"Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?"

Our second day of Vic Falls, I fell in love with an African male named Detema. He was the cutest fourteen-year-old elephant, orphaned as a baby and taken in by trainers to become slightly domesticated. Dad, Jess and I awoke early to catch a sunrise and bus for a ride to a game reserve to ride elephants! It was an incredible experience; it felt very similar to riding a horse and afterwards, we got the chance to pose with our elephant seated on his knee, feed him and pet him – I also sneaked in a kiss!

We grabbed a refreshing pick-me-up lemonade at the hotel bar and then continued our afternoon with a guided walking tour of the falls. They were really quite breathtaking – twice as high as Niagra Falls and painted with the most vibrant rainbows I’ve ever seen. As we got farther along the pathway, we donned ponchos and got completely showered by the overpoweringly refreshing mist. We eventually reached the bridge connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia (now infamous for the devastating bungee jump accident of the young Australian woman) and watched a couple bungee jumpers take the plunge over the Zambezi river. Don’t worry, Mom – I have absolutely no interest in bungee jumping!

We returned back to our hotel in just enough time to catch another bus for a tour of the village in Victoria Falls, the rural area where most of the local Africans live. The quality of lifestyle reminded me a bit of the townships in Cape Town, but it was far less dense. We were introduced to a large family, comprising of an older couple with several sons, who were very welcoming. They are an incredibly hardworking, endearing group of people and we found ourselves wondering why they were handed such a difficult hand in life while we spent the past two weeks living in luxury.

After building up an appetite throughout the day, we were excited for our boma dinner. The boma we attended at Mala Mala was far smaller than the extravagant setting we stepped into that night. We were greeted by people who draped traditional African garb around our bodies and painted our cheeks with customary boma marks – two dots for women and two lines for men. There was an overabundance of food and more courses than I could imagine. A talented group of musicians performed songs and dances periodically throughout our meal and the same a cappella group from the previous night serenaded us once again. The best part of the night was when we each received a bongo drum and participated in the music playing ourselves! The night ended with a huge dance party amid our fellow diners of all ages. It was a wonderful way of celebrating our last night of vacation. Oh, and I received a certificate for eating a cooked worm. ;)

Our last adventure of our vacation was doing the Flight of the Angels the morning we left, a fantastic helicopter ride above the falls. The views were breathtaking and it was the perfect way of bidding goodbye to Zimbabwe. We were all slightly depressed as we boarded the plane heading for our layover in Jo’burg. It was here that my family and I had to head our separate ways; I was leaving from the domestic terminal while they were taking off internationally for London. I won’t lie – as much as I love Cape Town, it was hard to say goodbye to Dad and Jess, knowing they were heading home.

I can’t tell you how appreciative I am to have had the opportunity to experience these past couple weeks. I’ve had some of the best moments of my entire life and I was able to share them with two of my favorite people. Now it’s back to my life as a quasi-Capetonian. Let’s see if I can continue with more exciting stories!

xo Em

On the back of Detema

 Elephant kisses!

The gorgeous Victoria Falls

A baby vervet monkey posing for me

View of the sunset from our hotel room balcony

My certificate for eating the worm ;)

Jess and I at the boma with our new friend from Ohio, Nancy

Views from the Flight of the Angels

Sunset on the Zambezi

I've decided to split my experience in Victoria Falls into two blog posts since we kept so busy! Our excursion into Zimbabwe was met with high standards after leaving Mala Mala, but we were not disappointed. I was in awe as we drove up to our hotel, the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge - a huge rustic lodge nestled among a forest of trees and situated next to a huge watering hole. I felt like I was in mansion-style Swiss Family Robinson treehouse!

Once we settled in, we set off on our first adventure - a sunset cruise along the Zambezi river, flowing between the countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia. The ride was heavenly and the sunset was breathtaking (and the limitless complimentary alcoholic beverages weren't too bad, either!) We saw an elephant grazing right near the shore of Zambia and we came across a group of the most active hippos we've ever seen. They were playing with each and other and literally doing jumps in the water, a rare sighting since they tend to be fairly low-key animals. As a little game, I was trying to list as many African countries as I could off the top of my head, with a couple of inputs from my dad, and came up with twenty-six. I vowed that by the time I get home in April, I'll be able to list all fifty-three from memory!

