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Author: Matty

Holy Crap… I’m in Chobe National Park!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Chobe National Park!!!

After my visit to Victoria Falls, I spent one more night in Kasane before starting an epic fifteen day tent camping safari through northern Botswana. Strap in and get comfortable because this post is pretty epic too. My journey started with a cruise up the Chobe River, just west of Kasane. The Chobe River marks the border between Botswana and Namibia in these parts and right in the middle is Sedudu Island. Apparently, Botswana and Namibia had to fight over…

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Holy Crap… I’m at Victoria Falls!!!

Holy Crap… I’m at Victoria Falls!!!

As promised, I boarded a plane in Gaborone and winged my way all the way to the most northeastern tip of Botswana, Kasane, where I’ll be gearing up for the next leg of my journey. Kasane is mostly a base for safaris, where warthogs and baboons roam the streets and it’s not safe to walk around after dark for fear of lions, hyenas, and elephants. Out in the bush, warthogs are always hard to photograph because they’re pretty shy and…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Central Botswana!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Central Botswana!!!

I had about a five hour drive from Mashatu northwest to my next stop, the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. I checked into my little chalet and rested up for the next days activities. The Khama Rhino Sanctuary was started in the 1990’s in an attempt to save the near extinct rhino population. It’s been a pretty good success too. They currently have around 35 white rhinos (I’ve heard different numbers from different sources) and 4 black rhinos, all guarded by round…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Southern Botswana!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Southern Botswana!!!

Welcome to Botswana! Holy crap time flies! It seems like I barely had time to catch my breath after the last trip and suddenly, I’m on another adventure. I’ll start off by saying that Botswana was not easy to get to, at least not from the USA. My trip started in Salt Lake City with a flight to Newark, and then a Holy Crap Adventures first, an airport change. From Newark I took a shuttle for a very circuitous tour…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Florence!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Florence!!!

I intentionally tried to end this trip to Italy with one of it’s bigger and more significant cities and Florence turned out to be perfect for just that. Along with the size and significance came an awful lot of people. This last several days has been a chaotic mix of pedestrian traffic jams, waiting in lines to see sights that a month ago I could just walk right into, and having to buy advance tickets for things wondering if I…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Cinque Terre!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Cinque Terre!!!

For not being that far away, it took three trains and most of the day to get to my next stop, La Spezia, the jumping off point for a couple of days of hiking in Cinque Terre. But first, a first. Something happened to me that’s never happened to me on any of my trips before. I filled up the memory card on my camera. Holy crap I’ve taken a lot of pictures on this trip! I got a new…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Verona!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Verona!!!

Almost right in the middle of northern Italy, before heading into the mountains, is Verona, my next stop. Verona was arguably made famous by a certain Shakespeare play, more on that in a bit, but Verona also has a pretty long history that’s not fictitious. My hotel is situated such that I stroll into town right by the historic main gate, Porta Nuova, and then through the Portini della BrĂ  where you’re almost immediately confronted with Verona’s main attraction, the…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Venice!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Venice!!!

A very quick train from Bologna and I’m now in one if Italy’s, if not the world’s, most famous cities, the beautiful and enchanting Venice. When the Roman towns along the Adriatic coast were overrun by barbarians in the 5th century, the people ended up settling in these wetlands. In the early 8th century the first doge was elected and Venice slowly grew in power and size. Today, Venice is an unbelievably beautiful city, a tourist Mecca, comprised of 118…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Bologna!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Bologna!!!

My route from Modena to Bologna may be the shortest stretch of travel I’ve had on this entire trip. Just a quick thirty minute train ride. And since I’ve already passed through the train station here three times in the past week, I may as well explore the whole city. Bologna is a really busy university town, in fact, the university is the oldest university in the world, established in 1088. Bologna, despite all the idealistic young hipster students walking…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Modena!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Modena!!!

Modena was just a quick stop for me, quick but busy. Busy because most of the sites I came here to see aren’t even in Modena, they’re in nearby towns. It was just a short train ride from Ravenna to get here, then I dropped my backpack off at the hotel since it was too early to check in, and immediately walked to the bus station to make my way to the first site on my agenda in Maranello. That’s…

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