September 3-12, 2022. Going on safari in Africa seemed like a crazy dream that could never come true. Normal people don’t get to see the African wildlife outside of zoos. Or at least that is what I thought.

However, one day while I was daydreaming and looking at Intrepid’s tours, I noticed they provide an 18-30 years old tour. It involved driving overland and camping instead of flying to reserves and staying in fancy lodges. After doing some research and watching a few travel YouTube videos of people doing similar trips, I moved African safari from the never-in-your-wildest-dreams list to the visit-in-the-next-few-years list.

I booked the safari during a sale back in November 2021. I needed something to look forward to and it had free cancellation. The great airline point redemption to Cape Town only made it better.

Our tour started in Johannesburg, South Africa. Johannesburg is an old gold mining town that has become the financial capital of South Africa. I arrived two days early to explore the city. My highlight was visiting the Apartheid museum. The struggle of South Africans for equality is sobering. That it didn’t end until the 90s is crazy. The museum talks all about what life was like during apartheid, the people who fought to end it, and how reconciliation afterwards tried to heal the country.

I stayed in the Rosebank area which is a modern suburb. The high speed train from the airport connects there and the main attraction is a large shopping center. My hotel was one block from the shopping mall and metro station. Each hotel was surround by barbed wire fences and had security guards. On the street, there also were security guards. This felt very strange to me. Most of the well-off areas I saw in Johannesburg also had guards and barbed wire.

The tour would take us from South Africa and into Botswana early the first day. We would spend a few days in Botswana first at the Khama rhino sanctuary and then at the Okavango delta. Later we would cross into Namibia and finish in Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls.

I was a bit nervous for this trip. I don’t really like to camp for that long, I get carsick, and it kind of sounded like a class trip in that we had to help set up, wash dishes, go on activities together, and in general just spend a ton of time with the same people whom I wouldn’t meet until the trip started.

There was no reason to be nervous. Everyone on my tour was nice and the nine of us got along well. Driving through southern Africa is interesting and I didn’t get bored looking out the window. I took an anti-drowsy motion sickness medication each morning and never got car sick. We drove about 8 hours the first day to reach the Khama rhino sanctuary for an afternoon game drive.

I don’t have words to describe how incredible the game drives were. The joy I felt seeing such giant and majestic animals wandering freely was unexpected. They didn’t fear the vehicle and some got very close. The rhino sanctuary showed off and we got to see both black and white rhinos. The white rhino female had a month old calf with her. We also saw our first giraffes and lots of antelope species.

The Okavango Delta is an inland delta. It’s spectacular to go from dry, barren desert lands to lush swamps. We stayed on an island in the delta which involved taking a special 4×4 vehicle. The camp was beautiful and had raised wooden pathways for when it floods. Thankfully, it was dry season, so no floods or mosquitos. We went on lots of boat rides including in the traditional mokoro (canoe like boat). The islands are each unique and host many animals from leopards to hippos to elephants. At the island camp we never saw the hippos but we could hear them each night.

We did see hippos the next day once we crossed into Namibia. There is this small strip of land called the Caprivi Strip which is sandwiched between Botswana, Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Our camp for the night was on the Kovango river ( Namibia’s name for Okavango). As soon as we sat down for lunch we saw hippos both on the shore and in the water. This camp was a bit alternative and had fun outdoor toilets and showers.

Next it was back into Botswana to visit Chobe National Park. Up until this point, we were the only group of tourists. We had barely seen any tourists at the earlier parks. In Chobe however, there were people everywhere. This changed the energy of the experience. The local guides seemed to rush to get close to the animals so everyone could get their photos. It was extremely obvious that this was stressful to the animals. At one point two male elephants were grazing on an island and the tour boats surrounded them. There were six or seven boats mere feet from where the elephants were trying to eat. One male started posturing and charged at the boats. I felt horrible to be part of it. Up until that point, the animals didn’t seem to mind but these elephants were unhappy and it was our fault. If there were only a few boats it would probably have been fine but there were hundreds of boats on the river that afternoon.

