Detomos Abroad

The end of May presented us with a long holiday weekend which we decided to fill with a trip to Victoria Falls in Zambia. Like most trips in Sub-Sahara Africa, they start with a Johannesburg transfer where we spent our time waiting for our flight in the beautiful Shongololo Lounge – (a shongololo is a uniquely African creepy crawly) drinking champagne, eating a meal, and enjoying internet café, showers, etc.
On South African Airways Flight was a large airbus to Livingstone Airport in Zambia and even before landing we can see the mist rise over 1000 feet above Victoria Falls into the air. Victoria Falls is known by the locals as “Mosi-oa-Tunya” which means “the Smoke that Thunders”.
Lour plane lands and we negotiate a slow line through immigration before getting our luggage and heading to the Royal Livingston Hotel, part of Sun International Hotels & resorts on the banks of the Zambezi River, just upstream of the Falls. After a pleasant iced fruit tea, hot towel and check in at their lounge we are guided to our room by Matthew, our steward, a beautiful 2nd floor flat with a balcony facing the river. After a brief wash up we headed to explore the area before our next scheduled adventure. Outside our door we immediately encountered 7 grazing zebra, and a family of vervet monkeys, before finally making our way to the hotels dock/waterfront bar. The raging torrent of water heading south at the hotel dockside bar was impressive as was the 6 foot long crocodile sunning himself not 2 meters from the bar platform. Luckily, the hotel keeps an inconspicuous electric fence and pointed rock border at the waters perimeter to discourage crocodile and hippo visitation.

At 3:00pm, we met our transport to the African Queen, a 2 story steam ship docked a few kilometers upstream from the hotel, for a sunset “boat safari” up the Zambezi River. We sat at the bar/rail on the second deck near a honeymooning couple from Rome and enjoyed free Gin & Tonics (G&T’s), pleasant conversation and observed an assortment of birds, crocodiles, water buffalos and zebras while nibbling on an excellent assortment of snacks and hors d’oeuvres. Our waiter, John, and bartender guide, Dorothy, took spectacular care of us ensuring our glasses were always renewed. Along the way upriver, we passed the upper tip of “Long” island and came upon the Zimbabwe banks of the river. As the sun began to set, we turned around and began our rapid downstream return to the Royal Livingstone in time to settle on the dock for another G&T as the last light left, the stars began to twinkle, and the temperature fell to nip our senses. We returned to our room to add a layer of clothes and decided to resume our earlier exploration adventure. From there, we wandered the trails to the Zambezi Sun, a sister hotel, explored the location of the shops, restaurants, and bars, before returning to our room for a well deserved good night’s sleep.

The next morning, Saturday, we awoke at 5:30am to prepare for our busy days adventure activities. After a quick continental breakfast in the 24 hour lounge, we met our transport to our elephant safari. Eleven of us were introduced to 8 elephants, from the 2 bull males, Bob and Danny, both approximately 40 years old, to the youngest, Sekuta at only 3 years old. We took s quick coffee and mounted, 3 per elephant, one guide and two riders, to begin our one hour safari through the bush and to the Zambezi River.
The elephants each had their own personality and Julie and I rode Danny, the 8 ton dominant male. Matinda, a younger female had a mind of her own and often wandered off from the group and the only way she could be corralled back was if Bob would go round her up. Traveling along behind us was the 2 youngest elephant’s Cheraku and Sekuta who explored the bush as we went. Along the way we saw impala and zebra and a huge 3 foot long monitor lizard. We stopped in the Zambezi River for the elephants to drink water, and then returned back to camp for snacks, tea and an environmental lesson on the dwindling elephant herds in Africa due to continued poaching.

We returned to the hotel at 10:15am, in time for a serious breakfast and then changed into our walking gear and headed to Victoria Falls. As we left the controlled area of the Sun Hotels we entered the Zambezi Victoria Falls Heritage Site and ventured along the banks of the Eastern Cataract that stretches between the shore and Livingstone Island. The water was apparently at its highest for the year, and one cannot imagine the roar and spray of 900,000,000 gallons/second of water as it crashes 400 hundred feet below. On the Zambia side, a peninsula of land called the Knife’s Edge juts out on the Bakota Gorge and acts as a backstop to the falls flow, forcing the water west under the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The falls area is its own complete micro-environment with its own weather system, as the drenching dense air alternately changes from monsoon rain storms to sunny views. The mist was so intense this day that the Falls themselves were hardly visible. At one point, to reach the tip of the peninsula, one must cross a 100 foot footbridge(the Narrows Bridge), drenched in continuous torrents of rain. We changed into sandals and raincoats and slogged our way across with water 2-3inches deep at our feet, running off as fast as it fell. At the tip, one could view the Western Cataract that stretches from Livingstone Island to the Zimbabwe shore. Below us was the churning mile if whirlpool waters know as the “Boiling Pot” and great views to the border crossing Victoria Falls Bridge and the famous Zimbabwe Victoria Falls Hotel. We made our way back to the park’s dry ground and continued our hike to the Zambia border, where we received a free pass to enter the bridge. We walked to the center of the bridge where Bungee jumpers tested their courage. After passing officially into Zimbabwe, we headed back to the “Jump Site”, an overlook bar where jumpers register to jump and there, we each drank Mosi Beer while watching the antics of novice daredevils. We then returned to the hotel for a restful set of G&T’s on the river deck watching the sun set over the Zambezi River and Zimbabwe, until darkness fell and the temperature began to drop. We returned to our rooms to shower and to dress warm-elegant for dinner outside in the winter crisp air. Dinner was a combination of “Duo Croc” for Julie and “Lamb Kabobs” for Rocky with a healthy serving of Roasted Duck interspersed with Aubergine Soup and Strawberry Sorbet. A bottle of Obikuti wine sealed the meal, and we then returned to the Internet Café, where Rocky watched the first half of Man U vs. Barcelona in the Champions League Finals, while Julie sorted through email. The night finished quietly as we were both sated and tired from our long days adventures.

