Day 1 – Introducing Southern Africa

Every traveler is by definition an explorer. Admittedly, we are the most informed explorers. We scour the Internet looking for information, we devour travel guides, we watch travel programs on local channels or National Geographic or Discovery Channel. One could also say that we are over informed and the surprise of discovering is a little lost. Still, one is never prepared for the emotion when one comes face to face with the travel destination. I remember well when I saw the Taj Mahal at sunrise. I had already seen him hundreds of times on TV or in books, but that faded when I saw him live. The glaring gems due to the rising sun were magnificent and something you do not see on television or in pictures. An emotional moment of the highest kind. Or that time in China. We all know the Great Wall. But you have no idea of his greatness until you see him in real life. 6000 km of stone and rock that winds like a snake through the landscape of high peaks and deep valleys. For some, the Great Wall is nothing more than a heap of stones, for others it is the greatest, both literally and figuratively, structure ever made by human hands. Or what about a hot air balloon ride in Kenya. While our balloon gently whizzed through the air during dawn above the vast Masai Mara, a lioness played with her cubs underneath us in the shade of a tree. You can not even dream it. But it can also work in the other direction. 3 years ago I had looked forward to visiting Bond island in Thailand. But nothing had prepared me for the chaos there. Hundreds or rather thousands of tourists crowding the tourist stalls on arrival, the smell of exhaust fumes from hundreds of boats which transported even more tourists. That's not mentioned in the travel guides but I wanted to leave as quickly as possible. That's also  exploration.

In Egypt I was homesick for the twenties and thirties. The years that archaeologists laid bare the treasures of Egypt. I would have  loved living in that time. To work in my cotton white pants suit in the hot sand, looking for archaeological finds under a blazing sun. I was born  seventy years too late. And also born too late to discover African tribes, new plants in the Amazon forest or lost civilizations.

In recent years I have travelled to  less obvious destinations such as Borneo and Bhutan. Destinations without mass tourism, without a lot of preparation and which you have to undergo. Every day is a surprise. A journey of discovery through and through. Each trip an inspiration for  the next.

On my next trip I'm really exploring. That is to say, we follow in the footsteps of one of the most famous explorers, Dr. Livingstone. A journey through southern Africa where we visit three countries: north of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

These three countries are the economic engine of Africa. Yet they are little touristy (does not count obviously for the whole of South Africa, but for the northern part). It turned out to be quite a task to buy a guidebook. No problem for me. I will enjoy little prepared the next trip.  It will be a trip to the real Africa, the authentic Africa, where the lion still roars, where people speak their own language with or without clicking sounds, where the air is still pure, ...

A journey to the treasure of  Dr. Livingstone.