Key West tomfoolery

I survived my flight back to DC, mystery “Chinese herbal remedy” and all. It turned out that my parents were in town that weekend, visiting grandkids, and my sister-in-law had the great idea that I surprise them! So, I LIED to my parents about my return date from Thailand and even BLOCKED them from viewing my Instagram story (I was never this sneaky in high school, I swear!). My eight-year old nephew, Jack, even kept the surprise, although apparently he mentioned several times how much fun it would be if I was there and had many questions about the delivery time of a mysterious Amazon package he was expecting. Nevertheless, they both looked utterly shocked and, of course, my mom shed a few tears. Here we are, reunited!

It’s a tad ironic that my next trip was one that was planned almost a full YEAR ago, especially as I think about how many trips I’ve taken between then and now that I hadn’t yet planned on at that time (or in the 6-10 months that followed). So, as context, every June for the past five years a group of us girls take a fantastic long weekend trip to a different and always amazing destination, and the boys from the same group try to do the same but seem to get their act together only every few years or so. Yours truly excluded, most of the group has known each other since living in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in their roaring 20s but people have dispersed a bit since then (some all the way to the suburbs!). I’m not sure how I didn’t meet this crew way back when, but I get the sense that whatever I was doing at the time was less fun than what they had going on. Anyways, I managed to squirm my way into the group later on and just in time for the inaugural girl’s trip (Vegas baby!). So, fast-forward to this year which was a monumental birthday of sorts for a few of us and we decided to throw the guys a bone and allow a combo girls-guys trip. I was really pushing for a cruise but suspected if I “got my way” I would be the only one on the ship. After much discussion, we decided on Key West, Florida. I’d been twice before (once for the millennial New Years celebration!) and found something innately ‘happy place’ about the vibe there. So, I quickly stopped lamenting my lack of cruise-going friends, as I knew a good time was guaranteed in Key West- and here we are!! [Please ignore the stone faced guy in the forefront. Han is smiling inside, I’m sure!]

img_17414103403934971142589.jpgThere were lucky 13 of us in the group and despite the fact that many of us were coming from the DC area, we seemed to all be on different flights, at different times, and with different connections. I’m pretty sure we had every flight of the day covered. However, while texting the group during my layover in Fort Lauderdale, I realized that two of “us” (Linda and Han) were at the Chili’s just down from the Margaritaville where I had hunkered down. And it was a pleasant surprise to learn that we were on the same flight for final leg of our journey (on a tiny propeller plane that was about 100 degrees- but at least we had each other)! Han was obviously thrilled (cue his happy face!) that he could sit next to Linda and I as we blabbed away, catching up on life.

We all connected at our Air BnB that consisted of five villas with a cute courtyard area and little pool. It was totally Melrose Place and I totally loved it (despite no Andrew Shue to be found).

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After enjoying a few (self-provided) welcome drinks a few of my comrades announced they were headed to the “turtle races” that were allegedly happening near the pier area. Impromptu adventure? Yes, please! There, we hung out at a fun bar and saw a beautiful sunset. (Yes, that would be a blow-up penis above my head. You see a lot of those in Key West!)

mvimg_20180622_1855338569140371326880490.jpgWe also participated in the most bizarre turtle race betting process EVER (okay, I have no other turtle race betting process to compare it to but I stand firm in my supposition). Basically, how it works is everyone gets a piece of paper with a 1, 2, or 3 on it and you can win a prize (cash money!) if your turtle wins. But there are only 3 turtles and we have multiple pieces of paper in circulation for each number…so there must be a lot of winners? Like most things that seem too good to be true, it was (funny how I’m such an eternal optimist but I still believe in that saying). Anyways, first was the main event, the turtle dash, and it lasted about 30 seconds- those turtles have some wheels!

Then, those who had the number of the winning turtle (including lucky me!) got to line up in a loooong line and, one-by-one, tell the microphone wielding gent (who looks not dissimilar to a square dance officiant) their name and select a number from a board. Next step: lining up AGAIN, to see the same guy and this time trade your number for a key with that number on it. THEN, the real excitement starts as (with square dance enthusiasm) the officiant hypes up each person’s attempt to use their key to open magic mystery treasure chest that could (but everyone heard does) contain $500! I’d grown completely sick of this by now and had zero intention of joining a third looooong line (fool me twice…). Despite being a quitter I enjoyed watching everyone else get in line AGAIN and then finally get to the front and turn their key soooo expectedly, only to realize that (spoiler alert) they actually do not have the key that opens the magic treasure chest!! Awww, shucks! Huge blow. Every.single.time. I also saw that some ‘randomly’ selected contestants (it seemed anyone who attempted a rapport with the officiant) were offered a consolation prize in exchange for forfeiting their turn of the key. Over and over again I watched every person who was given this offer say “no way” to the consolation prize option! Really?? Again, I’m not a cynical person but something just seemed off with the whole operation. I got distracted socializing (story of my life) and later turned around to see the final line was at its end. I alerted Han (another cynical hold-out) and we both shrugged and jumped behind the few people left waiting with their keys. Thanks to much cheering by our friends and rapport-making by us, we were both given the opportunity to re-affirm our belief that WE had the winning key and that we did NOT want the consolation prize we were being offered. So, to sum it up, Han won a tank-top, I won a $20 gift certificate and nobody else there won anything, because nobody’s key worked. That’s right, over the course of hours of lines and dozens keys, not ONE of them worked (not even Han and I’s, which they tried anyways in hopes we’d be proven the ultimate, risk-averse fools). All in all it was the silliest contest ever- they should have just had the turtles race a few more times and called it a day. But as the person leaving with $20, and a new tank-top (a gift from Han), who am I to complain?

The turtle racing crew had worked up an appetite by this time and came across a little shack looking restaurant across the street, called BO’s Fish Wagon (actually I’m pretty sure someone in the group did some research but it felt like we just randomly ended up there). They had the MOST AMAZING fish tacos and I highly recommend seeking this spot out if you find yourself in Key West.

The next morning I woke up late, just as the bike ride/ jet-ski crew was about to depart and I wasted zero time joining their bandwagon. We rented bikes, which is an excellent way to get around the small island of Key West and especially if you want to go to their one beach. If you don’t know the island you may be expecting tons of beaches but there is really only one and it’s even part of a National Park (so a little set-back from the main area). It’s a nice beach with clear blue water and well-worth the short bike ride!

We then headed to our jet ski adventure. I love myself a good adrenaline rush but had never used a jet-ski so wasn’t sure what to expect. Here’s the jet-ski crew:img_20180623_1512048919012082481437751.jpgIt was SOOOO much fun!!! It reminded me a lot of the snowmobiling that I’d enjoyed in Finland (which is odd if you think about the two things I’m comparing) but once you get going fast on the jet ski and focus on following the wake of the person in front you, it feels a lot like zooming through a path in the snow. And almost just as exhilarating! Due to an ominous lightning storm (I did my very best big girl face to try to ignore it) we couldn’t circle the entire island as planned, but I was quite happy keeping my jet-ski full throttle (at a whole 40 mph) and doing donuts in the Gulf, with a few stops to cool off in the water.

img_54609124648872145643025.jpgThat night we enjoyed a birthday dinner of sorts and some cavorting around town. Cavorting can cover a large swath in Key West and, while we were mostly well-behaved, every morning we enjoyed sharing stories about the interesting people we’d met and (sometimes even more interesting) things we’d seen.

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Key West has no shortage of personalities, that’s for sure…we fit right in!

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The next morning was brunch at a Key West must-see restaurant, Blue Heaven, which is  a local staple for its delicious food, live music, and copious amounts of character. I highly recommend.

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img_20180624_1343107165638841725263042.jpgWe then meandered around the colorful, music infused streets for a while (some may have napped), and took in the must-see sights.

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Maker:S,Date:2017-8-23,Ver:6,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar02,E-Y
Maker:S,Date:2017-8-23,Ver:6,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar02,E-Y

We then reconnected for a sunset boat cruise (with snorkeling!).

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img_20180624_1957452673143354929823434.jpgMy towel-boyfriend, Pedro even made the trip, and was actually very popular!

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This was followed up (yes, it was a packed day!) with another delicious dinner, where I had the most fabulous, perfectly cooked (rare) tuna skewers. Our final night consisted of some bonding in the courtyard…have I mentioned I love the courtyard concept? There was just something so comforting knowing anytime you wanted to wander out to the courtyard there would be some combination of your 13 friends out there, most likely with a chilled bottle of rose and an extra glass. It was kind of like seeing a mirage every time!

The next morning Sarah and I headed out earlier than most of the crew, as we’d (inadvertently, of course) booked the same flight home. We checked in with plenty o’ time to spare in the tiny Key West airport (we probably would have had time to spare in most airports, actually). There was nobody in the airport or the security line and I sent this pic to our friends, telling them there was no need to rush to get there early for their flights.

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Then, our trip home took a twist. We liked the looks of the one restaurant OUTSIDE security [FATAL FLAW] and then our flight was delayed and we thought we could take our time [CONFOUNDING VARIABLE] and then, while eating breakfast, the non-existent security line had gotten almost as long as the turtle race betting line(s) [UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCE]…and you can guess what happened next. Once we saw that our gate was closed, Sarah did not miss a beat in turning to tell me “this is going to be an expensive mistake.” And, she was not entirely incorrect, but we now both agree it was the BEST MISTAKE EVER! Thankfully Sarah is like me in that she can quickly appreciate the lemonade from the lemons…and then go make a ton of friends to drink it with. We meandered into the gate area (there’s only one) and hung out there for a while, greeting all of our friends as they trickled in for their respective flights.

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During this time, Sarah dealt with Jet Blue on the phone (for approx 20 minutes) and learned she had to PAY for a flight out the next morning. This was unfortunate but I guess that’s how it works when you fly out of a small airport and are dealing with subsidiary airlines? It took me a full 2 hours and 20 minutes on the phone with Expedia, (aka the online travel agency I plan to never use again) to be informed that I would also have to pay to be rebooked for the next day. However, the only flight they could offer me was a two-layover, 15-hour journey, for $795. Was I flying from Beijing?? I took a veeeery deep breath, not-so-politely declined their office, and told Sarah we should move on with our day (later, once I recovered from this excessive hold situation, I booked a normally priced, normal travel-time flight on my own). We selected our hotel based on the recommendation from the airport staff, who we’d gotten to know fairly well by this time in the day. The Marker is great! It’s newish, full of character, and has three pools (!!!) We spent the afternoon at one pool, feeling no need to explore the other two. Did I mention this was the best mistake ever??

In the pool we met new friends, including ‘the family,’ which consisted of a couple from southern California, vacationing with their 12-year-old daughter and her best friend. The “he” of the couple has been coming to Key West for 25 years and the “she” is only at 19 years, but has equal enthusiasm for the place. They are a ton of fun and definitely love themselves some Key West! And the two girls are confident and articulate young women, who don’t seem to mind hanging out with adults. They gave both Sarah and I lot of hope for future generations. We ended up joining ‘the family’ that night for lobster mac’ n’ cheese at a REALLY fantastic restaurant named the Flaming Buoy. ‘The family’ are big fans of this place, they goes every year and are now friends with the owners. The daughter even has has her height chronicled on the front porch post, with notches from every year since she was two years-old! I know I’ve blabbed on about other restaurants, and overall the food really is amazing in Key West, but the Flaming Buoy really is THE BEST. The owners are talented and welcoming fellow nerds (except the kind who have seen Star Wars). They have a hilarious social media presence and are currently both bewildered and amused (bemused?) that somehow their restaurant was mistaken on social media platforms as the Virginia-based restaurant where Sarah Huckabee Saunders was recently denied service, the Red Hen. I mean, flames are red, so maybe that’s where the name confusion came from? So random.

Anyways, Sarah and I had the best bonus day ever, and all because we missed our flight!

img_20180622_2009357754664895795623492.jpgAt one point I thought maybe missing my flight and having such a great day was a SIGN that I should live in Key West! It does seem to take a special breed to be a Key West transplant and there’s not a lot of people who know me who question that, if nothing else, a special breed I am! Maybe someday in the future. But for now, the SIGN and all, it was back to DC for more unpacking and re-packing…stay tuned!

Thai fly-by

As I boarded the plane to travel from Istanbul to Bangkok, I thought about how glad I was that I’d embarked on this leg of my travels with both an open ended itinerary and an open mind. In fact, I had ZERO plans following my Flash Pack tour in South Africa, which ended on April 20. Here it was, mid-June and I’d had so many fabulous adventures since the planned portion of the trip… I’d gone on the most amazing safaris, viewed the spectacular Victoria Falls from multiple perspectives, went camping with locals in South Africa, explored breathtaking Namibia, finally saw THE DOLOMITES (although some unfinished business there), became a regular in Istanbul, bike/hiked/kayaked/bussed through Turkey, and sailed among the Turkish Isles. All experiences I likely never would have even thought to plan if I’d planned the whole trip in advance, and also all incredibly special experiences that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss for the world. I also thought about how it had all kind of naturally come about, as each “next thing” presented itself to me at the time when I needed it to. Of course I did a fair bit of research and asking around, but mostly it all just naturally evolved. My only job was to avoid freaking out about a lack of plans and (minus a few tense moments during #zimbabweforlife) I did this pretty well.

