9 Things to Explore Before Exiting for an Exotic Excursion

To celebrate the end of the year, I present an updated version of my #2 blog post of the year. As #1 was about summer travel accessories, I am opting to reprise that once the weather gets warmer.

Despite the fact that I have traveled to more than 50 countries on six continents (I am missing Antarctica), preparing for a trip to an unknown and faraway destination is still perplexing. As I prepared for my trip to Namibia this fall, I pondered, among other things, logistics, medications, documentation, and fashion. Here's a list of 9 things I had to figure out before going to Africa...and things you should think about as well before taking off to distant lands.

1 Do I need a visa? Official media are supposed to have visas to enter Namibia, but your garden variety American tourist does not. Although I went to Namibia to write about The Jewel of the Desert train, I opted to go visa-less (please, Namibia's version of Mr. E. Snowden, don't tell on me). After all, as a travel writer, my mission is to have the same experience as regular travelers do. So, no visa for me, although I brought a VISA card...and an ATM card to boot.

2. Do I need more pages in my passport? Apparently, the answer is yes. For some reason, Namibia requires everyone to have 4 to 6 blank passport pages. As I am on Year 9 of a ten-year passport, I only have one blank page left. Should I wing it? According to a colleague at Solimar International, a firm that does tourism consulting work in Namibia, the answer is a definite no. Said colleague spent the better part of the day in Windhoek Airport, while one of his co-workers had to zoom over to the local American Embassy for pages. Thankfully, I live in Washington, DC (how often do you hear someone say that these days?), very close to the National Passport Center. So I ran downtown and spent $142 to add passport pages (versus $170 for a new passport).

3. Do I need shots or malaria pills? Shots--no. Malaria pills? It wasn't clear. I opted out and I was fine. Many of my fellow travelers who took the pills got very sick on the train. The train's doctor ascribed their flu-like symptoms to the malaria medication. So, pick your poison.

4. What about money, honey? The Namibian dollar is on par with the South African rand, and the latter is accepted everywhere in Namibia. As the Namibian dollar is not easily convertible on the world market, best to stock up on rand. That way, leftover money can be exchanged back into US dollars.

www.abercrombieandkent.co.uk

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5. What do I wear? I am oft vexed regarding visitor vestments, particularly when I travel to the Middle East or Africa. When I went to Morocco in 2001 (geographically in Africa; culturally, it could be argued, the westernmost part of the Middle East), I had a two-fer on my hands. I was verklempt, as everything I owned was too tight, too short, or too colorful. I ended up purchasing a bunch of long, oversized schmatas.  The Moroccan men, unstereotypically, paid me no mind, but the women there didn't seem to appreciate my valiant efforts to mask my feminine wiles. Methinks hunting for safari clothing will be easier, but I still must find items that will cover me up (mainly to ward off  bugs and to protect against the scorching sun).

6. How do I allay the heat? As frequent readers will recall, during my most recent adventure, I swooned in the Forbidden City and had to spend the night in a Beijing ER. As a result, I am stocking up on electrolytes, bringing a huge sombrero, and slathering on suntan lotion.

7. What unusual items do I need? This type of journey requires gear not usually included on my packing list. Bug spray; a flashlight; a water purifier; a beanbag (to serve as a camera stabilizer in jittery jalopies); and the aforementioned electrolyte tablets are some of the extras I will stow.

8. How am I going to survive the 18-hour flight? Try to get an aisle seat in Economy Plus or an emergency row seat. I got both on my outbound flight on South African Airways from Washington, DC to Johannesburg--an 18-hour jaunt. I was able to stretch my legs and do yoga in my seat space. However, on the way home, I was left with a non-emergency aisle, which, for an 18-hour stretch, is uncomfortable any way you slice it. One thing that helped immensely on my 14-hour flight to Beijing in the spring--using my BackJoy Posture +. Sadly, I didn't bring it on my Africa trip, and my lower back paid the price.