 

Sunday started with a quick continental breakfast snack and a self-guided nature hike around the resort grounds where we spotted 4 hippos in the lee of a local island, a family of 3 giraffes near the park entrance and a dozen Impala quietly grazing in the meadow. The walk ended back at the Hotel restaurant where we ordered omelets, brown toast and coffee to kick off our day. The hotel loaned us another set of raincoats and we once again set off for climbing out to view the Victoria Falls. Today, the water level had dropped nearly a foot and the difference at the shore and at the Falls was very noticeable as the amount of spray was quite a bit less and the Falls were often more visible. We first headed to a descent down into a ravine trail into the shores of the famous “Boiling Pot”, an area where, during lower water flow, serves as the entry point for Class 6 white water rafting adventures. Today, however, the whirlpools and eddy’s are so intense that no one could possibly imagine entering this bubbling cauldron. The climb ~ 600 foot climb back up the trail was more taxing, but after the adrenaline boost of that we donned raincoats , changed into sandals and again tackled the “Narrows Bridge Monsoon” to see if a better view of the Falls would be possible today. Although improved over yesterday, it was clear that most of the clear pictures that are posted of these Falls are during times of much lower water flow. We headed back towards the hotel where we changed and prepared to take in a new view of the Falls from a different perspective – by Helicopter!

Our transport to Bakota Air picked us up promptly at our hotel entrance and we traveled 10 minutes to a small private airstrip that serves as home for not only their helicopters, but the ultra light and glider services, as well. After signing in and removing hats and loose items, we headed for the chopper where Julie took the front middle seat next to the pilot, and Rocky sat at the right window. Two other couples jumped in, putting 7 total into the aircraft, as Julie was excited to experience her 1st helicopter ride ever. After closing the doors, the pilot revved up the rotors; we lifted about 10 feet off the ground, backed off the pad, turned 90 degrees and started accelerating south along the “runway”. After a few hundred meters we climbed to ~1200 feet and headed to the Falls. From the air the Falls were magnificent and we could, for the first time, see the full length of them as they spanned from Zambia to Zimbabwe! The pilot made a number of circles and slow passes so that the Falls and surrounding abandoned canyons downstream could be clearly seen. After 15 minutes we headed North up the Zambezi, flying low over the game reserve, with our pilot pointing out water buffalo and other wildlife. He was a bit of a cowboy, performing near stalls, climbing powerful banks and dives, until we slowly turned and made our way back to the airfield. After waiting for an ultra light to be moved indoors, we landed and exited, having fully enjoyed our flight. The office showed us videos of ourselves in the helicopter as we didn’t realize that a camera in the cockpit captured our adventures completely.

We returned to the hotel and decided to relax at the bridge and watch the bungee jumpers once again. We walked from the hotel directly there, and crossed the railroad tracks to the “Jump Site” bar just before a freight train rumbled over the bridge and stopped at the border. At the overlook bar, we had Mosi beers and watched a steady stream of jumpers before ordering a burger and fries to snack on. However, the foolish couple down the bar unwisely chooses to give their banana peel to a local baboon, embolden him to pursue more handouts. While drinking our beers, snacking on our sandwich and watching the jumpers this large baboon took the opportunity to raid our plate to snatch a handful of French fries, surprising Julie and causing her to fall backwards off her stool to the floor! She was alright, but the shocked proprietor profusely apologized and brought a fresh plate of food while setting an employee to stand guard against another surprise foray. While finishing our beer, we watched as the next opportune predator, a 3 foot monitor lizard scaled the ravine in front of us searching for his share of the crumbs. We finally finished, stuffed from what was originally intended as a small snack, and left to return to the hotel before the park gate closed at 6pm. Unfortunately, the train was still stopped and after much consideration, we undertook the risky maneuver of crossing by climbing over the connectors between the cars. Along the return walk, baboons could be seen attacking the train load, prying at the lids, tearing open tarps and being generally destructive. We continued along the nature walk where we again saw giraffe, impala, etc. We made it back before sunset where we settled on the hotel dock and again watched the sunset while sipping G&T’s.

We then cleaned up at the room before heading to the restaurant for a light dinner on the patio of fried cheese, Nile Perch and Monkfish with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. While we had dinner, we watched as dignitary after dignitary arrived until a military guard contingent showed up escorting the Zambian President, Rupiah Banda. When dinner was over, we headed to the lounge for after dinner drinks and appreciated the talented piano player. Then it was time to return to our room to begin to pack and prepare for our last night’s stay in Zambia.
The next morning, Monday we awoke early and set out for one final Nature walk, and no sooner had we left our room’s door edge 6:30am, then we greeted by a herd of Impala grazing on the lawn, and there at the water’s edge, a beautiful morning’s view of a solitary elephant , grazing not 30 meters away from us. After watching for a while, we went to the lounge for early coffees and set out to see what other animals were about.
The trip back was as expected, but our thoughts and hearts were back in Zambia, at the royal Livingston Hotel on the banks of the Zambezi River at one of the planets’ greatest natural wonders – Victoria Falls!

