Saying goodbye

Well, the last week of my trip went pretty slowly – driving for 3 days straight can do that.  Coming from Zambia, I stayed over one night in Lilongwe, and then, since I had seen the lake before, I headed to the southern mountains.  I spent three days hiking on the Zomba Plateau and Mount Mulanje - beautiful scenery, nice people, and a whole lot of hiking.  Then after the 18 hours of cumulative hiking, I decided I was ready to be back in Dar, and spent three days driving 

directly back (you can imagine how sore my legs were).  I entered TZ and felt relief and excitement.  I successfully pulled off the trip (meaning safely returning, with a functioning car, and having a ton of great memories) and excited to see my friends and feel at home again.  That feeling lasted for about an hour before I was overwhelmed by crazy, nonsensical drivers, pedestrians who swarm the streets and TZ police officers looking for bribes.  All I can say is that integrity is expensive…

It has been a whirlwind three months, and I can’t even begin to explain how lucky I feel that I was able to do this trip.  I still don’t know really KNOW Southern Africa, but I can say I’ve had a pretty good overview.  And based on my experiences, I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself back here at some point in the future J

 And now I’m back in Dar.  While Tanzania can often be overwhelming, I’m going to miss it.  It’s been a great home, and many of the people I’ve met here will be friends of mine far into the future.  I have two weeks left to say goodbyes and make a few more memories.  So here’s to hoping these next two weeks are as good as the past two years have been for me!

How to capitalize on near death experiences? Go to Mana Pools, Zimbabwe.

Some people will read this blog post and laugh at my over-reaction.  These are people who have grown up in Africa, New Zealand or Australia. Everyone else will think I’m a crazy lady for even doing the things I did (which is what I now think about myself).

An example of how close people can get

I’ve been on a number of safaris in the past two years, and even more during these past 3 months, but as I researched Zimbabwe, Mana Pools seemed like it would be a different experience.  Many places in the park, and Goliath Camp who I decided to go with, specialize in walking and canoe safaris.  Seemed like a nice change.

Stretch and I with JD (Juvenile Delinquent
is his name)

Walking safaris here are not like at other parks, where you learn about tracking, animal dung, and some indigenous flora and see animals from afar.  No.  Here, this means that you find lion tracks, park the car, and then trek 3-4 km into the wilderness, to get 40 feet from lions and sit and watch them.  Unfortunately (or possibly fortunately) for me, Stretch, who runs Goliath Camp and is really an amazing man (and character) had injured his foot, so we couldn’t do the hours walks through the bush as per usual.  So instead, we would spot a lion and THEN park and get out to walk towards it.  This was probably the least scary experience, as we walked much closer (maybe 15 ft) to multiple elephants, all the while Stretch is pulling your elbow to get closer as you subtly tried to back away.  Talk about adrenaline.  His animal knowledge and years of experience with the animals allows him to have relationships with some, and to read their moods. (But as I always think, animals are WILD!!) 

Not actually a pic from the canoe ride.
This was from a car, but it illustrates
my fear of crocodiles

My real moments of fear though, came with the canoe ride.  The first day, other guests (who lived in Harare and visited Goliath annually) had told me a story about how in 2006, an American girl, canoeing with Stretch, had gotten pulled out of a canoe and eaten by a massively large crocodile (this was not legend, Stretch talked about it himself.  They found her legs and torso in three different crocs).  Yet each day, people mused in the afternoon about going for a canoe ride, but it was always too windy.  On my last day, the wind had died down and three of us decided to go for a 2 hour canoe ride down the Zambezi (actually a channel of it).  I figured if these older, experienced people were willing to go, I should stop worrying.  I’m sure the multiple stories I had heard (many involving canoes being chomped or flipped by hippos) were exaggerations or at least rare occurrences.  I was in the canoe with our guide Reuben, so I got to sit back and take in the view.

