OSTRICH RIDE!

Pics of our tour group

This is the group of people who had to suffer through Vanessa and my company for a week. . .we actually got really really lucky. They were a fantastic group of people.

This is our group with the Setswana at our camp in the Delta.

Bernie and Sam. Totally cute couple.

Sara with Mufaro and Jay.

Paul and Sarah.

Paul and Vanessa.

Mufaro, Bec, Jay, and Paul.

This is the group of us who went bungee jumping with our arms inked up with our weight and jump numbers.

Videos from the Okavango Delta

This is how we were transported from island to island and to our swimming hole while we were in the Delta. By far the most relaxing and enjoyable mode of transportation ever. Oh how we miss our mokoro.

On our last night in the Delta, we were lucky enough to get to see the Setswana who were with us in the Delta dance and sing. This was our favorite dance - a courtship dance. It's a little hard to see because the only light is the fire, but hopefully not so hard that you can't make out what is happening.

Vanessa took this video from the front seat of the plane as we were lifting off for our tour of the Delta.

Elephants

The last two days of our vacation were spent in and around Addo Elephant Park. On the second day there we rode and fed elephants. They are such amazing creatures. Here we are on our elephants.

Here are our elephants at their watering hole.

Here is Vanessa on her elephant.

Here's Sara feeding her elephant, Duma, which happened to be the dominant elephant in the group. Ha!

The Garden Route!

Sara rode an ostrich! Ha.
Even Vanessa got on one! This is our friend Jay, a Brit, who ended up hitching a ride with us on the Garden Route. This pic was taken after Vanessa asked him to "look British." This is, apparently, a very British pose. Nice.

We went skydiving! This is Vanessa getting suited up.

Vanessa coming in for the landing.

Sara's view while skydiving over Plettenburg Bay, South Africa. Gorgeous.

Okay. So while on the Garden Route, we randomly came upon THE South African Elvis competition. Which we, of course, then attended. We came. We danced. We spent quality time with Elvis impersonators. It was epic.

The winner of the South African Elvis competition is on the left of Sara in this pic.

This is the view from the port of Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Our last stop on our overland tour was Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has only been recently visited by tour groups since March of 2009, when the unity government formed, the political situation calmed down a little bit, and the new Finance Minister changed the currency code - now Zimbabwe does not have it's own currency, but uses U.S. dollars, South African Rand, or Botswana Pula. The country has been in utter turmoil for 30 years of Mugabe's rule but it is a beautiful country and hopefully destined for greatness again someday. This is a picture of Victoria Falls - one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Miraculously, I was able to convince Vanessa to bungee jump in Victoria Falls. Unfortunately, we can't yet download the pictures of her jumping, but here's one of me getting ready to make the leap. BUNGEE!We went to an interactive drumming and dancing dinner in Vic Falls. This is Vanessa's best warrior pose. Please note: this was after a two hour "booze cruise" along the river. This day was unbelievably fun. Sara and our Aussie "mate," Paul - I think this was taken while on booze cruise. Yeah, that would make sense.Sara, Vanessa, and Sarah at the interactive drumming/dancing dinner. We ate, we drummed, we danced.

More Botswana

After we left the island where we spent two and a half days, we went on a plane ride over the Delta. Vanessa, who hates flying in planes, was a champ. We saw our first hippos on this flight (although we saw many more up close later). The crew from our tour group on the flight was Paul, Sarah, Vanessa, Sara, and Jay. Paul and Sarah are two of the nicest Aussies one could ever hope to meet. Jay is an amazing Brit who has done more in his 27 years than most people pack into two lifetimes. We have met some fantastic people on this trip!

Vanessa sitting next to the pilot on our flight.
The view of the Delta from the plane.
On the road from the Delta to our next destination, a herd of elephants were just hanging out next to the road.

We went on a sunset cruise on the Chobe River. This is us with our friend, Sarah, from the tour. Our boat captain, Rambo, was a lot nicer than he looks in this picture.

This was our first opportunity to see hippos very up close and personal. They were everywhere on the cruise. We also saw a lot of avian wildlife, baboons, crocodiles, monitors, kudu, and impala on the cruise. Sunset over the Chobe River.

Our last game drive (and the only one we did in a vehicle - all of the others were hikes) was in Chobe National Park, where we saw lions for the first time. They were so amazingly close to us. This one is on alert after a warthog was silly enough to cross its path. She was on the hunt. We also saw a lot of baboons, kudu, impala, a giraffe, warthogs, bison, and tons of birds on the game drive in the Chobe. Here is a baboon with her baby. They were probably about 10 feet from us.

Botswana's Okavango Delta

On our organized overland tour from Johannesburg through Botswana and on to Victoria Falls, one of the major components was a two and a half day camping experience on an island in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. We were transported to our island in the mokoros (canoes) you see below. This was the mokoro "port" where we started our trip.

Local girls monkeying around at the mokoro port area. Cute.

Vanessa chilling in our mokoro on our way to camp.

Our Pola (mokoro "driver" if you will), Kila, is on the right. The Pola on the left is an amazing singer. One of the nights in the Delta we were treated to an evening of traditional song and dance and she ruled the school. I even got to dance with her. I am EXTREMELY happy Vanessa failed to capture that on her video camera. It was a debacle.

We had two "trackers" accompany us on our game walks. They were amazing - the reason we got to see so much wildlife up close and learn so much about the flora and fauna of the Delta. This is one of our trackers, Partner, holding up a bison skull.

Vanessa walking with zebras on one of our game walks. Check out that butterfly on her shoulder!

Sunset on the Delta. I took this picture on our game walk where we saw our first of the "Big 5" Africa wildlife - elephants.

We went on a sunset cruise in our mokoros. This was our view on the way back to camp.

Another of the amazing views from our mokoro.

This is an example of what life in many of the villages in Botswana looks like. This is a hut in the village outside of the mokoro port, where many of the Setswana who serve as Pola for the tours live.