El Camino de Santiago de Compostela: Week Two

June 7, 2016 duckie 2 Comments

Day 8
Start: Logroño
Finish: Nájera
Distance: 30 km
Time: 7 hours 35 minutes
Accommodation: €5
Food: €11.80

Day 9
Start: Nájera
Finish: Santo Domingo de la Calzada
Distance: 21 km
Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
Accommodation: €8.50
Food: €13

Day 10
Start: Santo Domingo de la Calzada
Finish: Belorado
Distance: 22 km
Time: 5 hours 50 minutes
Accommodation: €10
Food: €16.20

Day 11
Start: Belorado
Finish: Atacuerpa
Distance: 30 km
Time: 7 hours 35 minutes
Accommodation: €6
Food: €17.80

Day 12
Start: Atacuerpa
Finish: Burgos
Distance: 20 km
Time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Accommodation: €5
Food: €16

Day 13
Start: Burgos
Finish: Hornillos del Camilo
Distance: 22 km
Time: 4 hours 40 minutes
Accommodation: €15
Food: €7

Day 14
Start: Hornillos del Camino
Finish: Itero de la Vega
Distance: 33 km
Time: 7 hours 20minutes
Accommodation: €5
Food: €9.10

Fitness, Travel

El Camino de Santiago de Compostela: Week One

May 31, 2016 duckie Leave a comment

The first week of the Camino is obviously bound to be the worst. The transition from dawdling through life to hiking 20+ kilometres per day is quite a rude shock to the system both physically and mentally. Despite this, the experience is fantastic with both its ups and its downs. The people you meet are all instant friends, so cheerful and enthusiastic in this shared adventure.

While I plan to reflect on the experience at a later date, I will provide you a week by week summary of events.

Some things to note:
The distances are close estimates as every app, guidebook and sign post say something different.
Walking times are from start to finish and included is the time sitting at a cafe or by the side of the road.
The food costs include everything, coffee, snacks, beer and meals. The costs are low and hugely variable as frequently I bought groceries for multiple meals and other times I ate some meals out.

El Camino de Santiago de Compostela: Week 1

Day 1
Start: Saint-Jean-Pied-De-Port
Finish: Roncesvalles
Distance: 27km
Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
Accommodation: €10
Food: €18

Day 2
Start: Roncesvalles
Finish: Larrassoaña
Distance: 27km
Time: 8 hours 30minutes
Accommodation: €8
Food: €5

Day 3
Start: Larrassoaña
Finish: Pamplona
Distance: 16 kilometres
Time: 4 hours 40 minutes
Accommodation: €8
Food: €12.10

Day 4
Start: Pamplona
Finish: Puenta La Reina
Distance: 24 kilometres
Time: 7 hours 10 minutes
Accommodation: €5
Food: €15.70

Day 5
Start: Puenta La Reina
Finish: Estella
Distance: 22 kilometres
Time: 7 hours 10 minutes
Accommodation: €7
Food: €3

Day 6
Start: Estella
Finish: Torres del Rio
Distance: 29 kilometres
Time: 8 hours 10 minutes
Accommodation: €10
Food: €24.80

Day 7
Start: Torres Del Rio
Finish: Logroño
Distance: 21 kilometres
Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
Accommodation: €7
Food: €15.80

Fitness, Travel

El Camino de Santiago de Compostela – am I crazy?

May 27, 2016 duckie Leave a comment

Along with about a billion other travellers and bloggers I decided some time ago that I wanted to walk El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, the Way of St James, also known as Camino Frances. It’s an 800km pilgrimage from Saint-Jean-Pied-De-Port in France across the north of Spain to Santiago de Compostela.

It’s a pilgrimage and pilgrimages are typically rooted in religion. People set themselves a hard physical challenge in order to atone for their sins and seek acceptance into heaven. While I was raised in a Christian home and school environment, I maintain some level of faith but I am not a practicing Christian. For me walking the camino is not a religious undertaking, it is more a personal challenge, to walk 800 kilometres and to give me time to think about what I want for myself in the future.

I know from my own perspective that there are lots of questions about the camino, how to go about preparing, what to pack, how to get to the start point, what’s it like on the train etc. I haven’t started yet, so I will answer some questions at a later date, but I can start off by answering all the pre-walk questions.

If you have never heard of the Camino, the I’d recommend watching the movie The Way. It certainly added to my inspiration!

Preparation

You might be horrified to know that I haven’t done any preparation (and I myself am currently in panic mode about this). I have been travelling continuously for over 12 months. As a money saving thing as well as being fitness related, I walk almost everywhere. Often exploring a new city I will walk at least 20km in a day. I also run, a bit, from time to time, so my fitness level is ok.

In travelling so much, I always carry my stuff around. I will often be carrying a full hiking pack and a full daypack, which might amount to something like 21kg. While I can’t maintain carrying that weight for a long time, it does mean I have built up some resilience to carrying gear.

When?

Based on discussions with people who have walked the Camino, the advice was to walk it in the lead up to Summer or at the end of Summer. Recommended months are May or September, this is for the temperature/weather and for the number of people walking.

I had hoped to walk it in September 2015 but was much too busy with other adventures and when I had time, it had gotten too late in the year for me to do it. That left me with May 2016 (well actually it really leaves me every May and September until I die, but I chose May 2016).

So I booked my transport to Saint Jean Pied De Port for May 10th, with a planned starting date of Wednesday May 11th. I don’t have a set finish date, but hope to complete it in under 5 weeks and be back in the Netherlands by June 15th (I have a flight to Ecuador on June 22nd and want some down time in the middle)

So what you would have realised by now is that despite this being a “pre camino” post, I am actually already walking as you read this and should be two weeks into my challenge.

