Africa - Day 9

This morning we needed to meet in the lobby at about 10 for our transfer back to Victoria Falls. Eager to squeeze as much into our trip as possible we opted to get up super-early again for one last game drive in Chobe National Park. The South African man I met on my afternoon drive the other day was there too, without his sour wife. There are about 4-5 vehicles which leave from the lodge for each drive. Usually they are all run by the same company, who use radios to keep in touch with each other and to let the others know if they spot anything exciting. This time we were assigned to a vehicle from a different company which did not have a radio. This ended up working in our favour.

The drive started quietly enough, and by the time we stopped for a drink half-way through we really hadn’t seen too much. As we started to drive back the guide spotted a large herd of buffalo off in the distance and started heading towards them. This turned into one of the most exciting sightings imaginable, as just before we got to the buffalo a pack of about 9 wild dogs killed an impala. By the time we got there the wild dogs were excitedly enjoying their meal, and a hyena had come over to wait his turn. We quickly forgot about the buffalo and sat there absolutely engrossed with what we were seeing. Wild dogs are endangered and rare, so to get such a good sighting of them was extremely lucky and a great treat. And we had it pretty much all to ourselves, only having to share it with a couple of private vehicles. If we had been with the other company with the radios we would of soon been surrounded by vehicles.

Before long dozens of vultures began to land and wait, and we spotted a black-backed jackal making his way over too. The dogs took a break from their meal and the hyena started to drag the carcass away, but the dogs soon attacked him and he yelped and backed away. The dogs left a couple of minutes later and the vultures swooped in. But the hyena chased them away and began to eat, while continuously having to chase away the cheeky jackal which kept sneaking up and trying to get some food too. It was absolutely fascinating and a real highlight of our time in Botswana. As I was watching the wild dogs walking away in the distance I saw a couple of vehicles from the other company drive right by them. I really hope that the South African man was in one of those vehicles, so that he could go back to his wife and smugly inform her that she missed out on seeing wild dogs.
By the time we left the dogs we were already running a bit late, and I was nervous about getting back to the lodge in time for our transfer. But the animal sightings kept coming. First a large herd of buffalo ran across the road right in front of us. And then we came across a herd of elephant drinking at the river. By the time we got back we only just had enough time to quickly throw our things into our suitcases before checking out.

We were joined by 2 Canadian ladies on the way back to Victoria Falls. Canada must of done something to really annoy Zimbabwe at some point as their visa fees were ridiculous. They were horrified to learn that we only paid US$45 for double entry visas, whereas their single entry visas cost $65. Since Shanon had already entered Zimbabwe twice he expected to pay for an extra single entry visa at the border crossing, but even after he pointed out to the staff that he’d need a new visa he was simply waved through. But the poor Canadians were still forced to part with another US$65 each. One of the ladies had left her binoculars behind at a lodge they stayed at in Victoria Falls, so before we went to the airport we took a detour through the town and out to the lodge. Passing through the town I noticed that all the tourists were being followed down the street by guys trying to see them wooden carvings.

Victoria Falls Airport is tiny and after checking-in there was no-where to go and nothing to do except to go and stand in line for the departure lounge. While standing there surprised voices made their way through the line as people exclaimed, “It’s raining!”, and we all turned and stared outside as heavy rain poured from the grey sky. After endless days of sunshine, blue skies, and high temperatures the rain seemed bizarre and out of place. But the accompanying drop in temperature was very welcome.

On arrival in Johannesburg we briefly worried that we had fallen victim to the luggage crime which is rife at South Africa’s airports when we noticed that Shanon’s padlock had been ripped off his suitcase. But nothing seemed to be missing, so we assume it must have been ripped off accidentally. We took the shuttle back to Emperor’s Palace and went to check in at the Mondior Concorde, where we were informed that they’d sold out and we’d been moved to another hotel in the complex, the Metcourt Laurel. I really had to roll my eyes when I heard this as I had tried and failed a number of times since August to book a room at the Metcourt Laurel. It was only a few days before we left NZ, after finding out that it had just sold out for the dates we wanted, that I finally gave up and booked at the more expensive Mondior.

After checking into the Metcourt we wandered through the most ridiculously huge hallway to our ridiculously huge room. In fact, as soon as we opened our ridiculously huge door I exclaimed, “This is ridiculous!”. It certainly wasn’t the sort of size you’d expect a 3 star hotel room to be. A walk through numerous hallways and a convention centre took us to the food court area of the complex, where we went to grab something to eat from our new favourite restaurant, Mugg & Bean. When my drink arrived Shanon joked that I should be careful not to spill it, the way I did at Wimpy a week ago. Guess what happened? Sure enough, half way through our delicious meal I managed to spill coke all over the table and the poor waiter had to come clean it up. Shanon and were giggling hysterically, but really I was absolutely mortified. This time was even worse as the coke was running off the table and onto the floor. The worst part is that Mugg & Bean is directly across from the Wimpy. Our waiter from last week could very well have been watching and laughing.