Africa - Zambia

 September 4

By 5AM we were off to the airport. We were first to check in and we picked up a coffee and muffin for breakfast. It was very dry and was a struggle to swallow. I was surprised how many people were going to Mfuwe, a small town. Our flight held about 30 people. The flight was only an hour and 20 minutes and the first person we saw when walking from the tarmac to the terminal was our guide, Peter. Peter, not his real name, lives in Mfuwe. He seemed pleased that I was interested in birds as well as animals. We were at our accommodation, Flat Dog Camp by about 10AM. We were assigned a two bedroom chalet, which was very nice. It was at the end of a row of spread out chalets. We were allowed to walk on our own the five or six minute walk to the pool, dining area, store and library, etc., but only when it was light. After dark, we were given a flash light we would shine out the window. An employee would acknowledge with a flash back and then come escort us. This was because of the wildlife you always had to be on the lookout for. With the first hour, four huge elephants came within as few hundred yards of our chalet, crashing into bushes, breaking off huge branches from the trees to eat and then moving on. A few times today I needed to be escorted because an elephant was too close to the walking path, and animals always had the right of way. Also, after dark, hippos often walked through the camp. We had booked six days with the full package of meals and game drives. One day was a relax day, where we paid our own meals and did not go on excursions. on arrival, this was changed so we had today as a half day pay day with no evening drive. Another day, which would have been the relax day was now half a day, and we would get one meal and an excursion included. Internet was limited to only 6 hours per person for the week, and was only available from the main dining area. 

We relaxed for the day. We watched the hippos across the river and frequently saw elephants pass through the camp, often within a few feet of the dining area. Monkeys gave the staff a challenge by trying to jump on tables and see if there was any food, until they went to be after dark, about 6:30. The staff here were exceedingly friendly. Very soon they knew who we were, what we needed, etc. Much like a cruise ship, we never needed to carry cash. We just gave them our chalet number. Even a shirt I bought was just given to me and told it would be on my bill when we leave. It was not as I had expected it to be but it did not disappoint at all. We were all impressed.

September 5

We flashed our light to be escorted to the dining area at 6AM for a light breakfast. We met a Presbyterian pastor from Colorado and his son, who were sharing our jeep for our game drives the first few days. We drove into South Luangwa National Park across the river from our camp. We had already seen Pura, an antelope common here. In the park we saw large birds, including the saddleback stork and thornicroft giraffe, found only here. We watched a leopard sneak through the trenches in the field, creeping up to some impala. He waited patiently for the impala to get close enough for her to pounce, but they never did, and the hunt was called off. We got some great pictures. We also found a pride of six lions sleeping in the shade. They were only 15 to 20 yards away. One of the reasons though that I had selected this time of the year to visit here, is that large flocks of carmine bee eaters, a beautiful red coloured little bird migrated here this time of year. We came across an area filled with them. A tree looked red because of all the bee eaters. Bee eaters in general are one of the most beautifully coloured bird in Africa, and I have never seen so many of the three species here. On my last trip, I only saw two little bee eaters. This was a highlight! We also saw many other wildlife including brown hooded kingfishers, elephants, red billed pinya, crocheted zebra, hyena, and a pair of hyena cubs sunning near their den. There was a camera crew from BBC there as well. We spoke to the main fellow who said they were filming a series which would be on the Love Nature channel in Canada where they are following a particular pack of wild dogs. The dogs had been elusive the last little while. Jo and I regularly tape and watch nature programs on this channel about lions, leopards and other wildlife in South Luangwa, and may have even seen this fellow on one of these programs.    

After a late/early meal at 11:00, we spent the next few hours relaxing around camp. At 3PM we gathered again at the dining area for iced coffee or other drinks and some snacks. Then we were off for our first afternoon drive with our new team mates, Ben and Gary. The drive began with some action. We observed a heron in a pool of water, struggling with a large fish it had caught but was having difficulty maneuvering  so it could swallow it. A yellow-billed kite, a medium sized raptor, came swooping in trying to steal the fish. Then a fish eagle did the same, diving at the big bird. Finally the heron dropped the fish. A young marabou stork swooped in and found the fish in the water and ate the prize. After that we drove atop the banks of the river and guide Peter noticed a crocodile struggling with what looked like a large catch. We got in position to watch. The croc was thrashing his prey against the water and rolling with it. It appeared to be the leg of an impala. Other crocodiles in the area caught the scent and started converging on the site. There was a struggle with a smaller croc, who managed to snatch the leg and take off with it. Other large crocs, probably two or three times larger, came running. I have never seen large crocs run on land before. The young croc managed to outrun them and then go in the water and eat the catch. Very interesting to see. Following this we returned to where we had seen the six lionesses. They were still there, fast asleep. A lot less action. We also found a hyena. We had the usual sundowners in an open area where we could not be ambushed by predators. Then it became dark. Darkness comes fast in Africa after sundown. We spent the next 90 minutes driving throughout the area with a large spotlight, looking for nocturnal creatures. For the longest time, we saw nothing. Then within a short period of time we saw two genets and a white tailed mongoose. These were all fast at running away and I did not get much of a photo of any of them. I did get a shot of a fluffy tail going into the bush. Since the tail was the creature’s namesake, I suppose I can say I got a picture of the mongoose. We saw a number of elephant shrews, a rodent with a long, elephant like nose. I also saw a bush tailed mongoose and a chameleon, I think. I just took a picture of the yellow spot in a tree that was supposed to be the chameleon. We’ll see when we get home what I really got. I did capture a Pel’s fishing owl. It sat not too far from us in a tree, just before we had to head back to camp. I wondered if the bird would be bothered by the light shining on him, but he didn’t seem to. Then he swooped down and caught a catfish and took it to a tree nearby. We certainly did not interfere with his hunting ability. Once we left the park, the spotted shone his light on a distant grassy area and said the spot in the middle was a leopard. Not sure how he could see that so quickly for a distance but I am sure he was right. What a great day! Saw some fantastic things and can’t wait till tomorrow. The wait won’t be long, with a wake up call at 5AM.

September 6

We were now into our regular routine. Up at 5, having a light breakfast of toast at 5:30, and off on a game drive at 6. The weather was warming up. Yesterday we hit 35 degrees in the afternoon, and even though it tended to be cold at 6AM, it was not as cold as Botswana, and we soon warmed up. Today our two other people, Ben and Gary were going on a walking safari, so we had the vehicle to ourselves. Apart from the usual array of antelope, zebra, elephants we concentrated more on birds today. We saw a variety of raptors like western banded snake eagle, orbig’s (sp?) eagle, tawny eagle, lizard buzzard, little banded sparrowhawk. We also saw many smaller birds, and found a male lion, asleep of course. We found three young male giraffes, two of them fighting with each other, swinging their knobs on their head into the neck of other, and one even put his leg on top of the other’s back. He then had trouble getting it off. 

The drive was followed with a refreshing shower and a nap. Ready for another night drive. Bring on the genets, civets, porcupines, etc.

The night drive, from 4 to 8, began on a good note. Before we reached the park gates we had a giraffe standing beside our vehicle and we saw a mother slender mongoose with two young. Soon we came across a giant eagle owl, a beautiful bird, which swept down from it’s limb and caught a snake. During the daylight hours we saw a usual array of grazers and the sleeting male lion we had seen earlier. When it gets dark, there is a spotter who stands in the front seat the whole time, sweeping the landscape with a spotlight, looking for things. It is amazing what they find in a glance. After dark, we saw three bee eaters huddled  together in a tree, sleeping. Then, in a distant large tree they found a thick tailed bush baby. I just took pictures of the lit up portion of the tree and we will see when I get home whether I have a picture of the bush baby, a cute little nocturnal animal whose sound is like a crying baby. Following that we found two genets, a civil an elephant shrew and the two porcupines I had suggested the spotter find tonight. To many, these animals mean very little but I have never seen these before this trip despite the previous a safaris I have done. To me, this was very exciting! Better than seeing another hippo or elephant.We spent a lot of time following the searchlight trying to see eyes looking at us, and by the end of the drive, we were all tired. We also encountered our big male lion, walking down the road. We drove ahead of him and waited, and he lumbered past us, within a foot or so of the side of the vehicle where Jo was sitting. A few times he stared up at us and I always find that very eerie, because those big yellow eyes are so penetrating.   I thought today was the first day we did not see any leopard here, that is until we were nearing the park gate and we found a leopard in a clearing beside the road. Another highly successful game drive. 

We are thoroughly enjoying this camp. The staff are super friendly and helpful. Everyone is concerned for you and get to know you. When I mentioned to one staff member that I thought our flight out on Sunday was at 8:40AM, based on my online calendar, I was approached by several staff because their records showed us leaving in the late afternoon. I went and checked my actual documents and they were right. The owner and several other senior staff checked in on us during meals to confirm this and make sure we were good with everything. Several times each day, we are confronted with elephants going through the camp, and we have to make sure we pass them a safe distance away, or a staff member comes to direct everyone. Our guide Peter has been great. Tomorrow we sleep in! We are not going on a morning drive, but the women are getting a ride into town for some shopping. 

September 7 - Wednesday 

The weather here has been in the mid thirties during the day. Mornings are very pleasant, but when driving in an open safari vehicle, it can be cool for the first hour or two, so blankets are provided. Similarly, the last hour or so of the afternoon/night drive can be cool. However, things are expected to warm up as the end of September approaches. Already this evening the breeze while on our drive was warm and no coat or blanket was required. After a relaxing day I spent a little while with my legs in the pool, watching monkeys near by. The dining area has an open indoor area as well as tables and chairs set up outside. We have already witnessed several monkey thefts from people’s lunch plate and regularly, if you sit outside, you are asked to move as one or more large elephants lumber through the area, within a feet or two of the chairs. The camp is geared for safaris so there is not much to do apart from the game drives. With no cord for my camera, I could not download and edit photos, nor could Jo and I post photos on Facebook, except the few taken with our phone. With internet access limited to 6 hours for the week, I could not spend time reading news or viewing Facebook too much. Even this blog is a challenge. 

It was beginning to be a challenge for our guide, Yotam, not Peter as he initially told us, to find new things to show us on the drives. However, every drive is different and I particularly enjoy looking for nocturnal critters, although it is often frustrating when they are so skittish and taking pictures is so challenging. We began by seeing the male lion, a brother of the one we saw previously, sleeping as lions do 18 hours per day. We checked out small birds and saw blue waxbills and a large flock of quelea flying in unison from the edge of a pond to the surrounding trees. Fascinating to watch. We also again saw some beautiful grey crowned cranes. After our sundowners, we saw, by spotlight, two genets, one actually cooperating and sitting for a while in the light, two bush babies, that I actually saw this time, a three-crowned courser (a bird), a nightjar, a leopard and a chameleon. The chameleon was in a bush along the side of the road, and Yotam pointed it out and then picked it up and put it on W’s arm. Wonderful to see the green lizard with it independently moving bulgy eyes. Another successful drive. As usual, there is always staff, including the owners often, waiting to greet you and ask about the drive as you exit the vehicle. Dinner was waiting when we returned at just after 8PM, and later we were escorted back to our chalet, where we enjoyed some wine on our second story deck. We did hear loud crashing near by as an elephant came by, and an owl in our tree that I could not locate with flashlight. We were all dead tired and crashed by 10PM.

September 8, Thursday

We all had a restless night, perhaps due to it being the warmest night yet. We had two fans going but still went from hot to cold and back depending on how long the covers were on us. Every night the staff turns down our beds and puts mosquito netting around it. I have not found any yet but Jo has large welts caused by mosquitos, black flies and perhaps tsetse flies. 

