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On the 5th of August, after a one night layover in Johannesburg we hopped a short 55 minute flight to Hoedspruit and were picked up at the airport for a 45 minute drive to Umlani Bush Camp, an off the grid camp located in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve located in The Greater Kruger National Park open system.

The Greater Kruger is essentially an extension to Kruger National Park. It lies in the west and shares a 50km unfenced boundry with the park and is made up of a parchwork of private game reserves measuring 1,800 square kilometres, all under the umbrella of the Associated Private Nature Reserves.

The Timbavati Reserve and surrounding area has never been permanently settled from the stone age down to the 20th century so the lands have been barely touched and therefore the area is regarded as truly pristine and unspoiled and is considered to be genuine wilderness. At approximately 534 sq kms The Timbavati comprises over 1/4 of the land area of the Greater Kruger and protects black and white rhinos, pangolins, saddlebilled stork, southern ground hornbills and many other species.

And lots of lions!

Umlani Bush Camp is completely off the grid and can accommodate a maximum of 17 or 18 people. They have two beautiful uncovered Toyota Land Cruiser safari trucks that can seat ( in individual bucket style seats) a maximum of 9 people in a 3x3x3 configuration. They are super comfortable and everyone has superb viewing lines.

The camp is all inclusive with three delicious meals per day, drinks and two game drives daily. Morning from about 6:15- 9:30 am and late afternoon from about 3:15- 6:30 pm. The mornings are cold so everyone is provided with thick blankets and hot water bottles. A nice touch.

Breakfast and dinner is served in a cozy traditional boma/dining room while lunch is served in a bushbar and deck on the edge of the Nharalumi River (dry this. time of year) and overlooking a waterhole above the opposite side of the river bank. It was a great spot to relax between drives, play some cards and watch the variety of animals that would stop by for a drink from the waterhole.

On the first afternoon drive after our arrival we were treated to giraffes, elephants, kudu and a wide assortment of wildlife but the icing on the cake was a small pride of three lionesses, one male and four very cute four month old cubs.

After and excellent dinner we hit the sheets early and were lulled to sleep by roaring lions in the distance.

5:30 in the morning comes quickly and we made our way to the boma where the fire was roaring and pots of hot coffee lined the exterior of the fire.

With the sun poking up over the horizon we headed out on our second drive. It was very cold outside but the blankets and hot water bottles took the edge off.

Our first encounter was a den of hyenas. There was one female adult that we could see, a juvenile and a very young newborn. The juvenile would grab the newborn by the neck and try to cart it off and without hesitation the mother would come to the rescue, grab the newborn by the neck and take it back to the den where it would immediately leave and the whole process would start again. What can you say?

Later in the drive we stopped at water hole to excitedly watch a very large white rhino relax upon a hill. The drive was excellent, the rhino was boring but still amazing.

We returned back to camp for a delicious breakfast of coffee, juice and some amazing Egg Benedict.

The camp boasts a “tree house” that sits in front of a watering hole and is located 1 1/2 kms from the camp. Joyce and I spent a night there when we were last there in 2017. Kristina and Lucy opted for an early afternoon two hour visit and were not disappointed.

After our first morning drive while having lunch we were chatting with a nice family from Pensilvania and they told us about witnessing a giraffe giving birth. They saw the legs exposed but didn’t see the whole birth. Something you only see on TV.

On the following morning drive we saw nature at it’s most brutal. A pride of many lions including five dominant males took advantage of the weakened mother and it’s newborn and essentially had a very large meal that lasted them the next two days.

The smell of dead flesh permeated the air. Vultures waited patiently in the nearby trees while the occasional hyena stalked nearby waiting for the feast to end so they could clean up the remaining scraps.

We visited the feline smorgasbord three times over three drives and were amazed how quickly the two giraffes were reduced to skin and bones.

In between visits we encountered a mother White Rhino with her very young offspring, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe, Hyena, Kudu, Bushbuck, Wharthogs, and the list goes on. One drive melds into another so it is difficult to do a daily play by play. Suffice to say we saw the big five, we saw it all but we still haven’t seen a Cheetah in all of our African travels. Maybe next time.