The only passion that arouses a Nigerian nearly approaching that of football (soccer) is Politics.  Engaging the locals in a political discussion of which party to support, who is the least corrupt, which candidates are frontman and which are real and who might win could consume all day – but be ready for some yelling and ranting!  Nigeria in April of 2011 was in the midst of National and local elections.  The original plan was to hold Federal Legislative elections (Senators and House of Representatives) on April 2^nd, Presidential Elections on April 9^th and State Elections (Governor) on April 19^th. Installation of all offices is set for May 29^th.  The Government has spent 3 months sending agents into every field and village with laptops registering all eligible voters.  Where you register, however, is where you must vote, as these same lists will only be present on election days when identities will be validated and votes cast.  This is the first National election in Nigeria in 5 years, and if African History is any guidelines, we know to expect the unexpected.

Friday April 1^st – no, it was no joke, tomorrow would be a restricted movement day with NO vehicles allowed on the road between 8am-6pm, and only registered voters allowed as pedestrians to gather at the polling places.  We met with friends this Friday night preparing for tomorrow’s lock-in, and observed early political gatherings that were already underway.  Around the corner from us is the residence of a Senatorial Candidate, the Honorable Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, where 200-300 campaign workers were already waiting at her gate.  Some will drive the campaign, some will gather voters, and some will offer to sell their vote for a nominal sum.  It is politics in Africa!

We holed up at our residence, organized a Saturday barbeque, and used the lock-in on Saturday to catch up on those Spring items that need to get done around “the House”.  We heard reports of machete wielding election officials, riots and chaos, but overall, the electorate was gathering. However, midday through Saturday, the news related that although voters had gathered, the ballots had not been delivered and distributed in time, and the election would be postponed until Monday April 4^th! 

Well, this announcement sent a flurry of activity and schedule rearrangements throughout the country.  Schools were canceled, airline reservations were changed and political parties were in an uproar!

Now you must understand that Nigeria politics is represented by well in excess of 15+ political parties,  ranging from the large “People’s Democratic Party” (PDP),  to small local parties.  The different change in the date brought an uproar from the smaller parties whose resources are limited and who would find it difficult to remobilize that quickly.  Sunday was characterized by a series of protest from theses smaller parties, and in deference to them, the Election Committee (INEC – Independent National Electoral Commission) moved all of the elections again – scheduling them for April 9^th, April 16^th and Tuesday, April 26. As you might guess, this resulted in another round of “Walhalla” – Nigerian Chaos!

Fast forward to Friday April 8^th.  It is 2:00pm and the Government has announced that all vehicular traffic will be banned in preparation for tomorrows postponed elections beginning at 10pm tonight!  Now most Nigerians in Lagos commute hours to and from work on a patchwork of public transport that is neither dependable nor safe.  This decree sent locals scurrying for early transport home and brought the road system to a standstill before 5pm.  Many of us limped our way home as soon as we could to release our drivers and staff to find their way back to locales near their polling places.

Saturday dawned eerily quiet, no honking horns no vehicular traffic sounds at all, most unusual for Lagos.   NO news bulletins and no urgent SMS announcements all day, quite a contrast from the week before.  Sunday’s papers noted “The elections into the National assembly were finally held in Nigeria amidst tight security after two postponements.  The elections took place in 94 senatorial districts and 310 House of Representative constituencies.  The elections were reported as generally peaceful with isolated cases of violence. Preliminary results so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission showed that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party may lose its overwhelming domination in the National Assembly but will still retain majority of seats.  The presidential election will take place on Saturday April 16^th.”

The empty streets of Ikoyi! This is what a restricted movement day looks like!

 

Election day!

A concert in the gardens of the U.S. Consulate General, Ikoyi.

The American International School lagos Symphonic Band  – Plays the Legends – Lennon & McCartney, John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Quincy Jones, Santana and more.

Bring you own elegant picnic to tables set in the candlelit garden and relax as the music drifts in the evening air.

Eric, Jill, Julie, Sue & Pete (Attire: Red Sea Rig….i.e. Tuxes but no jackets)

Internationally renowned a cappella group Voces8

Voces8 is an international octet performing  group since 2005 from the United Kingdom.

The Heineken Girls (Heineken sponsored free beer for the evening).

Moet champange sculpture – the choice drink of the evening!

Student Entertainment!

March 19, 2011

The alarm went off  early this morning as I had just arrived from the USA last night.  Rocky had picked up my runners packet for the 3rd Annual Race for the Cure, a 6 kilometer walk / run to benefit The Susan J Komen Foundation. So it was off to the American International School Lagos (AISL) with over 900 other participants for a 7am race start.  The atmosphere was lively with lots of people milling around greeting friends dressed either their team T‐shirt or the official t-shirt. We were given a warm up by Marisa – quite a sight with everyone bending, stretching and marching in unison!  A big cheer went up at the start, runners at the front, walkers bringing up the rear. A fast pace was set out the gate and down the road onto the Lekki Expressway. The organisation of the event was fantastic with plenty of security and even some music and water along the way to keep those feet moving. As it was a loop the walkers got to see all the runners heading to the finish – cheering them on. On arrival back at the school, we were given yet another souvenier T‐shirt as well as juice and donuts. Next was the entertainment; a Michael Jackson impersonator from Liberia! In the 90 degree heat he sang and danced while people cheered! The presentation of prizes followed. Over Naira 18 million(~$120,000) was raised insupport of breast cancer research and treatment. Shell was well represented with a large team, and contributed a significant amount of money due to efforts here in Lagos and Port Harcourt .



