still in Namibia! On April 15th, embarked on a 3-week overland trip up the western coast of South Africa, into Namibia, northern Botswana and finally to Vic Falls (Zimbabwe side). Time was spent chasing animals, hiking up dunes, eating, drinking and meeting new people . The overland is undoubtedly the highlight of the overall journey so far. Lowlight has to be some stupid ‘twat dropping my camera into the Orange River during a canoeing trip, with 100+ photos from fun time in Cape Town and the first 2 days of the tour!
Nevertheless, so much seen, done and experienced over the 3 weeks, where does one begin? Fell in love with Namibia overall as a country, the vastness, that it wasn’t densely populated and the ruggedness of the landscape was breathtaking! And I don’t think I’ve ever seem so many stars! The night sky was gorgeous, incredibly clear, the stars seemed so close, you could almost reach out and grab one! Must return there one day, hopefully soon!
Sunrise on Dune 45 was wonderfully peaceful; we woke up around 4:30am in order to drive to and get up the dune before the sun rose, which was around 6:10am. Getting up the damn thing was not nearly as easy as it looks and I only made it half way before the sun was about to peek out! Nevertheless, the view was spectacular, I hope the photos does it some justice! Fish River Canyon was also fantastic, it’s the 2nd largest after the Grand Canyon, had dinner, prepared for us by our wonderful guides, along the rim!
Game viewing in Etosha was awesome, not other word for it! We saw a giraffe, dozens of zebra, and a warthog shortly after arriving into the park. However, of the most breathtaking moments for me, was upon returning from our sunset game drive that first day, to see a lone elephant standing at the waterhole (very near to our campsite), couldn’t have been more than 50 feet away! Talk about being at a loss for words! We managed to see 3 white rhinos at the waterhole that night after dinner, sorry, no photos as proof , you just have to take my word for it! Finally, we saw 2 lions on our sunrise morning game drive on our final day, but heartbreakingly, it was very fleeting and they vanished into the tall grass promptly, very disappointing!
Next highlight was definitely the Okavango Delta in Botswana. In order to get into the delta, we had to be transported by mokoros (canoes)! This was very cool, and extremely relaxing (I feel asleep); felt like a princess, all I needed was a parasol! We then camped on one of the larger island, and we were really “roughing” it this time, with a “hole” and all! Went for a bush walk at sunset, hoping to spot some of the Big 5. When our guide gave us the safety talk (i.e what to do if an elephant charges you, or if you come face to face with a lion)…well, you should have seen the expression on some of the groups’ face. Being a complete nutcase, I was actually excited at the prospect of being chased! 2 days here was not nearly enough, and would have loved to spend more time frolicking in the water, going on walks (went on a 4 hour walk at sunrise on the 2nd day), eating, drinking, reading, lying around in my bikini….it’s a rough life, isn’t it?
Next headed further north into Chobe, where we unfortunately spent only a day, but had a very fruitful sunset river cruise (in terms of game viewing that is!). Saw buffaloes and hippos for the first time! Headed across the Zim border to see Victoria Falls, which really was spectacular! I have to say that I was very skeptical, having seen some pretty amazing waterfalls over the years, but it was worth it!
I didn’t want the tour to end and secretly wished that it would go on indefinitely. Was really quite sad to say goodbye to the other folks that were staying on until Nairobi, but especially to our guides. I then returned to Cape Town for a few days in order to catch my flight to Hong Kong. Back in CT, I spent my last few days hanging out with Jackie, this English women staying at the same hostel; we had far too much fun partying and I came very close to postponing the flight to HK for several weeks. CT is fun and on a comparative basis very inexpensive for Americans….thinking about heading back in Sept, but not acting on that feeling just yet…
Susan S. Singh Art 
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