The advantage of a safari drive in a private reserve is you can go off road in pursuit of something deep in the bush. You can get closer. You definitely cannot do this in a national park. I have nothing against the parks, you see wonderful wildlife but sometimes you can’t get as close as is possible.

The ladies skipped the final drive on the morning of the the 9th but I felt inclined to get up at the crack of dawn to go out into the bush and hopefully see something we hadn’t seen yet. We did a quick stop at the lions diner and we came upon four of the five dominant lion males licking at the last remnants. The first time I had seen so many males in one close location.

I have video but no pictures so this part of the story may stay the same unless I can find a good photo to end this story.

Umlani was an excellent experience.

We made our way back to Hoedspruit and connected to Johannesburg.

Kristina and Lucy ccontinued on to Vancouver and we headed off to Malawi.

It was another long drive of about 5 hours. It’s interesting because no matter the distance, it always takes 5-6 hours. Do not trust what Google Maps tells you.

We crossed back into Botswana via the Kazungula border crossing, this time taking less than an hour to cross. Botswana seems to have far fewer entry requirements especially relating to vehicles. We topped up the tank one last time and pulled into Chobe Marina Lodge emptying our luggage from the truck for the final time. Tomorrow the truck will get picked up and I will not have to do any more driving until we head to Malawi. Hallelujah!

We had two nights again at the lodge with our same rooms as previously and within minutes of getting to our rooms Joyce received photos and videos from Kristina showing the crazy Vervet monkey action on their balcony.

Later in the afternoon I was given a slingshot to protect the the bar from the marauding simians while the bartender left to get some supplies.

The late afternoon and evening was spent taking in the views and ambiance of the lodge, having a great dinner and then heading back to our rooms for a well deserved sleep.

The next day was a bit of a sleep-in day and we spent it wandering the main drag of Kasane for a short time (it was close to 33 deg outside) checking out the many artisan booths that lined the road and then a little lunch and relaxation before heading out at 3:00 pm on a fantastic private game drive into Chobe National Park.

There has been an extended drought in Zambia which has greatly affected the water levels of the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers in Botswana.

Because of this the riverside landscape of the Chobe had changed dramatically creating large swaths of land where once the river flowed. I believe more animals have been drawn out into the open (I don’t know if this is a good thing) due to the increased grazing opportunities and the sights were spectacular. Elephant by the hundreds, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe, Waterbuck, Impala, a huge variety of birdlife and the list goes on. Nature seems to adapt.

We made it back to lodge around 6:00 pm, cleaned off the dust, hit the bar for refreshments and a light dinner and let the time we spent in Chobe sink in.

We experienced a small portion of Chobe National Park however our base in Kasane allowed us to to see this amazing place from both the river and the land and it gave us a a wonderful perspective of the wildlife that still thrives in this part of Africa. An experience to remember for a lifetime!

Next up, back to Johannesburg for an overnighter then on to the Timbavati Private Game reserve in the greater Kruger region in northern South Africa.

After a 5 hour drive we made it Monze and our accommodation for the night. The Golden Pillow Lodge. We had stayed here in 2019 and it was clean and very reasonably priced. There was a Roadhouse next door with cold beer so I was happy.

What we weren’t happy about though was when we showed up to check in they didn’t have our reservation. Rather than wasting time trying to sort things out we paid for two rooms (fortunately they had two rooms) and unloaded our luggage.

The restaurant at the lodge was definitely not the type one would take a date to. The dinner menu was fish, chicken and something else so we made our way to the local Hungry Lion to pick up some take out chicken.

Back at the ranch we sat around a covered picnic table and ate an early dinner. The chicken from Hungry Lion is actually quite good and a dinner for four with 12 very meaty pieces with coleslaw and fries cost about $17.00 CAD.

A little later on I decided to pop out to the roadhouse for a couple of cold ones and met and chatted with the head of security at the establishment. His name was Wezly and he was a Rasata with dreads tucked under his tam/rasta cap. He asked if I would like to see them and of course I did but they weren’t what I expected.

The roadhouse was slowly getting busier and one side there were cloth bags containing pork lining the side of a bbq and on the other side another bbq for cooking additional goodies.

It was Friday night and the loud music didn’t stop until 4:00 am but fortunately our rooms were far enough away that music wasn’t too much of a bother.

