Unforgettable South Africa: A Review of exoticca’s Tour

Introduction: While reviewing places is common on the internet it’s just not something we’ve paid much attention to.. That’s partly because, if you look, there’re a large number of sites where you can find thousands of valuable reviews including Trip Advisor, Google Maps and Expedia and we often use these as great references for researching a trip.. Recently, while involved in an online forum we realized that reviews could have a valuable place in The Intentional Travelers. Going forward our intent is not to dwell on a lot of reviews but to make note of only specific, exceptional discoveries and we are working on a process that would allow you, our subscribers and. visitors, to offer your finds as well (more to come).

Introduction

Over a year age The Intentional Travelers booked a tour of South Africa with exoticca (officially exoticca does not capitalize the e) and I thought I had posted a review – wrong! This was our third trip with with exoticca and we decided it shouldn’t have been left out . We’ve been traveling internationally for a couple of decades with an average trip taking several weeks to a month. Over most of that period we only took one organized tour and that was because we hadn’t been able to get the reservations and access we wanted on our own.

Not long ago travel friends asked if we wanted to join them on a tour to South America using exoticca and looking at the cost and what the tour offered it seemed like a bargain. The experience was great and well worth the cost.

Ten Days In South Africa With exoticca

The tour we selected was a ten day grand tour of South Africa with an extra four days in Cape Town, and right off I have to say it way exceeded our expectations.

Day 1 – A United flight from Florida to Johannesburg (often called just Joberg). Upon arrival we were checked into an airport hotel and advised that because of problems in Johannesburg we were skipping that destination tour. It seemed Joberg was having trouble keeping the electricity and water working.

Blyde River Canyon

Day 2 – Our group of 24 boarded a bus with our guide and headed off northeast toward Kruger National Park. There were a number of stops along the way that included Blyde River Canyon, South Africa’s Grand Canyon and God’s Window. Plenty of rest stops along the way. We arrived at the Nkambeni Safari Camp after sunset but in time for dinner. For more on glamping at Nkambeni Safari Camp click HERE. The camp is actually inside Kruger and of several accommodation options we lucked out with Nkambemi*.

Nkambeni Safari Camp

Day 3 and 4 – Each day we were up before sunrise and into our Guides Jeep. It was open air and the guide had blankets for everyone as it gets really cold at night but hot in the day. Kruger was incredible as we drove around looking for animals. There were so many animal sightings it hard to believe. Elephants, giraffes, impalas, hippos, zebras, lions and more. There’s a focus on finding the “big five” that includes the rhino and cheetah and the only one we missed was the cheetah. The park has a number of rest stops that include restaurants or snack bars and each morning and evening Nkambeni had prepared great meals for us.

Pretoria

Day 5 – Back on the bus for the trip south. Again there were a number of stops before we reached Pretoria for a city tour. After that we went to the airport for our flight to Cape Town where we were met and transferred to our hotel. The stay at the hotel included breakfast and you could buy dinner. The hotel bar is where everyone gathered in the evening to compare notes.

Downtown Cape Town

Day 6 to 10 – Cape Town was mostly on our own but exoticca included passes for riding the Red Bus (3 routes), the Cable Car to the top of Table Mountain and Kirstenbosch Gardens. There were also a number of optional tours available through exoticca. Cape Town is a really large city and the bus passes were a great help.

We had booked three extra days in Cape Town while a number of people in our tour group had added Victoria Falls to their trip. In our case while in Cape Town we arranged tours on our own to the Cape of Good Hope and out to South Africa’s wine country. We developed a fondness for South Africa’s own signature wine variety, cultivated there in 1925 as a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut.

Driving South from Cape Town

In closing we cannot emphasize enough how much we enjoyed this South Africa trip. The experience with exotica was great, the guides were incredible and the accommodations and food were above expectations. All in all an incredible value**.

*It seemed there were a number of accommodations for Kruger and we spoke to several people from other tours (one was another exoticca tour) where the stayed about an hours drive from the park entrances so we were very fortunate to stay at Nkambeni Safari Camp.

**As we’ve mentioned before, we have been used to making our own travel plans, but if we compare the cost of several of our exoticca*** trips to what we would have payed the savings is near 40%. Saving that much means more money for more travel.

***To be fair, we’ve thus far used exoticca but talking to other travelers there are a number of additional tour options that are comparable for service and price.

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The Allure of Global Gardens: A Floral Journey

From America to New Zealand gardens are always a major attraction for locals and visitors. The appeal of flowers is a complex phenomenon rooted in evolution and the reproductive strategies of plants and the sensory responses of animals, including humans. For pollinators, colorful flowers are a signal indicating food, while for us, their appeal combines aesthetic beauty, psychological attraction, and deeply rooted cultural symbolism.

This articles featured photo is from a historic village in Romania. Most of the roses were in New Zealand, considered a nation of gardeners. The flowers and butterflies were in Georgia’s Callaway Gardens. The orchids are mostly ours and don’t overlook the lizard inside the orchid. The incredible red flowering bush is from Bavaria and the tulips were in Holland’s Keukenhof…

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A Different Kind of Travel Bug

A Short Story • An Encounter With A Fly

Water village off Kota Kinabalu, Borneo

On a cruise around the South China Sea one port of call on Borneo was Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. While walking around the city I was bitten by something on my calf. It stung a bit but I didn’t think much about it. A few days later I started to get sick – stomach problems and a headache and the bite had swollen up with a tiny hole in the center.

