Africa - Okavango Delta

This was by far my favorite place I went in Africa. It's funny, the Delta wasn't anything that spectacular I guess, but it was such a unique experience that few people have had. Not only was the expereince unique, but the scenery was beautiful and the people...well, they made it! The delta is located a little ways outside of Maun in the northern part of Botswana. In the Delta live the BaYei people, they have a village of about 700 and live in a way surprisingly true to their roots. The Delta is an area of land spanning several thousand square meters and much of it is marsh. The BaYei have been using mokoros to get around this land for hundreds of years. A mokoro is basically a dug out canoe and they use a long pole to "pole" themselves around the area.

We took an hour long trip in an open truck to reach the Delta where we were met by our polers and a large group of villagers. I can only assume that it provides much excitement and probably a good laugh when a new group of tourists arrive each week with their clean clothes, fancy cameras, oversized hats and unabashed curiosity. If we only knew we would arrive back at the same site two days later filthy dirty, our cameras safely packed away and full of laughter, conversation and stories we share with our new friends.

Our trip started with a two hour mokoro ride to an island where we would set up camp for the next two nights. The mokoro ride is an incredibly peaceful and relaxing experience, for the person lucky enough to be riding in the mokoro. I can safely assume it is a much more tiring experience for the person at the helm. It is hard to explain the experience, but I can try. First off, the polers have skillfully crafted our bed rolls into chairs in the mokoro so we can lounge back in comfort while we glide through the reeds, creating a comforting swishing sound. All you can hear is the this noise coupled with the chirping of crickets and the songs of the many birds of the delta. There is an occasional grunting of a hippo. It truly was one of the most unique experiences of my life.

Once we set up camp and dug our toliet behind a well concealed bush, we set out for an evening game walk. Our polers served as our guides as they know this land like the back of their hands. There are no fire arms allowed in Botswana, so we were literally walking into bush completely unarmed. On the way out our guides gave us a few pointers about staying down wind, how close you could approach an animal and then they gave us some tips that might save our lives. If an elephant charges you, run zig-zag into the bush. If a buffalo charges you, run to a tree and climb up the opposite side. And finally if a lion approaches you, stand completely still and stare it straight in the eyes...awesome, I can do that, no problem. ha! Luckily, none of us had to put any of these tactics to the test. We ran into a few elephants right off the bat and spent a good deal of time watching them. We weren't able to pass them as they had found a tree that must have tasted like candy seeing as they were unwilling to leave the tree and move from our path. So when the sun started setting we headed back to camp and I experience my first true African sunset. That is one thing that Africa sure knows how to do! It is amazing how the colors can change from orange to red to purple all in a matter of minutes.

The next day we awoke for another game walk and spent the hottest part of the afternoon soaking in the swimming hole. I'm not sure how they can know or guarantee this, but our guides assured us there were no crocs or hippos in this area. If I wasn't so hot, I would have probably been more inclined to question them. Even so, I did have the sense not to go any deeper than my thighs, I just sat down close to the shore (for a quick escape) and watched all of those other fools swim out deeper! Later that afternoon we went on our mokoros to a hippo pool not too far away from camp and watched the hippos. It is crazy how big and noisy those animals are. They have a loud barking grunt and spend most of their time in the water. Did you know a hippo can stay under water for up to 6 minutes! At sunset we headed back to camp for our final night in the Delta.

We had a special treat that night as our polers, who were camping with us, performed some of their songs and dances for us by the light of the fire. It was amazing to hear their songs, and even though you couldn't understand, you couldn't help but be moved by the sincerity of the songs. We asked what the songs were about; nature, people, religion, love...same as us. I was amazed at how similar we were to these people, maybe I shouldn't have been, after all we are all still people. I spent a lot of time on the mokoro ride home thinking about this. We're all people, we all have families, we all love, we all have the same basic needs, what differs is want. I want a bigger flat closer to the city, they want a solid mud hut for their entire family with a fully thatched roof that keeps the sun and rain out. I want a pair of Louboutin's with their coveted red soles, they want a pair of shoes with any soles that don't have holes. I want to travel the world, they want to find a way to get into town to spend the 40 pula (roughly $5) we tipped them. I want to try a Gordon Ramsey restaurant, while they want to provide 3 meals a day for their family. It puts such a refreshing perspective on life and the things we focus on and begin to so easily lose perspective. The people we spent these days with had less physical belongings than I could imagine spending a life with, but they also had a re-assuring amount of joy. So like I said before, it is the people that made the Delta such a memorable experience.

As usual, the rest of my pics are on shutterfly

Africa - Khama Rhino Sanctuary

It is so hard to even know where to begin!  So I think I'll just break out my blogs into different sections, by place or activity, and hopefully I'll get through it all.  First off, I guess I will explain a little more about my trip.  Amy and I went with a tour company called Geckos (I know, the irony!)  it is an Australian company so there were tons of Aussies on the trip.  They gear towards a budget traveller, so we were roughing it!  Seriously...tents, sleeping bags, meals cooked over the open fire...roughing it! It was pure luxury if our camp sites had a shower and a toliet (that actually flushed!)  Needless to say myself and all of my belongings smelled of camp fire after the first night and continued to the remaining 12 days.  There were 18 people on our trip, ranging in age from 20 to lets say, 50ish.  We had people ranging from a personal chef on a yacht, to a vascular surgeon to a parachute packer!  We all met up in Pretoria, South Africa at the Twana Lodge (we didn't know the type of luxury it had to offer at the time!) and met our tour leaders, Dumi the driver, Mischek the chef and Innocent our fearless leader.  We also met what was to become our closest companion over the next week and a half...our big orange tour bus!  Little did we know how much time we would spend in this orange eye sore...Botswana is big, as big as Texas to be exact!

