4 out of 5

Yesterday I had the most amazing experiences of my life. In Africa they have what are called the big 5, these animals are the most dangerous and mostly likely to attack if bothered. They are the lion, leopard, buffulo, elephant, and black rhino. We were in Estosha National Park, Namibia looking at animals our first night there we were able to see elephants and the black rhino....I am talking mere feet away as we were sitting in our truck. Then yesterday happened.....we woke up early for an all day game drive. The morning was a bust, we only spotted a few giraffes (trust me I know I sound like a snob saying that). At lunch we stopped at a waterhole with a viewing area to see if anything would stop by. We sat for about a half hour when a big male elephant cruised over and started drinking about 50 feet from us. It was cool to watch but got better when we noticed more elephants coming....before we knew it there were 39 elephants in the pool sized watering hole!! They were drinking, bathing, the babies (one was only a few weeks old) were playing, and there was even a couple of males fighting for a female. A little note on the fight.....the drop their man parts to show off....I think elephant wiener is as long as I am tall!!! It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen (not the weiners the elephants). After a while of this we took off in the truck and went to find more things. Our next sighting was amazing....a leopard, our guide has only seen one before they are very elusive. It was sunning in a tree, amazing. A few hundred meters up the road we see a lion!! It was hard to see but it was there. So in two days I saw 4 out of the 5 big 5!!

We are now in Windhoek, Namibia and tomorrow will head to Botswana. We are losing 7 passengers tonight and gaining 7 new ones so that should be fun to meet new people. Hope everyone is doing well at home, thanks for your comments they are fun to read!!
love meghan

Animals

Hi everyone! I thought it woudl be a bit longer before internet but we have a quick stop in town and here I am. Sand boarding was great I stood up and did lie down boarding and got pics and a DVD of it. The last night in Swakopmund was a lot of fun, lots of drinking, dancing, and all around a good time with the great people we are with. The head tour guide on the trip has become my favorite person, he has such a dry sense of humor and is always entertaining. Last night we camped outside of Etosha National Park and got our first warning, beware of elephants they charge you, no worries we did not see any!! Tonight we are actually heading into the park where we will see all the animals, I am also doing a night game drive in an open jeep so hopefully I get some good pics. There is a line for internet and we are almost out of time so I am going to go, sorry if I did not email you back this time I will catch you next time. Kirsten I can't wait to feel peanut!!!
Love,
Meghan

Swakopmund

The title of this post is the town we are currently in....we however did not go from a soggy campsite in South Africa to here so let me fill you in.

The day after sleeping in the rain we crossed the border into Namibia and stayed at a great campsite on the Orange River. It was dry and warm during the day but definitly cold at night. We had a day and half there, it was nice to sit in the sun walk around the river and relax. Later that day we headed out the the Fish River Canyon, which is the second largest canyon in the world, the Grand Canyon being numero uno. We got there just in time to hike to a view point and watch the sun go down across the canyon. BEAUTIFUL. We took a lot of fun pictures there with each other as well. That night we camped in a Namibian National Park and I must say the U.S. has a lot to learn, it was nice.

This brings us to day 4, Sesriem. This is another great National park with a small canyon that we actually hiked into. It was really neat in the bottom and I even bravely climbed up the side of one of the walls to check out a cave part way up, Hakuna Matata ("no worries" for all you none Lion King fans) we are not in lion country yet.

Day 5 we were in the center of the Namib Desert near a place called Sossuvlei. Something about the center of the desert in winter, warm in the day, ice at night. (Becky I am joining a new tent soon and we have already discussed who gets middle spoon and I thinked I locked it up). The cold is no big deal though because the scenery is amazing here. Bright red sand on the ground and creating the monsterous sand dunes around us. I really can't even describe it. We even got up extra early to hike to the top of a 120 meter high dune and watch the sunrise. I am quickly learning that my two favorite times of day in Namibia are sunrise and sunset it rivals a sunset over the Pacific. After the sunrise we joined a local Namibian for a bush walk in the dunes. He showed us many interesting plants and animals.

