What We Did
Blakely Downs
Palau: A Scuba Fantasy

Palau.  Where we swam with a mob of jellyfish, free dove to hidden lagoons, Kayaked caves, and had the best scuba diving we’ve ever done.

 

Palau: A Scuba Fantasy
What We Did
Blakely Downs
Bolivia - Our Quest to the Salt Flats
Bolivia - Our Quest to the Salt Flats
What We Did
Blakely Downs
The Holy Sites of the Old City
The Holy Sites of the Old City
What We Did
Blakely Downs
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
What We Did
Blakely Downs
The Christian Sites of Galilee
The Christian Sites of Galilee

What We Did

Zanzibar, We Love You

To get to Zanzibar, we took a three-day train (which we aren't ready to talk about) from central Zambia to the coast of Tanzania and then ferried to the fabulous islands.  Zanzibar is an archipelago off the coast that has been a long time trading port where Africa, Arabia, India, and the Far East meet.  These influences continue today to make a fascinating place for architecture, food, and people.   

Zanzibar is 99% Muslim and the call to prayer rings out for everyone to hear.  Stone Town, the main city, is a maze of small cobblestoned streets where it’s better to spend the day getting lost rather than to worry about directions.

The Stone Town spice market is a delight to the senses and, not surprisingly, the food is as well!  Take a break from the sun on the reclining cushions at Monsoon where they serve local cuisine with charm.  To top off the day, every night there is a food stall market by the harbor.  Blakely particularly recommends the Zanzibar Pizza!

Laid back!

His face is my favorite.  He's like "Who is this crazy lady?"

We stayed at the recommended Hiliki House in Stone Town and the manager, Aboud, was a wonderful host.  Plus, the breakfast is a reason to wake up in the morning.

After Stone Town, we headed to the beach for some much-needed R&R.  There are a variety of beach village options depending on your mood.  We selected Jambiani which is fairly quiet with beautiful beaches.  The water is one-thousand shades of blue so we dove twice to fully appreciate the shades!

To get to Jambiani, we took a traditional dalla dalla!

Teeeensy bit cramped!

The tide in Zanzibar is a marvel!  Everyday on the Eastern beaches, low tide and high tide expand and retract by about a mile.  This is because Zanzibar is a coral island and very flat so small changes in the sea level create huge movements in the waterline.  It makes for perfect strolling and exploring!  The local women harvest seaweed and fisherman’s boats travel around the many lagoons.  

Now it's floating...

Now it's not!

Zanzibar was exactly what we needed to rest up for more safaris!

That's what we did.  Click Here to read What We Learned.  And see all of the pictures from the train ride and Zanzibar here!

Our Victoria Falls Adventure

Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world and stretches 5,604 ft across Zambia and Zimbabwe.  While the Zimbabwe side offers much better views, Zambia has more adrenaline activities.  The only answer was to do both! 

The Zimbabwe side of the Falls offers a few activities like zip lining and bungee jumping.  We opted for the Gorge Swing.  It was just what we hoped—the gorge was gorgeous and the drop was terrifying!  We decided to go together on the tandem swing so we could squeeze each other on the way down.  The swing starts with about six seconds of free-fall (which feels like six years).    Then as you swing, you get to take in the beautiful surroundings for an otherworldly experience.  It was breathtaking in every way!  Words won’t justify it so we recommend you check out the pics and watch our video!

Real skeptical...

But we did it!

The Zambia side held two attractions for us- The Micro-Lite and Devil’s Pool.

The Micro-Lite is a motorized paraglider that flies over the Falls.  It is gorgeous and so fun!   The only downside is cameras aren’t allowed, but each paraglider is fixed with a GoPro so your ride can be remembered.

Devil’s Pool- Only available during the dry season when the swell of the falls is low, Devil’s Pool is a natural infinity pool at the top of the falls.  You first ride a boat to Livingstone Island (“Island” being a broad term for the small patch of land closest to the pool) and then swim (YES, SWIM) across part of the falls to get to Devil’s Pool.  The excursion comes with breakfast, lunch, or sundowners.  We opted for sundowners, as a cocktail would be necessary after the swim!

"Just jump!" our guide said.

The view over the edge!

Oh yea, we're getting along great!

So ends our Victoria Falls Adventure.  Click Here for the full photo gallery.  Next up: Tanzania!

Botswana or Bust- The Okavango and Chobe

The Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park are two of Botswana’s greatest treasures.  We decided to do both and had some incredible experiences (and learned a lot too!). 

In the Okavango, we stayed at Old Bridge Backpackers and loved it.  The tents are simple and clean, the food delicious, and the views aren’t bad either.  You can even watch hippos from your lounge chair!

We decided to experience the Okavango by Kayak Safari and weren’t disappointed. Kayak Botswana boated us 30 miles deeper into the Okavango wilderness where we had a better chance to view wildlife.  The Delta is full of hippos and crocodiles (only ten feet long, don’t worry!) with chances to spot elephants and other animals as they come to the river to drink!

We set up camp deep in the Delta and our local wildlife guide, Oddie, took us on a walking safari.  Without civilization in sight or a vehicle to hide inside, we really felt close to the animals.  We tracked leopards, lions, zebra and elephants.  And we learned that nature is really cool.   We took an evening and a morning walk with Oddie and highly recommend a walking safari to acquaint yourself with tracking and an intimate perspective on the animals.

Blakely's face sums up our opinion on nature!

No camping trip is complete without a fire, but our kayak guide and cook, Jardis, went above and beyond in cuisine!  As the stars came out, we feasted while gazing at the Southern Cross, and then headed to our tent for the night.  The second day was just as eventful and we felt like we got an up-close look at the Okavango.

The next stop was Chobe National Park, which is known for having more elephants than any other park.  The elephants are also of abnormally large size and look like they’ve been stretched!  For our safari, we picked Kalahari Tours and took a three day trip into the heart of the park.  

We saw lionesses and their cubs, zebras, giraffes, and elephants galore.  We even spotted two different leopards lazing in the treetops!

The camping was a delight with great food, wonderful company, and a chorus of animal noises to sleep to every night.  We feel very lucky with our first safari experience and can’t wait until the next one!  Now, onto Victoria Falls!

That's What We Did in Botswana.  Click Here to read What We Learned.  Or Click Here for the full Botswana Photo Gallery!

Johannesburg- A City for Locals

Johannesburg is not great for tourists because there aren’t many notable attractions or worthy museums.  Plus, it has a terrible reputation for crime.  However, Jo ’Burg is home to very welcoming and warm people who’ll gladly open their lives (and even homes!) to you.  If you go to Johannesburg, we recommend you find some locals and live like them for a week (that’s what we did and it was fantastic).  Also, there are three notable attractions that would be a shame to miss.

The Apertheid Museum- An absolute must-see.  The museum tickets randomly divide patrons into non-white and white and then each "race" uses a different entrance.  For the first stage of the museum, non-whites and whites are split by a chain fence and must proceed alone.  Ryan and I were given different races and therefore separated which drove home the reality that many families were abruptly estranged when the government classified everyone by race.   The museum proceeds to use video, photography, antiques, and letters from Nelson Mandela to educate its patrons on South Africa’s long history of racial unrest.  And beneath the heartbreaking tales, the museum somehow teaches a lesson of overcoming evil and forgiveness.  The layout is a bit jumbled, but the content is superb.

Neighborhood Goods Market- Every Saturday, food stalls of all cuisines imaginable and fun local musicians crowd into a multifloor warehouse to make a market of delight.  Be warned: the market is full of locals and you’ll feel decidedly uncool.  It’s as authentic as it gets for real Jo ‘Burg life.

Now that's some Paella!

Soweto- Townships are urban areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites (Black Africans and all “Coloreds”).  They’re usually located just outside cities where they could ensure a cheap workforce for the whites.  Now, many of the townships offer tours and show firsthand what life was like. 

Soweto is the largest and most famous of all of the townships and is located just outside Johannesburg.  Most of the resistance to Apertheid started here and today many cultural trends begin here.  As our tour guide put it,  “When Soweto sneezes, the whole country catches a cold!”  Plus, the name Soweto stands for SOuth WEstern TOwnship and, as New Yorkers, we love geographically informative names.

We took a bike tour through Soweto Bicycle Tours and thoroughly recommend it.  The city that was once was a demonstration of racial division and oppression now has prospered and and is proud of it’s place in history.

Trying the homemade beer!

It was Interesting!

The Wild Coast and Drakensberg

Below is the breakdown of our wonderful time in the Wild Coast.  Also, Click Here to view our Wild Coast and Drakensberg Photo Gallery!

We woke up before sunrise for the long drive from Jeffreys Bay to Coffee Bay.  As we got closer, it became apparent that we were arriving at the “Wild” coast.  The roads got dodgier and the towns shrunk to rural villages.

