How Do You Tell A Cheetah From A Leopard?

 The original plan for today was to sleep until I woke up and spend the day at my leisure walking around the falls on both sides.  I was going to walk across the Victoria Falls Bridge and watch some people bungee jump and see the falls from the bottom, even though it's the dry season.  I did part of that.  I slept until I woke up and I spent the day at my leisure.  Both feet were throbbing and no amount of physical therapy techniques or additional meds were going to do anything about it.  I didn't want to spend the day in the AirBNB, though.  So, I decided there was a beautiful pool at the Rainbow Hotel, and I had been invited to come swim in the pool anytime I wanted.  That sounded like a plan.  I put on my bathing suit and got ready for a day at the pool.  I WhatsApped the taxi guy, who had a good laugh, but did come pick me up to drive me the 400 meters (a quarter of a mile) to the hotel.  I mean, if I'm going to be miserable, I might as well enjoy myself!  So, I spent the day poolside or swimming in the pool.  Being in the water actually helped the pain, so I did spend significant time actually being wet.  I had downloaded some shows on Netflix and a couple of books on my phone, so I had plenty of entertainment.  The pool wasn't a very busy place during the day.  I pretty much had it to myself.  Most people were out sightseeing.

I had grilled warthog for lunch.  It was delicious, and the BBQ sauce wasn't bad.  And a touch of Cheeky Chili's peri peri sauce added a bit of zing to it!

There are so many more things I wanted to do while here.  There is a meerkat safari where the meerkats are habituated to humans. (It would have given me the interaction with Timon, leaving only Rafiki on the Lion King characters!)  There's a speedboat that goes under the falls, similar to the boat I had in Argentina on Gran Aventura.  There were more animal parks in Victoria Falls that I wanted to explore, mainly with walking safaris with "hides" where you could sit and wait for animals that would normally be shy around people.  And of course, there is the falls themselves.  I had planned to do all of those things, most of it being arranged when I got here.  But, I guess I'll just have to come back!  I mean, I do still need to get the wildebeest migration to round out the Ugly 5!  And, it's not fair to compare Victoria Falls in the dry season to Iguazu Falls with record rainfall, so there's that, too.  The guys at the Rainbow Hotel tell me that April is a really good time to see the falls with full water and the temperature is still warm enough to enjoy them (though you may not want to do the infinity pools that time of year).  But, I had a pleasant day and grabbed a taxi back to my AirBNB, still less than a quarter of a mile away.

When I got up the next morning, my feet were feeling better, though the right one was still difficult to bear weight, so I was still limping.  Great.  Today was walking with cheetahs.  That's going to be interesting.  They brought out two juvenile, not-quite-adult cheetahs - Zuma in a black harness and Niki in a pink harness.  As the cheetahs were walking us, (Yes, the cheetahs chose where to go.  I just held the leash and petted them.) the handlers explained a lot about the animals to us.  

Cheetahs are highly endangered, especially in Zimbabwe where fewer than 200 remain in the wild.  This breeding program has been going on for some time, and when the animals reach adulthood and are deemed likely to survive in the wild, they are just released into the park.  Until they reach adulthood, they are kept inside or on a leash because they are so vulnerable to attack.  Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animal, but that is their only means of defense from their multiple predators.  Their claws are not retractable, so they are usually worn down and dull, useless in a fight.  Because of that, they are vulnerable to most of the carnivorous predators, such as lions, leopards, and hyenas.  Sometimes even a warthog will take a cheetah cub, though they usually only take smaller mammals when they go for meat.  The cubs don't even begin to start running until they're around six months of age, though, and then they have to learn to build their speed.  Niki and Zuma are learning that in a controlled environment.  They are also learning to hunt and are not put in situations where they associate people with food, only with walks.  Cheetahs are the only large cats that purr, and my how loud that motor runs!  Just listen to him go!  He's loving his rubs!

Cheetahs and leopards look very similar, but there are some key differences.  Cheetahs are taller and sleeker than leopards.  Cheetahs have rings on their tails instead of spots.  And cheetahs have lines on their cheeks that leopards don't have.  The spot patterns on both, however, are unique and have been compared to fingerprints on humans.  

