With the Moms

After traveling for months and missing our friends and family from home it was awesome that our moms both came to Cape Town, South Africa to see us and explore the area.

South Africa is in rather stark contrast to the countries we had been traveling through in Africa. The cities are large and modern, the roads are smooth and new, it almost felt like being back home. However South Africa is not without issues. As we mentioned in the last post when we arrived in Johannesburg security was a concern for homeowners and safety was an issue walking the streets. Cape Town is considered safer, but we were still advised to be careful and not walk in certain areas after dark. Something Abby and I had seen throughout our travels, but was startling to our moms (and still to us) were the large shack settlements on the outskirts of the cities. The conclusion I have come to through my travels is not that we do not have people as poor in America, but that we provide most people with housing and a few of the necessities they need to survive. So instead of people building a shack we build an apartment complex for them. I think the core problems are still everywhere you go, but even with some of the issues there are still so many wonderful people to meet and amazing places to see.

One thing we couldn´t miss while visiting South Africa were the wineries. We spent a day exploring the wine region of Stellenbosch, particularly enjoying the Pinotage, a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut and a signature wine of South Africa.







Even though Cape Town is not known for its game drives we found a small private game reserve so the moms could get a taste for an African safari. While the animals were fenced in and their diet partially subsidized it was a more natural environment than a zoo and assumingly more enjoyable for the animals.







The lions were kept seperate from the herbivores, with hopes to have them all together in the future. It was amazing how close we got.





There was also a seperate area for the leopards.



With sparkling wine this safari was a little different than Abby and my previous experiences, but was a great way to wind down our African adventure.





One thing there is no shortage of in Cape Town and the southern coast is amazing views. From the top of Table Mountain to the V&A waterfront there is so much to see.





A short drive from Cape Town is Boulders, a National Park know for its flightless bird, which are found all along the shores. Formerly the Jackass penguin and now the African penguin these little birds were facinating to watch.













At the end of the Cape Peninsula is the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.







Heading back up the west coast of the peninsula we stopped in Hout Bay for some delicious calamari and of course wine.



All around Cape Town we had amazing views, mouth watering food and delicious wine. It was definitely a highlight and even more so since we got to share it with our moms.

Africa Overland: The Last Stretch

After joining our new group we were back on the truck bright and early. We made our way out of Zimbabwe and into Botswana and spent our first night cruising through the waters of the Chobe River in Chobe National Park.

Starting out on the river tour we saw a few birds, a small crocodile and a few kudu, which compared to our other games drives was rather tame, but we soon found ourselves surrounded by heards of elephants and a pod of hippos. All enjoying the waters of the Chobe.









And to wrap up the evening as we were heading back on the river we were presented with a beautiful sunset.





Seeing the animals from the river was a great new perspective to add to our other safari experiences.



We spent the next few days relaxing at our campsite and going for runs with our truck driver Tabi. After traveling for so long even spending 2 nights in a single place is refreshing. To wrap up our time in Botswana and add a new variation to our safaris we took to the skies in a 6 seater Cessna 210 to view the Okavango Delta from above.



Elephants...




Hippos...






It was a great way to see the delta and all the animals from a different vantage point. We both really enjoyed flying in the small plane, which felt like riding in an old Volkswagon Bug. From Botswana we continued south, crossing our last African border into South Africa. The landscape in South Africa was very surprising. The pine trees and the green mountains felt like the Pacific northwest of America and the mesas reminded us of south western US. We had some great views in and around the Blyde River Valley.









In South Africa we spent our last two nights in a funky campgound just outside of Kruger National Park. Typical to our other safaris the morning of our Kruger game drive was wet and raining, but again the clouds cleared and the day was sunny and clear. This time of year the grass in Kruger is very tall, which makes animal sightings a little more difficult, but we were still had some great spottings, including a dead elephant.



We also saw a massive bull elephant in musth, which is an aggressive period for male elephants during breeding.

This is what you do when see an angry elephant coming down the road.



And here our driver is sneaking past the same elephant.



We were very happy to see a large group of rhinos up close.











After our safari we had a fun night at the campground sharing some of the culture from our home countries. Since much of the world watches American TV we were left to singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during our turn.

We arrived the next morning in Johannesburg and were immediately surprised by all of the security measures. It seemed every house was a fortress surrounded by a massive wall with barbed wire and an electric fence along the top. We had been warned about walking in certain areas, especially after night. It was a shame since the city is full of new malls and great restaurants, but it felt very unsafe to explore.

On St. Patricks Day a group from our truck threw Abby and one of the other girls on our truck a surprise birthday party. Taking the time to fully deck out the bar in the hostel with princess themed party favors. It was a great time and was definitely a surprise to Abby who celebrated her 30th this year. The party was a great way to say goodbye and wrap up an awesome month on the overland trip.

On the Road Again

On the Road Again by Willie Nelson was played just about every morning as our overland truck started up and rumbled down the road. Some might think it would be annoying, but with the sun barely up and most of us barley awake it always brought smiles to all our faces. After leaving our campsite on the shores of Lake Malawi we headed southwest across the border into Zambia.



We didn't do much sightseeing in Zambia, just traveled through arriving near the border to Zimbabwe and close to Victoria Falls. We set up camp for the night before crossing over and into the city of Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe was our stopping spot for 3 nights and 3 jam packed days. We started off with a trip to Victoria Falls, the waterfalls that is. Victoria Falls are considered the 'largest' falls in the world, they aren't the tallest or widest, but combined they form the largest sheet of falling water in the world and man does it fall. Walking around the falls is basically walking through a perpetual rain storm, making it a little tough to take pics due to the mist and the fear of soaking your camera. It was definitely an amazing sight. Maybe not as picturesque as Niagara Falls, but the sheer size of them is staggering.





Along with the falls we got to view the Zambezi River, but from an interesting vantage point...plunging 60 m (197 ft) off a platform on a george swing. Due to a previously skipped bungee jump in NZ a few years ago Abby was excited to jump, but wanted to go tandem so there was no chance of chickening out and I was ready to go.













Along with all the sightseeing and jumping off things we managed to fit in a run, which was one of the best of our trip. We headed out on a nice rolling road and ran across a family of warthogs as well as a lone bull elephant crossing the road, which stopped us in our tracks and we made sure we gave him plenty of room. We also spotted a chameleon crossing the road and similar to the koala it had an interested gait.



Victoria Falls was also the spot where we said goodbye to many of the people on our truck as only a few us were joining the new group headed to Johannesburg; the rest were going to Cape Town by way of Namibia. It was sad to see our truck break up, but we had a great time saying goodbye at a local bar and made plans to meet back up in Cape Town, South Africa.