We arrived here a day before our OAT tour began and arranged for a private tour of Soweto which included Kliptown as well. Our impression was that Johannesburg is a place to avoid because of crime and environmental problems. As a former mining camp, the city is dotted with mine tailing berms which contain toxic byproducts of the mining process.

Just west of Kasane and Kazungula, Chobe National Park is very accessible by plane, although we arrived overland from Victoria Falls. The park limits the number of visitors and routes to avoid a zoo-like situation around the animals. Guides use walkie-talkies to communicate wildlife sightings, and often there are many vehicles vying for the best views.

We were also afforded evening river cruises on the Chobe River. Here we can appreciate the number of elephants and giraffes coming to drink at the river.

The Okavango River flows southwest into a land-locked basin and spreads into a huge delta which consumes all the water by absorption in plants and evaporation. The delta has myriad waterways teeming with wildlife which have traveled here for water during the dry season.

The Santawani Camp was our first tented experience in Africa. We were the remotest tent cabin and adjacent to a frequently used elephant track.

After a two game drives and two flights, we arrived in Musanza Tented Camp on the banks of the Lufupa River within Kafue National Park.

Here we saw and heard hippos, birds, and a leopard. Again, the river is the source of life during the dry season, so excursions on the river always see wildlife.

Another long transfer to get to Makalolo Tented Camp , but it was worth the wait. We saw a cheetah feasting on its kill on the way into the park.

Wildlife is plentiful here because the park has built solar-powered pumps to provide water all year, which leads to over population and no annual migration. It's a boon for tourist because it creates a zoo-like abundance of animals to watch.

We visited a homestead outside the park and talked to the headman about living in remote Zimbabwe.

The city of Victoria Falls is a tourist town supporting the thousands of visitors arriving by plane. There are golf courses, Zambizi River cruises, helicopter rides, and souvenir shops.

While the falls is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it's classified as the largest, based on its width of 5,604 ft. and height of 354 ft. resulting in the world's largest sheet of falling water.

We went to Capetown after our OAT tour. We'd heard about the beautiful setting and the fine wineries nearby so we thought we'd take a look for ourselves.

The city is modern and well situated along the Atlantic shoreline just north of massive Table Mountain and east of the Stellenbosch wine district. Its climate is similar to those of Los Angeles and Sydney.