Continent #6

I have partnered with GoWay Travel for my 2017 adventure and I couldn't be more thrilled!

I had originally chosen GoWay to get me to Antarctica and while they were dealing with that, they could just take care of the rest as well. Turns out there was some misinformation online and unfortunately I am not going to be able to get to Antarctica in 2017 like originally planned... instead it's South America, baby!

I am now almost a year away from this trip and it's a trip that I am over the moon for!

The itinerary:

Torres Del Paine National Park, Patagonia (Chile)
Amazon (Peru)
Machu Picchu (Peru)
Rio (Brazil)
Iguassu Falls (Brazil)

If you haven't heard of something on the list, google it because those places have me drooling!!

When I planned my Japan/China itinerary I didn't really know what I was getting myself into because I had heard of maybe three or four places, everything else was a surprise. South America has so many places I want to see and to top it all off... my best friend in the entire world is coming with me!!!!

One of the challenges about this trip though is having to pack for so many different climates. On the weather app today it's showing a range of 45 degrees to 80 degrees. At least I knocked out the outliar of - 40 !

More posts to come!

St. Louis

Only a week separated Chicago from St. Louis, but I was more than happy to be traveling again!

I had never been to Missouri so I wanted to add another state to my list while doing some fun things along the way. :)

First and foremost... The Gateway Arch.

Had to go and get some shots of this beauty! 

Tip: St. Louis is ridiculously hot in the summer and the humidity makes everything worse! There were things we wanted to do outside (like the zoo) but decided against them due to the heat. Maybe the fall or spring would be a better time to visit...?

The City Museum was also on my list. City museum is a big playhouse-type museum for adults just as much as kids. (I liked the sound of that!) So much of the museum is made out of repurposed architectural and industrial objects. 

There was plenty of climbing, crawling, and exploring!

I'm a fan of hamster wheels :)

And spinny chairs 

They had a fun rope swing as well.

Last but not least... Shout out to this amazing strawberry kiwi slush! It was so refreshing after the workout we had! And very yummy!! 

I only wish I could go back and have the whole place to myself! (And a group of my friends, of course!) There was so much to do and see... I could have gotten lost in there for hours. I don't know how parents with young children do it... Too many places for kids to get lost in and too many ways to get hurt, but the best place for adults to be kids again! 

Chicago

I haven't written in a while... I also haven't traveled within the states in a while... 

Last week my best girl friend and I went to Chicago for a couple of days! Funny thing is that we both spend more time traveling internationally so it was hard to adjust at first. I kept wanting to ask if there were free refills, free bathrooms, etc. and got super excited when there were. Whenever I heard someone speaking English I wanted to ask them if they were from the states. I looked in all directions when I crossed the street because who knows whether cars drive on the left or right side of the road anymore. And while we were at our hotel we kept having to reassure each other that the water was safe to drink. :)

We stayed in a great location which meant we could walk everywhere we wanted to!! 

We started out with a lovely stroll through millennium park and guess what we found?!

THE BEAN!! 

Last time I was in Chicago the Bean had not been there so I was super excited to take selfies in it :)

We walked to Navy Pier..

Willis (Sears) Tower ...

And even ventured out onto the glass enclosure :)

We had so much time on our hands we spent a lot just walking around the city. 

And look what else we found!

One of my favorite parts though was stumbling across this:

This building had a ton of stone, brick, you name it from all over the world! :) represented in the photo above starting from the top is the House of Parliament (London),  temple in (Cambodia), St. Peter's cathedral (Rome), and pyramid of Giza (Egypt) ! 

All in all, Chicago was a great getaway for a couple of days! 

In other news... I am excited to officially announce that I put my deposit down for South America 2017!!! Chile, Peru, and Brazil are all on the itinerary. And I'm also excited to have a travel buddy for this journey!! :) Antarctica unfortunately didn't make the cut, but I'm working on it! I'll get there eventually...

Anti-malarial pill warning!

I haven't posted since I've been home... I also haven't been well since I've been home. 

Since I ended my trip at the game reserve, I had to take anti-malarial pills...which ended up giving me every single side effect possible. Nausea and vomiting, dizziness, and upper respiratory infection (which I still have) were not fun, but the worst was the insomnia. For two weeks I was only capable of getting 3 consecutive hours of sleep a night with maybe a 45 minute nap somewhere in there. Not cool. 

Good news is that I can now sleep and that I'm already working on THE BIG FINALE -planning for my final two continents. Yes, South America and Antarctica are in the works for next year!! As it currently stands, it'll be Peru, Brazil, and Chile (and Antarctica!!!)... There are many more places I want to go I South America, but I don't have enough time! 

In the meantime, if you or anyone you know are wanting to plan a trip somewhere, let me know! I like talking about these things. :)

Summary

I made it home! 

Before I go into my blog, I wanted to take time to say that my thoughts and prayers are with the airline that went down on the way to Egypt. It's completely devastating and I haven't quite wrapped my around it. I just flew out of the airport in Paris, and as many of you remember, I was contemplating adding Egypt to my itinerary... My heart is broken at the senseless act and for the loss of life. 

Back to my blog... The journey home was rough. Waited 7 hours in the airport, 11 hour plane ride, 6 hours in another airport, 9 hour plane ride... Was up for 40+ hours and ended up getting sick on my last flight. I was completely miserable.  That being said, I am so thankful to be home and for all the support I received while I was away! I checked out my blog stats and had over 1,000 views for this trip alone...so thank you!!

In summary... 

Trip highlights: 

Shark cage diving 

Elephant park 

Cat sanctuary 

Sabi Sabi

Lions head sunset hike 

Cape Town city tour

Snake sanctuary 

Would I have done things differently? Yes, I had a few extra days here and there that I should have made use of exploring another city. I think I tried to force more things into (Cape Town, Plett) than was needed. I also should have flown from Plett to Joburg and cut out the nonsense to Port Elizabeth... Just wasted days doing that.

