Why you might ask?
Yet another blog of my travels where I hope to take you on a journey, not to see what I saw, but to feel what I felt, to smell the aromas, taste the flavours, understand a bit of the history, learn about the culture and transport you to that place right where I stood. That place in a foreign land.
Don't expect the usual tourist stops, that's not why I travel. I can see things in photos. I travel so I can feel, immerse, taste and understand the place I am in. To do the things that the locals do.
When I tell people where I am going I am inevitably confronted by the question of "Why?" My answer is always "Because I can", quite simple. I love to travel and I love to experience different cultures and experiences. They say that once you have been to Africa you can't get it out of your head and for me that is quite true. A bit like an earworm, over and over in my mind it goes.
Constantly looking for something different and away from the usual tourist route my plan started with Ethiopia. Why? Well, the idea of a Muslim country where the eastern orthodox religion followers make up a huge percentage of the population sounded fascinating; each with their own customs and quirks it must be fascinating. Their food is well renowned as being some of the best in Africa and that was a great attraction. Ethiopia is slowly becoming a popular tourist destination so I have to go before it becomes too popular. Then Intrepid Adventures clinched it by offering a tour to some remote villages outside of the tourist trail. That's me. And so the plan began. Booked months in advance I made sure that I would be going. Because of the rainy season Intrepid only do tours in the drier months so October was my first opportunity.
I'm not one for guided tours so this trip will be a little different for me. No hanging out by myself but instead four short, small group trips. No busses or anything fancy, Good basic stuff, clean hotel rooms, plenty of free time, a reasonable amount of "guiding" and nothing too much that I had to plan ahead for.
Ethiopia was the first I booked and then I figured that since I was close I could fulfil another dream by going to Rwanda to see the Gorillas, hang out in Dian Fossey's stomping grounds and go to the Genocide Museum. Trips to the gorillas run most days but a permit must be obtained by the travel company so bookings well in advance are essential. Only a limited number of people each group can make the trek (anything up to about 4 hours each way) through the Volcanos National Park to wherever the gorillas are that day. A sighting is not guaranteed and if found we only get to spend 1 hour with the magnificent creatures. But I'm booked!!! I'm in walking practice, breaking in the tramping boots and already have my gear ready. Bring it on.
In my spare time I play on line Scrabble against people from all sorts of places. Some I get the chance to chat with on line and one day, at the time I was trying to decide where else I could go in Western Africa, I started playing scrabble with a guy from The Gambia. Typically, I googled The Gambia and what I read sounded interesting. Its just a tiny place, English is the official language, Moslem is the religion and the food sounds divine. As if by luck an ad popped up on my screen for a 7 day trip through Senegal and The Gambia. The dates worked perfectly fitting in after the Ethiopian trip with a few days in between so I can do some of my own exploring, and so I booked Senegal and The Gambia as well.
The search for flights there and back was on when I decided to go via Greece to see my brother in Athens. Qatar Air sold me by quoting Wellington-Athens-Jo'Burg-Wellington and then Athens/Kigali Rwanda via Istanbul for much less than the Star Alliance carriers I was trying to book with. No choice, the decision was made.
Having booked to leave from Jo'Burg it made sense to go south and tick another thing off my bucket list. The Okavango Delta had been on my list from when I first wrote it but sadly it is not the sort of place that would be fun by myself so I booked yet another tour. This will take me from Windhoek in Namibia, up the Delta, to Maun, Chobe National Park and through to Victoria Falls. With the exception of the Delta I am not interested in going to organized game reserves or along a tourist trail but being my tenth trip with Intrepid Adventures the tour was subsidized to the tune of $2,400 so why not. I hope it is not hours spent in a minivan with a squillion other tourist vans as most other reserves are but if so I can at least see lots of different scenery. Having been off the usual safari trail in wildlife Africa I'm not looking forward to the hours of driving round on formed roads in the reserves, but that comes with the usual game drives. Sadly doing amazing stuff means that subsequent adventures can be a little mundane and thats how I feel this might be but I'll suck it up and live with it and I may be pleasantly surprised. We shall see.
