Zambia Day 2

We had breakfast in the outdoor dining area by the pool, and I took a picture of the Zambia version of Fatty the Nile Crocodile:

As we headed to the lobby, where we were to meet our ride for the helicopter flight over Victoria Falls and parts of the Zambezi River as it flows toward the Falls, I took a picture of a family of warthog sculptures created by a local artist.

The helicopter ride was amazing...we saw the falls from every possible angle, and it was awe-inspiring even during the dry season.  I completely forgot to take pictures, and just stared out the helicopter window...fortunately, Susan and Doug took hundred of pictures!  Even in this very dry season, the Falls were an impressive sight. We saw a small herd of elephants by the river. Most animals in this area must stay near the water, as it is extremely dry here and there is little for animals to eat elsewhere. Doug did video of the ride, and am sure he took pictures as well....quite possibly thousands of them!   While we were sitting on the terrace waiting for the other group to take their helicopter ride, I did remember to take some pictures of this local musician, who was playing a very interesting instrument similar to a xylophone.

That afternoon, we arranged through Bushtracks to take a game drive into Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosi-oa-Tunya_National_Park

a game reserve very close to our hotel and the adjacent Royal Livingstone. Our guide was a woman named Purity, and Purity had a great sense of humor, endless knowledge about the Park and the animals we might see, and formidable driving skills. She found us an elephant herd almost immediately, even before we reached the Park. It was a family herd of about twenty, mostly adults and teenagers, no babies. They were having an excellent time eating the mopane trees.

Once in the park,

we found a small group of giraffes with one youngster (not a baby) and, not too far away, a big male. This group of giraffes was far paler than those we have seen at the Pond. Later on, we saw another group with darker markings, more like the South African giraffe we are used to seeing at Pete's Pond.

We also saw many zebras, some very close to the road. One was pregnant, and lay down at one point to rest...we could see the baby kicking. A young zebra, maybe two or three years old, came over to nuzzle the pregnant zebra and eventually they moved off.

We saw lots of baboons, including a group with babies and youngsters playing on a fallen tree. We watched one baby who had his tail grabbed by another young baboon. The baby's mother rescued him from his playmate, held him for a few moments, and then the baby escaped from Mom and went right back to leaping about on the tree with the other youngsters. As always, the babies were irrepressible and great fun to watch!

There were herds of impala everywhere. Because there are no big cats in this part of Zambia, impala have few predators to worry about. Purity said the wild dogs sometimes make their way up here, but not often.

We saw warthogs running along in the distance, a pair of bushbucks, a group of hippos swimming in the Zambezi River, and a white rhinoceros. (There are six rhinos in this park) There was a game ranger keeping an eye on the rhino, and he let us get out of the vehicle to take pictures. He tried to talk me into walking close enough to the rhino to have my picture taken. I assured him that this wasn't going to happen, as I was fairly certain the rhino could run much faster than I, and probably enjoyed having her picture taken far more than I do.

We took a break in a spot next to the Zambezi River, to have a drink. While we were relaxing there, we saw a Pied Kingfisher hunting his dinner...doing his helicopter-like hover, and then diving to the river for his catch. As we drove out of the Park, Doug spotted an eagle. Purity thought it was a martial eagle. It was a great day!

14 Sept 09

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