Fourth Musketeer--Back from Africa

lilac breasted roller--national bird of Botswana

I've been on a bit of a blog hiatus since I came back from Africa about a month ago. Although I was tempted to stay in Africa and start my own bookmobile (I think I read a novel like that once upon a time), I'm back in California working my two library jobs, teaching my daughter how to drive, and enjoying our current heat wave (NOT!).

However, I've been badly bit by the safari bug after my trip and can't wait to go back to Africa.   I had a fabulous trip to Botswana's Okavango Delta, Zambia (Victoria Falls), and South Africa (Cape Town).  We were so lucky to see fantastic wildlife in Botswana, including cheetahs, lions (mostly very sleepy), leopards pretty much every day, hyena, jackal, wild dogs, zebra, giraffe, elephants, antelope, wart hogs, lots of wonderful birds, and beautiful scenery--it was hard not to go around singing all the songs from the Lion King, in fact!  No bugs or snakes, by the way...apparently too cold at that time of year in Botswana.

Mother cheetah and two cubs hiding in the grass

leopard cub in a tree

sleepy lion....

After our safari in Botswana, we visited Victoria Falls, where we not only admired the stupendous scenery but also rode in the bush on a huge African elephant, took a microlight plane over the Falls, and took a safari walk where we saw a rhino and her baby a few feet from where we were walking (with a guide who carries a rifle, just in case...)

Here I am in the microlight, with Vic Falls underneath!  That's me in back (and a licensed pilot in front)

In Cape Town, I enjoyed delivering a suitcase full of children's books I had brought from California to Help2Read, a grassroots literacy organization that uses volunteers to go into the schools in both Cape Town and Johannesburg to help struggling readers. I had found Help2Read through Books for Africa, an American non-profit.  I came laden with some of my personal favorites such as Captain Underpants as well as many easy readers and picture books.  I know the books will go to good use in classrooms in schools around Cape Town.

delivering books in Cape Town

If you'd like to see more photos from my trip (with my 42X zoom I felt like I was a photographer from National Geographic!) feel free to check out my Smilebook which has a selection of the best of the photos from the trip!

http://viewmyphotobook.smilebooks.com/133cb4baad695b666b0e05a27df77964

Hope all my blog friends have been having a great summer...I'll be posting more soon on some of my recent reads.