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After my bus trials and tribulations I spent four days resting up in Kampala, doing errands (Western toiletries!), going to the movies with the friendly Canadian couple that I met in Arusha, and generally chilling out on the lovely grounds of the Red Chili Guest House (where I also ran into several overland tour groups that I had met multiple times in Southern and Eastern Africa). Finally I felt ready to head out and I took another somewhat harrowing bus ride down south to Kabale (for 7 ½ hours the driver sped along and wove at high speeds in and out of massive, Mini-Cooper-sized pot holes). This trip was taken with a young English couple, and we then shared an over-priced taxi to beautiful Lake Bunyoni (even after stern negotiations one cannot avoid the Mzungu prices in Africa).

Third World Travel at above-First-World Prices
[Note that the politically correct term is Developing World and Third World terminology is obsolete Cold War rhetoric]
Africa is much more expensive than I expected, even after researching prices and speaking with others who had been here before. Part of this expense is due to the flaccid weakness of the US Dollar (thanks, George W.) and the large dependence that most Southern and Eastern African countries place on the historically solid US currency; many locals and businesses prefer dollars over their own currencies which may have astronomical inflation rates. Zimbabwe is the current red-headed economic stepchild with recent inflation measured at over 1,000,000 % (your $10,000 cash bundle from last year is worth $1 this year, plus the notes themselves have expiration dates that prevent them from holding any value beyond 3 months). In addition to a devalued dollar, many African opportunists play a fun game I liked to call Screw-The-Tourist where they set their prices in US Dollars, which are nearly impossible to get in Africa (when possible one incurs a hefty 8-15% exchange rate gouging), they adjust those dollar prices based on how far the dollar devalues relative their home currency, and then when you move to pay in the local currency they bump the exchange rate an additional 10-20% in their favor; it’s all just one big, fun, shell-game of getting fleeced at every end.

[July 30 update: I originally posted this as private (viewable only by me) in hopes of not jinxing future African bus travel and of limiting needless worry by my parents but now that I am safely out of Africa and in easy-travelin' Thailand I decided to make the post public and think it makes quite a good story (always in retrospect). Enjoy.]

Many of the roads in Kenya are horrible, with rocky, pock-marked vast sections of highway mixed with other vast sections of poorly constructed roads (where the construction funds were siphoned by corrupt politicians who then skimped on construction) and these are rutted up to 18 inches deep along the wheel radius by the weight of trucks who pass over them. On a night bus from Arusha, Tanzania, through Kenya to Uganda we were unlucky enough to come across an unmarked detour on the dark, unlit highway at night (”highway” is a stretch because although it was the main road it was all rutted dirt and rock) and the driver rolled the vehicle swerving to avoid a collision with a gas tanker truck parked perpendicular to the road to serve as a detour barrier (fortunately we all survived with only minor bruises and scratches).

Serengeti & Ngorongoro Highlights:

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I spent 5 days on an epic safari in Tanzania to Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongogoro Crater (the famous caldera volcano that is home to the most predictable year-round population of Big Game in Africa and is part of the largerNgorongogoro Conservation Area).

After an 8 hour bus ride to Lusaka, Zambia, then 2 nights in Lusaka, a successful computer find/purchase, a 10 hour trip over the border into Malawi to Lilongwe I arrived on May 22 exhausted and in a very shady part of the city. Fortunately I had found a Zambian guy to cross the border with and we were able to share a taxi to the boarder, and 2 more on the other side of the border to head to Lilongwe (110 Km from the border) and also fortunately I got the taxi driver to drive me to the nearby lodge without having to walk alone after dark in an area notorious for muggings. After a pleasant night sleep in a clean but cheap lodge (Malawi is the only cheap country in Southern Africa), I was shown to the open market and “bus station” which other than the presence of 2 parked buses offered no other resemblance to any organized transportation. I made the mistake of getting on the bus and paying the driver at the suggestion of the lodge woman who led me there, but not yet realizing that the buses only leave when they are full (I was the 3rd passenger on an 80 person bus). But I was entirely entertained over the next 2 hours while the bus gradually began to fill at the luggage that was loaded inside the bus in the passenger space, including 4 truck tires, numerous sacks of corn/flour/sugar, bushels of bamboo, spools of cable, cases of fluorescent bulbs, and a stack of bicycle tires. For some reason the driver started the engine a good hour before we departed, perhaps to give the would-be passengers the illusion it was about to depart and lure them into boarding this bus rather than finding another or boarding a 12 person mini bus.

