Since we missed a game park in Zimbabwe, we had the opportunity to go to Kruger National Park, renowned as one of the best game parks in Africa. Unfortunately what was supposed to be a 2 night stay in the park turned into a day trip because all of the camp sites had been long booked for the May day long weekend. Within a few minutes of entering the park we spotted some African wild dogs which are one of the rarest animals in Africa. Shortly after that we saw a rhino in the bush. The rest of the day didn't [View Full Entry]

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After a brief 2 night stay in Namibia along the Caprivi Strip we crossed back into Botswana and set out on our 2 night Mokoro trip on the Okavango Delta. We stayed at a tented camp on an island in the delta and went out on Mokoros (traditional dug-out canoes) for day trips. We also went on a walking safari on an island in search of big game. We didn't see much more than a couple elephants and some Zebras, but we ran into some others that had seen lions. So our guide decided to start tracking the lions to try [View Full Entry]

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Since our stay in Zimbabwe was cut short, we drove straight to Botswana and Chobe National Park. We had a full day there of non-stop game viewing. We went for an early morning game drive followed by a boat cruise on the Chobe river and finished with an evening game drive. We saw a large assortment of animals and even saw a leopard crossing the road on the way out (no time for pictures unfortunately). We also discovered that wine is very cheap in Botswana (and the rest of Southern Africa) and now have a favorite evening ritual that consists of [View Full Entry]

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Zimbabwe was probably one of the more interesting countries we've been to economically. It's really hard to describe the experience. When we arrived, the street rate for US dollars was 50,000,000 to one. However the bank rate was only 30,000 to one. So we were either forced to change on the street or use US dollars exclusively. Luckily we had a contact that could change the money for us so that we wouldn't get scammed. We changed $40 and instantly became billionaires! Although our $1 billion bar tab was a little scary... The political situation has been very damaging for the [View Full Entry]

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Our other major activity in Zambia included a three day, two night canoe trip down the Lower Zambezi River. Hot weather, great river, Canadian canoes, crocodiles, hippos and elephants - how can you go wrong with that?! The highlight of the trip was the second night after dinner, just after the sun went down, we had a herd of elephants walk through our campsite (on an island in the middle of the river). We were only about 10 meters from a huge bull elephant that was feeding on a tree next to our dinner table. We stayed quiet and crouched as [View Full Entry]

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Our first major stop in Zambia was the South Luangwa National Park. Our campsite was right on the bank of the Luangwa River and the Hippos came up into the campsite regularly at night to graze. It's only when one is about 20 meters away from the dinner table completely out of the water that you really begin to appreciate how huge these creatures are. We couldn't stop smiling every time we heard their noises; it's like living in a zoo (only way better). We went on a couple of game drives including a walking safari and a night drive which [View Full Entry]

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After Zanzibar, just when we thought we couldn't get enough beach time, we headed off to Lake Malawi - specifically Kande Beach. Again, we didn't do much here other than relax in the hammocks and rack up a rather shocking bar tab. Guess who won? We also reigned supreme at the foosball table, less so at pool. The most surprising thing about Malawi so far has been the beautiful crafts and artwork that is for sale. It's so different than anything we've seen elsewhere in Africa, and it's very cheap to buy. They're famous for their carved chairs, although we like [View Full Entry]

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Before making the ferry crossing to Zanzibar, we had one important bit of business to attend to. On the Friday morning we got up bright and early and made our way to the Canadian High Commission so that we could complete our passport saga by picking up our brand new 48-page passports! What a relief! Our first night in Zanzibar, we stayed in Stone Town and went for a tour of the city the next day including the usual spice tour. We then drove to the north end of the Island and spent the next 3 nights at Nungwi chilling on [View Full Entry]

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After the disapointing experience in the Serengeti, we were pleasantly surprised to get exactly the opposite experience in the Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is a fairly small area in comparison to the Serengeti and has it's own extremely diverse ecosystem. We saw an incredible variety of wildlife in close proximity to the jeeps. The highlight of this experience was the pride of lions that approached the road and used the jeeps as cover while some of them hunted zebras. This of course attracted every jeep that was in the park to the same spot at one time. One of our jeeps [View Full Entry]

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On the way into Serengeti National Park, we had to drive through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area along the rim of the Crater that we would come back to in 2 days time. It was an interesting drive because the conservation area aims to achieve a balance between the local Masai people and the wild animals. It was so strange seeing a herd of sheep in the foreground and then giraffes feeding on the trees behind them. It poured rain the night before and the morning that we drove into the Serengeti, but by the afternoon things seemed to be clearing up. [View Full Entry]

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