ExplorOz Stickers in Africa

Good to be back in the land of Oz after nearly 7 weeks in Africa.

Being a self confessed 4x4 fanatic and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, we were going to do a self drive tour in Africa. There are heaps of companies who hire vehicles for just this purpose, mostly Landies well kitted out with sleeping quarters in a roof top pop up.

We did however change our minds after a lot of thought and planning and booked our guided tours through World Expeditions whom we have used before elsewhere. They are a Sydney based organisation and have great OS contacts.

Changing our minds, as it turned out, was the best thing we could have done. There was no problem with the local folk, they are just beautiful people everywhere (although one does have to know how to respect local cultures) there was no problem with police and border crossings, there was no problem with animal safety . . . . . . . . . . all of this would have been OK had we done a self drive.

The hugest advantage was that the vehicles we did travel in, with a guide doing the driving, was that the vehicles were elevated and we had great viewing across the country side instead of
just seeing roadside scrub. But even better, the guides know where to go and spot all kinds of never heard of animals and birds, and somehow see them and identify them hundreds of meters away. They will then tell you all about them. They also have radio communications with other guides and report to each other on special finds around the game parks, like "leopards in a tree" etc.

Had we driven ourselves, I would have been busy watching the roads, we would not have seen a third of the animals we saw, and without a truck full of books would not have known many of
those we might have seen. Then cost wise by comparison, all in, there would have been little difference in the dollars spent. We did two separate tours stitched together and covered eight countries.

Everything from the sophistication of Cape Town, Sth Africa, to the jungles and gorillas of Rwanda and the great central African game parks

Weather wise it was perfect, cool mornings and clear warm sunny days. And we certainly saw "the big 5", many times over.

I did manage to get a few EO stickers in appropriate places. Here is just four of 2664 photos I have down loaded.