South Africa and London (Part 2) Wrap-Up

At last, our final country wrap-up.  South Africa exceeded both of our expectations, which were already high.  It was easily one of our favorite countries and we want to go back there some day.


Facts and Figures
Length of Stay: 65 Days
Miles Traveled: 14,800 by plane from and to London (via Dubai) + 800 by plane from Johannesburg to Cape Town + 2,400 by car = 18,000 (59,870 since landing in Quito)
Places Visited: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Storms River Mouth, Nqileni, Coffee Bay, Bergville, Graskop, Kruger National Park, Pretoria, day-trip to the Kingdom of Lesotho, London
Flights Taken: 5
Times We Sang "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" at Baphumelele Children's Home: 33

Rankings in the full post.

Great White Cage Diving Video

After nearly four months, I got around to uploading our great white cage diving video to YouTube.  It would have been more exciting if there had been an underwater camera, but it's better than nothing.

Some highlights:

• 0:00 - 3:20 Our group gets into the cage and we have a handful of close encounters.
• 1:40 Our young friend Will is trying to push his self-made chum away from us.
• 6:15 This is me right after I threw up.
• 7:23 You can barely see the splash from a great white jumping out of the water, followed by birds scavenging leftover seal pieces.  We had a much better view of this in person, and I screamed in excitement like a nine year old getting a Wii for Christmas.

Warning: Unless you're a twenty-year-old European, you probably want turn off the sound.

Kruger: 1,500 Impalas and a Leopard

As you might remember, we lost our camera in a canoeing accident.

Does this thing even work anymore?  Is there anyone out there besides my mom who still checks this website?  I've been waiting on Magge for a month a half to write this post about our time in Kruger National Park, but if it hasn't happened yet, then it probably won't happen.  In her defense, she has kept herself busy since we've been back, but she repeatedly said all year that she couldn't wait to go on a safari, and then afterwards she repeatedly said she'd write about it.  In the interest of finally wrapping up our thirteen month odyssey, I'm taking the reins, even though my memory is already a little foggy.