Adventurers in Africa

What a great delight for father and daughter celebrating their 60th and 30th birthdays respectively to commemorate life's milestones by sharing extraordinary African adventures together! From our restful layover in Amsterdam, the city of man-made canals to the Okavango Delta, with its hippo-carved channels, we traveled the length of two continents and approximately 20,000 miles before returning home sixteen days later.

Arriving in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa we explored much of this magnificent city and the Cape Peninsula with a glorious drive to the Cape of Good Hope. We tasted our way through the Wine Country of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl. We experienced the beauty and the blight from stunning Kirstenbosch Gardens to the remnants of apartheid in District Six and the Townships.

We literally swam on the very edge of Victoria Falls in Zambia, seeing the world's largest falls from David Livingstone's discovery vantage point on Livingstone Island in the middle of the Zambezi River. Sitting on the rim with a rainbow at our backs will remain a lifetime thrill!

Botswana provided an unspoiled atmosphere for two marvelous safaris - the first in Chobe National Park, home to the largest concentration of elephants on the planet, and the second in the incomparable Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta and rightly considered one of the most incredible wildlife and wilderness sanctuaries.

Each of these magnificent and remote areas provided a means of truly connecting with each other and our natural spirits - something often neglected in the modern, fast-paced world in which we live. Each stop on our journey touched and changed our lives in dramatic ways through educational, insightful and explorative adventure! Our spirits soared every single day. Tears of complete joy and satisfaction were shed as our light aircraft lifted off the landing strip at Jao Reserve for the long trip home.

Okavango & African Finale - September 6

Our safari compatriots agreed to an earlier departure for our last morning drive in hopes of seeing the elusive leopard. A stupendous sunrise greeted us! The muffins were late for breakfast because elephant Jack was blocking the path from the kitchen to the deck. Godfrey delivered the warm muffins just as we were pulling out on our boat launch for the 4x4. The morning was cool and beautiful. Shortly after beginning our drive, Timothy picked up prints in the sand of a leopard and cub which we followed for 1 1/2 hours. Timothy told us that the cub would give away the mother's location....and sure enough...there was the cub playing in the open savannah. Pulling our 4x4 slightly forward we found the beautiful mother laying behind the shrub. Ecstasy....as we watched for a good hour, the only 4x4 in the reserve to capture this moment. The playful cub and adoring mother were a sight to behold - with cub venturing out and mom signaling him back, mom cuddling and licking the cub, and both walking together across the savannah to climb into a tree (as we followed them) where mom stretched out on a branch and won the safari prize for Miss Photogenic! It was clearly the crescendo of our Okavango safari! As anticlimatic as the rest of the drive may have seemed, we were provided opportunities to see wildebeast, a bird-cobra kill, a stunning elephant that seemed posed to charge our 4x4, and more birds....we felt as if the plentiful wildlife was giving us a great African send-off.

A farewell brunch awaited our return and then it was time to pack and bid farewell to the Jacana family - a simply marvelous group of very warm and hospitable people. Timothy took us by boat and 4x4 to the Jao landing strip which had to be cleared of zebra for our on-time plane to land and take us to Maun, Botswana for our connecting flight to Johannesburg and our 20 hour flight back to Atlanta. After 8 hours and 45 minutes of flight across Africa, we landed in Dakar, Senegal for refueling and customs inspection before our 8 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta. We sailed through customs and made our connection to Raleigh-Durham and arrived home about noon!

Delightful Delta Day - September 5

Timothy's wake up call came with a warning not to leave our tents until he had cleared Barrack (one of the camp elephants) off the path to the main house. Seems Barrack was sleeping (or rustling) behind Hilary's tent leaning against a termite mound! Once we got the all clear, we assembled on the main deck for a beautiful sunrise breakfast before heading out on our boat launch for the 4x4 morning drive in the Jao Reserve. We saw scads of animals and birds but the spotted cat eluded us. The foursome from London and New York had their hearts set on a leopard sighting. A stately giffafe won the morning photogenic prize and the birds, one again, gave him a run for his money! Morning tea was served on a platform overlooking the reserve.

One incredible brunch awaited our return with the camp monkey keeping an eye out for easy food! Retail therapy in the camp shoppe increased the weight of our luggage with a few more take-home treasures. We hiked around the camp exploring the island and visiting with the delightful kitchen staff. Wonderful naps and outdoor showers rejuvenated us for our afternoon mokoro safari. Of course we had tea first while being treated to a basket-weaving demonstration and sale by the Jacana staff. More prizes to take home!

Our mokoro poller, Sox, a delightful native, gently glided us through the reeds and papyrus of the Delta seeing late afternoon wildlife, especially elephants and more stunning birds. We searched in vain for an elusive Sitatunga that our guides claimed to hear in the distance. These swimming antelopes are unique to the Okavango Delta. The island location for sundowners had been claimed by an exhuberant elephant who was madly shaking the nuts out of a coconut tree - we yielded to the elephant and found a nice shoreline to enjoy liquid refreshments and another award winning sunset. Cocktails were enjoyed around the bonfire followed by a marvelous dinner on the deck under the stars hosted by Dominique. A rather raucous dinner was capped by shots provided by Dominique which resulted in all of us chanting in unison - C L I N T ON -who was trying to sleep in their nearby tent! We didn't need any rocking to sleep tonight!

Sunset On The Okavango - September 4

After a wonderful lunch we setttled into our terrific tents, freshened up and headed for afternoon tea before our sunset boat excursion on the Delta. We headed for the pier to pick up two couples who would become safari compatriots for the next few days - Bob and Sandy Somlo of London and Bob and Abby Fink of New York City. Our senses of humor melded perfectly and made for a most enjoyable time. The first afternoon on the Okvango was largely one of scenic beauty, extraordinary birdlife and our first red lechwe (swimming deer) sighting. The sunset was stunning as we enjoyed our favorite libations brought on board for sundowners. Returning to Jacana, our new friends received the singing welcome...which we could hear in the distance as we were approaching the camp. There was something magical about hearing African song in the distance as the sun was setting on this wonder of the world! Enjoyed our first outdoor shower before cocktails around the bonfire and a scrumptous dinner on the second floor dining room hosted by Clinton. The stars were brilliant as we headed to our tents for a marvelous nite's sleep complete with a Delta lullaby by a wildlife chorus.!