Kyle Here: July 30, 2007....after several day absence I am back on line....you can read my daily thoughts from the last week below.
I know Jarae has been blogging from her phone...but I refuse to do that, partly due to a physical thumb injury some of you know about...and for the other reason that I just flat refuse to be so technological.
We arrived in Zambia today, which may be the dustiest country on Earth, but we are at a nice hotel, and very close to Victoria Falls which I shall view in a few minutes.
It is somewhat humorous that everyone here seems more into Safari clothing than the people did on the actual safari.

Picture posting is slow here, but they are coming.


July 23, 2007
Forgot to write about crossing the equator like the sailors of old, toiling away with rope and sail, gliding across the tumultuous ocean blue till they cross the middle of the earth… I did it while seated at 35,000 feet, in an air-conditioned plane, eating packaged Indian food, and watching a bad movie, but other than that it was strikingly similar to what I envisioned Dutch traders experiencing centuries ago.
Flew over the Alps, the island of Sicily, as well as the Kalahari desert today. All of which I was able to view out of the window.
The Jo’burg International airport customs is practically non existent…I could have smuggled weapons in for the freedom fighters in support of the revolution.


July 24, 2007
We arrived at the game preserve today, after a short flight and a drive which was about as long as well. We saw a lot of eucalyptus groves, which are harvested for paper production.
There were many men and women working, wearing either blue, or yellow, or red uniforms, not exactly sure what they were doing. Also there were many people hanging out on the side of the road selling fruit and rugs. Also, saw a monkey eating something on the shoulder of the highway.
Upon entering the Nature Preserve, saw giraffe, zebra, Nyala, impalas, warthogs, hippos, crocodiles and rhinos. I feel like a wuss, since I jumped when the rhino motioned as if the charge, but to my credit he is a couple thousand pounds, with a huge horn and he was ten feet away from the rover, on my side. But I won’t attempt to rationalize it anymore.
I would recommend this resort to anyone interested in coming to Africa, it is truly beautiful here. I am eager to see what is in store for us next. There are monkeys, snakes, lizards and warthogs in the courtyard of the hotel.
The people continued to speak very softly today.
Also, note to self… when asking a question, be very specific because “not very long” seems to be the standard answer in Africa, which has a wide range of meanings.
We got hooked up with our guide today, whose name Sandile means ‘many’ since he is the eighth boy in his family. We are also linked with a 40 something couple from Houston, and four people from Palm Springs, who will be joining us for all the outside excursions. As well at two girls from CA.
I took a ton of photos during out three hour outing, and I am sure some of them will turn out amazing.

Things I learned today:
Stewardesses are always smiling.
There are no billboards on the highways in Africa, at least on N2.
Airport porters will wait forever for a tip, and they prefer two rather than one American dollar.
Always bring stuff you might want, because you could end up about thirty miles from a store.
Allah provides for those who have faith. ( I needed a book and they have a lending library) – see above learned item.
I don’t know how to divide in my head. I had one hundred and fifty dollars, and got 960 rand….whatever.
I don’t often like polite interactions with people, and other times I love small talk and bullshitting. Hmmmm.
I have many jokes going on in my head, but am not able to say them in front of ‘polite’ acquaintances.
I don’t like to play snooker, unless with it is with the African guide and two young ladies from California.
People all over the world are just alike in so many ways.
South Africa has a lot of nuclear power plants, I counted at least 14 cooling towers when we flew out of Jo’burg alone.


July 25, 2007
Once again we went on a ride around the park. Actually, twice- once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Who knew that riding around could make you so tired and hungry. That is all we did today, but I am worn out.
We saw three elephants today, one being a cute little baby elephant. We also saw Cape Buffalo, more rhino’s, giraffes, impalas, monkeys, Wildebeest and hippos. Pretty exciting really. We also saw some Rhinos about to fight. I was disappointed they did not. I wanted to see some epic battle between a Rhino and a crocodile, or Wildebeest and a gang of monkeys. All we saw was one dead Zebra carcass.
The food here at the lodge is the lodge is terrific, and the fruit is wonderful. I also need to find a supplier for this Dutch Feta cheese, it is soft, creamy, and less tart…oh, so good.
I have come to the conclusion that I want a Rover. It is a great vehicle, and I will not be content with my driving experience until I own one.
We took a lot of photos again today, and also some videos which I hope turn out good, but I know that they cannot capture the true sense of our experience here. It is so beautiful. It reminds me of the Permian Basin in West Texas and Northern Mexico, however there is more vegetation and grass. But many of the cactus and succulent species are similar.
I think we have the best guide in the park. He is very knowledgeable and drives ‘off road’ despite there being a rule that this is not allowed. He also seems to have taken a liking to me, by giving me the ‘homeboy’ handshake whenever we see each other. He spoke of wanting to come to America to visit, in California and Washington state, not so much to Oklahoma.
I got to know some of the other people in our group, and they all seem to be pretty nice folks. All of them.
The sunset was great, so picturesque…. It was hard to believe it is the same sun, but it must be the same.
Something I learned today:
Despite their tough appearance, the Cape Buffalo are called “lesbians.” This is due to the fact that the males hang out together and foreplay when no females are around. They seem more like the ‘leather guys’ of the African animal kingdom to me.



