2010 NHL Crazy Eights Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions...AND a BONUS mystery photo!

Here at BTOG we are a full service blog. For those who could care less about the hockey playoffs (and some who do), I've dug out this photo from the vast BTOG archives as the first mystery photo in ages. What are those curious, squiggly streaks of light? Clue? The photo was taken in Etosha National Park, Nambia at night. Ok, I may have given it away. Good luck!!

The Long Awaited Prognostications.

Is it just me or was the opening round of the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs kind of boring?

With the exception of a handful of games (the final 3 games of the Habs/Washington series and one Avs/Sharks game come to mind), there hasn't been much to write home about.

The second round of the playoffs seems, on paper, to have more potential in terms of entertainment. Perhaps not...

Just for notation sake: The BTOG series prediction record is 6-2! Not bad for a hack such as I. Those lousy NJ Devils and Buffalo Sabres choked and let me down.

Let's do it...

San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings.

The Sharks' party is over (again). Turn off the lights... It's going to be a tight series though. I was slightly surprised that Phoenix pushed the Wings to a seventh game in the opening round. But, if their performance in that seventh game is any indication of their prowess then they should take the Sharks to the cleaners.

Wings take the series on the road in 7 (Usual Sharks disclaimer: much less than 7 if the Sharks fold like a giant house of cards).

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks.

I'll be sucking it up and cheering for the 'nucks. However, I have a bad feeling that they may experience a deja vu (re: 2009 playoffs) moment at the conclusion of this series. The "young" Hawks have one more year of experience and that will most likely be the key factor. But then who knows? If Goalie Luongo and the Twins stand on their heads...they might pull a stunner out of the hat... But for now,

Hawks take the Canucks in a homer series in 7 thrilling games.

Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Noooooooooo!!! Marc Savard, please don't come back for the Bruins. For the love of god, your brain has bounced around enough. I'm kind of scared for the guy. That's all I have to say.

Flyers in 6? They're like a wounded animal backed into a corner looking for a fight. I'll go with that...

Montreal Canadians vs. Pittsburgh Penguins.

DO YOU BELIEVE!! GO HABS GO!!

Okay, now that I got that off my chest, the Habs are in deep doo doo. You thought the Washington Capitals had an invincible multi-pronged attack. The defending champion Penguins have a similar attack force, but they up the ante by throwing into the mix, the world's best hockey player, Sydney Crosby.

If the Habs can semi-shut down Crosby and totally shut down Malkin and Staal and their goalie implodes (I can see that happening) and Hab's goalie Halak is god-like again, they may engineer another glorious miracle on ice.

I'll go against conventional wisdom and rational thought and predict:

Habs in 7.

I Want a Rhinoceros for Christmas...Throw in a Leopard While You're At It - Etosha National Park, Namibia.

The plains of Etosha were vast and at times appeared to be void of animals (large mammals in particular).

Our patience and persistence on the safari beat eventually paid off in finding the animals we wanted to see.

After a long, hot, dusty day of pounding Etosha gravel roads, me and Ahmed were driving back to Halali Camp. The sun was setting below the endless horizon, bathing the landscape of the expansive veld in golden light.

Ahmed brought the car to a screeching halt.

Three cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) lounged under a distant acacia tree to our left. Yes! Pay dirt! Our first cheetahs!

Pressed for time, we drove on.

Again, Ahmed stopped the vehicle in its tracks.

Three white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) to the left!

Damn the Camp!! We rushed onward.

Driving around a big bend in the road, we saw what we thought was an injured animal lying on the edge of the vegetation. It was rather large for being roadkill. Ahmed slowed the car down. As we approached, the animal's head swung up.

The spotted mass was a sleepy leopard (Panthera pardus pardus)!

Holy crap! Bingo!

Pandemonium ensued, as we grabbed our cameras.

A little too much pandemonium in the car. Fast leopard, slow lens meant fuzzy leopard. Interesting abstract I guess.

In the span of 25 minutes we made three amazing observations...

My advice, don't stop looking. Never give up...

The cheetahs were really far from the road, but I managed to film the white rhinos and the leopard. Here's a taste of the chase:

Director's commentary:

00:12. Ahmed gets out of the car to observe the rhinos. Please do not try this at home unless you look both ways for large carnivores like cheetahs, lions, or leopards.

00:14. The darker rhino lets loose a violent power pee; easily mistaken for a jet plane taking off.

