Tag Archives: africa

South Africa

History Lesson in Johannesburg

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After our idyllic stay in Vilankulo, we flew to Johannesburg, South Africa.

To be honest, I wasn’t that amped about visiting Jo’burg. It has something of a rough reputation. As someone who lived in New York for five years and Chicago (which has more than its share of gun violence) for three years before that, however, I always take breathless warnings about big city crime with a grain of salt. I’ve found that if you are smart about where you are going, discrete with your valuables, and aware of your surroundings, you’re generally going to be fine.

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Marc atop the ramparts at the Old Fort prison complex, with the Hillbrow Tower in the background.

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15 Things We’ve Learned During Our First Month in Africa

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It’s our one-month travelversary!  Here are 15 random things that we’ve learned thus far after a month on the ground in Africa:

1. We probably brought too much stuff.  And, yet, I neglected to bring a single pair of shorts or a t-shirt.

2. How to drive on the left-hand side of the road.  (Otherwise known as the wrong side of the road.)

3. How to tell the difference between a white rhinoceros and a black rhinoceros.  It’s all in the shape of the mouth.

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These are white rhinos.

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Mozambique

Buses, Chapas, & Ferries: How to Get from Maputo to Tofo to Vilankulo

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When we arrived in Maputo, we had a vague idea that we could reach Tofo and Vilankulo “by bus,” but we did not have the details down. The process seemed fuzzy at times, and our best information came from reading the accounts – sometimes several years old – of other travelers. In the hope that it might help others plan their travel through southern Mozambique, here is how we made the journey:

Maputo to Tofo.  As we have mentioned before, we took the Fatima’s Backpackers shuttle from Maputo to Tofo. Although Fatima’s does not actually operate the shuttle, it contracts with a local minibus operator to make the journey directly (albeit not nonstop) to Tofo. The shuttle leaves from Fatima’s Backpackers in Maputo around 5:00 a.m.1 and arrives at Fatima’s Nest in Tofo sometime in the early afternoon. (After leaving Fatima’s, the shuttle goes to the Maputo bus station to pick up more passengers before departing hopefully an hour or so later, and also stops a couple of times along the way at petrol stations for refueling, toilet breaks, and the purchase of refreshments.) The journey costs 700 mets per person, which is a decent price considering that taking the Fatima’s shuttle saves you the trouble of i) getting yourself to the bus station in Maputo – which was nowhere near where were staying, ii) locating, and then getting yourself and your baggage2 onto a bus heading to or through Maxixe, iii) taking the ferry across the bay to Inhambane, and iv) catching a chapa3 from Inhambane to Tofo.

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Actually, mayonnaise is one of the only foods that I do not love. (Happily, this is a South African brand of drinkable yogurt that we purchased as a snack for the Maputo-Tofo journey.)

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Mozambique

Sailing (& Snorkeling) Around the Bazaruto Archipelago

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As some of you may know, I’m not much of a snorkeler. I’ve never demonstrated much success in keeping water out of my snorkel and, by extension, my mouth.

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Sailing around the Bazaruto Archipelago

My first snorkeling experience was during a trip to Cancun during Spring Break 2002. There were so many people in the water that I got lost from my group (everyone pretty much looks the same when all you can see is a snorkel and the tip of some fins), and, distracted by this concern, I tried to swim under a school of fish. I ended up gulping down such a huge quantity of salt water that, when I was finally reunited with my group and back on the boat, I was sick the whole way back to land.

I tried snorkeling in Mexico once again during Spring Break 2006, with only slightly more success. When all my friends (new law school friends, not friends who had been present for my first snorkeling disaster) jumped into the water, I hung back. It wasn’t until they were all waiting in the water, looking at me expectantly, that I finally admitted, “I don’t really like water. Or fish.” I finally forced myself off the boat, but I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed the activity. I distinctly remember thinking Thank God as I grasped the ladder to pull myself back onto the boat.

I haven’t snorkeled since then, but I’ve gone diving in no less than three continents, and, if I can remove and replace my mask while under water, I can certainly handle some snorkeling. Right? Continue reading Sailing (& Snorkeling) Around the Bazaruto Archipelago →

Planning

Anywhere But Here: How We Chose Africa

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In less than a month, we will be in Africa.  I know, I kind of can’t believe it myself.  Our itinerary is far from set (note the conspicuous absence of any “Our Itinerary” posts or pages), but we’ve drawn a fuzzy, imaginary line through Southern and Eastern Africa in a close approximation of a Cape Town-to-Cairo trek.

One of the questions we are most frequently asked (besides “Have you gotten all your vaccinations?”) is how we chose Africa.

The answer: not easily.  When we first began seriously considering the idea of taking a career break to travel, we didn’t have anywhere in particular in mind.  When friends would ask where we were going, we would shrug and respond, “Anywhere but here.”  (Such responses were usually given on days when the Q train was running with delays, we couldn’t find anywhere to eat that didn’t have an hour wait, and/or some sort of cartoon character had impeded my path through Times Square to work.)  

Beyond not knowing where we would go, we didn’t know how to go about making the decision.  In the past, our destinations have been driven largely by how long we have to get away and the cost of the plane ticket to get there (see our trips to Guatemala in 2008 and Istanbul in 2013).  Now, with nothing but time and the price mitigated by the length of our intended stay, we found ourselves unable to make a decision. Continue reading Anywhere But Here: How We Chose Africa →

Planning

It’s Probably Not Snowing in Africa

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Us New Yorkers woke up this morning to find our city covered in alternate piles of dingy snow and shin-deep lakes of slush.  I have a pair of fairly serious snow boots, and not even they permitted me to make it through the enormous slush puddle that had accumulated on the street next to the my apartment.  I had to toddle in traffic alongside its edges like everyone else.  For reasons that mystify me, the snow/slush also threw a wrench in the public transportation system, and this morning’s commute was one of the worst in recent memory.  (I’m adding Sorry My Arm Is On Your Head, and Other Stories About the Suspension of Human Dignity on Public Transportation to my list of imaginary subway-related books titles.)

By the time I got to work, I was a bit frazzled.  “You wouldn’t believe the subway this morning,” I complained to a colleague.  “It was so crowded, this woman just wrapped her hand around mine on the pole like my hand wasn’t even there.  And I couldn’t even cross the street because of the slush!”

“It’s probably not snowing in Africa,” my colleague reminded me.

And she’s right.  It’s 81-degrees with 0% precipitation in Maputo, Mozambique right now.

And do you know where we’ll be in just over one month’s time?  If you said Maputo, Mozambique, you’re right!

After months and months (if not years) of idle dreaming about escaping the corporate grind, we are finally leaving our large law firm jobs and embarking on some traveling.  We don’t have a definite itinerary (which, after years of deadlines, is something of a relief, even for a Type-A Virgo like myself), but we’ve got a vague plan of exploring Africa.  We have ample time and curiosity, so we’ll see where things take us.

Have suggestions for Africa?  Leave us a note in the comments!

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