ONE OF THE 7 NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD

VICTORIA FALLS &



BOTSWANA SAFARI

DECEMBER 8, 9, 10 & 11th, 2011

It all started with a Sunset Cruise on the Kariba River on

the AFRICAN QUEEN!

Hippos & Crocodiles every where you looked.  They are considered the most dangerous animal in Africa

Then a hike to the FALLS

Then, out of no where, there they were, one of the most beautiful sites we have ever witnessed.  You could hear the falls and the sound was deafening, what a view!

Spectacular!!

Sister Heck couldn't get enough of the FALLS.

Had to take a break on the journey.

The Sister Crowd (James, Jefferies, Heck & Bean)

The further you walked the bigger they got, and the bigger they got the wetter you got.

We were drenched but loved every minute of it.

The trail was a rain forest, but beautiful every step of the way.

Every direction was a different view of the Falls.

You could get as close as you dared.

It was wet, but extremely HOT!!

It seemed like you could walk forever and not get to the end.

Every angle a different view of cascading water.

Sister Jefferies had to be held back, she wanted to be right on the edge.

This is how the cowards did it.  Man, it was a long way down to the bottom.

Jean was pleading for me to get back from the edge, yeh right, maybe hoping I would jump.

This is what it looked like looking down to the bottom.

Notice the barriers holding everyone back, reminds me of Mexico.

People on the Zambia side taking a break and looking back at Zimbabwe.

The whole crew, almost.

Surely this is not the Garden of Eden?

Some of our little friends that followed us around looking for a handout.  Notice the little baby.

We were wondering if Warthog would make a good pork sandwich.

Our last glimpse of the FALLS.  GOODBYE

That night it was party time.  We went to what the natives call a Boma Dinner.  You had to dress up, or down, and become a native.  They put on a spectacular floor show, and we ate everything from Ostrich, Warthog, Elan to Worms, and had a wonderful time.

Seems like everyone was always picking on me, but I had a good time anyway.

I had to eat the worm!!

Didn't taste that great, HELP ME!

Party Girl.

The next morning bright and early we were on the road to Botswana for a River Safari on the Chobi River and a game drive in the Chobi National Park that afternoon.  This was the highlight of the entire trip.  Everything was natural, and NO FENCES. 

First we had to clear immigrations and Customs.  Then we were loaded into the safari wagons and off we went for the adventure of a lifetime.

Up close and personal with all the wildlife.

Everywhere you looked on the river there was wildlife, just going about their natural thing.

Big, Big Crocs everywhere you looked.

Hippos as big as buses!

Beautiful Leopard Turtle.

Birds and Water Bucks. And a wonderful place to stop for lunch to end our River Trip.

We are loading up to go on the afternoon land safari.

First thing we saw was Cape Buffalo!

Elephants every where.

This elephant walked right in front of our jeep!

Notice the baby elephant under the mother.

This Eagle was huge.

Monkeys every where.

Elan

Dung Beetles at work.  They are fascinating to watch!

They were really busy!

Vulchers, reminding us of Halloween!

We stopped under the biggest tree we could find.  We had to take a bathroom break so we headed out to a big bush.  We were just about there and the guide call to us to come back, telling us we went to far but we just kept walking!

This is why he was yelling at us to come back.  All around the vehicle were Lion tracks that were very fresh.

About 50 yards out this is what we spotted!

Big Boys watching everyone.

This was the daddy of them all, and we were only 50 to 100 yards away from these big boys.  Our guides were very nervous, because there is one in 100 chances of seeing a Lions pride like this, especially this close.  He was watching all of us, and left the trucks running all the time we were there.  he said this was very dangerous, and we should really feel fortunate to see what we did today.  One of the Guides was Corney, and she is a convert to the Church, and made certain that we had a first class trip.  We probably went a couple hours longer than normal, but it was just Great!!!

Just for your information, we have now seen first hand 4 of THE BIG 5 in Africa!!

THIS IS THE REAL AFRICA!!

These Baobab trees are the biggest in the world, and when the leaves go off they look like they are growing upside down because there are so few branches.  They are magnificent to look at and you can't help but wonder what things they have seen in their life time.

NEXT UP, CHRISTMAS AT THE DUMP IN HARARE!!