Traveling Together

I want to do something special with my girlfriend. I'm thinking about a cruise with her. Anyone have an idea on a cruise as to where to go? I'm also thinking of taking her to someplace overseas. I'm thinking of Europe, or Japan. We are not married and we do not have any children. I think for us to explore our relationship further perhaps we need to see a little of the world together. Any of you guys out there planning to do the same?

Someplaces we will drive or fly to in the U.S. will be Seattle, Washington, Miami, Florida, New York, New York, Washington D.C. and Dallas, Texas do do some sightseeing. We both have been saving our money so that we can do things together.

 

If you're plan is to spend a lot of money, as it seems to be, I'd recomend sub-saharan Africa somewhere(of course, that shouldn't be a surprise for anyone...lol).

If you're a little nervous regarding safety, standard etc, I'd go to South-Africa, Kenya or Botswana.

South-Africa and Kenya are great for everything:
-shopping (you can buy designer clothes cheaper as well, not just drums and other souvenirs)
-Safaris (very romantic by the way, especially if you decide to stay in a camp. You fall asleep to the sound of the nature, and you're usually sleeping in huts (luxury-style with shower, water closet, electricity etc, but still huts), so you have to make love really quitet (just slightly louder than you would in a tent).
-Beaches
-spas

Botswana offer all of this but beaches. They've got lots of pools though. And to be honnest, if you're not a good swimmer, the currents many places (especially in the south) will be too strong anyway. I prefer the pools for swimming, but don't miss an oportunity to risk my life snorkling if I know there's a lifeguard around.

But I promise, Africa would be a huge adventure for both of you. Even my old parents loved it (we all went to South Africa toghether), and they're fairly well of, used to high standards etc... And even they couldn't resist having sex on safari, I could hear them though the wall of their hut ...
:smt078
(A little uncomfortable at the time, but it's nice that they still love each other....)
:smt003

 

Oh, got to mention. It is very possible to have a very cheap vacation in Africa as well, if one really wants to. The main cost is the flight ticket, that price is "set". Accomdation, local transportation, food etc, can be as cheap or expencive as you want it to be. For our VERY comfortable vacation in SA we calculated 200$ pr. person/pr day (all included: all meals on resturants, activities, accomodation, local transportation, souveniers). You can easily do it much cheaper than that. And remember that SA is "expensive"...

 

:shock: Listening to your parents fucking?

You are one nasty mofo.

Lucifer likes that in a woman.
:twisted:


Blacktiger, Lucifer recommends that you visit Hawaii.

Lucifer also advises you to prepare your brain for the visual overload once in Hawaii.

Nothing could have prepared Lucifer for Hawaii.

Lucifer has not been the same since.

 

Hey, I was in the next door hut trying to sleep! It's not like I put my ear against their wall or something...
:lol:

 

This is the kind of hut we lived in, only the "water and electricity version"... and yes it's made of straw. You got to be really quiet :wink:



They're actually incredibly cozy inside.

 

Ronja, Africa is definately an exciting prospect someday. Maybe when we are in a better financial way we will make that trip. I would love to go to Kenya. Question, why was it so important for your parents to go to Africa? How did you like it? What was the most memorable event for you when you went to Africa? What surprised you the most?

 

I've always loved Africa, and I've been there several times. This enthusiasm has also infected my younger brother. I think it's me and my brother's enthusiasm that convinced my parents that they should go. Being a little bit scared I guess, they wanted me and my brother to join them (and so we did- can't miss out on a sponsored Africa-vacation). They're not scared any more, and are constantly recommending it to their friends. They're also planning on going to Kenya next yaer, so they're getting more adventurous

I love all the places I've been (Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, and passing really fast through Zimbabwe). You might notice that this is for the most parts in Southern Africa, that's because one can get cheap flight tickets to SA occationally. From SA it's easy to get cheap transportation to the neighbouring countries. For instance you can fly to Johannsburg (Jo-burg as the locals say), and then catch a local bus to Maputo (capitol of Mozambique). It's a little uncomfortable, but very fun (the other pasengers love to see white folks using public transportation. I've made great "holiday friends" taking theese busses!) It's only takes a day, and when in Maputo you can easily grab a cab, and make the driver help you find a hotel. (The drivers can be a little nervous about that, cause "I don't know what you think of as a decent hotell, miss"- but I just answer "somewhere clean, with showers and not too many bugs" that always makes them laugh and they put their guards down. If the hotell sucks, I only stay there a night.)

My personal favourites are Swaziland and Mozambique, as they feel more "genuine" than Botswana, Kenya and SA. Lesotho's genuine too I guess, but people there are not quite as friendly as in Mozambique and Swaziland (still lovely people though). Zimbabwe I wouldn't recomend at all right now...

Most memorable? Wow, that's though! Good or bad? Not going to lie- even in SA you'll see a lot of shit. Also,remember that even if it feels awful at the time, some stories are extremely fun when you come home. Like being "robed" by the cops 3 times, just taking the train though Zimbabwe

Also, I like to ask friends/family if they have spare childrens clothing and toys, and when there I visit some local orphanage and give it to them. That always feels really strong. Most emotional moment was is Swaziland, where I sat down with a group of todlers, and started playing/singing with them. A beautiful little 10 month old baby-girl crawled right into my lap, and as I was cuddling her one of the "nurses" told me she had HIV. It just felt so sad. (I actually checked if I could adopt her, but the adoption laws in Swaziland are incredibly strict, as they are in most of Africa.) I don't really bring a lot of my own clothes, as I can get it there so cheap. If the quality sucks too much for me to bother bringing it with me home, I'll ask the maids on my last hotel if they want it, or if they know someone who do. So far none has declined... It's usually clothes that only have been worn a few times, and people down there don't throw away stuff as easily as we do here.

