Kruger Safari

This elephant tried to attack us

 I realise I haven't been writing much here from my southafrican trip although I have seen and experienced a lot, but maybe that is exactly why. However now I have arrived at the Kruger area, although I will only enter the park itself tomorrow. Today I arrived at the Thornhill lodge an had a safari drive in one of the private reserves and I got really lucky!! First I was lucky with the company, two very nice girls from Germany, Tessa and Manuela. They told me about all the animals they had already seen and I got a little worried we would not have the same luck now, but we had. In just three hours we saw all the Big Five!!! Very close up! An elephant even tried to attack us.




leopard cubs

Lioness

 In a way I thought the rangers might have been a little too focused on finding the big five and did not pay much attention to other animals we passed on the way, but I guess that's what people come for. When I asked about some bird, they seemed a little surprised and often did not know, but from what I heard at dinner about tomorrows ranger he knows a lot about everything, even birds. And from what I understood I am going to get a private drive tomorrow so I guess I will be able to see and ask a lot!! Sometime it is good to travel off season! I am so happy! I love safaris!! I

A handsome male giraffe from the Kruger park



Black rhino

Almost at Cape Point...

Yesterday we had planned to drive down to Cape Point. On the way we wanted to stop by at the wineries in Constantia, first Klein Constantia because that's my friend's favourite and then I suggested Buitenverwachting because I had read about it. In my friends opinon this would go very fast "you don't need to stay long at a winery". I was a little sceptic. And I was right!
At Klein Constantia it took us quite a time just to taste the wines and buy some and enjoying the surroundings, but even more so at Buitenverwachting. I had suggested we could have lunch there, but my friend thought we would be there too early. It turned out it was already two o'clock when we got there. They have a really lovely lunch option where you get a delicious picnic basked and get to sit under the trees in the garden. Although this you have to book in advance, which we hadn't done. However yesterday seemed to be our lucky day so there was some people who had booked but did not show up. So we got there picnic for three for the two of us. Absolutely delicious!!



Our lovely picnic!

 Just a pity I could not really drink wine as I had to drive, but maybe that was good too, if I had been drinking wine, we might still have been there.



At least we managed to get to Boulder and see the pinguins and had a nice swim among the pinguins.

Driving around

Today we decided to rent a car. It seemed a little more complicated than expected. The first rentals we asked did not have any car available, but then we found one at a reasonable price. Though only available four hours later, but that was ok to us. We thought we could have lunch, visit the market or maybe even the District six museum first. But that was of course before we knew the administration around the rental would take almost two hours. So the time reduced to lunch and then we decided to revisit the travel agency that we consulted two days ago about safaris as it was nearby. So, now I have booked the three day safari in Krueger. Great!!

Eventually we got our car and started driving. That is I started driving. That was clear from the beginningas my friend Erik does not drive, but it was still quite interesting to see the interaction at the car rental. From the beginning the mainly addressed Erik, because of course renting a car is a men's thing, not?! But after a while they must have understood that it was not him but me that would do the driving. I don't really know what made them realise that because we did not tell them and I did not present them my drivers license before they asked for it, but they must have noticed anyway. It is quite funny to travel together with a man, who is not your boyfriend/husband. Some people simply assume we are married or at least togehter, but some seem to get the signals that we are not. Funny!

Since we now only had the afternoon we just drove a short turn around the city. We went to Kirstenbosch, to Constantia (but unfortunately the wineyards had already closed) then a sundowner on Sandy Beach, dinner in Camps Bay and watching the moon from Signal Hill. A lovely day, all in all! Tomorrow we will go down to the Cape. I was amazed again how easy I get used to drive on the "wrong" side of the street. I had the same experience in Harare too, but that was a while ago. It feels a little awkward, especially in situations like roundabouts etc, but it is quite ok.

Life is good

Enjoying a cappuccino and some fresh orange, carrot and ginger juice (thought that would be good for my cold) on a cafe in Sea Point waiting for my friend to pick me up on the way to Hout Bay and Sandy Beach. Life is good! The only thing I need to sort out now is when and how to arrange my safari trip. Could be worse!

