Cape Cross / Sossuvlei (Namibia)

Other than my ATM card getting stolen Namibia ended on an amazing note. The Seal colony at cape cross is one of the largest in the world. I have to warn you though the smell there is the worst i have ever experienced. 30 mins was all I could bare.

The puppies traveled in packs and were everywhere.
Paul (Lindo) getting amongst it. Just in case you were wondering he doesn't own shirts anymore. What a dude
The camp sight at Sossuvlie one of the best so far. The national park charged an arm and a leg for it though.
Getting up before sunrise we traveled to the dunes and started climbing up right away. Some of the dunes were as big as mountains. The sand was really fine making it painfull to climb up them.

Running down them was probally the best part of the day.


A flat clay surface is all that is left over from what once was a lake.

Good thing we took the advice of a random British Traveler in Argentina to visist Namibia is was definatley worth it.

T

Etosha National Park, Namibia

Having closed the book on south america (yes it's closed, we did everything, no need to go back) we landed in south africa experienced travellers. As such, here's how we handled our first obstacle... morning after landing in Jo'burg we rent a car and head for Namibia. Second night on the road we set up camp in Namibia circa 10 o'clock and go looking for groceries. Finding the only open grocery in town to have 20 ne'erdowell's loitering out front we tuck tail and run to the closest fast food joint, quite fittingly named "Wimpy's".

Also en route we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Namibia was nice enough to bring our attention to this fact.
After 3 days of driving we hit camp just outside Etosha Park. Morning rises and so do we, I swear. We enter the park and the first watering hole does not dissappoint complete with a pack of a dozen or so giraffes, they're big. We then start a cruise around what's known as fisher's pan. 5 minutes in we spot a pack of zebra's in the distance. we wait patiently in zen like silence as they approach our white vehicle with black trim, possibly thinking us to be one of their own. our patience pays off as they approach within 30 yards of the vehicle, one of them even looked at me. Little did we know zebras are like squirrels in etosha, with dozens more packs just waiting to block our car as we drive by in search of more elusive animals.

Etosha's full of watering holes, both natural and man-made. It was dry which meant the animals had to come out to the main watering holes to satisfy their thirst. Sucks for them, good for us. Our two days there essentially consisted of touring from watering hole to watering hole, spotting some animals in between and logging some time at the campsite pools. life's tough. So let's get to the animals.

There's a wide variety of gazelle like creatures in etosha, the most common of which would certainly be the springbok. Here's a pack enjoying some water with a kudu and a warthog. close up of some kudu..
gemsbok...
can't remember the name of this one so let's go with, say, redbok...Giraffes and gemsbok living together in peace, drinking from the same watering hole, never thought I'd see the day. zebras...
warthog..

second day we spot a pack of 3 elephants heading to cross the road. we position ourselves for a close up. As they approach the front one changes course straight for the car. having heard stories of protective mothers doing some car crushing our heart rate kicks up a notch. I consider how fast I could start the car and floor it should the need arise. flash backs hit me of learning to drive standard and hope that the nickname hop-and-stall doesn't make a comeback. thankfully our paranoia was entirely unfounded as it seems the elephant simply wanted to let us know who's the man...

wildebeast...

At this one watering hole there was a pack of elephants endulging themselves for quite some time. Apparently rhinos and elephants don't share. A nearby rhino takes about an hour to build up the courage to step up to the elephants. takes him some time but he clears 'em all out and proceeds to go for a drink. not 5 five seconds later a second pack of thirsty elephants shows up, charges the rhino and sends him back to the waiting room.

popular watering hole...

second day after only distant views of lions we get some good face time with one...

giraffes and sunset.. good combo.

M

Sao Paulo and Garopaba, Brazil

One of my good friends from Leeds (Gabby) lives in Sao Paulo, so we arranged to meet up and spend new years with hime and his friends. We arrived and were met at the bus station by Gabby's mom (Tereza) and dad (Tim), which was soo nice given that Sao Paulo is an enormous city (the central city has a pop of 11 million, with another 8 million in surrounding suburbs). His parents as well as his borthers Chris and Nick were all very friendly and made us feel at home. After some drinks with Tim, we had a delicious home cooked meal. Gabby is next to me in the pic below, Nick is on the far right. Chris was already down in Garopaba.

We left early the next morning for Garopaba, which is a city in the south of Brazil, about 1.5 hours south of Floranopolis. The idea was to leave really early to beat the traffic. It seemed to be going well, until about 4 hours into the drive, the traffic came to a grinding halt….for 5 hours!!! Turned out a tank truck had rolled and spilled flammable liquid all over the road, so we hung out in the blazing heat, laying down under trucks and doing what ever we would to pass the time. The normally 8 hour drive ended up taking 19 hours. Luckily we were all pretty used to long long bus rides.

Worth the long drive....

Gabby, rockin the speedo...what a stud.

Chris organized all the accommodation, which worked out great. Food, booze and a bed for 5 days for 200 reals, which is about $125. If we had stayed in hostel in Rio over new years, we would have been paying 150 reals per night.

The south is a very popular destianation for Sao Paulo natives and northern Argentines to go over new years. The town we were in was a really cool beach town, really laid back feel, and becomes a massive party over new years. This was one of the first places we'd been were there were almost no other tourists, which was pretty cool. As I mentioned in an email, we also discovered that the Brazilian girls like tourists. Yesssss! We finally found the place where girls dig the goofy white guy.

We spent the days at the beach, and the nights at the bars, which were all pretty crazy. New Years Eve was spent on the beach, with about 3000 other Brazilians partying until sunrise. An absolute blast. It’s a tradition to wear white on new years (T and Mark didn’t get the memo), and also to jump 7 waves for good luck at midnight.

We also learned a commonly played card game called Truco. Gabby and I had a running competition, and finished tied 6-6, although, I did have a bit of an advantage being a foreigner. I'm sure if we play again in Canada he'll have the upper hand.

Me and the Baines Brothers....Gabby, Nick and Chris. And the answer to your question is yes...Nick and Chris are twins.

The whole crew

Dead sober, I promise...

Jumping the 7 waves at midnight

T and Mark going to a frolick in the waves

And somehow, gabby and his brothers manage to find eachother to pass out side by side. Ahhh, it's soo sweet.

Next stop, Johannesburg South Africa. South America was a blast, and ceratinly plan to return.