Safari (Fri-Sun)

We woke up around 5am Friday morning, had a quick breakfast and hit the road for Rhino Safari Camp. The drive to Karoi took about 4 hours and then an hour boat ride to get to our final destination. As soon as we arrived to camp, like hadn’t even climbed out of the land rover yet, one of the workers came over to us and asked, “you wanna see a snake?”…all of us but Kendra, who is not so fond of snakes, were excited at the opportunity. The guy brought the snake (XX) over, which was in the middle of a war with a gecko, both biting down on each other...we never found out who won. And that was the beginning of our safari!

This camp was so amazing…there were about 6 huts in the sand, each with two beds and a bathroom with an outdoor shower (possible the coolest shower we have ever taken in our lives). There was also a bigger hut with a common area upstairs and a bar downstairs with tables set up in the sand for dinning. In addition there was a bon fire pit where we would sit at night before dinner until a drumming solo by one of the staff summoned us for dinner.

Day 1: When we arrived on Friday it was later in the afternoon so we still had that evening to head out on the Land Rover and go search for some animals…and we found many! Elephants, impalas, tortoise, hippos, crocodiles, more elephants and more impalas, jackals, birds of all different beautiful colors, snakes, warthogs, kudu, mongoose, baboons, and more elephants and more impalas!!! We practically saw each of the Lion King members (Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu …..but no luck with any members of the cat family yet. After driving around for a few hours we stopped near the water and got out of the land rover to sit on a log nearby to enjoy our drinks and watch the beautiful sunset. We were probably about 50 feet from our vehicle when some elephants decided to come out from behind the bush and join the party. Long story short…the elephants came very close to us and most of us got a little scared because well these are giant animals and they have large tusks that look a lot scarier when you are standing twenty feet from them. We all stood still as our guide had instructed us to do, which was for about fifteen minutes but really felt like an hour. When the elephants finally decided to walk on and forget about us we all climbed into the land rover and headed back to camp. Yes this was a frightening moment for sure, but so special to be with such majestic animals in their natural habitat. After arriving back to camp…some of us still in fight or flight mode…gradually relaxed and enjoyed a delicious dinner, which consisted of butternut squash soup, ham and veggies, fresh baked rolls, and dessert. After a long day of travel and excitement of being out in the “true bush”, our guards walked us back to our huts with his shotgun in hand for protection, where we got to fall asleep in our beautiful rooms overlooking the water.

Day 2: Rise and shine was at 5am in order to head out early to hopefully track down some lions. Today was the day...we were on a mission to find those cats! Some hyenas had come through our camp during the night and Kathy had heard them, but they were gone by morning when we all got up and moving. The staff also rakes the sand each night so that you can see what animals may have come through during the night by their tracks. Today we headed out with Steve (our main guide) for about 4 hours before lunch. We searched different territories than the previous day and saw more and more of the animals we had seen before…but still no cats L We headed back around 10:30 for some lunch and break and decided to try a boat tour along the water in the evening. It was a beautiful night as we coasted along the shore, ever so often coming across more hippos, crocs, and elephants. Since it was getting to be dusk when the lions tend to come out more we were hoping to find them, but still no luck. Although we still hadn’t found them, it was a beautiful boat ride seeing the beautiful scenery and animals along the way. A thunderstorm was coming in tonight and we made it back to camp before the dark clouds came our way. We ended the night yet again sitting around the fire and with a delicious meal. The chef had heard how much we enjoyed sedza (a traditional African staple), so he made us some with a beef stew!

Day 3: Today was our last day. We had one more change to track those lions. We headed out early again, driving out to yet again more land we had yet to cover. Today Steve had his game face on. We would stop ever so often looking over the side of the car for tracks. It’s quite amazing what this man is able to do and how much they have to know being a guide. We were driving along and all had spotted a large group of voltures ahead…and we knew that was a sign something had been killed nearby…which means lions! As we got closer a horrible smell came over us and we stopped the car. Lion tracks and elephant tracks were everywhere. Steve got out to go investigate, where he came upon a deceased elephant, most likely killed by lions because he said it was by natural causes, which means not by poachers. He estimated the kill to be up to a week old. There were fresh lion prints, which he can tell by when it last rained how fresh they are, so we were getting close! Steve and JD got out to go investigate more on foot…but the rest of us were too chicken and decided to stay in the vehicle. After about 5 minutes they came back with no sign of the lions, so we drove on. Not long after we passed by an area where Steve had stopped and pointed out a distinct smell, that of a lion leaving its presence, almost like dogs marking their territory. We were right on their tails! We drove on and still no luck. We were beginning to lose hope that we would not get the chance to see them because at this point we only had about 30 minutes left before we had to head back to camp. So Steve says, lets try one last area before we head back. We drove into a big open field…and more voltures!!! BINGO! This time, the voltures were after a baby impala, a kill from a lion. After a few minutes Steve spotted the lioness lying under a tree in the distance. We drove up to her and she looked relaxed and happy as could be, probably relaxing after her meal. We sat there just staring at her for a bit and she stared back. Steve informed us that for the lions, it is hard for them to distinguish us as humans when we are in the car, because they only see the car. However if one of us were to stand up and make sudden movements, it would then recognize us as separate beings. Victory…we finally found our lion…and it was time to head back.

We headed back to Harare to stay the night so we could get up and do some shopping at the flee markets before heading to the airport on Monday. The safari was an amazing experience and a great way to end out trip with a little vacation! We would highly recommend this safari camp to anyone and would love to go back again someday!