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.

Palapye

We took loads of photos today but aren't able to upload them so a wee note to say we are having a blast. We saw monkeys, Sara's book got sucked out of the truck window, and they tried to make us eat deep fried worms. We are safe, and having a blast. We rise at 5AM tomorrow for the Okavango Delta.

Soweto!

Today we went on a tour of Soweto, South Africa. We went from very depressed areas (seen in the picture with the port-o-potties in the forefront - these are the only facilities that exist in these areas) to what our tour guide called the "Beverly Hills of South Africa," where we saw houses belonging to Winnie Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Sadly, the "Beverly Hills of South Africa" looked pretty depressed to us as well - fortified walls and spiked fences abounded throughout. The smokestack - looking structures used to be a power generation plant for Soweto, until the level of pollution it was emitting was discovered - now it's a place where tourists can bungee jump. We decided to pass on that bit of adventure for the day. We also saw the site of the 2010 World Cup (last picture). Oddly, one of the most interesting things we noticed was how clean all the cars in Soweto are. People take exceptionally good care of their vehicles. Car washes dot the landscape and people everywhere were outside washing their cars. Vanessa and I felt slightly ashamed thinking about our dirty automobiles back home. Tonight we met the rest of the group that we'll be living with during our overland tour for the next week. All Australian. Vegimite! Bring it on, Aussies. We're not sure when we'll have another chance to update the blog. Until next time - word up from AFRICA!!

Day one - District 9

17 hour flight. Ambien doesn't work for jack. Feeling awesome in Johannesburg. First stop - an English Pub. What? Next stop - Soweto.

What I WILL be doing in South Africa

Well folks, we leave in less than 12 hours! It's going to be epic. Like Star Wars epic, except without the paternal ambiguity and light sabers.

Alright, this isn't Africa, it is beautiful Oakland, CA! I am just experimenting with posting to our blog so we'll be experts by the time we are in Africa. Look for photos of me preventing Sara from riding an Ostrich. Count down to AFRICA has begun. I really need to pack.