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Trip of a Life Time: Ultimate Africa: Day 13 Part 2

Day13HEADER.01

November 15, 2015 12:46P post cont …

While Mafuka continued making the bracelets out of the baobab tree fibers, he invited us to ask whatever questions we like. After all, we’re out in the middle of nowhere so, other than a nearby fisherman down on the riverbank, who else in the world is going to overhear our discussion? No one! Our questions eventually led us to another controversial topic: Parents teaching their kids about sex. Here in Africa, what a child learns about sex is from another adult figure other than their parent. In fact, parents won’t even so much as kiss one another in front of their children. Vitalis seeing your parents kiss would only occur at a special event, such as a wedding, and it would be very brief. These affectionate displays are kept private. So when a parent realizes it’s time for one of their children to learn about the birds and the bees they will approach a respected elder in the village that’s close to the child (say an uncle, grandparent for close family friend) and ask them to have “the talk” with the child. It’s not that it’s too embarrassing for the parent to talk to their child about sex, it’s simply that it’s not an appropriate behavior in the African culture. Very interesting.

While we were all standing beneath the thatched roof of the stone pavilion, listening to Mafuka, we spotted a crocodile floating along in the water down below. In the distance, there arose a rather plump hippo.

Speaking of animals, when you’re out on these game drives, never assume any of them to be uneventful. On our ride back to camp, we had a near assault with a rather upset teenage male elephant. I was able to get some great photos, being so close, but wished I had caught the experience on video instead. Here’s what happened: we were driving up the dirt road and spotted two elephants to our right. The nearest one was not happy to see us. He raised his head and threw out his giant ears.

Elephant throws out his ears as a warning.

I zoomed in my camera lens and got a great close-up shot. This one is definitely getting framed!

Quite possibly one of my favorite pics from the entire trip.

Our guide Thabani said that the elephant was probably trying to cross the road and our jeep had interrupted his path. The second elephant stayed calm in the background but the one nearest to us, continued staring us down. For a moment, I sensed that he and I had locked eyes. I moved my camera out of sight worried that he might think it was some sort of weapon. He began swaying his head from side to side, flopping his ears.

Angry teenage male elephant approaches our jeep.

We all sat there breathless with our hearts racing. Thabani backed up the jeep to make room for the elephant, who them stepped into the road. As he crossed the road he faced us head on and ran forward. We thought we were about to get plowed over by this massive creature. Suddenly, he reared back and trumpeted loud. None of us could move Oddly enough, Thabani and Vitals, seated at the front of the jeep, appeared perfectly calm – almost relaxed. After the elephant cross the road he rounded one of the mopane trees, tilted down his head and thrusted his entire head and body into the tree knocking it to the ground. Wow! Now the road was clear and Thabani turned around and asked: “Had enough?” Each of us swallowed the lump in our throat and assured him that we were ready to get the heck out of there!

Elephant stepped into the road and started to charge towards our jeep.

Now that we are back at camp, I am relaxing on the front porch of our tent enjoying the peaceful view. At each the 4 camps I have collected a small handful of dirt from just outside our “tent.” The dirt I collected from this particular camp was a few feet from the stairs to our tent and had a lion print in it. How cool! I’m hoping to find a wood-carved bowl with a lid, identical to the ones placed on the bathroom counters at every one of our tents, holding the powdered laundry detergent we can use to wash our “smalls” (underwear).

Before our evening game drive, the camp staff is going to show us how they make origami safari figure out of table napkins. Lots of laughs.

Origami with napkins lesson at the dining table of the main lodge of Kashawe Camp.

3:31P

Maybe this is just a guy thing but it’s so cool to stand over a toilet as you’re gazing out through your screened tent window into the nature of Africa. Haha!

9:10P

I love watching all the warthogs run away. They’re so cute with their tails sticking straight up like an antenna and then having to stop and look back at what they’re running from because they’ve forgotten. So funny.

Back at tent 9 relaxing in my very comfortable bed. It’s a cool, clear night with no lightening or thunder so hopefully we get a good night’s sleep.

