Lodge Review: Fawlty Towers, Livingstone

Posted on August 10, 2017 by Tara

Although Fawlty Towers is better known as a backpackers lodge, they do have nice private rooms available and this is the product I will be reviewing. I chose to stay here because we basically only needed a place to lay our heads at night, the 2 full days we planned in Livingstone were jam-packed with activities so no time to enjoy luxury facilities. The location can’t be beat, right in the middle of town with a shopping centre across the street.

We arrived around 8am after the bus ride from Lusaka with a stop in Monze and as one would expect it was too early to check in. We went to the restaurant upstairs for breakfast (paid separately, not included in rate) and I checked my emails. The wifi is not great but not bad, it may be due to having several people on all at once, some of them were Skype-ing.

There is a security guard on duty round the clock which was really good for us as we had a 3am pick up for Machile IBA.

Taxis congregate just outside and the security guard will help you if needed.

Courtyard with places to sit and use wifi or eat & drink.

Breakfast is paid downstairs, they have a menu to choose from and they give you a ticket to bring to the kitchen. You can help yourself to coffee and tea.

The receptionist can book any tours you want and they have a wide variety of things to do. Everyone is catered for whether adrenaline enthusiasts or relaxing cruises down the Zambezi. Although I had originally inquired about the budget Booze Cruise, it wasn’t running and they booked us on the Lady Livingstone. This turned out to be a great cruise which will be covered in a separate post.

This section has the private rooms which are a fantastic deal, especially if you can get some portal points or airline miles or cashback. After using a coupon on Orbitz, I got it for around $36 a night!

Our room was on the end.

Very comfortable beds and plenty of room to spread out.

The shopping centre across the street has most of what travelers need – ATMs, souvenirs, a supermarket and a couple small restaurants & fast food places.

Hungry Lion is like a KFC, good for cheap fast food.

Honestly you can spend hundreds of $$ in Livingstone and stay at some stunning eco-lodges in the bush but if you aren’t going to be around during the day, why bother? There is just so much to do in Livingstone & Victoria Falls area that unless you have lots of time to spare, you won’t be at your accommodation all that much. Fawlty Towers was a great little budget place, very well-run and the staff are very nice and helpful.

The Zambian Bus Experience Part 1 – Lusaka To Livingstone

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Tara

While researching this trip, I had already determined that flying was going to be out of our budget and car hire also too expensive due to the high per kilometer fees (no unlimited rates). So it would have to be buses to get from Lusaka to Livingstone and Mfuwe. The flight was due to arrive around 12:30pm so theoretically we should have been able to get a bus that would reach Livingstone in the late evening or get an overnight bus so we wouldn’t waste too much time in transit.

The plan went all to hell even before we arrived. I had booked the flights with miles around May & June 2016. In Nov 2016, the Zambian gov’t banned buses from traveling at night hoping to prevent accidents. It seems the drivers were being careless and over-speeding and using their mobile phones while driving. One bus company which had been the favourite amongst travelers – Mazhandu Family buses had even been totally shut down leaving Shalom as the sole bus provider on the Lusaka-Livingstone route.

Our flight was an hour late getting in which ruined any plan of getting to Livingstone that same evening. We took a taxi from the airport to the Lusaka Intercity Bus Terminus with the plan to get the first available bus. The bus terminus is a huge place with individual kiosks for all the bus companies, food stalls, shops, a left luggage office and pay toilets.

Here is the Shalom ticket office with the bus timings to Livingstone posted outside. We barely missed the 14:30 bus, if the plane had been on time, we would have made it. SO we ended up on the 16:30 bus which we knew would make a stopover some place enroute for the mandatory off-road time between 9pm-5am. This did turn out to be good as it gave us time to buy tickets for the Lusaka-Mfuwe bus in advance so we would be assured of these seats. I should point out that there are no online tickets, you must book your bus tickets in person at the ticket office.

The fare was 140 Kwacha each.

Cargo awaiting the bus to be loaded on board.

The bus had a 2 x 3 configuration which when full makes most economy airline seats look luxurious. We had a 2 seat row. I should have booked 3 seats for the 2 of us to get us more room.

Once considered a good bus company, Mazhandu has been shut down due to poor driver behaviour causing accidents.

On the way out, we saw these smaller buses. I was told they leave when full and don’t have fixed times.

Scenes of Lusaka as we were leaving.

The countryside was more interesting.

