The dream Safari -- South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia

Lion in the wild

South Africa — Cape Town

After landing at the hotel and realizing that nothing had been paid, it was official that we had been scammed by Truly Africa Tours. He had been recommended by a friend of a friend and we had even spoken to him on the phone, but financial troubles and greed makes people do terrible things sadly :( With the hope that we would be able to dispute the charge with the credit card companies (thank goodness for credit cards despite the 3% transaction fee), Dad took on the toll of planning the trip as we went, not knowing what the typical prices were for really anything.

But, it was our dream vacation and we were determined to make the most of it. A few hours after our first realization, we tried to open one of our suitcases and found it to be locked. After trying to open the suitcase for a while, we realized that it wasn't even our suitcase in the first place. After countless trips, we had picked up someone else's suitcase for the first time ever. Thankfully, they had their contact information attached onto the suitcase and we were able to get it back to them. They had every right to be annoyed, upset, or even downright mad, but instead they were nothing but warm, friendly, and completely understanding of our mistake. Truly, it's the people who make place, always, and this trip was already no different.

We met the most incredible lady named Renee Klish at breakfast. She loves Cape Town and visits every year so we were asking her what makes her come back so often. She talked about how friendly the people are (absolutely true), the beautiful scenery, and the activities, including a Cheetah conservatory, wineries, and stunning lookout points. She also has a blog where she documents her travels so it was fun sharing that similarity :) 

Cape of Good Hope view (after climbing over the barrier)

Cape of Good Hope: The drive from Cape Town to Cape of Good Hope was absolutely stunning. After stopping at a couple lookout points, we finally reached Cape of Good Hope. We took a funicular and then walked up to the lighthouse where we met a couple students from Georgia Tech who were studying abroad in Johannesburg. Two of them decided to climb over the wall that most people don’t venture past in order to truly get a great photo and i decided to follow in their footsteps. The photos were well worth the potential fall (the rocks were pretty sturdy so i thought the odds that i survived were pretty high).

Apart from the beautiful views, the journey was made more interesting through conversation with our guide and driver, Paul. He grew up poor and managed to get an education for a better life, but beyond that, he wanted to help other kids like him have opportunities like he was able to have. When we were getting to know him and asked if he had any kids, we were surprised when he said that he had more than he could count. What really amazed us was that he went on to tell us that he has fostered countless underprivileged kids until their own parents were able to care for them and has adopted those whose biological parents were unable to do so. It was so evident how much joy he had in his life and how rich he really was in the best way, with fulfillment not money.

Boulders Beach

Boulders Beach: We went to see the famous African penguins and help support conservation efforts to ensure that other people get to see them too. They were adorable and waddled everywhere just like I had expected. Funnily enough, when we were at Boulders Beach, the French couple whose suitcase we had accidently taken were there at the same time. One moment we were walking and the next my dad felt a tap on his shoulder. Their entire tour group had recognized us from my dad's WhatsApp photo! Such a fun group of people.

View from Table Mountain

Table Mountain National Park: The following day we headed to Table Mountain National Park with the hope of catching a sunny day with clear visibility for the best views but unfortunately that seemed unlikely. So, we took an uber there only to be told by the lady at the front desk that there was low visibility, basically that it won’t be worth the money to go up, but we thought maybe we’d get lucky and lucky we did! We were up there for maybe 2 hours out of which a possible 10 minutes weren’t completely cloudy (yes that’s lucky), but it was well worth it for that itself!

A bench from apartheid times

Apartheid to freedom walking tour: Cape Town had a few citywide walking tours so we decided to do one on the history of apartheid. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and passionate, explaining that apartheid was implemented itself in 1948 and took inspiration from Jim Crow laws in the U.S. (isn't that great...). He also told us about how when the new South African post apartheid constitution was written, voters decided to enshrine LGBTQ rights as well, making the country the first to do so in 1996 and allowing his moms to get married as well. It was evident how proud he was of the progress that the country has made over the past 30 years and that showed throughout his tour!

8 Course tasting menu at Fyn -- slide to the left to view all photos

Fyn: While on the walking tour, our guide stopped at this restaurant and mentioned that it is a must in Cape Town if you can get a reservation. I assumed that there was no chance that we’d be able to snag one so last minute but luckily someone must have cancelled and we were set for 6:30 that evening. We assumed that maybe we would be there 2 hours tops. Nope, it was a 3.5 hour experience and oh. my. god. just WOW. An 8 course meal that left us amazed and as the 60th best restaurant in the world, it surely lived up to our expectations. The flavours, the service, the plating, just everything was spectacular. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience! 

Wine tasting!

Babylon Winery: Unfortunately it rained all morning, but we got to tour the museum, learning about the history of wine followed by a wine tasting of 7 different selections. The views were still beautiful even though we weren’t able to really walk around outside and the wines were delicious.

Bo-kaap: We took a pit stop at the colorful houses of the Bo-kaap, one of Cape Town's most distinct neighborhoods known for its primarily Muslim community. Their ancestors were largely brought from India and Malaysia in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in the sugarcane plantations, resulting in a pretty large Indian population today. The community was beautiful, but the wealth disparity of Cape Town was especially stark and showed just how much work there is left to do to bring people out of poverty.

