One of the first experiences we had in Pilanesberg National Park was these two subadult rhinos fighting one another. -J 🇿🇦

Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa

Our first safari game drive in Africa was in Pilanesberg National Park, 2.5 hours outside of Johannesburg. The park was formerly farmland located inside a large volcanic crater, but was rewilded as (mostly) natural habitat. -S 🇿🇦


An elephant drinking water, which is dripping off its trunk. Auto-generated description: A giraffe is standing and feeding on leaves, surrounded by a bushy landscape.


Our first giraffe sighting of the trip Auto-generated description: A giraffe is standing and feeding on leaves, surrounded by a bushy landscape.


We watched this guy spray himself with water for a bit, though it was hard to capture given our angle. Auto-generated description: An elephant with visible tusks stands near a muddy area.


Two rhinos emerging from a shallow mud pit. Auto-generated description: Two rhinoceroses are walking through a muddy area in a dry landscape.


Zebra casually grazing Auto-generated description: Two zebras graze in a grassy savanna landscape with distant hills under a clear blue sky.


This doesn’t look like much, but it’s a dead impala in a tree—a recent leopard kill—though we could not locate the leopard, which was likely in the surrounding area, but bedded down and not visible from our various vantage points. Auto-generated description: A bird's nest is tucked within the branches of a leafy tree.


Wildebeest browsing Auto-generated description: Three wildebeests are grazing in a grassy, open landscape with hilly terrain in the background.


The two of these rhinos butted up against each other were challenging each other for seemingly the entire day. Auto-generated description: A group of rhinos is standing near a watering hole in a dry, grassy landscape.


Love the coloration on this elephant’s ears Auto-generated description: An elephant with large ears and visible tusks stands amid sparse and dry vegetation.


We saw what seemed to be countless impala Auto-generated description: Two antelopes are grazing in a grassy area, with one prominently visible and the other partially obscured.


The only warthog of the day Auto-generated description: A warthog is grazing in a grassy, shrub-filled landscape.


A hippo submerged in the water, with some impala nearby Auto-generated description: A group of antelopes is grazing near the edge of a waterhole, where a hippopotamus is partially submerged.


A kudu surveys the landscape Auto-generated description: A kudu is standing in a natural, grassy landscape.


An elephant in the bush Auto-generated description: An elephant is standing amidst dense green foliage in a savanna landscape.


Hippos generally stay in the water during the day to keep their body temperature low, but this one in the distance seemed to enjoy just standing around for a bit. Auto-generated description: A serene landscape features a small house by a river, with dry grassland and mountains in the background.


Elephants browsing Auto-generated description: A group of elephants grazes in a grassy area near a tranquil body of water, surrounded by sparse trees and shrubs.


A herd of wildebeast in the distance Auto-generated description: A grassy savanna landscape features scattered trees, rolling hills, and a herd of animals roaming in the distance.


Coming and going Auto-generated description: An elephant walks across a dry, grassy landscape, with a rhinoceros in the background.


My favorite elephant of the day Auto-generated description: An elephant is standing among dry vegetation and trees.


📷 You can find some more shots from the day on our public iCloud album.

Prayer time in the UAE -S 🇦🇪

Exploring around the UAE

We only had a short time in the UAE, so we found a way to get the most bang for our buck—a day tour to 5 of the 7 Emerites.

On December 2, 1971, the Sheiks of what are now 6 of the 7 Emerites (the 7th joined a year later) decided to unify and form one country—the United Arab Emerites. (However, each Sheik still controls their own Emerite.) Throughout the country, there are many references to “7”: murals depicting the 7 Sheiks, 7 pots, etc.

We had already explored Dubai a bit the day prior, so this tour focused on Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Funairah. December 2nd is their “National day” of celebration, which just passed. So there were many UAE flags and decorations all over the country. Similar to the US for Fourth of July.

(Fun Fact—the Traveler’s Century Club (whose list we are currently using to count countries) counts each Emerite as a separate country/territory. While we are counting each Emerite separately in our personal total country counts, we are only counting the UAE as one country when we say we are planning on visiting 20 countries on this trip).

Here are some shots from the UAE! -J 🇦🇪

Some additions from Scott:

During our day tour around 5 of the 7 Emirates of the UAE, saw some camels on the side of the road in the Ras Al Khaimah Emirate. Then stopped at a place where they were penned-up in the Fujairah Emirate. -J 🇦🇪

ZOOM CALL - Coffee and Mimosas with Jen and Scott in Durban, South Africa on Sat. 12/14

Wanting to find out the scoop from our trip so far? Come join us on our first group Zoom call with coffee, mimosas, or your favorite morning drink (and maybe a cinnamon roll or something else fun) on Saturday, December 14, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (Arizona Time). We’ll do a recap of the places we’ve been so far–the good, bad, and the ugly :)

Here is the zoom link if you want to join: zoom.us/j/9515523…

And here’s the .ics invite to add to your calendar.

