Country Counting

I’m Terry and I love to travel.

How to visit Southern Africa: part 2

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Cape Town, South Africa.

Kelly and I finished our one-month trip to Southern Africa with a one-week stay in Cape Town, where we saw all the sites: Tabletop Mountain, the colorful Bo Kaap neighborhood, the Southernmost tip of South Africa, the penguins at Boulders Beach, the Victoria and Albert Waterfront shops and cafes, African Museum of Modern Art, National Art Museum, District 6 Museum, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and too many foodie spots to mention. Read Kelly’s blog for the details on food. She’ll make your mouth water.

Terry at National Botanical Gardens.
Terry at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in Cape Town.
Kelly at high tea.
Kelly eyes the delicacies at the Mount Nelson Hotel’s high tea.

Since I am the logistics person, I’ll fill you in on where we stayed and how we got around in Cape Town. I selected the Mount Nelson Hotel, a Belmond property. We have stayed in several Belmond hotels in the past and I’ve found them to be first-rate and always in interesting historic buildings. The Mount Nelson is in a colonial era building and is loaded with magnificent South African art on every floor. We took advantage of their wonderful gift shop that had beautiful ostrich purses and leather goods, scarves and beaded dolls. High tea is another highlight of the hotel and we enjoyed mounds of goodies with our own tea expert to help us decide from over 20 different tea selections. Whew.

Since we were there for so long, we were upgraded to a deluxe room, complete with separate sitting area, two twin beds, a view of the courtyard garden and bathroom with shower, double sinks and a huge bathtub.

The hotel is in a great location and we were able to walk a few blocks to several good restaurants. We also walked through the city’s garden right across the street and from there to many of the city-center attractions.

When we had farther to go, Kelly used Uber to get us around. It was unbelievably easy and inexpensive. I paid $90 for the hotel to send a car to the airport to pick us up. After we found how easy it was to use Uber in South Africa, our return Uber trip ran a cool $12. Most of our around-town trips were $2-3. All the drivers were courteous and efficient. Toyotas were the cars of choice!

Namibia dunes
The dunes are so beautiful it is hard to describe. A true once-in-a-lifetime experience.

This trip was a big one and we covered a lot of territory. But every spot we stopped had a unique offering. It was hard to name a favorite. The dunes in Namibia were spectacular.

Terry and Zebras
I fell in love with zebra, shown here at our lodge in Namibia, We Kebi.

elephants
Elephants up close and personal in Botswana.

The animal drive in Botswana was amazing. Visiting South Africa and learning about its history and culture was eye-opening.

Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls from a helicopter above.

Victoria Falls from both Zimbabwe and Zambia was gorgeous. Our day trips to Swaziland and Lesotho showed us how tiny countries can co-exist in the middle of huge South Africa.

Game drive in Botswana
Here we are in Botswana with our guide, Jeremy. He could see animals across acres! What a great guy.

    I’m happy to share our itinerary. We had a great time, stayed in very nice accommodations, eat fabulous food and saw everything on our list of “must-sees.” We never felt unsafe or threatened in any place we visited and the people were always kind, hospitable and helpful. After looking at dozens of “package” trips, I know we saw what we wanted, when we wanted at a fraction of the cost for most trips. We like independent travel and don’t want to be forced onto buses or herded around. We were able to hire guides and drivers when needed through hotel concierges and took advantage of free walking tours in both Johannesburg and Cape Town.

    Add Southern Africa to your calendar. You won’t be disappointed!

    PS Don’t feel you have to buy a whole new safari wardrobe to make this trip. After seeing hundreds of tourists in beige, I gotta admit, only the African folks really look good in that color!!

    To cruise or not to cruise? That is the question.

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    I’ve never been a big fan of cruises. I’ve always felt too confined, controlled and not able to “do my thing” on a big ship. Add to that the mandated community dining and it was just too much for my rebellious self.

    But, I recently saw a Viking cruise that went to two countries I wanted to visit: Algeria and Tunisia. It had been twenty years since my last cruise, so I thought, why not give it another go? Heck, thousands of people go on cruises every day. Maybe I had been wrong about my earlier assessments. After a little persuading, my hubby, Ken, agreed to accompany me.