Getting There

I will be heading of to my start point, Saint-Jean-Pied-De-Port from the tiny town of Sliedrecht in The Netherlands. The trip between the two has numerous connections, hopefully all of which will run smoothly and will take a FULL day.

Ask a family member VERY nicely if they will drop me off in Dordrecht for my 0627 train.
Catch a train from Dordrecht, Netherlands to Brussels Midi, Belgium (The trip will take approximately 2 hours, with two train changes) €28
Catch a shuttle bus from Brussels Midi to Brussels Charleroi airport €14
Fly with the cheapest possible flight from Brussels Charleroi, Belgium to Biarritz, France €30.99
Take a shuttle bus from Biarritz to Bayonne – cost unknownat time of writing
Take a train from Bayonne to Saint-Jean-Pied-De-Port- cost unknown at time of writing
Crash out in my dorm bed at Gite Izaxulo €27 incl. breakfast
Check out by 0830 and get going on my Camino…

I planned this specific route based on a combination of information from a Dutch website about the Camino, the website Rome2Rio, the knowledge of friends who also departed The Netherlands to start their camino and a cousin (my cousins spend so much time ping-ponging around the EU, that their knowledge is vast and can give personal perspective on the distances, best connections etc.)

Packing List

This is the challenging part, as I am a chronic over-packer. I have been making little piles of stuff to pack based on the advice from friends who have done it, in addition to the packing lists published by Dave from Whats Dave Doing? and Candice from Free Candie.

This is my current pile of stuff (it may still be altered at the last minute)…after the walk I will get back to you with the final list as well as what I wished I had packed and wished I hadn’t packed.

Buen Camino!

Travel

Pooping Problems

May 24, 2016 duckie Leave a comment

Pooping problems are probably not the kind of thing you are excited to read about on a travel blog but it’s an issue that is common to many travellers, and one I think is worth discussing.

When I was in Egypt a fellow tour buddy and I both got quite ill, the only difference between us was that he had no idea what to do and quickly ended up requiring emergency assistance. I have written some notes on how to avoid this happening to you.

When you travel then there are many different health issues you could experience. Pooping problems are pretty common and it usually falls into two categories: not enough and too much.

What you will soon discover in your travels, is that amongst fellow travellers poop is a topic that is always up for discussion!

Not Enough Poop

Sometimes travellers experience constipation, which is often due to sitting still for long periods of time and/or a change in diet.

Overshare Alert: after a long flight I’m often a bit blocked for a few days. Often it’s not a major issue and the best thing you can do is to drink lots of water, get exercise and increase your fibre intake.

If that’s not helping then perhaps take a mild laxative in addition to the other basic treatments. Personally I try to drink lots, get moving, increase my fruit intake and ensure my overall diet is more healthy than normal.

Too Much Poop

The other problem is too much poop. There may be numerous reasons for having diarrhoea when you travel, and in many cases if dealt with effectively it doesn’t have to cause any major problems to your holiday.

If you have loose bowel movement but feel generally well, just take it easy keep up your fluids and you should be fine.

If however, you have bad cramps, nausea, vomiting, bleeding and urgent dashes to the toilet, then you are probably experiencing Traveller’s Diarrhoea and that does need to be dealt with quickly and effectively. Traveller’s Diarrhoea s commonly caused by foreign bacteria that is harmful and unable to be processed by your body.

First up, remember that I am not a doctor, I get my travel medical advice from the GP who specialises in travel. I also always travel with a recommended Travel Health app. That being said, I do have first hand experience and was unfortunate enough to experience traveller’s diarrhoea as a result of food poisoning four times in the last 12 months. So here’s a few tips for you…

Prevention

Obviously preventing the problem is so much better than having to treat it. So here are some suggestions for preventing the issue:

Drink only bottled water (unless you are in a very developed country where you are confident the water is safe)
Brush your teeth with bottled water, even rinsing the toothbrush afterwards with bottled water (I have been guilty of causing myself diarrhoea problems by this means MANY times)
It might be overkill but when I shower I regularly spit just in case the water got in my mouth – gross I know!
Do not eat fruit that cannot be peeled as it may have been washed in unsafe water
Order drinks without ice, as the ice may use unsafe water
If you want to eat street food then by all means do so BUT make sure you see it cooked while you are there and you eat it while it is still hot. Also use common sense to determine if the food stall has acceptable hygiene standards
Wash your hands regularly and properly, if no washing facilities are available then use hand sanitiser
For general gut health care I also like to try and drink a probiotic yoghurt drink every day, like Yakult or Activia. You can’t find them in every country, but whenever I see one I buy it. It is good for gut health in general as it puts some of the good bacteria back into your system

Treatment

One of the most important things to know about Traveller’s Diarrhoea, is that if your body is losing fluids through poop it’s likely to result in dehydration so you really need to keep your fluids up.

If you can’t keep any fluids in at all you absolutely need to see a doctor!

Another important piece of information is that most causes of Traveller’s Diarrhoea are bacterial, so if you take a poop-stopping product (Loperamide – often known by names such as GastroStop or Imodium) you are often trapping the bug in, which will only prolong your suffering.

So with those two important snippets of information out of the way, this is what I would do to treat the issue:

Check my travel health app for exact instructions on what to do.
Increase my fluid intake of safe, bottled water and also add some electrolytes to it to help my body absorb the fluids more effectively and replace what my body has lost (Some example product names as Gastrolyte and Hydralyte, they are typically tabs that dissolve into water).
Following the instructions provided by the app take ‘The Bomb’, a combination of Azithromycin to fight the bacteria and Loperamide so that I can continue travelling without too much hassle.
Azithromycin is an antibiotic that fights bacterial infections, it does require a script from your GP. I always travel with one course of this antibiotic for the event that I need it.
I get as much rest as I can to give my body time to recuperate
If and when you can eat, stick to very bland food for a few days to allows your body to heal internally. Avoid dairy and things that are acidic, such as fruits and juices. I would typically eat dry bread, pasta without sauce, plain biscuits etc.