When we returned back "home," we had dinner at the hotel restaurant, which is completely outdoors under a small roof. We sat at a table overlooking the watering hole in the near distance - a spectacular view. We were told that not many animals are sighted there since it's the rainy season and they have plenty of options for water, but nevertheless we looked out and watched a herd of about six or seven elephants perusing the water hole. Amid other sightings of large groups of warthogs, impala, kudu, maribou stork and other birds, we definitely got our fill of animal watching. Dinner was delicious and Dad even ordered crocodile tail! Halfway through our meal we found ourselves being serenaded by an African a cappella group. With the beautiful music, serene views, fresh air, yummy food and great company, I again found myself questioning whether it was all a dream.

On a last note, I'd like to wish my wonderful Mom a very happy birthday! She's my best friend and I'm missing her like crazy halfway across the world. I wish so badly I could spend this special day with her, but I'm glad that my dad and Jess will be returned to her this evening. She deserves nothing but the best!!

xo Em

Jess on the boat

Elephant sighting! - nothing new to us ;)

Active hippos

Sunset on the Zambezi

Dad and Jess at dinner

Our African a cappella serenade

There Is Far Too Much To Take In Here

How many people can say that they’ve stalked a female leopard through the African bush, or have watched a tired lioness roll over on her back like a house cat five feet in front of them, or have stared an irritated hippo right in the eyes in the pitch black, with nothing but a small flashlight illuminating the night? Within our last evening drive on safari, I found myself in all of these situations amid many others.

Jonno decided to introduce us to the Styx lion pride, all congregated within one area of the bush. We were cruising through extremely tall grass when all of a sudden Jonno stopped the Jeep and pointed right in front of him. So close that he had almost driven over it was a gorgeous lioness stretched out comfortably in the grass. Looking around, we noticed that there were several of them – about three lionesses and five cubs! All were enjoying their afternoon siesta, with the exception of one awake cub laying under a tree, curiously glancing around and bathing itself. I was in absolute awe – as I believed I mentioned in one of my previous posts, lions have become my favorite safari animal and sightings are much rarer than, say, elephants or buffalo.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover that our pickup from Mala Mala to the airport for our flight to Jo’burg was just late enough to give us time for extra game drive the next morning. However, Monica and Fred were heading out around 6am, so this was our last evening with them. We were all incredibly sad, but certainly made the most of it. Our last dinner was held once again in the boma and the meal was obviously fantastic. I was very surprised that the six of us didn’t get kicked out because of how loud we were laughing! We all gathered in the lounge for a drink after dinner, exchanging phone numbers, email addresses and some more laughs to conclude the evening.

I can’t tell you how much I dreaded the end of our last drive. It was very strange not having Monica and Fred right behind me in the Jeep, but as Fred said, it was not “good-bye, but see you later!” It had rained fairly heavily the night before, so to liven up the morning, the Jeep got stuck in mud and we had to be rescued by four other rangers. We bid our farewells to our animal friends (particularly Hector the hippo, a regular in our safari sightings) and somberly returned back to camp. We each got a cute certificate for successfully tracking the Big Five and tears were definitely shed in our good-byes.

This safari was by and large the best experience I’ve had in my life. It was bittersweet because it was one of the toughest good-byes I’ve faced, but I consider myself beyond lucky to have been given this opportunity. Many people go their entire lives without experiencing this kind of adventure and I fully intend on finding a way of doing it again.

I apologize for the discrepancy in timing of my blogs, but I didn’t have Internet access while staying in Victoria Falls. I wanted to give daily accounts rather than squeeze all the events from the past three days into one post so that you all can feel like you’re there with me, so that I have a vivid recollection for my own memory, and so I can relive them all again. My vacation with Dad and Jess has been nothing short of magical.

xo Em

Rhino (Big Five #5)

Giraffe

 Elephant...pretty close

African wild dog, endangered species - and we saw them twice!

Warthog

Lion cub!

