Chokamella Lodge Hwange

Today I did the lion encounter. And let me be the first to tell you that having two fully grown males running directly at you is a scary experience. That's right: fully grown. For some reason on the video they were playing with little cubs, while we got the big guys. I got picked up at 6:15 AM and taken across the border to Zimbabwe for the experience. It has to be first thing in the morning, because lions sleep almost 20 hours a day, and ...

... this night ended up? The best was the Zambian nun on the boat drinking wine the whole night. We docked just after sunset and returned to the campsite bar to continue the drinking until around midnight. This was a good night to meet the new people who joined the trip in Victoria Falls.

... Since we had such bad luck sighting a lion in the wild four of us went for the sure thing by signing up for a lion walk. I had my hesitations that it would be too much like a petting zoo with cubs. I was pleasantly surprised when we met the first lions; a pair of twelve month old brothers. These lions were more than big enough to kill a human and there form of "playing" was a bit rougher than we could endure. We must ...

... and were conned into buying things, and then Rachel and I headed down to see the falls themselves. We were warned that we would get wet but we were not quite prepared for how wet we would get. I was soaked! I might as well have jumped in the falls. There was so much spray it was like we were in a torrential rainstorm. I took about a million photos as usual and then we went to dry off in the town. I had my first frothy cappuccino on the whole trip and it was delicious!!

... VC salesman. While in VF, I decided to go for a walk with the lions as part of my on-going quest to outdo my ex-wife Greg who keeps blabbing about how he petted a cheetah in the wilds of South Africa and keeps showing off his stupid "cheetah petting" certificate!!! Greg will be quite jealous with my freshly laminated "walking with lions" certificate!! I also chose to take this little stroll with the cats to prove to my colleagues, who ...

Visited Binga twice. Though I found the temperature, rain spiders and assortment of wild insects a daily challenge, It was worth it for the experience and getting to see some of the less widely known areas; both on and off road, through "The Bush" or undergrowth, into the heart of Rural Zimbabwe.

Sunday Augsust 27, 2006 Kasane to Victoria Falls It was a "short" drive from Kasane to Victoria Falls. In to Zimbabwe we went. Up to this point, Zimbabwe was probably the only country I felt apprehensive about, especially after the previous night's briefing. Victoria Falls has the highest percentage of people infected with HIV in the world at a startling 80%. Also, the economy has taken such a dramatic fall that there are two currency exchange rates ...

Départ pour la Zambie où Richard doit nous quitter. Nous passons le Zambèze avec le bac et c'est après que l'attente commence, interminable, à la frontière. Finalement, ça passe mieux avec quelques dollars et nous pouvons continuer notre route. Nous roulons encore une heure avant d'arriver à notre hôtel, situé entre Livingstone et les chutes Victoria. Déjeuner très rapide et pas de sieste pour Guy, nous repartons aux chutes en taxi ...

Day 22 We had a very good sleep the previous night - a little rushed getting ready that morning. We loaded the bus at 7 am and headed to the Okavango. It rained the night before and we were worried that it would rain more while we were in the Delta. The border crossing was very quick today- a pleasant surprise. Upon arrival in Etsa 13 we boarded two 4 wheel drive vehicles and headed to the campsite, Delta Dawn. The women who runs the campsite said that there are ...

Some people have asked about our life on an overland truck - so here it is: - You spend lots of time on the truck - Africa is a big place and the roads are bumpy, dusty and generally uncomfortable - You do camp chores like set-up of cook equipment and chair set-up which are both incredibly dirty (these were our jobs but there are other 'cushy' ones like security and barman) - Even though we had a cook, you participate in cooking regularly - note, doing breakfast for ...