Central & Southern Africa

Our first hotel when we arrived in Rwanda. Great place to stay when you are either just arriving to or departing from Kigali.

We visited this memorial in Kigali on our first day there. It is very sobering - there are about 250,000 people buried here in a mass grave, and an exhibit that details the history.

We stayed in this hotel prior to visiting the Gorillas. The hotel also has a tour group that got us around Rwanda for the first part of our trip. You can find them at www.virungatravel.com.

This is the National Park where the gorillas live in the moutains, and you can hike in to go see them. We did this is part of our trip and it was absolutely awesome!

We stopped here for a day of R&R on the lake, and were not disappointed!

This is the company that organized our safari in the Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, and Tarangire National Parks. What an unforgettable experience!

This was our first stop on the safari. It is a crater created by a mountain that collapsed millions of years ago, and it is very fertile, so many of the animals stay in here rather than migrating. Breathtaking!

Our first lodge during our safari. Beautiful views of the crater!

We spent 4 wonderful days driving around the park and watching the animals. A must-see in Tanzania!

Our first camp in the Serengeti. This one is a mobile camp - it moves based on where the animals are.

One of the two camps we stayed in on the safari. This one was a permanent camp so the tents are on concrete platforms with outdoor stone showers. Very fancy!

This was the last park on our safari. There weren't as many animals because it had rained recently, so they didn't need to come out into the open that much to find water. We did see a lot of elephants and a really cool leopard climbing out of a tree.

Our final lodge on the safari, in Tarangire National Park. It is built into the side of a hill and has beautiful views of the park.

Our home in Zambia for about 5 days. This B&B is just a little walk from town with a lovely pool and restaurant. We really enjoyed our relaxing stay here - Richard and his staff are awesome!

This was our first event in Zambia - a sunset cruise that picks up at the Royal Livingstone hotel and takes you out towards the falls to see the sunset. The boat was nice, the drinks were plentiful, but the food left much to be desired.

This museum provides history on the area around Livingstone, and then a portrait of Dr. David Livingstone, including his original letters. Pretty cool.

This tour can be taken for breakfast, lunch, or tea. We took it for tea. You take a boat out to Livingstone Island, learn about the island, and then swim over to a pool AT THE TOP OF THE FALLS. Not kidding one bit.

We went white-water rafting on the Zambezi River. This is definitely an extreme white-water rafting experience. There were about 35 rapids total (25 numbered and then a, b, c, and d's), with about 10 class 4's, 5 class 5's, and 2 class 6's. It is illegal to raft class 6, so we got out of the boat and went around them. Beautiful views but really friggin scary.

We walked across this bridge to get into Zimbabwe from Zambia. There are beautiful views of the river, and you can see the white-water rafts set up in the morning.

This is the best place to view the falls. There's a walking trail that takes about an hour or so to follow and see the different lookout points. Just spectacular, even when the falls are low. You can also see people swimming on top of the falls across the way.

Our home in Cape Town for about 6-7 days. This is a beautifully furnished home in Orangezicht, and Marc and Ivan made us feel very welcome.

This is the beautiful mountain that Cape Town sits in the bowl of. You can either hike up or take a cable car if it is not too windy (the cable car doesn't run if it is too windy). We hiked up and took the cable car down. The hike really puts into perspective how high it is - you basically walk up into the clouds.

We visited this restaurant after meeting the owners while in Zambia. It is right on the Waterfront and has really yummy fresh fish and traditional Greek dishes. Yum!

This was our first french, foodie-type restaurant recommended by our B&B owners. Very yummy - if you go, try the quail appetizer.

We visited this and 6 other townships as part of a township tour. The poverty is staggering.

The old synagogue in Cape Town was turned into a museum, and the new one (built in 1905) is used for Orthodox services. The museum is interesting but a bit of media overload but still interesting.

Really yummy upscale restaurant in Cape Town, near the Jewish Museum. Try the Springbok - phenomenal!

Spectacular botanical garden in Cape Town. Nuff said.

One of the prettiest beachest I've ever seen, but also the coldest waters. Highly used for photo shoots!

Town on the coast good for seeing whales. We missed the whales but enjoyed the town.

Wine country in the cape, meaning "French corner". Beautiful drive.

More wine country in the cape with scenic views.

Restaurant at Spier Winery with treetop tables, a huge buffet, facepainting and traditional african dancing and singing. Felt like Disneyland given what we had already done on the trip.

This winery is more like an amusement park. It had a winery, restaurant, cheetahs, owls, a pond, picnic grounds, etc. - need I say more?

This winery is right in town - we went there at the end of a day trip down to Cape Point and tried a bunch of their wines. Very yummy and affordable!

Yummy restaurant on the Waterfront in Cape Town. Owners also own Beluga. Really yummy sushi and chocolate dessert!

This is a sight not to be missed, but be patient when you go - the tour can be pretty long. There's a 1/2 hour boat ride, after which they stuff you into buses and shuttle you around the island for an hour so, then you get out of the bus and get a tour from an ex-prisoner for an hour or so.