This is part of a series in which I’ll describe our time on tour with Intrepid. For 22 days, we joined the “Cape Town to Vic Falls: Basix” tour, along with three crew members and nine trip mates.
The thing we were most nervous about before joining a group tour was who the other people on tour would be. What if they were rude or snotty? What if they were boring or annoying? What if we didn’t like them and were stuck with them for three long weeks?
Our welcome meeting was short and while we all introduced ourselves, I can’t say that I remembered much about anyone. The meeting was focused more on logistics and questions that we had before we left. However, after only a few hours together on our first day, we knew that we had hit the jackpot with our crew and fellow tour members! Very quickly, we all became friends and fell into a comfortable family-type atmosphere. We all supported and encouraged one another, respected when someone needed alone time to recharge, created inside jokes, and generally had a good time together.
On the hot days in Namibia, we would all cool off with a cold beer after arriving at camp!
Since we were traveling during off-season, our group was smaller than normal – 13 total tour members out of a maximum of 22. This meant that we could all have our own seat on the truck while traveling and that we got to know one another quickly. Adding in our three crew members from Intrepid, and we had 16 total people making the trek from Cape Town to Victoria Falls.
Our Crew
Intrepid’s African office is based in Nairobi, Kenya and thus a majority of their crew members are Kenyan. Our crew was no exception, with all four (yes, four – we had to switch our cooks in the middle of the trip due to visa issues) making the long journey from Kenya to South Africa every few months. Being on the road together for so long allowed them to function as a highly efficient team, all pitching in to help one another in their roles.
Tour Leader: Makori
Our tour leader was the person who was with us nearly 24/7: Makori (or MJ). Always armed with a big smile, Makori was not only responsible for the logistics of our trip (securing campsites and lodging, tickets for activities, and border crossings) but also for helping us navigate through an unfamiliar landscape and culture. Makori would sit with us on our long drives, sharing his knowledge of the history, language, economics, politics, and culture of the area we were going. Since we were an inquisitive group, he would patiently answer all of our questions no matter how trivial or irrelevant. We looked to Makori for help identifying animals on game drives, guidance on how to appropriately interact with the locals, and suggestions on what we should buy or where we should eat. Makori was always smiling and really loved his job; he has an obvious love for sharing Africa with others.
Makori joined us for our dawn game drive at Chobe, helping point out the different animals that we saw along the way.
Driver: Rasta
To handle the long drives down unpaved roads, we counted on Bernard (or Rasta). A quiet man, Rasta would set up his tent on the other side of the truck from everyone else and didn’t mind sitting by himself at camp. Lest you think he sounds standoffish, let me assure you that he was very friendly, simply a bit shy. Once you got to know Rasta, you realized he had a sweet and funny personality, joking with the girls or laughing at us when we needed help with our tent (and then coming right over to help us). He never tired on the long drives and would always emerge from the cabin with a smile. On days when we would be away from camp on a tour or activity, he would work on maintenance for the truck, ensuring it was always running smoothly. While in Botswana, upon encountering two vehicles stuck in the mud at different times, he hooked up a tow cable and pulled them to safety. Rasta was a joy to have on our trip!
Rasta attached the tow chain (yes- to another Intrepid truck!) and successfully pulled them out of the mud!
Cooks: Peter and Mike
Our trip started out with Peter as our cook, but about ¾ of the way through, we switched with another Intrepid truck to have Mike on board. Peter was tall and another quiet Kenyan, not prone to jump into conversation unprompted. Once we started talking with Peter, we wanted to continue as he had so many stories from his life that he was willing to share. Our favorite was about the time he was bush camping with his son and a lion tore open part of their tent whilst in the middle of a kill. The lion proceeded to lie down, half in their tent, to enjoy its meal. Peter and his son were huddled in the corner, trying not to move or make a sound, for an entire night until the lion left and they could escape with their belongings. Peter was the first person awake each morning, getting up early to start coffee and breakfast. He would always greet me with a whispered “Good morning Lana” and a smile, somehow knowing I’m not a morning person and didn’t want to have a conversation just after waking up!
