Because I wanted *that* show we had a do-over and at 0500 (again) we got up (again) and met chips at 0537 (he was a little late) – we bombed through the park and actually got to the gate just as it opened. They were more organized today and we got through lickety split. Went right to the main falls arriving just as the sun was cresting the horizon.

Because sunrise is to the east, we had to get west of the falls to get good shots. Fortunately, we were early enough that the light was just great.

I took probably 50 shots all told. Probably every one one of the best 50 shots I have ever taken . . . yet I am narrowing it down. Tough editing process.

Finally, all the way west, shooting down the canyon. Got some truly magical “jurassic park” shots here, again here’s just one of many (posted a different one on instagram).

All of this was done by 0630! Then we hustled back to Land Cruiser (for the record, all vehicles in the bush seem to be Land Cruisers – all manual lockers, all diesel, and standard transmission). We were on our way back to the park for our 0700 meet up with our guide for the walking Safari, Booli.

Booli has been a guide since childhood, and was the son of one of Chips’ friends who Chips had guided with since childhood. Booli was also next level tuned in to the bush. Super cool. He taught us about the little 5: the five smallest animals in Africa that correspond to the big 5.

The big 5, because they were dangerous to hunt:

• Cape Buffalo
• Rhinocerous
• Lion
• Leopard
• Elephant

The little 5:

• The buffalo weaver (a small bird)
• The Rhinocerous beetle
• The Ant-lion
• The leopard tortoise
• The elephant shrew (named for big ears)

Booli got us hunting for the little 5, and of course the savannah was littered with anti-lion nests.

We had a blast baiting them out of their holes. Booli grabbed one and held it in his palm before dropping it back into its nest.

This was the inspiration for the Sarlacc (I think mostly Africa inspired most of Lucas’s Star Wars ideas).

As we walked along in the sun we realized something was watching us.

Booli gave us an awesome lesson on the giraffe, and how basically, they are designed for breadth of vision, not depth. Eyes on the side of the head = prey. Eyes on the front of the head = predator.

If we are holding still and being quiet, the giraffe can’t gauge our distance and on foot we aren’t familiar enough to assess. So we had caution, then curiousity, then they dismissed us and walked away.

We continued down to the river then turned upwind back towards the car. We saw a few Kudu running away. I got interested in the funnel spiders, but we never got one to come out for a portrait.

Found some evidence of harsh life on the savannah, and also found the corresponding hyena den (empty) – that was super awesome. Also found a shed cobra skin. Yay for closed shoes.

Once back at the lodge, it was time to shower, pack, nap, and then get underway. At 1500 we were at the river dock – the staff waving us goodbye. 100% recommend this place.

The boat whisked us to road transport which took us back to the Victoria Falls bridge. We cleared out of Zimbabwe, drove across the bridge, and cleared into Zambia, changing drivers again as we did.

Now this wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t elegant. New experience: having baboons jump on your car as you pull into customs.

We cleared Zambian customs, then proceeded to the airport. Arrived about 1630 for our 1800 flight. This seems fine. Young man grabbed a cart to escort us into checkin (for tips) and we let him. Arrive at customs desk at 1635.

I keep reminding myself that the next part of this only took an hour. But sheesh it felt like forever. Things were slow but ok until I was pulling my Kenya visa out of my passport wallet and it ripped. I asked “do you have some scotch tape?” but apparently the UN had to be called because my visa had a tear in it. I HAD TO PRINT A NEW ONE!

Ok, so – can I email it to you? (Doesn’t work). Text it to you? (doesn’t work). Basically crappy wifi and cell service made this muuuuuch harder than it needed to be. All the while being watched by everyone from Heather to the baggage cart dude to all the staff of Kenya air being VERY CONCERNED.

I finally said, look, just get me to the printer. I sat down at their office PC (Windows 7, natch), logged into my home NAS, grabbed the doc and printed it in two minutes flat. It was like I had done serious magic. Kid helping me was a tech nerd and just was SO psyched I could grab my visa like that 🙂 Yes, I logged out and flushed cookies.

So on to security. The baggage dude had a lucky day because I had no change so I have him a 20 and he gave me 2 Zambian, which is literally about $0.05. Then through the machines, where all my camera gear had to be checked out, then on to another random desk where they wanted to “see our passports” for reasons unclear, then finally down to the gate 20 minutes after the posted boarding time of 1715 – and the flight was late, so no big deal.

We waited in the coffee shop and decompressed, then boarded our Kenya air flight for Nairobi.

Once in Nairobi, we were met by an amazing young woman from Africa travel who wasn’t exactly friendly, but DAMN she was efficient and got us through customs in no time. Outside the airport we were met with Elias and Wycliffe, who took us to the Hemingway Nairobi, exhausted.

The hotel is just awesome, though I have had to teach them to make the Hemingway cocktails. They aren’t capitalizing on their name quite as much as I think they could – but if you ever come, be sure to order a Gibson.