Face-off with elephants

Female leopard (we've officially seen both males and females of all the Big Five)

Dad, Jess and me with Jonno

Guest Entry by Jessica Libby

Greetings, readers! Sister Jessica here, thanks for tuning in for my guest entry; I'm sure you've all been holding your breath in anticipation!  This journey has been absolutely amazing, literally a dream come true! I really don't want to return home, as I was clearly born in the wrong country.  I know that I belong here, and this extraordinary place just calls to me.
   Upon arriving to Mala Mala, I knew that this was going to be something I would never forget.  I actually did begin crying and the lovely woman at Reception, Lindsay, hugged me and said she had goosebumps for me! I have met such wonderful people here, and in South Africa in general.  I know we must have done something right, because Jonno is the absolute BEST ranger here. He is so knowledgable and willing to share and teach. He is also incredibly thoughtful, and loves to give surprises!
   Our game drive last night brought one of his much anticipated surprises.  He parked at the bottom of a small cliff and announced we were going to have a "Sundowner!" We all grabbed the snacks, wine, and gin and tonics he had secretly packed up a short, mild rocky climb. Jonna had to go ahead with his cocked rifle to check for danger, but soon reappeared over the ledge and said "Only a few baboons! Come on up!" So we all climbed (carefully, Mom) up to the most beautiful, perfect spot and watched over the entire reserve as the sun went down. A-MAZ-ING.
    This morning Jonna had another surprise for us.  It was gray and drizzly this morning, and he initially cancelled whatever he had in mind for us. But then as the sun started to shine down on our poncho-donned bodies, he informed us that he had already radioed camp and the surprise was back on (tricky little bugger, he is)!  At about 9:30am, we passed another truck with only two grinning rangers; after high-fiving the other driver as we drove past one another, Jonna said, "Anyone hungry?"... and we emerged into a small clearing with a picnic table set for six, and a fire pit on which Jonna cooked us eggs, bacon, and sausage!! We were all blown away, euphoric, and knowing we would never forget these moments.
    We have our last evening drive tonight. Emily and I are so sad to leave. I know that I will be back; this was all-around so amazing - in fact, the word "amazing" doesn't even cover it. I mean, only yesterday we were hanging out with a large herd of elephants as they splashed and played in a shallow river, close around us but uninhibited in our presence. I will never forget these moments.
   Thank you all for tuning in to this guest entry; I know I am not quite as poised or well-spoken as my brilliant little sister, but I am delighted to have been included! See you soon.

xo Jess

Tiny Flowers to Herds of Buffalo

Sitting right beside the deck right outside my bedroom and hearing the hippos loudly grunt and snort is a moment I'll never forget. As I was sitting on the grass taking in the scenery, a group of six or seven elephants (including a teeny little baby) marched right across the river on the reserve, grabbing a drink of water with their trunks as they crossed.

After our evening drive last night, we had a boma dinner, which is held inside this reed-walled enclosed area under the nighttime sky. The inside is lit entirely with candles, torches and a small fire that sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by the horseshoe-shaped array of tables. During dinner, the wait staff sang some beautifully harmonized African songs dressed in traditional garb. As usual, my stomach was aching at the end of the night from laughing so hard. We were incredibly lucky to have a group that gets along perfectly! The six of us are like a little family by now. After dinner, Jonno brought over a rhino beetle, which was the size of a large mouse and did look like a tiny rhino! The rhino beetle is one of the "little five," also including the elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, ant lion and buffalo weaver.

Jonno had another surprise for us on this morning's drive when we drove around a corner and were absolutely bombarded with the largest herd of buffalo I've ever seen. We were surrounded by hundreds of them, most of whom were laying down on top of each other and just overall going about their business, completely unfazed by our presence. It was quite an intimate experience. Jonno pointed out these tiny birds called red-billed oxpeckers that sit right on top of the buffalo to eat the insects that surround the mammal and don't budge even as the big animals are moving - they are SO cute! I'm not very good at distinguishing bird species and was worried that the bird sightings on safari would be a little boring compared to "the big five," but there are several types of birds that I can recognize and have fallen in love with. Some of them are very vibrantly colored and others have the funniest, quirkiest personalities. All six of us have been calling the yellow-billed hornbills "Zazus." I've also developed a great appreciation for the African flora, as well. Jonno points out trees of interest that have incredible qualities - one has twigs that can be made into toothbrushes, another's logs can produce a liquid when burned that can create toothpaste when mixed with water and whitewashing paint when mixed with milk, one bright blue flower produces a blue ink when rubbed, the weeping wattle is used for toilet paper (aka "white gold") and russet bushwillow can be used for tea after removing the poisonous center.

