Urban Diversion Africa ‘08

Wil May 19th, 2008

Reminders:

• Wil’s South African cell phone: (0)827421864
• May 25th you are welcome to join your travel mates for dinner. We’ll meet at The Backpack at 6pm and walk to a place from there.
• May 26th we are leaving from The Backpack at 7am. Be there on time . . . you’d find it a long walk to Victoria Falls.

About the dinner . . . sadly every single one of the African places I would have taken you are closed on Sunday during the winter season! If you have time I highly suggest you go on another of your nights in Cape Town — for the possible exception of our welcome feast this will be the best African food you’ll have all trip. I’ve included my suggestions on the walking map (tell the front desk at The Backpack you are with Urban Diversion). My two favorites are Mama Africa (#178 Long Street) for their live music and semi-rowdy atmosphere and the Africa Cafe (#108 Shortmarket Street) for the all-you-can-eat 16 course meals. Both cater to vegetarians, both are an 8~12 minute walk from The Backpack. 

We’ll still be meeting for our group dinner on Sunday night, 6pm, at The Backpack.

Want to get together with your trip mates in Cape Town? Or let people know where you’ll be? Or maybe you are here already and have a tip for others. Give a shout out in the comments, below.

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Wil May 18th, 2008

Our Africa trip is nearly upon us! To help set the mood I thought I’d suggest some southern African musical artists using the preview feature from Amazon’s mp3 service. Many of these songs might also available through iTunes.

Johnny Clegg & Suvuka is the group I have to start off with because my own introduction to African music happened when I serendipitously walked into an outdoor bar in Ghana when they were playing. Both are from South Africa. Clegg is white, Suvuka black, and together they sang their way to apartheid’s end. They also know lots of words that rhyme with “Kilimanjaro.”

Brenda Fassie is Africa’s answer to Madonna. She is South African but is considered the queen of pop for the whole continent. She’s still wildly popular today.

Hugh Masekela is old school African pop music. He was very involved in the black liberation movement and his song “Bring Him Back Home” (”him” being Nelson Mandela) became the unofficial anthem of the resistance. You may have heard him on some tunes of Paul Simon with whom he toured. Most of Masekela’s songs are more jazzy than the two I’ve included here.

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Wil May 14th, 2008

A number of people have asked about booking rooms at Victoria Falls after our main safari ends June 8th. The scoop:

Myself, and the people heading to Zanzibar with me, will be staying at Maramba River Lodge, on June 8th and 9th.

Maramba has a variety of room types including cool “luxury tents” and chalets that can sleep up to four. It also has a nice little bar and pool. The thing I like about it, besides the reasonable prices, is that the lodge juts up against a wildlife area. Animals routinely come to (and sometimes through!) the lodge area. It is a little over 2 miles from the falls. There’s an on-site office that can arrange Vic Falls area activities for you. Email (or call) to book a room. Or, if people want to team up with your fellow travelers and share accommodations you can do that through the comments section below.

Three other suggested Vic Falls accommodation options to consider:

The Zambezi Waterfront Lodge is probably the most popular choice. This makes it a little over-priced; their tents and rooms aren’t as nice as the Maramba’s and the restaurant is rather dire. BUT, it has a great location on the river. And there’s a great and helpful service that can arrange area actives.

The Fawlty Towers Backpacker is the best low-end option. It is in Livingstone Town, which is about six miles from the falls. Being in town means there’s not much “Africa” feel here. And the rooms aren’t great. But there is free wifi and a social attmosphere. This is also an easy place to arrange activities.

The Zambezi Sun is the best choice if money is no object. The rooms themselves are mostly western (which maybe is something you’ll appreciate after a two week safari). The location is fantastic — right by the falls! It also has the best restaurant on the Zambian side. (In fact, I was thinking we could go out to eat as a group there on the night of the 8th). The Zambezi Sun makes a worthy splurge for your last night in Africa.

Our safari will end just before lunch on the 8th. Our truck will drop you off at any of the four accommodations mentioned above.

