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Hi, it's all about the adventure... ((*_*)) 
Sep 08, 2006 02:00 PM On the road...
This turned out to be one of the latest starts we had, as we spent the day around Cape Town. Firstly a visit District 6 Museum. I found this very interesting; I think mostly because I remember hearing the news when I was younger about the horrible regime of apartheid in South Africa, the riots; I remember as a young child participating in demonstrations, protests, boycotting South African products, doing whatever I could. At the end of the tour our tour leader thanked us for those effects, he said in some way they made a difference.
Then we moved on to a tour of the townships, I found it disturbing. But then we got on the road and headed out of Cape Town into the countryside, where the concrete was replaced with green fields and my bed for the night a sleeping bag in a tent.
I must say this was the worst night every, I was so cold and had to go to the bathroom four times - the night wouldn’t end. I kept on waking upon the hour. If this is what camping is meant to be about, I'm not sure I want any part of it.
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Sep 07, 2006 02:00 PM Climbing on to the Table
After an 11 hour flight, I feel surprising alive. It has to do with the fact that I am in Africa not Egypt but really Africa. The views of Table Mountain as we approached Cape Town were amazing. Even though my fellow passengers who had probably done this trip so many times before looked at me like if I was mad. I just savoured the moment.
Once on the ground, I had no other choice but to head to Table Mountain, as if it was sending out a beacon. It didn't help that the Backpacker was on the same road. We took a leisurely stroll up the road and then flagged down a taxi. I didn't realise how far and how hot it was...
But what views, what scenery, what calmness. It was perfect up there.
While walking around we met the girl I sat next to on the plane, she was with her husband, a doctor who was in Cape Town to attend a conference.
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Sep 06, 2006 02:00 PM A new day's dawning
The day has finally arrived and I was struggling to work; I arrived at 9.30 and left at 4.30 what a hard life. But I know upon my return the balance will be reversed.
Luckily checking in was relatively painless, I saw a lot of people trying to squash their hand luggage into the containers which measure the size and then frantically trying to fit the excess stuff into their suitcases. Finally packing light worked out for me, but I had to sacrifice my toothpaste, deodorant, perfume and moisturiser.
Even though I had reserved seats, at the check-in I tried to get an upgrade. I was unsuccessful but I did get moved upstairs and I have never travelled on the upper deck of an aircraft. It was cool, a little more room as well as having more stewardesses to less people.
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Aug 20, 2006 02:00 PM Testing, testing 1 2 3
I'm finally the proud owner of a new camera (well overdue) and it's a lot to take on board, to get myself familiar with the functionality. I’ve only taken a few pictures, but already happy with the results.
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Aug 11, 2006 02:00 PM Dreaming of Africa...
Safaris throughout Africa may vary and I suppose each country does it in a little different way, but I’m about to embark on a four week five country tour, that promised to be a real experience that will involve camping over 18 nights.
As the trip will be very varied I had to put together a checklist to make sure everything was covered:
~ Check vaccination requirements
~ Check visa requirements
~ Book and reconfirm flights
~ Check expiry date of passport
~ Take a photo copy of passport, visas, vaccinations certificate, insurance certificate and tickets (to take with, but also leave with family and/or friends in case of an emergency)
~ Take all vouchers for accommodation, activities booked.
~ Get currency – US dollars is preferred and will probable allocate $25 per day. It’s a hard concept for me, to take cash, as I rely on credit cards but I was told to try cash this time and traveller’s cheques.
Other necessities:
~ Pest repellent
~ Sunscreen
~ Hat
~ Sunglasses
~ Digital Camera and memory card at least 1GB
~ Sleeping bag
~ Binoculars
~ Journal- both paper based and electronic
~ Torch – opting for a wind up one reduce the need of carrying even more batteries
~ 1 litre water bottle
Packing:
~ Traditional back pack, day pack, and money belt
~ Pocket knife
~ Plastic bags to protect clothes.
~ Alarm clock and sewing kit.
~ First aid kit
~ Warm/waterproof jacket
~ Warm sock
~ Swimsuit
~ Trainers
~ Sandals
~ 2 long pants
~ 2 skirts
~ 2 shorts
~T shirts (undetermined quantity as yet)
~ Sweatshirt
My greatest difficulty is to pack light, airline restrictions are 20kg, but I’m trying to be good and leave enjoy room to buy things along the away.