Jonno says he has another surprise for us this afternoon, so I'm intrigued to see what's in store!
xo Em

Huge herd of buffalo

Sleepy

She and I had a little staring contest...notice the two oxpeckers on her back!

Grabbing a drink

Leopard tortoise, one of the "little five"

Mala Mala lounge

View from my bedroom!

Lions, Lions, and....Lions - Oh My!

Right after finishing my blog yesterday, Jess and I went for a swim in the pool on the edge of camp. Not five minutes into our refreshing dip, we spotted a roaming elephant, a couple hippos and a group of about ten giraffes not very far off in the distance. It was astonishing to lean over the side of the pool, head in my hands, and observe these majestic animals meander around their natural habitat.

Last night on our drive, we witnessed what has been by far my favorite moment on safari. The early evening was filled with sightings of zebra, wildebeest, impala, buffalo, hippo (Dad got a fantastic shot of it widely opening its mouth in a territorial sign), jackals, rhinos and elephants. After a stunningly beautiful sunset, it had grown very dark. We were on our usual quest for animals when Jonno heard something on his headset radio and started gunning the Jeep. He likes to surprise us so he didn't tell us what we after until we approached an area of the bush where two other safari vehicles were parked. I jokingly asked, "Are we about to see more impala?" (an incredibly abundant species), to which he replied that the four male lions of this area were heading right towards us. Lions have become my absolute favorite sighting, so I gasped and got the hugest surge of adrenaline I've ever felt. He parked the vehicle and told us all to be very quiet and don't make sudden movements, and sure enough, the four male lions paraded single file right past our vehicle. They were about three feet away from us and each looked me right in the eye!! To be that close to four huge lions at nighttime in the middle of the brush was the most exhilarating experience I've ever had.

I thought the night couldn't get any better until Jonno told us he had yet something else in store for us. Within minutes, we found ourselves right next to the most gorgeous lioness. At that moment, she was simply curled up on the ground bathing herself, but she was soon up and moving. She was hungry and ready to hunt. We followed her through the brush and watched as she reached the wide open airstrip, stopped and crouched into the grass. Shining the flashlight on the other side of the tarmac, a massive herd of impala was illuminated, completely oblivious to the fact that a major predator was mere meters away from them. But the lioness was certainly taking her time, knowing that she would need to patiently wait for the perfect moment because crossing the wide open area would give her away in an instant and her food would dash. We wanted desperately to stay in the pitch black, under the most amazing views of the stars I've ever seen, to witness the hunt. But by then, it was almost 8:30pm and our own dinner was waiting for us back at camp, so we left the lioness in her idle position and headed home.

I am so blessed.
xo Em

The pool overlooking the reserve

Zebra (pronounced literally "zeb-rah" here)

A tiny portion of a huge group of impala

Jackals

African sunset

An attempt at catching the moment with the male lions; my camera doesn't do night shots well

Malarone Dreams

As I mentioned in my previous post, I feel like these past couple of days have been one long dream concocted by my malaria pills because it is unbelievably surreal. Jess suggested the title of this post and I couldn't resist! I honestly cannot transform the natural beauty and absolute luxury of the Mala Mala game reserve and safari experience into words. I'll try my best, but I can't reiterate enough how incredibly fortunate I am to have the father I do and the opportunity to experience this. I'll certainly cherish these four days on safari for the rest of my life. I feel as if I'm floating on air constantly!

After our flight to Nelspruit, we had a two-hour drive to Mala Mala, the private game reserve where we are staying. During simply the drive into the reserve, we spotted a bunch of impala (very common here), a couple rhinos and a group of ten to fifteen giraffes! Mala Mala itself is stunning. Consisting of a bunch of separate bungalow-like buildings, it feels as if we're living on an incredibly luxurious camping ground. Everyone who works here is so nice it's scary. The second we approached reception, we immediately received cold towels for our hands and a cold glass of juice. Our safari ranger Jonathan (one of my favorite people in South Africa already) gave us a little tour and brought us to our room...or rather, suite - complete with a huge bedroom and living room area (both with full glass doors/windows overlooking the reserve), two bathrooms, a desk area and a fridge. Jonathan had taken our orders for some sandwiches for lunch and sure enough, there was a knock on the door while he was showing us around with a tray filled with food.

