Last night in Botswana

We had an exciting afternoon here at the camp.  Angela was walking back to her tent and found it blocked by some angry elephants.  She then proceeded to really piss them off by taking a selfie with them.

I happened upon the charging elephants and ran back to the main lodge yelling at her "you are one of those stories we here about on the news 'American Tourist killed taking selfie'." We had to get a person from the lodge to escort us back to our tents and past the scary elephants.

The afternoon game drive was good.  We went back to see the lion at the water buffalo kill hoping that some additional lions had joined him.  He was alone and still sleeping.  It seems that lions kill a water buffalo and then spend 3-4 days just eating and sleeping next to it.  It's good to be the king.

I don't have a camera with a big zoom lens.  We were really this close to the lion. The guides say that it is ok because "human" is not on the lion menu.  

Here's a picture of something not being killed

Tomorrow is another big travel day.  We will go for a short game drive in the morning and then back to the sketchy airstrip for another flight in the small plane.  We fly to Kasane Airport and then switch to yet another small plane for our flight to Victoria Falls.

I hope the internet upload speed is better in Victoria Falls so I can upload more pictures and my video of my tent.

Next update from Zambia... 

There are also lions and cheetahs...

So what did you do today?

Me?  Well, for starters this guy woke me up this morning.  Having a bit of a snack outside my tent.

Then after a wonderful breakfast, we went on our morning game drive.

We saw elephants, zebra, giraffes, 4 different kind of antelope, mongoose, hippos, baboons, water buffalo and warthogs.

All of that was spectacular but nothing can compare to finding this lion resting after his water buffalo kill

After seeing the lion, I thought that I could go home now and easily declare the trip a success but then something even better occurred.

We saw 2 cheetahs run down and kill an impala.  One of the guides had never seen this in person. He'd seen many near misses but never an actual kill.  It was a mother cheetah and her cub.  The mother actually knocked the impala over with her a few swipes of the paw and then she let the cub kill it.  The guides said that the cubs are close to leaving the mother so she is just teaching them their final lessons.

This is the cub with her bloody face

And all of that was just the morning.  We are having a brunch now and go out for another game drive in the late afternoon.

Mosquito Update: Not bad at all.  I guess this is the low mosquito time which is surprising because it is also the high water time.

There be elephants here

We arrived at the Nxabega Tented Camp in Okavanga Delta, Botswana after a half day of traveling which included 2 planes one of which was quite small.   This is the wildest place that I have ever been!

View of the delta from the plane

The second plane was a light aircraft which was not as scary as the small planes in Galapagos but it was close.  This plane landed on a small dirt strip in the middle of the delta. Good thing Butch did not join me on this trip; he would never have gotten on the small plane.

From the airstrip, we were taken in a bush vehicle to the tented camp.  The tented camp is beyond cool.  I'll take a video since mere pictures won't do this place justice.

There are no fences so you need to be escorted from your "tent" to the main building while it is dark. They don't want anyone to get eaten by a lion.   They said not to be surprised if you get awoken by an elephant next to your tent.

We went on an afternoon game drive where we saw elephants, zebra and antelope.  Elephants... real live, wild and giant elephants.

My tent is a like a little cottage and it has a shower, a toilet and a mini-bar.

Tomorrow, they wake us up at 6 am for our early morning game drive.  There are 2 game drives per day.

There is just a satellite link here for internet access so I can't upload that many pictures to the blog.

Sunset over the delta

On my way to Botswana...

At the airport now to start our 2 plane trip to Okavango Delta in Botswana.

This is what I learned so far:

1. Johannesburg is at 6000 ft above sea level or higher than Denver
2. Johannesburg only exists because of the gold mines
3. I can still be delighted by the service at a hotel
4. Winter means winter.  It's cold here.  I knew it was winter here but I did not think it would be cold because it's Africa and Africa is always hot.  
5. People can be unbelievably stupid.  How did they think that forcing 80% of their population into tiny houses with no running water and no electricity and no jobs was ever going to work?
6. Nelson Mandela is more amazing than I realized
7. The South African people are exceptionally warm and friendly

With our blue-haired guide

With Angela's well traveled friend Ceri

Next update from Botswana provided that I have wifi at the camp.  

Some history before the animals...

