After my first night in the Okavango Delta, my phone died. What would have caused a panic attack at home in the Netherlands felt like a weight falling off my shoulders in Botswana. I didn't have a connection anyway, I didn't want to live my days through screens, and there was more to see in the world around me than I ever could have imagined. I put my phone in my camera bag. I had...
Time loses all meaning when you're in the Okavango Delta. I didn't know when I'd arrived at our camp, or how much time had passed since. I didn't have my watch, so I couldn't check the time; The day we'd left for Africa, I'd run out of the house to catch the bus, forgetting to put my watch on my wrist. There's only so many times that I can ask my dad the time without...
"If the poler ask you, Envy, please stand up. You stand up." "If the poler say, sit here in the mokoro. You sit there." "If you sit in the mokoro. You don't move. You move, and the mokoro flip over." "If you see an animal. Don't shout and point. The mokoro could flip over." "If a spider get in the mokoro. You tell the poler. He will come and take it out. You don't do...
"Where do you want to go?" A year ago, I was sat in my hostel room in Belfast with Zana and Urska, two Slovenian girls with whom I'd traveled to Northern Ireland. Spread out between us was a map of the city. In no time, we'd made a list of places we wanted to see: the Titanic shipyard, Belfast Castle, Napoleon's Nose. That plan left us with one more day to fill, which coincidentally was...
Elephants are my favorite animals. Not because they're so cute or intelligent, but simply because baby Envy was given an elephant plushy after she'd lost her teddy bear. Later on, I discovered elephants are cool for many, many reasons, but it all started with a plushy. I won't let any opportunity to see the real deal slide. And Botswana gave me more opportunities than I ever could have dreamed of. Just 86 kilometers from the...
If you'd asked nine-year-old me which African country would be the first I'd visit, my answer would've been clear: "South Africa!". I had a friend who was born there and I loved going over to her place to eat plaatkoekies and learn bits of Afrikaans. Her parents were often talking about Africa, so I soon learned one thing: South Africa good, Zimbabwe bad. That idea barely changed as I grew up. Zimbabwe seemed too far away, too...
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