The Kingdom of Swaziland is small and you can easily see the major attractions within 4-5 days or longer if you prefer spreading the driving out over a longer period of time. The oldest mine in the world is here and dates back 43,000 years!! Its an iron ore mine and ancient people's use to get hematite and other iron ore for making tools, and coloring for painting in caves. We drove in just after the the visitor center had closed for the day but … [Read more...]
The Rose House Inn – South Africa
The Rose House Inn is a wonderfully restored luxury Bed & Breakfast located about 8 km from the small town of Fouriesburg in eastern part of the Free State in South Africa. The properties' old stone farmhouse was meticulously restored by innkeepers John and Trish Critchley in 2005/2006. Two stand alone cottages were constructed within the expansive gardens and now serve as the primary guest rooms. The main two ingredients in a stay here are … [Read more...]
Nisela Safari Lodge Swaziland!
We arrived at the Nisela Safari Lodge after crossing one of the smaller southern border post crossings. We immediately found ourselves on dirt roads before reaching the main tarred highway leading north. Swaziland is very small and driving distances are not what we had become accustomed to in the much larger country of South Africa. The Nisela Safari Lodge was the perfect stop for us - reaching it at dusk. At first it appeared somewhat … [Read more...]
Southern Mozambique
We arrived in Kosi Bay after about 10 hours of at times stressful driving - from near the Lesotho Border in the Free State of South Africa. We arrived here in the dark of night and promptly made a beeline for the beach on the sandy roads in our 2wd Honda Jaz- looking for lodging - big mistake. There were no lights - and signs indicating hotels located just down the road were misleading as we later found out we were many kilometers from the beach. … [Read more...]
Traffic Riots
Its been a crazy few days in South Eastern Africa! Sitting with John and Trish at Rose House Inn plotting our drive to Mozambique we were discussing how there are no guarantees in Africa. 30 minutes after we left their idyllic location we experienced this "no guarantees" first hand. Our route took us back through the small touristy town of Carens. Only this time as we approached the city limits we were greeted by large rocks strewn across the … [Read more...]
A Hungarian Hotel in Germany
Our heads were fuzzy and our legs like jelly when we left the long, overnight flight from Kansas City to Munich, Germany. After clearing passport control and getting our luggage, my husband and I headed to the rental car area of the airport. Despite our fatigue, we managed the paperwork and check-out with only a minimum of frustration. An hour later, we settled into a Mercedes C Class sedan and made our way out of the city, Ken at the wheel and … [Read more...]
Malealea Lodge, Lesotho
Greetings from Malelea Lodge in the remote hinterlands of the "mountain Kingdom" - the landlocked county of Lesotho (not pronounced how its spelled, rather phonetically you say "Lesootoo"). The country has the highest mountains in Southern Africa and receives significant snowfall at the higher elevations in the winter. There is even a small ski resort in the eastern part of the country! We drove in from South Africa crossing the border at … [Read more...]
Exhausted in South Africa
We arrived in South Africa with no plans. A quick scan of the airport revealed a number of name brand car rental companies - so we bee-lined for the only Internet Cafe we could find and used one of the online car reservation companies. Within 40 minutes of making our reservation we had signed countless forms and were sitting in our almost brand new Nissan Sentra. This was the only "automatic" transmission vehicle we could find at the entire … [Read more...]
Continent Hopping!
We jetted from Bangkok to Addis Ababa yesterday on Ethiopian Airlines. I wasn't too impressed with the two planes we were on - they were just plain old. Both times I used the restroom the broken doors swung in on me even though it said "occupied" on the outside. The video/light control console was broken on both flights and on the second flight my seat had a scant view of the video screens. But, they just joined Star Alliance in late 2011 so more … [Read more...]
Time Flies – Hanging in LA, upcoming trips
Ooops another month just went by - and haven't updated the blog. Was in Los Angeles again last week enjoying a plethora of activities, very warm weather and very clear skies. See video below taking from Mulholland overlooking the valley. Have a press trip up in Napa starting this weekend - first press trip where I'm actually an expert on the destination - and could easily lead a few of the tours! Then back to town for a week and off on our … [Read more...]
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