We are back in Maun after spending two nights near Gweta, Botswana. We stayed at Planet Baobab. We are staying at Sitatunga. A popular thing to do near Maun is to cruise through the Delta on a Makoro. Today we are having a braai before heading to Ghanzi.
We are in Zambia now, camping on the Zambezi River. Last night we went on a booze cruise and pretty much everyone had an insane night. Ended up soaking my passport and wallet, breaking the Sansa Clip mp3 player, and breaking the GPS logger. Sobriety is the way to go. In the past week we went bush camping in the Okavango Delta, took a sunset cruise in Chobe, and did a morning game drive in Chobe. Saw two lions on the morning game drive from about 10 feet away. Hippos, crocs, elephants, impalas, and many other animals are abundant in Chobe. Later today we will visit Victoria Falls. Everyone has been really cool so far and today the group splits into those going north and those going back down south. Pics/Vids will come once a good connection is found.
We have made our way through Namibia, visited Etosha on the way, and are now in Maun, Botswana. Etosha has been the nicest part of the tour so far and we spent two nights camping inside the park. The first night we spent on the west end of the park and observed a watering hole that was just outside our campgrounds. During the day we took about an 8 hour game drive and saw a variety of animals including: oryx, jackal, lions, elephants, water buffalo, springbok, and giraffes. During the night the second day, we went on a game drive and came in touch with 3 lions. From our car, we were only 10 feet from the lions. Next, we are visiting the Okavango Delta and spending 2 nights at a bush camp. Just booked first accommodation in Sydney at Eva’s. Looking for jobs/apartments next.
Coming to you from Swakopmund, Nambia today. After a week, internet is available once again. Here is the lowdown from the past week. We left Cape Town headed north towards Cederberg. We arrived in Cederberg a little before lunch, ate lunch, explored the area around our campsite, and eventually ate dinner.
A picture of our camp:
Something about the tour group:
The tour is participation camping style meaning that everyone is responsible for the chores that must be done. The group was divided into five teams and each day the duties of each team is rotated. The duties include cooking, packing the truck, cleaning the truck, keeping the ice chests clean, and day off. A team is given a day off after being responsible for cooking.
Back to the tour:
The next day we got up and headed out to the Garieb(Orange) River area. On the way to the Orange river, the truck broke down after stopping at a gas station in Bitterfontein. Our truck is a brand new Tata and the fuel line design is flawed. This flaw resulted in the exhaust burning a hole in the fuel line. Luckily we were in walking distance of the gas station, so we got our truck towed back to the gas station and waited for around 4 hours while it was getting fixed.
Our truck being towed by a very small tow truck:
The Winner’s tobacco advertises in Bitterfontein:
Playing donkey at the gas station:
This evening we stayed at a place called Drifters. The following morning a couple of members from the group went on a canoe ride down the Orange river before the entire group headed out to Fish River Canyon. This is when the tour started to pick up.
Sushi and Champagne while watching sunset and moonrise at the Fish River Canyon:
It is times like these the quality of your tour leader can be seen. We were not the only tour group to watch the sunset, but we were the only tour group that brought sushi and champagne to watch the sunset. Our tour leader Janet has got it together.
Picage:
Sunset:
Moonrise:
The next day we began on a 10 hour journey to the Namib Desert. A lot of driving, but the cool thing is a guy on our tour named Dave introduced us to a card game named Shibby or Shivvy that makes time fly. We renamed it to Shizam and have been playing nonstop while on the bus. We got to camp late, pitched our tents, and then began cooking dinner. Tonight we had a huge BBQ and went to bed early because we had to get up at 4 AM to climb Dune 45 in order to see the sunrise in the desert.
Bus Ride:
Camp:
BBQ:
Dune 45:
Sunrise from Dune 45:
After sunrise we ate breakfast and went on a guided walking tour of Sossusvlei.
This included learning about the animals, insects, and geology of the area. Got a snap of the boys and I in a salt pan:
After the tour, we went back to camp, ate lunch, and headed off to Swakopmund. On the way, we stopped to assist another tour group that had broken down. Stopping is not a problem when you can play shizam. The roads are so desolate that you can play a game a cards on the highway if you please.
