Hey there folks and happy palm sunday to those who celebrate....i was walking back home this morning and ended up in a procession churchgoers singing songs and waving palm down the street to the corner....i was hot and sweaty and these folks were rejoicing, dressed beautifully and singing....it was so nice to just follow along and listen to them...made me think of my grandmothers and their sisters and how they used to make things out of the palm they would get on palm sunday...all of the palm weavings they made...it was a great way to start my day :)
as many of you know, a few weeks back, i finally made it to my first safari in africa....well, parts of it were a safari...parts of it were long bus rides and parts of it were hanging out with some cool people....i went with my friend colleen from here and we both had an amazing time....but because i took so many pictures - and these are not even the ones i am most proud of - i am splitting this update into 2 parts....so here are the pictures from safari part 1 - the trip to zambia and botswana and namibia....the pictures i am most proud of used the camera you will see near the end of this set, but i have not been able to download them yet....it was a professional camera and if shots turn out well, i will do an update of just those....fingers crossed....on with part 1 - zambia and part of botswana....
the first night we were in zambia, we took a sunset cruise on the zambezi river...this is the main river that feeds into victoria falls...one of the most amazing things i have ever seen....the amount of water here was just incredible....BUT the night before we went to the falls, we took this cruise...on this very nice boat....
as we were cruisin' up the river we started to see animals....it was soooooooo exciting...one of the first spots of the night was this pair of giraffe, just chillin' by the side of the river eating some leaves....their heads just popped up over the bushes they were eating from....and this was just the beginning....wow!!!!
this is a look down river from the boat....you cannot see the raging falls from here, but if you look closely you might be able to see the "smoke" from the falls...this river is the boundary line between zambia and zimbabwe....we only stayed on the zambia side....i just can't wrap my head about going to zimbabwe while mugabe is in power....horrible guy....luckily we had just missed his 91st birthday at the falls the weekend before....that could have been uber crazy!!!!!
we also caught a glimpse of a hippo crew...the first of many we were to see on this trip...i was pretty happy with our first sighting, as this was the animal i really wanted to see...both in the water and outside of the water....both goals were met by the end of the trip as you will soon see...i am happy i did not meet them face-to-face...as these are one of the most dangerous animals in the world...their bite could cut a person in half at first chomp....so definitely not friendly...but i loved it when they popped their heads up....
here is a close-up of one of the females in this group....i guess they travel in herds, which are also known as pods, a dale or a bloat....the last two were news to me....but you can find them in big, big groups of 30 or so...this was just a group of about 6....we did see more later in the trip though :)
here we are at our first sunset...colleen and i....and i learned a new trick for this shot from a guy on the boat....he told us to put on the flash so the two of us stood out better against the sunset....and look at that...it worked terrific....day one...successful, fun and relaxing all rolled into one....
one of the best things about our sunset cruise was the incredible sunset....and it just got better and better...as we were pulling the boat back in, this was the view we saw...simply stunning...i do have to say that african sunsets really are particularly beautiful....ghana included...the sky usually is an amazing shade of blues and pinks and they just make you smile at their beauty....
the next day in zambia focused on getting to victoria falls....the zambian side...also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya - which means the smoke that thunders....as you will see in some of these picture....there is tons of "smoke/spray" from this HUGE amount of water....we came at the perfect time for the falls, as the rainy season is coming to an end and there is just so.much.water......it is over 5,000ft (1700 m) wide and over 355ft (100 m) tall and there was a ton of water rushing over....this is considered to be the biggest set of falls in the world....and this was our first glimpse of it, even though we could hear it as we got closer and closer and see the "smoke" from the flight on the way into zambia....
the amount of water was just mind-blowing....it was loud and it was very wet....but that made for some amazing rainbows....we actually had no idea just how wet we would get, but were happy we had spoken with some other women who had been earlier in the day to the falls and they warned us....even with raincoats, we still got soaked....
here's one of the many rainbows we caught...and this one went right through colleen....this is the rainbow bridge you can walk across to a smaller island to view the falls from....and you get soaked here....so much "smoke"...these falls are twice the size of Niagara falls in the states and canada and were thought to have been first viewed by someone other than local people by the Scot, David Lingstone - hence why the town in zambia closest to here is called livingstone....
