Africa 2014
In October of 2014, Tom and Iris had a great time traveling to southern Africa with friends Ron and Liz. Getting there and back was not fun with a 16 hour flight between Atlanta and Johannesburg. They started with a tour of Pretoria and Soweto, including a visit to Nelson Mandela's house. They then flew north to Chobe National Park in Botswana where they were amazed with all the elephants and other wildlife along the Chobe River. The early morning Chobe River photographic safari by boat was very memorable. The next stop was Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe where they hiked along the rim of the impressive water falls and also viewed the falls from above in a helicopter. They also went on a morning elephant back safari and an evening cruise on the Zambezi River where we learned about David Livingstone. Next, they visited Kruger National Park and went on several game drives in search of the big five. After a flight to Cape Town, they enjoyed wine tasting in Cape Winelands. In Cape Town, they rode the cable car up Table Mountain, took the ferry out to Robben Island, visited an ostrich farm, visited a penguin colony, and visited Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. They enjoyed a special evening with Christo Brand listening to stories about Nelson Mandela. Christo was Nelson Mandela's personal prison guard and good friend.
Nelson Mandela statue in Pretoria, South Africa
Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto, South Africa
Chobe National Park, Botswana
Impala and sable antelope, Chobe National Park
Honey badger, wildebeest, and warthog, Chobe National Park
Evening cruise and morning photographic safari on Chobe River
African buffalo and hippo, Chobe National Park
Lots of cool birds, Chobe National Park
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Searching for the black rhino, Zimbabwe
Elephant back safari, Horizons Wildlife Sanctuary, Zimbabwe
Sunset cruise on Zambezi River, Zimbabwe
The big five at Kruger National Park, South Africa
Buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhinoceros
Zebra and giraffe at Kruger National Park
Waterbuck and Kudu at Kruger National Park
Steenbok and Klipspringer at Kruger National Park
Chacma baboon and vervet monkey at Kruger National Park
Spotted hyaena at Kruger National Park
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Wine tasting at Muratie, Stellenbosch, South Africa
V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
Robben Island, South Africa
Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa
Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point Lighthouse
Ostrich farm and penguin colony, Cape Point, South Africa
Cape fur seals, Seal Island, South Africa
Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South Africa