The Thrifty Travelers

We are at the airport by 5:45(late arriving) and make our 6:30am flight. We fly on Kulula Air...reminds me of Southwest Airlines, when they were funny, and we get our bags quickly. We rent a VW sedan from Tempest Car Hire (probably the nicest car company I have been around), pick up a GPS rental and then head out the beach house. It takes a little bit to get used to a right hand drive car and to drive on the opposite side of the road, but not as hard as I thought it would be. We meet up with Val (the lady in charge of the home), get settled in, and then visit Fish Hoek. The group wants to get to GreenPoint Stadium early and use the Park and Ride at the University of Cape Town. Things are much better organized about transportation and we get there very early. We have dinner (not that great), but have a place to watch the USA even the match with Slovenia. Let me tell you....the England fans probably dominate the Algerians by 10 to 1. The chanting, yelling, trash talking is domin...

We are up at 5:00 this morning for our nature walk and get to learn about the plants on the preserves, how they track animals, and even dung spitting (ask me about it later). We then have breakfast and then work our way back to Waybury, stopping at Blyde Canyon (the third largest canyon in the world) and making it back by 6pm. We take it easy, have dinner and get ready to wake up for our flight the next morning. It will be another morning to wake up at 4:15am....uggh! The link to pics is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/aquadri26/WorldCupDay9#

Okay, the cold front moved in last night and it is ridiculously cold today! The temperature is in the teens and on the way to Kruger National Park, we have a flat tire. So, we have to stand outside and wait for the tire change in freezing weather. Just to let you know....there are no heaters on this transport, just flaps coming down to block out the wind. We get a late start on the safari, but we are meant to be there from opening till around 5pm, so it will be a long day. About 30 minutes in the park, we get to see lions eating prey, zebras, giraffes, crocodiles....but it is cold! We are wearing multiple layers and the only saving grace is that we are each given blankets that we can wrap around ourselves...without it, I don't know how I would have survived. Juliana sits in front of me and gets the brunt of the wind along with Joseph and Brandi. We stop for lunch in the park and then continue seeing animals till around 5pm. We are then brought back to the lodge and given an ...

Juliana and I take off at 12:30am for the flight on EgyptAir. Let me tell you something, there is a big difference between them and Lufthansa. I had decided to take some sleep medication and try to avoid jet lag as did Juliana, but around 30 minutes into our dead sleep, the flight attendant wakes us up to see if we want dinner. I told her no, and returned to sleep, but she forced me to wake up about 5 hours later to have breakfast. She wasn't mean, but didn't understand that first thing about letting sleeping passengers...well, sleep. Anyway, no problems on the flight and we arrived safely at Johannesburg. From the first minute at the airport, you can tell it is a festival. All sorts of people from all over the world are arriving wearing the garb, colors, and blowing their horns in celebration of a good time. It is awesome and everyone is amazingly friends. We get our luggage quickly and make our way through customs, which is practically non-existent. From start of immi...

Hey guys, hope all is well. We take off for South Africa on Wednesday, June 9th, and we want you to be part of our journey. Some of you have been reading my occasional postings on our trip planning, but I want to give you an in-depth look on what we do, how much we spend, where we saved money, etc. That is what the blog was intended to do, but I want to expand on our trips and get you to see our pics, see where we stay, comment on the blog and share stories about adventures to do next. So here is your chance to come along for the ride. Oh, and if you want to reach us....we are using a Passport SIM card which I blogged about earlier and our phone number is 011-44-7924427729. Call us if something comes up. Pick up your bags and let's go!

It's amazing the price gouging that happens during special events. Where you could rent a hotel for $95 a night is now close to $250 per night with what would be considered a 2-3 star hotel. I had mentioned advanced planning and we were lucky enough to be staying at Waybury House in the Sandton area. If you want to check it out, here is the link: http://www.wayburyhouse.co.za/index.html Originally, I wanted to stay near Sun City and visit Pilanesburg National Park, but it turns out FIFA booked out 97% of the rooms in that area and used companies to repackage them for increased pricing....smart for them, bad for us. So what if you are single or traveling hostel style? An interesting idea popped up by some locals and they come up with a hostel concept in the heart of Johannesburg. Check it out.....poor website, but still has cheap, dorm style availability. http://hostivalonline.com/

Well, after a long battle to get organized, plans are coming together to go to the World Cup in South Africa. In the next couple of weeks, I will be telling you on the preparation for the trip, costs, and the itinerary. If you are going to the World Cup, I would love to hear from you and want you to share your ideas, thoughts, and frustrations as well.