Can you believe this shot???? i just could not get over how much water was rushing over these falls....really was an incredible amount....i loved it!!!!
i am not sure if you can feel just how big this water is....it blew my mind....the sound, the smell the spray....just incredible...we spent about two hours just wandering around and staring at the water....there is a bridge that connects the zambia side and the zimbabwe side...it is actually one of the only bridges in the world that has trains crossing, cars/trucks crossing, bicycles crossing and walkers crossing....it is also the border crossing between the two countries...but we did not go across...for reasons mentioned above....but the side we did see was just incredible....
this is one of my favorite shots of the day....a double rainbow....just a bit of perfectness in my opinion....again occurring at the rainbow bridge....so aptly named....
i took this shot upstream so you could see the smoke that thunders clearly...up in this region people put their feet in and get a bit wet....BUT the current was really running, due to it being the end of the rainy season, so no one was literally swimming in the water....that would have been crazy....some people have asked if i went to the devils' pool...where you can sit and overlook the falls in the water....i was interested in doing this, but they weren't really running the tour because the water was too high and fast and you have to swim across part of the river to get to the pool...so nope, i did not do it...if i go back...that would be something i would like to try....but i also don't need to go over the falls.....
on our way out we saw a group of baboons...one thing i learned is that when you see a group of baboons, they are called a congress....hahahahahaha....i wonder how this truly relates to our government in the US....seems a bit too perfect - a congress of baboons....but i digress, and this will not involved politics, money or religion ;) this particular baboon looked like she wanted to explain what we had just seen using the model at the front gate :)
this last shot from the falls and zambia, is of me with a wood carving in the tourist center....these style of wood carvings were everywhere we looked in zambia...and we saw a few in botswana...i just loved the look of peace on the faces carved into the tree....i am not doing a good job of showing that...but i really loved these carvings....
the next morning our trip began with g adventures...this is the first time i have used them and all-in-all it was a good choice....and i loved that i did not need to plan a thing....just wake up and go....we were a group of 12 people, a guide and a driver....some people were going all the way to cape town...but some of us, the two of us included, were only traveling to namibia...as i saw pictures from the second half of the tour, i was quite jealous...even though our trip was amazing and incredible all on its own....here was the ferry to take people from zambia to botswana...notice...big enough for one 18-wheeler or two cars....plus a few motorcycles and walkers....we were walkers.....
as i am sure many of you are aware, AIDS is a huge problem in much of sub-saharan africa....so in most places we went and stayed in, they had condoms....which is a great method to reduce the spread....what i thought was really funny though was that we were being asked not to throw our underwear down the toilet.....hmmmmm....what had been going on in this place previously???
and then we were off to chobe national park in botswana....and oh what a park it was....this is where colleen and i did a river safari with cameras given to us to try out....you can see it below....we saw sooooo many animals....tons of birds, elephants - at least 6 herds of them, hippos in the water and outside of the water, crocodiles, babboons, kudu, water buffalo, but no big cats...however, because we had this special tour....we could get up close and personal with the animals...it was awesome :) we saw quite a few herds of elephants bathing and playing in the water...amazing!!!!!
here i am with the really big camera...this boat was amazing and there were only four of us on it....the cameras were put at the correct height for us to be able to just aim and shoot....it was an amazing ride....we were even give a few tasty beverages....this river safari was my favorite part of the whole trip....it was incredible...and after i look at the shots, if they turned out well, i will do one update of them alone....
and here is a hippo out of the water with an egret, the white bird, and her baby....i am really hoping this shot came out better with the big camera...the baby was about 2-weeks old, according to our awesome guide....and you can see it between the mom's head and front legs...it would stand up...walk a few steps and then fall back down...it was adorable....
and then it was the sunset....this one was spectacular....and the photo shoot dude knew exactly where to take us to get the perfect shot with the tree...it just looks so....africa....granted that is water and not the african plain...but it was a great place to shoot a shot....
a bit closer....this one turned out quite well....look at those colors and that silhouette....i am quite happy with this shot....may print it and frame it some day :)
and then we were racing the clock....we had to be off the water before it was pitch dark, because that is when the rangers are out looking for poachers.....a huge problem in botswana and namibia and south africa....one of my students actually did a presentation on the parks starting to use drones that read infrared - heat signals from anything alive around the herds...i guess it has led to quite a few poachers being caught....such a great way to use technology....
this last shot is of colleen, me and our amazing photography guide/leader and owner of the company - guts...yes, i did not spell his name wrong...its guts....he was born and has lived his whole life in bostwana and if you are traveling to botswana or south africa, you should look up his company...pangolin safari...i am now friends with them on facebook....but really, this was the highlight of my trip and he was incredible....so check out his site and if you travel that way, sign up for a photography session/safari with guts...simply awesome....
so that is round one....and we are only on our third day of the trip :) i have already planned out the second set of pictures and will try and get them out as soon as possible....but i did a crazy thing and bought a cheap ticket to italy for easter....which is next weekend...so i am not sure i will get them out to you before i head north to europe....i just couldn't resist and am headed to milan for the first time....it was cheap and its cooler there by a mile....the heat has been around quite a bit now...and i keep getting told this is the hot season...but it seems to rain quite a bit....so it has been hot and it hasn't...but i am headed north anyway....
hope everyone is well and happy....happy spring to the north and happy fall to the south...hope you enjoyed this update...the second set should be out sooner rather than later i hope....happy easter and happy passover to those that celebrate....peace out and catch ya on the flip side....
have a fab day :)
dani
dani
