Back to Africa

As much as I’d like to make this an evocative epic post, I’ve only just finished packing, it’s late and I feel like the past two days have been pretty much a blur. And the fyorenol I took this afternoon is beginning to wear off. But at this time tomorrow—we’ll be in a 747 bound for Zambia.

My original intention was to make an elaborate post describing our itinerary, reminiscing about the previous three trips to Botswana, and waxing poetic on that special something that makes Africa unforgettable, inescapable and intoxicating. It is all those things but I am at the moment too exhausted to even try to describe them.

But part of the process of getting ready was loading up an iPod Nano we’ve picked up for our friend and guide, Alwyn. He spends most of his year in-country, guiding and camping in the Okavango Delta. An iPod is the perfect companion. I loaded some music. But I also dropped a couple of videos that he had taken on his own trips. I thought I’d share them here now, as well.

For the record, tomorrow we fly to London and spend a day as tourists. Then it’s on to Livingston, Zambia to rest, see the Falls and shower. then, into the Kasane, Botswana and Chobe - an area of countless elephants. We’ll begin to move across to Moremi, and camp all the way: here’s a quick video of our typical accommodations in the Delta:

We hope to get one night in the Kalahari sleeping under the stars as we make the move across the country. We’re not quite as hardy as the locals, whom we have visited briefly on our journey through Kwai. The San Bushmen are regarded as one of the world’s oldest cultures, having lived as hunters and gatherers for over 20,000 years. From Wikipedia:

“Genetic evidence suggests they are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, peoples in the world — a “genetic Adam” … from which all humans can ultimately trace their genetic heritage.”

While there, I’m going to try and sketch out some blog posts by hand, and get some accompanying photos. many thanks to photographer Paul Eekhoff for the loan of an extraordinary camera body, the Olympus E-330, and Tony Delitala for his lens. I’ll gloat about the gear later also. For now, I’m prepping for two weeks offline, in a world where we camp like this:

Lion in Camp

The best part: Carol and I are taking Liam for his first trip to Africa. This will be the most special one yet.

More — much, much more — to come!