Our long awaited Safari will soon be starting. I shall blog our planning documents as well as our daily activities. Safari doesn’t have to be an expensive activity with top of the range hotels/lodges and racing from one animal sighting to the next….for a true authentic “Bush Experience” done in your own time at your own pace on a budget you are comfortable with. Keep an eye on our site and we will guide you through both the process and our experiences.
A fitful nights sleep was had in our cupboard…too hot without the aircon and too cold with it, even set to 21…. So it was a very rude awakening, having finally gone into a deep sleep around 4.30 am, when the alarm invaded my musical snoring chorus at 6.40 am….does this time really exist ….cant believe that I used to be on my way to work at this time 7+ years ago….But needs must….I quickly showered and dragged on some suitable clothing whilst cursing John for being so awake and jolly at this unearthly time!!!!!
Breakfast was hard rolls which you toast to make them even harder, with nice cheese, ham, Salami, yoghurts, fruit, cereal and some fairly decent strong black coffee. By 7.15 we were ready to go in search of the National Parks office……back along the deep sand road we’d walked the previous evening. It was only about a 10 minutes walk. We queued to get to the ticket desk where we handed over our voucher. We thought we had paid at the hotel but the really nice English speaking parks board receptionists explained we had paid €24 to the hotel for the convenience of them booking it and now we pay €54 for the actual trip….ummm we’ll see if we’ve been ripped off when the Mastercard bill arrives…but we felt this was genuine so we handed over the Euros…cash only…and we were given a ticket stating Lucia 5, and told Lucia would call us to her bus….so we waited outside with the other eager visitors.
Sure enough at 8.00 am a couple of drivers arrived and shouted out their names. They were taken to the 24 seater 4×4 high tyred buses. Then a nice young lady came and shouted Lucia and we hurried after her to another identical bus. The number on the ticket was the number you were allowed to board the bus and choose which seat you want. We selected two seats next to a sliding window which we could open, so that John could stick his camera out of it…….
Lucia gave the commentary in Italian, Spanish and, thankfully, English. She told us the town of El Rocio had 1000 residents. In June they have a religious week/ festival which involves over 1 million visitors and 100,000 horses….Wow, unimaginable. She informed us a lot about the National Park. For the first time in 15 years the heavy rains had filled the marshes and the horses and some birds had retreated into the forest section of the park because the water was so high in the marshes. We saw a heron nesting in the wooded area, which she said was unheard of. We soon came across a couple of groups of deer browsing in the forest. There seemed a lot of excitement about seeing rabbits…they evidently are the bottom of the food chain for foxes and lynx to survive. But the rabbits survival had been threatened by the eucalyptus trees which drain the moisture out of the soil and prevent the natural undergrowth, which rabbits feed on, from growing. So the eucalyptus trees had been felled with only two remaining. Their stumps were moved to another area where the dead stumps were placed as a memorial to the trees and a good breeding ground for the rabbits. Lucia pointed out many species of birds including the black kite and the many storks, herons etc.
Before continuing into the wetlands Lucia explained that farmers were allowed to graze cattle and sheep etc and that they belonged to farmers where as the horses were just wild. The horses were managed by the parks board. We continued along a causeway which the farmers had built, across the marsh land, to make access to their cattle easier.
We stopped and stretched our legs on the causeway. There were dozens of different species of birds, flamingos, ibises, little and greater egrets, several types of heron, loads of different ducks like the poacher, teal, coot, moorhen , grebes, plovers and even the endangered Marbled teal……an ornithologists’ paradise.
We continued along the track to a visitors centre. This had toilets……but take your own paper!! ….. a coffee shop and a huge glass viewing area overlooking some Lakeland. We learnt there were over 4000 nesting birds in this area alone. Lucia set up her telescope and I managed to get a picture through it of a couple of flamingos….
There were plenty more pictures taken to capture the moment
On walking back to the bus we noticed not only the vibrant flora but also a stork nesting on an electricity pylon. There was a chick in the nest.