The next day we went on our last game drive early in the morning. We had been promised it would be the best but I was concerned it would be a repeat of the elephants and the boats.

The morning started off a bit slow. It was freezing even with coats and blankets. I saw a few elephants far off and one giraffe. At this point, we were part of a line of 10 or so 4×4 safari trucks. It felt a bit like a Disney ride and I felt disappointed. The park is large so eventually we lost the crowd and drove the the bush for a while. We saw buffalo, hippos, lots of antelope, the large kudu, many birds, baboons, and other monkeys. We stopped for tea and muffins and this is when things got interesting. I spotted a herd of elephants across the river. It was incredible to watch them from afar and see them interact with each other while relaxed. I got so absorbed watching them, I didn’t notice a monkey come close. I felt something on my hand and the monkey had stolen my muffin right out of my hand! Lesson learned. Always pay attention to food when monkeys are around. 🙂

As we finished our snack a few warthogs entered the clearing. They are so much bigger than I pictured from the Lion King. The guide heard from the other guides that lions had been spotted a ways off. He accelerated and we rushed off to see if we could find them. I was worried that this would be another unethical animal interaction but was also very excited to see lions in the wild. We parked near four or five trucks and all looked around. The guide didn’t mention till then that the lions were behind the bush and due to regulations, everyone had to take turns and could spend less than 1 minute viewing the lions. The lion pride was resting beneath acacia trees. The male was separate from the lionesses. It was rushed but a beautiful moment. The lions were sprawled out. The females were grooming each other. They looked content and very much like large house cats. I could have watched them for hours and a minute was way too short. That said, I appreciate that the Park has rules about limiting the interaction and visitors around the lions.

After the high of the lions, we had to rush back since we were to cross the busy border between Botswana and Zimbabwe that morning. We came across a crowd of people watching a leopard in the tree. As we look around, I spotted another leopard hiding underneath the bushes. Our eyes met and I could clearly see the spots. However, we had to rush off and weren’t able to take pictures or watch the animals longer. I’d recommend an all-day game drive or at least longer than our 3 hour one.

The tour ended in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It’s a very touristic town with lots of adventure activities. I knew I wanted to hike around the falls but didn’t need to spend money on zip lining or bungee jumping. The falls are gigantic. There are multiple parts and they were impressive even during the dry season. Across the gorge, I saw elephants grazing at one point.

I spent my last day in Southern Africa pampering myself. I booked a facial, massage, manicure and pedicure for a fraction of the cost of bungee jumping. Camping was really dusty, and a shower alone couldn’t remove the baked-in dirt. Afterward, I would watch people bungee jump and enjoy a late lunch before heading to the airport for my evening flight to Paris.

This day didn’t go as planned. Once I was all relaxed, skin oiled, and nails painted, I asked the massage therapist to drop me at the cafe. As we were driving, there was a sudden noise. I assumed we’d driven over a bottle or something, but the therapist and nail technician pulled over to check the car. As they looked around, it turned out the car behind us had driven off an overpass and flipped upside down! I’d mentioned I was a nurse earlier, so next thing I knew they were pulling me down the slope and in to the ravine where the overturned car was. I am not an EMT or even ER nurse and this was my first car accident scene. The massage lady had grabbed a screaming baby and was directing the roadside sellers to get the other people out of the car (the car was on railroad tracks). I did a basic assessment of the child and helped move the adults into the shade and away from the tracks. No one cared about spinal precautions. After 15-20 minutes, the emergency services arrived and took over. My plan for avoiding adrenaline inducing activities was ruined along with my manicure. I’m so thankful everyone seemed like they would be ok and very impressed with how quickly bystanders jumped in to help.

My time in Africa was up and I went to catch my flight to Europe. It felt weird leaving especially after the accident. There is so much more I would love to see and will miss how friendly everyone was. Cheers to Intrepid for another great tour and to everyone I got to share the experience with. Thanks Kirsten and Meghan for some of the pictures!