On an side, I am writing this with a cold jug of water in the dining area. A women at the next table complained to the server that she had two knives with her place setting but only one fork. She NEEDED another fork. Imagine eating with only one fork. Every setting has two knives, two forks, one or more spoons, no matter what you order. 

We started our drive at 5:45AM and I had low expectations after all we had seen. We soon came across a beautiful fish eagle posing for us. Then we found a male and female lion lying in the short grass. We were very near to them and I was amazed at how the lions ignored us, but did rise to perk their ears for any noises in the bush. It is always a special experience to be this close to these beasts, without protection. We observed a pair of baby swallows being fed. Then the piece de resistance, wild dogs! One of my goals for years, as these dogs are becoming more and more rare. We saw the BBC crew across the river and near them was a pair of dogs going down to drink. It seems they have a den near by. Another goal met!

After this, we checked out a number of other birds and Yotam heard from another guide that the local pack of wild dogs was seem some 20 minutes further away, so off we went. We did not find them, but we did notice vultures circling. We headed to the spot and found a dead hippo covered in vultures. The body had not yet been opened so the hippo must have died recently. It was morbid but interesting to see so many birds fighting each other for a shot at the scraps. Finally, there was a rumour that the two hyena cubs we had taken pictures of a few days ago had been attacked and were presumably dead. A guide had seen a leopard emerge from the den covered in blood. Today there was a report that the hyenas had two pair of cubs, and that one or two may still be alive. We drove to the den and found a young leopard guarding the outside of the den. That does not bode well for the cubs if they are still alive. We returned from our drive 45 minutes late. 

We spent much of our afternoon/evening drive in sandy areas with many aardvark holes. We were hoping to see aardvarks and porcupines after dark. This made the drive very dusty. Much of the soil here is like driving on a beach with very fine, soft sand. We began by seeing a yellow-billed kite. After this there was very little before we stopped for sundowners in an area where four curious zebras watched us closely. They wandered quite close and we had a staring contest before they carried on to their water hole. By now it was very dark shortly after 6PM and we spent the next two hours searching by spotlight. We found no aardvarks or porcupines but did find five genets, one very distant civet and a few scrub hares. A little disappointing but nature doesn’t make guarantees. Overall, another five star day.

September 9, Friday 

The morning routine continues in full swing. Yotam even has our toast ordered when we arrive at 6. We began by watching a parade of elephants march down the far side of the river and make their way across. One spot was quite deep so little ones were fully submerged. Hippos backed off to let the elephants through. They came out looking nice and clean, but on our side they immediately proceeded to cover themselves with sand to kill parasites on their skin. We headed to a very flat, sparsely covered area and saw a giraffe with a very little one. There were also some zebras and one young colt. Then we saw a zebra chasing a young male leopard. The leopard jumped into a tree, a small, six foot tree. He looked quite silly. A few zebras stood between the leopard and the  other with the colt, and just stared at it. A few giraffes joined in, forming a semi-circle. They were not distracted as Yotam dove over the rough terrain, trying to get in close. Then we backed off and waited to see what was going to happen. Finally the leopard decided to make a run of it. He was chased by a giraffe. A leopard being chased by a giraffe is very undignified. A few other vehicles came at this time. They witnessed a leopard running but missed the drama that lead up to it. It’s all in the timing. Yotam tried very hard to accommodate whatever we wanted to see. At last, we saw our namesake, the Meyer’s parrot in a tree. Later we also saw lovebirds and a few swallowtail bee eaters, a first for me. Before coffee break, we came across a male lion looking bloated and content, sleeping, with a raw large piece of meat, perhaps ribs, nearby. Vultures were gathering.

The evening drive included a sighting of a brown crested eagle and some lions and vultures. We had our sundowners within sights of the lions at the far end of a flat grassy area. When we were finished, we noticed that the lions, a pride of six plus a male, were on the move, coming towards us. Many other safari vehicles also converged, to where the lions were heading. The lions ignored the vehicles and spotlights, and leisurely walked up to the road. They looked like they were going hunting and so many vehicles, including our own, left the area and converged a ways away. Soon the lions arrived there. With so many vehicles parked among them, and spotlights, I think they must have decided to delay the hunt until we left. They just sat there. Guides often get obsessed with these sighting and stay far longer than anyone of us want. We did eventually leave and carry on our search for nocturnal animals. Apart from a few genets, a nightly spotting, we did not find anything unusual.

As I have noted on a number of occasions, the animals here seem to accept the safari vehicles, and largely ignored them. One guide reported that a male lion was stalking a warthog when they arrived. The lion walked closely beside the vehicle, using it hide and get closer to the prey. One of the local safari camps has begun converting to electric land rovers. They are experiencing a few problems with lack of power getting through steep, sandy stretches. The animals, who are accustomed to the sound of vehicle engines, reacted very nervously to a vehicle with no engine sound. The only animal I noticed having a negative reaction to vehicles were the wild dogs, but even they settled down once the vehicle parked.    

September 10, Saturday

There were two extra place settings at our breakfast table today. Yotam said we may have another couple join us for the morning drive, but they did not show up for breakfast so he was not sure. As we were getting in the vehicle to begin, he got word that the couple was taking a shower and would be here shortly. Needless to say, we were not impressed by this lack of consideration for our time. They arrived a little while later, a senior couple from Zimbabwe. We had seen them around the camp and were part of another group. The other group members were going on a walking safari so they joined us. She always wore a purple fedora hat and seemed a little eccentric. He was tall man with a British accent. They did not apologize for being late, probably because they operated on Africa time. He began by asking Yotam a lot of questions. Each time, because of the noise of the engine and the fact that they were sitting on the back row of the vehicle, Yotam would stop, and turn off the engine to respond. So now we started late and were taking forever to even get down the long driveway to the road. I have to admit I had some negative thoughts. Their son attended the U of Cincinnati and while visiting the USA, they had befriended an American couple who was now here to visit and go on safari. We began our search in the park by stopping at a small river which was filled with white pelicans, and a few other assorted waterfowl. The pelicans had an unusual feeding technique. They would fly up and form a wedge, going down the river scooping up fish stirred up by their wedge swimming. It was very interesting to watch, and we even got out of the vehicle to watch. (Something that is a big no-no in most parks outside of Zambia.) Later we saw two eagle hawks fighting in mid-air. They would turn upside down and attack with their talons. We also saw another giant eagle owl. For then morning ritual, we stopped in a grassy area where impalas were grazing and a few giraffes lumbered by, to have our coffee and biscuits, the morning version of sundowners. I got in a conversation with the Zim man. He actually was a very interesting character, and well spoken. He was interested in economic development which included human and wildlife conflict and how to manage that to protect the towns and villages as well as support the tourist industry. I asked him how thing we doing under the present government in Zimbabwe following the end of the former dictator, Robert Mugabe's reign. He said things were no better. (Quite a different response than what a Zimbabwe guide said a few days ago.) The current leader has no heart and you could even get arrested or killed if you misspelled his name. He talked about African countries being wooed and influenced by Chinese and Russian leaders and how these countries have no real interest in supporting the needs of the people, only exerting influence. It was an enlightening coffee break. On our drive back, near the entrance to the camp, we stopped for an elephant and I saw a medium-sized bird near the top of some trees. Yotam said it was a rare sighting here, a purple-crested turaco, a beautifully coloured avian. I could not get a photo of it as it was too far away and did not wait for me to get ready, so I guess I did not really see it. 

By now my internet access time had run out so there was not a lot to do between morning and afternoon drives, except take a shower. With the sandy soil, everything gets very dusty on a drive. I spent a good 90 minutes entering this blog the other day, but just as I was saving it to publish, my time ran out without warning, so I was not even able to check if all my word was gone (it was!). This was also the trip of losing things. Just as I supposedly lost my wallet and actually did lose my cell phone in Moremi, now jo had lost her glasses. Fortunately she had a spare pair, but we checked everywhere and did not find them. (When emptying our suite case at home Jo found them in the small backpack she used and had folded up.) Again, staff were very good about trying to help out, trying to find them. 

For our evening drive, we headed south, where there were some aardvark holes that Yotam hoped might produce aardvarks after dark. We stopped by the side of a cliff along the river where carmine bee eaters had their homes this time of year. I still can't get enough of seeing these beautiful birds, filling the skies and perching on the side of the cliff or in the nearby trees. I vowed not to take any more photos of them, but I failed. When we began to drive on, we saw a lot of safari vehicles stopped at a spot down the road. Even though we thought we were away from the main area guides cruised at night, it seemed everyone had the same idea to come here. When we arrived, there were several pickup trucks piled full of what Yotam described as army personnel on leave from a nearby training base. They were parked near a male and female lion. The couple were here to mate, and when the male began mounting the female, the army guys began to woop and holler and shout "Way to go Simba!" The poor lions were greatly intimidated with this and stopped. We were all disgusted with the drunken behaviour of these supposedly upholders of law and order. Their conduct violated all the rules for being in the national park. When they left, they hollered and waved but most vehicles did not respond. And yet, no one was willing to tangle with the army either. When lionesses are in heat, the male and female spend days together, not eating anything, and mate about every 15 minutes. Then they collapse from exhaustion. Sure enough, 15 minutes later she got up, he followed her, and they walked to an opening very close to our vehicle and proceeded to put on the next show. After the lion porn, we went back to the carmine bee eater location and had sundowners, wine in my case and the more traditional gin and tonic for Jo. 

Every afternoon, Daniel joined us as a spotter. He was in training to be a guide eventually and it was his job to set up and prepare the sundowners, clean up and spend the after sunset hours operating the spotlight. I usually bugged him that we were counting on him to find us an aardvark. We also heard reports from another vehicle that they saw porcupines last night, so the pressure was on. This was our last night drive. Unfortunately, Daniel did not come through. We found the usual genets, 3, (who knew there were so many genets around?), and an eagle owl sitting on the ground but that was it for two hours. I felt that Yotam really wanted to have us see something exciting but what can you do. Before we headed to the main gate to exit the park, he did a little loop around some water, and we came upon a leopard and cub drinking. That was special! That night, while enjoying a glass of wine in our deck, the tree branches above Jo and I started shaking. I had a flashlight so looked up, and there was a bush baby in the tree. It was the size of a medium sized cat and had a long, bushy tail. I could not get my camera ready fast enough before it was gone so again, I guess I didn't really see it. I still don't know where bush babies hide during the day.

September 11, Sunday

Today was our last morning here. We had a morning game drive at 6 and could stay in our chalet until 2PM so we could shower and get ready to leave after the drive. Yotam would drive us to the airport in Mfuwe at 4PM. Last night Yotam told me he got a report from some guides that the wild dog pack, a group of about 21 dogs, was spotted north of here. It seems the pups were now old enough to leave the den, so the group was showing them around the territory. They were probably heading our way, but it was a good 30 minutes to get to the right area. Yotam knew that wild dogs were one of the things I really wanted to see, and suggested we go look for them on our drive. I was already happy with seeing the two dogs across the river a few days ago, but this exciting. We headed off, after stopping to photograph a few birds I was not sure I had done already, and we found the pack, along with every other guide from our camp and another camp who had heard the same report. There were 19 dogs there, including 11 pups. They were resting along a dried up riverbed. Presumably they had hunted and eaten earlier this morning. The BBC crew was also there filming. After most had gone, Yotam decided to try and come around the back and get a view of the pups, who were hidden behind a sandy knoll. Since there was no trail, we barreled through the bush, driving right through small bushes and trees. This could get you arrested in Kruger National Park. We came within 100 feet of the pups who were huddled together. The dogs did react to the sound of the vehicle but when the engine was shut off, they relaxed. We spent quite some time there, perhaps longer than necessary but that tends to happen. 

