1. Another Year, Another Continent

This year's trip is Africa.  Specifically South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.  This is another one of my friend Judith's bucket list trips and I'm excited to go.  In fact I insist.  Knowing her natural tendency to want to go and pet animals and her inability to resist, I figure she needs someone to hold her back from being mauled trying to pet cute wild game.

We'll be gone for just over 2 weeks.  I'll be spending the first 27.5+ hours either on a plane or waiting for the next leg going from Victoria - Montreal - Paris - Cape Town.  Judith's travel time is slightly less because she's starting from Toronto.  On the last trip, Judith booked the Premium Economy seats and they were mighty comfy.  Although I can usually sleep on cattle class economy seats way better than Judith, the Premium seats were pretty roomy and I was able to get a decent sleep in them.  The seat upgrade will help us pass the first test for travelling partners which is to be on speaking terms after a long and tiresome day to a distant destination.  Fortunately, we land in Cape Town late in the evening so there will be few decisions to make as our tour guide will escort us directly to the hotel for some sleep to be refreshed for the adventures to come.

Cape Town is 9 hours ahead of Victoria time and 6 hours ahead of Toronto time.  I haven't felt jet lagged in my previous trips but there's new opportunities with every new adventure.  I hope its not the case here, because we're off and running from the start.

We spend the first six nights in our Cape Town hotel, Weigelegen Boutique Hotel.  During the days we'll be checking out the history of apartheid, reconciliation, the Cape of Good Hope, penguins, whales, Shark Alley and will kayak the Table Bay coastline past the Green Point Lighthouse and bicycle through the Winelands near Fraschhoek.  I didn't see any early sunrise tours on the Cape Town itinerary which is a relief.  There were many early morning wake ups on our last trip to see various sunrises and while they were spectacular, they were still early.

Cape Town Area Destination Points. 

After Cape Town, the next destination involves a 2.75 hour flight north to Maun, Botswana.  This is a small town that is known as the "tourism capital" of Botswana because many of the numerous safari and air-charter operations for the Okavango Delta are located here.  The Okavango River takes the rain water from the Angola Highlands and it flows into the Kalahari basin forming the world's largest inland delta.  The waters never reach the ocean and instead evaporate or transpire through the vegetation.  It can get pretty hot during the day - the mid day temperature will be probably be over 35 degrees.  The delta peaks in June to August during Botswana's dry season, attracting animals and creating the continent's largest concentration of wildlife.

We are staying in three different places for the full on safari experience. and will be taking small aircraft to get from one camp to another.  This means that our luggage has to conform to small aircraft standards:  soft sided and maximum 20kg (including carryon).  I purchased a rolling duffel for my bag and am trying to keep within the weight restriction.   I think my camera gear alone is close to the max...  I will likely be challenged to send out daily blogs as the camps don't have wifi.  These camps are all powered by generators and they're turned off at night.  Recharging electronics will be interesting...  I bought a power bank that can be recharged by solar power and a 12 volt car charger hoping that between these two items, I can find some way to keep all my electronics and cameras going.

All the camps are small with 8-12 rooms and all have some wildlife specialty such as a nearby wild dog herd or are near to huge elephant herds.  TripAdvisor gives two of the camps high ratings from 4.5 to 5.  I couldn't find the rating for Setari Camp but predict that it's up there too.  This camp is located on an island in the middle of the Okavango Delta.  Any walks we take at Setari camp will be guided and supported by someone carrying a gun.  Most of the trips at Setari will involve getting into a boat to see check out wildlife such as hippos and crocs.   The other camps are accessible by road and we'll be traveling by 4x4 to view the wildlife.  The camps aren't fenced, so the wildlife can come up into the camp.  I hope the top level predators are too timid to visit the camps.  

Google Map of Okavango Delta, Botswana with Setari Camp, Splash Camp and Kwando Lagoon Camp locations. The delta is about half the size of Vancouver Island.  

The last leg of the trip is to view the world's widest waterfall, Victoria Falls (1.25 miles across).  We get to zip lining over the Zambezi River and take a helicopter ride over the falls.  Yeehaw!!

Google Map of Victoria Falls.  Our Batonka Guest Lodge is shown by the Red location point.

Travel time to come back home covers the next day and a half.  My flight path home is Victoria Falls - Johannesburg - Paris - Vancouver - Victoria.  Just over 23 hours on planes and 11.5 hours waiting for connections.  I should arrive home mid afternoon on Wednesday and I need to keep myself occupied for a few hours before I go to bed to get myself acclimated to the time zone.  Unpacking would be the smart thing, but that will be the last thing I will want to do.