Napkin folding was fun to watch and our game drive’s main highlight was pulling up to the top of a ridge for a stunning look of the golden and green valley below.

Stunning evening view of a small piece of Hwange National Park.

This was a great opportunity for Aryn, Judy, Katheryn and me to capture a picture together with the beautiful view in the background.

Kathryn, Judy, Aryn and me in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.

Two particular palm trees were pointed out to me as resembling the facial image of two lions. Very cool.

The Lion King palm trees in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Mafuka and I. This cat’s been leading safari game drives for over 50 years.

We remained up on that ridge, taking pictures and mingling, right through to the final drop of the sun into the horizon. It was a beautiful experience I will never forget.

Sunset over Hwange National Park. See image at top of blog for another sunset view from the same night.

Our drive back to camp was full of laughter as Aryn, Katherine, Judy, Cheryl, Donna and myself joked about making up some extravagant tale we could boast to the group in the other jeep about what we saw on our drive back. The story took the embellished and hilarious turn (thanks to Cheryl’s contagious laughter) of our group witnessing an elephant giving birth to a baby. Before you knew it we were fabricating that the infant got stuck halfway outside of the mother and Cheryl had to get down from the jeep and assist in delivering the baby! She said: “Oh yeah, I just reached right in there and pulled on the baby’s trunk!” We laughed the entire way back to camp.

(Note: I just heard a hyena in the distance).

Aryn and Cheryl both have much nicer cameras than my Canon Power Shot. Aryn has a DSL and Cheryl a two DSLR’s. I know they were able to get some pics of animals running or birds in mid-flight that my camera’s shutter speed is too slow to catch. Cheryl’s always so funny when she gets one of those unexpected amazing shots – with an expression on her face as if to say: “Wow. That was 100% luck.”

I’m off to sleep now. Tomorrow we are visiting a village “homestead” and an elementary school. These are schools that OAT supports and money has been raised at this particular school for a computer room.

January 18, 2016 by Brian

Publishing

Trip of a Lifetime: Ultimate Africa: Day 13 Part 1

Day13HEADER.02

November 15, 2015 – 12:46P

Sitting on the front porch relaxing in the cool afternoon temperatures of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Let me start by writing about last night. What a fantastic thunder and lightening storm. The lightening first appeared in the distance filling up the entire sky with deep shades of red. Not long after, there came bellowing roars of thunder that spanned for nearly an hour as I lay awake in bed. I was hoping for rain and between wind bursts I could hear footsteps in the grass outside our “tent.” The wind bursts became so ferocious that one particular gust blew so hard against the canvas wall behind our beds that it knocked over the lamps on Aryn and my nightstands. This really made us nervous and my first reaction was to quickly unplug my camera battery that was charging. Then, I replaced the lamp onto the nightstand and finally it began to rain. The rains were heavy and I pulled the heavy comforter up to my chin to keep warm.

Eventually, the weather system moved out and we were able to sleep again. The following morning we both admitted our concern over the canvas roof possibly ripping right off or the doors flying opening and a lion creeping inside to escape the rain. You know, I never did figure out what those outside footsteps were.

After a nice breakfast, the following morning, we headed out on our first game drive of the day! The sky was overcast and a light rain materialized which really cooled things down to, I’d say, the mid 60’s. It felt amazing. I can’t say enough good things about OAT. They don’t miss a trick because the jeeps came equipped with enough green ponchos for us all to wear. Unfortunately, when the rains come the animals hide. We did, however, see a few impala, zebras and some birds.

Zebras hanging out in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

After a while, we stopped at a picnic area with bathrooms. The guides served up our morning tea and coffee with these wonderful rosemary shortbread cookies. Since it was overcast and slightly raining, we gathered beneath the thatched roofs of one of the structures that stood beside a giant candelabra tree.

Pavilion where we gathered to escape the rain for our morning tea & coffee. Notice the beautiful candelabra tree.

