03.09.07 8,500km later!

Hi again from the civilisation of an internet cafe in Sea Point, Cape Town. All is well with the world as I've had a rest and haven't had to pack up my tent/bag/self and move on anywhere for a few days, I'm sleeping in a big comfy bed, my washing has been done and I have the equivalent of an M&S food store across the road from my hotel. Honestly, I think if I'd realised it was 8,500km of hard grinding slog I might have thought twice about it, but I didn't! What can I say - I'm glad I did it, but I'm glad its over! The picture below is the truck we practically lived in for 4 weeks.

These next couple of pictures are of the coast going down to Hermanus Bay and then from the boat when we went whale watching before the tour started. Not exactly the best picture of whales you're ever going to see but as the boat was being tossed around like a cork in a washing machine and I was trying very hard to hold onto the contents of my stomach it was the best I could do in the circumstances.

On Sunday 5th August Dinah and I met up with the 14 others on the tour, along with the tour leader, Julia. We were supposed to try to climb Table Mountain the next day, but the weather was so bad we went to some botanical gardens instead. I think it was the next day that we went to the Cape of Good Hope, which aptly used to be called the Cape of Storms. It wasn't too bad when the photo by the sign was taken but by the time I climbed to the top of the hill behind it was a roaring gale and those of us up there felt lucky not to be blown over the edge when it started chucking down hail and sleet.
The next few days were mostly spent driving across the Great Karoo - a semi arid desert. We stopped to taste and buy wine in Stellenbosch(see pic of the famous goats of the "Goats do Roam" wine, in the stable along with "Bored Doe" and others of similar take off names.
and look at an old diamond excavation at Kimberley. Luckily the shop selling the cute little rocks was closed for the day. That was the day that the first person got sick. After that the next few days was a tour of various hospitals in northern South African and southern Botswana. A horrible stomach bug attacked the tour (quoting Julia at the welcome meeting - "no-one ever gets sick on my tours"), 3 people were seriously ill, a couple of others had less projectile vomiting and a few others had grumbles and problems. Given that we had a lot of miles to cover in this stage of the tour it just seemed to be a long slog, punctuated by much hanging around hospitals and clinics.

The first real activity of interest was a walk with a San bushman shaman at a place called Ghanzi. He took us into the bush for about an hour and a half, with his wife and 2 boys and a young San guy who translated for us. I had got the tummy trouble much milder than most, but I had cramps and other unpleasant symptoms I won't describe. Before we went on the walk he called me over and said, according to the translator, that he knew I had pain in my stomach and he would take the pain away. He didn't know I was ill, and he pointed to exactly the place where I had cramps (which was just under my ribcage, not the normal place for a stomach ache). It was quite a bizarre experience, and I didn't have any pain after that. OK, yes, I was on the antibiotics by then, but I'd only taken one dose and I'd still had bad pain that morning. He was a real character and he would make long explanations of what various plants were for, clearly sparing no detail, and the poor young translator would have to find a way of putting the information into polite English, often pointing when he didn't know or want to say the various body parts. It was a really nice, good humoured and interesting experience and I came away feeling that I'd seen a little snippet of a nearly lost way of life that hopefully tourist money helps to preserve. I do hope so.

The next highlight was my flight over the Okavanga Delta from Maun. We were on a 6 seater tiny plane which took us out for an hour. The aerial views were spectacular and gave a great perspective for when we went into the Moremi Game Reserve itself. In the pic below the animals are elephants and buffalo.

We drove into the game reserve from Maun in open game-viewing 4-wheel drive vehicles which were very dusty. The supply vehicle broke down on the way but it still managed to get there before us as we went the scenic route and stopped for lunch. There was a small airstrip not far from the camp we were going to. The guys there had to go and chase elephants off the runway as a plane was due in any moment.

