0 Mailbag Monday: May 10, 2010

I know you are big fans of The Amazing Race. What did you think of the finale?

-Nick, Brooklyn, NY USA

From day 1 we were big fans of the cowboys (who wasn't?), so it was disappointing to see them get so close and fail to seal the deal. The Rhode Island brothers, though, pulled out a great last leg  (save for the idiotic fighting over their place in line at the ticket counter which was made moot by the brilliant move to first class which may have single-handedly won them a million dollars) and we're happy for them. Jordan's fandom of the show really paid off, and Dan's reference to Boston sports made us happy.

But honestly, what we cared about most last night was that Brent and Caite NOT win. They wised up throughout the race and ran a lot smarter at the end, but they were whiny, snarky, bigoted, and overall miserable people who we did not want to see $1 million dollars. Hopefully more people will recognize Caite now not for her botched Miss Teen USA speech but for her meanness on The Amazing Race.

We're independent travelers, but Africa, let alone extended overland travel in Africa, seems best done with a guide. I know you had concerns about car-jacking, which thankfully, were not realized. I'm also concerned about the infrastructure (driving or busing) outside of South Africa. Not to mention self-guided safaris, and not just for safety concerns, but also just missing out on what could have been seen with a guide. Did you omit much of Africa for these same reasons? Should we hold off on including this on our round the world trip until we have some jingles to throw down for Africa done proper (Have you looked at some of the Intrepid Travel - Africa trips? Drool-worthy.)?

-Breanna and Jake, Madison, WI

Africa was totally incredible. Safari...there are no words. But we did come to the realization that we weren't going to be able to do that much there since the costs were so high. Independent travel just isn't much of an option there. It's also the kind of trip you need to really plan ahead, in a way that we couldn't do from hotel rooms in southeast Asia. Originally we wanted to do a big overland safari from Victoria Falls through Botswana and Namibia to Cape Town, but it was just way too expensive. We decided that some day we'll go back when we can really spend the money and plan everything right. I hate to say skip it for now, but especially if you are on a tight budget it might be the most practical option.

0 Mailbag Monday: February 22, 2010

I'm planning a trip to watch three soccer games for the World Cup. My itinerary goes from Minneapolis - Johannesburg (overnight) to later drive or fly to to Nelspruit, three/for days there; then back to Johannesburg (another two/three days) then to Bloemfontein for two days. Would you recommend renting a car to drive or just fly between those cities? Any other useful website that you might now regarding South Africa hotels would be greatly appreciated.
Wilmer F., Minneapolis, MN USA

Sounds like you have a great trip ahead of you--we're so jealous you'll get to attend World Cup matches! In general, renting a car for this itinerary will be more economical. You can get a rental for as low as $350 for nine days, add another $150 if you want an automatic. (Katrina had a stick shift for years, but the prospect of using her left hand to shift gears while making sure she was staying on the left side of the road was a bit too daunting.) Add about $150 for

gas and tolls for your intended route. If you fly, expect to pay an average of $300 per round trip flight plus another $200 to get to and from the airport and whatever other transport you'll need, and you are at $800 for flying instead of $500 or $650 to drive. If you have company on your travels, that will only add to your savings in renting a car.

We drove all the routes in your plan and in general, the roads are in pretty good shape. They alternate between being two-lane and four-lane highways. There is very little lighting, though, so avoid driving at night if possible. Of course during the World Cup traffic could be a huge problem, so that is something to consider. But figuring out other transport once you're in a city if you don't have a car could be a bit nightmarish.

We stayed in Formula 1 hotels in both Nelspruit and Bloemfontein and can definitely recommend them. They have the most consistent standard among budget hotels and were often the cheapest thing in town--believe us, we spent lots of time shopping around. They offer the bare bones: a double bed and single upper bunk, a TV, and a bar of soap. But it's basically everything you need.

We're airline people and have a chance to hit a few spots in Southeast Asia this October. We prefer starting in Hong Kong or Bangkok. We have fab hotel deals for Conrad Singapore and Grand Millennium KL, so thinking about doing one or both. Our other option is skip Malaysia and go to Northern Thailand, then Siem Reap. I'm a foodie, he's history, both culture. We're in our 50's and we like upscale. What to do, what to do?