My last pit stop on the way (but not actually on the way) home was Thailand, with a new friend I’d met at a campground in Namibia… as one does. Rowan was the guide of another group staying at the same campground and he was friends with my guide, Jeff. If you’re a regular follower, you may recall he was the guy with the “hot tip” on when the most spectacular animals (elephants!!) would be at the watering hole for viewing.

Rowan had some time off after the tour and was planning a trip to Thailand. That sounded nice. And the planning was already underway, meaning less planning for me. IN!

My Thai fly-by began in Bangkok, which is a “big city” as I’d expected, and as had been advertised by assorted Thailand-loving friends. It’s funny as those friends mostly aren’t huge fans of the country’s capital city and the city is viewed as a means to an end (the end being the rest of the country). Despite low expectations, I actually really enjoyed Bangkok. I thought it had a lot of character (as far as those big cities go) and I found the people very kind and welcoming.

We started our first day exploring the floating markets, which would have been much more fun to explore if I had more/any room in my suitcase for souvenirs.

While floating around the market, I was keeping up with the Stanley Cup finals (ice hockey) in the U.S., as my home team (the Washington Capitols) secured victory!!! This was HUGE news in DC as the Caps have NEVER won the Stanley Cup before. For Caps fans it’s been an abusive cycle… every year we were certain “this is the year” as they looked so good, and they would have a great regular season and then the post-season would start and they would play horribly and our hearts would be broken. And then we’d forget all about it next season because they looked so good…cue pete and repeat. However, this year the cycle was thrown off when they actually did not look good at the beginning of the season, so it totally made sense that they won the whole kit and caboodle. So, while the floating market was pretty cool on its own, it is the fact that’s where I was when the Caps won the Stanley Cup that I will remember the most about it. Of course, I had a celebratory beer in their honor… it was the least I could do!

Next stop was the Grand Palace, which is located right in the heart of the city. The Palace is not one enormous building like you might imagine (definitely how I imagined it… more on that later), it’s actually a complex of buildings, pavilions, halls, courtyards, etc. that expanded organically over time. Construction began in the 18th century and over 200 years the various kings added on to it (and of course each king needed to out-do the previous king) and it’s really something else in terms of its grandeur.

Now it’s just a tourist attraction and the government completely moved out when an absolute monarchy was abolished in the 1930s. Okay, so, I need to be overly honest and admit the detail I just shared about the Grand Palace I learned after I’d seen the Grand Palace. Of course I hadn’t done advance research (other than to learn there is a thing called the Grand Palace that I should see in Bangkok) and there wasn’t much signage in English or brochures or anything with information about what we were looking at… or the history of it. I actually thought the Grand Palace was a singular, huge building inside the complex and kept looking for it! In fact, I asked a few passers-by where the Grand Palace was and got confused looks in return. Finally an employee explained “You’re in the Grand Palace. This is all the Grand Palace.” Ahhh… now I get it!

Located behind the Grand Palace is another grandiose complex, this one consisting of temples, named Wat Pho (also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha). There are buddhas EVERYWHERE in this place and according to one sign there are over 1,000 buddha images in totality (I did not count but that seems about right). The Reclining Buddha itself is pretty impressive and at 150 feet long it’s one of the largest buddhas anywhere. (Btw, “reclining buddha” means that buddha is laying on its side. Not in a chaise lounger.)

Another highlight in Bangkok was the Night Market, which was recommended as a spot where the locals hang out. I have to say, it’s pretty off the hook and is bustling with locals navigating rows and rows of vendors cooking and selling every food type you can imagine. The Thai currency is the “baht” and the exchange rate is about 30 baht to 1 US dollar. After much deliberation I bought summer rolls (a favorite of mine) and skewers of fresh shrimp and vegetables that they cooked in front of me. All for a grand total of 90 baht!

There are more established shops and restaurants around the Night Market perimeter, as well as a beer garden with live music. Despite my lack of suitcase space I found an item I HAD to purchase from one of the shops. Overall during my travels I’ve been pretty discretionary in my shopping and there are few items I’ve felt that I HAD to have. This board game, however, was not even a question:

I plan to bring it on a family vacation this summer and am pretty sure I’ll be Auntie of the Year, as my nieces and nephews (minus 6 month old Theodore) are ALL at the age where anything involving the word or image of “poop” is worthy of hysterical laughter. [Update: Yes, I proceeded to carry this game around to multiple cities, actually just carrying it in my arms at times. Eventually I got another bag for it and I’m happy to report is has successfully made it to the States].

Despite the fact I was pleasantly surprised by Bangkok, three nights was plenty and I was not sad to board a plane for a quickie flight the next morning, our final destination being the island of Khao Luk. Now, if Khao Luk sounds a little bit familiar it’s likely because it’s the spot that experienced the most devastation during the tsunami in 2004. THE tsunami pretty much decimated the area, which at the time was the fastest growing tourism destination in the country. There was also a significant loss of life and it’s estimated that, tragically, more than 10,000 people died (locals and tourists alike). It wasn’t until very recently that their hotel capacity is close to being back to where it was in 2004, but other tourism infrastructure is still struggling to regain the momentum it once had.

I loved this spot and would definitely go back! It’s beautiful and has a really chill, good vibe.

Known for its marine life, we had ideations of day trips to go snorkeling among some spots named the most beautiful in the world… but learned it’s not exactly peak season this time of year and most of the spots weren’t open (apparently the water is too cloudy to snorkel this time of year?). Between that and the Dolomites... who knew that mountains and islands could be seasonally CLOSED for business?? Definitely a lesson learned for Teha’s Travels! But this minor snafu did not put a black mark on my Khao Luk experience in the least. I found something just innately relaxing about the spot. And there are several places offering $8 Thai massages, which are just about the best thing ever. Did I mention I like it there?

In Khao Luk, we stumbled across a local live music venue, named The Monkey Bar, where we made friends and became locals of sorts. Between a super-talented Thai musician covering my favorite 80s and 90s rock bands (I swear if you closed your eyes you think it’s really Bryan Adams) and an assortment of games, including Jenga and Connect 4, it was perfection. I usually have to make an effort to lose when playing Connect 4 with my nieces and nephews but it was funny how after a few Thai beers the game wasn’t so easy anymore!! We also made friends (a lovely couple in a long-distance relationship from London to Tokyo) and we all got together again the next night, at the Monkey Bar of course! Why would you go anywhere else??

I admit I was a little bit bummed to be leaving tranquil Khao Luk for the hub-bub of Phuket… but I guess it’s good to leave a place wanting more. Now, I’ve been to Phuket before, but only to the quieter beach areas of Kata and Naiyang. My personal favorite is actually Naiyang and I’ve spent a few extended layovers there- it’s literally next to the airport and a hidden gem with a gorgeous beach, national park and adorable beachside shops (with a few massage places, of course). Hotels are super cheap there and if you ever have the opportunity to fly through Phuket, stay a night or two in Naiyang.

Anyways, all this to say that this time I was staying in the Patong beach area, which is the “hub” of Phuket, where all the “action” is. I was only there for two days and one night and did my best to avoid the action, so I don’t have much to report on… but according to new friends we met at the hotel it’s a pretty hopping party scene. Complete with a red light district of sorts and the “lady boy” scene (some people are into seeing these things as a tourist attraction and it was also a thing in Bangkok… I am not. Just a personal preference). We signed up for a day excursion to go snorkeling at two nearby islands, as apparently the weather wasn’t an issue in those parts. The brochure looked lovely and promised white sandy beaches and crystal clear, iridescent blue water! What could be more perfect?

That night we were at the hotel bar and a couple sat down next to us, clearly animated. The woman was trying to calm down her husband who was still amped up from having confronted the travel agent who’d booked the day trip they’d just returned from. He pulled out the brochure to show us and it was the same brochure we had! He then showed us photos on his phone…. of dark rocky beaches and murky, dark water. Hmmm… While Animated Husband was lucky to get 50% of his money back, it was even luckier for us that we ran into them and were able to cancel our journey for a full refund! No matter, I guess I’d have to explore the town, relax at the beach and get a massage instead (which is exactly what I did, as well taking in a spectacular sunset).

As I prepared to leave, I also tried to mentally prepare myself for a looooong journey home, but I don’t think I did a very good job. My flight left Phuket at 1:40 AM and I was connecting through Beijing en route to Dulles. I struggled to stay awake at the chaotic airport, especially as the flight was delayed until 2:30 AM.

I then boarded my five hour Air China flight, and realized quickly there was no in-flight entertainment… but no matter, I would sleep. I was dozing off when meal service arrived and I made the mistake of both accepting the meal and taking a bite of it… shrimp. I wasn’t feeling it and felt a smidge bad I had taken the meal, taken a bite, and was wasting it… but I quickly fell into a deep sleep. I honestly didn’t think of that bite of shrimp again until I was in the middle of the painful security process in China (you have to go through two separate securities, as well as customs, just for a connecting flight!) I thought maybe the process was making me feel nauseous, maybe combined with a lack of sleep. Um… nope. I’d never had food poisoning and now I know what all the fuss is about! I spent much of my 5-hour layover in the bathroom (as a bonus, I was in the lounge but the lounge bathroom was under renovation… the public bathroom required a walk through the food court, which is the last place I wanted to be anywhere close to). It was absolutely miserable. At least by the time I boarded my next flight I was certain there was absolutely nothing in my system. Speaking of systems, this time we had an entertainment system but I quickly realized the movies were mostly in Chinese, so decided sleep was a better option anyways. Hours later I woke up from a slumber thinking I’d put a big dent in the flight… and looked at the monitor to see the remaining flight time was 10 hours and 45 minutes. UGGGG. To make matters worse I was in a window seat with an adorable 5 year old boy next to me who, after much squirming, had finally fallen asleep but kinda nuzzled up against me and I hated to move wake him. To make matters double-worse, I felt HORRIBLE. My stomach was okay, thankfully, but I ACHED all over, like the kind of aches you get with a horrible flu. I finally carefully stepped over the boy and his father and started roaming the plane seeking some sort of relief… any sort of relief. Suspecting dehydration, I drank a lot of water but I needed a quicker fix. I soon realized that I seemed to be the only person on the flight who was not Chinese and I even had difficulty communicating with the flight attendant. I finally got my point across and learned that she did not, in fact, have Tylenol or any other pain reliever. With a silent sigh I moved on, to two woman who were standing in the bulkhead and it turned out that one of them had a son who spoke some English! After much back and forth, the translator’s mother dug in her purse and handed me a little packet of a white powdery substance that she described as a “Chinese herbal remedy.” Okay… that would have to do! Maybe it was the remedy, but I did start to feel better an hour or two later (THANK YOU LORD!!!) Despite this, it was the longest and most uncomfortable flight I’ve ever had. [I’m feeling my blood pressure rise as I’m writing this and quasi-reliving the experience!] Needless to say, I don’t see myself flying Air China again anytime soon… or at least until such time they’re that much cheaper.

So, now, here I am… back in DC. I’ll leave you with a mini-cliffhanger and not tell you what’s next. Stay tuned… I know I will!

More gobble, gobble

Picking up where I left off after my blog on Part one of my Turkey trip! It was no great surprise that we were off on another bus ride following our cycling adventure in Akiyaka. This was the biggest bus day of them all and included a small public bus– the kind where everyone crams on and some people don’t get seats but Fatih made sure we all did– to another public bus, the comfy coach kind with the bus flight attendant guy. (Actually I could be missing a bus in there… I am actually. There were two of the cram-on buses). Needless to say we were bussed out by the end.

Anyways, despite all of this activity we still arrived at our destination, the town of Fethiye, by lunchtime. Somehow we’d worked up an appetite with all that bussing, and we enjoyed Turkish pides at a restaurant next to our hotel. Pides are super thin crust pizzas with various meat toppings, and this was a deal too good to pass up… a meter and a half long pide for 14 Turkish lira (so about $3.50). A very impressive PPC (price per calorie) ratio and it was hard not to feel a smidge gluttonous when they served our pides on long wooden planks that stretched across three people (even though each plank was for one person). But, despite being slightly overwhelmed, we managed to clean our plates!

That afternoon there was an optional hike to the nearby Blue Lagoon and I’m pretty sure I would have opted in regardless of the Great Pide Overdose that took place at lunch, but that certainly removed any modicum of a question. It was very cool as the hike started at the “ghost village” which is an Ancient Greek town (named Kayakoy) built in the mountains in the 14th century.

