Happy New Year from Zambia!

Happy New Year, 2008! We just walked across the bridge, from Zimbabwe to Zambia. Victoria Falls, one of the 7 wonders of the world, separates the two countries, so it was quite a beautiful crossing. We hiked around Victoria Falls National Park for much of the last three days, where warthogs wandered through the dense foliage and vervet monkeys swung from tree to tree. It was relaxing and rainy. Now we know what the Toto song "Africa" refers to, when discussing the "rains of Africa." We'll spend the next few days traveling across Zambia, and then we'll be around Lake Malawi for a week or so.

Poling in the Mist

On December 23rd, we left civilization and entered the Botswanan wilderness in a dugout canoe, called a "mokoro." Our guide, Kapinga, used a long wooden pole to maneuver us smoothly through the Okavango Delta, tall reeds parting to allow our passage. White and purple water lilies sprang up through the clear water and a myriad of birds flew among the reeds.

After two hours of being poled along, we found a dry campsite. Over the next 2 days, we swam in the cool Delta water, learned how to pole the mokoros as the locals do, and took part in 2 long game walks (on foot!) through the nearby savannah and woodlands. We saw lots of wildlife, the most incredible of which was a herd of water buffalo (a member of the "Big 5").

The cultural experience was equally as amazing as the natural one. We sat around a campfire deep in the forest, rain pounding down, as our Botswanan polers began to sing and dance, creating an ancient rhythm and harmony. This is the experience that Mike and I have always dreamed about...

We are currently in Chobe National Park (Botswana), and this morning we went on a safari game drive where we had a close encounter with 8 lions. Tomorrow morning we'll travel to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Merry Christmas from Botswana!

Our adventure has certainly perked up, with a recent visit through Etosha National Park, in northern Namibia. We spent parts of 3 days in this huge national park, doing game drives during the day and watching a floodlit watering hole at night. We were fortunate to see a huge herd of wild elephants in their natural habitat, munching away at the thorny acacia tree branches. We saw huge herds of zebra, springbok, wildebeest, kudu, impala, red hartebeest, dik-diks, and many giraffes, as well. The giraffes look like dinosaurs with their slow, awkward movement across the savannahs. Three unforgettable wildlife moments:

• Shortly after dawn, during our game drive, we saw a sudden movement in the tangled reeds in the distance. Our eyes widened when we realized that we had discovered a full grown male lion with a massive mane, in the midst of his morning activity.


• We sat in the darkness near a floodlit watering hole. A few springbok wandered by, and a herd of 50 zebra drank from the murky water. The zebra were very skittish, frightened by their own shadows. Suddenly a stampede began, and all the zebras bolted toward the safety of the darkness. From among the chaos emerged a massive gray shape, a rare black rhinoceros. We watched in wonder as this creature fearlessly drank his fill, then wandered back into the shadows.
  
• After setting up camp, the two of us took an exploratory walk nearby. We followed an overgrown two-track, bordered by a "safety fence," which "protected" our camp from the wild animals. Movement caught our eye, and there, underneath an acacia tree, sat 5 cheetahs. You can imagine our surprise! Our pulse sky-rocketed as one of them stood up and began walking toward us. Would this flimsy fence protect us? Our thoughts raced, and we slowly backed away, willing our bodies to act calmly. The cheetah matched our retreating steps and maintained eye contact a mere 10 feet away. Finally, she lost interest and turned back toward her family, and we exhaled a mutual sigh of relief. (By the way, the photo above is in the "Cheetah Park," where there are two "tame" cheetahs).

After a night along the Okavango River, listening to and watching hippos, we've left Namibia and entered the country of Botswana. We're camped near the town of Maun at the edge of the Okavango Delta (the largest inland delta in the world). Tomorrow morning we'll begin a 3 day adventure in dugout canoes, into the wilderness. We hope to see big game and have a cultural experience with the local people, as well.

We're doing great and loving every minute of this grand adventure! Have a Merry Christmas (in a few days)! And Happy Birthday to Lena!!!

