Africa - Snapshot Chronicles Roadtrip

Johannesburg, South Africa – The Apartheid Museum

October 24, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Sunday September 13, 2009 – Monday September 14, 2009

We arrived in Johannesburg at about 8am. Customs was efficient, as was the greeter from Journeys of Distinction, the travel agency that had arranged our trip. She guided three fairly weary travelers to the shuttle bus for the Southern Sun airport hotel and confirmed that Patrick, our tour guide from Wilro Tours, would pick us up promptly at 1pm for our visit to the Apartheid Museum.

Yes, we were tired but it’s always a good idea to get on local time as quickly as possible. I wanted to visit the Apartheid Museum, and the first day was our only window of time in JoBurg for sightseeing. Mum and Doug were kind enough to go with me, although I suspect they would have been just as happy relaxing by the pool. It turned out just fine though; they really enjoyed chatting with Patrick while I meandered through the exhibits.

When you purchase your ticket at the Apartheid Museum, you are given a token representing a racial identity and you enter the museum through the appropriate door (pictured above.)

Once inside the museum building, you follow a timeline of South African history that explains the roots, impact and aftermath of apartheid. I think the thing that astounded me the most was how narrow the victory was for the apartheid forces in 1948. If the opposition had been less fractured, South African history might have been very different. There was also a special exhibit devoted to Nelson Mandela.

We were there for about two hours but I could have spent a whole day. Photography is prohibited inside the museum, but I took a few pictures of the exterior. On the way back, Patrick took us on a brief tour of the city, pointing out historical and cultural landmarks.

We wrapped up the day with dinner at our hotel, and an early night. Needless to say no one had trouble sleeping!

Recommendation: I highly recommend the Southern Sun OR Tambo. The rooms are pretty standard for a luxury airport hotel, but the food and the service are far better than I have experienced in similar properties in the US and UK. When we left fairly early the following morning to catch our flight to Livingstone, Zambia, we were privileged to hear the housekeeping staff chorus that starts every day with a song or three.

The picture at left is a display at the Out of Africa store at the departure gates at OR Tambo. It gave us a bit of inspiration for the next stop on our trip: Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls.

The road to Africa – Boston to JFK NY to Johannesburg

October 11, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Friday September 11 – Sunday September 13, 2009

Our long awaited trip to Africa started with a long wait for our flight from Boston to JFK airport in New York. We were supposed to leave Boston around 2pm, but didn’t leave until 6. For a 45 minute flight.

Luckily, our flight to South Africa didn’t leave until the following morning at 11:30am, so unlike many other travelers on our NY-bound flight, we weren’t panicked about a connection that evening. All we had to do was find the airport Holiday Inn and get a little supper.

For a scary moment at the bag claim at JFK, we thought my bag didn’t make it. The belt stopped, and so did my heart, just a little. About 5 minutes later, it started up again and voila, there was my bag.

The United/South African Airways codeshare flight from JFK to Johannesburg is non-stop to South Africa. Fifteen hours in the air. That’s a long time. A very long time. On the way back, it stops to refuel in Dakar, which amazingly enough is the half-way point. Makes you appreciate just how big the African continent is. That flight clocks in at more than 17 hours with the one-hour ground stop.

The food is okay. It was much better on the way over than on the way back, but if I were to do such a long haul again, I would bring some snacks. I would also purchase extra water at the airport. I always bring at least one bottle of water and sometimes a soda too. I’d bring more next time. The flight attendants do try to bring enough by, but it is nowhere near enough to keep you well hydrated.

We arrived at about 8am or so Sunday morning. Passport control and customs were smooth sailing and at the meeting area, we had no trouble spotting the representative from Journeys of Distinction. She gave us our itinerary and vouchers and guided us to the shuttle for the Southern Sun airport hotel.

A little tired, a little thirsty and more than a little excited, we were off on our African adventure.

Countdown to Africa

September 7, 2009 by Susan Getgood

In less than a week, we will be boarding a plane for a 15 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. I hope to be able to post at least every other day.

Here’s our itinerary:

Friday Sept 11: Boston to NY JFK. Staying overnight at airport Holiday Inn.

Saturday Sept. 12: NY to Johannesburg

Sunday Sept. 13: Arrive Johannesburg in am. Plan to visit Apartheid Museum in afternoon.

Monday Sept. 14: Depart for Livingstone, Zambia – Victoria Falls. We haven’t made any specific plans for the time in Livingstone as yet. We plan to get the lay of the land and take it easy for the nearly two days we’ll be there.

Wednesday Sept. 16: Depart for Johannesburg. This is basically a layover night at an airport hotel.

