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Africa

African Safari

2/26/2018

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Over 3 weeks Matt and I visited 3 different National Parks.  2 in South Africa, and 1 in Kenya.  Each offered different animal viewings, and very different attitudes.  Before leaving I was very nervous about traveling all the way to Africa with the goal of seeing the animals, only to see nothing.  Animals never stick to human schedules, a lesson I am reminded of every time I scuba dive. 
Our first stop was Addo Elephant Park.  Here we stayed at the beautiful Riverbend Lodge.  With only 10 cabins, it is a small lodge offering great personal service.  Our cabin was part of the all inclusive rate, so we did not have to worry about any extra fees.  Our guide here was named Darlington who was quite the character!
Our first wake up call was 4:30AM-that was very hard!  (I did not realize that would be the wake up time at each park-man that was HARD!)  After a quick coffee and muffin we were off.  2 miles from the lodge we got a first sighting.  A leopard tortuous was laying eggs deep in a hole she had dug the night before-what a wonderful beginning.  Our luck just got better from there.  A large herd of elephants were stealing water from the irrigation well. There must of been 50 elephants, including a 3 week old baby, circled around the well.  That was the highlight of the trip for me.  


From there we flew to Madikwe National Park.  We stayed at Mateya Lodge, which is even smaller than Riverbend.  This was Matt’s favorite stop. The lodge has only 5 suites and is limited to a maximum of 10 guests at a time. This week there was only one other couple here besides us and we had the place to ourselves the last day! The service was awesome! The game drives were just as good. Our guide, Vernon, & spotter, Paul, were amazing at pointing out the animals. They seemed to know everything about each animal, tree, or plant. One unique animal we saw here was African wild dog.

Our last stop of Maasai Mara National Park. Here we stayed at the Fairmont Hotel.  Neither one of us liked this place. Here we always felt rushed and every little thing turned out to be an extra charge. Although we we’d see one of the best viewings of a pride of lions eating a zebra!
Our time in Africa seemed to fly by, but the early mornings & late nights out in the bush were starting to wear on us. Exhausted, we made our way back to the ship in Mombasa. Thanks for the great time, Africa. We will be back again. Look out Seychelles!!! We’re coming for you & the Maldives after that!!!

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First impression

2/1/2018

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3 stops in Africa this week-Togo, Benin, and Sao Tome. All 3 stops were heavy with history and life lessons. Matt has enjoyed going to the class time before each stop. Peter (Oceania crew) gives, what Matt describes as, a very thorough lesson of the history and current expectations for each port. So by the time we step foot on land Matt has a large amount of knowledge at the ready.


I wrote a bit about Togo on my facebook, here’s what I said:
The last 2 days have been such a huge history lesson. Both the countries of Togo and Benin have the distinction of selling the most it's own citizens into slavery with the Portuguese and Spain. For 400 years this went on.
Today although very poor they are united and our cruise ship had the honor of being the first mass tourist group to come recently! The people and towns were friendly, welcoming, and excited to see us. I had the feeling the children had never seen a White person before and they were so curious about us.


If I were forced to describe Togo-I would call it an infant country. Homes are built by the individual out of scraps around town. Most of the ‘buildings’ are falling down. BUT the people smiled and tried to communicate, they were helpful, and the children were super cute. Aren’t they always?


Benin I would describe as a toddler. Life was a little better-not much-but it was noticeable. Homes are sound(ish). It is possible to walk into a store without risking your life, although I’d be the first one out the door in an earthquake. The people were the same-they are always the reason I travel.


Today we were in Sao Tome. What a huge difference. This country is clearly a teenager pushing hard to be an adult. Homes are nice, streets are clean. The people, again, were awesome! God is good!


Overall these 3 countries are struggling with growing pains as they get past a dark history and move into a world of tourism. It would be interesting to come back in 5 years and see how they are progressing.


Next stop: ANIMALS!!!
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