The World of Nose Spray

As I have a tendancy, or maybe even tradition of catching a cold whenever I go on holiday, I have been thinking that I could almost write a guide book over decongesting nose sprays. It seems to be one of the first things I just HAVE to get, and still I always forget to bring it from home. If it wasn't for the fact that they have an expiry date (or that they finish) I could have had quite a decent collection of nose sprays from all over the world.
To be honest I guess the contents of them are probably pretty much the same, but the packing and the way they sell them differ. I can say the strange bottle that did not have a spraying function, that I bought in Rio, was not a hit. It made me feel like drowning. The one I bought here in Cape Town feels very much like the ones you get at home, but the lady selling it was very helpful. She insisted I should try it already in the pharmacy and helped me taking the outer packing off and almost offered to help me spray it too.
Here of course it was very easy to ask for what I wanted, but I have noted that even in countries where they don't speak much English this is a very easy thing to explain, sometimes you don't even have to say anything...

Arrived in Cape Town

So, now I have arrived in Cape Town! And it feels good!!
All the way until now I have not really had much time to think about this trip or make any plans for it and at times it even felt like a bad idea going here. I have been working a lot and neen very busy and tired, which made me somehow feel I really needed holiday, but also thinking maybe I should have choosen a place where I have been before and am familiar with, somehow I didn't really felt ready for a "new" country. However, all the time I kind of knew I would like it once I came here and so it is!
Immediately on arrival I felt good. I was a little surprised how calm and well organised everyting was at the airport and on the way to the guest house. I was also struck by how friendly everyone I have met is. And somehow it feels very "normal". It does not feel like a unknown country. Staying at this guest house feels like staying at home with friends (and dogs!)
Ok, I admit I haven't really seen anything yet. But considering the number of hours I have spent here I have seen quite a lot anyhow. As always I seem to be landing running. Already as we shortly landed in Johannesburg on the way here I got a sms about that today is the day of Cape Town Pride and that we should go there. So I landed, took a shuttle to the guest house, had a shower and changed clothes, then my friend came and we went for lunch and then to the pride party. So, you can say I have seen something. Met a lot of nice people and seen the most fabulous transvestites.  I like this place! Among all, and what firsts struck me and what I have missed since I left Brazil is the colours! Finally I get to see colours again!! I love it!!
Looking forward to see more tomorrow! And the coming two weeks!

Travel Advice

After having come back to home base and not engaged in any more interesting travelling than on and off to Brussels every now and then I have had little reason to write on my travel blog, but I have been thinking about writing about attitudes about travelling and will make an attempt now. It is however connected to upcoming travels.

In a couple of weeks I will go to South Africa for two weeks of holiday. I have never been there before, but feel rather cool about that. It seems like a rather normal country and easy to travel in. The funny thing is however that all of a sudden everyone I know seems to have been there and feel obliged to give me a lot of advice on it. Ok, I know one always tend to pay more attention to the fact that others have done what you yourself are about to or just have done etc.  For example if you have decided to travel somewhere and thought you didn’t know anyone who had been there you will soon discover a lot of people have been there. With South Africa it seems a little different though. I knew that quite a few people I know have been there, but what strikes me is the amount of advice I keep getting, without having asked for it. Everyone seems to have liked it very well and of course it is nice that they want to share their experiences but sometimes it gets a little annoying. Everyone keeps telling me I have to do this and I have to do that. Whereas my feeling is I don’t have to do anything at all, since I will be on holiday and will do whatever I feel like in that moment.

My theory about this is that South Africa is accessible enough for a lot of people, but still exotic enough to really be something to talk about for these people.

Coming Home

It is a strange feeling to be back home again. It is at the same time very familiar and normal and very different and strange. At the same time it feels like I have been away for a very long time and as if I haven't been away at all.

My apartment looks very much the same as I remembered it but at the same times it feels as if I have never lived here. Most of my things are here, but still a lot of things are missing and many of the things that are here are in different places that were I normally keep them. It takes a while to find my ways around the place again. It is funny the way you rememer and forget. I have to find out again which keys goes to which doors and how the dishwasher works and what kind of waste is to be recycled and what not here. Very basic and everyday things.