Camping here was categorised as wild - i.e. no facilities, when in fact there were a couple of functional (just) loos and showers which I didn't try. Oh, the joy of wet wipes. We had to pitch our tents in a circle, Julia pointing out that an elephant was watching us from 20m away. She also pointed out that there were 3 known hippo trails coming from the river behind us going out into the bush, between our camp and the aforesaid delightful facilities. Hippos leave the water at night to go and graze, often travelling 10km from their home water to get good grazing. Hippos are also responsible for more human deaths than any other animal in Africa (some say more than all the others put together) and the most dangerous time and place is at dusk or dawn when they are leaving or returning to the water. So I have to say there was part of my brain that dismissed that as hyperbole as I thought it would be so stupid to put a camp anywhere near active hippo trails. Anyway, please bear all that in mind for the moment. Also bear in mind that the only person I know who has a worse sense of direction than me is my wonderful friend and tent-mate Dinah.

After we set up camp we piled into the vehicles and went to where we'd heard that a leopard had been spotted. I had only seen a leopard in a tree about 300m away on the Serengeti, so this was v exciting, but knowing how elusive they are I didn't want to get my hopes up. Having stopped to see the ubiquitous elephants, zebras, babboons etc, we got to a clearing where there were a few other vehicles and in the grass, lying down was a leopard. Not long after we got there, it got up, stared into space for a while, strolled around and came right past our vehicle and then walked down to a comfortable looking tree stump for a bit of rest. We were so lucky as all this happened only minutes after we got there; one of the other vehicles had waited for 4 hours for the same thing. Anyway, here are lots of leopard photos as its just so unbelievably exciting to have seen one so close. I was so excited I was nearly squeaking! This was definitely one of the highlights of the whole tour for me, and I think for most people.























So, excited by our leopard sighting, full of food and ready for bed, Dinah and I head off to use the facilities one last time before retiring. All is fine. We head off back to the camp; it was very dark as there was no moonlight and the head torches didn't seem to penetrate the dark much. I do remember I was listening quite carefully, and I heard a loud, distinct hippo grunt. I find it quite hard to tell how far away animal noises are, especially when you are near water, and I've found I usually think they are closer than they are so we carried on. "Are we going the right way?" "I think so, we walked past the donkey boiler on the way here," I replied. Actually we didn't, and we were going completely the wrong way, deeper into the bush and away from the camp site. We carried on walking into the dark when we heard the bushes right next to us rustle and move. I mean right next to us - a metre or two away at most. That was it. I yelled "Come on!" and started running back the way we came. I looked back and Dinah hadn't started running yet - she was expecting me just to be walking fast - so I yelled "Dinah Run!!!" and we pelted up the path back to where the loos were. I honestly can't remember being so scared in all my life, my heart was nearly exploding. I think Dinah was not quite as traumatised as I was, as she hadn't been subjected to quite as many dangerous hippo stories as I have. When we got back to camp there was some skepticism as to whether there had actually been a hippo there, but the creature in question kindly left a pile of fresh hippo poo right on the path where we'd been to prove his presence. Its funny now, well actually its not really, its still very scary. We were bloody lucky really, but at least we ran back the way we came rather than further into the bush! It does call into serious question the wisdom of siting a camp site in that particular place.

The next day's game viewing was a bit of anti climax after the leopard sighting, but we did have a lovely boat ride further into the delta and saw a few fish eagles. They are my idea of what eagles are supposed to look like - see below. I went for a brief paddle off the boat - there were no crocs or hippos in sight. Some people swam but I didn't have a cozzie, which is probably just as well. That evening we went to the loos in large groups only!

The next day we were back on the road heading north again to the Chobe reserve. I was really looking forward to this as I'd heard so much about it from other people. Everyone else on the group went on a boat ride there but I wanted to do a land based game drive, so there was me and 6 people from another tour. It was quite nice to be with different people and they supplied me with sweeties and good chat. Chobe is clearly elephant land. I must have seen several hundred in the 3 hours we were in the park. They are incredible creatures. When they are walking past you they are almost silent, padding along in family groups led by the oldest female. In one group we saw a tiny baby who the guide reckoned was only a few months old. We went to the river to watch them against the backdrop of the setting sun. It was stunning and again there were dozens and dozens of them. One of them got quite offended at the presence of the vehicle and decided to charge. He ran towards us trumpeting loudly with his ears forward and his trunk up. He stopped only a few metres away and continued to trumpet his disgust. He was only about 8 months old though so he only managed cute rather than scary! I also saw Sable for the first time in Chobe, which I was quite excited about.

