Tag: Hwange National Park

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The Blogger Relay – My Top Three Travel Memories

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

I’ve heard it said that travel changes lives but I didn’t believe it applied to me until I had to choose My Three Favorite Travel Memories.

I realized that each trip has altered my life in significant and not-so significant ways. Most importantly, traveling has made me more appreciative of what I have, and also expanded my circle of friends. Traveling for me is both therapy and education – it’s my antidote to boredom and malaise.

I have so many favorite memories of my travels, it was very difficult to narrow it down to my top three. Hopefully, you’ll see why I decided on these.

This post is part of The Blogger Relay that is sponsored by LowCostHolidays. The goal is to keep this chain of stories going and the team with the longest chain of travel stories by September 28th wins.

Bronze – Mérida

Mérida was my first trip abroad. I had spent the year before I started university teaching basic and intermediate Spanish to 10 and 11 year olds. When we heard about a one-week immersion program in Mérida that was organized by the Ministry of Education, another Spanish teacher and I decided to participate. in a one-week Spanish immersion program in Mérida and became chaperones for three of our students.

All the arrangements were made through a travel agency contracted by the Ministry of Education and we turned over newly minted passports so they could obtain our visas and tickets and arrange our accommodation.

But when we made the 4-hour drive back to Kingston for our appointment to get our documents, we learned that our passports had been destroyed in a fire at the agency. No one had bothered to alert us and there was no way for us to get new passports and visas in time to leave with the rest of the group. We wouldn’t be going to Mérida. We returned home feeling disappointed and defeated. But that was not the end of this story.

A few weeks later, the travel gods smiled and with new documents in hand, we were on a direct flight to Mérida. Since we had missed the immersion, we were free to do whatever we wanted to do.

The first thing I noticed was how different the Spanish in Mérida was. It sounded like an entirely different language than what I’d been studying since primary school. I could pick out one or two words but the rest sailed right over my head.

At the market the day after we arrived, I met Mario and his friend, Belgio. Between my version of Spanish and his limited English, I agreed to go with them to the beach at Progreso.  (I wouldn’t have done that now!)

We spent a great afternoon swimming, and exchanged phone numbers when they took me back at the hotel. If you think trying to understand a language when you’re face to face with someone is hard, try doing the same thing on the phone. But there’s no mistaking Belgio when he called later that evening and declared, “Te amo. Te adoro.”

‘I love you’ in any language gets your attention. Said in Spanish with Belgio’s intensity and passion, it was a bit romantic. But I couldn’t stop giggling. I was a cynic even then. But what did I really know about matters of the heart at that age?

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Travel Photo Thursday: Elephants

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

There are more than 30,000 elephants in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe so it’s not a matter of whether you’ll see a few elephants when you go game watching, but when.

We first saw this mother’s baby at the side of the road and stopped to take it’s photo when we heard the unmistakable sound of an elephant on our right. When I turned round, I noticed her ears were fully open — elephants use this technique to frighten other animals, and us. She was so close, I’m not sure how we didn’t see her first but glad I didn’t fumble the shot.

Lone Elephant, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
Lone Elephant, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

We were very lucky the day we watched as a herd approached a watering hole. The baby got there first and began drinking right away, totally oblivious to our presence.

Baby elephant at a watering hole, Hwange National Park
Baby elephant at a watering hole, Hwange National Park

Soon more came and they drank, played, squirted water on their backs, rolled around in the mud and had a good ole time.

Elephants taking a mud bath, Hwange National Park
Elephants taking a mud bath, Hwange National Park
Elephants playing at a watering hole, Hwange National Park
Elephants playing at a watering hole, Hwange National Park

We were very fortunate to catch this scene — several hundred cape buffalo near our camp. As we sat quietly watching the buffalo, we saw a herd of elephants approaching. From the corner of my eye, they looked like a dark shadow but the day was clear so I began looking more intently. Then I saw them. For animals that can weigh up to 7,000 lbs., they are astonishingly quiet and nimble on their feet. Soon, about three or four herds joined buffalos, zebras and impalas at the watering hole. It was a beautiful sight.

