At Long Last, The African Safari Scheduled for 2019!: Moving On

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

It's our last morning here at Tsowa Safari Island! It's been pretty wonderful to be spoiled by Chef Alton! We place our breakfast orders while Collin serves coffee and checks on everything. When we return to our tent to gather our small bags, my backpack is missing. A small moment of panic, but it is already on the boat. It was all zipped up and they must have thought it was ready to go.

We board the boat one last time, bid the staff a fond farewell and cross the Zambeze River to get on our 4x4s. We have a wild ride, while Stanley tells us about his training on driving a 4x4. He was 16 and they just sent him off! He was okay until he was driving though thick sand and suddenly came upon a pride of lions eating a dead cape buffalo! Of course he hit the brakes; but in order to engage the four-wheel drive on this particular vehicle, you have to get out of the car and do something to the lug nuts on the wheels! He wasn't getting out of the car!! He had to call the office and have someone come and tow him out!!

Then Sisa told us that the Masai actually join in a lion meal! They are tall people and hold up their spears to appear even taller. They approach the kill and the lions back off for a little while. The Masai have five or ten minutes to hack off a leg and then leave the rest of the kill for the lions. Everyone shares and no one suffers.

last chance to see a waterbuck in the Kalahari!

Before we get to the bus, Sisa asks me if we can help Eric. He's received two brand new one hundred dollar US bills; but the places here won't take the new ones. I can help with one and Marilyn helps with the other, so we've done our good deed!

We get to the rendezvous with our bus and drive to the border with Zambia. Leaving Botswana is easy. We all like up at customs and immigration and get our passports stamped. And, maybe buy something from the persistent vendors?? Then we drive across to the Zambian immigration building. We all file in again, but there is an American couple at the front of the line showing why we're the Ugly Americans. Something about a single visa or a double visa and they are bound and determined that they are right. They aren't. Once that's cleared up we move right along and board a new bus that will take us to the River Lodge, just outside Livingstone, Zambia. The place is the definition of opulent - huge manicured grounds, several large open-air buildings connected by covered walkways, a croquet lawn, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a spa, and every room has a view of the river. The balcony has chairs and a hammock and the second bathroom, downstairs, has a large tub in which you can soak while watching the water. Oh, and there are also three giraffes that live on the fenced property.

Stanley, one of the incredibly knowledgeable guides on this trip!

African Rock Python track

In search of the mighty python!

Last look at the Kalahari Desert

Such a great smile while telling his story

Bilabob

yum!!

Live bougainvillea blossoms decorating our bed - courtesy of Precious

We are gathered together by the guest-relations lady who briefs us on the facilities while we sip our watermelon and ginger welcome drinks! Each room is named and ours is called Edward. But there is an Edward in our group, so there's a moment of confusion followed by the predictable teasing! Also, the wifi is only available in the common areas, except for a couple of rooms. And ours is one of them! YAY! That's why I can type this at eleven o'clock! Sisa had taken our lunch orders on the bus and texted them ahead. When we were checking out our room, Precious came to show us the ins and outs of the place, where the switches are, how to adjust the thermostat, where the whistle is in case we have an emergency!

We all gather for lunch on the lawn and enjoy a choice of six different options! I have chosen the chicken salad with a poached egg, feta cheese, olives, tomatoes and other goodies. It is too much food. Again. When Marilyn and I are on our own next week in Cape Town we will probably share a meal!

The school kids all wear uniforms.

No pictures allowed in the museum

It's really quite large! I believe it is the largest in the country.

There are two events scheduled for this afternoon. The first is a visit to the Livingstone Museum. There is a guide who leads us through the entire history of mankind in Zambia, with dioramas and actual relics beginning before the Stone Age and coming all the way to present times. It is much larger and more extensive than we expected. And there's a gift shop. Luckily Marilyn and Edward and I have a small bus all to ourselves, so it's okay if we're a little late. Our driver, Paul, is very understanding; we are his people for the whole day! He is teaching Marilyn some words in a few of the local languages. There are 73 languages in Zambia!!!

Our other excursion is to the other side of Victoria Falls, rather like Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon. And like those, the "other" side is even better! Muta, also from the lodge, shepherds us along the path, making sure we all get where we're going and back again. And there is a large craft market after we emerge. Sisa says we have twenty-five minutes because he would like us to experience sunset on the river. We maybe overshot our time?? But only by a couple of minutes! When we get home everyone iss safely ensconced in their rooms, so we take the time before dinner to set up our computers and, in general, get organized. When we emerge at seven no one is around and one of the ever-attentive staff shows us where they have all gone for Sisa's lecture on Zambia.

This bridge crosses the boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe. There is a
check point right in the middle of the bridge!

He crams a great deal of information into only about a half-hour lecture and then it's time for dinner. He had taken our dinner orders while we were a lunch and we all take our seats out by the blue-lit pool and sit in the semi-darkness. Dinner is grand, as we've come to expect, and then it's time to retire. We gather our laundry to be picked up in the morning, together with our laundry lists, and I try to figure out what I finally bought after all the haggling and "please help my grandmother"!