2023 | FindPenguins

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2023 Traveler
Glacier Bay, Alaska, USA
July 29, 2023, Coastal Waters Of Southeast Alaska And British Columbia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We were woken by the cruise director over the speakers to tell us we had reached Glacier Bay. When we looked outside we were floating through and iceberg filled fjord lined with snow capped mountains. When we looked closer we could see hundreds of otters which were rafted together and floating on their back. They were so cute! Then we saw a little puffin with a big orange beak!

We floated past a number of impressive glaciers before we reached Margarite Glacier, which is a huge, 60 meter high tide water glacier. We spent one hour watching the glacier but unfortunately we never saw a calving (when a chunk of the glacier falls off). Our next stop was John Hopkins glacier, named after the university where it was studied. This glacier had distinctive stripes, making it look dirty. But this was simply where the glacier had collected sediment as it moved forward every year.

We turned around at the end of John Hopkins Bay and headed out of Glacier Bay. On our way out we managed to glimpse an orca in the distance. We saw it’s water spout and dorsal fin so we were sure it was an orca!Read more
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Seward, Alaska, USA
August 2, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
Our shipped docked early and we checked our luggage into a storage and delivery place. Then we took the shuttle downtown and had coffee and a walk around the waterfront. It was incredibly foggy. The waterfront was nice - a rocky coast line with flat water - very Alaskan! In the afternoon we were able to check into our accomodation, which was a large camper trailer out of town in the forest. Although it didn’t have a flushing toilet, it had two bedrooms, shower and kitchen. We also had our own fire pit. We played a game of corn hole while we waited for our luggage to arrive.

The next morning, Alex and I walked and picked up our rental car. Then we visited Kenai National Park and hiked to view Exit Glacier. I really wanted to do the ice walking on the glacier, but we didn’t have time. Then we went to pick up the fishing equipment which the Airbnb host, Angela, had lent Alex. She had also told us about some fishing spots where he could find salmon. Salmon fishing is tricky in Alaska as there are lots of rules and regulations and we needed to also get a daily fishing license. We found a sign down to the beachfront and then walked along until we found the mouth of the river. It was a beautiful area with a lovely blue river which ran to a inlet and running stream where the salmon were. Alex caught one salmon on the lure and then, once they had stopped biting, he snagged another (this is a technique also used to catch salmon). Mum and I lit a fire on the bank and spent the afternoon there.

The last day we woke up early to catch a bus to Anchorage. This was our last stop in Alaska before flying on to South Africa. Lucky for us, we spotted a moose from the bus window!Read more
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Kruger Park, South Africa
August 10, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
We arrived in Johannesburg after over 48 hours of travel since Alaska. We picked up a sim, found my backpack (which I had lost) and then found our rental car. The drive out to Kruger was about 4 hours and was an easy drive to the park. We were staying in an Airbnb in Marloth Park which is about half an hour to the entrance of Kruger. We were excited about this accomodation as there was plenty of wildlife in the advertisement. But when we got to the house we saw our backyard was full of impala and wildebeest! A few minutes later, a huge group of zebra came to visit!! We were so excited!

The next day, we had planned an easy day with only a sunset safari booked. Mum and I headed down the road to grab a morning coffee. Just as we were walking, I looked up and saw a huge giraffe in the middle of the road in front of me! We followed the giraffe and saw a group of them eating from the trees. They were more timid than the other animals but we still got quite close to see them very well. After coffee, we headed into the closest town to grab some food and supplies and mum and I did some clothes shopping (it’s so cheap here!!). In the afternoon we headed to Kruger park to start our sunset safari. The trip started off slowly and we didn’t have many sighting for the first half an hour. Just as it was getting dark, our guide was alerted to a kill, where a pride of lions were eating a buffalo. We headed over and saw around 15 lions pulling apart a buffalo. It was amazing to see the bloody cats and hear their growls as the ate. The lions didn’t mind that we were there and our truck sat around 15 meters from the kill. Also on the safari, we saw elephants drinking from a waterhole, a heard of buffalo and we glimpsed a leopard slinking through the bushes.

The next day was our first full day of self driving in the park. But before we left the house, we were greeted again by a few zebras who had stopped by for breakfast. We arrived at Crocodile Bridge Gate at 6am and were one of the first to enter the park. Our first sighting was a larger group of giraffes grazing on tree tops. Before breakfast, we saw some elephants in the distance. We had breakfast at a lodge on the river, where we had a great view of a huge group of hippos. After breakfast, we came across a traffic jam. We shortly realised that there was a family of lions on the road. Somehow we got to the front of the cars and spent a good amount of time driving right behind and beside two lionesses and a cub. It was a very cool experience! For the rest of the afternoon we saw plenty more animals, including a close up of an elephant, hyenas and eagles.