Namibia-Desert to Coast

Namibia is a land of contrasts. Around each bend in the road is a dramatic change of scenery. Yesterday alone, we passed through yellow savannahs, where mountain zebras were grazing, to rocky "moonscape" where it appeared that no living thing could survive, to the cool, humid coast of the Atlantic Ocean. As we travel across these rural African landscapes, we rarely see any other people, which makes us feel that Namibia is quite wild and undeveloped. As an example, we visited the Fish River Canyon a few days ago. It's the 2nd largest canyon in the world; the largest is the Grand Canyon. But what a difference between the two...While the canyon formations and erosional patterns look quite similar, the development was very different. Anyone who has visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon knows that it's like a zoo-cars everywhere, buildings, restaurants, shops, paved trails, and thousands of people. A gravel road led us to the rim of Fish River Canyon, a single rocky trail guided us from one overlook to the other, where we watched the sun set over the distant mountains. There were only 60 people there during our visit, so solitude was easy to find.

The next morning we awoke at 4 a.m. to hike to the top of Dune #45 in the Namib Desert. As the sun rose, it spread orange and pink tones across the wavy dunes that surrounded us. The sand warmed and we began a hike across the open desert. We discovered myriad species of wildlife: springbok (antelope-like), a wildcat, lizards, kude (elk-like with crazy spiral antlers), and a wide variety of birds. Their tracks criss-crossed each other on the sand, and we followed them up and over the dunes.

Our group consists of 16 other people from around the world: Lithuania, Poland, England, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Kenya and Zimbabwe (our tour leader and cook). We're traveling in a huge truck with large windows all around the vehicle. There are seats for 30 people, so we have quite a bit of extra space. We ride with the windows wide open so we stay cool, even in triple-digit heat. Our campsites have been beautiful so far in terms of scenery. The accomodations, like hot showers and cold swimming pools, have made our evenings quite comfortable. We've fallen asleep gazing up at the Southern Cross, Venus and Mars, while listening to the yelps of nearby jackals. Our food has been good, and we're still feeling healthy.

We're currently in the coastal town of Swakopmund, on our own for 3 days. Last night we wandered toward the Atlantic Ocean, where the waves pounded the shoreline. We'll depart Monday morning, continuing our journey northeast toward Etosha National Park, home to large herds of elephants and giraffes.

Last Day in Cape Town

We finally got a complete night's rest, and didn't wake up until 8:00 a.m. Now we're adjusted to the time change, which I think is 8 hours ahead of Colorado.

This morning we walked to the Ashanti Lodge, where we'll meet our tour group tonight. It seems like a pretty nice place, but for the price, it certainly doesn't compare to the Kimberley Hotel Back Packers, where we're staying. We were pleasantly surprised to see that our $19/night provided us with a top floor private room, with hardwood floors, a large window overlooking a busy street, a sink, toilet, and shower. Not a bathroom, mind you, but a toilet within arm's length from the bed. Wouldn't want to share the room with a stranger! We'll appreciate our comfortable bed tonight, since we'll be sleeping on thin inflatable sleeping pads and sleeping bags for the next 42 nights!

Cape Town is a beautiful city and the people have been very friendly. We feel quite safe, but we'll continue to take precautions like staying inside after dark (8:30 p.m.), being aware of the people around us, etc. I'd recommend a visit!

Tomorrow morning we'll meet our group and head north. We'll be in South Africa for a few more days, and then we'll cross into Namibia for about 9 days or so. Let the adventures continue!

Rich and Poor

We explored more of the Cape Town area with our local Cape Townian friends (Michael and his family) yesterday. We mentioned that we would like to see the non-touristy areas, so they drove us through the "townships", which are very poor neighborhoods. The crowded shacks are surrounded by food vendors, cooking a variety of meats over steaming grills in the hot sun. We learned that asking for a "smiley" from one of these vendors will get you an entire cooked sheep's head on a plate. Mike took a picture, but I think the smileys might be a little too far away to truly appreciate. Wish us luck with our meals for the next 42 days! Maybe I won't be such a picky eater when we return...

