My name is Lauren Rueda, I'm from UC San Diego and I'm an ambassador for the Associated Colleges of the Midwest as well as the Gilman Scholars.
Sprite and Tonic, Make it a DOUBLE! (2 of 2)
Refers to the sunset cruise in Zimbabwe…I’ll get to that in a bit.
Now, we left off with the safari car getting towed out of the small lake-puddle on our way to Savuti. Thankfully our engine was fine when we towed it out, and we were able to start up again and try a different route. There are only two exits out of Moremi, we tried one so we headed to the next. We get there, and it’s a lake about as big as the last. Our tour guide had already changed into dry clothes, but he stripped down to his boxers and went to check how deep the lake-puddle was. He was able to find a route that wasn’t too deep for the safari trucks to go through. With a lot of determination and cheering we were able to make it across. We were ecstatic, because the alternative would have been to drive back through Moremi and exit out the south gate which would have cost us another 9 or so hours. NO THANK YOU.
On our drive through Savuti to our campsite we saw a massssive Baobab tree, so of course we stopped and took a picture. Also, it’s the same tree that Rafiki lives in, in the Lion King.
Also, Baobab trees are not indigenous to Botswana. They were imported here, a few hundred years ago.
We also hiked up a trail to see some rock paintings. I love climbing, any time I get a chance I go as high as I can. From this view I could see the river snake around the forrest. It was beautiful.
One of the rock paintings.
After the rock paintings, we kept traveling through Savuti and we saw a large herd of buffalo.
We camped in Savuti next to a lake, and it was really beautiful. We got there after dark, and packed up in the morning so we didn’t get to see it for long. Also, during dinner that night we heard a really loud snort/growl. Our tour guide said it was a hippo. We all kind of freaked out because hippos are REALLY aggressive, and are the #2 killer of safari guides right behind buffalo. WTF. It was behind our tents trying to get to the lake. They only graze at night because during the day its too hot for them to come out of the water.
After we left Savuti, we headed to our last campsite in Chobe National Park. Chobe was absolutely my favorite spot. Chobe has the most beautiful landscapes, and definitely the most animals. They are heavily overpopulated with elephants, so there are probably about 50 elephants per 1/2 a square mile. They are also low on predators, so they have lots and lots of prey (aka buffalo, impala, springbok, giraffes, wildebeest, and others.) I saw so many elephants it was unbelievable, but most importantly I saw an incredible amount of BABY ELEPHANTS! Cutest things EVER. They just run around and hide behind their mamas!
Some baboons (which are known for being vicious and aggressive) hanging out with their elephant friends.
IT’S A BABY!
This was the second elephant that charged at us and I almost peed myself. It was angry, very angry. It yelled at us too.
Beautiful sunset in Chobe on the edge of the Zambezi River.
After Chobe, we had to head to a nearby town Kasane where we would be dropped off and left to find our own way back to Gaborone, but just as we were leaving a little disapointed because we didn’t see any lions, 3 lions magically appeared!
It was the cherry on top of our already incredibly delicious hot fudge sunday. We were about six feet away. I was scared but way more excited. We couldn’t make any loud noises or sudden movements otherwise the lions could get aggressive, but honestly they looked like we could have jumped off and pet them, and they would have been too lazy to do anything about it. They were so beautiful and graceful, and oh so powerful.
After our time with the lions we were dropped off in Kasane. It was Saturday, and a group of us wanted to go to Victoria Falls in the neighboring country of Zimbabwe, so we did.
We hired a shuttle from a local hotel to take us over the boarder. We arrived in Victoria Falls, and went to an activity booker and booked everything we wanted to do. All of us decided that we wanted to do the “Sunset” Cruise, me and a friend also booked bridge jumping, and white water rafting on the mighty Zambezi River.
Our hostel was really nice, and really cheap, the best combination. Three of us, including myself, stayed in a 4 person dorm for $11 a night. It’s called Shoestrings Hostel for those of you who are interested in visiting there. It was a pretty large hostel with lots of foreign travelers equipped with a pool and a bar. They also have live entertainment on the weekends, and a spa area where you can get massages, facials, as well as manicures and pedicures. If I had the time I totally would have got a pedicure and a massage.
After putting our things down we went to the train station to buy our tickets for the next day.