This is from the canoe,,, with a zoom,
but they were close

We were 20 minutes into the canoe ride, having already passed a few hippos on the other side of the channel (it’s between 50-100 feet wide), when we’re near a high bank and Reuben says to the other canoe, “don’t get closer to the bank, there is a giant crocodile that may jump on your canoe”.  Five seconds later, a 12+ foot crocodile jumps off the bank and into the water maybe 5 feet in front of my canoe.  I am not kidding, it was people eating size.  I froze, let out a silent tear or two, and strongly considered getting out, but torn between fear of land and fear of water, I remained in the canoe.  The excitement continued about 15 minutes later, as we were charged by a hippo (it went underwater, heading towards us at a fast speed, about 20 feet from the canoes) and we paddled like the dickens to move forward.  Reuben played it cool, but later confessed that he was worried we were going to get flipped/chomped. I survived the rest of the trip by pointing out every object that may be a hippo or even the smallest crocodile, and telling Reuben how surprised I was that we hadn’t died yet.  When we finally finished, my legs were shaky, and it was confirmed that our canoe ride was “more adventurous” than most.  Let’s just say it was thrilling, and I don’t plan on ever doing that again.

Aside from the near-death experiences at the hand/mouth of animals, the wildlife spotting was wonderful.  We saw wild dogs (a first for me), kudu, eland, huge herds of buffalo, and many of our drives focused on a site where a large hippo had died, and two male lions (the “Backstreet Boys”) oversaw the carcass, with 15+ hyenas waiting for their turn.  Between the second day, where the lions still had control, and the third day when we went back to look, all of the meat was gone and only the bones remained.  Those hyenas were efficient. 

Day 2 of the carcas, with the
"Backstreet Boys" still in control

Day 3 of the carcas, after the hyenas
had taken over.  Impressive!

A her of buffalo, moments before it ran from us

Stretch also got a permit to show us the Reserve park, which is car free and a space to allow for easy animal migrations and walkers.  In reality, the area is often used by the parks for “ration hunting” (government supported killing for meat), and it was eerily obvious how frightened the animals are in this part of the park.  No animals, including buffalo, impala, warthogs or any others, let us get within 200 feet of them.  They all began running the second they heard or saw the vehicle, which is a stark difference from the animals when you cross into the accessible park (an invisible line, with no physical separation), who may move away from the car, but relax when they are 30 feet away.

Wild dogs!  We spotted them on the
run and tracked them until they
settled in to play.

Mana Pools is a beautiful safari park, and offers so much more than looking at animals from the relative safety of a car.  I’m glad I had these experiences, but my guess is I won’t be canoeing down hippo and croc infested waters anytime soon… or anytime at all.  But I do love telling the story J 

After surviving Mana Pools, I headed to Malawi (with a one-night stop over in Zambia) for my last week of travel.  The only thing harder than spotting wild dogs in the bush is spotting bicycling Malawians, in dark clothes, on unlit roads.  As far as I know, no Malawians have been injured as a result of my trip.  But I do have a few more days of driving left…

Finishing up South Africa

I had heard a lot about the Garden Route, but didn’t really know any details about it.  The Garden Route is from just east of Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, and is a tourist route for people to visit small towns, each of which has a unique attraction.  Thanks to a quick overview with Alexa, I had a general idea of what the big towns on the Garden Route were famous for.  

I first head for Hermanus, hoping to have another few hours of whale watching bliss, but unfortunately moved on quickly as it was very windy and there were only a few whales.  Leaving Hermanus I headed for Oudtshoorn, where I did a meerkat safari (watching them come out of their holes in the morning, greeting and grooming each other), went to the Cango Caves and toured various stalagmites and stalactites (I may finally know which is which… I think) and visited an ostrich farm where I fed them, stood on the eggs (they don’t break if still full), and had the opportunity to ride one.  As they put the bag over its head to calm it down and reminded me for the second time that they did not claim any liability and the nearest hospital was 30 km away, I decided it wasn’t for me.

I later stayed in Knysna, and then headed to Tsitsikamma to do some hiking over the suspension bridges it’s famous for. As I left the Garden Route, I visited Alexa’s family in East London, where it was great to spend a night with a family away from my own J. 

Lesotho was next on the itinerary.  Lesotho is a small country, completely encompassed within South Africa.  It was a quick trip, including catching up with a friend from Dar who now lives in Maseru, and spending two days in Semonkong in the highlands where I complete the Guinness Book’s longest single commercial abseil (repelling) and then received an education on South African 90’s pop over a few beers.  It was only 3 nights in Lesotho, but it was the scene of my first, and only, snow in Africa (thank goodness I decided to spring for a room after camping the first night at Semonkong Lodge)!

