I’m pleased to announce to anyone who doesn’t already know that in just over a week, I’ll be departing on my next travel adventure. This one will take me to the southwestern tip of a continent I’ve long neglected in my travels to date: Africa.
It’s not that I’ve been avoiding visiting Africa. Quite the contrary, in fact. This trip has been on my dream list for a long time. But, other than a tour of Morocco in 2010 — which, let’s be fair, is really North Africa and thus doesn’t really count — I haven’t had the happy convergence of budget, time and resources to get it together to travel there.
Until now, that is.
This trip will be a two-parter. The first half will be spent based in and around Cape Town, a city that gleans rave reviews from just about everyone I know who’s been there. I have no specific plans booked, but a mile-long list of recommendations and advice for stuff to do and see. If I even scratch the surface, I figure I’ll be doing well.
Then, I plan to hop a flight north to Windhoek, and spend the second half of my trip on an organized camping safari around Namibia. Yep, that’s right, despite my ambivalence, I’m going back on tour. It’s a compromise, like many things are; Namibia’s vast distances and my limited time make the prospect of independent travel around the country enticing but not very practical. To mitigate the risks, I’ve elected to book with a local operator that runs small group trips and gets good reviews from indie travellers, so I’m hoping for the best.
One day, the media powers-that-be will decide to give me my own travel show and pay me millions of dollars to traipse around the world getting rich and famous. But until then, you’re stuck reading this blog to get updates. As usual, I’ll be sharing stories and photos from the road, and I invite you to follow along with me.
Have a great trip! I can’t wait to read about your adventures and see some photos.