This is our second tour with Globeriders. After the "scouting tour" in South America proved that the combination of "Man On Bike and Woman In Chase-Car" is a great success, we now try the Southern Africa trip. And again: the trip is amazing, there are no words to describe the experience. Africa is a fantastic continent, full of wonders, and the trip is planned carefully so that we experience the best of the best.To top all this - Helge opened for us a photography class, and all his devoted students, me included, follow his advice and improve alot. Here are some of my pictures.

The sites, sounds, flavors and adventures have been second to none. We traveled to the Oakavonga Delta and saw animals that can only normally be viewed in Zoo's.

Our host, trackers, safari drivers and suppert staff were absultly the best! From the indivaual greetings to the endless search for all types of game animals this was an adventure of a lifetime. It was easy to forget that this was only a small part of our Globeriders cross Africa treck.

We were soiled waking to the sounds of hippos re-entering the water at first light and sipping high tea later in the afternoon just before sunset while on one of our safaris.

Pictures and recounted stories could never do this place justice. Maybe the most enjoyable part of this story is that the Botswana government has imposed a strict ban on any poaching. So what this means, is, that this jewel will live on for all to experance, possibly for ever!

Brent Davison

Well------------- We may have experienced the highlight of the trip. Three days and 2 nights in the Okavango Delta was incredible. And the Kwara camp that we stayed at could not have have been better. The staff were so nice that you really felt like family. We were awaken at 0500, breakfast at 0530, and in the safari trucks with George, our guide/driver and Masta, out tracker.

Then, at around 0930 or so we would stop in the shade and they would set up 2 metal camp tables and we would have morning tea and biscuits. We would head back to camp and arrive around 1000 or so depending on the animals. Then it was siesta until 1600 when we would meet again for afternoon and night safari. At sunset we would stop and then have afternoon tea or gin and tonic with biscuits. Then we would start again for the night safari with a spotlight.

The last morning we went tracking for wild dogs. It took and hour or so with the trackers from our 2 safari vehicles running ahead of us. Masta had to come back to the vehicle when a bull elephant appeared. But we finally found the wild dog pack just after they had taken down an Impala. In 15 minutes all that was left of the Impala was bones. That was left for the hyenas to clean up. The whole Delta experience was a once in a lifetime experience for me.

A few days earlier we rode through Swaziland and back into South Africa. The next day, Sunday, we rode a great road through some beautiful country. We stopped at God's Window and World's End. The view was spectacular overlooking some some great canyons and rivers.

So far we have rode through South Africa, Lesotho, back into SA, Swaziland, back into SA, Botswana, Zimbabwe, back into Botswana. Next is Namibia and the sand.

(Cecilia) This trip is actually going by quickly.  Helge has done a wonderful job of planning this trip and organizing the days so that we have a good amount of days driving and balancing it with certain relaxation/activity filled days.  I really appreciate how he has scheduled it this way!

My highlight of this week most definitely is the Okavango Delta Safari.  We spent 2 nights, 3 days in Okavango and it was truly an experience!  I loved that we were blessed to see so many wild animals, especially the lions, giraffes, zebras, water buffalo and amazingly a pack of wild dogs.  When we were on our safari it was so fun to be on the track to find a pack of wild dogs.  Our first morning out in the trucks I was able to see a pack of wild dogs and then we went on a super fun chase with them to see them make a kill but then we lost them.  Then surprisingly the next day we were again on a mission to find the pack of dogs and I again found them!!  We drove right next to their location and they were actually in the middle of eating their kill, I believe it was a impala.  It was crazy to see how quickly all 14 of them tore apart this impala and were eating the bones.  We were able to see this all happen and then we got to watch the vulture’s slowly start coming in after they were done eating.  It’s the cycle of life out there and we saw it in action.  We then got to watch the wild dogs play in the mud and chase each other around once their belly’s were full and they were content.  What an experience!    The hosts of the lodge were also great hosts!  They treated us like kings, it was wonderful!  I was a bit scared at night though when they said do not walk around alone b/c you could come in contact with a wild animal, aaahh..  Thank goodness it never happened, haha.  This will definitely be an experience I will never forget!

