December 18, 2005
The Namib Desert
The thing that Namibia is perhpas best known for is its huge sand dunes and vast deserts. I could not possibly have gone to Namibia and missed the desert which is how I found myself climbing a sand dune in...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 02:55 AM |
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December 13, 2005
Etosha, The Great White Place
Having seen the wildlife of the sand dunes, gone sandboarding down them (on one you can reach speeds of us to 80km/h), and quad biking up the sides of them, it was time to see something a little different for...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 09:00 AM |
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December 11, 2005
Transparent Geckos and Other Cool Critters
After the safari in Kruger and a few days hanging around Pretoria I treated myself and flew over to Windhoek, Namibia. Windhoek isn't all that exciting of a place so I soon went to Swakopmund, on the coast of Namibia....Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 03:37 AM |
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December 04, 2005
Kruger
After island hopping in Vilankulo it was time to leave Mozambique and head back into South Africa. I went to Pretoria, where I met up with David, a British rock-climber that I had met in Cape Town, to go on...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 04:03 AM |
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December 02, 2005
Island Hopping
From Tofo, I headed up to another beach town, Vilankulo, with Anna and Maria, to women I had met in Tofo. After a couple of fairly lazy days Anna, Maria, Alex and Kieran (who had by now caught up with...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 05:00 AM |
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November 29, 2005
Tofo, Mozambique
Mozambique is only a few hours mini-bus ride away from Swaziland, so I figured that I might as well go there for a week or so. I'm not much of a beach person and beaches are Mozambique's main attraction, so...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 10:57 AM |
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November 27, 2005
Swaziquad
The best day I had in Swaziland was the day that I went quad biking. I went with three women from my hostel, Gwen, Doreen, and Diane. Our guide, Richard, picked us up around 8:30 in the morning and we...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 08:32 AM |
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November 26, 2005
The Golden Lion Film Festival
One of the things I love about independent long term travel is the flexibility it gives you. You can completely change your plans on a whim. When I was at the internet cafe back in Cape Town researching information to...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 06:43 AM |
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November 24, 2005
St. Lucia
One of the towns I was most looking forward to visiting in South Africa was St. Lucia. St. Lucia has 5 different ecosystems and is thus know for its biodiversity. I unfortunately had only about two days to explore, but...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 02:07 PM |
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November 20, 2005
Coffee Bay
From Nature's Valley I travelled onto a town called Coffee Bay where I did yet more hiking, this time with a guide and five other travellers. The hike was along the coast over springy grass-covered rolling green hills. The hills...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 04:10 AM |
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November 19, 2005
Hiking in Nature's Valley and Hogsback
Many of you have written to me and mentioned that you are behind in reading my blog and are trying to catch up. What I have never mentioned to you is that no matter how far behind you may be...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 03:47 AM |
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October 15, 2005
Adventures in Oudtshoorn
After getting in three weeks of relaxation in Cape Town it was once again time to hit the road. My first stop heading northeast along the southern coast of South Africa was an interesting town called Oudtshoorn. The Cango Caves...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 05:20 AM |
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October 06, 2005
Cape Town
After I left Zimbabwe, I headed into Botswana. My plan was to visit the Makgadikgadi Pans and then the Okavango Delta before heading into Namibia. This didn't quite work out. When I got to Botswana I was just really tired...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 06:39 AM |
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September 16, 2005
The Problems of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has gotten a lot of bad press lately which gives people the impression that it is a dangerous country (not true) run by a crazy leader (true) where all the people are starving (no more than their neighbors) and...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 06:45 AM |
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September 13, 2005
Visiting Isabel
A few years ago I started sponsoring two children who live in Africa: Chantal in Rwanda and Isabel in Zimbabwe. Given the political situation in those two countries, I wasn't sure that I wanted to go visit them, but eventually...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 06:32 AM |
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September 04, 2005
Livingstone
Livingstone is a nice, small city in Zambia really close to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Victoria Falls. It is ideally set up for parting backpackers and other travellers from their hard-earned money. I was there for almost a week. Here is...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 11:39 AM |
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August 26, 2005
A Day by the River
As I mentioned in my entry about South Luangua Park, I spent one day just sitting by the river, watching what happened. While I was watching I took notes on it all -- way too many to type them all...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 09:47 AM |
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August 19, 2005
The Elephants Don't Want Me to Eat
I recently spent about a week at a Flatdogs Camp, just out of South Luangua National Park in Zambia. It was amazing. I stayed in a safari tent which was, by my current standards, incredibly luxurious. I had my own...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 05:07 AM |
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August 12, 2005
Its a Small World (Blantyre and Beyond)
After a lovely (but rather un-noteworthy) hike in Zomba, I travelled to Blantyre, which is Malawi's largest city. (Not, however, the capital city, which is Lilongwe.) I was going to be spending a few days in Blantyre and then Lilongwe...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 05:50 AM |
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July 28, 2005
The Night Bus: From Nkhata Bay to Zomba
From Nkhata Bay, my next stop was the town of Zomba, in the south of Malawi to do some hiking. From reading my guidebook and talking to people it seemed that the best way to get there was to take...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 04:27 AM |
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Lake Malawi
I finally managed to reach Malawi on July 6, after travelling from Rwanda, through Uganda, and across Tanzania. The day's travel was pretty uneventful: it just took four minibuses, a sharetaxi, a private taxi and a little bit of walking...Read this update
Posted by Jillian at 04:03 AM |
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