After showering, enjoying a final lunch and settling our account, we joined the safari goers for high tea before heading to the airport. Our flight from Mfuwe to Lusaka had 30 people on board. We arrived in Lusaka at 7:10PM. Our Qatar Airways flight from Lusaka to Doha, Qatar was scheduled to leave at 9:25PM. We were near the back of the line at the checkout counter, but they insisted we fill in our ArrivCan app before we could be issued boarding passes. Now we were the last to check in. It took some time, also because I had booked bulkhead seats to get some legroom with the long flights. That still had to be paid for. As we were going through the check in procedure, they were announcing that business class could now board the flight, almost 90 minutes before planned takeoff. By the time we sent off our luggage and went to the gate, only a few people remained to board the plane. I had visions of our bags not making it onboard. We asked why boarding was so early and were told that since people often don't respond to boarding calls right away, they were starting early, and if everyone is there, we can take off early. We had only a few minutes to use the washroom and checking out stores for any last minute souvenirs was out of the question. The flight did leave 25 minutes early. It was over 7 hours to get to Doha and we arrived just after 5AM local time. The airport was packed. Now we had a little while for our connecting flight to Seattle. This was a 14 hour flight. Soon after we left, they served the first of three meals, then turned off the lights for the rest of the flight, even though it was daytime. I did my usual nodding off for a few minutes here and there, and even had a perhaps 20 minute stretch. It was very LONG! We were so happy to get back to Seattle. Even though we were told our suitcases were going on to Vancouver, we actually did have to pick them up in Seattle and go through Customs, and then reenter them for check in. It all went smoothly, and I was so relieved to see everyone's luggage appear on the carrousel. We got home at 6:30PM, about 30 hours after leaving Mfuwe. When I got home, I received an email telling me I had been randomly selected to do a PCR Covid test within 24 hours. By 6:30 the next morning, I already had another email saying I hadn't done the test yet and needed to. So impatient!!! I went to bed at 10PM and at 3AM I was watching some taped football games and having coffee. Even the next night, I was in bed by 11PM, and up at 4:15. This has got to stop, I am NOT a morning person.      

September 12 to 16

Even though the travel portion of the trip is over, the effects of the trip carry on, so I thought I would keep track. Specifically, I am referring to the jet lag that always hits me, especially traveling west. I read that it takes one day for every time zone you cross to overcome jet lag. I believe it. These last nights I have been dead tired by 9PM and find myself watching TV with my eyes closed often. I struggle to stay up until 10 or 11 o’clock. Improvement is slow: Sept. 12 in bed at 10:30, awake at 2AM, up by 2:45. Sept. 13 in bed by 11, awake by 3:30am, up by 4:15. Sept. 14 in bed by 11, awake by 2:45, up by 3:15. On September 15 I had a nap before dinner and then stayed up until almost midnight. I did nod off about 20 minutes involuntarily during Thursday Night Football. I woke up at 4AM and stayed in bed until 5AM. On September 16 I was in bed by 11:30PM, woke up at 4:30, and was up at 5:00AM. I see improvement. On September 17 I was in bed at 11:30 and got up at 7AM. The best night all week. Is the jetlag coming to an end?

On September 18 I again had a late afternoon nap but was still tired by 10PM. I got to bed at about 11:45, but woke up at 3:30. While I stayed in bed, I do not believe I slept again before getting up at 7:00. So much for jetlag being over! 

Over the next few days I continued to go to bed between 11:30 and around midnight, still early for me, but I slept longer each day until September 22 and 23, when I got up around 8AM. That’s a great night. So, it took 10 nights to get back to something close to normal for me. 

Sadly, I think this marks the end of my African adventures. As much as I have enjoyed safaris, I think I am satisfied with what I have seen and can’t see doing it again if there is little new to see. It is simply too far and too expensive to just repeat experiences. I am content with my exposure to the continent, gorilla and chimp watching aside, and will now focus elsewhere. Thanks for the memories Africa!

Africa - Moremi Crossing

 August 31

I woke up today at 3AM and couldn’t get back to sleep. I finally got up at 6 to update this blog. Are you impressed Oishimas? We had to kill a few hours after checking out of Chobe Safari Lodge and had a milkshake for lunch by the river. Then it was off to the airport in Kasane for our flights to Moremi Crossing. With little in documentation, you just had to trust that everything would go as planned. It did, mostly. We had to take two planes. The first was a 12 seater Cessna. The second was a GA Airvan, a very small 4 seater, (plus pilot seats). My suitcase was considered too large for the cargo hold. I had the option of paying $500 US to get the bag on (return cost) or store my suitcase with the airline in Kasane until we got back in 4 days. I chose the cheap option of course. They did give me the opportunity to transfer some things from my suitcase to Jo’s bag. Luckily our bags were about half full because we knew there were weight restrictions on these flights. I took my toiletries, a spare shirt and shorts and foot ware, plus a jacket, which meant if I got really dirty, or it got very cold, I was in trouble with only shorts to wear. The first flight was 40 minutes and we landed in a strip of blacktop in the middle of nowhere with only a little open tent on the side. There a little 4 seater was waiting to fly us the last 15 minutes to Moremi, which is in the Okavango Delta. We had a young woman pilot and she did a fantastic job, landing so gently. We saw elephants, giraffes and various types of antelopes below. The land was very dry, with marks where rivers flowed during the wet season. The airstrip at Moremi was also just a strip of blacktop with a few tables on the side and our waiting safari Jeep. Everything went so smooth and we were driven to the camp which was 5 minutes away. The camp was along the river with a big open building housing the bar, restaurant, several lounging areas and a veranda along the front. it had a large thatched roof. Our accommodations consisted of a tent built on a wooden platform with two beds, toilet room, sink and outdoor shower. We had a small deck overlooking the river where at any given time, we could see impala, lechwe and reed bucks, (types of antelope) grazing along the banks, wart hogs rummaging in the mud, elephants, giraffes kudu, monitor lizards and many, many birds, often all at the same time. We did not hove outlets so could not charge our electrical items except in the main building, and there was no wi if anywhere. After dark we had to be escorted to our tents because of the wildlife that frequented the camp. 

We went on a game drive and saw three hyenas, a leopard and cub in a tree, a hyena den with hyenas and pups, and a serval we saw by spotlight after dark. Of course we had wine at sundown. We had a delicious dinner at 8PM after the drive. Dinner was buffet style. We also had access to as much wine, beer and soft drinks as we wanted any time. (All food and beverages were covered so we never had to worry about costs which was really nice. When we returned from our game drive, we were treated by the staff, who all sang a welcome song to us. Dinner was also always introduced very formally, addressing us as ladies and gentlemen, describing the three course meal and always stating that women should come up first. Following dinner tonight one of the guides shone his light across the river and called us over. They had spotted a aardwolf, a rare find. However it was gone before I could see it. All the guide had made up English names I believe. Our guide was Patrick and his assistant was Pats (also Patrick). 

September 1

We heard many strange sounds during the night, including hyenas near by. I was awake at 3:45AM, so our early wake up call of 5:30 was no big deal. Our day began with a continental breakfast at 6:00, game drive from 6:30 to 10:30 or so, and then a brunch, consisting of salads, meat and rice dishes, and eggs to order, with bacon and sausages. Our morning drive was very cool and windy most of the morning. We drove around, often barreling through unmarked terrain, over small bushes, etc. In search of animals. Today we came across red lechwe, an aquatic antelope, a few birds, zebra, giraffe and a brown snake eagle. Despite talk of lions and wild dogs, we did not see any. When we returned to camp, I was amazed at the sounds of birds everywhere. So many different songs. It kept me busy most of the time. We enjoyed time relaxing on the deck and showering outside until our evening game drive at 4PM, preceded by our daily high tea with coffee, tea, lemonade and cake or other sweets. At one time, looking out from the deck, I saw hornbills, red lechwe, impala, kudu, monitor lizard, and two giraffes. Our game outing tonight was a boat ride up river. We saw reed bucks, a white broad council, red lechwe, hippos, elephants, and two malachite kingfishers, beautifully coloured birds. We were in bed by 10 PM.

September 2

Today was special, to say the least. It was again a cold morning, and we wrapped ourselves in blankets in our open jeep for the first few hours. Our new assistant guide, Godfrey pointed out tracks in the sandy road, including aardvarks and elephants. I leaned over to see them. I generally record the names of many of the wildlife we see as a note on my iPhone. We were driving along when we spotted what Godfrey identified as tsessebe, an antelope we had not seen on this trip. I went for my phone in my coat pocket to make a note. It was gone. I checked around everywhere but to no avail. Finally I told Patrick I had lost my phone. I suspected that it had dropped out of my coat pocket when I leaned out of the side of the vehicles or while we drove through some bumpy areas. Patrick was very good about it. He began retracing our route slowly, looking along the side of the road. Meanwhile he radioed back to camp for someone to drive the road from the camp to where we were looking for the phone. I felt it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially with the high grass along the sides of the road. I also felt guilty because we had a fellow from India with us who was leaving this morning. He had been very pushy about getting this drive in before he had to leave. Now we were spending it looking for my phone. I did say more than one prayer for God to help us find it. But duty called. We were looking, and I was looking around because I was on the wrong side of the jeep to see anything, when I spotted a leopard sitting a ways off. I let everyone know where it was. This called off the phone search temporarily to pursue the leopard. We found it had a small cub with it, and we followed it. We got within 20 yards of it and got some amazing photos. Meanwhile we got a call that my phone had been found! Prayer answered! I got the phone back and assured everyone I would be keeping my jacket pockets zipped up. They also owed me a thank you because by retracing, we found the leopards. The rest of the drive produced the usual animals we now saw regularly, but nothing unusual.

That should have been the end of it. At lunch Jo wanted my Visa card to purchase a woven bowl. It was in my wallet. That afternoon we took the boat to an island where we went on a walk with two guides. The. Walk was uneventful except for a beautiful eagle owl we saw. Then we came across two old, ornery looking buffalo. They eyed us very closely from a distance. Buffalo can be unpredictable, and apparently they never do a rack charge. If they charge you, they are not stopping. I felt very uncomfortable as we skirted them and walked away. They never left their eyes off of us, but did not approach either. When we got back to our tent that night, we looked everywhere for my wallet. I checked everywhere, five times over. We repacked Jo’s suitcase (mine was in Kasane) but nothing turned up. I felt sick, since it included some money but more importantly, driver’s licence, MasterCard, bank cards, etc. At t breakfast the next morning I told Patrick about it. Again, the staff sprung into action. They searched all the furniture in the lodge in case it had fallen between cushions, even chairs I never sat in. Patrick searched the boat in case it fell on the floor, and I checked the ground where I had jumped out of the boat. Nothing. Patrick offered to have us redo the walk to see if it had fallen during the walk but I insisted that we not do that. I felt confident that it would not drop out of my pocket while just walking. We did do our game drive and when we returned, I wrote up a report describing my wallet, the time period I seemed to have lost it (after lunch when I gave Jo my Visa, which she still had). The manager of the lodge had sent someone to go to where we had gotten off the boat at the island we had walked and searched the beach. Nothing. Jo had bought a woven vase the day before, and had taken it to our tent in a bag, but had not paid for it because the Visa connection was not working. During lunch she went to the office with the vase to try again. She took out the vase and opened it, (it had a lid), and there was my wallet! The bag with the vase was the only place we had not searched because why would it be in there! Another prayer answered. I was beginning to feel like a real loser literally, for losing two important items in one day. 