9. How many days will it take me to get over jet lag? Fortunately, the time difference is, surprisingly, only 6 hours. Therefore, spending my first night in Africa at the Intercontinental Hotel at the Johannesburg Airport (smart move) and my second night at the Okapuka Ranch near Windhoek left me well-rested when my official exploration began.

Great Train Trips: Namibia

To watch my report on Namibia, click here, and go to 12/12 show. My segment runs from 35 minutes in until the end of the show.

Loyal listeners and readers know this has been quite a year of long-distance train travel for me. In the spring, I had a great adventure on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.  In October, I headed off to Africa to journey on The Desert Express, a little-known upscale train that travels around Namibia.

First, a little geography lesson. Namibia is located in the southwest of Africa. If there is such a thing as a typical sub-Saharan African country (and there's not), this is not it. Yes, there is wildlife, including elephants and giraffe and lions, but what distinguishes the country is the Great Namib Desert, dating back 55 million years. The oldest desert in the world also contains some of the world's highest sand dunes.

There are no non-stops flights from the United States to Namibia. The "easiest" ways to get there:

1.You can travel direct from New York or Washington, DC into Johannesburg on South African Airways and then hop the short flight to Windhoek or
2. Fly to Frankfurt and transfer to Air Namibia.
Either way, you are talking more than 20 hours in flight (from the East Coast), but that's the price you pay for a unique travel experience.

For 11 days, I wandered the country on the
Desert Express. The Namibian-German-engineered train, circa 1998, is a marvel of clever design. The train contains four sleeping cars, a lounge car, and a dining car. Each of the sleeping wagons is nature-themed--there's Springbok, Oryx, Kokerboom (Quiver Tree) and Meerkat. Unlike the Trans-Siberian, which contained separate classes of compartments, the Desert Express offers all guests the same experience, including the pleasure of a bathroom en suite.

Desert Express Bar Car

Speaking of which, you have never seen a more efficient use of space, although I suppose anyone taller than 6 feet 2 or heavier than 160 pounds might disagree. The wee space (so to speak) has a toilet, a shower with a door that prevents water from spraying, and a magnificent rotating sink.

Other features of the interior design include rock sand paneling; extensive use of red golden woods; handmade amber-colored furnishings in the bar car; and comfortable seating areas in the compartments that convert into up to three beds at night.

The Desert Express belongs to Namibian TransNamib Holding Ltd. and is chartered by Lernidee.de for the long-distance trips. For those looking for a shorter ride, weekend trips are available between Windhoek and Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast. The one-way weekender, which includes stops at game lodges and the dunes, starts at $350 per person/double occupancy.

Lots of Giraffe, Lots of Zebra, and One Lion

Etosha National Park in Namibia is not a typical game park. You aren't likely to see hoards of hippos nor rows of rhinos. But especially for a first-time safari-goer, the park has plenty of wildlife to ooh and aah over.

 For more on the park, and Namibia's conservation efforts, I highly recommend this article by USA Today Travel Editor Veronica Stoddart.

Counting Countries

My first step in Russia

I've been to nine new countries this year. Well, nine if you count a plane touchdown; eight if you include a plane touchdown and a dash through the airport for a connecting flight; or six, if you include actually stepping foot outside the airport.

The mad-dash-through-the-airport countries were Finland and Latvia, while the plane stop was Senegal.

Thus, it looked like my new country total for 2013 was going to be five. The far-flung five--Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Mongolia, and Namibia. But that doesn't add up, right? The wrinkle is South Africa.

I initially had to separate South Africa from the pack for the following reason. Upon landing in Johannesburg in the evening, I walked about one-fifth of a mile from the arrivals terminal to the Intercontinental Hotel (highly recommended). The upscale property is on airport, but not attached to the airport. So, I stepped foot outside the airport, but it was questionable whether I was actually off airport property. Then next morning, it was off to Namibia.

Thus, I ask you a two-fold question: Can you add a country to your count

A) if you stayed on airport property (airports being somewhat like embassies, IMHO, in carrying something of an international territory status) and

B) you stayed for less than 24 hours?

True, my passport was stamped with a South Africa seal, but still, to me, counting South Africa seemed a bit of a cheat. That's why I was somewhat bothered by my most recent Monopoly purchase.