Shell Women Network Lagos Team: Women in light blue and the men in navy blue.

Liberia’s michael Jackson!

AISL superintendent Tom with 2 students.

The passion of the race!

Isayaha Beach checking out the goods of a beach vendor….

and then we saw a most unsual sight for the beach….

That’s Nigeria!

February 20, 2011

Sunday mornings are a perfect time to wander the streets of downtown historic Lagos and not be run over by ocadas and traffic, or accosted by street vendors.  This Sunday morning we arose early to partake of a guided walking tour of the area of Lagos Island located in the vicinity of Rocky’s work location, where there are located the remaining areas of the Brazilian Quarter, Broad Street and the Lagos Marina, and which includes many of the remaining examples of the Independence Buildings of the 1960’s.  Our tour was conducted by LEGACY, the historical & environmental interest group of Quarter, Railway Compound and Ebute-Metta, who is attempting to preserve the culture and heritage of the Lagos area.

Our guide today is the well-known and respected Professor Godwin, who is accompanied by two of his students who share the guiding duties.   Professor Godwin is an expatriate that came to Lagos 1954, a country of new opportunities for a young architect.  Historically it is said that the first settlers to Lagos Island were from the kingdom of Benin in the 17^th century.  During the next 2 centuries, the island was a stronghold of slave traders of Brazilian and Portuguese origin.  Lagos was then ceded to the British crown in 1861.  By 1902, London had invested a huge sum, £500,000, for a steam tramway, a central water supply and electric lights in the growing city. Therefore, it made sense that today we would start our tour by walking along Broad Street looking at various old buildings of Colonial and Brazilian styles that are from that era. 

 

Our first stop was the Freedom Park site of the Old Broad Street Prison which operated from 1885 to the 1960’s and held some of Nigeria’s leading citizens who were opposed to colonial rule.  It was considered to be one of the finest prisons of its time, in that it served food and had a hospital.   Because of this, the prison had to be careful to screen returning work-day permit prisoners who returned each night, as local homeless would try to join them for a good night’s treat.  Professor Godwin recalls actually coming to this prison when his first child was born as the prisoners made the finest basket bassinets in the region, and he purchased one there for his first child. In recent times, the prison site had been left derelict, until it was commissioned for restoration by Lagos State Governor Fashola, as part of Nigeria’s 50^th Independence Anniversary in 2010.  Now, it has been restored by a Nigerian architect, Theo Lawson.  A portion of the original prison walls were built in 1885 with imported bricks and which cost the colonial administration £16,000 at that time.  Now, those walls have been preserved and incorporated into the present facade. The 52 cell blocks of the prison, (each cell measuring four feet by eight feet), have also been preserved, but not as they once were when they ‘hid’ inmates from daylight. Today, they are flooded with light, left wide open with no doors and with walls are only about two feet high. The row of cells that were once known as Cell ‘A’ are preserved as stalls reminiscent of a market place. Cell ‘B’ sections is preserved as just mounds on the ground with skeletal cells above.  Finally, Cell ‘C’ area now hosts a metal ramp symbolizing a prisoner’s and a nation’s “walk to freedom”. There are two amphitheatres within the premises; one built in the area that held the original gallows for execution of prisoners, and the other built closer to the newer reflection pond that today ripples with catfish.  A gigantic obelisk rises from the center of the pond. There is also a food court where the prison kitchen used to be located. The records office where prisoners were processed before being allotted cells is now a modern building, which houses a museum with the earliest maps of Lagos and pictures of the prison in its  more ‘inglorious’ days.

 



From here we wandered west down Broad Street, stopping at the Government Printing press built in 1895.  The structure is built in a severe colonial style with massive steel beams to hold the large ¼ ton per-square-foot printing presses of the times.  It has multiple arches and large windows with decorative pre-cast concrete balusters on the veranda.

 

Next along Broad Street is St. Georges Hall.  (Yes, there were free masons in Lagos.)  This hall was built in 1906 by Sir Walter Edgerton, the Governor of the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria.  It is now rented by the local magistrate for court.  

Sitting on the corner of Broad and Odunlami Street is the Bookshop House and Office Building which was built in 1973.  This building was designed by the architects Godwin, Hopwell, & Kuye (Yes, our tour leader Professor Godwin and his wife Jill Hopwell).  It is one of the few early buildings in Nigeria to have a façade correctly designed to exclude direct sunlight between the hours of 9am & 5pm for energy efficiency.  The special sun screens (sun breakers) and windows alleviate the effects of the climate with a 75% savings on air conditioning requirement for the office floors.  The building is dark at the bottom and light at the top. 

In addition, a statue of Herbert MacCauley sits directly on the front corner. (Herbert was a politician, engineer, journalist, and musician and considered by many Nigerians as the founder of Nigerian nationalism).

