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I know someone who went to Patagonia. Very dramatic landscape, like Norway, but even more dramatic mountains: higher altitudes, sharper peaks. And there are fjords, as I recall.
My BIL is/has been a tour guide in Patagonia off and on for years now. The pictures he has are incredible!
I have only very reccently become aware of, and interested in, the Okavango Delta region (Botswana). Are you going there?
Apparently the delta comes & goes depending on the season.
Sadly, we're not visiting the Okavango on this trip. We fly out of Maun, Botswana tomorrow. It's on the southest edge so we might get a glimpse. The Okavango is immense. The guide on our current small-group tour hopes to start his own southern Africa excursions soon and says that the Okavango in May and June is his favorite time.
Last edited by Gator Fan 79; 06-29-2023 at 03:31 AM..
In Namibia now on the Chobe River looking across at Botswana. Absolutely amazing place. The natural wonders here are indeed next level. Yesterday, on a cruise upriver, we saw huge groups of animals make their way to the river for water. Hundreds of buffalo, scores of elephants and giraffe, impala, crocs, kudu, warthogs, mongoose, and too many waterbirds to count. I counted 30 elephants at one location alone. The day before yesterday in Botswana we saw a leopard drag an impala into some bushes. Turns out it was a mom and we got a very close up view of her male baby who was also on the hunt. Day before that we observed 3 lions walking on the beach. The Maasai Mara in Kenya was a visual feast with large concentrations of animals in a relatively small space. Kruger was nice but it's so big that in days of game drives we saw half as many animals as in Kenya. Our guide says if you could only do one country, Botswana is your best bet. Infrastructure in Kenya was OK but the roads were terrible. South Africa feels very western. Botswana/Namibia/Zimbabwe have great roads but minimal levels of western type infrastructure. Have felt safe everywhere except parts of Nairobi - lots of poverty and too many people with seemly too little to do. Wouldn't stop me from going back.
This reminds me how disappointed we were when Covid meant we had to cancel our trip to Kenya and Tanzania in 2020. Not sure whether we will ever get there now, being in our seventies we have to think about infrastructure and so on.
We greatly enjoyed our trip to South Africa last month despite the woes of load shedding. Is the supply better in Kenya and the other places you have been to? South Africa is a real mixture of the developed and developing world. Parts of Capetown are so like Sydney that it is easy to see how so many Sth Africans have gravitated here. Yet the townships display poverty at a level that we have rarely encountered elsewhere.
This reminds me how disappointed we were when Covid meant we had to cancel our trip to Kenya and Tanzania in 2020. Not sure whether we will ever get there now, being in our seventies we have to think about infrastructure and so on.
We greatly enjoyed our trip to South Africa last month despite the woes of load shedding. Is the supply better in Kenya and the other places you have been to? South Africa is a real mixture of the developed and developing world. Parts of Capetown are so like Sydney that it is easy to see how so many Sth Africans have gravitated here. Yet the townships display poverty at a level that we have rarely encountered elsewhere.
No problems with power in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, or Namibia although many of the places we've stayed are camps with solar power and maybe generators for a few hours. Doesn't bother us. Flying out of Maun tomorrow and will spend four days in Cape Town before flying home. My dad was USAF and he said Cape Town and Juneau were the most beautiful cities he'd ever flown into. Been to Juneau several times and am looking forward to Cape Town.
I must admit that seeing the poverty in some parts of Nairobi and Johannesburg was disturbing. We also visited many, many smaller towns and villages where the people lived a much simpler life and not one that I'd call impoverished. In one town in Botswana there were markets next to grocery stores, donkeys and Japanese cars shared the roads, some homes were mud/brick and some modern, children went to school, there was a health clinic and police headquarters, the streets were clean, people seemed happy, and I saw ONE local using a cell phone. I felt genuinely safe walking the streets and interacting with locals. I think this is one reason we travel - to see how other people live.
