O.K. team, we are sooo freakin behind, but now we will attempt to bring you up to speed, as we are in Jodhpur, India, drinking KingFisher at Gucci's Cyber Cafe. We are about to enjoy a home cooked Indian 200 % Vegetarian meal from our lovely hosts Indu and Loksheesh! Lindsay, India is so surreal, you were right! We are attempting Rajhastan all alone, so far sooo good, but we'll breif you all on that later, but for now we must get back to Africa before it looses its freshness!!!!!!
Back to Marvin, our trusty Overland Truck, and the adventure of a lifetime. Let's begin with the cozy little town of Springbok, South Africa( day 2 or something like that). Not really a town, more like a river in the middle of nowhere except for our CRAZY campsite, where we went wild at the bar! Anyone for a Springbok shot? It's similar to the American "Blow Job" shot where you CANNOT use your hands ( Brad freakin cheated, what a loser), only there is dancing, acting like Spingboks, and showing your white ass at the end, don't ask, good times. Our site was directly on the Orange river (which separates South Africa from Namibia) and we had a lazy day kayaking and swimming the following day!
Next off to the Fish River Canyon, which is the 2nd largest Canyon in the world, next to the Grand Canyon( which of course is the biggest because it is in the USA, where EVERYTHING is bigger and better...he he he ). Hiked the rim of the canyon, a most romantic sunset followed, and what a bewildering feeling to be in Africa, watching the sunset with such an amazing group of people! We felt truly exhilerated! Awesome views, awesome people, not -so -awesome snacks( sorry guys, ...let's just say, if something is to be called "avocado dip", it should, at the very least, contain avocados, right?).
After crossing the border and heading to Namibia for 9 1/2 hours, we were haggered, irked, and irritaed from the incandescent desert heat, can some one say"Swamp ass?""Duck Butter"?, we needed a cold shower cauze' we be Stinky!!!!!
We would also like to add, to all of you folks back home that think that we have it sooo easy, we actually had to get up every morning before 6 a.m., (and a couple of times at 4 a.m.), wash our own dishes, put up our own tents, clean up after our selves, and wash our own underwear, can you believe that shizer? he he
We must admit that waking up BEFORE sunrise, and hiking up the Red Sand dunes( Dune 45) in Sossusvlei, Namibia, to watch the sunrise over the desert and dunes was one of the most spectacular sites we have ever witnessed.An intense climb, but ultimately rewarding!Brad's favorite part was the fresh, cool sand filtering between his warm toes on the way down! We were now on our way for a scorching hike through the desert to be informed about the "Desert Bushman's" ways of life. Quite sad actually, but we will spare you the theatrical details.( It will be in my book he he ).
Next was Swakopmund, Namibia. Nothing special, except for the arrival of our new friend squishy!!!!! We enjoyed a scrumptious dinner out, tons and tons of laughs i.e...Where's squishy, What are you doing man, Switzerland, you must pay 300 NB Dollars for a missed reservation, and just getting silly drunk with everyone and finally breaking the ice!
We climbed rock formations, saw San People rock art, bought some semi- pecious stones from locals, slept under the stars ( Sam accidentily cuddled with Annemarie, what can I say, it was cold, and I'm scared of Jackels, snakes, scorpions, hyenas, flying ants, spiders,....millipedes, and so on.. j/k I'm super brave...), played silly campfire games, ate delicious smores( compliments of The Canuks, Amanda and Mikey Song), and hey Rogier, would you like some peanuts?
The Himba Tribe in Outjo, Namibia opened our eyes to a completely different way of life. We must thank these people for allowing us to invade their privacy in order for us to better understand why, how, who, and what excactly it is that they must do on a daily basis in order to survive. For example, these people do not use water...not to drink, not to cook, and not to bathe. Instead, they bleed the cows, wich does not kill the cow, and they drink their blood to obtain the proper amount of water...I am serious....also, they ONLY eat meat, no vegetables, wheat, fruits, or anything else, only "meat, mice, and milk". They cover themselves in clay and milkfat. This acts as a natural mosquito repellent, sunscreen, and lotion. There is too much to try to explain here, but we can ultimately honestly say that meeting these people changed our lives forever. An unequivocally momentous day.
Etosha national Park was next on the list, and we actaully experienced the "Safari" morcel of this excursion. Once again, too much to try to explain, so we will just unveil a list of the animals we were so fortuitous to encounter throughout the rest of our trip!!!
Here goes:
zebras, springboks, hemsboks, jackels, rhinos, water buffalo, lions,eagles, vultures, and a seemingly infinite number of exotic birds,giraffes, elephants, hippos,hyenas,baboons, vervet monkeys,crocodiles, t- rex, scorpions, spitting cobras, oryx,kudus, wildabeasts, worthogs, ostriches, guinea fowl,1'ooo's of lizards,flamingos, frogs, insects the size of your fist,impalas, and sooo sooo much more!!!!
We headed into the Okavango Deltain Botswana, Africa. This was a unique adventure to say the least. This is where the "reality t.v." part of the trip surfaced. Yes, there was drama for your mamma, and no, we did not call Mikey "piggy"( from Lord of the Flies), but tensions were flaring, elephants were charging, guides were running, Makoros were cruising (o.k.,o.k, not that much) and hippos were growling...an experience not to be forgotton. ( Not even when judith crapped behind Panaka and Shorty's tent!)j/k...
My birthday was spent in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, after a magnaminous trip through Chobe National Park. In Chobe, while on sunset boat cruise on the Chobe river we viewed 30+ elephants drinking and playing in the water with hippos and croc's nearby!
My birthday was rare, kinda like the food at the restaurant. Out to a very, very, overpriced, game-meat infested buffet for dinner. Hip Hip Hurray! Beef...it's what's for dinner... O.K., to be fair, there was live music, and we got to play the drums, and the electricity went off while we were in the shower and scalded the skin right off my 26 year old body! It doesn't matter, because November 6, the day after my birthday was the most extreme day of my life!!!!
THE ZAMBEZI BABY!!!!!! The Zambezi River is full of Class 5 rapids, and is acclaimed to be the most difficult, and sought after river to White water raft in the world!!!!! So, you must understand that our livesTRULY flashed in front of our eyes( while we were being sucked underwater into class 5 rapids of course) while rafting this river. This was by far, the most threatening, extreme, adrenaline pumping, demanding, terrifying, death defying, 8 hours of our lives. Please remember team that we are not wimps, we DID jump out of an airplane, with noooo problems, but this takes the cake! Holy shit I still can't believe we are alive...seriously. It is one of those things that you hated while doing it, because we truly feared for our lives, but loved it now that we conquered that bitch of a river the Zambezi! We are the shizer, shizer, shizer, and are ready to conquer the world...Zambezi style!!! Look out, cauz here we come!
This brief explanation could never ever do justice to this life changing experience, but we hope youi enjoyed it! There will hopefully be more pics to come!
A shot out to everyone we met on the trip! We love you and thank you for the laughs, memories, and drama!!!!!!!! Prost! Love, From the place that changed Sam and Brad as you knew them...forever.