The following day I woke up early and looked out the window. Just in front of the porch, there were a group of giraffes feasting in our trees!! We headed back into the park after breakfast. Due to our later start, there was less game around. We still saw lots of giraffes, zebra, elephants and buffalo. After lunch we had a close encounter with a group of elephants who were not impressed with us driving so close to them. We came face to face with a huge elephant walking towards us. We reversed quickly which seemed to diffuse the situation. The highlight of the day came in the late afternoon when we came across another huge traffic jam. We asked around and found out that there was a family of cheetahs which we could easily see through our binoculars. Spectacular!Read more
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Dullstrom, South Africa
August 11, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
We spent the next two nights at a fishing lodge in the country. It was lovely and set amongst pine trees. Alex and I had a fishing lesson when we arrived with a man called Oopa. He taught us to fly fish, which I found really challenging. Luckily, Alex caught a huge trout which they cooked for our dinner.

On day two in Dullstroom we had another fishing lesson. I didn’t catch anything, but Alex caught another trout. After breakfast we went into the main town and visited a birds of prey sanctuary. It was very interesting and had lots of different owls, vultures and eagles. In the evening we had no power for three hours (due to load shedding) but we cooked a barbecue in the dark.Read more
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Port Elizabeth, South Africa
August 14, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
We flew into Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg in the afternoon and arrived at our hotel in time for an early dinner. Port Elizabeth is a relatively large seaside city. The next day we went to a shopping centre to do some clothes shopping. There is great shopping here and everything is very cheap. Mum and I both took home a few items each. Next, we drove out to our accomodation in the country located near Adda Elephant park. We were staying in a cabin on a river, inside an orange farm. It was very pretty. The next day we woke up early to go to the elephant park. Even though it’s advertised as being a park for elephants, it’s actually possible to see the Big 5 there. Unfortunately we didn’t see too many animals but we did see a large, injured hyena walking alongside our car. Apart from that, we saw a few elephants, zebras, impala and dung beetles (Alex’s favourite). Definitely wasn’t as lucky as Kruger, although we only spent a few hours there.Read more
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Prettenberg, South Africa
August 16, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
After the park, we drove to The Crags, which is slightly inland from Prettenberg, a huge tourist town on the Garden Route. We were staying in a beautiful lodge, where our room opened out into the rainforest. Unfortunately it was really cold here and the electricity kept cutting out. We had a lovely dinner in the main house around the fire.

The next day, we went to the wolf sanctuary, which disappointingly was mostly just huskies. There were a few wolves there though, which were interesting because they were much bigger and more sedate than the dogs. Next we headed into the town of Prettenberg to look around the shops and have lunch. It is a super cute tourist town. After lunch we headed back to our accomodation for our spa treatment. Mum had a massage and Alex and I got a three hour treatment. After our massage we had access to the jacuzzi and sauna. We also got a delicious platter and a bottle of wine. Because of the dodgy power, the jacuzzi was wayyy too hot, so we ended up having the maintenance guy join us for part of the evening. The room was lovely though. There was a fire place and lovely candles around.Read more
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George, South Africa
August 17, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
The next day we had a relatively short drive down to George. It was a nice journey along South Africa’s impressive coast line. On the way we went to Oudtshoorn, which is known as South Africa’s ostrich capital. Naturally, we visited an ostrich farm. It was interesting to learn about the different types of ostriches and how they behave. We also got to feed them, which was terrifying!

After we had finished, we headed to our accomodation, which was called an ‘eco coconut’. Basically it was a few shipping containers inside a bird cage thing, in the shape of a coconut. Sounds strange but it was actually amazing. It had an indoor and outdoor fireplace, plus a wood fire jacuzzi (which didn’t really heat up properly). It was set right on a big lake in a game park. We had lots of animals in our backyard including buffalo and rhino!! Finally we have seen the Big 5! In the evening we had a fire and went in the jacuzzi, which was only half heated but still really fun!Read more
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Capetown, South Africa
August 19, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Our last stop for South Africa was Cape Town, which was a few hours drive from George. We are staying in an Airbnb close by the V&A waterfront, which is essentially the tourist (and safest) area in Cape Town.

On our first day in Cape Town, we explored the waterfront area and did some shopping. The shopping is very similar to Port Elizabeth but much more expensive. Never the less, we spent the day exploring the different shopping centres. Mum bought a few things, but I might wait until we get back to Johannesburg.