Breakfast the in the restaurant the next morning was barely palatable so we choked down a few bites and departed to our final stop back in Kasane, Botswana.

We departed Chitake Springs on August 1st after a total of 6 amazing nights camping in the wilds of Mana Pools National Park and made our way to Wharthogs Camp near the shores of Lake Kariba in the town of Kariba Zimbabwe.

I say near the shore of the lake because the water level is at record lows. Where once you could stand on a small wooden platform at the edge of the property and see fish swimming is now a dried plain that extends about 500 metres until the water’s edge.

Waterbuck, Zebra and the occasional Wharthog grazed on the new found plain.

Wharthogs is a funky basic place with good food and cold beer and very nice “safari” style canvas tents where we spent the next two nights with hot showers and a semblance of civilization. And we usually had internet!

I won’t get into the difficulty we had finding the place, we didn’t have a Zimbabwean SIM card so no Google Maps but we made it after about 3 hours of hilly scenic driving on a good road to reach our destination.

Our plan was to go out fishing the next day for the elusive Tiger Fish, referred to as the Piraña of the Zambezi.

Lake Kariba is the largest man-made lake by volume in the world and was formed by the damming of the Zambezi River and the filling of the Zambezi Gorge.

It was the wrong time of year to catch the tigers but we hired a boat anyway and headed out onto the lake to catch the not so elusive Bream that are plentiful. We did head out onto the lake but continued to the shores of Antelope Island where we tied up to the shore and set our hooked worms into fairly shallow waters.

It didn’t take long and we started reelin in the Bream.(any Steely Dan fans!?)

It was great fun and after a couple of hours we made our way back to camp and kicked back for a little relaxation.

Kariba is located in the Charara Safari Area so wild animals roam freely. When the lake was at normal levels many animals would wonder into camp but with the lake so low they had no reason to stop by for a visit but you always hear the grunts and antics of the hippos in the distance.

The two nights passed quickly and we departed Kariba on August 3rd, crossed the Kariba border with little hassle and made our way into Zambia and a five hour drive Monze for a one night pit stop on our way back to Kasane, Botswana.

Well that wasn’t so bad after all.

The last time we crossed into Zimbabwe at Chirundu in 2019 it took us more than two hours of a bureaucratic nightmare to get through. The biggest hassle was filling out the paperwork, several times, for the vehicle TIP (temporary import permit). This time around it was possible to actually fill in all of the vehicle details online on the Zimbabwean eTIP site. I did this in advance and received a confirmation number and this seemed to speed up the process. Along with a “helper” which cost 20 USD and we swore we wouldn’t use to help us this time it took us less than 1 1/2 hours to clear customs and be on our way. We were four very happy campers.

It took about two hours to reach the reception office at Nyamepi where we checked in and then proceeded to get two days worth of firewood.

This is not your typical split log type of wood. This is from the Mopane tree, long and wrangled, and sharp at the ends and extremely dense and heavy. It makes great long lasting fires but we had no idea how we were going to pack all this wood in the truck, which was essentially impossible.

I wish we had taken a photo. It’s the last thing you are thinking about when you’re hot and sweaty and anxious to get going. Anyway, we had a small roof rack with a ratchet strap so we slowly and strategically placed the heavy, sharp logs across the rack, most pointing front to back so the strap would hold them in place and then headed off for an 8 km bumpy drive to our camp, fingers crossed the logs and assorted very heavy wooden fire wood wouldn’t come crashing down on our windshield. It didn’t.

Mucheni #3 Exclusive Camp

What an amazing location! And a huge area all to ourselves with no other campers within at least 1 km.

There is no toilet other than a hole dug in the ground with a half metal barrel on top with a broken toilet seat surrounded by a corrugated pony wall. To use, one had to brush off numerous insect species and hold your breath. There was no water other than the river and our reserve tank on the truck for washing and all of our cooking was done over an open flame/embers.

Our site was situated along the banks of the Zambezi River. In front of us was the Zambezi Escarpment in Zambia We were located at the edge of the river bank and to our left, an open expansive flood plain which attracted a large variety of animals that came to graze including large herds of elephant that would walk down to the edge of the banks and the beginning of the plain that was no more than 40 feet away from us. We had several rather anxious moments when after drinking an elephant would wander over to within 10 feet of us as we sat at our table watching and hoping that they wouldn’t come much closer. An absolutely incredible experience!