July 26, 2007
Had a great day today, despite the cold Rover ride. We went to a school and ‘homestead’ this morning. We had a guide take us to a small village today, which reminded me of the border towns in Mexico in Big Bend National Park. Very poor, and trash littered. But the kids were very nice and either excited or totally disinterested to see us. We toured the school, which had about five hundred students, thirteen teachers, about five rooms, and a corrugated tin kitchen. It was nice since the kids were so excited to see us and have their picture taken, but sad since about 65 percent of the kids were orphans, since their parents had died from AIDS.
We learned about some traditions still in effect such as having a ‘homestead’ building for each family which contains the souls of all the dead ancestors as well as the requirement of having to give the future father in law eleven cows in order to marry his daughter.
We went to another game reserve which was one hundred times larger than the one we are staying in. We saw about 50 elephants, and several baby elephants. It was so cool, since supposedly there are times that in such a large park there may be days that no animals are seen. We did not see any cats however, which I really want to see either a leopard or lion.
However, we did see some Zebra’s doing it….get some Zebra lovin’.
We then returned in the dark, in an open Rover…which everyone complained about the cold, but I was thinking how great it was since when is the last time I rode down the highway in South Africa at night in an open air vehicle….NEVER. It is strange to see a landscape with sporadic houses, but entirely no lights…also, Venus is visible, but not too many other stars since it has been fairly overcast recently.
The group I am with seems to be becoming more comfortable together, everyone is pretty cool…and much younger than a majority of the other guests at the lodge, fortunately. Also the other guests in their vehicles look so sour, poor bastards. Our guide once again is proving himself to be excited, adventurous and very knowledgeable regarding what times to be where in the park, for the best sunsets and animal sightings.
My snooker game is getting a bit better, but I still think that the table is far too large.
We plan on going to St. Lucia on the Indian Ocean tomorrow, which I am excited to see the ocean, and eat some good seafood.
We are getting up at around 6:30 am every morning, which does not seem like much of a vacation, but it is well worth it as breakfast is always so good. I need to have someone slice and prepare fresh papaya, pears and mandarin oranges, squeeze some mango juice, fry up some curry potatoes, and prepare a fresh omelet every morning, that would change my whole life for the better I believe. Maybe I will adopt an orphaned African girl, and she can do these things for me, sounds like an idea.
Things I learned:
I need a heated tile floor in my bathroom at home.
I need an orphaned African girl to cook for me- as mentioned previously.
Everyone else is a wimp about riding in an open vehicle at night.
There are many vegetarian options in Africa.
I don’t need to smoke three cigars in a week, as this leads to a nasty cough.

July 27, 2007
I will attempt to refrain from appearing like Dean Martin performing a variety routine in my future writing, for all concerned.
Today we went to the St. Lucia Estuary, to view hippos and have a great lunch. Some of you know that I am not a fan of some watercraft, so I did not go on the cruise today, so did not get to see the hippos in action. Turns out the hippos in the area produce 60 tons of poop a day, which fertilizes the entire place. It was very, very lush. But I can see the photos, so it is almost the same. Liz and I instead went shopping in the little resort/surfing town. Found a really cool piece of pottery, so it was much better than a boat ride.
There were monkeys running around the restaurant and a cute little cross eyed kitty, but I could not hand out free pettin’s for fear of rabies. I certainly do not want to have to get shots when I come back ‘State side’. We then went to the beach in Cape Videl. This was in the World Heritage Site of the St. Lucia estuary. An amazing place, where the whales from Antarctica come to have their babies, and the ecosystem works to keep everything running smoothly. It formerly had had attempts to be developed by the government, after they kicked out all the people from their ancestral homelands, and planted pine trees….they then decided to add it to the World Heritage sites. It was a very beautiful place. It was one of the nicest beaches I had ever visited. There was a lot of titanium in the sand, so there were collections of ‘black sand.’ We were all trying to figure out ways to take some sand home but decided not too since it was a protected place, that is all of us except Jarae who stole some shells.
I don’t know what it is, but have been so tired lately. All we do it drive around, walk very little and then look at stuff…oh and eat huge meals three times a day, and drink a lot of coffee. No reason I should be this worn out.
Our group has decide we should all get jobs at the hotel, so we can stay forever. It is such an amazing place, and the people are very nice. I just would not like to deal with all the drunk European and South African tourists on a daily basis.
We drove a long way on the highway today, which seems to be death defying each time. There are also random people walking everywhere, and also in the middle of no where. They all are either waiting, or attempting to hale anyone to stop and pick them up.
Everyone wants to get somewhere, but has no set transport to accomplish this. Very uncertain it seems.
Saw a huge field of eucalyptus being cleared today, to be mashed into paper pulp. The guys were stripping the trees of bark, by hand, with machetes. I guess this is the best way, with so many people unemployed, it gives them a job, but seems like such hard work everyday.
Tomorrow, the craft market awaits, with all its treasures and jewels of the Dark Continent, … the Heart of Darkness.
I am very excited to see Victoria Falls as well, in a few days.