Today, we had a full day tour in Jo'burg.  The original plan was to visit the caves at the Cradle of Mankind.  However, I don't do tight spaces so we swapped it for a visit to the Apartheid Museum and
a tour of Soweto.

I continue to be surprised at how little history I know.  I know the main points of the history of Apartheid so it was good but a bit depressing to learn the details.  Not surprisingly, the conversation at lunch quickly turned to American politics. It seems that the entire world is afraid that Donald Trump might actually get elected.

A typical house in Soweto

With a bunch of kids outside Nelson Mandela's house

I did not realize that the turning point was the killing of many children by the Apartheid police in 1976.  This is the first time that the rest of the world learned about the atrocities here and they started to put pressure on the government to end it.

This church is where many children would run to seek shelter.  There is significant damage from the police inside of the church.

They were happy to tell us about Michelle Obama speaking here.  We agreed that she is something special.

First Night Dinner

We met Angela's friend Ceri for dinner last night.  If you think I'm well traveled then you have to meet Ceri.  She's been to almost 100 countries.  That is even more amazing when you realize that most places are at least a 10 hour flight from here.  

We went to Moyo in the Melrose Arch area for some classic South African dishes.

Food porn - kebob of beef, chicken and ostrich.  Even after eating it, I'm not positive which was the beef and which was the ostrich.  I had no idea that ostrich is a popular meat in South Africa.

The hotel turn down service is extra special - hot water bottle in the bed and Amarula on the night stand.

New Day, New Country, New Drink

After slightly over 24 hours of traveling, I safely arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa.   The 10 hour flight was as good as can be expected.

The Jacada travel people met me at the gate and whisked me through immigration and customs and dropped me at the hotel.

I'm staying at a small boutique hotel named The Residence and, so far, I highly recommend it.  The rooms are comfortable and elegantly appointed.

Obligatory picture of the view from my room.

To be filed under "never seen before," in addition to a full bathroom with a tub and shower, my balcony also has an outdoor shower and tub.

Angela and I had a quick snack at the hotel before jumping in an Uber to wander around Jo'burg.

We toured Constitution Hill and the Wits Art Museum.  I'm using "toured" in the loosest sense of the word.  We are really much too tired to do more than just wander around and take in the sights.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the hotel bar catching up.

I've been here just a few hours and I already have a new favorite drink, the Don Pedro.  It's sort of a milkshake containing an African liqueur called Amarula.  I will try to bring a bottle home.

We are meeting a friend of Angela's for dinner and will go to bed early.  We have a full day of touring tomorrow.

In transit update

I made my connection at London.  In fact, I made my connection with enough time for me to update the blog.

The funniest part was that my flight landed early and Angela's flight to Johannesburg was delayed so we were actually at Heathrow together for about 15 minutes.  I didn't actually see her because I'm at the B gates and she was at the C gates and, you know, security and all that jazz.

The next part of the journey is a 10 hour flight. Not looking forward to it.  Not a great selection of movies on British Airways.  Good thing I downloaded 3 books and season 1 of Mr. Robot.

Next update from South Africa...

Trip of a Lifetime

Early Wednesday morning, I leave for Africa, The Birthplace of Humanity.

The itinerary includes a quick stop in Johannesburg followed by the Okavango Delta, Victoria Falls and the Sabi Sands.  While I could get eaten by a lion, these places are probably free from terrorism.  

A trip like this has been on my bucket list for I-can't-remember-how-long. 

I am most looking forward to seeing Victoria Falls. I am least looking forward to the mosquitos.  

Here's all my brand new safari gear.  It's "brand new" because most of my clothes are black and black is not really the recommended clothing color for Africa.

I'm flying British Airways with a stop over in Heathrow.  I'm worried about my short connection time and praying that my flight takes off on time from JFK.

Update on the 50 x 50 quest, this trip adds 4 new countries: South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe bringing the total to 35.  I am ahead of schedule.  

For those keeping score, here is the list of visited countries:
Antigua
Australia
Austria
Barbados
Brazil
Canada
China

Cyprus
Czech Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
France
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Monaco
Palestine
Peru

Portugal
Spain

St. Lucia
Sweden
Switzerland
Trinidad
United Kingdom
United States
Vatican City