The next day, we got up early to do a hop on hop off wine tram tour. We headed out to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. There, we boarded a bus and then a tram and toured around the wineries. We tasted lots of different wines and ate lots of platters. It’s was a delicious day!

The next day we had planned to visit Robben island, which was where Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned for 17 years before becoming the president of South Africa. Unfortunately it was cancelled and rescheduled (then cancelled again), so we weren’t able to go out there. Instead we did a drive around Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. We never caught the cable car up the mountain because of the thick cloud cover, but the views from half way up the mountain were beautiful.

On our final day in Cape Town the weather was really cold, windy and rainy but we still needed to see the penguins and Boulders beach. So we drove out via Chapman’s peak, which is an amazing coastal road, built into the side of a cliff. We decided not to get out of the car at Boulder’s beach as the weather was so terrible. So we drove to a hillside vantage point and were able to see the penguins from there.

In the afternoon, we took mum to get her Yellow Fever injection incase we decide to go to Kenya.Read more
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Zanzibar, Tanzania
August 23, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
After a very long flight with a few stop overs we finally landed in Zanzibar. Getting our visas was a bit of a hassle and then we had an hour and a half drive to our resort. That meant we didn’t arrive at our hotel until about 10.30pm, but luckily the staff had left the buffet open for us when we arrived.

Our resort was an all inclusive on Jambiani beach, which is in the south east of the island. It was huge and had two lovely pools and a huge jetty over the turquoise water. We spent our time either around the pool on on the jetty which had plenty of sun beds and stairs into the water. Because it was all inclusive, we had heaps of different cocktails, snacks and meals all throughout the day. The meals included seafood like calamari, octopus, prawns and crab claws. Although it was interesting to try the local cuisine, the food got a bit boring towards the end of the stay. Every evening there was a show in around the pool. Our favourites were the Maasai dance and the acrobatic show.

Although most of the time we spent relaxing by the ocean an pool, we did do a day trip out into the community. This was organised by the resort but was super cheap because we took local transport. The bus was a giant tuk tuk and we squashed about 20 people in it. Our first stop was a local shop where we were able to buy books, pens and other things for the school children. Our next stop was the local school. It was for children aged under 8. We visited the classrooms and the children sing for us. After, the children came out to talk with us and take photos. It was a weird experience and I think the school is regularly used as a tourist destination rather than an education facility. None the less, it was an interesting experience of only to see how surprisingly well resourced the school was compared to others in the country. Next, we did a village tour, where we met some local people who showed us where they lived and shopped. We also learnt how people use coconut to make rope for sun lounges and also coconut oil. We ended out tour at a beach on the south coast of the island. Unfortunately, it was incredibly windy so we decided not to swim but it was lovely to see the blue ocean amongst the steep rocky cliff.Read more
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Serengeti, Tanzania
August 31, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
After spending a night in Arusha, we were picked up early to begin our safari in Tanzania and Kenya. The first stop was the Serengeti. We were travelling in a large Land Cruiser and had three other people in our group - two Italians and one French guy. It took all day to get to the Serengeti, but we arrived just in time to have an afternoon game drive.
As soon as we entered the park, we saw a beautiful cheetah, herds of elephants and a large family of lions. We drove for around three hour before returning to camp for dinner. The camp site was very basic and didn’t have any hot water. We were warned about wild animals in the night (including lions and hyenas) at the campsite and we had a buffalo sleeping near our tents. Throughout night you could hear lions roaring and also wild dogs.

After an early breakfast the next morning, we headed out at sunrise for a morning game drive. Our first sighting was of a hunting lion. We watched him stalk through the long grass and across the river. Suddenly, he leapt on a Thomson’s Gazelle, which we didn’t even know was there. It was so fast and the animal died instantly. That day we saw a mother cheetah with a group of cubs. She seemed to be also looking to hunt, but unfortunately we didn’t see her at full speed. It was so cute to see the cubs annoy and play with each other. We saw many of the common game including a river with hundreds of hippos, lots of giraffes, elephants, zebras and birds. We spent some time watching a huge leopard who was relaxing between rock cliffs. I was surprised at how big the leopard was compared to the cheetah. Before we left the park, we found a male and female lion lying right beside the road. We pulled up right beside them and the lion was staring right at us. They are such beautiful and grand animals.

