Day 5 Okivango Delta

Today we went for the real safari hike. After a peaceful ride on the delta, we headed off. So going on a safari hike is basically walking around in silence for hours in the hot sun. As soon as we started walking we saw a huge heard of zebra. It was so cool to see them. They were curious about us and ready to run off. Good thing we had the binoculars and the 500 mm camera. We walked around for about 4 hours and the sun got a little hot. That African sun is really intense. We didn't see much else until the very end.
Best every now and then would get on top of a termite hill and would look his binoculars for a few moments not saying anything. Then he would start pointing out animals left and right. He was a really great guide and really wanted us to see a lot. At the very end, while he was on top of a hill, he spotted a giraffe and elephant. So we booked it and caught up with them. It was so cool to see these guys in the wild. There is something very different than seeing them in a zoo. It feels so different.
When back at camp we went swimming and met up with some of the other groups. They didn't really see anything except a turtle. They didn't have the Best. That night we went and checked out the hippo pond and made necklaces from the water lilies. The rides in the mekoros are just so peaceful and everyone falls asleep in them. LB's mekoro was made by his dad in 1.5 months.
That night we had a little singing and dancing from the Pula people. We also taught them some songs and dances, but our were nothing in comparison. Also, Marianna's Tacco Punta song was a big hit. Those Italians really know how to party.

Day 4 Okivango Delta

By this day my body is up before the 5 am wake up call. I'm getting used to the 10-5 sleeping schedule. We drove to the launch point on the delta. The village that we launched from also provided the Mekoros(little canoes) and drivers (Pulas) They are live in that village which is about 15 km from Maun. If they want to go to school they have to take a taxi, so most kids don't and none of our Pula could read. They learn English by speaking with the tourists, which also helps further their careers in the tourism business.
We hopped in the Mekoros (2 to each) and paddled to the island where we would be staying for the next 3 days. The drivers used long sticks to push us along the water. It was covered with reeds and it felt like our own little African Queen experience. LB was our Pula and was great. He is married with 2 kids and he goes on these little excursions once a week for 3 days.
It took about 1.5 hours to get there and then we set up the tents. There were other groups nearby, but there is a limit on how many people can be there at one time. Also, we couldn't bring soap or shampoo. They want to protect the habitat as much as possible. After setting up camp, we got some practice time on the mekoros. It's harder than it looks to guide one of those things. LB was very patient was must of have said "julia, put your stick here" or "julia, where are you going" a 100 times. Tamara was much better at it.
After that we went on a little evening safari. Best was our guide. He's about 30, not married, but does have 4 cows. He's getting ready for that certain lucky lady. He was hilarious. As he was telling us what to do he just had a huge grin on his face. He's the one in the picture with the safari shirt on.

Day 3 Botswana

Today we got up early(5 am) to go on a game drive in the Chobe National Park. It was an open truck with about 12 people. We had to drive on the highway to get to the entrance and along the way we saw tons of warthogs along the way. Little Pumbas left and right along the road. In the park we saw dung beetles, which are quite humorous to watch as they roll up dung into a ball and push it backwards. We also saw some water buffalo, elephants, kudu, and a black mamba. That was pretty fun to see, and I'm glad I was in a very tall truck while it was on the ground.
After that we packed up the tents and headed to Maun. Its a major city in Botswana and near our launching point for the Okivango Delta. There is no AC on the truck so all the windows were down and the wind was a blowing. After a 6 hour drive and passing an elephant on the side of the road we arrived.
We stayed the first night at a nice camp ground near the launch point and they even had a pool and hot water. Love the hot water.

Day 2 of Africa

After getting a good night's sleep (philly's first night in AC in over 2 years) we headed to the airport to catch a flight to Livingston. Where is Livingston you might ask? Well, none of us knew either. My favorite guess was Zaire from Mr. Kim. PS Zaire doesn't exist as a country anymore and is up in the Congo. When we arrived, and waiting at the Customs counter, I went to the bathroom and what do I see? I large box of condoms with pamphlets about HIV. Through out the trip I noticed many signs, condom boxes and pamphlets in many of the tribal languages as rates in these countries are estimated to be up to 40%.
The customs officer asked Mr. Kim where he was going and he replied, "Namibia." The guy just looked at him. After paying 35$ each to enter into the country, we were picked up by a private driver and driving to the Victoria Falls. There were incredible to see. This is were Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana meet. As we hiked along the top, it was amazing to see how the water went from such a slow moving pace to such fury underneath. AFter that we were driven to Botswana to meet up with our safari group. We were a little late and caught up with them on the Chobe River Cruise.
Here we saw a herd of elephants playing in the water, hippos, baboons, dlc (deer-like creatures), crocs and wart hogs. Mr. Kim bought a 500 mm camera lens so the pictures were amazing and the camera weighed a ton. We had one couple from Italy, one from Malasia and 2 boys from the UK with us. Our tour guide was Ken, who spoke so many of the tribal languages and was great.

