Bwanji (Hello),
This is probably going to be my last post on this blog. I have started another one that will cover my time in Alaska. You can get to that site here. Thanks to everyone who supported me and was interested in my trip to Africa. If you have any questions about either trip, feel free to comment on either site.
Zikomo (Thank you),
Allan
African Explorer
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Hey everyone,
If you want to see the pictures I took on the trip, just go to my Picasa album. It has all the pics (in no particular order) that I took.
Zikomo,
Allan
If you want to see the pictures I took on the trip, just go to my Picasa album. It has all the pics (in no particular order) that I took.
Zikomo,
Allan
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Pictures, finally
Bwanji,
Well, finally I have internet again...the last day of my trip. I wish I had been able to update you all in Zambia but unfortunately the internet wasn't hooked up at the places we stayed at (most places were still recovering from the rainy season which was especially hard this year). But I will be posting more on here in the next few days and hopefully getting a Picassa web album up soon with all the pictures from all the students that went.
Anyways, Zambia was awesome!! As I said earlier we went to Victoria falls. We spent two full days at the falls. The first was just spent getting accustomed to the falls and to Zambia in general. We were also introduced the VERY pushy shop owners. If they could see you they would try and get you to come to their store, find some hand made items that "their sister made," and then haggling on a price. The second day was spent doing some research and taking a close look at the flora and fauna that comprised the lush gorge at the bottom of the falls.
The next couple of days were spent traveling to Kasanka national park. It took 2 and a half days to get there in our bus (we called it the Mosi wagon; Mosi is the Zambian beer). At Kasanka we saw a ton of wildlife from antelope (Sitatunga and Puku), to birds (Kingfishers and Bee eaters) to spiders and we even saw hippo tracks. The picture to the right is near the place where we camped in the park and in order for us to travel to the other half of the park, we had to load the car on a pontoon raft and float it across the river.
However, the best portion of our trip was in South Luangwa National Park. We took a total of four Safaris into the park over the course of 4 days (1 daytime drive, 1 daytime walk, and 2 night safaris). It was on these treks that we saw tons of animals. The picture of the lions to the left was taken from the truck we rode in that was completely open. I was only 10 feet away when I took the picture. That is the way it was for the rest of the animals we saw there too. They had grown up ar
ound the safaris and were not scared when the vehicles drove up. We saw lions, elephants, hippos, impala, giraffe, hyena, and even two leopards at the same distance. Along with all these pictures I also have a lot of movies I took.
I can't wait to get back and show you all the rest of the pics I took and stories I have. What I have here is just the tip of the iceberg of what I saw. I will probably post a few more blogs here just to get some more things up but until then,
Zikomo,
Allan
Well, finally I have internet again...the last day of my trip. I wish I had been able to update you all in Zambia but unfortunately the internet wasn't hooked up at the places we stayed at (most places were still recovering from the rainy season which was especially hard this year). But I will be posting more on here in the next few days and hopefully getting a Picassa web album up soon with all the pictures from all the students that went.
Anyways, Zambia was awesome!! As I said earlier we went to Victoria falls. We spent two full days at the falls. The first was just spent getting accustomed to the falls and to Zambia in general. We were also introduced the VERY pushy shop owners. If they could see you they would try and get you to come to their store, find some hand made items that "their sister made," and then haggling on a price. The second day was spent doing some research and taking a close look at the flora and fauna that comprised the lush gorge at the bottom of the falls.
The next couple of days were spent traveling to Kasanka national park. It took 2 and a half days to get there in our bus (we called it the Mosi wagon; Mosi is the Zambian beer). At Kasanka we saw a ton of wildlife from antelope (Sitatunga and Puku), to birds (Kingfishers and Bee eaters) to spiders and we even saw hippo tracks. The picture to the right is near the place where we camped in the park and in order for us to travel to the other half of the park, we had to load the car on a pontoon raft and float it across the river.
