Our thoughts on Africa, the part we did!

This is it: Africa is done for us for this trip. I hope we will come back again to see more of it.
Africa was magical.
There were so many highlights: several moments are inked in my brain. The first time we saw giraffes in that big plain area in South Luangwa Park in Zambia. Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) with its thundering waters, is something to see. The Livingstone International Cultural Arts Festival with all the dancers from all over Zambia, was for me a wonderful experience and I wish we could have seen more of it.
Watching Andrew and Kev doing the swing (dropping 70 meters down and then swinging on that rope over the roaring river) in Victoria falls was something. Watching Emma fighting her fear and doing her first zipline was wonderful.
The animals we saw in national parks and in the wild were sensational. There is nothing like seeing animals living their lives, free (not in small area in zoo). They are all magnificent. I loved that. We saw so many animals (I’m sure the kids will give you a list!)
Etosha national park was amazing. We saw a couple of lion mating, how awesome is that! We saw some lioness just a couple of meters from us!
In Namibia, we saw dolphins jumping in the waves of the boat we were in. That was magical.
The landscapes were so different: from immense plains, to hills, deserts and massive dunes. Africa has so much to offer.
We also saw people asking for water. Nobody should have to ask for water. This was so wrong. There is still so much to do here for the African people. There is still so many who struggle. It was not as obvious as in India, as there are less people here. But there are still too many people who live without their basic needs filled. This is not ok.
As travellers and human, I want to help, but I am not always sure how to. I said it before: spending our tourist money might help, but I am not sure it goes to the people who need it. I have not seen any non-profit organisation around. I will have to look for it when we are back in Australia to see if we can help, even if it is just a little bit.
As always, we are sad to leave. It is weird to think that Africa is already over. We are almost half way through our trip. The year is going so fast and it is scary.
Next part is Europe, it is going to be so different and exciting, but Africa will stay in my heart and I really want to come back.
Mel

What are my thoughts of Africa? Or more specifically, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Beautiful, but very expensive for a tourist. They don't miss you if you're foreign. There is lots of money here, and lots of poverty too. It's much cleaner than India tho. Namibia, even with mineral wealth and tourism, is still one of the poorest countries per capita in the world. We saw absolutely amazing animals in these countries, way better than any zoo. We saw some truly amazing countryside. We ate some really good food, nshima is a must if you're in Zambia. We had fun, and we will miss Africa.
Kev

Africa has been a lovely country, the animals, the food (after two month in India I needed meat) and the people, some of them are nice and friendly and some have been plainly annoying, but most of them are nice. The highlights of Africa have been Victoria falls, it was beautiful, the gorge swing there, that was a unique experience, Etosha national park, that was purely amazing, the cape fur seal colony, it was unbelievable, and riding on the boat with the dolphins in Walvis Bay, I’ve always wanted to do that. Surprisingly the plants and the countryside actually look pretty similar to the ones in Australia but the animals are like the exacted opposite, kangaroos and elephants have nothing similar. Here are the animals we saw (that I remember): hyenas, cheetahs, lions, ostriches, Oryxs, Kudu, snakes (we saw three types), mongooses (or as I like to call them, mongeese), small spotted cat, monkeys, wilder beast, impala, squirrels, hyraxes, black backed Jackel, meerkat, steenbok, genet, rhinos, warthogs, springbok and who knows how many more we drove past but didn’t see. It’s going to be sad to leave Africa, it has been my favourite continent so far, we need to come back, we barely skimmed the top of it, we have many trips ahead of us (well, after the gap year). So long Africa, I’ll miss you but now it’s onto France.
Andrew (10 years old)

Hi guys, this blog is just going to be about what I thought of Africa.
The temperature was nice, little cold at some points. Beautiful wildlife, beautiful landscapes. The things I am going to miss is touching the seal, touching the pelican and seeing the dolphins swimming under us. We saw dolphins, whales, lions, zebra, wildebeest, elephants, monkeys, rhinos, oryx, small spotted genet, greater kudu, giraffes and many more that I don’t have time to name. There was this animal that I have always wanted to see in the wild and I saw it. It was a MEERKAT. I love seeing the wildlife of Africa because it’s unique. There is nothing quite like it. All the places were magical in their own way. I love seeing all the animals free and not trapped in a cage at a zoo.
Emma (almost 9 years old)

Here are some pictures from the 2 months in Africa.Baca lagi