The Okavango and more…

So after only being back in school for a week when we got back from Durban, our program had organized a 9 day safari so we all went together to Maun. We spent the first night at the main camp, Audi Camp, and then the next day we packed up early and went out to the central Kalahari for two nights. It was our program director, us four girls, out guide, Ruster, and our cook, Benjamin. We had to drive for like 8 hours to get to the campsite which was exhausting especially with the African sun coming in through the windows. Once we got to the camp site we set up our tents and everything and then we out for a game drive. We saw all kinds of animals, it was crazy. We saw elephants just walking right in front of the car, and tons of zebras just roaming around like an arm’s length away, we saw a ton of giraffes and a lot of different varieties of antelopes! When we first drove into the camping area we saw two female lions just napping under a tree and later that night, despite the fact that our guide was breaking the rules, we went on a night drive to track down the lions we could hear close to our camp. There were two males just walking right towards our camp. One had a beautiful black mane and they were both fairly young. It was crazy!!! Falling asleep to the sounds of lions roaring or yawning or whatever was definitely cool though. Then the next morning we saw a cheetah sleeping under a tree. They are absolutely beautiful animals. After our camping in the Kalahari we went to back to Audi Camp for a night and then left for our mokoro boat trip through the Okavango delta. The mokoro boats are awesome. They are pulled by a guide kind of like a gondola in Venice except it is made out of wood and looks sort of like a long canoe with really short sides. The guides use these huge wood poles carved from a specific tree and the push the boat along with them. We camped on an island type thing in the delta for a night which was fun. The guides and the cook, again Benjamin, were a lot of fun. The next day we played around, Emilie learned how to pull the Mokoro, we saw some more elephants and then they took us back. On our drive back, our program director lost his wallet so we had to drive back and find it but unfortunately, someone had already taken it. They went to the village to try and find out who did it and everybody went crazy. This village has maybe 100 or so people living there and a good majority of the young males are mokoro boat guides. They all came out and launched an investigation. They were yelling at each other and checking foot prints and the wind direction, comparing shoes, etc. It was a really interesting experience. But we didn’t find the wallet. The next couple of days we spent at Audi camp just looking around Maun and then we came back home.

This week has been very uneventful. Just going to school and hanging out with friends. The night life around here is a blast but other than that not much is new.

Durban

So it has been a really long time since I have updated this so let me just start with Durban. Emilie and I left on Tuesday February 10th and returned February 15th. We had an absolute blast. We stayed at this backpacker’s hostel called the Happy Hippo which was adorable. The rooms were nice, the staff was great, there was a bar on the roof which was fun (great bartender), and it was right next to the ocean. The first couple of days we were there it was raining so we decided to do all of the tourist type stuff during those days. We visited the largest mosque in the Southern hemisphere which was beautiful, walked around the Victoria Street Market which was really neat (bought some earrings); we visited an art gallery and a museum and then ate some of the best Indian food I have ever had. Durban has a really large Indian population so good Indian food is not hard to find. That night we went out to eat at a seafood place called Fish Café. We were both dying for good seafood. We had a nice glass of white wine, some fish cakes with lemon-dill mashed potatoes; we shared a trio of chocolate mousses for dessert, and had a cup of coffee. It was the best meal I have had since I came here. And thanks to the rand it only technically cost us $21 USD!!! The next day we went to spend the day at a traditional Zulu village in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Seriously, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life!!!! We went a walk through the village with our guide Tommy, we spent some time with a traditional healer, we were served a traditional meal at this woman’s house and her little girls danced for us, and they sold us some of they bead work which is beautiful. It was a really great day. The next day we spent on the beach just relaxing which was nice. That evening we went out dancing with some other guests at the Happy Hippo and some other people which was fun. The following day was Valentines Day so Emilie and I just relaxed for most of the morning. Then we went out to a nice lunch and then we learned how to surf. Emilie was much more successful than I was though. She actually got up on the board multiple times. I came home with bruises and a fat lip. Oh well…at least I tried. That night we just hung out at the lodge and the next morning we made the long journey back to Gabs.

The next week was hectic. Tests, school, papers…it was nice though since we haven’t really had any of that so far. We didn’t really get out much. And that is about it.