Tag: animals

Kouang Si Falls

We enjoyed a few amazing days taking in the laid back vibe of Luang Prabang. It is a lovely place to wander the markets, cruise around on bicycles, or just relax in the surprisingly modern and trendy restaurants and cafes. But the real highlight of our stay in Luang Prabang was a visit to Kouang Si Falls.

Biking around Luang Prabang

Wats on bikes

All the tuk-tuk drivers in town fight for your business to take you out to these falls. We were lucky that we were able to wrestle up a group of people which made it much less expensive, and lot more fun (yep, friends from the slow boat). After the negotiation was settled and we’d piled into our snug transport, we had 30+ minutes of windy, bumpy roads to get out to the falls. When we arrived, hot and sweaty from the cramped conditions and the general steaminess of the country, hanging out by water sounded like a pretty fantastic idea.

The gorgeous drive up to the waterfalls

On the short walk through the woods to get to the falls, we were greeted by the completely unexpected opportunity to see dozens of bears living in a protected (and fenced) area of the forest. I believe they were rescued bears and though they looked like our black bears, they were in fact Asian black bears! Regardless, they were a quite a surprise that we very much enjoyed.

Asian Black Bear!

Bears of the world

So just when we thought it couldn’t get any better than randomly seeing bears on our hike in, we arrived at the first set of falls. Now I’ve seen a lot of waterfalls in my life, but there aren’t too many that can match Kouang Si for water color. These falls were the most amazing blue-green and the best part is, they are perfect and inviting for swimming. Within minutes we had left our hot, sweaty selves behind and plunged into the beautiful turquoise blue. If swimming and floating was too boring, there were the options of rope swings and cliffs to dive off of.

So inviting...

Layer after layer of blue-green falls

Prepping for a rope swing

Our friend, James, heading for a face-first impact

From where we swam, it was just a short walk up to the source of the falls – an incredibly tall and impressive main fall. If you are feeling particularly ambitious, you can hike to the top of that as well but luckily Ted (who likes to climb to the top of everything) had just broken his flip-flops on the mini-walk to the source of the falls, so I got out of a longer excursion that day.

The upper falls

As the afternoon clouds rolled in and rain seemed evident, we managed to pull ourselves away from the amazing oasis, said goodbye to the bears, and piled into our rickshaw back to town. It was a pretty fantastic day.


A Camel Safari

Though we didn’t quite know what a camel safari would entail, we had been told we had to do it. So that’s how we found ourselves in the back of a van being driven for miles west of Jaisalmer into the Thor Desert. We were not sure where we were headed exactly, but it appeared that our final destination was just an arbitrary mile marker (rather a kilometer marker), because that is where we met our guide, his young apprentice, and our camels.

I can’t remember when or if I have ever hung out with camels before, but they are pretty funny looking things. Their facial expression reads a combination of curiosity and ambivalence mixed with annoyance, and they audibly chew their cud at all times. Not exactly cute and fuzzy, but somehow kind of endearing.

Suiting up on Mr. Rocket for our journey

Sideways chomping

Regardless, we were excited about our adventure. Ted’s camel’s name was Mr. Rocket while I was on Johnny Walker. Getting on the camel is no problem as they are kneeled on the ground, but when they need to get up, you’d better be holding on and leaning back or you will surely fall off. We made it up incident free, thank goodness. We were led by our guide and our little helper, who was no more than 12, was pulling up the rear.

Cruising the camel trails

Our guide and his apprentice

As we set off into the desert, there were still signs of civilization for the first half day, but as we continued west, it was just us and the sand. After a couple hours of camel riding, we thankfully took a several hour lunch break. Between the heat of the day and the need to stretch our legs and rest our bums after riding a relatively uncomfortable camel, we were happy to relax and nap.

Relaxing in the shade

Fresh curry and chapatis for lunch!

A couple more hours into the desert and scenery changed completely – rolling sand dunes as far as the eye could see. It was an incredible place to watch the sunset while our guide prepared curry and fresh chapatis for dinner. We slept under the stars on the dunes – no tents or pillows for us, just a simple mat on the sand. We were only a few short miles from the Pakistan border and from where we camped, we could see the glow of the giant spotlights the Indians use to patrol the boundary.

Cruising the dunes

Sunset in the desert

The Dunes

The Dunes at Sunset

The second day we headed back in a different direction to an equally arbitrary finish point as where we started. We’d had a good couple days on our camels, but I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say that we were ready to be done. With super sore bums, a hot shower and a proper sand-free sleep were in order!

