Category: Travel

We left on Saturday morning early. Loaded up the 1970s Toyota Landcruiser of Nikolai’s and headed out of Nairobi.

We got a full mile down the road and the engine died. We all go out and started pushing. About 10 people joined in to help push the white guys car. One guy down the road came to have a quick fix.

We were able to get the car started, got another 100 yards down the road and it died. He follow us and put some tape on the fuel line, started again. We all piled in, drove 1000 yards and died. By now we’re calling Nikolai’s mechanic to come take a look and talking about postponing the weekend. A couple guys walked up and said they were mechanics. These guys seemed legit as they were sucking on the fuel line to see if any fuel would come from the tank to the engine. No fuel = blocked fuel line. 20 min later we’re on our way. It was pretty crazy how many people were willing to help, but definitely always looking for money. UPDATE: Dean makes a good point in his comment.  People do help here more than you’d find the U.S.  It’s unfortunate that we’ve lost that sense of community as we ‘progress’.

From there, things went pretty well with the drive. Standard huge pot holes everywhere. We stopped to let the car rest, have some lunch, see some of the surrounding sites.

It was actually very similar to the Namibian landscape near Opuwo.  We pulled into Magadi about mid-day and were ready for the rest of our adventure.

Not to spoil it too much, but the images you saw in the post are very similar to others that come later.

I hope to share some more information soon, but we had a great trip to Lake Magadi this past weekend.  I’m exhausted, but wanted to leave you with a little teaser.

The weekend was full of:

• Waterfalls
• Baboons
• Hiking
• Hot Springs
• Broken Down Cars

I look forward to sharing this all with you hopefully by tomorrow.

Following our stay at Xakanaxa we were again to hop onto the Cessna and make our way to the Chobe national park. We quickly learned that it was 3 flights this time to our final destination. 15, 20 and 40 minutes. Fun fun. Things started great and I was enjoying the elephant viewing from above. Take off, landing, take off, landing, take off…ok…can we get there already? In my infinite wisdom I started watching some ‘Scrubs’ on my ipod on the last flight…I get deathly sick. You see…I get really bad motion sickness and these Cessnas, well, they move a lot in the air. I spend the next 30 minutes trying not to throw up on the people in front of me. Focus on the horizon…that was a big bump…i wonder if anyone else is sick…I’m not moving to find out…stay still and it will be over soon. I made it without seeing breakfast, but this was not fun.

Ok…Botswana. After spending a long week of driving in Namibia we made our way back to Windhoek for a flight out to Botswana. Our destination…Johannesburg. No, Johannesburg is not in Botswana, but we had to make a pit stop there in order to fly to Maun, Botswana. Our plane was a wonderfully old MD-90 with no discernible markings to indicate that this was an accredited airline. Air Botswana…mkay. I had to keep telling myself that flying is safer than driving and no place is more dangerous to drive than in Africa. I am not aware of numbers on flight safety in Africa and would rather not know. We make it to Maun without incident and as luck would have it, another flight. 🙂 This time we’re in a single-engine, eight-seater Cessna. A 15 minute flight to get us to Xakanaxa. This was also quick and painless and was actually pretty cool flying so low above the Okavanga Delta. The landing was thrilling and we arrived to a group of people waiting with safari vehicles to take all passengers to their respective lodges…can we get some lunch?

Currently at the Garden Route Game Lodge after leaving Franschoek this morning. The wine country was amazing and definitely worth a visit when, not if, you make the trek to Cape Town. Things are going well and definitely not getting enough rest, but figure I’ll live. Not many details right now, but I’ll see what I can do once it’s all said and done….have to leave some writing for while I’m on the airplane.

I did have my first rain fall in 6 months today so that was interesting to experience again. It’s also really cold here so I guess it’s a good warm up for heading back to a Cincinnati Fall.

I arrived safely in Cape Town yesterday after leaving my parents in Zambia for their own travels back to the U.S. I’m now on my last adventure in Africa and will be heading home after 10 days of fun with my friends Todd and Andy. Honestly I kind of feel like I need a break, but I can always rest when I get back home on the 21st. More details to come.