One of the most sadly neglected buildings we saw by Balogun Square was the Ilojo Bar at #6 Alli Street and #2 Bamgbose Street, a treasure of Lagos Brazilian style.  It is actually listed a Nigerian Monument.  It was constructed in about 1880 and is remarkable in its design for its pointed gothic arches on the first floor and the small ceramic statue of a lady on the parapet.  Unfortunately, progress to preserve and restore the building has not yet been successful.  In this bustling market and densely populated area, we were the attraction to locals, and although we were told to avoid taking any pictures, the locals were busy taking pictures of us!

Along the way, we learned of Chief Daniel Conrad Taiwo who was well known in Lagos in the 19^th century for his combination of commercial success and political astuteness.  He died at the age of 120 in 1905. His tomb, The Cenotaph, was designed and built by the famous Brazilian Mason Senhor Joas Baptista Dacosta and is characteristic of Muslim monuments.  The cenotaph has pinnacles with floral motifs and a terraced canopy.

Across the street is Bethel Cathedral, a church representing the African Anglicans who built it in 1928.

Next we hiked through a market area and past a street football match over to Balagon Street.  Here is the Lagos Central Mosque which is a replacement building for the original mosque of 1908.  This newer building opened in 1988.  Opposite of the mosque is the Sogunro Monument. It used to be located in an open area, but it has now been completely built over by adjacent buildings.  Fortunately, the handsome, life-size statue in marble is top lit within an enclave, and it still appears particularly dramatic to the observer upon first entering an otherwise squalid space.  The inscription still reads “In Loving memory of Chief Sogunro of Mahin (Paternal) & Egba Itoku (Maternal) extraction. “Oselu Ilu Eko”, a personal friend of and Chief Advisor to the late Ex-King Dosunmu and his immediate successor Prince Oyekan of Iga Idunganran.  Died 3^rd January 1903. Aged 102 years R.I. P. “

Our tour covered many other interesting architectural gems, and left much more to explore, but churches were letting out, and navigating the busy terrain was becoming more challenging.  We therefore left the continuation of our exploration for another day.

February 19, 2011

International Women’s Organization for Charity

Back in 1995 several international women’s groups came together to discuss the possibility of hosting an international night.  The objective of the evening would be, not only to focus on the food, national costumes, dances and music of each respective nation, but more importantly to raise money to support the local charities of these international women’s clubs. Small World was born.  Thus, 24 women’s groups had an event that attracted 300 expatriate people and raised 300,000 Naira ($2,000). Flash forward to 2010.  Small  World 2010, last February, celebrated their 15^th year and “sparkling future”.  Now Small World 2011! Last night Rocky & I attended our first Small World.  There were 27 women’s groups representing over 60 countries.  The event was attended by 3,200 people and raised over 32,000,000 Naira ($213,500) which will be distributed to the Small World Charities. This year the “go green” theme looked to reduce the carbon footprint of the event and to build “Green” awareness across the community.  For the first time recycling bins and solar power lighting were throughout the grounds.  The plates on which the world’s cuisine was served were made of banana bark and were completely biodegradable as well as manufactured from natural materials that would normally be left for waste.  The beautiful National flower decorations in the entry were all made of recycled paper, as well as all the fashion models costumes.  It was a beautiful breezy evening, with more food to taste than one could ever imagine.  The Chinese had wonderful sushi, Scandinavia had exceptional chicken pate, Ibero-America had icy-cold homemade margaritas, Germany had sauerkraut and sausages, and the list goes on!  We gave it our best shot, but there were just some places where we could not partake as we could not eat any more.  We did certainly not go home hungry.  Two and half hours into the event, a stage show consisting of each country’s interpretive dances began.  While some entertainers followed the “go green” theme closely, others simply danced their country’s native dances.  It was quite a musical and enjoyable evening and we will definitely go again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4:55am and the gentle “god morning” from beyond the door greets us.  After the adventures of yesterday, we are wondering what today can bring, as it is Valentine’s Day, the day of lovers.  Today, Matt has a Rangers meeting 3 hours away and will miss our morning game drive, but Doctor will be our driver and a young man named Service will be our Tracker.  Another couple with us from London have had their hearts set on seeing lions, and Doctor promises to give it his best shot, but they explain that lions are relatively sparse in the Sabi Sands, which is why the leopard population can thrive so successfully.  We set off, and soon come upon a solitary male Rhino sleeping in the road with his legs gently folded underneath him, and his body straddling the hump at the side of the road.  He pays us no mind, and we continue our journey setting off on various dirt roads looking for tracks or signs that lions have recently been around. 

 The most recent citing has been 4-5 days ago, but Doctor and Service can find no indication that lions are anywhere in the vicinity.  However, their tracking is not in vain, because they soon see something that excites even these experienced hunters.  We proceed cautiously, stopping occasionally and both driver and tracker leave the vehicle and inspect tracks, leaves, and even sounds and smells in the air.  They are Trackers – they are on the trail, in their element, and doing what they do best.  Soon, we turn a corner, and there in the road, alert and lazy, are 4 Wild Dogs!  Wild Dogs are some of the rarest predators in Africa, and in the entire Sabi Sands area there are only 2 known packs of them.  The last sighting of wild dogs in this area was quite some time ago, and consisted of a pack of 7 dogs. Doctor finds it curious to find only 4 of them now.  Wild Dogs need to have large groups to hunt successfully because of their small size.  They typically will take turns “running” an animal to exhaustion, until it becomes easy prey to the pack.  These 4 get up and wander down to a Tee in the road, apparently conflicted between going right and left.  Suddenly, with yelps of joy and welcome, the wayward 3 dogs of the pack run in from the left, and the entire group plays and romps with each other in a happy reunion.  But now, it is time to hunt, and the Alpha Dog leads the pack back our way down the road, passing next to our vehicle looking for a likely herd of gazelles.  We follow and track the dogs which cover a lot of ground very rapidly.  However, when the leave the road and cross a ravine, we lose them and are forced to travel the long way around.  After a brief delay in the loose sand of the river bed, we “4-wheel drive” our way out, and are lucky enough to catch up with the dogs another few miles ahead.  But it is now near 9:00am, and breakfast is calling, so we leave our hunt and head to the lodge.

