Game Viewing at Chobe National Park, Botswana

Day 6

FullSizeRender4A long morning drive from Namibia found our safari at Thebe River Safari Lodge early in the afternoon. We quickly set up our tents and prepared for our evening activity; a Chobe National Park sunset cruise on the Chobe River. We boarded the pontoon style boat which had plenty of room for our group and situated the cooler full of drinks right in the center. We cruised up the river towards Chobe National Park in search of more wildlife.

FullSizeRenderAs soon as we left the dock, one of the Aussies notified everyone about a snake in the water. Our driver turned for closer inspection and we all saw a Monitor lizard swimming across the river. There were actually quite a few on the banks along with some crocodiles bathing in the sun. We ventured further into the park and were greeted by grazing elephants. They were in the shallow waters pulling up the grasses and whipping them around to get the soil off before popping them in their mouth. As our boat inched closer and closer, 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

Scuba Diving the Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand

IMG_3832For my birthday, Sara took us on our first non-tropical dive. She decided on diving the Poor Knights Islands using the only company that charters out there, Dive Tutukaka. The Poor Knights Islands are off the east coast north of Auckland. It has been named one of the top ten dive sites in the world and one of the best non-tropical dive sites.

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