A history of my quirkiest flights: with my best friend and travel companion, & the most awesome travel app out there! Here’s looking at you, TripIt 😉 7 years of travel & over half a million km spent in the air. That amounts to 27 days of continuously sitting in an airplane. Give or take, you know. … More My Seven Years in the Air: A History of Quirkiest Flights
Part of our amazingly organized 3-day safari in South Africa, the time came when we had to leave our explorers’ den at GomoGomo and head to Mohlabetsi Lodge for the last leg of our real-life nature documentary.
Mohlabetsi was, surprisingly, a substantial change of scenery from Gomo Gomo.
In a chat with the owner of the lodge – a seasoned hospitality veteran who decided to create his own boutique, luxury heaven in nature – he told us about the challenges they’ve had with elephants, which in times of drought are attracted by the green pastures hiding in plain sight, behind the electrified fences of the lodges.
And can you blame them? In the wild there’s a constant fight for survival, and this is their home, we’re merely uninvited guests. … More In The Wild, Where They Belong: Big Five Lucky in South Africa
Waking up to a spring that left me waiting.
With a magnificent view over Table mountain that also kept me waiting in vain, as the clouds didn’t budge for 3 full days.
It almost felt like Antarctica when I got out to Boulders Beach and was instantly hit by the icy drizzle.
The umbrella wasn’t much of a friend either. I eventually abandoned it in the arms of my partner, soon after a lone penguin caught my eye.
South Africa. Since hitching a ride to Antarctica is an expensive endeavor that I’m working towards – and at a relatively slow crawl, I might add – I settled for the nonetheless amazing encounter with the Jackass Penguins of South Africa.
In The Wild – Where They Belong … More Sampling Antarctica With a Bunch of Jackasses
Like most people who enjoy a glass of red for good value, I knew of course that South Africa has a good rap for wines. I did not, however, expect it to be so incredibly exquisite in its offer!
I mean, I see now there’s a solid reason behind the fact that South Africa has the longest wine route in the world. 850km long, to be more precise!
While we merely scratched the surface (see blue dots area above) and the experience left us wanting more, our two wine tasting trips should give you a fairly good idea of the amazing things waiting for you down in South Africa!
Like I said before. The rules of choosing books for my readathon are pretty fluid – mainly it’s :
Author is from said country &/or
Action is set in said country
Other than that, the sky is the limit ;). So when I came across Imraan Coovadia’s book in a Goodreads thread I chose it because of the title, really.
Well, of course, I read the details and got an idea what it’s about, and I did see that the book was featured in the nota bene of the WorldLiteratureToday magazine. But I didn’t imagine it will be so skillfully written. … More Readathon-ing towards South Africa: Tales of the Metric System
As you’ve seen in a previous post, I’m not one advocating for organized tours all that much. And so, for a long while planning our SA getaway, I was actually looking at booking accommodation myself and organize transport on the spot. Eventually, after a few questions thrown on TripAdvisor / Twitter, I decided to go the paved way in.
Of course, it didn’t help that neither I nor my travel partner in crime owns a driver’s license (laugh all you want, I’m just not all that interested. There.)
So I had an extensive back and forth with two local tour companies, narrowed it down to one, and eventually settled on a package which seemed fair. That company that made my happy travels real, was GoSAfari.
Most of you must know how rare it is that you come across a travel agent who is professional & dedicated, looking to provide as much value as possible and helping tailor make the best package without overcharging you for it. For us, that rare bird was Glen @GoSAfari. … More When Organized Tours Go Well – A South African Safari
Fact Checking South Africa & What I Didn’t Know
On our way to see the eluding whales (we only got to see a tail, far into the sea, and through binoculars), our very friendly guide shared a wealth of information about the country – both things he was proud of, and sadder realities – something I personally very much appreciated.
Some of the things he was saying sounded a bit stretched, though, so I decided to fact check him when I got back home.
Fact Checked
It’s how I learned, for example, that South Africa:
Has the longest Wine Route in the World. Spanning a distance of 850 km, Route 62 is said to be the longest wine route in the world, stretching from Cape Town, Constantia, to Port Elizabeth
…
With only one week to go until we’re up & away to South Africa, plans are in motion to build my Kindle and Paper Fortress for my in-flight readathon.
After all, we’re talking about 15 hours of flight time – and that’s just to get there!
However, and learning from past mistakes, I’m only packing 2 South African books on this readathon. (I’ve always got extra up my sleeve, anyway..)
Drum-rolls.. Here they are: … More Readathon-ing towards South Africa