They seriously treat us like royalty here. We can have our laundry done for us every day at no extra cost and everyone around here is essentially at our beck and call every minute. For safety reasons, Jonathan has to walk us back to our room every night after dinner, saying "I'll be with you until you go to sleep." When we asked if we were supposed to go straight to bed after dinner, he told us we could do whatever we liked. He replied, verbatim, "if you want to stay up all night partying, I'll party with you....I just have to be up early the next morning for the drive!"

The reserve also has a pool, a mini-gym, a gorgeous little bar with animal-printed bar stools and couches, a large deck overlooking the reserve and a huge lounge with several couches, chairs, magazines and African artifacts all around. Jess and I were wide-eyed and open-mouthed, with some watery eyes, because we couldn't have dreamed up a more magical place to stay. Jonathan was laughing a bit because he'd never seen someone react to their accommodations the way we did!

Our first drive was around 4:30 in the afternoon and it was unbelievable. Our jeep is shared with a couple celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary from New Brunswick, Canada and they are great! Their names are Fred and Monica and we get to know them really well since not only are the drives a three to three-and-a-half excursion twice a day, but the reserve sets it up so that you eat every meal together as a group, including your ranger. We couldn't have asked for a better first drive. It began with seeing, among impala, baboons, kudus (a type of antelope), hippos and a crocodile. The real highlight of the afternoon was seeing a male leopard a mere three feet away from my side of the vehicle, meandering along the path in the brush. We followed him for almost an hour - as Jonathan warned us, he doesn't like to stick to the dirt path roads, so if we're onto something, that Jeep will drive through anything. The leopard appeared to be a slow hunt for food and we watched him catch the scent of a nearby crowd of impalas and head their way. We were hoping we were going to get to see a kill, but our patience wasn't as good as the leopard's. As Jonathan said, the impala are so abundant that he was in no rush to catch dinner and was going to take his sweet time.

The evening ended with a candlelit dinner on the deck. The six of us were talking and laughing nonstop and we've already grown quite close. The Canadian couple has three boys and Monica has told us she's going to want to adopt Jess and I as her daughters after this trip! Dad, Jess and I were telling the other three about leaving Mom at home and how much we miss her (though with this literally 99 degree F heat, she probably wouldn't get to enjoy much, anyway!) After asking what her name was, Fred lifted his wine glass and said, "To Pam!" We're lucky to be sharing a Jeep with such compassionate people.

Today started off with a wake-up call from Jonathan at 5:30am sharp. We were all ready to head out on our drive a half hour later and weren't even half a mile away from camp when we met up with a group of  five elephants, one of which was the tiniest baby! We were all in absolute awe of them and ended up seeing several others throughout our morning drive; at one time there was a line of about twenty of them walking in the near distance. For me, the most exciting part of the drive was parking about ten feet from two lions laying in the shade. Never in my life have I been so close to such a massive male lion! We were also very lucky because this morning's drive granted us an opportunity to see the rarest occurrence in Mala Mala - a pack of African wild dogs feeding on an impala carcass. The group consisted of three adults and about ten pups, who were as playful amongst each other as domestic puppies. These dogs are Africa's most endangered carnivore and move very quickly through the brush, so we were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time! The rest of the drive included very close sightings of giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, beautiful birds....and unfortunately, some massive arachnids with webs the size of hammocks between trees.

I've realized how the tiniest of details is what makes the experience feel so personal and intimate. The bubbling and hissing sounds of the hippos as they breathe while in the water, the sound of grass crunching while the elephants chew and the squeal of a baby elephant in the dark... those moments envelop the fact that these are such natural, unstaged instants and I can't get over how close I am to these wild animals.

As you can imagine, I'm very antsy for this afternoon's drive!!
xo Em

I've got pictures galore for y'all:

Giraffe seen on our way into Mala Mala

Jess and my bedroom

View from our bedroom

Psyched for our first safari drive!

The "airstrip" leopard, so called because of where he lives (Big Five #1)

Elephants! (Big Five #2)

Buffalo (Big Five #3)

Lion (Big Five #4)