After Etosha we drove to the Namibian capitol of Windhoek, in the central-Eastern part of Namibia where we had another night in a bed and where we had a farewell party for 9 of our tribe who were departing (3 new members arriving). After Windhoek we said goodbye to the wonderful country of Namibia as we crossed the border into Botswana.

One of the main highlights retold by other Southern Africa Overland veterans was the trip in the Okavango Delta of Northwestern Botswana, so this is something all of us who were remaining were looking forward. The Okavango River originates in Angola, flows across the pan-handle of Namibia and into the nearly perfectly flat plains of Botswana, where it breaks up in a 16,000 square Km maze of marshes, lagoons, channels and islands, which are in turn surrounded by the barren Kalahari Desert. The plains is so flat that the water takes 90 days to move maybe 150 miles from one end of the Delta to the other.

I have been planning on taking a trip to Africa for the past 2 years now and while normally I choose to avoid organized tours that tend to be overpriced and filled with couples and senior citizens I discovered that many of the game parks in Africa require guides and due to the slow pace and rough nature of African travel that there are dozens of Overland trips that are frequented by youngish adventure backpackers like myself. After doing a fair amount of research I came to realize that the cheapest overland tour is not necessarily the best and from my research and first hand feedback on Lonely Planet’s Thorntree Forum I was leaning towards Nomad Africa for its reasonable (average) price along with their strong reputation for well up-kept vehicles, experienced guides and strong customer satisfaction. After arriving at this conclusion I was pleased to learn my friend Pam had actually taken the Cape Town to Victoria Falls tour with Nomad and she had nothing but high praise for the experience so I knew I was on the right track.

Normally I do not pre-book high cost items like tours since often they are cheaper on-site and the added flexibility can come in handy if I need to change or alter my plans. In this case I was concerned the tour might be fully booked in advance so I pre-booked, which did in fact prove both un-necessary and more costly ($1550 vs. $1100) so I would recommend others to hold off until they hit Cape Town unless they wish to do a tour during high season (June - August). Another thing I debated back and forth with myself was whether to do the camping vs. the much more expensive Accommodated trip of virtually the same route and on which date to book to get the most diversity from the group. After much back and forth with the helpful Nomad sales staff I requested detailed information about the Nationality, Gender, Couple Status and Age of the currently booked clients on 3 different tour dates and for both the Camping and Accommodated options (which were in effect separate trips). I settled on the camping tour since it offered the greatest diversity and the Average age was younger and more adventurous. As it turned out that was an excellent call because the Camping trip boasted an average age of 29 or so and 10 Nationalities for 24 people while the Accommodated Trip on the same date had a late 40s average age with 2 or 3 Nationalities and only 7 individuals (mostly couples) which I am assuming would have been significantly less enjoyable from an adventure and social standpoint for me.

My Overland Trip Itinerary was as follows:

After 25 hours of flights and a 9-hour time change I arrived in Johannesburg somewhat delirious on Tuesday, April 8th. As Johannesburg has the reputation as perhaps the top most dangerous city in the world in terms of violent crime and murder, I was a bit nervous about finding safe transportation to a hostel or guest house in a relatively good neighborhood (I had meant to do some research and book ahead but I ran out of time). Thankfully my trusty Bible (Lonely Planet travel guide) came through as it had countless times before and I found a place in a nice neighborhood who also organized their own transportation and after waiting a bit over an hour I was on my way through the seemingly benign urban sprawl that is Johannesburg. After arriving about 6PM local time with 9 hours of jet lag I promptly booked my room and passed out, sleeping through until 6 the next morning.

After a good night’s sleep I booked onto a backpacker travel bus that allows you to hop on and off at any number of stops throughout South Africa and by the early afternoon I was in Nelspruit, the gateway to quite famous Kruger National Park – the largest game park in South Africa and one of the most famous in all the world. I have always heard how amazing Kruger is to visit, but I was a bit concerned it might be over-touristy and was frankly a bit skeptical as it seemed a bit over hyped and with the knowledge I would still get to go on a safari in 4-6 other parks through Africa I almost even considered skipping it but decided it was best to see it and make my own judgment and comparison with the other parks. Also, being an experienced traveler I tend to avoid packaged tours and the geriatric crowd along with many of them but I did not see any easy way of seeing the park on my own and decided with limited time I felt it was best to book onto a tour and gain the expertise of a seasoned guide, but to shop around for a tour with a small vehicle size (animals are not likely to get to close to a huge bus), one that catered to backpackers with a smaller group size and still with a highly experienced guide. What I ended up with by booking through the Funky Monkey backpacker hostile exceeded all my expectations on all counts and made my visit to Kruger one of the more spectacular travel experiences of my life.