We started the day with a short walk to see Victoria Falls which was about 5 minutes from our hotel (Avani Victoria Falls).  We were at the eastern most point of the falls which are over 1 mile wide and divided between Zimbabwe and Zambia.  It is one of the largest waterfalls in the world.  At 350 feet high it is twice the height of Niagra Falls.  It is low water now, so less water flowing over.

A morning view of Victoria Falls and rainbow from the eastern edge near our hotel. The falls are over a mile wide and are split between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Casey and Tyler over looking Victoria Falls before our river rafting trip

Charlie and Sarah with a morning view of the falls

We spent most of the day river rafting on the Zambezi.  Went through over 25 rapids which varied from Class 1 (easy) to Class 5 (very challenging).  We walked around one rapid which was a Class 6.  Charlie wasn’t keen on having the boat flip, so our guide Calvin aka “Black Lizzard” kept us afloat though not dry.  He is a veteran having spent 16 years as a guide on the Zambezi.  We swam through a couple of the easier rapids.  Great day!  We bought the DVD so no photos or action video for now as our cameras would have gotten soaked.

After our rafting excursion, we headed back to the hotel with another walk to see the falls at sunset.

Sun setting over the falls looking to the Zimbabwe side (on the left)

People watching the sunset from the Zimbabwe side

Another sunset view of the falls from the eastern most part.

Here is a link to a couple videos from our day of river rafting on the Zambezi River (below Victoria Falls).  Before and after since we couldn’t bring video with us.  It was a great day on the river with several class 5 rapids. Other photos from the day to follow.

https://vimeo.com/album/4087535

We flew from Lusaka to Livingstone, Zambia which is the Zambian side of Victoria Falls.

Flying to Livingstone, Zambia

After a quick lunch, we headed to the Upper Zambezi River for an afternoon fishing excursion.

Tyler and Casey fishing on the Upper Zambezi

Casey fishing

Charlie casting

Tiger Fish that Tyler caught. Check out the teeth!

Charlie and I weren’t having much luck fishing so our guide took us in search of some wildlife along the banks of the Zambezi.

Elephant on the banks of the Upper Zambezi River

A crocodile bathing in the sun along the river

A close up of those teeth from a few feet away.

Crocodile goes for a swim.

A family of Hippos on the Upper Zambezi River

showing us its teeth

Charlie enjoying the sunset cruise

Sarah as the sun goes down

Tyler and Casey relaxing after our fishing/safari cruise

Sarah and Charlie enjoying the sunset after our fishing/safari excurion.

Family shot

Our last day in Rwanda began with another trek to see the gorillas.  Since we were flying out that night, Hussein (our driver from Primates Safari) made sure we got a shorter hike.  This time we were assigned to the Kwitonda family which has over 20 members in it.  The dominant male is Karebqro (which means chin since he was always leaning his chin in his hand when he was a baby).  He is 22 years old (much younger than Kantsbi from the Pablo family who was 39).  There is another silverback in the group as well as a bunch of babies.  We had a 30 minute drive up a very challenging rocky road to get close to the park entrance at the base of Mt Gahinga (one of the northern foothills of Mt Sabyiny0).  A much shorter hike with not much elevation.  The family was walking and eating just inside the park entrance.  We had another great guide who’s name is Roger.

gorilla looking up

baby gorilla riding on its mother’s back

Silverback’s profile

mother with baby gorilla

younger gorilla

mother holding baby gorilla

Charlie with Karebqro (silverback) in the background

Sarah & Charlie with Karebqro (silverback) in the background

Karebqro looking up at the vines

Karebqro the dominant silverback in the Kwitonda family

Casey with Karebqro (the silverback) in the background

Karebqro peeling the skin off the vine

Karebqro laying down for a morning nap

enjoying some breakfast

After our trek, we returned to the lodge to wash up and enjoy some lunch before heading off to Kigali to catch our 6:45pm plane to Lusaka.

At Mountain Gorilla View Lodge with Mt Sabyinyo volcano behind us

Sarah with our driver Hussein

Since it was Sunday, there wasn’t as much foot traffic along the road.  But many of those who were out were dressed up with their often colorful and best clothes for church.

Dressed for church

Along the road to Kigali

We also enjoyed the beautiful hilly scenery as we drove.