One of our guides, Mafuka, had taken some long strands of tree fiber from one of the baobab trees. He began by pressing them in a downward motion along his leg and by doing this he was able to twist the strands into a tight, thin rope. He, then, used these short ropes to make bracelets for all the ladies. I, selfishly, asked him to make one for me as well, which he did. He also made one big rope and, when holding it up, said it was strong enough to tow one of the jeeps. Wow!

Mafuka making the bracelets out of fibers from the baobab tree.

While Mafuka was making the bracelets, he shared with us bits and pieces of his life and the Zimbabwean culture. He particularly focused on the cultural practice of polygamy. Very educational. Mafuka is 74 years old. He has been leading game drives for over 50 years. He, now, has 3 wives as he divorced his 4th one years ago. Divorce is a very informal process here in Africa. The man simply tells his wife he no longer wishes to be married to her and sends her on her way. No divorce attorney or paperwork is required. If there is a child between them, the man is expected to provide for that child. Sometimes this gets messy.

The process of getting married is fairly simple, as well. If a man likes a particular girl, he simply courts her and if she falls in love with him and and he wishes to be married, he asks her to marry him. If she says yes, he, then, pays a dowry. The dowry price ranges based on the value of what the woman can bring to the marriage. For example, if she is educated, she could bring a substantial income to the marriage and, therefore, the price of the dowry increases. Mafuka gave the example of “10 cows and $5,000,” as a dowry price. He also explained that if a guy has a good reputation the dowry price is lower than a guy with a bad reputation. This is the opposite of what we would think would determine someone’s dowry price. However, it’s done this way so to possibly discourage a “bad boy” from marrying your daughter by raising the dowry cost hopefully to a level that he can’t afford. Smart thinking!

Mafuka continued by stating that if a man finds another available girl that he likes or, in some cases, his wife may suggest bringing in a particular girl (say one of her cousins) and the man likes her, he can ask her to marry him as well. Mafuka said he knew of a man with 40 wives. He also shared that despite having multiple wives, some men cheat on their wives with a mistress. This can create a lot of village gossip. Our other game drive guide, Thabani, is much younger (probably in his mid 20’s) and has only one wife and three children.

We also learned there is a lot of societal pressure around having children. So much that there have been cases where girls who were unable to bear a child have committed suicide. There have also been cases of men committing suicide from the stress of trying to keep his mistress a secret from his wife(s).

Beautiful baobab tree where Mafuka stripped the fibers to make our bracelets. Notice the extensive scouring of bark. This is the work of elephants rubbing their bodies against the trees and can be seen throughout Hwange.

(This conversation will continue in part 2 of Day 13)

January 17, 2016 by Brian

Travel

Trip of a Lifetime: Ultimate Africa: Day 6

12.13.15

November 8, 2015 – 5:00A

Early tribal drum wake up call. Leaving Baobab Lodge for another camp in Botswana. Excited to see what this place is going to look like. I hope the beds are as comfortable as the ones here. This was one of the most comfortable beds I’ve ever slept in.

12:40P

Arrived at our “new home” for the next 3 days at the Wilderness Tented Camp in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

During the 20-seater minibus ride from Chobe to Kasane Airport in Botswana, Vitalis shared with us some of the cultural behaviors of the countries we are visiting. One particular (and controversial) topic we spent some time on was polygamy, which is practiced in Africa. He also talked about that superstitions and are a part of their culture. This is why when someone dies their body is always buried. If someone was cremated then it is believed that their spirit would come back upset wanting to known why their loved ones chose to cremate them. We also learned that when a child sneezes instead of saying: “Bless you” they say “Grow up.” This also falls back on their superstitions because they believe that there is a bad spirit among that child causing them to sneeze so by saying “grow up” they are wishing away the bad spirit as bad spirits are believed to leave the body as you become an adult. Vitals also explained that there is a local philosophy called “Drink 3 times.” He said you “drink when something good happens in order to celebrate and you drink when something bad happens in order to forget about it. And you also drink when nothing is happening so to find another reason to drink again.” haha! Vitalis explains it better than I am probably doing. It has been very interesting to learn about the people here. Vitalis is extremely knowledgeable and I feel privileged that he is sharing so much information with us.