Elephants and Cape Buffalo, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
Elephants and Cape Buffalo, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
A lone bull elephant, Mbisa, Zimbabwe
A lone bull elephant, Mbisa, Zimbabwe

Towards the end of the day, we caught this elephant slowly making its way as if he’d had a hard day at work and was on his way home. I hoped that where ever ‘home’ was, it wasn’t too far away.

This is my submission to this week’s Budget Travelers Sandbox Travel Photo Thursday series. Be sure to check out other photo and story entries on their website!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wildlife

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

I took these photos last year in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. The experience of watching wildlife in their natural habitat was life changing.

I knew that animals are intelligent, compassionate and caring but watching them interacting with each other or with other species and taking care of their young was heartwarming.

Zebras and Impalas

Zebras are incredibly beautiful up close. And almost every time we saw them, impalas were not far away.

Giraffe

Despite their height, giraffes are stately and gentle animals.

Lioness at rest

We watched this lioness for about 20 minutes. She was so full after a kill the previous night, she hardly moved.

Buffalo and elephant

As we watched this herd of buffalo — there could easily have been 100 of them — we noticed several herds of elephants approaching. Despite their size — they’re the largest land animals in the world — they’re incredibly quiet. You hardly ever hear them coming!

Elephant

We were watching a baby elephant on one side of the road and didn’t see her mother standing a few feet away. I was so shocked, I’m glad I didn’t scream or fumble the camera.

Enjoy!

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How about a braai?

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

About an hour after we left Durban‘s King Shaka Airport, we were at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Though only a short distance away, it felt like a different world.

As we exited, we noticed Stefan looking anxiously towards the arrivals gate then at his cell phone, as if trying to decide whether to make a call. We shouted his name and he turned and smiled widely. It was wonderful to see his familiar face.

Despite the fun we’d had in Victoria Falls, on safari at Hwange National Park, in Cape Town and Durban, Johannesburg felt as if we were returning home.

As soon as exchanged hugs and settled into the jeep, we – Sandra, Judith and I – began chattering all at once, like giddy teenagers tripping over each others’ words eagerly trying to get the stories of our adventures out to Stefan as quickly as we could.

Stefan had some news of his own. While we were gone, Shepherds Court, the guest house he owns and where we had stayed when we arrived in Johannesburg, had seen a flurry of new arrivals and was fully booked so he decided to put us up for our last night in Joburg at his pool house. He dropped us off then left to do some shopping.

We settled in and made our way to the kitchen of the main house and opened a bottle of Tall Horse, a local wine we had fallen in love with. The door bell rang unexpectedly. It was Thope. She had several bottles of wine with her and told us that Stefan planned to have a braai – a kind of a barbecue – for us before we left. A braai? We were excited!

In our two weeks in Southern Africa, we had not been to a braai. We hadn’t thought about it — it wasn’t even on our must-do list.

Finally, Stefan returned and more friends arrived. The men went about setting up and cooking ribs, pork, beef and boerewors (sausage) while we women remained inside drinking and chatting.

Once everything was ready, we moved outside to the covered porch area where the huge braaier was located and the party began.

We had eaten so much beef in Southern Africa, we’d joked among ourselves that we’d  have to take a vacation from meat when we returned to the States. But what’s a braai without meat? The beef was surprisingly tender and flavorful and hours later, almost all of it had been washed down with several bottles of South African wine.

After the braai
And several bottles of wine
Just before dawn

If we didn’t have plans to go to Soweto later that morning, we would probably still be there, chatting and laughing. We had a fabulous time. It was about 3 a.m. when we finally stumbled into bed on our last night in South Africa.

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Cape Town, the Pearl of South Africa

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

When I told my 80 year-old aunt that I was going to Cape Town, she replied excitedly, “I’ve always wanted to see Table Mountain but never made it. Please kiss the mountain for me!”

After hearing that, if Table Mountain had not been on my list, it soon would be.

