Sept-Oct 2011 Pre-Caravan Trip

Erica Coarctata (not my fault if you didn't study Latin)
Rock Dassie
False Bay
Pat and Don south of Cape Town

9/14/2011-9/19/2011 Laurel, MD - Cape Town, South Africa

Before we left for the airport on 9/14, I checked on-line to find out the status of a mail delivery that was past due. According to the tracking software, it was delivered on 9/12. I called the Post Office and the carrier confirmed that he did in fact deliver the package right to our door that day. From this I could only assume that someone had stolen my mail from the doorstep. I was concerned that there was credit card statement and other information that could be used for identity theft. Since I was about ready to leave for the airport at this point, there was little I could do, but hope for the best. We drove to Dulles International Airport and took an 18 hr flight to Johannesburg. Due to a layover there, we landed in Cape Town 6 hours later. We picked up our rental car and drove to a downtown hotel.

The next morning we toured the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, we took a cable car to the top of Table Mountain and had dinner at the V&A Waterfront. The next day we drove down the west coast along False Bay to Boulder Beach where we saw lots of African penguins. We drove to the Cape of Good Hope and hiked out to Cape Point. We thought this was the southern tip of Africa but we were surprised to find out that the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 90 mi. to the southeast. Sunday was rainy so we went to the South Africa Museum and then drove back to False Bay to whale watch from shore. We saw 8 Southern Right whales. An e-mail from Julie informed us that our mail, that we thought was stolen, was delivered to her house.

On our last day in Cape Town, we took a boat to Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 13 years. Part of the tour was given by a former prisoner. We learned a lot about what Mandela endured and accomplished. We relocated to the Atlantic Beach Hotel where we met and dined with the International Caravanning Association (ICA) group. Our group consisted of 13 couples from the UK plus us.

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip Week 1

Hillside near Springbok
Goegap Nature Reserve
Spring flowers in Namibia
Fish River Canyon

9/20-9/26 Melkbosstrand, South Africa - Aus, Namibia

After breakfast, the group took a tour bus to the BoBo Campers Depot. We were assigned a 2007 IVECO Camper van 20 feet long with 186,000 km on it. We were a bit disappointed that we got an old RV while some lucky couples got a brand spanking new one. The first week of the trip consisted of driving north into Namibia. In Namibia we drove sand roads 3-6 hours a day. With the constant jarring and vibration, the vans were subjected to a lot of stress. Surprisingly, the new vans started to fail first, with A/C and cabinets literally falling off the walls. The older vans had survived this trip before - took the beating and kept on trucking. We did have rest days to recover from the jarring drive days. Although the days were warn, the first few nights got very cold. Cold nights came to an abrupt end at our first layover; Fish River Canyon. It was like sleeping in a Dutch oven as the canyon walls radiated their heat back to the campground during the night. Fish River Canyon claims to be (along with others) the second largest canyon after the Grand Canyon. It was a decent canyon, but not as colorful as the Grand Canyon. We did start to see more wildlife as we moved north; ostrich, gemsbok, springbok, and wild horses.

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip Week 2 part 1

Camping in Aus, Namibia

Sunset at Aus
Weaver bird next

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip Week 2 part 2

Gemsbok
Red sands of Nambia
View from 45 KM Dune
Pat at the top of the world

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip Week 2 part 3

Sand dunes
Sesriem Canyon
Baboon family
Ostriches

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip Week 2 part 4

Karoo Korhaan
Great White Pelican catching a fish
Cape Fur Seal climbed onboard
Lighthouse at Swakopmond


9/27-10/3 Sesriem, Namibia, - Uis, Namibia

After more than 3 hours on sand roads we pulled into camp only to find out we had been riding on a flat tire for a while. Due to the roughness of the roads, you really can’t tell any difference between driving on a flat tire and an inflated one. The result was a well shredded tire. With some help from Paul, our Trip Leader, we got the tire changed. Next we drove to Sossusviei National Park and climbed a 360 foot tall red sand dune and explored Sesriem Canyon where we saw a family of baboons. At Walvis Bay we took a great wildlife cruise and saw Giant White Pelicans, dolphins, and SA Fur seals. I caught Traveler’s Diarrhea and took 3 days to fully recover. Pat also got sick for a day.

