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Archive for the ‘how to’ Category

Cheap Ways to Travel the World

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

You’re looking at the digits in your bank account, or lack thereof, and don’t know what to do about that nagging travel bug that won’t leave you alone. Great news! There are cheap ways to travel the world.

Cheap_ways_to_travel_the_world

Photo by Ove Tøpfer

1. Overland trip

What is an overland trip? It’s one of the best ways to travel Africa on a budget. You book the route you want to take, e.g. Cape Town to Victoria Falls, then you hop on the overland truck with about 20 like-minded travellers and travel along a pre-determined route stopping to see all the great attractions along the way. These trips offer two main types: camping and accommodated. Camping is of course the cheaper option, and when you’re looking for cheap ways to travel the world, putting up and taking down a tent between destinations doesn’t seem so bad when you see just how much of the ‘mean green’ you save. A lot of the tours include your meals too. That means all your transport, food and accommodation expenses are all covered in the money you pay before the trip commences. Now that’s Africa on a budget!

2. Last minute deals

Everyone seems to be finding these cheap ways to travel the world. What are you missing? Well, loads of companies release amazing last minute deals a few weeks before the cruise, a flight or a trip leaves because they’re trying to fill the last of the seats. Definitely one of the best ways to travel on a budget! Check out www.lastminute.com for a drop in the ocean of last minute deals.

Not everyone can just up-and-travel in such short notice, so to ready yourself,  make sure you’re ready to travel by picking a period of three months, in advance, of when you would like to travel. Then, get the OK from the company you work at that you can take leave within this three month period. Then, scour the internet for last minute deals. Your final step: book and go! Who’s finding cheap ways to travel the world now?

3. Couch surfing

The couch surfing concept is based on the concept of people around the world offering their homes as free accommodation for travellers. The host home doesn’t charge anything for the traveller staying with them, unless there are costs arranged for food. There is a corporation called CouchSurfing International Inc. where eager travellers and those offering accommodation register their details. From here you can check, via references, the credibility of a person offering accommodation. However, this is more than just a cheap way to travel, according to Time Magazine “Couch surfing isn’t just a means of accommodation; it is an entirely new way to travel. You get to see the world through local residents, not hotel concierges or guidebooks.”

4. Volunteer

Mother Theresa wasn’t a millionaire. Having a heart of gold doesn’t mean you need a pocket full of it too. Volunteering is one of those cheap ways to travel the world. There are websites who pack on a fee to the tune of $2500 to have you give of your heart and time for a mere two weeks. However, if you’re keen on selflessly giving of your time, there are ways to travel the world for cheap as a volunteer.

Help Exchange is an online organization with a database of organic farms, ranches, hostels, and even sailing boats that are looking for help from travelers who are looking to volunteer their time in exchange for food and lodging.

Idealist is a project of Action Without Borders, that brings volunteers and organisations together who wish to help others and find solutions to social and environmental problems. Volunteer projects include organisations helping recovering addicts, working with orphanages and those lobbying for wildlife conservation issues.

5. Self-drive road trips

It’s just you and the open road. Your biggest expenses will probably be gas, food and accommodation. However, if you plan your trip well before you go, a self-drive road trip can work out to be an ultra cheap way to travel the world.

How do you travel cheap on a road trip? It’s all about pre-planning. Get a map and plan the shortest, safest route possible to get you from each day’s point A to point B. Then research the cheapest hostels, camping spots or backpackers to in or near point B. Then your final step is to hire a car for your required travel dates.

If you’re serious about travelling cheaply, then you’re going to have to be strict about only taking photograph souvenirs. Avoid eating out at restaurants all the time – this can really get expensive. Rather chat to locals and find out where the best places to eat cheaply (and safely) are. A self-drive road trip is a great way to discover the world independently, meeting great people, seeing amazing places and making your own decision.

With so many great, cheap ways to travel the world, it kind of makes you wonder… what are you waiting for?

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Camping tricks

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Camping tricks are absolutely golden when you’re out camping and find yourself trying to solve a seemingly impossible problem. Where there is a will, there is a way, and with these few camping tricks, we take your will, and show you the way.