The bus made slow progress southwards. I had been hoping to reach Choma that night as there were good birding areas nearby but we only made it as far as Monze. The bus parked outside this small restaurant.

Some people spent the night on the bus, a few others camped on the sidewalk outside the restaurant.

A few of us including the driver, some German tourists and Ina & me made a beeline to this small hotel. At least we would have a safe, comfortable place to stretch out for the night. It was really cheap, something like 200 kwacha for a double room.

Gaudy decor but who cares, we slept well!

The next morning we were up at 4:30 am to re-board the bus for a 5am departure. I used my iPhone alarm.

We made a few stops along the way, one at this lay-by where a beautful Lilac-breasted Roller greeted us.

Market

Arriving at Livingstone bus station where we got a taxi to Fawlty Towers, around 50 Kwacha-ish.

RETURN TRIP

This is the Shalom bus office in Livingstone where we bought tickets for a 10:30am bus. We hadn’t booked in advance, in retrospect we should have as the 9:30 bus was fully booked. Below you can see the full timetable from Livingstone to Lusaka and the fares.

We got some breakfast here, just sandwiches and fruit.

This time the bus was a more comfortable 2 x 2 configuration. I had been prepared to pay 3 seats but it wasn’t necessary.

The journey back to Lusaka was pretty normal, took around 7 hours-ish. We arrived around 5:30pm. The Shalom people helped us find a good taxi driver to take us to the nearby hotel.

I must admit I was a bit nervous about taking buses in Zambia as Trip Advisor had several people say how they would never use them and how dangerous it was. However we felt safe on the Shalom bus, if somewhat annoyed at the 9pm stop but it did all work out in the end!

Grey-headed Parrot (Poicephalus fuscicollis suahelicus)

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Tara

It seems every time I turn around this bird has a new taxonomy, my head is spinning! The Brown-necked Parrot (Poicephalus fuscicollis) is a large Poicephalus parrot species endemic to Africa consisting of the savanna-dwelling brown-necked parrot (P. fuscicollis fuscicollis) and grey-headed parrot (P. f. suahelicus) subspecies. It formerly included the Cape parrot (now Poicephalus robustus) as a subspecies before the Cape parrot was re-classified as a distinct species. Birdlife has the most recent explanation.

These guys are hard to find but if you are lucky you may get a glimpse of them flying overhead to their roosting sites on a Zambezi River cruise. I did see a couple in the distance but didn’t get a photo so here’s Wikipedia’s pic.

The Birdlife distribution map has all 3 Poicephalus species – Cape, Brown-necked and Grey-headed Parrots. The Grey-headed Parrots (suahelicus) are in the yellow shaded area with the Zambezi River indicated by the dot. The easiest access is from Livingstone, Zambia. We did the Lady Livingstone cruise and birders tend to congregate in the top level near the rear. One of the staff is an experienced birder (I didn’t get his name but he will notice your camera and binoculars and offer to help) so just ask him to help you find these parrots. He knows them by their calls.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GREY-HEADED PARROTS

The Flacks Photography (nice photos of wild birds)

VIDEO

You think it’s hard to get a photo of these guys in the wild, try looking for videos!

Planning A Birding Safari To Zambia

Posted on August 5, 2017 by Tara

Zambia is one of the fastest growing destinations for Africa safaris. The parks here are much less crowded than those in surrounding countries and the Big 5 can be easily seen. Birders can look forward to seeking 779 species of which one is endemic.

Zambia’s airports are smaller and they don’t have as many airlines as other safari destinations but careful planners can still use their miles to get here. Star Alliance and SkyTeam have the most options via Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Nairobi. If you have limited time and finances you will really have to make some tough decisions on how many parks to visit. It really helps if you know what species are your priority. For some people this may be raptors or trying to check off all the endemics. For me it’s always parrots first, then songbirds, then other birds and mammals.

Lillian’s Lovebirds at South Luangwa NP

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

With so much on offer, you have to do lots of research online to find out your best chances of seeing the species you really want to see. I always check trip reports on Surfbirds and more recently added Cloudbirders to that. Xeno-canto has mapped locations where birders took sound clips of many species so that can pinpoint them even more.

I always check bird sightings on eBird, you can see my full guide on locating bird species .

