Good stuff. I see you managed to avoid politics with your Boer hosts.

I did a zip-line in Alaska where we started above the clouds and ended up right on the water's edge (5,300ft long, 1,300ft vertical drop). Starting off dropping into a grey-nothing was awesome. I imagine it was a similar feeling.

jalfrezi - I try to avoid politics with everyone, everywhere. One of them did go off on a pretty epic racist rant at one point and I learned some new words. I was pretty confused at first as to why someone would hate kefir as much as this dude did. I've tried it and while it's not my thing, I can understand why a lot of hippies drink it. Turns out he was saying something else.

Dids - exactly. Not sure exhilarating is the right word for it, but it's close.

I saw some show on tv with this fantastic diving spot, but it's off the coast of Sudan I think. I didn't catch the start of the show. There was a very professional looking organizer/guide with a big boat and all that. The guys on the show were both white Brits so it might be reasonably safe. It could be that they sail out of a neighboring country.

Don't want to jump ahead, but can't resist posting this teaser from earlier today:




sweet baby jesus have I been dying to do this ever since I was like six years old




dear six year old chop,

dreams do come true. we made it happen!!!!11!11!eleven!!111!

- old chop



may have to go do it again tomorrow

let us go go go!!!!!

Awesome! have always wanted to do that too

Amazing trip reports and photos. The photo of the less than brilliant impala with the lion in the background is gorgeous.

chopstick,

Tell us about renting a car in another country. Just take the max insurance? Need any special license/permit? Anything special when you plan to cross to yet another country?

gold doggy dog - sorry to poker answer you, but it depends. Mostly on where you are. and which countries you are going to. And what kind of insurance you have.

Most USA#1 auto insurance policies have little to no international coverage defaulted to a standard policy. Most decent USA#1 credit cards come with worldwide coverage on damage to a rented vehicle up to $50-100k. Things like liability can be weird. Here in South Africa, they have a "Road Fund" which is a public entity funded by a fuel tax that pays out to people who have been injured in automotive accidents, so you don't use a liability policy. If your vehicle gets damaged, it's your insurance that covers the damage, regardless of fault.

You really just need to research the specific countries beforehand. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the "no liability" thing in South Africa.

You can get an International Driver Permit at any AAA office for $20. It's just a translation of your license into a bunch of different languages. If the country you are heading to speaks English or whatever your license is printed in, you don't really need an IDP.

Crossed thru both Swaziland and Lesotho with no issues and no requests for any paperwork. In addition to the usual stuff you'd imagine, some border posts require a Carnet de Passage en Douane which is kind of like a customs document for your vehicle if you own it. If you're in a rental, you may need a letter of authorization from the rental company saying you are allowed to exit the country. I got letters for both Swaziland and Lesotho but was never asked for either.

So jealous, amazing TRs. Please don't get eaten by sharks or other animals so we'll get more!

Good stuff as always!

Awesome updates.

Recently did shark diving in Oahu on my honeymoon, but I'd imagine being in the water with great whites feels a bit different (our sharks were 10 ft long Galapagos sharks).

Yikes, watch out for monkeys in the Congo:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...=.a2e218c018c7

Returning the car at Cape Town airport in about 24 hours from now. Plan is still mostly the same - going to hang out in Cape Town for about a week, then head north to Namibia.

Have gotten some good advice from talking with B&B owners about Namibia - where to go, where not to go, etc. Had one insist that I fly there from Capetown instead of doing an overland or taking a bus. Another thinks that doing a one way car hire would be the best. Haven't made that decision yet, figure I still have a week. Could always just hang out in South Africa longer as well, they give USA#1ers 90 days and I'm only at 30. They also don't stop the visa clock when you leave the country so it's all use it or lose it from the first time of entry. Thinking of spending that week in a southern suburb of Cape Town (Simon's Town, Fish Hoek, etc) instead of CT proper based on multiple recommendations.

