About me, the traveler

Travelogues

Trip 1 - India, Nepal, and China

Trip 2 - Southeast Asia

Trip 3 - Mongolia to Eastern Europe

Trip 4 - Middle South America

Trip 5 - Southern Africa

Trip 6 - Scandinavia, the Baltics, and Greenland

Trip 7 - The Balkans

Trip 8 - Morocco and Southern Spain

Trip 9 - Western India

Trip 10 - Outer Indochina

Trip 11 - Ethiopia and Dubai

Trip 12 - Iceland

Trip 13 - Japan

Trip 14 - Caucasus

Trip 15 - Central & East Asia

Trip 16 - Inner Indochina and Japan

Tales From the Tour (a running travelogue)

Top-five lists

New York City excursions

Cheap East Coast bus alternatives

Links


Trip 5 - Southern Africa

30 October 2001 to 11 December 2001

Of all the continents, Africa contains the largest number of countries, and it thus presented a bewildering array of options. For six-week trips of the kind I usually take, there were essentially three options: the north (Egypt to Morocco), the west (Senegal to Chad, though that would be at a breakneck pace), and the south and east (Kenya to South Africa). This last option seemed the most feasible as far as transport and safety were concerned - it's unfortunate that so many African countries are off-limits due to civil war.

The Kenya-to-South Africa option also allowed me to take advantage of many of Africa's most enticing attractions: the national parks of Kenya and Tanzania, with their enormous variety of animals; Victoria Falls; the sand dunes of Namibia; and the Blue Train.

A complete travelogue does not yet exist for this trip. Until it is written, you can read the e-mail messages that I sent to family and friends while I was away.

Message #1 Nairobi to Dar es Salaam
Message #2 Dar es Salaam to Arusha and the Serengeti (an abecedarian adventure)
Message #3 Arusha to Victoria Falls
Message #4 Victoria Falls to Johannesburg (the final episode)