We had a short drive to the airport for our flight to Zambia. We arrived early at the airport for plenty of time for shopping. Lots of African made products. Our guide gave us all name tags with African names and it was our job to interact with the natives to find out what our names meant. Mine was Nkazimundo which meant Light. It was a fun little game.

Our flight to Zambia was 1 and 1/2 hours. We were told to fill out a form and put $50 in US new bills inside the passport. We departed the plane and got into the customs line. Ndaba, our guide, thought the line was taking too long and took our passports and told us to wait outside. It was very obvious that the customs officials only cared about the $50 fee. We got on a bus to the five mile drive to the Zimbabwe border. Another form and $45. This time we didn’t even get out of the bus. Ndaba was told to come back and pick up the passports in 30 minutes. No automation here. They literally wrote the information in our passports along with receipts for the money. A very long and boring ride to Hwange Park. We got to a toll booth and the operator said that the credit card processor wasn’t working and the bus driver had to pay in cash. Ndaba said that this happens frequently. The toll booth operators will pocket the cash and in an hour they will say that the machines are working again.

We finally arrived at the park at about 6:30 PM and transferred into the 4x4s. It was dark and we were tired and starved because we had not eaten since the plane. We were bouncing on these rutted roads getting what is called an “African massage.” Right in the middle of all this Ro informed Ndaba that she was going to scream and did so at the top of her lungs. If there were any animals near she definitely scared them away. As we approached the lodge, called Sable Sands, they asked us if we wanted to detour to see the 200 Cape Water Buffalo that were watering in front of the lodge. The six of us wholeheartedly agreed no, wanting to go to the bathroom and eat as soon as possible.

Sable Sands included a huge thatched roof open sided room where we ate and lounged. In front was always a big bonfire at night and they would fill containers with ashes to put by our table to keep us warm at dinner. After a quick orientation of the lodge we sat down for dinner and were served broccoli soup and then a beautifully plated dinner of a local fish, roasted potatoes and vegetables. Of course the three other YaYa’s do not eat fish so the chef quickly made chicken stir fries for them.

The very interesting thing about this place is they use no electricity. They are completely off the grid. Lights in the huts are all solar. Each hut has their own water tank that is heated before you leave for morning safari and again in the afternoon. The huts were all round and were gray stucco both in and out. The roofs were thatched. Inside were beautiful netted beds. We asked and the price of the rooms were $500 per night. We stayed there three nights.

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We were again on safari every morning at 7:00 AM after eating a light breakfast. We returned to the lodge at 11:00 for brunch and out again at 3:00 PM until dinner. For down time the lodge had build covered cushioned seating areas in front of a huge watering hole. We spent hours there drinking wine watching zebras, elephants, baboons and Cape buffalo.

One of the biggest highlights was viewing a lion kill. Although it was sad to see a baby elephant being eaten by a lion it was clear that this is the circle of life. Near this kill was a second lion that looked comatose from gorging on the elephant. We were very happy that we did not see the actual kill. This park is known for a large population of elephants and we spent a long time watching herds of elephants rolling in the mud at water holes. One actually trumpeted in front of our vehicle. Although he was majestic it was still a bit scary.

We spent hours looking for leopards and cheetahs but were unsuccessful. Sallyanne thought she saw one in a tree and took a lot of teasing from the guides because it was only a stick.

The night before we left Sable Sands we were treated to entertainment by members of the Ndebele Village. Our guide, Ndaba, is royalty in this tribe. His grandfather was Chief Dakemela from the Kanamycin Village in western Zimbabwe. The entertainment consisted of 4 men and 1 one woman who were dressed like lions. Their signing and dancing were spectacular with absolutely no music accompaniment. We bought both of their CDs.

We bid a sad farewell to our guides, Melissa and the hotel and on to our house boat for three days of cruising on Lake Cariba, that was man made out of the Zambezi river.