TOP TEN PLACES:
Okavanga Delta, Botswana
Patagonia (El Calafate/ El Chalten/ Torres del Paine)
Bulungula, South Africa
Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique
Petra, Jordan
Galapagos, Ecuador
Tofo, Mozambique
Pammukale, Turkey
Molunlong, Lesotho
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

TOP TEN CITIES:
Cape Town, South Africa
Istanbul, Turkey
Barcelona, Spain
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Oaxaca, Mexico
Cinque Terra, Italy
Cagnes Sur Mer, France
Havana, Cuba
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Cartagena, Colombia

Top 10 things to bring:
mosquito repellent
pony-o’s
afterbite
Lonely Planet travel book
Blackberry with international data plan
flashlight
a knife
a book
more money than you think you need
an open mind and plenty of patience to live/travel at a slower pace in order to appreciate every moment.

It’s the long Easter weekend–Mike and I decide on Saturday morning to go on one more safari. We learned that there is a private game reserve only two hours from Cape Town, so we figured, why not.

A few hours later, we arrive only to find out that Good Charlotte, the band from the US is staying at our lodge and MTV is filming the band while on safari. Also, Paris Hilton who dates the lead singer is also at the lodge. Anyways, the big story about this is that while we are in the lobby registering, I recognize someone I know– Gary, from Philadelphia. It turns out he’s on tour with Good Charlotte as the sound/audio man. He arranges for us to get tickets and back stage passes to the Coke Festival concert.  Thanks Gary!

And I love the rest of Africa because of how raw it is. We saw the real Africa because there’s no other way to see it…the real Africa doesn’t have money to cover up its flaws; you see it for what it is. Real people, real life, and a real struggle. Nothing is easy, and things are bound to go wrong while traveling in Africa. If it doesn’t, than you’re not experiencing the real Africa. We’d been told by countless people and read many warnings of the dangers of traveling through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. All of which made me paranoid thinking we would be robbed, threatened at gun point or worse. My imagination was worse than anything we experienced (of course, you have to be smart when traveling, too). We had an amazing journey through much of Africa. The worst problem we faced were the roads– the potholes are enough to drive me mad. But the Africans we met were warm and friendly, armed and ready with a smile. The culture in Africa is to greet people when entering a room or passing by. I really like this tradition, as many of these towns are so small if you stay for more than a day, you’re bound to run into the same people the next day. And when you do, it’s almost like you’re part of the community.

We’re currently in the process of selling our car before flying out to Sao Paolo. I’m excited to go to South America. But, oh, will I miss the animals…the rhinos, jackals, hippos, giraffes, lions, leopard, porcupine, buffalo, elephants, wildebeest, zebras, crocodiles, hyenas, wild dogs, African wild cats, impalas, kudus, springbok, striped mongoose…

(photo: a dassie seen on Table Mountain in Cape Town)

Blue Wilderness does something a little different. They let you actually scuba dive with the sharks. That means no cage. No protection. No sh*t. Tiger sharks are what they’re looking for here. They’re big. 8-10 meters and they have stripes like, you guessed it, a tiger. More abundant are Black Tips which are much smaller, and have black tips on their fins. There’s also Whale Sharks, which are as big as a…you get the picture.

Oddly enough, the thought of jumping into shark infested water didn’t seems that crazy to us. They’ve been doing this for 10 years without any accidents. We were also diving with Mark Thorpe, a National Geographic videographer, who’s been working on a documentary about tiger sharks for the last 3 months and has done the dive 30 times so far. More importantly, no one in the crew seemed to have any prosthetic limbs, so we took that as a good sign.

Now keep in mind Christine just learned to dive 4 months ago. Ditto for learning to swim. Before that, she had a great fear of the ocean, and especially of everything that lives in the ocean that’s not already been grilled and served with butter. So who’s the last person you’d expect to be jumping in the water with 50 sharks?

Mayhem is the best way to describe the scene under water. There’s sharks everywhere around you, above you, below you. When they swim at you, it’s quite startling. Especially the tigers. They almost always turn before they get to you, or if they get too close, they tell you to simply push them away. That’s right, with your own hands. Luckily there was no need for either of us to do that. We let the guys with the giant under water cameras in front of them handle it The sharks are obviously mostly interested in the bait buffet which gets refilled by a brave guy who free dives 10 meters down with just a mask and fins. And if that wasn’t enough, they are also tossing in sardines from the boat above you just to keep things hopping.

In all, there were 5 Tiger Sharks and about 50 Black Tips. Once back in the boat, they toss in some sardines at the surface so Mark could get some shots of the feeding frenzy. On the way back we spotted a few whale sharks which are like 20 meters long and very peaceful. The only eat plankton. They are quite a site to see under water.

In related news Roy Scheider, went into the deep blue this week.

Here’s some video of our dive. You can see me in there around 1:20.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ko5D3ZKOAE[/youtube]

For those of you who don’t know, the plan is to drive from Cape Town up to Tanzania, and then back. The original plan was to head up to Kenya and Uganda, but I think we’ll stay clear from all the trouble going on in Kenya right now.
We bought a 1994 Nissan Sani 4×4 which we hope will make the 7500mile journey. According to the woman we bought it from, “She’s a really solid ride”. We had “her” tuned up and gave “her” new tires. For security, we installed a safe in the back of the truck.
To start off, we are taking the scenic Garden route along the coast of South Africa. Most people would say the Garden route is a nice transition into the rest of Africa, for me it will be a good way to ease into camping. I’ve never been camping before, so it’s a bit of a nature challenge for me.
I’m excited to give it a shot, but the odds aren’t in my favor. Considering I prefer driving to walking, A/C to fresh air, and clean bathrooms to shared out houses, the odds really aren’t looking so good. Not to mention I am a magnet for mosquitos, and I cringe at the thought of spiders, ants, or any other insect invading my personal space. But I want to give camping a shot and will be providing detailed reports on our progress to become outdoor sportsmen.

For the last eight years my friend Neil has said to me, come to Cape Town, it’s the most unbelievable place on earth… Neil is sometimes prone to exaggeration, so I never made it a priority. Now that I am here, I can confirm that he was true to his word. The beaches are beautiful, the mountains are striking, and the seafood is so fresh and delicious.

Neil, lives in Los Angeles but is back in Cape Town visiting family and friends for the next few months, and has done everything possible to make us feel at home. Two weeks ago Mike and I flew from Tel Aviv to Cape Town via Johannesburg. Since then Neil has introduced us to his whole network of friends, taken us to all the best restaurants, cafés and shops. In addition, we are staying with him in his apartment, and he’s helped us get organized for our overland trip across Africa. It’s been so relaxing here that it’s no wonder we’re in no hurry to press on.

(here we are at Jade on New Year’s Eve)