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Published: January 25th 2013
What an adventure! From January 6-18, Tom and I were down in the southern hemisphere of Africa, "overlanding" with Africa Travel Company (ATC) from Vic Falls to Jo'burg--meaning we travelled in a 23-passenger truck, pitched and slept in tents (often in the rain because it was the rainy season down there), and ate outdoors, helping the cook and cleaning up afterwards. The other members of the group were mostly young Aussies and New Zealanders who'd actually started in Nairobi and gone through Tanzania and Malawi. Our guide was a Belgian; the driver and cook were South African. ATC provided the transport, the food, and the tents; we brought along our own sleeping bags and air mattresses.
We began our journey in Paris on January 4th, flying to Heathrow to catch our overnight British Airways flight to Johannesburg, where we transferred to another BA flight up to Victoria Falls. Here's what we saw during the next 12 days: First magnificent Victoria Falls, which are situated between Zimbabwe and Sambia. They are one of the Seven Nautral Wonders of the World and were named by David Livingstone. After two nights camping near the park (it was raining, so we actually "upgraded" from
a tent to a cabin those first two nights!), we set off for Botswana and Chobe National Park, where we went on a game drive and then a boat curise along the river. After one night there, we drove on to Maun, where we camped another night. Then we drove to the Okavango Delta and embarked on the waterways in Mokoros (dug out canoes), letting our "polers" point out the birdlife and flora en route to our island campsite. It was hot and dry in the Delta area, which made camping in tents very enjoyable. After two nights and three days in the Delta, we drove a long distance to the small town of Palapye, where we camped overnight and got a bit wet during a thunder storm. From there we crossed into South Africa and joined the "panorama route" through the lush green mountains and the impressive Blyde River Canyon. Another long drive and we arrived at the famous Kruger Natioonal Park, which we visited over two days. Our campground was quite a ways from the Park entrance down a long bumpy and dusty road. The first night was warm and hot; but the second day it started to
rain about noon and didn't stop all afternoon and evening. Most of our tents leaked, so we got pretty wet, but this didn't stop us from seeing a lot of animals and having a good time. Kruger is really an amazing park. I was so happy to see lions and a leopard! Following our stay at Kruger, we drove to a packbackers' lodge on the outskirts of Jo'burg where we stayed another two nights. On one of the following days, Tom and I went on a tour to both Soweto and Jo'burg's Apartheid Museum. On the second day, we walked down the road from the backpackers' lodge to a children's home. We wanted to do this because we had brought along some school supplied and wanted to donate them to the children there. The place is very modest and not very well kept up, but the people who run it are very devoted to the children, who were sweet and well-behaved. I really enjoyed being with them. The little ones pulled me over to a ledge, made me sit down and climbed up on my lap. You could tell them just love being cuddled and held.
I hope you
enjoy the photos (there are aboutr 100 uploaded here, and I have many more.). It was a rugged but fun trip. We only visited a very small part of Africa, but we came away with a feel of this vast continent and saw a lot of wildlife and beautiful landscapes. (I particularly liked the landscapes in the Okavango Delta). We also had some interesting adventures along the way.
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paul & jill
non-member comment
greetings from sf
Sounds great, beautiful pix. Can't wait to hear more.