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!