ClaireandShelly

Wow, no internet at the hotels. We are at an internet cafe in Swakopmund today. I'm going to start with the beginning though. 5 days ago we flew from Zambia to Namibia thru the Jburg airport again. We got into Winhoek and the lodge picked us up. We stayed at a lodge near the airport and it was just for the night. I had oryz that night for dinner. it was delicious. the next morning, we were picked up for our first small plane flight to Sosssusvlei (I know the spelling is wrong). This place is in the middle of the Nabia desert. Hot, Yes, I heard it got up to 48 (celius). We stayed in a tent lodge, but it had ac that really couldn't keep up. WE did a late afternoon game drive that ... read more

our last day and night in Zambia and our killer place to stay. Sad. I do have to say I won't miss the bugs. So we slept in a bit and then when we got up we went to ride elephants. It's kind of like riding a horse, just bigger. afterwards we got to feed the elephants and we stuck our hands right in their mouth. I felt the tonuge. after a light lunch we went and rode the jet boat on the zimbaze river. the same one shelly kayaked the other day. we had to ride a cable car down to the river. Well I can say that they would never be allowed to do this in the states. it was fun riding right up to the rocks and being slung around and over some ... read more

wow, it's been a great day for both Shelly and myself. She did the kayaking on the Zambezi river. it's world class and part of it is closed because the water is too high and it is too dangerous. But you know Shelly, she had to go for it. well she thought she'd be in a 2 person kayak. wrong, it was a one person inflatable. she said the hike down to the river was wild, very hard. I've not seen the pictures. Then she got to the river and that's when she discovered it's a one man inflatable kayak. She started out and after the first 2 rapids, she actually thought she might have gotten in over her head and might have quit if there was a way out of the gorge, but there wasn't. ... read more

no, we didn't fly back to south africa, I just thought I'd talk about our trip after the last post from there. I had writen about the cheeta tour (sorry for all the bad spelling) last. That afternoon we drove to knysna to go mountain biking. Oops. it was closed, it was still a holiday. so sad, I was really looking forward to it. We then broke up into 2 groups. one group when kayaking and one group went on an elephant tour. Guess which one Shelly went with, yep, you're right. I went on the elephant tour. we both had a blast. the next day we got up early and drove a long way and then went on some wine tours. the wines were wonderful. I would love to spend extra days there to enjoy ... read more

This is how I had hoped to blog. I wanted to write often and send pictures. The internet here is slow but it does seem to be up half the time. We also have free time. This is the first time we've not been on the constant move. I did a culture tour of the village near our lodge. Many of the people working here are from there. Shelly had a snafu in her kayaking trip but finally got it together. She'll not be back until later today. I do get to do my ultra light flight later and I'm excited. The village is what we think of when we think of Africa. I'm hopefully getting several of the pictures posted from last night and my tour. I'm having such fun on this trip. Claire ps. ... read more

sorry for the delay. Internet access is spotty in places. this trip is getting better and better. I would have never believed I love South Africa so much. Lets see, when I last left you, we were heading to the private game reserve. We saw baby Cheetas and were right up on them. We saw elephants, right beside theopen air safari vechile we were riding in, same with giraffes. I have some great pictures. this new camera is wonderful but it does eat batteries. that is one thing I dislike. Sorry no pictures today. I'm limited on time and want to right more, plus I need to resize some of them down before downloading. New Years eve I got to fly in a microflight plane. I did see some buffulo but not much else. We then ... read more

we went to a animal rehab center this morning. It was great seeing the animals but sad to know the reason they are there. I think we all learned a lot. Tonight (3:30 - ) we go on a late afternoon evening game drive on a private reserve. we shouls see lions in the wild then. I can't wait. Tomorrow if the weather is good, I will be doing a flight in an ultra light plane, then we fly to port elizabeth for the next part of the trip. today, Shelly and I both got the have a vulture land on our gloved arm. They were heavy and 2 landed on my arm and knocked my glasses off. yes, we have pictures. we also got to touch a leapord and a rhino. this trip has been ... read more

wow is all i can say. we drove to our lodge on tuesday. it was long but we saw a lot of beautiful scenary. We got here and then went to a cultural center and had a local dinner and learned some of the old customs. Wed we got up and did a game drive. we saw giraffe's (several near our lodge) and elephants, water buffulo,.... 26 differernt kinds of animals in all. We got back late, had dinner and then bed. Today we got up and started the panoramic tour and saw some beautiful scenary and then went white water rafting. Shelly was in heaven. oh, yesterday I dropped my camera. boom. it is having major problems. no problem, we were having camera envy from one of our group. they had his camera (almost exact) ... read more