This morning I woke up by my Swedish phone ringing. While in Brazil I didn't use to answer that one unless I knew how it was that called and if I believed it to be important, so my first reflex was just to switch it off. Then I started to think if it wasn't so that I arrived in Sweden yesterday. After having thought about it for a few seconds I decided that I was really in Sweden and I could answer the phone (the number was withheld). When I answered it turned out that it was a good friend from Brazil that called! Which added more to the confusion!

A Different Brasília

When I came back to Brasília yesterday after my two weeks of travelling, it was a different Brasília that I met. During the two weeks I have been away it had been raining a lot and after months of drought you could really tell the difference. The earth had just soaked the water and the ground was freshly green, the red-brown dust was washed away from the trees and bushes and there was a completely different smell in the air. It might be a little more like the Brasília I first came to in April, it was still green then, but yet different.

I think I am also a somewhat different person now,when I am leaving Brazil. I have learned a lot and every experience you have change you a little. I have also met a lot of nice and interesting people, that changes you too. It has been a good time and I am feeling a little sad to leave. I am really not good at good byes...

Rio Rio

Arrived in Rio yesterday and got a little disappointed.
Well, not because of Rio in itself, I don't think Rio can disappoint me, but because of the weather. Of course I know you can never trust or count on weather here, but I was so hoping to get some sun and beach life here before going back to the Swedish autumn/winter, that's why the heavy rain really disapponted me. I was immediately considering to change my flight and go back one day earlier.

This morning however the sun was shining and I got some lovely hours on Ipanema beach. At lunch time I left the beach to go in to the Centro part of the city, where I haven't really been that much before. From what I have read and seen on pictures I thought I would like that part. And I did! Even more than I thought! It is just lovely!! As everything about Rio. Ok, it is pretty run down in parts and I can imagine it gets rather deserted and seedy at night or on weekends, but it is lovely and for sure has great potential.

I have never been to Barcelona, but from what I hear it is a  great city, everyone seems to love it. And aparently the big hype for Barcelona came after the 1992 Olympics, when the city got a good make-over and was "discovered" by the world. If Rio and Brazil play their cards well, Rio has a chance to beat that by far! I already believe Rio is one of, if not the, coolest city in the world, but of course it also have quite a few obvious (and less obvious) problems and if she can come to terms with at least some of them it will be magic. 

Money, Credit Cards and Bureaucracy

From Sweden and also from Brazil I have gotten very used to paying everything I consume with credit card. Here in Argentina, you can pay a lot by card, but it seems they really prefer to have cash payment. The prefer it that much they will in most places give a 10% discount if you pay cash. However, by cash they are very flexible though, they will gladly except a number of currencies in one and the same payment. So, that's what happened when me and my friend were shopping for leather jackets. After having discussed the price for our three jackets some time (which of course was very long, since at least two of the involved were Brazilians) and agreed on what we thought was a good price we were informed this price would not at all be valid if we were to pay by credit card. As we did not have that amount of pesos required, a new negotiation starts, on what this would be in differnt available currencies. After still some more time we finally paid in a mix of Argentinian pesos, US-dollars, Euros and Brazilian reais. The last missing amount I had to go and get from an ATM. Afterwards I was quite sceptic to whether it was such a good affair in the end, as I feared that the discount we negotiated so hardly for, might have gotten lost in the different exchange rates and finally in the fee for an extra cash withdrawal from the ATM, but my friend was still very positive and optimistic about it.

Another thing that I find a little annoying are those landing cards that some countries in this part of the world insist that you should fill in before entering the country. It just seems so completely useless. You basically just fill in the same information that is already in the passport plus which flight you come with, how long you will stay and where you will stay. I am sure no one really reads what you write on this paper. And I feel absolutely sure that no ones bothers to connect the information on these little paper slips with the electronically read infromation from your passport and also sure that no one ever checks whether the information you give about where you will stay in the country is correct or not. Nowadays most countries have electronically readable passports which means more and more information is allready stored on the entry of the country and if it is really that important I am sure it would be faster and more efficient for everyone if the immigration officers would just ask and add the information directly in the computor on entry. Because I really find it hard to believe they will collect all the little paper slips and enter the information later, most likely those slips will just be stored somewhere for a while and then thrown away.

