a few more countries....knocking um down

first off is the rest of malawi. i ended up going south and hiking around on mt mulanje. tried to make the peak but the second day it was super foggy and rainy so it wasnt possible to make it so just ended up getting wet because its africa you dont need to bring your rain gear.... ohhh lessons learned i should already know. luckily there were cabins we stayed at that had fire places so it was possible to dry up (we being a german fellow i met in the town below).

cabin the first night

scenery on the mtn

some more of the mtn

then i was off to zambia and went to victoria falls and lusaka. didnt see much of zambia but had a great time.

victoria falls
more vic falls

then going a bit further south i made my way to botswana and took a morokoro canoe trip on the okavango delta. that was great fun. camped on an island and couldnt sleep the first night because of the noisy noisy hippo outside my tent. went on bush walks and saw lots of elephants, some wildabeasts, zebras and a giraffe. that was fun.

very close up elephants


dugout canoe time

more dugout canoe

now i find myself in namibia for a few weeks before i return to botswana for a couple more. its not easy to get around here in namibia or botswana. not much in the way of local transport but im finding my way. there are lots of things id like to do but hard to find rides to get there. so far ive been to windhoek then to the sleepy town of luderitz, which may be one of my favorite towns thus far, and now im in swakopmund on the first speedy internet ive been on in africa.

windhoek

kolmanskop, ghost town in the diamond mining area near luderitz

kolmanskop

kolmanskop

went on a little sailing trip, on a sail boat but using the motor. saw penguins, flamingoes, sea lions and ......

crazy lucky dolphin shot

well i have a little less than a month left then its back to actually find a job this time. hope everyone is well and see you soon.

tanzania and some of malawi

hey all i am almost out of internet time so not much time for explanations but i know you all just come for the pictures so i wont break any hearts. but here is some of my travels in tanzania and malawi. i spent 3 weeks in tanzania after egypt and now im in my second week in malawi having a great time. especially since its world cup fever here. CATCH IT!

usambara mtns northern tanzania

village trek tanzania,

thats kenya over there somewhere

getting used to animals in bathrooms. if anyone remembers from such sparkletog classics as turtle in the bathroom northern laos.

sunset ruaha national park

cheetah!!!

lion and cubs!!!

ruaha national park

power out at hostel have to take a boat to town for the world cup!

sparkletog 2010...jenny sees a bit of Africa

well were back on the travel wagon. Africa this time. so far its been a fun trip but super hot. i guess ill just start in Morocco. the trip actually started in europe with family the intention being going to a cousins wedding. but because of the volcano in iceland we missed the wedding, sorry chris and aurelie! so i headed overland from ireland to morrocco with a fun stop in paris first, hey torry and amy. so in morocco i stayed about 2 week and went from tangers south stopping in a few cities along the way. its a beautiful place but lots of people trying to get you to buy things and barter for everything, a bit like india but not quite as crazy.

medina in fes
medina in chefchaoun, thats not spelled right

medina in essaoura
essaoura

chefchauon

then i caught a flight to egypt to take a peek at the pyramids in cairo and they were great. as good as i thought. next i took a bus to aswan to see abul simbel then hopped on a felucca, little sailboat for part of the trip to luxor which is where i am now. so many temples in eqypt, im almost templed out.

giza

giza

abu simbel, egypt

felucca on the nile, egypt

luxor temple, egypt

well thats it for now just a taste of a few places. next up i fly to tanzania on the 18th to travel around the south for a bit.

nearing the end!

well gang its true, the sparkle tog 2009 is coming to a close. i have about a month left in my trip before i head back to the good ol US of A. im in brazil at the moment and will be here till my flight back. again i left alot to write about but here goes of what i can recall. so after the salt flats i headed south then north to potosi. it is know for the huge silver mine that they discovered. the spanish found it or heard about it and took all the silver back to spain. now there is only zinc and some other minerals left so its just cooperative groups of bolivians left mining what they can. i ended up going on a tour of the mines and it was crazy. hot, dusty, not a great place to be working especially since there isnt much money in it. but there still going at it so here are a few pictures.

the mountain (cant recall the name)

climbing around in the mine. we ended up going about 900 meters into the mountain.

workers in the mine

next up was sucre. and i didnt take many pictures of the town because i wasnt in the mood i guess. i took some spanish classes and ate lots of good food. there were these fruit salads in the market, goat cheese, wine, chocolate. its really know for its chocolate and it was great. i was going to bring some home but i ended up eating it on the bus from sucre to santa cruz. i should have put it in my big bag not the little one with me but youll just have to go taste for yourself.

mask museum in sucre

i went to santa cruz next to sort out my brazilian visa then went back to samaipata to see some archaelogical ruins...El Fuerte. samaipata was a great relaxing small town. nice change from sucre and santa cruz which are both relatively big cities. el fuerte was kind of a crazy place. just this big rock on a ridge that people, pre inca, carved on. it looked like they carves a space ship out of the rock. doors and windows...strange and lots of work. impressive all the same.

el fuerte

el fuerte

samaipata

after i decided to go check out the jesuit mission circuit before heading to brazil. i wanted to get off the main track and sure did. stopped in four different towns and it was slow going. buses didnt leave everyday and at odd times so i wandered around small towns and waited alot. nice break but slow. and all the missions started looking alike so i was ready for brazil when i made it.

jesuit mission

jesuit mission

mission

picture at the mission

i took a train from san jose de chicitos (something like that) to the border then over to corumba in brazil. and wow i knew brazil was going to be expensive compared to everywhere ive been but it was shocking. getting me ready to be back in the states i guess. the first place i really stayed was bonito and it was beautiful. ended up taking a couple tours, one to a bunch of waterfalls, one snorkling and one rapeling into a cave. the rivers in the area are super clear and clean because they spring out of the ground. but the rapel onto the cave was great. it was 70 some meter rapel into the cave, 30 stories, and there was a lake at the bottom that was 80 meters deep at its deepest point. the cave was huge and really beautiful. then we had to climb the ropes back out, absailing, and that was a bit of a challenge. but great fun.

bonito

cave

ben and i in the cave

the hostel we were in in bonito had some really fun people and we ended up heading to iguazu falls next. first to the argentinian side then to the brazilian side. i was in argentina only for a couple of days but managed to fill up on steak while there. the falls were amazing! nothing like ive seen before and no wonder so many people go. immense.

iguazu falls

iguazu falls

iguazu falls

after seeing the brazilian side i caught a bus to belo horizonte then on to ouro preto to meet up with my aunt sharon. ouro preto is a beautiful and steep city. they discovered gold here some time ago and thats why the city was founded. lots of green hills, churches and jewelery stores.

ouro preto

ouro preto

look at the size of that brazilian snail!

sharon and jenny in ouro preto

waterfall we hiked to one day

and so here we are up to the present. i said goodbye to sharon and the gang, hello everyone, left ouro preto and decided to come to diamantina north of belo horizonte. another beautiful city with lots of churches and rolling green hills. just relaxing and wandering around the hills. next up im off to meet some friends who live near curitiba, felipe and tati for those who know them. and just wile away my time visiting until i make my was back home.

diamantina

they like togs here!