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Tag: Close Encounters

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

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

It’s a relatively short drive north from Otjiwarongo to our next stop, Etosha National Park, Namibia’s premier wildlife park. After checking in at the gate we made our way to our first “camp”, Okaukuejo. The camp is actually more like a little village or apartment complex. Then after checking in for our accommodation, we went straight to the Okaukuejo watering hole where you can sit on park benches and watch animals come by to drink. You don’t really even have…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Otjiwarongo!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Otjiwarongo!!!

I got my 4X4, my camping gear, groceries, and I picked up Mom. Now it’s time to hit the road, so we headed north toward the town of Otjiwarongo, where we’ll be spending the next two nights. First we have to take a detour through the small Okonjima Game Reserve. Pretty much as soon as we enter the gate, we see two white rhinos. Moms first time in Africa, first safari, and she bags a pair of rhinos on the…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Windhoek!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Windhoek!!!

From Maun I said goodbye to Botswana and made my way to the next country on my list, Namibia. I was supposed to have an hour and a half connection in Johannesburg, but my flight from Maun left thirty minutes late, and my flight from Johannesburg got changed to thirty minutes earlier, so an hour and a half turned into a thirty minute frantic sprint through the Johannesburg airport. I sprinted, cut in line at immigration, sprinted, cut in line…

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Holy Crap… I’m in the Okavango Delta!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in the Okavango Delta!!!

The drive from the Mababe camp in Chobe National Park to the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okovango Delta was long and, as all drives in this region, bumpy and sandy. I didn’t mind so much, though, because even though we weren’t in a national park or any kind of game reserve for most of it, it still felt like we were. There were still animals to see the whole way there. I also got introduced to a new antelope…

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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 the Gobi Desert!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in the Gobi Desert!!!

My flight back to Ulaanbaatar from Ulgii was, thankfully, uneventful. I spent one day getting myself in order, getting my trusty LandCruiser back (they gave me the same car again, but a different tent), getting supplies at the State Dept Store, and I was off again. This time I’m headed south to the Gobi Desert. I planned this for last thinking the weather would be warmer while the rest of Mongolia started to freeze. My first stop isn’t really that…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Altai Tavan Bogd National Park!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Altai Tavan Bogd National Park!!!

Ok, so the last couple of weeks have been unbelievably bonkers! There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s just dive right in. The first few days were actually quite nice. After trying to recover from my wicked case of the flu in Ulaanbataar for a few days, I boarded a domestic flight for Ulgii, way out in western Mongolia. This area had traditionally been where Kazakh nomads grazed their herds in summer, but when new borders were drawn in…

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