All posts by Katie Barber

Swaziland: The Most Beautiful Country You’re (Probably) Not Visiting

April 20, 2014 Katie Barber 2 Comments

Before we started planning our trip to Africa, I couldn’t have pointed to Swaziland on a map.¹ I certainly couldn’t have told you that the country is Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy, or that it would turn out to be one of the most physically beautiful countries I have ever seen. (But for New Zealand, Swaziland would be the most physically beautiful country I have ever seen.) We spent four days and nights in Swaziland, transiting through from the country from one part of South Africa (Mpumalanga) to another (KwaZulu-Natal).

Random tidbit: The welcome information we received when we crossed the border told us that cattle are so common alongside, and often directly on, the Swazi roadside that they are affectionately referred to as “Swazi traffic lights.” (Having just come from South Africa, where traffic lights are called “robots,” we greatly amused ourselves by referring to the many cattle we encountered as “Swazi robots.”)

Continue reading Swaziland: The Most Beautiful Country You’re (Probably) Not Visiting →

Administration

Introducing the Goat Rating System

Aside April 16, 2014 Katie Barber Leave a comment

Introducing our new, totally subjective Goat Rating System for accommodation! Going forward, all accommodation will be awarded anywhere from zero to five goats to reflect our happiness with our stay.

DSCN1920 — This Swazi goat is suspicious of our Goat Rating System.

Shortly, we will retroactively assign goats to accommodation mentioned in previous posts.

South Africa

Is that Elephant Charging Us?: A Kruger Play-by-Play

April 15, 2014 Katie Barber 4 Comments

We spent two days driving around Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It sprawls over more than 7,500 square miles (for those at home, that is a bit smaller than the state of New Jersey), covered in a network of tarred and dirt roads that allow visitors to drive around the park in their own cars. Thousands upon thousands of animals –including all of the “Big Five” (lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses, and buffaloes) –live in the park, and many of them are easily viewable, even by complete novices like us equipped with just a Toyota Corolla and some snacks for the road.

NB: Even though I’m referring to the following as a play-by-play, I’ve edited for time and interest. No one needs to know about the zillionth impala we saw, and (amazingly) even the elephants and giraffes began getting repetitive. Only the most notable sightings are listed. (And it’s still a long post! Seriously, Kruger is awesome.) Continue reading Is that Elephant Charging Us?: A Kruger Play-by-Play →

South Africa

The Best Potholes We’ve Ever Seen

April 13, 2014 Katie Barber 2 Comments

When most people think of Africa, they think of big game: lions, leopards, elephants, and the like. Somehow, we made it through our first three weeks in Africa without seeing anything more exotic than a monkey. ¹

Accordingly, after leaving Johannesburg, we set our sights on Kruger National Park, arguably the most famous game reserve in Southern Africa. We left Johannesburg late on a Friday afternoon but, because of Kruger’s popularity on the weekends, didn’t want to arrive until at least Sunday morning. We conferred with our guidebooks for potential sights between Johannesburg and Kruger, and discovered the Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga’s Drakensburg Escarpment.

Continue reading The Best Potholes We’ve Ever Seen →

South Africa

History Lesson in Johannesburg

April 11, 2014 Katie Barber Leave a comment

After our idyllic stay in Vilankulo, we flew to Johannesburg, South Africa.

To be honest, I wasn’t that amped about visiting Jo’burg. It has something of a rough reputation. As someone who lived in New York for five years and Chicago (which has more than its share of gun violence) for three years before that, however, I always take breathless warnings about big city crime with a grain of salt. I’ve found that if you are smart about where you are going, discrete with your valuables, and aware of your surroundings, you’re generally going to be fine.

Marc atop the ramparts at the Old Fort prison complex, with the Hillbrow Tower in the background.

