Diving in the Red Sea, Egypt

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Diving in the Red Sea, Egypt

As we mentioned in a prior blog post, we spent four days diving in the Red Sea in Egypt! We were scuba certified before the trip and did our Open Water course dives in freezing water in South Africa, so this was our first "real" diving experience.

We loved it! We went with a great company called Aqua Nabq, and had excellent lunches and wonderful, sunny days exploring a bunch of different dive sites. We used our GoPro to take video and pictures. Here's the video, and a few favorite snaps!

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Valley of the Kings & the Temples of Luxor, Egypt

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Valley of the Kings & the Temples of Luxor, Egypt

Our first day in Luxor we went to the West Bank of the Nile River to see some of the many temples and sights. First, we stopped at the Valley of the Kings, which is a valley where tombs of Pharaohs were cut into the rock. This mainly took place from the 16th to the 11th century BC, which is part of what makes it such an amazing and famous site. 

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Cairo, Camels, and the Pyramids

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Cairo, Camels, and the Pyramids

I’ve been to Egypt once before, in 2013 with my friend Chris Simpson, and absolutely loved it. Seeing the pyramids at Giza and the Valley of the Kings near Luxor is an unforgettable experience. Unfortunately, on that trip we didn’t get to visit Abu Simbel, so Chuck and I decided to visit Egypt on our travels so I could check that off my list, and so he could see Egypt for the first time.

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Sable Sands Safari Lodge & Hwange National Park

/ Sable Sands/
Sable Sands Safari Lodge & Hwange National Park

Spending a few nights at Sable Sands was one of the most special parts of our trip so far. While we really enjoyed our time in Victoria Falls, it was a bit touristy for my taste. We wanted to get out into the bush and away from the people, and Sable Sands provided just that.

Sable Sands is a safari lodge that is comfortable but rustic. Each hut has it's own wood-burning stove outside to serve as a water heater, white mosquito netting draped over the bed, a thatched roof, and a gorgeous view over the watering hole in the wide-open valley. As we arrived, monkeys were tramping around the edge of the hole having a drink before moving on to let the next parade of animals have their turn.

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Chobe National Park - Botswana

/ Chobe National Park/
Chobe National Park - Botswana

One day of our trip in Victoria Falls was spent crossing the border into Botswana to go to Chobe National Park. The first half of the day was spent in an open-air truck (think: typical safari vehicle) and the second half was a water safari in a boat.

We got very lucky and saw lions up close! Almost too close for comfort! Check it out!

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Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe - 1 of the 7 Wonders of the Natural World!

/ Victoria Falls/
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe - 1 of the 7 Wonders of the Natural World!

We left Cape Town on Saturday, May 6th to fly to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, where we decided to do a safari. The Zimbabwe infrastructure isn’t great (for example, ATMs are almost always out of cash), so we elected to go with a pre-built package with all of the cool stuff scheduled in and paid for so we didn’t have to worry or plan as much.

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Great White Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai

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Great White Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai

I'm not really sure what I expected shark cage diving to be like when Chuck booked our excursion in Gansbaai. I wasn't afraid, though my hair stylist in Port Elizabeth spoke at length about how I should be. I suppose I thought it would be a similar experience to the wildlife viewing we'd done so far--sort of a drive by, take a few pictures and leave, kind of thing.

Not exactly.

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Kragga Kamma Game Reserve - Port Elizabeth, South Africa

/ Kragga Kamma Game Park/
Kragga Kamma Game Reserve - Port Elizabeth, South Africa

The day after Addo Elephant Park, we took another recommendation of our wonderful AirBnB hostess and went to Kragga Kamma Game Reserve, just outside of Port Elizabeth. The reserve had a self-drive option that went around the park, with a stop in the middle of the drive at a cafe overlooking the cheetah enclosure. Unlike Addo, predators in this park are kept separate from their prey.

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Addo Elephant Park - Port Elizabeth, South Africa

/ Addo Elephant Park/
Addo Elephant Park - Port Elizabeth, South Africa

One of the absolute coolest things to do in Port Elizabeth is to go to Addo Elephant Park.

Addo is the third biggest national park in South Africa, and was our first chance to see wildlife in a more natural setting. Unlike game reserves, the animals at Addo aren't separated into cages to keep, say, the lions from eating the elephants. Tours were available, but we opted to do a self-drive. At the advice of our AirBnB hosts, we packed a picnic lunch and snacked all day while we drove around for about six hours.

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Cape Town & Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

/ Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden/
Cape Town & Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Thank goodness Chuck had time to send everyone an update! We've been very busy and are still a bit behind on posting photos and videos, but here are some to start.

As you know, we spent our 10 or so days in Cape Town. Here are just a few snaps from the window of our first AirBnb, as well as a nice day spent in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

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Greetings from Cape Town

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Greetings from Cape Town

We have been off to a slow start on this blog, and for that I'd like to apologize.  I've very much been in vacation mode and not necessarily world traveler mode.  As we are getting ready to leave our first destination it is sinking in more and more that we have barely begun this journey.  Cape Town has been the perfect kick off for Samantha and I.  Similar enough in culture where we don't feel like complete tourists (read most everyone speaks English), but after 30+ hours of travel it also feels very far from home.

We have been obsessing over the food, and have had some truly unbelievable meals.  If you're ever in the area La Mouette and La Boheme are musts.  That being said, we haven't had a bad meal yet.  We've spent a considerable amount of time just walking the different neighborhoods and everywhere we have stopped has been a real treat.  The craft beer scene is young but seems to be thriving, and its been really fun to see styles like "West Coast IPA" and "American Pale Ale" on the menus.  

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