Mexico, Dec 2017 – Jan 2018

Right after the last trip to Africa (and mostly to Mana Pools) we left for Mexico. A bit funny to meet each other again after two months on the airport of Amsterdam. And like in the movies we were both walking on these fast ‘treadmills’ in opposite directions when we suddenly saw each other.

Our flight to Mexico went pretty smooth, but passing customs was a nightmare. About three hours we waited in a line that seemed to have no ending. And when we finally got through it looked like our driver gave up waiting. Luckily it only seemed that way… So long after midnight (while we landed at 19:00) we finally arrived in Valle de Bravo, what would be our home for the next 7 weeks.
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Zimbabwe, Nov. 2017

So after the rain in October (you can read about that here), Mana Pools looked quite different as you can see in most of the pictures. More mud, more green, less animals although I had some nice sightings still. And as always I also go for the little things.

In the ablution for instance I found this little green snake. I was doing my laundry and the snake passed me by over the wall in front of me. Since my car was quite close, I ran back to get my camera.
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Zimbabwe, Oct. 2017

October started pretty different, since Sofie left and after more than a month traveling together, it does get to you. So I had to get used to being by myself again and getting back in my own rhythm. And in the beginning I did feel a bit lonely…

Nothing the bush can’t solve though! 😉 And luckily I’ve got quite some friends over there… Like Stretch, the Mana legend. When people ask him how I got his name, he answers: ‘I was born on a loooong weekend!’. First time I heard that I almost cried from laughing…
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Zimbabwe Sept 2017

Our trip started in Namibia and Botswana (as you can read here), but this story begins in Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. Or actually on the way to Mana to be correct.  After Nxai Pan, we drove the terrible road towards Francistown and the boarder. It’s never been the best road, but after the major rainfall last season, it was truly filled with holes all over. Sometimes it was simply not possible to drive at a normal speed. The boarder however went quite smooth this time and fuel wasn’t an issue for once. Never obvious when you’re allowed what…
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Namibia / Botswana, Sept 2017

It took quite a while before this blog appeared, but it’s like that with all good things right?

So we started off the end of August in Windhoek very curious about whether the car would be ready or not. Since ‘this is Africa’, of course it wasn’t. We had a little accident on our last trip, which you can read (and see) right here. At the end of that last trip we also ordered a little cupboard for the car, since I struggled with the very clunky box that contains most of the ‘kitchen stuff’. That box had a heavy wooden lid on top and everything was on top of each other, so getting stuff out there was always a mission. Anyway, turned out that getting stuff ready in time in Africa is even a bigger mission!
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Scotland, August 2017

It wasn’t the first time we went to Scotland, but this time we actually had a special ‘goal’ or reason to go. Last year Jens participated in a competition about a teeny, tiny island full of birds. And… (drumroll!) he won the second prize! I think he should have gotten the first prize, since the winning picture was pretty average and even I could have taken it (probably not, but you get my point)! Anyway, yay!
The second prize was a VIP day on the island. Nothing really special (and for sure not VIP) but hey, it was a prize so we would go and ‘collect’ it! Continue reading →

South Africa, May 2017

After the unfortunate car crash in Botswana (you can read about that here), we tried to make all the necessary arrangements for the car in Windhoek. Luckily we have good friends over there to help us out a bit with the right workshops and people. It made our stay also so much nicer. Afterwards we flew off to our last stop this trip. We had another ten days South Africa planned, starting with Cape Town and ending in East London with friends.
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