Stilllll in Victoria Falls!

It seems that without the push of the overland truck schedule it is way to easy to stay in one spot. I really like it here in Vic Falls. The people are very friendly and the backpackers I am staying at is just a wonderful place to have fun, hangout and meet other travelers. I am leaving tonight though with a few other people to go the Harare where the music festival is going on. I am so enjoying not having a plan and just going day by day, moment to moment. There is nothing better than saying your plan for the day is not to have a plan. Yesterday I spent my day by the pool and chatting with people from all over the world. What could be better? I have made friends with a lot of the locals and could come back easily now. I will be sad to say goodbye today but may just find myself here again on my way to Botswana after visiting Dumi in Malawi. I love that I don't know what is coming next and I can decide to do anything! Anyway, I am safe, well and happy and everywhere I go there are plenty of guys who want to be my personal shaperone so I feel very safe. The guys have been amazingly respectful, nothing like the boys back home (sorry guys but you have a few things to learn) LOL. Well thats all for now I guess, more to come when I am in Harare, a new chapter to this discovery of not just Africa but of myself.

Crazyness in Victoria Falls

Yesterday I did some of what Victoria Falls is known for, the adrenaline sports. My friend Harry and I decided to do the tandem bridge swing. What that entails is getting harnessed up, getting cozy next to each other, holding on tight and jumping off a bringe over the Zambezi river next to the falls. It was fucking fantastic!!!! As soon as we did it I wanted to do it ten more times! We had one of the people from our truck take pictures so I should be getting those by the time I get home. Then we rushed back to camp where I got picked up to do an elephant safari. It was deffinately something that I would recomend to people but it wasn't quite what I had expected. You got to ride of the elephant with a 'driver' for about an hour. The best part was going into the water with them and feeding them. I got to touch its tounge and it was so smooth. I didn't buy the video, I took photos, but I did buy the footprint of the elephant that I was riding.

I had to say goodbye to my overland truck group this morning. I am very sad to see them go as we all got really close over our trip. I will of course be staying in touch with them and the crew as well who I also got very close with. It has been a 24/7 party in Vic Falls especially since we haven't needed to get up at the crack of dawn every morning to drive miles and miles. Our watering hole for the past few days has been the local seedy bar complete with male and female prostitutes! It may sound bad but it has been really fun getting to know the locals and Zimbabwe continues to be the friendliest place.

As it was our last night together our truck group decided to have a BBQ and we invited another overland truck to join us. It was a great feast which of course led us all, the other group included, across the street to dance away the night. It was good luck for me to meet up with this other group as I will be joining them on a sunset cruise this evening. I am much more confident traveling alone at this point as I have a better understanding of how things work and who to ask for help, but it is always nice to be with other tourists. I have pitched my tent for the first time at a great backpackers here and will enjoy using the kitchen that is available to us. Well until the next post.....

End to a trip, start of a journey.

My overland trip is officially over. Though I am no longer on the trip I have been continueing to camp with them in Victoria Falls for the past few days. Since my last post we have made our way through Zimbabwe to Vic falls. We did several safaris or game drives which were so amazing. One of our game drives our guide, Ian, took us to see the cave drawings of the bushpeople. He had so much knowledge about the people, the plants the animals, the history of the land and knew some of the bush language. It was mind blowing what he told us about them and so incredibly sad that they have been pushed out and off the land into the desert. We learned about poisonous plants, herbs, medicines and edible plants. There is absolutely no reason to go to the store for anything, just walk around and it is all right there under your feet or up in the trees! After the caves we went on an animal seeking drive where we got to get out of the car and walk up to a wild rhino!!! We got within 25 or 30 feet of this enormous animal and shit I was a little nervous. The guide took a photo of me with the rhino in back so you will see how close we really are and how massive this animal is. I am just continually amazed by all the creatures here, large and small. We stayed in this absolutely beautiful place for two nights. The cabins or huts are build in amongst these huge bolders and caves. There is no way to properly describe the awe of being there. You just have to experience it.

The next few game drives were with this crazy guy Andy. He told us all about the poaching problems and how he himself has been employed in catching them in the national parks. He took us on a night game drive which was an experience to say the least. We got to see some small creatures that only come out at night but the best part was watching Andy swerve off the road yelling at the baboons in the trees, scaring them off. It was absolutely hilarious! We also, during the day, would speed after these birds in the middle of the road and they would scurry off in all directions. I called it bird bowling. I kow it sounds maybe a bit bad but it was all in good fun and no animals were hurt during our adventures. I can't tell you how incredible it is to be in the national parks so close to these animals. I mean we were within feet of elephant herds, leopards running across the road in front of us, tons of giraffe and soooo much more. It was just so fantastic!

