April 2024 Ultimate African Safari

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Our African safari with Overseas Adventure Travel was spectacular, more than living up to expectations. We had 14 amazing people on our safari group, and we witnessed all the wildlife variety we were hoping for and experienced cultural encounters that will last a lifetime. The spontaneous "discovery" activities included picking up a hitchhiker and helping a prostitute get to the airport. Mama G was our trip leader and it's hard to imagine having a better person taking us on this journey.

Our first full day was in Johannesburg aka Jozi or Joburg. Glad we stayed near the airport because I was not impressed with the Viator city tour. I later read that there is little to see in Jozi and that it's more famous for its "slum" tourism than anything else.

Karongwe Game Reserve in Hoedspruit, SA was an upscale private park where we saw the Big 5 in our first 3 days and I thought "Now that I've seen it all, what else am I going to see for the next 17 days?" CF and Soloman were the best guide and tracker that we'll have on the entire trip. 

Kashawe camp in Hwange National Park Zimbabwe was my least favorite of the 5 camps we stayed at but it was still a great experience. Hwange has a very large elephant population and we saw at least 40-50 at a watering hole including many calves. From Kashawe, we visited St Mary's Catholic School that OAT supports and Lukosi Village where we learn how poorer villagers live. We learn that Zimbabwe is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Lufupa Camp in Kafue National Park in Zambia is where an American tourist was killed due to injuries from a bull elephant attacking her truck. We're also told that she was on an OAT trip. The camp is situated on the banks of the Kafue River and Allyse/Steven's tent is next to a hippo ramp where they come up to feed at night. We follow a coalition of cheetahs one night and spend some quality time with them the next day. We go on a river cruise along the Kafue and Lufupa Rivers and unsuccessfully attempt to catch 20 catfish for dinner. Zambia is the former North Rhodesia and is a much better governed country than Zimbabwe.

Baobab II camp is in Chobe National Park in Zambia. The camp is on the edge of an animal corridor leading from the mountains to the savannah. The camp has a "Loo with a view" such that you are looking at an open view of the animal corridor while sitting. Our truck is chased away by a mama elephant when we get too close to her baby. We see lions eating a recent kill and an impala kill high in a tree where a leopard has taken to protect it. Also watched a collective of elephants shoo away a pride of lions that were competing for private space.

Mababe camp is in a private reserve in the Okavango Delta in Botswana and is along the Mababe River. The camp is eco-friendly with a removable footprint for each season. Toilets are of the marine chemical variety and water is brought to each tent and gravity fed. This was my favorite camp as we got to see a leopard with its kill moments after the hunt. We rode makoro canoes on the delta and had a pet hippo at the camp that we erroneously thought was dying. We saw a bull hippo chase a challenger in the river and herd lions and hippo noises all night. We almost lost Jey when a lioness eyed him sticking his arms outside the envelope of the truck.

We're back in civilization at Shearwater Village in Victoria Falls as our safari concludes. We view beautiful Victoria Falls from the air, visit the Jafuta Elephant Rescue Park, ride a jet boat along the Zambezi River, and cruise to within 1.5 miles of the falls on the Zambezi River.

I believe we had an exceptional safari after comparing notes with the next group's team leader 3 days behind us. Karen and I were thanked for sharing our children with the group by multiple families. They bring a different dynamic to a sexagenarian and older group of people.