RTW 2024 Carefree Travel

  This morning, we set a 5 a.m. alarm to be ready for our first full safari day. That means leaving the tent at 5:30 a.m., walking along the boardwalk to the main lodge, and partaking in a civilized early morning tea/coffee  and biscuits. The temperature is definitely on the cooler side, so you need multiple layers and long pants to combat the chill. Our jeep is a tricked-out, converted Land Cruiser. It has three cushioned rows of three seats, open sides, and a cloth roof (with roll bars).  Our tour guide, Kingsley (call me "Kings") gave us a brief safety talk, and then off we went. The safari consists of about three hours in the jeep, driving at various speeds along dirt roads and tracks through the bush. We quickly learned that Allison would be the chief spotter for the three couples, assisted by Laurie. Allison's ability to find animals hiding in the bush was quite amazing, to the point that Kings asked "So, Allison, what do you see?" multiple times.  It was ...

  Our day started with an early morning breakfast on board the ship in Durban. We (our full group is only 3 couples) then grabbed our suitcases and met a minibus to take us to the airport. I was surprised by how small the Durban Airport was, although it was very clean, well laid out, and efficient. Our flight was on an Airlink Embraer 135 aircraft flying into Nelspruit, which is 40-50 miles southwest outside of Kruger National Park. It was a small airplane for Allison, but she did great on the flight and was very smooth. We also had a really nice view of the farmland (citrus and avocados) on approach. Another bus picked us up at the airport, and we started a 3+ hour drive into the  park to our destination, Hamilton's Tented Lodge. Our voyage got off to a great start, and we drove our driver crazy (although he is probably used to it) by asking him to stop so that we could all take photos of baboons, crocodiles, and elephants. We finally arrived at the lodge mid-a...

  Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of 7,576 sq mi in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa and extends 220 mi from north to south and 40 mi from east to west. The administrative headquarters are in Skukuza (which is where we flew out of - cute little airport!). Areas of the park were first protected by the government of the South African Republic in 1898, and it became South Africa's first national park in 1926. To give you some idea of the size, it is, depending upon your location, about the same size as New Jersey, Wales, or Portugal. Yet, looking at the map to the right, it only occupies a tiny portion of the country, tucked away in the far northeast, adjacent to the Mozambique border. Maputo, where we were a few days ago, is actually closer to Kruger than Cape Town. The park was started back in 1898 when the Sabi Game Reserve was initially created to control hu...

Today, we saw two very different sides of Mozambique. Allison elected to take the " City and Sun " tour in Maputo, whilst I took the " Walking Tour Of Mafalala ." So one of us got the "new and shiny" tourist view, which was quite impressive, and the other received the "real world" view of how everyday folks in Zmaputo live, which was thought-provoking to say the least and definitely makes one feel incredibly grateful for the live we lead. " There but for the grace of God, go I " etc.  Mozambique's history dates back to the 4th century BC. Migration from the west and north began, forming numerous small farming and fishing villages on the coast. Life proceeded unchanged for a millennium until the Indian Ocean trade routes started up. Around 800 AD, the Swahilis turned the fishing villages into port towns to participate in the wealth flowing across the ocean. There was relative peace for the next 7 centuries as the trade routes expand...

Mayotte is part of the Comoros chain of islands at the northern end of the Madagascar Channel. There are four large inhabited islands - Grande Comore, Moheli, Anjouan and Mayotte. Of those four, Mayotte is the oldest geological island, whilst Grand Comore is the youngest, with one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Karthala, the volcano, is continuously bubbling, although its last major eruption was back in 2005, displacing 40,000 inhabitants and destroying a crater lake in the caldera.  The Comoros were first inhabited in the 800s and were initially known as the perfumed islands (because of the Ylang Ylang plant—see Madacasgar post). Vasco de Gama discovered the islands from the European viewpoint in 1503, and the Portuguese set up trading posts for the next 100 years. there was no formal attempt to claim sovereignty, and a considerable amount of intermarriage occurred. Various countries, ranging from Oman to Mozambique, attempted to settle on the islands with little suc...

  Nosy Be (meaning "Big Island" in the local dialect) is a 110-square-mile island 5 miles off the northwestern coast of Madagascar. It's gone by many names over the years, originally being called Assada during the colonial 17th century and also Nosy Manitra - the scented island. You'll learn how that name came about in a bit. The island has volcanic origins, although everything has been dormant for at least 10,000 years. There are the remains of numerous crater lakes (10) scattered about the island, and the central peak of Mont Lokobe is 1500 feet in elevation. Nosy Be is known as a tourist destination - both high-end and low-end. The rest of its economy is centered around rice and the Ylang-Ylang plantations. The Ylang Ylang tree has fragrant bright yellow flowers, which are harvested to serve as a base for perfume. It takes about 200 pounds of flowers, crushed and boiled, to make 4-5 pints of oil. Almost every major perfume company in the world uses its oil in its p...

The Seychelles are a set of 155 islands way off the coast of Africa. 42 of these islands are chunks of granite, and the rest are coralline. They are old rocks, as the Seychelles were joined with both Madagascar and India until 90 million years ago. First they rifted apart from Madagascar, and then 66 million years ago, sharply rotated and left India. Considering they are not of volcanic origin, the islands have a few impressive hills/mountains, with Morne Seychellois (2,969 feet) being the highest elevation, overlooking the capital of Victoria. They are officially part of Africa, so with a population of 100,000, they are the smallest (but also most prosperous on a per capita basis) country in the continent. Vasco de Gamo discovered the islands in 1503, but no one lived here until 1770 when a French ship landed on St. Anne island with 28 men and 1 woman. A British frigate arrived in 1794, and the islands became part of the Napoleonic Wars. The Brits won, although they allowed the F...