Market Kota Kinabalu, Borneo

At the time our older son was a reptile specialist who worked with imports from around the world. In telling him what happened he immediately knew what I was dealing with. He said that the insects come in with the crates and he’s been bitten a number of times and thought it was a botfly. The botfly when it bites actually implants an egg that soon turns into a larvae that is particularly notable for burrowing just beneath the skin and creates a breathing hole.

His recommendation was to get clear nail polish and put a drop right over the hole and let it dry. The ladies in the ships spa thought it was funny what I needed the nail polish for. It did work and within a couple of hours the swelling went down and the next days I was doing much better.

When we travel we carry a first aid kit that holds medications, bandages, anti-bacterial cream, anti-itch creams, malaria pills, mosquito repellent and even super glue but now we’ve added clear nail polish.

There are actually a number of botfly species that mostly inhabit tropical regions. For a link that shows just how really bazaar this creature can be click HERE.

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Cruising Into Tropical Weather?!

What To Expect When Cruising Into Tropical Weather?

As I write this hurricane Erin is churning its way past the Caribbean islands on its way up the east coast of America as a category 4 storm. A number of cruises have announced they’re skipping stops at the various private islands in in the Bahamas in favor of safer waters in the Gulf or western Caribbean.

Keep in mind that cruise alterations may be an inconvenience but they usually involve forces of nature beyond anyones control. Cruise companies will work to make the impact as easy on you as is possible.

Hurricane season is June through September and that means that cruise ships may have to make adjustments in itineraries to avoid bad weather. Caribbean cruises and Pacific coast cruises to Mexico and Central America are particularly vulnerable to encounters with tropical storms. The responsibility for making changes because of weather rests first with the ships Captan but there are a number of other people involved in those decisions. The collaborative decision-making process involves meteorologists estimating potential weather conditions the ship could encounter along with company management looking at risk to the actual ship, safety of passengers and crew and the financial impact of any decision. Adjustments to an itinerary can include finding safe harbors or changing the ship’s course to avoid heavy rain or high winds, out running a storm to even cancelling the cruise.

While often press releases emphasize that the safety of the passengers is of primary concern, management also has to take into account the enormous investment that a cruise ship represents along with balancing the major financial impact of changes or the loss of canceling a cruise.

If you’ve booked a cruise and upon sailing your ship is threatened by a tropical storm or hurricane you may encounter a number of situations. In avoiding the storm the cruise might get one or more extra days at sea, or the captain could swap out a scheduled port for a different port, if one is available. Sometimes, the entire order of ports is rearranged so that all are still visited but at times when the weather will be less disruptive. Also cruise ships may sometimes be forced to switch entire destinations like, your Eastern Caribbean cruise itinerary could be changed to a Western or Southern Caribbean itinerary, or your entire Caribbean cruise could be replaced by a Bermuda port call.

For those concerned about rough seas caused by a tropical weather system while cruising. Ships are designed to handle rough conditions and newer ships can withstand waves up to 50 feet in height and rolls to nearly 60 degrees, both of which would still actually cause serious problems onboard. In less dramatic conditions passengers will usually experience some motion in waves above 15 to twenty feet. Most modern cruise ship’s deep draft, reinforced hull, and advanced stabilizing systems enable them to provide a comfortable, stable condition with minimum motion in most seas as well as endure extreme weather.

If you’re interested in looking into tropical weather forecasts or where cruise ships are, here are a few really good websites to visit:

Cruise Mapper HERE

Mikes Weather Page HERE

Florida States Advanced Storm Modeling HERE

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We’ve been doing this for over a decade and have over two thousand pages online. Take a moment or two to explore what we have to offer…

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The Intentional Traveler provides valuable information on over 150 ports that include docking locations, public transportation, currency, tipping, major points of interest and historic highlights. You’ll also find useful information on visiting major cities, historic sites, wilderness areas and parks and more. Click the photograph below to visit a directory.

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If you love to hike, The Intentional Travelers offers some great suggestions. Here you’ll discover several dozen amazing hiking locations located all around the world. Descriptions, maps and photographs. Click the photograph below to visit a directory.

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Over more than two decades we’ve visited more than one hundred countries and The Intentional Travelers have had some interesting experiences. Here you’ll discover dozens of interesting, odd and surprising accounts from the roads we’ve traveled. Click the photograph below to visit a directory.

A Collection Of Our Map Creations

From the Roman Forum to the Singapore Metro The Intentional Travelers has created a collection of original and modified maps to help us navigate as we travel. Here you can take advantage of our creations and download a map or two for your next trip. Click the photograph below to visit the directory.

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Today’s Image • But Do They Sell Gas

A lot of America featured at a highway rest stop in Thailand

Pulling into a rest stop on a highway south of Bangkok it was difficult to believe we were actually in Thailand. The rest stop was almost a quarter mile long and offered eleven places to eat if you didn’t count 7-11. The selection only included two Thai restaurants.

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