Thursday Sept. 17: Flight to Polokwane, South Africa, followed by a 2+ hour drive to the Pont Drift Border Post on the Botswana border, and then to Mashatu Main Camp.

Sunday Sept. 20: Flight to MalaMala Game Reserve in South Africa via light aircraft.

Tuesday Sept. 22: Depart for Johannesburg, and then in the evening, Johannesburg to NY

Wednesday Sept. 23: Arrive JFK NY in the morning. Once we’re through customs, we’ll catch a shuttle back to Boston.

Our Africa Reading List

August 28, 2009 by Susan Getgood

While we were able to find a great deal of information about southern Africa on the Internet, as mum noted in her post last week, we are a family of readers so it wasn’t surprising that we started to dig for books about the area and the animals we were going to see.

Here’s a short list of book we’ve found entertaining and useful in the planning process.

Fodor’s The Complete African Safari Planner, 1st Edition: With Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa & Tanzania (Full-Color Gold Guides) Very useful for planning, especially the checklists in the back and the section on Victoria Falls. We started with the basic plan to visit Mashatu in Botswana, so we didn’t need all the information about the other destinations as much as you might if you were starting from a blank slate, but if you do, it’s in this book. We probably won’t bring it with us, though. Our itinerary is pretty settled and it’s extra weight we don’t need.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison. A quick read and very very funny.

When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy. I haven’t read this one yet, but my mom highly recommends it.

Field Guides that I am bringing with me:

Birds of Southern Africa (Princeton Field Guides) by Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton. I’m not a serious bird watcher but I do enjoy them.

The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates by Richard D. Estes

UPDATED: And one that Sandy is bringing (see her comment): Wild Ways: Field Guide to the Behaviour of Southern African Mammals by Peter Apps

Other Books that may be going in my carry-on to read on the trip:

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive and The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. I read the first six books in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series quite a while ago; since they are set in Botswana, I recently picked up number seven Blue Shoes and Happiness to get in the mood for the trip. These books are the next two in the series.

You’re going to Africa? – Part 3: Clothes

August 24, 2009 by Sandra Getgood

As far as clothes went, I was surprised…and pleased…to see that I really didn’t need to buy a lot of specialized clothes for the trip. Most people already have washable, easy-care cotton t-shirts and shirts and slacks, and those are perfectly fine for Botswana, South Africa and Zambia.

One of the lists recommended bringing a jacket with lots of pockets and, if possible, zip-off sleeves. That seemed like a really good idea, as we are going to be in Africa at the end of winter, when nights can be cool and mid-days really warm. So I Googled “Safari Jackets” and found dozens of sites. Amazon, in fact, had just what we wanted, for a very reasonable price.

Another article mentioned that having a hat that would protect the back of your neck was a really good idea, as the African sun can be really powerful. I never wear hats, but what they said made sense. Again, just Googling “safari hats” located dozens of possibilities, and I found some good, reasonably priced ones at www.OutlandUSA.com. [Susan: Tilley hats are by far the most recommended. Mum and Doug got a good deal at Outland USA. I got mine at EMS using a coupon for $25 that I’d earned from a previous purchase.]

After reading about the strong sun, we decided that having a few long-sleeved shirts that would protect us from burning might be a good idea, and found them at www.Coolibar.com . [Susan: LL Bean and Lands’ End also have good alternatives. Watch for end of season sales, and generally buy big. Many of these shirts seem to run small. I’ve also had better success buying the men’s versions.]

Susan has already mentioned the walking shoes I found (in our recommended products section} …they weigh practically nothing, which is great when you are watching baggage weight, and they are soooo comfortable. I found my shoes at Magellan’s. There are lots of other travel goodies there, which I have managed to resist. So far.

I have gotten a few hints from other “Pondies” at the National Geographic website, who have been to Botswana and South Africa at the same time we will be going. They have recommended a warm jacket and gloves for evening or early morning game drives. I have a very comfortable fleece vest that will take up very little room in my duffle bag, so I think that will be coming along to Africa, perhaps with a pair of gloves in the pocket.

With less than a month to go before we start our trip, we are pretty much ready. We have all been wearing the clothes we plan to take — no point in bringing anything that doesn’t fit, or isn’t comfortable, after all — and learning to use the binoculars and cameras we are bringing. Well, I am learning to use the binoculars and camera…Susan and Doug are both very proficient at that sort of thing already. I have finally learned which end of the binoculars to look into, which is definitely progress.

Next: A brief rundown on books we are reading to prepare ourselves for the trip of a lifetime.

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