Matapos national park

At Matopos we were treated to a day of following rhino on foot! This was completely exhilarating as we all know how dangerous rhino are - they:

-  are the second largest land mammal after the elephant

-  can be between 140 and 172cm's tall (that's my height!)

-  weigh on average 1700kgs (that's not my weight!!!)

-  run at speeds up to 50kms per hour

-  have really terrible eye sight (due to the positioning of the eyes) but excellent sense of smell

-  have two horns which  are worth $750 000. The horn is made of keratin  and if it is removed will re grow (much like our fingernails) within 3 years (therefore there is actually no reason to kill them!)

Our guide was previously a hunter, but now primarily does the rhino tours. He was so knowledgable and took us around stalking these animals for hours in the heat. He was always on the prowl for tracks and also said rhino have a very distinct smell so was sniffing them out too. 

We battled to find the rhino and we actually  stumbled across these bones, which was a rhino that was killed by a poacher a few months ago. It really hit home. 

(Walking thought the national park)

There are some beautiful rock formations in the park, as well as some SAN painting in the caves. The views from up in the caves was incredible! 

And then EVENTUALLY we spotted the rhino! Isn't this incredible! Look how close we got! I must admit I was quite terrified but I got the pics that look like I was so relaxed! That's all that is important ;) 

It was such a fun experience to track these rhino on foot... And even though we did manage to spot so many more on our trip through South Africa it was completely different to do it outside of the vehicle/our comfort zone!

Another awesome experience in zim ;)

Antelope park

One of my favourite memories of the whole trip in Africa was Antelope Park in Zimbabwe. It is home to the ALERT program which aims to increase the numbers of lions in Africa and release the bred lions back into the wild. 

The link to the website is here:

http://www.antelopepark.co.zw/

There were sooo many options presented to us and after deciding I was going to 'just have a facial and nothing more' I then signed up to the full package, and it was so worth it!

Included in my package was the following:

- the ALERT program introduction and viewing the facilities 

- lion cub interaction

- lion walk

- horseback safari; and 

- lion feeding.

The first on the list was the program introduction - which was perfect to start with. We walked through the facilities and were shown the lions of various ages/stages in the program. Our guide was so knowledgable and told us so many interesting facts. It was fascinating to walk amoung (behind the fence of course!) the wild lions who would have LOVED to have us for breakfast!

Just look at those hungry eyes!!! The man who funds/runs the farm actually lost his arm to one of his lions and they have had a couple of injuries in the past, but they keep you well informed of all the safety procedures in order to ensure these don't happen again.

We had Pete in our group, who had contracted a foot infection and was being pushed around in a wheel chair, and immediately the lions 'sensed' this weakness and ran to the fence. They were intrigued by him and jumped and growled at the fence, which made our tour fabulous! Thanks Pete ;)

After this tour my heart was racing and I was so excited for the lion cub encounter! In our little group it was Dave, Cat, James, Lulu and I - we were so lucky that the little cubs were up on the platform when we arrived which was the perfect height to be able to stroke them, and the perfect setting to ensure you can approach from all angles (it is very important to only approach from behind otherwise they take eye contact as a challenge and might become aggressive).  

The cubs are used to human contact, but they are still wild animals and I ended up with a few scratches and claw marks on my arm - I still have the scars!  They are very confident and strong willed, so when they started to misbehave a little we were told to quickly move away until they had relaxed again. I know we seem very calm but they were actually quite scary, even though they were only a few months old! 

Next was the lion walk where you go on a daily walk with the lions who are about 12 to 18 months old. They are at an age where they are encouraged to hunt and to become more 'wild'. Just a few guests at a time are allowed to go out and walk with them at sunrise and sunset while they chase the zebra and impala. This was also quite scary as the lions are now at an age where they can attack without much warning and so there are so many rules you must follow to ensure you are safe!

The next morning was the lion feeding. The lions are given bits and pieces from various animals, collected from the local farmers... It is disgusting, it smells and you feel ill just looking at it - but wow - what a performance! The lions all run towards the meat and the less dominant males will grab a piece and settle far away from the original spot. The more dominant males will fight for the meat and eventually one will win, who sits and eats until he is full. He will then move off and the others will move in and have their portion too. 

We were so close to the fighting males and Emma even got intestine juice splattered across her face! That made me feel so sick but I didn't want to miss out on the action so stayed right up against the fence to make sure I didn't miss a thing ;) one of the male lions attacked me while I was filming and I absolutely pooped myself! Makes for a good movie but I was terrified!

The last activity was to go on a horse back safari, which was fun, but no where near as exhilarating as the other activities!

Our friend did the elephant encounter and seeing that - I wish I had of chosen that instead! She had such fun with them and got some one on one attention with them. It looked amazing, but I am sure I will have some elephant time soon in Asia!

Antelope park, as I said, was definitely a highlight for us all and I would recommend to anyone who passes through Zim! It was truly and amazing experience to be so close to the King of the Jungle!

What amazing memories!!

Zimbabwe - houseboat

We arrived ion Zimbabwe too super slow border control with hand written visas! The owner of the houseboat was waiting for us and said the boat was fully prepared for us - he even arranged, at the last minute, for cold savannah to be waiting for us ;) bliss. 

The truck transferred us to the houseboat which was huge. It could sleep 24 people and had a swimming pool at the back (wire cage to swim in go keep you away from the crocs and hippo) and a jacuzzi up on the deck. The deck was also filled with sun chairs waiting for us to soak up the sun!

On the first day we all jumped on board and immediately put on bikinis to swim and went to soak up the sun. Exactly what I needed after the loooong drives preceding this!

The boys (unsuccessfully) tried their hands at fishing hoping to catch us some delicious fish for dins, but unfortunately no luck this time - although there were a lot of bites the net holes were just too big and all the crayfish went straight thro!

Once we docked on the shore line we spotted elephants, monkeys, crocs and buck walking rigt by our boat our own little mini safari!

At 5.30 we all grabbed a few beers and headed out onto lake Kariba to watch the sun set. It's so beautiful floating on the water watching the sun set right in front of you with the water looking like it is on fire. 

The boys tried fishing again but again had no luck! Just a few smaller fish were caught but they were throw back - no chance if it feeding 16 of us hungry kids ;)

The chefs on board really spoilt us with the most amazing meals - after 3 weeks of no oven/stove/kitchen we were in heaven! 

That eve we just sat on deck playing card games and enjoying the local brew ;)

After a few attempts the boys lined the fish net with a mosquito net, got out their sewing kits and tacked it together and VOILA the great problem of he holey fishing net was solved... And the started to catch the big guys!!

Swimming at the shore is not allowed due to all the very hungry crocs that circle the boat, but once you are away from shore they captain allows you to climb out his window and jump from three stories up into the water. It is quite scary -

1) it is croc and hippo infested water and

2) it's so high!

But I did it ;) obvs! A few if the best action shots below!

(That's tave and me!)

Again the sunset was amazing!

As it was quite windy that night the game drive was postponed to the next morning a d we all hopped on board the smaller boat trying to find some of the local wildlife! 

Of course in boy vs girl fishing completion we won ;)

We all left he houseboat extremely reluctantly... What an amazing three days!