Reply to: Yay - Africa it is.

[mudskipper]

latest news.

Yep. it's booked. 4 week from 4 september.

Based on all the info I have garnered, esp Mich, we have an itinery.

Cape town - Kruger 2 days
Kruger - Botswana border - 1 day
into Botswana - 2 day
7 days bumming
2 day back to SA
From border back to joburg 1 day
back to Cape town 2 day
7 days bumming

6 days contingency



woo hoo

Must do's in CT:

Boulders beach - seriously cute penguins
Table Mountain (obv.) reasonably easy to climb up it if you're averagely fit - there's a couple of routes. Climb up/cable car down (or cable car both ways)
Robben island - never got there myself - one time it was closed, and the other the sea was too rough, but it's supposed to be well worth doing
Mama Africa restaurant in Kloof Street - touristy, but excellent.
Worth heading out to Francshhoek / Stellenbosch and doing the winerys.
Cape point isn't 'wow' but it worth a visit - and you often see some baboons along the road on the way.

Are you B&Bing? I can give you a couple of places we stayed in 2008 that were excellent, assuming they're still good now.

[Sysman]

latest news.

Yep. it's booked. 4 week from 4 september.

Well done sir!

[vetran]

Sounds great. My recommendations after a whole week working out there.

Get a driver, its fkin scary out there.

Do the Apartheid museum in Joburg. It's not the best museum (it feels like there is a certain amount of revisionism) but very moving.

Home | Apartheid Museum

I wanted to go to the cradle of humankind but I had to do some work.

Go to a Casino, the food will be good, but go on the floor and see the sea of slots where many of the african workers waste their wages to make casino owners rich. Blew my mind.

Try Springbok Carpaccio, and any fish (it was all fantastic).

Expect your card to be cloned.

[Cliphead]

latest news.

Yep. it's booked. 4 week from 4 september.

Based on all the info I have garnered, esp Mich, we have an itinery.

Cape town - Kruger 2 days
Kruger - Botswana border - 1 day
into Botswana - 2 day
7 days bumming
2 day back to SA
From border back to joburg 1 day
back to Cape town 2 day
7 days bumming

6 days contingency



woo hoo

[EternalOptimist]

latest news.

Yep. it's booked. 4 week from 4 september.

Based on all the info I have garnered, esp Mich, we have an itinery.

Cape town - Kruger 2 days
Kruger - Botswana border - 1 day
into Botswana - 2 day
7 days bumming
2 day back to SA
From border back to joburg 1 day
back to Cape town 2 day
7 days bumming

6 days contingency



woo hoo

[Troll]

Someone doing it right!

I wonder how many hubcaps he nicked along the way

Day 465 sums it up nicely

By 2pm, we were in dock in Kuwait City. Being the only westerner on board I had to go through a bit of a rigmarole to get my visa (they weren’t expecting me!) but sure enough it came through and – even better – it was free! The customs guy welcomed me with a cup of tea (It’s as though cups of tea are mandatory for all crazy travelling guys) and then asked if I was a tourist. I said I was, and he disagreed. “No, you are not a tourist… you are a traveller!”

This worried me a bit – did I need a traveller visa? Would he pop me back on the boat to Iran for being – you know – scruffy-lookin’?

“Tourists wear fancy clothes and stay at fancy hotels and do not see the world – you, my friend, you see the world.”

[sasguru]

Have they invented washing their hands after taking a dump, or even toilet paper? I think not. And you let them touch you? Shudder.



Nice to see AssGuru actually using some effort in his retorts, must be getting to him.




Yes, English famous for inventing pretty much everything, compared to Africans famous for AIDS and starvation. No wonder you left.

Congratulations on becoming the official CUK forum bigot.
There was some competition, but your application was outstanding in its crassness, ignorance and stupidity. In order to get a promotion, though, you must keep digging.
We look forward to your ongoing efforts.

[escapeUK]

Sometime the best stuff is free. Especially getting to meed the kids who are curious and have no built in "british reservation". Last time i was there i get mobbed by the kids who wanted to feel my skin, lol. Once they realsied i was ok with it they all wanted to feel!

Have they invented washing their hands after taking a dump, or even toilet paper? I think not. And you let them touch you? Shudder.



Nice to see AssGuru actually using some effort in his retorts, must be getting to him.

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Yes, English famous for inventing pretty much everything, compared to Africans famous for AIDS and starvation. No wonder you left.

