After three months in Asia and a variety of adventures, it was off to Africa for more adventures and some animal encounters! Everyone was heartbroken to leave the hospitality of Tonya and Max in Abu Dhabi but the Dark Continent was waiting for us. We had read mixed reviews of the Saudi airline but our flight from Abu Dhabi to Jeddah was great – not too crowded and a fine selection for in-flight entertainment. Unfortunately the red eye from Jeddah to Johannesburg wasn’t as pleasant. Not crowded but no movies/tv at all. A double edged sword as the kids all got some sleep which is always a bonus. I did not get much sleep but did read a few good books…..The big surprise was the TimHortons ( a Canadian donut and coffee chain) in the Jeddah departures lounge…..
We plan to spend 3 months here in southern Africa, focussing on South Africa, Namibia and the Victoria Falls area. That is the plan….let’s see how it works out. Johannesburg will be our hub as it is the major flight centre for the south of Africa. We will fly mid January from Joburg to São Paulo. Getting around through South Africa will involve a cool system called the Baz Bus. It is a hop-on hop-off bus system that takes you door to door from a backpackers hostel to another and you have a few choices of accommodation at each venue. In a place with high crime, it saves us walking about with all our belongings on our back looking for a place to stay.
For certain parts of South Africa – The Kruger Game Park area in particular, we will rent a car. We will do this for parts of Namibia as well For the rest we will use local buses or trains.
I travelled southern Africa back in 2001 and I an super excited to be back.