Starting out on the river tour we saw a few birds, a small crocodile and a few kudu, which compared to our other games drives was rather tame, but we soon found ourselves surrounded by heards of elephants and a pod of hippos. All enjoying the waters of the Chobe.
And to wrap up the evening as we were heading back on the river we were presented with a beautiful sunset.
Seeing the animals from the river was a great new perspective to add to our other safari experiences.
We spent the next few days relaxing at our campsite and going for runs with our truck driver Tabi. After traveling for so long even spending 2 nights in a single place is refreshing. To wrap up our time in Botswana and add a new variation to our safaris we took to the skies in a 6 seater Cessna 210 to view the Okavango Delta from above.
Elephants...
Hippos...
It was a great way to see the delta and all the animals from a different vantage point. We both really enjoyed flying in the small plane, which felt like riding in an old Volkswagon Bug. From Botswana we continued south, crossing our last African border into South Africa. The landscape in South Africa was very surprising. The pine trees and the green mountains felt like the Pacific northwest of America and the mesas reminded us of south western US. We had some great views in and around the Blyde River Valley.
In South Africa we spent our last two nights in a funky campgound just outside of Kruger National Park. Typical to our other safaris the morning of our Kruger game drive was wet and raining, but again the clouds cleared and the day was sunny and clear. This time of year the grass in Kruger is very tall, which makes animal sightings a little more difficult, but we were still had some great spottings, including a dead elephant.
We also saw a massive bull elephant in musth, which is an aggressive period for male elephants during breeding.
This is what you do when see an angry elephant coming down the road.
And here our driver is sneaking past the same elephant.
We were very happy to see a large group of rhinos up close.
After our safari we had a fun night at the campground sharing some of the culture from our home countries. Since much of the world watches American TV we were left to singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during our turn.
We arrived the next morning in Johannesburg and were immediately surprised by all of the security measures. It seemed every house was a fortress surrounded by a massive wall with barbed wire and an electric fence along the top. We had been warned about walking in certain areas, especially after night. It was a shame since the city is full of new malls and great restaurants, but it felt very unsafe to explore.
On St. Patricks Day a group from our truck threw Abby and one of the other girls on our truck a surprise birthday party. Taking the time to fully deck out the bar in the hostel with princess themed party favors. It was a great time and was definitely a surprise to Abby who celebrated her 30th this year. The party was a great way to say goodbye and wrap up an awesome month on the overland trip.
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