Let me backtrack. Loyal readers know that I collect Monopoly games from the countries to which I have traveled. But my rule is strict--I have to have traveled to the country in question to buy a game. There are only three exceptions to this rule in my collection--games from Argentina and Japan that were gifts and a game from Tunisia purchased on my one previous visit to Africa. I picked up the French-ified game at a souk in Marrakesh back in 2001. Naturally, I assumed it was Moroccan Monopoly. Alas, when I got home and checked street names, no dice. The streets were in Tunis.

Now, in Namibia, there is no Namibian Monopoly. They play the South African game. So, I did buy that version in a grocery store in Windhoek. But I had mixed feelings. Yes, that was the official Namibian version, but it was South African and I had spent less than 24 hours in South Africa. Was this merely a token purchase? All of the pondering was leaving me feeling emotionally bankrupt.
.

But a missed connection in Johannesburg on the way 
home turned out to be my "Get Out of Jail Free" card. After getting ironed things out at South African Airways customer service, it appeared I would be spending the next 24 hours in Jo'burg. However, as the hotel at which I was booked was actually in the airport, I knew that in order to feel confident about adding South Africa to my list, I had to take a chance and head into the community chest-first the next day.

Indeed, a group of us who missed our connection to DC hired a private van and visited moving sites like Soweto and the Apartheid Museum during our unexpected layover. So, in addition to squeezing lemonade out of lemons, the tour officially permitted meto add South Africa to my country count, which has now surpassed the half-century mark.

What are your rules for including countries in your total? And how many countries have you visited?

Cowabunga, Dune!

please follow me on twitter @dailysuitcase
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One might not expect Africa to contain much desert south of the Sahara. But Namibia, tucked away in the southwestern corner of the continent, is largely desert--dry, hot, and rugged.

In fact, the Namib is the oldest desert in the world, dating back 55 million years. Although one of the driest areas on earth, it has an amazing amount of biodiversity. This is largely due to its location adjacent to the Atlantic coast. The daily bombardment of ocean fog serves as lifeblood to the desert's critters.

The 19,000-square-mile Namib-Naukluft National Park was created to protect this vast desert.
The Namib Sand Sea area of Namib-Naukluft Park recently achieved UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It is the first natural heritage site named in the past decade to fulfill all four critieria of the designation. To paraphrase and condense said critieria, a World Heritage Site should:

1. Contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional beauty
2. Be an outstanding example of the Earth's history, including its geological processes
3. Be an outstanding example representing ongoing ecological and biological processes of evolution and
4. Contain important and significant natural habitats for conservation of biological diversity

What makes the area particularly special are the dunes. The oldest dune system in the area is estimated to be 21 million years old. The "younger" dunes have been around for five million years. The dunes are among the tallest in the world, some measuring nearly 1000 feet. Certainly, this is one of the greatest moving sand seas on the planet, representing a vast array of dune types. "Dune types, dude?" you query. Indeed, there are diverse dune types. There's the Barchan, the Seif, the Star, and the Sand Sheet. Inquiring minds can Google the details. But suffice to say that if you are a dune fanatic, Namibia is the place to be.

9 Images of Wildlife in Namibia

Namibia's Etosha National Park is not teeming with wildlife. Still, you can find plenty of giraffe, zebra, springbok and other antelope-types there. It's harder to spy a lion or an elephant, but seek and ye shall find.
However, as the beasts were only "findable" with a telephoto lens (which my iPad lacks), you will have to wait until I am back in the US of A before I upload shots of 2 of the Big Five.