Some baboons chillin at the station.
We found out we couldn’t buy our tickets until the next day, so we left for dinner and then the sunset cruise.
The cruise was $45, and was located on the Zambezi River which is incredibly beautiful, especially at sunset. We saw about 10 hippos, which was really cool, and it was of course open bar. We got on the boat (which has two decks) and we were one of two young groups there, everyone else was clearly over 50. Regardless, we had a ball. Since it was open bar, we decided to get our moneys worth. By the end of the night the bartender knew my drink of choice (which was of my own creation: 2 shots of gin, sprite, rasberry, cream, and orange flavoring) it was deeeeelicious! I called it the LBR, for obvious reasons.
Now here’s where the title comes in. I go down to the bar for the 3rd time (before the creation of the LBR) and say “gin and tonic, make it a double!” The bartender gives me a weird look and starts to make my drink. He fills it with ice, tonic, and the pours in sprite, and asks me “you don’t drink alcohol?”
and I say “Of course I do?…Gin?”
“You want gin?”
“Yeah…”
The other batender talks to him in zulu and so he adds a few drops of gin to the top of my already filled glass. I tell him that it’s okay, and if he could just poor some gin into another glass and I’ll mix it myself.
I go back up to the deck with my friends and tell them the story. My friend Megan starts laughing and tells me that I actually said “sprite and tonic, make it a double!” which is why the bartender was so confused. -.- How embarrassing. The rest of the night was filled with jokes and laughs at the dumb things everyone said. It was a great night.
Unfortunately a great night under the influence of alcohol, tends to lead to bad mornings, and I was no exception. Axum and myself had to wake up at 6 in the morning to get ready for rafting, at which point I was still slightly intoxicated.
If you haven’t figured it out already…. *****TIP, under no circumstances should you drink heavily the day before you plan to engage in strenuous activities.********
In order to get down to the rafts we had to go down the gorge, which took about an hour. It was incredibly difficult without the ability to balance, but luckily I only fell once.
Rafting was incredible. The Zambezi River surrounded by the gorge was the number one most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Rafting was incredible, apparently there are levels of rapids. 1-2 for beginners, 3-4 for intermediates, 5 for advanced and 6 for experts. Our rafting journey had rapids 1-5, which isn’t allowed for beginners in the U.S. but hello! we were in ZIMBABWE! It was amazing to say the least. They let us jump out and swim in some rapids as long as we held onto the boat. I kept doing it until I saw a crocodile on shore. We didn’t bring a camera with us because we didn’t know there would be a place to store it where it wouldn’t get wet =/.
The Zambezi River starting at Victoria Falls.
After rafting, we went straight to the bridge to jump! They had three options, bungee jump, bridge jump(swing) solo or tandem, and zipline. We signed up for the bridge swing tandem.
Basically they put a harness on each of you and then ask you to hold onto a strap on each others hips, and take a large step together using your outter legs. I made sure we practiced at least a dozen times. I’ve been bungee jumping before, but somehow it doesn’t get any easier. In fact, I’m pretty sure it gets harder. After you step off you free fall for 111 meters (364 feet) and then when you hit the bottom of your cord you swing until they pull you up. They also advise you to hold on tight, and to try to fall straight.
The initial jump. It felt like I was jumping to my death.
I fell straight and Axum fell into fetal position. -.-
The zipline was inexpensive, so I decided to do that too.
The bridge where it all happened.
At the end of the day, we took the overnight train from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Then a taxi from Bulawayo to the Botswana border. Then a combi (public bus, that’s more of a mini-van) from the boarder to Francistown. Then a huge greyhound like bus from Francistown to Gaborone, and finally a taxi from the station back home to the University of Botswana. Traveling back took us about 26 hours, but it was totally worth it. Plus the train was really cool, we all were able to get some sleep, and it was really inexpensive (tickets were $12.)
I thought it would be cool to map my journey, and as to give a visual for all the places I named.
A./J. Gaborone, Botswana
B. Maun, Botswana
C. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
D. Savuti, Botswana
E. Chobe National Park, Botswana
F. Kasane, Botswana
G. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
H. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
I. Francistown, Botswana
It’s definitely going to be difficult to top this spring break, but all I can do is try! Next up is my rural home-stay in Mochudi!