The strange thing is also that they wont tell you what this slip is for and what you are supposed to do with the part that you get to keep. I have been told that in Brazil it is important that you keep it and leave it on exiting the country, but when I arrived in March i didn't get one and no one asked for it when I re-entered in June. That time I got a slip that I have keept but now, on leaving again in September no one asked for it and even though I had it I did not hand it over as it was not asked for. In Peru however I had to present the slip on checking in at the hote and also at buying some tickets. Just a good fortune I kept it handy. Now, on entering Argentina you had to fill in three papers, one they kept, on I suppose I will have to leave on leaving tomorrow, but the third, that was for the customs, no one asked for, so that one I still have. I am kind of glad they did not ask for that one, because it was very difficult to fill in. One question was whether you carry items purchased outside of Argentina. I mean, as I had never been to Argentina before, it means everything I had was purchased outside of Argentina, but I am not sure they would want me to declare that anyway...

International Table Manners

Travelling is learning. Not only big things, but also the small little details.

Never having really been to South America before of course I had a lot to learn, and still have, but exactly because of this I treasure the small details I have learnt during this time. Like knowing how to tell a Brazilian couple apart from other couples in a restaurant. Well, I have to admit this is not something I have discovered by myself, but it was actually pointed out to me by a Brazilian with international outlook.
He pointed out to me that whereas it for me and for most people I know it is natural that you sit opposite your partner if you go to a restaurant, to be able to see each other's faces, Brazilian couples prefer to sit next to each other (to be able to touch and snog?). At first I thought he was joking, but having paid attention to it I have to say it seems to be a fact. Here in Buenos Aires I have noted it is a safe way to spot Brazilian tourists.

Thoughts from my hotelroom

It is funny how fast one can get used to things. After having travelled on my own for a while and being very happy with that and having a good time, I was quite sceptic about getting company by a friend from Brasilia that came to Buenos Aires to meet me. It took about a day and a half getting to terms with having company, but now, when my friend have left, it feels very empty all of a sudden. It feels boring to be on my own and I don't feel like going out and do anything. Ok, part of the explanation for that can be that it is very cold and windy tonight and I send all my warm clothes with my friend to Brasilia so therefore I really don't feel like going out. Normally, going out in the evenings alone was always the most boring part of travelling alone, but now it feels even worse, but if the sun is shining tomorrow I am sure it will feel better.

Another thing that is strange, ironic and typical is this thing about not being able to shop when one really wants to shop. If I am not supposed to buy anything and especially if I don't really have the money to shop, then I always find a lot of things that I want, but if I really plan to buy something I won't find anything. Like in Cusco. The first day I passed through the markets and saw a lot of things that I liked, but the last day when I still had too many soles that I wanted to get rid of I didn't find a thing that I liked. Yesterday when many shops were closed due to holiday I saw a lot of nice things in the shop windows here in Buenos Aires, but this afternoon when I went out for shopping I found nothing. I did however bought a red leather jacket in the morning. Happy! And I have the whole day tomorrow.

One of the reasons it is difficult to shop here is that it is so completely wrong season for me. All the shops are full of light spring and summer clothes, which feels very strange for me going back to the Swedish autumn and winter in a week. Actually it feels strange even if I consider how it feels here right now. Having spent the last six months in constant sunshine and over 30 degrees, it feels strange to think it is spring, going to summer, when it is 15 degrees, cloudy or even rainy.

I really hope the weather will be better when I come to Rio on Thursday. I so look forward to a couple of days on the beach. If it will be cold and rainy I don't know what I will do, maybe I then go back to Brasilia one day earlier to get all things ready and have more time to say goodbye to people...