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15 Things We’ve Learned During Our First Month in Africa

April 10, 2014 Katie Barber Leave a comment

It’s our one-month travelversary! Here are 15 random things that we’ve learned thus far after a month on the ground in Africa:

1. We probably brought too much stuff. And, yet, I neglected to bring a single pair of shorts or a t-shirt.

2. How to drive on the left-hand side of the road. (Otherwise known as the wrong side of the road.)

3. How to tell the difference between a white rhinoceros and a black rhinoceros. It’s all in the shape of the mouth.

Continue reading 15 Things We’ve Learned During Our First Month in Africa →

Mozambique

Vilankulo: The Reason Katie Almost Stayed in Mozambique

April 9, 2014 Katie Barber 1 Comment

Our last stop in Mozambique was Vilankulo, an ocean-side town often considered the most northern point on the southern Mozambique backpacker circuit. After a week luxuriating on the idyllic beaches at Tofo and Barra, we had begun to question our plan to spend another week on a beach. Will we be beached out?, we wondered. (Follow-up question: Can one ever really be beached out?)

Luckily for us, Vilankulo is very different than Tofo or Barra. While the beaches at Tofo and Barra are gorgeous stretches of soft white sand, perfect for sunbathing or barefoot strolls, the beach at Vilankulo is more narrow – only several feet wide when the tide is high – and less inviting, studded with broken shells, seaweed, and bits of man-made debris. The beach would increase dramatically in size when the tide went out, the water receding to expose nearly a football field worth of waterlogged sand. Late one morning we ventured across the temporarily naked ocean floor, exploring the tiny sea life that had been revealed, while locals hunted for crabs around us.

DSCN1452 — A tiny crab on the end of Marc’s index finger

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Mozambique

Sailing (& Snorkeling) Around the Bazaruto Archipelago

March 30, 2014 Katie Barber 4 Comments

As some of you may know, I’m not much of a snorkeler. I’ve never demonstrated much success in keeping water out of my snorkel and, by extension, my mouth.

IMG_1376 - Version 2 — Sailing around the Bazaruto Archipelago

My first snorkeling experience was during a trip to Cancun during Spring Break 2002. There were so many people in the water that I got lost from my group (everyone pretty much looks the same when all you can see is a snorkel and the tip of some fins), and, distracted by this concern, I tried to swim under a school of fish. I ended up gulping down such a huge quantity of salt water that, when I was finally reunited with my group and back on the boat, I was sick the whole way back to land.

I tried snorkeling in Mexico once again during Spring Break 2006, with only slightly more success. When all my friends (new law school friends, not friends who had been present for my first snorkeling disaster) jumped into the water, I hung back. It wasn’t until they were all waiting in the water, looking at me expectantly, that I finally admitted, “I don’t really like water. Or fish.” I finally forced myself off the boat, but I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed the activity. I distinctly remember thinking Thank God as I grasped the ladder to pull myself back onto the boat.

I haven’t snorkeled since then, but I’ve gone diving in no less than three continents, and, if I can remove and replace my mask while under water, I can certainly handle some snorkeling. Right? Continue reading Sailing (& Snorkeling) Around the Bazaruto Archipelago →

Mozambique

The Barra Interlude

March 27, 2014 Katie Barber Leave a comment

On Saturday, we left Tofo for Barra, a beach town just north of Tofo. The beaches were just as beautiful as those in Tofo, white and serene, and we had them almost completely to ourselves. We alternated between drifting in the water, splashing in the waves, and digging for sea snails, crabs, and other tiny creatures.

The accommodation in Barra is farther and more spread out from the actual town than in Tofo, and most of the lodging is self-catering. We stayed at the Bay View Lodge, a pleasant collection of chalets each equipped with hot water, air conditioning, and cooking facilities, including a kitchen and an outdoor grill (or, if you are South African, a braai); alas, we had nothing to cook. Continue reading The Barra Interlude →

Mozambique

A Haphazard Guide to Dining in Tofo During Low Season

March 26, 2014 Katie Barber Leave a comment

As mentioned, we sampled a lot of restaurants during our nearly one week in Tofo. What follows is our rather haphazard guide to dining in Tofo, with a special note that we visited during low season. In most cases, we were the only or some of the only people eating in the restaurant; things might differ (they might not be out of hummus!) during high season.

Mozambeat. We had a delicious prawn curry here, but the best part of our dinner was the atmosphere: relaxing on a couch, listening to great music, and watching the fire flicker. We also had breakfast there, and, while the kitchen was a bit rushed in the morning, the food was delicious: I had a huge bowl of fruit, yogurt, and muesli (so big that I couldn’t finish it), and Marc had a good-looking egg, ham, and cheese sandwich.

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