I am ending my trip with the overland truck in Victoria Falls tomorrow morning. Today I am setting out to do the bridge swing with one of the guys from my trip and then an elephant ride. I am so excited for these adventures. I know I keep using all these words like incredible, amazing and all that but there really aren't words to express these things properly. The other day we went to see the falls themselves and it was just incredible. When they suggest to you to wear a rain jacket they aren't kidding around. I didn't wear one and it was like standing in a high pressure shower! The spray from the falls this time of year is so powerful that at times you can't even see the falls. In a few days I will be heading up to Harare, Zimbabwe, to attend an international festival with music and various performances. When we passed through Harare last week I met a young woman on the road who invited me to come stay with her so I will see if I can make that happen. It is a bit scary to be back on my own again but also a good change from the go go go of the group trip. I am really sad to see the truck move on tomorrow and my tour leader, Victor, keeps trying to get me to come with them. I am considering meeting up with the truck down in Cape Town and coming back up to Victoria Falls but I don't know yet, I have a lot of options. So until next time, hope you are all well and thanks for some of the emails and facebook comments. It is nice to hear from you guys.

From Dar to Malawi to Mozambique and Zimbabwe!!!!

In the past week or so we have covered some major ground. I am currently in Zimbabwe and loving every minute of it. After the fantastic time in Zanzibar with the spice tour and beautiful beaches we made our way down through Tanzania into Malawi. There have been some really long bus rides in order to cover this ground so you get very good at sleeping, reading, eating and just doing nothing on the truck. We had a few whirlwind days in Malawi with the highlight of me getting to see my friend Dumi who just recently moved back from the states.

We went to a local market in Mzuzu, Malawi where we had to barder for an entire outfit for a person we picked out of a hat. Then the next night at our camp we got all dressed up in what the secret person had gotten for us and had a fashion show. It was absolutely rediculous and fantastic! Dumi came to meet me at the camp site with his friend Janet and we went in the warm water of Lake Malawi, it is more like a fresh water ocean with waves and beautiful beaches. It was so wonderful to spend some time with him and I can't wait for when we have more time together.

I also went for a two hour horse back ride with a fantastic guide and my roommate from the trip. It was absolutely wonderful even though I was a bit nervous because it was on an english saddle and I had never been on one before. I did great though with the trotting and a very short amount of cantering. We ended the beautiful ride by taking off the saddles, putting on our swim suites and going into the lake with the horses!

The last couple of days have been looong drives, starting at 6am and getting into our camp after 7pm. True we have had 600k to cover each day plus several boarder crossing which can take a lot of time. We have been lucky so far with only one guy having trouble getting in and out of Malawi. After spending one night in Mozambique we crossed the boarder into Zimbabwe. We stayed at this great place where we got upgraded from our usual camping to dorm beds for the same price! We were all thrilled. We had such a party that night. lol. We spend a whole day in Harare city walking around, going to the gallery,the botanic garden and such. It is a more modern city and the people were so friendly. Right as we were about to leave my two friends and I met with group of people who are part of a band. Long story short the singer invited me to come stay with her in a week or so when they are having a huge international art and music festival in town. I am so stoked to try and make that work! Today though we arrived into another absolutely gorgeous camp ground and went to the Great Zimbabwean Ruins where the rulers used to live. It was absolutely amazing and we got to see some dancing and drumming, took some great videos.

Anyway, I will end there for now. There are so many little things I want to share and when I get to Dumi's again maybe he can helo me upload some photos. Please let me know what all of you are up to as well!!!!

Overland Truck Tour here we gooooo!!!!!

After a great week in and around Nairobi it was time to meet up with the overland truck tour. This is a semi truck that has been converted into a bus like vehicle, it has massive tires, air shocks and seats way up on the top so you are overlooking everything and everyone. Very cool trucks. I have been on the trip for a little over a week now and there is already so much to tell. The people have been fantastic but whats a great trip without a few party poopers! LOL We started our trip with a three day safari through the Ngorogoro Crater and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. We saw so many animals up close and personal it was amazing! Some highlights were the heard of elephants literally surrounding us not even ten feet away from our car, hippos, giraffe, rhino, and the best was when we saw lionesses chase and kill a warthog twenty feet away from our car!!!! Then the rest of them, fifteen or so plus a male lion, came walking in between our cars to get to the kill! I got a short video of them tearing the little guy apart, not for the faint of heart but so incredible to see how they do it right there in front of you, no National geographic here!

From there we did a village walk, had some local cuisine, very delicious vegetarian options here by the way, and made our way over to Dar Es Salam. We came over to Zanzibar the other day and spent hours walking around the maze that is the alleys of the city. Oh I forgot I bought some painting, can't wait to get them in frames and up on the wall. At night in Stone Town there is a night market so after cocktails on the beach with a hookah for fun we made our way to the food market for dinner. This was absolutely incredible. Vendors all over the place with every kind of fish kabob, falafel, rice, samosas and my personal favorite their pizza which is basically a crepe with banana, nutella and chocolate on top! The warm water, white sandy beaches here are of course the luxury that we have all been craving after spending long hours on the road and many nights sleeping in our tents along the way.

I am running out of time here, as is what usually happens here, so I'll just wrap it up. I am having a fantastic time here and looking so forward to what is in store for us over the next couple weeks on the tour. I am in great hands with the group and of course our guide, Victor. Although last night we had to send him off to bed from the bar as he had been looking into the bottom of his drink for twenty minutes....we had a grand party on the beach! As always miss you guys, wish you were here and can't wait to tell you more stories and show you pictures!!!!