Swedish in Buenos Aires

Had a nice day strolling around in Buenos Aires, doing the tourist track strolling through Recoleta, San Telmo with the fair and then La Boca and Caminito. Nice.
Something I didn't expect though was the most common reaction people had on hearing that I come from Sweden. I mean you do get to hear some different things and some more often that others, but here was a very specific for Buenos Aires/Argentina. I don't even remember how many times I have been told the story of how the Boca Juniors got their colours. Apparently they had difficulties choosing colours for the new team and they made the agreement to pick the colours of the flag of the first ship to enter the harbour in the morning and apparently it was a Swedish ship, hence the Boca is since then playing in blue and yellow (gold). I might somehow have heard that story before, but not the way that I remember it, but now I have heard it more times than I can remember..

Bad start

Arrived in Buenos Aires. Not the best start, but I am sure it will get better. By saying not the best it was because the flight here was not great, and the hotel is a big disappointment. Not that I had big expectations but anyway... The thing is there seems to be so many nice hotels in Buenos Aires and the big thing is all the stylish boutique hotels that everyone is talking about. And then there are the areas, everyone told me you should either stay in Palermo, Recoleta or maybe San Telmo. That is also what I was looking for before I booked, but for several different reasons I could not book early and when time was starting to get crusial most of the nice hotels didn't have room for the period I wanted to stay or were really expensive. As I arrived on a Saturday evening most of the hotels could only offer room from Sunday, and somehow if you are only staying for a few days anyway you might not want to have to move. I had also asked our travel agency for suggestions and gotten some that had rooms available, but none of them looked really tempting. However, as time ran out I had to book something so I just sent a mail to the agency asking them to book in one of the suggested hotels. As none of them were in any of the areas I would have liked to stay in I went for the one that seemed best situated from a logistical point of view.
That said I really did not have high expectations when I arrived here, but was anyway disappointed. The hotel is called Dazzler Suites which sounds promising, but I thing the "suit" part only refers to that the room has a small pentry. I must stay this hotel room is one of the most depressing places I have ever stayed in. The floor is covered by some horrible carpet that seems really dirty, the walls are painted in some creemish/yellowish colour but with lot of stains and marks. The "living room" has two horribly ugly once white fake leather chairs, the rest of the furniture is black and of a kind you would normally find in some dorms from the 70:s. There are no paintings or decoration of any kind or anything with some colour. The TV is really old and the remote control doesn't work. There are two narrow beds squeezed into a small bedrom and the bathroom could have needed some renovation a while ago. And the whole place seems to be very loud in the way that you hear a lot from the neighbours, luckily not from the street however. If it wasn't for the fact that I had paid in advancce I would have tried to find another hotel from tomorrow. But hey... more the reason for spending less time at the hotel and more time on town. I hope the hotel will be the only disappointment in Buenos Aires..

On the move

Sitting at the airport of Lima on the way from Cusco to Buenos Aires. Until now everything has been so smooth here in Peru, so I was almost surprised about the hassle at the airport in Cusco. For the first time I have experienced more complications on a domstic flight than international. In Cusco there was a huge line for the check-in counter. I was there in good time, but anyway I kind of realised this would not work. Anyhow, I lined up like everyone else.The staff from LAN walking along the line however said there was time. But after half an hour I had only moved a couple of meters and I caught his attention again, sayin hey, time is moving much faster that this line. The all of a sudden he realised he had to do something and sent me off to another line and then I was checked in. But still there was a lot of hassle around the security and boarding. Just, simply messy.
I have also experiences some more hassle att immigration than normally. I never ever am asked question at immigration and normally it is a really fast process. But here, and in Brazil they made extra fuss because I am travelling on a diplomatic passport. I could have travelled on my normal passport, but since I entered Brazil on the diplomatic and will re-enter before I leave I had to travel on the diplomatic.

