Posted: 01/14/2013 | January 14th, 2013
My recent trip through the southern portion of Africa with G Adventures was simply mind blowing. My tour group was a blast, the guides were super fun and knowledgeable, and the land itself was…well, more beautiful than words can describe. And the locals (except the guy who duplicated my credit card and went on a shopping spree in multiple countries) were as warm as people had said they would be.
Africa is God’s zoo. The most eye-opening part of the trip was watching the animals up close in their natural habitat. It makes you realize how raw life and nature really are and how insulated from them we are in our modern lives. My appreciation and reverence for nature drastically increased because of this trip. And since I’ve already spoken about how Africa changed me, I think it’s time to let nature do the talking. Here are 24 stunning photos from my trip through Africa:
Sunset, Fish River Canyon National Park, Namibia
A solitary tree in the savannah, Namibia
A lion cub, Namibia
Hippopotami peaking out of the water, Botswana
Playing with perspective with members of my tour group, Deadvlei, Namibia
Desert moon, Namibia. It’s amazing how clear the sky is at 9am!
Rock paintings, Namibia
Sunset in Etosha National Park, Namibia
A bushwoman from Namibia. She taught me a lot about the uses of native plants.
A lone zebra on the savannah
An elephant in the Chobe River, Botswana
An elephant, hippo, and water buffalo in the Chobe River, Botswana
Camel thorn trees and dunes, Deadvlei, Namibia
A bushwoman and child, Botswana
An elephant chowing down, Namibia
The famous Dune 45, Namibia
A giraffe posing for the camera
Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side
A lizard in the desert
A sleeping lion cub, Namibia
Thirsty zebra at the watering hole
Sunset in the bush
The red dunes of Deadvlei, Namibia
The Okavango Delta, Botswana
Double rainbow at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe side
This is just a small sample of my Africa photos. I took so many that I’ll be doing one more photo post next week. There are just too many good ones to share. But something tells me you probably won’t mind.
Book Your Trip to Africa: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight to Berlin by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines. Start with Momondo.
Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel in Africa with Hostelworld. If you want to stay elsewhere, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates. (Here’s the proof.)
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. I never ever go on a trip without it. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. You should too.
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Ellen Keith
What beautiful photos, Matt! I can’t believe what happened with your credit card though. Was it easy to sort out? Looking forward to seeing the next set of photos!
Angela O.
Really amazing photos Matt!! The one of the moon is really awesome because you captured all those craters!! Dune 45 looks super cool too.
Hannah
Amazing! We can’t wait to get to Africa on our RTW trip! We are over-landing from Nairobi to Johannesburg for 29 days! Hope we get amazing photos like you!
Liz
This makes me want to go to Africa right now! Perfect double rainbow over the waterfalls!
But, no honey badgers? 🙁
Larissa
We did a self-drive safari in Namibia in 2012, and these photos bring back some great memories. Was that you we saw at the Newbrowni Water Hole at Etosha? 🙂
Adin
Amazing photos Matt! Reminds me of my trip to Tanzania and Kenya a year ago. It’s an amazing continent that many people totally forget about. Hope to go back soon!
Jan
I love the Elephant who looks like he is vacuuming the Chobe River, Botswana. Night skies and clear skies in the wilderness reinforce my wonder of nature – and how about that sand dune!
Kristin Addis
Ooooh I love the moon shot. It’s the hardest to get good photos at night. Tell me your secret.
NomadicMatt
One of my favorite too. It’s so clear.
Marisa Bisping
W O W !!!! Stunning…. You really know how to tell a story with
Your pictures! What kind of camera do you use?
NomadicMatt
These were taken with a Canon Powershot.
Trude Jermstad
Amazing 🙂 A lot of beautiful pictures. And a perfect way to reminisce 🙂
We did the 24 days of safari tour with GAP adventures. Starting in Cape Town – Namibia – Botswana – Zimbabwe – Durban…. Is it the same route?
I was travveling for three months, that one was on my top three favorite 🙂
Love your pictures. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
T
Bret
Man, this is totally our Dream Trip! Great photos, and I’m glad to hear the experience fired your passion for nature. Ever since I visited South Africa in 2000, I’ve been addicted to that type of ecotourism-oriented travel experience.
Christy
Wow, those are some great pics Matt! My favorite is the lion cub sleeping. Either you have a nice telephoto lens or you were close enough to be eaten!
Nienke
Wow (just to be original here) That is just stunning! I’ve always wanted to visit Africa. Love the waterfall and lion ones most. What an amazing trip that must have been. Lucky you, thanks for sharing. Nienke
Cat
I did this exact trip two years ago. It brought back so many great memories of sights and sounds of this beautiful continent.
Galia
Beside the tickets ( coming from FL , USA) is traveling in Africa affordable ? I heard its quite inexpensive while you there, is there any truth to it?
Let me know, thanks
Sincerely
Galia
NomadicMatt
Once you are there, it’s actually quite cheap as long as you avoid the big, high end resorts. Local food, buses, guesthouses are all very inexpensive.
Megan McFarlain
Wow! Sunset in the bush and Dune 45 are my favorites. Thanks for sharing… We are in South Africa now and thinking about doing Kruger. Did you make it there?
NomadicMatt
No, I didn’t get there. I’ll have to do it on another trip.
Ally
Lovely photos. I like the moon and the tiger cub ones the best. Southern Africa is a place I would love to visit one day
NomadicMatt
Those are my favorites too. Good choices.
Dariece
Awesome shots! We have some really good ones of Eastern Africa but we didn’t make it to Namibia or Botswana. After seeing your photos and reading your posts, we’ll have to make a trip back to Africa I think!
Cheers,
Dariece
Tracy
What stunning photos! You really seem to have captured the magic and awe of Africa. Love the pictures of the lion cub and zebras! Can’t wait to one day make it to Africa and get to experience such amazing sights.
Joan
Amazing photos Matt !!!, Congrats, it’s on my list of next places to visit. Would you recommend there going with kids? (12 and 8 years old). Thanks Matt
NomadicMatt
Yeah! There are plenty of hotels around if they aren’t into camping.
Becci
Gorgeous pictures! I went on a G Adventures trip in Kenya and Uganda last year and it was by far my highlight of my whole East Africa trip. I’m hoping to take my 12 year old brother on another next year.
Armin
Hey matt!
amazing pictures from that trip. South Africa is still high on my “to-do” list. But first we are heading for a year to Canada in 2014.. not too bad either, just diffrent.
Have you ever tried surfing? Been to Indonesia / Bali?
Well I guess I will find out.. It has been a while since I last checked your blog :-/
Enjoy your time on the bahamas (if you still there) or where ever you just are 🙂
Armin
Paul
Hi Matt, I’ve just started travel blogging this past week and came across your amazing site. What an inspiration. Your blog is awesome (not that you need me to tell you that).
Regarding this post specifically, the photos are truly stunning. I want to go to Africa and this has just cemented that.
NomadicMatt
Thanks for joining the community here!
NomadicMatt
Hey everyone! Due to the age of this post and the difficulty in moderating lots of posts spam, comments here have been turned off. If you would like to continue the discussion, head over to the forums at http://forums.nomadicmatt.com and chat there! I post frequently and reply to threads on the boards! See ya there! Thanks! – Matt