Eventually, they and I got comfortable around each other!

Niki liked to sit up and have her ears scratched.  She would really lean into it!  I was terrified I was going to step on her tail because sometimes she leaned so much she pushed me off balance!

They are shedding their baby fur right now as they're growing into adulthood.  I asked if I could keep it, and the heandlers thought I was joking!!  Imagine!  Me joking about keeping cheetah fur!!  Just so you know, it is now safely ensconsed behind the glass in my shadow box, right under my echidna quills from Sydney and above my bison fur from North Dakota (both of which came off of the animal without any assistance by me, unlike my cheetah fur)!  There are rumors that this place releases animals into hunting lodges.  However, it is illegal to hunt cheetahs in Zimbabwe and they release their cheetahs into the park that borders them.  The rumors may or may not be true with their other animals, but it definitely is not with the cheetahs.  Personally, if trophy hunting is going to be allowed, I would rather there be farmed animals for hunting instead of depleting the wild population.  Farming was a major contributor in saving the American Alligator and it could help some of these other majestic creatures that are being hunted into extinction.

After spending time with the Niki and Zuma, I went back to my AirBNB, rested, and got ready to head home.  I already had made arrangements for the same taxi that picked me up from the airport to take me back.  The difference was that this time, I could barely walk.  When I checked in, the airport staff didn't try to tell me I couldn't take my medical equipment.  Instead, when I told them I could not do stairs, they made me prove I could walk to the bathroom on the plane on my own.  For the most part, I had a pleasant set of flights home, even though they had to bring the truck to retrieve me from the plane in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia because I couldn't walk down the stairs to the tarmac bus.  Chrissy retrieved me from the airport in Seattle, took me to dinner, and deposited me and my stuff in my condo.  She brought me my walker and a nightgown, and I don't really remember her leaving, because I was already out by then!  It was an amazing trip, and I am finally recouperating and preparing for the next adventure!

An Awesome Day in Botswana!

I woke up today feeling better.  Foot still hurts – strike that – both feet hurt today, but not as badly, so I took an extra pill again.  I was able to sleep longer than I anticipated.  I got a WhatsApp from the people doing today's tour yesterday telling me they didn't get the minimum number.  But, for an additional $30, they could switch me to the full day, which includes the drive I booked plus lunch and a cruise on the Chobe River.  I thought that was a pretty good deal, and since there would be very little walking, jumped on it!  Got dressed and got everything ready to go.  The driver pulled up right on time and took me to pick up the rest of our Zimbabwe crew at their hotel.  They were a couple from Tulsa, Oklahoma.  As we were heading toward the Botswana border (through one of the Zimbabwean parks), we came across a herd of elephants crossing the road.  There were a couple of babies in the herd.  

As one of them came and crossed, our driver started talking about how elephants have a gland between their eye and ear, and when that gland secretes fluids, it is a sign that the animal is stressed.  This lady was apparently already stressed, as you can see the fluid running down the side of her face.  As he is helping us find that gland, she starts fanning her ears at us.  We ignored her.  Suddenly, she charged at us.  I initially thought it would be a fake charge like the guy did in Uganda.  Nope.  She kept coming.  She chased us about 500 feet down the road!  They can book!  Our driver pretty much floored it to get away!  This is what an elephant looks like when she charges!

Once we got to the Botswana border, we picked up the other two members of our group – a couple from South Africa, and off we headed to Chobe National Park.  We saw lots of things, and had we seen a wildebeest, I would have rounded out the Ugly 5, too, but I didn't book the wildebeest migration.  The Ugly 5 are the warthog, marabou stork, wildebeest, vulture, and hyena.  I got a little irritated at our driver.  He would get me into a good position and I would ask him to stop, and he would keep moving and ruin my shot.  This happened far too often.  He drove fast down the park, I'm sure missing many things, but maybe he needed to do that so we could see the high points in the time we had.  But I was really irritated at all of the shots he ruined for me when he could have just paused for two seconds!  Everybody else was thrilled with him, though, so I didn't say anything.  The park, itself, is amazing, and I would love to do a full day just in Chobe with a slower driver!