If the problem continues for a few days and you see/feel no improvements, you must see a doctor!

Pooping Lion Picture — This lion is happy to have solved all his pooping issues!

In three out of my four cases I was able to self medicate and the problem cleared up. On one occasion, thankfully when I was in a country where I spoke the language, I had to see a doctor. Due to a combination of exhaustion and food poisoning, my traveller’s diarrhoea had evolved into a stomach infection and I experienced such agony I could barely stand. As a result I was put on some form of medication for six weeks.

Remember to treat your tummy with respect, do what you can to heal quickly and you will have a much more pleasant travelling experience!

Travel

Cape Town, South Africa

May 17, 2016 duckie Leave a comment

After all my overlanding adventures. I headed to Cape Town for a few weeks of a slightly more luxurious form of travel ie. hostels as opposed to tents. Cape Town is a city on the western coast of South Africa and is one of the most popular tourist destination in the country, upon arrival I could understand why.

The city of Cape Town is absolutely gorgeous, it is on the coast and has beautiful beaches. It is also overlooked by a huge mountain range called Table Mountain, which to a degree, seems to shelter the city from bad weather. I found the city to be stunning, I also found it to be very welcoming. The city has a very positive vibe to it and wandering around I always felt happy, comfortable and safe (except when I walked through the gardens, where I was terrified of being attacked by squirrels – but that’s just me). Despite my feeling of safety, as a precautionary measure I wouldn’t walk around in poorly lit areas after dark.

During my time in Cape Town I did quite a few different activities, but would definitely like more time there. When I go back the two highest priorities I have are to hike Lion’s Head and do a Street Art walking tour (I say when, because I loved the city so much, I plan to return some day, hopefully soon)

Free Walking Tour

As I like to do with most cities, I started my time in Cape Town with a Free Walking Tour. There are three tours to pick from: Historic Tour, Bo Kaap District and District Six. I did the Historic Tour with Ferne and the Bo Kaap District with Charlie. If I had had more time, I probably would have also liked to do the District Six tour.

Through the historic tour we got to see the old buildings around the city and learn about their historical significance, such as the High Court where Apartheid laws were established officially in the 1940s and officially abolished in 1990. The court has replica benches out the front that are an indication of the separation enforced on whites and people of colour, and led to a discussion on the sorting and classification processes that all people had to go through to determine their ‘colour’ and appropriate classification they fit into as a result.

You will frequently hear South Africa referred to as the Rainbow Nation. Without getting the explanation for anyone, I assumed that it was due to the ‘colourful’ population of South Africa. By colourful I mean the myriad of cultures that for a variety of reasons ended up in the country, native african people from a variety of regions, British, Dutch, Indian, Sri Lankan, Malay and so on. When I looked it up, this is indeed the reason for the name and the term was coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to describe post-apartheid South Africa. The country has so many facets, and in addition to the many cultures that originally made up this rainbow nation, it also has 11 national languages and strangely three capital cities. Cape Town is the parliamentary capital; Pretoria is where the Government can be found and Bloemfontein is where the Supreme Courts are.

In the Bo Kaap tour we ventured up the hill to Upper Cape Town (Bo Kaap translates to Upper Cape), which was originally established as a ‘storage’ area for people. In the time of slavery, with the growing population of the city, slaves needed to be housed somewhere. The Bo Kaap district was established with tiny houses for the slaves and it was here that they were relocated. The area is predominantly muslim and was where the first mosque in Cape Town was built.

The people living here are typically Cape Malay, people with Malaysian and slave heritage. The houses were originally bland colours, but some time after the slaves were freed the houses were painted a variety of colours. Since that time the houses have been painted even more brightly and are absolutely spectacular to see, particularly under the South African sun. There are many theories about why the houses have been painted such bright colours, some include being a sign of freedom from slavery, some think it’s to attract the tourists and others say “why not?” Whatever the reason, it’s worth seeing!

Up in this region, at the top of Waal/Wale Street is the oldest Malay restaurant in Cape Town, Biesmiellah where they sell the national dish of South Africa, Bobotie. It isn’t a pleasant looking dish, but it is definitely tasty!

The tours operate at 11am, 2pm and at the peak season 4:15pm from Green Market Square, which is the second oldest public space in South Africa. The site was the original market place for the Dutch East India Company and remains a market place until today where it hosts a daily souvenir market, 7 days per week.

The tours are free but operate on tip basis, 100 Rand or more is a fair amount to pay. The guides do an absolutely fantastic job!!!

City Sightseeing Bus

While a free walking tour is typically my favourite way to orient myself in a new city, the city sightseeing bus in Cape Town is also a brilliant idea. Cape Town is a very big city and to really see it properly, it does require some transport.

The greatest benefit I found in the bus was the ability to get to Table Mountain and Camps Bay. If you were to access these places by taxi it would certainly start adding up very quickly.

I did the Red City Tour and thoroughly enjoyed it. It gave a greater perspective to the layout of the city, as well as showing me more than just the center.

I think with a two day pass it would be awesome to do the Red and Yellow tours on one day, and the Blue mini peninsula tour on the second day.

Honestly I ran out of time to make the most of my ticket, but the ticket can be used on any of the coloured routes; you can buy a one day or two day pass. At an additional cost are a few optional additions, such as a sunset bus or harbour cruise (I think you get the cruise for free if you buy a two day pass).

