Welcome to Southern Africa

I've already posted about the places I've seen in Lesotho so I would now like to take the time to post a bit about some of the places I've seen outside of Lesotho.
Africa is a great place to travel because once you get here, everything else is ridiculously cheap.  I have not spent more that $400 on a vacation here and that includes transport, accommodations, souvenirs, and food.  I have rarely paid more than $12 a night for clean accommodations with a hot shower and a decent communal kitchen (that being said I probably have very low standards).
I highly encourage people to visit Southern Africa.  It seems that people have this idea that Africa is filled with starving children, malaria, and vast desserts; and yes this is sometimes true but Africa also has some amazing tourist sites.

South Africa

South Africa...enough said.  After the World Cup, South Africa has made a place for its self outside of the "oppressive regime" category.  I've seen Capetown (really more like America), Durban (like India but cleaner), Pretoria (a very pretty suburb outside of Johannesburg), and Clarenes (which you have never heard off).

Capetown has some awesome wineries and wine tours including ones with cheese!

I'll say a little about Clarens.  Clarens calls itself, the jewel of the Freestate, and it's a quaint little place right outside of the Lesotho border.  It's actually a nice place to see if you are visiting Lesotho.  The contrast between the two places is shocking.  It's also a good place to get some Basotho crafts and some good food lacking in Lesotho.

The beautiful Maluti Mountains (in Lesotho)

Clarens has a cute little brewery where you can taste all the beers for free before making your order

The brewery even makes a few ciders: apple, pineapple, cherry, and a seasonal berry.

Hmmm...cheesecake

Basotho crafts!

Mozambique

I found Mozambique to be very different from the other Southern African countries I have visited.  For one, they speak Portuguese!  All the other countries I visited people will be speaking the local, African languages so hearing Portuguese is so disorienting.  On top of that very few people speak English.  That being said Mozambique was one of my favorite trips because it was so different from Lesotho; tropical, the ocean, and different food.

 Beautiful beach and beautiful weather for the middle of winter

Sugar cane everywhere

An apple was ridiculously expensive but tropical fruits like papaya and coconut were very cheap

Swaziland

Swaziland, the other tiny country in Southern Africa.  On the border of Mozambique it shares a lot with that country and with South Africa.  We stayed at a nature reserve and did a horse back tour of the park.

Another tropical country

My horse did not like me

The animals are surprisingly calm when you drive past them

Traditional Swazi clothing

Botswana

Botswana is a large country and I was only able to see its capital.  Without access to a private car I wasn't able to see the true sites of the country found at the Northern most end.  I've heard that some of these reserves are so exclusive that they advertise their prices in US dollars not in Pula, the local currency.  We stayed close to Mokolodi Nature Reserve and had a chance to see a few animals.

If I remember correctly this a male and female khudu

Warthogs; did you know that when they run their tails go up?

The zebras in Botswana have brown stripes on their behinds

A very rare site, this mother and baby rhino came very close to our tour

Because of the food they eat, these male giraffes get darker the older they are (from the sun)