Epic tour of Africa!
Starting in Cape Town, South Africa, they didn’t have the best of weather, so that prevented a trip to Robben Island. I always recommend going up Table Mountain as soon as you can, as weather conditions often close the cable car and they managed to do this on their first afternoon. After a few days exploring Cape Town, highlights including the District 6 Museum to understand the impact of apartheid, Cape of Good Hope and the colony of penguins in Simon’s Bay, they took to the road for a self-drive adventure. They first headed North West to the West Coast National Park, known for its wildflowers in Spring. They next headed to Stellenbosch in the winelands area before driving to Mossel Bay and embarking on the famous Garden Route, staying in Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Tsitsikamma National Park. Along the way they visited townships and game reserves, enjoyed some walks and ate some fabulous food!
Next up was Zambia, flying into Livingstone to experience the power of Victoria Falls – ‘the cloud that roars’! They recommend wet weather gear if you want to get up close and personal – they also saw the lunar rainbow; a phenomenon that can only be seen around full moon. From Livingstone they flew to Mfuwe and spent a few nights at Flat Dogs Camp in South Luangwa National Park where they enjoyed fantastic game viewing and excellent food, plus Peter had memories of volunteering in the area in the seventies – one of the reasons he wanted to undertake this trip. They saw leopards on 3 out of the 4 days and most amazing of all, a pack of wild dogs hunting impala from start to finish. They also saw large groups of elephants with young crossing the river, and 7 lionesses devouring a large waterbuck in the dark watched by hyenas, waiting their turn. As well as twice-daily safaris, Flat Dogs offers walking safaris and village visits – the camp, along with several others in the area, give part of the money raised from tourism to help 600 orphaned or neglected children with their schooling and other local projects. Peter and Ruth were delighted to see their money being used in this way so effectively.
More safari was to follow as my intrepid clients flew on to Kenya via a too-lengthy stopover in Lusaka thanks to an all-too-regular flight change by Air Kenya – not ideal. They got off to a shaky start at Basecamp in Masai Mara with their first tent being of poor quality and feeling unused and unloved. Fortunately, the following day they were transferred to the best tent on the camp, used by Barack and Michelle Obama on their visit to the Mara in 2009. This was quite different – large and spacious with a lovely view of the river from a big balcony with comfy sofas. It was almost worth the previous day's disappointment. That is until they found a snake in the outside shower.....
Following their stay in the Mara, Peter and Ruth’s next stop was Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Their highlight was a 2-hour walking tour of the city, with an impressive local man who turned out to be the designer of all tours. He ended up taking them around for 3.5 hours and they were exhausted! However, it was very interesting and uplifting to see the positive changes and new modern development going on in the city, only 25 years on from the appalling genocide which brought the whole country to its knees. He was so proud of his city and Peter & Ruth were very impressed with how clean and litter-free the city is. They also visited the Genocide Museum, obviously a painful place to visit but with a clear message of hope and reconciliation in the explanation of how Rwanda has begun the long and difficult process of healing and rebuilding trust in the years since.
The grand finale of the trip was two nights in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda, to visit Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat. The trek through the mountainous forest took one and a half hours and was pretty difficult at high altitude in the heat and humidity along steep, muddy, very slippery paths (Ruth fell over twice). It was worth $15 extra to have a porter to carry her rucksack and Ruth was very grateful for his assistance. The trackers found a gorilla family feeding and partially hidden in the long undergrowth. They were allowed one hour to watch and photograph them, following their movement down the steep hillside through the vegetation. There was a large silverback, a female carrying a tiny one-month old baby, and various others including a youngster learning to climb and play in the branches. It was such a privilege to be there with these beautiful endangered animals.
My deepest thanks to Peter and Ruth for giving me such wonderful feedback on the trip and how I can help with improvements for future clients looking to visit these areas. I thoroughly enjoyed researching the trip and ensuring they were looked after throughout their journey.