A one day pass is 180 Rand and two days is 280 Rand, both are discounted if you purchase online.

Robben Island

Robben Island is a smallish (574 hecture) island off the coast of Cape Town that has had a fairly negative history. The island was used as a leper colony for many years, then it was used as a military base during World War II, after which time it was converted to a prison island.

Robben Island is known to most because it was here that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for eighteen years. After which time he was moved to two other prisons before being released in 1990, after serving 27 years of imprisonment. Robben Island was used as a prison for political prisoners from 1961 to 1996.

The tour of the island has two parts to it, the first part is a bus trip around the island, showing where the prison is, the limestone quarry, the town center and other historical sights. The bus tour is guided by a local from Robben Island, I was surprised to know that there is an inhabited township on the island. I didn’t overly enjoy the bus tour as you don’t really get to get out of the bus and experience any of the places, you just whizz by and take photographs out of the windows.

After the bus tour, you are dropped off at the maximum security prison where you are led on a walking tour of the facility led by a former inmate. This gives the tour a very real and very honest perspective of how things really were on the island. This was by far the most fascinating part of the tour.

Tours are 3 hours in duration, they cost 300 Rand and depart from the Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront. Ideally you should book tickets online in advance, I would suggest well in advance during high season, but a day or two in advance during low season.

Cape Peninsula Half Day Tour

One of the things I really wanted to do around the Cape Town area, was to visit the Cape of Good Hope, the most south-western point of Africa. Unfortunately for me, it got down to my last day in South Africa, the weather was appalling and I slept in.

Lucky for me I managed to book myself a seat on the Cape Peninsula Half Day tour. I have two things to say about my half day tour: 1) It was great; but 2) don’t book a half day tour unless you don’t have any other options, full day tours are much better value and more enjoyable.

I was picked up around 1pm by my guide and off we drove via the beautiful coast line through to Hout Bay, where we stopped at a scenic viewpoint for some pictures. We continued through to Boulders Beach to visit the African Penguin colony. Then we continued a little further south to the Cape of Good Hope Nature reserve where we made two beautiful, scenic stops. Firstly we visited thte Cape Point lighthouse and then we actually stopped at the Cape of Good Hope.

After this quick whip around the peninsula we headed back to Cape Town and arrived around 6pm.

The cost for the half day tour is 680 Rand. With a different company, you can book a full day tour including lunch costs for around 700 Rand.

Eating

Food has never and will never be something that rates highly on my to do list. That being said I did come across a few awesome places.

Asoka

Asoka is on Kloof Street, Tamboerskloof and has absolutely phenomenal tapas style food. The beef teriyaki is to die for! The atmosphere and decor is almost like a hidden fairy garden, and is so super chilled. I went there with friends and absolutely loved everything about my evening!

Arnold’s

Arnold’s is also on Kloof Street, Tamboerskloof. A friend recommended heading to Arnold’s for breakfast, which I did. Other friends also advised me that they served delicious dinner, so I did that too. While I didn’t think the decor or service were that great, the highlight was the game platter, where I had the opportunity to try Ostrich, Crocodile, Gemsbok and Warthog Ribs.

Truth

Truth is a cafe on Buitenkant Street in District Six. On a rainy day when I planned to go exploring, someone at my hostel recommended grabbing a coffee at Truth, and I was so glad I followed the recommendation!

Truth is a fully themed Steampunk cafe, the staff ‘uniforms’ and the cafe decor all follow theme and it looks fabulous.

I headed to Truth for a coffee, but on seeing the menu I stayed for breakfast and had some of the most amazing french toast I have ever come across. It was delicious! The staff are really friendly and helpful, and it was just so relaxing to sit for a couple of hours enjoying the good coffee food and atmosphere.

I spent a bit of time wandering around the District Six area after my amazing breakfast, as the area has loads of really cool street art!

Accommodation

I stayed in two different hostels during my time in Cape Town, both were in Tamboerskloof, which despite having nothing to compare to, is an area of Cape Town I really like.

From either hostel it was roughly 15minutes walk to the city center.

Amber Tree Lodge

Amber Tree Lodge is a very homely hostel, it is comfortable and clean. Linen is provided, as well as breakfast and wifi. The staff were absolutely brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay.

A bed in a 6-bed dorm room cost AUD$17 per night

Ashanti Lodge Gardens

Ashanti Lodge Gardens was certainly a larger and busier hostel than Amber Tree. I think I was also quite unlucky to be there at the same time as a particularly large and loud tour group. I did find Ahsanti to be a fairly noisy hostel and I certainly had less sleep here. However, I still found it to be a lovely hostel, slightly less cosy, but with equally friendly and helpful staff.

A bed in a 6-bed dorm room cost AUD$17 per night

Getting Around

I mostly walked from place to place, but when distances were too far or it was dark, then I found the best option was to catch an Uber. The ride costs were incredibly affordable, and with so many registered drivers in the city I never waited more than a few minutes for my ride.

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Travel

The Garden Route, South Africa

May 10, 2016 duckie Leave a comment

The Garden Route is a very popular tourist route that follows the coast of South Africa from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay. I booked a seven day Garden Route and Winelands tour through TourRadar, operated by HotSpots2C. (Sign up to TourRadar using my referral link to get 5% off your first booking).

The tour guide for the five day Garden Route was Isaac, and the two day Winelands component was guided by Andrew; both of whom were absolutely fantastic guides.

I was picked up from my hostel at 7am on a Monday morning and after a few other pickups we headed along the coast passing first through the scenic coastal town of Mossel Bay and through to our first stop in the seaside town of Wilderness.

Within the Wilderness National Park we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon canoe paddle up and down the river, which was a great way for me start forging friendships with a new tour group.

