At Santa Fe we arrived to a beach with much younger sea lions than we had previously seen. They were much more energetic, playing with each other, and quite curious about who the visitors to their beach were. On a hike, the giant cactus like plants (opuntias) stood out like sentries all over the island and we spotted many yellowish land iguanas blending in with the rocks. They are much bigger than I thought, many about two feet long from nose to tip of their tail. We found one munching on one of their favorite foods, opuntia. When another approached, it was chased off – boy, can they move fast. Beautiful little yellow warblers dotted the bushes. We wondered how many pictures we needed to take of one little yellow bird before we got a whole bird picture with it’s head looking toward the camera. The answer is about 20 tries. This is our first vacation without our 35 mm film camera and we both are happy that we did not drag it along. We are up to 1,800 pictures – somethings bound to be great!
On the landing at South Plazas, Galo had to coax a sea lion off the steps. He was not to be moved, so we climbed the rocks. It looked like a flat piece of rock tipped up at an angle and covered with rocks, low-lying bushes tinted red and yellow, with giant opuntias littered throughout. We climbed the short hill and were stopped in our tracks by the 360° view. Steep cliffs, land iguanas, yellow warblers, swallow-tailed gulls, pelicans, cactus finches, lava gulls, sea lions, and red-billed tropic birds, their screeches almost drowned out by the blowing wind. Sometimes the spray from the ocean would reach the top of the cliff. We looked down into the ocean just off shore and saw hundreds of neon green colored yellow-tailed mullet churning up the water. We stopped often, and savored another 360° view. A sea lions skeleton rested near the cliff top edge, where after a shark bite it came to die, and three years later is only bleached bones. When it was time to leave the island I wanted to stay right where I was.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.