This is Africa

Dear G adventures… this trip sucks…

NOT!

But 5:45 am IS a fucker!

Hi Everybody. I just got to Cape Town after spending the last 2 weeks on a G Adventure trip through Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It’s quite possible that these have been the best 2 weeks of my life. There were about 20 of us traveling on a bus (oops I mean truck!) with our super awesome guides Bongizwe and Marc. Each day we traveled through the beautiful countryside to our campsites where we set up our tents under the night sky littered with tons of sparkly stars. Each destination seemed to top the next. We saw Rhinos at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, rode in traditional mokoro canoes through a water lily marsh, walked with zebras and giraffes in the Okavango Delta, camped under the shade of massive 5000 year old baobab trees, got soaked with mist at Victoria Falls, and spotted cheetahs and lions in Kruger Park.

I feel like I’ve been away for months since so much has happened even though it’s only been 2 weeks! So I’m just going to summarize my top 10 highlights for you. I think I’ll do 5 today and 5 tomorrow. Here they are!

1. Chobe River Cruise

My first moment of total amazement on this trip happened when we saw elephants swimming in the Chobe River near sunset. They were so big, there were so many, and they moved beautifully through the water, almost as if in slow motion as they swam.

 

2. Lions

Some of us were lucky enough to go on an excursion to walk with Lions. The lions at the center were juveniles being prepared for reintroduction into the wild to increase the lion population in Africa. Proceeds from the tour went to helping conservation efforts for the lion population. On the tour we were able to actually walk with the lions for about an hour and even pet them when they lay down for a rest!!! It was so thrilling to get close to them and actually touch a lion!

A few days later we spotted lions in the wild in Kruger Park (thanks Jocelyn!). Everyone piled over to one side of our truck to get a look at the mother with 2 cubs. It was a magical experience to see these lions in the wild after learning about their conservation at the center just days before.  

 

 

3. Victoria Falls

Marc and Bongi told us we would get wet at Vic Falls, and they weren’t kidding. Most of us ignored the rain poncho stand, and just went for it. We ended up running over the trails adjacent the falls and realizing that the mist from the falls actually turned into pouring rain at certain spots! We all got soaked from head to toe, but it was welcome because it was so hot that day. To top it off there were rainbows all over the place!

4. Mokoro boat ride

We took traditional dugout canoes called mokoros into the Okavango Delta. It was  the ultimate in relaxation sitting back in the boat and taking in the beauty of the reeds and water lilies as our ‘poler’ (the boats are ‘driven’ using a long pole), expertly steered us to a wonderful campsite where we could hear the hippos at night splashing around in the river!

5. Cave paintings

I have been dying to see cave paintings since I missed so many opportunities to see them in Patagonia. Well, mission accomplished! We visited a beautiful cave in Zimbabwe where there were ochre and reddish images of hunters and animals painted on the walls. We learned about the traditional ways of the “little” bushmen who created the images. They were only 5 feet tall, lived off the land and could eat 6 lbs of meat in one sitting!

 

 

 

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!