Breakfast of cheese, yogurt, cereal and a huge vegetable omelet, one of which we choose to split, leads to another restful afternoon on our suite’s back deck.  But today, clouds roll in and a few raindrops fall keeping us under the cover of our deck’s gazebo.  By lunch, one of our 3 couples departs, but 4 new couples arrive, including more Brits and a couple from Vancouver.  Lunch is a buffet of different types of salads, all of which are delicious.  It is soon time for our afternoon game drive, but by now, the skies are overcast, the wind has picked up, and Matt has returned as our driver.  One couple of the new arrivals joins our vehicle to replace the departed couple, and the others accompany a second land cruiser.  With the threat of impending rain, Matt passes out rain ponchos to the 6 of us to hold just in case, and we start on our drive.  But, the weather has made the animals nervous, as the wind disrupts their ability to sense sounds and smells that help protect them  Instead, they resort to tight groupings, and stay away from any perceived danger.  In addition, cat predators will be difficult to find, with no desire to get their feet wet or dirty.  We pass the abundant small herds of grazing animals, but Matt decides to take a different approach, and we go off-road to check out the area that the female leopard that we “spooked” yesterday gave birth in recently.  We have no idea if the mother leopard is in the area or not, or even if the cubs are around or can be found, as they are only 2 months old.  However, as we slowly guide the huge vehicle through and over the local bush, Matt suddenly spots them – 2 leopard cubs scurrying off to hide under a bush while mom is away!  We do not want to spook them and so we keep our distance to ~25 ft, and they are so small and well camouflaged that they are hard to spot, especially when they duck their heads down in the tall grass and dark shadows.  We watch them for 20 minutes before we navigate our way out.  The rest of the afternoon’s game drive was a succession of antelopes, gazelles, wildebeest, zebra, impala and water bucks, interrupted only by the warning sounds of hippos when we stopped near their watering holes, and the occasional grumpy water buffalo.

 

Snack and G & T’s were at a Bush Airport Runway, surrounded by a huge herd of 100’s of impalas.  At least the rain held off, and we were rewarded on our night drive back by the sighting of a Genet cat beneath a bush 60ft from the road, glaring at us as the spotlight lit him up.  Our return was met with a glass of Amarula, and we retired to our suite to ready ourselves for dinner.  Upon entering, we were shocked and surprised to find our room sprinkled with rose petals.  Even more surprising was to find the bathroom romantically lit with tea candles, sprinkled with rose petals and a bottle of chilled champagne beside a hot, drawn bubble-bath filled tub.  After Julie took advantage of the hot bubble-bath, we went to enjoy our Valentine’s Day dinner, which was a wonderful Rack of Lamb, and included a heart-shaped chocolate cupcake for dessert.  We thanked everyone for their hospitality as we would not be able to go on tomorrow morning’s game drive since our transport back to the airport would pick us up at 8:00am.

On Tuesday, we slept in until 7:00am, packed and showed up for breakfast.  The night had seen a storm come overhead, and it was raining out all morning.  By 7:30am while we were at breakfast, Matt returned early with our group from the game drive, as everyone was cold and wet, and the animals had all taken cover.  Our transport to the airport arrived at 8:00am, and we began the 2 ½ hour drive back to Nelspruit.  Things had gone smoothly up until now, as we arrived at 10:30am, were checked in by 11:00am and we were ready for our noon flight on British Air back to Jo-burg.  But then, disaster struck!  BA’s plane had mechanical problems, and it would be another 3 hours before a replacement plane could be there.  This would mean that we would miss our Jo-burg to Lagos flight at 3:30pm, which only flies once per day!  We called our travel agent, and they suggested taking a chance and flying on an Airlink flight that would put us in Jo-burg at 3:00pm, but we would have to run and be escorted personally by Airline personnel through the Jo-burg airport to have any chance of making our flight.  Well, as luck would have it, and through the incredible dedicated efforts of Airlink and South African Airline Terminal personnel, we made the flight without a moment to spare, and returned to Lagos, Nigeria after a whirlwind Valentine’s Day holiday.

And so to all of you Lover’s out there, may your adventures always be unexpected, but always put a smile on your face.  We hope you’ve enjoyed the tale of our little adventure.  Happy Valentine’s Day from Julie and Rocky!

