Welcome to Chris, Vaughan, Helen and Chuck's Excellent African safari!
Some of the pictures we took during the safari
Zambia and Botswana Days
How Chris and Vaughan Joined Us On The Safari How The Safari Came Together
Why Zambia
The Safari Begins!
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From left to right: Chris, Helen, Vaughan on one of the many game drives
When they heard about our plans back in January, they were very excited and we agreed it would be an excellent opportunity to continue our regular get-togethers ... every eight years.
Chris and Vaughan truly made it an excellent adventure! Vaughan also contributed many pictures for the website with his new 10x zoom digital camera.
The safari portion of our trip (Joburg to Joburg) was put together by Misi Pearson of Zambezi Safari & Travel Co's Par Excellence service. Misi is an expert at coordinating many different aspects into a seamless and comfortable experience. We would highly recommend her to anyone planning a trip to Africa.
Robin Pope Safaris (RPS) was the tour provider selected and they exceeded our expectations by making sure EVERY aspect of their safari was trouble-free and very friendly. They employ local people as their guides, drivers and staff. All their staff were especially friendly and knowledgeable. The guides were very well trained and knew everything related to the environment. They also ensured we were alone on game drives ... rarely seeing another vehicle.
The RPS portion of the safari was in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia's Luangwa Valley and included the Nkwali, Tena Tena, and Nsefu camps situated on the Luangwa River.
RPS has an It's Monday newsletter that is worth subscribing to.
We also stayed in Livingstone before and after the main safari and one day in Botswana's
Chobe National Park.
In my research, I became aware of how friendly and unspoiled Zambia was. The safari companies also offered walking safaris and the Luangwa valley appeared to be an excellent location for predators.
It turned out, from most aspects, to be a very good choice ... but maybe a few more predators wouldn't have hurt.
The one other item that really comes to mind is the cleanliness of Zambia ... as compared to South Africa (Joburg and Soweto) and the areas of Botswana we visited. It is our impression that RPS is very careful to keep their area of Zambia very clean an un-spoiled
Our trip was in the dry season (temperature range of 5 to 30 Celsius) and this meant almost no flies or mosquitoes. The villages were extremely clean and the people very friendly and healthy ... and no one asked or looked for handouts ... not the true Africa.
next - Thorntree Lodge, Victoria Falls, Mosi-o-Tunya game reserve