johannesburg as well as any recommendations for Victoria Falls. We have two nights there, and one full day.
Airfare
Sometimes you need to be creative. When I searched Boston to Johannesburg, everything seemed to run through Europe, adding hours to the total trip. NY JFK however had direct flights to and from which were NOT available from Boston no matter how I sliced the am departure. I think it’s because the international flight requires a two-hour layover, and nothing from Boston on a Saturday morning qualified. Whatever.
So we’re flying down to JFK the day before our Johannesburg flight and staying in an airport hotel. On the return, we’re supposed to land in the morning, so I’ve booked an early afternoon flight from JFK to Boston. They are separate tickets, so we could always get screwed by time gods on the return, but we’ll deal with that if it happens.
Moral of the story: always look at alternate airports, other options for making the connection.
SAFARI
We’ll get into more detail about the nitty gritty of preparing for safari as the time draws nearer, but here are two books to whet your appetite:
Susan Getgood: Mine is slim compared to some folks. And I’ve added a few things since I posted this.... Kyle Judkins: That looks like a pretty packed schedule! I haven’t been to very many conferences, so I’m... RhodeyGirl: Just found your blog- hope I get to meet you at BlogHer! Susan Getgood: Hah! I doubt that. Everything seems to have piled into Thurs. and Fri. which is kind of nice, as it... Elisa Camahort Page: Gee, i hope we’ll have time to say “hello”, you are probably busier than I...
by Peter Allison. Terrific book, even if you aren’t planning an Africa trip.