We're in our mid-late 60's and although this trip hasn't been easy travel, it's been a real adventure for us and that's what we'd hoped for. Don't know that we'll be back but we're so close that the Okavango delta is practically calling my name. Who knows. There's a couple in our group that are probably late 70's and having a great time and don't mind when people lend a hand getting out of the 4x4's. We'll be there soon enough.
Saw the Southern Cross for the first time last week - something I've wanted to experience since I first heard the CS&N "Southern Cross" song. Heading to New Zealand and Australia next January so I'll get to see it again when visiting your part of the world. Really looking forward to that trip. BTW, there's a young Kiwi gal in our group and it's very interesting to her impressions of the good old U.S.A.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by Gator Fan 79
... Heading to New Zealand and Australia next January so I'll get to see it again when visiting your part of the world. Really looking forward to that trip. BTW, there's a young Kiwi gal in our group and it's very interesting to her impressions of the good old U.S.A.
Common question we got asked during last few months overseas... "Where in the USA can I visit that does not have guns?"
For those wanting to come to USA, but unable...(insurance companies or Dr disallowing)
First it was HC expense risk, now guns. Each are legitimate concerns for foreigners desiring to come to USA. National Parks are still fairly safe, but you need to get there. And though firearms are restricted in NP, no one is screening those driving in. https://www.nps.gov/articles/firearm...onal-parks.htm
No problems with power in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, or Namibia although many of the places we've stayed are camps with solar power and maybe generators for a few hours. Doesn't bother us. Flying out of Maun tomorrow and will spend four days in Cape Town before flying home. My dad was USAF and he said Cape Town and Juneau were the most beautiful cities he'd ever flown into. Been to Juneau several times and am looking forward to Cape Town.
I must admit that seeing the poverty in some parts of Nairobi and Johannesburg was disturbing. We also visited many, many smaller towns and villages where the people lived a much simpler life and not one that I'd call impoverished. In one town in Botswana there were markets next to grocery stores, donkeys and Japanese cars shared the roads, some homes were mud/brick and some modern, children went to school, there was a health clinic and police headquarters, the streets were clean, people seemed happy, and I saw ONE local using a cell phone. I felt genuinely safe walking the streets and interacting with locals. I think this is one reason we travel - to see how other people live.
We're in our mid-late 60's and although this trip hasn't been easy travel, it's been a real adventure for us and that's what we'd hoped for. Don't know that we'll be back but we're so close that the Okavango delta is practically calling my name. Who knows. There's a couple in our group that are probably late 70's and having a great time and don't mind when people lend a hand getting out of the 4x4's. We'll be there soon enough.
Saw the Southern Cross for the first time last week - something I've wanted to experience since I first heard the CS&N "Southern Cross" song. Heading to New Zealand and Australia next January so I'll get to see it again when visiting your part of the world. Really looking forward to that trip. BTW, there's a young Kiwi gal in our group and it's very interesting to her impressions of the good old U.S.A.
We think that Cape Town is possibly the most physically beautiful city in the world. I hope you enjoy it. From what we have read, when we we there in May the load shedding was at its peak and is not quite as bad now.
Do not underestimate the damage it is doing to the country. The wealthier people (many still white) can afford generators. But even for them, it means traffic lights not working, street lights not working, public transport and supply lines disrupted. Small businesses closing as they cannot afford generators. For the poorer majority it means kids trying to do homework by candlelight, families eating far too much packaged junk food as they cannot cook. It was expected that winter will see many house fires as people use fires inside for heating.
We had a person who had his credit card swallowed by the ATM because the power went down just as he put it in. We had no power in a couple of places we stayed when the power was out though most had generators. The worst was when it was down from 6am to 10am and our schedule was breakfast at 6 30, departure at 7 30. Had to get up at 5 30 to boil the jug for my essential first coffee, have everything packed and be finished in the bathroom as there was no back up lighting at all and it was dark til quite late. The locals have these situations every day.