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For a loooong time it was inhabited by Greek Orthodox Christians and Anatolian Muslims, living harmoniously side-by-side. The village was completely abandoned when the Greeks and Turks swapped places at the end of WW I (I believe the official term is a “population exchange” as part of an effort to make sure that both Greece and Turkey had only one main religion). The Muslim Turks who had been excised from Greece as part of the “exchange” were into running water and had no interest in the water cisterns that their new home, Kayakoy, relied on for their water supplies. So, they basically said “eff it, we’ll just start over somewhere else” and left the entire city abandoned. There was some solid construction left behind (clearly, as it’s still there however many years later), so they obviously felt strongly about this water thing. After exploring the ethereal-feeling deserted village, we followed Fatih over the mountaintop and were rewarded with spectacular views of the Blue Lagoon, which is a picturesque lagoon area that also boasts a little resort town.

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We reconnected with the group that evening and enjoyed dinner at the local Fish Market, which is an outdoor market with many vendors showcasing their catches of the day. You point to whatever creature of the sea you have a hankering for and tell them how you want it cooked and then a little while later… WAH-LA! The squid that I had said “looked good” in the display case but didn’t really (does raw seafood ever really look good… minus sushi, of course) ended up looking and tasting amazing when grilled and plated.

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The next day was… the BIG hike that Fatih had been talking up (aka warning us about) for much of the trip. We were told this was NOT a hike for the faint of heart and once you committed to doing it there was no turning back. Fatih shared this piece of information multiple times. And to really drive home the point, he shared the anecdote of when a group member once was so tired she started crying mid-hike and Fatih carried her backpack for her (and thought he was going to have to actually carry her as well!) My backpack on this adventure was heavy, as we needed to bring everything we would need for an overnight and I way overpacked… I did wonder at one point if I could scrounge up some fake tears just to see if Fatih would volunteer to trade packs. Check out that pack I lugged around:

I have to say (and I’m certain Fatih would agree) that our group totally rocked it on the hike! No crying and barely even any complaining. The hike was a portion of the much longer Lycian Way (the whole thing is something like 500 km long) and included stunning views of the sea.

There were a few (very small) villages along the course of the hike, which felt odd. You really feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere and then suddenly up pops a sign for a coffee shop! Our lunch that day was one of my favorite meals of the trip… it was an outdoor restaurant nestled in a remote mountaintop village where we were the only patrons (not surprisingly) and were hosted by the owner and her three year old daughter. We ordered “gozleme” which is a popular Turkish “pancake,” but really more of a quesadilla made with a thin, crispy yet flaky phyllo-esque thingy instead of a tortilla. We watched the masterful chef create this delicacy using just flour and water (so basically paste), deftly roll it out, and add fillings of spinach, feta and some seasonings (potato and cheese was the other option). Both versions got two thumbs up by all!

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After lunch we made our way to our final destination, in another tiny village a few kilometers away, a hotel called George’s Place. Who is George you may be wondering? Well, I’m glad you asked! Turns out “Old Man George” is a bit legendary in this little village and his name is not really George but he got that nickname long ago and named his hotel accordingly. It also turns out that George’s son (who also lives at the Place with his own family) is the MAYOR of the village, so we were pretty much staying in the Governor’s Mansion, I figured. George has amazing sea views from his Place and his wife and the staff provide delicious home cooked meals.

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After arriving we were a tiny bit (okay, a lot) exhausted from the hike and most of us thought relaxing by the pool seemed like the perfect late afternoon activity. My roomie Danny and I headed there, and he grabbed his sunscreen on the way out of the room, SPF 10 with tan accelerator. According to Danny the tan accelerator is a key feature of the sunscreen and with SPF 10 it’s apparently hard to find. Personally, I understand as (like Danny) I love myself some sun and am #blessed to tan easily (I rarely burn). And, I will say that I find it slightly annoying when all I can find is sunBLOCK that is a minimum of SPF 50… what happened to good ole’ fashioned sunSCREEN?? I digress, so there we are at George’s pool and it’s lovely with mountain views so beautiful they looked fake.

The only glitch was the pool filter which was making an annoying clanging noise and ruining the peaceful ambiance a smidge. Danny was particularly bothered by this noise and spent some time troubleshooting how to make it stop. He had the brilliant idea of using his sunscreen as a plug in the filter. The only glitch in this masterful plan was that he slightly misjudged the size of sunscreen vs. hole and with a giant “SLURP” the precious sunscreen was SUCKED down into the filter vortex. Danny’s face as this transpired was priceless- like a little kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

It took me about 30 minutes to stop laughing and join the sunscreen-with-tan-accelerator rescue mission that had commenced. And it was an intense rescue mission, especially as the pool started to overflow at one point (thankfully Rob found the off switch). The consequences of breaking the Mayor’s pool seemed like they could be grim and Danny was certain he’d be banished from the village and forced to sleep in the woods. Everyone got involved in the rescue operation and I equivocate it in it’s intensity to the baby Jessica well rescue in Texas in the 1980’s (am I the only one who remembers that? I think they interrupted Webster to show the rescue live on TV). Anyways, we tried various tactics, which ranged from whittling bamboo spears, using thorn bush branches, wire fishing hooks, duct tape, rope lassos, and (my personal favorite) Ana making a Coke can diskette that she taped onto the end of a stick and lit on fire, in an effort to melt the sunscreen bottle so it stuck to the can (this did not work).

Finally, Danny opened a scary trap door in the ground and delved into the underground abyss next to the filter, to put his hand over the drain so the bottle would float to the top (pretty much risking his life for the sunscreen).

As he did this, three of us used bamboo spears to extract the bottle (it was really wedged in there).

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Then….SUCCESS!!!

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I’m pretty sure the whole village could hear our victory whoops. So, it turned out not to be the most relaxing afternoon at the pool, but it was a great team-building exercise!
The next morning we finished our hike (much easier than the day before but with equally amazing views). I think Danny was still on a high from the sunscreen rescue.

Then we were treated to a private bus (oooh-la-la!) to take us to our next destination, the adorable Mediterranean seaside town of Kas (pronounced Kash).

It was there we hit the sea for the kayak portion of our trip- spending a beautiful day on the water and stopping for a delicious lunch on a remote island with a super-cool castle (I think it’s technically a peninsula but there’s no road access so I’m rebranding it as an island).

Then it was time for our final stop, the city of Antayla, where Fatih led us on an exploration of yet another ancient city. This one was less “discovered” than Ephisus and excavation is still underway to see what treasures can be found.

It’s so cool to think about all that is yet to be discovered and apparently even in Istanbul the occasional ancient sword or other amazing relic is discovered under a rock (okay, maybe you have to dig a little… but still). During our final dinner together we celebrated the upcoming birthdays of Fatih and Francisco and reflected on our many adventures over the past two weeks. Parting is always such sweet sorrow!

I didn’t have to say good-bye to everyone, though, as during the trip, I’d learned that my new friend, Ana, had planned a three night boat cruise around some Turkish islands following the trip. She’d done her research and the cost was a real bargain! Danny and I both latched onto this trip right away (thankfully Ana didn’t mind as we didn’t really give her a choice) and then Mary decided to join us too! And how lucky for us that it was only the four of us on the boat, so a private tour! The company is called Before Lunch cruises and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Captain Ahmet drove the boat, led us on hikes with stunning views and cooked us delicious meals three times a day.

While Capt was hard at work doing all these things, we relaxed on the gorgeous vessel (named Ros), sunbathed, swam, ate, and drank. We were all pretty miserable, clearly.

We also hiked and snorkeled occasionally, but it was mostly relaxing and eating…and jumping off the side of the boat every hour or so to cool off.

Life was a struggle at sea.

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It was FANTASTIC and I’m so grateful to Ana for finding this gem of a cruise.

I admit I had a liiiiittle crush on The Captain and creepily snapped a few photos of him. Then this photo transpired on one of our hikes (not sure how that happened!) and it may be my Christmas card this year:

Back on land we made the best of it with a final Fish Market dinner. I then continued my tapered good-bye to Turkey and the friends I enjoyed it with by parting ways with Danny, Ana, and Mary the next morning and heading back to Istanbul.

There I reunited with my friends from THE restaurant Aladdin and Osman (my Turkish boyfriend, although he may or may not be onboard with this) and enjoyed a few more yummy meals there.

During my second solo adventure in Istanbul I couldn’t help remembering how I’d had reservations about traveling to Turkey on my own, due to safety concerns. And, how in the three weeks I’d been in the country I had not felt unsafe once. Not even once. In fact, I found the Turkish people extremely kind and friendly. I enjoyed watching the Ramadan traditions throughout the country, such as this breaking of the fast that happens when they can eat their first meal of the day, at sunset.

During my Istanbul reunion tour I hit up a few sites I’d missed during my first go-round. Osman kindly toured me around the amazing Topkapi Palace, which had been inhabited by Ottoman sultans for only about 400 years. Location, location, location with that place, I’m telling ya, with amazing views of the Bosporus river (btw, aren’t we an adorable couple??)

And talk about OTT in terms of details- with the mosaics, murals, architectures and even the displays of the swords and clocks the Ottoman’s made back in the day. It’s absolutely incredible to look at what they were able to create using the simple tools they had back then. I can’t really fathom how they did it. You could give me access to every modern day tool in the world and I couldn’t DIY my way to anything even the tiniest bit close to anything they created.

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It was sad to say good-bye to my buddies and leave Istanbul, as well as Turkey. It’s an incredible city and country, and I definitely plan to return.

And now… one final international fly-by before I return state-side for a bit. Stay tuned!

Taking on Turkey

Before embarking on this leg of my travel adventures, which had no end date at the outset, I was chatting with my sister-in-law’s most amazing parents (Bob and Carol) about their many travels and their trip to Turkey came up. I don’t know many people who have been to gobble, gobble and their enthusiasm about the country made an impression. Also, I LOVED Greece when I went a few years ago and had been curious about neighbor Turkey but admittedly had some safety concerns based on… what exactly was it? Maybe the few terrorism incidents over the last few years? But (sadly) other countries have had similar incidents… I didn’t have safety concerns going to London. Maybe it was their general proximity to Syria that was concerning me? Who knows what kinds of “bad things” can hop the borders? Hmm… seems like a stretch. In my head, Turkey = dangerous, but why?

Fast-forward to mid-way through my African adventure when I was contemplating where I would go next. My tour-friends asked what other countries I wanted to see and I mentioned Turkey right away, but said it was somewhere I didn’t want to travel to by myself (again, no real logic behind this). Also, our African adventure included a lot of time on a bus and I was feeling a smidge antsy at this particular juncture and said I’d like to do a tour that was super active – like maybe a cycling tour. Fast forward approx. three hours and there’s a flurry of activity in the What’s App group of my fabulous Philippines tour group [Side-note: my American friends who don’t know about What’s App, download it! We are seriously the only country in the world that doesn’t use this app for messaging. It’s far superior to texting, especially for groups, AND it’s encrypted…so much more secure for keeping the nosy NSA out of your business!] Anyhoo, the Philippines gang was back at work after our tour and was sharing ideas for future ‘holidays’ (yes, I speak fluent British now). The amazing Danny said he’d actually just booked a “bike, hike, kayak” tour in Turkey at the end of May. It’s with a tour company called Intrepid and was a real deal cost-wise. I mean… HELLO! I had JUST been saying I wanted to go to Turkey AND I wanted an activity-based tour. It never occurred to me that I could do an activity-based tour IN Turkey! And with Danny, who I absolutely adore! Here we are, having a horrible time in the Philippines:

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Obviously, I signed up immediately for the tour. Yes, this meant I would be cheating on my favorite tour company, Flash Pack AGAIN. I rationalized it was better to cheat the second time with someone else, so not a serious affair with one entity. And it’s really like I’m conducting a competitor analysis, of sorts, for Flash Pack! Certainly Lee and Radha would be grateful (or at least understand).
I had three days in Istanbul before the tour and (per the ushe) showed up with very little idea of what there was to do or see in the city. As I rolled my suitcase down the adorable cobblestone streets of the Old Town, heading to my hotel, various restauranters greeted me and encouraged me to dine with them that evening. I’m not a huge fan of this marketing technique and I mostly ignored them. Same deal after dropping my suitcase at the hotel and walking back up the same street. Finally, I engaged with one gent who was more friendly than pushy and he said his name was Aladdin, which obviously makes him awesome. They also had a super cute patio area and their Turkish bread looked amazing, so in I went. In hindsight this was a VERY good decision, and it turned out to be the first of several meals I would be enjoying at THE restaurant, Albura Kathisma. It was there I met Aladdin’s colleagues, my Turkish boyfriend, Osman, and his sidekick Drej. They all seem to have the best jobs in the world, hanging out on the patio talking to people all day (and doing other stuff like serving food and “fishing” for customers, but it still seems pretty low stress… although I guess part of their job is to make it seem that way). That night I also I met my new British bestie, Gail, who was also traveling solo and was already a regular at THE restaurant (as in she had eaten practically every meal there, hanging out with the gang, and had a seat, like Norm from Cheers). Here’s me and Osman at THE restaurant, as well as one of the delicious meals I enjoyed there:

As luck would have it Gail had done quite a bit of research and has a good sense direction, so we went off touring Istanbul for two days, using THE restaurant as our home base and getting great advice from our new friends on what to see. We hit up the infamous Spice Market, which surpassed my high expectations with it’s amazingness.