And so the preparation begins. Please follow me on my journey. I can guarantee you will be transported to lands afar, wild animals to make your heart flutter, history you didn't know, customs and life styles you only see in books or on TV and flavours that will tease your taste buds. Feel free to share far and wide.
Don't expect the usual tourist stops, that's not why I travel. I can see things in photos. I travel so I can feel, immerse, taste and understand the place I am in. To do the things that the locals do.
When I tell people where I am going I am inevitably confronted by the question of "Why?" My answer is always "Because I can", quite simple. I love to travel and I love to experience different cultures and experiences. They say that once you have been to Africa you can't get it out of your head and for me that is quite true. A bit like an earworm, over and over in my mind it goes.
Constantly looking for something different and away from the usual tourist route my plan started with Ethiopia. Why? Well, the idea of a Muslim country where the eastern orthodox religion followers make up a huge percentage of the population sounded fascinating; each with their own customs and quirks it must be fascinating. Their food is well renowned as being some of the best in Africa and that was a great attraction. Ethiopia is slowly becoming a popular tourist destination so I have to go before it becomes too popular. Then Intrepid Adventures clinched it by offering a tour to some remote villages outside of the tourist trail. That's me. And so the plan began. Booked months in advance I made sure that I would be going. Because of the rainy season Intrepid only do tours in the drier months so October was my first opportunity.
I'm not one for guided tours so this trip will be a little different for me. No hanging out by myself but instead four short, small group trips. No busses or anything fancy, Good basic stuff, clean hotel rooms, plenty of free time, a reasonable amount of "guiding" and nothing too much that I had to plan ahead for.
Ethiopia was the first I booked and then I figured that since I was close I could fulfil another dream by going to Rwanda to see the Gorillas, hang out in Dian Fossey's stomping grounds and go to the Genocide Museum. Trips to the gorillas run most days but a permit must be obtained by the travel company so bookings well in advance are essential. Only a limited number of people each group can make the trek (anything up to about 4 hours each way) through the Volcanos National Park to wherever the gorillas are that day. A sighting is not guaranteed and if found we only get to spend 1 hour with the magnificent creatures. But I'm booked!!! I'm in walking practice, breaking in the tramping boots and already have my gear ready. Bring it on.
In my spare time I play on line Scrabble against people from all sorts of places. Some I get the chance to chat with on line and one day, at the time I was trying to decide where else I could go in Western Africa, I started playing scrabble with a guy from The Gambia. Typically, I googled The Gambia and what I read sounded interesting. Its just a tiny place, English is the official language, Moslem is the religion and the food sounds divine. As if by luck an ad popped up on my screen for a 7 day trip through Senegal and The Gambia. The dates worked perfectly fitting in after the Ethiopian trip with a few days in between so I can do some of my own exploring, and so I booked Senegal and The Gambia as well.
The search for flights there and back was on when I decided to go via Greece to see my brother in Athens. Qatar Air sold me by quoting Wellington-Athens-Jo'Burg-Wellington and then Athens/Kigali Rwanda via Istanbul for much less than the Star Alliance carriers I was trying to book with. No choice, the decision was made.
Having booked to leave from Jo'Burg it made sense to go south and tick another thing off my bucket list. The Okavango Delta had been on my list from when I first wrote it but sadly it is not the sort of place that would be fun by myself so I booked yet another tour. This will take me from Windhoek in Namibia, up the Delta, to Maun, Chobe National Park and through to Victoria Falls. With the exception of the Delta I am not interested in going to organized game reserves or along a tourist trail but being my tenth trip with Intrepid Adventures the tour was subsidized to the tune of $2,400 so why not. I hope it is not hours spent in a minivan with a squillion other tourist vans as most other reserves are but if so I can at least see lots of different scenery. Having been off the usual safari trail in wildlife Africa I'm not looking forward to the hours of driving round on formed roads in the reserves, but that comes with the usual game drives. Sadly doing amazing stuff means that subsequent adventures can be a little mundane and thats how I feel this might be but I'll suck it up and live with it and I may be pleasantly surprised. We shall see.
And so the preparation begins. Please follow me on my journey. I can guarantee you will be transported to lands afar, wild animals to make your heart flutter, history you didn't know, customs and life styles you only see in books or on TV and flavours that will tease your taste buds. Feel free to share far and wide.
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