Hi everyone!

Short update, since I will be logged out from this computer after 30 more minutes haha. Internet has obviously become more complicated the further I move away from South Africa!

The birthday of my mum was more tough than expected, but I received so many sweet messages from all over the world, that it also turned out to be a special day.
After Durban I traveled to the Drakensberg for a music festival of a few days, and my couchsurf host set me up with camping gear and put me in a car with his friends, while he stayed at home! It was such a nice festival, very relaxed and at the same time very enjoyable.
The day after the festival I went to a backpackers in Drakensberg for about a week, and here I met up with a friend from Coffee Bay. So nice to see a familiar face! We biked 60 km in the mountains, which proved to be more though than biking in flat Holland..
I also went to Lesotho, the 4th poorest country in the world and fully enclosed by South Africa. A very special experience.
Did another hike up to the amphitheater mountains, and what a beautiful view!!

After spending a nice long week in Drakensberg, I moved up to Johannesburg to pick up best friend Nouki from the airport on 30th of September! Crazy to wait there in line at an unfamiliar airport with strangers all around me, waiting for a very familiar face to peep through the doors. We picked up our rental car and started driving to the north of Botswana. Very interesting, as you get randomly stopped by police men to show your driver license or for whatever reason. Even got a speed ticket, but this could be solved by bribing the police cop for 30 euro. CRAZY!
Also you have to be aware of all sorts of animals crossing the road, from baboons to elephants!! So no driving in the dark..
It took us 2 days to get to Kasane, and the next morning we already started with a game drive at 05.45 and a boat cruise in the afternoon. Amazing again to see those wild animals in their natural habitat. We even saw 2 lions eating from a dead baby elephant, how cruel! The boat cruise was very relaxed, but all the more special. A big group of elephants crossed the water right in front of our boat, and everyone fell silent because it was so beautiful to see.

The next day we were brought to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where we spent 5 nights because there is a lot to do here! The second day we went wild water rafting, and this was for sure WILD WATER rafting. The Zambezi river is a Grade 5 rafting river, which is one of the more extreme ones. And boy oh boy, it was very extreme.. I already fell from the boat right at the beginning, still not quite sure for what reason. But luckily after that the complete boat flipped over twice (!), so everbody was having a tough time to survive the water haha. Nouki even fell on top of the guide on the second flip, causing the guide to fall out of the boat as well haha. And she also managed to smash a peddle right on my face in the first flip, so I've been walking around with a black eye ever since ;-) Nice having a friend along haha!
On Saturday we went on a elephant safari, which included a 1 hour ride on the back of an elephant. We were linked to Doji, meaning 'the one left behind', as he was brought to the ranch 2 years ago by his daddy, who left the next day. But he was welcomed into the elephant family right away, and he looked like a happy elephant I must say! It was surprisingly comfortable to sit on the back of an elephant, and it is quite difficult to see you are on an elephant other than leaning backwards to spot his bum. And during the route he pulls out complete trees and carries them with him for fun, which makes it sometimes difficult to pass a small path haha.
This morning we went on a helicopter flight over the Victoria Falls, and though it was short, it was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday evening we will arrive in Kruger Park, where we will be staying 6 nights, and than Nouki will fly back home sadly. More updates to follow!
Take care everyone xxx