The Depths of Africa: Something Fishy's Insane Off The Beaten Path Adventure

[Something Fishy]

Just how crazy was this trip? 13 days, 15 flights, 12 countries, 7 Covid tests, 26 passport stamps, 6 visas, 2 major customs snafus, 1 border bypassed completely...

From the 7th least-visited country on earth, to the backroads of Malawi where many people have never seen a white man, to the jungle canopy walkways of Ghana, to better-known places like Zimbabwe and Botswana - a whirlwind of a trip that left me exhausted and on an absolute high.

Here's what the final insane itinerary looked like:

Motzei Shabbos: New York-Munich.
Sunday: Munich-Lisbon; 1 night Portugal.
Monday: Lisbon-Accra-Sao Tome; 2 nights Sao Tome.
Wednesday: Sao Tome-Accra; 1 night Ghana.
Thursday: Accra-Addis Ababa-Nairobi; 1 night Kenya.
Friday: Nairobi-Lilongwe; 3 nights Malawi.
Monday: Blantyre-Johannesburg; 1 night South Africa.
Tuesday: Johannesburg-Victoria Falls; 2 nights Zimbabwe/Zambia/Botswana/Namibia.
Thursday: Victoria Falls-Gaborone-Addis Ababa-Dublin-Washington-New York; sleep for 8 days.




Losing myself in Sao Tome:




Snorkeling in Lake Malawi:




Pigging out in Johannesburg:




Lion cubs in Botswana:




On the brink of Victoria Falls in Zambia:




To be continued....

[Luvtotravel]

unreal. anticipation mounting...

[yitzgar]

Wait, you couldn't get a video of the top of the falls while standing at the bottom?

[ushdadude]

waiting for this to be translated into yiddish

[Yehoshua]

Wow, so interesting. I can't wait to read it.

[ExGingi]

waiting for this to be translated into yiddish

Williamsburg style or YIVO style? 

[chff]

Williamsburg style or YIVO style? 

http://www.ivelt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=57204

[EliJelly]

http://www.ivelt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=57204

Worthy of a thread of its own

https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=123025.msg2630803#msg2630803

[EliJelly]

SF, you have a week from this dramatic trailer to post the first segment, otherwise we'll pull the likes!

[ExGingi]

http://www.ivelt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=57204

The combination of the Williamsburg style Yiddish with the avatar of this poster...

[Dawie]

Pigging out in Johannesburg:

yum!

[Dan]

yum!

False advertising. It's better than in Italy.

[jj1000]

False advertising. It's better than in Italy cholov yisroel.

FTFY

Which is not what the sign says... So... I'd say it passes.

[ExGingi]

False advertising. It's better than in Italy.

Italy has any decent kosher places?

I have fond memories of the Pizza I had in Nice about 27 years ago. Was the best I had, though it has been a long time and I might have had some other good ones since.

[Kobe Bryant]

To be continued in 7 business years.

[Sam 77]

Italy has any decent kosher places?

I have fond memories of the Pizza I had in Nice about 27 years ago. Was the best I had, though it has been a long time and I might have had some other good ones since.

Try Tuscannini frozen pizza. They say it tastes just like Italian pizza.

[Something Fishy]

It all started with a phone call in the fall of 2021. A friend, who's come on a few of my trips in the past, had a simple request.

"I want to go somewhere weird. Somewhere people have never heard of. And get as many countries as possible, but to actually do something in every one, not just connect. I want to see culture. And maybe go diving? I've never done that before. And I need to wake up and see the ocean from bed in least one location. And a place where they have really good coffee. Oh, and elephants! Gotta see elephants."

Not a big ask, huh?

"And wait - remember that I'm not vaccinated."

Well this should be fun...

He certainly came to the right guy. I started with a core idea, added a bunch more, shifted everything around some 300 times to account for flight schedules and Covid testing requirements and availability, and ended up with an absolutely epic - and totally batty - itinerary.

Flights finally booked and organized (I would actually be flying JFK-MUC-LIS instead of my friend's EWR-LIS):




This innocent-looking spreadsheet gave me migraines all day and Kafka dreams all night:



It's clearly not final, and we ended up needed to get tested in Ghana and South Africa as well.

The fact that many of the places we were going to had essentially no tourism infrastructure didn't help things, but with a bunch of research and local contacts I eventually got everything hammered out. Flights were booked, guides and lodging were lined up, plans were given their final shuffle, and off we go.

[AsherO]

Thanks Something Fishy! Amazing, can’t wait for next installment!

[Yehoshua]

It all started with a phone call in the fall of 2021. A friend, who's come on a few of my trips in the past, had a simple request.

"I want to go somewhere weird. Somewhere people have never heard of. And get as many countries as possible, but to actually do something in every one, not just connect. I want to see culture. And maybe go diving? I've never done that before. And I need to wake up and see the ocean from bed in least one location. And a place where they have really good coffee. Oh, and elephants! Gotta see elephants."

Not a big ask, huh?

"And wait - remember that I'm not vaccinated."

Well this should be fun...

He certainly came to the right guy. I started with a core idea, added a bunch more, shifted everything around some 300 times to account for flight schedules and Covid testing requirements and availability, and ended up with an absolutely epic - and totally batty - itinerary.

Flights finally booked and organized (I would actually be flying JFK-MUC-LIS instead of my friend's EWR-LIS):




This innocent-looking spreadsheet gave me migraines all day and Kafka dreams all night:



It's clearly not final, and we ended up needed to get tested in Ghana and South Africa as well.

The fact that many of the places we were going to had essentially no tourism infrastructure didn't help things, but with a bunch of research and local contacts I eventually got everything hammered out. Flights were booked, guides and lodging were lined up, plans were given their final shuffle, and off we go.

That makes planning a trip like this either a huge headache or a fun challenge. Clearly you though or it as a challenge. Thanks, and can't wait to read the rest.

[aygart]

And I need to wake up and see the ocean from bed in least one location. And a place where they have really good coffee. Oh, and elephants! Gotta see elephants."

IIRC you left out the AND NO BIRDS!!!!