From Cape Town to Kenya
On October 28, 2002 (my 32nd birthday) I took off to go and see that portion of the sublunary realm that had been calling to me most keenly—Africa. I spent nearly two months taking a 10,000 kilometer overland trip through southern and eastern Africa—virtually all of it in the company of my lifelong friend and boon traveling companion Mark Pitely. The two of us—sharing a truck with a wacky band of intrepid overland explorers from all corners of the globe—traveled through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Across those eight countries, we saw a lifetime's worth of heart-thrummingly lovely natural beauty, wildlife, and more of what only the dark continent can offer. We looked down on the Cape of Good Hope from the top of majestic Table Mountain; climbed towering sand dunes at dawn in the Namibian Desert; camped in the open with a half dozen types of animals that would as soon eat you as look at you in the Okavango Delta; slept on the white sand beaches of the inland sea known as Lake Malawi; got nose-to-nose with big cats and thundering herds in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater; padded through the mystical stone streets of Zanzibar; and floated down the mighty Zambezi River, on which we shared an uneasy detente with the hippos and crocs.
I also did the best photography of my life—and scribbled a few words that I might like to think are grabby. If you'd just like to browse the pictures, verily be my guest. To follow along from the ground, jump right in from the beginning—or pick and choose from the sequence of dispatches below. Cheers!