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I very much heart spices, so was in my glory and (despite extra space being at a premium in my suitcase) I couldn’t resist buying some spices from Aladdins’s spice-guy friend, Dolphin. Of course Aladdin has a spice-guy friend named Dolphin!

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Next stop was the Grand Bazaar… which is most certainly Grand!

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They give you a map upon entry and it’s clearly VERY easy to get lost amongst the MANY winding rows of shops, selling pretty much anything you can imagine and a lot of the same things. We also explored the tons outdoor markets selling everything from the most glittery ball gowns you can imagine (unclear where one would wear these dresses), to faux designer purses, to the most delicious looking cheeses, olives, nuts and produce. As well as a bunch of things I don’t know how to describe exactly…

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And we enjoyed a boat cruise up the Bosphorus strait, the glamorous waterway that weaves between the Asian and European sides of Turkey and offers spectacular views of the shorelines.

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Now, I knew prior to the trip that I’d be in Turkey during Ramadan, which is the holy month in the Muslim religion when many Muslims refrain from eating, drinking (anything, even water), smoking, and sex during the daylight hours (I’m sure there are more things they have to refrain from doing, but those are the highlights that stuck out for me). They also have to do extra prayers during the 5-times a day “calls to prayer” that bellow from the speakers on the minaret towers that adorn the mosques. The calls to prayer are LOUD and also serve as convenient reminders of the time. After the sunset call to prayer (at about 8:30pm) those recognizing Ramadan can FINALLY eat and drink water (no alcohol) for the first time since 5am that morning! I’m not sure how they do it, but according to Osman it’s really difficult for the first three days and then you just get used to it. It seems like it would be TORTURE to be working in a restaurant and cooking/serving food all day and not be able to eat yourself. I greatly admire the willpower of those who participate in Ramadan! VERY greatly admire. Here’s some signs of the Ramadan celebrations:

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I had to bode my new friends farewell to meet my tour group and I have to say I felt a little bit like an Istanbul local already, having friends and being a regular and all. Istanbul is thumbs up, in my book! Parting is such sweet sorrow…

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I met up with Danny and the rest of the tour group- an eclectic bunch (my favorite kind of people) hailing from Australia, England, Ireland, and Mexico and including one couple and seven adventurous solo travelers ranging in age from late twenties to mid-60’s. Here we are!

Our guide, Fatih, is an old pro at this tour (at age 32) and really seems to know everyone and everything. In summation, he’s a rock star! Here’s the legend, in action and showing off his backgammon skills with a local:

Gavin (one half of our one couple, hailing from Perth, Australia… coincidentally one of my favorite places on the planet) started a game called “Stump the Guide” where one person would ask Fatih a Turkey-related question every night. These questions were TOUGH and I was amazed (but not surprised) when Fatih secured victory three nights before the end of the tour. Here are Gavin and Mary (aka Thurston Howell the Third and his wife, Lovey).

I’m ahead of myself already- the tour commenced in Istanbul where Fatih guided us about on foot (again, I was like a regular so it was old hat- a tour around my own backyard pretty much) and we visited the ginormous Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia, which was a SUPER OLD Greek Orthodox basilica then an Ottomon imperial mosque and now a museum. It’s still in the amazing condition, about a million years after it was constructed (okay, only 1,400 years but still a lot AND it was the largest cathedral in the world for the first 1,000 of those years!)

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We spent the night at a sub-par hotel called the Golden Horn- there are two Golden Horn hotels in Istanbul and Danny accidentally booked the other one the night before the tour and said it was much better than ours. Just to be safe, though, I’d avoid both if you go there. Again, I swear I’m not a hotel snob and I realize I’ve been spoiled by Flash Pack and the glam accommodations on their tours… but I feel like Intrepid could have done a little bit better with hotel choices on the tour. That’s my one complaint of the tour so far and I’ll shut up now.
Anyways we all survived and the next day we were off on the first of several rides on Turkey’s public bus system. Soooo many public buses on this tour! Danny and I joked it should be called the “bike, hike, kayak, bus” activity tour. This first bus ride was great, though, as our chariot was a comfy coach and there was a bus-flight-attendant-guy with a cart who served us complementary drinks and snacks!

Following two buses, we hopped a ferry to the beautiful waterfront town of Cannekale. There enjoyed the first of many delicious fresh seafood meals with a view as we wound down from the travel day.

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The next day we were off on a hike through the battlefields of Gallipoli, which is the site of an infamous WW I battle between Turkey and the Allies (mainly the British/Aussies/Kiwis). I admittedly did not know a ton about this particular battle prior to the hike but was fascinated to learn more especially on the very site where the NINE-MONTH battle played out, resulting in a LOT of casualties and, eventually, a defeat for the Allies.

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It also turned out that a famous Australian soldier (a soldier known as “the man with the donkey,” as that was his method of transport for the wounded) had been the boyfriend of Gavin’s grandmother at the time of his death during the battle, and he got to see his grave.

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It was an active and educational day, and I totally want to see the Mel Gibson movie about the battle (and not just bc it features young Mel). Danny and I got some cool hats and peer pressured others to join in our ridiculousness!

No rest for the weary and the next day we were off on another bus journey- a private bus to a public bus- taking us to the town of Selcuk, where we embarked on a late afternoon tour of Ephisus. Here Fatih dazzled us with his knowledge of the ancient city, that had actually been completely buried for a number of years and was rediscovered. It’s pretty awe-inspiring to look at the remains of the city, complete with a Main Street, a library, and a public bathroom and bath house, and to think about how old it is and imagine what it was like to be there back in the day. The buildings were MASSIVE and adorned with ornate murals and mosaic tiling… they really did it up with the details, with no stone left un-carved (literally).

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Next stop…the beachfront town of Akyaca, which we arrived at via a less fancy public bus. This was a smaller version with no reserved seats and we were lucky to get them, as some folk had to stand. Fatih said he’d stood on a similar bus for over three hours in the past! That can’t be fun. The rain Gods descended on us that afternoon, which was rather convenient as we had no outdoor activities planned. This was a theme throughout the trip- we dodged some insane weather perfectly. Louise from Ireland is to credit for her self-proclaimed weather luck, and we all believe her now. Akyaca is where we embarked on a 20km cycling adventure, through rolling hills and winding roads taking us through small villages dotted with fruit trees.

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The clouds started to roll-in towards the end of the ride and we could hear thunder in the distance (which did not go over well with me, given my irrational TERROR of lightning. Like, complete terror). Alas, (thank you Louise!) the TORRENTIAL downpour held off until minutes after we were nestled under the awnings of our adorable late-lunch destination, and it stopped just as we finished our chicken shish and pides. I’m telling you, Hollywood could not have timed this better!

Having completed the “bike” portion of our activity tour, we rested up for the forthcoming hiking and kayaking… with much bus-ing in between, of course!

THE DOLOMITES!

I used my new favorite travel booking app, Momundo, to book a flight out of Namibia following the tour. The best part about this app (and it’s close runner-up, SkyScanner) is that you can enter your originating airport and date of travel and leave the “To” airport blank. You can then see how much a one-way ticket costs to pretty much anywhere and it highlights the bargain fares. I had about a week to kill before I had to be in Turkey (gobble, gobble) for a tour so figured I’d hang out somewhere in the general vicinity. So many options!

Let me provide a bit of background: something that has been on my must-do list is hiking the Dolomite mountains in northern Italy. This has been on my radar since I was hiking in beautiful Cinque Terra last year and met a lovely couple from Pennsylvania (Andrea and Tim) who regaled me with stories of their many travel adventures (their philosophy has always been to prioritize experiences over things and they’ve had many of them- mostly the outdoor kind). At the time, I thought we were at the most spectacular place imaginable but A & T were ooooozing with praise for hiking in the Dolomite mountains. They described the Dolomites as a less built-up and more beautiful version of the Swiss Alps and raved about the town named where they stayed, Ortesei. A few months later I was back in the States for a brief spell and was catching my therapist up on my adventures. I got excited talking about hiking in Italy and he said if I liked Cinque Terre I HAD to go to the Dolomites. He looked up the name of the most amazing town where he had stayed… sure enough, Ortesei it was! Is THAT is sign or what? And it was now pretty much doctor’s orders, so of course I had to look into it! Sadly, it was approaching October by then and too late in the season for hiking. Well, dang! I back-burnered the trip… on a burner not very far back. Fast forward to now, when Mommondo recommended Venice as a bargain flight option from Namibia, AND I had a week to kill, AND it was lovely Springtime, AND there was even a cheap flight to Istanbul afterwards… could there even be more signs than this?? After all the frustration with my water-logged phone, I felt like my luck was turning!

The next question was how to get there. I’m not a big fan of driving and had never rented a car outside of the States (partially bc I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t know how to drive a stick-shift… my Dad blames himself for not teaching me when I was young and as an adult I’ve yet to find a friend willing to teach me using their car. Any volunteers??). Because of this, I looked into public transport options and saw there’s a bus from Venice to THE DOLOMITES, specifically the town of Cortina. I planned to spend two nights there, and then make my way to the Promised Land… Ortesei! How great to have a plan!! Hmm… what’s that saying about “the best laid plans….?”

