It was Saturday and we were riding down the Zimbabwean highway in an open jeep, heading for the Zimbabwe-Botswana border. Our destination? The Chobe Game Lodge located inside the Chobe game reserve in Botswana. That's right, another stamp in our passports as we continue our search for wonderful African game. Chobe was to be our last safari experience and it was special, although because the rainy season had come to Botswana, the animals were more scarce and much harder to spot.
We had heard that Chobe was home to more elephants than any other reserve in Africa and we did see lots of elephants in our three game drives. I joked as we scanned the teak trees and grasses for my favorite animals, that my goal is to take 10,000 elephant photos. I have posted lots of tusker pictures, so I will just offer this feisty young male side-stepping beside our jeep; he was a character.
And this dear little one sheltering from the rain under his mother.
Chobe River proved a wonderful place to see hippos. See the little one cuddling up to mama? Hippos come out of the water to graze, most often at night, so it was a treat to see them while there was plenty of light for photos.
We were quite delighted by the spectacular bird life in the reserve. I'm not sure if I can properly identify the species I was able to capture, but you will likely agree they are wonderful. (Leave a comment if you can help to more accurately identify these birds.)
Little Egret
Our guide kept calling this large-billed bird the "Chili pepper bird"
Snake bird
African Fish Eagle
As our last game drive came to a close, we had one more delightful surprise -- five lion cubs waiting in the long grass for their lionesses to bring home supper.
Our last evening in the lodge was relaxing and fun. We shared stories with other travelers and enjoyed the excellent food -- perhaps the best fare we've had anywhere in Africa. Then it was another wake-up call, the reverse truck ride and border-crossing into Zimbabwe, a flight to Johannesburg. I am writing this post on our last night in Africa. Tomorrow we fly to Madagascar; so stay tuned for further adventures.
A grand hotel, a grand view
As we checked into the Victoria Falls Hotel, we realized we were following in the footsteps of thousands of past travelers. Like our own CPR hotels in Ottawa, Quebec City, Banff and Jasper, the Victoria Falls Hotel was built on the railway line that Cecil John Rhodes dreamed would run from Cairo to Capetown. His continental vision was never realized, but the first, very modest Victoria Falls Hotel opened in 1904 soon after the first train made the run to the falls. Over the years, the hotel was improved and expanded into the gracious place where we stayed.
The bridge over the Victoria Falls was an integral part of the plan. and amazingly. Its cantilever design by Sir Douglas Fox was completed in just three years in the location Rhodes had specified, crossing the Zambezi "at the point where the spray from the falls would fall the train carriages crossing the bridge". The railway brought the tourists; the falls and the wonderful hotel gave them a reason to linger. In fact, by 1910, there were excursion trains operating from Capetown and by the 1920s, the hotel hosted about 3000 visitors a year.
A trolley service was introduced in 1920 to carry visitors from the hotel to a point near where the Livingstone statue stands today. Gravity mostly carried the trolleys downill to the falls, but staff were employed by the hotel to pull them in the uphill sections. Over a 37-year period, an estimated two million people used the trolleys.
In the 1940s, Victoria Falls was included on the itinerary of the Solent flying boat service between London and South Africa. These planes landed in the Zambezi River and the passengers spent the night at the hotel.
This vintage mural at the entrance to the hotel captures the era as does Duly, the head porter.
In 1947, the hotel hosted King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and the two princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret on their African tour. Everywhere we looked there were photographs of past events and facilities within the hotel.
Walking the halls with their big game trophies and old lithographs, and taking a swim in the classic pool, we felt we were part of a grand tradition.
-- information in this post is adapted from A Brief History of the Victoria Falls Hotel by Jeanette Creewel with updates by Doris Shiels