There was little to no moon so the stars were phenomenal.

We cooked over an open fire every night and sat in awe at the world around us.

On our last night we watched two lionesses walk past our camp and after a short while lying in our tent and the girls in the bush camper all hell broke loose. Elephants started trumpeting loudly, hyenas screaming to high heaven and loud lion growls permeated our surroundings and then all went quiet. Something wasn’t lucky and became the evening meal for the lions. As joyce and I laid in our sleeping bags we noticed a strong stench beside our tents. The hyenas were passing by us, smelly from the rotten meat they had probably eaten earlier before one of their comrads became lion food that evening.

It is difficult to put into words so hopefully the below pictures will give you some idea of what we experienced at Mucheni 3.

Chitake Springs Exclusive Campsite #2

We reluctantly departed Mucheni on the 29th but we were definitely looking forward to our next two nights at Chitake Springs. This is lion and buffalo country and much has been written and recorded about this unique habitat in one of the wildest and untamed part of Africa.

As with Mucheni we needed to book this site a year in advance. Chitake more so because there are only two public sites available and one tour operated site.

We were initially hoping to book Chitake #1 as we read this was the best site however our site, #2 was a 5 minute walk to the source of the spring while you had to drive to the springs from #1 so in our opinion #2 was the best.

We hired an armed park ranger for our two night stay and did this for two reason. One, there were supposed to be many lions in the area and two, you are not allowed to walk in the area unless accompanied by an armed guide or ranger and to drive to the springs, about 2 minutes, would require packing up our bushcamper which would be way too much hassle.

We arrived at our camp around 1:00 pm and met our ranger.

His name was Robson. Seriously.

Before we could get organized Robson informed us that there were two lions nearby so in +33 deg. heat we trekked off down into the dry bed of the Chitake River, crossed the muddy water created by the spring, clamoured up the banks on the other side, sweating profusely and already feeling dehydrated.

We maybe saw the lions way off in the distance hightailing it into the thick bush.

Once back at our site and feeling lightheaded in the heat we set up camp, had a bite to eat and then took a short walk to the “Fig Tree”, a beautiful shaded area on the upper banks of the river overlooking the spring source and the huge worn path on the opposite side used by the buffalo to access the water from the spring.

The buffalo weren’t there but the river bed was full of elephant, probably 25 or more, impala, warthogs, baboon and an array of birdlife. It was a beautiful site to behold.

Once back at camp we stoked our fire and cooked my famous sliced potato, onion, garlic and butter foil-wrapped concoction and reheated delicious beef sausage that I had cooked the night before in Mucheni. We topped this off with canned baked beans and a side of cold beer and white wine for your quisessential camping grub.

Waking at sunrise everyday and sitting around watching wildlife takes is toll so we hit the sheets early and after a short while listened to the chorus of many lions roaring in the distance throughout the rest of the night.

Sunrise and..

A cup of Nescafe or two and a walk to the fig tree brought us into view of, absolutely nothing. No elephants, no impala, nada, zero. The wind was blowing and it was chilly outside and our ranger figured it was maybe too cold for the animals so we sat for a short while and walked back to camp for breakfast which we shared with a couple of very unafraid Crested Francolins.

At around 9:00 am, just after finishing up our breakfast Robson cocked his ear and told us the buffalo had arrived at the spring so off we rushed back to the fig tree, chairs in hand. This is what Chitake is all about minus the lions.

They stayed at the springs for about 45 minutes and then departed in a cloud of dust up the well worn banks and back into the forest.

After lunch we hiked up to an area with excellent views and a large swath of ancient and huge Baobab trees.

On our way back to camp in the early afternoon we stopped at the fig tree to see if there was any action at the springs, there wasn’t, but we did meet some South Africans who had been at Chitake #1 for a few days and were told stories about the lions that were staying right beside our camp with a recent kill a day earlier and some of the lion action they witnessed from the fig tree. Our fingers were crossed the buffalo would show up late in the afternoon and maybe the lions too.

