Hi all, Well I think just after I last posted, I made a spontaneous decision to take a helicopter ride over Victoria Falls in Livingstone, which was absolutely amazing. The following day I went to the falls and walked until I was soaked. The views were spectacular and I have some great pics of me by the falls with a rainbow in the background. I also visited a local villiage and found about their customs which are pretty strange to the wetern world. For example, when someone becomes chief they have to swallow a stone, the same stone which is passed down and swallowed by each chief in succesion. We didn't go into the details of how they extricate the stone. Just before I left Livingstone, our truck split with some heading to J'burg and myself to Cape Town. And there it was....I learn't my first painful lesson of travelling. You meet beautiful people that you have to say goodbye to and see beautiful places that you have to leave behind. So to H and Linds, I hope you have a fab year. I then travelled to Botswana and spent some time in Chobe National Park, again seeing some spectacular animals. The scenery here was also wonderful with hundreds of dead trees extending beyond the shrub land and decorating the sky with beautifully knarled branches. From here I travelled to the Thebe River and took a Mokoro (dugout canoe) into the Okavango Delta. Very relaxing and an experience that you just would not get anywhere else. The Okavango is the largest inland Delta in the world (I think). We stayed overnight (bush camping - with Hippos closeby, and did you know that of all animals Hippos kill the largets number of people in Africa) on an island in the Delta called Togatzemi (meaning one year island). When we returned to the mainland the next day, again by Mokoro in the water channels, I took a small aircraft (5 person plane) up over the delta to see it from the skies which gave me wonderful views of the meandering water across the Delta. I also saw lots of elephants and other delights from my birds eye view. From here we travelled to Ghanzi (on the edge of the Kalahari desert) where we bush camped. The brave amongst us camped out by the fire (only to be heard resurrecting a tent at one in the morning for fear of the lions!!!!). Here we met the Sarn people, a dying breed of people who live in the bush and dig their food and medicine from plant roots. They took us through the bus and gave us a wonderful insight into their lives. I heard that the young amongst them are reluctant to join their way of life and so tey are dwindling in number. We were truly privileged to see these people as it is unlikely they will be around for another generation. I am now in Namibia. We visited the town of Windhoek (meaning windy corner) which was very westernised. After having lost one of my sandals way back in the Serengeti (went fying out the van!) I was delighted to be able to get some more. Those of you who understand my capacity for shopping will not be surprised to hear that I did not stop at one pair but at 3!!!! At the moment I am camping in Etosha National Park. Our tents are pretty close to floodlit watering hole and we can stay up all night (if we choose) to watch the zebra, wildebeest, lion, rhino coming to drink. So far I have see Zebra and Jackals. Tomorrow I head to Swakupmund for some beer and a good German bakery!!! I shall spend a couple of days here near the dunes and perhaps be intrepid enought to go quad biking!!! More from me soon, Love Cesca x