Sarah and Johnny Walker

Getting a camel to stand up can be difficult

Kinda like riding a horse, but not really


WTF?!

Where else can you see an elephant in the middle of a big city, and not have it turning heads around every corner.  India’s madness is everywhere

Elephants cruising the streets

More elephants on the street


Eastern Africa Wrap-Up

I think you know the drill by now, but let us start by saying that Tanzania is one of our trip superstars so far.  Below are our favorite things, our least favorite things, as well as some good eating memories and animal sitings (Africa exclusive!).  Check out the Best Of East Africa photos to go along with lists.  Here we go:

The Best

  1. Private Plunge Pool on Zanzibar

    Private plunge pools – A perfectly symbolic representation of being spoiled totally rotten on Zanzibar; we stayed in several spots with private plunge pools alongside our rooms.  This was totally ridiculous and we loved it.

  2. Wind-surfing in the Indian Ocean – This was a Ted-only activity but it was fun to watch him and I know he dug his first ocean wind-surfing experience.
  3. Exploring Stone Town alleyways – Fascinating and fun.
  4. Welcome to camp song and dance – Upon reaching camp on Kili some days, the porters would gather together to sing us a congratulatory tune.  Not everyone’s porters did this so Ted and I couldn’t help but appreciate the sentiment.
  5. Views from Baranco Camp on Kili – We arrived when it was cloudy but it proceeded to clear up and the views were stunning.
  6. Summiting Kilimanjaro at sunrise – The coolest thing I’ll never do again.
  7. Visit to a Masaai Village – Talk about a unique experience, we got to spend an afternoon learning about the indigenous and nomadic Masaai people who still live as traditionally as modern society allows.

    Masaai Village Visit

    Yes, some folks now have cell phones and venture into the city, however, polygamy is still practiced, cow blood is a staple in the diet and cow herding is the primary occupation.

  8. Safari sunset – Watching the sunset from the swimming pool on the first night of our Tanzania safari was perfect.  I knew we were in a for a good time.
  9. Getting off the tourist grid – Camping with the Browns at Lake Chala was something we never would have heard about or come up with ourselves.  What a treat.
  10. Another (relatively) incident free continent – After all the warning and precautions, we are happy to report that we had no illnesses, no transport hiccups, no car accidents, and only one minor theft (for which we were reimbursed).  Africa wasn’t so scary after all!

The Worst

  1. Budget accommodation – When we weren’t living the high life, the budget options in Tanzania left much to be desired. And the were stupidly expensive for what you got.
  2. Missing out on Kenya – What can we say?  We’ll have to go back.
  3. Too many jeeps

    Visa fee – A hundred bucks per person is a lot and when they wouldn’t take one of our bills because it was dated before 2006 (wtf?), it led to a stressful search for more money upon arrival.

  4. Food on Kili – It started off fine enough, but on day 4 after eating a different version of the same thing, it was rough.
  5. Safari jeep overload – When there was a good animal siting, you could be sharing the view with literally two dozen other vehicles.  A little intense and unfortunate for us and, more importantly, the animals.

The Delicious

  1. Zanzibar’s unique and flavorful food – Banana curries, avocado-orange juice, cinnamon, cardamom and clove coffee, jackfruit, coconut coleslaw, and dozens of different sauces made from the local spices for which the island is famous made for lots of incredible eating.
  2. Seafood market in Stone Town

    Seafood dinner market and Zanzibari pizzas – A memorable night perhaps more for the experience than the quality of the food, but still a favorite.

  3. Kilimanjaro beer – Our first beer post-Kili summit with our new Australian friends.  The drink was appropriately named and rightfully enjoyed.
  4. Indian food in Moshi – Post-Kili hike we dined at an AMAZING Indian restaurant in Moshi with our Australian mates.  We felt a little guilty filling up on Indian food as we knew we had a lot in our future, but that didn’t stop us from going back a second time.
  5. Fancy camping food – When Ted and I go camping, dinner usually involves adding water to a pre-mixed pack.  When we camped with the Browns, we had vegetable pasta, chicken curry, wine and gin and tonics.  That’s pretty impressive.

The Animals

  1. Lions in a tree!

    Overall quantity – We realize that this isn’t a specific animal, but the sheer quantity of animals we saw in Tanzania on safari was over the top.