We returned to the springs later in the afternoon and everything was quiet. Nothing. Nada. A little disappointed but still in the middle of a really wild Africa.

Back at camp we cooked up a delicious spaghetti with basil and garlic tomato sauce, crashed early and fell asleep to a quiet night. No lions roaring. They had moved on to where?

Recently a private camp was established in the relative area and they constructed a huge watering hole which has attracted the buffalo which attracts the lions. The evidence is anecdotal but we have been told by those in the know that the dynamic at Chitake is changing. We hope not.

Our experience in Chitake was amazing regardless of the lack of lions. We are lucky that we experienced this faw wilderness while it is still relatively low level touristed.

Another sunrise and we bid Robson farewell and made our 3 hour journey to Kariba.

Breezes is a basic lodge with camping sites and a few “chalets” located on the bank of the Zambezi River. It has a nice pool overlooking the river with an adjacent little bar with very affordable beer and a small selection of food. It is also the starting point for canoeing trips. We knew about this place because seven years ago we departed here on a great 3 1/2 day, 72 km adventure down the river.

We decided to do this overnight pit stop because the drive from Lusake to Chirundu takes about three hours and the border crossing into Zimbabwe from previous experience can take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours.

We would be heading to Mana Pools NP which all said and done could potentially add another 3+ hours so unless we departed Lusaka at sunrise there was a good chance we wouldn’t make it to our final camping site in Mana until close to sunset which is not what we wanted.

It would also seriously reduce the stress level at the border if it took a long time to cross.

The views across the river at Breezes were beautiful, especially at sunrise and we were treated by evening and early morning elephant visits. Spectacular!

We departed early morning on the 25th of July and made our way to the Chirundu border crossing hoping it wouldn’t take us the possible three hours to cross into Zimbabwe.

The drive to Lusaka was uneventful until we hit the chaos of Lusaka. Fortunately Google Maps didn’t disappoint and we were able to find our pit stop for the next two nights, Ibex Blue Short Term Apartment Rentals.

We had a nice two bedroom apartment in a well fortified compound and it was great because we were a five minute drive to a shopping mall with a Shoprite for grocery shopping and a really cool bar nearby.

We had a late lunch of chicken wings at a so-so bar (we hadn’t found the cool bar that was recommended yet) and then picked up a couple of pizzas to have for dinner back at our apartment and then an early evening after watching some very entertaining Zambian soap operas on TV.

The following day during a well needed long walk we found Grandaddy’s, THE place in this neck of the woods. Had a great lunch there, shopped at a nearby Shoprite for our next six nights of camping and then proceeded back to Granddady’s for some very affordable beers and dinner.

Next stop the town of Chirundu on the Zambian/Zimbabwean border for an overnighter at Breezes River Lodge.

We arrived at Myukuyuku Bush Camp at around 2:00 pm after a five hour drive on the spinal road which hugs the shores of Lake Itezhi Tezhi and the Kafue River. We had stayed here before in 2019 and really enjoyed it so we thought it would be a good introduction for Kristina and Lucy to semi-roughing it in the wilds of Africa.

Our pitch was on the banks of the Kafue River. There are only three sites with river views and we lucked out and had the best site in the area to ourselves for our first three nights.

The river was very low for this time of year but we were still entertained by the local hippos and had frequent visits from several Bush Buck and the ever present Vervet monkeys.

The camp had clean ablutions and hot showers and even a small bar/restaurant a short walk away.

We did do an early morning game drive on our third day but unfortunately the area was quiet so not much to report.

After four nights of great camping and open fire cooking we departed the camp on the 22nd and made our way to Lusaka.

Loaded with food, beer, wine, water, ice and road snacks we headed north from Livingstone to our first stop, the Dumdunwezi Gate entrance to Kafue NP located in the southern end of the park.

The drive to Kolomo was easy and the road was good but once we hit the town things did get confusing.

Our understanding was to turn left once you came into the market area of town. There were crowds and confusion and gravel dusty roads leading in every direction. What did “take a left turn at the market?” mean? So we asked people. Thats what you have to do when you don’t have a clue and we were directed to the Dumdunwezi Road. We hoped.