 The gentle knock and friendly call of “good morning” woke us at 4:55am.  We quickly freshened up, dressed and headed to the lodge for a quick biscuit and coffee, before boarding our Cruiser for an early morning game drive. This is rainy season in Kruger, but we have yet to see any rain, and the roads and creek beds are dry.  The soil here is predominantly sand and loam, which means that any precipitation disappears fast, except where numerous water holes preserve their catch.  Immediately on our drive this morning, we came upon an enormous bull elephant eating marula seeds beneath a tree.  This is a favorite food of elephants in the area and is more widely known as the basis of the Amarula drink commonly associated with South Africa.  After passing and stopping to observe numerous herds of grazing animals, Doctor made an interesting discovery of tracks on the road.  Many of the predator animals use the roads in this area to move around, as it takes less energy than for them to move through the dense bush.  We circled the area and came upon two cheetahs resting in the road, a mother with her 2-year old full grown daughter.  They were obviously tired from a recent chase and paid us no attention as we came up to within a few feet of them.  Finally, they got up and moved on to an area where a wildebeest and gazelle herd kept a watchful eye on them.  Once there, the mother took higher ground, while her daughter sought shade under a small tree, and we positioned ourselves almost directly between them.  After a while, the mother circled our vehicle close enough to be touched, and joined her daughter to gently groom and clean her.  This daughter would be leaving her mother soon, but for now, their bond was apparent. 

We left the cheetahs and began out trip back to the lodge when we came upon a herd of ~10 elephants, including a 3 month old baby elephant hiding beneath his mother, taking water at a water hole.  We kept a bit of distance on this group, (100ft), as we watched them spray water around from their trunks, and drink to their content. 

We then returned to the lodge for breakfast, a mid-afternoon plunge in our private pool and spent time reading and relaxing on chaise lounges on our suite’s back deck.

After a wonderful lunch of steak or vegetable salads and a Windhoek beer, we embarked on our afternoon game drive at 4:00pm, and Matt took requests.  Julie still wanted to see Rhinos, and so Doctor and Matt vowed to give it their best shot.  We headed to an area where the terrain lends itself to Rhinos, and soon came upon a large group of giraffes, casually eating the tops of trees, and wary of us watching them from so close.  When they moved off, we resumed our journey until we came to a 5-track intersection, and Doctor and Matt stopped the vehicle and left for a bit of bush on-foot tracking.  They returned in 5-10 minutes claiming that Rhinos were here recently, and that they had moved off to our left.  We took that road, and when we came to the next fork, Doctor indicated we should go left again.  We traveled no more than 5 more minutes when we came upon 4 very large White Rhinos, grazing on the fresh grass surrounding a large termite mound beside the road.  We watched them from various positions 20-30ft away as Matt told us much of their habits and challenges in surviving horn poaching.  We followed this group down to a watering hole, but then finally, left them and headed towards an area that Matt was familiar with that was home to a recent mother leopard. 

 Along the way, we came upon two enormous giraffes, one who was very old, with a very dark coat and grey face. 

 We continued and finally came upon another vehicle that had spotted the mother leopard hunting in the bush, and we joined the stalk.  This leopard was clearly trying to stay hidden, remaining very low in the grass, and intent on her gazelle prey.  Matt, being familiar with her, took up various advance positions, knowing that she would have to pass close to us.  At one point, she was only 10-15 feet away in the grass, almost invisible except for the nervous twitch of her tail.  But apparently, she had had enough of our interference, when she suddenly leapt from the grass at us, barring her teeth in a snarl, prompting gasps and surprise from all of us, as Matt thumped the side of the Cruiser and shouted, and she frustratingly slunk away. 

While we caught our breaths, Matt took us to a local watering hole for drinks, but a water buffalo had already claimed it for his own.  In better judgment from our recent encounter, we decided to move on to a little clearing where we took our usually snacks and well deserved G & T’s.  After settling our nerves and our stomachs, we set off again while the sun set.  In the dusk, we came upon another group of 4 Rhinos, and watched them briefly until darkness fell.

On the way back, we could see another vehicle on the road facing us with their spotlight on.  We stopped and waited, as a very large male leopard walked straight at us, from ahead, down the road.  He passed the vehicle only 1 foot away, easily within touching distance, as we held our breaths and snapped our cameras.  We followed this leopard for a bit, as he marked various places along the road in a campaign of “territorial housekeeping” making sure that his boundary was well announced to all. 

Finally, it was time to head back, but Doctor had the spotlight out, and along the way he brought us to a halt, jumped to a nearby bush in the dark, and emerged with an 8 inch and 2 inch pair of green chameleons. 

 How he spotted them in the dark, we had no idea.  We continued to the lodge, had our wet wipes and ports, and prepared for dinner.  But, tonight was a surprise, as the staff escorted down to the dry, sandy river bed where they had set up a barbeque grill, a complete bar and a custom dining room outdoors on the floor of the river.  Drinks, salads, scalloped potatoes, baked onion casserole with grilled chicken, kudu and corn on the cob was the feast of the night.  Dessert was carrot cake with a sparkle of starlight and the night was magic.  And then, off to bed!

The occurrence of the Eid al Malud holiday on Tuesday gave an opportunity to jet from Lagos to South Africa’s Kruger National Park to search for yet unseen African wildlife.  Kruger Park is South Africa’s oldest National Park, created in 1898, but more recently the park has grown to combined government refuge lands with local, private game-parks to form South Africa’s largest National Park today.  We decided to go to the Sabi Sands area on the northwest side of Kruger towards Mozambique. The Sabi Sands area is known for exceptional game viewing and first class accommodations in the bush.  It is a collection of privately owned lands that were originally targeted for cattle grazing, but were returned to being a wildlife refuge when Tse Tse flys and other pests decimated the herds.  Today, it houses a sparse number of small, privately operated lodges and we were guests at the Simbambili lodge.

