The tour was taking me to Nairobi in 41 days via 7 countries. I had been looking forward to it pretty much since i first saw the Lion King when i was 12. It took me a while to decided how I was going to it, either by tour or by myself, and once I decided, which tour. I went with Acacia Africa because it was cheaper than most and went where i wanted to go. (If you haven't figured out why I took a tour read the first two entries again).
Traveling with me were 12 others, 5 Aussies, 2 Swiss, 2 Danes, 2 Brits and Canuck. All interesting people from all walks of life. Nelson, our driver was Kenyan and our guide Wil was Dutch. The Truck was built for 24 so at least until Livingstone we would be in relative comfort.
Before leaving Cape Town we did a Townships Tour via the District 6 apartheid museum.
The townships were nestled between the Airport and the city. The same ones that I had passed on my first day. The standard of living had improved but for some more than others. While large families would share one or two room houses, some across the street would have satellite TV and BMWs parked out front. Everyone it seemed had mobile phones and a lot of teenagers wore new brand clothing. Apparently this was one of the most dangerous areas of Cape Town. I wouldn't recommend walking around here at night by yourself but during the day it felt as safe as anywhere else. Locals would tell you that although it was one of the murder capitals of the world, most resulted from alcohol related violence.
We went to the local (one room tin shed with benches against the walls) for a communal bucket of home brew. It had an interesting if not slightly unpleasant hit with a smooth wheaty aftertaste. Not the best beer i had tried in South Africa (Windhoek Larger wins that), but I'd share a bucket of this with complete strangers over a slab of West End any day.
From here it was to the suburb of Tableview (closest to home i had seen yet) for the billionth photo of Table Mountain and north to the country side of the Western Cape.
Replace Emu with Ostrich (much more common than I expected) - Kangaroo with Springbok and the drive to the first nights camp in Citrusdal could have been through any grain belt in Australia. Citrusdal is a fruit growing area within a plateau in the ....... Mountains that dominated the area. The campsite itself was based around two swimming pools and spas, heated from the hot springs that came up through a valley. Other than swimming, the night was spent getting to know your fellow camper. I discovered early that the common pitful of group tours (being surrounded by wankers for a month) thankfully was not going to be an issue this trip. I also discovered that 3 others were escaping Adelaide.
Ominously, It rained first night on tour.
Cheers,
Schuey.
Traveling with me were 12 others, 5 Aussies, 2 Swiss, 2 Danes, 2 Brits and Canuck. All interesting people from all walks of life. Nelson, our driver was Kenyan and our guide Wil was Dutch. The Truck was built for 24 so at least until Livingstone we would be in relative comfort.
Before leaving Cape Town we did a Townships Tour via the District 6 apartheid museum.
The townships were nestled between the Airport and the city. The same ones that I had passed on my first day. The standard of living had improved but for some more than others. While large families would share one or two room houses, some across the street would have satellite TV and BMWs parked out front. Everyone it seemed had mobile phones and a lot of teenagers wore new brand clothing. Apparently this was one of the most dangerous areas of Cape Town. I wouldn't recommend walking around here at night by yourself but during the day it felt as safe as anywhere else. Locals would tell you that although it was one of the murder capitals of the world, most resulted from alcohol related violence.
We went to the local (one room tin shed with benches against the walls) for a communal bucket of home brew. It had an interesting if not slightly unpleasant hit with a smooth wheaty aftertaste. Not the best beer i had tried in South Africa (Windhoek Larger wins that), but I'd share a bucket of this with complete strangers over a slab of West End any day.
From here it was to the suburb of Tableview (closest to home i had seen yet) for the billionth photo of Table Mountain and north to the country side of the Western Cape.
Replace Emu with Ostrich (much more common than I expected) - Kangaroo with Springbok and the drive to the first nights camp in Citrusdal could have been through any grain belt in Australia. Citrusdal is a fruit growing area within a plateau in the ....... Mountains that dominated the area. The campsite itself was based around two swimming pools and spas, heated from the hot springs that came up through a valley. Other than swimming, the night was spent getting to know your fellow camper. I discovered early that the common pitful of group tours (being surrounded by wankers for a month) thankfully was not going to be an issue this trip. I also discovered that 3 others were escaping Adelaide.
Ominously, It rained first night on tour.
Cheers,
Schuey.
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