Kris Stern recently took her second African safari with Africa Adventure Consultants and it couldn’t have been more memorable! She visited Victoria Falls and Hwange National Park with us and packed in a ton of adventure during her trip. Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park made a huge impression with its vast open spaces and prolific wildlife.
She hasn’t been home long but is already planning her next visit to Africa (Kenya next year) and a return visit to Zimbabwe in a few years!
Some highlights from her safari include…
While Kris had been on safari before, she had not yet seen a cheetah. She was in luck in Zimbabwe! She had this to say about her first cheetah sighting…
"Camelthorn (Lodge) was beyond my wildest dreams, capped off with a cheetah sighting as the Bomani Boys crossed over into the concession and took down a steenbok moments later. They allowed us to sit with them as they devoured it for 30 minutes."
Her safari started off on a two-hour train journey on the ‘Elephant Express’ into the heart of Hwange National Park. Lunch, drinks and game viewing on a comfortable open-air train car ride towards her camp was a spectacular introduction to the area.
“Beginning with the safari train ride from Dete to Camelthorn, the personal touch was extraordinary. We saw giraffe and sable antelope, we stopped at Cecil the Lion's memorial tree - very touching as that incident was what made me plan my trip to Africa two years ago...My guide, Pete, made sure my gin and tonic was refreshed throughout the two hours and when the Imvelo team nearer the destination radioed that the lioness and her three cubs had been spotted, staff brought game drive vehicles to us and sped us off to the sighting - a granddaughter of Cecil's with her three cubs. It was dusk and magical..."
"The following days' drives did not disappoint - elephant, more lion, zebra, wildebeest, little bee-eaters, hippo, jackal, bush babies ... and cheetah! A coalition of two brothers successfully hunted a steenbok right in front of us! Plus, a visit to the village was something I won't soon forget - beautiful children, lovely people.”
Kris has one simple piece of advice for safari-goers:
“Be open to the experience and embrace every moment.”
