One reason we picked South Africa as a home base was for better accessibility to explore Africa. We figured why not plan a trip for our birthdays? Jim's is October 10 and mine is November 16- so the last week of October was a perfect time for a birthday trip.

We decided on a trip to Victoria Falls and Hwange National Park because it was an easy nonstop flight from our local airport, Nelspruit to Livingston, Zambia. Our return from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe was also an easy nonstop flight. We hadn't been to either country and we didn't really have any idea what the falls would be like since it was still the dry season. These were the shortest and easiest flight we've taken to a destination in a long time!

You would think that the best time to go would be in the rainy season since it's a waterfall. More water = bigger, more impressive falls, right?

Nope. If there is too much water, there is too much mist and you won't be able to see anything. Much like flying through the clouds in an airplane: a whole lot of white mist. So going in the dry season isn't necessarily bad. It can mean very little water, or not. We were fortunate that there was enough water to see some really impressive waterfalls—and some really impressive rocky cliffs where there is normally water in the rainy season.

Thorntree River Lodge, Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park

We stayed at the lovely Thorntree River Lodge on the Zambezi River in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. The National Park is only like 25 sq miles, so pretty small, but the migration path for the elephants comes right through the area so there are lots of opportunities to see elephants up close and personal—so up close that I had elephants outside the gym when I was working out. Our guide was telling us that they had elephants in town frequently this time of year. We saw plenty of evidence of them as he drove us to the falls.

We arrived to lunch and an afternoon sitting on our private deck looking out over the Zambezi River. While waiting for our first activity—a sunset river cruise—we took in the peacefulness of the river, staring out at the Zambezi River watching the light change and the ripples in the river distorting the almost glass-like reflection of the trees on the island across the way. It was quiet other than the birds singing and flapping their wings. We heard an occasional hippo laughing so we knew they were there even though we couldn't see them. Fish started to pop up looking for tasty bugs as the sun got lower in the sky.

Sunset River Cruise on the Zambezi River

We met our guide at the floating boma on the river associated with the lodge at 5:30. After a short safety briefing and summary of where we were going, we set off on our small boat: just us and our guide, Quintero. We saw many of the same birds we saw at home, except here we see trees chock full of bee-eaters, not just one or two.

We anchored at a small sandy island near the banks of the Zimbabwe side of the Zambezi River for sundowners and to watch elephants and giraffes come down for a drink of water. This is something we can see at home from the fence into Kruger, but it somehow felt different. At home, people get to know the animals because we observe them day after day. Here the animals are nameless. When our guide said they don’t recognize any animals visiting the area repeatedly, I was surprised by that, but the elephants here are much more migratory than the ones in Kruger, I think.

We got back and went straight to dinner. So. Much. Food! Definitely a foodie paradise at this lodge. They've found the right balance of interesting flavors without going over the top. It felt simple and exotic at the same time.

Victoria Falls

I got up around 6AM and sat outside on our deck drinking tea and doing my language lessons while watching the sky turn pink and waiting for Jim to get up so we could head to breakfast.

Breakfast was so much food as always, but Jim and I are getting better at remembering to split things! Like French toast topped with caramelized banana, bacon, and cream. Drool worthy… my pants won't button worthy!

We spent the morning exploring one of the seven natural wonders of the world: Victoria Falls. First the Zambian side with our guide, then we popped in the car to exit Zambia, cross the bridge, and stop again to get our passports stamped to enter Zimbabwe.

Our guide isn't allowed to guide us on the Zimbabwe side of the falls, so he left us to explore by ourselves, which we didn't mind at all! I love having a guide to assist with logistics/drive me around/and ask a million and one questions. But Jim and I are pretty independent travelers and love sharing new experiences on our own more than with anyone else (with exception of a select few people).

The falls are so cool-they drop into a gorgeous canyon and the pathways to different lookout points are marked really nicely. And it wasn't crowded! At times we had the lookouts to ourselves as well as the entire path. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I think maybe more touristy like Niagara Falls or other big-name natural attractions. There are so many touristy things to do at the falls: white-water rafting, helicopter rides, bungee jumping… the list goes on. But most of it is really organized by booking before you arrive. It's not a center of tour guides and companies trying to sell you stuff last minute. At least that wasn't our experience. Refreshing and so much more pleasant as a tourist when you don't feel attacked by commercialism. Well, at least for us! I think back to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and clearly some people like the gaudy over-commercialized touristy things. No judgment—just not our scene!

Lunch was more of too much food. The dessert was this apple crumble thing that was buttery and good. We forgot to split the dessert though! We will remember for dinner! There were five sunbirds sitting in a tree over the water while we ate.

We have free time until 4:30 when we’re going to track the rhino! Free time is nice when we are in vacation/safari mode because we usually feel like we have no downtime when we go on safari trips. It's usually a lot of early wake-up calls and late dinners. It always seems like there is no chance to enjoy and appreciate the amenities of the camps and lodges. Our free time gave me a chance to soak in our deep tub that looked out on the river and wildlife and read (currently a book from one of my favorite authors "The Winners" by Fredrik Bachman-author of the book Beartown).

Devil's Pool on Livingston Island

Today was a really lazy morning. The plan of the day was to head to Livingstone Island for a picnic lunch. I had heard of Devil's Pool, but had no idea that it was the focus of the trip to the island. I was expecting to hear more about Livingstone and the island, but it wasn't what I expected at all!

We arrived at the launch site, signed some papers, and got on a small motor boat to the island. A short eight minute ride brought us to the island where our group had a quick intro to the island-changing rooms, the tented picnic site, and a bathroom, before heading to Devil's Pool. That is it. No "tour of the island" to speak of.

I had seen some pictures of Devil's Pool but seriously had no idea what it would be like! Scariest (and craziest) thing I've ever done in my life.

Oh, don't be fooled by anyone saying it's nothing. I don't have a fear of heights and I still feel anxious when I think about looking over the edge of the falls, down 350 feet. It's dizzying. From the PBS show Nature, Visualizing the Scale of the Falls, I know that the falls are as high as a 35-story building, 45 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty from pedestal to torch, and more than twice as high as Niagara Falls.

That’s pretty tall. And it feels every bit that tall looking over the edge when sitting on the four foot ledge watching the water tumble down from around you. Am I glad I did it? Was I nervous before I did it? Since I don’t have any real fear of heights, I wasn’t nervous at all before doing it. Once I got out there though, it was crazy scary. Especially watching one of our two guides walk along the edge of the pool taking pictures with my phone. I was half scared he'd drop my phone and 100% scared that he would fall while I was watching.

I’ll admit, it was really cool—and the pictures are pretty fun—but I wouldn’t do it again. Unless you are obsessed with getting that Instagram shot, I’d say if you do have a fear of heights, it’s ok to skip it. Don’t stress yourself out over it. If you have no fear of heights and you love adrenaline from doing crazy stuff, go for it! I'll be waiting on dry land away from the pool.

Jim took one look and said no way, no how, and couldn't even watch people get into the pool. So I was going solo! There were three other couples and it was fun chatting and watching each experience the pool. I was the last of the group to go. The others cheered me on while the guide held my legs in what seemed to be the lightest grip. I really felt like he was going to let me slip out of his hands at any moment. The other guide took pictures and videos with my phone to capture the moment. I was almost more scared of him walking along the edge I was sitting on than I was sitting on the ledge! He did manage some really amazing videos though that totally captured what I was seeing.

NO WAY I would do it again! Next time, I will choose the helicopter ride through the canyon instead. I am glad I did it, but the fear was 💯 real.

After our excitement in the pool, we hopped out, crossed the rocks, and swam across a small section of the Zambezi River back to the island for our "picnic" lunch. The picnic lunch was more like a feast with soup, bread, chicken, and four sides, followed by dessert.

We enjoyed a long lunch chatting with a couple from New Jersey, but originally from Jamaica. They had just been to Capetown and it was their first time visiting Africa and I think it won’t be their last. Many people underestimate how much there is to see and do in southern Africa as well as how much English is spoken.

After lunch, we waited. And waited. And waited for our boat to pick us up. We got on one, they needed us to get off so another group could get back because they were going to miss their flight. Then they sent a boat for seven, but there were eight of us. Finally, after waiting forty minutes, we managed to get on a boat back to the launch site. While we waited for our boat, we had a chance to see some elephants across the river getting a drink of water. This was definitely a trip for elephant-watching!

