Goodbye Zimbabwe, Hello Johannesburg, Wednesday, April 3, WTRD 18

 

Travel Day and Farewell to New FF Friends

Day 1:  Zimbabwe to Johannesburg South Africa, Wednesday, April 3, WTRD 18

Today is the last day we spend with our Friendship Force -  Botswana Safarians (yes, I think I have coined a new word). We share our last breakfast at the PheZulu Guest House, 

and are picked up at 11:00 am for transport to Victoria Falls,

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Zimbabwe International airport where we take a flight to Johannesburg.  

From there we gather our luggage from the carousel, bid fond farewells and safe travel to everyone, 

then take off in different directions to our next destination.  Russ and I are the only ones carrying on, the rest are headed home.

We arrive late in the afternoon at the Garden Court Hotel within the airport city environs.  I can hardly wait to get on the Internet and post and upload photos, send notes home, and thank you cards.  

Russ is anxious to find out what new insanity is going on at home.  We eat a late dinner at Rosie O’Grady’s Brewery, and return to our room for sleep.  Lights out by 10:00.  We have another travel day tomorrow with a 3 hour flight and a time change to Madagascar tomorrow.

All is Well With the Worrall Travel Rs in Johannesburg

Goodbye Botswana, Hello Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls Day 1, Tuesday, April 2, WTRD 17

Goodbye Botswana - Hello Zimbabwe - Safari Day 7, Victoria Falls Day 1

Tuesday, April 2, WTRD 17 

Our last Botswanan Sunrise

Four of our party meet for breakfast around the campfire, and then we head out for one last game drive/ leopard hunt.  Sue and Richard from England will spend a fourth day in Labala camp and will go for a nature walk today.  Their guide carries a rifle with him today, just in case.

The four of our group pile up and into SLC.  The sunrise is beautiful and the dawn is cool.  It is the best time in Africa.  

We find some fresh tracks and for two hours go round and round through the bushes and woodlands.  

The leopard’s tracks are not making sense to our guide and tracker.  

After a last futile search, they conclude that the leopard we have been tracking is an intruder from another area and does not know the area.  He does not have the same behaviors as the leopards known in the area.  We have seen many animals this morning, but give up the hunt as it is nearing our departure time.

  
We have one last stop for tea and treats before returning to camp by 9:30. 

The staff is offering a full English Breakfast at 10:00.  Russ and I are not ready to eat so soon, so we pass on a second breakfast.  

We will be going to lunch in Zimbabwe before we head to Victoria Falls.

Eleanor completes her evaluation form.

We return to our room, fill out our evaluation form, fill appropriate envelopes for tips to guide, tracker, staff, and complete our packing, then return to the lodge area for a group picture, hugs, and thank you's.  

The Transitional Staff is Leaving with Us Today

 

We board SLC with all of our luggage and head to the airport where we are met by a 11 passenger Cessna turbo prop plane, board and take off towards the last landing in Botswana.  

Our flight is pleasant and we arrive at Kasane International Airport in Botswana.

We are met by a guide who helps us navigate out of Botswana into Zimbabwe.  He has some forms he has pre-entered the basic data for us including that we have not committed any crimes.  We board a van with our bigger bags in a luggage wagon.  He is surprised that we have so little.  I think he does not realize that we were on a safari with with very restricted luggage requirements.

The van driver takes us to the Botswana - Zimbabwe border. 

Our first stop is checking out of Botswana.  The immigration control building is modern, clean, and efficient.  We are in and out in just a few minutes.

We continue two minutes past Botswana border control.  The road turns from pavement to dirt.  Trucks and buses are lined up trying to get through one way or the other.  A large shabby trailer is Zimbabwe’s immigration and customs, with client windows on the outside.   Our guide checks all of our paper work to make sure they are completed properly with signature, and makes sure we each have $30.00 to purchase our Visas. 

The plan is for us to go through immigration quickly while the driver of the Botswana van, transfers our luggage, we pass through immigration, check into our hotel then go to Victoria Falls.  Well it didn't quite work out that way.  After the first two of our group got their visas, the computer system crashed.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  Finally, the single person in the trailer, got up and went to a different window and a different computer. Eventually, the rest of us receive our visas after having stood the heat of the day for an hour.

The drive to Victoria Falls was about an hour after clearing through Immigration.

As we had waited for so long in line at immigration, we opted to check into the hotel after seeing the falls.  We spent the rest of the afternoon with our guide enjoying the spectacular views of the falls during the high water season.  The afternoon light was spectacular for seeing the falls and the rainbow over the falls.  Magnificent.

It was a very wet trek along the falls.  We were happy to have the rain gear!

We checked into our bed and breakfast, the Phezulu Guest House,

for a farewell dinner party with our FF Safari Group, in the Guest House outdoor restaurant, and then went to bed. Tomorrow we are off again to Johannesburg, South Africa where we will say our final farewells, and be on our own to explore Madagascar.

All is Well With the Worrall Travel R's in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe