One of the things I love most about our life is the ability we have to see the world. Having 2 years on a continent really gives you time to dive deep into your host country and often the surrounding countries too. Nick and I both love to travel, so we make it a priority to start seeing things as soon as possible. Random fact: I’ve been on 35 international trips since joining the foreign service in January of 2009. Whoa, huh?
So even though we’ve been here less than a month, trip planning is in full swing. Trips here are spendy (usually a $100/person/night at hotels, $150+/person/night for safari lodges). Fortunately everyday living is dirt cheap, so that leaves lots of discretionary income for travel. We find that our preferred travel frequency is one trip (usually a long weekend) every 4-8 weeks plus a longer trip quarterly. Here’s what we have on tap for the fall:
September: Blantyre & Zomba
Nick has a work trip in Blantyre (Malawi’s business capital) next month, so Nia and I are going to tag along and explore the city. Then on Friday we’ll travel one hour to Zomba, a mountainous region where the Embassy owns a cottage that we can rent. We’ll be staying there and doing some horseback riding, hiking and relaxing.
October: Majete Wildlife Reserve
In October we’ve booked our first safari for 4 days and 3 nights at the luxurious (and romantic!) Mkulumadzi Lodge in Majete Wildlife Reserve in Malawi. We’re going sans Nia and plan to do safari activities that would be more challenging with her (like a long walking safari, day-long driving safari or boat safari). We’re paying close to $200/person/night, but that includes the beautiful lodging, all meals and two – four hour safaris a day.
Majete is a private wildlife reserve and the only one in Malawi to have the big 5 (leopard, elephant, buffalo, black rhino and lion). It’s still relatively un-touristed, so we’re likely to have a lot of alone time with animals. We’re going right at the end of dry season too, so game should be concentrated at the remaining watering holes.
The lodging looks sublime. Here’s what the rooms apparently look like:
And here’s the view from the room’s deck looking out over the Shire River:
We debated going to South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, which is supposed to be the best game viewing (and roughly the same distance away), but decided we wanted our first safari to be in our host country. I’m pretty sure  Majete won’t disappoint!
November: Cape Town, South Africa
In November we’re going to take a 9 day/8 night trip to South Africa. The dollar is really strong against the Rand right now and Cape Town has great weather at that time of year (along with prime whale viewing). I’ve just started digging into itinerary planning and am overwhelmed by all the potential things we could do. It looks especially kid-friendly too – lots of animals, museums and parks.
I’ve been having a few of what my neighbor Alison calls “Bad Africa Days” lately, and the prospect of these trips has really helped me get past what’s frustrating me and focus on all the good things that Africa has to offer. It’s going to be an exciting few months folks . . . you can count on full reviews to come after each trip!