From there, I raced to Joburg where I met up with four friends from.  Our long weekend consisted of wedding dress shopping (Dar doesn’t quite have everything), a Soweto township tour set up by our friend Kate (who used to live in Dar), more shopping, and an oil change for Baby Blue.  We stayed at our friend Anna’s house and it was great to feel like home came to me while I was traveling J 

It was sad saying goodbye to friends (or see you later since I’ll be in Dar in 3 weeks), but fortunately, Jessie stayed to drive to Harare, Zimbabwe with me.  We first drove to Musina, 10 km away from the border, to cross the Beitbridge border early in the morning, when we thought it might be better to cross (we heard it could be between 2 and 10 hours).  I now realize I have been Africanized.  I had a beetle like insect fall on my pillow from the ceiling, and I would probably still recommend the place we stayed at – it was relatively clean. 

We crossed relatively painlessly (it took 2.5 hours for us), and with a small stumble (my second traffic ticket on the trip), we headed to Great Zimbabwe, Africa’s 2^nd most important archaeological site after the Egyptian Pyramids (there’s a pretty big difference between first and second place in this ranking).  We took a guided tour (it was interesting, but maybe not worth a long drive just to see it), patted ourselves on the backs for negotiating a 50% discount on our hotel, and then cursed ourselves for falling for a $25 brunch… ah well.  Onto Harare where we sampled the best Portuguese

chicken at Coimbre  and saw live music at the Book Cafe.  We were both originally apprehensive about Zim (I emailed US Embassy  security to get safety advice) but everyone was incredibly friendly and we had no issues.

Jessie flew back to Dar, and I spent my final day in Harare at Wild is Life (an animal orphanage/rescue) and then experienced an everyday scene – driving back into Harare and witnessing a complete city blackout around me.  But I still got a good night’s sleep and set off for Mana Pools.  That will be saved for a different blog, as it justifies its own…

Moving down the western coast

Well, I clearly haven’t gotten better at the blogging part, but I’m back with a long update. 

So let me take you back to my last days in Namibia.  I made it to Sossusvlei, where the picturesque sand dunes are.  I camped at the Namibia Wilderness Reserve campsite in the park, where I met Vezemba, who took me on a tour of the Deadvlei, and unfortunately, had to also help me push my car out of the sand.  We had stopped to help other people (rule #1 – never stop in deep sand) and then got stuck (rule #2 – remember to deflate your tires in sand… I had forgotten rule #2).  Baby Blue was struggling, but made it out.

  On the first day, I woke up before dawn to summit Dune 45 (the most popular of the five you can climb) before the sun rose.  While I didn’t make it before sunrise (no one did), it was beautiful watching the sun rise and great to be able to climb the dune with bare feet in cool sand.  I climbed the largest dune, Big Daddy the following day.  All I can say is driving around for 2 months has not helped my fitness levels. The views in Sossusvlei were spectacular.  I’ve never seen scenery like that, and highly recommend it (especially to my friends already in Africa).

 

I then made my way to Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon.  I was unfortunately (or fortunately maybe) a week too late to actually do the 5 day hike within the canyon, so I had to settle for the viewpoints.  So instead of trekking through hot desert, I went to another NWR camp in Ai Ais, where there are natural hotsprings and a spa… tough life.  As a note for anyone traveling to Namibia, the Namibia Wilderness Reserve has great lodging, including both rooms and campsites.  They are always spotless and everyone is super helpful. I got pretty used to having running water and electricity at my camp sites J

My last stop in Namibia was a three day canoe trip on the Orange River (it creates the border between SA and Namibia) with Felix Unite.  The scenery was amazing, but the highlight was going down not one, but two rapids backwards due to our lack of canoeing skills.  But somehow, we all made it through the three days without capsizing (and with a hilarious video of us that will make its way to Facebook at some point).  A great way to end a visit to a country with some of the most awe-inspiring, and varied, natural beauty I have seen in Africa.