Shelley, Northern Kentucky, USA

Of those countries in Southeast Asia, our favorite was Cambodia, followed by a Thailand/Malaysia tie, and Singapore in last. So we'd recommend doing the Thailand-Cambodia option. The food in Thailand is amazing; if you can stand it, order your dishes "Thai style" to try some of the spiciest dishes ever. Both Thailand and Angkor Wat should give you a great big culture and history fill. In Siem Reap, shop around for a tuk tuk driver with good English skills who can double as your tour guide--some of them are very knowledgeable and can give you a much deeper appreciation of the temples.

Malaysia is rich with interesting history and culture, but Singapore is the most western feeling spot in Southeast Asia, and a bit boring compared to the others. We will say, though, that the Singapore Conrad Centennial is a pretty amazing hotel--the nicest we've ever stayed in.

Cambodia overall is the cheapest of these destinations, so you can live pretty well during your stay. Siem Reap has a huge variety of hotels and I'm sure you could stay in a five-star place for comparable rates to the Conrad. The Pavillion d'Orient is supposed to be super nice.

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4 Cape Town, South Africa

After a week of ambling through the southwest we arrived in Cape Town on Christmas Eve. Gorgeous, sparkling Cape Town. Flanked by miles of shimmering shoreline, there are many ways to enjoy your time along the water. Restaurants and tourist shops define the bustling Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (yes Alfred, not Albert), an unadorned yet very entertaining putt putt course occupies Green Point, and there are plenty of white sand beaches to choose from in all directions. We even found penguins twenty minutes south in Simon's Town! Now we saw a lot of animals on safari, but we never expected to find penguins in Africa. They seem to have gotten a better deal than their arctic cousins, waddling around in their little tuxedos on the sunny, sandy shore.

The best waterfront destination, however, is the Cape of Good Hope. It felt as if we just might be at the edge of the world. We hiked out to the southwesternmost point in Africa, looking down the cliffs to the crashing waves of the Atlantic ten stories below. It was fun to think that home was just across the pond...only a few thousand miles away. To a certain extent we found the best way to experience Cape Town was to just drive and take in the awesome scenery all around. Imagine taking the most scenic bend of the road on the Pacific Coast Highway and creating an entire peninsula based on that panoroma. Cape Town...more like Gape Town.

To get a 360 degree helping of Cape Town we took a cable car up to the top of iconic Table Mountain, which is about as aptly named as sprinter Usain Bolt. It was a thrilling ride racing up along the sheer cliffs of the massive mound, the car turning all the while to maximize views. Our plan was to head up for sunset and we were surprised, delighted, and slightly bewildered to find out that after 6pm tickets are half price. Why should we pay less for the city's best panoramic of the pink and orange sunset sky? Because it's freaking cold up there, that's why! It was like another season at the top of the mountain, and we had to be careful not to be blown away as we anxiously prayed for the sun to dip below the horizon.

View more pictures from Cape Town here.

4 Southern Cape, South Africa

When we decided to drive across South Africa, we didn't know that 90% of the highways are two-lane roads. We didn't realize that car theft is common enough to warrant its own cautionary traffic sign of "Hijacking Hotspot." And most of all we weren't prepared for the havoc on the roadways--traffic accidents, often fatal, routinely led off the hourly news and we even witnessed a pedestrian bounce off a driver's windshield just hours after leaving Johannesburg.

Yes, there were many moments we questioned our decision to roadtrip South Africa. But then we wouldn't have gotten to see the slow transition from the arid terrain in South Africa's own "red center" to the lush, green of the south. When we started in Kruger, our scenery was limited to a flat, if not rolling, expanse of bush for miles, with an occasional crop of little houses marking a town. We reached civilization in Johannesburg and took a break at the Apartheid Museum before continuing our drive south until dark. Things became more and more vibrant as we neared the coast and once we reached Port Elizabeth, both human and plant life spotting were now regular.

To get from the beach town of Port Elizabeth to the city of Cape Town there are the two popular options of the Garden Route and the Wine Route. We did a little of column A and column B and branded it with our own nickname, the Superlative Route, due to all of its claims to fame: world's highest commercial bungee jump; world's largest collection of seashells; world's longest wine route, etc, etc.

