This has been an incredible year! After 6 months of travel, we are ready to begin the new year by switching continents. That’s right; we are finally leaving Europe in February! It is exciting and a bit nerve-wracking as we have a lot of planning to do. How did we get to this point? Let us review our year of 2019 in photos and a video.
Visiting some of the native tribes was a must for us. It felt important to understand the cultural roots of Namibia and the primitive peoples. The history and way of life of the Himba was fascinating. They live a life without cell phones, cars, or even electricity. Everything in the village was made by hand. Sure, they are still plenty touched by modern life, but they try to stick to their roots and culture as much as possible. This is how to visit the Himba and what you can expect.
Hello once again to another installment of our adventures around the world! We’ve been posting a lot about Africa (did you read our story about driving 8 hours out of our way to find big cats or how we were robbed in Cape Town?), so a lot of folks think we’re still there. The truth is, we have been in Europe now for about a month, but we’re soooo far behind on our blog posts (but we’ll catch up!). If you want to keep up with where we are actually at and what we’re currently doing, I recommend you follow us on social media – where we post regularly – or sign up for our newsletter where we send out periodic updates on what we’re up to!
In the meantime, we’re taking a break from the Africa posts this week to bring you a taste of Europe (don’t worry; we have lots more to share from Africa, so stay tuned!). When looking at Europe after Namibia, we scoured the interwebs for the cheapest airfare. Probably due to the large German influence in Namibia, Frankfurt came up as the best option. Germany, it is!
And as you know, funds are tight, and we’re always looking for ways to save money while traveling. Fortunately, many cities in Europe offer discount cards. We had our first opportunity to take advantage of this in Frankfurt, and it certainly helped us enjoy the city!
On our second day in Sesriem, we woke up to bust down the gate at 6:45 am. Our mission was to get to Deadvlei as early as possible so we could get pictures before the masses arrived. We would have loved to get there in time for sunrise, but it is at the farthest point in the park.
The sky was still dark for most of the hour-long drive. It really felt like a race to get there, all visitors vying to lead the pack down the single, 65km road. Posted signs indicate a 60kph speed limit, but the early risers floored it through the park at nearly twice that, racing the sun.
The drive was enjoyable as our excitement was building for the day to come. We were warned that the last 5km was for 4×4 only, but we felt confident. When we got off the pavement and onto the sand we had good momentum, and I thought we could make it just fine. That was until the truck in front of us started to slow down. They got stuck… and then we did too. What do we do now?
After six days in Etosha National Park, we failed to spot any big cats – and this was what I had dreamt about when envisioning an African safari! Therefore, we took matters into our own hands and went to the one place we could guarantee a sighting of these magnificent creatures: Okonjima Nature Reserve.
Cape Town is a vibrant city with a mix of cultures, beautiful landscapes, beaches, and plenty of activities. With these activities, you should be able to get a good feel for the Mother City and what it is all about. We’ve included activity costs and some safety precautions to help you plan your trip. Here are our 8 fun things to do in Cape Town.
We are back in the world of internet, so we’re catching up with some of our African adventures!
We started our worldwide trek with two weeks in the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa. With a photogenic curving coastline and a variety of activities to offer – from penguins and wine to hiking and history – we were excited for this first stop in a new continent.
One of the main attractions we were looking forward to was ascending the centerpiece of the city: Table Mountain. We were there long enough to climb it twice, and each was a unique experience. Which method would you prefer?
One of the main attractions in Namibia is the enormous sand dunes. The tallest in Namibia and the world is Dune 7 located near Swakopmund. It is a whopping 383 meters (1,256 feet) tall. We missed this one to see big cats (a must – post coming soon!), so we climbed Big Daddy Dune instead at about 325m (1,000′). This choice was the best at the time and we have no regrets.
Continue reading “Climbing our First Sand Dune in Namibia – Big Daddy Dune”
Happy Independence Day to our American readers!
We’ve been on the road for two weeks now, and our first leg is drawing to a close. We’ll be sharing more posts on the beautiful city of Cape Town and the many amazing activities to do while visiting, but first, we wanted to address safety.
Many people warned us against visiting South Africa. And while we took precautions, we still wound up victims. This is our story of being robbed in Cape Town, and how you can learn from our mistake.
Continue reading “We Were Robbed While Traveling – How You Can Learn from Our Mistake”
As I am writing this, we are two days out from getting on our first flight to Cape Town South Africa. It has been quite a scramble getting ready for this trip, and it feels like we will never be truly ready. From the packing to the planning, it has been a bit brutal at times. All the hard work is about to pay off. With three years in the making, we’ve finally begun our world trip! And this is where.
