The Final Stretch

The last week of our Southern Africa tour was spent in Botswana and the return to big old Johannasburg. We got a bit inspired when we met the hyper-Belgian-wildlife biologist Jean-Marc who was studying the African Wild Dog. He gave us a contact to a guy named JOhn McNutt, who is top in the field as far as the wild dogs go. SO we decided to make one more story since we had the camera and the inspiration. WE met him at his offices in Maun, in northern Botswana. We had a nice interview, and chats with him, and he arranged for a very special private safari for us to get up and close to a Wild Dog den... the problem was that it was in the Tuli Game reserve all the way in Eastern Botswana. So we fired up the Bakkie and went for the cause. It paid off, as we got right next to the den when all the pups were out frolicing, and then we witnessed them nursing as well as other adult dogs vomitting up piece of meat to help feed the young. We got some EXCELLENT footage! The final border crossing was a drive across the pretty deep Limpopo river. WE figured if we crossed it, it would save a 4 hour drive to the next border post. Well, we made it, but the new apple laptop under the seat did not! Like an idiot, I left it under my seat as the water came in through the door! We did, take it apart and dried it all up. I am hoping it is just the battery that got cooked, because it did stqrt up after we had Tajik, a Pakistani computer nut take it apart and dry it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! So we battled a few more frigid nights in South Africa, and returned to where we left from over two monthes ago. It was so sad to sell the little Nissan 1400... hands down the best little truck ever manufactured. It went to good hands though: my friend Edward from Lesotho flew up and bought it. I got my money back, and he got a great little truck! Trip number totals:

11,600 kilometers driven
8 countries visited
9 containers of feta cheese consumed
200 average number of grams of chocolate per day
162 US Dollars spent on traffic tickets and corrupt cops
2 Full moons
10,000,000,000 The largest bill printed in former Zimbabwe dollars
3 mobile phones purchased on the trip
2 number of lost phones on th trip

Thanks so much to all of ny new friend I met along the way. Can't wait to see you all again! Special thanks to Marrianne who made it a really fun adventure...it ain't easy having a 24-hour side kick! See her blog www.RomeOaround.blogspot.com for the grand total in our 2009 African Continental Gin Rummy Championship....I was to frustrated to publish the results......