As is usual, our trip began with the obligatory ride from Ikoyi Island in Lagos to the Murtalla Mohammed Airport in Ikeja, a normal 30 minute drive over the world’s 3^rd longest continuous water-crossing bridge.  However, this day saw a typical unexplained and unexpected traffic jam that turned a 30 minute trip into a 210 minute trip.  Luckily, we had left plenty of extra time, and still made our overnight flight to Johannesburg without any issues.  Once we landed in Jo-burg at ~5:30am, we transferred to a domestic flight on Airlink Airlines to Nelspruit, a very nice and rustic, recent World Cup port city on the southwest side of Kruger Park, where we were met by local auto transport for the 2 ½ hour drive north to Sabi Sands.

The Simbambili Lodge (Simba = lion, Mbili = two) is situated on the banks of the Manyeleti River (which only flows water during flash floods) and overlooks the Manyeleti Flood Plain.  It has been as a Guest Lodge since 1997 and although all Big Five animals (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Water Buffalo, Rhinoceros) live there, it is especially known for Leopards and African wild dogs.  The Lodge consists of 8 guest suites, each with their own viewing deck, private gazebo and plunge pool, 1 family suite, a wonderful viewing deck, and a range of 1^st class amenities.  We were warmly greeted by the Lodge Manager and staff, informed of the typical daily schedule, and guided to our suite to unpack and freshen up.  The typical day at Simbambili starts with a knock-on-the-door wake-up at 5:00am for a quick coffee and a morning game drive until 9:00am.  Upon return, it is time for a leisurely breakfast, and the day is free until lunch at 2:00pm, followed by a late afternoon game drive from 4:00pm until 7:30pm.Dinner is at 8:00pm and drinks can be had on the public viewing deck or in the privacy of one’s own suite.  We were one of 3 couples currently staying at the lodge.

We arrived at noon, unpacked, had lunch and prepared for our first game drive.  The game drives are part of the lodge’s package, and include dedicated game rangers and trackers to guide you in the bush.  The vehicle was a brand new Land Cruiser that seats 3 rows of 3, theater style, in an open design that has no walls, doors, or roof.  The tracker rides on a front-bumper mounted jump-seat so that he can get a fresh look at any tracks of signs of wildlife.  Our first game drive revealed an area very different than those we had experienced in Kenya and Tanzania.  The Sabi Sands area is characterized by relatively thick and lush vegetation, including trees, bushes and tall grass.  However, the vehicle allowed for off-road excursions into the bush whenever the experienced ranger and tracker had good cause.

Our ranger-driver for the week was a South African named Matt who was as knowledgeable as any guide we had ever had.  Our tracker was a gentleman named Doctor, who was also an apprentice ranger.  Together, they were an outstanding team at locating and approaching wildlife in this challenging environment.  We began our first game drive by approaching a small herd of 4 water buffalos that were cooling themselves in one of the abundant water holes.  Matt stopped 30ft away from the dominant bull, who was not happy with us being there, and stalked the back of our vehicle, until at 15ft away and very unhappy with us caused us to think better about staying any longer and drove us to move on.

The area included many birds (hornbills, Walberg eagle, beaver birds) and herds of antelopes, gazelles, water bucks, bushbucks, kudus and zebra. Soon we came to an open area where a lone female impala was guarding her fawn, but she was nursing a huge wound on her side where claw marks and bites could clearly be seen.  She would not last long in this predator-filled area! 

Further on, Matt and Doctor located a young male leopard in the bush stalking a group of gazelles.  We went off-road and shadowed the2-year old leopard as he slowly tried to position himself closer to his quarry, often leaving him only 10ft away from us!  Matt explained that the predators often took advantage of “the cover” that our vehicles provided as part of their stalking strategy.  We followed in the bush until the leopard finally decided he needed a new and better view.  Expecting this, Matt positioned us under an opportune tree, and the leopard obliged by coming to us, jumping up into the tree’s trunk and climbing onto a branch only 10 ft above our heads!  From that viewpoint, we watched as he groomed himself and tried to get something out of his mouth.  His excessive salivating while we watched made us a bit uncomfortable, but we were assured we were in “good hands”.  Finally, we left and traveled to a dammed pool where a small group of Hippos were keeping a wary eye.  We stopped on the shores for a very civilized drinks and snacks, and a bit of stretch after our leopard encounter.  A tin of beef jerky, sweet potato chips and mixed nuts later, all washed down with a round of gin and tonics, we were back into the Cruiser to watch the sun set and continue our safari.  Around the corner, we came upon small herds of elephants grazing, and majestic giraffes.  As daylight failed us, Doctor took out the vehicles portable spotlight and scanned the bush for any unique nightlife while we traveled back to the lodge in the dark.  We returned at 7:30pm to a wet washcloth and a glass a glass of Port, before washing up and returning for dinner.  Dinner tonight was around a campfire in an area adjacent to the lodge, where we were served salads, and our choice of chicken, lamb or kudu, with crème brulee for desert.  It had been a long first day for us, so it was time to be escorted to our suite and then off-to-bed in preparation for tomorrow’s 5:00am wake-up.