01:00. Ahmed tries to gain the attention of the leopard. By the way, using the psst...psst command is a legitimate photographic technique.

01:12. I think I was delirious from the heat in the car when I announced the distance to the cat was 700 metres. Clearly, it was about 30 metres. My bad.

Ed. note:

We missed the closing time of Halali Camp and were locked out.

African Elephant Sighting - Fire in the Hole! Fire in the Hole! - Etosha National Park, Namibia

Another example how close my friend Ahmed can get us to some of these animals. We spotted this mud covered elephant bull about 200 m off the road. We stopped to watch. The elephant was walking towards the road. Ahmed gauged the situation. He moved the car about 50 m ahead. The elephant crossed the road about 10 to 15 m behind us. Not bad tracking, eh? Made for a good set of photos...

One of the biggest elephants I've ever seen. I'd guess 4-5 m in height and really massive... Notice the tiny car on the other side of the elephant...yikes.
The African Elephant, despite it's apparent calm, cool, and collected outward appearance, ranks up there with the most dangerous African animals. Good advice is to stay in the car or risk being crushed or being gored/tossed/tapped with one of them tusks.

Nice portrait. If you're caught out of the car and the elephant starts flapping its ears while engaged in a staring contest with you (followed by a ear piercing trumpet of a call), make yourself scarce. Find a very thick tree nearby and hide behind it. Forget about running...or climbing.

Elephant Factoid of the Day...

Healthy adult African Bush Elephants (Loxodonta africana) have no natural predators...some young adult bulls have been known to attack and kill rhinoceroses.

Who let the birds out? Part One... The Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), Etosha National Park, Namibia

Recite "ker-bek-ker-bek-ker-bek-krrrrr..." repeatedly and you'll likely attract flocks of the Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris).

The above is one of my all time favourite wildlife pix.

Described as "very common" in sub-Saharan Africa by Newman's Birds of Southern Africa, I love these birds. Their plummage is so psychodelic. Just gaze at their bodies. It's mesmerizing. Their heads are crazy, futuristic looking.

And, unlike most birds that are tiny, I can get a decent image of them with my measly Nikon 75-300 mm (1.5X crop factor) zoom lens.

Helmeted Guineafowl Factoids of the Day...

Tastes like chicken... just kidding...

Bigger than a bucket of KFC, but smaller than a turkey...

Extremely gregarious when not breeding. Flocks are composed of up to 25 birds...

Who's scared of the big bad lion (Panthera leo)? Me!! - Etosha National Park, Namibia

My, Mr. Lion, what big eyes you have...and that sweet, sweet breath... Look for the reflection of a little iddy biddy, trembling Chinese dude in his eyes.

My safari mate and good friend Ahmed has this knack of getting us really close to wildlife. On this occasion, he drove right up close to a small group (3 or 4) of bachelor lions.

How close? I, in the passenger front seat, was less than 2 metres from the closest lion, with the window wide open. I could see the reflection of the car in the big cat's eyes.

For the first time, I actually had to zoom out with the camera lens to take photos in Etosha.

Suffice to say, I suggested to Ahmed to keep the car running and his foot on top of the throttle just in case.

Crazy thing about the situation is that the second you stick an appendage out the car door or window, you are toast my friends, lion snack, tender vittles, etc.

Mantra of the moment, "stay in the car, stay in the car..."

My, Mr. Lion, what great big teeth you have...

My life as a lion (Panthera leo leo)... C'mon lion, go out and kill something for the tourists. Maybe let out a bit of a roar...or, at least yawn.

Factoid of the day...

According to my Road Map of the Etosha National Park (1994), the lion population was estimated at 300.

Gnu Kid On The Savannah (GKOTS) - Etosha National Park, Namibia

Connochaetes taurinus aka the Gnu (pronounced "G-new" or just "new"), aka the Blue Wildebeest (for the bluish/grey sheen of it's hide), aka the Brindled Gnu. Thank God for scientific names.

Often described as an "ungainly" ungulate, wildebeests grow to 1.7m at the shoulder, and weigh up to 380kg.

The front-heavy wildebeest reminds me of the Orcs in the Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. They look rather clumsy but are in fact quite agile on their hooves. Healthy adults are renown for taking on and beating the crap out of predators such as lions. On the other hand, in terms of observation and photography, these were amongst the most skittish creatures around.