After our little river splash we continued on to the coastal town of Sedgefield, where we spent a night in a hostel by the Myoli Beach. This gave us the opportunity to enjoy a stunning ocean sunset, something I had been missing!

Our morning involved a visit to the beautiful Knysna Heads before continuing to the Tsitsikamma National Park. The aboriginals of the area named the region Tsitsikamma, meaning ‘Abundance of clear water’ based on their impressions of the rivers and oceans in this area compared to their original inland home.

In the National Park we made three stops, the first was where a number of people in our group challenged themselves to a bridge dive from Bloukrans Bridge. At 216 metres, this is currently the Worlds Highest Bungy jump. Having done a bungy two weeks earlier, I just sat back and watched on this occasion.

The second stop was by the ocean where we went on a short hike through the forest out to a suspension bridge and back along the waterfront. It was a beautiful scenic walk which we finished up with a delicious lunch at a beach-side restaurant.

Our third, and for me most exciting stop, was to go ziplining. Over eight lines we zipped back and forth between the trees, passing over the river and small waterfalls. It was loads of fun. If you haven’t been ziplining previously, this would be a good introduction to the activity. If you have been previously, then this is quite tame, but still fun.

We spent two nights in the surfer town of Jeffrey’s Bay, in order to make a day trip to the furthest east point in our Garden Route tour, to Addo National Park for a sunrise game drive.

While Addo National Park is by no means in my top five national parks (I felt it was a bit too controlled fences keeping the animals contained) we still had a great deal of luck in seeing some amazing animals. We saw a pair of Lion brothers, one even roaring to ensure we were aware that it was his territory we were in. We saw Eland, Kudu, Red Hartebeest, Zebra, Warthog and of course a random assortment of birds.

Our next place of interest was the old town of Oudthoorn, whose history is built on the Ostrich industry. In the 1900s Ostriches migrated to southern Africa from the Sahara. In those days Ostrich products were a clear sign of wealth, and interestingly ostrich feathers used to have a value equivalent to gold. In Oudthoorn we visited an ostrich farm to learn about the role Ostriches played in the towns history, as well as learning facts about the Ostrich.

We finished our day with a visit to the Cango Caves for a short, but fun-packed caving adventure. The Cango Caves are a reasonably sized cave system, with some beautiful stalactite, stalagmite and flowstone formations. There are two tours on offer in the caves, the Heritage Tour and the Adventure Tour. My preference of course was for the adventure tour and we got to spend some time climbing, crawling and squirming through cave formations.

Before the Garden Route part of the tour finished we made a visit to the Cango Wildlife Ranch. This gave us an opportunity to see many of the native animals at closer range.

At this point the five day Garden Route was finished, and the two day Winelands tour began. We kicked off the winelands tour with a visit to a local community, Kayamandi. Which was a town established for migrant workers with 117 houses built; over time it has expanded to be quite a large community. There are now numerous houses, some appear to be government developed, solid housing, but man others are haphazardly constructed tin sheds. Around the streets you come across so many children who are all super excited to see you. They come running from all directions to say hi, give you a hug, hold your hand or get their photo taken. It was nice to hear that there are five NGOs working in the community to support the children with after school programs.

From Kayamandi we continued on visit the sites that the Stellenbosch region is known for, the wineries. Stellenbosch is home to over 200 wine farms. We started our visit with a visit to Muratie, which was establish in the late 1600s and is one of the oldest wine farms in the region.

At Muratie we enjoyed a port and chocolate pairing. We had three ports, each paired with chocolates. Starting with a white port and white chocolate pairing, followed by two red ports paired with dark chocolate, one of which was infused with cherry, the other with cinnamon and orange.

The owner of the wine farm was a German soldier who came to the region and was given some land. In his visits around the country, he fell in love with a slave girl in Cape Town. After years of regularly walking days to visit her and days back home, she was eventually freed and moved to the farm where they lived happily ever after.

The white port we drank was named after her, Amber, and the label on the bottle told her story. The two red ports were Cape Ruby and Ben Prins, though I cannot recall the stories behind the people. All of the wines are named after people who have worked on the wine farm.

After Muratie, we continued through to Fairview for a wine and cheese. Fairview lays on the southwestern slopes of the Paarl mountain. The farm was establish in 1693 and produced their first wine in 1699.

I liked the way the Fairview winery was run, we got a list of all the wines and were allowed to pick the six we wanted to try, and as someone who doesn’t drink red wine, this was a great relief. So I selected my six white wines and thoroughly enjoyed tasting them all. We tasted three wines, then headed to the cheese counter to try three cheeses, we returned for three more wines and then finish with three cheeses. Aside from a few of the goats cheeses, which I found a bit too strong, everything was absolutely delicious.

After so much alcohol, we made a lunch stop in Franschhoek to fill our stomachs with some food. Franschhoek translates to French Corner. Its origins stem from a time when a group of French fled France and settled in this region to farm and develop wines. The Dutch who had colonised South Africa already prevented the French from colonising the region by putting Dutch families between each of the French families and requiring them to learn Dutch.

We finished off our wine and food oriented day with a non-consumable, a visit to Cape Agulhas. Cape Agulhas is the southern most tip of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans converge. Agulhas is a derivation of a Portuguese word meaning needles. It was at this point where the Portuguese sailors found that their magnetic north would coincide with true North. The Cape Agulhas lighthouse, built in 1849, stands 27 metres tall and provides a warning for ships of the rugged coastline.