September 3

Once again, I was up before the 5:30 wake up call. We were stuck in our tent for a little while because a very large elephant was right on the path in font of our tent, only a few feet away. We had to wait until it was coaxed to move on before Patrick could accompany us for the continental breakfast. We did a shorten game drive, again finding the mother leopard, who we followed for a time. We also came across many trees filled with vultures. Not sure what that was about. We returned early, at 9:30 for breakfast. While our eggs were being prepared, Patrick informed us that our plane was arriving early, and we had only 10 minutes before we had to leave. The bags were packed into the vehicle. We ate as much as we could before dashing off to meet the little 4 seater plane, to begin our journey back to Kasane. 

Everything went exactly as planned. We got on our little plane, flew to the next air strip where we again got off and onto the larger 12 seater for Kasane. There I reunited with my luggage and immediately saw a man with a sign for us. He drove us to the border with Zambia. We were the only ones in the nice new border building and in no time at all, were on our way. We arrived with over 3 hours to spare at the Livingstone airport. Apparently Livingstone is the only town in Zambia still using a British name. We checked in for our flight to the capital, Lusaka. I was worried my suitcase might again be considered too large but it was not a problem. We arrived in Lusaka and were immediately greeted by an employee of Wild Dog Lodge, where we were spending the night. He drove us there, a journey of 25 minutes, which included 3 police check stops, (we were waved through). The traffic was very heavy for a Saturday night at 8:30. We were struck by an area near our lodge where there were modern buildings, a modern shopping mall and recreation type buildings, and then a short distance further groups of people huddled around  fires and dilapidated box houses. Our lodge was secure. It was odd that our driver took our bags, brought us to our rooms without any explanation. He confirmed that he would pick us up at 5AM to bring us to the airport. We went to the pool area where a buffet dinner was being served. There was a table designated for us and we helped ourselves to a little dinner, since most of us were not hungry. Finally, the owner came by to greet us and said we could pay for our food and drink tonight before we go to bed, as we were leaving so early. She offered to have some coffee and food for us but we declined. Our rooms were nice and we hit the bed at about 11:00 o’clock.   

       

Africa 2022 - Botswana

 Sunday, August 21, 2022

After several years of planning and rescheduling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I actually believe we may be returning to Southern Africa in a few days. It had not come without some glitches however. Originally there were five of us going, my wife and I, my sister G and my BIL, and a sister-in-law. I booked safaris for Botswana and Zambia several years ago, and as we went through the pandemic, I maintained contact to make sure our reservations were being held. We had booked a stay at the Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane, Botswana, with an addon of a few nights at Moremi Crossing in the Okavango Delta. I also had secured accommodation at Marula Lodge near the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. This park is the site of many, many nature programs because of its wildlife and lion population. We made deposits in mid 2020 and as we entered 2022, it looked like the world was opening up from the pandemic and all was a go. Africa suffered a great deal because tourism dried up. Preserving wildlife and providing employment for locals in popular safari locations is dependent on people coming on safari. Without safaris, it is difficult to convince people in Africa to support conservation and there are no funds to support guides, rangers, naturalists, and camp workers. As one guide told me a few years ago, it is difficult to criticize a man for poaching to earn a living if there are no alternatives and his family is starving. 

In February, I received word that Marula Lodge was closing permanently, a victim of the pandemic. I also noticed that a safari camp we stayed in in South Africa, and really enjoyed, also closed indefinitely. Sad. The scramble was on to find a new accommodation in Zambia. This was complicated by the fact that we not only needed to book a accommodation, many of which are grossly expensive and, in my opinion, over the top in decadence, we need to coordinate with our existing reservation in Botswana, as well as arrange transportation between the two locations. Driving would take too long, so that means small, local flights. I was familiar with a safari camp, Flat Dogs Camp, which is a regular advertisement in Travel Africa, a magazine I subscribe to. I looked into it and it was reasonable, as safari camps go. After booking two years in advance, I was now scrambling to get new bookings six months in advance. I was able to secure accommodation, with restructuring the trip to begin in Botswana rather than Zambia, and Flat Dogs was able to arrange for flights from Livingstone airport, where the Botswana portion ended, to the Zambian capital of Lusaka, overnight in a very nice looking resort near the airport, and then shuttle and fly to Mfuwe, the nearest airport to the camp, where we would be picked up and driven to the camp. They of course would get us back to Lusaka for a return flight home. Everything went quite smoothly, but of course that could not be. First I got word just before finalizing the booking with Flat Dog Camp that my sister-in-law had reservations and decided not to come. That left some issues with Chobe Lodge since our deposits were non-refundable. After initial contact I left it with others to deal with if they wished. So now we were all set. That is until two weeks prior to the trip, when I got word that my BIL was suffering back and walking issues and it was not getting better. He decided he needed to make the call early for the sake of others and decided he would not be coming. A wise decision but sad, since he really wanted to go and we were booking this trip now with the realization that with age, he would not be able to put it off too long. His daughter was able to take his place but that also meant getting the vaccines and meds needed for the trip on short notice, and since airlines will not allow you to change names on a ticket, all his tickets had to be cancelled and new ones issued. In the end, that went as smooth as one could expect and only Lufthanza was causing some concerns. We will see Tuesday whether there will be further issues. Otherwise, our bags are packed, our pills taken or laid out, camera batteries are charged up and SD cards cleared. If we needed to suddenly leave on 15 minutes notice, I think we would be able to do it. Stay tuned for the adventure.        

Tuesday August 23 - Thursday, August 25

Our last experience with Lufthansa was very bad and I swore that I would not use them again if I could help it. But here we are. I must admit this time things went smoothly. Staff were much friendlier, check in went easily and even with an 11 hour layover in Germany, our luggage was going through right to Zambia (supposedly) without needing us to retrieve it along the way and clearing customs. I did do seat preselection go get more leg room on the longer stretches. For our 9 hour flight to Frankfurt we had seats beside the exit door with washrooms beside us on the other side. There was plenty of room to stretch out or even stand if you wanted. In front of us were fold up seats used by cabin crew for takeoffs and landings.  We got familiar with other passengers because there are a select number of people that seem to use the washrooms repeatedly, and then stand in front of you for a while. Soon after we left Vancouver we were served wine and then dinner with more wine. We did leave about 50 minutes late. We left at 5:10PM and were to arrive in Frankfurt at 10:30AM, which is 1:30AM Vancouver time. Soon after dinner was served, the lights went out for most of the flight. Who goes to be at 8PM besides one person I know? In fact, lately we have gotten into the bad habit of playing Semantle, and online word game, and it keeps us up to 1:30 OR 2AM some nights, so we arrived in Frankfurt before bedtime. Needless to say, I did not sleep, except a total of maybe 15 minutes. We did have an nice chat with the stewardess during landing. She resides in Frankfurt and referred to it as a dirty city compared to Vancouver. It is industrial and the main area to see is the new old town. Frankfurt was destroyed by bombing during WW2 so the old town was recently restored to recreate the old buildings, etc. 

After landing we planned to check our carryon bags into a storage locker and explore the city. We wandered aimlessly trying to find where the storage was. There were no signs and you couldn’t find airport staff for assistance if you life depended on it. Most people we asked could not speak English. Finally I interrupted two car rental staff and they directed us. We check the bags and then went to take the train in for the 20 minute trip. You had to buy tickets from a machine and again there wasn’t any staff to help with that. We figured it out finally but only after it kept rejecting my Visa card and I resorted to cash. We went down to the track and discovered we were on the wrong side of the station for the direction we were going. We wondered around some more before we found the stairs that led to the other side. (You had to climb the stairs, cross over to the other side and find stairs leading down.) Seemed easy enough but the stair were well hidden. We made it to the central train station in downtown and went to the tourist office. We learned that we had actually paid to use the subway train, which stops at every station, but used the fast train which only made two stops. However, there were no people around to check for tickets anywhere. We spent the afternoon walking around the restored old town, which was very nice. It was a hot day so we stopped at a cafe for a beer or a pear beer, which Frankfurt is noted for. I just wanted a cold regular beer. I could only get nonalcoholic beer. However, it was cold and okay. After stroll along the river we return to the old town area and went to a restaurant for an early dinner and drinks. I did not feel like another beer so I ordered an “orangina” which was listed under sofas. The waiter looked at me funny like, are you sure you want that? Of course, I always like a cold Orange Crush like drink. I should have known when I had to specify whether to get the yellow one or red one. I took red. That’s closer to orange. It ended up being a small bottle and the drink resembled fruit drinks we buy in small tetra packs. I also struggled with the menu. I was feeling quezzy from the heat so I needed to eat, but nothing appealed. It was okay if you accept salad as a legitimate food I guess. I do not want octopus in my pasta. I settled for gnocchi which ended up being a plate filled with gnocchi and some curry sauce. So so. To go back to the airport we needed to find the subway station marked by a green circle with a white letter S. Again, why would you put up signage directing people where such a station is? I guess no tourists go to Frankfurt and the locals know. I did have a map and stumbled on the station. We were now pros, so we found the ticket machine and got our tickets. We found the stairs to the station. Again we ended up on the wrong side of the tracks so to speak. We boarded the No. 9 train which our pamphlet said we needed for the airport. It was packed. After a few stations, Jo asked the woman beside her what the name of the airport stop was. The lady looked bewildered. We were going in the opposite direction.  Being Dutch, we were delighted to have seen several train stations without paying extra for it. We got back to the airport with still a few hours to spare. 

When to boarding call came, the first was for priority passengers. Almost all of the people at the gate went. Then it was just for the rest of us. Our seats were even better than the last flight. This was a 10 hour flight to Johannesburg. We were in the first row behind business class or economy plus, I’m not sure which, but the row was back about double the normal row distance and we did not have to contend with exit. We chose the window and aisle seat and the middle seat remained empty. We could again stretch out, even with our carryon tucked under the seat in front. We left a little late, and soon had our wine and then dinner. A second dinner! Again, lights went out after that. We learned from our stewardess on the previous flight that there was a room with bunk beds, so the staff can go sleep for a while 90 during the flight. With very little sleep, I was much more tired and did manage a few hours of sleep. My entertainment screen did not work well so I gave up on watching movies. It was a long haul but the little sleep helped. We had a horrible breakfast. The main feature was a very cold and very heavy grained bread with ham and a cheese slice, a large pickle to help sogify the bread and some kind of carrot sauce. I just ate around the pickle. I generally do not like yogurt for breakfast, (lunch is okay), but today it seemed very good. I think my body had no idea what meal I was eating. 

On arriving in Johannesburg we located the SA Airlink counter to get boarding passes for our flight to Zambia. Our flight was not on the departures board. We also had the airport become totally black a number of times due to electrical blackouts. The stress was beginning to set in. We had to wait for the airline staff to man the booth and when Jo went up to ask if our flight was still going, she said yes and proceeded to get us our boarding passes, manually by calling someone because their system was down. There was no explanation why other Airlink flights were listed but not ours. On arriving at Livingstone, Zambia, a very small airport, we went through the usual routine of showing passports several times as well as proof of vaccination. No way you were getting in without being vaccinated. Then we discovered that none of our luggage had arrived. Many others had the same issue and they came from other departure areas, so we felt the problem must have been in Johannesburg, not Frankfurt. We had a driver waiting to pick us up to drive us over the border where another Botswana driver would take us the rest of the way to our lodge. We spent over an hour with the lost and found official recording all the claims and filling in detailed reports about how our luggage looked, where it should be sent if found, etc. Some people needed it by the next day because they were off somewhere. We were at our lodge a few hours away for the next week. We arranged for the luggage to be sent to an airport close to our accommodation of it was located. Meanwhile we had no extra clothes, toiletries , battery chargers for cameras, etc. I was stuck in my jeans and runners despite the warm temperature. To leave the airport you had to have your bags, including carryon scanned by security. Fortunately our driver was able to make contact and learn about our long delay, so he waited. By the time we left, the security staff had gone home for the day and we could just walk out with no checks whatsoever. Secure? It took another 90 minutes or more to get to our lodge. The Botswana border was a pleasant surprise. It was a new facility and there were only two other people going through. We went inside and were done in no time flat. Chobe Safari Lodge did not disappoint. It was wonderful. There was a beautiful restaurant area overlooking a large pool and the Chobe River. There was also a bar and plenty of places to hang out with great views. The woman who runs the lodge was very nice. Our rooms overlooked the river and were great. All meals were included in our stay and we had pre-booked daily safari drives and river cruises. The lady said she would help us get our luggage. Walking to our room, I was amazed at all the bird sounds everywhere. I have never heard so many different bird calls. I will be very busy here! But first dinner. Dinner was buffet style but it was still quite fancy. We had to check in and be assigned a table, and we had a table staff to take orders. Even though all meals were included and prepaid, this did not include water or other drinks, which were charged to the room By now, lack of sleep had set in so we went to our rooms, I spent some time writing this blog, only to have it not saved so I had to rewrite it the next day, and hit my pillow by 10PM. It was great to take a shower after two days of travel and I was happy I had taken Jo’s suggestion to pack an underwear and clean shirt in my carryon, just in case. I was out like a light in no time.   