My first sign of trouble was upon landing in Frankfurt where I had a connection to Venice. I checked the screen… flight cancelled. Well, that’s rather inconvenient! Despite having no flight I still had to go through security as if I was on my way to a connecting flight. This was my first time in Germany (if the airport counts?) and those Germans do not fool around with security. Their elaborate screening process requires you to stand in a very specific position- wide-legged with your arms dangling, elbows slightly bent, and your palms facing backwards. Kind of like an orangutang. Also, it’s an open-air screening (so all in plain view) and I have to admit it was hilarious watching passengers trying to “strike a pose” and be corrected multiple times by the scary officers before getting it right. The novelty wore off, though, and an hour later I was finally on my way to Lufthansa ticket services. They rebooked me on a flight via Munich the next day that arrived just before the next day’s bus to THE DOLOMITES. Looked like I was spending the night in Frankfurt, although this is the extent of what I saw of the city: IMG_1109.JPGAt least they put me up in the Sheraton which is located just a tunnel away from the terminal. There I joined a room full of other Lufthansa passengers in a large conference room for our comp’d dinner of turkey and mashed potatoes. Kind of like Thanksgiving, and many people looked about as happy to be there as they would at their disfunctional family’s holiday dinner tables. Unfortunately I was faced with another snafu the next morning as we were delayed leaving Frankfurt and I missed my connection in Munich. Argh!!! I had a five hour wait for the next flight and took out the trusty old iPad to troubleshoot how I would get to THE DOLOMITES, having missed the one bus of the day. I mean, I could always rent a car. But I hate driving. But… it’s THE DOLOMITES!! And your options are veeeerrrry limited. Here’s what I saw of Munich- it looks lovely and I’ll have to go back under different circumstances. IMG_1158.JPGI FINALLY landed and set out to claim my rental car, dragging a lil’ bit from my 36+ hour journey at this point. The kind woman at Thrifty must have noticed I wasn’t exactly in the jolliest of moods and upgraded me from Bare Bones Fiat to Pimped Out Audi (to be referred to as POA from this point forward). Here she is: My mood buoyed slightly… I was off with a sweet ride! The two-hour drive to Cortina was beautiful, despite increasing patches of fog and rain as I got deeper into the mountains (on mostly winding two-lane roads). IMG_1257.JPGI checked into my accommodation and the proprietor pointed out the four restaurants I could choose from. He said they all close at 9pm as it’s a “sleepy mountain town” this time of year. Hmmm… based on Trip Advisor, I’d thought Cortina had more going on than this? And where were those mountains I was supposed to be able to see from my window?IMG_1178.JPG The rain was really coming down now and it was already 8 p.m. so I motored to the closest restaurant, a pizzeria next door. There were only a few tables occupied and I was seated at a table next to another solo diner, a gent who looked about my age. I wasn’t sure how to sit as I thought facing him directly would be kind of awkward, almost like were at the same table, but with my back to him seemed rude. I compromised and sat at kind of an angle, half-facing him (which in hindsight was probably more awkward than either of the alternatives). I got bored pretty quickly sitting there by myself (and with no phone decoy) and soon we made eye contact and a conversation naturally commenced. Okay, okay I’ll be honest, chances are that I was the one who struck up the conversation… I don’t exactly have a healthy fear of chatting with strangers (as reported in the British rag, The Daily Mail, where I’ve been cited as an expert on the topic). Anyways, soon enough my new friend (Christoph from Germany, living in Austria), were sharing both a table and a bottle of wine. Christoph had been in Cortina for 9 days and also came to hike THE DOLOMITES. He gave me the BLUF, which I appreciated despite the information it conveyed, “Everything is closed. The hiking season doesn’t start until June and no trails are open, nor are the gondolas that take you to the trails. In fact, there’s still a lot of snow in the mountains. No snow this week, though, just rain. Every day, with no end in sight.” I looked at him, incredulous. Was this some type of German humor that I didn’t know about? If so, hilarious! Alas, (while I learned later that he is very funny), Christoph was not pulling my leg. I have to say I did feel slightly less silly given that someone else had made the same mistake as I had….and COME ON Trip Advisor!  Both of us had done research (albiet his likely more extensive than mine) and this “Dolomites are closed until June” thing never came up. Anyways, the no-hiking scenario was probably for the best given that it poured TORENTIALLY for the ENTIRE next day. The mountains being open would not have helped. I caught up on some correspondence and other life administrivia that has fallen by the way-side and thank goodness for my Cortina boyfriend, as I would have really gone bonkers without Christoph (both for his company and validation that I’m not a total idiot for making this mistake). He had scoped out the adorable ski town during his time there, and toured me to his favorite spots (of the handful that were open). IMG_1221Gotta love an iPad selfie attempt! Christoph also speaks ‘nerd’ so we geeked out discussing things like China’s advances in the innovation arena and how this impacts their global positioning. The next morning brought some sunlight (!!!) and I could actually see the mountains that I would not be hiking. No matter, I hopped in my POA and headed to my ultimate destination- the mythical Ortesei. I spent the next 2.5 hours driving through winding mountain passes…it was INCREDIBLE! And included some extremely variable (and equally beautiful) scenery.For the first time in my life I LOVED driving… a LOT. I think I figured out that my problem with driving in the past is that I’ve been operating average-to-below-average cars and have had average-to-below-average-views, AND have had to deal with pesky things…like stoplights and speed limits. Driving POA through THE DOLOMITES is a different experience entirely. It also occurred to me that when I’d booked my hotel in Ortesei I’d assumed there were only a few available because they were all full of hikers like myself, but I now suspected it was prolly because they were also still closed. And… I was correct. It was just salt in the wound when I learned that the mountains in Ortesei were opening for hiking the VERY day I was leaving. Of course they were! Regardless, I loved the family owned mountain lodge where I stayed. The views were totes amaze and they even had some footpaths where I could fake-hike. I was a happy camper.It was pretty spectacular as far as fake hiking goes and I zoomed off for hours, happy to be moving after days of sitting (something I do not handle well). More views: After fake-hiking for much of the day, I took POA out for a spin in the mountains. That’s right… a drive just to drive, with no destination. Driver’s ed was the last time I did that! Then I was off to the airport, not sad it was 3.5 hours away and I savored my final moments with POA. As I drove I reflected on how my Dolomites experience had not been what I’d envisioned at the outset but it had definitely been an adventure and, all in all, one I really enjoyed! I got to make a few new friends, take in some incredible beauty, and, of course, there’s my new love affair with driving. I was glad the many snafus throughout the course of the journey hadn’t kept me from maintaining a (mostly) positive outlook and being open to whatever experiences presented themselves, as they were pretty cool ones! Next up… gobble, gobble!

Namibia it is!

*Disclaimer- I know I promised to post more frequently and avoid long blogs. It appears that I lied. This one is long, but totally worth it- I swear! The connectivity in Namibia and an “issue” with my phone prevented intermittent posts during the trip. So you have it all in one! I’m sharing this for pacing purposes only.

So, back in December during my tour of Vietnam and Cambodia, one of my tour mates (Jacques from Belgium) mentioned he’d planned a trip to Namibia with some of his friends for the following year. That was the first time the country was on my radar, mostly because I sensed that Jacques and I had similar travel tastes and he seemed like the kinda guy who really did his research when it came to his travel. So far the strategy I’d inadvertently adopted had been fail-safe: blindly trusting the recommendations of like-minded friends who do extensive due diligence when planning trips. Otherwise it just seems too daunting… so many places to look into and where would I even start?!? Having become quite fond of Southern Africa, I wasn’t in any hurry to leave after the camping trip and I perused the interwebs for trips that departed out of Cape Town. Up popped a 12 day tour to Namibia! It was super last minute at this point and the trip was even discounted by 25%, so this all seemed like a sign. Since it was so last minute I couldn’t book the trip directly and had to wait for 2-3 days while the company checked if they could add another person. A few days later I got the verdict- the trip was clearly meant to be! Whatever was going on in Namibia (I only skimmed the itinerary) it would be cool, I was SURE of it!

Here’s a sneak preview of the verdict:

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Now, as you know I recently completed my NINTH tour with my favorite tour company, Flash Pack, and am a very loyal and happy customer. I like that the tour groups consist of like minded people in their 30’s and 40’s and everyone is a solo traveler. However, Flash Pack didn’t have any trips in Africa that fit my last minute schedule so I was (horror of horrors) going to doing a tour with another company, G Adventures. I emailed the Flash Pack owners, Lee and Radha, and let them know. I wanted to be upfront as it felt like I was cheating on them! Monogamy is hard, though, and I was kind of curious to see what another company would be like- as well as different group dynamics (this tour was open to all ages and people traveling together). I assured Lee and Radha this was just a fling and I did not envision a long-term affair.
I met my tour group in Cape Town at the Lady Hamilton hotel… the nicest thing about this establishment is its name. By far. Score one for Flash Pack- they would never have chosen this hotel. To be fair the price point of this trip was more in the bargain basement arena (especially with the 25% procrastination discount) so what did I expect? And I always pride myself on not being a hotel snob, so I’ll shut up about it now.
So, I then met my roommate (the lovely Evelyn from Switzerland) and the rest of the group that hailed from Australia, England, Germany and one fellow ‘merican. The ages of the group members ranged from 30-67 and we had one married couple, one about-to-be married couple, a sister/mother/daughter/aunt five-some, and four of us solo travelers. I liked everyone right away and our first dinner together included a lot of laughs. My favorite part about this group is that despite our different nationalities and ages everyone has a fantastic sense of humor and has no problem laughing at themselves (as well as each other.) Here we are!

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The next day we got started on our first of many bus adventures (we covered a lot of ground on this trip). Our guide, Jeff from Zimbabwe, kept us informed of various sites and landmarks along the way. Here’s Jeff!

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That night we stayed at a guest house in the waterfront town of Lambert’s Bay. Jeff had mentioned a “seafood buffet” for dinner that evening and a few of us were a bit wary. Is seafood best in the buffet format? At least Red Lobster has to abide by food safety regulations… Africa seems more willy-nilly with such things. It turns out that our concerns were unfounded (how dare we doubt Jeff?) and the “buffet” was really more of a braai, with an assortment of freshly caught and grilled seafood at a casual outdoor venue. It felt like we were at somebody’s house and the experience was far preferable to a sterile restaurant.
The next day it was up and at ’em… land exit time!

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We continued up the coast to the Namibia border, where I was pleased they consolidated the passport stamp overlapping it with the one they’d given me while leaving South Africa. You see, there aren’t many pages in my temporary, emergency passport so space is at a premium. As an aside, Jeff said he has been through 11 passports and has a few currently in circulation as he knows some borders will “squeeze in” the stamps and others require blank pages (ahem, South Africa.)
Onward to the next day and the breathtaking Fish River Canyon, which is the second biggest canyon in the world (runner-up to the Grand.) I’ve been dying to see the Grand Canyon and haven’t made it yet, but am glad I started with the second biggest as the reverse order may have been anticlimactic (although I kind of doubt it as this was pretty spectacular.)

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Our bus driver, the hilarious Barry, had commented that our accommodations that evening were like the house from the Adams Family. Yup, Barry nailed it.

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The place is just odd in so many ways, not the least of which is random displays like this.

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It’s a small place (probably 20 rooms) and is totally in the middle of nowhere, yet when I asked the woman at the front desk about the location of my room she said she didn’t know. By way of explanation, she’d never been to the upper level….where half the rooms are located. I think she took offense when I asked why not… I mean, wasn’t she at least curious?? She explained it was always too busy for her to leave the front desk. I didn’t want to be rude and point out we were the only ones there! Here’s Barry, btw, guarding our chariot (I feel like you need a visual):

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Anyways, we weren’t too sad that our stay with the Adams family was only for one night and we headed out early the next morning. Our destination was Sossuvlei (which is in the Namib desert) where we would be “participation camping” (whatever that is) for three days. The views from the campsite were unbelievable as Sossuvlei is a clay pan surrounded by ginormous, stunning red sand dunes. The dunes are actually the biggest in the world and are up to 984 ft high! With this backdrop the sunsets and sunrises are especially breathtaking.

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It turns out that participation camping means that you aren’t “glamping”… you have to do stuff. Good thing I’d had that camping refresher trip in South Africa last week! Don’t I look like a camping pro?

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Evelyn and I were pretty proud of our tent set-up skills and we all dutifully chipped in to help with cooking, cleaning, following Jeff’s assignments, etc. And sometimes we just chilled out, too. The next morning was an early bell and we headed to Dune 45 (the many magnificent dunes are numbered) which is an especially spectacular dune that you can climb up, on the softest sand imaginable.

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On the way up we passed many people coming back down the footpath. I kept wondering why nobody was running down the side of the dune, as that seemed like a waaaay more fun descent. Finally when we got to the top we saw few tourists flirting with the running- down-the-dune approach and once we saw it was possible- we were off!!

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We were all exhilarated and covered with sand as we made our way back to the bus. Our next stop was another dune, this one overlooking a dried up lake bed filled with gnarley “dead trees” from hundreds of years ago. There was another dune climbing opportunity here… up a behemoth known as “Big Daddy.” Some folks we met at the campsite had attempted the climb the day before and forewarned us that it was not an endeavor for the faint of heart. Undeterred, seven of us took off on the mile-long (and steep!) jaunt to the summit, taking in the views along the way. It almost looked fake, like a film studio backdrop.

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We all made it, though, and agreed that Big Daddy is absolutely an appropriate name for the dune.

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Here’s Evelyn and I at the summit:

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As a reward we enjoyed the run down the side, which made Dune 45 seem like an ant hill.

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According to Trevor, who timed my descent from below, it took me 3.5 minutes top to bottom (and I was running as fast as I could.) What a rush! My legs were just a liiiiiiittle bit tired (aka shaking) afterwards but it was so worth it! And at the bottom we got to enjoy the views of the dead trees up close and personal.

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We were happy to relax around the campfire that evening, worn out from the excitement of the day. We asked about wildlife in the area and Jeff and Barry said wildlife (especially those pesky jackals) have been known to take things from campsites, so we should keep everything in our tents or an animal might steal it. It should be noted that Jeff and Barry (mostly Barry) like to pull our legs and we’d fallen for more than one of their fables (Barry had also said he was a 65 year old ex-con with 23 children and that he spoke 13 languages- none of this is true). I woke up early the next morning to the voice of Dan, from the neighboring tent that he was sharing with his fiancé, Gina. “Um, Barry, one of Gina’s shoes is gone. She left them outside the tent.” Barry’s response was his high-pitched, infectious giggle followed by, “I warned you about those jackals.” Go figure! Gina left the remaining shoe, as a peace offering to the jackals.

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We took off on another long bus ride on another extremely bumpy road. Throughout the trip we’d been on some of the bumpiest dirt roads I’d ever been on and I was frequently bounced 1-2 feet in the air from my last row seat. I kept referring to my row as “first class,” and really talked it up in hopes someone else would want to sit there…but no dice. Next, we landed in the waterfront town of Swakomund where we had a free day to engage in thrill-seeking activities (or I guess just chilling was an option too but what fun is that?) I chose sandboarding, as it was the only one I hadn’t done before and it was a blast. It was also hard! I don’t see myself switching from skiing to snowboarding anytime soon but the sand version is great fun, and falling didn’t hurt at all (and I would know). Afterwards we got to zoom down the dunes on our stomachs, using particle board sleds. We were FLYING!

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Evelyn (aka Swiss Miss) is of course an experienced snowboarder and she caught right on, even nailing a jump! She was, thankfully, not annoyed when our shower looked like Dune 45 following me using it later that day.
We were excited the next day to be heading to Etosha National Park, which is a featured attraction in Namibia. Here there was more participation camping, which we were old pros at by this point. This campsite had a bonus feature, though, of a watering hole that attracted an array of wildlife. There were chairs and benches lined up behind a (small) fence for viewing and it was like watching a scenic improv.