We arrived in Cape Town on a Thursday night, after three amazing days watching game in Hwange National Park and making friends with the team at Makalolo Plains in Zimbabwe.

Now we were about to begin the third leg of our trip in beautiful Cape Town. Ian, our guide, met us at the airport and took us to our accommodation at the Victoria & Alfred waterfront.

Cape Town Waterfront

As we entered the apartment, we were greeted by the most spectacular view of Cape Town harbor. But since we were holding tickets for the 11 o’clock ferry to Robben Island the next morning, we knew we had to get to bed early.

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Next post: Robben Island

Three Black Girlz on Safari: Leaving Makalolo Plains

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

When the alarm went off on our last morning at Makalolo Plains, none of us wanted to get out of bed. The hot water bottles that had kept us warm when we snuggled under the covers the night before were no match for the cold that had now permeated our tent.

I buried my head under the covers, lifting it just long enough to peek at the clock to figure out how long I had before I had to get ready for breakfast.

It wasn’t long. Soon, we could hear footsteps on the boardwalk and Godfrey’s knock on our door.

We dressed quickly. Cynthia and Tracey were in the Main Hall and greeted us as we arrived. Following breakfast, we said tearful goodbyes while Godfrey and Emmanuel loaded our suitcases into the jeep.

Leaving Makalolo Plains
Leaving Makalolo Plains

The previous day, one of the Makalolo team had offered to fly us to the airport but we had too much luggage – 6 pieces among us – to accept. Gosh, it would have been lovely to fly back instead of being bundled up as we were. As even with the fleece ponchos and several layers of warm clothes, scarves and gloves we had on were no match for the bone chilling cold.

By the time we arrived at the Main Camp, Sandra said she couldn’t feel her face. None of us could. We were frozen. Thankfully Godfrey had brought tea and biscuits as usual which we ate while he and Reason, our new driver, loaded up our suitcases into his van.

Leaving Makalolo had been emotional but more experiences awaited us in Cape Town and Durban.

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Three Black Girlz on Safari: Hippo!

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

The day before we left Makalolo Plains was bittersweet. The team had made us feel very welcome and we knew we had made friends. On top of that, we had spent many hours watching animals at close range, and that was better than the best episode of a nature program.

Towards the end of our morning drive, Godfrey spotted this hippo that appeared to sleeping at the edge of a watering hole. We were fortunate as hippos tend to spend most of their time in water to keep their skin from drying out.

Hippo!
Hwange Hippo

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Three Black Girlz on Safari: Besides animals, what else is there to see?

Posted on by Marcia Mayne

If we didn’t know it before, we discovered pretty quickly that no two game drives are the same. While Makalolo Plains keeps a log of the types of animals that guests could probably see, they cannot offer a guarantee.

During September, the time we in Hwange National Park, there was a high probability of seeing elephants (100%), zebras (100%), waterbucks (100%), widebeests (93%) and steenbucks (90%). But because of the size of the park, the animals have many places to escape the sun so sometimes, we’d drive for long stretches before we’d see anything.

However, the guides are very knowledgeable of the animals’ habits and hideouts and would use every method – from communicating with other guides to following animal tracks in the sand – so that we’d have a good experience. We were very lucky to see four of the Big Five – elephant, lion (60%), leopard (17%) and buffalo (57%) – and witness some pretty interesting animal behavior.

Game drives were never boring. While we jaunted along, different things caught our attention. Take our first day out, for example. We spotted vultures sitting high atop several trees. Others were circling and a few more were flying in – a sure sign that they knew a meal was waiting.

Godfrey told us that an elephant had died the previous day – probably from old age. As guides, they’re not allowed to interfere in animal activities. However, since the elephant had died close to the path, they had moved it out of sight so as not to upset us. We saw part of the carcass – and we could definitely smell it.

Since Hwange is a natural habitat, life and death exist side by side.  Seeing the carcass was a reminder but if we hadn’t seen it, there would be other reminders as the bones of dead animals were everywhere.

Besides animals, what else is there to see?
Elephant skull

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