Best 2009 SA travel blog posting
Having trawled our way through thousands of southern African travel blog postings this year, we came to the exceptionally difficult task of choosing a winner. Special mention must be made of two intrepid fourth year medical students from Van der Bilt, Amy & Kate, and their adventures through Mozambique, and Priscilla & Hans's taming of Mpumalanga - we loved both blogs fantastic photos. However, in the end the size of Sean Brown's heart and the power of his pen won us over. Thank you Sean for sharing with us, what we considered to be the best 2009 southern Africa travel blog posting. Sean's words say it best:
"My mind could not escape the thought of the deplorable conditions that the hundreds of thousands of people that lived in what they call townships, but we would call slums or shacks."
"Living in Camden, a city known for its violence and poverty, the bad experiences can stretch from annoying to dangerous. I will never look at my home the same again. In South Africa, including Johannesburg, 1 out of 3 women are raped and never report it."
"Traveling on the bus, watching young girls walk home from school with their dusty school uniforms, I could not help but wonder how long it would be before those young ladies had their innocence snatched from them."
"I asked a friend that I met in Cape Town about public transportation. Trains? “That’s what you get on if you want to get shot,” he remarked matter-of-fact
"I am glad that my first time out the country, I was able to be a proud ambassador instead of an ashamed tourist, forced to explain the actions of #43."
Van der Bilt students conquer Mozambique
Amy & Kate, intrepid fourth year medical students from Van der Bilt, were our May 2009 winners - the power of their pictures of Africa won us over. Here are our favourites:
On their way up to Uhuru Peak in Tanzania. |
Mount Ile. |
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Buried on the beach - these gals also know how to have fun! |
Fishermen in Mozambique. |
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Priscilla tames Mpumalanga
I can tell a great travel blog entry when I feel the urge to visit the same places. Priscilla (and Hans) are easy winners for November, with their enjoyment of Mpumalanga extending from the small pleasures of watching squirrels and woodpeckers going about their day, to seeing vultures feasting on an elephant carcass. Priscilla shares her beautiful and plentiful photographs, and is also knowledgeable about the animals, correctly labelling the clickies with the names of the beasts (our 2-year-old toddler loved looking at them with me). She shares their anguish with the darker side of South Africa - fearing for their safety they were unhappy that they didn't assist a motorist whose car has broken down.
After seeing the Blyde River Canyon and the Kruger National Park they headed over to the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre, where they got in a cage with and fed a vulture, as well as getting close up to baby rhino and a cheetah.
The Blyde River Canyon Lodge, where they stayed, looks stunning - with the zebra going right up to the lodge, and there being a tame impala called "Mala", who approached them in front of their cottage, and joined them for a walk through the woods (as well as playing its favourite game of butting Priscilla's legs black and blue). 
At the Hoedspruit Cheetah centre they got this amazing clickie of the vultures being fed.
The Blyde River Canyon Lodge, Hoedspruit Cheetah Centre and the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre are all on my must visit list.
Amanda photographs Johannesburg
And Amanda's posting, simply entitled "Johannesburg" is our December and final winner for 2009. Amanda is from Houston (Texas), and she has strung together some fantastic photos of Joburg, as well as picking up on the 2010 soccer fever and drawing some interesting contrasts with America (such as the high rise apartments reminding her of New York City). She was "very impressed with how well so many of the beautiful trees had been preserved around the city as it had grown" (Ed: Joburg contains the biggest man-made forest in the world, with over 10 million trees).
It's not easy to photograph Johannesburg, and Amanda did a fine job at capturing the subtle nuances - like the irony of this multimillion rand Fifa World Cup Stadium right next to a shantytown.
October's top travel blog
Whilst we loved Maureen's description of her trip from Cape Town to Namibia and her photos, Jamshed's hilarious account of the "pretty girl traps" set on his Emirates flight from India to Dubai to Cape Town, is this month's winning post. For the record, here's the list of things Jamshed suggest to NOT ask girls when sitting next to them:
"• Do they serve liquor as often as you ask?
• Do you think two people can fit into this airplane’s washroom?
• Can I remove the arm rest between our two seats?
