I am back and am still a bit breathless about what I saw and experienced. It was incredibly wonderful and I now better understand what my friend Sally meant when she said, "You can divide travel into two groups - the rest of the world and Africa." It was such a different type of trip, different from anything else I have experienced. I suspect all eco-tours are that way - instead of focusing on what humans have done you look at nature. And what nature it was.
I saw thousands of animals in their natural setting. Before I left I had decided to count the number of animals I saw and divide it by the cost of the trip. Given that this trip cost more than any I have ever taken (just getting to Africa is really expensive) I decided to look at it in terms of cost per animal. Was it worth it? Or was going to a zoo more cost effective? So stupid of me. There is nothing better than seeing animals in their natural environment. I know, duh. But also, how do you accurately count a herd of zebra? A flock of guinea hens? A field full of baboons cavorting in front of you? A raft of hippos whose heads rise and sink in the river bed while you watch? I quickly gave up counting. My first African sunset - standing on the savanna (gin and tonic in hand) looking out over hundreds of zebras and elephants at the big, fat, bright orange African sun sinking below the horizon - well, that single experience was worth the entire cost of the trip.
I am still gathering thoughts about how to best convey my African experience so plan to write about it in several entries to follow but here are some general thoughts:
1. It takes a LONG TIME to get to and from Africa. The trip home? Between stepping foot in the Cape Town, South Africa airport and stepping out of the plane at San Francisco? 35 hours. Yes, 35 hours. 4 flights (Cape Town to Johannesburg - 2 hours; Johannesburg to Dakar, Senegal - 8 hours, Senegal to Washington D. C. - 8 hours, Washington to SFO - 6 hours and then add 11 hours waiting for flights in the various airports). God bless inflight movies - I watched 8 on the way home.
2. It is really important to have a good camera when going on Safari - note to Donna - get a new one. How stupid I was. I bought my camera in 2004 - it's now 2012 - 8 years later; digital technology has greatly changed. When I looked at what others were producing with their cameras I wanted to cry. I gave up half way through when I realized how horrid the quality of my shots were. Thankfully, thankfully, thankfully, others have offered to share so in later entries you will see some great shots. Here is an example of one of my shots:
The good thing about this photo? You can see how close we got to animals (and were much closer on later outings). I didn't have much zoom capacity and this is without using my limited zoom. The bad thing? Note the pink tinge on the top. No idea what caused this but it appears on many of my photos. I know - can anyone be more stupid than to not thoroughly check their camera BEFORE going on Safari?
3. As always, the people I met were wonderful. I will never forget their kindness and enthusiasm in sharing their part of Africa with me. This includes all of our guides, the staff in the 4 camps where we stayed, the villagers, the bush pilots, the school children and the charming people who convinced me to buy more African trinkets than I could possibly use!
4. And the memories. I saw thousands of animals as I bounced around on the seats of open-sided Land Rovers, slept in tent cabins among the animals (and slept right through the noise of elephants eating the trees and shrubs around our tent and the hippos honking from the nearby river), took an outdoor shower next to a termite mound while zebras and elephants munched savanna grasses nearby, played the role of "co-pilot" in a tiny bush plane, was almost killed by stampeding elephants in Botswana, fished in the Lufupa River in Zambia, played with children in a school in Zimbabwe, sat on the floor of a village hut while learning about village ways, stood in awe of the thundering sounds and mist created by the water falling over Victoria Falls then crawled along the original catwalk underneath the 100 year-old Victoria Falls bridge, stood in the doorway of Nelson Mendela's prison cell on Robben Island, had dinner with a "colored" family in Cape Town and discussed their post-Apartheid lives, walked through a black Township where people were forced to move when Cape Town's District 6 was razed, stood and looked out at the ocean from the Cape of Good Hope - and interacted with such wonderful people every step of the way.
Much more to come.
I saw thousands of animals in their natural setting. Before I left I had decided to count the number of animals I saw and divide it by the cost of the trip. Given that this trip cost more than any I have ever taken (just getting to Africa is really expensive) I decided to look at it in terms of cost per animal. Was it worth it? Or was going to a zoo more cost effective? So stupid of me. There is nothing better than seeing animals in their natural environment. I know, duh. But also, how do you accurately count a herd of zebra? A flock of guinea hens? A field full of baboons cavorting in front of you? A raft of hippos whose heads rise and sink in the river bed while you watch? I quickly gave up counting. My first African sunset - standing on the savanna (gin and tonic in hand) looking out over hundreds of zebras and elephants at the big, fat, bright orange African sun sinking below the horizon - well, that single experience was worth the entire cost of the trip.
I am still gathering thoughts about how to best convey my African experience so plan to write about it in several entries to follow but here are some general thoughts:
1. It takes a LONG TIME to get to and from Africa. The trip home? Between stepping foot in the Cape Town, South Africa airport and stepping out of the plane at San Francisco? 35 hours. Yes, 35 hours. 4 flights (Cape Town to Johannesburg - 2 hours; Johannesburg to Dakar, Senegal - 8 hours, Senegal to Washington D. C. - 8 hours, Washington to SFO - 6 hours and then add 11 hours waiting for flights in the various airports). God bless inflight movies - I watched 8 on the way home.
2. It is really important to have a good camera when going on Safari - note to Donna - get a new one. How stupid I was. I bought my camera in 2004 - it's now 2012 - 8 years later; digital technology has greatly changed. When I looked at what others were producing with their cameras I wanted to cry. I gave up half way through when I realized how horrid the quality of my shots were. Thankfully, thankfully, thankfully, others have offered to share so in later entries you will see some great shots. Here is an example of one of my shots:
The good thing about this photo? You can see how close we got to animals (and were much closer on later outings). I didn't have much zoom capacity and this is without using my limited zoom. The bad thing? Note the pink tinge on the top. No idea what caused this but it appears on many of my photos. I know - can anyone be more stupid than to not thoroughly check their camera BEFORE going on Safari?
3. As always, the people I met were wonderful. I will never forget their kindness and enthusiasm in sharing their part of Africa with me. This includes all of our guides, the staff in the 4 camps where we stayed, the villagers, the bush pilots, the school children and the charming people who convinced me to buy more African trinkets than I could possibly use!
4. And the memories. I saw thousands of animals as I bounced around on the seats of open-sided Land Rovers, slept in tent cabins among the animals (and slept right through the noise of elephants eating the trees and shrubs around our tent and the hippos honking from the nearby river), took an outdoor shower next to a termite mound while zebras and elephants munched savanna grasses nearby, played the role of "co-pilot" in a tiny bush plane, was almost killed by stampeding elephants in Botswana, fished in the Lufupa River in Zambia, played with children in a school in Zimbabwe, sat on the floor of a village hut while learning about village ways, stood in awe of the thundering sounds and mist created by the water falling over Victoria Falls then crawled along the original catwalk underneath the 100 year-old Victoria Falls bridge, stood in the doorway of Nelson Mendela's prison cell on Robben Island, had dinner with a "colored" family in Cape Town and discussed their post-Apartheid lives, walked through a black Township where people were forced to move when Cape Town's District 6 was razed, stood and looked out at the ocean from the Cape of Good Hope - and interacted with such wonderful people every step of the way.
Much more to come.
OMG, Donna! Your trip sounds phenomenal. (thankfully, you weren't trampled by elephants) I hardly can wait to hear more.
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