Friday, August 26

Our day began early, with a meeting in the lobby at 5:45 for our morning safari drive through Chobe National Park. There was a big crowd there and many safari open sided Jeeps to be assigned. There was a large group here that looked like they were from Toyota. The drive to the park took only about 10 minutes but was very cold. I had taken warm clothes and toques for this purpose but of course, they were in my suitcase somewhere. The sun came up around 6:30 and it began to warm up. We drove on a route along the Chobe River. We came across a herd of impala antelopes and then a large herd of African buffalo crossed the dirt road. There were some massive, old guys. A few minutes later we came across three female lions walking along. They headed towards where the buffalo were and we turned around and soon found the lions crossing the road. Suddenly one of the lions went into stalking mode and the others circled around to surround an old male buffalo. There was an attack and we could see the buffalo flailing and kicking up dust with a lion on him. It was difficult to see through the trees but what was going on was clear. The bull shook off the lion and did get away. This was the first time I ever saw a lion actively hunting. After this we came across hippos out of the water grazing, large elephants, many large shore birds like spoonbills, various egret species and heron species. I also saw African skimmers for the first time, scooping up water as they skimmed the surface of a water pool. We saw several crocodiles along the river banks, a beautiful fish eagle, many beautiful smaller birds including a few birds I was hoping to find, and  two giraffes. We were all amazed at what we all saw in the first few hours. My niece was on her first African trip and we suggested that she had pretty much seen it all now and could cancel the rest of the trip.  When we returned around 9:30AM, I checked with the front desk on the status of our missing luggage. I spoke with the lost and found officer in Zambia, and got nowhere. They were trying to trace the luggage but needed more info. They wanted us to check back later. This was the first of perhaps five times we were asked to call them later. The owner of the lodge said we would keep on top of it and to check back in a few hours. We enjoyed a buffet breakfast with personally prepared egg omelets. Nice to eat a good warm meal after the Lufthansa breakfasts. Walking to our room I came across a group of banded mongoose along the path. Them I saw a waterbuck doe and fawn grassing in front of one of the accommodations buildings. Everywhere there were beautiful, different birds calling me and I had to respond. I spent some time photographing. I also found many different birds in the trees near our balcony and an as yet unidentified eagle feeding a large infant in the tree nearby. This place is awesome!

In the afternoon I spent some time again dealing with the front desk and Zambia airport on the state of our luggage. By now we were still wearing the only clothes we had since Tuesday, and some had not brushed their teeth in three days. The lodge offered toiletries but that was limited to soaps and shampoos. They did not have any toothbrushes or toothpaste. Finally I got word that our luggage had be found and was being sent from Johannesburg to Zambia. I requested that they be forwarded on to Kasane airport which was near the lodge. We expected to have it arrive here at 1:30PM tomorrow. We were unhappy with how poorly this was treated but looked forward to clean clothes chargers, etc. Since a dead battery on a safari is one of my worst nightmares.

At 3:00 PM we started our boat cruise on the Chobe River. It too was wonderful. We saw several monitor lizards, hippos, red lechwes, a type of semi-aquatic antelope, greater kudu antelopes, buffalo, a variety of birds, and hundreds of elephants. We watched from close by as a family of elephants ranging from the huge matriarch leader down to a few weeks old baby cross the river to an island on the Namibia side of the river. The younger elephants were completely submerged with only the tips of their trunks sticking out of the water so they could breath. Once all were on the island with very distinct line showing how much of their bodies had been underwater, the group started picking up dust and throwing it over their backs covering them. They were now three toned. Grey parts that were dry, dirt covered heads and backs, and dark parts that were wet from the river. This is done to cover up and smother any ticks or other insects on their skin. No sooner had they covered themselves, and they walked into the river again to cross to the next land to join hundreds of elephants congregating there. An awesome sight. We cruised back at sunset and had a late dinner. This time I was in bed by 11PM and asleep by11:05 PM.

This was a day of mixed emotions. We were extremely disturbed by the uncertainty of if and where we might get our luggage, whether anything might have gotten stolen in the process, and what to do if the luggage did not arrive. We had nothing. On the other hand, we has such a good day seeing so many different and wonderful things.   

Saturday, August 27

The day began early again, with another game drive at 5:45AM. By now I was into a routine. I was often extremely tired by early evening and would go to be somewhere around 10PM. By 4 or 5 AM I would be awake and unable to sleep. The early excursions were therefore not a problem. This morning there were far less people waiting for game drives. I think there was a large contingency that had been here and were now gone. Again we were not dressed for the cold morning starts but this morning the guide gave us all blankets and it was much more comfortable that first hour. We went into Chobe National Park again but took a few different routes inland. We did first come to the sandy beach where we had spotted the three lions before and we could see some lions in the distance. One was sitting erect while about four were sleep. We drove up the dirt road leading back to where they were. It was not hard to find. We were preceded by a number of other safari vehicles. Everyone jockeyed for position to see the lions who down the hill and behind bushes. Every now and then the one lion would stroll back and forth and would appear in a clearing between the trees. Soon there were over ten safari jeeps all boxing each other in and moving back and forth trying for best position. We never got a great view because of the trees, and I think most of us were probably okay to carry on but because of the persistence of the guide, and the fact that once you were hedged in, it was impossible to leave. We spent a long time here before we finally could get away. We didn’t see much on this drive. I did spot a small grey blob in a tree near the road and asked the guide to stop. We found a tiny owl, known as a pearl-spotted owlet but it was difficult to get photos through the branches. We also saw several groups of elephants. One big elie got within several feet of the back of our vehicle as he was busy breaking branches from a tree. We saw lots of other smaller birds like spurfowl and guineafowl but barreled by. We didn’t even count impalas anymore because they were so common. We did see a nice hornbill, called a Bradfield’s hornbill but the guide didn’t stop. Soon we learned why. We stopped in a clearing which was the designated coffee and tea stop for the morning. Within minutes there were at least ten hornbills flying around. Clearly people had fed them and they came looking for handouts. I took a picture of seven sitting in one bush alone. 

After our drive I went to the front desk to check about our luggage. The owner told me she had talked to Charlie, the lost and found agent in Livingstone and he told here there was no flights going to Kasane today, so our bags would arrive tomorrow. I blew up and told her some of us were still in the same clothes we put on five days ago, we had no toiletries other than the soap and shampoo they provided, and by now the batteries of our electronics were dying and we had no means of recharging them because our cords and chargers were in our suitcases. We hardly felt like going on an excursion if we couldn’t even take one picture. Furthermore, for three days we have been told it was coming the next day and at this point had did not have any trust in anything Charlie said. I did apologize to her because I was taking out my frustration on her and it was not her fault. She understood. We had a family meeting and decided that since the Livingstone airport was 90 to two hours away by vehicle, it was worth it to see about having someone drive there and pick them up. By now it seemed certain that our bags had been identified and did make it to Livingstone. We were willing to pay whatever this cost if it was possible and would try to get it back from the airline. Jo agreed to go talk on our behalf because I was too frustrated and afraid I would say the wrong thing, plus in typical fashion, when dealing with these issues, everyone has all sorts of suggestions on what you should do and say, but they don’t do so themselves. We also had to meet with the Activities area to plan the itinerary for the rest of our stay here. Jo reported back that the office was making some contacts to try and send a driver. We waited for a callback but of course that didn’t happen so we had to run after it again after lunch. Finally we were told that a driver from the transport service the lodge uses had authorization and could pick up the luggage for us. He would be at the lodge at seven PM today. By 7:20 PM no one had showed up and we were not at all sure if we were getting screwed again. However shortly thereafter he arrived and I was ready to hug him. We were told we had to pay the driver $93. I was prepared to pay him but he said he had received new instructions not to collect any money because the company was covering the cost for us. We have no idea who “the company ” was but we were just happy to see our luggage, all zip strapped up to prevent access. Everything was there, although my bag had clearly been inspected by Customs, and every zipper had been opened and all my toiletries were all over my messily strewn clothes. I didn’t care. 

We did rearrange out future excursions including changing one of our morning game drives to be a private drive, where only the four of us would go and we could have more say in what we did. I said I wanted a guide with birding experience so we could concentrate more on things the other guides overlooked in their quest to find the large animals. We shall see. After a late dinner we sat along the end of the deck near the river, near some trees spotlighted in the dark. All of a sudden Jo pipes up, “what is that?” Partway up a tree was a critter I had hoped to find but did not expect because it is nocturnal and not commonly seen, a genet. A genet is a small adorable creature about the size of a small red panda with short climbing feet. It has a grey and white striped body and a long, fluffy white tail with black rings. It’s head is very cute but seems a little small for the rest of it’s body. I fumbled for my small camera but it was not set up for night photos so did not work. I grabbed my iPhone but by now it was up the tree. It remained there for a few minutes, but then scurried down the tree. I took pictures but there was a shutter delay and I ended up with a long grey streak around a tree. Nevertheless exciting and a good closing to the day. Showers, shaves and clean clothes were in the wings along with multiple rechargings.

We also saw a crocodile swim past our room today. A good reminder not to dip your toes in the river.