So now Day 6 we are in Swakopmund. We did some laundry had some lunch and are checking the town out. Swakopmund is on the coast of Namibia in about the center of the country right below the Skeleton Coast. It is called that because there is always a fog here, kind of like June glum all the time, and so there are many ship wrecks. Tomorrow I am going dune boarding on nearby sand dunes. I will have 2 rides lying down, they say we can reach speeds of up to 80Km per hour!! Then I am going to try sand boarding on a snowboard, it will either be fun or I will be cleaning sand from my nether regions for awhile.

A quick note on some of the people here. I have been hanging out mostly with a group of five girls. Diana is Canadian and is a veteran at Africa trips and a riot. Laura is sadly only doing half the trip with us before she goes to South Africa for an internship. Lindsey and Courtney are sisters from Pennsylvania. I don't know how they get along so well, I have a feeling if Dana and I sat on a bus next to each other everyday and shared a tent one of us may have been left somewhere on the route. The last girl is Dana, obviously not my sister Dana, she is also Canadian. She is my bus buddy. She also reminds me a lot of my sister so it is fun to hang out with her, yes Dana I did just compliment you. That is about it for now. Once we leave Swakopmund it will be a while before I have internet again so until then, adios!
Love, Meghan

First Night

Well we just finished our first night of camping in Africa. Here is the run down. It was raining most of the day but stopped just in time for us to set up our tents and put our stuff in them. We went on a hike and some of us, including me, walked across a river and got a bit wet and not to mention cold. We went back and had a wonderful lamb stew cooked over the campfire in what I refered to as a cauldron for 3+ hours. YUMMY!!! At about 10 we all crawled into bed, I love my new sleeping bag too, shorts and a tank top and I was sweating in it!! After about 2 hours of sleep my enemy the rain returned and it dumped. The rain tarp helped for a while but by the time 5:45 wake up call came on I had been awake for about 4 hours and I was wet. My sleeping bag was wet, my sleeping pad was wet, some of my clothes was wet, and it was still raining. Not so fond of the camping thing right now. We have spent most of today driving and will soon cross the border into Namibia. The weather is supposed to be 70's during the day and freezing at night. I will post again when I have a chance!!
Love,
Meghan

Cape Town

Hi!! After 32 hours of flying I have finally arrived in Cape Town. I have met 4 other girls from my safari and we have been walking around town looking like a bunch of jet lagged zombies!! The weather is a bit nuts here, cloudy and 60 km winds, standing can be a bit rough. Tonight we will meet up with the rest of our group and we are off tomorrow morning. I will post again when we find interent. I am not sure when or where that will be so hang tight. Miss all of you!!!
Love,
Maymay

Safari

So I am leaving LA in about 6 hours and am good and buzzed thank you Lene and guy on the train for the beer. Finally I am relaxed and ready to go. Some people have asked me about the safari I am going on so here is a link to it....talk to you in a few days.
http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/DCF

This is where I will be spending a week of my time in South Africa after the safari.
http://www.infojeffreysbay.com/billabong_pro_jeffreys_bay.htm

A Good Start?

It is Thursday afternoon and I was just frantically packing and laying out all I need for my trip so I was ready for my departure tomorrow.  I decided to take a packing break to print itineraries and started with my flight.  As I was watching the paper slide from the printer I noticed something strange.  My departure date is not what I thought it was!!!!   Thank goodness it was in my favor and I have a whole extra day.  I am not sure being this dingy (you like that Kirsten) is a good way to start my trip but whatever....  

So now that I have some extra time I can get this blog going. I arrive in Cape Town on June 15th and will be on safari from June 17th through July 7th.  From there I will fly back down to Cape Town and tour the south coast of South Africa between Cape Town and Elizabeth Town.  I will be updating this blog whenever I stumble upon the internet.  Talk to you soon!!!!