South Africa — Kruger safari , Sabi Sands

We stayed at Umkumbe Safari Lodge and had a great experience! The staff were very accommodating and experienced with leading the game drives. And wow! Our first game drive itself we got to see a leopard, elephants, lots of Impalas, zebras, and even a lion after dusk. It was magical and jaw dropping and everything in between! We got just as lucky on the rest of the game drives over the next few days, finally seeing giraffes, another leopard, and some beautiful birds. In addition to the game drives, dad and i, along with a few other people in the lodge, went on a bush walk, where we were walking through the landscape rather than in a jeep. We were lucky enough to come across a herd of elephants and witnessed them from a mere 80 m. Photos couldn't do it justice.

Our guide in particular, Shannon, really showed just how challenging the hospitality industry can be with managing the expectations of customers, especially with safaris where the animals live in the wild, not in a zoo. There's such a huge element of luck with whether or not tourists will actually witness the animals they're hoping to see and sometimes (highly privileged) tourists don't understand that and don't treat the guides with the respect and empathy they deserve.

A Leopard walking towards us

Namibia — Windhoek

We flew into Namibia from Kruger and decided to go to this Indian restaurant for dinner (big surprise there lol) and it ended up being so delicious. I swear the best restaurants tend to be in the most random places lol. The owner came out after our meal, though, and while we were chatting, he was giving us recommendations for the rest of the Namibia part of the trip, including skydiving, which has been a dream of mine for years. My parents were on the fence about how safe it would be, but he gave the same argument both of his daughters gave him when they wanted to go: there’s risk with everything and their record is impeccable. I walked out of there sure that they were convinced. Unfortunately, it was too windy, so despite convincing them, it didn't end up happening this time. Funnily enough, we ran into the restaurant owner and his daughter at the airport as we were leaving Namibia. Small world, no doubt.

Our driver and tour guide for the entire Namibia portion of the trip, Gerson Dampher (+264 81 211 6955), made the trip absolutely incredible and seamless. He was warm, friendly, and always ready to help, no matter when and where. One night, all of the restaurants nearby were closed and he had told us not to walk too far alone, but still, we walked a bit further to the nearest pizza place. We soon realized that we definitely should have listened to his advice and reluctantly called him, asking to pick us up. He was more than happy to do so and had no complaints. Even after we left Namibia, he texted to check in on us and wanted to make sure we had reached our next destination safely.

Namibia — Sossusvlei National park

On our way, we stopped at Solitaire, the place with the so called “best” apple pie in the world (it was definitely not the best apple pie but fun to try it). We then made our way to Dune 45, the big sand dune that is popular to climb. Dad and I were on the fence after having already climbed another dune less than an hour earlier, but we couldn’t back out now. So, we marched up the hill, the top seemingly getting further and further away, but we eventually reached and the views were absolutely worth it. Once we enjoyed the view for a bit, we realized that we didn’t really know how exactly to get down. Should we scooch down? roll? run? We went with a combination of scooch and run and it was so much fun (and so much easier than going up). After we made it back down, we finally headed to our camp ground for the night, Desert Quiver Camp, and wow was it beautiful and freezing cold. The camp ground was quite literally in the middle of nowhere which was peaceful, but we were ready to hit the road the next morning and continue exploring. 

Namibia — Swakopmund 

We headed to Sandwich Harbor, the only place in the world where the sand dunes meet the water and WOW was it breathtaking. Our first stop was to see flamingos in Walvis Bay and the pink sand beaches. The flamingos were so beautiful and the pink sand genuinely looked unreal. The highlight, though, was riding in a 4 WD up to the top of the sand dunes to get that stunning view of the meeting point between the dunes and ocean. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before and as the only place in the world with such a phenomena, it was something that you can only experience in Namibia. With us, was a couple, Shreya and Tanmay, one of whom owned her own law firm and the other who was also a lawyer, and they were great company for the day, giving us some recommendations for the rest of our trip. After studying law, now he gets to travel around the world. Sounds like the ideal situation to me.

Victoria Falls — Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Zebras wandering the Royal Livingston Hotel

Botswana — Chobe National Park

After a quick overnight stay at Windhoek Game Camp, we took an early morning flight to Victoria Falls and oh my gosh it was stunning. With some time to kill, we headed to Lookout Point Cafe where we ate lunch with a view of the Falls and the zip line across it. We took a shuttle later that afternoon across the Zimbabwe border to Botswana to settle in at Senyati Safari Camp. It was a struggle to get any sort of Wi-Fi connection, but maybe that’s the point. It was kind of nice to be off the grid for a bit. The coolest part of the lodge was the underground tunnel they constructed so that guests could get a close up view of the water hole where elephants often came to drink. It was surreal to be that close to so many elephants, without the fear that you might be trampled (valid concern, genuinely). We got to sleep in the next morning and then headed to Kasane for lunch and a sunset cruise.