A rough night

The view from my hotel room

I had a rather interesting night in Aguas Calliente, but not in the way I would have likes. The thing is that I am really not feeling very well. My cold just won’t give up and yesterday night I was really tired and didn’t have appetite enough to have dinner. Because of my cold I felt incredibly sensitive to smells and as soon as I felt the smell of any kind of food I felt slightly nauseous so I decided to give up and go to bed early. But as my hotel is just by the train station and my room facing the station, with a very nice view over the mountains and the river, it also get all the noise from the station. I read about this before I came here but other travellers wrote it didn’t matter that much as the trains stop running at 10 PM. In a way I think they did, but then at some moments during the night there was a horrible noise again. Maybe the trains didn’t move, but there was for sure some work going on and at moments I thought they were almost coming in through the wall. So even if it was a long night of sleep it was quite brutally interrupted at times and I still feel a little dizzy.

Peru

I must say I like Peru this far! Already at the airport in Lima I was very surprised of how modern it seemed, eventhough I quite immediatly met two men with cages with live chickens at the airport!! When I first heard the sound of chicken I thought it was some ironic joke, but then I saw them. And they were for real. But apart from thet everything seemed very modern and effective and people spoke English and were used to handle foreigners, something you don't see in Brasilia!

In Cusco everyone is very professional and helpful and most people speak some English, and even if they don't they have a wonderful patience with my strange mix of Portuguese, Italian and Spanish. Of course Cusco lives from tourism and need to treat their guests welll, but this is not always the case in all tourist destination. In some places you get the feeling they only want to milk as much money ouf of you as possible while you are there but don't give a damn whether you will come back or what you will tell your friends when you come back home. This feeling I didn't have in Cusco.

Not really in Aguas Calliente or Machu Picchu either, although here it is more obvious that it is a professional tourism industry. People are however still very nice.

Visit to Machu Picchu

Somehow I was a little worried that my visit to Machu Picchu would not be as nice as I had expected it to be. The train trip from Cusco to Aguas Callientes was great however. A very beautiful ride in a comfortable train with excellent service and on top of that very nice company. In my group of four seats I sat next to a Peruvian tourist guide who gave free private guiding to me and the two cute German guys sitting opposite us. The only little misshapen was that our train had to lend its engine to a meeting train that had ha engine problem, which delayed us about one hour. But so far still so good. When we arrived there was somewhat of a chaos at the station with all meeting porters from the hotels, no one from my hotel though. But as I knew it would be very close to the station and that the town is tiny I thought it could not be so difficult to find. At the beginning I just followed all the others that went in the same direction, but after a while I asked a lady how pointed me in the other direction. On the way she pointed a small local man came up and asked me what I was looking for and offered to go with me there and carry my bag. When someone does that you tend to believe that they know where you want to go. It turned out he had no idea and had to ask several times and led me in wrong directions several times. By this time it had started to rain so when I finally arrived to the hotel I was soaked and not happy. Not happier to learn that I could not access my room yet. For a while I hesitated whether I really should go up to Machu Picchu today or wait until tomorrow, but decided to go anyway. Who knows what tomorrow brings and I also had a prepaid lunch for today. After having bought the entrance ticket in one place and the bus ticket in another I finally got on the bus and was on the way. And the rain still pored down.

I felt a bit stressed and all wet both from rain and sweat and felt I was not in the mood I would have liked to have going there, but I decided to start with my lunch and gather some more energy and then enter. While eating I kind of had the feeling things would get better and I even felt sure the rain would stop and the sky clear. Funnily that is exactly what happened, when I had finished my meal and left the restaurant the sun shone!

Entering the area and starting climbing up to where you can look down at Machu Picchu is truly magic! So beautiful and magnificent! Somehow the game between rain and sun also made it more magical, with the mist rising from the hills and rainbows in the valley below, fantastic!! So, after all, the visit was just as great as expected.

Morning in Cusco

Early morning and sitting at  my hotel in Cusco looking out over Plaza de Armas and wondering what to do today. Shall I take a guided city tour, take a longer tour to the Sacres Valley, or just walk around the city at will? Still feel a little tired, have a soar throat and headache and might have a light fever so energy is not as high as could have been.
But nevertheless I really like Cusco and realise it would have been nice to stay here for a longer time and go trekking, rafting and hiking etc. But well, I will have to come back.