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip Week 3 part 1

Kori Bustard
Warthog
Baby Lion
African Ground Squirrel

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip week 3 part 2

Black Rhinos under night lights at waterhole
Secretarybird
Lion
Hoba Metorite

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip week 3 part 3

Zebras at waterhole
Yellowbilled Hornbill
Kudu
How UPS got started

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip week 3 part 4

Jacaranda Tree

(mom) Have you seen Junior? (dad) I thought you were watching him!
What's the rush? It's only a toy store.
Sunset on Zambezi River

10/4-10/11 Khorixas, Namibia - Papa Falls, Namibia

Even though we were both not feeling well, our spirits picked up as we headed back to paved roads. We finally made it to Etosha National Park and began to see the variety and quantity of wildlife that we came to Africa to see. The best place to see wildlife was at the waterholes. Each campground had a lighted waterhole so you could watch the wildlife that sleep during the day. We witnessed a showdown between a bull elephant and a rhino at a waterhole. The elephant finally let the rhino have the waterhole. There was also a dead elephant where a pride of lions had been feasting. Herds of zebras and various types of antelopes roamed the park. You could drive through the park during the day, but were not allowed to leave your vehicle. We broke this rule when we had our second flat tire and had to change it while stuck on Rhino Drive. Fortunately the rhinos, lions, elephants, jackals and hyenas were busy elsewhere. After we left the park we went to see the Hoba meteorite, the largest and heaviest (over 60 tons) in the world.

We experienced a wide variety when it came to quality of campgrounds. At a few campgrounds each site had its own shower and toilet facility. Not all our campgrounds were gems however, the other extreme was Papa Falls, where the trick was to try and camp as far from the overflowing sewer as possible. The next day the sewer line was dug up and cleaned out. All of this occurred less than 10 feet from our van. We went to the restaurant at the campground with a group of 10 and after waiting two hours for food, we decided we were not getting dinner so we left.

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip week 4 part 1

A small portion of Victoria Falls
Elephant preparing to board tour boat
The Temptations (the early years)
Yellow billed Stork

Sept-Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip week 4 part 2

Southern Ground Hornbill
Buffalo and Nile Crock - a deadly team
Charging Hippo
Enjoying the Sunset?
10/12-10/17 Papa Falls, Namibia - Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe - Kasane, Botswana

We left Namibia and quickly passed through Botswana in order to get to Victoria Falls. We encountered 7 border crossings during our entire trip, and by far entering Zimbabwe was the worst. We had to buy an entry visa, buy “insurance” for the vehicle and pay other bogus charges. It cost us $215 USD to enter this very corrupt country. Before we arrived at Victoria Falls, a speed trap was set up to give tourist tickets. The fact that the locals went speeding by didn’t seem to matter. We did see the falls, which were dramatic and amazing. The mist from the falls had created a rain forest in the middle of a desert. There were lots of ways to spend your money here, from helicopter rides to riding elephants or walking with lions. We did a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River and saw hippos, elephants and crocs. We crossed the Zambezi River Bridge and entered Zambia unofficially. We watch tourists bungee jumping from the bridge and kayakers taking on the rapids in the Zambia River Canyon. We returned to Botswana and camped next to Chobe National Park. We did a river cruise and saw hundreds of water buffalo, dozens of elephants and hippos and more. Our campsite was visited by warthogs, monkeys, baboons and mongoose.

Sept - Oct 2011 Africa Caravan Trip week 5 part 1

Bathing Elephant
Lilac-breasted Roller
Impalas with Hippo
Saddle-billed Stork