We'll post a longer write up on our Jo'burg trip later, but wanted to get these pictures up while we can.
U2 in Jo'burg
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Imire Game Park
Maggie and Jennifer took a trip to Imire game park. Rhinos, lions, giraffe love... enjoy.Imire Game Park
Our time with Maggie and Winston
So we have been very busy since Grant last posted details about where we would be going for our New Year's trip with Maggie and Winston. We had an amazing 9 day trip with them and did all kinds of amazing things. They successfully flew into Vic Falls airport from Jo-burg and we went straight to our hotel and had drinks looking out over the national park. Safari Lodge was an amazing place to stay. We had a New Year's Eve dinner at the hotel restaurant and were in bed by 10:30. All the flying and driving we did exhausted us all. New Year's Day, Maggie and Winston did a sunrise elephant ride and then walked with baby lions which is a popular thing to do here. They had a great day. They met back up with Grant and myself at the hotel. Grant and I decided to have a quiet relaxing morning and walk around the town in Vic Falls instead which was fun. On the 2nd, we did a half day rafting trip down the lower Zambezi River. We were supposed to do the first 10 rapids but literally the day before we went, they closed down the first 10 rapids because the water level was so high. It is rainy season here so everything is really green and water levels run very high. People we having bad experiences going down the first 10 rapids which are much more intense than the other 12 rapids (by the way reminder...my mom went down the first 10). Our boat ended up being the only boat that didn't turn over. Other boats were turning over at least 2 times so we were lucky. It was challenging getting people back into the boats because of the fast currents so I'm happy we stayed safe in our boat.
Then that afternoon we got picked up for our camping/canoeing trip. We did a small game drive before sunset and then we were brought to a already set up camp (which you will see in the pictures). It was just the 4 of us and our guide and some other guys cooking and it was fantastic. The food was delicious and they were great. We slept pretty good considering at any point wild animals could walk up on us. The next morning we got up at 5:15 am and went on a morning game drive, came back and ate breakfast and then started putting our inflatable canoes into the water. By the way did I mention we heard hippos grunting all night.
We were pretty sure before this trip that we would have 2 guides on this canoe excursion and one of the guides would definitely have a gun....well that was not the case. One guide with no gun in his own canoe. We had to have safety training about what to do if our canoe got knocked over or bumped by a hippo and how fast and where to swim to avoid crocs. Awesome. Anyhow, we got in and just had to put faith in this man, our guide, and a higher power. I prayed for weeks before this trip and I think our moms did as well. So you will see in the pics some of the many hippos we came across. There were only 2 times in that day where our guide got serious and made us paddle quickly. We went down some small rapids and had to focus really hard on not tipping over. Other than these issues, it was beautiful and relaxing. When the day was done, that was when our guide told us how happy he was we got through safely, and then he proceeded to tell us bad stories about other people who had done this. We are so glad we did it, but never again.
We had an amazing time at Hwange. The coolest thing we saw was a pride of 7 lions/lionesses at night in the rain. It was so intense, but unfortunately we didn't get pictures. We did a lot of other great pictures though. Saw lots of babies and even though we were told we wouldn't see that many animals during the wet season, I beg to differ. We saw all kinds of animals and even ones we hadn't seen before. The Hide is one of the most impressive places any of us have ever stayed. I think it was unanimous vote that it is in the top 5 places of all time. So nice, relaxing, all inclusive and the food is amazing.
We also went to Matopos National Park which is naturally formed rock kopjes that are really impressive. We did a game drive and some rock climbing which was fun. We did try to find rhinos there because they have a heavy population of them but no success (Maggie and I saw plenty of them at a later date). While on our game drive at the national park we saw a large part of the park burned down.A few weeks before poachers came in to try and kill some rhinos for their horns, but when they were discovered, they started a fire to distract park workers to escape. They escaped unfortunately, but at least they didn't kill any rhinos. We learned a lot about how bad rhino poaching is here. It's really sad and disturbing. People work very hard to protect those animals, but it always seems rich, bad people are always one more step ahead.
We had a great time with Mags and Winston and loved having Maggie here in Harare. I will write more about Maggie's visit here another time to break up these long updates. We want to set up a donation fund for the orphanage Maggie volunteered at so maybe save up a few bucks!
Other news: Grant is in the process of getting our wedding website finished so we will post that up very soon. Love to everyone!
Pictures from our trip with Maggie and Winston: New Year's road trip pictures
Then that afternoon we got picked up for our camping/canoeing trip. We did a small game drive before sunset and then we were brought to a already set up camp (which you will see in the pictures). It was just the 4 of us and our guide and some other guys cooking and it was fantastic. The food was delicious and they were great. We slept pretty good considering at any point wild animals could walk up on us. The next morning we got up at 5:15 am and went on a morning game drive, came back and ate breakfast and then started putting our inflatable canoes into the water. By the way did I mention we heard hippos grunting all night.
We were pretty sure before this trip that we would have 2 guides on this canoe excursion and one of the guides would definitely have a gun....well that was not the case. One guide with no gun in his own canoe. We had to have safety training about what to do if our canoe got knocked over or bumped by a hippo and how fast and where to swim to avoid crocs. Awesome. Anyhow, we got in and just had to put faith in this man, our guide, and a higher power. I prayed for weeks before this trip and I think our moms did as well. So you will see in the pics some of the many hippos we came across. There were only 2 times in that day where our guide got serious and made us paddle quickly. We went down some small rapids and had to focus really hard on not tipping over. Other than these issues, it was beautiful and relaxing. When the day was done, that was when our guide told us how happy he was we got through safely, and then he proceeded to tell us bad stories about other people who had done this. We are so glad we did it, but never again.
We had an amazing time at Hwange. The coolest thing we saw was a pride of 7 lions/lionesses at night in the rain. It was so intense, but unfortunately we didn't get pictures. We did a lot of other great pictures though. Saw lots of babies and even though we were told we wouldn't see that many animals during the wet season, I beg to differ. We saw all kinds of animals and even ones we hadn't seen before. The Hide is one of the most impressive places any of us have ever stayed. I think it was unanimous vote that it is in the top 5 places of all time. So nice, relaxing, all inclusive and the food is amazing.
We also went to Matopos National Park which is naturally formed rock kopjes that are really impressive. We did a game drive and some rock climbing which was fun. We did try to find rhinos there because they have a heavy population of them but no success (Maggie and I saw plenty of them at a later date). While on our game drive at the national park we saw a large part of the park burned down.A few weeks before poachers came in to try and kill some rhinos for their horns, but when they were discovered, they started a fire to distract park workers to escape. They escaped unfortunately, but at least they didn't kill any rhinos. We learned a lot about how bad rhino poaching is here. It's really sad and disturbing. People work very hard to protect those animals, but it always seems rich, bad people are always one more step ahead.
We had a great time with Mags and Winston and loved having Maggie here in Harare. I will write more about Maggie's visit here another time to break up these long updates. We want to set up a donation fund for the orphanage Maggie volunteered at so maybe save up a few bucks!
Other news: Grant is in the process of getting our wedding website finished so we will post that up very soon. Love to everyone!
Pictures from our trip with Maggie and Winston: New Year's road trip pictures
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