Ok, enough with the sad and bad stuff...

It never stops surprising me how well people will treat you (Probably you even more than me, cause some don't like white people. I don't blame them.). I've only felt really unsafe once, and that was while taking a stroll i Soweto- an incredibly bad idea even if you're black... People are so open and friendly, it's just amazing. (NB: In SA a lot of blacks have a natural dislike of whites. They'll soften up as soon as they realize they're not dealing with one of the boers though.)

I absolutely love the nature. It's just amazing. And the first time seeing those enormous herds of zebras, wilderbeasts and impalas are really incredible. (You quickly realize they're just as common there as crows are here though )

Also, I never get used to how much sounds there are everywhere. (And I love it...) If you're in the nature, there'll be frogs,birds, bush-babies, crickets etc etc all nigh long, with a noise that's unbelievable. If you're in a city the night are more quiet than in the bush, but day-time is just... I can't find the word...lol... there's just so much talking, and music, and stuff happening around you... outside SA it's quite different from a western city... It's just chaotic- in a good way. And even in cities you'll always find someone who don't mind just having a chat. Oh, not talking about capitols here. They are generally very modern, and feels more or less like any city. Go to the second or third largerst city for the real deal...

Oh, and you'll have a lot of laughs (no offence, you Africans here). People will sometimes wear the funniest colour combinations or the most rediculous hair (from a western perspective), or they'll transport their stuff in a very hillarious way. (Like putting all their furniture in a huge pile, on the back of a van, and then place their wife on top to hold it.) All those humourus pictures you've probably seen, you'll see it real life

Also, I'm always amazed of how modern it is on one hand, and on the other hand how far behind it is. You can drive on an excellent, western standard highway, and suddenly pass a little village made of mud huts, or see a child herding his goats in the strip of grass between the lanes...

Wow, I could write about this forever. As you might understand by now, I absolutely love it there... I really hope you'll have the oportunity to go there one day. I promise you wouldn't regret it. And since you're black, the experience might even be stronger for you.

 

OMG, I can't believe how much I wrote!

 

Wow, Ronja, you are one woman who is in LOOOOOOOOOOOVE with Africa...it is beautiful to read...
Now I'm a bit surprised you haven't been to Yaounde or Douala yet???

Well, all you described is what I love about Africa...the "heaven and hell side by side" style of Africa...the modern very close to middle-aged stuff, ultra new computers with internet in Internet cafes built with clay and almost falling apart...it definitely can be hilarious!! Or the business men wearing heavy western suits with a temperature of a few 100 Farenheits!!! and sweating like the pigs being slain in the nearby market...near where the mangoes and the guava are being sold...

(Like Fela said, "he go piss fo' body you no go know...I no be gentleman like that!!!)

And of course, the NATURE!!! My parents are from the South of Cameroon, lots of rains, jungles with baboons you don't want to meet if you try to go and hunt the wild deers...they can get aggressive...and I can relate to the thousands of noises and sounds in the day and in the night, when you're in the countryside and you hear a billion different insects...and get bitten too!!

My girlfriend is beating me up to convince me to take her there soon...we'll do that in the next 2 years...

 

thanks...
I'll be going to Cameroon as soon as possible. The plan was this winter, but now we'll delay it. (Don't wanna risk getting some decease I'm not used to right now.) I'll definetly see both Yaundee and Douala, and Bamenda as well. These are all places where his family lives, and we'll probably end up living in one of theese cities when we finally move there...

It'll be really nice to see Cameroon, not only because of my BF. I've never seen rainforests before. I've seen jungle I guess, as I would think parts of those huge wetland areas for instance near for instance St.Lucia (SA), count as jungle. But that huge rainforest Cameroon's a part of, that'll be quite different...

Also he's got family working with animal protection, so I've been promised that we'll go cuddle the little ophanaged baby chimps. And if I'm lucky, pet a lion cub....Can't wait. I love animals. Don't know why I've never studied biology... (oh yeah, I don't like chemistry- that's why... :lol: )

Talking about men in busines suits. I hope there's no bushmen here? Not likely, but if so, sorry, I think I'm gonna insult you all now...(I mean well...) I'll never get used to bushmen in busines suits! They got this very distinct physical apearance, as you might know, and a grown man is even shorter than me (and I'm short). It just looks so weired. Of course it's probably weired, mostly because I'm used to thinking of them in the "the Gods must be crazy" and "National Geographic" kind of way...

Above: Bushmen like I'm used to seeing them...
:lol:

 

Ronja you are just like the author who wrote books about Kenya. She had a estate in your country and invited the servants and tribal members. You may not be related to her but ,you sure have love for Africa.

 

For the romance you cant go wrong with a carribean cruise IMHO. I like Royal Carribean.

 

Me personaly would try an island first like barbados,jamaca hawaii ect.......

Then move on to places like paris italy.

Take it slow, chill.........relax.

 

Well, if you don't have a million bucks to spend, Myrtle Beach, SC is a nice place. We are from KS and my husband had never been that far from home, never flown on a plane, and never seen the ocean so it was a huge experience. The weather is completely different but there is a lot to do and we had a wonderful time. You're still in the city so there's plenty of night life but you can step outside your hotel and walk by the ocean at night. We were there for an entire week and including plane tickets, hotel, rental car, and some events, spent about 2k. Not bad at all, and we could've done it for a lot less.