Saturday, June 15, 2024

2024 African Safari Plus: Rovos Rail C (6/15/2024)

Saturday, June 15, 2024
Continuing in Zimbabwe on Rovos Rail.
Local housing and kraals/fenced enclosures
Children on an errand to collect water
Off to work?
During the pandemic, all the copper wiring
disappeared from the rail network
The tracks go through Hwange National Park;
here Hippopotamus amphibius/Hippopatami
lie on the banks of a lake (KSS)
The train traverses along one of the globe's lengthiest stretches of straight railway track, spanning 114 km/71 miles, essentially through Hwange National Park..
Connochaetes taurinus/Blue Wildebeest (KSS)
Old termite mound with a tree
growing out of it
Lunch Main: Aromatic prawns in coconut cream
served with basmati rice (KSS)
Lunch Dessert: Banoffee tartlet with banana
and caramel cream
Rovos Rail staff wave goodbye as we begin our
included Hwange National Park Game Drive
Macrotermes sp/Fungus-growing Termite mound
Tockus leucomelas/Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill (KSS)
We would also see helmeted guineafowl, white-crowned lapwings, secretary bird, martial eagle, grey hornbills, red-billed hornbills, swallow-tailed bee-eaters, lilac-breasted rollers, magpie shrikes, and Cape starlings.
A memory/group of Loxodonta africana/
African Bush Elephants (KSS)
Video of elephants drinking water:
The tiny Raphicerus campestris/Steenbok (KSS)
Stigmochelys pardalis/Leopard Tortoise (KSS)
Elephants strip and tear down trees while eating
Giraffa giraffa/Southern Giraffe
Nursing elephant calf (KSS)
Equus quagga/Plains Zebras
This female elephant trumpeted and began to charge
at us, but we called her bluff
We would also see baboons, jackals, impalas, waterbucks, greater kudus, and warthogs.
The safari vehicles were usually modified
Toyota Land Cruisers
Sunset
Around a campfire, we enjoyed the Sundowner tradition:
drinks and snacks at sundown
The Sundowner tradition began in South Africa with British soldiers drinking a tonic water made from quinine, gin, sugar, and lime to prevent malaria. It became a social ritual with tonic and gin, and spread throughout the British Commonwealth.
Kent at our candlelight dinner; men
are currently excused from wearing
jackets during the formal dinners
Dinner Dessert: Dark chocolate fondant with vanilla
ice cream and berry coulis
For the last night on the train, a variety of cocktails
Next: Victoria Falls Helicopter.

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