Adventure Travel
You Just Have to Go and See [Africa] for Yourself
By Esther Klijn
I left my heart in Hwange National Park and the private Linkwasha concession. Between the guides, the location and the whole experience, they instilled something in me that I cannot put into words and can only say that you just have to go and see for yourself.
Seeing Elephants for the First Time
After a 15-hour flight and a hop over to Victoria Falls you sort of expect to feel disheveled. That wasn’t the case for my first safari as I could barely contain my excitement. We were in a shuttle traveling from the Victoria Falls airport to the dock for our boat ride to the lodge. We still didn’t know what to totally expect, so we were scanning the road for any signs of life, seeing only barren bushveld. When we arrived at the dock, the group split between two boats for the 20-ish minute ride to the Victoria Falls River Lodge. Not ten minutes had gone by before we came across a herd of elephants splashing about on the riverbank.
Our guide, Casper, let the boat slowly drift toward the animals. They paid us no mind, and we were able to get so close that if I had reached out my arm, I could have touched them. There was one baby elephant trying to use his trunk to spray water into his mouth. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he dunked his entire head into the water for a drink. All those years of watching Animal Planet after school came to life.