Ngoma Safari Lodge is located on the edges of Chobe National Park in Botswana. This fairly new property opened in May 2011 and was officially dedicated in July 2011 with his Excellency, Botswana's President Seretse Khama Ian Khama attending the opening ceremonies. This is isolated luxury at its finest and rawest; the lodge is accessible by any of 3 dirt roads - which are more like 4wd tracks among the bush - there are no signs and you must … [Read more...]
We are in Namibia!
I have acquired a Namibian souvenir in the form of a haircut or perhaps, lack of hair. That is what I get for going into an African barber - leave with a totally shaved head - most of the people here have very short hair. So now I fit in well. We are in the Caprivi Strip - a narrow band of the country bordered by Angola, Zambia and Botswana. It has a convoluted history - at times under Italian, German and South African control. Namibia became … [Read more...]
The Power & Beauty of Sub Saharan Africa
Upon finalizing my flights to South Africa from Bangkok, I told a good friend who has traveled extensively in Africa that I would kiss the African soil for him. He replied, "Kiss Africa's ground for me, but remember: Africa always wins. No matter how much you try to make sense of all the nonsense, it'll never make sense. Thus Africa wins." Winning or not, the unpredictability of adventure travel in Sub Saharan Africa has always appealed to me … [Read more...]
Countries still to Visit
Long bus rides are a great time to sit back and think about travel and upcoming trips. During one such recent 16 hour ride in Brazil I thought about which countries I would like to visit on each continent. Here are countries still to visit: North America - last one to visit is Panama (done late 2010) South America - Bolivia - Ecuador (done 2013) - Venezuela Africa - Botswana (done) - Egypt (done) - South Africa (done) - Namibia … [Read more...]
Africa Adventure
Our tour through Southern Africa began in Zambia and on arrival into Livingstone we were transferred to our accommodation on the banks of the Zambezi River, a few miles upstream from the Victoria Falls. Arriving in plenty of time before the tour began I made the most of the opportunities available in the area - this being one of Africa's adventure capitals offering a range of activities, from bungy jumping to sunset cruising. Our first day was … [Read more...]
Maun, Botswana
I remember looking out my window on the night flight from Europe to South Africa and seeing nothing but black below. No city lights for hours. Not until the next morning when the plane was over South Africa, were any signs of civilization present. On that flight I tried to imagine what it would be like to actually be in one of those areas that seemed so dark from above. Well, we finally entered this part of Africa when we crossed the "veterinary … [Read more...]
Windhoek, Namibia
The last time I signed off, my brother Abdul and I had just arrived in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia by bus from South Africa. We decided to pony up some extra money and take a Greyhound type coach and survive the trip, as opposed to paying next to nothing on one of the ubiquitous minibuses but putting our lives into the hands of a crazed driver hell bent to make it to his destination in the shortest time possible. Our guidebook called … [Read more...]