The people in the townships looked happy and busy, full of life. It reminded me a bit of Guatemala, where people lived with just the bare necessities but seemed full of joy. It's strange to witness the contrast here in Cape Town, multi-million dollar homes on one side of the road, and small shacks on the other side.

From the townships, Michael drove us to other coastal areas, including False Bay and Chapman's Bay. The Southern Right whales migrate along the coast and can sometimes be seen from shore, so we kept our eyes peeled. We also had to hold tightly to the rocks and railings to avoid being blown away by the oceanic winds!

3 Continents in 3 Days!

As you can tell from the title, we have safely arrived. We began a marathon journey two days ago in Washington D.C. We took an overnight flight to London, where we arrived feeling groggy and confused, but excited about the prospect of exploring this city. We bought a 1 day pass on the Tube (metro) which provided us with all the transportation we needed in London for the day. As you all know, we're on a budget. We probably spent the least amount of money in the recorded history of London during our 7 hours there. Aside from the Tube pass ($14 per person) the only other money we spent was 10 pence to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later, we found 2 coins totaling 15 pence on the sidewalk. So thus we began making money on our vacation.

We walked several miles through London, past Buckingham Palace (where the guards were pacing back and forth with their gloved hands swinging precisely to shoulder height), through St. James's Park, to Big Ben (the bell tower rang out under the bleak sky as we passed by), along the Thame's River to Westminster Abbey, and finally through the Natural History Museum. On the tube ride back to the airport, neither of us could keep our eyes open.

Our 11.5 hour flight allowed us plenty of time to rest our feet. We had over 100 movies and TV shows to watch as we pleased, so of course Mike watched the in-flight map. We both slept quite a bit and by the time morning rolled around, we had a clear view down to the Namibian deserts below. We were surprised by the mountainous terrain as we flew over Cape Town, and intrigued by the pure blue coastline.

We passed through customs after realizing that Sus's only luggage hadn't made it from London. The airport promptly gave us $70 to purchase some basic supplies, and we hope to have the luggage (including anti-malaria pills) by today. This money covered 3 nights in our hotel in Cape Town, lunch, dinner, and internet fees. Thus we continue "making money" on our vacation.

A friend of a friend picked us up from the airport and we spent the day exploring this strikingly beautiful city on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Our literal "high point" of the day was seeing a 360 degree view from atop Signal Hill. We plan to spend today continuing our exploration of the surrounding area with our local friend.

On Sunday we'll leave Cape Town, heading north towards Namibia with our safari group.

Off We Go!

So we're off on our great adventure! We flew from Colorado to Washingon D.C. and arrived safely (late) last night. We spent today wandering around Harper's Ferry NHS, exploring the living history exhibits, and hiking on the Appalachian Trail with our in-laws. We actually hiked all the way from West Virginia to Maryland! (Check out a map)...

Map of Our Route

View Larger Map

We've marked about 20 key locations on this google map. You can use your mouse to move around the map (which is actually a world map, not just the US) and then click on the blue "pushpins" to see some additional details. Also, click on the link in the upper right corner that says "Hybrid" to see a really cool version of the map. If you click on "View Larger Map" below the map image, you'll be taken to a full screen version, where you can really zoom in for a close view. Experiment with this--it's fun!

We'll begin in Colorado, then go to DC, London, and Cape Town. From Cape Town, we'll travel on trucks through 7 other countries to Nairobi, Kenya. From Kenya, we'll fly back to London, through DC, and then back to Colorado.

African Adventures...

Our long awaited trip to Africa is about to begin! We'll spend a few days in D.C. visiting friends and family, and then fly via London to Cape Town, South Africa. A friend of a friend has offered to show us around Cape Town, which is certainly a welcome offer. We'll begin our overland truck tour on December 9 in Cape Town. Over the next 45 days, we'll experience the culture and scenery of seven other countries: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya. As frequently as possible, we'll update this site, so that our friends and family can share in our adventures.