Charlie looking out from a pit stop

Here is a link to some videos from our 2nd gorilla trek. Photos to come.
https://vimeo.com/album/4083694

Another morning of trekking.  But this time we were looking for golden monkeys who also inhabit the foothills of Volcano National Park. We had another great guide (Gus).  After a short hike up to the entrance to the park, we found the group we had been assigned to in a bamboo forrest.  They had lots of energy and jumped between stalks when they weren’t eating the bamboo leaves.

Our guide Gus teaching us about the farming in the area with the Sabyinyo volcano in the distance.

Golden monkey sitting on a stalk of bamboo.

solo male who was outside the park looking in to the other golden monkeys

Posing in the bamboo forrest

photo by Tyler

photo by Tyler

photo by Tyler

photo by Tyler

After a stop at the local craft market, we were back at the lodge for lunch and an afternoon nap followed by another dance performed by a local group.

It was an early morning but we were excited to see the mountain gorillas. We checked in at 7am and enjoyed some dancing from a local group as we waited to be assigned to a trekking group.  Groups are limited to 8 and ours included a couple from Sweden, a German woman, and an American woman who was in Rwanda working for two months on a study for an aid group.

We then drove an hour and a half to the start of our hike with our guide Emma (a local guy who kept us very entertained).  The gorillas are in the Volcanoes National Park (the oldest national park in Africa).  There are 5 volcanoes in the area.  We were climbing in the foot hills of Sabyinyo which is the 3rd highest and is divided between Rwanda, Congo and Uganda.

After parking we hiked for an hour up to the entrance to the park.  We took the Kabwende trail where we met our guard who carried a gun to protect us in case we came across elephant or buffalo.  We hiked for 2 more hours all uphill for a total of over 5 miles and about 3500 vertical feet to see the Pablo family of gorillas.  It is the largest family with over 30 members including Kantsbi (pronounced like can’ts be) the alpha Silverback who was studied by Dian Fossey and is the head of the family.  There are 2 other silverbacks (adult males), a bunch of females and younger males as well as 5 or 6 babies.  It was a tough hike but worth it to spend an intimate hour with them.  They were amazing creatures.  Many seemed to be posing for us.  They came close at times and were several feet and even inches away.  One even touched me!

Our guide Emma and our guard to protect us from buffalo and elephant.

Close up of a female gorilla

The alpha silverback Kantsbi who was studied by Dian Fossey and is the head of the Pablo family

Charlie and Sarah with Kantsbi in the background

Kantsbi scratching and thinking

Sarah photographing the gorillas

Female and baby gorilla

youngest baby (3 months old)

Black Back (adolescent male) showing his teeth

Casey and Tyler with the gorillas

Tyler with a gorilla

Casey with a gorilla

another baby

baby riding a female gorilla’s back

with the trekkers and guide

A resting stop after our hike down from the mountain.

We took a very easy 10am flight from Lusaka to Kigali Rwanda.

Landed in Kigali around noon (same time zone as Lusaka which is 6 hours ahead of EST).

Had lunch at Hotel des Mille Collines (the hotel in the movie Hotel Rwanda). For those of you who have seen the movie, it was filmed in South Africa so it looks a little different.  Excellent lunch though.  

We then stopped at the Genocide Memorial.  250,000 people are buried in this location alone.  They also had an exhibit. Scary, humbling and sobering.  Hard to imagine the country we saw today experience such an atrocity.

We then began the 3 hour drive out to Mountain Gorilla View Lodge near Volcanos National Park.  It is a very hilly country with lots of people walking along the road. 

above – Looking back at the city of Kigali.

above – milk truck

Another day of transit with an early flight from Lusaka, Zambia to Kigali, Rwanda.

From Kigali, we will travel out to Volcanos National Park and stay at the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge until August 7th when we return to Lusaka.

Not sure what our wifi will be like so it may be a few days before the next post.

An early morning departure from our hotel.

Canal and boat station in front of our villa with view of main hotel

Entance to Jurmeirah Dar Al Masyef

And then to the airport for our 9:25 am flight to Lusaka, Zambia.

A ferrari on our drive to the airport with Burj Al Arab in the background

The sun coming up behind the Burg Khalifa (tallest building in Dubai and the world for the moment)

Inside the C Terminal at the Dubai Airport … duty free and many other shops on the lower floor with gates on 2nd floor.

Getting on our 777 to Lusaka

Flying to Lusaka …

Flying over the desert outside of Dubia

Flying over the coast of Somalia

Flying over Mt Kilimanjaro (left) and another mountain just south of it.

Arriving in Lusaka, Zambia