Definitely Not An Adidas Running Shoe - Springbok (Gazelle), Etosha, Namibia...

There's one in every crowd... At least someone's paying attention to the nutty photogs...

Daytime temperatures while we were in Etosha rose into the upper thirties. Crazy tourists sat in their hot furnace-like vehicles while the wiser Springboks (Antidorcas marsupialis) took refuge from the blazing sun under the shade of leafy green trees.

Springbok (Afrikaans) = Spring (jump) + bok (antelope)

Springboks can jump to a height of 3.5 m.

To communicate the presence of predators, springboks will pronk or serially jump into the air while running.

The South African National Rugby Team is nicknamed the Springboks.

Source: Wikipedia.

Definitely not a Chevrolet - The Black Faced Impala, Etosha National Park, Namibia...

This no bambi. It's Aepyceros melampus petersi (common names: Black-Faced Impala (English) or Rooibok (Afrikaans))!

This sub-species seems to be endemic to Namibia. The Black-faced Impala is listed as vulnerable to extinction. According to the ICUN listing, there are approximately 1000 animals left in Namibia.

Gotta keep up fighting skills for rutting season... Described as the quintessential African antelope, males grow to 55-75 kg while female weigh in at 35-53 kg.

Being gregarious animals, impalas tend to group together in large herds. When resources like food are plentiful, male impalas become territorial, taking possession of females that wander into their respective territories and kicking out bachelor males. A male impala may have a "harem" of up to 100 females in some cases.

Little known impala factoids:

Impala appear as appetizers in the menus of cheetah and leopards.

Adults can leap 12 m and 3 m in height in a single bound!

Sunday Driving - Etosha National Park, Namibia

Be prepared to share the road while driving in Etosha.

Very wide load... (Loxodonta africana)

Very narrow load...(Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa).

Etosha Factoids of the day.

Etosha National Park was established by German occupiers in 1907. Originally the size of the park was 100,000 sq. km. Due to "political pressure", the park was reduced to its current size of 22,270 sq. km.

"The Park is home to 114 mammal species, 340 bird species, 110 reptile species, 16 amphibian species and, surprisingly, one species of fish".

I must report no sightings of fish in the park.

Early morn chillaxin' on the Etosha Highveld...

It's an early morning start for safari-goers in Etosha. Once the rest camp gates swing open at 6 AM, you have 12 hours of light to track down as many critters as you can. Trust me. There won't be a shortage of animals to see and miles of dirt track to drive.

Look what the cat dragged in... Early bird on the trail catches this pride of groggy lions (Panthera leo) chillaxin' on the grasslands of Etosha.

I love this time of the day. Calm, cool air precedes hot, dusty conditions later in the day. The morning light is perfect for photographing animals.

Etosha Bound - Northern Namibia...

I loved Namibia. So far, we've traveled amongst the monstrous red dunes of the Namib Desert, been perplexed by the surreal trees of Dead vlei, watched the birds of Walvis Bay, and surveyed the seal covered coast of Cape Cross. Next on the itinerary, we drove to the crown jewel of Namibia, Etosha National Park, perhaps the best wildlife preserve in all of Africa.

Here is an excerpt from my journal (November 27, 2006):

We bid farewell to Swakopmund today to embark on the next phase of the journey of bleakness.

Back to the blast furnace called the interior of Namibia. Gone were the cool sea breezes of the Atlantic.

6 hours later, first driving through bleakness then climbing the winding roads of the Erongo mountains we arrived Okaukuejo Camp, located in the extreme western end of the Etosha pan, the first of three such clusters of chalets and camping spaces in the Etosha.

To our chagrine, as we approached the Park gates, we could see dark ominous clouds forming overhead. Before we knew it, the heavens above opened up and pounded us with rain.

To our dismay, the girl at the Park gates informed us that it had been raining for the better part of a week prior to our arrival.

In biological terms, rain in parks like Etosha (dry savannah biome) means animal dispersal. Normally, in dry season, wildlife cluster around the numerous natural and manmade waterholes scattered around the savannah.

As we checked into our campsite, suffice to say, we were anxious whether we would see many animals during our safaris because of the rain.

However, despite the weather, it was good to be back.

[Ed. note: I visited Etosha Park ten years ago.]


View Larger Map
Map marks the location of Okaukuejo Rest Camp, Etosha National Park. Directly to the north (and east) the massive dry lake bed called Etosha Pan.

