September 14 - 16 - Final Day & Home
September 14 - Game Drive & Flights to Johannesburg
We were up extra early to make sure our bags were ready to be
picked up. I looked up and could see a flashlight bobbing up and down and
here comes a lady with the tray of hot chocolate & cookies balanced on her
head. I unzipped the tent and thanked her profusely.
The morning game-drive was interesting. We saw another
Secretary Bird, a Leopard Tortoise, and a Cheetah eating a rabbit. There was a
Black-backed Jackal that was stalking the Cheetah (that they named Friday) and
he was going close and then retreating and he tried all sides and even came
behind the jeep before going away to wait it out. When the Cheetah was finished
with the rabbit, he got up and went in search of a larger meal, and the Jackal
got his reward, though it looked like only fur was left.
Prince called and told Slots that the reason we saw the
wildebeest running on the night game-drive was that one was taken down by a
lion. The carcass was still there, and the Jackals and Vultures had descended
on it. (I got video of them fighting over it)
We went back to the Camp for breakfast, and they directed us
to a table with yogurt, granola and a few other things. We thought we were
eating light this morning. (there was more at breakfast by the jeep with the
Meerkats) Once we sat down, they came with a menu to order a full breakfast of
your choice. Then, they brought pancakes for the table and some sweets. OK, it
was a ton of food. We had packed up and they got our duffels. It was sad saying
good-bye to these warm and wonderful people. They also gave each of us a bagged
lunch for later. While we were watching the Cheetah there was a jeep with only 1 lady in it and at lunch, we learned that after we left, she would be the only guest at the camp. I was picturing the afternoon tea and wondering if they will set up that much for just one person, but they did it just for six of us. I imagine the staff gets to eat well.
We got in the jeep with Slots and took off for the airstrip. As
we were approaching a watering hole Slots stopped the jeep and told us that the
steering had gone out. He called to see if Prince could come and get us. He had
guests that also had a flight around 11:00. (they were literally 5 minutes
apart) They came to our rescue, and they got our bags and the four of us climbed
in with the couple from Atlanta. Since we were all going to Maun, we found it
interesting that we weren’t on the same flight. There were also people from
Jack’s Camp and Camp Kalahari so there were at least 2 planes going.
We were delayed taking off due to a slender, yellow-striped snake
had climbed up on to the wheel. There were jokes about the movie Snakes on a
Plane. (probably a Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake) He was a fast-moving
snake but didn’t seem to want to leave where he was probably sunning. One last
guest finally was able to get on the plane, and he asked if we were aware of the
snake. He was helping everyone trying to coax the snake away from the plane.
(we were watching them trying to get it to move without it going up into the
plane)
As the plane flew over San Camp the staff was out there
waving at us. One last reminder that this camp was a huge step above the norm.
In case you were curious why the name Slots. The safari guides
generally choose names that are easier for guests to say and remember, and he
told us that it stands for Saving Lives Of Tortured
Souls. He was a great and knowledgeable guide and had a great sense of
humor. He said he grew up watching a lot
of American TV and listening to American music across many genres and decades.
He was talking to us about missing his family and in a few weeks, he’d be going
home and it reminded him of the song about 500 Miles. Not knowing the decade, I
first thought of “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Scottish rock duo The
Proclaimers. It has a line that says, “I’d walk 500 miles just to be the man
that wakes up next to you”. (or something like that) To me it always sounded
like an Australian (or Scottish) drinking song. That was some time in the late
80’s but he was referring to the song by Peter, Paul and Mary named 500 Miles made
popular in the early 60’s. He often referred to movies or music on the game
drives. You could tell he and Prince really loved their jobs.
Our flight went to the Maun Airport where we changed planes for the flight to Johannesburg where we would spend the night before flying out the next day. Since they served lunch on the plane, we weren’t very hungry when we got to the hotel, so we decided to split the same appetizers and order the same desserts as we started the trip with.
September 15 – JNB to IST
Our flight wasn’t until almost 6:00 PM so we slept in and
repacked our bags. Greg’s camera didn’t fit in his duffel, and he wore it on
the small planes and game drives and that needed to go in a separate small bag
as a carry on and we checked our duffels. We took the noon shuttle and went to
the Turkish Air Lounge and had lunch. Cathy and I did some final shopping, and
I found some magnets and a cute ceramic Meerkat. Our flight left JNB on time
and we flew to Istanbul where we would spend 10 hours. (we landed around 4:40
AM) Tom & Cathy opted to use the free hotel through Turkish hotel and they
spent the night there and flew out a day after us. We had hoped for a day room,
but they were only for people with 9-hour layovers. So, 9 hours is OK but 10 doesn’t
qualify? So, we found spots and I managed a couple of hours of sleep sitting up
until some bitch standing next to me started yelling at the two women with her.