We look forward to seeing and chatting with everyone!

Our first day in Dubai was a scheduled zero day (nothing planned; time for rest/“chores”). But we did check out the Burj Khalifa—the world’s tallest structure since 2009. It’s 2,722 feet surpasses the 2nd tallest building (Taipei 101, which we also saw earlier this week in Taipei). -J 🇦🇪

Spent our night watching ASU clobber ISU to win the B12 Championship and a spot in the playoffs in our Dubai hotel room. What an incredible season! Go Devils! -S 🇦🇪

HALFWAY DONE!

✅ Country 16/32 in our quest to drink a Guinness at an Irish Pub in 32 Countries. -S 🇦🇪

The entrance of McCafferty's Irish Pub features a green facade with festive decorations and welcoming Gaelic text.

More street scenes from Macau

-S 🇲🇴

It’s haircut day—one of those things you rarely need a strategy for while traveling. Instead of my normal one, we had to buy a cheap AA-battery trimmer that we could keep in our checked luggage, as our carry-on backpacks are already far too heavy with our bevy of lithium batteries + devices. -S 🇦🇪

The Ruins of St Paul's in Macau

While most tourists go to Macau for the casino scene, our top destination there was the Ruins of St Paul’s, a Catholic Church built in the 1600s that’s now an iconic landmark and a part of the Historic Centre of Macao UNESCO World Heritage Site. -S 🇲🇴

Auto-generated description: A large crowd gathers in front of the historic ruins of St. Paul's in Macau, featuring its grand stone facade and ornate architectural details.

The general scene

Auto-generated description: A large crowd is gathered in front of the historic ruins of St. Paul's under a clear blue sky.

A story in two panels

Auto-generated description: A detailed stone carving on a building facade features a dragon-like creature and a ship.

Old versus new

Auto-generated description: Ruins of an old stone facade stand in front of a modern building with a distinctive design under a clear blue sky.

Just a facade

Auto-generated description: The picture shows the ruins of a historic stone facade against a clear blue sky, surrounded by trees and other buildings.

A classic angle

Auto-generated description: The image shows the ruins of St. Paul's in Macau, with its intricate stone facade surrounded by trees and visitors.

Reflected

Auto-generated description: A reflection of a historic facade adorned with colorful gift boxes and flowers is framed by a tall window.

We’re heading to Dubai, United Arab Emirates today.

Don’t expect as many posts the next few days, as the UAE has some prohibitions that will cramp our normal style. Tomorrow we’ll explore on our own a bit during our “rest & laundry” day, then do a day tour of five of the Emirates on Sun. -S 🇦🇪

Screenshot of travel rules for UAE; basically, don’t take photographs of places or people, even in the background.

Senado Square in Macau is the main town square. The buildings that surround it and the design of the pavement are definitely Portuguese-influenced. It’s part of the UNESCO Historic Center of Macau World Heritage Site and the old pedestrian zones were pack with people. -J 🇲🇴

Took the turbojet over to Macau today, another SAR of China and our fourth TCC Country. Definitely the Vegas of China and there are Portuguese influences all over. Here are a few street scenes. -J 🇲🇴

Back in Hong Kong after spending the day in Macau. Marking off our requisite brewery here in HK while reviewing today’s photos. No Irish pub here, sadly.

We’ll get dinner at Brewdog down the street, as we have a mini quest to visit in each country in which this Scottish brewery has a location -S 🇭🇰

A frothy beer in a glass sits on a wooden table at a bar, with taps and a menu board in the background.

We also did a water tour around Victoria Harbor to get a better view of the high rise buildings that line the Harbor. It was hard to capture on camera how many building there really are. Although in some respects, the feel/vibe is that of New York Harbor looking at Manhattan. -J 🇭🇰

A tale of three boats… -S 🇭🇰

More city scenes from Hong Kong -S 🇭🇰

We got #LostNeededDirections 😉 and stopped into a local taproom to plot out the rest of our night. We sat at the bar at the edge of the sidewalk for some people-watching—improbably next to a fellow Phoenician, a pilot who is constantly bouncing around the globe. We swapped stories for hours. -S 🇭🇰