The trip was, in her words, ‘um-ed and ah-ed’ about due to price, but eventually she decided to commit to a three day and in the long run was pleased she had,

“I saw lions and elephant and giraffes (oh my!) zebra and cheetahs and buffalo. I got to wake up at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro with monkeys playing at the entrance to my tent and I visited a Masai village where we were welcome with traditional dances and blessed by witch doctors. It was by all accounts a mind blowingly good trip.”

It did however get her thinking about the conflict between the every day life she is experiencing as a volunteer and the more romantic vision that the safari created. Saz talks about the effects the current drought is having and how, although this was evident during the three day trip, it is rarely addressed. Equally on her mind was the huge variation in prices,

“Instead of bartering for reasonable prices in the local markets we were expected to pay five times as much as normal in tourists stop offs. Any attempts to speak Swahili were met with raised eyebrows and even at lunch time when we stopped off for a quick bite to eat we found ourselves being charged 700ksh for a meal I pay 50ksh for anywhere else.”

Her thoughts are insightful and interesting as ever and if you want to read them in full, including a simple tip on how to drive the cost of your safari down, click through.

Her post asks if anyone fancies joining her or has similar plans as she’d be keen to make some travelling buddies. Brouard21 replied and prompted more activity and further endeavour from Slothlover to ensure she doesn’t miss out on a thing whilst travelling,

“I am aiming to fly end of this month, or beginning of December… Have super itchy feet! Going to pop into STA Travel tomorrow to find out more on flights as I want to see so much!”

The trip is going to see her visiting Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and South America, so if you’re heading that way in the near future why not get in touch. Or, if you have any advice, pass it on.

So think of this as a pre-introduction introduction of sorts to Amar, a man on a Gap Year Escape. And if you were unsure of why you should take that gap year, and why you should visit Asia, just watch the video below…

This social media in action serving all took place in Victoria Station, (The Shakespeare to be absolutely precise) and came about because Matt was left with time to kill between returning from Vienna and then flying to Thailand. The discussion was a mix of travel and social media, and how the two mix. While in Thailand, Matt is actually hooking up with a friend he made through Twitter.

One particular topic covered was the types of food that they’d all digested while travelling. Cam declared croc meat was way too fishy for her delicate palette and Dylan and Matt were both fond of a bit of kangaroo when cooked rare. Matt also added that fried maggots tasted like French fries. Croc and kangaroo I can do… maggots maybe not.

The evening ended with a bottle of Speights, beer brewed in New Zealand, something that Dylan was happy about as he’d spotted it earlier. To go with the final shared beverage, plans were made by all to meet again in both New Zealand and Greece if possible. Couple this with the STA Explorers in Aus, travelbuzz is racking up destinations for our world tour…

“A road safety campaign like this would be politically incorrect in most western countries, but this powerful scene grabbed my attention like a rabid dog wanting to chew off part of my hand.”

The car wreck is from an actual accident and the words below basically state ‘don’t end up like this, follow the traffic rules.’

He spotted it while on his way to Muara Takus Buddhist Temple; a temple not in his guide book. Anthony only discovered it after getting in touch with the local blogging community – something we at STA travelbuzz thought was exceptionally cool…

Based on the course that boasts a 98% success rate, the app is designed to help all sorts of nervousness associated with being 30,000 feet up. It has an introduction by Sir Richard Branson along with other features including a explanation of flight, relaxation exercises and the all important panic button. Branson is quoted in The Mail on the launch,

“Our first iPhone app will bring the benefits of our successful Flying Without Fear course to millions of people around the world who are now using mobile technology to make their lives better.”

With an estimated one in three adults experience some level of apprehension toward flying, it could be a huge success. Do you use apps while travelling? If so, which do you find invaluable?

This left them with ten days to kill in Guinea-Bissau, so the pondering began first over some bissap (this is according to Adam a cooled hibiscus tea, bright purple and addictively refreshing), and then a more regular tea. As explained by Adam this wasn’t the tough part,

“Sorting out where we were going to go was the easy part; now we had nowhere to stay because last night’s accommodation was fully booked. We eventually found somewhere, but us three had to cram into a double bed, in a small room which had no fan, a shower and toilet, but no running water. Oh and blackouts. Ah living on a budget! Call it an ‘experience’.”

Sounds lovely, for the final installment of the ‘experience’, be sure to read the last paragraph of the post – there was a final surprise for Adam. Moving on from the groups’ trouble with Bissau hotels though, the exploration of the city continued with a plan formed to check in on Bafata, Gabu and Tambacounda (Senegal) before going into Mali. So we’ve got plenty to come.

This post on Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride is the most recent. However, there is a host of others since we last updated you on Adam’s African adventure. This includes strange and stranger happenings in Varela and a midnight stroll that was full of incident…