We decided about a year ago to plan a trip for our ten year wedding anniversary for a special celebration. We decided to return to Anguilla where we got married and stay at a new resort. After booking it some time had passed and we thought a little harder about it and realized a special occasion needed a special experience. Since Cynthia has always wanted to go to Botswana, we decided to investigate the possibility. After much deliberation and expense we have decided to book the special trip for the following itinerary. The trip planning is extensive from shots (Thphoid, Yellow Fever, Cholera, Hepatitis A, B and tetnus), bug proof clothing, special bug sprays, Malaria pills, travel insurance, evacuation insurance, proper weight luggage not to mention my obsessive camera equipment. Attached is our plan, I will be blogging and posting a lot more about this special experience as details unfold.
"Keep on Traveling" -Rick Steves
Day one/two: Fly to Johannesburg stay at Hotel Inbtercontinental at Tambo International Airport. This is actually the nicest airport hotel I have ever seen, nicer than many hotels I have stayed at in my life
Day Three: Fly from Johannesburg to Maun Botswana-transfer to 4 passender plane to Selinda Camp where we will spend out ten year anniversary in the Linyati region of Botswana. http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-botswana/selinda-camp.htm
Day Six: Fly small plane from Selinda Camp to Jao Camp, a camp renowned for it's award winning architecture http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-botswana/jao.htm Jao camp is in the panhandle region of the Okovango Delta. We expect to see moderate flooding and due to its proximity to Mombo Camp, the game viewing promises to be excellent. We will be here for three days
Day Nine: Short flight from Jao Camp to Mombo Camp arguably the best game viewing in Botswana. Located in the Okovango Delta at the tip of Chiefs Island. Two nights at this exclusive location will hopefully yield some great game viewing sightings. http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-botswana/mombo.htm
Day Eleven: A longer flight from Mombo to Livingston Zambia and car transfer to Toka Leya on the Zambezi River just upstream from Victoria Falls. Numerous activities here including game drives, river cruises with tons of hippos. This will be our forst air conditioning since our arrival in Africa on this trip http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-zambia/toka-leya.htm . We plan on jumping in to Devil's pool at the edge of Victoria Falls, here is a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1inueBSwko . Basically you jump to your near death at the edge of one of the largest waterfalls on planet earth. Wish us luck
Day Thirteen: we start the long sad trip home and watch videos and photos on the fligh home for 20+ hours.
http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-botswana/selinda-camp.htm
http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-botswana/jao.htm
http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-botswana/mombo.htm
http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-zambia/toka-leya.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1inueBSwko
Day one- the LONG flight.
Travel is an amazing experience. It is really one of life's most valuable lessons. First one must approach it with an open heart, mind and soul to new cultures, experiences and people. In a previouse blog post I gave our itinerary for this venture we are just starting. It has only been slightly modified. As we grew closer to the trip, we decided to decrease one day at Jao camp and add one more day to Little Mombo camp. We were motivated to do so as we knew inevitably that we had the hightest probability of seeing the most amount of wildlife there over any other camp in Botswana- it is Mombo Camp after all.
Our final day approached a bit frantic with the usual last minute preparations, haircut, stop the mail, re-pack, weigh the luggage for the last time (must be 44 pounds or less per person in soft luggage - no wheels), pet the cats, well you know the drill.
Our airport transportation arrived promptly, mandatory stop at Starbucks and off to Austin Bergstrom Airport. We slid threw sceurity with ease and upon trying to board the flight, our online documents we printed from United Airlines were not boarding passes despite the ease through TSA, makes you wonder, simple piece of paper and we were through. New boarding passes issued at the gate by a most upset Maria with United and we were onboard. Great flight to Washington DC IAD (one of my least favorite airports). We followed the labyrinth of signs to find our gate and had to use the worlds ugliest people mover in the world. I mean what is this all about, we are in the nations capitol of the most powerful nation in the world and I am on a mechanical mule because someone forgot how to make a train http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2011/02/transforming-dulles.html yet my arrival in South Africa is seamless and sleek looking with free carts everywhere for arriving passengers yet in the goold ole US of A we put our International guests on a half bus, half truck thing I cannot explain and then charge you a few dollars for a smart cart to move your luggage around-not so smart to me.
