Botswana and Zimbabwe: The perfect twin centre safari

It’s getting late, we’ve sipped our last sundowner, and thesetting sun is shooting fiery streaks of pink and orange cloud across the sky.Time to head home, our game viewing done for the day – or so we thought.

As we bounce along the tracks of Chobe National Park back to Ngoma SafariLodge, we spot a herd of wildebeest crowding onto the ridge ahead.

Something’s up. No, something’s after them.

We pause a moment, until we spot the source of theirconsternation – a crafty lioness is eyeing them up from the other side of thetrack. She crouches low against the ground, waiting for the moment tostrike.

And then, in a flash of honey coloured fur, she’s off,bounding in long, economical strides across the road towards the cowering herd.Jolted into action, the mass of wildebeest move as one, thundering hoovesshaking the ground in their rush to escape.

There’s a moment where we think they might make it. Twoerrant zebras stumble on to the scene, and the lion turns her attention tothem, weighing up which would make the easier target.

But no, her focus is firmly on the wildebeest, stalking themfrom the cover of lower ground, waiting for one of them to break off from thesafety of the herd so she can claim her victim. We watch, spellbound, until thechase moves behind the shelter of the trees, and the sun threatens to disappearaltogether below the horizon. Yet even as we turn for home, there’s no doubt inour minds – that lion will have her prey before the night is out.

Botswana

It’s hard to imagine any other game drive matching up to thethrill of that chase, but Chobe National Park never fails to amaze. It wasBotswana’s first national park and is home to the largest population ofelephants in the world. Our base in the Chobe floodplains, in the park’snortheast extreme, is teeming with giraffes, zebras, sable antelopes and capebuffaloes, while an array of bird species, white lions, leopards, hyenas,African wild dogs and hippos can be spotted elsewhere in the park.

Yet on our wildlife cruise along the Chobe River, whichmarks the border between northern Botswana and Namibia, it’sthe crocodiles that steal the show. We spot dozens drifting lazily inthe water, only their scaly backs and bulging eyes visible above the surface,or lumbering out of the shallows to sun themselves on the rush-linedbanks.

There, they sit eyeing up the tiny reed cormorants, Africanskimmers and jacanas – also known as the Jesus bird, for its ability toseemingly walk on water – that dip in and out of the water and go alarminglyclose to those huge crocodiles, monitor lizards and cape buffaloes sitting inwait along the banks.

Ngoma Safari Lodge reverses the usual order of a full-daysafari to have its cruise in the morning and game drive in the afternoon, soguests see more wildlife and fewer tourists. Our small, 20-seat boat is one offew on the river and sits so low in the water it almost feels like we’re partof the ecosystem rather than just observers.

The atmosphere is even quieter when we head out for anight safari, tearing ourselves away from exquisite food and ne South Africanpinotage to explore the park after dark. We clamber into the lodge’s new 4x4and within minutes we spot the ash of a white-tailed mongoose, the rustling ofbaboons in the trees and the slightest glimpse of a shy genet before itdisappears in to the bush.

Our guide points out a baby impala on its own, separatedfrom the rest of the ‘crèche’ of young impalas and unable to find its way backin the dark. Will it survive the night Probably not, says lodge manager Jared,with lions and other predators on the prowl and hours to go before dawn. “Butthe lioness needs to feed her cubs too,” he adds, philosophically.

It’s a reminder that this is the wild, where savagery andsurvival go hand in hand, and amid the beautiful landscapes lies anundercurrent of primal power.

Zimbabwe

Speaking of power, nothing could beat the sheer force of themighty Victoria Falls, 85 miles away across the border in Zimbabwe.

Visits to this natural wonder of the world have been risingsteadily. Room occupancy across 10 Victoria Falls hotels was up 18% last yearand by a further 13% in the rst three months of 2018, thanks to much-improvedflight connections through several African hubs to the new internationalairport nearby.

And that was before the resignation of long-time presidentRobert Mugabe in November put the country firmly back in the internationalspotlight, with many suppliers reporting a spike in interest for travel thisyear.

We touched down in Harare just as new president EmmersonMnangagwa was being sworn in with an agenda to drive tourism and economicgrowth, and everyone we spoke to seemed charged with a new sense of excitementand optimism for the future of the country.

Victoria Falls is certainly a driving force in that effort,acting as a magnet for tourists from all over the globe since British explorerDavid Livingstone stumbled upon
it in 1855. It’s the world’s largest waterfall, twice the height of Niagara,and visible from as far as 30 miles away thanks to its towering spray. Even ina relatively dry period, just getting close to the falls feels like walkingthrough a gentle rain shower, with waves of spray lifted up on gusts of wind,made visible on the air like puffs of smoke and turning the surroundingparklands to a green, rainforest like jungle.

It’s impressive at ground level, but the scale becomes evenmore apparent from the air on a helicopter flight over the falls, revealing thesnaking path of the Zambezi River as it divides Zimbabwe from Zambia. Onlythen, with tiny dots of people set against the wide expanse of the falls, doesthe real magnitude start to hit home.

The same could be said for flying through the air on azipline, with nothing but blue sky above and the steep sided gorges of theZambezi a dizzying distance below.

Local operator Wild Horizons runs a three hour canopy touracross a network of nine ziplines through the trees. It’s thrilling rather thanterrifying, though there’s a gorge swing and abseiling adventure for those whowant to turn the fear factor up a notch, or a rather more relaxing sundownercruise for those not seeking an adrenaline rush.

It might be more peaceful, but setting off on an earlyevening sailing along the Zambezi offers no less of a buzz. Egyptian geesecluster along the banks, while cormorants lift their necks out of the waterlike a periscope, before diving back down in search of prey.

Yet it’s the hippos we’re after, and just as the cruise isdrawing to a close, we spot tell-tale ripples circling up to the surface,giving way to a pair of wiggling ears poking above the water, followed by ahuge, dark grey mass surfacing from the depths like a submarine.

We think it’s just coming up for air – hippos can hold theirbreath for up to six minutes – when we see a huge, gummy pink yawn, but then itsinks again and reappears moments later right at the water’s edge, pullingitself onto the banks with a speed that belies its hulking frame

Then we realise why: another hippo is in hot pursuit,following the first onto land and disappearing into the trees. It’s a show ofaggression rather than amorousness, and given their colossal size, you wouldn’twant to get in the way. But it shows yet again that just when you think you’veseen it all here, there are still more surprises in store.