And then HELLO South Africa! I took my time getting down to Cape Town: a day in Namaqualand (I was about 10 days late for the flowers blooming.  Disappointing, but the few remaining blooms were beautiful), a day hiking in the Cederburg Mountains, and a day in Paternoster – a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast.  I’ve actually gotten pretty good at traveling alone.  Then I was in Cape Town J 

I spent the first few days adjusting to city life, getting Baby Blue checked out (only to have her come back with more problems. Cape Town was not a good stop for Baby Blue, but she is back up, running, and with a new air compressor), and having LASIK surgery.  Yup – I decided to have surgery while on vacation.  I’ve worn contacts for 20 years, and now I have 20/20 vision.  Miracles can come true J  And recovery isn’t so bad, when you spend it at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Two Oceans Aquarium and the Fringe arts festival going on.

And then I had friends!  Aliza and Chelsea came all the way from the US, to meet me in Cape Town!  We had some packed days (busier due to Baby Blue’s appointments at the garage), but saw a lot: Table Mountain, penguins at Boulder Beach, Chapman’s Pass, shark diving (very cool except for the seasickness that prevented me from watching the sharks from the boat.. oh well), Cape Point and wine tasting in Stellenbosch.  There were a few things that didn’t work out as planned (a full moon hike up Lions Head turned into a rainy night at home) but some things were spur-of-the-moment but worked out (stopping by Hermanus ended up in 2 hours of whale watching of southern right whales!). It was amazing having them here, and even though it has been years since we’ve all been together, it was just like a regular weekend in the Slope… with a lot more beautiful and exciting things to do J.  Sadly, it ended as quickly as it started and 6 days after they landed, Aliza and Chelsea flew off to safari in Kruger, and I continued on through the Garden Route.

I’m going to end it here, and hopefully blog again before I’m back in Dar.  I’m right now just over 2/3 of the way through, and funny enough, my trip is feeling rushed.  Who knew three months on the road could feel like too little?  (more pics coming once I have strong internet :))

Botswana and Namibia - in a GIANT nutshell

Well, I knew I would fall behind at some point on the blogging.  I blame it on Breaking Bad, but now that I have finished Season 2, I turn my attention back to updating you all on the trip :)

To be honest, I think Botswana was a victim of my lack of planning.  I had such a great time in Zambia with Sarah, and we had planned that portion weeks in advance, so I kind of skipped over any planning for Botswana.  I knew I wanted to visit Chobe National Park, and then spend some time in the Okavango Delta,and that was my full plan.

Highlights in Botswana include:
 - Senyati Camp near Chobe - it had a watering hole that hundreds of elephants visited daily, to cool off and enjoy some fresh water.  And it had a hide, where you could get very close to them, without them seeing you.
 - Chobe River and Okavango Delta boat rides - doing a water safari is a nice change of pace and allows you to get very close to some of the animals.
 - Old Bridge Backpackers in Maun - thank you Kira, it's a great backpackers!
 - The lack of tourists in the parks - so it feels less commercial than some other parks
 - Meeting fellow travelers doing similar trips, and exchanging tips and stories over beers and wine
 - Being set up with another single traveler (male) who she thinks you'll get along with

Lowlights in Botswana include:
 - Due to lack of preparation, agreeing to a last-minute 4 day safari in Okavango, in a car, when you've just done an 8 hour ride from Chobe, and have another 10 hour drive ahead of you.  I should have though about how much time I wanted to spend in a car, animals or no animals.
 - Being a single person and not being able to do a multi-day mokoro trip because they need a minimum of two people (booooo)
 - Trying to self drive in Chobe.  I'm not a great spotter when someone else is driving me, so not sure why I thought I could do that, along with trying to keep myself on the loose sand tracks in the park.  I saw some animals, but I wouldn't call it a success...
 - Realizing the person the camp manager is trying to set you up with is clearly evaluating you as a potential life partner, 10 minutes into your conversation, and later determining that maybe self driving for a second day won't be such a bad thing...

So while there were definitely some positives in Botswana, I realize that to enjoy it more, I should have put in the planning time... ah well - next time Bots!

A gemsbok

I then crossed into Namibia.  For those that don't know, I hadn't known much about Namibia before planning this trip, but it's probably one of the countries I was most excited about when I left Dar.  I started with one night in Windhoek, mainly just to recuperate from a long car ride.  It seemed like a clean, modern, small city, but again, this is really just from a few hours in the city, before I crashed at my hotel.  And then I was on to Etosha National Park in the north.



