Post Trip Reflection

It's been 6 months since we got back from our amazing adventure this summer and I still can't stop thinking about Africa!

We thought this would be a once in a lifetime trip but we are already thinking about where in Africa we'd like to go next! We loved soooo many things about Africa and this whole experience.

The African people were amazing!  They were all so kind and helpful and happy!  We learned so much from everyone of our tour guides and drivers and loved our conversations with them!  Every tour we took was enjoyable, the sights were breath-taking and we truly cannot wait to go back!

We couldn't have done this without the help of Donna at The Travel Lady in Calgary.  She organized an incredible trip with absolutely every detail thought of and so much more. She was also very patient with all of our questions  :)  Donna even looked after us once we got to Africa when we emailed her with thoughts or a question.  If you are planning a trip to Africa, you need to check out The Travel Lady http://www.thetravellady.ca

As for next time, we are looking at Namibia, going back to Botswana, back to South Africa (I'd like to visit a different park for safari-ing and go to Sabi Sands to see some cats!!), Mozambique, and maybe Madagascar or Mauritius.

I cannot get Africa off my mind and I honestly can't wait to go back!

London Baby!

Well... this is a very, very delayed post...

I came back into my blog and realized I hadn't posted about London or done a post trip reflection.. so here it is... London Baby!

Going to South Africa, we had a 7 1/2 hour layover in London.  We stayed in the airport the whole time and it was painful in soooo many ways.  It was noisy and there were no comfy chairs where you could catch a sleep.  So, coming back, we knew we had to look for an alternative.  Our travel agent told us that we were able to ask for a temporary, 1 day visa to leave the airport.  Thank goodness!

When we arrived back in London, on our way home, we had a 12 hour layover.  We went straight to immigration and got our 1 day visa and headed out.  The Heathrow Express was leaving in under 10 minutes so we got a discounted ticket and we bolted to the train.

A short, direct 45 minute train ride to Paddington Station and we were in London!  It was very early in the day, so we were on a mission.. MacDonald's coffee and hop on a tour bus!  We got a ticket for the hop-on hop-off bus tour.  You can choose a variety of routes to see various sights around London. We chose the longest one so we could see the most!

It was a quiet morning but things started to pick up mid-morning and then the chaos hit!  The buses were packed and all of the sights were so busy you could barely move sometimes.

I even had a bit of a confrontation with a lady on the bus... which resulted in other locals standing up for me and telling her to stop being so rude to me.  I won't get into too many details but she was definitely rude and the fact that other Brits stood up for me and put her in her place was so wonderful and actually had me in tears!

Anyways, we saw soooo many sights and this was honestly the perfect way to do it!

We ended the day with fish and chips and headed back to the airport to prepare for our journey home!  This was definitely an awesome way to spend the day!

Cape Town!!

Wow! What a way to end our trip!

I really was so sad to leave the bush and leave our game drives, but at the same time I was excited to see Cape Town with all the wonderful things I had heard about it! 

We traveled from Hoedspruit airport, which was the closet one to Kapama. As we were leaving Kapama we actually saw warthogs (totally forgot to mention those in my last post, but we LOVE them), giraffes and zebras... It was a pretty perfect send off. 

Anyways, it was a 2 1/2hr flight from Hoedspruit to Cape Town and flying into the city it was a beautiful, clear day and we were able to see Table Mountain perfectly! Our hotel is great and is close to the waterfront where there's shopping and restaurants galore!! We've taken full advantage of the free shuttle there on a daily basis!

Our first full day tour took us around the cape to Seal Island and Cape Good Hope - the most south westerly point in Africa. We had fun taking a small cable car up to the lighthouse of Cape Point and enjoyed seeing the ostriches along the way.  We were also able to learn a bit about the history of the area and even got to see the small African Penguins, which were a must see on my list!  We even visited Kirstenbosch gardens where we saw pincushion flowers and the Nelson Mandela flower variety of the Bird of Paradise! 

Our next day was a clear day and when it's a clear day in Cape Town, a trip up Table Mountain is a must see/do! It was beautiful but very windy! Mom kept pulling dad and I back from the edge where we were trying to get the best views! In trying to get a selfie, The wind almost knocked my iPod out of my hand!! So I had to do a two handed one!!! But the views were worth it! 

The following day was our full day wine tour! South Africa is known for its wonderful wine and we enjoyed traveling to 3 different areas to sample wines at 3 different wineries. It was a gloomy, cloudy, rainy day... Perfect for wineries!

We decided to take the hop on hop off bus the next day so we could see a bit more of Cape Town and visit a market for some shopping. We saw some beautiful scenery and enjoyed the shopping too!  Poor Dad was A good sport while we went in and out of many shops trying to find some unique things to take home :)

Now here we are waiting for our airport transfer to pick us up and I'm updating our last blog post from Africa! I'll write more of a reflection from home, but can't say enough how much we lived our adventure. The people we met from Africa were wonderful! They are welcoming, kind, helpful and so happy to have us here!! For many, we were the first Canadians they had ever met :) I honestly hope I'll be back one day to explore more parts of Africa!