After our game drive, we visited a Maasai village. We learnt about their culture and how they lived. Maasai people keep a lot of livestock, which they use to eat and trade with (including for marriage). They don’t eat vegetables or drink much water. Instead, they get their required nutrients from the milk and blood of cows. Some of the people in the village have never been to the city. They use their own medicine and even have their babies at home. They bring their animals into their village every evening to protect them from the wild predators. We also got to see their school and were told that when a child is eight, they will do an exam to see whether or not they will continue their education at a local school. The Massai people performed a dance with us and also showed us their jumping. We all joined in the dancing.

Unfortunately, many Maasai people are being forced off their lands due to the government selling it to foreign investors. The land which they are forced to move to is incompatible with agriculture and is causing big problems for the Maasai people.

In the evening we headed to a new camp site near Ngorongoro Crater. This s campsite was nicer and we had lots of zebras near our tents. We woke up the following morning to a huge elephant walking through our tents!Read more
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Ngorongoro Crater
September 2, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
This morning we woke up early and began the descent into the crater. The weather was very foggy, so the journey was a bit sketchy. When we got to the bottom of the crater, the landscape was different to what we were used to. The animals in the crater are not migratory as they have everything they need all year round. In the crater, we got up close to many types of game including lion, buffalo, zebra and lots of hippos. Although it was less exciting that Serengeti, it was more beautiful as we had arrived during sunrise.

Because of the weather, we had to leave the crater early and head back to Arusha for the next leg of the tour into Kenya.Read more
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Maasai Mara, Kenya
September 5, 2023 in Kenya ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
We caught a shuttle bus from Arusha to Nairobi which took around 6 hours including the border crossing. The next day, we drove to the Maasai Marra. When we arrived, we went for an afternoon game drive. We saw elephants, zebras and a family of lions. The landscape was slightly greener than the Serengeti. Our accomodation was in permanent tents and it was really nice especially mum’s tent - which was huge with a marble bathroom. The next day we continued back into the Maasai Marra - we saw lots of the same game but the highlight was seeing a leopard in a tree, eating its kill (gazelle). In the evening we visited another Maasai village. This one seemed more authentic than the one in Tanzania. A man took us to his house and chatted with us about what his life was like.Read more
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Nakaru National Park, Kenya
September 6, 2023 in Kenya ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
The next game park we visited was Nakuru and on the way, we stopped at a lake called Lake Naivasha. On the lake, we took a small boat safari to look at the wildlife, including getting up close to some hippos in the water. During our trip, the weather suddenly changed and a storm came. It was extremely wet and rocky for the trip back to shore.

Nakuru national park is home to the big 5. But the highlight of this game drive was seeing Rhinos in the wild. We got relatively close and saw a family with a baby. The bird life at the park was also impressive - we saw hundreds of lovely flamingos in the lake.Read more
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Amboseli National Park, Kenya
September 8, 2023 in Kenya ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
The final game park we visited was home to hundred of Elephants. Its landscape was completely different to what we had seen in the past and it was beautiful to watch the families of elephants in the swamps. We drove around the park for a few hours and stopped at a nice lodge for a drink. Earlier in the day, there had been a lion kill nearby and we could see the vultures feasting on the remains of the buffalo. During our time at the park, we also saw giraffes, lions and mongoose.Read more
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Kigali, Rwanda
September 13, 2023 in Rwanda ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
We had a few more days to fill in before our trip home from Johannesburg, so we took a three hour flight to Kigali. The city was green and very hilly. The locals seemed friendly and we felt very safe. Unfortunately mum was quite sick, so we didn’t do too much in the city. I really wanted to trek with the gorillas but it was extremely expensive and we didn’t have much time. The highlight of our visit to the city was the genocide memorial, where we learnt about the genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi people of Rwanda. It took place in 1994 and between 500000 and 80000 people were killed. The country has recovered remarkably well and now is a leader in Africa in many progressive areas (women’s right and climate change). Rwanda is also famous for it’s coffee culture so Alex and I enjoyed trying out the trendy cafes around the hillsides.Read more
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Johannesburg, South Africa
September 16, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Our final stop of the trip was back in Johannesburg, where we spent a few nights relaxing in the tourist area of the city. It was great to be able to eat the excellent food and finish off our shopping before we went home. We visited one of the best steak restaurants in the world and got our steak for under $30. We also did a hop on hop off tour of the city and learnt all about its turbulent past. On the tour, we stopped at the Apartheid museum and spent some time learning about it and the life of Nelson Mandela. I didn’t feel unsafe in the city but we didn’t really leave the tourist area. Our last day was spent mostly in the airport as mum had an earlier flight than us. It was okay though because it’s a huge airport with plenty of shopping and restaurants.Read more
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Home
September 18, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
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Trip end
September 30, 2023