The bus took us to Kasane Airport where there were two small “puddle-jumper” planes waiting to fly us into the Okavango Delta. Fortunately, there was Wifi at the Kasane Airport so I was able to touch base with Aaron and my mom via text. Aryn, Judy, Katherine and I flew in on the 6 seater prop plane. Apparently, Judy had opted for us to fly in the smaller plane prior to the trip. Our pilot’s name was Kyle and he explained to us the safety features of the plane and that our flight time was expected to be an hour and twenty minutes. Let me just tell you that for the first 15 or so minutes of the flight I was looking out from the co-pilots window thinking: “Really? Is this tiny little contraption seriously going to stay up in the air for over an hour?” The plane that the rest of the group took was a 12 seater. At one point they passed our plane and it was really cool looking out the window and seeing them. Once my mind was able to relax, I enjoyed looking down at the beautiful terrain of mostly bare trees and dry land. Occasionally, there’d be an elephant and some giraffes. Very cool.

We touched down on a dirt landing strip. There were two jeeps there ready to pick us up with our new guides Paul, MP and Proctor. Our ride from the landing strip to the camp was a game drive where we saw over a dozen hippos. Paul pulled our jeep right up to the water’s edge, turned off the engine and we sat and admired and counted these hippos for at least ten minutes or more. I love watching these creatures rise up out of the water. That’s when you get a better perspective of just how massive they are. Our guide Paul said hippos can get up to 3.5 tons in weight. Wow! We also saw zebra and various antelopes. There was also an interesting-looking antelope known as the Waterbuck. They are easily distinguished because of the heart-shaped outline on their backside. The guides jokingly referred to this white outline as a “toilet seat.” That’s how we learned to identify these particular antelope.

Hippos in the water on game drive to new camp.

Waterbucks in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

We also crossed over this long bridge made out of logs that spanned a small river known as the Khwai. Our driver Paul jokingly called said: “We’re about to cross the famous bridge over the River Khwai.” haha!

Lunch at the new lodge was refreshing. Especially the shredded carrot & minced apple salad. And the surrounding view is awesome. Along the tree line in the distance we watched 2 giraffes and later a pair of impalas. We are going to need a lot of water today – it’s a hot one.

Interior of Main Lodge at Wilderness Tented Camp, Botswana

Extending from either direction of the main large are wooden boardwalks that lead to the individual tents. These “tents” are different than the ones at Baobab which had doors. These ones literally zip up in front. Very authentic safari living. The floors are hardwood and we are elevated about two feet off the ground. The staff manager Kay was very clear to explain that the raised wooden boardwalk is the only path we are allowed to take to and from the main lodge. We are not to veer of this path and we are to be on the lookout for lions and leopards. If we encounter one, we were clearly instructed NOT to run OR turn away but to walk backwards to the nearest tent. Just like at the last camp, Aryn and I are in the furthest tent from the main lodge. HAHA! The beds in our tent are facing the front entrance which has a screen that zips shut so from our beds we can look out. We have a wooden front porch with two chairs on it and the view is of the African “bush.” So cool.

Outside our “tent” at Wilderness Tented Camp in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Inside our “tent” at Wilderness Tented Camp in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Electricity is powered by a generator and our water is heated by solar panels. Lots of sun beating down on those panels today so there should we should be in store for a hot shower.

On the counter behind our bed is an aluminum pitcher with a black lid. Inside is ice cold water. Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus! We can also access purified water from the main lodge, just like at the last camp, to fill our Wilderness Safari water bottles for drinking and brushing our teeth.

