To Africa and Back
I did it! I traveled to South Africa and Mozambique for just over 2 weeks and carried everything in one backpack (plus a sizeable - for me - shoulder bag)
South Africa was both familiar and foreign. Everyone spoke english which was a big help. And I kept seeing familiar American brands everywhere: KFC, Wimpys, Nestle, Coca Cola.
South Africa was also the pampered, easy part of our trip.
My sister and I arranged for transfers and tours with Thompsons Africa Safaris and Tours. And they took good care of us.
The highlights of that week were mostly in Kruger National Park where we went on twice-daily game drives with an experienced guide (Alfred) in an open safari vehicle. We saw and photgraphed elephants, zebra, giraffe, rhino, hippo, crocodile, leopard, wart hog, hyena, wildebeast, impala, kudu, baboons, vervet monkeys and other wildlife doing their natural thing in their natural habitat.
The park is huge - about 2 million hectares - so we only saw a small part of it but saw a great diversity of habitat and animal life in that part.
The second week we traveled through Swaziland to Mozambique where our niece met us in Maputo then brought us back to Quissico - the small town where she is a Peace Corps volunteer teacher.
Life in Mozambique, particularly in Quissico, was a taste of what everyday living is like for many in that part of the world.
We traveled on public transportation or by foot, stayed in our niece's tiny reed-walled home without running water and with an outdoor kitchen. We filtered our water, cooked over a charcoal stove and made daily trips to the market to bargain - with my "muito, muito impaco" Portuguese - for daily groceries.
Quissico is situated on Mozambiques idilic coast. What we lacked in modern services was made up in natural beauty.
Well, the coutryside was beautiful (palm trees, sand beaches) but the towns, while picturesque, were filled with trash. Mozambique lost most of its infrastructure during its civil war and things like trash disposal are sadly lacking. Trash is pretty much dropped in the street. There's really no place to put it.
We found the people warm, friendly and always ready to smile and laugh.
If anyone has the opportuninity to go, I recommend it. Travel light and take reasonable precautions and all should be well. We did not experience any problems at all.
Will upload some Africa photos to my profile page when I get a chance.
South Africa was both familiar and foreign. Everyone spoke english which was a big help. And I kept seeing familiar American brands everywhere: KFC, Wimpys, Nestle, Coca Cola.
South Africa was also the pampered, easy part of our trip.
My sister and I arranged for transfers and tours with Thompsons Africa Safaris and Tours. And they took good care of us.
The highlights of that week were mostly in Kruger National Park where we went on twice-daily game drives with an experienced guide (Alfred) in an open safari vehicle. We saw and photgraphed elephants, zebra, giraffe, rhino, hippo, crocodile, leopard, wart hog, hyena, wildebeast, impala, kudu, baboons, vervet monkeys and other wildlife doing their natural thing in their natural habitat.
The park is huge - about 2 million hectares - so we only saw a small part of it but saw a great diversity of habitat and animal life in that part.
The second week we traveled through Swaziland to Mozambique where our niece met us in Maputo then brought us back to Quissico - the small town where she is a Peace Corps volunteer teacher.
Life in Mozambique, particularly in Quissico, was a taste of what everyday living is like for many in that part of the world.
We traveled on public transportation or by foot, stayed in our niece's tiny reed-walled home without running water and with an outdoor kitchen. We filtered our water, cooked over a charcoal stove and made daily trips to the market to bargain - with my "muito, muito impaco" Portuguese - for daily groceries.
Quissico is situated on Mozambiques idilic coast. What we lacked in modern services was made up in natural beauty.
Well, the coutryside was beautiful (palm trees, sand beaches) but the towns, while picturesque, were filled with trash. Mozambique lost most of its infrastructure during its civil war and things like trash disposal are sadly lacking. Trash is pretty much dropped in the street. There's really no place to put it.
We found the people warm, friendly and always ready to smile and laugh.
If anyone has the opportuninity to go, I recommend it. Travel light and take reasonable precautions and all should be well. We did not experience any problems at all.
Will upload some Africa photos to my profile page when I get a chance.
