A 14 hour flight, a spill of cold water on my lap and my arrival in Delhi is here!! Wow, 10.5 hours ahead. I didn’t know if I should nap or force myself to stay awake. The flight was an easy one. I had a 21 year old college girl whose dad was relocated to Delhi for business so she was heading ‘home’ for the winter break sitting next to me. United airlines had movies like Goonies, Ghost, Coming to America, etc… The 21 year old had never seen them! I gave her my recommendations and she gave me hers. It took me 6 tries to get through Amazing Spiderman as I kept falling asleep. Yep – it took almost 12 hours to get through a 2 hour movie. Thank you sedatives. Upon arrival, the 1st ... read more
I left Zambia in the morning and headed to Johannesburg. I headed to this huge B&B about 15 minutes from the airport. Turns out I am the only guest. My host for the night was a 22 year old, Francois. He was my new BFF for the night. I spent half the day on the internet uploading videos and pictures while we gossiped like 2 teenage girls. I ordered in dinner and ate in front of the TV while watching Grey’s Anatomy from 2 seasons back. I felt as if I was in my apt in NYC. I woke up bright and early to head back to the airport. I flew to the east gate entrance of Kruger National Park (about a 50 minute flight). After much research, I chose to stay at a private game ... read more
Before Locke left, he introduced me to Eric. Eric is a local taxi driver who claims to have been a tour guide in his past career. Anyhow, as many of the activities I wanted to do weren’t available due to the minimum # of people required – I hired Eric to take me around. We started at a lunch spot that is recommended. It was so-so. The food in Zambia just isn’t all that good. We stopped at the market so I could pick up some bags of candy to bring to the Mukuni Village. It was Sunday, so I figured many of the kids would be around. We arrive at the village where there is a mandatory donation of $5. There was a lady who escorted us around the village. I asked if it was ... read more
Wake up is at 6am for a 6:30am pickup. The tour is over but I still have another week ahead of me of selfish time. I decided to do a Lion Walk Encounter. Walking with the lions? Really – hell’s yah! Besides myself, there was a couple from Australia and a bloke from Germany. If I had to guess, we were certainly around the same age. Upon arrival we watched an educational video of the steps involved of introducing cubs into the wild. Usually every other generation of lions is successful as some of the cubs lose their fear of humans. When/if this happens, the lions will never be able to be released as most likely they will be shot if they decide to approach a human even if they just want to say hi. Afterwards, ... read more
Well, we crossed the border via foot (ferry) into Zambia from Botswana. It turns out there are trucks waiting up to 5 days to cross the border via ferry. If we kept our vehicle, we may have come across some problems, so we had a van waiting for us on the other side of the border. We stopped by an information center about all the activities in the Livingston area. I watched the videos and picked a bunch of things I would like to do. Linda got up and walked away. Coleman said he would have to think about things as the man never makes a decision. I had my 1st croc burger before heading to our lodge. It was interesting – no need to have one ever again. We were staying on the riverfront in ... read more
We arrived in Kasane. Locke and I took a drive into town where I was able to pick up some more bug spray. Until this point, I am l am happy to report I only have 1 mosquito bite. I am starting to get itchy even though I shower most days. Between sporadic cold showers and some twinkling hot showers and my clothes smelling like nature, I am getting to the grimy point of my trip. The late afternoon came quickly where I was heading for a boat trip on the Chobe River to head into Chobe National Park. Linda and Coleman actually joined even though there was an additional cost to do this activity. Thank goodness there were 2 girls in their 20’s from London on board. I was able to sit with them and ... read more
My new buddy from the lodge in Gweta invited me back to the school in the morning. I was excited by the invite so of course I took him up on it. We visited the headmaster to get permission for me to greet the children and ask them some questions. The difference from the day prior is that school was in session and all the kids were in their uniforms. I visited some 5 year olds up to the 13 year olds. Some of the teachers were pleased as I spoke to the children in English and asked them about their studies. The little ones got high 5’s and were excited about my camera. The older ones needed some pushing to respond from their teachers as many of the students seemed shy. Overall, it was absolutely ... read more
The last 2 days have been amazing! I woke up to find the open safari vehicle was waiting to take Locke and me to the Okavango Delta. He headed over some dirt roads until we got to our mokora boats. For the 2 of us, there were a total of 4 local folks accompanying us into the Delta. One was Jonah, he was the group leader. There was a trainee who didn’t say much and 2 ladies. The ride took about 1.5 hours to our campsite. The ride was wonderful. You basically lie back and chill out in this narrow boat while starring at the thousands of water lilies. When I say campsite, there is nothing but open land. There were a ton of trees which provided a ton of shade. Considering the heat, this was ... read more
I spent the last 2 hours sitting around a fire starring at 1,000’s of stars. I have never in my entire life seen so many stars. It was dark outside and the sky twinkled. It was a nice night. Getting here is another story. We left Windhoek, Namibia around 9:30am. Our itinerary changed so we headed directly to the border crossing into Botswana. At 5pm, we finally arrived at the Trailblazers Bushman Hut Camp in Ghanzi. Both Linda and Coleman refused to stay here as it was basic (no doors on the bathrooms or showers – just a side door) and the huts themselves were, well… made of branches. Poor Locke had to drive them about 30 minutes each way to find them ‘acceptable’ accommodations. The people here are super friendly. They made Locke and me ... read more
We left Etosha. I was sad to leave the beautiful watering hole where I found nothing but peace and quiet. I didn’t get to see my rhinos yet, but I hear I will have plenty of opportunities the 2nd ½ of my trip. We arrived in Windhoek to find that there is absolutely nothing to do in this town besides go to the mall. It is the capital of Namibia, yet everything closes around 1pm – exactly the time we arrived. There is an international airport – that is why this trip can start or end at this point. My crazy roommate is definitely out there. She is one of the most colorful people I have ever met. She wants nothing but happiness for every soul in the entire world. Part of me is super happy ... read more