Day 94: Two Tiiiiiiny Planes to Hwange National Park for Second Safari Experience
This morning we drove to the airstrip and split into two groups to fly to our next camp.
Teddy and James went on one six-seater (with another couple in transit to another lodge) while Lobsy, Willa and I went in another.
The only way I can handle these minuscule tin-can planes is by plugging into the new season of Queer Eye. Picture me in the way back of this plane with my knees up to my chest sitting in a bucket seat surrounded by bags — laughing out loud and sobbing crying at the episodes. God I love that show.
Our next stop was Somalisa Acacia, another African Bush Camps property, this time in the Hwange National Park — Africa’s fourth-largest protected area. It’s located in western Zimbabwe.
Interestingly, this area of Hwange was the territory of Cecil the Lion. Remember him? The lion hunted and killed by an American dentist that caused such an uproar in 2015?
His two sons are now the dominant males in the area (more on them later). Celebrity lions!
Our guide David picked us up — and I’d say the travel agent passed along our request loud and clear. He inspires a lot of confidence — over-explaining everything and being very careful — and he brought a buddy to ride along with him.
We saw two sleeping female lions and our first giraffe on the long drive to our lodge.
The lodge is very cool. Way more rustic than the last place. 5 tents and a main area that includes a small fire pit and deck with outdoor living room and dining table.
Unlike the last place, this place requires you to walk with an armed guard to your room at night, has stricter game drive schedules (5:30 am wake up call, 6 am breakfast, 6:30 am depart for the morning until lunch). It’s also open to the wild, and overlooks a small watering hole frequented regularly by game.
We left for our afternoon game drive at 4:30 pm and enjoyed several hours of the most exquisite golden African late afternoon sunlight on the grass and acacia trees. We saw a lot of big game before stopping for a sundowner atop a small hill on a plain.
Maybe the most beautiful sunset we’ve ever seen? The sky is just massive, 360-degrees of pinks and blues and clouds and orange and deep purples.
James was playing on the truck and slammed his finger in the door, which caused a moment of alarm, especially for Lobsy, who really doesn’t like seeing accidents/injuries with grandkids.
Little ice, glass of Sprite and he was fine.
We ended up taking a cheesy but cool shot of the kids jumping up as backlit silhouettes against the sunset.
The grownups had G&Ts of course, and we enjoyed chatting with David and trainee Dophus, who rode in the back row.
Animals we saw included: black-backed jackal, three very rare bat-eared foxes, hippos in the water, more elephants, lots of impala and a few kudu with their magnificent spiral horns, a wild cat and more.
As we rode home in the dark, we came upon the backside of a male lion — one of Cecil’s sons — sauntering away from us up the road. At the moment when we saw his butt in our spotlight, the truck made an immediate stop in the gravel and Lila goes, “Jesus Christ!” She grabbed my knee and I grabbed her shoulder at the same time — like Scooby and Shaggy in a haunted house. We’re so wimpy it’s hilarious.
Other trucks went in pursuit — we carefully backed up and went back to camp for dinner.
There’s one other family in our camp — and American family who lives in London. Very nice. A boy (8) and a daughter (12). We had communal dinner with them (well, I had dinner in the tent with James who was very tired and melting down), and turned in.
Teddy, James and I had a “family tent” with a massive king bed and two twins. James ended up sleeping with us. Loved the mosquito nets.
Misc:
Our host Ronald here at the camp uses an expression we first heard from our immigration official in Harare: “I’ll see you when you see me.” It’s a farewell message that sounds like something Groucho Marx would say, and we love it. Must incorporate.
Luke and Meg told us that the hard-core safari-goers (and the guides) are really passionate about the birds, so we bought a “Birds of Southern Africa” checklist and have tried to pay attention to them. Once you get into it, it’s really fun.
The guides carry these beautiful illustrated reference books with them that the kids have been fighting over and love flipping through. They love the book so much David had to bring a second one in the truck so they could each look. James loves spotting the birds and checking them off the list. Future birders??
It occurred to me that if we had done a safari straight from NYC back in January, the kids would have been frightened/nervous about it. James was freaked out by the roaring lion in the Bronx Zoo last summer, so seeing lions up close wouldn’t have been ok, I don’t think. So they are definitely braver humans right now — maybe the Amazon trip helped? Loving it.