At this point I experienced the highlight of this road trip, Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai with Marine Dynamics. About 30 minutes by boat from the coast of Gansbaai we dropped anchor, dropped a shark dive cage, squeezed into wetsuits and jumped in to the chilly waters of the South Atlantic Ocean. It wasn’t long before we had sharks stopping by to visit. All up we were visited by thirteen different Great White Sharks, the largest of which was 4.5 metres. The marine biologist on board busily took notes and recorded information about the different sharks as the rest of the boat gasped and ooh’d and aah’d at the majestic creatures!

About two minutes before I got in the cage I was absolutely pooping myself “Why the F*** did I sign up for this?!?!” But within moments of being in the cage I realised the only thing worth my being scared of was the cold water. The sharks enjoyed playing with the bait and the decoy seal, but were honestly not in the slightest bit threatening towards us. It was an absolutely amazing experience that I would highly recommend to anyone and everyone! The only disappointment of the whole experience was that the visibility and clarity of the water was quite poor, but that is nature, you get what you get.

We finished off the Garden Route and Winelands tour with some really quiet time, a visit to the African Penguin colony at Stony Point, Betty’s Bay.

The African Penguins used to be called jackass penguins because they bray like donkeys. I didn’t believe this until I heard it for myself, and it’s really quite entertaining. After they were named Jackass Penguins, many other breeds of penguins were discovered to make exactly the same noise, and they since changed the name.

Mini Disclaimer regarding Animals

In any activities involving animals I am quite hesitant in joining in. I am very conscious of the natural habitat of animals and what effect it can have on an animal when removed from that environment, some centres do fantastic things in rehabilitating animals, yet others are more about the profit to be gained from putting animals on show.

While I believe the Cango Wildlife Ranch feel they are behaving ethically in regards to animal treatment and rehabilitation, there is some doubt in my mind. For this reason I didn’t love this wildlife experience and I wouldn’t be quick to recommend it to others. For the same reason, I opted out of the optional Elephant Walk activity.

With the shark cage diving, I had discussions with people of a similar mind to me and did some reading about the company we were going to book the dive with. I felt that Marine Dynamics were treating the animals with respect, they operate their business in an ethical manner and their research during the tours is beneficial to the shark population.

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Overlanding Tours (in Africa)

April 29, 2016 duckie 2 Comments

Overlanding is touring a country (or countries) by vehicle. Usually a bus or truck style. If you are considering an overlanding tour, then there are definitely many pros and cons worth considering.

My experiences and comments relate specifically to Africa. I toured Eastern Africa down towards Southern Africa with a company called Nomads, through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. I continued further South with the African Travel Company (ATC), through Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.

The main benefit of doing an overlanding tour is that you get to see so much of your environment. You can see it change as elevation, as well as latitude and longitude change. You drive through local villages and see how people live. You also can spot a great deal of wildlife from the truck.

The truck rides also provide a great opportunity for you to get to know your tour buddies better, play games, chat and sing songs. On my nomads tour we had such a fabulous group of people, there were constantly games being played, we voted on our team name, we had a team tour playlist and you could regularly hear us singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and “Hakuna Matata”. Even when our truck Morrison got bogged in the mud, we were all outside the truck dancing and singing in the mud as we waited for our tow truck. The camaraderie that you build on this style of tour goes beyond a standard group tour in my opinion.

The camaraderie you develop with your tour buddies is a key factor in enjoying an overlanding tour, because honestly there are many less glamorous aspects to an overlanding tour.

Long Drives

Travelling by road is time consuming. African roads aren’t often very smooth and are riddled with potholes and speed bumps, some aren’t sealed roads. In addition to the road hazards you have to slow down when passing through villages, and also many roads have restricted speed limits. Larger cities are very densely populated and can over an hour to travel even just a few kilometres.

Many roads have regular police checkpoints which require you to stop. Border crossings between countries can take up to three hours dependent on the country, time of day and level of corruption.

All of this things are in addition to the fact that the travelling distances are large. Be prepared for the occasional 12 hour drive, and often the roadside lunch break.

Camping

You can typically sign up to the tour as a camper or pay extra to be accommodated.

Camping is obviously cheaper. Putting up and taking down a tent almost every night can be a bit of a chore. The worst case is when you have late arrival or early departure and you are working in the dark. To compound that, you are sometimes working in the rain and mud.

There were occasions where I upgraded to accommodation for a night here or there (whenever you arrive to a new overnight stay, you can enquire about upgrading to accommodation) some of the cheaper options still had shared bathrooms, and worst case scenario there were a few occasions where the beds had fleas. At least three times I woke up with legs covered in flea bites, which grossed me out completely!

One of the frustrations we experienced on numerous occasions was leaking tents, so be mindful of what you choose to bring into the tent. In the nomads truck we had lockers and could leave most things in the locker overnight, just bringing the necessary items into the tent. In the ATC truck the bags were stored in a compartment under the truck and we had to get our whole bag out at each stop, which I found a little frustrating. Also it takes a huge amount of space in the tent.

Toilets

You will find three kinds of toilet in Africa: a normal western toilet, a squat toilet and a bush toilet. Firstly you can’t assume for any of these that there will be toilet paper, so always carry a roll in your backpack.

The Western Toilet

Often, but not always, when you find a western toilet it’s in a tourist destination that is a bit more up-scale. They often have a toilet seat, toilet paper and can be quite clean. Sometimes they cost money.

The Squat Toilet

The squat toilet is pretty common around Africa. Unfortunately they are often quite dirty and smelly, mostly just because westerners are unfamiliar with how to use them. Finding one that is dirty and smelly is certainly not conducive to wanting to give something new a try.

A squat toilet is much more hygienic than a standard western toilet because you don’t actually touch anything.

The Bush Toilet

The bush toilet can be found literally anywhere and it’s more hygienic than the western or squat toilet. You simply squat behind a bush, tree or even a car. It’s actually rather hilarious when the truck pulls over, everyone gets out and all you can see are girls heads peeking out over the tall grasses on the roadside as everyone squats (you will need to put your modesty aside for this excursion).