View from my bed in my “tent”

We have some siesta time right now so I’m going to head back to the main lodge and work on a few more of my post cards before its time for “high tea” and our afternoon game drive at 3:30P. I also want to get a video of the public men & women’s restrooms next to the main lodge. The are so cool because when you walk in and sit down on the toilet you are facing a half wall that looks out onto the “bush.” That’d be sweet if a giraffe came right up to the window and stuck its head in while I was using the “john.” haha!

9:20P

This afternoon’s game drive in the Okavango Delta was spectacular. We started off by seeing multiple “pods” of hippos in the water. One individual hippo stepped out from the water and ran across the field into some trees. The guide said he was on heading into the shade to rest. The roads in these parks are dirt and extremely bumpy. All you can really do is laugh about it. Which becomes good bonding for you and everyone in your jeep. Here in the Okavango Delta, they also refer to this as the “African massage.” haha! Our driver today was Paul and we had a young guy from the Bushman tribe named Proctor joining us. His presence is what allowed us to go “off roading” and, therefore, closer to the animals. Thank you Proctor! We also saw these two tiny yellow-eyed Spotted Eagle Owls in a tree. It took me forever to actually see them. Finally, with the help of the zoom of my camera and Proctor’s direction I was able to get a view. I don’t know how these guides are able to drive along these bumpy roads, worry about the branches impeding from either side of the road AND spot these often times well-camouflaged animals. What a talent!

Hippo heading for some shade

Next we stopped to watch an elephant feeding on a tree. He gave us a show by flapping his ears, raising his trunk and facing us head on. It was quite an experience.

Star down from an elephant

But the creme de la creme of today’s drive was a sighting of six lions (2 females with their cubs and 2 male lions known as “The Discovery Boys”). The guides off-roaded, driving over tree and bush stumps in order to park our jeeps among the cats. When the engine was turned off, the guides very quietly reminded us of the rules when being among these wild animals. #1: Do Not Stand Up in the Jeep! #2: No sudden movements or sounds and #3 If you drop your camera outside of the jeep, say goodbye to it because no one’s getting out to pick it up! The two males were laying down at first. One stood up and walked over to the other and they rubbed their faces together as a sign of affection. What an amazing sight. The one standing up walked around our jeep, brushing the side of his body against our jeep. All you could hear was the clicking sound of everyone’s cameras. I’m not going to lie, it is slightly intimidating and you just sit there, holding your breath and hoping that everyone in your group follows the rules. The females and cubs walked around a little but mostly laid in the shade. We sat there for over a half hour and I got some pretty sweet videos and photos. It was an absolutely amazing experience. Anyone who even tries to compare a safari to a trip to the zoo is either not admitting their jealousy or should have their heads examined. I can’t even begin to describe how incredible it was to be among these animals in their natural habitat.

Female Lion right beside jeep (notice bar of jeep at bottom of photo).

“The Discovery Boys” Friends NOT Foes

One of the Discovery Boys giving us a ROAR!

Amazing to see the movement of these creatures. So graceful

As we drove back to the main road our guide pointed out a huge Giant Eagle Owl high up in a tree. This thing was massive – over two feet tall. As it stared down from the tree we waited for it to blink so we could see its distinctive pink eyelids. As the temperatures were cooling down and we were all relaxed in the jeep enjoying the beautiful scenery we came across a parade or “memory” of elephants walking along the beautiful sunset. Wow! At this point, my camera battery was done. Sigh – again I should have packed a back-up battery.

Giant Eagle Owl in the Evening

Dinner back at camp was delicious – particularly the creamed bean soup. I always enjoy the myriad of conversations with my fellow travelers and the camp staff. These are moments filled with smiles and laughter that you wish could last for ever.

After dinner our guide “MP” was walked us back to our tent by flashlight. He would shine the flashlight quickly in all directions looking mostly for cats. As we walked, Aryn, Judy, Katherine and I couldn’t help but gaze up at all the beautiful stars. There must have been thousands of them and they were so clear. From our from porch we can look out at all the stars. All I can say is anytime I’ve ever looked at the stars I’ve had to look straight up but tonight you can look directly out and see just as many as you see in above. The stars go all the way down to the tree line. It takes my breath away. Amazing!