We had lunch and I was reading and the time passed eventually.
September 16 IST to MIA
We left at 3:20p and arrived in MIA 8:40p – a bit over 12
hours in the air. (total 33 hours from JNB including layovers). We opted to
skip the dinner at 2:00 in the morning (home time now) to get more sleep. While
the food is nice, a long two-hour meal served in courses takes away sleeping
time. Breakfast wasn’t as good as yesterday. No cinnamon rolls only poached
eggs or Turkish Pastry. I opted for the pastries which were good, but not much
to eat after skipping dinner. The next meal was lunch, and I was now quite hungry.
Traveling really messes up with your meal schedule as it was breakfast time in Africa,
it was lunch where we were going. So, just waking up expecting breakfast but
you get a lunch of which none of it worked for me. (just the luck of the draw)
But it was cold salmon (I love hot smoked salmon) for the appetizer, and the
maid was a choice of fish (which I really don’t eat) and a curried chicken
salad. I love curry and even make curried chicken salad, just couldn’t eat it for
breakfast. So, I asked if there was something else I could have and the best
she could do was bags of nuts and some crackers. I said there was an “any time”
fruit platter and she said “that was done now”. So, we arrive in Miami at 8:35
at night and there is no food after luggage pickup.
When we met our driver, I asked if he could hit a drive-through
on the way home. He asked, “don’t they feed you on the plane?” He was great and
we found a Burger King so I wouldn’t starve. LOL We chatted non-stop on the 2
plus hour ride home.
Online photos and videos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9Yaoh8wixJGmrBrX6
Final thoughts:
Wow, where to start. We were fortunate that we always had a
jeep for just the four of us. Most of the guides and trackers were superb. I
smiled every time they said wildebeest as it came out “wild beast”. Only one
camp was a bit lacking in the food and the rest were very good. The only real
disappointment was not seeing Painted Dogs.
We have always used a Safari company to organize them even
though I generally choose the lodging. One could easily book directly with each
lodge/camp, and they set up the short flights between camps. In East Africa,
you generally drive between the lodges. On
this trip we had the surprise of the company we booked with was having
financial problems and didn’t use our money to pay for the lodges. We were
fortunate that we didn’t have to cancel the trip after Victoria Falls. Time
will tell if they reimburse us for the 6 nights at the two middle camps that
wouldn’t accept payment after the sale of his home. (we have insurance and have
disputed the charge with the credit card company saying we will drop it if we
are paid back) The actual camps where we stayed were part of their own companies
and we could have booked directly with each of them. However, it’s easier to
just let a safari company handle it.
Ngoma is part of Machaba Safaris https://machabasafaris.com/
Lebala and Kwara are part of Kwando Safaris Home - Kwando Safaris
San Camp is part of Natural Selection Safaris African Safari Packages - Exclusive Wildlife Experiences - Natural Selection
It’s the first time we have stayed in tents where hair dryers
couldn’t be used. (even the tree house in Tanzania had them) It was only two of
them, but unfortunately one of the ones that allowed hairdryers was where we
had no water to wash our hair. LOL
Despite a couple of lodges saying their tents only had WIFI available
in the common area and not in the tents, they had been updated and there was
WIFI in all tents. San Camp said they removed it in the main area since guests
didn’t interreact with each other and they had one instance where a woman held
up a game drive until she finished “Facetiming” with family for an hour.
Despite the issues, the safari exceeded expectations and the
game drives were amazing experiences. I hope Tom & Cathy enjoyed it as much
as we did. Thank you for the adorable elephant earrings!
If someone asks where they should go for their first safari,
I’m not sure what I would suggest. East Africa is great for seeing the Great
Migration in either the Masai Mara in Kenya or the Serengeti in Tanzania. (same
animals migrate across the Mara River) We were fortunate to have a guide who
used to work for Nat Geo, and he was a good fit for the two of us. We chose not
to join a group where we had no control over how long we spent at sightings and
everything in between. Being birders, we could always find birds when it was
slow in the middle of the day. Instead of doing the get up early for a game
drive, have a mid-day break and then afternoon game drive we chose to stay out
all day with boxed lunches. However, we didn’t get to see the Big Five on our
first trip. Rhino hadn’t been seen in weeks/months. The second one was in Sabi
Sands in South Africa, that shares a border with Kruger National Park, and
while the sheer number of animals seen is smaller (vs large herds seen in E.