Marabou Stork

Water Monitor

Tsessebe

Impala

Kudu

Giraffe

Greater Blue-Eared Starling

Red-Billed Hornbill (Think Zazu from the Lion King)

Leopard

She had just recently taken down an impala and had it stored in her den.  She'll apparently eat on this for a few days.

This young lion was definitely not concerned about the humans and vehicles around!

Nor was this lady, who was busy grooming herself.

This one had a regal profile!

We also passed an elephant carcass.  Our guide said it had been there for about two weeks.  Apparently, it takes only a couple of days for the vultures to pick the carcass clean.  The elephant died of old age/natural causes, just collapsing in this spot.  The vultures will not eat the skin or bones, and it will take time for the animals of detritus to help the skin decay.  The bones will bleach and lay for a long time.

Peek-a-boo!

After a nice buffet lunch and lively and friendly round discussing world politics, the five of us boarded a boat and headed down the Chobe River.  The Chobe River is also the Zambezi River until you cross the Zimbabwe/Botswana border.  Just like Zambia is on the other side of the river from Zimbabwe, Namibia is on the other side from Botswana.  As far as I know, we did not cross into Namibia.  Our driver promised to take us to the place where all of the borders meet, but then said he couldn't when we were on our way back to Zimbabwe.  There is an island between Botswana and Namibia on the Chobe River, and the two countries had to go to the Hague to determine who the island belonged to.  The international courts decided that because the river was very shallow between the island and the mainland of Botswana, but deep between the island and Namibia, and the land animals (like buffalo) can transit between the island and Botswana but not the island and Namibia, that the island is actually just part of the Botswana mainland and not an island at all.  Therefore, it belongs to Botswana and not Namibia.

There were a lot more crocodiles in these waters than in the Nile cruises.

And our driver wasn't afraid to get reallllly close to them!

In fact, this guy had a little trouble getting away from us and back into the water where he felt safe because our boat was in his way.

And we got waaayy too close to this buffalo.  I held the shutter button down to get a burst, and this is the sequence of when he decided to charge us!  This is when he's just doing his own thing.

He has noticed we're getting a little close.

He's getting a little distressed.

You could feel the difference in the tension in the air when he decided to charge!  The next shots were mostly blurs, including things being covered by the egret's wings as he quickly departed the area!  Our boat driver revved our motor and steered so the noise of the motor went toward the buffalo, which scared the buffalo and caused him to turn away.

White-Crowned Lapwing

A hippo on land grazing.

Look at that sharp tooth!  These guys are considered the most dangerous animals, not only because they are so big and strong or that they have such sharp teeth coupled with the bite force, but because they apparently give no warning when they attack.  We got a little too close to some in the water and they grunted and lunged at us, but fortunately, our driver didn't get too close to this guy.

It was a very nice day and a really good set of game drives.  I guess being charged by two large wild animals can make for a good day when you get away, not to mention very vivid memories!  My feet were still throbbing, but having been off of them and even able to elevate them at several points throughout the day, they weren't nearly as bad as they were yesterday after just a few hours with the lions and hyenas.  A nice shower, some more leftovers from the potjie dinner, and some ramen noodles, and I was ready for bed.

The Feast of Beasts!

Today is the Feast of Beasts - the day I'll get to hide and watch the lions race for food - and my foot hurts!  I can barely walk, but I'm gonna soldier through.  Maybe I'll convince my foot that it's okay before long.  I'll sure give it the ol' college try!  My driver was on time (maybe a few minutes early).  He's got jokes!  He told me he was concerned about me because the tour operator called and asked if he could hurry me there because the lions were hungry!  We got there, and I met Liki (the operator) and Angela (a photography intern from Alberta, Canada.  I'm going to have to look into this program!).  He put us in a caged truck because the lions are wild animals, and though they are well fed and likely wouldn't make any moves toward us, he didn't want to take that chance.  Imagine getting in and out of that contraption when you're having difficulty walking and lots of pain!  But it was worth every second!

The lion enclosure is huge, double fenced and reinforced to prevent the wild elephants from the national park damaging it.  There are five lions in the main enclosure, four females and a male.  The male is 20 years old, which is six years past his normal life expectancy.  You can definitely see that he is in the final portion of his life.  

