At long last, I managed to organise my pix and have now uploaded them to http://resor.smedendahl.se/sapics.html . Captions and updates will follow. Honest.
Author Archives: Martin
Sweden
I made it home without complications, and so did my luggage. The handicrafts and other souvenirs of more or less tacky persuation survived the transport and my photos has been securely copied to my harddrive, as well as the one at work. And so starts the tedious work of sorting, picking, renaming, embiggening, belittleling, linking …
Nairobi
The long journey is at an end. We’ve reached Nairobi and I’m almost unscathed and I’ve done all my souvenir shopping. A last night with the gang was cleverly combined with the celebration of Rowie’s birthday. At Carnivore it was meat extravaganza. Not too much in the game meat dept, but at least I got …
Serengeti/Ngorogoro
Even though we saw four of the big five in Kruger, and the fifth in Matopos, Serengeti was the game spotting tops: All big five in one day (including the black rhino; the ones in Matopos were white) plus cheetas, hippos, giraffes vultures, hyenas, wildebeest and so on and so forth. And my antibiotics treatment …
Zanzibar
The bugs tore me up real bad. Dozens of infected wounds covered my feet, and my body couldn’t cope. Hence I was feverish and cold and out when the truck crossed the border to Tanzania. Next day I got antibiotics and can anyone say “instant effect”? The irritation and swollenness decreased immediately and soon the …
Lake Malawi
After three full days of dawn-to-dusk driving (including, but not limited to, being stopped by the military for no other reason than that they wanted bribes, which were not to them handed) we reached Lake Malawi in pitch black. The following morning I popped my head out of the tent and lo and, indeed, behold: …
Crossing the border
And we made it across the border. We found a rhino in Matopos, adrelanine in Vic Falls and visa trouble at the border, but all’s fine now. Our little group has disbanded; Russ heading south with Toni, Jodie and Seb are Botswanabound and Bella, Rowie and I are now on a 21-person strong team in …
Gweru Antelope Park
Well, let’s just say that wlan and handy laptops are few and far between in Northern South Africa, and even moreso in Zimbabwe. After passing Kruger National Park, where four of the big five were spotted (only lacking in the rhino department) as well as your garden variety African animals such as monkeys, hippos giraffes …
Puttin’ on the Ritz
Jo’burg is a vast city, and you really don’t venture there on your touristy own. That’s why I took some halfday tours, one to Soweto (where I stepped into Nelson’s old house) and one to the city centre. In addition to those trips I’ve managed to do some pre-departure shopping, most notably wads of US$ …
Through KwaZulu-Natal
Having recently passed the double gates of the heavily guarded Backpacker Ritz in Johannesburg, I have spent the last couple of days either on the road or in Durban. SA’s third city is a mixture of African, European and Indian culture, and apparently half the population are street vendors and the other half performs safe, …
Cintsa
After a day in coastal city of Port Elizabeth, weather fine, I headed eastwards to the tiny village of Cintsa, where the hostel was a village on its own. I had the pleasure of visiting a nearby school, where the children held a song and dance concert. Oh, pictures? Sorry, no can do. I am …
Buffalo Bay
With Cape Town well behind me, I now contemplate what to do in sunny P.E.I spent a day and a night in beautiful, secluded Buffalo Bay and had this trip’s first swim. Plenty of beer was had, along with a traditional braai (South African barbeque).
Culture and history
No visit to South Africa is complete without getting some form of hands-on experience in what was reality in the country as recently as 14 years ago. I visited a township to see the living conditions there, then went to Robben Island, whereupon I caught a glance and a snap of the prison cell Mr. …
Cape Town
And here I am, at the foot of Africa. Cape Town offers a stunning view from Table Mountain and the beer is cheap and drinkable enough. Took a day trip to the Cape of Good Hope, did some penguinspotting and have now generally started to settle in ye olde backpacker way of life.
Off I trot
And now I’m on my merry. After a Guinness and an espresso I enjoy the calm before departure from Landvetter. Heaps of thanks to Jonna and Steve for the ride. And let me just reiterate: I’m on my merry!
Pre-departure beverages
Oi! Had a few pints with me mates today, cause tomorrow off I trot! And as chance would have it, the recently mother-again Jonna is on maternity leave, and will therefore, out of the kindness of her heart, give me a ride to the airport. I’m slightly excited. Let’s go!
One flight down
And so, with the confirmation of my safari I was able to book flights. Through my travel agent, who offered me a 25 hour trip via Doha and a 21 trip back for roughly SEK8500? Nosireebob, I make my own arrangements, thank you very much. Through Orbitz I found flights clocking in 17 h down, …
Safari in pajamas
After getting virtually no help at all at my travel agency, I decided to swoop the net for the most reasonable prices, dates and suchlike. I’ll book my flight once I have confirmation of the safari booking I did today: 32 day from Johannesburg, via Kruger, Zimbabwe, Vic Falls, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Serengeti to …
Applying for, and receiving, time off
A trip starts with a thought. I know that. And after the thought comes an idea, and a plan, and possibly a strategy. And that’s all fine. However, to make a dream of far off lands come true one has to find the time to leave. And therefore, as of today, my African trip of …