Maasai Mara What more can you ask for? A balloon ride over the Maasai Mara watching the sunrise and the wildebeest migration, a leopard with a fresh kill up a tree, lion prides sitting by the roadside, cheetahs playfully attempting to mate ( one more willing than the other), vultures feeding off a zebra carcass left by lions from the day before, giraffes sitting under a tree, elephants wandering past while you have a picnic lunch and a lion so thirsty she has dropped to the side of the road to drink from a puddle left by last night's rain. We asked for and got the crossing of the wilderbeest over the Mara river but with only a minute to spare. Two days of Kenya that could not be topped. Our balloon ride started with a ... read more

A two camera battery day. Highlight after highlight. Border crossing from Zambia to Botswanas. Amazing to see thee trucks lined up on both sides of the river waiting for the ferry to take them across One of the ferries is currently out of orderit can take 3 days or more to cross. We went across by skiff, had our passport stamped, disinfected our shoes in the foot and loth bath and drove to where we joined the cruise of the Chobe river. Saw lots of bird life , elephants, crocodiles, and hippos. They were everywhere. It was fantastic. Back to Chobe lodge for a buffet lunch. After lunch we went on a game drive - very bumpy and dusty . We saw giraffes drinking from the river. Fantastic to see the way they bend over then ... read more

Two fantastic days in Kruger National Park staying at Tinga and Narina Lodge. Our group was split between the two lodges and we stayed at Narina. From the time we arrived it was fantastic. We were greeted with a refreshing towel and iced tea and shown our room. Each room is separated by a boardwalk and it is easy to feel that you are the only ones there. Each room has a balcony , splash pool and outdoor shower as well as an indoor bathroom, bed, lounge and all the usual facilities. No matter where you are, you can see the scenery outside. We were collected for the first game drive, six to a vehicle and introduced to our driver Alfred and spotter Lucas. Took a while to see our first animals, but as the drive ... read more

MONKEYLAND Monkeyland is a free-roaming primate sanctuary and is home to over 500 previously captive primates. The monkeys previously lived as pets, from petting zoos, private zoos or sometimes ordinary zoos. You are not allowed to touch the monkeys as the purpose of the sanctuary is to try to teach the monkeys to be monkeys again. They live together in reasonable harmony with lots of playful sparring. We saw many different types including the local monkey the Vervet who has bright blue testicles to attract females, a white gibbon, spider monkeys, capuchin and yellow squirrel monkeys ( amongst others). OSTRICH FARM There are a number of ostrich farms in South Africa. In the 19th and early 20th century there were many more. The houses that were built by the wealthy owners became known as Feather palaces ... read more

How do we describe Niagara Falls? Like Las Vegas with giant waterfalls. Once you get past the tacky, glitzy town and casinos you get to the falls. Firstly we had a ride on the Skywheel , a ferris wheel structure which gave us a great view of the falls. We then went down to get on the boat for the Maid of the Mist tour. There are lines of people for the boat ride but it moves quickly. You are given a blue poncho in anticipation of the drenching you are going to get and loaded onto the Maid of the Mist boats. After stopping for the obligatory souvenir photograph we were loaded onto the boats with about 600 other participants and taken out to the falls.We were lucky to have a very still morning for ... read more