There is another, younger male in a smaller (but still pretty large) pen inside the enclosure that Liki is trying to get ready to introduce to the females of the pride.  When it is time, they will take the old man out and let him retire.  Liki said the females are wearing the old man out, as they come in and out of heat, and require his services every 20 minutes or so!  At one point, the old lion decided to challenge the new young male.  The fence was between them, though, so neither of them got hurt.  Liki feels confident that if they went after each other for real, the old man would not survive.  That's why he's getting the females used to the new male and will remove the old man before letting the young male out with the pride.  Liki does expect there to be a bit of a row between the females and the new male before they accept him, but it shouldn't be so bad since they're growing used to his scent.

After seeing the lion pen, we moved on to the hyenas.  This was a welcome surprise, as the only hyena I had gotten to see was the one in Murchison Falls that was on the side of the road after dark.  Liki let us out of the cage in the hyena pen.  These guys could certainly kill us if they wanted, but they tend to be more scavengers than predators.  We got much closer than the 3-5 meters he said, especially when they decided to follow us and walk right up to us.  If it had been allowed, I could have reached out and petted one of the males that followed me.  It's sometimes hard to tell the males from the females because the females grow a false penis.  These guys are members of the cat family, but act, look, and move more like dogs.  These particular hyenas are all wild born.  There was a community in Zimbabwe where the hyenas were highly destructive to crops and livestock, and after having tried several measures to control the situation, the government finally issued a kill order, allowing community members to eradicate the species from the area.  Liki went to the community and asked for the opportunity to trap and relocate them into a fenced in area where they could not return to the community, and they gave him a few days to trap as many as he could before they started killing them off.  He managed to get a few.  We saw the tracks where the wild hyenas from the park come up to the fence and play with the ones he captured.  He says it sometimes looks like the wild hyenas have tried to get in, but he has never seen signs of his hyenas trying to get out.

After the hyenas, it was time to feed “the boys”.  We went to a cave-like area with large-guage wire fencing.  We were eye level with the ground.  When we picked our spots and said we were ready, Liki phoned up and told the caretaker to release them.  You could hear the ground thundering before any of the lions got close enough to see.  I just had my camera taking burst shot after shot.  I didn't want to miss a thing!  And I didn't!  I got some really great shots.  I think I can make my favorite one multiple different shots because it has three out of the four lions that were feeding.  The fourth wasn't interested to begin with, so he never even left his temporary enclosure, leisurely strolling down a little bit later.  The third wanted to be shy, so he grabbed his meat and took off.  The other two tore into the meat.  You could hear them growling and munching.  Soooo close to them!  You could even hear the meat tearing off the bone!  It was amazing!

This is a separate shot of the guy bringing up the rear with the dirt in his face!

After that, we went to see the ostriches.  Not a big deal to me, and my foot was really hurting.  In fact, I was starting to feel nauseous from the pain and the heat, but I just had to soldier on.  We saw the crested eagle who is blind and can't fly, the duiker, and the two vultures, one of whom has only one wing (the other isn't injured and can fly away whenever he feels like it, but he hasn't felt like it yet).

When we got back to the lodge, a large breakfast was set before me.  I just couldn't eat it.  I had a couple of bites, but thought I was going to throw it up.  I did have an apple that was delicious, some tea and pineapple juice.  Those things went down well.  I wished the protein would have.  I tried the sausage and the egg.  They were both good, but I just couldn't tolerate them.  When I finally got home, I laid down and started removing items of clothing as I felt like it between naps.  It was only 9:30.  Finally, by about noon, I felt good enough to start looking at photos and around 1:00, I was able to fix and eat a bowl of ramen noodles.

Tomorrow is another early morning.  I need to spend today working on my foot and getting things together.  It's a motorized game drive, so I need to get The Baby ready for her last foray in Africa!  Hopefully, I'll feel better in the morning with some exercises I learned in physical therapy and some extra meds!