We were just about to re-board the bus when we heard the thunder of many hooves….it was a “Round-Up” with “Gouchos “ driving them along the road….there must have been 200+ horses and 4 herdsmen. We followed them down the road and they were driven into a corral through some water. Evidently they will be divided up into different areas from there.
On our return to El Rocio Lucia told us that the cork tree was now protected, not least because the Lynx often have their cubs in holes in the cork tree because it helps regulate their temperature. She told us there were several hundred Lynx in the park…she had seen one the day before.
At the end of our 3 hour tour we went back into the office and booked the 5.00 pm tour the following day with Lucia again. It had been a splendid experience. We wandered back to our hotel along the lake shores promenade which was a lot easier than trudging through the deep sand. The square in front of the hotel was again buzzing…a hive of activity…
We had a bite of lunch …a hamburger or so it was described but a rubber frisbee would have been a more accurate description. We wandered back to our cool, quiet hotel stopping on the way to chat to a very pleasant Australian couple who had been on the same bus as us……they are visiting Kruger South Africa at the same time we are later in the year…perhaps we’ll run into them again. After siesta on the terrace and a few games of cards we went in search of an earlish evening meal. We ordered grilled chicken which came with fries….unfortunately it was very tough and my gums are struggling with all the hard food and also the lack of vegetables…but hey Ho….a huge horse rode in behind John and breathed down his neck while his well manicured very smart rider had a fantastic brought to her.
What a surreal place this is…very busy, but an experience we wouldn’t have missed for the world…. Looking forward to tomorrows venture and fingers crossed for a sighting of a Linx.
Let’s start with a contradiction!
Leopards are relatively common in South Africa, and in Kruger National Park in particular. Yet they are rarely seen, so why is that? Well, the leopard is a secretive animal and, unlike the lion, does not live in groups, but is usually solitary. The male and female come together to mate, and then go their separate ways. On top of that, the leopard has one of the best camourflages in the entire animal kingdom.
The leopard is the second biggest African cat, behind the lion, and, generally, kills to feed just for itself rather than a whole pride. It is a silent stalker with most species of antelope its favourite prey.
Following a successful kill, it is common for the leopard to drag its prey up a tree trunk in order to feed amongst its branches. The leopard is a powerful creature often hauling more than its body weight in this way.
It is equally at home to stalk under the cover of darkness and is prone to stalk a sleeping troop of baboons in the hope of isolating one and carrying it off as its prey.
Leopards are creatures of habit and can often be seen in dry river beds silently approaching their prey whilst they are drinking in the limited pockets of water.
They can also take you by surprise by climbing a tree to get a better view of where to find their next meal.
Although found through much of Southern Africa, most of our sightings have been within Kruger National Park in the northeast of South Africa. We have been privileged to have spent enough time in the park for our patience to be rewarded with many magnificent leopard sightings. Although occasionally we’ve had a fleeting view of the white underside of their tail as they retreat into the undergrowth and become invisible.
Each such sighting Is accompanied by an ‘adrenaline rush’ which has to be experienced as it’s almost impossible to put into words. For me, this beautiful but elusive creature is the crown jewel, the ‘must see’ on safari in Africa.
Before booking with Rosie Price at dialaflight , 0161-841-8179 or rosie.price@dialaflight.co.uk , we investigated several other itineraries. One which we liked was by Private Tours – Ranil Osando … ranilosanda81@gmail.com
We very nearly booked this but had to wait and in the meantime he got offered another booking so we told him to go ahead as we didn’t want to be hurried….we found him polite and courteous but really CANT recommend him as we’ve never met or done a tour with him..WE DONT KNOW HIM AT ALL…but we wanted to share an alternative itinerary ……. If you like this itinerary then you can choose whether or not you use him or go through Rosie Price who we can thoroughly recommend as a reputable, well known, trustworthy company, she also uses a very well known company in Sri Lanka as the ‘on the ground agent’.
Birds and Wildlife watching tour (12 days 11 night)
Day 01
Picked up from the airport
Drive to Negombo city
Relax few hours after long flight.
