Walking With Giraffes

All night we heard the hippos grunting as they emerged from the water to feed on the grass. Hippo grunts are not pleasant sounds, especially at night. Andrew woke us up at the crack of dawn so that we could see the beautiful African sunrise. Botswana has some of the best sunrises in all of Africa. Once again we chose to forego breaktast and set out on our morning walking safari. We left camp around 7am and headed out to the wild. 

Andrew pointed out the tracks of a wildcat that had come close to our camp last evening, but at the sight off tents and fire ran away. A little further from our camp we saw fresh elephant droppings and a few minutes later spotted a huge male elephant grazing in the bushes right next to us. As we walked further into the savanah we saw more wilderbeast, zebras, and birds. About 2 hours into our walk we spotted a herd of huge giraffes in the distance. We spent the next hour getting close to the giraffes and following them so that we could get good pictures. During our giraffe pursuit we also stumbled upon fresh lion tracks and a zebra carcaus that was probably last nights kill.  

The animal life in Africa is absolutely stunning. You get close to animals that you would never imagine you could get close to. Our safari in the Kenyan Serengeti was amazing, but their is just something different about walking with the animals in their natural habitat rather than tracking them in a safari vehicle. The mokoro trip was amazing because it allowed us to experience both a boat safari and a walking safari, which were two new things for us to experience. We arrived back to camp around 12pm and had one hour to cook lunch and pack up our things for our journey back through the beautiful delta of hippos and reeds. Andrew and I cooked the rest of our rice, chicken, and vegetables and ate out of little ice cream carton. I would say that our first camping experience as a married couple was a wonderful experience, and since we arrived we have been talking about getting another sleeping bag (and mats) and a tent so that we can go on more camping adventures.

We stopped by the hippo pools on our way back to the Mokoro Trust, and the experience was just as scary as the first. I dont think I will ever get used to hippos… We arrived back at the trust in time to snack a bit under the beautiful trees and talk with other travelers about their plans in Botswana. The jet boat from Old Bridge came to pick us up around 4pm and we were on our way back. On the jet boat we saw numerous birds, crocs, and huge moniter lizards. You know you have been in Africa too long when encounters with giant exotic wildlife becomes normal.

Cornelia came and picked us up when we arrived at Old Bridge. We stopped by the store on the way home to buy ingredients for dinner, and headed home to cook some delicious Zimbabwean food. We have not even been to Zimbabwe and we feel like we have already learned so much about the country. We have met and stayed with many people who grew up in Zim and absolutely love it.

Andrew and I have agreed that we will return back to this part of Africa, and make a special stop in Harare, Zimbabwe where we will stay with Cornelia and her friends Reeve, Lolly, and Rachel who are professional golfers from South Africa and started the organization Eyes For Zimbabwe. Eyes for Zimbabwe provides cheap catarct surgeries for Zimbabwean youth who cannot afford the expensive procedure. My goal on that trip is to convince my dad (an eye doctor) to come with us and help prepare the university students in Harare to pass their optometric exams so that they can practice in the field.

Come on dad, lets go to Zimbabwe!

   
                               (Below: Andrew’s post)

We rose early with the sun to start our final bush walk of the trip, and if I thought yesterday’s walk was long, it didn’t compare to today’s walk!

The distance was well worth it. As we walked we saw an incredible African sunrise, with the sun radiating a warm, reddish glow. 

We saw a lot of animals today. We saw wildebeest again, grazing alongside the zebras, we saw another couple elephants feeding in the brush, warthogs dashing across the open plains, and we walked and walked before we finally saw giraffes. 

The giraffes were incredible. There was a family of 7 giraffes feeding on the acacia bush leaves (don’t think the fruit, it’s another species). As we approached they all turned to look at us. Since giraffes are quite tall they spotted us while we were still a ways off, but they let us approach slowly. 

Seeing giraffes was definitely the highlight of our walking safari. We made our way back, the entire walk taking us for 5 or so hours through the bush.

We made it back to the main Mokoro camp quite quickly, and waited for the boat to pick us up to return us to Old Bridge backpackers. By the time the boat arrived, another couple american tourists had also arrived and were waiting for the boat. When the boat pulled up I asked the lady who was boarding if it was the right boat. Her response was that it was, but another boat would be arriving later and we should get on that one. Despite the comment, Kylie and I boarded with their group (there was more than enough seats), and made our way back to the lodge. 

On our way back with Cornelia, we saw a dog straying with a tight cord and rope tied around its neck. Cornelia pulled over and went to help the poor dog, and I jumped out as well to lend a hand. It was a sad sight. The wire and rope had been tied so tightly, and it has become so twisted that the dog was clearly in pain. After a few moments of untying we pried him free and he wandered off slowly. 

Once we got home we had a delicious Zimbabwean meal of pap and stew (pap is like Nsima except Zimbabweans use butter with it) and Cornelia shared with us her conversion story (along with the Mormon message about her). 

Cornelia is the only convert in her family, and was one of the pioneer members when she was in Kasane. She helped organize the church in rural Botswana by organizing weekly group meetings (no sacrament since there was no group leader at the time), and tracking down other members in the area. Their small group of 5 quickly became 25 in the 5 years Cornelia was there. Before the group was formally organized, she spent 5 years taking a 1.5 hour bus to the airport, where she’d fly to Zimbabwe (2 hour flight), to where she’d catch another bus (1.5 hours) to get to church. She did this when she could afford it (every 4 months). It was an incredible story to hear and it made me reflect on how I value the chance to attend church and take the sacrament. Truly humbling.