Off to bed now. Aryn and I are trying to guess what that low, howling sound is outside. I think it’s a hyena. We have been advised that there is a leopard in the areas we are to keep our tent zippers sealed shut. I love listening to orchestra of sounds surrounding us. It’s actually quite soothing. Night-night. 5a wake-up call tomorrow so we can start off on an earlier game drive to try and beat the heat. Despite the roaming leopard, we’ve decided to keep our tent flaps open with just the screens sealed in the front and on all the side windows. Praying for no visits from leopards … but maybe an elephant. 🙂

December 14, 2015 by Brian

Travel

Trip of a Lifetime: Ultimate Africa: Day 5

header.12.06.15

November 7, 2015 – 5:40A

Slept so much better now that I’ve experienced a game drive and, therefore, my mind is no longer racing with curiosities. I’ve also gotten used to falling asleep to baboons, hyenas and lions. haha. Feeling refreshed and ready for another game drive in Chobe. 🙂

Curious ostriches (2 of 3) along the side of the road on the way to our morning game drive in Chobe.

2:28P

Wow! Just returned from our third and final game drive in Chobe National Park. The terrain of the park is a beautiful wide open space with the Chobe River running through it. On the other side of the river is Namibia. Chobe is 4,500 square miles. We did see many parts that were tree covered. A great deal of the trees had been eaten by the 120,000 elephants that are estimated to populate the area.

Chobe National Park in a nutshell (Botswana) – Various antelope, a warthog grazing (middle left) and a few zebra in the background.

Saw lots of cape buffalo, impala, kudu, warthogs, giraffes, elephant including a tiny baby elephants that were skipping amongst the adults as the “parade” passed us by. What a magnificent sight to see.

Elephant and her young in Chobe National Park, Botswana

All of a sudden, we were informed by another tour group of a leopard in a tree with it’s kill (an impala). So our driver Genius hurried our jeep out to see the leopard. It was perched in an acacia tree guarding its kill. We sat there with the engine off for close to a half hour just admiring this stunning animal.

Leopard in acacia tree

And not only this … we saw a female lion and had the unique privilege of watching her hunt down and chase a roan antelope – which our guide “Genius” said is a rare species in this area. The lioness was deep in the tall golden grass down by the water, too far for my zoom to get a good picture. But then she came right to us and laid down beneath a tree to rest in the shade. She was panting heavily either from just having eaten or the heat. We watched her for a long time and then she spotted the roan antelope by the water. She hunched into a darting position but instead of running, slowly moved past us and crouched down in the grass to move in. The antelope did not see her until she was running in for the kill. It was so exciting to see this live. The antelope got away by leaping into the water. The lion would not go into the water. I thought this was because cats were afraid of water but actually lions are very good swimmers and like being in the water but they’ve learned to avoid it because of the crocodiles. Very interesting.

Hungry lioness spots potential prey

We also saw a hippo in the water with its eyes and top of its head peeking out and new saw another one shading underneath a tree. We could only get a view of its back and man was it massive. Apparently, these animals can get up to 3.5 tons. Wow! Oh yeah, we also saw a Nile crocodile. What an experience overall. I would be remised if I didn’t comment on all the beautiful bird species we saw throughout Cobie. My two favorites were the lilac-breasted roller (or “rrrrrr-oler” as Vitalis would say) and the red-billed hornbill. Fascinating colors.

Lilac-breasted Roller

It was also cool having a picnic lunch in the “bush.” Before lunch I spotted some monkeys in a nearby tree. I was able to get right up to the tree without them running away. I snapped a dozen photos just waiting for this one particular money seated in a branch to look directly at my camera and finally he did. Money shot!

Money Monkey Shot!

After lunch “Six” pulled out a map of Botswana and explained to us the recent history of the country and its national parks. Very interesting. During the presentation this beautifully iridescent blue-eared starling was hanging out below our picnic table.

