Having a shower outside in the privacy of my chalet balcony was a first for me! It was such an interesting experience – showering while watching the elephants at the waterhole! Amazing! I knew that it was going be a hot and humid stay in Zimbabwe, but “oh my word”…. nothing could prepare me for the heat! Despite the humid conditions we had so many amazing game viewing opportunities that with all of the excitement, I forgot about the heat! On our first 3 nights in Zimbabwe, we stayed at “Elephant’s Eye, Hwange”- this was such an amazing experience for me… the lodge is in the middle of the bush making me feel very close to nature… especially watching the elephants come down to the waterhole every evening to cool down and have a drink.
The food at the lodge – I have no words… I loved every single dish and probably picked up so much weight from enjoying it too much! Everything was perfectly prepared and I LOVED the cappuccino machine in the dining room – that was awesome.
While we were staying at Elephant’s Eye, Hwange, we were also doing some site inspections at the different lodges in the area for our JENMAN African Safaris products. Overall, I wish we had stayed there longer – it was my highlight and my first time in Hwange National Park!
I have also never seen wild lions before and only ever done lion walks with tame lions, so when we were in the Hwange area – for my first time ever, I got to see wild lions…. Exciting! We also saw lots of zebra, wildebeest, elephants, warthogs, kudu and other antelope, the bird viewing was also phenomenal. I’ve never seen so many different species in one day… just wish I was able to remember all their names.
After our 3 nights in Hwange, we spent one night in Victoria Falls at the A’Zambezi River Lodge were, after a quick check-in, we were off to do a few more site inspections before our sunset bridge run. The sunset bridge run is a train trip starting from the Victoria Falls Hotel; they serve snacks and drinks on the train and then guide you when the train stops to the other side of the bridge where you can get off and relax at the bridge café… and watch a few “nutty” people jump off the bridge for a bungee jump….
We were then taken on a tour of the bridge where there was a theatrical and entertaining presentation about the bridge and the people that built it. The bridge was opened in 1905 and was over 100 years old at the time it was finally completed making it the highest bridge in the world at that time. After the tour of the bridge we were taken back to the Victoria Falls train station.
We stayed overnight at the A’Zambezi River Lodge in Victoria Falls which is situated +/- 10km from the town and is located on the beautiful banks for the Zambezi River. We had the privilege of staying in the river-front rooms; these rooms also boasted air-conditioning which was a welcome relief from the hectic heat! The rooms were also equipped with a flat screen TV, DSTV, mini fridge and a wonderful en-suite bathroom! The dinner at the lodge was also great – buffet style with tribal dancers who entertained us at dinner… what a great atmosphere!
The next morning we did some more site inspections in Victoria Falls and then we made our way to Kasane, Botswana. We went straight to Elephant Valley Lodge where we enjoyed lunch overlooking their waterhole – saw giraffes, warthogs and baboons!
After lunch we went on to Camp Kuzuma which is approximately 20km before Pandamatenga – this was quite a long drive and we did get a bit lost trying to find the camp as there was no sign next to the road, but we got there in the end! As we entered the camp we were blown away with a massive herd of elephants standing right in front of the waterhole. The staff were very friendly there and the lodge/camp is stunning – spacious chalets and a comfortable lounge on the deck. I even went to splash my feet in the swimming pool there much to the amazement of the elephants, one came up really close to see what I was doing… there is an electric fence around the bottom of the pool so they couldn’t get too close, but what an awesome experience!
The food at Camp Kazuma was amazing, loved every bit of it. In the morning the sunrises were breath-taking and in the evenings we could hear all the wild animals, we even spotted a few hyenas before we went off to bed that night!
The next morning we were off for a drive back to Chobe again where we stayed at the Chobe Marina Lodge…. That night we relaxed on a sunset cruise of the river and spotted loads of elephants, buffalos, hippos, giraffes… the best was seeing a mother and baby elephants cross the river…. Words cannot describe!
I had an amazing time travelling to Hwange, Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park, definitely learnt a lot about Hwange and saw all the places I’ve always wanted to see.