  2. Momma Lion and her cubs – Pretty much the cutest thing ever.
  3. Lion stalking zebras – We saw a bunch of zebras hanging in a watering hole and upon closer look, we saw a lion watching them intently.  Though it didn’t go for the kill, it was exciting thinking it might.
  4. Zebras and wildebeest on migration – Tens of thousands at one time.
  5. Tree-climbing lions – Lions apparently don’t hang out in trees very much, but we saw a group that appeared to like it up there.
  6. Thousands of Flamingos – Every day they fly miles to hang out in Ngorongoro Crater and at the end of the day, they fly somewhere else to sleep.
  7. Packs of male lions – Adult male lions don’t usually hang out together but we saw a large group in the Ngorongoro Crater that proved it happens.
  8. Cheetahs!

    Lotsa cheetahs – Big cats are always a thrill to see and cheetahs had been very rare on our previous safaris.

  9. Black and white colobus monkey – We didn’t see a lot of wildlife on Kili but we saw some unique monkeys on our hike the last day.
  10. Ostriches – What a trip!  I challenge you to watch a group of ostriches running and not giggle.

Don’t forget to check out the Best Of East Africa photos here.


Going on Safari…Again

Don’t get me wrong, safaris are absolutely fabulous. However, Ted and I had done a fair bit of safari-ing in Southern Africa both in Botswana and in South Africa with our parents (about 40 game drives to date). We thought we pretty much knew the ins and outs of safaris and couldn’t imagine that a safari in Tanzania could actually be that different. But we were wrong. Tanzania hit the safari ball out of the park.

On behalf of Adventures Within Reach (AWR), Ted and I tested out a new safari operator and reported back to AWR about the quality of everything from their vehicles and guides to the meals and accommodation provided (once again, best job ever!). To be honest, we probably wouldn’t have sought out another safari in Tanzania ourselves (read: we couldn’t afford another safari), however, I’m glad this opportunity presented itself or otherwise we would have missed out. Big time. In summary, we have never seen so many animals in our entire lives.

Giraffe drinking

Elephants in the sun and shade

We hit the much-acclaimed and popular Northern Safari Circuit, which took us to 4 different protected areas including the famous Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Highlights of the trip include:

  • The scenery – Straight out of the Lion King, the scenery in Tanzania is what you see on National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. Wide open expanses as far as the eye can see with a tree and a rock outcrop here and there.

Serengeti Plains

  • Mobile camps – These camps are basically fancy tents that can be moved seasonally to follow the migration of the animals through the parks. You are literally in the middle of the bush with nothing between you and the lion you saw on your way back to camp. And though these tents may sound rustic, some have flushing toilets, hot-water showers, open bars and amazing food. Not exactly roughing it.

Sunset at Exclusive Mobile Camp

  • Momma lion and her cubs – Our guide got us up early for a morning game drive. Within 20 minutes of setting off, we came upon a female lion in the tall grass with three baby cubs. The little guys were hilarious to watch as they wrestled with each other and lovingly pawed at their momma as she cleaned herself up after a kill. They were too much fun to look at that we couldn’t tear ourselves away.   (Photos on the previous Picture of the Week Post)
  • The Great Migration – We literally saws tens of thousands (of the millions) of wildebeest and zebras in the plains of the Serengeti. They follow the green grass which takes them from Tanzania up into Kenya. Nothing can prepare you for seeing, hearing, smelling and feeling the movement of so many animals in such a small area.

A few wildebeest on the move

A LOT of wildebeest on the move!

  • The Ngorongoro Crater – Part animal happy place and part Garden of Eden. The world famous Crater is PACKED with lions, flamingos and beautiful scenery.

The Crater from above

Lions, chillin in the Crater

Crater pics

The list goes on, and it is long. We were continuously blown away by the animal encounters in these parks, not to mention the African landscapes, our well-informed guide and the unique and varied lodges where we got spoiled each night. We quickly learned that the country’s National Parks and Conservation Areas (which are unfenced, by the way) are packed full of millions of animals who are living relatively undisturbed in the same environments that they have inhabited for thousands of years. Tanzania has a good thing going and for a trip to see big animals, you’d be hard-pressed to do better anywhere else.

Topi

Zebra

More cool animal photos from this portion of our trip can be found in our Best of East Africa photo album


Industry Bloggin’

In addition to having an incredible time on our Botswana safari, I was also blown away by the responsible tourism practices of our local hosts – Wilderness Safaris.   For my latest contribution to World Nomads’ Blog, I gave them some love.  Check out the original here, or copied below.

The Second Government of Botswana – Wilderness Safaris

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how difficult it is to run a responsible safari camp in the remote Southern African bush, and the individual efforts of a few independent lodges.  Now, I want to show you how one large safari company is positively changing the landscape across the entire region through their model of “sustainable conservation through responsible tourism.”

