On our flight home from our wonderful experience in East Africa we decided that Africa wasn’t done with us and we were coming back again, a third time. Our challenge to Judy was to plan a different immersive experience and she once again exceeded our expectations with three unique safaris.
We started our adventure in Johannesburg where we had a full day to explore Soweto in a Tuk-Tuk and to delve deeper into the country’s history at the Apartheid Museum. A highlight was a stop at a massive fabric store to purchase traditional fabrics for my quilts.
Next, we were on to Jack’s Camp in the Kalahari Desert region of Botswana. The camp is a very unusual Moorish design and sits on the edge of the vast Makgadikgadi salt pans. Here we were introduced to meerkats and encountered several species of desert-adapted wildlife. The guides and staff at Jack’s were exceptional. Their knowledge of the bush enabled them to anticipate animal behavior putting us in place for amazing game-viewing experiences. One evening we elected to sleep out under the stars. Comfortably ensconced with hot water bottles and blankets we gazed upon the Milky Way from a world-renowned “dark sky” area without any obscuring clouds or humidity.
Our next destination was Tuludi Camp in the Okavango Delta. Here we were greeted by an enormous herd of elephants who were browsing on the shrubbery in camp. They were so prolific we had to sneak in through the kitchen entrance. Here too the quality and expertise of our guides was incredible. As we are no longer novices to the bush we were able to spend longer periods immersing ourselves into the animal behaviors. One afternoon we watched a mother leopard teaching one of her two cubs how to hunt. The topography and vegetation here is very different to Jack’s Camp. Consequently, the animal life was more varied.
En route to our third safari camp we made an overnight stop at Mukwa River Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi River upriver from the Falls. We were rather spoiled as we were the only guests in the lodge that evening. I am gluten free and at every property Judy ensured that the chef and staff were fully aware of my dietary requirements and prepared fabulous meals to accommodate that, while creating meals that impressed my “foodie” husband.
Our final destination was Chiawa Camp in Zambia. This is a family owned and run camp on the banks of the Zambezi River in what is known as the Lower Zambezi Basin. At this point the river is quite wide and fairly slow moving. Here we encountered some of the largest crocodiles and huge pods of hippos. Despite this we elected to explore a tributary of the river in canoes. A very exciting experience to be at water level with elephants and all kinds of game coming to the riverbank to slake their thirst.
At Chiawa we had some of our best bird watching. There are literally hundreds of species that are endemic or migrate to this region. Here, too, we were able to immerse ourselves in watching elephant behavior. It was fascinating to observe the family dynamics as the females came together to protect and assist the babies and to see the young bulls jousting and flexing their developing muscles. Our guides knew where to position us for the greatest viewing and spectacular photographs.
We loved the ambiance and warmth of the staff at this camp. It is no wonder it has received so many awards. Sadly, from here we returned to Johannesburg to connect with our flight home.
On our first trip, although we are seasoned travelers, we were rather apprehensive about travel to Africa and elected to only take a trip with someone very knowledgeable and had a strong support system on the ground. It was important to know that we had someone there for us if a need arose. After three amazing trips, we can state that Mushinda (Judy) and her team in Africa have planned itineraries that unfolded seamlessly and were always there whenever we had a flight delay or other need. Each day we would say that this has been the best day and the next day somehow raised the bar even higher.
Thank you for creating not one but three “trips of a lifetime”.