Dad and I went for a great rafting trip down the Zambezi river the other day. This is a must for any adventure seeking person who happens to make the trip to Victoria Falls. Plenty of class five rapids to be enjoyed. Names like Stairway to Heaven, The Temple of Doom and Commercial Suicide have been given to the rapids clearly to make those who face them feel at ease about what they are about go through. We were successful on the day with no falling out of the boat and no flipping over. We swam in crocodile infested waters…not joking. All in all this was a great day. Only sorry that mom couldn’t go, but with the hike in an out of the canyon it is best that she didn’t. Our half day trip ended with a hike out of the canyon, but in reality it was more of a climb. I had to frequently look back to check on dad who I thought was having a heart attack at one point. The guide warned us and said that the record time to the top was 6 minutes and the other was an hour and half…took us about 10 minutes. The top we were greeted by cool drinks and a short bus ride back to the hotel. Good times.

I’m now a billionaire…so that’s cool. Part of our trip we decided to walk into Zimbabwe to check out Victoria Falls and also to see the Victoria Falls Hotel. This decision was an excellent one.

It all started with us walking out of Zambia, crossing the bridge and entering Zimbabwe. We were bombarded by people trying to sell us things. One of the main things they were selling was the now defunct Zimbabwean currency. I can now say that I’m a Zimbabwean billionaire as I have in my possession a few 100 Billion Dollar notes.

Immigration was fun. We got stuck behind a Japanese tour group of about 50 when normally there is no line at all. Hot is an understatement of how it was in the office. We finally got through though with the help of a nice agent and paying our $30 visa charges.

Next stop was Victoria Falls park. $20 dollars per person later we were seeing some awesome sights of the falls. Since we couldn’t see anything from the Zambian side this time of year this was necessary to see the falls and who would go to Victoria Falls and not see the falls? Pictures and videos to be shared soon.

What else…we then went to the Victoria Falls Hotel. It’s from the early 1900s and is an amazing place to see. I recommend this. Mom and I were attacked by some vervet monkeys that thought my sun glasses were food and when they realized they were they got pissed. I did my best monkey intimidation grunt and readied by water bottle for maximum dousing. Danger was averted.

We made our way back into Zambia as the sun fell. Mom and Dad did their best power walking impression as they were a bit nervous of some of the locals. I laughed a bit, but it’s understandable as it takes a bit of getting used to here. Dad also had a dual holster of camera equipment going on so he looked like a pretty good target.

Good day trip.

A couple of mishaps on the trip so far.

I left my passport in the safe in the hotel in Joburg. We were almost at the airport when I remembered…I’m smart. Fortunately a few things were on my side. I remembered the combination I used to the safe. I remembered my room number. The tour operator had a driver they could send to pick it up. Lastly, the flight was much later than we thought. I now have my passport and will not be losing it again.

A couple days later we’re staying at the Xakanaxa camp in Botswana. This is in the middle of the Okavenga delta so it requires flights on small planes. We’re already half way through our 3 flight trip to get to the Chobe National park when Dad realizes his own misstep. Passport holder and cash are on the night stand in their tent. Oops. We again have dodged a bullet and the passport was able to be delivered a day later.

Sometimes the tree inherits aspects of the fallen acorn.

Time has been limited and so has my Internet connectivity. I promise I’ll write at length when all is said and done, but the Namibian adventure has come to an end. I’m currently sitting in Johannesburg in the Michelangelo. I decided to pass on the tour today as I’ve not been feeling the best and considering I’ve driven over 1500km within the past week I think I need a rest. I’d like to point out some highlights from our trip so far with, again, more details to come later.

– Mom and Dad arrive, but without their luggage
– Dad shocks himself on the electric fence at Olive Grove B&B…mom and I laugh
– Saw a herd of 35 elephants in Etosha…saw a lion, some hyenas as well as new comers to animals I’ve seen.
– Luggage arrives while we are in Etosha…I get a great gift from Shannon
– Dad takes roughly 5 billion pictures
– Grootberg lodge is amazing…enough said
– Dinner in Opuwo with fellow volunteers for the last time
– Last night in Opuwo seems strange
– Take parents on a tour of where I worked and they met my colleagues
– Epupa Falls is not so fally when the water is low…still cool
– Long, crazy drive to Ondangwa from Epupa
– Get to see us land through the cockpit window when flying back to Windhoek
– Arrive in Johannesburg for one night and then off to Maun, Botswana for Part Two

Not a very detailed list, but some highlights that I will elaborate on later.