But I know now... You live and learn, right? It is what it is and for planning everything on my own, I'd say I did alright. :)

This is the longest I've traveled solo and I think it has taken a toll on me a bit. Usually I've met up with people after a certain amount of time, but this was 17 days on my own. Yes, I met people along the way, but it wasn't the same-especially when you're missing someone back home. :(

The scariest part of the trip was ... Myself. I don't think I ever felt scared or unsafe during my time there, but nerves got the best of me before I even went down there. Yes, there were a few moments that made me a little uneasy, but nothing different from what goes on when you walk around downtown.

Some travel links from the trip:

Sabi Sabi Game Reserve

Atlantic Point Hostel in Cape Town

Plett Beachfront Accommodation in Plettenberg Bay

Monkey Land

Knysna Elephant Park

Shark Cage Diving

Baz Bus

The big 5 finale !

I saw the big 5!! Big 5 are the animals pictured below: lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo, and leopard.

One (other) exciting piece of information was that I had 2 private safaris!! Yes, meaning it was just me and the guide and tracker. :) my flight back to joburg was also just me! Had the whole tiny plane to myself! (with the pilots) -the one was in training because he kept looking at a sheet that said what to do during take off and landing, etc. 

This was kind of cool-2 of the 5 big 5 in the same photo! :) 

Saw some giraffe ..

Zebra... 

Lioness at night !

Leopard was the hardest for to find 

But we found her!! :)

Sabi Sabi was great... Very high class and a good way to end the trip. I saw everything I wanted to see minus two characters from lion king -hyena and warthog. :(

For those wondering ...

We woke up at 6 each morning and had safari from 6:30-9:30. There was a walking safari for an hour mid day and then an evening safari from 3:30-6:30. (I think the times vary depending on the season) 

Sometimes we would drive for 30 minutes without seeing anything.. And then maybe we would see one giraffe... And then we would keep driving... And then we would see a herd of elephants... You get the idea.

Part of me was expecting to see a more constant flow of animals and in larger numbers. I was surprised at how many were traveling solo. 

All in all, I'm content and happy with Sabi Sabi as well as my trip as a whole...On my hour some flight back to Johannesburg I started crying. (Ha!) tears already flowing so I should be a nice mess when I get home. That's what happens when you're going to be up for 48 hours... They're happy tears though. :)

Next update will be from home!! 

Saving the best for last!

After a rough couple of days, the past day and a half have made up for it! I flew into Johannesburg and made my way to the airport hotel... Which was so welcome after the last crummy hostel I was in. Next day (Monday) I went to the airport again to fly out to Sabi Sabi game reserve. (Near Kruger national park)

It was a hassle trying to find where to check in and after asking 7 or 8 people and getting pointed in every wrong direction I finally found it. 

Flew Federal Air and let me just say... The lounge was nice!! Comfy couches and plenty of complimentary food and drink.

After an hour flight I made it to Sabi Sabi.

 

My hut:

My bed:

Bath:

Deck:

Can't see it, but I also have a jacuzzi on the deck :)

I had a couple of hours to myself and then I went for my first safari which lasted a few hours.

We were right in the middle of a herd of elephants 

Hippos in the water: 

Saw the African sunset...

Woke up at 6:00 this morning for another safari. The guy on my left, Matt, is my guide and the guy to my right, Moses, is the animal tracker! He has the cool job of sitting on the front of the car and looking for animals! :)

Today we saw 2 male lions:

Rhinos:

Female lions:

Buffalo:

That point in every trip...

As of right now at 9:03am...I'm over it. During every major trip there always comes a time when things don't go well or go as planned... Or things are overwhelming or things just ... stink. This is one of those times for me.

I've really liked my accommodation here in Plett, but I haven't slept hardly at all. There's a film crew staying here and I seem to be woken up from my sleep every 2-3 hours. I have the biggest dark circles under my eyes right now. Then I started thinking about sleep in general and how I will not have had a REAL full nights sleep in a month... And I wanted to cry. 

My big finale, the safari/game reserve,  isn't until Monday and Tuesday... I am so thrilled for that, but I am 110% dreading being up for 40+ hours to travel home. 

Sorry about the complaining, but sometimes these trips aren't all sunshine and rainbows. The pictures and activities might portray something amazing (and they are amazing!) but I'm also at a point of exhaustion and ready for these final days here.

Today I went to Plett Puzzle Park ... For my dad. It was very similar to the one in New Zealand. The downside: It's really no fun to have to do a big maze by yourself. 

Then I went to a Garden Route Wolf sanctuary which was just okay.... They offer guided tours or you can just walk around on your own. I just walked on my own. I think it's similar to the cat sanctuary in which the wolves were previously bred in captivity which meant they couldn't be released into the wild. 

They also had farm animals which are always cute :)

I'm leaving in a bit to go to Port Elizabeth, but I have a feeling tomorrow will be pretty uneventful as well. Monday will be my first day at the game reserve though so I'll probably post again Monday night! (My nighttime) 

Robberg

Woke up today and decided it was a good day to hike. I headed out to Robberg nature reserve which was super nice! They have different trails and I maybe hiked for a couple hours...

And then...I got lost wandering through the city for a couple hours. I was supposed to make a turn at a dolphin roundabout and I made a turn at the whale roundabout. Go figure. 

I hate saying this, but South Africa is no New Zealand... I'm missing some NZ hospitality right about now! Suprisingly though, some of the nicest people I've met have been the taxi drivers... And that was one of my biggest worries coming here!

One more day in Plett and then I'm off again! :)

P.S. I heard AFRICA by Toto playing in a restaurant. Day made!