Southern Africa Journal - Intro and Prep (Patreon)

Hi everyone, October and November billing is still on pause, all of these Southern Africa posts are free! I will post a few of them at higher levels so I'm not spamming everyone with everything, so it's a good opportunity to check out the archives of those higher levels if that interests you. If all goes well I'll be back into my regular nonsense in Dec.

So as promised, here are the scans from my Africa journal! I'm now on my way to New Zealand and filling out another journal in a similar way because I really enjoyed the format I developed for this trip. I did this one in a moleskinne with ink and inktense pencils which is why the paper is a bit yellowed... it's not that old haha

This tour was overland (by private bus). It started in Zimbabwe and ended in Cape Town. It was organized by G-adventures: Southern Africa Southbound- Dunes, Deltas and Falls , which I do recommend (not sponsored). It was pretty good value, that price included all accommodation, food, transport and many activities. From afar, the process of scheduling something like this on our own seemed really intimidating, and now having been there it seems more doable.......... but still really intimidating! So going on a tour like this was a compromise but I think it was the right decision for me/us.

I enjoyed this page, putting my existing preconceptions down on paper before I arrived was something that I appreciated. As you can see, this bucket list "every continent" project was one of the big reasons why I scraped everything together to make it happen.

The inventory was also handy, I made the rule that I would draw the items as I used them, and make note of anything that was unused so I wouldn't take it again. I don't think there was anything I didn't use... I pack pretty light!

And with regards to the preconceptions... this is what I recorded immediately after the trip!

I think overall it was about as developed as I expected, overall safer and more friendly than I expected. The food was less exciting than I hoped for. Most of it was simple food we made ourselves on the bus, but the exciting things to eat were all meat-based so I definitely feel like I missed out. (I'm allergic to meat).

The thrilling part was that there were interesting animals everywhere! (I will be posting more about this soon).

Here's everything I brought, every trip is different! 

This is the mighty bus we rolled around in for most of the trip.

And these are the tents! The first night they were under cover and on these concrete pads, but this was not the norm. I don't really remember it raining while we were there... not enough to cause problems anyway. Dust was more the issue. Lots of sandy lots!

Our first day was in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, which was absolutely gorgeous. I would definitely return here.

Our flight here however was BRUTAL, I think I definitely learned a lesson about flight scheduling. We were stuck overnight in a freezing all-closed airport in Toronto, and then that absurd leg from Toronto to Addis Ababa, only to make a chaotic connection to get to Vic. I felt like I hadn't slept in three days...

So when we got there I treated myself to high tea at a fancy hotel in Vic Falls :)

More to come!