Year: 2014

What is a Participation Camping Safari in Africa Like?

When we announced we would be going on a three-week camping safari in southern Africa, we had a pretty amazing response from readers who were looking to do something similar in the future.

One reader asked us to put together a post about what a participation camping tour is like in terms of the jobs and duties required, as this one feature about camping safaris is a big turn off for some travelers.

From our experience on our tour, the participation component of the experience was minimal.  Although some jobs on the rotating schedule were more tedious than others, hardly any of them detracted from the experience as a whole and sound more time consuming initially than they really are.

So what all can you expect to do?

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Etosha National Park’s Most Amazing Watering Hole

The only other guests at today's show.Namibia has been one of those countries where we arrived with few expectations and left with more wonderful memories than we even thought possible.  Our reason for traveling to this destination was to climb the famous Dune 45 and see the trees at the Deadvlei clay pan, but one particular watering hole at Etosha National Park in northern Namibia had us raving for the rest of the journey.

Why is that?

Well, if we didn’t know any better it would be easy to think that the 60 minute show we witnessed was a choreographed production for our eyes only.  Just about every major animal from the park made its appearance at the watering hole in turn, and halfway through vanished for no visible reason.  Something was coming, and a large elephant appeared in the distance as it made its way to the watering hole.

The animals slowly returned, and all coexisted in wonderful harmony around one gorgeous spot.

This photo essay shares some of our favorite shots from this encounter.

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Everest Base Camp Trek Packing List – Do You Need That Gear?

For our first time trekking, we choose what is considered to be one of the most strenuous: Mount Everest Base Camp. 

When purchasing our gear in Kathmandu, we had no real idea what we were needing and had to rely on a number of packing lists found online (this one from our friends at The Planet D was a pretty good start). 

As we had no clue of our own abilities, we bought pretty much everything recommended for an Everest Base Camp Trek packing list just to cover us in case we needed them.

After successfully completing the trek, and managing it in relative ease, we wanted to look back at some of the more notable items in our packing list to comment on their need for those who may be in a similar position to us.  

This post will not include everything we took, but instead focuses on some of the more unique items that a trekking packing list often includes.

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that our trek was in late-November 2013.  We cannot comment on how this packing list would work in the summer or winter months as we do not have personal experience hiking in these conditions. 

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The Top 8 Mauritius Attractions to See While Driving

Many years ago we published an article about the Top 10 Things to Do in Mauritius when researching our dream destinations around the world. It ended up being one of the most popular articles on this site.

Naturally, when we realized we were actually getting to visit this beautiful island nation, we used that post as one of our resources in planning our itinerary during our stay.

With a rental in hand from Maki Car Rentals to make driving in Mauritius a breeze, we developed a new must-see list during our stay on the island.  This time, however, all of the attractions are oriented by those you can visit, and in some cases only visit, via car.

The best part about this list is that they are all Living the Dream approved as they are attractions we personally explored during our stay in Mauritius!

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