Victoria Falls to Nairobi

September 1 - 21, 2013

We left our Southern Africa overlanding crew to join our new bus for Eastern Africa: Caroline (aka Mama), Steve the master driver, and John the accomplished chef.

Our first stop was Chobe National Park in Botswana and turned out to be one of our favorites in Africa! After lunch we took a boat river cruise through the Chobe River and were surrounded by elephants, hippos, crocodiles, cape buffalo, several species of large water birds, and water monitors. Absolutely spectacular! That was followed by a land game drive where we saw even more elephants, giraffes, and our first leopards:) A mama and cub leopard were resting by the banks of the river under a perfect African red sunset. We camped that night in the park and woke to a family of elephants in our campsite. On our game drive out of the park we spotted the same cub leopard from the night before. They had apparently just made a kill and had carried the impala up into a tree. The cub was napping there.

We spent the following two days driving through Zambia but didn't see much of this country. Next stop was Malawi. We were somewhat surprised just how mountainous and green this country is. We camped on the shore of Lake Malawi, did a couple of fresh water dives, a tour of the local village, and a 30k hike to a waterfall.

It was striking how the landscape changed as we crossed into Tanzania. The land is heavily agricultural, covered with banana, mango, papaya and tea. So green and lush. We camped just outside of Dar es Salaam and woke early to catch a ferry to Zanzibar. There we did a slave trade tour and spice tour in Stone Town and tried the delicious local teas and fruits. We stayed for the evening food market (Zanzibar pizza, yum!) then we headed to the beach:) We stayed at Matemwe Baharini Villas with our new traveling friends, Laura and Andy. It was beautiful and relaxing with amazing diving.

Our next stop in Tanzania was the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Park. The crater is an amazing landscape with herds of wildebeests and zebra for as far as you can see. We stopped for lunch near a hippo pond and were treated to a visit from an elephant. Absolutely breathtaking! We then continued on to the Serengeti. What can we say? More cats than we have seen anywhere else! Lions, cheetahs, and leopards, and many of them close to our safari vehicle. Also the funniest things we have seen... a hyena chasing a baby giraffe then backing down once he saw how big the "baby" was and a baboon showing off his "chili pepper". Very amusing.

On our way out of the Serengerti we stopped at a Masaai village where we were welcomed with singing and dancing and learned a bit about their way of life.

A couple of days rest in Nairobi before we set off to see Kenya and Uganda:)

Joburg to Victoria Falls

August 18 - 31, 2013

We left the comforts of Uncle Segs and Auntie Shamla's home to go across town to a backpacker's hostel to meet our traveling group, our group leader, Colin, our driver, Ishmael, and our cook, Mungamele. We chatted and ate dinner then left early the next morning for Kruger National Park and camped just outside the park. We woke early to game drive all day through Kruger, having our first glimpses of lions, giraffes, zebra, buffalo, and elephants.

We crossed the border into Mozambique where we stayed in various beach campsites for the next five days. We dove at the first stop, just outside Inhambane (our first dive in the Indian Ocean), but the conditions and visibility were bad. The second stop in Morrungulu was a nice surprise with upgrades to cabins and a pool/bar with beautiful views of the sea. We swam in the waves and relaxed poolside. In Vilanculous we chartered a boat to the island to climb sand dunes, snorkel (amazing fish, coral, and blue starfish!), and eat lunch on the shore.

The next country on our itinerary was Zimbabwe and we loved everything about it :) It was very strange though, to be in a country in Africa where the official languages is English and the currency is US dollars. We spent a couple of days at Antelope Park, a reserve and conservation organization dedicated to introducing lions into the wild. We played with lion cubs, walked with elephants, did a game drive on horseback, and visited the stage two lions, some of which will eventually be released into the wild. The employees were very dedicated and enthusiastic about their work. Loved this stop!