Evening visit Negombo fish market
Negombo lagoon boat tour
Dinner and overnight stay in Negombo
Day 02
Enjoy the breakfast
Check out from you hotel at 05.00 am
Transfer to Anawilundawa Bird sanctuary to spot birds
After the birds watching tour proceed to Wilpattu park
Wilpattu evening jeep safari (03.00pm until 06.00pm)
Do Dinner and overnight stay at Wilpattu
Day 03
Full day safari tour of Wilpattu national park at 06.00am until 06.00pm
Enjoy lunch with rice and curry in forest
Dinner and overnight stay at Wilpattu
Day 04
Check out from your hotel and transfer to Minneriya nationalpark
In route stop In Ritigala Forest Sanctuary to spot some birdlife
Start jeep safari tour of Minneriya national park
(03.00pm until 06.00pm)
Dinner and overnight stay at sigiriya
Day 5
After breakfast you will be transferred to kithulgala village
Do a birds watching and nature trail of Kithulgala
Dinner and Overnight stay kithulgal
Day 6
After breakfast you will be transferred Nuwara Eliya
In route visit Tea Factory Tea plantation
In the evening city tour
And enjoy Gregory lake
Dinner and overnight stay Nuwara Eliya
Day 7
Check out from the hotel after breakfast
Transfer to Nanu Oya train station
You will be pick up from Ella train station by our guide
Do a nature trekking of Ella village
Climb little Adams peak mountain to spot a 360 breathtakingview
Dinner and overnight stay Ella
Day 8
After breakfast you will be transferred to the most popular Yalanational park
In the evening (03.00pm till 06.00 pm) jeep safari Yala national park
Dinner and overnight stay Thissamaharama
Day 9
Start the full day safari tour of Yala National park
Breakfast during the tour
Enjoy lunch with rice and curry in forest
Dinner and overnight stay Thissamaharama
Day 10
After breakfast you will be transferred Sinharaja Rain Forest
Relax in the evening while enjoying the nature around Sinharaja
Dinner and overnight stay Sinharaja
Day 11
Do the 2 hours morning bird watching trail
Started at (06.00am)
After the Bird watching trail back to the hotel
Take a refresh and leave for your last destination of your trip Colombo
Dinner and overnight stay Colombo
Day 12
Say Good bye until see you again
Transfer back to you a return flight back home from Colombo after and amazing tour of Sri Lanka
Inclusions:
• Air Conditioned Private Car / Family Van / Mini Coach or Luxury Bus
• 4 & 5 Star Hotels & Resorts on Half Board basis
• Certified English / German speaking Professional Friendly Guides
• All Costs related to all tour excursions, Entrance fees of all UNESCO Heritage sites, Safari Jeep and other mentioned all tour activities are included
• Unlimited mineral water bottles for the entire tour
• Unlimited mileage throughout your tour
• All Government taxes & tariffs are included
• No Additional Charges
Here is the package price for tour and its includes
. Accommodation in nice and clean guest house rooms with A/C, Hot & free WIFI
. Breakfast and Dinner
. All Entrance tickets for the attraction
. All activity charges
. Airport pickup
. Safari Jeep
. Insurance
. All expenses for the High Way
.You can try any kind of fruits during the tour absolutely free
Per person 1644 USD THIS WAS THE PRICE FOR FEBRUARY BUT PRICES ARE INCREASING RAPIDLY SO I SUSPECT ITS GONE UP ALOT.
