http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/jennifc/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from jennifc en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:40:24 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:40:24 +0000 . http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-427542.html I loved loved loved quad biking. I was actually a bit nervous at first but after a few minutes I couldn't wait to go faster and didn't want it to end. I am learning more each day that I am a speed junkie.The second part of the journey was full throttle full speed. So much fun I wish I could do this at home.When we first pulled out of the quad biking center we drove very slowly on a paved http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Swakopmund/blog-427540.html What fun this was. We spent two hours sandboarding down the beautiful sand dunes. I chose to do the lay down option of boarding vs the standup like snowboarding.They lay down people got to fly down the dunes at high speeds. The board is basically just a floppy wooden plank. you lay down on your stomach and hang on I made the rookie mistake a few times of dropping my hands. When this happe http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Swakopmund/blog-427539.html I signed up for a Township Tour. I am so glad I decided to do this. We were fortunate to spend 4 hours touring a local Namibian Township. We got to meet locals learn about the culture and try the local food.We met Thalia a local lady who let us try on her handmade traditional dresses. This dress is to symbolize the cow. The hat is to symbolize the horns of the cow. When you were this dress http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Swakopmund/blog-427532.html We were lucky enough to camp in Spitzkoppe. I hope the pictures can give you a glimpes of the natural beauty here. We arrived around 3pm and we rushed to climb the gigantic rocks before sunset. A small group of us treked up the mountain of rocks and had a fun time goofing off.After sundown we had a big bonfire under the night sky full of stars. It's so amazing to look up and see every single http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Spitzkoppe/blog-427326.html Wow we are really getting spoiled with tame trained wild animals. In Cheetah Park we got to visit cheetahs that wander the grounds like domestic cats. In the yard of the owner's home he had two full grown cheetahs a fourmonth old cheetah two dogs and a giraffe all roaming around like a happy family. One of the dogs a hyper jack russell terrier would chase and play with the baby cheetah http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Cheetah-Park/blog-427320.html August 1 2009We visited the Okavango Delta. To reach the Delta you must take an hour long bumpy truck ride to the water's edge. Then we have a three hour boat ride. The boat is called a mokoro which is a shallow hallowed out canoe pushed through the water by a poler. The poler uses a long pole to push through the shallow delta waters. The ride was nice and peaceful. We had our sleepin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Okavango-Delta/blog-427316.html As we drive in our truck kids on the road would stop what they are doing and wave like crazy. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-422562.html I had the time of my life in Victoria Falls. The weather was finally warmer and there was so much to do. I bungee jumped off the 3rd highest bungee jump in the world and I absolutely loved loved loved it Leah and I tandem jumped together and people said we screamed the whole way down bouncing back up and again the whole way down again. After the bungee jump I did a tandem bridge swing. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zimbabwe/Victoria-Falls/blog-423773.html As most of you read this I am sure you are sitting at a nice computer at your job where you get paid twice a month...man I miss that or at your home while youre in your comfortable surroundings. So I thought I would indulge you all with my life current life truck life. I am on the ldquobig yellow truckrdquo with 24 other passengers which consists of 4 couples two single males and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-421971.html Zimbabwe We have five days at a camp called ldquoAntelope Parkrdquo. This place is amazing. We are camping right on a river and have loads of activities to do. Antelope Park is known for reintroducing lions into the wild. There used to be about 200000 lions in the 1970rsquos that number has currently dwindled down to about 20000 today. They are not yet on the endangered list but pre http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-421970.html MalawiKande BeachKande Beach is another beach front campsite. Below are some highlights from my time hereHammock Heaven One of my favorite things about this place was the abundance of hammocks One night I got my sleeping bag out and laid in a carefree hammock under the night sky. I drew the drawstrings of my sleeping bag so tight all you could see was my eyes. I was so cozyBeach swimSwimmin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-421968.html July 10thMalawiI expected this safari trip to be more active. That is not the case. Our typical daily routine entails wake up eat breakfast sit in truck for 4 hours stop eat lunch get back on truck arrive at desitination eat dinner sleep. Okay that is the drive days which are about twice a week but still our routine is set and it is hard to squeeze in exercise when you are on a grou http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-421965.html July 2 july 14TanzaniaMikadi beach and zanibarAaahhhellip two weeks of white sandy beaches and nothing to do I learned that it is important and much needed for me to do my own thing and stray away from group set itineraries whenever possible. What better place to do that than on sunny beaches Mikadi Beach is a campsite where we popped up our tent RIGHT ON the beach. It was unbelievable http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-421964.html June 28 Ngorongoro Crater The SerengetiI am woken up by the alarm at 500 am have a quick breakfast at 530 and leave our campsite by 600. We are off to two game parks The Ngorongoro Crater the one and only Serengeti. Nine of us piled into a plush yet rugged ldquoBush Roverrdquo the African safari edition of the Land Rover. Our tour guidedriver seems to know everything about Tanz http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-421963.html There is a marketplace in Malawi that has all these used random costumes. It's like Goodwill during Halloween. We drew names of someone to buy a costume for. Then we would have a fancy dress party in Zimbabwe the following week. It was as much fun to shop for the costume as it was the actual party.The vendors here must know that overland trucks come here shopping for funny costumes. I am http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zimbabwe/blog-420627.html T.I.A. This Is Africa.Africa is another world. A world far from the fast paced life of America. People often say T.I.A. or This is Africa when certain things happen.Ordering at a restaurant is a perfect example. Most times the menu is out of the majority of what is offered. When you do order it takes 1 12 to 2 12 hours to get your meal In Zanzibar we would joke about ordering dinne http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-420603.html Some pictures of the gorilla trek. We hiked up a beautiful lush green mountain in Rwanda to find the Amhoro means 'peace' gorilla family.We were so close to them. They were absolutely amazing creatures.actually I guess only ONE picture uploaded. uploading is nearly impossible in Africa. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/blog-412709.html We are back at a town called Karen. This is where the trip started for us. We then went West to Rwanda and back tracked to Karen. We let go of 4 people and gain 14 more....yikes clausty for sure.This trip has been amazing no doubt but I did have a few days when I wanted to be home. There are up and downs of trucking the roads of Africa. When we arrived at Karen I told Leah I just want http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/blog-412727.html A few days ago we went on our first game drive. This is where we are driving through a game park in a van with a pop open roof for viewing the wildlife. We saw just about the whole cast of Lion King a lions hyenas baboons wart hogs colorful birds zebras buffalo monkeys impalas gazelles flamingos pelicans...but no Timon yet.It was so fun to see all the wild animals right in front of http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/blog-412717.html