On the first day of our trip we were picked up from our hostel and taken to a boat launch along the Zambezi River.  Within minutes of being on the river we saw our first hippopotamus.  Woohoo!  Apparently these giant, fat things are the most dangerous animal in Africa, killing more people every year than Africa’s much-talked about Big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino) combined.  We definitely saw a bit of their aggression as one charged our boat when we got too close!

Hippos on the Zambezi

Hippo Charging

They are big suckers

The boat eventually got us safely to The River Club – our home for the next couple nights.  The River Club is a beautiful spot sitting right on the banks of the mighty Zambezi, which ultimately becomes Victoria Falls only a few kilometers away.  The rooms were quite possibly the nicest we have ever, or maybe will ever, stay in and we were pinching ourselves with the upgrade from our backpacker hostel to riverfront fanciness.

Sunset at the River Club

River Club Bungalo

Our guides were both from Botswana, where the majority of the safari would be taking place.  Francis has been guiding for years (decades?) and though he was a man of few words around the dinner table, he was so incredibly informative out in the bush that we were nothing but impressed.  Botho was our safari coordinator who was around to help out Francis and make sure we had everything we needed.

We had a good group and we were extremely excited about our next couple weeks!

Zambezi Sunsets

Zambezi Sunsets