Today we had to get up at five o`clock because we were going on a game ride in Hwange National Park, the biggest national park in Zimbabwe. We had to drive for two hours from Victoria Falls, but since we were on this trip on Rovos Rails we just had to dress for some hours in the wild. After an extremely early breakfast we were placed in safari jeeps and the adventure started.

This national park has a rich fauna with 100 different animals and 400 types of birds, so we hoped that we would get a glimpse of some of the Big Five. We have read that these animals, the elephant, the rhino, the lion, the leopard, and the African buffalo is called so, not because they are the biggest ones, but because they are the most dangerous and difficult to hunt. So, our expectations were sky high.

Before we started the guide told us that we would not see any rhinos because they were not in this area anymore. Ok then, we swallowed our disappointment and on small, humpy, and sandy tracks we drove to different places where they knew there were animals. They often gather around water holes, and these water holes were made by pumping water from the ground. I think they started in 1927, and now the pumping is driven by solar energy.

It is an amazing nature here, from flat, wide grasslands to thick bush, enormous trees, and dead trunks. A lot of beautiful birds of all colours sat in top of trees or were flying around, and we saw a giraffe, many elephants, lions, monkeys, and a lot of antelopes. The animals are so used to the people driving around watching them, so they didn`t seem to notice us at all. We had a really great time there out in the wild, and our driver and guide had a lot of interesting things to tell us about the animals and the places.

Safely back on the train it continued towards the South-African border.  We could see small houses among the trees, children playing alongside the railway, and they were waving to us. Once they gathered behind the train when it stopped, and we talked to them, song to them and then they joined in.

When we saw the children and their living conditions it made us feel ashamed. We live in a rich country, we don`t have to worry about where and how to find food to feed our families, and now we wondered what they might think about us, the rich people on this luxury train.

Then it was a bit comforting to know that Rovos Rail has an agreement with certain stations along the route, to leave the leftovers for the ones who need it.

The dinner was great this evening too, and we enjoyed the food, the company of interesting people and the excitement of being on this trip. After dinner we went out on the Observation Platform in the back of the train. Here we were talking with people, sharing experiences from the safari, and having a good time until we finally got to bed. Strangely we were not that tired as we had expected after having been kind of early birds this morning.

The next day we stayed on the train all day mingling with people, enjoyed the meals, the wine and the beautiful African landscape that reminded us a little bit about Norway. It is like home in the middle of Africa:-)