The beauty of an overland trip is that I should so many things along the way. So I have the destination but I’m anticipating stopping and just admiring the surroundings as well as getting some great pictures:
The main sights (and will be highlighted in reports later):
Gariep (Orange) River
Fish River Canyon – the second largest canyon in the world.
Namib Desert
Cheetah Park
Estosha National Park
Sossusvlei + Sesriem canyon is a clay dust pan overlooked by hundreds of towering sand dunes.
Table Mountain
Victoria & Albert (V&A) Waterfront
Robben Island
Township
Cape of Good Hope where the Pacific meets the Atlantic.
Okavango Delta
Chobe National Park
Victoria Falls
Now accommodations is the easy part, I will be staying in tents, in parks or under the skies, finally when I get bored of that I will check myself into a hotel.
With these types of tours tents are provided, so at every stop it has to be erected carefully so as to not let any mosquitoes in.
Apparently most campsites have good facilities with swimming pools, laundry facilities, battery charging facilities etc. Well that is what I was sold; let’s see what happened when I get there.
I’ve never been camping before and not really sure what to expect, so I will chalk this up to experience.
To get myself familiar with the area I watched the National Geographic Channel but I was also advised to read the following:
~ Lonely Planet Southern Africa
~ Lonely Planet Africa on a Shoestring
~ The AA Explorer’s Guide to South Africa
~ A field guide to Mammals of Africa – T Holternorth & H Diller
~ Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa – J Dorset, P Dandelot
~Africa’s Top Wildlife Countries – Mark Nolting
Films to watch:
~ Out of Africa recommended
~ Gorillas in the Mist recommended
~ White Mischief not seen
~ I dreamed of Africa not seen
~ The Granada Survival Series not seen
Parting words…
If this goes well, I will organise as self service tour of east Africa, but the excitement is building.
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Jun 02, 2006 02:00 PM Destination - the Prehistoric Stonehenge.
Finally a bit of sunshine in the UK, the weather this weekend was perfect, I’m so glad I organised a day in the countryside. The idea was to get to Salisbury and walk around the city– enjoying the sights before heading to Stonehenge.
To get to Salisbury from London is very easy either by coach, or train (departs from Waterloo and costs a bout £20 a day return), or simply driving. The AA says it should take about an hour and thirty-seven minutes and the route is quite simple; M25 until Junchtion 12 on to the M3 and then taking the A303 all the way to Salisbury. All in all some 83 miles.
My plans didn’t quite work out owing to a late start; we really need more time to enjoy Salisbury. I think you need a complete day as there is so much to see and take in, I’ve already organised another trip. But the idea of cycling to Stonehenge was perfect. It’s about a 28 miles return journey through country lanes, up and down hills on a lovely scenic stretch of road that doesn’t have too much traffic. My only concern was when we got to Amesbury we couldn’t find the route (Cycle Route 45) we had been travelling on, which was a shame, because we ended up cycling along a dual-carriageway. And that was too scary for my liking. For this two mile stretch we decide to push the bike up the hill and probably that was the worst part of the journey. I heard that they want to redevelop the area and divert or enclose in a tunnel the roads that pass next to Stonehenge. At first I thought why? But after cycling in the area, it would make it much nicer cycling experience.
But nonetheless this was a wonderful journey and I would recommend anyone give it a go.
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May 12, 2006 02:00 PM Enjoying the English countryside
The Chiltern Hills is a very picturesque part of England. It’s only about a 1½ from London. There many ways to get to the area i.e. through Aylesbury or Wendover. I was actually staying in Aylesbury and had about a 10 minutes drive before starting the walk. The aim was to complete a 10 mile circuit and probably do part on the Ridgeway. The Ridgeway if a 40 to 50 mile trail around the area, there are many paths which can be quite strenuous or some easier strolls. As we walked I noticed many backpackers along the route, and even though I didn’t pass any campsites, I know there were there. I also noticed some cycle paths, and I’m very tempted to return to the area with my bike to take on some of these routes.
The day started around 10am and the day was very overcast as they had forecast showers. But for one the English weather held out, and it stayed cool throughout the day and then by late afternoon the sun came out. This was perfect as after the walk it was nice just o enjoy the sunshine with a lovely cold drink.
