30 MAY - DAY 22 EXPLORE VICTORIA FALLS

This is the last full day of my trip as tomorrow I start the long journey home via Johannesburg where I have to stop overnight. So today I headed off to see the falls close up. It is worse than Bali wandering the streets, so many venders all selling the same wood or stone carved objects, they actually make it impossible to actually just look, which I'm sure puts some people off buying. 

So what can I say about Victoria Falls, apart from the exorbitant price to get in, incredible, fantastic, amazing, words are not enough to describe this, Livingston said in his diary, "No one can imagine the beauty of the view .. scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight", after he first saw the falls. 

The sights and sounds of these are so immense that it is impossible to take it all in. Although there is a paved walk all the way around the park it and the park could be better maintained with better facilities for visitors as they are certainly getting enough money for it. at the south end of the park I stopped to watch the local monkeys frolicking with some wild dear. I continued along the path all the way along the top of the canyon opposite the falls, with the mist rising from the falls to form clouds above, it was difficult at times see or photo the falls, eventually coming to the north end where you can see the bridge crossing the outward flow of the falls. after that I stopped for a bite to eat at the cafe at the entrance and found that the food was not only good but surprisingly cheap. 

monkey video link   https://www.facebook.com/share/v/FkWachN5mtzh7n7o/?mibextid=qi2Omg

in the evening I went for a sunset cruise on the Zambesi river, where we saw the spray from the mighty falls and then some more hippo's. Later I went to see the Simunye African dance theatre show.

Well I think this is the end of my African Travel Blog, unless something happens on the way home.

29 MAY - DAY 21 EXPLORE VICTORIA FALLS

This is our last day of the tour after 21 days together. What a way to end an epic ride! Victoria Falls - Mosi-oa-Tunya - the smoke that thunders, an appropriate name for these spectacular falls on the Zambezi River. We have breakfast and say good by to those leaving today some riding on to Malawi & some going home.

In the afternoon I took a helicopter ride over the falls and the surrounding national park where as well as getting great views of the falls we saw a number of animals including elephants & giraffes. 

Then I became a billionaire when one of my riding friends gave me a local billion dollar note, but don't ask for any handouts as the 100 Trillion dollar note is only worth 40 US cents.

Tonight I went to the Boma - Dinner & Drum Show, good fun performance where by the end everyone was drumming and dancing.

I am staying for another day to experience the splendour of these falls some more as tomorrow I will go into the falls national park for a closer look, even though the fee to enter is extortion, US$50 or AU$80 to enter the park for 1 day....

28 MAY - DAY 20 KATIMA MULILO TO VICTORIA FALLS 250 km

Today we had to get all the bikes across two borders (back into Botswana and then into Zimbabwe), which took a few hours, along the way we cross the Chobe river and pass through Chobe Game Reserve. We get to Victoria Falls in time for me to walk to see the falls from the bridge, crossing briefly into Zambia to take a photo, it was a longer walk than I expected taking about 90 mins to walk from the hotel and cross the bridge & back into Zimbabwe, I then taxied back to the hotel, on the way I saw a warthog and some water buffalo. Crocodile skewers for dinner. overnight at Shearwater Explorers Village.

Tomorrow is the last official day of this leg of the trip, with the total trip being 5,500 km. 2 riders are continuing on through Zambia to Malawi. I will stay on in Victoria Falls for another 2 nights after this, with a helicopter flight over the falls tomorrow.

27 MAY - DAY 19 OKAVANGO TO KATIMA MULILO 360 km

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me ..... it was great to receive birthday cards and messages from all of my family & friends.

We started out today by following the Okavango river north before crossing once more into Namibia. Just after the border there's a 20km stretch of gravel road that runs through Babwate Game Reserve. Where we see an elephant on the side of the road, stop to take a picture but it starts to get aggressive so we move off pretty quickly, there now seems to be even more goats mules & cattle on the roads that we have to stop or avoid, We then turn east and ride through the Caprivi Strip to our overnight stop on the banks of the Zambezi river at the beautiful Caprivi Mutoya Lodge.

26 MAY - DAY 18 ON THE OKAVANGO RIVER on the houseboat DeltaBelle

Not too much to tell you today, I am still in a reasonable amount of pain from my accident yesterday, but am hobbling around. Went on a boat trip today looking for hippo's, we eventually found a couple and they move surprisingly quickly into the water, not to be seen again, then we came across a small group in the river, but the most that you see of there are their heads or snouts. We also saw elephants, lots of crocodiles, and numerous bird species. then we tried our hand at fishing for tiger fish, we caught 1, and I had a bite that was so strong that the rod I was holding broke in half and the fish got away. The tiger fish that we caught we later cut into to pieces and used this to call down a couple of fish eagles.

Decided not to ride tomorrow, which is our 2nd last riding day, and rest my ankle & knee, again photos may not be so good as all I have to use is my phone & a couple from my travelling buddies.

25 MAY - DAY 17 MAUN TO OKAVANGO RIVER 380 km

I woke this morning to the sounds the animals living in the surrounding bush, it never seems to be quiet but the sounds are so unlike anything at home, so many different birds, some that  that sound like you are hitting a metal bar, baboons calling and fighting, and so many other sounds that I cant identify. After returning from Odballs Camp we set off to retrace our route for about 90km as we head to the western side of the Delta before turning north on a narrow tarred badly pot holed road that runs parallel to the Okavango river. the road was so bad and had so many animal hazards, goats crossing, donkeys wandering haphazardly down the road, that we averaged less along this stretch than when travelling along the sandy dirt roads. We stop about 30km before the Namibian border at a lovely river camp on the banks of the river. We'll be here for another two-night stop to enjoy the birdlife, fishing and beauty of this part of the Okavango. overnight on a luxury riverboat on the Okavango river, provided by Askiesbos Bush Camp. 

I did have a miner mishap on my way into the camp going through some heavy sand I had to avoid hitting a cow and ended up swerving off into the bush, I have twisted mu ankle and knee but can rest up for the next 2 nights.

some photos are from the night before showing the everchanging sunset, magnificent.

24 MAY - DAY 16 ODBALLS CAMP - OKAVANGO DELTA

As I write this I can see a herd of Zebra, 2 Elephants and a few springbok & baboons in the clearing near the river in front of the rest area in camp. So the next morning I awoke to a brilliant sunrise then watched a troop of baboons crossing the open ground in front of camp, we then went on a morning safari walk before breakfast.

what can I say about the walking safari looking for the lion that we heard during the night, it was great for the first hour, for the next hour it was hard, by the third hour I was saying leave me for the lions, save yourselves... it ended up being a 3 1/2 hr 10km walk through the open veldts, high grass, bush and sand. we certainly saw a lot of animals, and learnt about the African bush, again most of the animals were at a distance, and I think a motorised safari would have been more enjoyable for me, and we would have hot closer to the animals.

Oddballs Camp is situated deep in the heart of the Okavango Delta, where all activities are led by men from the local communities. The camp is remote and offers a private safari experience with breath-taking views and sunsets. Accommodation is in 3m x 3m canvas rooms set on elevated wooden decks shaded by the trees and canvas shelters, outdoor showers and ablutions en-suite with a bucket shower. At the bar and lounge areas at the camp there is a raised viewing deck that overlooks the sweep of the Delta from where you can watch the sun set over the palms and view whatever wildlife may be visiting. There is no phone or internet, but I've enjoyed just relaxing for a couple of days and taking in the views b(except for the walking safaris).

The morning and evening views of the countryside are just stunning, WOW.....