I also look through trip reports by major birding companies such as Birdquest, VENT, Naturetrek, Rockjumper and more. The trip reports will show you which parks you need to concentrate on. Once you have this, you can start contacting birding tour operators or safari companies that are well-recommended for quotes. If you are traveling on your own, it’s worthwhile to note when the birding groups will be in the area as they will have the best guides already reserved and you may not even find accommodation.

HOW I CHOSE MY ITINERARY

I had 2 definite target birds (Black-cheeked Lovebirds and Lillian’s Lovebirds) and a third maybe target (Grey-headed Parrot). My research revealed that the Black-cheeked Lovebirds had a stronghold in the Machile area, Lillian’s Lovebirds were regularly seen in South Luangwa National Park and Grey-headed parrots had been reported from the Zambezi River cruises. Meyers Parrots are seen all over Zambia. I was prioritizing parrots knowing that plenty of other bird species would be in the same habitats so chose these locations:

LIVINGSTONE: ZAMBEZI RIVER CRUISE, VICTORIA FALLS WALK & DAY TRIP TO MACHILE IBA

Grey-headed parrot, Poicephalus suahelicus

Meyers Parrot, Poicephalus meyeri

Black-cheeked lovebird, Agapornis nigrigenis

SOUTH LUANGWA NP/MFUWE

Lillian’s lovebird, Agapornis lilianae

Here is a map showing the locations.

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR OWN BIRDING SAFARI

In Zambia, it’s very rare for tourists to self-drive cars and the rates are very high as they all have a per kilometre charge and Zambia involves great distances. Domestic flights are operated by Proflight Zambia and they are not cheap but could be a good option if your time is limited. They do not partner with any airline alliances so you would be up for the cash.

Buses between major cities are very cheap and reasonably comfortable. If the bus has a 2 x 3 configuration, I recommend buying 3 seats so you can be more comfortable and keep your bags with you. I will have a separate post on the Zambia bus experience. We used buses for all travel between Lusaka, Livingstone and Mfuwe.

For the day trip to Machile IBA, I was recommended to Savannah Southern Safaris and the excellent birding guide Chiinga. They organized the 4×4 to Machile IBA as well.

South Luangwa NP has many options for all budgets which usually include the accommodation, food and game drives into the park. We went for a backpacker package with the beautiful Marula Lodge.

VISA FOR ZAMBIA

Visas are issued on arrival to most nationalities on payment of a $50 fee in cash or credit card. It was very straightforward and smooth, didn’t take long at all.

BEST SEASON TO TRAVEL

There’s a couple things to consider, the weather and potential crowds. I always check the weather on Weather2Travel. Zambian weather was a priority as I knew the places we were visiting would be difficult to reach if it were raining. May is in the dry season and we enjoyed good weather throughout the trip.

If you have “must-see” bird species, always check eBird to make sure the birds are being seen that time of year by other birders.

OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES

WhatsApp: I am not on this app but if you are, look up a group called ‘Birds of Interest’ which comprises professional birders such as my guide Chiinga and amateur birders based in Livingstone.

Zambezi Birding

Birdwatch Zambia – can refer you to guides.

BOTTOM LINE

Zambia is by far the best safari experience we have had in Africa and I have been going to Africa since the mid ’80’s! The game drives (which will be covered in detail) were amazing, the best I had ever been on!

The only thing that would have made the experience better would have been to self drive between major cities and then use the guides/drivers we already did. The buses just took forever and we spent way too much time on them. Most Zambians seem to speak English, some more fluent than others and we had no trouble communicating. The tourist infrastructure is very good. Guides are very well trained and I was amazed at how well they spot birds and animals even in dense bush!

As this report progresses, you will see just how amazing Zambia is, and if you can only afford to visit one country in Africa and want an all-round birding and Top 5 animal experience, you can’t go wrong in Zambia!

Getting To Zambia With Airline Miles

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Tara

Most frequent flier programs place Zambia into the Africa zone. You can find some generic recommendations on how to get to East Africa here. You can also fly to South Africa and then get a flight from JNB to LUN. I already have a blog with my recommendations for which programs to join if you are new to the world of miles and points.

The major gateway city for Zambia is Lusaka (LUN). There are also international flights to Livingstone (LVI). Once you have been in the miles and points game for awhile, you will get a feel for which airline to use where but if you are just starting out Wikipedia will show you all the airlines that fly into Lusaka and Livingstone.

ONE WORLD OPTIONS

LUSAKA: No One World airlines fly here.