Drums, Rhinos, and a Worm

Today was a bust.  I went to the hotel to catch my scheduled village tour.  Timed it perfectly.  Garbage collectors were coming in and the guard had the back gate already open and let me just go right in.  I waited.  And I waited.  And I kept waiting until it was past time for my pickup, I decided to WhatsApp the tour operator to see if they were coming.  Apparently, the tour operator had an emergency come up and was unable to provide the tour.  He learned about the emergency and cancelled the tour with Trip Advisor a week ago.  I don't know why Trip Advisor charged me and confirmed the tour.  But, oh well.  I just requested a refund through the app.  It was approved same day.  So, since I didn't have a morning activity, I decided to use that opportunity to go to town and get some groceries.  I boarded the shuttle, which was actually heading the other way, but he said he could drop me in town anyway.  After a short hop, I was able to find my way to the OK Mart.  I didn't need much with the leftovers from last night and a dinner scheduled for tonight.  So, I picked up some ramen noodles, oranges (the only 2 pieces of fruit that weren't rotten, moldy, or otherwise unfit for human consumption), a six pack of Diet Pepsi in bottles and a couple of candy bars.  All for a grand total of $7 and change.  Since neither I nor the store had coins, I gave her $8.  How magnanamus of me!  (LOL)  Then I hailed a taxi for $5 to my Airbnb.  I ended up having to give him my phone with Google Maps on.  He didn't know what the app was, so I explained it to him and showed him how it works on the phone.  He didn't have change, so I tipped him extra.  He gave me $2 from a $10 bill, and I called it even.  I could have scheduled another activity for the day, but I'm really not feeling so good, so I just decided to go to my AirBNB and rest up.

When I got back to the house, Gerald was there, and he apologized that the water was turned off.  No big deal.  I hadn't really exerted myself today.  Thought it was hot and I was sweaty just from the temperatures, I could go without a shower for a day.  Besides, all I really wanted was an orange and a nap.  I wasn't feeling very good and I wanted to be able to enjoy the dinner show tonight.  So, I just laid in bed with my shirt off and the fan on and watched Eat, Pray, Love in shifts between naps.  I also spent some time with Google trying to find out why my watch keeps refusing to charge.  The consensus seems to be a software issue.  So, I'll just turn it off while charging so it doesn't interfere and go to the store when I get home to see if they can fix it.  Or maybe it will stop doing it by the time I get home.  (Turns out the temperature was so hot, my watch kept overheating and stopping the charge.)

I finally finished the movie at about the right time to get up and start getting ready for dinner.  So, I put my shirt back on, took my evening meds, and headed out to the hotel.  I wanted to get there early because I didn't want to be walking at sundown.  Since I was early, I walked on around instead of calling for help from the back gate.  The hotel's concierge was there, getting ready to walk home after the day's work.  He asked me why I didn't use the back gate.  Told me to never feel that it is an imposition for them to open it for me and that I should get inside soon, as it was getting late.  He pointed to the herd of water buffalo starting to come up and said I should never walk this late.  It was about 5:30 by this time.  Sunset is around 6:15.  When the driver came to collect me, around 6:15, that herd of buffalo were just at the corner where I turned to go to the hotel entrance.  Definitely proves they don't wait for the sun to get all the way down here before leaving the park and coming to town!  I asked my driver if he could take me to my airbnb when coming back because I didn't think it would be safe to walk that late, and he told me that of course he could.  He let me know that it is against the law for a tour operator to refuse to pick up and drop off from an airbnb so long as it is within the range that they would provide service to hotels.  He said the city doesn't want tourists to have to risk their safety from wildlife just because they're staying in an AirBNB.  

When we pulled up to the place where the dinner and drum show was being held, he cautioned me that there are several places in the show that it will appear that it is over.  Don't be fooled.  There is a dance show, the dinner, and the drum show is last.  The drum show doesn't start until after the buffet is cleared and bills have been issued.  The cue that the drum show is going to start is when they give you your own personal drum for the evening.  I thanked him for the information, and he said he would be there waiting for me when it is over.

So I went in and got my sarong tied around me (and a picture made with it) and watched a little dance demonstration while waiting for the venue to open.  

When it opened, they seated me at a table close to the buffet and the presentation floor.  There was a lamb on the spit and a brazilian type spit behind that with ram steaks on it.  Those were both delicious.  Zimbabwean style potato salad is right up my alley – it's boiled potatoes with some softened red onions.  Delicious!  I also had the butternut salad, which was basically spiced and roasted butternut squash.  For the main course, I had to try to the eland steaks and the impala stew.  The eland was dry and kind of tasteless.  The impala was very good.  Could have been the stew.  I don't know how the meat would have tasted cooked on its own.  

