The island nation of Palau is located about 500 miles east of Manilla in the Philippines and about a 2 hour flight from Guam. A number of airlines fly to Palau including United, Delta and China Air. There are numerous flights from Japan. Local car rental companies maintain offices in the small arrivals lounge of the International airport. Unlike some airports where you find only major car rental companies and or more expensive pricing - these … [Read more...]
Malealea Lodge – Lesotho
This remote lodge is located just under 2000 meters in the mountains of Southwest Lesotho (the land locked country within South Africa). Because of its isolated location it is a destination in and of itself. It is peaceful here - the wind blows through the pines and the air is fresh. Delicious mountain air becomes even more invigorating to breathe after a heavy rain. The highlight of a stay is the fact that it is remote - coupled with a … [Read more...]
Ngoma Safari Lodge Botswana
Ngoma Safari Lodge is located on the edges of Chobe National Park in Botswana. This fairly new property opened in May 2011 and was officially dedicated in July 2011 with his Excellency, Botswana's President Seretse Khama Ian Khama attending the opening ceremonies. This is isolated luxury at its finest and rawest; the lodge is accessible by any of 3 dirt roads - which are more like 4wd tracks among the bush - there are no signs and you must … [Read more...]
We are in Namibia!
I have acquired a Namibian souvenir in the form of a haircut or perhaps, lack of hair. That is what I get for going into an African barber - leave with a totally shaved head - most of the people here have very short hair. So now I fit in well. We are in the Caprivi Strip - a narrow band of the country bordered by Angola, Zambia and Botswana. It has a convoluted history - at times under Italian, German and South African control. Namibia became … [Read more...]
The Power & Beauty of Sub Saharan Africa
Upon finalizing my flights to South Africa from Bangkok, I told a good friend who has traveled extensively in Africa that I would kiss the African soil for him. He replied, "Kiss Africa's ground for me, but remember: Africa always wins. No matter how much you try to make sense of all the nonsense, it'll never make sense. Thus Africa wins." Winning or not, the unpredictability of adventure travel in Sub Saharan Africa has always appealed to me … [Read more...]
Chobe National Park
Today we visited the interior of Chobe National Park with our intrepid guide Shime - a Botswanan who hails from a small village 7 hours away near the city of Maun. We are staying at the luxurious isolated Ngoma Safari Lodge located on the edge of Chobe on the Namibian border. The Chobe game drives are the main activity offered by Ngoma - and along with their lodge, these drives are first class. Their guides are super knowledgeable, have eyes … [Read more...]
Livingstone Zambia
Greetings from the Jollyboy Backpackers Guesthouse. Long gone are the old days of backpacking - where amenities were basic and services on the light side. Here you have excellent Internet access (by sub Saharan Africa standards), a pool, full kitchen and a variety of falls and safari related activities to choose from. The backpackers lodge in Victoria Falls we stayed at even had several onsite masseuses! The "no man's zone" - the area between … [Read more...]
Kruger National Park
If your looking for a Big Game Drive, look no further than the huge Kruger National Park in South Africa. Day visits are the cheapest way to see the park but there are a number of lodges within the park boundaries (more expensive then some of the nearby outside of the park accommodations). We took advantage of our early morning arrival time and drove on dirt roads all day on our own "big game drive". We came across three of the "Big Five" - Cape … [Read more...]
Hlwane National Park Swaziland
We rode into the National Park today in our little Honda Jazz. Many of the roads are more suited for soft 4wd and the park has erected large dirt burms every 20 meters or so on these roads to stop passenger vehicles from driving. That didn't stop us however! We popped over each burm and drove through mud puddles from recent rains - trying to avoid bottoming out the vehicle and or getting stuck. Getting stuck is a bad thing out here - you are in … [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...]
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