Exclusions:
• Additional meals & beverages outside of the booked meal plan
• Visas & Flight Bookings
• Expenses of personal nature
• Tips & Portage
What to Pack for Sri Lanka
• Sun Creams
• Hat or a cap
• Slippers, Sandals , Jelly Flats
• Camera, memory cards & spare batteries
• Hiking Shoes
• Rain Jacket
• Back Pack & a Day Pack
• Warm Weather Clothes
• Sun Glasses
• Bathing Suit
• Mosquito Spray
• Sarong or wraparound skirt
• Travel Diary or a travel book
Special Notes
• Rooms are subjected to availability at the time of booking confirmation
• An advance payment of 25% of the total tour price is required at the time of the booking confirmation & the balance payment should be settled 15 days prior to the arrival
• Alcohol will not be served at any hotel or any restaurant on POYA DAYS (FULL MOON DAYS)
• The Standard check in time of Hotels in Sri Lanka is 14.00hr
• The Standard check out time of Hotels in Sri Lanka is 11.00hr
From Nata we drove to Kasane, returned the hired vehicle to the airport and got Chobe Safari lodge to pick us up to take us to the hotel. We were here for 8 nights in our favourite Kasane accommodation……Chobe Safari lodge. Ive been going there for the past 35 years, both my parents and my son have had the pleasure of enjoying it. Over the past 11 years it has been my husbands favourite place to holiday.
We take their safaris which are reasonably priced at US$45 per person for 3 hours. This year we arranged 7 half day(6 hours) safaris from 12-6pm. Dorkus, head of activities, kindly arranged it for us ….by booking all 7 days it was agreed with “Bush Trackers”, the Safari company the lodge commissions, that we would just pay for the 2 of us and we didn’t have to pay for a 3rd or 4th person. Dorkus (who always sorts our problems out for us, whether they are activity or hotel related, I secretly call her the General Manager, as she really provides excellent customer service far better than the Accomodation/bookings manager does !!) also arranged for us to have the same driver each day…his name was ‘Same Arron’, a young 24 year old driver and guide …..he was brilliant. He gave us the best Safari adventure we’ve ever had, which is the highest praise we can give. I never drive in Chobe as it takes a level of skill I’ve never had….the last time I drove in Chobe was some years ago, I got stuck in the soft sand and after several hours waiting for another vehicle to come by( no cell phone signal) they tried to help us and ended up having to radio for help…it took 3 vehicles to get us out, a lot of digging, use of metal planks and jacks…..I swore I’d never drive it again…and I haven’t…
That evening we decided to take the sundowner game viewing cruise. We do like this cruise and always do at least one when we visit. However, we often find it a bit of a booze cruise which isn’t our style….This time we were fortunate and we set off on a smaller boat watching the big groups go out on the bigger boats. We took to the Chobe River, passing our Safari Room accommodation.
We spent a very pleasant 3 hours, with a good safari guide pointing out the wonderful sights, both on the islands, in the water and on the main river bank.
Of course the most amazing wildlife viewed when on the water are the elephants, who swim out to the islands for the sweeter grass, their trunks acting as snorkels, they can often be seen in Lily pad areas pulling up the sweet roots… it is a sight second to none.
One of the most fabulous sights when you are on a boat on the Chobe River is the sun sets… they are always different and always mesmerising.
Just when you think the day is done… on the river bank another awesome sight…
Over the next 7 days ‘Same’ showed us some wonderful sites, taking us in all sorts of directions across the park, to places we had never seen before. It was exciting, thrilling and the wildlife was magnificent.
Day 16
On Johns birthday he received flowers in our room and a card from the hotel they were trying hard to make amends for a mix up with our room when we booked in ….they had allocated us a river view room which had been totally unsuitable – you had to stand on the dressing table chair to reach the aircon unit to adjust the temperature, there was no remote control, the toilet was, what we in the UK install in schools for small young children..not good for a 6ft2, 70 year old man..these rooms were being renovated…only the one we were given was still awaiting renovation….I had complained and the Accommodation/bookings Manager had been far from helpful (very unusual for this hotel, it is the first time we’d come across this in all the years we had been visiting). I spoke to the customer services assistant who tried her very best but was obviously intimidated by the Accomodation/ bookings Manager…..we’d ended up sitting on the sofas near the activities office waiting to be allocated a different room …our wait was 5 hours !!!!!….. Unacceptable by anyones standards…a waste of our holiday time.