Day One of South Africa

After 24 hours of travel, we arrived in JoBurg SA. The next day we drove 4 hours to Blomfontein to where Philly was serving. We were a little late because neither one of us had S. African Rand and there were some tollways that needed to get paid for. The country was very dry and red and mostly farms. Every time we asked someone how far to Blomfontein, they would respond "Oh, too far," but never give us a time or distance. When we arrived, it was still sacrament meeting, so we walked in and saw Philly and his companion. He had the biggest grin on his face and all the members knew who we were too. The building looked like most churches here, made of brick and standard LDS architecture, we're told its to be a future stake center and is in a very nice area of town.
It was fast and testimony meeting and Philip was good enough to encourage us to bear out testimonies. So I did. After Sacrament we were finally able to greet him and his companion. There was a baptism after church of a little girl, so they were busy getting ready for that. Her name was and Philly baptized her. While we were waiting, the men in the back of the room started to sing hymns. We sang mostly hymns that had different parts for males and females and the men were much better.
After the baptism, we had lunch with Sister Pizzo and family. It was her daughter who got baptized and there were others from church there as well. The church is very far from where they live in the government housing. Here house was made of cylinder blocks on the outside and very nice on the inside. We were the only white people in site and got lots of waves from the kids. Also, the car we rented is what is used for taxis and buses, so people were always trying to flag us down for rides.
While waiting for lunch we were talking with some of the members about lebola. It's the dowry paid for women in the form of cows. I also learned that 1 cow=2 goats=4 pigs. Each woman in the room was able to state how much she was paid for. Philly says its a big problem in the church, because it takes longer for people to get married and they are not letting go of their non-church cultures. I asked how much I would go for, just for reference purposes. After showing my guns, the number 20 was agreed upon. Lunch was good, chicken rice, cole slaw and brownie.
After that we went to an Afrikaner's home. These are the white people who are of Dutch decent and speak Afrikans. The house was huge, 3 story with a grass roof. Brightly decorated with red and orange and gray tile. Very bright, but fun. We had some pudding with them. It was more like a non-bake cookie. The family was baptized when the mom and dad were a young couple. The boy, Willie, loved Philly. We had a nice discussion about politics (everyone here is an analyst)
Then we headed back to JoBurg and met up with Curtis and Tamara. As soon as we got to the hotel, there was a rolling blackout. Apparently they do these a lot in the big city. So for about 3 hours the lights were out, but we had a nice catch up talk with Philly boy.

Pirates are my new IT thing!

For some reason, amongst all of my items to do and consistent checking of facebook, I have a new addiction. PIRATES!! I first read about them in my favorite magazine and have been hooked ever since. The story is just too good! My roommate even sent me this link. http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=308&Itemid=10 Which has weekly update on all the piracy movements of the WORLD!!! But what's the big deal you might ask? Well about 1,000 Somali pirates, who've been terrorizing the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean and living like sultans, are still holding 14 ships and about 250 crew members as of November 24, 2008. We're talking oil tankers, yachts of uber rich guys to fishing vessels. You name it, these guys steal it.



How cool is that? Sure their country is basically dying and millions of people are starving and homeless, but they're FREAKIN" PIRATES! I can't stop giggling with excitement just thinking about it. I really don't know why I'm so excited about it, but just knowing that there are pirates again, makes me feel all warm and tingly.

I'm a Godfather Junkie

For some strange reason, I don't know exactly why, I love the Godfather movies. I can't blame it on my time in Italy, because the fondness of the family Corleone started way before that. I don't normally watch a lot of tv, but I always seem to find the channel running the Godfather marathon for a whole weekend. Usually it's when I head home and have some time to sit down and actually enjoy a tv program. Truth would wake up in the middle of the night and come into the family room as I stared at Micheal, Kate and Freddo finding their ways in New York, Sicilia, Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. This weekend at 2am my roommate comes in to see me curled up on the couch with eyes glued to the tv while Micheal and Freddo are in Havana and Michael finds out Freddo betrayed him. Love that brotherly kiss.
I'm just fascinated by them. I can't get enough, how does a guy beat up his brother in law or have his brother killed? I can't believe Kate stayed that long to tell you the truth. And that one time he says that she gets to ask him about his work, he totally lies to her still. I love the murder methods, the stranglings, the gun shots to the eye, the dead horse head in your bed, the car bomb that killed the Sicilian wife, the strange guy in all black roaming around the house and priest getting it too. I still can't believe the oldest brother was killed like that.
I love the movies so much I've even been to Francis Ford Coppola's winery in Napa valley. It's where he stores a lot of the memorabilia like the Academy and Oscar awards, the music he wrote for the movies, clothes and so on. It's a little piece of Godfather heaven.
But the best thing about it all is Marlon Brando. He was so great in these movies and I love watching him. Could barely understand what he was saying, but that's part of what was amazing. I love to watch the dynamics of his relationship with his different sons, his wife and his business partners. Is it weird that I sort of want to be "in the family?" Maybe I could marry Michael's son? But then I think that I would be so paranoid that everyone was lying to me or trying to have me killed. How does Michael ever sleep? How does he ever trust anyone? Yeah, it makes for good television, but I don't think I want to be "in the family."