However, the best portion of our trip was in South Luangwa National Park. We took a total of four Safaris into the park over the course of 4 days (1 daytime drive, 1 daytime walk, and 2 night safaris). It was on these treks that we saw tons of animals. The picture of the lions to the left was taken from the truck we rode in that was completely open. I was only 10 feet away when I took the picture. That is the way it was for the rest of the animals we saw there too. They had grown up ar
ound the safaris and were not scared when the vehicles drove up. We saw lions, elephants, hippos, impala, giraffe, hyena, and even two leopards at the same distance. Along with all these pictures I also have a lot of movies I took.I can't wait to get back and show you all the rest of the pics I took and stories I have. What I have here is just the tip of the iceberg of what I saw. I will probably post a few more blogs here just to get some more things up but until then,
Zikomo,
Allan
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Smoke that Thunders
Hey Everyone,
First of all, a little bit of bad news. The place where we are now doesn't have a good enough internet connection to upload photos to the web. Hopefully when we get back to Lusaka tomorrow I can find a place where I can.
Yesterday, all of us went to Victoria Falls and there is nothing I can say that would do it justice. It is known as the "Smoke that Thunders" and stretches for over a mile between the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. We walked across a bridge to a small cliff "island" where we got to get some very good views of the falls, the bridge that goes over the river and gorge, and the bottom of the falls (called the Boiling Pot).
We saw many animals on our trek also including a variety of birds, huge spiders, and monkeys. Actually on our way back up the gorge from the Boiling Pot we were confronted with a large troop of baboons who were blocking out path. Cautiously, we walked around them passing within only about 3 feet from some of them. A couple of other people also saw 4 foot long Monitor Lizards, Skinks (small salamander like amphibians), and Hyrax (small rodents that kind of resemble woodchucks).
We also got our first chance at haggling in the open curio markets. All around the falls are many shops that pressure tourists into paying higher prices if they don't know what they are doing. It can be a little intimidating at first but I think we are all getting the hang of it.
Today, we are planning on going back to the falls and spending the whole day in the gorge looking for exotic species and tomorrow we will be traveling back to Lusaka. After spending the night their, we will be going to our first national park, Kasanka.
Until next time,
Zikomo,
Allan
First of all, a little bit of bad news. The place where we are now doesn't have a good enough internet connection to upload photos to the web. Hopefully when we get back to Lusaka tomorrow I can find a place where I can.
Yesterday, all of us went to Victoria Falls and there is nothing I can say that would do it justice. It is known as the "Smoke that Thunders" and stretches for over a mile between the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. We walked across a bridge to a small cliff "island" where we got to get some very good views of the falls, the bridge that goes over the river and gorge, and the bottom of the falls (called the Boiling Pot).
We saw many animals on our trek also including a variety of birds, huge spiders, and monkeys. Actually on our way back up the gorge from the Boiling Pot we were confronted with a large troop of baboons who were blocking out path. Cautiously, we walked around them passing within only about 3 feet from some of them. A couple of other people also saw 4 foot long Monitor Lizards, Skinks (small salamander like amphibians), and Hyrax (small rodents that kind of resemble woodchucks).
We also got our first chance at haggling in the open curio markets. All around the falls are many shops that pressure tourists into paying higher prices if they don't know what they are doing. It can be a little intimidating at first but I think we are all getting the hang of it.
Today, we are planning on going back to the falls and spending the whole day in the gorge looking for exotic species and tomorrow we will be traveling back to Lusaka. After spending the night their, we will be going to our first national park, Kasanka.
Until next time,
Zikomo,
Allan
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
From London to Lusaka to Livingstone
Hello Everyone and greetings from Zambia
Its been 5 days since the 15 of us left the
Just this morning we arrived in
Livingstone is a larger city that is home to the world famous Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Tomorrow we will be taking a trip to the falls and hopefully down into the valley. I would have put pictures up but my internet connection is too slow right now, so I will try tomorrow.
Until then,
Zikomo,
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
The Final Countdown
Bwanji,
About one week is all I have left until the 15 of us depart for London. While we are there we will see the Royal Geographic Society's display on Dr. Livingstone, the Museum of Natural History, and the tomb of Dr. Livingstone. I have a camera and will be posting pictures very soon of the trip so stay tuned.
Also, check out the official Blog of the trip at this site. It will have more pictures and stories from the perspective of the whole group.
Until next time,
Zikomo!
Allan
About one week is all I have left until the 15 of us depart for London. While we are there we will see the Royal Geographic Society's display on Dr. Livingstone, the Museum of Natural History, and the tomb of Dr. Livingstone. I have a camera and will be posting pictures very soon of the trip so stay tuned.
Also, check out the official Blog of the trip at this site. It will have more pictures and stories from the perspective of the whole group.
Until next time,
Zikomo!
Allan
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