I thought I was uninterested in safari-ing once I left Botswana, but I figured I would see Etosha since I was there.  Within 30 minutes in the park, I had seen two animals I'd never seen before (gemsbok and black-faced impala), and I was excited about my two nights there. On my first drive in the evening, I realized the terrain is incredibly dry and barren, and that I would be much better at spotting here :)  And I was!  I spotted a black rhino and spent 20 minutes with him alone, just watching him eat and wander. I stayed at the Okaukuejo camp site, where there was a watering hole, where multiple black rhinos visited it every night.  you get to silently watch, while nature goes about her business around you... pretty amazing.  Overall, it was a great safari experience and I truly enjoyed Etosha.

Next up was Skeleton Coast.  I was so intrigued, that I made last minute plans to stay at the only hotel in Skeleton Coast National Park and set out.  the scenery on the drive was amazing - vast desert, with both dry pans and sand dunes.  Once I got to the hotel, which was pretty much empty, I asked the woman what people did in Skeleton's Coast (it was freezing).  Fishing was the answer... So I guess I should have done a little more research before I booked :)  but amazingly enough, my hotel cost included a 4 course meal.  Well done Skeleton Coast!  After seeing a few small shipwrecks on the coast, I continued down to Swakopmund, where I am now.


I decided to spend a few days here, to get my car checked out (all's good - Baby Blue is a champ), and relax in a hotel (Deutsche Haus - highly recommended) before I have a week of camping.  Well, Swakopmund is a weird place.  The best way I can explain it is this: it's like a Florida vacation town, except that it is always cold, and everyone speaks German.  It feels nothing like the rest of Africa to me: no rowdy crowds, no dirty streets, and not all that many black people.  So odd!  But, with my many days here, I have spent the time running outside (yup - they have a running path here), catching up on Breaking Bad, quad biking in the dunes (kind of like a Super Mariokart race, where I couldn't stay on the track and kept accidentally making my own course) and kayaking with seals and pelicans.

 
I had planned to also visit Sandwich Harbor and drive myself through the dunes, but after a little web research, I have realized it is crazy for me to try this on my own... so now I am off to bed, to try and book a last minute guided trip there, while on my way to Sossusvlei.  So that means I'm off to bed now.

I'll probably edit this later (and add pictures), as I'm rushing through, but wanted to get something up while I had this great high speed internet :)  I'll try to be better at blogging in the future!

Staring death in its many faces in Vic Falls

The last two days of our safari were great.  We ended up seeing 5 leopards, including two cubs chowing down on a recent kill with their mom, and one leopard carrying a fresh kill up a tree!  And to finish it, we saw 14 lions out on a hunt on our night drive.  Still no live kill but I’ve got a few game parks left.  

We left Flatdogs full of delicious food, grateful that we never got trampled by elephants, and with a ton of great memories.  We stopped in Lusaka for two days – pretty much just enough time to check out a local mall, and meet up with a few of my Dar friends who were in town for a rugby tournament.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of the rugby since we left for Vic Falls the day it started, but it was great to have a bit of home on the road with me (and to prove to Sarah that I do, in fact, have friend here J). And we stayed at the Radisson Blu, which just reminded me that I do not need to camp all the time.  Luxury is fantastic, and we took full advantage of the gym, the pool, the spotless room and the delicious breakfast buffet. 

Once we got to Livingstone, Zambia, we organized our activities for our four days here and got started.  We chose to see the falls from both Zambia and Zimbabwe (Zim has a much better view of the majority of the falls, so we were really glad we crossed over), did a microflight over the falls to have an aerial view (which was amazing, except that we couldn’t take our cameras and both decided not to purchase the pics they took of us), went whitewater rafting on the Zambezi, and swam in the Devil’s Pool.  The highlight for me was probably rafting, that is until Sarah knocked me out of the boat and we both were sent flailing into the water on some big rapids.  I drank a good portion of the Zambezi and was fortunately saved by our safety kayaker (saying my expression when he got me was panicked is an understatement).  I did however, get Sarah back, by knocking her out of the raft later in the day, but that time we were rescued quickly and the rapids were minimal.  I guess we were good enough sports, since we were invited out with the guides that night and got to celebrate surviving, Livingstone-style, with lots of Mosis (local beer) and dancing.  It was a fun night on the town with some new friends. 