Top 3 Camping Tricks

Camping trick #1: Make your own hammock

You’ve just arrived in a peaceful spot on your camping tour in an area surrounded by trees. You want to lie back and relax… outside your tent. But how? You didn’t bring a hammock! Or did you? A brilliant hammock can easily be fashioned out of a sturdy sheet and some rope. No, we don’t suggest you getting all Bear Grylls on us and trying to tie your own shady knots. Watch the short video below and learn the simplest way to get a hammock up in no time. It’s one of those highly rewarding camping tricks. Just make sure that your sheet isn’t decades old and hasn’t been bleached several thousand times, otherwise your butt will tear through that sheet faster than you can throw a peanut at a squirrel.

Check out one of the best camping tricks for making your own hammock:

Camping trick #2: Heat liquid in a plastic bottle

The last time you threw plastic in the fire you were 7 years old and about to learn a very important lesson about  how to violate one’s nostrils and impair all fellow camper’s vision. Lesson learned. If you fancy a spot of tea but don’t want to get the pots out, or forgot to bring a pot at all, then it’s time to throw the rule book out the window with this great camping tip. This plastic-in-the-fire camping trick is brilliant and makes for nothing but happy campers… because they’ll have tea.

Watch one of the coolest camping tricks – how to heat up liquid in a plastic bottle on the fire:

Camping trick #3: Light a fire in the rain

It’s raining and those dirty-great-big splotches of moisture have just ruined all your chances of starting a fire this evening… or has it? *Awesome camping tip alert* This neat camping trick comes to the rescue with nothing but a ball of cotton wool soaked in petrol and a stick of firesteel (or matches). Now all you’ve got to worry about is getting a volunteer to use the fire steel after they’ve just been handling petrol. Safety camping tip: use latex gloves for the handling of the cotton ball.

The Practical Survivor stresses how important it is to be able to start a fire quickly in cold weather “Cold rain and wind can quickly turn a nice hiking afternoon into a life-threatening situation. That’s why fast lighting tinder is so important.”

Scope out one of the most useful camping tricks showing you how to use cotton wool to start a fire:

As the scout specialists at Scouting in Canada say “As with most things in life, the most rewarding experience is the one that takes the most effort. If it were easy, then the personal reward and satisfaction that a camp out gives would not be the same“. So when you set out on a camping adventure, make sure you’ve got these great camping tricks up your sleeve, and remember, where there is a will, there is a way…

Information Resources:
frickenfunnyvideos
rayd888
ryanjcus
Practical Survivor
Scouting in Canada

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Above: One of the best camping tricks to help start a fire

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How to pack food for a camping safari

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

When considering how to pack your food for a camping safari, you spent a lot of time planning your menu, and grocery shopping, so it deserves to be packed with a dash of simplistic greatness. You probably got very excited, went a little wild and came back with a mountain of products. When you’re travelling between destinations you’ll want to make food and snacks easily accessible. All you really need to do is get organised.

Get the gist of this article in a flash by watching this short YouTube video:

Tupperware

The best way to organise for your African safari trip is to use plastic storage boxes or tupperware. Tupperware is a really simply way to store food that is easily accessible and hassle-free when travelling on the road. Perfect for a snack time nibble between destinations.

Ziploc and label

A great way to organise the main meals you’ll be devouring on Africa safari tours is to place the ingredients in small ziploc bags and then group them together in one large ziploc bag, and pop that ziploc bag into one large tupperware. So you’ll take all the food that you’re going to prepare for meal number 1, put it in a large bag and label it, then pop it in the tupperware. Then when your lion sized hunger comes knocking (as it does on an adventurous African safari trip), all you have to do is go to your large tupperware storage and take out bag number 1 and inside is everything that you’ll need to easily prepare the meal.

Food for a camping safari

Photo by Michaela Kobyakov

Reduce packaging

If you’re on a camping safari, you’re going to have to carry your food. For this reason you’ll want to get rid of some of the bulky, unnecessary packaging placed around food products. Packaging takes up so much space and you don’t want to be lugging double your load. Also, it’s a great way to reduce trash when camping. Solution? Remove the packaging, take what you need, stick it in a ziploc bag, and Hey Presto, problem solved.