Onwards and upwards. We continued north from Chobe, taking the ferry at Kazangula back, for me at least, into Zambia and onto Livingstone. Kazangula is the point where Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia all meet - its not so spectacular to look at but for those of us from a small island, its quite an amazing thought. At Livingstone we had an upgrade to a fixed tent, so at least we didn't have to put up the tent and we had beds and a light. I don't know if you recall the very first sunset I put on the blog - it was taken at the Waterfront, which is where we were camping. There are also rooms and a bar there and as I was walking over to the bar I heard someone shout "Lynne Mendelsohn, what the hell are you doing here?" It was one of the guys who had been a volunteer when I was there, who is now the project manager. The girl who was project manager when I was there was also at the bar and it was really great to see them and have a catch up. As we were driving into Livingstone I could see my old school from the truck; its been painted white now so looks so much cleaner and nicer than it did. Well done to African Impact volunteers for doing that. They now have teaching assistants in 10 schools in the Livingstone area which is great progress - when I was there it was only 5.

We went to see the falls in the morning we arrived. There was a lot less water than earlier in the year, but it meant the views were better and you didn't get so wet. I didn't take photos, I still think there are some things better done by the professionals.

That afternoon I took Dinah to the Royal Livingstone hotel for high tea. It was fabulous as ever - we managed to have 2 portions of the savouries and do 3 trips to the sweet trolley. Its always disappointing to have the eyes bigger than stomach problem when faced with so much yummy food, but we did our best. Back at the Waterfront that night there was much drinking and dancing, and generally letting our hair down. It was the first place where we were staying for 2 nights so the daily grind of taking down tents and repacking was not required.

On the Saturday morning I met with one of the boys that I've kept in touch with from the orphanage. We met up at Wonderbake - I think I've mentioned it before, its a great coffee shop/bakery in the centre of town. Dinah had just gone to buy something from a shop nearby when Prince arrived. We had a huge huge hug in the middle of the coffee shop. He had tears in his eyes, and he admitted part of him thought I wouldn't ever be back. He looked well, has filled out a wee bit, and he was positively chatty, which he isn't usually. We went to ZigZags for brekkie, and then back into town. I bought him a few new clothes, and gave him some money for a new pair of boots and some school stationary. He took me back to see the new house where the boys are living. It is so much better than the old place. It is in a much nicer part of town, they are actually living in a proper house, and although it is incredibly basic and rough, there is a kitchen and living room of sorts. It is much more of a home for the boys and they all seemed happier and more relaxed. There are only 4 to a room (a small one) but they have a yard, and their own space. I'm not quite sure how it came about that they moved, but it had to do with problems with the people running the orphanage at the community centre. Nothing was happening, money was going missing, school fees were not being paid etc etc. Now they have a much better home, Prince knows his fees have already been paid for the year and he has a much better place to live. He still gets up to study between midnight and 3am so that he can get peace and quiet but he can't be doing to badly as he was 9th out of 300 students in his year. He is going to apply to Zambia's only university to study medicine if he gets his exams next year and I've promised him that we'll find the fees for this.

While I was in town I bumped into 3 locals that I'd met before which was really cool, save that one of the guys had had malaria recently and looked really sick. It doesn't bear thinking about.

It was sad to see Prince only for a short time, but I will go back again before coming home and spend a decent amount of time with him. Hopefully at least he knows I mean it that I'll always be there for him. He phoned me the other night, he misses me a lot and he needs some security; I wish I could be there all the time for him.