Guessing I'll probably end up hopping on a bus up to Windhoek, then getting a car there for some exploring. Looks like I won't have Google's Project Fi in either Namibia or Botswana, so need to decide on whether to get a local SIM card in each of those or not. The only reason I'm hesitant is because I've read accounts of people doing that and the Fi SIM needing to be reactivated (which can only happen in USA#1) after being temporarily swapped out for a non-Fi SIM. It worked fine when I did that in the Maldives but the thought of bricking my phone makes me a sad chop.

Need to research what one way car hires from Windhoek -> Vic Falls would look like. Probably can't get away with tiny car for that given it's starting wet season and multiple people have told me that the roads get washed out in northern Botswana around this time and 2WD won't cut it.

Would really like to check out the Caprivi Strip (thin strip of Namibia along the north edge of Botswana) based on some advice but not sure how to make that happen unless I can get a 4WD one way rental Windhoek -> Vic Falls.

Another option is to go from Windhoek to Maun, Botswana, and use Maun as a base to explore from. That probably means I skip the Strip, which I'm not keen on skipping, but gives better access to the Delta.

More than one person from Zimbabwe has told me not to go, so I imagine I'll only briefly hang out there for a day or so at Vic Falls, and spend most of that time in Zambia instead, before heading on to Malawi, then northern Mozambique.




I've got some research to do.

Simonstown is pretty sweet when staying on a boat. I'm having a hard time picturing the enjoyment when not on a boat.

Go to Stellenbosch. That's the proper way to spend any extra days. Taste some wine, have a kudu steak. It's an easy train ride and you can bring me back a nice bottle of port.

I've already put a dent in the kudu population, don't worry about that. Not a wine person at all so was planning on skipping all the wine country stuff.

A place like Simon's Town or Fish Hoek appeal because they are close to Cape Town, but quieter and more outdoorsy. Also, how can I not stay in a place named Fish Hoek?!

All I'm really looking for is a quiet place with good wifi where I can spend a week chilling, hiking, and figuring out the Namibia->Vic Falls stuff. Looks like there are a ton of hiking trails in the green blob just north of Fish Hoek.

Just extended for tonight at the current B&B in Gordon's Bay. Thinking return the car tomorrow, uber into the CBD and spend 2-3 days there soaking up the city vibe & checking out Table, then paying some Uber to give me a super slow tour down the ocean side, over to FH/ST for 4-5 days, then on to Windhoek via either one way car hire or possibly plane. I think my B&B host just talked me out of taking the bus.

In that case the marina in Simonstown used to have an amazing panini pressed grilled cheese and fries for $1.50 with a good hard cider to wash it down. Plenty of armchair sailors hang out there so you can get some stories, Free wifi obv., and plenty of shark dive operators run out of that marina. I met a guy there who'd had both arms eaten by a great white. I also met a guy named Andre who did refit work, built his own steel sailboat, and liked to party. No description needed you'll recognize him from down the dock. Hopefully his wife hasn't been abducted by aliens again since I was there. tell him hi for me.

Lots of commercial calamari boats run out of there. you'll never eat fresher.It blows there too. I've seen the fleet head out for Weds. night races in 30+kts of wind and stink I wouldn't leave the dock in. For them it was just another Weds..

If there's anything resembling a Walmart maybe you can get a burner Android for maybe a hundred bucks including a couple hours of airtime.

And watch out for that monkey pox. According to tv news you might encounter some hassle re-entering USA #1 while they check you out because it's somewhat contagious.

Thought you might be interested in this. Two people were sailing a 50 foot boat and got lost at sea for five months: http://people.com/human-interest/jen...ths-speak-out/

But some people are poking holes in their story: https://unreasonablydangerousonionri...-smells-fishy/

Say hello to Robert Mugabe for us. Don’t say mean things about him while you’re in-country.

gus,

That's the dumbest story ever.

guy went hard on 'em

pretty sure chop got out of zimbabwe before the military seized mugabe, right?

pretty ridiculously bad luck on timing. be safe man...

chop is ok, checked with him this morning to see if he got malaria yet

Hopefully, chop had something to do with he coup. Chop for President! Did it ever occur to anyone that chop’s world travels suggest hole might be affiliated with the CIA?