While I recovered from rafting and thought it was exhilarating, Sarah saw it more as a little too adventurous, and decided she had “risked death” enough for one trip, so she went to have some sundowner drinks instead of going with me to the Devil’s Pool.  Possibly a good idea, as this entails swimming across the current, at the TOP of the falls, and then plunging into a pool that is about 2 feet from the edge of the falls and taking some oh-so-casual looking photos.  While it felt less dangerous than the pictures make it out to look, it was definitely a beautiful view of the falls from the top. 

But for all of the activities we did in Livingstone, the most dangerous moment for me was the Vic Falls National Park in Zambia, where I cautiously followed some other walkers around a large male baboon, only to have him snatch my backpack from me!  I tried to give it a few good pulls before realizing I was not going to win this fight, and then let him wander off with it.  We waited as he emptied my pack TSA style:  iPhone thrown there, car keys examined and placed to the side, wallet thrown in the leaves.  A shop keeper then lured him away with some food, as I recollected my belongings.  I love Africa but I will not miss the baboons or monkeys.  I’ve now been stalked by them (in Senga Bay, Malawi, I fended them off for 50 yards as I tried to back my way to the restaurant), had my food stolen and been mugged.  I’m 0-3.  Let’s hope there are no more altercations because I don’t see me winning many of them.

Zambia was a great time, and we met a ton of great, friendly locals.  But with all the fun and excitement, we knew it had to end.  Sarah boarded her plane to go back to Lusaka, and then to the US, and I started planning my trip to Botswana.  This included getting Baby Blue checked out, as she has started screeching when I turn.  After three hours of tire pressure checking, wheel shifting and a wheel alignment, I left the garage with a new whatsapp friend (the mechanic) and still screeching tires.  Maybe Botswana has some better mechanics J

I've committed to blogging... I guess

Well, I started this blog and never actually shared the address because I wasn’t sure if I would keep it up.  Now sending it out to you all, I guess I’ve made a commitment J  This is a long entry since it’s been almost three weeks and I hadn’t posted anything.  That’s my excuse. (And I'll try to put up pics later)

I set out from Dar es Salaam (clearly very well rested) with Sabrina and Alexa who decided to join me and see me off by traveling with me to the Mbeya, where I would then cross over to Malawi.  I knew police stops would probably be an issue so I had spent the previous weeks getting all of my papers in order.  Well, we got 90 minutes outside of Dar when I was tested for the first time.  I had overtaken a truck on an upward climb, and I crossed back over just as the dotted line on my side ended.  And then the police officer pulled me over.  To be fair, she was very nice, complimented me on having a well charged fire extinguisher, and promptly wrote me a legitimate ticket for 30,000 tzs ($18 USD), without even waiting for a bribe to be suggested.  Fortunately, through patience, politeness and good luck, we escaped the two next stops by police officers. This trip could be more expensive than I thought.

The highlight of my time with Sabrina and Alexa, other than being lucky enough to have two of my close friends begin my adventure with me, was going to Kitulo National Park.  In February, Kitulo is known for its wild orchid displays but in August, it’s more for general hiking.  For me, we used it to test my car (Baby Blue) and my off-road driving skills.  Between Alexa directing me where to put the wheels and convincing me that Baby Blue was made for this kind of driving, I was able to overlook Sabrina’s white knuckles as she clung to her seat for the better part of a two hour trip on a dirt track (we can’t call it a road) J  We only had one issue, when Baby Blue decided she’d had enough and overheated.  I now realize that pumping the AC while trying to climb uphill for 2 hours on an extremely hot day, may have been asking too much of her.  We waited it out and she’s been great since.

The hiking was beautiful and our official park campsite was rugged (a random turn-off into the bush, with no road/tire tracks, facilities, or anything marking it as a campsite).  We ended that section of the trip with a nice stay at Utengule Coffee Lodge in Mbeya.  We said our goodbyes (or “see you laters”, and I crossed over the border into Malawi, without any real problems.  I then headed to Mushroom Farm, a camp/lodge I had heard about near Livingstonia.  It was again, an hour of up-hill, somewhat off-roading terrain, but the campsite (my tent overlooking a ledge with Lake Malawi below), food and staff were amazing.  I hiked to Livingstonia, lounged in hammocks and met some other travelers in my three nights there.  When I left there, I had gained three travelers with me, since we were all heading to Mayoka Village in Nkhata Bay (we continued to travel and bump into to each other throughout Malawi).

