Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cats!!!

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Meeting some of the other residents in the park.

Giraffe with hitchhiker.

Breastfeeding elephant

Hippo after his mud bath

Warthog

Spotted Hyena

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

And plenty of birds too...


Yellow-billed Stork

Saddle-billed Stork

 

[craven morehead]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Sign me up for this TR !! :mrgreen:

 

[craven morehead]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Fantastic - I just love Cheetahs - love all the predators, but Cheetahs are the favourite!

Thought you might like this pic FM March this year I was lucky enough to have a play with these juvenile Cheetahs :mrgreen:

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

In the wild one never knows what onbe will see.

Lion in a tree?

Off to you its pride

And for some play....

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

And at last the elusive leopard, chilling on a branch and waiting for lions to move on.

This leopard was spotted following hearing alarm calls from monkeys and looking where they were looking.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

And after dark... We saw quitea range of animals including the same leopard again, but it is not always possible to geta good pic of what you see at night in part due to the lack of light and also as sightinings tend to be more fleeting.

The African Civet

Porcupine

Hippos can walk 10km at night to graze.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Feeling hungry?

Food is freely available as you drive as enterprising locals sell all sorts of then from cooked corn.....to at one spot deep fried chips to rat on on a stick.

Yes that was BBQ Rat on a Stick. The local passing truck drivers loved them....

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Broken transmission axle on a road with no auto-workshops for hundreds of kms?

No problems!!! When the other Land Rover suddenly broke down on a road remote from any repair businesses Jan our mechanic worked out wahtthe problem was in two minutes.

Broken transmission axle.

When asked how long to reair it he stated "One beer". And true to his word 15 minutes later the broxen axle was removed and the spare installed and we were ready to go again.

Amongst the vehicle we had a huge range of spare parts incling an engine cylinder.

Earlier in the trip a starter-motor also failed work. Jan swapped it over over lunch with no time lost. Ceratainly having you own mechanic ona trip like this made lifea lot easier.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Our last campsite of the trip. Quite sad really, but a beautiful location.

Well after 4 weeks of driving we reach Livingstone, Zambia. Home of amongst other things the famous Victoria Falls.

So it was time to bid a not so fond farewell also to our bed for much of the last four weeks...

And to our much more comfotable bed for the next two nights in our riverside room at the Waterfront Hotel, on the Zambesi River. Complete with scattered flower petals!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

With a short morning drive from Livingstone to log up over 4500Km of driving since we started we at last reach our goal destination of the Victoria Falls.

With Victoria Falls Bridge on the left.

From above the falls

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Our last night with our support team of Amanda and Jan from African Expedition Support and what better way to celebrate than an evening Sunset Cruise on the Zambesi River to share laughs and memories.....anda drink or two. Well actually quite a few!!

Off on the Lady Livingstone.

Enjoying a G&T as the sun starts to set

While Jan prefers a beer...

A big Zambezi Sunset!!!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

The next morning dawned, and so did the next phase of our trip where we were travelling alone.

We had yet to see any rhino on our trip an so we booked into a walking safari. This was not just to see rhino, which were an excellent chance but also to see the wildlife, tracks, and bush froma different perspective. With no engine noise you heard more as well.

And yes we got up close on foot to two rhino. A mother an an 18 month old calf and only 10m away. At first the mother backed away, but as she grew at ease with our prescence she and/or the calf kept walking rowards us feed, as if we were part of herd. Our guide had to keep moving us back to maintian a 10m separation.

When you know that rhino can flip cars, there is a real thrill to be so close to them with nothing in between....

Thet soon became at ease with us, and resumed feeding.

And on driving back...

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Off to Choebe National Park in Botswana.....by taxi and then speed boat to cross the Zambezi River into Botswana.

We had crossed national borders before by boat, but never in one as small as this.

 

[amaroo]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

WOW, terrific TR.

Not many TR's make me envious ... yours certainly does!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

And speaking of boats, one of the great reasons to visit Choebe is to watch game from one. And no bumps or dust!

The park is particularly known for its large heards of elephants, but there is also a wide variety of wildlife.

And the float gets right up on the banks when required to get up close and personal

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

Crocodiles..

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

And as the sun starts to set it is back to our accommodation, The Old House, which wasset on the river with its own jetty.

Sunset from The Old House.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

And with the rising of the sun it was off on a game drive. This time on a landcruiser with three rows of viewing seats.

And whata game drive it was.

Two lions were soon spotted and then a female and the male came right towards us..

.. including a dash past us!

You can see the female here and note the dust trail she is leaving.

Looking around with my binoculars I spotted 4 more female lions, part of the pride off in the distance aminly sitting but occassionaly walking. I pointed these out to our guide and we returned later and they were still in the same location. Our guide thought that they probably had a fresh kill there and were staying with it. As it was not near a track we could get no closer as you need to stick to the tracks as you do in all national parks (some private reserves allow their own vehicles to go off-road).

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Nairobi to Cape Town & Kruger too: Plains, Wines and Automobiles (4WD) & yes Cat

And a lot more as well.

Kudu

Kori Bustard

Little Bee-eater

Vulture

Monkey and babe