My previous post covered the last full day of sightseeing I had in Namibia. The next day I woke early to see the rising sun casting long shadows over my lodge.
Next, I revisited Fish River Canyon briefly in the morning….
Early morning at Fish River Canyon
…before making a rather boring six hour drive north, to a lodge near a town called Mariental. This was not a destination in itself, but a convenient place to spend the night on the long, long way back to Windhoek. Now I know why Fish River Canyon is so little visited – it is so far away from anywhere else. Namibia’s B1 is surfaced, flat and fast, but must be one of the most boring roads on the planet. The “highlight” of these six hours was finding a Wimpy restaurant at a service station – I though they had died out, but apparently they still thrive in Africa. The décor was wonderfully sixties kitsch.
I thought it was extinct…..Wimpy lives on in Africa
I finally arrived at around five, having driven all day (or so it seemed). I had originally intended to go on the lodge’s “sundowner” game drive, but since I was tired, I decided instead to spend my last night in Namibia sitting on the big swinging chair on my balcony, and watch the sunset with a good glass of wine.
Watching the sunset over the Kalahari desert
The next morning, I got up early and continued the road to the north – another 3 ½ hours – to Windhoek airport, to catch my early afternoon flight to Cape Town, where my adventure will continue. On returning my hire car, I found out that in 20 days I had driven over 5,000km – at an average speed often limited to 70km/h by Namibia’s gravel roads. Namibia has many world class attractions, but getting to them requires a big investment in time.
Be prepared for lots of this driving around Namibia…..
So that was the end of my Namibia trip – now I am off to South Africa for more adventures. It’s time to share a few photos of the highlights. First, there was the wonderful park of Etosha and its wildlife…..
Namibia’s next world class attraction are the dunes of Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei!
I will also always remember Kolmanskop, as a symbol of the power of nature over man……
The irresistible force of nature at Kolmanskop
….and my solo drive down to Eagle’s Rock in Fish River Canyon. It is not often you get a view this like all to yourself.
Eagle’s Rock, Fish River Canyon
I was keen to see if South Africa can match Namibia as a travel experience. Keep reading my blog to find out!
Wow, what a journey that was! Argentina jumps effortlessly into the list of my top 5 destinations of all time, and for scenery, it would be No. 1. However, this trip required lots of planning, and I also learnt a lot as I was travelling. In this post I list my personal highlights and give some tips for planning (valid as of November 2022).
TROUSPINET’S HIGHLIGHTS
To help you plan your trip, here is my ranking of the places I visited on this trip:
Quebrada de Humahuaca (northwest Argentina)
Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia
Foz Iguazu
Mount Fitzroy, Patagonia
Torres del Paine, Chilean Patagonia
The drive from Mendoza to Aconcagua
The drive from Salta to Cachi
Puerto Varas and the Chilean Lake District
Buenos Aires
Mendoza’s vineyards
Bariloche and the Argentine Lake District
Salta
I put Bariloche and Salta bottom because there are places in Europe a bit like them, whilst the other places are unique in the world. But I really enjoyed even my lower-ranked locations on this trip – I simply didn’t have a single bad travelling day.
The Quebrada de Humahuaca
TROUSPINET’S TOP TIPS
Be Selective – Distances are huge, as is the choice of places to visit.
Unless you have the time (and endurance) for 12-36 hour bus rides, you will need to fly if you want to see many of the country’s highlights. I went for nearly one month, usually flew between destinations, but still did not have time to see everything I wanted to. After much thought, I regretfully excluded Ushuaia and some of the national parks from my list. You will also have to make some hard choices.
Perito Moreno Glacier
Check which Internal Flights operate
The main flight operators in Argentina are Aerolineas Argentinas, JetSmart and FlyBondi. Argentine airlines have a bad reputation for reliability and punctuality, but I had no major delays in any of my seven internal flights.
Check when flights go direct from one regional destination to another (eg Salta to Mendoza), without having to go back to Buenos Aires and out again. These flights will save you a lot of time and money, but they don’t operate every day. The popular and very convenient Bariloche-El Calafate flight only operates in the peak tourist season – late November to February. If you do have to fly back to Buenos Aires, remember it has two airports – the very convenient Aeroparque Newberry (AEP) located in the city, and Ezeiza (EZE), which is a long way out of town. Book ahead for anything In, To or From Patagonia over November – February. The region is hugely and justifiably popular in the southern summer. I went in November – not the peak season – and even then, I heard that the buses from El Calafate to Bariloche were fully booked for several days.
Foz IguazuMonte Fitz Roy
Accommodation – Check the Exchange Rate when you book
I used Booking.com to book hotels. You get quoted a price in US$. Once you have made a booking, contact the hotel to ask if they apply the official exchange rate if you choose to pay in pesos. Most of my hotels agreed to this; only one asked for the blue rate (so I cancelled and booked somewhere else). If you pay like this, you save 50%! More expensive hotels add 20% VAT to their bills, which can you avoid by paying with a foreign credit (but then you get the official exchange rate, so it is still better to pay with cash).