Dorkus had seen us there and realising I was upset came to enquire what the problem was. She quickly went away to sort it out and came back telling us the number of a Safari room we would be moved to and she told us it was just being cleaned. 10 minutes later she came to tell us she had arranged for us to get the key from reception and our bags were being transferred as we spoke…we had a lovely room, the same as we have always had…
Dorkus, saved the day and was definitely our hero from then on……why the Accommodations/bookings Manager couldn’t have been more professional and done this 5 hours earlier is unknown…she seemed to be power crazy…..we felt very sorry for the Customer Services advisor…however I digress….Back to Johns birthday, day 16 of our adventure.
The card and flowers were a nice touch. At 12 noon we waited in reception for ‘Same’…he appeared and said he was sorry he would be 10 minutes late…”no worries” we replied…..He arrived 10 minutes later with a parcel which he gave to John and wished him a happy birthday….wow…John opened it and it was a wonderful wooden carving of Africa with the Big 5 carved out..it was fantastic a real generous gift we were both very touched by the gesture and the gift, which now hangs proudly, at home, on our living room door.
We set of on the 6 hour Safari….Same booked in at the main gate then continued to drive the tar road which goes towards Namibia…We’d not been along this road on Safari before…we encounter some elephant, before Same turned off to the right onto a little used track through thick Bush land…
We spotted a Sable antelope at a distance along with a couple of elephant. After some time we turned right again and noticed a solar panel and pump. This evidently is one of very few in Chobe, as the Parks management prefer the animals to naturally migrate to and fro according to where the water is. Not far from here was a small waterhole being fed from the pump. It was teaming with elephant…they were drinking, bathing throwing mud around…taking absolutely no notice of us.. the smell, sounds, sight was amazing, we even got included in a bit of a mud bath!!!
Driving around the back of the elephant we noticed a large breeding herd of Sable Antelope laid down and grazing in the shade of the trees. These are Johns favourite antelope, actually probably his favourite species of wild life. ‘Same’ knew this and also had prior knowledge of where this big herd are often found, he had kept this treat for Johns special day.
We had never seen a breeding herd before and we sat there amongst the elephant watching them and these amazing Sable for well over an hour….what a treat a real special moment, another once in a life time memory made….Thank you so much ‘Same’, you really are an unbelievably kind, considerate, polite young man.
We continued the rest of the days Safari with more great wildlife spots.
Supper back at the lodge afforded us another bouquet of flowers on the table. Our meal ended with a birthday cake being paraded through the restaurant and the kitchen and serving staff serenading John, around our table, with several local songs and a robust version of Happy Birthday whilst beating a drum and dancing…..was John a bit embarrassed? Well! Of course he was but it had to be done…a lovely memory had been created of a very special day.
Day 17 to 21
The rest of our Safaris with ‘Same’ were all eventful and memorable…we saw great prides of lions, herds of buffaloes, both towers and journeys of Giraffe, we got warned off by 2 not so friendly bull elephants, watched swimming, bathing, mud-throwing elephants, saw no-end of wildebeest, zebra, impala and one of my favourite Puku (native to Chobe)… It really is our heaven on earth
Our 8 days flew by and far to quickly, soon, it was time to say a tearful goodbye to Same Arron, Best ever Safari guide/driver, and we had a bear hug from Dorkus, in our opinion Chobe Safari Lodge’s most prized employee. Then it was time to head for the airport with heavy hearts and the hope that we would be back in two years time……the only thing which could prevent us is the cost as it is getting more and more expensive but to date it hasn’t stop us exploring Botswana and it’s wonderful wildlife…you just have to be a bit more organised and cross reference prices so you don’t pay a fortune. Having said that this was a Celebratory Trip and we did once in a life time activities ..so we did spend a fortune…but Botswana can be seen a lot cheaper by doing less and not staying as long…our next trip will be more the norm for us…just a visit to Chobe and hopefully Chobe Safari lodge as long as it hasn’t priced itself out of our reach.
Our Botswana Adventure was over for another year… we flew back to South Africa to continue our Safari by spending time in Kruger National Park…if you would like to continue to follow our adventure you’ll find the blog under South Africa. Thank you to all who have followed this amazing trip, we hope you enjoyed it.
2 J's World of Adventure 