Yogi the Bear, Boo Boo, Picnic Baskets and Chinese Tourists.

Be careful! The first step's a doozy! Nice to see so many Chinese ladies traipsing around Africa these days.

Hey, Would You Please Stop Shaking the Cabin!!! I'm Trying to Sleep in Here!!!

When I was a university student back in the day, I worked for a summer as a research assistant in Glacier National Park. It was such a beautiful park. It was our task to construct what is called a stand origin map. Basically it was a map of forest according to the age of the stands of trees of the forest that blanketed the park.

Suffice to say, during the 4 months in Glacier I hiked every trail in the Park. It was hard work but what an office!

One of the great joys was living in some of the back country warden cabins.

They were so nice and rustic.

So peaceful, except for the occasional mice crawling inside the walls of the log cabin during the night.

One night, the rodent scurrying was replace by a more sinister sounding noise. From the corner of the cabin came heaving, scraping/scratching noises. It woke me up several times over the night. Kind of scary.

Next morning, while brushing my teeth outside, I checked out that corner of the cabin. Stuck in the splinters of the cabin logs making were long tuffs of coarse, wiry, brownish hair. Interesting... what could have happened out here?

So, when I came upon today's video of the day, it reminded me of the swell times in Glacier National Park.

In the Shadow of the Moon and More Arctocephalus pusillus but not necessarily in that order...

Did I mention that a peculiar pungent "seal" odour emanates from the beaches of Cape Cross?

...and the Cape is noisy as all hell?

Cape Cross Fur Seal Factoids of the Day: Adult male Cape Fur Seals are 2–2.3 m long and average 247 kg in weight. Adult females are 1.2–1.6 cm long and weigh an average of 57 kg. At birth they weigh around 6 kg.

Movie Review: In the Shadow of the Moon

"My father was born shortly after the Wright Brothers. He could barely believe that I went to the Moon. But my son, Tom, was five. And he didn't think it was any big deal." - Charlie Duke, Astronaut (Apollo 16).

In the Shadow of the Moon is an amazing documentary about greatest adventure of all time, America's quest to fly men to the moon in the 1960's.

The film footage taken during the missions provided the obligatory brilliant, breathtaking, powerful imagery. The slow motion footage of the Saturn V rocket lifting off the launch pad and the earth rising as the command module came around the moon are set to an appropriately dramatic soundtrack.

However, the power of In the Shadow of the Moon came from the narration provided by astronauts of the Apollo moon programme. The men were indeed part of an exclusive club and they knew it.

After all these years (some were octagenarians at the time of productions), their memories were crystal clear. Surprisingly, I found their recollections elegantly succinct, direct, powerfully evocative, and deeply personal. You could tell they were still profoundly affected by their adventures as younger men.

Remember, these guys were hardcore military types, made of "the real stuff", test pilot cool beyond all recognition back in the day. Yet they , especially Michael Collins (Apollo 11) and Alan Bean (Apollo 12), came across as eloquent, witty, down-to-earth human.

I sat through the two hour film. At the end all I could think of was "wow". I gotta go. Not necessarily into outer space but on another crazy terrestrial-bound expedition of my own.

As I looked up at the moon tonight, it was hard to imagine that it's been nearly 40 years since Neil Armstrong stepped on the lunar surface for the first time. Whole generations of people now have no idea of this golden age of space exploration: a time of vision and bold dreams.

Whether or not you remember or even existed during this Apollo age I wholeheartedly recommend signing this one outta the library...

Rating: five overdue fines out of five.

Cape Fur Seals and Bloody Placentae on the Beaches Cape Cross Namibia...

Wow, I actually had a request, from a special reader from Oregon, for pictures of the bloody placentae of Cape Fur Seals. Who am I to deny such curiosity for the natural world?

This placenta looks pretty fresh. Like I said, if you want to walk these parts, what your step!

This placenta looks a couple of days old.

Cape Fur Seal Factoid of the Day: The gestation period for Cape Fur Seals is 51 weeks (including a 3 month delay in implantation!!) - IUCN 2008 Red List.

More Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus and Mixed Reviews...

Another cute photo of Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus. It was birthing season when Ahmed and I made it to Cape Cross, Namibia. Those black furry lumps in the foreground are the pups. Difficult to miss and easy to step on (in fact, there were many squished pup carcasses lying about, victims of clumsy adults no less). Lots of blood soaked placentae littering the bleach, as well.