Ziploc bags are great for organisation, they’re waterproof and great for storage.

If you’re keen to take something like macaroni and cheese out of its box, remember to rip the instructions off the packaging and place it in the ziploc bag with the ingredients. Macaroni and cheese can easily become macaroni and glue if you’re not following specific box directions.

Everything is now neatly packed, labelled and ready for your camping adventure.

Campfire cooking

Simple, pre-packaged meals are a great idea and simple to cook. For example, a pre-packaged Indian meal would just need you to cook up some minute rice, drop the pre-packed meal into boiling water to heat it up, and in about three minutes you have yourself a delicious meal over the fire. When neighbouring campers see you eating that meal, they’ll think you spent hours slaving over hot coals to prepare such a fragrant dish. All part of clever camping practices. Although, nothing beats a delicious potjie made from scratch.

Spend some time doing your research and shopping. You know what you like to eat, but remember that cooking over a stove and cooking over a campfire is very different. Go for simple camping meals with easy camping recipes and no doubt, your culinary campfire experience in the bush will be a lot more enjoyable and a lot less hassle. Trust me.

Food preparation

Now that you’ve organised and labelled the dung out of your food stores, you’ll need to pack the right pots and utensils for campfire cooking. Very important! If you’re going to go the whole hog and make a potjie from scratch, then you’re going to need to remember to pack a good quality potjie pot. Whereas for simple camping fire cooking you’ll simply need a few good pots to boil water, reheat food or mix up the ingredients of your mac and cheese. Utensils, utensils, utensils. That fork isn’t going to get you very far with that delicious tin of soup you’ve got camping in your tupperware. You best pack a can opener too. Half the work is knowing what to pack when camping.

Washing up

The next step is washing up. Make sure you have soap and a bucket if there isn’t a wash up sink available at the spot you’re going to be camping at.

Now you’re all set to pack food for an organised trip, now that you’ve learned how to pack food for a camping safari. All you have to do is pick your camping safari in Africa.

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Camping safaris with children: A guide for family holidays in Africa

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

A lot of people think that when they have children, backpacking and camping safaris are over. Absolutely not true. Camping safaris with children are great! You just have to do it a lot differently now that you’re going on family holidays in Africa.

family_holiday_in_africa_with_the_kids

Photo by Hector Landaeta

1. Adjust Goals of backpacking adventures

The first thing you need to consider is to adjust your goals, because obviously if you have little people with you you’re going to be going a lot slower, you’re not going to be able to go on such intensive terrain and you’re not going to be able to get as far. Evaluate where you want to go and set your family up for success by not planning such a huge trip. Realise that if you are going on a nature walk, you may only hike about half a mile in about an hour or so. It might take you that long to get there since you have kids that you may end up carrying, or they may just be walking very slowly. Also, when you’re not hiking you may need to pack one extra small backpack for each child to help curb travelling bordem between destinations.

2. Gear

The amount of gear you pack for camping safaris with children is also a huge factor to be considered. Even on a hike, you’ll have to take a lot more stuff with you. You may end up carrying all the gear on your back… and your child too.

To fit in everything you’ll need for the hike, you’ll need to pull out that backpack you can fit a kitchen sink into. Fun.

3. Elements on a Camping Safari in Africa

Camping safaris in Africa mean elements varying from extremely hot to very cold. Your children are so important to you and for that reason you’ll want to protect them against the elements that cause sunburn and hypothermia. Make sure your backpack is packed with all the things you’ll need to prevent this from happening.

4. A Child’s Perspective

When you’re on a backpacking adventure with with children, remember that children are a lot closer to the ground. To see the world from a child’s perspective, get down on your haunches or knees and have a look around at what kids experience. From this level it is so much easier to spot the little things, like pretty flowers and interesting mounts of earth. Bringing oneself to a child’s level really is a great way for parents to understand their children more, and understanding all the distractions they are may face along the way. Family holidays in Africa are a great time for important bonding.