The Lilongwe tobacco trading floor

Lounging by the lake, swimming (but ideally avoiding bilharzia), reading and chatting pretty much covered the rest of my week in Nkhata Bay, Kande Beach and Senga Bay (meandering south on the lake).  From there I went to Lilongwe to spend a couple days before Sarah (my friend from high school) flew in to accompany me.  While Lilongwe isn’t touristy, I recommend going to visit the tobacco trading floors in the morning.  I had a free, private tour, got to chat with the head auctioneer, and watched as hundreds of bales of hay were sold separately, in a process that was really hard to follow.  It all moved so quickly (and in accented English).  And in true backpacking style (ignoring that I have a car so I’m not really a backpacker), I stayed at a friend of a friend’s house in Lilongwe, who I hope to meet up with on my way back through Malawi (thank you Sim, Giulia was a fantastic host).

Once Sarah arrived in Lilongwe, we headed out to Cape Maclear the following day, a tourist hotspot on a peninsula on the southern tip of Lake Malawi.  After kayaking, a little snorkeling and trying out every one of the lodge’s restaurants, I think we’d say that Cape Maclear was a beautiful spot, but with the lake and beach being used as a bathing ground and dishwashing location for the locals, swimming wasn’t high on our list of to-dos.  It was a good four days though, and through walking in the village, and driving to and from Cape Maclear, we saw a small slice of Malawian village life.  And Sarah promptly decided she didn’t think she could live in Africa (part of this may be due to the frogs living in our bathroom that were a surprise).

Driving in Malawi has been very easy, and while there are regular road blocks, most of the time we were just waved through by smiling police officers. The border crossing into Zambia took a bit of time (although we were the only people there) partly due to a vague “road tax” we were forced to pay for, but weren’t provided any documentation on the amount required. I ended up paying half of what the “official” wanted, so my guess is he still got a little tip on top of the true amount.  Ah well, into Zambia we went, with our first stop being South Luangwa National Park.

Before we even got to the camp, Flatdogs, Sarah’s mouth was hanging open. We had seen about 12 elephants by the roadside and a few baboons – not a bad intro to safari life!  And as we headed to our tent with the receptionist, we were prevented from entering it due to elephants surrounding our tent, and then felt sandwiched when we heard hippos calling behind us, and a lion roaring from inside the park (which was across a river).  Sarah
vowed, at that moment, to only wear sneakers for the rest of the trip, in case she needed to make a run for it at any time. 

Day one of safari in South Luangwa National Park has been exciting.  Even though we thought the elephant and hippos were still surrounding our tent in the morning (Sarah was unable to sleep for fear of a large trunk breaking into our tent), we made it to the 5:30 am breakfast only 10 minutes late.  After meeting our guide Malama, we were on our way.  After a few hours in the park and seeing giraffes, hippos, puku and hyenas, we came across a male elephant whose trunk had been caught in a snare people set for hunting.  Malama called it into the South Luangwa Conservation team to alert them, and we tracked the elephants until they came.  The conservationist (maybe that’s a real word?) and her team came to tranquilize the elephant so that the snare could be removed. We watched as she mixed the tranquilizer meds, poured them into the dart, and loaded the gun.  Eight minutes after we heard the shot, we were told he was down, and we got to see them cut the snare off, and feel the skin of a wild elephant while it was sleeping (and snoring), and then watch as it was given the anti-body to the tranquilizer, and got back up to join its herd.  We like to think that we saved an elephant on our first day J

That was the highlight of our morning game drive, and while we thought it couldn't get more exciting than that, my lunch was stolen by a small baboon as I turned for 10 seconds to talk to people.  Those little guys are fast – and pretty scary.  Since then, we've seen a leopard and a pride stalking buffalo, only to be run off by the whole herd.  And today, day two, I waited 15 minutes for the elephants to move from our tent site, only to see that 15 baboons had broken into our tent... or so I thought.  They were just playing with the outer flaps, but I'm sure my minor freak-out gave the camp staff a funny story.  And now we're off to our second night safari!  Wish us luck!