All well and fine we boarded our flight on South African Airlines to Johannesburg. It requires the airbus A-300-340 to stop at the Western most tip of Africa, Senegal to re-fuel. It is a frantic stop, people are exhausted at this point after 8 hours flying time, guests departing, some stay on for the continuation to Jo-Burg, restrooms attempting to be cleaned and wanting to be used at the same time, re-fueling, restock food and beverage, people stretching in the aisles- it starts to look more like parts of New Orleans after Katrina than a flight to South Africa. After 2 hours on the ground, we are off for the final 8 hour leg to Jo-Burg. These are the trying hours. A rancid meal of something I would not touch is one of two full meals with silverware presented to me. I tried to engrose myself back in to Peter Alisons book "Whatever you do Don't Run" a fantastic easy read about a Ranger in Botswana's prestigious camps personal stories about mice infestations, stuck Land Rovers, , brushes with death from angry Cape Buffalo and numerous other stories only an idiot like me would read the day before arriving Botswana for 11 days of game drives. In my defense, my wife gave me the book with a chuckle. By hour 14 most people are losing it (me included). A transcended out of body feeling takes over your body. Stiffness, am I getting a blood clot from deep vein thrombosis, should I have a cocktail at 6 AM which is my prime cocktail hour at home, should I walk around the cabin and survey the bodies strewn all over the place with red airline blankets and masks on their faces (not a pretty sight), or should I try to read another hundred pages in my book and realize only another hour has passed since I last checked my watch. THe answer is you do all of the above and more because you are losing it, GET ME OFF THIS GOD DAMN PLANE is really all you can think of over and over after a while. Needless to say it is the fastest de-planing you will ever see once you arrive your destination. We march on to passport control which is close by and does not require a three mile walk two trains and a crowd of ten thousand others that have arrived simultaneously as they do in DC ( can you tell how much I love IAD). It is quick efficient, one stamp on the passport, quick signature by the officer and that is it. No customs, no forms, no bag check-simple and efficient. I will take this any day over any arrival in any US airport Internationally.
We exit to the masses of people in OR Tambo airport and are politely greeted by a man who tells me his name means Praise in Zulu - because his mother said praise the lord when he was born. He takes our luggage and walks us across the street to the Intercontinental airport hotel. This is the worlds NICEST airport hotel you will ever see. Quite, indoor pool and spa on 8th floor, quick efficient check in, beautiful Quills restaurant with posh comfortable seating and we look outside to see the continuation of the massive lightening storm that grounded almost all other planes after our arrival I am told - we got very lucky. Our room is appointed with marble counters, shower and soaking tub, plush king bed, espresso maker in room, flat screen TV and so quiet I cannot believe I am at the airport. We immediately head to Quills for a delicious dinner. A crisp garden salad, potato leek soup for Cynthia, duck leg confit with a most unusual (but delicious) bean mixture with saga (an African something I cannot remember because I am brain dead and experiencing motion sickens) roasted tomato and a few nice South African wines. This is why I am here I am reminded. Omar our server is incredible and all of the past 24 hours slips away. We are so exhausted so a nice tub and off to bed is in order. The painful exhaustion sends us both to a deep sleep - for 2 hours and that is why I am writing such a nice first blog entry becasue it says 6:23 on my computer screen. Yup time change is here in full force. Right when I get up at 7 AM it is my bed time, I just love that ;-)
Needless to say we are so excited to have arrived South Africa and two more flights to Botswana whenre we arrive Selinda Camp tomorrow. Our ten year anniversary is Sunday and we are most excited about that. We were remembering our wedding day ten years ago (with some of our free time on the plane) with much fondness about how it was a perfect day for just us.
I have not posted photos yet, only took a few at this point because I am brain dead and wide awake in the middle of the night right now - the photos are coming because I am ready to see some great wildlife. - More to come…