5. Camping Safari Fun

Kids love to have fun and nature provides such a playground for things to see and learn about. While on your camping safari, take some time to do fun things as a family that will keep the little ones entertained. Try skipping stones, swimming, chatting around a campfire and roasting marshmallows on the fire everyone helped gather wood for. Check out these great tips for travelling with kids that’ll keep your kids entertain just about anywhere.

Your days of camping safaris are not over! They’re now camping safaris with children. Nobody does family holidays in Africa better than you and your loved ones. Grab your kids, gear and energy and embark on a camping safari you’d still love to experience and share with your family.

family_safari

Photo from Laura Souyoultzis Gallery

Top 3 Family Holidays in Africa:

1. Victoria Falls to Johannesburg Family Tour

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2. Johannesburg to Vic Falls Family Tour

family_holiday_in_africa_jhb_to_vic_falls

3. Central Africa Family Loop

family_holiday_in_africa_central_family_loop

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Camping Safaris Guide: How to build a campfire

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

We’re not all Bear Grylls. We don’t eat live scorpions, we don’t crawl into small caves for cosy outdoor shelter and we don’t start fires using friction. Stuff like that doesn’t come naturally to most of us anyway. So if you’re venturing out on one of your first camping safaris in Africa, and you feel the need to get in touch with your primitive side, take over the duty of starting the campfire with the below tips on how to build a campfire.

Below is a quick video showing you how to build a campfire from scratch.

You’ll be sitting around the dirt eating untoasted marshmallows if you don’t learn how to build a proper campfire for your camping safaris in Africa.

You will need:

1.Wood
2. Matches/lighter

Optional:

1. Rocks
2. Shovel

Step 1

Make sure a campfire is allowed at your campsite. Some camping safari spots tend to be surrounded by dry vegetation which can ignite easily if strong wind crops up and blows embers into them.

Step 2

See if your campsite has pre-made fire pits. If not, you’ll have to make one.

Step 3

To create your own fire pit, choose a spot at least 10 feet away from brush and other easily flammable materials. Don’t forget to look up – fire pits should not be under branches. Safaris in Africa are about enjoying each area’s natural beauty. You wouldn’t want to smoke out any critters or birds away from their homes.

Step 4

Surround your fire pit with a circle of stones or rocks to keep your wood contained. If you have a shovel, dig a pit about 6 – 8 inches deep inside your rock pile.

Step 5

Gather wood. You’ll need three different types. 1. Tinder: small twigs and dry leaves. 2. Kindling: larger sticks and twigs still under an inch in diameter. 3. Fuel wood: large pieces of wood that will burn for a while.

All wood should be dry and as free of dirt, moss, and debris as possible. Pile it at least 3 feet away from your fire pit.

Step 6

Start by placing tinder in the centre of your fire pit.

Step 7

Using 3 or 4 pieces of your kindling and build a teepee around the tinder.

Step 8

Add more kindling to the downwind side of your teepee, then continue around to the upwind side. Leave an opening on the upwind side that will allow you to ignite the tinder within the teepee.

Fire needs oxygen, so be sure to leave space between the kindling in your teepee to allow your fire to breathe.

Step 9

Lay two parallel pieces of fuel wood on opposite sides of the teepee. The end should extend beyond your teepee. Lay two more pieces of wood on top of your first two, forming a square of fuel wood enclosing the teepee.

Step 10

Continue laying fuel wood building up to a box that resembles a log cabin. Two or three layers will suffice. Make sure you can still access the tinder which is now inside the kindling teepee, which is inside your fuel wood cabin.

Step 11

Light the tinder at several different locations. Stand upwind of your fire when you’re lighting it to keep the wind from blowing out your match or lighter.

Step 12

Add small amounts of tinder until your kindling catches fire.

Step 13

Once the kindling lights, switch your attention to the fuel wood. As the kindling burns up, add more fuel wood until it ignites.

Step 14

When the fuel wood has caught fire, continue feeding it with fuel wood as needed. Now if that isn’t fire making for camping safaris made easy, then I don’t know what is!

Good job! Now that your campfire is successfully burning, get ready to roast those marshmallows! Camping safaris in Africa not only broaden your view of the world but are also a great way to boost confidence and make discover your independent. Today a campfire. Tomorrow the world.

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