(Dan) Wow.. time is flying by – so much has happened in the past week that it is hard to capture it all in a paragraph.  Staying at the Okavango Delta was over the top.  It was nice to have a couple days off from riding and what a great experience.  The safari was amazing and so interesting to understand how each animal relies not only on one another, but where they fit in the cycle of life.  Which by the way we saw first hand by a pack of wild dogs.   So many pics – I have never taken this many pictures in my life and now I have hundreds.  We are on the move again – I believe my final story will have to fill in the blanks.

The baobabs are magnificent. We saw both the upright and the weeping form. We saw trees in bloom and in leaf.

Okavanga Delta exceeded all expectations. We left the bikes in Kasana, Botswana and flew to Kwara Camp in the Delta. The camp is part of the Kwando franchise which comprises 430,000 acres of the Delta. Botswana is serious about conservation. Forty percent of the country is under conservation. The government leases concessions to approved photo safari companies. No hunting is allowed in Botswana. Penalties for poaching are severe.

Diamonds and tourists are two of the main components of the economy. The diamonds were discovered after independence so Botswana never suffered some of the colonial divisiveness that other countries we are visiting endured. The result is evident in the people. They seem more confident and approachable.

Kwara Camp is luxurious - pritvate tents with full bathrooms for each guest. A central thatched pavilion overlooking a lagoon for lounging and dining. The safaris are in open vehicles with a tracker and driver. The camp staff, drivers and trackers epitomize the virtues of the Botswana people - hard working, friendly, proud, eager to please, knowledgeable.

The first safari was the evening we arrived. We immediately got to see male lions within arms length of the vehicles. Then it was off to find the perfect spot to view the sunset and enjoy the cocktails served to us by the driver and tracker. Unbelievable.

The day ended with a delicious dinner at the pavilion, evening serenade of hippopotami in the lagoon and a sound sleep in a comfortable bed. More safaris and delicious food followed with the final treat being an all out effort by the drivers and trackers to find a pack of wild dogs on the hunt. We arrived just after the kill. Amazing.

We crossed into Zimbabwe to view Victoria Falls. The water level is low this time of year but the site is still spectacular. We also got the see the biggest baobab of the trip - estimated to be 1500 years old.

Tomorrow we ride to Namibia.

Days are going fast now and I keep hearing people in the group talking about that they can not believe that there is only a couple of weeks before we are back in Cape Town. We have had so many interesting events and sightings so putting time to the side to write this chapter story and edit a gallery have been rather difficult, but here it is at last.

One highlight after crossing Swaziland was to visit Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Eden Sanctuary. It was our chase vehicle driver and guide extraordinaire, Bertus that had the suggestion and what a great treat it was to learn more about all the good work that Jane and her organization does.

For me, and it looks like for the entire group, our visit to the Okavango Delta was the highlight of our journey so far. We flew in to the Delta, described by National Geographic as “Last Eden on Earth”. Our camp was set right on the edge of a little lake occupied by hippos and surrounded by lush green grass where wildlife would graze at daytime while the hippos came ashore to graze at night. Just the sound effects from the surrounding forest made us have no drought that we were far away from people deep in the Botswana Okavango Delta. We saw lions close up on our first days safari, but it was the chase to find the wild dogs when they were hunting that made for our most exciting safari.

A little luck and the good observations from our own Cecilia that spotted the dogs we were fortunate to see the dogs eat an Impala right after they had hunted and killed the animal. Just sitting there and observing how the young dogs would play and fight for the food while their parents already had had their share was very entertaining. Soon enough the vultures moved in and the young dogs had another target for their play.

It was truly sad to say goodbye to our new friends, the staff at Kwara Camp, as we boarded the flight back to Kasane. But the safaris were not over yet; we still had a couple of water safaris in Chobe National Park, one early morning onboard an aluminum safari boat from the hotel where we stayed. Crocodiles, Cape Buffaloes and plenty of hippos greeted us together with an abundant of birds like Fish Eagle and Kingfisher in various variations.

We had been of our bikes for 5 days and had some incredible experiences, taken thousands of pictures. It was all-good and being back on the bikes again was also good. The journey continues and as soon as we have the time we will update you in our next Chapter 3.

Thanks.

Helge Pedersen