This will be my last post about our travels in Africa. Firstly off, I want to thank you for following me on this journey through Africa. While it was often a “chore” to write about what we did each day, I have truly enjoyed documenting my travels in this way and am hoping to do more of this in the future!
I have also updated every post with a gallery of photos so for those into pictures, please check them out!
If you want to follow the whole trip you can do so here.
And with that, here are my reflections for this amazing journey! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!
1. What were your top 3 highlights of the trip?
Highlight #1: Seeing The Cheetah and Wild Dogs – One of the things I had been most looking forward to, was going on Safari and seeing animals that I’d only ever seen in a zoo or on screen. I liked seeing lions, elephants, and rhinos in the flesh! However, my two most cherished sightings were animals I never anticipated seeing: African Wild Dogs and a Cheetah. In both cases we had an opportunity to see an endangered and vulnerable species in the wild was memorable. Being able to step away from our vehicle, step into the bush and be 10 feet away from a pregnant Cheetah was a thrilling and humbling experience!
Highlight #2: The Grand Mosque. It is pristine and on a sunny day (like the day we visited) it radiates the sun from its white walls. Prior to arriving, I’d seen pictures and assumed a most had post processing work done to bring out the vibrant white. When we arrived, I realized immediately that it simply looks this magificent all the time, and a lot of our pictures (with no post processing) ended up looking similar to the ones I’d seen. Its not just the different colors and contrasts, but the angles and sight lines make for some great pics and a sight to behold!
Highlight #3: Ramadan and the Egyptian people. We had the unique experience of travelling through two predominantly Muslim countries during the month of Ramadan. Especially in Egypt, our guide (who was also fasting) took us to the Khan el-Khalili bazaar where we the opportunity to experience Iftar (The breaking of the fast) among hundreds of locals. It felt a lot like New Years eve when everyone was eagerly awaiting the time when they could eat again together. When that time came, everyone started eating, sharing food, laughing and celebrating together. It was incredible to feel “apart” of that community for a brief moment and see/feel the general happiness level of everyone in the vicinity rise.
2. What was your favorite meal or thing you ate?
The Nubian Village meal. I found this experience to be my favorite. The food was incredibly tasty, the rice, the vegetable stews, the beautifully cooked and spiced chicken. I couldn’t get enough!
I really enjoyed how “real” it felt to be in a family’s home. From the mismatching plate ware and silverware (which happens at my home when we entertain guests too!) to the banter between our guide and our host about their soccer teams. I loved the accusations of rigged games, corrupt officials and one bragging to the other about winning. I loved this part and truly enjoyed the whole evening experience!
A secondary highlight is Middle Eastern Rice. I always love any sort of flavored rice, and both the UAE and Egypt have this in spades. There’s something about the rice in this region that gets me. Even the sleeper train “airline meal” rice was great! I never had a bad bowl/plate i didn’t like. It is now my goal to spend some time trying to recreate a simple recipie our guide provided us for making Egyptian rice. I’ll let you know how it goes!
3. If you could change any element of the itinerary what would you change?
I thoroughly enjoyed the destinations we visited. If I were to plan it again, I would probably reverse the order in which we visited the African Countries. Instead of going from Capetown to Egypt, I would have preferred going from Egypt to Capetown. I generally enjoy cooler climates more and going from the hottest to the coolest would have simply been more “comfortable”.
4. What caught you by surprise on this trip?
When I travel, the first thing I focus on is the “achievement” or things this will check off my personal wish list. Initially it was about hitting my sixth continent, going on a safari and seeing pyramids. But like all my trips (and I’m not sure why this comes as a surprise anymore) it ends up being the people I meet and befriend that surprise me and makes trips special. Spending hours chatting about anything under the sun on a safari drive, growing together as a “family” exploring Egypt or lazy afternoons in our hotel room talking about singing, music and…wedding proposals. I’ve found the people you meet or grow closer to always surprises me in the most pleasant way!
5. Share one memorable story from this trip
Near the end of our trip, the heat was kicking our butts pretty good. We had three stops on our itinerary on one of our last days and we were sticking pretty close to our air conditioned bus. by the third stop Gimpy and I were pretty wiped and we ended up rock paper scissoring to see who would get to stay in the bus and who would have to brave the heat. I lost and had to run outside to snap a few pictures of the Colossi of Memnon while Gimpy enjoyed the air conditioned comfort of the bus. Its probably why when I look back through our photos now, I only have a few pictures of these statues and it always reminds me of the time I lost in rock paper scissors.
6. Did you pack properly for this trip? What would you have done differently?
There were some items I had packed that I didn’t use. This included a Headlamp, Camelbak and Ipad. These are all miscellaneous items that I thought would be useful at one point or another, but never did.
I also would have packed more tops. I knew that Egypt and the UAE would be hot. I didn’t expect it to be THAT hot. I had budgeted about a shirt every two days (which would be overkill in other climates) but with the heat, I sweat so much, my shirts became “unwearable” after half a day outside. One or two more shirts would have meant less hotel room washing, hanging and more napping or blogging.
7. Any regrets?
- I would have researched more things to do in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We had great experiences, but I feel that there is more to them than we saw. It just means I need to go back!
- I would have extended our stay in London. Prior to this trip I wasn’t a huge fan of London. I’d been several times and had grown “tired” of it. However I’d never visited Bricklane Market and felt I could have spent a whole day exploring it.
- Selfishly, I would have flown another airline to the UAE. I gaffed and thought Etihad belonged to Star Alliance, however they don’t and I wasn’t able to earn any points for those flights.
- I would have ordered something different the day I got food poisioning… hindsight is 20/20!
8. Any advice for people considering similar trips/destinations?
GO!
Every destination we visited is incredibly beautiful, rich and diverse. You would be doing yourself a disservice to not go because of fear or apprehension. Yes, there is always risk when you travel, but being intelligent, respectful and polite has always worked for me and that isn’t specific to this region. There is simply too much history, natural beauty, and culture in this part of the world to miss out on.
My one piece of advice, is that if you are sensitive to heat, picking the winter months to visit the middle east may be easier to bear than the summer months. On the flip side I truly enjoyed “wintering” in South Africa and found the lack of mosquitoes ideal!
9. Final thoughts?
My only final thought is that I am truly blessed to have this opportunity. This was an amazing trip, traveled with amazing friends, meeting amazing people and experiencing and seeing amazing things. Simply put, what more could you ask for?