A pregnant giraffe at Etosha

A thirsty giraffe at an Etosha water hole

Blesbok at the.Mokuti Etosha Lodge

Giraffe and zebra share a water hole

Rhino happy hour at Okapuka Ranch near Windhoek 

Kudu  and others at Etosha

Sable Antelope bookends at Okapuka Ranch

Springbok seeking shade in Etosha

Warthogs wallowing at Okapuka Ranch

9 Things One Needs to Explore Before Exiting on an Exotic Excursion

Despite the fact that I have traveled to more than 50 countries on six continents (I am missing Antarctica), preparing for a trip to an unknown and faraway destination is still perplexing. As I plan for my trip to Namibia, I must ponder, among other things, logistics, medications, documentation, and fashion. Here's a list of 9 things I need to figure out before going to Africa...and things you should think about as well before taking off to distant lands.

www.cia.gov

1 Do I need a visa? Official media are supposed to have visas to enter Namibia, but your garden variety American tourist does not. Although I am going to Namibia to write about The Jewel of the Desert train, I am opting to go visa-less (please, Namibia's version of Mr. E. Snowden, don't tell on me). After all, as a travel writer, my mission is to have the same experience as regular travelers do. So, no visa for me, although I will be sure to bring my VISA card...and an ATM card to boot.

2. Do I need more pages in my passport? Apparently, the answer is yes. For some reason, Namibia requires everyone to have 4 to 6 blank passport pages. As I am on Year 9 of a ten-year passport, I only have one blank page left. Should I wing it? According to a colleague at Solimar International , a firm that does tourism consulting work in Namibia, the answer is a definite no. Said colleague spent the better part of the day in Windhoek Airport, while one of his co-workers had to zoom over to the local American Embassy for pages. Thankfully, I live in Washington, DC (how often do you hear someone say that these days?), very close to the National Passport Center. And thankfully, the NPC is not closed due to the shutdown. (LIVE BULLETIN from the NPC--it costs $142 to add passport pages versus $170 for a new passport. But given that I am not looking passport-picture-pretty today, I am opting to fork over the $142 and spend another $170 in a few months when I am sporting my TV Laura mien).

3. Do I need shots or malaria pills? Shots--no. Malaria pills? It's not clear. I hope that copious doses of mosquito spray will keep the buggers away while I am sleeping under the stars in Ethosha National Park.

en.wikipedia.org

4. What about money, honey? Apparently, the Namibian dollar is on par with the South African rand, and the latter is accepted everywhere in Namibia. As the Namibian dollar is not easily convertible on the world market, best to stock up on rand. That way, leftover money can be exchanged back into US dollars.


5. What do I wear? I am oft vexed regarding visitor vestments, particularly when I travel to the Middle East or Africa. When I went to Morocco in 2001 (geographically in Africa; culturally, it could be argued, the westernmost part of the Middle East), I had a two-fer on my hands. I was verklempt, as everything I owned was too tight, too short, or too colorful. I ended up purchasing a bunch of long, oversized schmatas.  The Moroccan men, unstereotypically, paid me no mind, but the women there didn't seem to appreciate my valiant efforts to mask my feminine wiles. Methinks hunting for safari clothing will be easier, but I still must find items that will cover me up (mainly to ward off  bugs and to protect against the scorching sun).

www.abercrombieandkent.co.uk

6. How do I allay the heat? As frequent readers will recall, during my most recent adventure, I swooned in the Forbidden City and had to spend the night in a Beijing ER. As a result, I am stocking up on electrolytes,, bringing a huge sombrero, and slathering on suntan lotion.

7. What unusual items do I need? This type of journey requires gear not usually included on my packing list. Bug spray; a flashlight; a water purifier; a beanbag (to serve as a camera stabilizer in jittery jalopies); and the aforementioned electrolyte tablets are some of the extras I will stow.

8. How am I going to survive the 18-hour flight? I am taking South African Airways from Washington, DC to Johannesburg--an 18-hour jaunt. I can't afford business class, so I can only hope my aisle seat in coach allows me to stretch my gams. I am also bringing along various travel accessories to road test. I'll let you know how they work.

9. How many days will it take me to get over jet lag? Fortunately, the time difference is, surprisingly, only 6 hours. Therefore, spending my first night in Africa at the Intercontinental Hotel at the Johannesburg Airport (smart move) and my second night at the Okapuka Ranch near Windhoek should mean, presumably, Dr. Livingstone, I will be well-rested when my official explorations begin.