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Here’s how the performance would work: there would be a “dazzle” of zebras (yes, that’s the term!) cooling off in the water and then some warthogs would enter stage left and butt horns with each other in the background for a while… then the zebras would meander off, the warthogs would chase each other away, and it would be silent for a few minutes. This is when many spectators would think the show was over and meander back to their campsite to refill their gin and tonics and show each other their pictures (that all looked the same). Amateur move, people. Cue the elephants to enter stage right and make their way to the foreground. And while I was busy being enamored by the elephants (no matter how many I see I’m equally awestruck every time)…how did that hippo get on center stage? The best was a late night viewing session, when I joined the tour guide of a group in a neighboring campsite, Rowan, for a walk to the watering hole (he had a hot tip)… and there we found pretty much every animal imaginable, all at once. Including some breed of rhino that is apparently an extremely rare sighting. It was one of those surreal-world experiences… there were two elephants literally feet from us and they were engaging in some type of elephant introduction ritual (according to Rowan) that involved interlocking their trunks. Totes adorbs!

So, I have to back up for a second to explain the travesty that preceded this viewing, just hours before. I’d hurried from the watering hole to use the campsite bathroom while trying not miss any of the performance and in my haste forgot that I’d popped my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. Ker-plop. UGGGG. Into the rice it went… I’m not sure why I still try this rice thing as it NEVER works. Anyways, due to the lack of a phone I had ZERO evidence of my midnight viewing of nature’s circus and I think my tour mates were only half kidding when they said they didn’t believe me. Thankfully we saw some neat-o sites on our game drive the next day, including a zebra crossing of HUNDREDS of zebras (dazzle upon dazzle) headed to a watering hole. 53f57000-b18d-4047-8431-439817d7640191272488-5fc3-48f0-af41-05650ad69603And my tour group crew stuck around for the late night showing that evening, to be rewarded with the elephant act.image1 When we left the next morning the only animal we hadn’t seen at Etosha was the lions, who (being the teases that they are) had made their presence known with some seeeeerious, and slightly disconcerting, roaring throughout the night. Jeff and Barry worked their magic, though, and as our bus rolled out we saw some safari vehicles pulled over to the side of the road…. sure enough Mr. Lion was out for a morning stroll in the woods walking exactly parallel to road. We followed along for a good 10 minutes and he didn’t seem to notice or care about our rumbling coach bus. It was the perfect end to our Etosha experience!
We made our way to our last stop on the tour, Windhoek, which is the capitol city of Namibia. Originally I’d been thinking maybe I’d hang in Windhoek for an extra day after the trip but I quickly revised my plan as I discovered that Windhoek isn’t the kind of city you want to dawdle in. I quickly booked my flight… or as quickly as I could using Namibia’s version of WiFi (v .001) and my first generation iPad that I’m sadly now reliant on for any and all communication. Friends, if you haven’t heard from me this is why. I miss you terribly! And I miss my phone too.
I was very gel-ass of much of our group who was continuing on with Jeff and Barry to Botswana and Zimbabwe (okay, I was mostly jealous of Botswana and their company… I’m good with Zimbabwe for a bit). The second leg of the tour was booked, though, and I tried to be a big girl and be nice to the interlopers who were replacing the four of us deserters. We had a beyond solid crew and I miss them already! 0597e799-8d8a-4296-a9a1-34208acc4023And, I’m sure they’ll all have a grand time on the second leg… I just don’t want to hear about it! (#earmuffs) Where I’m headed next is still a smidge of a mystery, even to me, so there’s a lot to stay tuned for!

Impromptu African Camping Trip

As we speak, I am in the process of my official “land exit” from South Africa! When I initially told the airline check-in agent that was how I planned to leave the country I admit I didn’t actually think that’s how it would happen! I definitely planned on flying to wherever I went next, once I decided where that was… funny how that worked out. Anyways, let me back up. So, after all the annoying drama with the passport I was excited to be returning to South Africa, where there was actual currency I could use and even some places that take credit cards… it really does make things just a smidge easier. More reliable WiFi was another perk but that need paled in comparison to the currency issue. As an aside, during my #Zimbabweforlife situation I’d used my only US currency (a $20) to pay for passport photos. I was surprised to get my change in American dollars (as they are hard to come by, hence the black market currency) but was less surprised when I noticed it was a clearly fake $10 bill. Clearly fake to me at least- it wasn’t even the correct size and the texture of the paper wasn’t even close. I was going to keep it as a souvenir but found myself in a pinch later that day, needing a taxi from the embassy and the driver didn’t blink twice when I handed him my Monopoly money. I guess if you don’t see a lot of dollars (real or fake) you don’t know what they’re actually supposed to look like.

So, back in Cape Town I embarked directly on my next adventure: a five day camping trip with Jamie (my Flash Pack tour guide from the week before) and a group of her friends. Here’s the crew. I admit I was a smidge embarrassed showing up to the camping trip with my rollerboard suitcase and not a smidge of camping gear but the group kindly outfitted me with anything I might need. There was so much gear that we barely fit! And, not being the most experienced camper, even some things I didn’t know that I needed- such as the stake you put in the ground to hold your wine glass while sitting in your camping chair. What a novel idea! I learned quickly that Jamie and her friends are the consummate camping hosts – they are not fooling around. Jamie’s boyfriend Eric and his friend, Hennie, met in the Navy years ago and you can tell by the military precision they bring to the camping experience. They really think of everything! Hennie even had a kitchen gazebo that includes a solar powered refrigerator. I’ll be honest that I thought of camping food as either those freeze dried meals they sell at REI or spearing a hot dog with a stick and roasting it over a fire, so I wasn’t really sure what the kitchen would be used for. Little did I know what culinary delights my consummate camping hosts had in store for me! You may recall that on my South Africa tour we were treated to a traditional South African “braai,” which is their version of a BBQ (or ‘cook-out’ as we say in Massachusetts) and it’s also a verb for the act of grilling as well as the name of the grill device. Btw, there are no propane tanks involved in this process and the food is cooked over flame. Eric was Braai Master and was in charge of seasoning and cooking delicious meat items at every meal. I swear the chicken he made one night is the best chicken I have EVER had in my life. My mom is always up for a cooking challenge so I’m thinking of passing along the recipe to see if she can even come close. Sans braai I’m pretty sure it’s impossible, though, and I hate to set her up for failure. Here’s Braai Master in action: Eric’s skills did not stop with the chicken- we had pork, beef, sausages, crawfish (same as lobster but with no claws), BACON, and even sides such as cous cous. It occurred to me how much more of an adventurous eater my travels had made me (the Mopane worm included!) and I remembered that when I embarked on my first Flash Pack tour (last July) I listed in my profile that I didn’t eat red meat. Now the guides of my tours look confused when they see that notation on their spreadsheet as I’m gnawing on a rib right in front of them. Hennie also brought a cooking tool called a potjie, which is essentially a Dutch oven on three legs that is used as an outdoor crockpot, and made a delicious beef stew (called potjiekos) that included dumplings he’d made from scratch in the kitchen gazebo. I kid you not. Now I had also envisioned camping as taking place in the woods and was soooo pleasantly surprised that our accommodations overlooked the beautiful, rocky coastline of the Western Cape (as they call it.) It was absolutely stunning, and was punctuated by breathing in the fresh sea air and lulling to sleep to the sound of the waves crashing. So, I’m a big fan of having ambient noise in the background while sleeping and have an old fashioned “sound machine” at home that I’ve had since I was a little (don’t mock me, that’s been done already). When traveling I discovered the White Noise app on my phone and I have worked hard to find the perfectly pitched noise among the options (it’s called “brown noise,” if you’re interested). Nothing will ever compare to nature’s white noise, though.You may have noticed that I did not list fish as one of our many braai delicacies and this was not for lack of trying. Jamie and Eric have pretty official-like fishing rods and we tried our luck from the rocks, using fresh mussels as bait. Jamie caught a rockfish right away (that we threw back) …and THEN (after catching a few rocks and thinking I had snared “the big one”) I reeled in a real-live fish! Some kiddos and their dad’s (our campsite neighbors) had joined us to view the fishing at this point. We all watched in anticipation as I reeled in what would hopefully be dinner. And then we all looked (with a combination of intrigue and horror) at the most ghastly Creature of the Sea any of us have ever seen! We agreed it was actually the ugliest fish alive- some kind of bottom feeder with creepy teeth. Back to the sea you go! We’ll stick with meat, thanks very much.

Here’s some more pics from the weekend- yes, we had many laughs. My favorite part of the camping trip, though, was sitting around the fire talking with the group and new friends we met at the campground. It was fascinating to learn more about South Africa and the locals’ perspectives on their history, the current political climate and the culture in general. From what I gathered the government can be summed up in one word- corrupt. All the South Africans I met agreed that it was a very good thing that Jacob Zuma was finally forced out as President (having remained in power through countless charges of crimes including corruption and rape, and nine votes of no confidence by Parliament… it was finally his own party who drove him out.) And while people don’t seem totally psyched about the new guy (Cyril Ramaphosa) their relief is palpable that at least Zuma is gone and there is a glimmer of hope for the future. For his part, Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle the government’s corruption issues, so that’s something, in as at least it’s admitting the issues exist. And with the nation’s economy in the tanker and a 30% unemployment rate the stakes are high as the nation seeks to project stability and encourage investment dollars. Interesting times here in South Africa and a lot of questions about what the future will bring.

For me, sadly the future includes that land exit out of the country. Next stop… Namibia.

More Safari and Zimbabwe for Life

Oh, what an adventure the past several days have been! For those of you who follow my Instagram story, you have an inkling of what is to come (@tehastravels is my insta handle, btw… very creative of me.) I was along for the ride with my new friend, Katy from Texas, (who I’d met on the South Africa Flash Pack tour) as she’d planned a 5-day adventure after the tour that sounded like fun, so I tactfully invited myself to go along (at least I thought I was tactful.) Our first destination was enjoying more of the animal kingdom in a different part of the country. Sabi Sands is a private game reserve that is a part of the Greater Kruger National Park. We stayed at Umkumbe Safari Lodge, which was in a beautiful location and a true wilderness experience. To the point where they require a staff member to walk you to your room after dark, just in case leopards decide to make a visit, as they have been known to do. The game drives here were no joke and our game driver, Geoff, had no problem off-roading through whatever terrain necessary to get views of the animals. And animals were everywhere! Our first glimpse was during our drive to the lodge in the taxi from the airport… we were actually delayed during this drive for 25 minutes due to elephants just hanging out in the road. Our cab driver got nervous and reversed a few times as they came closer to us, as apparently it’s unpredictable when they could feel threatened and charge.We honed in on a mother and son leopard duo during our first game drive and were lucky to be able to follow them in the subsequent drives. We even saw them on “a killing spree” that included a rabbit the mama leopard offed just inches away from us, and we then watched her take it up a tree to store it! Minutes later a dead impala (kind of like a smaller deer) was discovered stored in another tree! Then an antelope corpse was found… all the work of the leopards. You could tell by looking at them that their bellies were very full. We had a scare on one game drive as we were observing our leopard friends hanging out in the impala-storage tree, munching on their kill, when out of nowhere a mean male leopard pounced into the tree!! The more experienced mother took that as her cue to exit the tree but the cub freaked out and ran out to the end of a limb, where he perched nervously- not knowing what to do. The poor little guy was so scared he defecated from out on the limb! The male leopard proceeded to go at it, gnawing away at the impala, and in the process attracted several feisty hyenas who stood below seeking scraps (they even eat the bones– apparently hyenas eat anything.) Meanwhile, the mother leopard crouched in the tall grass observing the scene. The game drive ended before we could see the outcome of the scary scene but Geoff said the cub would “probably be okay” if he chilled out on his limb for a bit and waited for mean male leopard to leave. We were DYING to know what had happened and were extremely relieved on the next morning’s drive when we saw mother and son cruising around together, seemingly unscathed. Phew! We’d definitely grown attached. I was very lucky to have Katy as my safari-mate as (in addition to being a lot of fun) she has a real camera and takes great pictures AND she has insane animal tracking skills. I swear the lodge wanted to hire her. To be fair, they seemed to think the two of us had brought crazy-luck to their game drives as every one we were on was phenomenal! We were also told our game drives had unusual and unprecedented sightings- such as the leopard serial killing spree. Katy, though, is a human pair of binoculars. She could spot anything, no matter how far away AND correctly ID the animal. It was uncanny. Of course, at times the animals were so scarily close that a legally blind person could probably have made them out. We said good-bye to our new friends (the amazing staff) at the Safari Lodge- Geoff, Tanya, Jade, and Johann and moved onward to our next destination… Zimbabwe! Specifically, Victoria Falls which is the largest waterfall in the world and one of the seven natural wonders. As background, the Falls border the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe and apparently views are great on both sides…but we were headed to the larger viewing area in Zim. So, my first inkling that something was ‘administratively awry ‘ was when going through immigration to leave South Africa. As the officer stamped my passport she commented something about not having any blank pages. Hmmm… was this possible?? I checked. Indeed it was. How did that happen?? Katy informed me that we needed to get a visa in Zambia, a joint visa that would allow us out of Zambia and then into Zimbabwe. Hmmm… I wondered where they would stick the visa?

