Page 12 of AfricaBound Travel Blog Posts


Africa » Zambia » Livingstone June 28th 2008

Another month on an overland truck comes to an end. Livingstone reminded us just how expensive Zambia is compared to the other African countries. From here, we fly to Jo'burg and begin a month of independant travel in South Africa. We're looking forward to the time on our own and the freedom to go where we want when we want. It will also be nice having a month off from sleeping in tents! Our rough itinerary has us flying to a private game reserve near Kruger National Park for a 5 day luxury stay. Then we will be flying to Durban where we will rent a car and make our way to Cape Town. Stops along the way are still to be decided, but we are looking at spending some time on the Wild Coast, doing ... read more
Us at the airport

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Kasane June 26th 2008

It doesn't get much better than this. Sort of a welcome back to "true" Africa. It took us 5 hours to get onto the ferry to cross the river into Zambia. Too bad we couldn't drive through Zimbabwe and use the bridge instead. Some of the transport trucks have been waiting up to 10 days before they can cross. Total carnage.... read more
Truck queue after customs
From the ferry looking back

Africa » Botswana » North-West » Chobe National Park June 25th 2008

Our second visit to Chobe National Park in Botswana was much like the first, but with less water in the river and more people on the boats. We probably saw more wildlife on our first visit, but we did see Sable antelope for the first time (although not the best light for photos).... read more
Vulture taking off
Croc smile
Baby

Africa » Namibia June 24th 2008

The next few days of the trip overlap with places that we've already seen on our trip from Nairobi to Cape Town. So when it came time for the Okavango Delta, we decided to opt out and spend some quiet time at Ngepi Campsite. A unique place to stay with even more unique toilets and showers. We went on a sunset cruise down the river (just the 2 of us) and saw lots of hippos and small crocs as well as many birds. Our nightly ritual of enjoying a nice bottle of South African wine at sunset was the perfect way to end the day.... read more
Sunset cruise
Morning fog
Hippo smile

Africa » Namibia » Rundu June 20th 2008

A few shots showing what it's like to dig the truck out. We've never been as stuck as we got coming out of Bushmanland. It took us an hour and a half before we managed to get out. The benefit to a full truck is that there's lots of push power.... read more
Push!
Spare tire

Africa » Namibia » Etosha National Park June 17th 2008

Etosha National Park was spectacular! The highlight came on the first night/morning where we camped at an amazing water hole. Once we arrived (sunset) we sat at the water hole with our tripod and only left for dinner at 7pm and a short sleep break between midnight and 3:30am. The elephants were the first to show up followed by 3 to 5 black rhinos. When they were finished, the place was a bit less busy but we did see some more animals including a spotted hyena, jackals, giraffe, zebra, springbok, more elephants and rhinos. We went through a bit of a drought between 3:30 and 5:30 (guess we should have slept longer...) and then a black rhino showed up. It was quiet again until about 6:20 when the morning game drive that we opted out of ... read more
Elephants approaching
Giraffes drinking
Black rhino

Africa » Namibia » Cheetah Park June 15th 2008

Yay, the cheetah park! It's been so long since we've seen big cats on this trip that we were super excited to get here. While, not quite what we expected (more of a farm for rescued cheetahs) it was fun and I think we got some nice photos that we could not have gotten of cheetahs in the wild. By the time we arrived at the park the sun was setting and we'd missed the cheetah tour and feeding for that day. We did, however, get to camp beside the enclosure holding a mom and three cute cubs. It was fun to watch them even though it was through a fence. The following afternoon we went for the tour and feeding. It started with a group of 3 tame cheetahs that we were able to pet. ... read more
profile
cheetah 1
baby cheetah

Africa » Namibia » Cape Cross June 13th 2008

Today we set out from our almost-bush-camp at Spitzkoppe (old rock paintings to be seen there) and drove to Cape Cross to visit the massive seal colony. It was incredible to see so many of them all in one place. If they weren't sleeping or swimming in the water, they were battling each other for positions on the rocks. By far the most memorable part of the seal colony is the overpowering odor, and hence why they get called the Stinky Seals. I think I prefer the penguins...... read more
Seals
Walking
Kathie

Africa » Namibia » Swakopmund June 11th 2008

Swakopmund is the activity centre of Southern Africa. You can basically do anything here from quad biking to sand boarding to skydiving. Our thrills came in the form of quad-biking and paragliding. For the quad-biking it was great because they were able to split the group based on experience and how fast and extreme you were willing to go. Somehow we managed to end up in the fast group, but in the end it was the best choice as we had no trouble keeping up. Paragliding is something that we tried once before in Cochrane and it left us wanting more after only getting to do one flight. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to paraglide off the sand dunes, and this time Jordan got three flights in while Kathie stopped after two. The most exhausting ... read more
Jordan and Kathie
Group 2
The usual

Africa » Namibia » Sossusvlei June 8th 2008

This was something that we've been looking forward to ever since we booked this trip over a year and a half ago. Thankfully, it lived up to our greatest expectations. We arrived at the famous 'Dune 45' (which everyone climbs) and started up it for sunrise. Climbing a sand dune is a lot harder than it looks. It's deceptive how large the dune actually is and in the initial excitement we basically ran until we got a few steps in and realized our legs couldn't hold us up anymore. We decided to stop just below the peak and enjoy the sunrise rather than exhaust ourselves pushing for the top and potentially missing the moment. Then we had a blast as we slid down the side of the massive dune (much more fun than going back the ... read more
Footprints
Kathie sliding down
Ground shot




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