Blue-eared starling

Now we are back at our “tent” resting before heading out to see a small village called Mabele and basket weaver. But first, I’m going to catch a quick and unfortunately, cold, according to Aryn, shower.

9:30P

Exhausted. Long and exciting day.

The basket weaving demonstration at the Lwaavo Arts & Culture Center in Mabele was fun and very educational. I spent $110 on woven baskets, trivets, earrings and necklaces. Most of what I bought was made by a young woman named Joy, who conducted most of our presentation.

Joy explaining how some of the color in the basket came from a rusted soda can.

Following our learning and discovery of African basket weaving, we went bar hopping at a bar next door to the basket weavers and another one down the road. At the first bar fellow traveler, Vern from Minnesota, bought all of our drinks. I had a local beer called Windhoek lager. Bar hopping was such a blast and as we drove back from Mabele the sun was quickly lowering itself on the horizon. It was such peaceful view and the temperature was comfortably cool. An overwhelming feeling of gratefulness came over me. I was in awe and appreciation of my surroundings. I felt incredibly blessed.

My dear friend Aryn and I enjoying a Botswana brew at a local bar in Mabele, Botswana

Unexpectedly, our jeeps pulled off the road and parked by a row of trees along a ridge. Down in the valley we saw a table was set up with a few of the people from our camp. This was to be our “sundowner” time. What a nice way to spend our last evening in Chobe. We walked down to the table which had the word “ENJOY” spelled out in reddish-brown beats. The staff from the camp served us each a champaign glass of Amarula and gave a nice toast. As we drank our tasty Amarula (I need to pick me up a bottle of this stuff – tastes like Irish Cream) we gazed out in the wide open grassy space as far as the eye could see. As even fell, its backdrop became a magnificent sunset. Off in the distance a parade of elephants appeared. What a perfect picture. Breathtaking. . Everyone in our group knew how fortunate we were because these animals are not cued to appear. When you go on these game drives what you see is what you get and its the total luck of the draw. Aryn and I were reviling in the fact that were were standing there together in Africa. How cool. Judy noted that we were surrounded by the same tall golden grass that the lioness had been hiding in earlier this afternoon. What if there was a lion hiding out there now? All we could do was hope that our guides were keeping a good watch or we might be someone else’s dinner before we made it back to dinner ourselves.

“Sundowner” drinks in Botswana, Africa

At camp we gathered in the sofa area of the lodge where Vitalis briefed us on tomorrow’s schedule and served us up a yeast alcoholic drink called “Shake Shake” that he had bought from the first bar in Mabele. It was milky-looking with a slight grit and smelled like rising bread dough. I didn’t care for it but it was a cool thing to experience. No regrets!

Being our last night in the camp, dinner was a traditional Botswana meal served with us seated around the “boma” (campfire). Prior to serving the food one of the staff members came to each one of us with a pitcher of water and a bowl. We held our hands over the bowl and she poured the water over our hands to clean them. We ate using our hands and the white polenta too scoop up the food. It was delicious – especially the corn soup. Traditional African meals do not include a dessert, however, they did give us each a piece of watermelon. The conversation was very nice and after dinner we gathered by the pool for a performance of traditional singing and dancing by the staff. We were also asked to perform a song from our homeland (the States). Our talent amounted nowhere close to the staff’s. haha! But it was fun nonetheless.

Praying for a good night’s sleep. Aryn and I hear a male lion;s mating call in the near distance. This would probably make my Aaron nervous. But overall, I think this trip would grow on him. Wish he had come.

December 6, 2015 by Brian

In 1940's rural Mississippi, identical thirteen-year-old twins Jimmy and Billy McGee will play the most important game of their young lives. Challenged by their cross-town enemies to decide once and for all domain over their neighborhood baseball diamond, the boys and an entertaining crew of unique friends are determined to maintain control over their territory. But there's one unexpected dilemma. Their rivals will not accept that the boys' best friend and the team spark plug is black. And suddenly the twins are faced with a decision that will forever shape their lives and how their friends, family and the entire community perceive them.