Makori and Peter, followed by cooking supplies and camping gear, heading to bush camp in the Okavango Delta.
After Peter left our group, Mike joined us for the remaining few days of our tour. Our time with Mike was short, but we enjoyed getting to know him over beers one evening. He was young and enthusiastic about his job and loved getting to know the different people who joined the tours. The thing I’ll remember most about Mike? His homemade Kenyan donuts that he made from scratch and served for breakfast on our last day!
Makori, Rasta, and Mike in a rare moment of relaxation. Usually they were all so busy; it was rare to see them just sitting around!
Tour Members
I hesitate to call the people on our trip “tour members”, since after only a few hours, we were all fast friends. Jon and I were nervous about the others on our trip, but those nerves were quickly calmed after meeting the people who would become like our family for the next three weeks. Aside from me and Jon, there were 11 others – a mix from the USA, Canada, England, Switzerland, and Australia. Our group was comprised of a range of ages, with four men and seven women. We all got along so well that I felt comfortable sitting next to and chatting with anyone during meals or on the truck. Often, Jon and I would separate and hang out with different people, which helped us to integrate since we were the only couple in the group.
One of our friends, Yousup, had a drone that were great for group selfies! (photo credit: Yousup Lee)
One of the things that was the most special about our group happened on my birthday. As it turned out, another tour member, Sam, has a birthday the day after mine. With two birthdays to celebrate, our friends made extra efforts to make them special. When I walked on the truck in the morning, they all started singing “Happy Birthday” to me. In the evening, I was presented with a handmade card signed by all of our friends and crew. Sam and I shared a birthday cake, complete with candles, that somehow survived the drives down bumpy back roads. Of course, I cried when I saw what they had; I was wholly unprepared for any sort of birthday celebration from a group who had been strangers just a couple weeks prior. Celebrating my birthday in Namibia with new friends is a memory that will remain with me forever and I’m grateful for everything they did to make it a special day.
I couldn’t get to the cake quickly enough to get a picture before it got sliced and handed out! It was such a special treat!
Upon arrival in Victoria Falls, it became time to say goodbye. Intrepid offers tours that can be broken into smaller segments; Jon and I had taken the segment from Cape Town to Victoria Falls, but the trip would continue after a couple days’ rest in Zimbabwe. Five of our group were continuing onto the next leg, but that meant that eight of us were leaving the group. With different departure times, the few days spent in Victoria Falls were a mix of highlights (seeing the Falls and ziplining) and sadness (saying goodbye to friends). Our group all went to a fancy buffet for our last evening, getting dressed up and indulging on sushi and wine. Ellie and Rosie made a quiz for us – one question about each day of the trip. I loved the quiz as it summarized all of the great memories that we had made over the previous three weeks.
A ‘dronie’ at one of our bush camps in Namibia. (photo credit: Yousup Lee)
Of course, I cried when saying goodbye to my friends, not knowing when I would see them again. Months later, now back in Michigan, I still find myself missing them, wanting to turn around to ask Diana a question on the truck or watch Yousup’s drone footage. I miss Jenny’s enthusiasm for every bird we saw and Daniel’s excitement over seeing the pumba (warthogs) in person. We have Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to keep in touch but somehow it’s not the same as sitting next to each other on a stool with our plate balanced on our knees for breakfast or shouting out “Who’s going to the pool?” and knowing I’ll get at least a couple positive responses.
Another birthday treat was a pontoon boat ride on the Okavango River with just our group.
I miss the friends we made, both tour members and crew, and hope that we’ll have the opportunity to see them all again someday! In the meantime, if any of you are ever in the Midwest of the USA, we’d love a visitor (or two or ten!)! Thank you all for helping make our African adventure so special!
Our group went on a river safari down the Chobe River in Botswana, spotting buffalo, hippos, and impalas from the water.
To learn more about our time on tour with Intrepid, read the other posts in this series: