Nat Geo’s Six Places to Go

by Erik Olsen on

National Geographic Adventure is probably my favorite among outdoors magazines. Outside comes in a close second, and can often be better than NGA, but overall, I like the range of stories in the sister glossy to the famous yellow bordered geographic mag. If you haven’t checked out the December 2006/January 2007 issue, you should.

The editors provide an interesting list of countries that you should visit NOW. Among them are China, South Africa (especially the Samara Private Game Reserve), Morocco (I’ve done Marrakesh and think it’s a wonderful place to visit) and Canada (yes, you heard it, Canuck country). For the latter, they pitch an 11-day Canoe Arctic trip in the Barren Lands that, I confess, sounds absolutely killer. Actually, as always the whole issue is good, but to start off the new year, the list here is a great place to start.

Corpulent Spelunker Clogs Cave

by Neil Woodburn on

You don’t hear very much about obese spelunkers; exploring the dark crannies of subterranean caves just isn’t normally done by the large and hefty.

This wasn’t however, enough to stop an overweight woman who ventured into the Cango Caves in South Africa only to find herself firmly wedged in a narrow underground section called the Tunnel of Love. To make matters worse, her human corkage trapped 23 fellow spelunkers behind her, including “two asthmatic children and a diabetic.”

Rescue teams spent nearly 12 hours smearing the cave walls with liquid paraffin and hauling her out with the aid of a pulley.

Word for the Travel Wise (12/21/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

It has been yet another long and grueling day of driving. If you’ll excuse me I’ll keep from my pre-word babble and just give it straight to you.

Today’s word is an Afrikaans word used in South Africa:

baai – goodbye

For learning Afrikaans online check out this Afrikaans.us site and Ominglot guide with additional links. Aviva has a nice list of words with their translations you may hear most commonly during your visit in the country. Parties with some knowledge of the language may wish to do some reading over at this blog all in Afrikaans. I haven’t a clue what the content is about, but it could come in handy. Note that the name Afrikaans is simply the Dutch word for African where Afrikaans is the African form of the Dutch Language.

Past Afrikaans words: bly stil , plakkies, woestyn, dof, dagga

Another Top Ten (Scuba) List

by Neil Woodburn on

Here’s a list that will certainly be challenged.

Tim Ecott of The Guardian has put together a list of the “Top 10 Dive Sites of the World.” As is usually the case with such lists, divers will look it over and one of three things will happen:

1. They will be aghast over some of the selections
2. They will be shocked that their favorite sites weren’t mentioned
3. They will learn about a couple of places they’ve never heard of before

When it comes down to it, Top Ten lists are always very biased and subjective. They are never entirely right, nor are they always wrong. Personally, I enjoy them because I always learn about new places to visit–such as Rocktail Bay in South Africa which Ecott has identified as the very best dive site in the world. In fact, nearly all of Ecott’s Top Ten list is new for me.

Now, I’m not a diver, but I do pride myself in knowing nice tropical spots where other people dive and I merely snorkel or lay on the beach. As a result, the new locations I gleamed from this list has made it one of the better Top Ten lists I’ve come across this season. Pop on over and check it out and perhaps you’ll agree.

Africa Bargains

by Adrienne Wilson on

Although today isn’t my day for our Photo of the Day feature, I caught sight of this sign picture and had to pass it on. If you ever felt intimidated in the market place or too shy to bargain in Africa; this sign clears the fog. They bargain in Africa. Taken in South Africa by Demonterious, there are many other sign photos, people shots and miscellaneous Africa shots. In his blog he describes his adventures being on tour with the band, AFAR for the first time in strange lands. It’s by no means a travel blog, but it is worth a read for the small hidden nuggets of travel information on South Africa. The band looks to be headed towards Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe as well which means if you’re really interested in touring with them you should probably go ahead and bookmark the blog now. Also, check out the blog of my close pal, Richard Johnson, who plays keyboard for the band and has some additional photos floating around as well.