The lady who owned the lodge recommended that we go to her favorite Indian restaurant called Pizza Plus Coffee & Curry, since it had tons of vegetarian options. The food was good, but more than that, the owner, Ashok Kumar, was absolutely incredible. He came out towards the end of our meal and not only ended up chatting with us for over 30 minutes, but proceeded to write down a list of activity recommendations for us in Victoria Falls, promised to get us a few reservations, and offered to take us on a night safari at his farm along with drinks at his restaurant before. All from a guy we met just an hour prior. I was even more amazed that he had landed in Botswana to meet his cousin about 15 years ago and then ended up staying and opening 4 restaurants, a farm, is in the process of constructing a hotel, and still owns investment properties around India as well. Amazing, truly. Not to mention, he was an amazing guide. The night safari was spectacular! We saw tons of giraffes, buffalos, birds, and more. 

The morning after, we woke up bright and early for our final safari of the trip. Those first few hours we didn’t really see much, but as we got deeper into the jungle, we saw Giraffes, elephants, buffalos, hippos, and even a family of lions up close. It was a great last experience for sure!

Vic Falls -- Zimbabwe side

Vic Falls!

We were able to check in early and so headed out to Victoria Falls. There were 16 checkpoints, but once we made it to number 11 everything become so misty that there was no visibility, not to mention we were absolutely soaked and freezing (southern hemisphere meant winter). That night, we got a reservation for a place called Boma, essentially a cultural dinner and entertainment experience. It didn’t really meet our expectations unfortunately because for the price, the food wasn’t that great and it just felt pretty commercialized. Still, it was one of the top attractions of the area so i’m glad we got to experience it. 

Gorge jumping

We had a later start the next morning, so ended up chatting with two guys who had traveled to Vic Falls countless times and had so many recommendations for us, including a tiger petting sanctuary (as cool as it sounded, i wasn’t quite sure about the ethics of it and it was pretty pricey too) and a restaurant recommendation where he phoned the restaurant and got us a reservation at his signature table (we felt pretty special). Dad and i then eventually left for our activities of the afternoon, tandem zip lining across the gorge and gorge jumping for me (i wasn’t convincing enough to get him to do it as well), which is very similar to bungee jumping. Since skydiving sadly didn’t workout in Namibia, i’m glad we had an adventure filled morning.

After we were done with the activities, we met the most wonderful woman from Germany who had also just ziplined and was sweet enough to take a video of me jumping off the gorge. We chatted with her for a while and found out that she had traveled the world, including having been to the US, China, and Australia, for her job and said going skydiving was the best decision she had ever made (guess i have to go to Australia for that then). We were asking her how she liked living in Munich, since she had lived in other places as well, and she had nothing but great things to say about it, even jokingly saying that I should apply to the company if I want to move to Germany (at this point, yes please). We wished each other well (got one another’s WhatsApp numbers of course) and headed to lunch before getting ready for a helicopter ride over the falls. The ride was also one of the top activities of the area and as beautiful as it was, it also fell short of our expectations, with the price being pretty steep for a quick 13 minute ride. Still, it was beautiful.

We had also heard that the Victoria Falls Hotel had stunning views and so headed there for coffee and dessert before heading back to our lodge. We got ready to head to the restaurant our new friend had raved about it, called Baines, and it most definitely lived up to the hype. It was some of the best risotto i’ve ever had! So beyond flavourful and unique and the best part was that we even got to see a hippo swimming near us! The property overlooked the falls and was absolutely stunning with incredible service and the most delicious food. Nothing could be better than recommendations from near locals themselves. 

Vic Falls — Zambia side 

White (wyd) rhinos

On our final day, we decided to go to the Zambia side of the falls and began the morning with the Mukuni Village tour, where we got to meet some of the families, learn about their culture, and even see a dance performance by the children as a way to raise money for school fees before ending off at the market where they sell their crafts. We bought some stunning bowls and trays, hoping to support the village and bring back mementos from such a beautiful country. After the market, we headed to the falls and surprisingly came to the conclusion that they were more beautiful on this side as opposed to the Zimbabwean side. We were able to get much closer, get better visibility, and the entrance fee was even cheaper. We walked across a bridge linking 2 gorges and got soaked in the process, but the views were absolutely worth it!

After that, we headed to The Royal Livingston Hotel for some views as we had heard they were supposed to be some of the best. Incredible doesn't even do it justice! There were zebras and giraffes wandering around and the staff were truly incredible, taking the best photos of us with the Zebras.

After lunch, we made it to our final activity: a white rhino walking safari. The rhino was only animal out of the big 5: lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo, that we had yet to see, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. When we first saw them, they looked grey not white and we were pretty confused and then our guide told us that the name actually came from the Afrikaans word 'wyd' meaning wide since they have wider mouths than the black rhino. There were 9 rhinos on the property and we were lucky enough to see all 9 of them. It was the most magical end to the trip no doubt.

It's been my dream to go on a safari for as long as I can remember and gosh, it lived up to every hope and desire. It's certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity that I could not recommend more to absolutely everyone. The people, the animals, the scenery, just everything was pure perfection.

Renee's energy, Paul's selflessness, Shannon's pride, Shreya and Tanmay's humor, Ashok Kumar's genuine kindness, and countless others made our trip go from stressful in the aftermath of being scammed to the most incredible experience yet.