AirBnB is not recommended, because you pay in advance in your own currency. It may have been bad luck, but the one place I booked with them was of very poor quality and seemed more aimed at local tourists.
Torres del Paine
Don’t Rely too much on Guidebooks
Things change quickly in Argentina. Our guidebook claimed to have been reprinted in January 2022, but was hopelessly out of date.
The Road from Mendoza to Aconcagua
Packing
Check average weather conditions and pack accordingly. Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego are cold even in the southern summer and need very warm clothing and waterproofs. Aerolineas Argentinas (but not the other airlines) has a limit of 15kg for checked baggage, so you may also need to pack light and fully use the allowances of 8kg for carry-on baggage and 3kg for a personal item. The 15kg rule is not strictly enforced – we were usually a couple of kilos over, but the check-in staff ignored this.
On the way to Cachi
Learn some (Argentine) Spanish
In touristy areas like Patagonia and parts of Buenos Aires, you can get by with English. But in most other places, few people other than hotel staff spoke a second language. If you already speak some Castilian Spanish, be aware that there are big differences in the pronunciation of “y” and “ll”, and that the second person singular “tu” is replaced by “vos” – with different verb endings. I didn’t find any good books on Argentine Spanish, but I found this website (for intermediate speakers) to be very good- https://argentalk.com
Mount Osorno, Chilean Lake District
That’s all for now. I could write a lot more, but I am worried I will bore my readers. If anyone has a question, please leave a reply at the bottom of this page. Happy Travelling!
When I set off for Sri Lanka, lots of my friends were surprised at my “bravery” to continue my trip despite the constant headlines about fuel shortages and riots. But my decision to go was based not on blind courage but instead on sound information from traveller websites like Tripadvisor. Everyone actually in Sri Lanka advised that travel was a bit more complicated, but still possible, and there was no reason to cancel.
Hunting for fuel was the only downside to visiting at this time
My own experience was very positive. Finding fuel took up, on average, maybe 15 minutes each day, but apart from that, travelling was very easy. I had many more difficulties getting back home when my plane arrived back in Europe than I ever had travelling around Sri Lanka. I also felt safer and less hassled than in many other Asian countries. The people were wonderful, there were no tourist crowds, and the food excellent (and food hygiene was also good – not a single stomach problem in three weeks).
Excellent food all the way through the trip
Most of all though, I liked the variety of things to do and see. Sri Lanka may not have any must-do, “bucket list” sights like the Taj Mahal or Niagara Falls, but instead it crams ancient ruins, busy temples, beaches, mountains and nature reserves into a relatively small area. It never took more than a few hours to get from one interesting place to another – unlike the big distances you might have to cover in larger countries. I had the added bonus of having many of these wonderful places almost entirely to myself.
Here are my most memorable experiences of the trip:
The unexpected Hindu/Buddhist procession at Kataragama
Ruin hunting by bicycle in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa
Staying at the Hill Club
The view from my guest house in Ella and the “tea train” to Nuwara Eliya
Breakfast with an armed guard to scare off monkeys at Polonnaruwa
The Buddhas of the cave temples of Dambulla
Puja (service) at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy
And here is a “best of” list:
Best Hotels (there were a lot!): Heaven Upon Rice Fields, Anuradhapura; Ekho Lake House, Polonnaruwa; Paraiso Guest House, Ella; The Hill Club, Nuwara Eliya; Thaulle Resort, Tissa; Radh Hotel, Kandy; Le Jardin Du Fort, Galle
Best Food: Seafood in Nilaveli; Indian Hut, Galle; Take away Dosas, Kandy; Curry feast at the Radha Tourist home; Dinner at the Hill Club.
Best Beach: Nilaveli
Best City: Galle
Best National Park: Bundala
Overall, as of today (August 2022), my advice is go now. Plan carefully and you should have a brilliant time without crowds. Your travel budget will really help the hotels, restaurants and guides you spend it with. Yes, there is a risk that the political situation gets bad again, so check popular traveller websites regularly to see what is really happening on the ground – not the sensationalist western newspaper headlines. Currently, I evaluate this risk as very low, and it has to considered in the context of a country that is otherwise very safe for travel (low crime, good roads and high driving standards for Asia, excellent food hygiene, no malaria). The Sri Lankans are wonderful people and deserve your help, and their country is one of my favourites!
That’s all for this trip. Please sign up to follow my blog and get automatic email notifications the next time I hit the road. If you would like to ask a question, type it in the section for “thoughts” at the bottom of the page and I will get back to you.
I leave the very last word to one of my fellow animal friends….
Trouspinet travels 