We have finally slowed down for a day and are spending two nights in Swakopmund. Not only that, but we are staying in A-Frame houses, sleeping in real beds, and taking showers in a private bathroom. Internet is available, laundry can be done, and much needed rest and relaxation can be had. Tomorrow we head out to Damaraland.
Lessons learned: Keep a daily journal to document your experiences. Trying to remember a week’s worth of history is difficult. A short pencil is better than a long memory.
Made it in last night around 10 pm sa time/3 pm stateside which makes it around 28 hours in transit. Luckily, I was able to sleep virtually the entire time. Flying from dc to joburg was long, but not as long as India. The food on saa is the best airplane food I’ve ever had and the service is great. I’m stayed at the Tulip Inn last night and will be there tonight again. It is pretty nice, in the middle of downtown, and the rooms are clean and beds well kept. Breakfast is included too.
It is overcast today and has been sprinkling on and off. I checked out breakfast, got some weak coffee, and then began the hunt for internet. Internet at the hotel is around 9 USD an hour, currently I am at a 2 dollar an hour place, but am looking to transition to a 1 dollar an hour place after this hour is over. The internet is slow and I have a 500ms ping to google.com, this place charges by the Megabyte if you exceed 30mb in an hour. maaaaaan, I’m used to burning that much in around a minute. Going to grab a South African hamburger and then see if I can get into a short tour of Cape Town. haven’t taken many pics yet, but have taken some pics and been geologging.
Lesson Learned: The kensington plug adapters do not work in South Africa. This is the first time they have let me down.
Close Call: Some peeps at the airport check-in in joburg pretended to be airline employees and tried to get me to give my bags. However, I realized they were frauds. Unfortunately, the people behind me fell for it. Not sure if they lost their bags or had to pay them to get their bags back. Seen something like this one before in India. Many of the sites require you to take your shoes off and people will make you pay them to get your shoes back if you are foreign. Workaround: take shoes off and carry them with you.
next post will probably be from Cape Town
yes – check out the geolog
http://whereisdarran.com/geotag/lake/PhotoTrackrExport.html
some sick vids are posted here:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/564090597uPMEkc
now its time to pack
I haven’t started packing, organizing the documentation, or duplicating the documentation. But whats a plane ride to south africa look like? not as bad as you would think
Below is the itinerary:
Austin to Washington
Flight 1 Sunday, July 13, 2008
confirmed
Departure: 11:15 Austin, USA –
Bergstrom International
Arrival: 15:31 Washington, USA –
Dulles International
Airline: South African Airways SA7487
Duration: 3:16
Aircraft:
Canadair Regional Jet 700
Last check in: information not available
Operated by United Airlines
Fare type: Economy
Baggage: information not available
information not available
Washington to Johannesburg
Flight 1 Sunday, July 13, 2008
confirmed
Departure: 17:40 Washington, USA –
Dulles International
Arrival: 16:45 +1 day(s) Johannesburg, South Africa –
O.R. Tambo International
, terminal A Note: includes 1 technical stop(s)
Airline: South African Airways SA208
Duration: 17:05
Aircraft:
Airbus Industrie A340-600
Last check in: information not available
Fare type: Economy
Baggage: information not available
DINNER
Johannesburg to Cape Town
Flight 1 Monday, July 14, 2008
confirmed
Departure: 18:30 Johannesburg, South Africa –
O.R. Tambo International
, terminal B
Arrival: 20:40 Cape Town, South Africa –
Cape Town International
Airline: South African Airways SA365
Duration: 2:10
Aircraft:
Boeing 737-800
Last check in: information not available
Fare type: Economy
Baggage: 20 kilogram(s) per traveller
DINNER
now time to work on embedding the results in a webpage and making the photo tour look better
http://whereisdarran.com/geotag/geotag3/PhotoTrackrExport.html
http://whereisdarran.com/geotag/test4/PhotoTrackrExport.html
i know this is geeky, but i came home during lunch to upload some pics and geologs and create a new album – I had to offset the picture taken time by 40 seconds and after that everything handled great – the logging indoors is not that great, but I am on the second floor with an entire floor above us
here is a link to this mornings results
http://whereisdarran.com/phototracktest2/geotag/PhotoTrackrExport.html