A few hours later I sat in the Zambia airport, in the first of a few immigration back offices that I would be involuntarily visiting over the next few days. The officers were flummoxed… how had South Africa let me leave with no pages? They can’t do that. But they did. But they can’t. But they did. This went on for a bit.

Finally in quintessential “I don’t want to deal with this any longer” fashion, Zambia issued me a different (and more expensive) visa that would only get me out of their country but not into Zimbabwe. This required only a stamp, not a full page visa. I was told I could do the same thing to get into Zimbabwe. Our driver seemed slightly concerned with this predicament but said we’d “try our luck.” Zambia let me out of their country (happily) and we crossed the bridge that spans Victoria Falls and connects the two borders. On the other side of the bridge, our driver went into the Zimbabwe border control building (my passport in hand)… and a few minutes later came out, beckoning me to join him. Crap. The situation was not good. This was a pretty shady looking border operation and the immigration officer was scary. He informed me that the Zimbabwe visa is a full-page sticker and there was no place for it in my passport. “But Zambia said I could get a stamp instead,” I explained. Zambia lied. “Oh.” I asked what I should do. He did not know. He said I couldn’t enter Zimbabwe and could not re-enter Zambia. I guess he was proposing I live in purgatory on the bridge? At least better views than Edward Snowden had while “stuck” at the Moscow airport (yes, this thought actually went through my head at the time.) Not a bad bridge, though?Then the gravity of the situation sunk in and I did something I rarely do… I started to cry. The officer seemed pleased to see that I was appropriately concerned and told me he was going to break the law and could get fired and added that he has a family support. No guilt trip there. He then proceeded to slap the visa on top of a full page of passport stamps. Our driver seemed as relieved (as was I) and he informed me about 15 times that I’m the ‘luckiest girl on the planet.’ And, I honestly did feel that way!

Now, I knew at that point that re-entry into South Africa could be problematic, as apparently they are very strict about having blank page(s) on your passport to enter the country. There was a chance I wouldn’t be allowed to board the plane back to Cape Town and there was a chance if I did get on the plane, immigration in Cape Town would deny me entry. But both our driver and the people who worked at the hotel assured me this would not be an issue. “People in Zim are cool… they will definitely let you on the plane. And once you’re there, they aren’t going to send you back! That’s just silly. You’ll be fine.” While not completely convinced, I decided I’d just have to roll the dice at the airport and I tried to put the issue out of my head for the next two days. I was there to enjoy the Falls!

And the Falls…they are indeed absolutely spectacular and we experienced them from multiple perspectives. Our first was the aerial view from a helicopter ride. This was really cool because you can see how massive they are and we even got to see a rainbow over them from the sky. Our chopper also cruised over the surrounding savannah where we (thanks to Katy Hawk Eyes) saw groups of giraffes, elephants, zebra, and even a buffalo. Next we headed to the gorge area of the falls, which is also stunning. We zip-lined across the gorge, to make sure we were taking in the views from all angles. Our Falls viewing trifecta concluded with a tour on foot. Our guide, Musa, led us through the rain forest to 14 look-out points while explaining the history of the falls and sharing other fun facts. Here’s one for you: the water that goes over the falls in 3.5 days is the amount of water New York City uses in a year. Mucho agua! Our safari luck extended to Falls viewing and we had a beautiful rainbow backdrop for almost the entire hike. You can’t photoshop this stuff! That night we went to “the Boma” drum show for a dinner experience, where we were adorned in sarongs and given drums to participate in the show. Among the buffet food options was a station serving Mopani worms, which are a thing people eat in Southern Africa apparently. We also learned they give you a certificate if you eat one…so that decided it! (at what age does a certificate stop working as an incentive to do something?) It actually wasn’t bad and tasted sort of like chicken. It was a fantastic last night, punctuating a fantastic five days. Many thanks to Katy for planning such a fun trip!

The next day, things got administratively interesting again. We’d met a South African and American tour guide duo at our hotel and at breakfast the next day I mentioned my passport issue to them (I allowed it to enter my head again as I prepared to leave.) They weren’t quite as optimistic as the Zimbabwe natives had been and after much inspection of my passport and trouble-shooting it seemed my Cambodia visa fell off the passport page it had been inhabiting. What great timing! I mean, you could kinda see a little bit of a stamp that had gone off the edge of the visa but who would notice that? I suddenly had a whole page available!! It was like Christmas morning!A few hours later Katy and I had to say a hasty goodbye in the airport, as I was led to another back office after being denied check-in to our flight… for not having enough blank pages in my passport. Huuuuge bummer. In the back office it became clear that South African Air was not going to bend the rules, even a smidge. I was also informed that South Africa immigration had started imposing fines of $2,500 when someone arrives without two blank pages on their passport (unclear why you need two blank pages for one stamp)…. and that the fines went to the individual gate agents who checked you in, so it was personal. At that point, I stopped asking nicely for them to bend the rules. I was told my options were to buy a ticket to the U.S. (no thanks) or fly to Zimbabwe’s capitol city, Harare, to see what the U.S. embassy could do to help. I figured I’d first try another airline and hoped that maybe British Airways wouldn’t be such sticklers, so I purchased another (thankfully refundable) ticket to Cape Town… and was denied access once again. At least they’re consistent! To Harare I go… I guess. For a split second I wondered if I’d be in Zimbabwe for life. I landed in Harare and realized I had a few problems. The first being that my phone did not work on their network and there was no WiFi in the airport. I had called the embassy from the ticket office before my flight and they’d told me to call back when I landed. The second issue was transport… Zimbabwe is having a currency crisis and they only accept either U.S. dollars or their black market money, neither of which I had to pay for a cab. Big sigh. Talk about feeling stuck! I wandered into a random airline office in the tiny airport and asked if I could use their phone to call the embassy. Unfortunately their landline phone only allows calls to cell phones. Random. Lucky for me there were two gents in the office buying a ticket and one of them offered me his cell phone. He even purchased more data so I could make the call! After several attempts I got through to the embassy and was told they were closing and to come in at 8 am the next day for a temporary emergency passport. I felt a little bit better having a plan. Upon hearing my transport quandary the two guys offered to drive me to my hotel. They were THE NICEST men and I learned on the drive they are both pastors. The pastors were supposed to travel that day but their trip had been cancelled at the last minute. They told me they thought the reason it was cancelled was so that they could be there to meet me and help me out. I was not arguing with this logic and was extremely grateful. They asked me my thoughts on Trump (as most people do when I meet them during my travels.) They then informed me that Zimbabweans are big Trump supporters- which surprised me. The reason is purely religious, as Trump has been vocal about being a Christian and with his anti-Islam sentiments. Since Hilary was not vocal about these things, it’s assumed she is not a Christian and supports the spread of radical Islam (they also believe Obama is Muslim.) The pastors said that before the election there were entire church sermons devoted to praying that Trump win the election. Go figure.

My hotel was a big conference destination and it seemed normal enough. I checked in and headed to the hotel bar to use the WiFi and figure out that minor detail of how I was going to get to Cape Town. As I sat there I was approached by a few sketchy looking men and felt like they were sitting uncomfortably close to me. I messaged a few friends about how awkward it was and then proceeded to leave.

The next morning a friendly hotel guest approached me in the lobby and informed me that he and his buddies had been eating dinner in the lobby restaurant the night before and were observing me at the bar. Apparently they’d found it “hilarious” that I didn’t know I was sitting where the prostitutes sit!! They had apparently debated telling me but decided the entertainment value of my ‘Girl Uncomfortable’ show was too good. Nice, guys. Thanks a ton!

I arrived at the embassy promptly at 8 a.m. and was told the Consular wasn’t there yet and I could either come back or wait. I stood outside for an hour and she finally decided to show up. The process took a lot longer than the hour I’d been promised and I started to get nervous about my 1 p.m. flight. Finally the Consular emerged (with her Wonder Woman notebook in hand) and informed me that she had a meeting but would be back around 11:15 a.m. to finish the process. She also said she thought I would be okay with my flight. Awesome. Thankfully the Consular was true to her word and rolled back in around 11:15 a.m.* [*This time stamp is an estimate. I had to leave my phone at the front desk of the embassy and the clock on the wall had the permanent time of 7:49 and a second hand that moves in place but still makes that annoying second-hand sound.] The Consular’s first words to me at this juncture were to inform me that I look more like my passport photo from 2015 than the one I’d had taken the night before… good to know, did I mention I have a plane to catch? Thankfully, I arrived at the airport with enough time to spare and I found it slightly entertaining that after all the administrative hoopla, the immigration officer insisted on stamping my old passport (that had holes punched through it) as opposed to the new one I’d gone through so much effort to obtain. Oh well… no need to quibble, at least they let me leave this time! No complaints here.

Next up, my first South African camping trip…

Wild and Wonderful South Africa

How is my South Africa Flash Pack tour over already? This one really flew by! I left you half-way through so let me pick it up there. After our lovely stay in wine country we hopped on the bus and our trusty driver, Tauriq, zipped us off to our next destination on “the Garden Route” (this is the name of the 200 mile stretch of land we traveled along on southern-western coast of South Africa.) The Garden Route is known for being especially beautiful with lush vegetation as well as numerous picturesque lagoons and lakes (less water in these during the drought, though). We stopped a few times during the drive to snap photos at various look-outs and made one very important stop, at an establishment called Ronnie’s Sex shop. This place is really a find, and as you can see, in the middle of nowhere. As lore would have it, Ronnie had just a regular little shop/bar and one night his friend got drunk and decided to play a prank on good ol’ Ronster… a prank that involved a can of red paint. And… business boomed after that! It reminds me of that time when some of my classmates repelled off the roof of my high school to remove some choice letters from the the side of the building… transforming Beverly High School into Beer High School. Unlike Ronnie’s, unfortunately we weren’t able to get t-shirts to reflect the new name. We got to meet Ronnie and he was exactly as one might expect the sole proprietor of Ronnie’s sex shop to be, drinking a beer in the middle of the bar area that has people’s bras, underwear and t-shirts hanging from the ceiling and walls. Cheers to Ronnie and his business acumen… and moving on.We arrived at our beautiful accommodations in Oudtshoorn just as a spectacular sunrise was starting and we enjoyed it with glasses of more delicious South African wine. The next morning was an early bell to go observe meerkats waking up in their natural environment. I’ll be honest (as I always am- for the good or bad) that I didn’t think I knew what a meerkat was before this trip… but then was reminded of Timon from the Lion King. It was super cool to see the little critters emerge out of their burrows one by one as the sun rose and interact with each other, while scanning for danger and marking their territories for the day. As an aside, they sleep in different burrows every night so the “meerkat guy” (who narrated the experience and was quite the character) has a team of people who run around the savannah every day figuring out where the little cuties are burrowing that night. Here’s Meerkat Dundy in action: We then moved on to our next adventure… swimming with the seals. I admit I was a smidge skeptical of this activity- for two reasons. One is that I didn’t think of seals as particular friendly mammals who necessarily want me swimming with them. I wondered if this would be forced like an exhibit at Sea World. The second reason is the more obvious one- the potential for seals as shark bait. I put both of these concerns out of my head, however, in true Teha’s Travels style, and tried to go into the activity with an open mind and positive attitude. And… I loved it! We took a speed boat way out to an area where there are “rafts” of seals (that’s what you call a group of seals- who knew?!). We then plunged in (literally) in our snorkeling gear. I admit I had a minor freak-out at first, as seals were everywhere- swimming underneath me, next to me, etc. I quickly calmed down, though, as I learned that they are actually very friendly and playful (think Flipper, but a seal) and we had a blast swimming amongst them!And, I swear that one approached me to give me a high-five with his fin! After some beach time, we moved on to our accommodations for the next three nights- a beautiful spot called Hog Hollow. My roommate, the Fabulous Claudia from Toronto, and I were surprised and thrilled to wake-up the next morning with some monkey friends greeting us- like a wake-up call! We the headed to the beach for a surfing lesson that we were all very excited for and did not disappoint. This was my third time surfing and I was glad I loved it as much as the first two times… although I am slightly confused that in the three lessons I’ve had I’ve been taught three different ways to stand up on the board. Maybe different countries differ on their approaches? Next time I’m just going to freestyle it, I’ve decided. It was lucky for us that our guide, Jamie, is also a professional photographer in her spare time and took photos from the shore. She even made it look like I knew what I was doing! Our post-surfing lunch was a traditional South African “braai” (pronounced bry) which is basically a delicious outdoor BBQ. We enjoyed a delectable sampling of sausages, chicken, grilled veggies and salads. I was told by the braai-guy that in a “real braii” it’s all red meats and chicken is the salad, but we were quite happy with our menu (especially the vegetarian in our group.) The next day was one I’d been nervously anticipating for much of the trip, or at least since I’d agreed to participate in an optional activity… bungee jumping 600 feet off of a bridge (at a place where its claim to fame is being “the world’s highest bungee bridge jump.”) Yup, it’s pretty freakin’ high.I was SOOOO nervous for this but something in me knew I’d regret it if I didn’t do it. Throughout the trip me and my fellow jumpers (Christina, Courtney and Hannah) had been referring to future activities on the trip as “pre-bungee” and “post-bungee,” implying that we may not be around to enjoy the latter with the group (they may have been joking with this but part of me wasn’t). Here’s our before pic:Nevertheless we signed our lives away (literally) and made the long trek out to the bridge. There was some signage on the trail that made me laugh….this warning seemed like the least of my concerns at that moment. I went last and was so impressed watching my friends make the plunge and especially as each was pullyed back up to the bridge with huge smiles on their faces saying they wanted to do it again. I assumed they were putting on a happy face for me. Here’s the jump prep, where I’m clearly trying not to look behind the guy I’m talking to: Courtney had a Go-Pro that we were all able to use and the video of my jump pretty much says it all!

