Guest Post: My Journey Into Africa

Guest Post: My Journey Into Africa

Many thanks to Samir Jaluria for his guest post:

This past fall, I had the opportunity to travel to the distant and amazing continent of Africa. Africa is a place that my wife and I had always dreamed of travelling to, but weren’t quite sure just how to make it work. Finally, after realizing that no time would be “perfect,” we took a leap of faith and booked everything on our own – without using an operator. Not only did we go on the quintessential African safari, but we were also able to visit the islands as well. Last fall, we travelled to 3 different and unique African countries: Kenya, Mauritius and The Seychelles. Visiting Africa truly changed our lives – not only with what we saw, but after spending more than two weeks in Africa, we realized that there were some common patterns that made up the rhythm of Africa.

1. The African people are the most hospitable that I have ever met. I’ve been to 45 countries on 6 different continents and was blown away by just how friendly and hospitable the people that I met were. The hospitality went above and beyond for us, from arranging a private sundowner on our Masai Mara safari, to a secluded tableside BBQ on the Mara River, to a private guided tour of a Mauritius rum distillery. Even while they were taking care of us as guests, the people we met shared stories about themselves and their families and wanted to get to know us — and why we chose to visit their country all the way from California! We have even stayed in touch with several of them since.
2. A sensory-based description of Africa is tough to articulate. Africa is a complex place whosevast beauty, sights, sounds and colors are truly unique. As Karen Blixen remarked in her seminal book Out of Africa, Africa is a place with “long, splendid views [and]rich and delicate colours.” It’s tough to describe the colors or smells of the continent, be it the ubiquitous “red earth” that was referenced in Blood Diamond, the smells of the giraffes we fed or the bright redness of the Masai tribal clothing. Simply put, photos do not do justice to the beauty of Africa.
3. Africa runs on its own schedule – African Standard Time (AST). Few things run on time and expect things (especially travelling between places) to take longer than anticipated. Every single one of our intra-African flights was delayed and whenever I asked for a status update, I was often told that the plane would arrive “in the near future!” In addition, we spent inordinate amounts of time stuck in traffic as we crisscrossed Nairobi – and the delays were due to a variety of reasons from rebels blocking roads, to arbitrary traffic stops and deteriorated roads. We had to adjust our schedules several times as a result, so be sure to build in extra buffer time in between activities to allow for the unexpected.
4. A safari excursion is a once (or twice, in our case) in a lifetime experience and you are forced to minimalize. In addition to the obvious amazingness of seeing some of the original Big Five game animals including the lion, the leopard and the rhinoceros up close and taking in the natural beauty of the African continent, it is one of the few places where you are afforded the opportunity to truly minimalize – a rare luxury in this day and age. To get to the safari areas in Africa, you will mostly likely have to take a small 10 or 12-seater plane (colloquially known as a “bush plane”), which has a very strict weight limit of 30 lbs. per person. Once you arrive at your safari destination, the Wi-Fi is often spotty or non-existent—so you are forced to temporarily cut the technology cord. It’s amazing what you end up doing with your time when you are limited to just 30 lbs. of luggage and limited connectivity over the course of several days!
5. In the end, there is more to Africa than just the safari. As much as I loved the safari and look forward to my next excursion, the two days in Nairobi (especially during the re-inauguration of Uhuru Kenyatta) and our days seeing Mauritius and the island of Mahe in The Seychelles were eye opening. From driving by Nairobi’s slums, to hiking the treacherous Le Morne Brabant peak in Mauritius, to relaxing at our hotel’s infinity pool in The Seychelles, to snorkeling and exploring underwater, to visiting Karen Blixen’s house in Nairobi, there is so much to the vast continent of Africa. To be honest, we barely scratched the surface!

Africa is indeed an interesting place to visit and I cannot wait to go back – and maybe explore a different part of the continent!