So that was kind of an abrupt and low climax to the end of my time in Opuwo. Sorry folks, but I will make it up to you. Tonight the parents arrive and we start our 16 day Safari through Namibia and Botswana…I then head for a 10 day trip in Cape Town with my friends Andy and Todd. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to report and I’ll do some reporting when I can. I was able to get a right down with the Ministry yesterday in an empty car…that was a nice change from my first trip to Windhoek with me sharing the front seat with another guy.

Today I went and bought some gifts for people and had a lot I wanted to get. I bought everything and the people were even nice enough to drive me to places that told me a small box weighing 7kg. would cost me roughly 500 USD to send to the U.S…..WHAT!?!?!? Um…no. I went to three places and all their prices were the same. Crazy expensive. I decided I’d see what I could do about stuffing some items in my bags..which I also thought about shipping, but now just going to sweet talk British Airlines. I hope my parents packed light.

I had a run in with Telecom today and they were not happy. I apparently never paid for one of my months of service…oops. It worked out in the end.

Good lunch at Paul’s coffee shop. I suggest anyone who goes to Windhoek check this place out as it has great food and is for a great cause.

We’re staying in the Olive Grove tonight…this place is really nice. www.OliveGrove-Namibia.com. I think the parents will be pleasantly surprised.

Now I must go find out what flight they are on and when it comes in. Wish me luck.

It’s been about two weeks since this day so could be a little hazy.

Day Three

Woke up that night to windy wind. Sounded like the trees above my tent were going to blow over. As a result, my night of sleep was not as sound as I had hoped for as I slept in constant fear of large limbs falling on my head. There was a great sunrise that morning and felt pretty good about how nice it was out. I cooked up some eggs for everyone which took a while because it was so windy that the heat wasn’t reaching the pot…plopped it right on the coals. Penny was not enjoying the wind.

Next stop was the Skeleton Coast. We paid our N$30 and went through the gate. There’s nothing there, which really is the appeal of it all. We were close to the coast and pop fizzle whiz bang…we got a flat tire. This time there were no helpful Namibians around so this one was on me. Now I understood why I was invited on the trip. New tire on and we were forced to turn back as now we were all out of spares.

We made a quick stop by Wereldsend and picked up a guy to take him to the town we had been in the previous day. We got there and needed to get our tires fixed and found some more reasonably priced repairs. During our repairs our friend, let’s call him Oscar again, showed up. This time extremely intoxicated. Lucky me, he picked me to talk to…or at least have a one way conversation with. He asked me a question about what party do I vote for in the U.S. Here’s another fact for you…most people outside of the U.S. ‘know everything’ about our politics. So my response was simple, ‘I don’t vote for a party, I vote for the person.’ This was apparently not the answer he was looking for and had no idea what it meant. I repeated, but no understanding. He then proceeded to get a bit angry and I ignored him as we were working with the car. It escalated to my being a racist by the end of it all (his feelings) as he yelled this as loud as he could to pretty much no one. Good times.

Next stop was Palmwag. This is where we were going to camp for the night. Nicest campsite by far. Immediately grabbed lunch and a drink at the bar. Jumped in the icy pool and jumped right out. Set up camp. Had drinks as the sunset and sat down for a nice dinner with us 3 and a friend of Penny’s who worked there. Food was excellent and off to bed. Yep, I just rushed through the details there, but not very exciting stories in this one.

Day four soon to come.

I’ve officially decided that driving from Windhoek to Opuwo does not equal fun. It takes at least 7 hours…I think that’s about the best and only reason I can give for my views. Today’s trip involved the abrupt end of a small bird’s life, the near death of a long-tailed sheep, questions regarding my political views, extreme head nodding with no meaningful rest, hot hot sun on my belly with no long term solution and a Wimpy burger. I know, I know, I swore off Wimpy after my experience in Kenya; however, the only thing the two establishments have in common is their namesake. Good to be back, minus the lack of running water.