The next morning we set out on the road to the Backroads of Botswana at 6 am sharp!  Again, little did I know this would be the first of many sunrises I would see.  We arrived at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary late that afternoon and set up our camp for the first time.  It took a while, but by the end of the trip we were all pros at setting up and taking down our tents.  The next morning we woke for a 5:30 breakfast and then our first game drive at 6 am.  The Rhino Sanctuary is a protected area and is home to only "grazers" they are meant to help preserve the rhinos and create an environment where they are protected and can hopefully reproduce and increase the dwindling rhino population.  In the sanctuary we saw both black and white rhino, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, warthogs, ostrich, antelope and many different birds.  We were able to get so close to the animals in the vehicles. You can see the rest of the pics on my shutterfly site. 

10 fingers 10 toes

I made it back safe and sound from Africa. I had the most amazing experiences and you safely could say I am hooked. I will return, hopefully sooner rather than later. Africa is one of the most beautiful places, both landscape and people. I could not have enjoyed myself more and I have over 1000 pictures to prove it! I am going to start working on getting everything loaded, with some heavy culling of course! Bear with me, I will start my blog updates and photos shortly.

One thing I can tell you is that none of my granola gear is as bright and shiny as it was in the picture below! Camping is dirty!

Granola, it's not just for Breakfast

OMG, I'm in shock, I leave for Africa a week from tomorrow! When thinking about what I would pack, I realized that I am not at all well-equipped for the wilderness. Really, I could survive for a couple of months without doing laundry in any major city in the world, but not one single day in wild, unless of course I did it in the way God intended, naked. So I found the London version of REI (Black's) and spent a grand total of 317 POUNDS! This whole granola thing is a lot more expensive than I thought, I have a whole new appreciation for all of those tie-dye wearing, dread locked hippies spending their time hiking the Rockies and being at one with nature. It ain't cheap! I am now the proud-ish owner of a sleeping bag, hiking shoes, a camping pillow, camping towel (folds up SO small!), a backpack, super-dooper bug spray, a rain jacket, a flashlight/lantern, binoculars, a head torch and the pièce de résistance...a pair of pants that zip into shorts...hot! Seriously people, I need to take up some new outdoorsy hobbies when I come back to get some use out of all of this gear. I think I'll take up spelunking, I've got the head torch for it plus, I've always like the sound of it. The actual word, not the act of crawling through dark caves. Here's my loot!

Mood: Starstruck

I have had my first celebrity siting in London, and I personally think it is a very exciting one! So let me set up the story for you guys. Last weekend Kelly, Desi and I went to watch Simon's(Kelly's fiance) soccer game. Afterwards we went to grab a bite at this steakhouse in our neighborhood. There was a bit of a wait, so we decided to just go to the Thai place next door. Desi had borrowed the movie, The Kite Runner, from Kelly and had brought it with her to return it to Kelly. She gave it back to her at dinner and this sparked a long conversation about the movie, the book, the follow up book A Thousand Splendid Suns. Now, these are two of my favorite books (if you haven't read them, do so immediately!) so I obviously saw the movie as soon as it came to theatres. I was really scared to see it, because so many times movies that are made after books are so disappointing. This was not the case, I thought the movie was so well done and really complimented the book. So anyways, we are sitting there talking about this and all of a sudden Kelly goes "Oh my gosh, the guy from the Kite Runner is at the table next to us" We of course all whip around and "non-chalantly" stare him down. It has to be him, looks just like him! But it is too crazy to actually be him, when we have been talking about the movie all night, and actually have it with us! So leave it to us, after dinner we go over and interrupt his family dinner and ask...sure enough, it is him! He was so gracious and took a picture with us...he even asked for another one b/c he thought his eyes were closed in the first one! His family even took out their cameras and took pictures of us with him. I am assuming he probably isn't one to get recognized everyday and I think his family was excited for him as they all started clapping as soon as we rounded the corner to leave the restaurant...it was cute. Anyways, here is the photo of us with Khalid Abdalla

Daily Rant.

If the tube were in Texas, it would be a very different scene. After three months of relying daily on public transportation I have come to find that my first notions about the tube and British men are indeed fact. British men are just plain rude, when riding on the tube. To be fair, it is a free-for-all and everyone must fend for themselves. You've barely stood up before someone has swooped underneath you to take your prized seat during morning rush hour. But I have found that men will cut a women off to get to a free seat, they will avoid eye contact with any standing women nearby as to not have to be directly confronted with the fact that they are sitting and you are standing and they have no intention of giving you their seat. Old ladies will remain standing, pregnant women, women in stiletto's (even though that is their own fault). In fact, I have seen more women give up their seat to old ladies and pregnant women than men. It's funny, when you think of British men, you think of very old fashioned, chivalrous men. Which is true for the most part, with two exceptions. They've had one too many pints or they are on the tube.

Betty Crocker wants her apron back

Sorry Kel, it was a valiant effort and they tasted great. That's what matter, right?! My sweet neighbor Kelly wanted to make some "I love you" cupcakes for Simon the other night. Here was the result.

But she looked good doing it...and they were the sprinkle kind, yum! Luckily, Kelly loves me too and I got a couple :) Thanks, they were yummy...I ate them in celebration of the anniversary of my third month here in London, can you believe!