Pictured: During a 5 mile walk through the Banco National Forest, we stopped to snap a pick with a beautiful and massive tree before heading back to the port in Abidjan.

Pictured: Standing at the top of Elmina Castle overlooking Elmina Bay as the locals take their boats out to fish, we toured around the castle to learn what role it played in the history of slavery.

Pictured: Participants of a voodoo ceremony taking a break in Anecho, Togo

Our main excursion in Togo was called “All About Voodoo” - therefore we spent a 10 hour day driving to different villages seeing how each and everyone of them practices their traditional African beliefs differently. The 4 different villages we visited all had very different styles and rituals for their practice.

Pictured: Taking a speedboat down the Kouilou River to see the local, but wild, chimpanzees.

Our time in Congo was short, but we did the most exotic thing one can do while in this lesser-traveled West African country. After getting to the port, we took a few hour bus ride to the river, where we then proceeded to take a small zodiak style boat 2 hours deeper into the bush to spend time with chimpanzees!

Pictured: At the Miradouro da Lua overlooking the “Viewpoint of the Moon”

The coast of Angola is so naturally beautiful and reminded us of what an untouched California could look like. Re-learning parts of the history of slave trade was sobering, eye-opening, painful, yet left a mark of relief of it’s resolution and the forgiveness that has been learned as a path forward.

Pictured: Walking down the dune mountains in Walvis Bay, Namibia

Namibia, although seemingly covered in sand dunes, had surprisingly so much diversity to offer! The salt flats, the flamingos, Walvis Bay, the diamonds near Luderitz, the beautiful ocean, thousands of seals, shipwrecks on the beach, and historic old towns - and that’s only the west coast!

Pictured: Walking along the beach after a reef dive off Benguerra Island.

We had a magical time in Mozambique, with the highlights being: diving at numerous locations just off the reef including sightings of: giant sea turtles, a crocodile fish for the first time, a large beautiful honeycomb eel, different types of rays, an octopus shying around, and the most massive sized grouper fish you can imagine. To top it all off, the shooting stars at night made for a magical experience, and the late night ocean swim that brought about the electric blue colors of the bioluminescence - what could be better?

Pictured: Standing just in front of Devil’s Pool on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls.

Hanging over the side of Victoria Falls was easily one of the more dangerous things we’ve done while traveling. Follow that with a sighting of the white rhinos near Toka Leya - Zambia gave us a wide range of dramatic travel experiences that we will remember forever!

Pictured: Walking through the town of Kirundu outside of Kisoro, we met up with school kids who were curious.

We spent almost 10 days in Uganda traveling around to 4 different parts of the country, doing things from gorilla trekking, rafting rapids on the Nile River, tracking chimpanzees, and taking a boat out to the swamps outside of Entebbe to see the elusive Shoebill.

Pictured: Setting out for our first dive of the day at Barracuda Point just off the east coast of Mauritius.

Our stay at the Constance Prince was a relaxing one filled with days sipping on french white wine at the pool, and afternoons diving to see Mauritius’s finest underwater marvels.

Pictured: taking in some sun at the Six Senses on Felicite Island in Seychelles

We had the privilege of spending a few nights in Seychelles after spending 5 weeks in Africa; a much desired island escape! We stayed on Felicite Island, but went scuba diving all around the other islands (Big Sister, Little Sister, Ave Maria) and toured a day around on La Digue Island. Another short flight away is the also exotic island of Mauritius.

Pictured: With Johanne, our moccoro boat driver, after a cruise in the Okavango Delta

Botswana stole our hearts; the scenery changed what seemed to be every corner you turned, from flying over the Okavango Delta to the Vumbra Plains with desertlike savannah terrain. The variety of scenery opened the doors for seeing different types of wildlife and seeing the animals in their natural habitats. Botswana very well may be our favorite country for safari!

Pictured: Hopping into a boat to head to our resort on the Zambezi River

We spent 2 nights in Zimbabwe at the Victoria Falls River Lodge located on the Zambezi river. The Victoria Falls were well worth the visit and we are happy we were able to see it both on foot (and drenched!) as well as from above in a plane. Looking at the falls puts earths existence in perspective (it was formed over 180 million years ago). Seeing both the river and the falls were magical and made you appreciate this water-source and how many countries in Africa depend on it - both upstream and downstream.

Pictured: Cape of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa

We spent almost a week in the country of South Africa and were amazed at all the different offerings: scenery in the Western Cape Town, safari in Sabi Sand, wine country in Franschhoek, and city hustle in Johannesburg. Spending time in wine country and at safari made us wish we had more time to explore the areas more, but we are forever grateful to have had the chance to experience it in the first place.

Pictured: Heading into Mount Karisimbi to meet the Isimbi gorilla family with our guide, Eugene, in Volcanos National Park, Rwanda.

We were so impressed with Rwanda, the people, the landscape, the history, the wildlife and the way of life. We found ourselves in awe at the peacefulness of the countryside and the genuine happiness of the people who spend their days transporting things up and down the busy streets. The experience of trekking to find gorillas and spend time with their ‘family’ impossible to capture with mere words.

Pictured: Hot air balloon ride over the Mara River in Maasai Mara, Kenya

Our first safari began in the Maasai Mara where we stayed a few nights at the mountain top lodge of Angama Mara. We were blown away at the beauty of the land, the plethora and variety of animals, the connection to local cultures, and the full scale operation of the safari teams. Seeing a kill on our first day of certainly set the bar high, and every day while out on safari is sure to be full of excitement, anticipation, primitive thrills, and a sense of perspective.

Pictured: Aboard a dhow boat near Mnemba Island in North Zanzibar Island

We started our African journey off at the relaxing and private beach resort on Mnemba Island, Zanzibar. We rode a traditional dhow boat, saw sea turtles laying eggs, watched a turtle nest hatch and run to the ocean for their first time, became dive certified, snorkeled, had beach dinners, forest dinners, massages, and yoga galore.

Pictured: 9 Pyramids Lounge in Cairo

We spent a total of 8 days in Egypt and each day was filled with incredible stories of ancient civilizations and discovery. Cairo is a chaotic and busy city, but is imperative to visit to see the pyramids, sphinx, and the Egyptian museum. The most redeeming part of our trip through Egypt was taking a cruise boat down the Nile River from Luxor to Aswan. It’s hard to imagine the calmness, beauty and serenity on the Nile after spending time in Cairo, but in order to get the full picture of what Egypt is about, you have to spend time outside of Cairo, and we found the best way to do it was via cruise.

Pictured: Inara Camp in the Afgay Desert

We started our journey in Africa off in Morocco, with the first stop in Marrakech. Staying at the Royal Mansour was an absolute dream, and walking through the streets of the medinas was a creative and colorful playground. We spent time in the medinas, took a full day excursion out into the desert to ride ATVs in the sand dunes, visited the YSL museum, and checked out the beautiful architecture and mosques around town.