Our next adventure was Hwange National Park. Along the way, we stopped at the painted dog conservation center where researchers are working hard to save this endangered species. Leaving the center we saw a pack of painted dogs crossing the road. A rare and spectacular site! On our evening game drive in Hwange we saw lions stalking an impala, a giraffe drinking from a watering hole, and several herds of elephants taking turns drinking from a watering hole filled with crocodiles and surrounded by baboons. One young elephant separated from his group and once he realized it, he ran to catch up and was reprimanded by the adults. Pretty funny :) The excitement continued through night when our campsite was invaded by a honey badger and it sounded as though we were surrounded by screaming hyenas all night. Colin told us the next morning that a pride of lions had killed a kudu just outside the campground gates and a group of hyenas stole the kill from them. I don't think there was much between our tent and these wild animals!

We finished the trip at Victoria Falls. August is the dry season but the falls were still impressive! We had a private evening game drive through a local reserve, complete with black rhino sitings, a beer while we watched the sunset, and dinner in the bush (fireside). Very romantic <3 We relaxed by the pool in our campsite, had massages and pedicures at a "garden spa", and had a goodbye braai with our new traveling buddies: Liz, Breanna, Andy, Laura, Shorty, Sabine, Taryn, and Carl:)

South Africa

August 3 - 17, 2013

Johannesburg
After a 30 hour flight Niran graciously picked us up from Jo'burg airport and took us to Uncle Segs and Aunty Shamla's house in Sandton. We partied that night at Katzy's and were introduced to Niran's preference for tequila shots. We were joined that night by Sharona and her boyfriend and Ranie.
The following day we picked up Lavena from the airport and I rediscovered driving a manual car on the left hand side of the road. We again partied too much that night and Lavena managed to fall asleep at dinner.
The next few days were spent visiting the local lion park, the Cradle of Humankind, Soweto (where we were introduced to umqombothi - or Jo'burg beer and met Niran's friends - Sipho, David and BK), Mandela Square and eating way to much food (bunny chow, Nando's, meat pies, Shisa Nyama... etc).

Durban
That weekend we drove down to Durban and stayed with Avashni and Dylan and met my little nephew Pryal. Dylan is a master cook and prepared us an Afrikaner dish called potqui.
The following day we had a giant family reunion at Aunty Rose's apartment with all the Aunts and Uncles from Durban, Aunty Rose, Aunty Yogs, Aunty Viggie and Uncle D.R., and all the cousins, Sagri, Ranie, Avashni, Dhesigan, Vinasan, Niran and there other halves, Sunil, Dylan, Shivanie and Lauren.
On the last day in Durban before heading south we visited the beautiful Natal coastline and I swam in the Indian ocean for the first time... that I remember.

Port Elizabeth
The following day (Monday) we started our long drive down to PE to visit Yanesh and his fiancé Nikki. We went via the Transkei and Umtata, the home town of Nelson Mandela, and had a slight detour after I decided to drive off road and blew a tire. We arrived a little late but still managed to knock back some sushi, several tequila shots (it was Niran's birthday) and the first course of our malaria medication. This is what I used as the excuse for why I threw up four times the following morning - twice while hanging out the side of the car on our drive down the Garden Route to Cape Town, however it turns out that the vomiting had nothing to do with the medication and everything to do with the tequila.
Anyway, after a great evening with Yans and Nikki, we were on our way to Cape Town, where, it turns out, they would meet up with us again.

Cape Town
The drive down the garden route was as spectacular as we were told. We stopped at Plettenburg Bay for some lunch and watched whales playing in the Indian Ocean. The terrain, especially closer to PE was probably the most beautiful I had observed in South Africa. The low scrub on the plateu out to the ocean, bounded by mountains to the north and with amazing deep canyons cut down to see level by the occasional river or creek.
Of all the cities in South Africa, Cape Town was the one we felt we could most live in. It was a developed city that had a constant cultural buzz, a mix of interesting history, beautiful terrain and a vibrant bar and restaurant scene. We didn't get the chance to climb Table Mountain or visit Robben Island due to the weather but we did check out the waterfront, visit two wineries and get down to the Cape of Good Hope. On our final night we all went out to Bukhara, and filled our bellies with Indian food and discussed the politics of a newly born country. The following day was spent on a 14 hour drive back to Johannesburg and preparation for the first leg of our Overland Safari.