Finally getting around to blogging the new OAT trip….

We’re in Johannesburg at the moment, having spent the past few days at Victoria Falls. The pre-trip group of John & Ellie, Mike & Nancy, Joe & Susan and Dennis & Lola and myself, enjoyed spectacular weather for our visits to a local rural homestead, a sunset cruise on the Zambezi and a day trip to Chobe. The falls were the fullest I’ve seen them in a few years and the river cruise offered little in the way of birds and animals. Even the hippos were hiding amongst the deeply submerged trees. But the sunset was as pretty as ever. The Ndebele family hosted our morning visit to Monde Village. Baba and Mama showed us around the homestead, served us round nuts and sang hymns for us in their small church. I love visiting them – their genuine warmth and hospitality are a treat to share with travellers. Joe learned almost nothing about how to grind corn – but he taught his new friend the High Five and relished the chance to ‘high five’ over.. and over…. and over….

We’re now in JNB, having met up with the base group and we’ve ticked off Soweto and day one. Tomorrow we’re off to Cullinan (why??) and the Voortrekker Monument (zzz)…. don’t know if I’ll sleep tonight, I’m so excited… but I have a surprise for them on the way back….

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We’re in Hoi An!

One week into our race through Vietnam, following Chris’s back-to-back tours, we’re in the ancient village of Hoi An. A 30km bike ride through rice paddies and vegetable gardens made good use of the spectacular weather (our first really sunny day..!) this morning and after a fitting at the tailor, we explored the temples and old houses of the town. Just returned to the hotel after a FABULOUS dinner at Mango Mango, laden withour new array of silk, cotton and wool tailored clothes. Tomorrow will be yet another marathon day as 2 flights and 2 transfers after we leave Hoi An, we arrive in Siem Reap, Cambodia for our tour of the ancient Angkor temples. Keep a look out for the new Vietnam blog which documents the trip from start to finish.

..AND IF WE CAN PERSUADE CHRIS TO BLOG HIS TRIPS……

All the guides and drivers pre-tripping for the season

We may even get a glimpse into Butterfield & Robinson’s Vietnam biking trips running over Christmas and New Year…..

The weather was Chilean rainy, but we went biking anyway…

In October, I enjoyed the company of a Chilean film and travel crew for the start of their 40-day Southern Africa and islands epic.  For more detail, check out the page: SOUTH AFRICA TO BE SHOWCASED IN CHILEAN TV

Then, immediately following my last Cape to Cairo tour, I hit the roads with Steve for a washed out bike tour operated by Tours & Trails for DuVine Adventures.

Finally, some sunshine and 2 days of biking with the Valentines, saw one of the hottest days the Western Cape has seen this season.

 

 

1 Aug 2009 – Exploring Namibia, Zimbabwe & South Africa

1 Kiwi, 1 South African & nearly 4000km of open desert road.  Denis complained endlessly about being short-changed on the quality of 4×4 we had, but trying to get him out from behind the wheel was a constant challenge….  16 days of laying out the groundwork for Si Fang Expeditions first African Odyssey.  Read more…

2 Nov – Biking the Cape Winelands with Butterfield & Robinson

8 days of wining, dining and some great biking from Cape Town to Hermanus via the Cape Winelands and the Little Karoo.  Read more….

23 Oct – Climbing Table Mountain with Boland College

56 tourism students on 3 different routes up to Maclear’s Beacon and down Platteklip Gorge. Read more….

Cycling with Pick n Pay

October 17 saw Active Africa’s 8th  running of the annual Pick n Pay/Franklins cycle tour of Franschoek in conjunction with Syner-G Events.  See here for what went down…

It’s all over for most of us…

I arrived back in Cape Town this evening and I would assume that the bulk of the group will be arriving in JFK very shortly. The Boggs’, the Kulicks and the Millers all went on to Jordan. Hopefully they will report back with news of their Middle East adventures.

So I think a great time was had by all… there are a few more pix of the last few days in Egypt.

Thanks to the families and friends who were keeping track of our travels. We enjoyed hearing from you and knowing you were following the trip.

 

Hello, Egypt

After a pretty long day yesterday, which started with a 1am wake up call followed by a 5 hour flight, a tour of the Cairo museum and a 1 hour flight to Luxor, we crashed at the Sheraton with no agenda for this morning. Some early risers (Carole, Joanne, Jim, Nancy, Nell & Pilar) explored the Luxor museum, others (Jim Heath and Jacqui) worked off some of the excessive consumption typical of this trip. Of course Connie and Tom went shopping. Ruth tried to give away her camcorder by leaving it in the breakfast room, but it found its way back to her and she was back to recording her second hour of tape (Good luck to the Boggs family…:-)
We boarded the Nile Admiral around lunchtime, had our first meal onboard and then toured Karnak and Luxor temples, our first visit to real Egyptian monuments. So after currying favour with the group by giving them a free morning, we’re hauling them out of bed at 5.30am tomorrow to hit the Valley of the Kings before the heat picks up. I keep reminding them that Africa’s not for sissies… But they’re all such good sports that perhaps we’ll go easy on them for the rest of the cruise Below is a phone pix from Karnak temple earlier today…