The rule of thumb is that any paper you use should be put in the trash can, not thrown on the ground and poop should be buried (personally I’m happy to do a bush wee, but I would personally wait for the nearest western convenience for any pooping)

A number of the campsites are in National Parks or by rivers, places where you are exposed to the wildlife. This means you need to be vigilant, particularly after dark in using your flashlight to scan the area for wild animals before exiting your tent. The bathrooms are often a few minutes walk for the tents, and this can be terrifying. In the Serengeti we had a small pack of hyenas hanging around in the campsite. I can assure you, no matter how badly I needed to pee, I was not getting out of that tent by myself!

Showers

Very hit and miss, some showers only have cold water, some only hot, some high pressure and some low pressure.Sometimes the only option is to take a quick swim in a nearby river. I would advise you to pack baby wipes for the occasions where showering doesn’t feel like a feasible option. In a month and a half of overlanding, I only had a handful of terrible shower experiences.

Do remember though, everyone else on your tour is in the same position. If showering isn’t an option, you will all just get smelly together.

Laundry

You are on the go so often that you don’t always have the opportunity to get your laundry done or find a laundromat. Hand washing in a sink, plastic tub or dry bag isn’t as bad as it sounds. If you keep up with washing small items every few days then you tend not to run out of clothes in a hurry.

I don’t usually pack much quick dry clothing, so I wear my jeans for up to a couple of weeks and then usually try to find a hostel that will wash them for me at a reasonable cost. But I wash my lighter clothes as I go. Most campsites have a washing line nearby, or you can hang things on the tent. Anything that doesn’t dry before your departure you can often find a spot to hang it in the truck.

Duties

Some of the overland tours have a duties roster for everyone on tour. The duties are things like cooks help, dish washing and cleaning the truck and making sure the windows are shut.

When truck windows aren’t shut, you sometimes get cheeky monkeys and/or baboons sneaking in and wreaking havoc. We had monkeys climb into the truck and eat a bag of rice, they made a huge mess and pooped everywhere.

These duties are not hard and they are not time consuming, just get in and get it done. Overlanding is about working as a team, and this is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate some teamwork skills.

Summary…

To go overlanding is a wonderful working adventure. To make the most of this amazing adventure be sure to pack some patience, tolerance and good humour.

Travel

South Africa, the Eastern side…

April 26, 2016 duckie Leave a comment

Leaving Botswana we descended into South Africa, passing through Polokwane. Making scenic stops at the Blyde River Canyon, heading down to Kruger National Park and ending in Johannesburg.

Blyde River Canyon

Entering into South Africa we stopped at three sights in the By;de River Canyon Region. The first stop was the The Rondavels, which are circular mountain and rock formations that look like the traditional circular huts made of dung and thatch, which are called Rondavels. Due to the mist the view wasn’t as spectacular as it could have been but it was still beautiful to see these mountains with a view over the valley and river.

The second stop was to view Bourke’s Luck Potholes. They are at a point in the river where the water flows down a small waterfall into the river below. At various points in the rock path, are some beautifully smooth, round potholes caused by the wind and water swirling through them. In addition to be ing fascinated by the shapes created, the colours and layers of sediment in the stone were beautiful to see.

God’s Window was the last sight we visited in the region, at the higher altitude we were in the clouds and unable to see the view. We did however enjoy a short rainforest walk and thoroughly appreciated the lush green vegetation and fresh mountain air.

Kruger National Park

The main highlight of our visit to Eastern South Africa was a visit to what I think is probably the most well known national park in Africa, Kruger National Park. We did a sunset game drive and a sunrise game drive.

Sunset Game Drive

Late in the afternoon we met our driver Rick, climbed into his jeep and headed into the park. Rick was a really fun guide, who was very knowledgeable. He made the drive and information we learned fascinating and entertaining.

We saw loads of Impala, but that is to be expected since they are everywhere. We also saw Waterbuck, Hippopotamus, Buffalo, Zebra, Waterhog and my personal favourite in Kruger: White Rhinoceros.

The white rhinoceros earned its name, not from its colour, but from a mistranslation of wide mouth. The white rhinoceros is larger than the black rhino and it grazes grasses hence the wide mouth, rather than browse trees for leaves like the black rhino, who has a more narrow, hooked mouth.

We were ridiculously lucky to see a crash of white rhinos, at a distance we believe there to have been five of them: two bulls, two cows and a calf.

As the sun dropped in the sky we found a nice place to stop. Rick set up a little picnic table with nuts and popcorn to nibble or, as well as pouring us each a glass of Amarula liqueur to enjoy as the sun went down.

The Amarula liqueur is made from the fruit of the Marula tree. It is a sweet creamy liqueur which I would say is kind of comparable to Baileys Irish Cream. The Marula trees grow in various places around Africa, when the fruit is ripe it falls to the ground and ferments, at which time many drunk animals can be found stumbling around the national parks.

While we didn’t get drunk on our Amarula sundowners, we were in high spirits as we took off to see a few more animals before retiring for the evening. We managed to spot a Scrub Hare, Blue Duiker (the smallest antelope breed, which is unfortunately almost extinct), Nightjars (which are birds, part of the owl family) and some Kudu.

Sunrise Game Drive

We woke up early, bundled ourselves up in layers of clothing and jumped into our jeep, with the first female driver we had, Nicky. I would love to claim that the female driver was the best game driver of all time, but unfortunately she was actually the worst driver we ever experienced. She took her own photos at each of the animal sightings and then gave us only a few brief moments to take ours before rushing off to the next thing. Also despite having paid extra for the game drive, we were returned to the camp earlier than the scheduled end time.

