Up early and ready for our night out in the Okavango Delta. We load up the truck and jump on, it’s a bit of a squeeze but no one seems to care as we are all quite excited. We arrive, after about an hour, at the mokoro (dug-out canoe) landing area. Our stuff is loaded on, we are introduced to Baps our mokoro poler, we squeeze into the little boat and quietly slip into the Delta. Baps pushes us along slowly, through natural channels between rushes and lilies, sometimes getting to into a conversation with another mokoro poler and crashing us [View Full Entry]

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After another long journey we arrived at Sitatunga Campsite and crocodile farm, a nice combination eh? This place was owned and run by Graham, a Kiwi. I think that the majority of the population of New Zealand can in fact be found in Africa. This campsite was great, we upgraded to a little cabin, the bar was cool, good music, nice pool, just a great party atmosphere. We had a brilliant dinner that night provided by the campsite, of chicken cooked in Coke, strange sounding but lovely. Early to bed again ready for our trip to the Delta the next day. [View Full Entry]

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Across the border into Botswana and a short drive further on we arrived at the town of Maun, we were given a couple of hours to grap lunch and stock up on water and then onto the Thebe River Safari campsite. The campsite was on the banks of the Chobe River, surrounded by electric fencing in order to ward of inquisitive hippos. We set up our tents and had a lovely BBQ before hitting the sack ready for an early start. Up early we were loaded onto an open sided safari truck and went off on our Chobe game park safari. [View Full Entry]

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We stopped at a wholesaler to spend our left over Zim dollars & stocked up the bar with red label Smirnoff vodka for less than US$2 a bottle & then set off for another border crossing into Botswana. When we got to the Katane campsite they said there was space & we drove down to pitch our tents. Unfortunately the only space was next to the Chobe river on paths made by crocs & hippos. As soon as the tents were up we rushed to the jetty passing grazing warthogs & playful banded mongooses & took a boat trip down the [View Full Entry]

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So much has happened since I last wrote! We were lucky enough to see a few black rhinos while staying in Etosha. We also caught a quick glimpse at our 4th of the big 5, the Cape Buffalo. Now all we're missing is the leopard. A short drive the next morning took us into a larger town called Rundu, Namibia. Our camp was located right on the Kavango River just outside of Rundu. The backpacker's lodge was so cute and we had the option of upgrading to a small hut for the night. Most of us of course opted to stay [View Full Entry]

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We just returned from the dark continent. After spending a fabulously exciting time in southern africa , we thought we'd share with you our best highlights. Now considering our history of misadventures I was expecting to have Greg wisked away by a clan of baboons. As it seems our travel luck (or lack of)has changed. I guess g-d thought the joke was on us having to camp in the game parks in tents with no protection from the wild animals (well mozzie's. We had a great group in Botswana and then left to hunt the wilds of Kruger and Cape Town [View Full Entry]

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Today I went on a real safari... I will just post pictures, not words! Nature is a wonderful thing. Enjoy the photos! [View Full Entry]

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Botswana at independence was one of the poorest countries in the world. It's now one of the richest countries in Africa. It's democratic and politically stable. It's fortunes were transformed by the discovery of diamonds near Orapa in 1967. Botswana's biggest problem is AIDS - 36 percent of young adults are infected. It's a vast country with a tiny population and large pristine wildernesses. The most spectacular of the wildernesses is the Okavando Delta. The waters of the Okavando river spread out, to be swallowed eventually by the sands of the Kalahari desert. The delta is a vast [View Full Entry]

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Botswana is a genuine African success story. It is a big, dry country that sits astride the Kalahari desert; the biggest continuous area of sand in the world. This country of 1.65 million is home to a stable democracy, abundant resources and the breathtaking natural scenery of the Okavango Delta, without a doubt one of the most sublime places on Earth. Continuing the adventures from the previous journal ... Botswana features as the next destination on our great African safari, and our Chameleon tours team crossed the border from Namibia in the safari truck to be greeted at an extremely remote [View Full Entry]

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27th of March 2005 Nothingness to Nata. Crack of dawn and thankfully I packed light. Everyone slid their backpacks and duffel bags nicely into the truck lockers. Except the German Hairdresser. He brought a large black wheelie suitcase even though explicit instructions were to bring a backpack. It is entirely possible that he has a portable hair heater in there along with an array of Salon Selective products. He had no choice but to put it in the aisle, in everyone’s way. The beauty of travelling in a small group is having your own window seat. Derick was all professio [View Full Entry]

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