Sunday, August 28

Today we could sleep in because we did not have to meet up for out Victoria Falls outing until 8AM. So I woke up at about 4 and could not sleep again. It was wonderful though putting my jeans away and slipping into shorts and a clean shirt. I wasn’t sure how the day would go. When I had booked this trip, I had arranged for an unguided trip to Victoria Falls, where a driver brings you there and picks you up again, but you are on your own for the rest. This included buying your own lunch. When I picked up the itinerary here it said we had a guided tour of Victoria Falls with lunch included, plus a stop at the local craft market. Sure enough, we plus a young woman from Kenya were picked up and driven to the Zimbabwe border. This had been a three hour ordeal when I entered back in 2014. This time and at this crossing, it went much smoother. There were only a few people in front of us, all on excursions to the Falls. We had to fill in a form with details, contacts, etc., show our vaccination card, have our passport stamped, and pay a visa fee of $75 US each. Seems Zimbabwe is not a fan of Canada so we have to pay a visa fee while Australians, British, Africans and many others do not. What did Trudeau to? (Of course this was true back in 2014 as well.) We switched drivers and vehicles, with a Zim guide meeting us for the trip to Victoria Falls. We saw some wildlife along the 90 minute drive including warthogs, (commonly seen everywhere), impala, kudus, giraffes and a few elephants. We got to the Falls where we had to pay $30 each to enter the park. Zimbabwe’s currency is so heavily discounted since the days of Robert Mugabe, a super corrupt leader, that the country operates on US $. Gas here was $1.75 per litre. I joked with our Guide, Smart (guides seem to have made up Anglo-Saxon names like Mathews and Smart, that I wanted to see a turaco, a gorgeous green bird I saw on the info board for wildlife near the Falls. I was walking beside Smart along the path to the Falls when Smart suddenly did a little jump like he had stumbled on a rock. He then pointed out a small, snake about 15 inches long that was slithering into the bush beside the path. Apparently this had crossed in front of us and Smart jumped to avoid it. I nearly stepped on it. He could not identify it because it was too young to have distinctive features, but decided it was poisonous. A few minutes later he pointed up into a large tree. There was the turaco I had challenged him to find. I thought I did not get a picture of it as it hopped around and disappeared but I did see it. It was also dark inside the canopy of the giant tree. However, when we got home and I examined my photos, lightening up the dark ones, I did find evidence of the turaco on many photos, even if they were not National Geographic quality. Smart was good about pointing out several other birds in the area. It was a hot day, but we often walked in shade or felt spray from the falls. We walked to the end and then made our way back, popping in to view points along the way. The falls had many more areas where there was bare rock, since we were in the dry season so the volume was much less than on my last visit which was in early June. However, the falls were easier to see because there was far less mist. The falls are actually in Zambia. We did see some bungee jumping off the Zambia Zimbabwe bridge, a frightened long distance down! We also saw on the edge of the falls where there was a pool of water that you can go to and swim along the edge of the falls. A frightening thing to do! We did get lunch and only had to pay for drinks which cost $4 to $5 for a large iced coffee in my case. The woman we were traveling with received a boxed lunch and went to do a bungee jump while we ate. Then we were dropped off at the market. We were now behind schedule so were only given 20 minutes to look around. The market was a frightening experience too. There were rows of booths all displaying carvings, mostly animals, bowls, and bottle openers. Each booth had soft spoken vendors who harassed you to buy their wares, even if you said you were not interested. Bargaining was a must. In the end we never saw half the market and were chased into our vehicle by a vendor Jo had shown an interest in one of his bowls. We did end up buying it as much to help give them a sale that because we really wanted it. The drive back was uneventful and the border crossing was again quiet and quick. After a nap, we went through the motions of having dinner, because the half chicken I had for lunch was still keeping me full. Some had the steak for lunch. It was two pieces of fillet minion which Jo claimed was some of the best meat she’s had.

All in all an excellent day.

Monday, August 29

Today was to be a free day, scheduled to give us time to just hang around the lodge and not be rushed by excursions. However, we ended up rescheduling our last boat cruise in the Chobe River until today. That meant we still could sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast. So instead, I woke up at 3 AM and could not get back to sleep. I stayed in bed trying to sleep until just after 5AM when I got up, made coffee and did this blog. We were not having breakfast until 9:00. It is nice to be able to get up early for scheduled safari drives, but being up early for no good reason sucks. We spent the day just relaxing by the river and I enjoyed a milk shake. At 3:00 we went on our boat safari. Once again it was great. We saw so many crocodiles on the banks, fish eagles, got too close to some hippos in my opinion and joined some other boats hovering around an area where experienced guides felt that a large herd of elephants would congregate to drink. It is hard to imagine that these animals could function normally with so many people near by but they seemed to. It was wonderful watching the interaction within the herd and the young ones. They came to the banks and drank, and then slowly made their way back into the woods. We saw a lot of water fowl, lechwe, buffalo, and other creatures. We were rarely hungry for dinner and that’s a good thing because I found the dinners less than inspiring. The roast beef was way to fatty for my liking so I avoided beef cuts at all costs. Many of the food dishes were not very familiar and not to my taste. It was always a challenge to find enough food to keep me going. Tonight I only took what they called spaghetti with an Asian flair. It filled the belly but not the heart. For dessert I took what was labeled vanilla ice cream, and topped it with chocolate sauce. Seems good, right? However, they didn’t tell us they had filled the ice cream with raisins! Too often we eat food that we can not say for certain what it is. Even the morning orange juice seems to have something else mixed in. (Breakfast is my favourite meal, with freshly made eggs or omelettes and sausages.) After dinner we enjoyed a drink on the patio. My camera was ready should a genet pop by, but it didn’t happen. 

August 30, Tuesday

This was our last day at the lodge and began with our private game drive at 6AM. It was nice to be able to stop when we wanted and not to worry about what others liked. However, while I indicated that I was looking for a guide who was a birder able to find birds and willing to stop for them. So many discount birds and fly right by. Unfortunately I was still the one who had to find things except the obvious. We did begin by coming across a large pride of lions. There were 18, including several of cubs perhaps a few months old. They lumbered down the road. We got in front of them and watched them pass us within 5 or so 6 feet, more or less ignoring us and the other six or seven safari vehicles. They lied in the grass for a while before wondering towards the river. What a show! After that there was not much to see. We did stop for some birds other drivers generally ignore like the lilac-breasted roller, fluorescent coloured starlings, helmeted guineafowl, and grouse. After the usual coffee break in a clearing we began our drive back to the lodge. We came to an area where we found a huge giraffe sitting in the shade of a tree, a large group of kudus with a number of huge males and some elephants coming down the hill. Soon we came across a group of perhaps six or seven giraffes, and more elephants. The lions stole the show though.

Following the drive, we had no plans for the rest of the day. We decided we were never that hungry for lunch and the buffet was not inspiring so we would order something a la carte. The restaurant serves buffet style and you can also sit on the patio and order a la carte. You can not do so in the restaurant and you cannot take your buffet food to the patio. The restaurant tries to be high end, except for the food. There is a maître d who gets your room number and seats you. The wait staff take drink orders and hover over you. As your last bite I’d approaching your mouth, they take your plate away. If you are not quick enough, they pull out your chair for you. If you stop eating for a minute they are on you, asking if you are done. One night I had to tell a waiter I wasn’t happy with his service. My sister ordered a bottle of wine.Three of us were planning to have a glass with dinner and then she would take the rest to drink later. Her insisted on pouring and then came around to top up the glasses. My sister said no, she would take care of it herself. He insisted he had to pour. I told him I did not appreciate this as we did not all want top ups. I covered my glass and said I only wanted one glass. I’m not sure he got it. Service on the patio was something else. A few days ago we decided to each order a pizza. We waited over 90 minutes for it. Good thing we had nothing better to do so you let it go, although now dinner was that much closer. The pizzas were good but to much. None of us ate more than half. Would have been good to know that we should have shared. Today we thought we would try it again, but this time we put in our order with the waiter, Twinkles, (he insisted that was his real name but in fact they all make up names to use), took our drink order and left. Someone else brought the drinks and then Twinkles disappeared, perhaps on a break. It took some time under nail we asked another waiter if we could please order food. Then we waited and waited. The potatoes were still in the ground. It took two hours to get our food. We were entertained by a troop of vervet monkeys that came and looked for opportunities to steal food. A head waiter had a slingshot and fired rocks at them to no avail. We did see a monkey sit on a rail, acting relaxed. When he saw an opening, he dashed tro a table nearby, grabbed a good piece of leftover hamburger and climb in the tree to enjoy lunch. When we were finally done, Twinkles came with the bill. We had prepaid all our meals but that did not include drinks. You would get a bill with the food and drinks on it and you had to sign and give your room number. Our room was 82 and my sister’s was 81. Instead of two bills, one for each room as usually happens, Twinkles made one bill. I told him and he suggested we just put it on room 82. I asked if he though I should pay for everybody? He just smiled. I didn’t mind covering it, but I resented that a waiter should decide that because he couldn’t bother to make two bills, after leaving us without service for so long.

We sat at out genet spotting table for a drink later. This time we heard a strange call and then I saw something fly into the open rafters of the main building. I went on a search and found a large “giant eagle owl” sitting there. It is a large owl at least as big as a bald eagle. That made for a nice end to the day. In the end, you have to laugh at some of the things like waiting two hours for a few fries, and remember the lion sighting and the nice relaxing day. We will miss this place when we leave tomorrow. 

      

Costa Rica Part Dos

 April 1 - No April Fools

This was no regular April 1. We spent the morning taking a whale excursion that would not include seeing whales because they left several weeks ago. Our children had booked this trip with Bahia Whales and Kayak Tours in Uvita with guide Henry. We requested Henry as well and up to the night before we were only assuming the trip was on, due to some confusing WhatsApp messages clearly translated from Spanish. Henry was there to greet us and remembered our kids. He was so happy to hear that we had come to Costa Rica for the fourth time. Clearly he loved showing off his country and they were in great need of getting started up again after the last two years of the pandemic which shut down all tourism. This tour was clearly scheduled for us because there were no other people joining us. Tourism is still not in full swing. Henry first took us across the road to a field to show us some baby caiman (a smaller crocodile) which use this little stream as a nursery. He said he would rather confront a caiman than a croc, because they are much more docile and would not attack. We also saw a few rails, a beautiful shore bird.  

Getting on to our boat was a challenge because you had to walk a few feet into the water and then try to step in while the boat is rocking, but before the next big wave would toss you around. All us seniors made it though. We boated south and stopped at a gorgeous sandy beach, Arco, which requires a 20 minute walk to access from the road. There was a tunnel through a rock outcrop and the beach was a perfect setting. It also has fresh water access with a hose coming out of the rock, pouring out fresh mountain water. It can also be used as a shower, as was evident by the white butt we saw before we decided to turn around and wait for the woman to finish showering. Her husband (?) came running in his underwear with a towel for her to cover up. He missed his shower because after us, another boat came. We also saw many caves and tunnels in the rocky shores, including Playa Ventanus, where we frequent. Then it was off to find dolphins. I think one of the pleasures of guiding by boat is giving people a cup of water to drink, then taking off through the surf, smacking up and down just as you bring the cup to your face. With the help of other tour boats, we located a pod of dolphins and followed them for some time. We were going to go to a spot for snorkeling but the water was too rough so we returned to Uvita, and found a spot under the Whale's Tail, (land formation that is only above water during low tide).  The swells were still pretty high and the snorkeling was useless. Water was murky and the few fish we saw were colourless forms below mossy rocks. The only nice thing was being in the warm ocean water. We returned to shore where Henry demonstrated the old art of opening a coconut using only a pointed edge of a tree trunk and a rock. On our walk back to the office, by the entrance to the marine park, (there is a daily fee for entering the park), we found trees filled with capuchins. Jo found a tree right next to where some digging was going on with a backhoe and stinky, noisy dump truck, and there was a two-toed sloth in it. Soon a crowd gathered. The sloth was actually moving, climbing most of the way down one tree and up an adjoining tree. It didn't seem perturbed, but how can you tell with sloths?  At one time, I could have almost touched him. 

After a quick grocery stop for wine and pop and a few edibles, (not laced with anything!), we headed back up the mountain. While sitting outside for lunch Jo glanced up at the down drain at the corner of the house by the kitchen. There on the horizontal part under the eaves was a big snake, curled around the pipe and sleeping in the sun. Needless to say, we were all a little on edge from this and after a few attempts to id it and a email to the caretaker, we assumed it was a boa constrictor and probably did not pose a threat. We suggested we would just keep and eye on it as make sure it leaves but within half an hour a young fellow came by and using a long, telescopic broom handle, he coaxed the snake to let go and it wrapped around the end. It was at least 5 feet long. It was released back into the jungle. In the evening, we watched a movie on DVD. A large grasshopper had got into our house, and often jumped at or crawled over the TV screen. An eventful day. 