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Apr 27, 2006 02:00 PM Faulty Aircrafts...
It seems to be a joke with my family that I love travelling so much but I’m terrified of flying.
I was recently in the Caribbean when the aircraft I was meant to be travelling back to London in had a problem with the onboard cooling system. As we sat on the runway the temperature rose to +40 degrees, I became increasingly disturbed. The captain tried to reassure us but as we taxied to the runway, the pilot decided he didn’t want to take the risk and we returned to the terminal. We continued to sit there for awhile before we were asked to disembark.
Now it’s amazing what a lack of information can do, when the flight was ready to board again, about 15 passengers decided that they didn’t want to get back on board. It took the pilot returning to the terminal to talk them into getting back on board. But then a funny thing happened. After everyone was on board the pilot announced that owing to aviation law he was now entitled to a mandatory 12 hours off.
So we were carted off the aircraft again and checked into hotels at the expense of the airline.
I’m not sure what fellow travellers’ take is on aircrafts that develop faults as they are about to take off, but this scares the life out of me, especially when they don’t provide sufficient information to appease us.
Rationally I think that the pilot doesn’t want to die, and he doesn’t want to kill his crew and passengers so the aircraft should be fit for service; but then I don’t know his mindset. Last year a week before I took a Virgin flight home, news broke that the pilot was found swinging in his hotel room. Now who’s to say when someone snaps?
When we finally go to board the aircraft, we start seeing black smoke coming out of the midsection, as a roar of nervous laughter echoes around. I’m thinking you couldn’t pay me enough to get back on that plane.
But sufficed to say, I got back on the aircraft, as the smoke was coming from a vehicle next to the aircraft. The turbulence started at take off and stopped when the landing gears came down, resulting in a couple of times that stewardesses were asked to take their seats. On arriving into Gatwick I saw a line of fire engines along to runway (poised for any disaster) as we touched down with an awful thud. This was the longest 9 hours in my life!
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Mar 25, 2006 07:00 PM Return to Valle D'Aosta
I learnt to ski in a small alpine village called La Thuile in the Italian Alps, right on the border of France; some ten years ago while I was still studying. It was intriguing to return, but surprisingly the village hadn’t changed, except maybe the number traditional stone roofs had decreased, but it still had its charm.
Essentially there seem to be more hotels with a few more shops. As I pulled up to the apartments I stayed in I had that lovely deja vu feeling.
It was even nice going up the mountain and travelling in the new Gondolas instead of the slow cable cars, or using the express chairlifts, I’m sure they now carry more than double the people and half of the time. Now that’s what I call progress.
When travelling, my motto is never return to a place twice (especially if I’m paying for it), but this was different; it was more about enjoying the experience then finding new ones. I was happy the at main reason why I returned hadn’t changed, the accommodation was still close to gondolas, still great runs, no crowds, good instructors, but the ‘piste’ du resistance wonderful views, and incredible fresh air. Perfect.
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Feb 27, 2006 07:00 PM Two Nil...
On a cold February evening (-4 degrees centigrade at the start of the match) I went to watch Iceland play a World Cup Friendly against Trinidad and Tobago, the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup since its inceptions.
I saw eleven Caribbean men run on to the field, cold and when they should have been wishing they weren’t there, they were there and proud of their achievement.
Half time was very entertaining for the men – eye candy, as girls came on the pitch wearing nothing but a thong, a bikini and a headdress. The entertainment was carnival masqueraders gyrating to the sounds of calypso music; as today in Trinidad was Carnival Day, and every true Trinidadian always wishes they there on the island for that event. But five minutes into the girls dancing, the crowd started heckling ‘you need to go and put some clothes on’, or ‘your mother never told you to take a coat with you.
As I surveyed the grounds what struck me were the empty Icelandic seats – the stands were bear. Of the 7,800 supporters who turned up less than two hundred of them were Icelandic supporters.
For my first live football match I completely enjoyed the atmosphere, and the ‘Soca Warriors’ did us proud scoring two goals. Dwight Yorke, the captain, scored in the first and second half after the crowd started chanting ‘we want it, we want a goal’. A magical evening for me, as I won’t be going to Germany to cheer the Soca Warriors on.
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