Zambia

Check our the BIG CATs in the following movie:


South Luangwa Park: Chimilandu Camp
South Luangwa Park: Kuyenda Camp


Victoria Falls: Livingstone, Zambia
Watch Ryan Jump the Falls:

Himba Village and Skeleton Coast

The Himba tribe is one of the oldest in Namibia. The women paint their bodies and hair with fresh butterfat everyday, which gives their skin a lovely red tint. They are great craftswomen, as they hand-make all their jewelry and clothing (usually with their babies on their laps) They were also very welcoming and warm.

Himba children playing at dusk, wearing the beads their aunts and mothers make.

Some of the oldest bushman engravings are still clear on the side of this sandstone rock. Bushmen were nomads and traveled all over the country from desert to sea.

Famous "desert elephants," pictured below, are rare in Namibia. They are slightly leaner than elephants you find in the parks and are built to last longer without water.

On the Skeleton Coast (i.e. named after bones from beached whales) you are likely not to see another vehicle for hours. It is not a good place to run out of gas or get a flat tire. This photo was taken just before our right back tire went flat. Luckily, there were two vehicles on the road at that time!
View of the Atlantic Ocean from our porch at Cape Cross Lodge.

The larges fur seal colony in the world, pictured below, lies near Cape Cross, Namibia. Noisy little guys.

Safari in Etosha National Park, Northern Namibia

Neither of us knew that Namibia had a game park as beautiful and full of life as Etosha. Our sleeping hut was situated at the base of a popular watering hole, which was abundant with all kinds of visitors. Only a short stone wall stood between us and the animals. At night, the watering hole was softly lit up for great viewing... with a bottle of wine, of course.

Elephant and zebra taking a drink at sunset at the waterhole directly outside our sleeping hut.

This young black rhino came every night to the waterhole to nibble on the grass only about 20 feet from the stone wall that separated us from him. It was clear another animal attempted to attack him, which was evident from the scratches on his body. This could have been the same rhino that tried to attack our vehicle in the parking lot, as speculated in the video below.

Wild Cat Sanctuary

Leopard at Dusternbrook Guest Farm near Windhoek, Namibia. The guest farm is also a game reserve and sanctuary for leopard and cheetah.

Cheetah family at Dusternbrook.

Namib Desert

High dune in the Namib Desert. The landscapes of this beautiful and arid country are grounded in some of the oldest exposed land on Earth.

Surrounded by red sand dunes in the Namib Desert lies Dead Vlei, which consists of flat, cracked earth with only a few dead trees.

Swakopmund Namibia

No description of our time in Namibia would be complete without mentioning the importance of Jorg and Ulla in this amazing African experience. Working with their friend FranzPeter they put together a complete five-star itinerary at a back-packer's price-point. As you will see in the posting below and those that will follow in the next couple of days, we had an exciting and authentic experience of this wonderful country.

On our first full day in Swakopmund, they had set up a boat trip that took us through the diverse ecosystem of Walvis Bay (Whale Bay).



On the last day of our trip, Ulla joined us on an interesting and creative desert safari.

Denise's Massage Work at OA

Denise providing massage to special needs children in the infirmary at Orphan Aid Africa. The lucky recipient is Courage. During her stay, Denise provided massage for children with HIV and Cerebral Palsy, a new and rewarding experience for her.

Poems by Patience of Orphan Aid Africa

Poem Africa by Patience E. Sabah
I am African
and I am proud of Africa.
Especially my country, Ghana.
O God please bless my mother land.
Ahh Ghana! You are so great.
No matter how poor or rich you are
I will still remain an African as well as a Ghanian.
Rich or poor, I will do anything
to make Africa as well as Ghana
great.
All the help I need is from God.
Ghana! Ghana! Ghana!

Poverty Poem by Patience E. Sabah

"Where is the man who brought poverty?"

We will always ask ourselves.

"Is he mad?" We ask our friends.

"Doesn't he know how tired we are?"

We will ask again to our friends.
Well my sisters and brothers

This is my advice.

No man brought poverty.

It is our doing. If we don't work hard,

then we will become poor.

I understand that when you are working hard

people become jealous

and let the manager throw you out. But you must

challenge it if you want to be successful.

But, if you get success do not abandon your friends.

Help them too and food shall bless you.

Interesting Store Names in Ghana

In Ghana, store names are reflective of their mostly Christian tradition, as indicated in photos below. The following list of store names are real as well:

"God Will Provide Enterprises"
"Thank You Jesus Beauty Salon"
"Everything by God Snack Shop"
"Prosperity Haircut"
"By His Grace Tailoring"
"Don't Mind Your Wife Bar"
"There is No Problem Jesus Can't Solve Company"
"Rejoice in the Lord Design Center"
"Clap for Jesus Business Center"
"Holy Cross Fashion Home"
"In God We Trust Healthcare"

Updated Fufu Video

Fufu and Banku are the 2 most ubiquitous foods in Ghana. You just cannot escape them. We've documented a detailed recipe for banku that was posted earlier. Fufu is made out of pounded cassava and plantains. It is a very physical - and somewhat dangerous - process, as you will see in the attached video where Joseph taught us how to make this traditional dish.

Togo and Benin

With Ghana becoming comfortable as a home base, we decided to take a trip to neighboring Togo and Benin. Both countries have recently emerged from military dictatorships and difficult post-colonial histories, yet the people in both countries were sophisticated and worldly. We found ourselves challenged by the language barriers but Ryan's high school French classes unexpectedly did pay high dividends during this part of our trip.

While in Lome, Togo, Denise picked out fabric from a local vendor , designed a dress, and had it tailored. Below is the final product.



Togo and Benin are the birthplace of Fetishism, now known in the New World as Voodoo. In both countries, we went out of our way to hunt out the most authentic Voodoo markets.

While in French Africa, it quickly became clear that Moumar Kaddafi was on a power-grabbing tour. His picture was posted everywhere.
Then, we were stopped by a police barricade placed to protect Kadaffi as his entourage drove by us at over 100 MPH in Lome, Togo.
Benin, while being less developed than Togo is incredibly beautiful.
Denise found time to challenge Che Guevarra to a gave of foosball.

Here is a genuine Beninois petrol station . . . with gas sold by the liter.

Women's Group Graduation

In a past entry, we described one of Mama Lisa's (pictured above) projects to get the women of Ayenyah Village involved in bead production. While half of the women in the village are embarking on this new project, the other half have already fully engaged themselves in the production of Batik cloth. This is an important development in a local economy where most families live off of under $100 a year. Empowering local women is proven as the most effective development strategy and it was exciting to participate in this celebration of the local women's accomplishments.

Boti Falls

Our fieldtrip to Boti Falls with the older kids of OrphanAid Africa is one of the most memorable experiences of our time in Ghana. Although there was an age limit set for the children who could join us, Seriatu was allowed to join us because of her recent good behavior at school and church. As you will see in the video below, she stole the show.