Botswana is home to some of the best safari camps (and wildlife viewing) on the planet.  Famed for the Okavango Delta and the elephant-filled Chobe National Park, Botswana is a top destination on any safari-buff’s bucket list.  And no company knows more about running successful  camps in Botswana than Wilderness Safaris.  Started 25 years ago by a couple of rangers and a single Land Cruiser, Wilderness has grown to operate 60+ camps across southern Africa, with over 25 in Botswana alone.  The company’s active role in politics, conservation, tourism, and community development has earned them the nickname, the Second Government of Botswana.  The company’s commitment to sustainability has earned them the reputation of a world leader in responsible tourism.

“Wildness Safaris is first and foremost a conservation organization.  The reason we exist is to protect pristine wilderness areas and the biodiversity they support.”  Not too many for-profit companies have conservation as their core mandate.  Wilderness’ sustainability focus goes well beyond the environment – their commitment to the people and communities in their areas of operation has brought about unparalleled opportunity, education, skills, and jobs, with the vision of making “a difference in all people’s lives, by enabling them to find new paths, and leaving a legacy of conservation for our children.”

Children in the Wilderness

Ok, so we’ve established that the company is committed in their mission and vision.  But what are they actually doing on the ground in Botswana?  Too much to tell in this single post.  I’m going to completely ignore the operational sustainability aspect of their lodge and camp operation (responsible management of waste, energy, water, etc), as I covered some of those initiatives in my previous post.  Here, we’ll focus on the conservation and community initiatives of the company’s non-profit arm, the Wildlife Trust.

Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust currently supports 43 projects across 6 Southern African countries.  The projects fall into one of three project areas: Research and conservation, community empowerment and education, and anti-poaching and management.  A few project examples:

· Botswana Rhino Relocation and Reintroduction Project – Due to poaching, rhinos were all but extinct in Botswana until the Trust, in conjunction with Botswana’s Wildlife and National Parks Department, began an anti-poaching and relocation project to bring rhino numbers back up in the region.  In addition to relocating animals, researchers closely monitor the rhinos, their adaptation to the new environments, and their breeding patterns.  Similar reintroduction projects are also being carried out by the Trust in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

· Children in the Wilderness – Wilderness Safaris’ flagship community education program brings groups of rural kids from surrounding villages to Wilderness camps (which have been closed to the public) for a 5-night stay, where they participate in a life skills and environmental education program.  Topics include wildlife, conservation, health, HIV/AIDS awareness, nutrition, life skills, geology, and arts and crafts.  Through leadership development, Children in the Wilderness aims to facilitate sustainable conservation throughout the local communities.  Over 3000 children have participated to date.

· Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit – This team of individuals has been fighting poachers in the Vic Falls region for over 10 years.  Still a rampant problem in the area, the crew fights back though removal of animal snares (devices used to catch animals), treatment of animals injured by snares, and through direct arrest of poachers (436 were apprehended in 2009 alone) within the region.

And there are some 40 other projects funded, monitored, or executed by the Wildlife Trust.  The scope of positive impact is astounding, and these efforts are funded almost entirely by Wilderness Safaris and their guests.

With over 2500 employees, over 2.8 million hectares of wilderness under their watch, over 40 Trust projects operating simultaneously, all while running over 60 safari camps and a bush airline, Wilderness Safaris’ infrastructure may just rival that of a small country.  It’s a good thing that this “country’s” people are putting conservation at the heart of their economy.


Picture of the Week

Petting cheetahs.  You know, a regular day in Africa. :)

Petting Cheetahs

Petting Cheetahs


The Elephant Coast (via Swaziland)

Swaziland is a teeny, tiny little country in Southern Africa that most people have never heard of – look on a map and you’ll see that it is nearly encompassed by South Africa. They have a much-loved King (with many wives), their own currency, and a lot of national pride. We didn’t get to experience much of what Swaziland has to offer but we did spend a night there and enjoyed the beautiful green hilly scenery from the car on our shortcut through the country to get from the Kruger Park area to South Africa’s Elephant Coast.

Swaziland's green rolling hills

Swaziland from the car

Spanning the northeastern seaboard, the Elephant Coast is a popular vacation destination for JoBurg folks looking to escape the big city. St. Lucia is the main hub around these parts and thanks to its location on the Indian Ocean (rather than the Atlantic), the water temperature is much more inviting for swimming than we’d experienced at the other beaches in South Africa.