There are many other hotel options, of course. This map will give you a sense of where they all are relative to each other:

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• Victoria Falls , Zanzibar add-on
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Wil May 9th, 2008

For people doing the Garden Route add-on (or who are just curious about it) read on . . .

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Wil May 8th, 2008

Here are a few pictures of the lodge we are staying at in Nambia’s Caprivi Strip. It is deep in the heard of hippo country. Click on the photos to see a larger version.

Also, here’s the one-page cheat sheet that I emailed to people who have signed up for the trip: africa.pdf

• activity , trip prep
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Wil May 6th, 2008

Today I got two emails from two trip participants at almost exactly the same time:

Astute Trip Participant Jen wanted to know if binoculars would be a good item to bring along. (The answer is YES - if you have them you’ll definitely have the chance to use binoculars on our trip, especially for bird watching).

And Astute Trip Participant Mel was curious whether there was some way for people to share their packing tips or inform the group if they are bringing something that might be of use to everyone (like a guitar, for example, so we don’t have nine people lugging guitars across the Namibian sand dunes).

Also, it seems you DO need to bring their own pillow of some sort. The truck company actually suggested people take one of those little airplane pillows with you off of your flight. Or you could bring a camping pillow.

So that got me thinking — let’s use this post as our forum for all packing related issues. If you have a packing question, put it in a comment and I’ll answer as soon as I’m able. Have a favorite travel item? Bringing something you are willing to share the use of? Let us know in the comments, below.

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Wil May 3rd, 2008

Happy Nelson Mandela Day!

It is a public holiday in South Africa, but over here there’s lots to do. The trip is coming up, and a journey which so far has been an abstract concept will soon be real.

Below is some information on arriving in Cape Town and about your time there before our safari begins.

Keep checking in with this blog for further updates. Also, I’m preparing a 1-page cheat sheet with all the essential information (contact phone numbers, etc.) to bring with you. I’ll send that to trip participants by email.

There’s some very important information in what follows, so please go through it carefully . . .

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• Cape Town , trip prep
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Wil April 29th, 2008

On the trip packing and preparation page I suggested that fellow safari-goers bring with them a trip-related hobby and/or an item of no practical value whatsoever. I’m not sure into which category this belongs but one of our trip members, Winston, is hoping to bring with him a flying “teetsy box” he has been working on. I can imagine it now, flying over the African savanna, being followed by newly born cranes who mistake the flying teetsy box for their mother. Check out a San Francisco test flight in the video:

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Wil April 25th, 2008

We are getting close to May now, which means we are getting close to AFRICA!!!

If you are contemplating joining our grand safari adventure . . .

There is still space for you!

The trip price is $1,950 plus a registration fee (currently $395 for non-UD members). That includes all accommodations during the safari, all the transportation, insurance, fuel, border crossing fees, park entrance fees, most of the meals, guides, etc. That trip price is actually a bargain compared to what similar trips cost. For example, click here to see a similar trip that charges $4,519 (plus a hidden “in country” fee we don’t charge). And their trip is three fewer days, visits two fewer countries, takes a much less interesting route via crime ridden Jo’burg, and doesn’t include food or most activities!! We really are more of a club, not money-making venture, which explains a lot of the difference in price. I think it also means we attract more interesting and friendly people.

So check out our posts dealing with flights, previews of a few of the activities we’ll be doing, and our Itinerary & Cost page — and then email me if you are interested or have questions: wil.klass@urbandiversion.com

If you are one of the people already signed up for our Africa trip . . .

Please take a look at the new Trip Preparation page. This has packing suggestions as well as some important information on bringing electrical equipment and a few trip essentials you’ll need. I’ll be sending out instructions for meeting up in Cape Town soon. For those of you in San Francisco, I hope to do a pre-trip meeting a week or two before you leave.

Also, if you haven’t yet sent in a check for the trip balance please do that ASAP! Those doing either the Garden Route (there’s one spot left!) or Zanzibar add-ons should also register at urbandiversion.com.

Looking forward to our trip more and more each day!

~ Wil

As always, click on the photo to see a larger version:

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