Walton's Charm

Austin's food scene was incredibly impressive. We ended up planning most of our days and evenings around the many restaurants we wanted to try. We snuck in a mid-afternoon snack at Walton's Fancy and Staple, located in Austin's Market District, during a busy day out sightseeing. It was a great place to sit down, relax, and enjoy a cup of coffee and dessert. My sister and I split a big ginger cookie, which was perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. My cappuccino was equally delicious.

Walton's interior was very charming. I love the succulents that decorated the simple wooden tables, the antique lamps that hung in the seating areas, and the exposed brick throughout the restaurant. I am happy I had the chance to dine here while I was in town!

Gourdough's

I had been dreaming of Gourdough's ever since I first heard about it on Jenni's blog last month. Her pictures of my favorite sweet treat covered in mountains of tasty toppings convinced me that this popular food truck needed to be at the top of my to-do list during my first trip to Austin. So, it seemed only fitting that once Jenni and I planned our blogger date, we needed to meet for donuts! 

The Funky Monkey- grilled bananas, cream cheese icing, and brown sugar. I am convinced I will fly back to Austin just to have this amazing creation again! 

Funky Monkey and Son of a Peach. 

Gourdough's was everything I hoped it would be. Jenni and I were the first eager customers of the day and excitedly perused the menu and debated between the many tempting options. The donuts were absolutely delicious and reminded me of my favorite guilty pleasures from the Minnesota State Fair. They also made me a firm believer that warm cream cheese icing should be put on just about everything... 

After following each other's blogs for some time, it was so wonderful to finally meet Jenni in person. The joy of meeting blogger friends in real life is that you get to skip all of that getting to know you stuff and jump right into the real conversations. We had a great time chatting about Austin, New York, the blogging community, and life in general. I can't wait for our next blate... in New York, maybe?

If you are not following Jenni's blog yet, you need to head over to Story of My Life and start reading. She is just as wonderful in person as she is in blogger-land! Thanks again for a wonderful donut blate, Jenni! 

Life according to Instagram, Week 55- Austin!

Another week brought to you by Instagram... Austin style! I had the most wonderful time exploring Austin with my brother, sister-in-law, and little sister and cannot wait to visit again soon. 

1. Ready for a much needed vacation.

2. After weeks of packing and moving, my nails were an absolute disaster. It felt so good to get a manicure!
3. Dinner and drinks outside at Snack Bar.

4. A very exciting doughnut date with Jenni at Gourdough's. It was so wonderful to finally meet in person!
5. The Funky Monkey- grilled bananas, cream cheese icing, and brown sugar. My mouth is watering just typing this.

6. Donuts make me smile.

7. Great minds think alike! Jenni and I unintentionally color coordinated for our doughnut date.

8. Greetings from sunny Austin!

9. Moment of maximum vacation at Hopdoddy Burger Bar. I paid for this beergarita later...
10. Ready for dinner at G'Raj Mahal.

11. My first breakfast taco experience in Austin.
12. Smoothie time! Fueling up for our morning hike.

13. I am officially obsessed with the lights in Austin, especially this paint brush creation at Bouldin Creek.
14. Mocha love.

15. Dinner date night take two! Ready for Blue Dahlia.
16. Taela.

17. Fresh tamales at the SFC Downtown Farmer's Market. Yum.
18. Mid-afternoon beer and queso stop.

19. 5th Street and Congress.

Want to follow me on Instagram? My username is Daina_A.

A Natural Wonder

After visiting Victoria Falls from both the Zambia and Zimbabwe sides, I completely understand why it is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

I loved the panoramic views the Zimbabwe side offered, along with the beautiful flowers and vegetation that lined the hiking trails. We even spotted an elephant drinking from the pools at the top of the falls!

Victoria Falls is breathtakingly beautiful, and the view at the edge of this cliff was one of my favorites from my entire trip in Africa. 

From Africa, with love.

Here is a little video with some of the highlights from my travels through Africa...

(All video shot on my Canon Powershot camera. Music by The Temper Trap)

A little travel advice if you are heading to Chipata...

A view of Chipata from Dean's Hill View Lodge.

After our safari in South Luangwa National Park, we started to make our way down Zambia to Livingstone. We took a seven hour bus ride from Chipata to Lusaka, and then another seven hour bus ride from Lusaka to Livingstone. We knew it was going to be an adventure, but it was even more comical and memorable than we could have expected.

So, without further ado, here are my travel tips if you ever find yourself in Chipata, Zambia in transit to another Zambian destination...

Joanna and Janice enjoying some corn at the bus station. 

1. When you arrive at the bus station and the employee inside the kiosk tells you that there are no more buses to Lusaka for the day, believe him. Do not believe the people sitting outside the station with their bags packed and ready to go. 