Elephant Coast

Elephant Coast

One of our favorite days with Martens was a bush-to-beach-to bush experience. At the iSimangaliso Wetland National Park, you have the opportunity to self-drive your car through an incredibly beautiful and world-renowned wetland landscape, where you see everything from kudu, to zebra, to rhino, to hippos – only to end up on an amazing strip of white sand beach where you can swim, surf, and snorkel. We picnicked along the beach and then took turns swimming in the beautiful blue water and snorkeling along the small reef near shore. When we’d had enough sunshine for the day, we piled back in the car to look for more animals as we headed towards town.

Kudu

Picnic on the beach

Cape Vidal

Bush to Beach to Bush

I can’t imagine there are too many places in the world where you can see a rhino in the morning, eat lunch with monkeys in the trees overlooking the beach, swim with fish, and then spot dozens of zebra and warthogs on your way home. What a day!

Family photo


Safari Upgrade

Wanting the Martens to have all their animal questions answered, we spent a few nights just outside  Kruger Park in the Thornybush Game Reserve at Kwa Mbili Lodge.  The owners were a South African man and his American wife who had both worked for IBM for years in California before deciding to do something different.  Very different.  They are now raising their two young daughters in the bush and hosting visitors from all over the world at their lovely property.

We had an amazing few days at Kwa Mbili, with several different incredible guides.  Our first, AK, was a South African version of the Crocodile Hunter.  He’d been a guide for decades and it was what he was born to do.  He loves the bush and the bush loves him.  At one point we got out of the Land Cruiser and pursued a rhino on foot before it got away from us!  That was a first!

AK and a tortoise

Our second guide was a man named Ocean.  Though a man of few words, he showed us all the animals.  Ted’s mom was bound and determined to see a lion and Ted and I were crossing our fingers that it would happen.  Within 10 minutes on our drive with Ocean, we rounded a corner to see a gigantic male lion within 10 feet of the road.  Needless to say, Sarah (Ted’s mom) was thrilled as were we all.  Ocean also almost got us run over by an aggressive charging male elephant.  Luckily we were able to reverse fast enough to avoid his pursuit!

King of the bush

This guy was enormous

Ocean delivers the animals

However, our most memorable animal sitings occurred with Kwa Mbili’s owner, Neil, as our guide.  With loads of help from our mighty tracker (a local man experienced in finding and deciphering animal tracks), we were able to see a cheetah (our first!) with his kill.  In fact, the baby impala was still alive when we came upon them.  It was amazing how close the animal allowed us to get to him and how intricate and beautiful the spots are on his body.

Cheetah with a fresh kill

Resting after a big feast

And a top highlight for sure was on our last game drive at the lodge.  After our sundowners and on the way back to the lodge, we came across a leopard in our headlights.  He was literally walking across the road and we couldn’t have had better timing – 5 seconds earlier and it would have still been in the bush and 5 seconds later he would have disappeared in the other direction.  We stopped in awe and he proceeded to walk by us within feet of the car.  I don’t think any of us were breathing at that point.  It was a totally incredible sighting and the perfect way to wrap up our time in the bush.

A bit close for comfort?


Goodbye Graces, Hello Martens

As the Graces were in mid-air back to Ann Arbor, Ted and I were once again at the Johannesburg International Airport (visits 4 and 5 of 10) to welcome our second round of parental visitors.  Similar to the Graces, it was the Martens’ first time to Africa and we so appreciate them coming so far to be with us.  Rob, Sarah (Ted’s mom is also named Sarah!), Ted and I have traveled together several times before, so we knew we were in for a good time.

We spent our first couple of nights in the Drakensburg Escarpment, in an amazing hilltop accommodation that Ted and I had identified while previously driving through the area during my parents visit.  Though none of us have been there, we imagine that the surrounding landscape was similar to the Irish countryside – lots of green, rolling hills.  We spent a whole day driving a scenic loop through the region taking in waterfalls, rock formations and exploring caves.

Could be Ireland?

Drakensburg Escarpment

Blythe River Canyon

Sarahs

We then ventured into the Kruger Park for a couple days of self-driving safari.  As Michiganders may spend vacation time on a lake Up North every year, many South Africans make an annual trip to the Kruger Park.  You stay in the park, you drive around looking for animals all day (drinking beer optional) and you BBQ in the evenings.  We channeled our inner South African and did exactly that.  Though Ted and I knew a little bit from our previous safaris, we were by no means a wealth of information, so we opted to do a ranger-guided night drive.  It was totally worth it as we finally saw our first rhino!  Ted and I had been on safari for a total of 18 days (between Botswana and South Africa) so it was long overdue.  Those things are ridiculously intimidating and very pre-historic looking.  The good news is, we had many more rhino spottings still in store for us!

Self-drive safari treats

Self-drive safari treats

Rhinos!

Hyena


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