Despite having a terrible guide we did get to see loads of animals. We saw a number of Elephants, Hyenas with pups, a collution of Cheetahs, Buffalos, Klipspringers, more White Rhino’s, Lions, a Leopard, Hippos, Giraffes, Water Terrapins hanging out on a hippos back, Woolley Neck Storks, Bushbucks, Kudus and a Water Monitor.

Random animal facts…

Male elephants eat roughly 280kilograms of food per day, females 180Kg. The drink approximately 100 litres of water per day and their trunk contains 100,000 independent muscles.

Lions sleep for approximately 20 hours per day.

Cheetahs can accelerate from 0-96km/h in three seconds, but they need to catch their prey within 500 metres or they will overheat.
Also, a cheetah is the only big cat that doesn’t typically climb trees, due to the fact that it’s claws are not retractable.

A pack of hyenas is led by a female whose clitoris grows so big it looks like a penis. When she gives birth it tears out and then has to re-grow.

Male vervet monkeys have bright blue balls, the brightness of blue is an indicator of their virility.

Every zebra has its own set of stripes that identify it, like fingerprints.

The Rock Hyrax (or Dassie as it is known in South Africa) looks a bit like a rodent, but surprisingly it’s closest relative is the elephant.

Johannesburg

We arrived in Johannesburg in the late afternoon and said goodbye to our fabulous group of new friends, which is always sad.

The following day I met some friends to have a bit of a look around Soweto, visiting the Hector Pieterson Museum and Mandela House. I went out for lunch and a beer and checked out the street art, before heading to the airport for my flight to Cape Town.

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Travel

Okavango Delta, Botswana

April 22, 2016 duckie Leave a comment

The Okavango Delta is a beautiful site that is UNESCO world heritage listed, which falls under the Moremi Game Reserve.

The delta receives water it’s water from Angola, from the river Kavango. The river name changes to Okavango when it crosses into Botswana. Despite the close proximity of Angola to Botswana it takes three months for the water from Angola’s wet season to make it’s way into the Delta.

To get into the Delta some locals, polers, push a traditional Mokoro Canoe through the waterways amongst the reeds into the campsite. The guide of my canoe was Flora, who did a brilliant job. The polers are all people who are local to the area and who have been government trained to work in the industry to guide tourists as well as take care of the Delta.

The lead guide of the excursion was a really fun and knowledgeable guy called Galaxy; he led us for two game walks one sunset, one sunrise, and a sunrise mokoro paddle through the waterways. Due to the heat around Africa, the vast majority of animals sleep through the middle of the day and only become active in the early morning or late afternoon, so outings we did were at the cooler parts of the day.

It was great to spend two nights camping in the Delta, far from any electricity, shops or wifi. The group of local guides and polers who accompanied us made the trip so much fun. Their enthusiasm for the environment and their cheery disposition made a hot an uncomfortable environment an enjoyable place to be.

Despite having seen several National Parks already, it was nice to see the delta as the environment was quite different to the other places I had been. The wetlands were home to a huge variety of bird life, in the water we were also able to spot some crocodiles and plenty of hippopotamus.

In the dry areas of the delta I was a little disappointed with how little wildlife we saw, but it is called wildlife for a reason. We came across a herd of Zebra, Wildebeest, some Giraffes, and a lone Steenbok bouncing away from us in the long grass.

In the middle of the day, Galaxy sought out a nice quite waterhole that was free from crocodiles and hippopotamus, where we were able to cool off with a quick dip in the water. Despite my nervousness, it was loads of fun and quite the relief from the heat.

In addition to seeing some animals in our walk, we learned that the delta has a wild sage growing that works really well as a mosquito repellent. We also learned that the uninhabited and inactive termite mounds are used by the locals to make bricks. The construction of a termite mound is very strong, like concrete. So once a mound has been deserted, the locals will break up the mound, crush the compound into a fine powder, mix it with water and create bricks to use in the house construction.

We spent the last night of our stay in the delta watching a singing and dancing performance by our local crew. It was such a privilege for me to enjoy such a personal performance that gave some insight into the local culture. We followed it up with a bit of a sing-along and some games.

Fives…

In discussions with Galaxy, we talked about the big five, and he went on to mention that there is also a small five, ugly five and pretty five.

Big Five

Elephant, Buffalo, Rhinoceros, Lion and Leopard.

Small Five

Elephant Shrew, Red-Billed Buffalo Weaver, Rhinoceros Beetle, Ant Lion and Leopard Tortoise.

Ugly Five

Blue Wildebeest, Warthog, Maribou Stork ,Baboon and Hyena.

Pretty Five

Lilac Breasted Roller, Giraffe, Zebra, Common Bee Eater and Pied Kingfisher.

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El Camino de Santiago de Compostela: Week 1

Preparation

When?

Getting There

Packing List

Buen Camino!

Not Enough Poop

Too Much Poop

Prevention

Treatment

Free Walking Tour

City Sightseeing Bus

Robben Island

Cape Peninsula Half Day Tour

Eating

Asoka

Arnold’s

Truth

Accommodation

Amber Tree Lodge

Ashanti Lodge Gardens

Getting Around

Mini Disclaimer regarding Animals

Surprise mum on mother’s day…

Long Drives

Camping

Toilets

The Western Toilet

The Squat Toilet

The Bush Toilet

Showers

Laundry

Duties

Summary…

Blyde River Canyon

Kruger National Park

Sunset Game Drive

Sunrise Game Drive

Random animal facts…

Johannesburg

Fives…

Big Five

Small Five

Ugly Five

Pretty Five

Explore the world with me!