South Africa and Zimbabwe

I haven’t been blogging much over the last few months as work has been busy, and with the state of the world right now, it sometimes feels odd to post travel porn. That’s not to say I haven’t been writing; my (almost) weekly travel newsletter continues to go out, full of strategic travel tips for my readers.: Sign up for my Travel Newsletter – Out And Abroad (out-abroad.com)

But Matt and I are about to head overseas, so here’s our trip introduction.

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How This Trip Came Together

To be honest, this all started because I was bored on a very long work call last winter. My friend Dan had just returned from a safari and went on and on about it. Dan is not the kind of person who goes on and on about anything, so I was intrigued, not to mention everyone who’s ever gone on an African safari seems to come back obsessed.

So, mid-call, I opened United.com to see how many miles it would take to fly from Boston to Cape Town. I couldn’t believe it when I found a date that required fewer miles to fly business class to Cape Town than it would have cost to fly to Miami. Since booking with miles on United carries no risk, I immediately held the flight.

Matt was intrigued too, but then came the question: now what?

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An Organized Group Tour

Even though I’m a travel advisor, Africa was outside my comfort zone. Dealing with the smaller flights, park transfers, and rural safari logistics wasn’t something I felt confident piecing together on my own.

At first, I found a gay group tour starting in Cape Town a few days after our arrival. It included two nights on safari and a route across South Africa. When I saw the price, though, I almost fell out of my chair.

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Kensington Tours

Then I remembered Kensington Tours, a partner of Fora. They design custom, privately guided travel experiences tailored to each traveler’s interests, pace, and budget, handling all logistics from local guides and transportation to curated accommodations and exclusive activities.

I asked them to build a trip that would start in Cape Town, include five days on safari, and end in Johannesburg where I could find a good redemption flight home.

They came back with a proposal that matched the price of the group tour but with five days on safari instead of two. The choice was a no-brainer.

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Victoria Falls

While the trip was already a small fortune, I asked Kensington what it would cost to add two nights in Victoria Falls with the logic that who knows if we’ll ever be back. They came back with a fair price, so we added it.

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Full Itinerary

Cape Town: 3 nights
Kruger National Park: 4 nights
Victoria Falls: 2 nights
Johannesburg: 1 night

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Upcoming Flight Reviews

• Ethiopian Airways
• Airlink

Upcoming Hotel Reviews

• Taj Cape Town
• Batonka Guest Lodge
• Four Seasons Johannesburg

Upcoming Trip Diaries

• Our Time in Cape Town
• Our Time on Safari
• Our Time in Victoria Falls

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What We’re Looking Forward to Most

Easy, coming home and seeing the boy just six weeks later! 🥹

Bon Voyage,

Andrew

Fora Travel Advisor

Website: https://www.foratravel.com/advisor/andrew-reiser

Instagram: @areiser86

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