The sand dunes in Alexandria may not have been the world's tallest, but they were very cool nonetheless. It took us a while to find the trailhead in the middle of a small residential neighborhood with enough grass space for about three cars to park, but once we did we had no trouble following the cute little signs with pictures of cannons on them to mark the Cannon Trail through the woods. After a few miles the trees cleared and we were in the middle of a valley of sand dunes towering three stories high. We were all alone and had free reign to run up and down and all around. The cannons led us back along the beach, where we took an icy dip in the Indian Ocean along the way. As opposed to the Southeast Asian beaches we'd been frequenting filled with other tourists and hawkers, it was incredible to be somewhere so vacant.

Knysna is home to the "world's most dangerous harbor" which we opted to view safely from above at The Heads instead of by boat. We also hiked through the Valley of Ferns and ate up some of their famous oysters at The Knysna Oyster Company. They don't advertise the world's nicest people but perhaps they should--our hostess at Beauchamp Place was wonderfully warm, friendly, and informative.

We loved our stay at Best Little Guesthouse in Oudtshoorn as well. This is the "ostrich capital of the world", so we stopped off at Highgate Ostrich Farm to get the scoop. The tour started out with some bird facts and feather craft demonstrations, but then escalated quickly. We got to feed the hungry animals, who viciously zeroed in on the seeds in our palms causing minor injury, before hopping on to go for a ride. Patrick got a feisty one and ended up in a pile of hay.

And then the experts showed us how it's done in an ostrich race! We bet on #2 and won--wishing we'd had that same luck back at Happy Valley in Hong Kong.

The world's longest wine route did not disappoint. We stopped for a delectable cheese platter at La Montanara outside of Ashton, a five variety sampler of whites and reds at Morgenhof Estate and a few glasses at Ernie Els's winery in Stellenbosch. As advertised, their flagship Big Easy bordeaux was "like Ernie, big in stature but gentle in character." Along the route we also stopped in for a private Christmas Eve tour of the "world's largest brandy cellar" at KWV House of Brandy. With our winery expertise honed in Mendoza, it was neat to learn what some more distillation can do. We saw "the potstills glow with the luminous promise of eternity" per their brochure--and the liquor was pretty darn tasty, too.

View more pictures from the Southern Cape here.

5 Kruger National Park, South Africa

Lions and leopards and rhinos, oh my! Upon arrival in Africa we got right down to business and drove from our landing point in Johannesburg to Kruger National Park for safari fun. This expansive frontier in the northeast corner of South Africa is about the size of Massachusetts with the most notable and profound difference being there are wild animals roaming around. Humans have a strict curfew of 6:30pm and are required to stay in their vehicles when outside the camps so as not to become the happy hour special.To make the most of our time we went on two camp-run safari drives and a sunrise bush walk. The walking was only permitted because we were accompanied by two very experienced park guides--who themselves were accompanied by two very large rifles. This was undoubtedly the best few hours of our safari experience. After driving through the pitch black predawn hours to the bush, Guide Opa gave us a safety briefing about walking silently in a single file line, doing everything he and Eric told us, and never turning our backs or running from a lion. Before he even finished, Eric, who had wandered from the group, motioned us over to show us a pride of lions closeby--maybe 50 meters away, definitely within mauling distance. It was terrifying. And oh so cool. We all hopped back into the safari jeep and Opa drove us for an up close and personal visit, literally spitting distance from the lounging kings of the jungle. But aside from close encounters of the absurd kind, we had a peaceful morning walk through the dew-covered African wilderness. Eric and Opa taught us enough fun facts about creatures from dung beetles to migratory birds to impress even Cliff Clavin.

We had some of the most fun on our own self-drives which encompassed most of the daylight hours. Puttering along the road at a snails pace looking for animals was like taking part in a huge game in pursuit of huge game. Over the course of the four days we spent in the park we saw zebras, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, wild dogs, impalas, warthogs, baboons, monkeys, antelopes, chameleons, and ostriches. We were also fortunate enough to roll a yahtzee and spy the "Big 5": buffaloes, elephants, rhinos, and a lone leopard in addition to the aforementioned lions. The moniker was originally coined by game hunters to label the five toughest beast to kill but now serves as the African safari Holy Grail.

Our private bungalow at Skukuza Rest Camp was a perfect place to come home to after safari each day. The patio kitchen allowed us to cook for ourselves for the first time in months! What better way to detox from two and a half months of Asian food than with pounds upon pounds of pasta? All washed down, of course, with delicious and cheap South African wine. Mmmmm.

View more pictures from Kruger National Park here.