2004 Africa Safaris

Neither Marcia nor I had been to Africa before this trip, but we both shared the desire to see at least a few of the highlights.  Not wanting to rough it or struggle to learn the ropes of African travel, we went with a tour company, Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). Their niche in the adventure travel market were Americans aged 50 and over (we qualified).

Our trip in September 2004 began with a brutal series of flights from Seattle to London, from London to Johannesburg and, finally, from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls.  That is about 23 hours of flying time plus whatever layover time in the airports that were necessary.  Fortunately there were no travel delays nor lost luggage on the journey.

The trip started and ended in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.  The falls are truly spectacular.  The canyon into which the water falls is narrower and deeper than Iguazu Falls in South America (we visited those falls in 1987 at the tail end of our Aconcagua trip).  The mist rising from the falling water creates a perpetual rainbow visible somewhere in your view depending on the location of the sun.

After leaving Victoria Falls, the OAT trip visited four different wildlife areas spread over three countries (Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe).  Fortunately the distance between them wasn’t huge and much of that distance was travelled in a small chartered aircraft.  We were on a three day cycle in which we traveled one day, followed by two full days at a lodge and the day after moving again to a new lodge.  My guess is that OAT (or the tour company contracted by OAT) had a consecutive series of trips because usually the flight that picked us up dropped off another set of guests.

Country	Camp - Area
Namibia	Lianshulu Lodge in the Mudumu National Park
Botswana	Okavango Delta
Botswana	Chobe National Park
Zimbabwe	Linkwasha Camp in Hwange National Park

The days we didn’t move camps usually started with a predawn start and a couple of hour drive looking for animals before the sun rose high in the sky.  We’d return for a nice lunch and some relaxing before heading out for another 2-3 hour drive looking for animals.  Most afternoon drives closed with a “sundowner”, a bar and appetizers being set up on a folding table while we watched the sun set.  We’d return in the dusk to camp, freshen ourselves then go to the main lodge for dinner.

The camps were all very nice.  These were 4-star camps, certainly not luxury 5-star but definitely not budget camps.  We had individual cabins with bathroom facilities, ample hot water for showers and fresh linen as necessary. The food was good, nicely prepared and presented, accompanied by alcoholic beverage of your choice (including excellent South African wines).

We were there the last of September and first part of October.  The weather was dry and hot but not oppressively so.  There is no air conditioning but everything is open so natural air flow keeps you comfortable.  Insects weren’t an issue.  If you visited during the wet season it might be different

We couldn’t have been happier with the staff.  Everyone was friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable.  In talking with them, we were impressed by the training that some of them had to do in order to become a tourist guide.  Their devotion to ensuring you have a good time demonstrated their understanding that tourism is an important part of their country’s economy.  We hope the model works for these countries because these parks and habitat are a global treasure.