AAVE Trip BLOG » Africa #2A - South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana!
January 13, 2008
Africa #2A - South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana!
Posted by AAVE Camper in : Africa, General AAVE Trip BLOG , trackback
AFRICA 2007 Families,
Flying in from varied locations around the world everyone landed safely in their first African airport with a couple smiling faces waiting to greet them. Our arrival in Johannesburg, South Africa, begins our 3 week journey, to that we are much enthused. Once all 13 students arrived we had a welcome party with an “authentic” pizza meal. Cory, Julandi, and Sibo are our three guides, all extremely experienced, hilarious and are fun filled with enthusiasm.
We set out the next morning to cross the border into Botswana and headed north to Maun, which is the gateway to the Okavango Delta. We played a quick game of cricket, thanks to Pranav and then headed out into our Mokoros (wooden dugout canoes) and started through the natural canals. We made camp on an island, where we started our game walks. We were out for about 4-6 hours, seeing tons of elephant, hippo, baboon and warthogs.
We then left Maun and headed for Sepupa, where we helped build a fence to help the local community. We also challenged the locals to a football match, which was EPIC. There were about 250-300 spectators lining the sidelines and cheering on their home team. The score ended up being 4-4 with Ben scoring 1 and Noah scoring 3. It was a truly incredible experience.
We headed further north through Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and back into Botswana’s famous Chobe National Park. We went on a boat safari and then a game drive, where we saw hundreds of kudu, giraffe, elephant and most importantly 4 lions feeding on a buffalo carcass. It was amazing.
Livingstone, Zambia arrived as our next destination. While most think of the location as just another place in Africa, all of us rowdy teenagers were brought in and pushed out with a sense of realization that we are a truly blessed bunch of people. The orphanage that was visited in this truly beautiful part of the world left the shadows of warm-hearted schoolboys and little proper ladies hovering over our hearts. Their voices of praise and song linger in our ears and the touch of their dry cold hands has imprinted stains in our palms. These underprivileged children opened our hearts, and with smiles and hugs we waved goodbye with the everlasting knowledge that we changed a life for the better.
And then along came a thousand tons of water…
Victoria Falls was next on our itinerary, Jaw dropping and mind-blowing scenery to which eyes are the beholder and words are inadequate.
From the fall we moved onward to the Makadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana. The Pans, which cover an area roughly the size of Portugal, are completely barren and their almost total lack of vegetation allows for unhindered panoramic views of the landscape and of the sky at night. The feeling of solitude and the remoteness of the scene were truly spectacular. While at the Pans, we tried our hands at archery, Quad-biking and power kiting.
Then we went to Tuli. It was wild. We were warned about the lions and leopards wandering around our camp and were therefore too scared to venture from our tents to urinate. We awoke to the sound of jackals and hyenas, which was interesting to say the least. At the end of our stay in Tuli we drove back to our beautiful, oversized and safe truck and drove to the Lost City tucked away in our below freezing sleeping bags.
The Lost City was the beginning of the end, planned to give us kids a rest. Our venture into the casino with the exit expanding into a small (yet locally large) water park left us all ready to slide into hypothermia worthy water. Fast food consumed, ice cream slurped, and souvenirs purchased left us just enough time to enjoy the water.
The end of our trip was concluded with a decent dose of roller coasters, annoying amusement park employees, and wimpy fast food. After the headaches were handed out to most everyone, the Apartheid museum calmed our nerves. Words find no formation and visually it must be seen with teary eyes.
The 21 day trip has become a haze of beautiful pictures and a continuous flow of inside jokes, foolish games and wrestling. From days in and days out, the little pleasures here and there, all 16 individuals scattered from around the world have easily and most comfortably enjoyed each others, as well as the host natives company.
Bon Voyage!
Ellen, Noah and the AAVE Tribe
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