• What trade are you planning to get into once in Dubai?"
Our September winners experienced wild Africa
And our winners for September were the 4 American girls who ventured forth to Paradise Camp, (near Hoedspruit) to discover politically incorrect men, shooting stars in bright African skies, meals cooked over fires and sleeped to the sound of leopards. And we cannot leave out this quote about the 2 game rangers (both named Craig): "They are completely offensive, politically incorrect men who’ve been living in the African bush without electricity or any modern amenities for years. They smoke a pack of cigarettes a day and drink rum like it’s water. But you couldn’t help but love them! They’re also brilliant and the best safari guides we could ever ask for."
Top July 2009 blog posting
July's winner is Emily's tale of getting hustled in Mombasa, eating traditional Swahili food, snorkelling in the marine park and having her hair braided . She also spotted an anti-corruption suggestion box (we could probably do with one in South Africa too, Mr Zuma).
The June blog of the month winner was
"Lady in London", who visited Namibia's Etosh National Park, where she "woke up at 4am each day to the sound of mating lions" - Namibia's own little red light district in the wild. When not hearing the lions she was seeing them, and even had an encounter with an ultra-poisonous black mamba snake. Scariest part of the trip was going on a game walk with guide and a rifle, whilst "Lady in London" pictured herself "getting mauled by a lion, cheetah, leopard, or even a tiger on holiday from India".
Best April 2009 Southern African blog
Expat's visit to the Sani Top Chalet pub for her Mom's birthday (actually, a little after her Mom's bday - being a teacher, the visit needed to coincide with school holidays). Before flying from Johannesburg back to snowy cold London in uncomfortable cattle class, Expat & Mom loaded up the 4x4 and headed towards the mountains that breath with dragons (Drakensburg) - or uKhahlamba (barrier of spiers) in the vernacular of the never-been-conquered Lesotho Mountain Kingdom. They stayed first at Mkomazana Mountain Cottages before taking the trip up the notorious Sani Pass - a dirt road with sheer drops and hairpin bends into the impenetrable Lesotho Mountain Kingdom. The Sani Pass has some interesting names like “the St Peters bend” (more people pray on this bend than they do in church) and “the whiskey bend” (you need a whiskey after turning this bend).
Best March 2009 travel blog posting
Alexis Grant's tale of Abdul & Mahesh's unwanted week at Douala Airport, in Cameroon. We've all heard stories of having to bribe officials in African countries, but this one trumps all others. On inspecting the mens' travel documents, officials at Cameroon's airport realised they had been invited by a diamond company (they are diamond cutters), and insisted they pay a "fee" to board their plane (4000 euros at that!). Abdul & Mahesh refused to pay the bribe and the uniformed officials refused to let them leave. For a week they slept in the only chair in the airport (see photo), until their company and the Cameroon government came to the rescue.
Best Feb 2009 travel blog posting
Our favourite travel blog posting in Feb 2009 is Marie's - not many tourists get wedding proposals (including one to become a 3rd wife!) whilst here, and even fewer take photos of butchered cows' heads which help remind me why I'm vegeterian! Add that to the fact that she met up and conversed with Hector Pietersen's sister Antoinette, and I get the feeling she soaked up plenty SA culture during her stay her.
Best Jan 2009 posting
January's winner was Colleen's blog of her expedition to go teaching in Lesotho, which started with her having to jump airport lines to make her connecting flight from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein. Below is a photo of her on top of Thaba Bosiu (translates to "Mountain of the Night" in Lesotho), a sandstone plateau where all but one of the Basotho kings are buried, and which King Moshoeshoe used to defend his nation from Zulu invaders (colonialists?) in the 1820s. Colleen has been teaching grade 1 - education is the cornerstone of the civilised world and from us at SouthAfrica.TO, we'd like to congratulate you on making a difference - you are a great example for others to follow.
Best travel blog posting in 2008
With dreadlocks forming from a buildup of Namibian sand in his hair, braving a cruel 12 hours in a combi-trip from hell (filled with sweaty people), and having chats with a philosophising englishman amongst Swakopmund's lego-like structures; Sebastian Modak's account of his Namibian travels was our travel blog of the year for 2008.
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