Drakensberg Mountains and The Cavern

While Mark's parents were visiting we took a 4 day vacation to the Drakensberg Mountains to stay at The Cavern, a mountain resort.  After a four hour drive south east of Pretoria and having to travel on some dirt roads due to construction we finally arrived in time for lunch.

The view on the way to the resort was beautiful as we wound our way up and down the mountains.  The Cavern is a resort which I felt catered to families with different set ups for rooms, some single family cottages and others were more like hotel rooms.  We rented a family room which was two bedrooms with an inter-leading hallway that happened to be right next door to Gary and Gail's room.  We did not have much of a view from our room and it was quite a hike up to it from the main lodge each day but when you stay in the mountains I guess that is to be considered.


All of the meals had a great set up where we could take Adalyn and Grant to the kid's area for them to eat and play while the adults ate in the next room.  I was unsure if Adalyn or Grant would be willing to be without us, but once they spent one meal time playing with other kids they were sold.








After lunch the first day we headed out on our first hike.  Gary and Gail were willing to go along with anything thankfully though Mark and I were not sure what we were getting ourselves into.  We set out on an unguided hike after getting a map and directions from the resort staff and writing down our clothes descriptions in case we got lost.  One hour into our hike I am not sure any of us could read the map or figure out where we were going so we ended up lost in the mountains.





 We attempted to follow signs and I tried to get Mark to gauge the route by looking at the sun and direction we were going but evidentially his boy scout skills are rusty.  Thankfully we found our way out after a half an hour and everyone arrived back at the resort in one piece.  Grant enjoyed the hike from a backpack Mark carried, though towards the end he wanted out and to walk, which made for an interesting time keeping him safe while foraging ahead.

The resort had a pool with 2 water slides, a spray area, tennis courts, trampolines, two playgrounds, a croquet field and tons of trails to explore.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon playing and swimming before dinner that evening.



















The next day 5 of us set out on an guided walk (thankfully, a guide!) but left Grant behind with a babysitter as I did not feel he would be interested in riding on Mark's back again and we didn't want to slow down the rest of the group who went on the hike with us.  We stopped half way on the hike for a snack and to take in the views.























Next up Mark and I went on the beginners horseback ride.  There were only 4 of us, the guide never said anything, just pointed for us to hop on the horse he chose and we took off.  I figured we were just going to lazily walk our horses around the base of the mountain but about 2 minutes into the ride I could tell it was going to be quite a bit more adventurous.  My horse decided to take the rear position and that at least allowed me to watch what the others were doing so I could feel a bit confident.  I also knew this horse probably took this same route daily so all I needed to do was hold on.



Well up the rugged mountain we went, my horse feeling the need to trot along the way which scared me to death as he would randomly do this.  My horse also loved to tread very close to the the side of the path which dropped off the side of the mountain so I had it all planned out in my head how I was going to jump off my horse just in-case, ha!  About 30 minutes in our guide said we were going to trot now, I gave out a laugh and said I actually had no idea how to ride a horse, it's only my second time on one, but he gave a 1 minute instruction and we were off.  Well, I will never do that again, as I kept fearing I would pull too hard on the reigns and my horse would buck me off and down the mountain I would tumble.  So much for a beginners ride, Mark and I got some good laughs out of it, but my horse riding days are over.

After our hour long horseback ride, we met back up with Gary and Gail and the kids for lunch followed by a game of croquet.  Not sure what we expected but a 4 year old and 1 year old are not much for croquet and after Adalyn completed the course once, our game turned into a running race.  It was a nice afternoon just having fun together and taking in one more trip to the waterfall for some exploring.






Another nice dinner that evening followed by a trip to the spa the next morning so I could get a massage for my bruised up horseback riding body and then we took off for home.  The Cavern was a very nice resort, offering much more than I expected, the food was fantastic, service was excellent and the activities too numerous to even attempt.  I would love to go back as our kids enjoyed the hikes much more than I expected and the scenery was beautiful and relaxing.  Glad we took the time to see the South African mountains.

Botswana and a Chobe Safari

Lobby of the Chobe Safari Lodge, complete with monkeys

For our last full day on vacation we disembarked the houseboat, road the small bass boat back through customs in Namibia and then onto Botswana.  We checked into the Chobe Safari Lodge on the Chobe River in Botswana for one night trying to fill our days with as much as possible.

Lunch was a little underwhelming and not the greatest quality, but then again the hotel was not as nice as the others we stayed at.  There was a large lunch buffet and several of the other patrons were just visiting for the day and not spending the night.  After settling in we visited the activities desk and signed up for an afternoon safari.

By 3pm this day, the weather was quite hot and the bugs had come out but luckily only noticeable when you were standing or sitting still.  Mark and I along with 2 other couples loaded up into a safari vehicle and went on a 3.5 hour game drive in the Chobe National Park.  We saw lots of elephants, giraffes, monkeys, crocodiles, hippos, birds and luckily one leopard.

















