On this episode we spend a full day on safari in the Ngorongoro Crater. African animals aplenty! (Pretty much all animals in this one, so just watch it if you like wildlife!)
Also, we manage to spot a caracal, which apparently is quite rare! Unfortunately it decided to leave just as we showed up.
I don’t really have a great deal to write about Echuca. It was nice enough. For those unfamiliar with it, Echuca is an historical town that was founded around a crossing place on the Murray River. Actually, I don’t know if that’s true since we didn’t bother going to the history place but I saw some old rope nailed to a tree with a bit of information under it about a ferry so I’m going to go with that. It’s known for being a holiday spot and has a bunch of old paddlesteamers that take tourists out for various lengths of time.
This is probably as good a time as any to explain that the Murray-Darling river system is Australia’s longest and largest. It collects water throughout southern Queensland, most of NSW and part of Victoria and runs westward, with the Murray River forming the border between NSW and Victoria and ending in Adelaide, in South Australia. I was curious about it so I looked it up and the catchment area for the two rivers is about five times the size of the entire United Kingdom. That would be impressive if the river itself were impressive. Which it’s not. It’s brown and murky, so don’t go picturing a mighty Amazon or anything.
For a town of about 13,000 people there seemed to be an awful lot of pubs and restaurants in Echuca. There was almost a pub on every corner in the middle of town. We stayed at the Nirebo Motel, which backed onto a pub called The American, where we had dinner. I had mac and cheese, which was enormous and delicious.
We didn’t really do a whole lot in Echuca. We had lunch on a steam-powered paddleboat (the Emmylou) and the view was mildly interesting and a little bit sad. There was so much erosion – according to the captain of the ship it occurred during a storm a few years ago, but I have heard that such situations are worsened by people driving powered craft along the rivers – the waves wear down the banks faster. The red gums along the banks were quite dead looking and a man I spoke to on the boat said the view was pretty much the same the whole way along.
Apart from the boat trip we looked through the shops and walked around. Despite the fact that country towns have become sadly homogenised by chain stores, there were still a few amusing sights, such as this book store. The lady working behind the counter said the owner loved every single dog statue and would know if even one went missing. There were definitely hundreds of statues. It was quite mind-boggling that someone might know every single one.
You can always count on at least one amusingly-named store. Or two.
Next stop: Swan Hill and the PHEASANT FARM!
In this episode Team Toto soar above the Serengeti in a hot air balloon and drink champagne like the rock stars they wish they were! An unforgettable experience that we shared with many of our travel companions.
Also, I deliver on a promise I made to amp up the excitement of a balloon coming in to land… 😉
Thanks again to Pete and Deb for letting us use some of their footage!
On this episode of Here Comes The Planet we head out to the Serengeti for our first safari, and spot a good number of animals! As exciting as it was, to get there we had to drive many hours over what was by far the worst “road” many of us have ever had the displeasure to experience. Worth it in the end, but only just!
Also, we take a sneak peak at the location of what will be the location of our next safari, the Ngorongoro crater.
Special thanks to our travel companions Pete and Deb for loaning us their footage to use in our video!
In this episode of Here Comes The Planet we make our way through Tanzania towards the Serengeti. On the way we discuss our Dragoman truck jobs and what we hope to see once we’re on safari. We set up camp at the Meserani Snake Park after checking out feeding time.
Also, tortoises! If, like Amanda, you’re not a fan of watching snakes eat stuff.
***
Progress on the blog has, predictably, slowed down considerably now that we’re not traveling. I still have many videos to edit and upload, and intend to continue with the process slowly but surely.
The first few months of my return has seen me focus on finding new work and a new place to live. Although my previous employer had promised to hold my job for me until I got back, for reasons unknown they contacted me during our holiday (when we were in Bologna to be precise) to let me know they would not be able to do as they’d promised. So this year I have gone freelance for the first time; something I had intended to do eventually, but gradually, instead of throwing myself in the deep end. However the deep end seems to be working out just fine so far, with my contacts yielding good sources of work, and promising prospects.
Now that I’ve moved in to new digs and the work is steady, I have more free time for working on HCTP videos for all of you. It may take a while, but I promise I’ll get them all done eventually! Hopefully when they’re out you’ll still want to watch them. 🙂
Here Comes The Planet 