Man, it's been brutally cold the last few days. I walked over to the library today to pick up a couple of dvds I had on hold. Walking was an unwise choice of transportation. I lost most of the feeling in my face. Walking into the nasty wind, I soon rendered my eyelids unfoldable.

Talking about dvds, this is good time to give you, my loyal readers, fellow shut-in Calgarians, a couple of dvd movie choices to watch while huddled in our cold, dank homes around the flames of our flickering oil lamps.

Be Kind Rewind.

Must say there's been a shortage of creative films coming out of Hollywood lately (actually, for a long time).

Be Kind Rewind maybe that breath of fresh celluloid that we're all looking for.

Be Kind, Rewind stars Mike（played by rapper Mos Def). He's stuck running his uncle's video store. Everything is running smoothly until his jackass friend Jerry (played by Jack Black), a walking human super magnet, erases the entire collection of VHS tapes.

All hell breaks loose when they start to remake or swede (yep, a term named after the Scandinavian country) movie titles on demand, starting with a hilarious 20 minute version of the 80's classic Ghost Busters.

An interesting and imaginative plot coupled with good performances by Mr. Def and Jack Black makes this a good choice.

Rating: 4 library overdue notices out of 5.

10,000 BC.

Rubbish.

I must admit that I walked out the living room after 40 minutes of play time. I was thinking of asking the library for a refund.

The film was a horrid conglomeration of Planet of the Apes, Lord of the Rings, and Jurassic Park.

The plot line started with perfectly fluent English speaking humanoids (with heavy Russian accents) hunkered down in mountain top huts, degenerated into a scene with a barbarian princess being abducted by fully armoured, sword-wielding men riding giant horses, ended with scantily clad cave men tracking the princess up and down glacier capped mountains... I think I threw in the towel when the velociraptors a la Jurassic Park made an appearance.

Normally, in a film like this I give the producers some creative license but 10,000 was incredibly bad.

Don't bother this one 'cause it was fit for the pit...

Rating: zero library overdue fines outta five aka 40 minutes I can't get back.

Cape Cross Seal Reserve - Namibia...

Cape Cross, located 142 km north of Swakopmund along the coast, harbors the largest breeding colony of Cape Fur Seals/Brown Fur Seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) along the Atlantic coast of Namibia and South Africa.

It's been reported that during the breeding season (November/December - we were there in late November), the population of seals may exceed 340,000.

Crazy fellow tourists awestruck by the seal covered landscape and breathing in the awesome stench of that new hit fragrance Eau De Seal.

View Larger Map
Map marks the Cape Cross Seal Reserve.

Swakopmund, Namibia - Adrenaline Sports Capital of Africa?

Swakopmund prides itself as the centre of extreme sports. Buzzing around the giant dunes between on an ATV seems to be one of the more popular activities. My friend Ahmed really enjoyed himself. If that doesn't turn your crank there's tobogganing and flights/hot air ballooning over the desert. All they need is bungee jumping off the dunes...

This particular ATV park is between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. You can't see it but I think Brangelina hunkered down in a condo unit across the street during their first pregnancy. That's hot, eh?

Swakopmund, Namibia - Ich liebe Swakopmund!

Swakopmund lighthouse... appropriately located for we are on the southern end of the infamous Skeleton Coast, home to numerous unfortunate shipwrecks over the centuries.

The rough and tumble Atlantic coast off the Swakopmund jetty.

The local architectural style gave me a hankering for a few of my favourite things like schnitzel and bratwurst.

Instead of regular German fare, I did find a much more exotic menu. I'll have the bloody crocodile fillet, leeches on the side please. (1 USD = 6.65 $N)

Swakopmund Chinatown. OK, this was the only Chinese restaurant I found. You think I came all this way for chicken balls? Hell no! Ostrich Hot Pot or Sweet and Sour Warthog maybe...

View Larger Map
Map pointer indicates the Pension De La Mer. Excellent accommodations with secure parking. Delicious brekkie buffet included.

Flamingos, flamingos, flamingos - Walvis Bay, Namibia

After spending the first two weeks of our trip wallowing in the hell fires of the Kalahari and Namib Deserts, we were finally greeted by the fresh sea breezes lapping the Atlantic coastline of Namibia.

Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) off a Walvis Bay beach...
Walvis Bay, renown birdwatching hotspot because of nearby wetlands, was where we caught our first glimpse of flamingos. Flamingo sightings are infrequent in Southern Africa; however, Walvis Bay has a regular population of flamingos.