Rhino Tracking in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park

At 4:30PM, we set off to “track” the rhinos! A 10-minute drive brought us to the rangers that track and keep tabs on the ten rhinos in the park. Poaching rhinos continues to be a problem in all of Africa. Their solution in this small park is to have Rangers with the rhinos at all times. So it's not hard to find them and walk out to them. They aren't territorial like the black rhinos so safety isn't too much of a concern.

After about fifteen minutes, we walked back to the safari vehicle and headed back toward camp. Less than three minutes later, we came across a mama rhino and her three-month-old baby. We had the pleasure of sitting and watching them for a bit as well. We saw what real rhino tracking looks like when we headed to Hwange Bush Camp. Our “rhino tracking” in Zambia was a complete zoo experience—all rhino tracking experiences are NOT created equal. I say it all the time: you can spend whatever you want on safari, but all safaris are NOT equal. I would skip the “zoo experience” of rhino tracking in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. Even if I didn't track black rhinos in Hwange, I'd still say this experience was sub-par.

Coming from Marloth Park, we have to remind ourselves that every national park in Africa is not Kruger! Also, people come here for the Falls, not really for the animals. It feels like the animals are a side attraction for those coming to Africa for the Falls because you can't come to Africa and not see animals. People would think you’re crazy. But Africa is more than the animals just like NYC is more than tall buildings.

Hwange Bush Camp

We headed to Hwange Bush Camp, leaving Thorn Tree River Lodge at 9:45AM since we had to cross the border to get to Zimbabwe for our charter flight. We were a bit delayed leaving camps since there were elephants on the road out of camp. Our transfer had a travel agent with us who was so concerned about being late to meet her group coming in, she was telling the driver to just drive at them. Clearly, she doesn't get that we are in a national park and the animals have the right of way. If an elephant wants to stand in the middle of the road for four hours, that's life in the bush!

Fortunately, these elephants only stood in our way for fifteen minutes before moving off to find a nice mud hole to cool off in.

We took a little four-seater bush plane to Hwange Bush Camp where we met our guide, Dave, and started what would be our online detox- no internet/cell service for five days. Hwange Bush camp is in the Robins Area of Hwange Bush Camp.

I always love riding in small planes and landing on dirt airstrips in the bush. Jim even got to be copilot!

We drove straight to camp to grab lunch. Our travel agent at Mango Safaris, Casey, had requested our own personal guide, Dave. She had said he was a character, and she was right! He told us he wanted to get out by 3:00 PM to see some leopards—a mama and two sons dining on a roan antelope. Or maybe see if the six lions they had spotted earlier in the day under a tree might be up doing something. The leopard gave us a show and we watched him walk for about thirty minutes to the watering hole a few kilometers away. He headed back under the tree with the roan to have a bit of dinner before hiding in the bush for a nap.

We were able to watch three leopards with a kill—mama and her two juvenile sons. We got the chance to follow one of the juvenile leopards for over thirty minutes while he made his way to a waterhole.

We got back around 7 PM to camp and had a nice meal around 8. Dave suggested a walking safari the next morning where we could maybe track some lions or elephants. Ah, safari life: early mornings and late nights!

Walking Safari

The walking safari was a ton of fun, but hot! So hot! We tracked two separate groups of elephants staying upwind and got to stand there watching them as they ate and relaxed in the trees. It was neat watching them without them even knowing we were there. It was a nice 4.5-mile walk that lead us to where the other staff had left a vehicle for us and made our way back to camp around 12:30 in time for lunch at 1:00.

After lunch and a short rest, we headed out to a favorite watering hole of Dave's where we found a dead elephant that had most likely died just hours earlier, as no animals had found it yet. I know it's the circle of life, but it is always hard to see these beautiful animals dead. The elephant wasn't that old and was bleeding from its orifices. It could have picked up anthrax or some other disease. It had beautiful tusks so Dave called it into the rangers so they could come to remove them to discourage someone from stealing and selling them.

We left the elephant to check out the other side of the watering hole where we watched a martial eagle kill a Guinea fowl while two tawny eagles waited for an opportunity to steal it. As we were waiting, Dave and Sean heard a baboon barking and that usually means lions or a leopard are nearby. We also saw a jackal checking out the martial eagle’s kill. The martial eagle plucked some feathers from the Guinea fowl and then proceeded to carry his prey to higher ground, a termite mound. The jackal crept in close just waiting for an opportunity to snatch it away. He lucked out when the eagle lost his grip on the bird and it rolled down the termite mound right into the jackal's waiting mouth.