LIVINGSTONE: Comair (British Airways subsidiary) flies from JNB.

STAR ALLIANCE OPTIONS

LUSAKA: Ethiopian flies from Addis Ababa and South African flies from JNB.

LIVINGSTONE: Ethiopian flies from Addis Ababa and South African flies from JNB.

SKYTEAM OPTIONS

LUSAKA & LIVINGSTONE: Kenya Airways serves both airports from Nairobi.

NON-ALLIANCE OPTIONS

Emirates serves LUSAKA from their hub in Dubai with connections world wide.

HOW MANY MILES WILL IT COST?

Every airline member of the 3 main alliances has it’s own frequent flier program. Examples are in my East Africa post.

IHG Pointbreaks Through 31 Oct 2017 – Good Options In South America

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Tara

The quarterly PointBreak list is out and valid for bookings between 31 July and 31 October for a mere 5000 IHG points. As usual, domestic USA hotels dominate but for eco-tourists, there are some good options in South America.

ENTIRE LIST

LINK TO BOOKING PAGE

Due to the limited availability, each member may only book two PointBreaks® Reward Nights reservations per hotel during the special offer time period. Offer and participating hotels are subject to change at any time, valid for booking through Oct 31, 2017. All other Reward Night terms and conditions apply. To view participating properties, simply click one of the regions below.

Please note that Reward Nights booked through PointBreaks® may not be sold or used for commercial gains. Doing so is a program violation and may result in the freezing of your account, the forfeiture of all point transfers, rewards, vouchers, or merchandise issued pursuant to point redemptions and any accrued points or miles in your account, as well as cancellation of the account and your future participation in the Program.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS

HOLIDAY INN GUAYAQUIL AIRPORT – We stayed here in 2016 so I have a detailed review. Good option for convenience to the airport and a good staging point for birding in Cerro Blanco Reserve.

HOLIDAY INN MANAUS – You may be passing through Manaus on the way to an Amazon adventure or making day trips to Adolpho Ducke Reserve to the north.

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS BELEM ANANINDEUA – Another staging point for the Amazon River in Brazil, also check out the Parrot Island to see 1000’s of Orange-winged Amazon Parrots!

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS PUERTO MONTT – Gateway to Patagonia and Chiloe Island which are good birding areas.

Mid-year Assessment, Mileage Accounts Decimated But It’s All Good

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Tara

Well I did it! Next year’s trip to Bolivia and Brazil is officially booked and my USA based airline miles accounts are pretty much wiped out. This is the culmination of what I had been working towards, after all what good are miles sitting in cyberspace? You need to use them and enjoy them! So where did I end up?

Brisbane-Santa Cruz, Bolivia: Used AA miles on QF & LA taking my account down to a measly 25,000 although I do have the Barclay’s Aaviator card with the annual 10,000 mile annual bonus so this account will slowly rebuild.

Santa Cruz-Sao Paulo-Fortaleza: Used Flying Blue miles for the Gol connecting flights, account is wiped out.

Sao Paulo-Auckland: Used British Airways Avios sourced from Ultimate Rewards, only had enough to get as far as Auckland. BA charges a higher amount if you use 2 or more partner airlines so I had to use Latam all the way and Sydney would have put us into a higher bracket. BA account now under 1000 miles.

Auckland-Brisbane: Used United (husband) & Singapore (me) small balances for this short segment. First time we have been on 2 separate PNRs but I got seats assigned in the same row (window & aisle) so no worries! Both accounts down to less than 500 orphaned miles.

All flights are in Y, I expected that J wouldn’t be available (it wasn’t) and that was all I could afford miles-wise.

SO WHAT NEXT?

Now that the 2018 trip is safely booked, I have discovered to my shock that I don’t need the US based accounts anymore. For the next 3 years, all trips are easily covered with miles/points earned through Aussie shopping programs (Coles-Velocity & Woolworths-Qantas) and use of my Aussie Amex 3x on grocery store shopping.

2019 – We will use Velocity and Qantas points to do some Pacific Island hopping with birding of course. I have all the miles & points required already!

2020 – We will use a combination of Singapore, Velocity & Qantas for birding in Indonesia (with some domestic flights paid in cash). I have about half the points required, will easily get them all by year’s end via shopping at Coles & Woolies. For now the plan is to fly in Y but maybe I can get enough shopping points to upgrade at least the BNE-SIN segment.