[Troll]

Ill second that. Was watching some bloke bring in the fish once, and got invited out in the boat with them. A little wooden thing about the size of a godola. They were diving the reef for octopus. Me and my sis stayed in the boat for a bit to see what they were catching. Then went for a dip and had a look around the rocks. Total cost of excursion. £0.00! Thou that was mauritius not mainland.

Likewise on my list for this year is a walking safari, or maybe horseback. Just have to watch for hippos and buffalos. The lions run off apparently. Ive got an open invite to stay with some masaii in norhtern kenya if i ever get back over there. Again no payment expected (but Im sure i wont leave them empty handed).

Sometime the best stuff is free. Especially getting to meed the kids who are curious and have no built in "british reservation". Last time i was there i get mobbed by the kids who wanted to feel my skin, lol. Once they realsied i was ok with it they all wanted to feel! It ended up quite sad at the end of the day when i had to leave the village as all of us were in tears . Top tip... take footballs and a pump if you are going. Instant ice breaker. And i dont even play usually!

Umbongo

[adubya]

Loved Namibia and a cheeky visit to the Okavango Delta in Botswana must be done (although did get charged by a herd of elephants while on a remote island )

[IR35FanClub]

In Africa you can !

Ill second that. Was watching some bloke bring in the fish once, and got invited out in the boat with them. A little wooden thing about the size of a godola. They were diving the reef for octopus. Me and my sis stayed in the boat for a bit to see what they were catching. Then went for a dip and had a look around the rocks. Total cost of excursion. £0.00! Thou that was mauritius not mainland.

Likewise on my list for this year is a walking safari, or maybe horseback. Just have to watch for hippos and buffalos. The lions run off apparently. Ive got an open invite to stay with some masaii in norhtern kenya if i ever get back over there. Again no payment expected (but Im sure i wont leave them empty handed).

Sometime the best stuff is free. Especially getting to meed the kids who are curious and have no built in "british reservation". Last time i was there i get mobbed by the kids who wanted to feel my skin, lol. Once they realsied i was ok with it they all wanted to feel! It ended up quite sad at the end of the day when i had to leave the village as all of us were in tears . Top tip... take footballs and a pump if you are going. Instant ice breaker. And i dont even play usually!

[rootsnall]

Not sure how you'd go on safari or go deep sea fishing without it being "sanitised".

In Africa you can !

[Mich the Tester]

Gad sir! You're so right!

The bravest & the best all went out to the colonies.

Then they died like flies.

Average lifespan in West Africa: 3 months.

Graveyards full of the poor beggars.

Yep; the brightest and best didn't want to believe in the potions the locals smeared on their skin, so they got bitten my mozzies and died of malaria. Then of course the brightest and best who thought the locals were lazy for sleeping in the shade for half the afternoon, until they got sunburn and their skin peeled away exposing them to even more infections. Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

[sasguru]

like I said all sanitised and touristy stuff

Not sure how you'd go on safari or go deep sea fishing without it being "sanitised".
I'd like to see you talk a walk in a national park by yourself. It would be appropraitely Darwinian

If only you knew! - my memories and experiences are real and not just what some tour guide wants you to see - seriously try the travelling independently approach - I found without exception the people I met on my travels were friendly & hospitable and the conclusion I came to was that the scenery may change but people the world over are all just doing the same thing- raising kids & trying to do what's best for their families

When I was young I travelled at various times across the US, India and the Far East with my backpack either alone or with a girlfriend. Been there, seen it, done it. Now that I'm older I feel I've earned my creature comforts: I want a hot shower and nice sheets even in the bush

[Mich the Tester]

What else we going to talk about?... don't take it personally

Two things;
- I don’t take it personally, but I don’t like to see people discouraged from visiting Africa by scare stories. Sure, there are risks, but in most places they’re manageable for sensible, well informed people. The more people visit Africa and find out a little bit of the truth and the other side of the news, the better.

- I’d like to be able to recommend that everybody visits Nigeria, because my own relation to that country means I know that the picture that’s often painted in the rest of the world is very unfair to the nearly 200 million people that live there and because I certainly have an emotional connection to it. But unfortunately I have to admit that Lagos is a bit of a mess and the north is very unstable right now, although the culture and history is fascinating and as I said, 99% of people there are just fine. However, Ghana is culturally very closely related and probably easier for first time African travellers.

The one country I’d really like to visit is DR Congo, but right now, given the problems with the rebels regularly approaching Kinshasa, I don’t think the time is right. I hope I can go some day because the music and art of the Congo has influenced all of southern Africa and in fact the whole world and still does. Looks to me like a fascinating place.