Things I learned today…
Even after seeing monkeys regularly, the Africans still laugh at them.
Crocodile tastes like chicken.
I still don’t like some sizes of boats.
The beach in St. Lucia on the Elephant Coast, is rich with titanium.
Winter in South Africa is excellent.
Dung beatles really do live in dung.




July 28, 2007
First we went to a craft place, and bought some typical African items, Jarae went a little crazy, and bought and shipped almost the entire store. In fact, most of the people bought a lot of stuff there. They had some very nice pieces, but they were way too expensive for me, but I did get a couple of things for some people.
Send me your addresses and I will send post cards.
The landscape here is so beautiful… the eucalyptus trees groves, pineapple fields, and so many bright orange and purple and fushia flowers. The sun setting over the mountains, truly breathtaking.
Had a nice conversation with one of our group today….but had planned to read my book, so that was much better than reading alone.
Watched a few Nyala off the balcony today, for quite a while. Just listened to the sounds, it is so peaceful here.
Went to the regular market as well, since it is Saturday…many people were getting food, there was not much else except cell phones and cheap Chinese clothing. One store was so full of plastic crap I had to leave since the chemical smell was so offensive.
We went on a night drive, after watching the sunset. Everyone was drinking, and laughing… having a good time. Right before and right after sun down we saw many African birds, it was so cool. So many different birds I can’t recall, I need to get a bird book for SA. It was very cold, but we saw a lot of animals, with the spot light…giraffes lying around, wildebeests, and elephants. We even finally got to hear an elephant call. The first real noise from any of the animals so far. Well there was the zebras, kind of barking at each other when the were jumping around.
We also saw a mongoose, and a spotted something which had a big raccoon tail, but was also mixed with some sort of cat, (cannot remember the name of it).
Might get a chance to go to the staff party for the employees of the lodge, hopefully, it should be a lot of fun. ( 11:45 pm.----no party, at least not for me- damn it)

Things I learned today.
All animals have a distinctive eye color when glowing in the dark.
African babies are so cute.
Only fifteen years out from Apartheid, leaves an eerie feeling in the air.
It can be very cold at night down by the river.
Some people ask the same questions over and over.
Inside jokes can develop in a matter of minutes.
Some people live in a whole other world, and have no concept of my reality.
I miss my friends., not so much that I want to come home early though.


July 29, 2007
We got to sleep in today, well, everyone else did at least, I was up at 7 am. Had a nice breakfast by myself, then just hung out taking pictures, and talking to the other people in the group. It was cool getting to know the people I spent the week with, and how similar the two girls from CA were to my way of thinking, and how some of the others lived in a totally different world.
We gorged ourselves at lunch, then went on another evening night drive. It was great. An elephant came head on to the truck, about ten feet in front of us. We also got to see another baby elephant.
Then we had a flat tire, so everyone got out, and the women started drinking, while the men helped Sandile change the tire.
All in all the photo safari has been outstanding. The place, the food, the guide, the people….all made for a great experience. We hung out late into the evening laughing and joking, then had to get to bed for the 4:30 am wake up drive to the airport.

Things I learned today:
I like people who have the same sense of humor as me.
I want to bring a monkey home.
I could have stayed on Safari for another month or more.
I could stay on vacation for much- much longer.
I have a strong dislike for British/ or Dutch people- at least how they raise their kids.
(I prefer a little more rigidity in childrearing)
I also have a strong dislike for people who wear desert flap hats, cargo pants, and hiking boots because they are on ‘safari’.
I am also realizing that some people no matter where they go cannot appreciate the culture because they need ‘all the comforts of home’ in a whole other country.
The Apartheid attitude is alive and well in South Africa.
Sometimes I can tell others the jokes in my head to maximum effect.

I have also noted that what I am learning seems more reflective and a bit mean....but oh well.