We really didn’t know what to expect but I don’t think we expected a fairly bad gravel road that would take us another 60+ Kms to the gate.

Not completely convinced we were on the right road and our Garmin not really helping us as it gave us some bogus turn here turn there directions, we stopped frequently to ask any locals we came upon to confirm if we were still on the Dumdunwezi Road to Kafue.

We were always on the right road and we arrived with “ hoorays!” when we arrived at the park entrance sign.

Up to this point everything I read about driving north into the park indicated the spinal road north was really good all the way to Itezhi Tezhi however we were instructed otherwise to follow the road north from the gate as the spinal road was not in good repair.

The interesting thing here is the road we followed north is not named on any maps. It is apparently called the unnamed road. I researched this portion of the drive quite heavily and I was bewildered by the difference in what I read and what was actually true.

That said the drive was effortless and after about less than two hours we arrived at our Lodge for our pit stop evening, Musungwa Safari Lodge.

We checked in, ordered our dinner for the evening, organized ourselves. K and L went to the pool J and I proceeded to the bar where it was us and nobody else. A cool breeze blowing over the swimming pool. The bar, cold and empty, serve yourself I guess. Quiet. Strange. Nice view over the lake but what is lurking underneath? It was a weird scene.

Dinner was very good. Just us four in the restaurant, alone, the theme of the Exorcist playing in the background. The bream fish filet was delicious.

The next morning we had breakfast, met another person who was actually staying here on business, and then got the heck out and headed south around the lake and then north along the spinal road to our eventual destination, Mayukyuku Camp.

On July 16th we departed Chobe Marina Lodge and headed to the Kazungula border where the Zambezi River separates Botswana from Zambia.

The crossing between Botswana and Zambia was at one time notorious for the time it could take to cross, especially if you had a rented vehicle.

It was chaos in the Customs building and it could take two or more hours to clear customs but you couldn’t help but feel sorry for the drivers of the Semi trailers that lined the road for literally kilometres before reaching the edge of the Zambezi River where two barges operated to ferry two to three semis per crossing plus maybe one or two cars. It was nuts and we were told it could take over a week for the semis to finally cross into Zambia.

Well, a new bridge and customs facilities were built and there were no road signs pointing the way to the border crossing. We couldn’t believe that this beautiful new bridge didn’t have good signage. We weren’t sure if we were going the right way and our Garmin GPS pointed us to a turn I didn’t think we should take and fortunately I was right but there were still no signs!

We made it to customs around 8:50 am.

We withdrew some Zambian Kwacha from an ATM near to where we parked (we knew we needed Kwacha for our excess vehicle insurance purchase) and proceeded into a brand new “ORGANIZED” customs terminal.

We were pretty well the only people in the facility and the Botswana customs exit, Zambia customs entry, TIP (Temporary Import Permit for vehicles) process, carbon tax, road tolls etc. took a grand total of about 1 hour. We were so happy because typically it can take over two hours. Being there early helped. If the area was busy we could see that the process could still take a couple of hours as there would be long line ups at each process counter. Free and clear we made our way to Livingstone, about a 50 minute drive away.

We booked one night at Fawlty Towers Hotel in central Livingstone however our Garmin GPS didn’t have the hotel in its data base and we hadn’t yet purchased a SIM card for Zambia so we couldn’t use Google Maps so we weren’t sure where the place was located so we pulled into a Shoprite parking lot to get our bearings and ask for directions.

We hopped out of the truck, had a good stretch, looked across the road and low and behold, Fawlty Towers!

What a perfect location.

After check in Kristina and Lucy headed out on a private tour to Victoria Falls while we hunted down a SIM card.

We had success with getting a SIM card and the girls had a great 2 hour tour of the falls.

We decided to break up our shopping into two trips. In the late afternoon we walked across the street to Shoprite and picked up everything we needed except water, meats, bakery, booze and ice. The heavy stuff and the essential stuff.

Everything was strategically packed into the truck and we again walked back across the street for dinner at the Hungry Lion, a KFC style fast food chicken place with with very good chicken and extremely good prices.

Bed time was early and the next morning we had our breakfast, checked out at 8:00 am and did our final shop at Shoprite to get ice, meat, water, booze and bread then headed out on our journey north to Kafue National Park.