July 2 - july 14 Tanzania Mikadi beach and zanibar Aaahh… 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. Going to bed to the waves was so calming…well, calming until I put in my habitual earplugs and everything went to mute. :) I loved this campsite. [View Full Entry]

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July 10th Malawi I 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 group schedule. When I heard of the option to go on a mountain hike in Malawi, I jumped on the opportunity. We began at 6am [View Full Entry]

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Malawi Kande Beach Kande Beach is another beach front campsite. Below are some highlights from my time here: Hammock 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 cozy! Beach swim Swimming in Lake Malawi was so refreshing. When I would get hot from laying on the beach, a dip in the lake would cool you right down. [View Full Entry]

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Zimbabwe We have five days at a camp called “Antelope Park”. 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 200,000 lions in the 1970’s; that number has currently dwindled down to about 20,000 today. They are not yet on the endangered list, but pretty close to it. Here, I have done the following awesome activities: Lion Walk I got to go on a walk with lions out in the wild for an hour and a half. [View Full Entry]

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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 you´re in your comfortable surroundings. So, I thought I would indulge you all with my life current life: truck life. I am on the “big yellow truck” with 24 other passengers, which consists of 4 couples, two single males and the rest, female. Estrogen Fest 2009. It is great to meet people from all over the world and learn about a different upbringing. Everyday, I am [View Full Entry]

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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 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to get your meal! In Zanzibar we would joke about ordering dinner immediately after finishing your lunch because of such a long wait! As they say in Swahili "pole pole" (pole-ee pole-ee), which means, slowly slowly. Power outages [View Full Entry]

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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 not sure which came first, the funny clothes, or the tourists looking for funny clothes. When we stepped out of our big yellow truck, vendors swarmed our truck [View Full Entry]

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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 one day away from Africa". Away from the dirtiness, chaos, bugs, etc. We had a free day in Karen/Nairobi. [View Full Entry]

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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 you. We saw bones of carnivores eating their way through the circle of life. We also came across a half eaten buffalo with vultures surrounding it. [View Full Entry]

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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. [View Full Entry]

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