    I’ve been on three other cruises and none of them wowed me. My first experience was a spring break cruise to the Caribbean with three college girl friends. We thought we were going to have a wild and crazy time with all kinds of gorgeous guys on the ship. I can remember my Mom laughing her ass off as she dropped us at check-in. All we saw were masses of senior citizens. Suffice to say there were no ship-board romances on that cruise!

    Our second cruise was with my in-laws to Mexico. That trip included hoards of loud New Yorkers and their kids running around the ship and lots of mediocre food. The third cruise was with my parents who wanted to be glued to our sides. Loud announcements on the PA every fifteen minutes were beyond obnoxious: ping pong on the Lido Deck; lecture in the auditorium and volleyball on the sports deck. Soup every night changed colors from white to gray to yellow to green. It all tasted the same.

    My husband quickly adopted the name “prison ships” and we thought our days of cruise ships were dead and done.

    So here we were, booked onto a one-week cruise ship leaving from Rome and returning to Barcelona. My sister reminded me: “keep your expectations low and you’ll have a good time!”

    Things started out poorly. We received an email from Viking telling us that the Tunisia stop was being cancelled due to demonstrations! I quickly went online to read what was happening and as usual, things weren’t as bad as folks made them out to be. I called Viking upset about this change and threatened to cancel the trip. Of course, cancellation would mean a 100% cancellation fee. To sooth my savagery, they offered me a $200 credit. So I took the money, vowing to drink myself sick as compensation for missing Tunisia.

    Once on board the ship, we had a few pleasant surprises. Our state room was much bigger than any of the previous three we had experienced. The bathroom had a separate shower, so you didn’t have to worry about showering over the toilet. The public areas of the ship were beautifully designed — modern and comfortable, with numerous options for sitting, chatting, and watching the waters go by. There was a three-story atrium area, complete with Steinway piano for afternoon concerts and an indoor pool with plenty of upscale lounge chairs and sitting areas. One of our favorite spots was the forward two-story bar, surrounded with shelves of books, ship models and sailing paraphernalia.

    There were no “old school” required dining partners or times. You simply went to one of the two dining rooms whenever you liked or booked a reservation at one of the other two “special” restaurants. Our first night, we dined at the “Chef’s Table,” a special restaurant. Food wasn’t bad — but the chef had clearly not gotten the message that foam was over. Every course had some kind of foam. But it was a pleasant experience and we couldn’t really complain.

    Breakfast and lunch were whenever you liked within designated times. Breakfast was from 7:00 to 10:00 and lunch from noon to 2:00. Room service, with a limited menu, was available 24 hours. You could eat as much as you liked and fortunately, the food was decent, there were healthy options and plenty of variety.

    I must admit that after a week of eating on the ship, I was ready for a change. All food came from the same kitchen so it was a bit similar. The “special” restaurants did give you something slightly different, although service could be slow. In addition to the Chef’s Table, there was an Italian restaurant that was pretty decent.

    Shortly after leaving Rome, the captain announced that the seas were too rough to go to Naples, the substitute port to make up for missing Tunisia. A number of fellow passengers were hoping to visit Pompeii and were thus unhappy about this development. Of course, all was supposed to be for our safety, so you couldn’t complain too much!

    After a stop in Sicily, we headed for Northern Africa and our stop in Algeria, only to be told by our captain that, once again, we had rough seas and high winds and could not get into Algeria. ERRRR. I was NOT happy. So off we went to another substitute port, Mallorca.

    The rest of the cruise progressed as advertised, but after talking with a number of other passengers, it appeared that many were distressed about missing the two North Africa stops.

    So what is my bottom line on cruises? Here are things that are positives. You’ll get:

    • A small taste of a country or area
    • A controlled environment with food provided, tours offered and “no thinking” required
    • A one-price “all-inclusive” vacation. Viking charged $105 per person for a week for gratuities and alcohol was additional. Wine and beer were included.

    However, to me the negatives outweigh the positives. I don’t like:

    • The total loss of control over where you go
    • The possibility of getting seasick (I had two bad nights on the Viking cruise)
    • Being on a large ship with a lot of other people you may or may not like. Luckily, two friends were with us on this cruise and they were fun to be with.
    • Food that can get boring after a week of the same thing.
    • Being subjected to tours that are not individualized or private. We rode busses for most of the port cruises.

    If you are a cruise fan, I can highly recommend Viking. The ship was beautiful and all the staff were top-notch, helpful, friendly and kind.