April 2

Another busy day today. We got up early, sat on the terrace sipping our coffee and eyeing the sky and trees for exotic wildlife like fiery-billed aricaris. We then had to get out of our chairs, make breakfast, actually Jo fried me an egg, and resume wildlife duty. One of our friends decided to go for a walk up the road. Luckily I caught her and enquired about whether she had a camera with her. She did not! Have I not said a hundred times, when in Costa Rica, do not go anywhere without a camera. She complied and took one. I went outside and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a montezuma orependola in flight, my ID was clear. I have never seen one except in a zoo. My friend came back and did report seeing this bird sitting in a tree. She had one job and one job only, get a photo. But alas, she failed. If flew away before she could react. I may need four more trips to this country to get a photo of it. The original plan was to go to a beach and come back before going for dinner in Dominical. However, we decided to stay home for the day instead, cooling in the pool, reading, sorting pictures or updating blogs. We left for Dominical at about 4PM with the plan to see some of the wares being peddled in town. However by the time we got there, most people were closing up shop. We drove to a local pub, Jolly Rogers, which I had always wondered about because it was near where we stayed the previous two trips here. The road to the pub was a gravel road that would steeply up the slope. It was a little smoother than our own mountain road except some deep ruts in one section. It was farther than we thought and eventually there were signs along the road such as "Yes, there really is a bar up ahead" and other signs to encourage you to keep going. The pub was OK and had a great view. We sat at bar stools overlooking the view to the ocean. A couple sitting behind us offered to take our picture. They were from Ottawa. The specialty was beer and wings. I ordered a hamburger with jalapenos, (it was the closest to a normal burger), and Imperial, the local beer. My dear wife thought 8 wings seemed a little skimpy, so she ordered tow different kinds. The plate was a combo of wings and drumsticks and any jokes we may have had about small, scrawny chickens was soon forgotten. These were no ordinary chickens. She could only finish one plate. My Jolly burger was also huge and one beer was not enough to offset the jalapenos. A nice evening but honestly, I would not go back to this place. There were plenty of better places close by. We did get showers by bedtime.

April 3

Today was to be the apex weatherwise. The weather apps showed rain and lightning showers everyday since our friends arrived, and going forward to the next week, but today it said thunderstorm with torrential rain. We got up to some clouds but lots of sun too and we spent the morning and early afternoon at our beach, Playa Ventanus. I went to "online church" before cooling in the pool after lunch. It was only after dinner that the dark clouds rolled in and we had significant thunder and lightning. It did not last too long, I hope, but we are waiting. The power often goes out here, mostly for a second or two. One night we were in the dark for perhaps 30 minutes. Even as I write this blog the power went out for a few minutes, and who knows what else is in store. Tomorrow is an early morning as we go to Manuel Antonio National Park. The forecast is for intermittent thunder showers through the day. We will see. Stay tuned.

Not much else to report today except we did get a glimpse of some white-faced capuchin monkeys in the trees near by, I got a few nice hummingbird photos, and an aricari dropped by but was high in a tree. Better make some tea now before we lose power again.   

April 4 - Manuel Antonio

We got a 6AM start on our trip to Manuel Antonio National Park, the premiere attraction in Costa Rica. It was a drive of about an hour and 15 minutes. Having learned from an earlier visit to here with our kids, I was not taken in with the people directing traffic and trying to direct us to a parking lot near the Quepos beach. I just waved at them and wagged my head and kept going. We did find the parking lot near the entrance to the park. Even though the parking fee was similar to the other lot, it was very close to the park. We had the 7:00 - 7:40 time slot for entry. It seems funny to me that you had to wear a mask while going through the ticket area and entering the park and entrances were controlled to reduce crowds and promote safe distancing, (groups of only 8 - 10 people were permitted on guided walks), when there was something to see like a sloth, there was no control of how many people crowded together to see. When we entered, there were very few ahead of us and it appeared that the guides did not go in until a little later. That was good for having a peaceful walk, but one of the strategies for seeing things was to check out where guides were showing their group something with their telescopes, and finding the wildlife you would probably miss on your own, without having to listen to long talks about the trees and medicines, etc. As a result, we got to the end of the main trail near the beach without having seen much of anything. The crowds may have been down as well because the forecast was for thundershowers throughout the day. It was overcast and less hot and muggy than usual in this area, so it was all good. After getting some refreshments, we took one of the secondary trails and soon were seeing things. We found a sloth, aided by a guide, some white-tailed deer, a few small birds to be positively identified later, a great tinamou (ground bird), howler monkeys, white-faced capuchin monkeys and assorted lizards. We saw 4 sloths in all during the day. We began to walk up a trail to a waterfall but got word from another sucker that the falls were dry, so we turned back. It was beginning to get hot and one of our party was suffering from knee injuries, so we headed to the beach and enjoyed the warm water. Being protected by a stunning cove, there was little wave action, so it was very relaxing. We left the park for a late lunch just outside the park gates and watched a chestnut-mandibled toucan, now known as the yellow throated toucan, harassing and being harassed by a flock of kiskadees. We got home at the right time. It began to rain. In fact we had significant rain that evening. 

April 5 - Playa Hermosa

After a leisurely breakfast, we headed to nearby Playa Hermosa. This was a very nice beach with a local vibe. There was a stand with towels, shirts, etc. for sale, a stand selling coconut water and unfortunately a board that acted as a bar for someone selling bar drinks. You can park your car under the trees right up to the beach. I don't know what goes on here, but we often see police stop by. Jo and I did a long walk down the beach. It went on for a very long ways in both directions and was awesome, with tree and vine covered cliffs lining the other side of the highway that passed by. The women discovered the two for one bar and of course, that does not mean getting a drink at half price, but buying two drinks. This was also in addition to the regular daily happy hour at home where margaritas are served up.  Again, we had good timing. It began to cloud over when we packed up, and it was pouring by the time we got home. On the good side, this eliminated the dust from our mountain road. However, we had to spend the evening in doors because even though we later had clear skies, everything was soaking wet. For dinner we went to Pizza Time/Bagel Time, a fairly new restaurant in Uvita that operates as a bagel and breakfast place for part of the day, and a pizza joint at night. The breakfast we had here last week was great and we discovered that the pizzas were very good too. A good discovery. Driving up our road in the dark, a critter came across our path. It was black and white with a bushy tail, and based on subsequent research, the best guess would be that it was a local weasel, known as a tayra, which is not endangered. I never got a chance to photo it.  

On another note, living in a house tucked into a jungle has it's unique issues. Apart from a visiting snake, being woken up every morning at 5AM by the sound of howler monkeys starting their day and rooms with not glass windows to block the sound, and a myriad of exotic bird sounds and crickets that peak to a crescendo about 6AM, there is the ants and geckos, not to mention the giant grasshoppers we need to evict almost every night. Our house is full of geckos. The living room ceiling alone had five resident geckos that patrolled the ceiling for small bugs. I enjoy geckos and they are welcome. However, we soon discovered that geckos also need to go bathroom. One of the chairs was spotted with gecko dung and the floor often has dung even after a good cleaning a few hours earlier. The kitchen has tiled counters. If you leave any kind of food spill on it, especially a sliver of cheese, ants seem to come out of the grout by the dozens and soon you have hundreds of ants swarming the counter. Wipe up and they disappear as if they were never there, but do not leave even a drop of anything. The even get in the dishwasher. If plates, bowls, etc. are not fully rinsed before being put in, the dishwasher has hundreds of ants that enter from the framework and get on everything They are very small but overwhelming in numbers. We have learned to control this somewhat with being extra careful, but there are always some ants in the dishwasher when we run it. We have accepted that our dishes are clean because the ants probably don't survive the hot water but know there are always more lurking at the counter and by the dishwasher just waiting for a careless dishwasher putter awayer.  

April 6

Our friends were away for the morning on an excursion and we relaxed and did a few things around the house. We spent time in the pool. As was the case the last several days, and apparently quite normally, it was sunny with a few clouds most of the day with temperatures around 35 degrees. Then the clouds roll in around 4PM and it rains in the early evening. Tonight we decided to try a restaurant that was out on a small peninsula just before Dominicalito called La Parcela. It was recommended to us. We had a torrential downpour as we drove there and during much of our meal. The restaurant had great views over the bays on both sides and it would have been amazing if the rain wasn't so hard. The restaurant, open as almost all restaurants here are, looked fancier than most. There was white table cloths, different glasses for different drinks, etc. On the other hand, a cat roamed around and another family came with their large dog. The food was amazing. I had chicken parmasan with a side salad and it was great. We had desert for a change, ordering banana flambés and coffee. Jo also ordered an appetizer, bruschetta, which I sampled and confirmed was the best I ever tasted. We expected a big bill but was amazed later how much we got for so little. The bill for us came to $57US. We wondered later whether they made a mistake. This was definitely worth it, even on a rainy day. Since everything was still wet when we got home, it was movie night. 

April 7

The day began amazingly before breakfast even. While sitting outside with my coffee, two aricaris came by. One posed in the dead tree nearby in the sunlight. The other went into a bush near the pool. I never got such close up photos of these beautiful toucan related birds. Later, the dead tree was filled with four toucans at once. I have never seen that many together at once. Great photo ops. We spent the day in Jaco, a surfer town two hours away. Jaco has many souvenir shops so it was mainly a shopping outing with lunch. We ate at a restaurant with wood burning pizza oven. Jo and I enjoyed our first smoothies here with my sister and B-I-L on our first trip to Costa Rica. It was another hot day, but a shower came before we got home. We still managed a dip in the pool to keep our consecutive pool day streak going. 

April 8

This morning early we drove to Bahia Aventura, a tour company in Uvita for an excursion to Corcovado. I had enquired about this and was told there was openings, but when I responded that we wanted to go, I never got further emails, so we had no idea if we were registered or not. We arrived at 7:15AM and even though they claimed not to have a record of my email saying we wanted to go, there was room so it didn't matter. However the coffee and goodies normally offered did not happen. We were told they were ready to go and after a brief intro, we were off parking our car and walking to the waiting boat. Good thing I did no listen to Jo but made a piece of toast at home. No coffee today though. We took a 90 minute boat ride to the ranger station in Corcovado National Park on the Osa peninsula. Along the way we did see a few dolphins but got only a few poor photos. Despite the forecast for stormy weather, it was mostly sunny with only a very brief little shower before lunch time. 

Once on shore, we gathered our belongings, put on running shoes and left our sandals behind. We were to take a walk of about 2.5 to 3 hours. Soon we came upon monkeys. There were howler monkeys high in the trees and a few spider monkeys as well. They kept knocking almonds down to the forest floor. You had to be careful if that is possible. An almond landing on your noggin can hurt, as I have first hand experience with. There were also two coatis on the ground foraging. They were very unconcerned with all the people nearby. Then our guide got word that a tapir had been spotted nearby. This animal was one of my main motivations for wanting to do the Corcovado tour, because the chances of seeing one were greatest here, although none were seen on my last trip here. Another target of mine was to see an anteater. We hurried down the trail and soon came upon the tapir walking through the bush. My first attempts at a photo failed because people kept walking in front of  my camera. The lighting was poor so   photographing was difficult with a large lens. The tapir was soon away and our guide started running up a hill to head off the animal, encouraging us to follow. I didn't need to be prodded twice. I was right behind him. We did get a good glimpse of him coming across the trail before disappearing. The groups that came after us never saw him or her. Returning down the hill was tricky because the ground was covered in slippery leaves. Our friend slipped a little. Jo followed her and slipped a lot. She fell and twisted her ankle, as she is prone to do on most of our holidays. She could not go on, so she was escorted back to the little creek we had to cross to get to the ranger station. She was left there to figure out how to get across with a twisted ankle. I felt bad leaving her behind, but we could not both miss this outing as it was expensive and there was nowhere we could go but sit by the ranger station until it was time to go. So, I carried on for the both of us. A tough job but I was up for the task. After the guide came back, another guide with us whispered to him that there was an anteater nearby. Again we dashed down the trail and soon found the anteater, climbing up a tree. Again, taking pictures was very difficult because it was a dark area and the animal got up quite high. I did manage some decent shots. The two animals I want to see were spotted within the first 30 minutes. I was excited, If we did not see another thing I would still consider the day a complete success. Shortly after this, we came across a long snake that was creeping along the ground and over fallen branches. It seemed non-aggressive and we were told it ate small birds and reptiles. He called it an oriole snake, I thought to myself, sure, he made up that name because an oriole is a kind of bird. I looked it up later and sure enough, it is called an oriole snake, an non-venomous snake. After this we saw more monkeys and a number of pairs of scarlet macaws. The walk was all flat so was not difficult. We did see tent bats as well on a tree and later a bat under a large green leaf near a hornet's nest.