We waited for over four hours on a bench hopeful that our bus was coming, and it never did. We took turns going to the bathrooms across the street and sprinted back at the sound of any approaching bus. We probably looked so ridiculous. We paced ourselves with activities in order to pass the time; a bag of chips here, a page of an US Weekly magazine there. After hours of waiting, we finally gave into the fact that no more buses were coming. We bought our tickets for the 5 am bus and headed to our lodge.

2. If you need to stay the night in Chipata, Dean's Hill View Lodge is the place to go. Although it feels a little strange when you walk through the large, metal driveway gates and see a barn-like structure and chickens roaming about, it is honestly a perfect place to crash for a night. We had two rooms that were a short distance to the communal bathrooms. The food in the main lodge area was good, and we were able to walk into town for water, ATMs, and snacks from the lodge. 

3. Wear the appropriate footwear, because Chipata is dusty. 

Janice's feet were definitely the dirtiest of the bunch, and we all spent some time that night scrubbing our feet in the bathroom sinks.

4. If you walk into town, pick up some Stoney Ginger Brew and a sampling of potato chips. One of our favorite flavors was Thai Sweet Basil. These snacks will come in handy when you play cards for hours in the main lodge as you wait for the dinner hour to roll around. 

5. Take a bike taxi at some point during your stay. 

For a small amount of Kwacha, you can ride on the back of a bike down the main stretch of road alongside the car traffic. I held on for dear life and loved every second of my ride.

6. When you ask a cab driver to pick you up at 4 am at your lodge to go to the bus station, trust that he will arrive. Do not doubt how reliable he is. You will make it to the bus on time. 

At 3:45 am, we were waiting by the gate with our backpacks strapped to our backs ready to go. We were not taking any chances missing that 5 am bus. When our cab driver did not arrive promptly at 4 am, we decided our only option was to walk down the big dirt hill to the Texaco station in search of a ride. We slowly made our way down the dusty road, flashlights in hand, in pitch black darkness. Dogs were barking, our feet were slipping, and we had no idea what we were doing. We were relieved when headlights approached us halfway down and our cab driver came to our rescue. And laughed at us for attempting to walk in the dark.

If you follow these tips, you will have a wonderful time in transit through Chipata!

Into the great wide open.

My safari in South Luangwa National Park was truly an experience of a lifetime. Joanna, Janice, Debbie, and I arrived at Croc Valley, situated in a forest along the banks of the Luangwa River, a couple days after we finished our build in Malawi. I instantly fell in love with our surroundings the second we arrived. Hammocks lined the property, our luxury tents were amazing, and the bar had beautiful views of the wildlife in and around the river. Hippos could be heard snorting and screaming to one another throughout the day, and often graced us with their presence at night in the camp. It was surreal to be within feet of African wildlife throughout our safari. I was fortunate enough to spend three days in the park and go on four game drives during my stay at Croc Valley.

Our view of the hippos from the main bar at Croc Valley.  I later learned that Africa's largest hippo population is in the Luangwa Valley! 

Hippo tracks along the river. 

Every morning we woke up before sunrise and sleepily walked to the main dining area from tents 5 and 6 for toast, coffee, and tea. We loaded up into the open trucks, cameras ready around our wrists and necks, and entered the park as the sun rose over the river.

For hours each day we slowly drove around the park admiring the beautiful nature and wildlife around us. It was so incredible to see zebras, impalas, baboons, elephants, and lions roaming about in their natural habitat. I had to continuously remind myself that I was in the middle of Africa and not a zoo as I observed the animals. Everything was just so beautiful.

Morning tea with the zebras. 

After the morning drives, we headed back to camp for brunch and a bit of downtime. I loved writing in my travel journal as I sat at the bar every afternoon enjoying the scenery and an ice cold Mosi. By 4 pm each day, we were back in the trucks ready for our evening drives. We explored long after the sun went down, driving cautiously with a large flashlight illuminating the nighttime activity in the park. Dinner was enjoyed in the camp after we returned from our drives, and conversations continued by the bar as hippos wandered near by.

There were so many amazing moments throughout my safari experience and I am so grateful I captured most of them with my camera, forever frozen in time. Sometimes a picture is truly worth a thousand words.

A lion exhausted and full after an evening kill. 

Wine and popcorn at sunset. 

Lions as sunrise. 

A leopard cub lazily sleeping in a tree, with his mom below keeping watch. 

The Thornicroft giraffe, which only live in Zambia in the Luangwa Valley. 

If you ever have a chance to experience an African safari, I highly recommend traveling to South Luangwa National Park. Its beauty is indescribable.

I booked all of my safari accommodations through Malawian Style. Mike was incredibly helpful throughout the booking process and provided us with an amazing experience.