After that excitement, we popped over to where the baboon had barked near the dead elephant and stumbled on two lionesses and four four-month-old cubs. They were the fattest cubs I've ever seen and were desperate for water. So desperate they stopped at a puddle right in front of us to drink. They were also so full, they didn't even pay attention to the dead elephant and just walked right by it.

There were other lions just on the far side of the watering hole that had also been dining on an elephant, but lions are opportunistic and an elephant with a day-old baby came by. For a moment, we were sure that the baby was going to be dinner for them tonight. Mom made quite a ruckus though, calling her herd. The mama and baby got reinforcements and survived! Phew!

Back to camp for a delicious dinner… and to plan for the next day! Dave suggested black rhino tracking. It would be a full day with a wake-up call at 4 am! But tracking a black rhino in the African bush? So worth the early wake-up call!

Tracking a black rhino on foot

Hwange only has a handful of black rhinos. They have been mostly poached out of existence in the park. Dave had notified the anti-poaching unit in that area of the park that we would be out tracking rhino so they wouldn't come in and shoot us!

Up at 4 AM and on the road before 5, we set off to the area known to have black rhinos and we found a number of fresh prints. The six of us—our guides (Dave and Sean), our trackers (Felix and Lawrence), and me and Jim—hopped out of our open-air safari vehicle and set off to find a rhino.

Black rhinos can be really dangerous - and really shy.

After more than three hours of tracking our young male rhino through the bush, working to stay upwind of him and find his tracks through the sometimes dense thicket, checking the temp of his droppings to see how fresh (warm) they were, and backtracking at times, we found him! Oh was he ever hidden though! He had found the thickest thicket of bushes he could find and nestled himself in there for a nice long nap during the heat of the day. And boy was it hot! We tried and tried to get close enough for a good picture, but no luck. We got some nice glimpses of his head through the branches.

I think the coolest part of the experience was actually watching all the things we've heard about animals being used. Identifying the tracks and knowing how fresh they are by how crisp they are, finding evidence of bushes where he had recently eaten from, checking the dung for freshness, and my favorite: the ox peckers. Rhinos have horrible eyesight so they use the ox peckers to warn them if there is possible danger. If the oxpeckers fly off, the rhino gets alert and will run off-and they can move FAST! But the flip side is that the oxpeckers actually gave his location away to our guides. Our guides and trackers heard the oxpeckers in that crazy thick thicket and spotted the rhino. Ah! Two can play at the game.

But that was just the start of our day! From there we drove to the camp's concession. (See this link for a nice description of what a concession area is and why they make good experiences on game drives.) There were some thunderstorms and heavy rain moving in, but the Hwange Camp was nice enough to invite us to take shelter for afternoon tea and chocolate cake. We watched a lioness come in and drink from the watering hole before heading to her cubs and sister lioness dining on a buffalo.

Eventually, we made our way back to camp, getting back just in time for dinner. A long eventful day since we had left before five in the morning!

Bush Camp to Somalisa Camp

The highlight of Somalisa Camp is the watering hole with a deck, pool and lounge looking out over it. It was definitely my favorite part of this camp. I could have sat there and not gone on a single safari and been content!

We started our first full day at Somalisa Camp with breakfast at 5:30, then throwing on ponchos to set off to see what we could see. First stop: a two-year-old elephant being food for a hyena. I know, I know, the circle of life and all.

Next up, we stopped by the watering hole where we had sundowners the night before to see two male lions sleeping where we had sat and watched elephants the night before. We've seen a lot of sleeping lions in our life and prefer observing the behavior of a more common animal over animals sleeping. Fortunately, the couple sharing our safari vehicle felt the same way.

While sitting and sitting, we did see some lilac-breasted rollers. The morning passed by with sightings of a few ground hornbills, some giraffes, impalas, and soooo many elephants! We stopped back at the waterhole where the lions had been earlier to enjoy the elephant herds coming through. And boy were there herds of them!

The next day was similar to the first with the exception of seeing the absolute prettiest hyena I've ever seen. He stopped to smell the safari vehicle and check us out before continuing off for something a bit more appetizing.

We returned home to continue our own daily safari life and prepare for our friend Colin to visit. 💗 I can’t wait to continue exploring more areas of Africa!

See below for a bunch of random pictures I didn't capture above!