The center stage was the mopane worms.  I had to try one.  Big mistake!  It was naaaasty!!  I couldn't swallow it.  Kept gagging.  Stuffed it over into the corner of my cheek and spit it out in my napkin when I got back to my table.  Maybe that's cheating, but I got my certificate!  Also got some more food to wash the taste out of my mouth!  Finished with some desert of a really thick chocolate pudding and fruit cocktail.

The dancers were awesome.  High energy.  Just like you would expect.  

He didn't miss a beat on the steel drum while jumping!

Like my driver said, a lot of people left when the dancers were finished.  This left a table open right in the front, which I quickly took advantage of!  They taught us the techniques of beating the African drums in the different places on the skin and had us playing as part of the drum band.  I only got a few shots of this because I was just too busy learning how to play the African bongo!

Then he had everybody get up and dance, which I felt was beyond my capabilities if I wanted to have energy for a walking safari tomorrow!  My body is starting to really wind down.  Maybe this length is still too long for me now.  So, I just kept beating my drum and having a great time!

As promised, Joseph, my driver was waiting right outside for me when the show was over.  We talked about how nasty the worm was.  He doesn't like it either, but his wife loves them.  And, I got home and went promptly to bed.

Up the nexst morning before the alarm went off.  Decided not to shower and just go stinky.  Obviously, I'll need to shower when I get back!  So, I put on my dirty trekking pants and packed my backpack for a walking safari.  When it started getting kind of close to time for my ride, I locked up my room and went to watch the door. I had WhatsApped them during dinner last night, and they agreed to pick me up from the AirBNB.  There was someone standing just outside the front door already.  It was my ride!  He took me to the Zambian border where Clive, my guide, picked me up.  If you've never done a game drive with rhinos, this would be a good one.  If, however, you have been to Ziwa in Uganda and other parks with Kalema, it's nothing spectacular. They have 11 white rhinos here.  One clutch has a baby, and they don't take visitors to see that clutch.  They have started posting guards with each clutch to stop poaching.  White rhinos only give birth every five years, so there is a hope that, with time, more rhinos will populate the park.  We learned that the difference between white rhinos and black rhinos is their mouths.  White rhinos have white-ish, ribbed mouths used for eating only grasses.  They are strict grazers.  Black rhinos have mouths that are suitable for eating both grasses and sticks, twigs, and bark.  They are not strict grazers.  Rhinos also use that small horn for communication.  Noises come out of that little horn at the top!  Who knew!?  Because the town is so close to the park, the big cats have been transported out and relocated to other, larger parks in Zambia.  The Zambezi River apparently keeps them from crossing back into Zambia from the Zimbabwe side.

Aside from the white rhino, we saw a breeding herd (because there is one male with horns) of impala

some white-fronted bee eaters

water buffalo

giraffes

zebra

We had to wait for the herd to cross the road.

This is what we saw when we turned that curve!

So we waited for this herd, too!  Damn, these traffic jams!

After the drive, my ride back from the border to my airbnb was nowhere to be seen, so Clive just arranged for a taxi that took me to the post office in town.  I met an artist/vendor who was born in Lexington, KY.  My homeboy!  His father worked there as an engineer until he was 3, when they moved back to Zimbabwe.  Obviously, he doesn't remember much about it, but he does have dual citizenship!  I couldn't really buy any of his artwork (which was very good) because I don't have space for it in my luggage, but I did buy some Zimbabwean currency from him at inflated exchange rates.  I found a nice postcard of the falls and mailed it off!

Though it was early and I had plenty of time to do another excursion, I hired a taxi to take me home, just in time for a nap before showering, eating, and taking another nap.  I pretty much slept the whole afternoon away, taking a couple of breaks to watch Netflix or upload pictures or read some of my book.  I slept all night, too.  I guess I extended this vacation a bit long because my body seems to be rebelling.  But, I'm really looking forward to some of the things I have planned, so I'm going to just push through!