
After an extremely turbulent flight on my way home from Phinda that ended with an aborted landing in Johannesburg, I wasn’t looking forward to getting on another small plane to reach Nxabega Okavango Tented Camp in Botswana, but the only way to reach the Delta is via plane.
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There are places I keep returning to, despite having a long list of travel destinations I want to explore. In South Africa, with three visits in nearly seven months, the place I keep returning to is Phinda, a private game reserve in KwaZulu Natal. This trip like all the others was truly amazing. I don’t know when I will be back, but I know I will return.
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Every visitor who comes to South Africa and is going on safari asks me what to pack . . . and then they obsess, visit an outdoor store ten times, and obsess some more. I have seen guests climbing onto safari vehicles in skinny jeans clutching designer handbags as well as guests in vests covered in pockets, floppy hats, and those hideous pants that zip-off into shorts.
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As a 200 lbs Thai man kneeled on the back of my thighs, I was beginning to rethink having chosen a 90 minute Thai massage, but when you are at a Thai spa with unlimited treatments in South Africa, you have to try all the massages on offer.
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My colleagues at work have nicknamed me Safari Girl, since I spend every long weekend in the bush. Even I will admit that I earned the moniker when I went on safari two weekends in a row.