We arrived at Coffee Bay and decided to stay at the Coffee Shack.  Very laid back vibe with fun travelers and a close walk to the beach.  We surfed every day, hiked, enjoyed the beach and ate some of the amazing food cooked by the local chefs.

We crossed a stone path across this stream to get to breakfast and dinner every day!

Nelson Mandela curtains are an obvious must for any modern hut!

In Coffee Bay, the effect tourism has on a village is much more apparent.  The Coffee Shack makes a very conscious effort to curb the bad effects of tourism and enhance the good.  There are instructions everywhere on how to be a responsible visitor and they’ve set up a sponsorship program for secondary school scholarships.  I don’t want to spoil anything but you may soon be reading a post about how to be a more responsible traveler.  It’s just too important.

After Coffee Bay we headed to the mountains.  The Drakensberg is a region of breathtaking mountains carved many moons ago.  First stop was the Southern Berg where we stayed at Sani Lodge.  The owner, Russell, is a fascinating guy and he and his wife promote projects with the Bushmen (the indigenous population that descends from the first men of Africa) to try and encourage their economy.  It’s worth the visit just to listen to his knowledge of the area and it’s history.

In the Southern Berg we had another delight.  On a trip like ours, stuff doesn’t always work out.  But sometimes, you walk into the most charming farm cafe, get greeted like you’re family and informed that they’re just about to take today’s special, homemade lasagna, out of the oven.  Blakely almost wept.  The farm also has an art gallery, a petting zoo (for Ryan) and homemade ice cream!

After that heaven, we headed to Central Berg for the World Heritage site and the Rock Art.  We weren’t disappointed.  If the gigantic mountains weren’t enough, seeing art that is carbon dated back 5,000 years put our existence into a nicely miniscule perspective.

"I'm not sure...it could be a person.  Or a lion.  Or an antelope actually."

In Central Berg we stayed at Inkosana Lodge which has gorgeous grounds and views of the surrounding mountains.  It’s also conveniently close to Valley Bakery which has delicious sandwiches and homemade sweets.  Another favorite!

So ends our South African Road Trip.  We’ve survived the pot holes, enjoyed breathtaking nature of all types and learned so much along the way.  We’ll forever be grateful to the people of South Africa for welcoming us into their beautifully diverse home.

Next up: Johannesburg and volunteering with the Lonely Road Foundation!

That's What We Did on the Wild Coast and Drakensberg and Click Here to read What We Learned.  Or Click Here to view our Wild Coast and Drakensberg Photo Gallery!

Our Roadtrip up the Garden Route

We set out from Capetown in Betty (our Around About Car Rental and fearless companion).  This wasn’t just any old highway—we drove along Whale Route and the views were spectacular.  We stopped by Stony Point to see a huge penguin colony and then drove on to Hermanus.

In Hermanus, we stayed at the lovely Baleia Hermanus B&B.  Hermanus is known for whale watching but, since we aren’t the type who can patiently wait, we decided to take the Cliff Walk and keep our eyes peeled.  This walk runs for miles and takes you all along the rugged coast with greenery around you and the beautiful ocean views.  We even stopped by an amazing cafe called Nourish as an after walk treat!

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The next day we drove on to Cape Agulhas, the most Southern Point in Africa (and, with the cold winds whipping us, it felt it!).  It’s beautiful with a lighthouse that dates back to the 1800’s and one of the most helpful tourism departments we’ve ever met.  Morine, if you’re reading this, we love you!

We then booked it up to De Hoop National Park.  We stayed outside the park at Potterberg Guest Farm.  The owner cooked us a homemade traditional South African meal that included “bobotie.”  It’s a delicious minced beef with curry and it warmed us right up!

The next morning we hit De Hoop Nature Reserve.  This was one of our favorites.   The park has rugged beaches, huge dunes, and wildlife around every corner.  It being low season, we hardly saw a soul and it felt like we were explorers discovering the rugged coastland ourselves.

Afterwards we drove to Gansbaii- the capital for Great White Shark diving.  The reason shark’s love this area is this: Off the coast, there are two islands with a very large seal population (which happen to be Great White’s favorite meal).  The channel between the islands is called Shark Alley.  It was absolutely freezing, but we got to see some beauties and gain a new appreciation (and apprehension!) to the seas.  We even saw a whale and her pup on the way back to shore!

DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER!

After that we drove to Wilderness and stayed at The Beach House.  With gorgeous views from our cottage and a short walk to the beach, we wanted to stay forever.  

The next morning we had breakfast at a favorite called Flava Cafe.  Then we headed for adventure.  We started at Eden Adventures who outfitted us with a canoe.  We paddled up the local river to the trailhead and hiked up to a waterfall. We had the trail to ourselves again so we’re starting to feel spoiled!

After the hike we drove through Knysna and, thanks to a tip off from the locals, stopped by an amazing wood shop called Timber Village.  These craftsmen use only wood native to South Africa and partner with South African National Parks to ensure the conservation effort of their beautiful trees.  If that wasn’t cool enough, the finished products are gorgeous and we had to resist purchasing some of their furniture (it won’t fit in the pack!).  They even make custom designs to order (be still my heart!).

Next we drove on to Plet Bay in time for a goodnight sleep and then we conquered the hike at Robberg Nature Reserve.  This one is a favorite.  We hiked along their cliff peninsula blessed with caves, amazing overlooks, and Swiss Family Robinson beaches.  Oh, and whales galore!  

"I can't look at you now, I just saw a whale."

Next we drove to Tsitsikamma Forest.  This park is wonderfully clean and even has family style lodging.  We hiked through the lush and ancient forest to their beautiful suspension bridges.

Afterwards, we drove to Jeffreys Bay and stayed at the lovely Beach Music.   Jeffreys Bay is known in the surfing world for it’s “perfect wave."  Unfortunately, during a surfing competition the week before, a Great White Shark attacked a competitor on live television (don’t worry, miraculously he wasn’t injured).  The attack scared us and others into staying on the shore, plenty of surfers were out there enjoying the surf.  To complete the magic, a huge school of dolphins came to play in the waves beside the surfers.  Unfortunately, Blakely was jumping too much to take a picture so you’ll just have to trust us!

I dunno...they look like seals to us!

While at “J Bay" we ate at two favorite restaurants: Nina's Real Food for a wonderful, filling, and healthy breakfast.  Then Kitchen Windows for seafood and traditional South African fare.  Both had exceptional food and incredible service.

J Bay ended our Whale Coast and Garden Route road trip.  If you can’t tell from all of the effusive adjectives, we loved it and hope with all our hearts we get to come back.

Next up: The Wild Coast and the Drakensberg Mountains!

 

How We Planned our Itinerary Around the World

We NEVER thought it would happen.  With all seasons and hemispheres to contend with, we were in despair.  Blakely called off the trip or said we'd need 10 years to do it.  And then, it clicked.  

This is very loose and will absolutely change.*  And we're sorry we can't go to all of your places (see post on why we are skipping Europe*).  But cheers to having a great place to start.

*DISCLAIMER: RTW LOVERS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT, SHIFT, NIX, ADD TO, ENHANCE OR JUXTAPOSE (?) ANY PORTION OF THIS ITINERARY IN PART OR IN WHOLE.  PLEASE DO NOT BOOK FLIGHTS TO MEET THE LOVERS WITHOUT CONSULTING THEM FIRST (MOM).

Click Here to See It.

That time we decided to travel around the world.

<Insert your favorite travel quote here.  Go on.  And make it an inspirational one.>

Our decision to take the World Trip was gradual and spanned over many years of our friendship and courtship.  The path was similar to how we ended up in love-- we can't pinpoint a moment where it happened.  It wasn't a conscious decision.  By the time we had the wherewithal to check, the World Trip was as much a part of our future as kids or buying a home.

We started to do research.  It is CRAY the amount of resources out there.  So many people do this.  There's even a checklist on exactly how to plan a trip around the world.  And Blakely LOVES checklists. 

So we put it off and put it off.  But finally we had to take the first real step...saying our dream out loud to someone besides each other. 

The range of reactions was fascinating (if it wasn't so terrifying.  And if this was an experiment and not our life).  The reality is: people have incredibly different feelings towards travel.  That's true in their own choices and it's true in their judgement of yours.  We were lucky in that we have incredibly supportive friends and family.  

And the others? Well there are always haters.  And as you could guess, we prefer lovers.

So we've decided.  And said it out loud.  We even went to a seminar.  And while there are so many hurdles to jump, decisions to make and tasks to check off, having the words out in the universe seems like the most significant of all.

Thank you to all the lovers.

Love,

Blakely and Ryan