Epic African Journey

I made it to Africa and it was all that I had hoped for and more!!

Journey of Giraffe on the Chobe River

It’s late May in Chobe National Park, Africa’s third largest wildlife preserve, and creatures great and small are fat and sassy. Tall golden grasses are plentiful. They are the favorite of the many herds of massive elephants and a host of antelope along with Cape buffalo, zebra, and more. The sable with its handsome striped face, the kudu with its elegant curled horns, and the seemingly thousands of impala all glow with good health. They look at us in our open-air, tiered safari vehicle with curious eyes as we trundle along sand tracks.

Leopard-Courtesy of OATS

I got to share highlights of the trip in this video clip on Around the WorldTravel. A wonderful excuse to go to Santa Barbara, my favorite get away. Your comments  are welcomed on this YouTube video

The finale of the trip was a stop at spectacular VictoriaFalls  where I embarked on an Elephant Back Safari spotlighted here in FabSeniorTravel newsletter.  

I traveled to Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This piece" Botswana Highlights" is the first in a series of three giving more d
details onn what I experienced in each country.





Full Itinerary of my trip with Overseas Adventure Travel 

I have a host of travel articles on my site, along with information about my travel memoir, Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler’s Tales, and my historical novel Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawai’I, as well as my latest novel The Cowgirl Jumped over the Moon at-www.LindaBallouAuthor.com.

 Subscribe to my blog www.LindaBallouTalkingtoyou.com to receive updates on books, and travel destinations and events.

Snapshot of the Ultimate Safari

Ellies in Chobe Nat. Park Botswana

My articles take time, so I am sharing this snapshot of my African adventure to provide instant gratification for curious minds that need to know more about this epic journey through the last of Africa’s truly wild places.

Giraffes in Chobe River

 First stop, Botswana, the poster-child for eco-tourism, home to Chobe National Park where the largest remaining herds of elephants in Africa roam freely; next the Okavango Delta with its meandering water channels and flood plain that supports creatures great and small, including 450 species of birds; then off to Zambia- a less-traveled country with vast tracts of preserved lands where we enjoyed a day on the Kafue River. The climax of the Ultimate Safari is a visit to spectacular Victoria Falls.

Day on the river Zambia

 In Hwange Park in Zimbabwe we lunched at a watering hole watching all the animal players, elephants, hippos, crocs, kudus, pukus, impalas and giraffes, and more turn up for a drink.

We stayed three nights at each at four wonderful wilderness camps where we were treated like royalty. Glamping at its best!!

It is the hallmark of Overseas Adventure Travel to incorporate cultural tours into their trips. We stopped at a couple of local markets, broke bread with a family in a village, danced with ladies who make baskets for a living, and visited a school of 800 children eager to practice their English.

Sundowner in Botswana

The trip involves several flights in small planes and some tricky border crossings. Ask for Abiot Azuze to be your trip leader to ensure a seamless journey filled with wonderful surprises. Go the Oats website to see videos and learn more about this fantastic adventure.

My home on the river in Zambia

Make Earth Day-Every Day

My stated mission is to get to as many beautiful places as I can before they are gone!

 This would include witnessing the wildlife that is quickly moving towards extinction as a result of exploding human populations. With so much negative news on the wildlife in Africa conservation front, I was getting depressed and afraid that I am already too late. But, Nova delivered a very heartening documentary about plans in North American and in Africa to create wildlife corridors that will enable mega fauna to traverse migration routes and to thrive once more.

 It was especially exciting to learn that in the regions I am exploring in May 2016 on my UltimateSafari with Overseas Adventure Travel is are part of the KAZA area. The KAZA TFCA is an initiative of the Governments of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is situated in the Okavango and Zambezi river basins where the borders of the five countries converge.

This video shows how the five countries have come together to solve the problems of shrinking habitat and hideous poaching that crosses international borders.

 KAZA meeting

This model is a powerful message for all the world demonstrating how countries can join hands for the greater good of all.  It gives me hope that it is not too late for human beings to reverse the trends that have been so destructive to the creatures that make up our beautiful world.

On my journey I will looking for signs that this treaty between countries is having a positive impact on animal and human populations. Full report when I return.

Linda Ballou is the author of Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler's Tales. See more of her articles at www.LindaBallouAuthor.com

Astounding Africa: Your Time has Come!

The distant echo of South Africa has become a thunderous roar, and I am thrilled to announce I am heeding the call and going on safari in May! Not just any quickie, surface-deep safari, but total immersion with Overseas Adventure Travel’s “Ultimate 17-day Safari.” We will travel as a small group  to conservation-minded Botswana; less-traveled Zimbabwe where I will partake of an elephant-back safari near Victoria Falls, the largest curtain of water in the world; and to Zambia for  incredible wildlife viewing while canoeing the mighty Zambezi River.

This magical adventure promises to fulfill all my African fantasies and leave me with memories that will lift and carry me over mountains and oceans and plains for years to come. If you, too, have been dreaming about going on safari in Africa, wake up and start packing; your time has arrived! Lower fuel costs mean flights are half of what they were a year ago.

May is regarded as the perfect time to go as the rainy season has ended and the cool, dry, sunny days of winter have begun. The Okavango Delta in Botswana is home to over 400 species of birds and to the world’s most endangered species of large mammal. The Delta’s water level is high enough to float in a dug-out canoe, or mokoro, with your guide. Avoiding hippos lolling in the shallow waters will be the challenge. I have wanted to experience this Delta since meeting a world-traveler in Costa Rica who insisted it was not to be missed.

Botswana tours are more pricy than those in Kenya or Tanzania because of logistics and restrictions on tour numbers. OAT travel pricing is extremely competitive. They ensure small group sizes and they do not charge a punishing single supplement. Accommodations are comfortable lodges and high-end tent camps. There are a few spots left for the Ultimate Safari, but they are going fast.

OAT representatives will be at theLos Angeles Adventure Travel Show February 27-28. If popping up at 5AM to go game viewing does not appeal, check out the many other trips they offer around the globe. There is sure to be one just right for you.

Adventure-travel writer, Linda Ballou, shares Great Outdoor days in L.A, as well as a host of travel articles on her site, along with information about her travel memoir, Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler’s Tales, her historical novel Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawai’i and her latest action-adventure novel The Cowgirl Jumped over the Moon at-www.LindaBallouAuthor.com.