https://tehastravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/img_7813.trim_.movAnd, yes, I would also totally do it again. We then swung by an elephant sanctuary where we got to interact with and feed the majestic animals who we’d be seeing a lot of in their natural habitats in the days to come. Here’s Claudia and I inspecting their brushing:And this is a male elephant, believe it or not 😂That night kicked off a trifecta of birthday celebrations for our group… how lucky we had not one but THREE birthdays to celebrate, and in a row! Jacy was our first birthday queen, followed by Julie and Hannah. So many excuses to eat cake and we even discovered a shooter called the “birthday cake shot” that we taught various bartenders to make (it was only fair that each of the birthday girls should have them on their special day). Here are the lovely ladies we celebrated: We were off “on safari” the next day, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. Our destination was the Addo Elephant Park where we stayed at an amazing safari lodge called the Kuzuko Lodge. The way the safari thing works (this was news to me) is that you stay in a game reserve that is fenced in with electric fences, at a lodge (that is fenced in within the reserve) and you go out on three hour guided “game drives” two times a day (in pretty rad safari vehicles). The game drives take place early in the morning and around dusk as those are the times the animals are most likely to be out and about (they smartly lay low during the hottest time of day.) It was SUCH a cool experience! It felt surreal to be observing elephants, lions, ostrich, giraffes, buffalo, etc. in their natural environments (don’t worry, photos below) and I enjoyed learning more about them from the very knowledgeable guides. And I had a LOT to learn. This was evident when I decided to use the lodge business center to create “Safari Bingo” cards for some friendly safari competition. There were nine squares on the template so I included the “Big 5” of African safaris (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo) and tossed in four more animals. The safari ranger loved the idea of the game (they may keep doing it!) but was quite amused to see I’d included a tiger as one of the animals. Whoopsie… guess they don’t exactly exist in the wild on the African continent. I feel like maybe I knew this but forgot? Alas, the next game drive I had revised cards to distribute (the ranger was kindly my Bingo consultant this time) and Hannah, the birthday girl that day, was the victor! We were told we were lucky to see a lot of lion activity on our game drives and even got to see them just after having made two “kills” of large prey… the circle of life, indeed. It was fascinating to watch the animals interact with each other and the various dynamics between different species and even within the same species (the “dominant” male lion, Sylvester, for example, clearly ruled the lion roost. I totally get where the King of the Jungle title comes from.) It was also interesting to learn about the survival instincts of different species and see them in action. It occurred to me how much time and energy human beings spend fighting our own instincts and how much easier life would be if we were able to trust our guts more. Noted. After two exciting days of safari-ing we bade farewell to our many four-legged friend and headed back to civilization for (sniff, sniff) our final night together in the beach town of Port Elizabeth. The group had become so tight during our two week adventure that it would not be a lie to say many tears were shed during our good-byes (don’t worry friends, I won’t name names… too many to name.) To give you an idea of how amazing and diverse this group was- there were two guys on the trip, and they really could not have been more different. Matt hales from Birmingham, England and is self-employed as a farmer. Neerav is of Indian descent and works in the finance industry in NYC. Yet they share the commonality of being two of the nicest and funniest guys I’ve met, and they quickly became best buds. Actually, pretty much the whole group became best buds! Fortunately by the end of the trip I’d managed to nail down some short-term plans for after the tour (you may recall at the outset of the trip I had none… and no return ticket). Luckily of my new tour friends, Katy, had planned an add-on trip to see a few more sites in and around South Africa and she kindly agreed when I invited myself to join her. Then our tour guide, Jamie, has a birthday camping trip near Cape Town planned with a bunch of her friends, that I also invited myself to join. Phew, things to do! And I do realize I’m lucky they were both too polite to say no to me. Stay tuned for safari phase 2, up next!

A one-way ticket to South Africa

I’ve met a lot of well-traveled individuals during the course of my adventures and have had many discussions about all the amazing places the world has to offer. When I started my traveling, South Africa wasn’t necessarily on my initial short list (I mean, assuming I’d had a list) but it came up time and time again as “a place you would love” by people whose opinions I trusted, and I decided I must see for myself. In fact, I was so confident that I would like South Africa that I traveled there with a one-way ticket, hoping that at some point during that two week trip I’d have an inspiration for what to do next. This strategy was all well and good until checking into my flight on Ethiopia Air when I was told I needed to show proof of my plane ticket OUT of the country in order to fly IN to the country (or so the ticket agent “thought”.) Having no ticket, I had nothing to lose by pushing back on this point and soon two supervisors were also leaning over the monitor trying to interpret the requirement in various ways. After some back and forth on the verbiage (they were on my side) I had an idea and said I’d JUST at that moment changed my mind and decided to make a “land exit” from the country rather than fly. I made up that term but it turns out it’s a thing and no proof of this was needed. The supervisor winked and said that was a good idea. Phew!

I read Trevor Noah’s book “Born a Crime”’on the flights there (great read and I highly recommend) and brushed up my South African history. I will admit that part of the reason for deciding to read over other in-flight activities is that on Ethiopia Air you can’t really hear the movie unless you manually hold the earphones in your ears and my arms got tired a few hours in. But I am really glad I read the book.

I arrived in Cape Town a few days before the Flash Pack tour started (my first time ever being early for a tour- usually I come running into the initial meet-and-greet with my suitcase, straight from the airport.) This was nice for a few reasons- I could “get my bearings” in the city, do laundry, recover from the flight, and adjust to the time change. I might need to do this ‘arriving early’ thing more often! Getting my bearings in Cape Town included a lot of exploring on foot and I realized quickly it’s a very manageable city to get around. The views throughout the city are SPECTACULAR and especially so during the sunsets. I immediately got a really good vibe from Cape Town and was glad the tour was starting with three more nights in the city before moving onward.

Our tour guide Jamie and the group of 11 of us met each other at our hotel (actually 10 of us met, as Jen was on an optional pre-trip shark diving trip- which she both survived and loved.) We all hit it off right away and I was relieved it was another group of fun, open-minded, adventurous and cool people. Phew! (You’d think by my 9th Flash Pack trip I’d be over that fear of a lame or annoying group, but nope.) That night we headed to the Camps Bay area for dinner by the beach to catch the first of several amazing sunsets we’d be seeing together. [Side note: you may have caught wind about the water crisis South Africa is currently facing. The situation is no bueno. The country has been having a drought since 2015 and water levels are critically low. It’s a huge problem and many water restrictions are in place across the country, with plans to turn OFF the water in Cape Town in a few months! This is called “Day Zero” and will disable the ordinary water supplies to more than a million homes. It’s a sad and scary situation- nobody here is disputing Al Gore’s stance on climate change.] Ok, back to the tour! The next day we started off with a spin through some picturesque Cape Town sites, including the Bo-Kaap, a predominantly Muslim neighborhood which was created by emancipated slaves in the 18th century and is known for its brightly painted houses. Next… it was up Table mountain, the aptly named mountain overlooking the city and the key contributor to the aforementioned stunning views. We were all looking forward to hiking the mountain but due to high winds, we had to take the cable car up instead. I learned that the weather is unpredictable and can be extreme in South Africa– and the winds are no joke. It’s one reason that almost as many people have died climbing Table mountain as Mount Everest (yes, I fact-checked this.) I didn’t really believe the magnitude of the wind until experiencing it myself at points over the next two days- at one point I honestly thought a woman’s stroller was going to blow away! Jamie said South Africans are used to it though and don’t need to grab onto trees like I did at one point, soon after taking this sunset selfie. Despite not being able to hike up the mountain, we had more than our fair share of excitement as we embarked on a rappelling adventure (South Africans use the British English term “abseiling.”) I’d never been rappelling before and was a little nervous but I loved it! I will say that despite loving it, while doing it my nervousness turned into full-on fear that lasted for most of the experience. Good fear, though! I always love an adrenaline rush. And, we did get in a mini-hike, making our way up the rocks back to the top after our rappel. Afterwards, we all said we’d do it again as we thought it would be less scary the second time (although none of us are sure that it actually would be.) And it was easy for us to say that as we knew there was no time to actually do it!

The next day started with a drive up the coast to the Cape Peninsula area, stopping to take in some of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. This is an area called “Chapman’s peak.” We had ocean paddle boarding on the docket that morning and with the wind being strong in some areas we wondered how choppy the sea would be. The conditions we had are best described as Class II rapids, maybe Class III in areas. This is only a minor exaggeration. Thankfully the paddle board guides realized that sending us out on boards would be more like surfing than paddle boarding so they adjusted the plan. Instead of individual paddle boards we used huge, group paddle boards and had a kind of whitewater rafting experience, which was a blast. I can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did during this activity, especially when trying to stand-up on the board and trying to avoid falling into the chilly, choppy water. It. was. hilarious. And, there is definitely a chance the tourists on the beach thought we were refugees as we paddled by. We did all manage to stand-up at the same time- which is a minor miracle -and our adventure ended with a race between the two boats (my team won but no I’m not all competitive.) The victors: Afterwards, we got a closer look at the penguins on the shore that we had seen from our rafts (I mean paddle boards.) They are cute little things and it’s really cool to watch them swim- as they torpedo underwater like missiles, and then do this cute wing-flapping thing to dry off when they get out. And the coolest part is that it’s the female penguins out frolicking in the water while it’s the male’s job to sit on the egg on the shore! No doubt penguin dudes complain incessantly about this arrangement. After a delicious seafood lunch by the sea we headed onward to the Cape of Good Hope, which is the most southern point of Western Africa. It was beautiful (and windy, as you can tell from the pics) and we even had some baboon and ostrich sightings on the way. We concluded our stay in Cape Town with a trip to Robben Island, which holds the historic prison where Nelson Mandela was held captive for 27 years. We toured the island and jail facility, led by a guide who had been imprisoned there himself for five years. It can’t be fun for the guide to have to relive his experiences everyday but he gamely answered questions from the group, including someone who wanted to know why he didn’t try to escape. I mean… really?? This person was not part of my group, obvs. It was interesting to learn more about the prison and the people who had been held captive there for years at a time (with no indication of if or when they would be released). Their living conditions: The jailers thought they were being smart by separating the regular joe prisoners from the political leader prisoners but they ended up creating a situation where the leaders had years to plan for the fall of the apartheid, even drafting a constitution (haha, joke’s on you… that strategy backfired!) While touring the prison, the recentness of the fall of the apartheid really struck me and it was crazy to think that Robben Island was still a working prison until 1996. Despite the rawness of apartheid, so far I have found South Africans to be very open and willing to talk about it as a part of their history. They aren’t wanting to brush it under the rug and seem to genuinely want people to know the truth. That afternoon we took another stunning coastal drive to the beautiful wine country town of Stellenboschun (fun fact- there are more than 4,000 vineyards in South Africa.) Stellenbosch is a charming university town and we made ourselves right at home, enjoying a sampling of the delicious local wines at an outdoor cafe. The next day we hiked through the hillsides of the neighboring town of Franschhoek, spotting a few baboons along the way and learning about the unique vegetation that grows there from our hiking guide, Tayne (Wayne with a “T” he explained to us Americans.) The region actually has one of the most diverse samplings of plants in the world, including South Africa’s national flower, the king protea. Of course after our hike we had to re-hydrate and what better place than a local winery? At Grande Provence we took in the picturesque views, enjoyed a wine tasting (complete with a “nougat” pairing) and had a most delish picnic lunch. This is my kind of picnic! And, of course we’re trying to do our part to help with the water crisis. Needless to say, so far it’s been a phenomenal trip with a phenomenal group of people! I can’t believe it’s almost halfway over. That reminds me- I guess I should figure out where I’m headed after this… I never did work out the details of that “land exit.” Oh well! Staying in the country longer would definitely not be the worse thing….