The beauty of the southern hemisphere

Due to the fact, that there is no *light pollution* in the rural regions of Africa ... the *Milky Way* and the *Southern Cross* are visible to the naked eye ... the *Southern Cross* is one of the most distincitve constellation in the southern hemnisphere (you can see it at the right-bottom corner of the picture). So I enjoyed the amazing starry sky every night ... and one night in the Kalahari I had a companion ... and she had a tripod with her, so we took some pics of this awesome night sky ... special thx to Isla for the tripod. Isla was so fascinated and spellbound by the stars, that she is taking some astronomy lessons at the planetarium in Melbourne and has attended a photography course as well!!

San Bushmen of the Kalahari

The territory of the indigenous people of Southern Africa -- also known as the San people -- spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. The biggest population of bushmen is in Botswana. On our trip we also visited a small tribe of San Bushman in the Kalahari desert. These guys are traditionally hunter-gatherers, who live somewhere out in the bush, hunting wild animals and obtaining all necessary substances including  medicine from wild plants and roots. We had a short walk with them, during which they showed us how they survive in the bush ... by finding some edible plants; digging out roots which they are mostly use as medicine for different kinds of diseases; making fire with dry grass and wooden sticks and so on. The bushmen-walk was very interesting ... they were explaining all the things in their indigenous *click language* ... which is a dialect of the Khoisan language ... it is quite a difficult (but funny) language ... however, it's impossible for us to understand and even to speak! ... so we got a translation in english from an interpreter ;-)

In the evening they are usually sitting around a campfire and performing some native dances. They have also different spiritual dances and rituals for thanking the spirits (eg. if they have killed a predator).

Okavango Delta

The next highlight on our tour was the Okavango Delta in Botswana. It is a large inland delta, formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari. All the water reaching the Delta is ultimately evaporated and transpired, and does not flow into any sea or ocean. Each year approximately 11 cubic kilometres of water spread over the 6,000-15,000 km² area. Some flood-waters drain into Lake Ngami.

The gateway to the Delta is a small little town called Maun. It is located at the southern end of the delta ... a beautiful area, where a lot of lodges and mokoro stations have been established. Due to this fact the tourism in the delta has grown and Maun has gained more and more importance in the past years.

Our 3-day delta tour also started from a lodge near Maun ... so for the first part we took a motorboat and then we changed to the small and fancy makoros. These small boats are traditionally made by digging out the trunk of a large straight tree, such as an ebony tree or kigelia tree. However, these trees are protected since a few years and so modern mokoros are made of fibre-glass. The boats are propelled by so-called *polers*, who stand in the back and pushing the mokoro with a pole through the shallow waters of the delta. The boat trip was really nice and relaxing ... and the *polers* were very friendly and funny ;-)

Our camp was on an island in the delta. So we had to put all the stuff for three days into the makoros (tents, dishes, food and so on ;-) ... we had only limited space for our luggage thus we could take just the necessary things (camera, mosquito spray, swimming shorts and a few bottles of wine) with us the rest we had to leave behind. The location was very nice ... we had a lot of space for our tents, a big fire place for cooking and sitting around in the evening and there was also a nice swimming spot nearby (but the water was quite cold ;-)

During our stay in the delta we had two walking safaris where we discovered the delta on foot. The countryside and the wildlife in the delta is amazing and I really enjoyed our stay there.

Safari @ Chobe National Park

Our first stop was at the Chobe National Park, which was the first national park in Botswana. It is located in the north of the country, it is the third largest by size in Botwana and has one of the largest concentration of game in Africa. So, for me it was just another safari ...but anyway, every safari is a special adventure ... because you do not know which animals you will see ;-) ... so what have we seen on this safari?! ... there were a lot of Cape Buffalos, crocodiles, water monitors, different birds and of course a lot of hippos and elephants ... jep, it was a quite nice safari ... just take a look at the pictures ;-)

On the road again - From Livingstone to Cape Town

Jep, I am on the road again!! ... my trip through Africa goes on!! ... travelling around is quite easy here, but sometimes it can also be quite exhausting and tiring ... however the hard part is over now and the lazy part begins ;-) ... Why? - Because I booked an overland tour from Livingstone to Cape Town.

There are a few companies which are offering these special overland tours through Africa. I booked my tour with G-Adventures and it was a really good choice. The tour was operated and guided by Hetti and Kobus, a lovely couple from Cape Town. Kobus was driving the truck and Hetti was responsible for cooking and everything else ;-) ... she was an excellent cook and made delicious meals in the small mobil kitchen ... and sometimes we had also a small lunch-break along the street. The trucks are modified - a little bit - so that they carry up to 22 people instead of goods ;-) ... it looks like a normal bus inside and below the passenger cabin there is a small luggage space and a small mobil kitchen.

So, instead of crowded minibuses and delayed trains I got a fully organized adventure tour with plenty of space in an overland truck. The tour started at Victoria Falls / Zambia and led us through Botswana and Namibia where we visited the following highlights ...

• Chobe National Park / Botswana
• Okavango Delta / Botswana
• Kalahari Desert / Botwana
• Waterberg Plateau / Namibia
• Etosha National Park / Namibia
• Namib Desert & Sossusvlei / Namibia
• Fish River Canyon / Namibia
• Orange River / South Africa

... and finally we ended up in Cape Town!!

As I already mentioned, the overlander tour was well organized ... we were driving in a truck, sleeping in tents and cooking and eating outdoors ... during the long drives we had a lot of time to relax, enjoy the beautiful landscape, read a book and talk with each other ... however, at the camp there were some duties (eg. setting up the tents, helping in the kitchen, cleaning the truck, ...) and everybody had to help each other ... and sometimes we had an open fire where we sat around, drank some wine and had fun ;-) ... and so I met Isla, a *quite old, but funny* Scottish girl, who lives in Australia ... and so it came that *Dark Dude* meets *Red Ninja* (see picture below)... or Austria meets Australia ... or *bebe young care* meets *V.S.O.P* (for insider only ;-)

The great *Victoria Falls*

The *Victoria Falls* or *Mosi-oa-Tunya* (*The Smoke that Thunders*) is a waterfall on the Zambezi river, which is located between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone was the first European who had seen the Victoria Falls on his Africa expedition in 1852 - 1856 ... he gave the falls the name *Victoria Falls* in honor of his Queen Victoria, but the indigenous name of *Mosi-oa-Tunya*  - literally meaning the 'Cloud that Thunders' - is also well known. In 1989 the falls were declared as a world heritage site.

The falls are really huge and very impressive. After the rainy season there is a lot of water thundering down the falls ... it's nice to see, but you are getting really wet ;-) ... There are two national parks, one on the Zambian side and one at the Zimbabwean side ... I visited both, and the views are really amazing!! ... enjoy the pics from the falls!!

... additionally I did a microlight flight over the falls, which I highly recommend ... so you get a big picture from the vastness of the falls!!