Greater flamingos and Lesser flamingos (Phoenicopterus minor) sometimes flock together. The latter species have pinker plummage and darker maroon bills than the Greater Flamingos. Immature individuals are grey/brown (foreground).

the blue list of africa...

Heading north from Sesriem to Swakopmund on the coast, the land was pretty bleak. There weren't many places to stop for gas except for an aptly named place called Solitaire.

The gas station here is famous for it's delish apple strudel. Mmmmm...fresh-out-of-the-oven 10 cm by 25 cm chunk of apple strudel. I looked for strudel in Frankfurt, Germany (waiting for the connecting flight to Jo'burg, SA) only to find out that it originated in Austria. It was ironic that I found it in Namibia (out in the middle of nowhere), a former German colony back in WWI. Anyway, I'm glad I got my studel when I did because shortly after this pic was shot, the "Rollen Hotel", a massive overland truck, rolled into the station. At least 30 German tourists piled out and they went straight for the apple strudel.

The Ultimate African Itinerary.

Recently I received an email from Aubrey (whose thinking of a prolonged 8 month trip through Africa) asking for a top ten list of must see/do's on the "dark" continent. That was a daunting task to say the least. After reviewing my responding list, I don't think I did Africa justice. Here is what I came up with:

1. Egypt. all the big sites in Cairo and along the Nile. if you want to get off the beaten path, i'd get out to siwa oasis in the west. Dahab's ok.
2. Sudan. see as much of this as possible. particularly along the Nile in the north.
3. Ethiopia. If there's only place you want to see that is Ethiopia: Simiens for walking, Lalibela, Gonder, Axum (maybe), Danikil depression (if you can afford it), Harar, Omo Valley, Gambella. you can easily kill a couple of months here. such a beautiful place. Test you mettle as a traveler though. The roads and people will challenge u.
4. Kenya. Definitely head out to Lamu on the coast. Nairobbery is not so bad. Couple of days to re-charge there. Didn't make it to lake turkana. My bad. definitely next time for me. if you make it there, please post the pix.
5. Uganda. Rafting the Nile is a must (here, Zambezi river in Zimbabwe or both). Lake Bunyonyi in the south. Kampala is pretty lively (ie. chaotic), definitely worth a visit. I was going to the north but got side tracked.
6. Rwanda. See the gorillas here. You'll be able to get permits on the spot. Pricey but worth it. Kigali is nice. Lots of genocidal memorials to visit.
7. Tanzania. I climbed Kilimanjaro a long time ago. Don't know if it's worth it anymore. it's nice up there though. Zanzibar is pretty interesting. Good source of photos. Ngorongoro crater is like a zoo (animals and tourists). I really recommend getting out to Kigoma and riding the SS Liemba down Lake Tanganyika.
8. Malawi. Another hangout spot. I'd recommend Senga Bay and Point Maclear if you want to hang out by the Lake. Livingstonia's not bad.
9. Zambia. I wish I spent more time here. Livingstone is a big tourist hangout. I believe that's your base for seeing Victoria Falls. They're pretty nice. But you can't go there without rafting the Zambezi, another must do.
10. Botswana. Expensive place but you must get to Maun and into the Okavango Delta.
11. Namibia. Etosha National Park, Swakopmund/Walvis Bay, and Sossusvlei are the must sees. in fact, if you only go on safari once, i recommend etosha.
12. South Africa. I wish I could spend more time here. Capetown and Johannesburg are nice. Kagaligadi National Park was just brilliant, really wild. The Garden Route is a bit overrated. I'd certainly check out the Otter Route next time. It's a hiking trail along the south coast.
13. Mozambique. Poor poor poor place. Maputo is a must. Pretty vibrant city. Go up to tofo if you're into snorkeling with whale sharks. You don't want to miss Ilha do Mozambique either.

Ok, I tried my best (I couldn't keep it to ten items). Just too many variables to crunch.

Tell me what you think of the list, 'cause I haven't been everywhere in Africa...

Not wanting to sound corny, I should have wrote, "go and meet the people and feel fortunate everyday that you're in Africa." Well, at least that's how I felt when I was there...

Aubrey is based in Dharamsala, India, right now, hanging out H.H. the Dalai Lama. Check out his blog Ketchup with Aubs for swell pix and stories of his travels.