That evening Dinah and I were back at the Royal Livingstone to watch the sun go down over the Zambezi river. I've said it before and I'll say it again - one can never see too many sunsets over the Zambezi. This was a truly spectacular effort, enhanced by a bottle of phenomenally expensive champagne, a flautist playing live on the sun-deck, vervet monkeys running around trying to steal bits of food and, to cap it all, 2 elephants who swam across the river right in front of us. I apologise - no camera, so no photos, but it really was amazing. I've had sundowners there loads of time and never seen eles swim across before so we were incredibly lucky. After a further bottle of wine and no food, we got a taxi back to the Waterfront. Apparently we are quite cute giggly drunks, and we were gushing about the sunset and eles. I had a hideous head the following morning, while Dinah breezed about serenely; its not fair!

After Livingstone it was back on the truck; we drove to Namibia and at some point we got to Ngepi. The campsite was right on the Okavanga river, and we had upgraded to a "tree house". It's a hut built around a tree rather than up a tree, with an open shower that faces the river. At one time when I was at the main camp site, Dinah told me it had been raining. I thought that was quite strange as although the tree house was 5 mins walk away from the central camp it wasn't that far and no-one else had noticed it was raining. It turned out we'd managed to turn on the sprinkler system without noticing! Other people went on various walks and river cruises but Dinah and I just chilled. One of the evenings (again it was a treat to be 2 nights in the same place) we invited the rest of the tour round to our tree house garden to help drink the wine we'd bought at Fairview. A few good 'uns came and we got through a bottle of Pimms, a few beers and 4 bottles of red. Very civilised.

The next place of note was Etosha National Park. This was major zebra country, as well as being chock full of eles, giraffes, lots of antelope and the odd lazy lion which we saw from a distance. Here I saw Oryx for the first time, which was quite exciting, and it was also great to see lots of different species together at the same water hole. At one camp site there was a water hole where you could go at night to watch the game. We saw eles, rhino, jackals, giraffes and a lion all there at the same time; it was absolutely spectacular.

At some point we stopped somewhere on the Namibian coast to see the seal colony at Cape Cross. It was freezing cold, windy, and very smelly. There are, apparently, between 80,000 - 100,000 seals that live along this coast. The Namibians cull them too, but don't seem to attract as much vitriol as the Canadians do. Maybe because they do a few a day rather than a mass slaughter. There is also a local jackal population that does its best at seal population control. Way beyond camera range I saw a group of about 20 jackals circling around a group of seals, and mostly standing between the seals and the sea. When a seal made a run for the sea, the jackals went for it. As always, nature red in tooth and claw.

After that it was on to Swakopmund, the desert adventure capital etc etc etc. There were lots of options to throw yourself out of a plane, down a sand dune, etc but Dinah and I took the option of having our laundry done and taking a plane ride over the Namib desert. It was hugely expensive but for 2 hours we got spectacular views over the sand dunes of the Namib from a plane even smaller than the one I flew in over the Delta. I took loads of photos, but missed the most spectacular sight, which was of an oryx standing at the top of a dune, right at the sharp edge, looking out into the distance, with its tracks up the dune clearly showing behind him. I only caught a v quick glimpse of this but it was so stunning.

The views of the dunes were amazing and the sense of scale of the desert, and the sharpness of the edges of the dunes were what I loved most. I hope some sense of this comes across in the pics. The trail of trees through the desert is because there is an underground river.

After Swakopmund there was a lot more desert, some crappy campsites and lots of very early starts to try to see sunrises, which we never quite made. There were several really long days in the truck. The dunes at Sesriem were spectacular and worth the effort. The photo is of us trudging up one of them at 6 in the morning, just after sunrise.

There's not much to report after that. This last photo is of Dinah and I on our last morning outside someone else's tent as we forgot to take a picture outside our own for the whole time, and we were sooooo keen to get going that we'd already taken ours down and packed everything away.

We got back to Cape Town on Thursday 30th, and I've spent my time chilling, emailing and doing this, and sending a large parcel back home. I hopefully don't need my boots and thick fleeces anymore. Overall my particular highlights were the leopard sighting, the flights from Maun and Swakopmund, seeing Prince again and the champagne sunset overlooking the Zambezi.

Anyway, I know I've still got a few emails to catch up on - please bear with me!