Africa), we did see the Big 5. Depends on the experience you are looking for. Botswana
was awesome for the variety of terrains and seeing the more” raw side” of
observing the Big Cats with kills. (no Rhino seen here either) In National
Parks you must stay on a road, while in Concessions you can go off-road. (getting
closer to the animals.) National Parks can have a lot of jeeps at an animal
sighting and the concessions have fewer vehicles and often limit 3 vehicles per
sighting.
We don’t travel again until next Feb. when we do an Oceania
cruise from Cape Town, South Africa to Lisbon, Portugal. Not a safari experience on the West
Coast of Africa, it’s more about the culture and the people. As usual, I won't do the blog until we return.
Thanks for following along....
Here is a list of the birds seen which brings our Life List to a total of 1,931 different species:
African Darter Botswana - New
African Fish-Eagle
African Gray Hornbill - New
African Jacana
African Openbill
African Pied Wagtail
African Pipit
African Sacred Ibis
African Skimmer - New
African Spoonbill
African Stonechat
Arrow-marked Babbler
Bateleur
Black Crake
Black Cuckooshrike - New
Black Heron - New
Black Kite
Black-backed Puffback - New
Black-bellied Bustard - New
Blacksmith Lapwing
Black-winged Kite
Black-winged Stilt
Brown Snake-Eagle
Burchell's Sandgrouse - New
Burchell's Starling
Cape Crow - New
Cape Starling
Common Bulbul
Common Hoopoe
Common Ostrich
Common Sandpiper
Coppery-tailed Coucal - New
Crested Barbet
Crested Francolin
Crowned Lapwing
Double-banded Sandgrouse - New
Egyptian Goose
Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove - New
Fork-tailed Drongo
Gabon Boubou - New
Glossy Ibis
Gray Go-away-bird
Gray Heron
Gray-hooded Gull
Great Cormorant
Great Egret
Great White Pelican a
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Greater Kestrel - New
Green Woodhoopoe - New
Hadada Ibis
Hamerkop
Hartlaub's Babbler - New
Helmeted Guineafowl
Hooded Vulture
Kori Bustard
Laughing Dove
Lesser Striped Swallow
Lilac-breasted Roller
Little Bee-eater
Little Egret
Long-toed Lapwing
Magpie Shrike
Malachite Kingfisher
Marabou Stork
Marsh Sandpiper
Martial Eagle
Meves's Starling - New
Mourning Collared-Dove - New
Namaqua Dove
Osprey
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pied Crow
Pied Kingfisher
Rattling Cisticola
Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver B
Red-billed Duck - New
Red-billed Oxpecker
Red-billed Quelea - New
Red-billed Spurfowl - New
Red-crested Bustard - New
Red-eyed Dove
Red-faced Mousebird - New
Red-eyed Dove
Red-winged Starling
Reed Cormorant
Ring-necked Dove
Rufous-bellied Heron - New
Saddle-billed Stork
Secretarybird
Senegal Coucal - New
Slaty Egret - New
Southern Anteater-Chat - New
Southern Black-Flycatcher - New
Southern Carmine Bee-eater - New
Southern Cordonbleu - New
Southern Gray-headed Sparrow
Southern Red-billed Hornbill
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
Spur-winged Goose
Squacco Heron - New
Swainson's Spurfowl - New
Tawny Eagle
Tropical Boubou
Trumpeter Hornbill - New
Verreaux's Eagle-Owl - New
Water Thick-knee
Wattled Crane - New
Wattled Lapwing
Wattled Starling
Western Barn Owl - New
Western Cattle-Egret
Whiskered Tern
White-backed Vulture
White-bellied Sunbird - New
White-browed Robin-Chat - New
White-browed Sparrow-Weaver - New
White-crowned Lapwing - New
White-faced Whistling-Duck - New
White-fronted Bee-eater - New
White-headed Vulture
White-quilled Bustard - New
White-winged Widowbird - New
Wire-tailed Swallow
Wood Sandpiper
Yellow-bellied Greenbul - New
Yellow-billed Egret - New
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Yellow-billed Stork
