The Elephant Camp--September 22-24

Elephant Camp: Elephant Camp is next to Zambezi Wildlife Preserve.

 It serves as a preserve itself. They have rescued elephants that are used to people and have handlers that care for them. They sort of come and go to the watering hole as they please. There are herds of hoofed animals. And they have very famous, Sylvester the Cheetah. We were greeted by Bradley and Annie. Bradley and Annie used to work at Imbabala. Bradley is the son of the owner of Wild Horizons. I was so out of it, but they were so kind. We did take a quick shower and change of clothes. An elephant encounter had been arranged for us and I couldn't miss it, no matter how sick I was. So, we ambled to the meeting place and we learned about Jambo and the other elephants who were all rescued from poaching events, which is very sad. But, they are safe on these lands for the remainder of their lives. C'mon though ... after seeing these animals, gentle souls ... look at their eyes, who can consider killing them. We had opportunity to take photos with Jambo, but on his schedule.

When he was tired, we were done. I went back to the room and became unconscious on the bed.

The Musician went out for a sunset drinks overlooking Rapid #9. He said it was another beautiful African sunset.

He also got to have his first meeting with Sylvester.

 Sometime in my haze, I was brought soup and housekeeping closed the tent windows and pulled down the mosquito netting.

I was still pretty puny the next morning, but better. Unfortunately, everyone else was beginning to feel puny. We were scheduled to go to Victoria Falls National Park, but we were all moving slowly and hoped we would have time the next day before departures. So, we had a leisurely morning and met Sylvester. Sylvester was found as a baby. Some rangers saw a Cheetah being chased by a Lion. When they investigated, they found 4 cheetah cubs only a few days old with their eyes still closed. Only Sylvester was alive. The others had been killed by a lion. They waited for a day and watched The female Cheetah never returned. They think she gave her life saving her baby. So, Sylvester came home to live with people. As he aged, he became too big to be a house-cat, but he thinks he's a person. Apparently Cheetah's are 80% cat and 20% dog, who knew? So they have features of both. Sylvester now lives on the preserve with his handlers that he has known since a cub. He doesn't know he's big, so they have to be careful as he doesn't realize that his claws scratch deep. He gets regular walks and is off leash on the preserve. He is afraid of big animals and if he runs and chases a herd, the herds have been known to turn around and chase him and he runs crying to his handlers who now face a herd of stampeding wildebeest. They say sometimes he takes down a small deer, but nibbles on it slightly. When the stunned animal realizes it's not dead, it hops up, kicks him in the head and runs away ... and he runs back crying to his handlers for protection. Silly boy. He purrs like a machine and allows people to pet him, but he handlers watch and can tell if he's getting tired and don't let him get too much attention.

After meeting Sylvester, we had the opportunity to go to a local market to buy trinkets. OMIGOD!!! It's a madhouse. That's all I can say. We then had lunch and were taken across the border to Zambia.

We saw Jambo and his herd on the way out. Just going where they want to go. Crossing was same as Botswana ... Visa and Passport leaving, walk across, Visa and Passport entering. New car and new driver. And of course, baboons. Then off to Livingstone Hotel, which is a luxurious old style hotel that looks exactly as you would expect an old British hotel in a colony to be. I was certain I took pictures, but I sure as heck can't find them. At the hotel, we boarded jet boats to Livingstone Island and swam to Devil's Pool at the top of Victoria Falls.

 We saw a spectacular double rainbow and had the chance to sit in the pool. This is an eddy at the very top, overlooking the falls, but the water doesn't flow over the falls. Some weird geophysical thing I don't understand. Anyway, we had to make a bit of a swim to get there and once there, we were actually on the edge. I was willing to look over. I was willing to sit on the rocks , but I could not screw up the courage to lay across the rocks and look over. My head was already swimming with the heights.

Then back to Livingstone Island for high tea and warming up. And, back to the hotel to meet our vans. While waiting, we saw monkeys ... of course. But ZEBRAS!!!! Up close and personal. I almost started jumping up and down clapping like a little girl.

We did the double border crossing and then back to "camp."

So, let's talk about this "camp." As I was feeling better, I could really appreciate it more. We did have to call the front desk if we wanted to leave our tents at night ... you know, predators and other big animals that can cause harm. The tent had a 4-poster king bed with mosquito netting and a large sitting area with a couch and coffee table and minibar. From the bedroom or sitting area, there were two sliding doors out to the deck with a spectacular view of the plains and a plunge pool. There was a full bath with great amenities including a separate shower and claw-foot tub and another sliding glass door to a deck with an outdoor shower. I had to ensure that I used each of the bathing facilities and showering outside felt a little (ok, a lot) decadent and devious. But, I was clean.

They also had free laundry service, so all the grunge from sleeping 3 nights on the river was washed away. While we were rafting, Prom Queen had gone to South Africa for a wine tasting tour with her friends that live there. She brought back wine for a tasting and teaching session. I was still too under the weather to enjoy it and I napped. The Musician stayed for awhile, but he began feeling the "crud." When we were ready, we went to the Boma for dinner. This was the first time the Boma at Elephant Camp was serving, so we felt special.  It was a buffet and we had plenty of options. I declined the worms this time. I also declined the local game dishes. How could a person think of eating cute warthog or beautiful kudu or graceful bushbuck? And again, great dancers, but where are my pictures?

We had to call an early night after the dancing was done. Not us (no dancing, too tired), but the local dance troupe. The next morning, it was breakfast and finish packing. We tried to leave early to visit Victoria Falls, but "Africa time" doesn't follow a tight schedule. We didn't have time as we had to deal with the border crossing to get to Livingstone Airport in Zambia for our return home. This is the view we missed.

How I was not ready to leave. There is so much more to see and do. The people are so friendly. The landscape is beautiful. I suppose, we have to make another trip.