You will see driving from Cape Town airport the enormous problem the country has will the influx of illegal immigrants (half the population of Zimbabwe are apparently in SA) as the shanty towns on the flats are their homes. As our guide pointed out, one can only imagine the suffering that the Covid lockdowns caused, with the children having nowhere to play and also going hungry as they were not getting their usual school breakfasts and lunches.
What saddened us very much was that we were last in SA twenty-five years ago and things there seem to be worse than then. Whereas we have spent a lot of time in Asia and witnessed the enormous advances in living standards there in many countries. We even went to Singapore when it was poor!
Last edited by MarisaAnna; 06-29-2023 at 06:18 PM..
We think that Cape Town is possibly the most physically beautiful city in the world. I hope you enjoy it. From what we have read, when we we there in May the load shedding was at its peak and is not quite as bad now.
Do not underestimate the damage it is doing to the country. The wealthier people (many still white) can afford generators. But even for them, it means traffic lights not working, street lights not working, public transport and supply lines disrupted. Small businesses closing as they cannot afford generators. For the poorer majority it means kids trying to do homework by candlelight, families eating far too much packaged junk food as they cannot cook. It was expected that winter will see many house fires as people use fires inside for heating.
We had a person who had his credit card swallowed by the ATM because the power went down just as he put it in. We had no power in a couple of places we stayed when the power was out though most had generators. The worst was when it was down from 6am to 10am and our schedule was breakfast at 6 30, departure at 7 30. Had to get up at 5 30 to boil the jug for my essential first coffee, have everything packed and be finished in the bathroom as there was no back up lighting at all and it was dark til quite late. The locals have these situations every day.
You will see driving from Cape Town airport the enormous problem the country has will the influx of illegal immigrants (half the population of Zimbabwe are apparently in SA) as the shanty towns on the flats are their homes. As our guide pointed out, one can only imagine the suffering that the Covid lockdowns caused, with the children having nowhere to play and also going hungry as they were not getting their usual school breakfasts and lunches.
What saddened us very much was that we were last in SA twenty-five years ago and things there seem to be worse than then. Whereas we have spent a lot of time in Asia and witnessed the enormous advances in living standards there in many countries. We even went to Singapore when it was poor!
Thanks for the head up. We'll be there in about 4 hours.
Wow, this is a huge thread. I think there are three main reasons Americans don't travel overseas.
1. Cost - Airplane tickets to anywhere except for Canada, Mexico, Central America are expensive from the US
2. Vacation - Most Americans only have a few weeks of vacation per year and it's really not a lot of time to go anywhere
3. Cultural curiosity - I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but a lot of Americans, particularly older people or typical "live in the suburbs with my kids" types aren't really curious about other cultures. Most of the authentic Asian restaurants near me rarely have white Americans in them. If these people can't even eat at a Vietnamese restaurant down the street, I highly doubt they would ever be interested in going to Vietnam.
Not sure how to put this politely, but I have the impression that many Americans believe that their country is the best in the world. So they feel no need to go to places that they feel might be inferior.
We tend, on the other hand, to be told all the evils of our country and it takes a bit of travelling to realise that it is actually very fortunate compared with most of the world.
But I would imagine the biggest factor is the lack of paid leave. My daughter knocked back an opportunity to live in NYC as she was getting six weeks laid leave in London in the UK and would have had two weeks in the US. She was living overseas to travel.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarisaAnna
Not sure how to put this politely, but I have the impression that many Americans believe that their country is the best in the world. So they feel no need to go to places that they feel might be inferior.
...
It may be that Americans do things that are convenient. Travel requires effort and entails risk. Neither are high on the list of those content where they passively lie.
Many reasons, and those who don't want to travel will never run out of reasons. I live on a border of 2 states. Many residents would not think of going to neighboring state, and haven't for 50+ yrs. I've been 3x in the last day. +/-.
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