When the walk was over we returned to the ranger station. Jo of course had made a new friend, as is her nature. I had to help her get back onto our boat which was difficult because you had to wade into the water first and try to board between waves that tossed the boat around. With effort, she got in. Usually the mornings are still nice, as it was on our trip, but here at the house, perhaps due to elevation, it was bad all day. One concern I had was how the rain was cooling the pool water. We lost our internet during the evening and we never got it back until Sunday afternoon, April 10.

April 9

Surprise, it was a sunny morning. After breakfast we went to Playa Hermosa at 9AM until lunch time. Jo just stayed in her chair although she was well enough to get a margarita. We came home for lunch and soon the clouds were rolling in again. The pool was definitely much cooler than a few days ago. The rains came again in the afternoon. By now we were running out of food so we started going out for dinner, which was probably cheaper than buying groceries we may not finish. We went to Fogato, a pizza restaurant we had been to several times before. Almost every time we drive up our road after dark, we see nightjars, medium sized birds which sit in the middle of the road until you are almost on top of them. The challenge now is to get a good picture of them. Tonight we failed.

On a side note, many Ticos, a term used here for Costa Ricans, seem to yell a lot. A few neighbouring places seem to be having some renos done. Frequently we hear guys up the hill yelling full blast at each other at 6:30am or earlier. No concern for those of us trying to sleep after the howler monkeys have moved on. Even at the beach, I noticed family gatherings and people talking loudly to each other. The Ticos are very friendly so you can't be offended when you get yelled at, unlike the gringo who yelled at me for driving to fast up the hill when I was doing 20 kph.

April 10

This morning we went to Bagel Time for breakfast and to pick up bagels and cinnamon buns for lunch. We tried to go to a new beach, but the road was blocked so we ended up back at our old haunt, Ventanas Beach, I don't know if it was because it was Palm Sunday and a reason to celebrate, but the place was packed. Soon they closed the parking area and only let in cars as others left. We had some sun but mostly clouds, but of course, it was over 30 degrees. The ocean had cooled a little due to the overcast and rainy weather of late. In the afternoon it rained again but less heavy.  I did get in the pool for the first time in two days but it was noticeably cooler. For dinner we descended our mountain and discovered that it was nice weather down below. We went back to Don Rogers, in Uvita, the restaurant with the view of sunset. We saw a great sunset and had a good meal. We again missed the chance to get a photo of the nightjars. The night was clear so after watching church, we spent the evening on the terrace.  

April 11

Another fine morning which started at 5AM with the sound of howlers and morphed into the loud cries of various birds waking up. I couldn't sleep through it so at 6:30 I walked up our road a ways to see if I could see any wildlife. I was still on the hunt for a montezuma's oredendola. Alas, I only found dog owners walking their dogs. After breakfast, we headed south to see what was in the Ojochal area where we were originally booked to go. It was pretty but we didn't find the turnoff for the town. We gave up and returned home to enjoy our pool. It was still cooler than a few days ago, but was warming up in the sunny weather. For dinner we went back to La Parcela. It was nice weather and the ocean views were terrific. However, the place was packed. The parking lot was full and we were soon hemmed in. Dinner was great but took over two hours. Pura veda, we had nothing else to do. Before dinner, a capuchin monkey clammered on the roof above us and then poked his head around the eaves to look in. We were sitting on the outside and soon half the restaurant was gathered by us to see the monkey. Some tried to feed him fruit but he took it and threw it away. Good for him! Later, true to form, it started pouring. Fortunately, it was almost over by the time we left. For dessert Jo ordered a banana flambe, the same dessert we had last time. This time, when it came, they turned down the lights so it was dark in our area, and the waiter put on a show, pouring flaming sauce back and forth between two silver boats. It was quite spectacular.  It appeared that there was no rain by our house, as the dirt road was dry and so were the chairs on our terrace. It was still in the mid 20's, perfect for sitting outside and reports of snow back home, on April 11 of all times, did not have us looking forward to leaving in a few days. 

April 12

Our last day in Uvita. After breakfast we went back to Playa Linda, AKA Secret Beach. It was sunny and hot and the beach was great. There were a lot more people here but the beach goes on as far as you can see in each direction, so there was plenty of room. Not so secret though. After we went to Dominical for last minute shopping and lunch. My last smoothie? We returned home for a last few hours of cooling in the pool. Then back down the mountain to Las Laurella. The food was great again but with two people serving and lots of people, it took a long time. Jo got her margarita at the same time as her food and it took forever to get our bill. Pura vida. Driving up the road, I got another chance to photograph the nightjars that sit in the dips of the road after dark. I did get a good shot of one. Then it was time to pack. Feeling sad to see this come to an end but nice to see the kids and grandkids soon. We discussed it, and decided that we are not done with this country.

 April 13

A sad day. I woke up at 5AM as usual to the loud sound of howler monkeys. You could set you watch to this. I tried to go back to sleep but the birds were unusually loud this morning and perhaps they were saying goodbye. I got up just after 6AM. This is unheard of back home. Nothing of interest to me happens before 8:00AM. We enjoyed several cups of coffee on our terrace for the last morning before breakfast. Having packed last night, there was not too much to do before we got ready to leave. There was the issue of the garborator not working and the sink and dishwasher backing up but with a plunger, that was soon fixed. Several toucans flew by to say goodbye and I discovered a few more new birds in our yard. By 9AM we were ready and left for the start of our journey home. The weather was beautiful. The 3 hour drive ended up taking over 4 hours due to some very slow stretches of traffic and a brief stop at the crocodile bridge. During a stretch of highway heading inland, the outside temperature reached 45 degrees. We had gassed up earlier and wanted to make sure we had at least 7/8 of a tank of gas when we returned the car, being the amount we had when we got the car. In a brilliant move, our driver, not me, decided to turn off the air conditioning to save on gas. This was quite successful we thought although the women in the back seat were not as appreciative of our cost cutting measures. However, it worked, despite abandoning the plan after a while because of the back seat opposition. We checked into our hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites across the highway from the airport. Returning our rental vehicle went smoothly and by 2 o’clock we went to Dennys for lunch. A very big lunch. As anticipated, the pool was very cold by my standards, and so swimming was out of the question. We had a late dinner in the hotel at about 7:30. We were all still full from lunch so for the second time in my life, I ordered a salad instead of an entree, chipotle chicken salad. I didn’t quite finish it. 

Our hotel room was less than we had experienced in the past. There were no glasses, only two coffee cups. We had wine to finish up before tomorrow! There was no tea bags. The room had two queen beds. It appears that I may have seemed less than impressive when I booked the rooms both for the beginning of our trip and this time. We were on record for a handicap room. I changed it. My pet peeve once again was a room for two or more people with only one, rickety chair. One person is required to stand or go to sleep at all times. After our friends check out to go to bed, we tried to watch TV. The room came with no guest info book and the TV only produced Spanish TV. Jo called the front desk to inquire and was told to go to channels higher than 1,000. They did not register. Someone was sent up to help and finally reported that the problem was with the service provider and they would send someone to fix it tomorrow. We told him that was of little use to us as we were leaving tomorrow. So much for TV.

April 14

After a fine complimentary breakfast in the hotel, we took the shuttle to the airport for our long journey home. Things went smoothly in San Jose, and we were off at 1PM for Toronto. We arrived in Toronto at about 8PM local time, 6PM Costa Rica time. We learned that Toronto airport is notoriously known for being understaffed as travel increases coming out of the pandemic. Our first indication was the announcement while taxiing to the gate that we would be held up in the plane for an undetermined amount of time and we would not know anything until ground staff talked to the flight attendants. First we had to wait a few minutes for the ground crew to be ready to escort the plane to the gate.  We learned a flight from Mexico had arrived before us and we had to wait to unload. Then it was announced after some time that they would be deplaning 50 people at a time, with 10 minute intervals in between. After over half an hour we finally got off the plane, followed the long walk towards the security area only to end up in an area with no way out. The door was locked. Finally someone came and asked what we were doing there. He called to find out why no one had met us, then unlocked a door to allow us to take the escalator to carry on our long walk. At the security area the room was full with a line snaking back and forth and leading to where you got your security pass. Fortunately the line did move and after a while we were able to get to the machines, get our phot taken and get our security pass, and then join a new line leading to the Customs booths. The Customs officer was very nice. She was taken aback that we had spent a month in Costa Rica and we could joke around. We then got our suitcases and I asked a staff member by the Connections area if we could check our bags in for our flight tomorrow morning. She said no. She then said to go to the 3rd floor. I asked if we could get the bags checked in there. She said no. I looked very confused and asked why we would go to the 3rd floor if it would not accomplish anything. I guess she meant tomorrow, but did not explain. We took our luggage and a nice shuttle driver let us on his shuttle even though it was full and two of us had to stand. At the hotel, The Crown Plaza, we were again in a line. For some reason, some people seem to take forever checking in. Lots of questions, waits for who knows what, etc. When we checked in, it took only a few minutes. By now it was 10:25PM, almost 2.5 hours after arrival, and the only restaurant closed at 10:30. Jo went to ask if we could still get in as we hadn't had any dinner. The woman there was extremely nice and held a table for us while we brought our luggage to our rooms. We were able to eat and drink and got back to our rooms shortly before midnight. A short night ahead.

April 15

5AM came quickly but at least we got in 4 hours sleep. We took the shuttle to the airport and again, I felt like cattle at a slaughterhouse. We had to line up to deposit our luggage which actually went very fast. Then we lined up to go to the gate area. From there we lined up to go through security. That usually is a quick process, but not in Toronto! The bags and coats, etc. went through a scanner and in the line we were in, almost every bag was diverted to a line for inspection. They backed up quickly and we had to wait forever while each bag was retrieved and gone through with a fine-toothed comb. Jo had a small bottle of sauce, which she bought in the San Jose airport, and which they sealed in a plastic bag, rejected. I had a small bottle of nitro which I carry with me on all trips in case of heart issues. No one has ever challenged me on it. This same bottle passed through many scanners. The officer, clearly new and going by the book, asked a lot of questions and frequently had to consult with others. I was told to bag the bottle in the future. Security took just long enough that when we got to our gate, boarding had started and any thoughts of picking up some breakfast to go was dashed. I was happy to leave Toronto airport though. YVR seemed much more efficient. We were home by 10AM and the adventure was over. That is, unless you count the fact that our car had a very dead battery. I got a jumpstart the next day and drove for about an hour and a half, including taking the freeway to Matsquit and idling in a parking lot while Jo shopped. Then we went shopping and I pulled into the gas station for gas. I turned the car off and it would not start again. Grounded for the rest of Easter weekend.