So it begins

Tracking Rhinos

Published Date : January 24, 2005

We had a laid back day on a rhino safari in Hwange National Park. Our guides, Grant and Colin, were excellent and very knowledgeable.  After a fair bit of time tracking the animals, we eventually ended up seeing two separate families.

Interestingly, adult rhinos have very bad eyesight.  Apparently they’re incredibly near-sighted.  The young ones, however, have excellent sight.  The theory is that an adult rhino doesn’t have many natural enemies, but a young one is a target for predators, so it needs to see them coming so that it can survive to adulthood.  Whatever the true reason is, it was neat to see the difference in reactions.  The adults would completely ignore us, while the young ones would be intently following our every movement.

Returning to Bulawayo, it was time for a change in transport.  We boarded an overnight train for Victoria Falls.  We’re nearing the end of our journey to Cape Town and personality clashes are becoming more common.  For the most part I’ve managed to stay out of it all, but my tendency to shun the group has unfortunately caused some of the drama.  A couple of people have taken it as a personal insult rather than just accepting that I need time on my own.  It is what it is…

So, after an odyssey of swapping and changing, I ended up sharing car 2089D with Marika for the night.  The old train certainly had charm with the wood paneling and dated décor.  It was definitely a nice change after days stuck in the truck!

Rushes and Relaxation

Published Date : January 28, 2005

The last four days have been a much needed vacation.  Back in civilization and staying in a hostel, Shoestrings Lodge, it has been a chance for everyone to decompress and reconnect with the outside world.

Victoria Falls is a backpacker mecca in Southern Africa.  There are several excellent adrenaline sport options, the spectacular falls, and Zambia just across the river.  With paved roads, reliable electricity/internet, and hot water showers it was paradise.

I took the opportunity to catch up on my emails, do some laundry, chat with other travelers and even watch some TV!

I also did a half-day adrenaline package.  Due to lack of funds I hadn’t originally planned on doing any of the extreme sports, but the English lads talked me into it.   I ended up doing the flying fox (basically a zip line, but you’re attached from your back so you are parallel to the ground and looking down the entire time) and the giant gorge swing.  The swing was awesome!!  They tie you to a cable that’s suspended over the middle of the canyon.  You jump of a small platform, fall straight down several hundred feet until the cable catches you, then you end up swinging out across the river.  With white water rafters passing underneath you and the falls thundering in the distance, it is an incredible experience.

At the urging of the boys and the guides, for my second go at the gorge swing, I started from a handstand on the platform.  Hands on the edge of the platform, with the river raging below, the guide holding my ankles steady over my head, I let go.  Falling headfirst into the canyon with the cliff blurring by I couldn’t stop laughing the entire way down.  What a rush!

I still love elephants

Published Date : January 30, 2005

Yesterday, we said goodbye to Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe.  Welcome to Botswana!

It was a short drive to Chobe with an easy border crossing.  We’re staying at theChobe Safari Lodge.  The location is stunning with the nearby lake and plenty of wildlife.  There are hippos, crocs, warthogs, monitor lizards and vervet monkeys all over the place.

This morning we were up early for a 6am safari.  We saw plenty of elephants, spending quite some time watching a family wallowing in the mud.  There was one juvenile elephant that took ages to climb out of the hole – it kept sliding back into the mud every time it tried to climb out!  There were hippos everywhere we turned, both in and out of the water.  At one point, we came across a female with a very young baby resting in a shallow pond near the road!

We also saw loads of antelope and impala.  In the afternoon, we tracked a pack of wild dogs for a while, but never managed to catch up with them.  Those would have been great to see!

Rounding out the day with a boat safari, it was back to the lodge in time to enjoy a spectacular sunset across the lake.

Mefloquine Madness

Published Date : January 31, 2005

Last night proved to be a bit of an adventure.  Comfortable in my sleeping bag, just about to fall asleep, I was certain that I heard movement in my tent.  Immediately wide awake, I turned on my flashlight, but couldn’t find anything amiss.  Lying back down, I switched off the light and remained still, watching and listening.  As I started to relax I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.  Once again, I switched on my light, but nothing was there.

Leaving the light on this time, I lay back down once more.  This time I saw it.  It was a monkey clinging to the roof of my tent!  Then another one, and another.  There were now three monkeys hanging down over me.  Except…they weren’t hanging off my tent.  They were just there, floating around in midair.  What the hell??

Completely confused now, I closed my eyes and shook my head.  When I opened them again, all I saw was the fabric of my tent overhead.  What had just happened here??

Then it dawned on me.  I had just experienced a full blown hallucination.  Whoa!  My suspicions have been confirmed.  I am most definitely having reactions to the Lariam.  Trippy!

Surprisingly I awoke feeling refreshed and well-rested.  Knowing that at least some of my random ailments over the last couple of weeks can be attributed to the antimalarial lifted a weight off my shoulders.  While it’s not good that I’m having these issues, it’s comforting to know what is the cause.

Back on the truck once more, we have a 600km drive to Maun today.  It was excessively warm today, well into the high 30s Celsius.  We passed through a couple of checkpoints along the way, but otherwise it was an uneventful drive.

I spent a couple of hours in town picking up food and checking out the post office – I have a lot of souvenirs to rid myself of!  The shipping costs were reasonable, but finding boxes to pack things in proved to be a challenge.  I eventually gave up, hoping that the shipping costs would be similar from Swakopmund next week.

While I was in town, I also finally managed to get in touch with Greg again.  We had arranged some preset times for me to call him over the last few days, but every time I had called his phone had been off and gone straight to voicemail.  Today he finally answered and we talked for about half an hour, but I was left feeling frustrated and confused.  I’m so unimpressed with this passive-aggressive control crap.  Trying to process this with my drug-addled brain is just leaving me stressed and uncertain.

Finishing up in town, I headed back to the campsite and spent the rest of the evening chatting with Ruth and trying not to think about the state of my marriage.