Two days prior an adult elephant had died of natural causes according to our safari guide and the lions had eaten their share but it was still worth driving by the carcass to see if the lions had come back or any other animals were there.  Sounded like a good idea until we got close and the smell was unbelievable.  Not sure I had ever smelled a rotting animal before, but a several ton rotting elephant definitely made a huge stink.  All of the passengers in our safari vehicle had to cover our nose and mouth with our clothes to keep from gagging.

Leopard in the bush, you can see a side profile 

A short while later our guide spotted a leopard laying on the ground among the bushes and trees.  Occasionally the leopard would pop it's head up or stand up, but only for a few seconds to return back to hiding in the bush.  I was thrilled to find a leopard on our first game drive and we sat there for a while watching it.





Once the game drive was done we returned to the lodge and prepared for our dinner cruise on the Chobe River.  It was only us and a group of 8 Australians on board so it made for a romantic candlelight dinner.  The food for dinner was much better and after several courses we were stuffed.  We went to the roof top deck and enjoyed star gazing until the cruise returned back to the lodge.



The next morning we slept in as we were told the game drives were full which was a bummer as I never expected that there would not be room for everyone, especially those staying at the lodge.  We then were transferred to the Kasane airport which was a cultural experience all in itself.

Located about 5 minutes away, the small airport had 2 check in desk, one for each airline that flew out of Kasane.  When we went to check in with the airline, the attendant said she would come get us when the flight was ready, which was not hard since there were only about 40 people in the entire airport.  The attendant came and got Mark who printed our boarding passes, the attendant never even met me, but I guess she was okay with my passport and gave Mark my boarding pass too.  I was surprised there was an x-ray machine for our baggage to go through and a customs agent to check out with.  We then were told we could load the plane early if all 15 of the passengers were there.  The 2 hour flight home went smoothly and they even gave out biltong as a snack which delighted Adalyn when we gave it to her at home.

The entire 5 day trip was great for Mark and I, our first couple's vacation without the kids in over 2 years.  If we were to do it all over again, we would have spent 2 nights on the houseboat and one night in Victoria Falls, skipping the Chobe Safari Lodge.

Namibia House Boat

Our second day in Zimbabwe we checked out of our safari lodge and headed 3 hours to Namibia to stay the night in a houseboat on the Chobe river.  We had no idea how long the trip would be and where exactly we were going so it was exciting to learn we were going through 3 countries in 3 hours.

Leaving Zimbabwe we went through customs into Botswana.  Strangely after clearing our way through customs which included just writing our name in a book and getting a passport stamp we then had to dip the soles of our shoes in a pan of baking soda and water.

We were told this would help prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease that has broke out among the cows in Zimbabwe and Botswana does not want their cows contaminated.  We went along with the foot dip and had a good laugh at how odd it was, hope it helps.


After an hour traveling across part of Botswana we went through customs again to leave the country then loaded a bass boat on the Chobe river and went about 20 minutes down the river to the Namibia customs office.

Botswana on the left and Namibia on the right

Probably one of the funniest part of our trip was pulling up to the shore, no boat dock, on the Namibia river bank and walking about 100 yards into what felt like the middle of nowhere with no one else in sight to the customs office.  There was a dusty trail otherwise we would have had no idea where to go.

We actually filled out a form, got our passport stamp by the lone guy in the office and headed back down the dirt road to our boat.  Mark thought it was quite unusual to cross international waters in a bass boat, but when in Africa we have learned to go with the flow.




On the scenic boat ride we were able to see buffalo, herds of elephants, impalas, hippos (all mostly underwater so no great pictures), crocodiles and tons of birds.  Then the bass boat ride came to an end as we hooked up to the house boat and settled in for the day.

The houseboat had 5 bedrooms, a main living area, a kitchen, staff quarters and several decks. 

Our bedroom with a great view

Great views from all sides of the houseboat.

We relaxed that afternoon on the deck watching the animals come to drink at the river.

Crocodile right next to our bass boat for the water safari

For a couple hours over sunset we loaded back into the bass boat and did a river safari.  The most spectacular animal viewing was getting to see a herd of elephants cross the Chobe river from Namibia to Botswana.  Mark captured the international travel of the elephants on video, just wish I could figure out how to post it here.



Pretty impressive how they walk and hop along the bottom of the river, sticking their trunks up in the air to breath and helping the baby elephants trudge along.

Baboons eating minerals out of the salt rock.
Below is a trio of local fisherman using a canoe they hollowed out of a tree. 

For the evening we enjoyed a candlelight dinner with the three other couples who were also staying on the houseboat, interestingly two of the couples were Americans.  It was such a peaceful night on the river, hearing the animals all around us.

The houseboat was the most relaxing part of the trip and I wished we had another night to spend there.  Being surrounded by water and floating down the Chobe river was serenity at best.