Meeting Happy Children in Malawi

Day 13

imageEven though everybody loved South Luangwa and wanted to stay longer, Jojo kept us on our timeline. We packed up our tents, had breakfast and started driving to Malawi. It was a relatively short drive out of Zambia but before we reached the border, Sam got sick on the truck! She wasn’t feeling well at the border so we rushed her though the process to get her back in her seat as soon as possible. After the border crossing, we had lunch under a shady tree before finishing the drive to our camp, Barefoot Lodge. When we got to camp, Sam went to bed while we tried to help figure out what made her sick. That afternoon, Sara and I tried to Continue reading

Stalking Cats in South Luangwa, Zambia

Day 12

FullSizeRender41There was another early morning wake up in preparation for a full day searching for animals. Luckily, Nash was also up early so we had tea and coffee available before our morning game walk. There was an option to do a game drive, but after being cooped up in the truck, many decided it would be nice to walk around. We split into two groups, each with a guide and an armed security ranger. The guide explained to us that if we encounter any animals up close, the most important rule is to not run and let the ranger handle the situation.

Barely 100 meters from the start, we ran across Continue reading

Traveling with our New Safari Family in Zambia

Day 9

imageWe left Victoria Falls and crossed into Zambia with an extra crew member and a new group of travelers. Ahead of us was two long days of driving but Jojo said it would be worth it because we were going to his favorite location, South Luangwa Wilderness Camp. The first driving day was uneventful and we arrived at Camp Eureka outside Lusaka right after dark. We enjoyed my favorite dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce which was prepared by Nash. Around the campfire, we met our new group of travelers on this Nomad Tour: A Swiss couple traveling around the world like us, a mother and adult son from Australia, a German couple celebrating their anniversary, a retired traveling duo from Australia, a Dutch couple on holiday, a German vacationing from her job in Cape Town, a Korean on Continue reading

Serenity on the Okavango Delta, Botswana

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Day 3

Two hard days of driving brought us to Maun, the gateway to the Okavango Delta. It’s the largest inland delta in the world! Essentially, at this location the Okavango River abruptly ends by seeping into the desert. There was an optional scenic flight providing aerial views of the delta – several people went but we decided to save our money. We hung out watching the coming and goings of the small international airport. After leaving, we had about four hours in the truck before actually getting into the delta.

FullSizeRender32Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, there were two 4 wheel drive pickups waiting for us. We unloaded from our truck, Jimi, and hopped in. They took us to a speedboat for a scenic ride to our camp. The delta reminded me of the Louisiana bayou. We wound our way through narrow channels among the grasses and saw lots of birds. We even stopped for a close-up view of a huge Continue reading