Africa - Our Long Awaited Honeymoon!

James & I have been away for the past two weeks - on an adventure 18 months in the making. I didn't want to jinx myself, tempt fate or whatever - so I mentioned it to only family and close friends. I should begin by explaining that today is our 9th wedding anniversary! When James and I got married, we were in the process of moving from Virginia to Pennsylvania. We got married on a Friday and took a quick trip to the mountains in Western PA while Maddie (who was 6 years old) went to the beach with my Mom & Dad. Everything surrounding those few months in 2000 was done in a rush... the move, the new job for James, and the wedding. We promised ourselves that one day we would take a proper honeymoon - and we finally did.

Our itinerary included 4 different safari lodges in two different African countries. Our first three stops were in Botswana, in three very distinct ecologic and geographic regions. Our forth stop was in Zambia - to see Victoria Falls and experience a lodge that practiced sustainable tourism and responsible development. The last stop was the closest to my heart for reasons I will explain later... I will have to do quite a few entries to cover the whole of the trip, but I'll start at the beginning...

On Tuesday, May 12 we departed Dulles Airport outside of Washington D.C. and flew to London Heathrow. We took a day flight, so we didn't lose a day in transit. We arrived at our hotel, on the bank of the Thames, by 10:30 PM that same night. Our friends Ed & Marty were already in London, having flown over the previous Friday. We had arranged to meet up in London, do a bit of sightseeing, and leave for Johannesburg, South Africa on the evening of the 14th. We had two full days to enjoy the sights of London.

We spent our first day visiting St. Paul's Cathedral and walking along the Thames. We stopped for lunch at a riverside pub and continued our walk back toward our hotel which was directly across the river from the Houses of Parliment, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey - and right next to the London Eye. We had 'typical' London weather - a bit damp and overcast, but it didn't dampen our enthusiasm for being back in the city that we both loved.

The next morning, Thursday, we departed for Hampton Court. I have been totally enthralled with this palace since I first visited it back in 1990. I don't know if any of you are watching 'The Tudors' on Showtime, but I love it. Visiting this palace that was a summer home to Henry VIII was a real treat, given it is currently celebrating the 500th anniversary of Henry's coronation with special events and exhibits. James, Ed & Marty had never visited the palace and I was so excited for them to see it...














On Thursday evening, we departed London and flew overnight to Johannesburg. We used airline miles to book our seats in Business Class on British Airways, so we were able to have a good nights sleep on their 'lay flat' seat/beds. We arrived refreshed at 9AM and stayed the day in Johannesburg. We didn't have a chance to do any sightseeing, so we enjoyed the resort we stayed at... (the exchange rate was great, so I went to the spa and had a swim, a steam, a massage and reflexology!) James took care of business calls because it was our last chance for phone calls or internet service for at least a week.

On the morning of the 16th we departed Johannesburg and flew to Maun, Botswana. From there, we took another plane to our first lodge, Chitabe.







We landed at the lodge and were met by our guide, Oates. The 25 minute ride from the airstrip to the lodge was an exciting one. It was just a small taste of what was to come, but it was thrilling! Here are just a few of the sights we saw in our first hour at Chitabe.











The handsome leopard pictured at the top of this posting was actually found on our morning drive the second day we were at Chitabe. It was about 6:15 AM, the sun was coming up and the light was fantastic as our guide followed the leopard's tracks and we came upon him, as though sitting for a portrait, just 50 feet in front of us. It was a pulse quickening moment - I had to keep saying to myself, "I can't believe I'm here, seeing this magnificent animal."

You should also know that none of my photos are photoshopped or enhanced. I'm not a great photographer, but the environment was excellent and the light was fabulous. I still can't believe I was able to get some of the shots I got. In the two weeks we were gone, I took over 3000 photographs. I'm in the process now of sorting and deleting.

I'm going to close now, as I am still a bit jet lagged (we returned on Monday afternoon after spending the previous 28 hours in airplanes and airports...) Tomorrow I will share a bit more of Chitabe and then move on to our lodge in the Okavango Delta - Little Vumbura Camp. Until tomorrow...!