2021 – I’m eyeing a Papua New Guinea Cruise which can combine birding and a bit of luxury. Princess often has discounts on this cruise which sails from Brisbane. No flights this year, except maybe domestic Australia.

2022 – The Last Hurrah! I have 4 years to get as many as possible: Amex Membership Rewards, Qantas & Velocity for one last mega-trip to South America. This is so far ahead of the game I can’t even be sure miles and points programs won’t be obsolete. Worst case scenario would be using the Amex points to pay for tickets on the Amex travel portal.

So I have come to the surprising realization that I no longer need the USA credit cards or mileage programs. I have lost all interest in United due to devaluations and the routing restrictions. If I have any Ultimate Rewards left, I will send them to BA as I can always use them for Qantas or Latam and I can keep the account alive with the shopping portal. I’ll be cancelling the USA credit cards with annual fees when they next come due but will keep the AAviator for the annual AA 10k bonus well worth a $89 fee and the IHG card whose $49 fee gives us a free night in any of their hotels and platinum status.

It’s kind of hard and bittersweet to cut the USA programs loose as I have gotten some incredible flights out of them over the past 10 years but the Aussie game has been steadily improving and I find I can easily get what I need simply by strategic grocery shopping!

Getting Lost Near Menagesha Forest & The Addis Ababa Merkato (Market)

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Tara

This was a big miscalculation on my part. I knew that many birders stay at the Ghion Hotel so I assumed they would have birding guides on call who would be able to take us out to Menagesha Forest. They didn’t, or at least the staff on duty the evening we arrived didn’t. The manager did manage to line up a car and driver to take us out there and I knew roughly where it was from Google maps and eBird.

The driver showed up promptly in the early morning and off we went. It took a while to escape Addis Ababa because of traffic but we finally got out into the countryside. It was interesting to see some of the transport options the local people have!

An Ethiopian Airlines plane made into a restaurant. I wish we would have had time to check it out!

Getting out into the forest areas, we started seeing baboons on the road.

This is where we turned and we did end up in a section of Menagesha Forest after a long drive but it wasn’t the main entrance. We never did find that, a shame as we possibly could have found a guide there.

I heard something that sounded like parrot screeches so we stopped and went for a walk.

The driver (white shirt), my husband and a boy who just happened to be near the stream.

Yellow-fronted Parrots flying overhead

Blue-fronted Bee-eaters near a small stream

Speckled Mousebird

Common Waxbill

We happened to pass the Born Free Sanctuary so stopped in hoping that there would be people knowledgeable about birds. There weren’t any birders but one of the guards showed us the lions for a small donation.

Heading back to Addis Ababa, we saw some roadside markets.

The last place I wanted to see was the Merkato, the largest market place in Africa. I had heard it was full of pick-pockets and thieves and we had expensive cameras with us so we opted for a slow drive around the market with photos out the window. It was still interesting to see people going about their daily business!

We had been in a minibus like this one for the trip from the Lake Langano turn-off to Ziway, where we changed to a normal bus.

There were some pretty traditional dresses.

Amazing what some people can carry!

All in all, it was a very interesting excursion, though I think we would have had more success with the birding if we had had a qualified birding guide. I probably should have emailed the hotel and tried to set one up well in advance but I had gotten used to hotels popular with birders having guides on call. I paid the driver around $70 in a combination of USD and Birr and it was worth it for a half day excursion. He was a nice guy, I forgot his name but his photo is above.

Yellow-fronted Parrot (Poicephalus flavifrons)

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Tara

The Yellow-fronted Parrot (Poicephalus flavifrons) is endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands. It is a mostly green parrot with a yellow head. Although this bird was one of my main targets for my Ethiopian birding trip, all I could manage was some furtive birds calling from distant trees so I will have to share the Wikipedia photos.

The easiest places to search for this bird are around Lake Langano, Wondo Genet and Menagesha Forest in Ethiopia.

LEARN MORE ABOUT YELLOW-FRONTED PARROTS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

VIDEO

Hardly anything on Youtube but at least I found this one of a hungry Yellow-fronted Parrot! Looks like someone was lucky enough to get close to one!

Birding The Ghion Hotel’s Garden

Posted on July 25, 2017 by Tara

I was really hoping this would be a better experience but the weather was against me for most of the afternoon I had free to explore the Ghion Hotel’s beautiful gardens. Here is a glimpse of the birds I managed to find.