    Bon voyager or NOT!

     

     

     

    Watch out for these guide scams when traveling

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    I thought I knew every trick in the book, but our guide in St. Pierre (Canada) taught me a new way to be swindled out of $$!

    We’ve all been subjected to guides who take us to rug stores and tell us this store is the only place with “quality” rugs.

    Or the guide who says, I will guide you for free. Then you are dragged from one store to the next so the guide can earn a commission on the things you buy. In the middle east it’s rugs; in Venice it’s glass, in India it’s textiles, rugs and silver jewelry.

    The cruise industry is notorious for this scam. They advise you to shop only at their pre-selected list of “honest” vendors. Of course, those vendors pay a fee for this listing and they also pay a commission to the guide, tour company or cruise line. You are assured these vendors are the most honest, have the best variety or the best quality of items.

    It’s the oldest trick in the travel book. But on our recent trip to add a country point in St. Pierre, an island owned by France off the coast of Newfoundland, we met a pretty clever guide.

    Here’s what he did. When we got in the van to head out on the tour that was sold to us as an hour and a half for $30 euros each, he said, “hey if you want to extend the tour, we can do that for more money.” I said, “well we have a lunch reservation and we have to be back for it.”

    And off we went. The tour of St. Pierre was interesting, but could easily have been done in 1.5 hours. But we wound up seeing his house, the local cemetery, standing on a hillside talking – all his way of extending our time. Then when we finally got back an hour late, we were told we owed him more money. Rather than make a scene, we paid.

    Clever scam. How to avoid such a deal? Be firm from the outset that you want only what you agreed to pay and don’t want to extend the tour. If you happen to want to extend while you are touring, fine, but to be intimidated into doing it just doesn’t feel right!

    Solo travel: what are the pros and cons

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    In all my travel to 100-plus countries, I had never traveled alone (except for a few business trips) until my recent trip to Egypt, Turkey, Northern Ireland, England and Ireland.

    Niece Kelly and I spent a fabulous week together in Egypt and then she had to return to work (poor thing). I couldn’t waste a trip to Europe without an extended stay, so I decided to try going solo.

    Here’s what I learned.

    THE PROS:

    • It’s really fun to be in total control of your schedule. You get to do exactly what YOU want. I shopped all day in Istanbul and dashed around the Grand Bazaar making all kinds of deals to buy jewelry for friends, family and myself. I was free, unfettered by an schedule and was able to eat, drink and rest when I wanted.
    • You don’t have to worry about finding someone to go with you. You know how it is when you ask friends to come with you on a trip. They don’t have the money, or the time off or they have to take care of the kids or grandkids. There are all kinds of excuses and you really don’t care. You just want a travel companion. When you go solo, you don’t have to navigate someone else’s logistics. You simply make your reservations and head out.
    • You don’t have to worry if your companion is having a good time. It can be a daunting task to try to keep someone else happy. They have expectations and you want them to enjoy themselves. But when you’re alone, there’s no stress about a good time. You control your destiny and you can do whatever you like.
    • If you get lonely, book a tour with a group. I’m not much of a tour group person, but half-day and day tours are a good way to see a lot in a short amount of time. You also meet interesting people on a tour bus and get to bond over the experience. I took a Game of Thrones tour in Northern Ireland and LOVED it. Met other Game of Throne junkies and we had a great time seeing the locations for many of the scenes in the show.

    THE CONS:

    • There’s no one to share your adventures. Sure, you can chat up some stranger on the street, in the hotel or sitting next to you in the restaurant. But, that may be a bit too familiar for some of us. The way to get around this is to use FaceTime to chat with family back home.
    • It’s a bit more expensive to travel solo. Hotel rooms aren’t split with two people. Meals and taxis can’t be shared. You get the idea.
    • Some people may not feel safe traveling alone. I have to admit, I’ve never felt scared to be alone. I am very careful not to overdress, wear any jewelry or carry expensive luggage. I try to blend in and stay under the radar. Ask your hotel front desk if you are concerned about walking at night. They can tell you if it is safe and where are the best places to stay away from.

    So what is my conclusion? As an extrovert, I’d always prefer to travel with a friend or family member. I do enjoy the companionship of another person. But if no one is available, I’m not staying home!

    Grab your suitcase and hit the road – alone or with a friend!!