No, not the Circle of Life (although I am in Africa). I mean that I have finally come full circle and am back in Cape Town, not 10 minutes walk from where I was staying on July 1st. I've actually been here for a couple of days now and have to leave tomorrow. I've probably already said something similar, but I'll say it again - I'm not really looking forward to leaving Africa. In fact, I've never wanted to come home from a trip less than I do right now. I guess it's fortunate that I'm not going home quite yet [View Full Entry]

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Here is my final post from Port Elizabeth. On Monday I leave for Cape Town and then London (and most likely cloudier skies, unfortunately. Today is the first overcast day since the 4th of July). I am a bit sad to leave, to be honest. The Birkholtzes have made me feel very much like family and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in South Africa. It is quite amazing to think of all the things I've done and seen since I've been here. Alas, I must move on. Today is Women's Day so we got free scones and flowers with our [View Full Entry]

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Greetings once again! Wendy-Lee, her parents and I have just returned from a little road trip down the coast. It was absolutely gorgeous! There were dozens of places at which I wouldn't have minded stopping off for a few days. Our first stop was at a town called Oudshoorn, where we visited the largest caves in Africa (the Cango Caves) and an ostrich farm. Needless to say, I decided to ride an ostrich at the farm. Actually, Wendy-Lee and I were the only two in our group that were crazy enough to try it. It was a little out of control, [View Full Entry]

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I have now joined my friend Wendy-Lee in Port Elizabeth and we are having a great time catching up. But before that...... On July 25 I spent the day in Cintsa. In the morning I had my first-ever surfing lesson, and boy did my inexperience show! I apparently had "good technique" but my legs were still sore from rafting and so I couldn't quite master the standing up part. It was still alot of fun and I now have some absolutely MASSIVE bruises to show for it. The rest of my time in Cintsa was pretty much spent relaxing, and as [View Full Entry]

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So the touring portion of my trip is over and I am in the midst of a week on my own. It has been quite a difficult transition, actually, as I made some excellent friendships in the past few weeks. Nonetheless, I shall survive. Here's what I've been up to for the past few days. July 20 was rafting day in Livingstone! 8 of us from the GAP group went and we were happy to be put in the same boat with a guide named Davis. The training was interesting (i.e. what to do if you fall out and are beside [View Full Entry]

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We have just arrived at our hotel in Livingstone and I thought it was time to give you a run down of what I've been up to. July 14 - We crosses the border into Botswana. There was a noticable difference between there and Namibia. It seemed more like what I expected of Africa. Our main activity of the day was preparing for our tour into the delta. July 15-16. We woke up in Maun to no electricity (again!) and went to the poling station to pick up our mokoros (the boats we were taking into the delta.) It was very [View Full Entry]

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Just a quick update to say that we are now in Botswana. We are preparing for a camping trip into the Okavango Delta. I am really looking forward to sleeping among the animals! Yesterday was our last day in Namibia, the highlight of which was meeting a tribe of Bushmen. They were so incredibly friendly! I should go before the tour bus leaves without me, but again I hope everything is going well at home. Thanks for all the messages! [View Full Entry]

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Just a quick one today - the internet is a little slow and I'm running out of time. Things have relaxed a little bit after the intense day of skydiving/sandboarding/general mayhem. Since then we've driven through an area called Damaraland, where we saw some ancient rock drawings and our first elephants! Last night and the night before that we were camping in Etosha National Park. Our campsite was right near the watering hole so we were about a five minute walk from some amazing animals. Between the watering hole and some game drives we saw: elephants, zebras, giraffes, black rhinos [View Full Entry]

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Hello all, Well, I am now about a week into my journey and am loving it. My tour group is awesome - we consist of 6 Canadians, 4 Brits, 3 Americans, 2 Aussies, 2 New Zealanders and 1 Irish, and we range in age from 19 to 50-60. It is really neat to hear everyone's travel stories - most of us have travelled quite extensively, even the 19 year old! Today we are in Swakopmund, famous for being the location at which Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's biological daughter was born. It is also known for adventure sports. I had an [View Full Entry]

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Another quick update while I have internet access (which I'm not expecting to have as often in Namibia). I have arrived safely in Cape Town! I've been here now for about 4 hours, most of which was spent napping and getting myself organized. My 11 hour flight was actually quite nice - I had my own personal selection of movies to watch - and I am feeling decently well-rested at the moment. I'm hoping to take the cable car up Table Mountain if I still have time, and then I will be meeting up with the rest of my tour group. [View Full Entry]

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