Inverdoorn

We knew that a safari was on our “must-do” list while in South Africa, so we largely built our itinerary around it. Dana definitely wanted to do one too so the three of us debated whether we should try to include Kruger National Park, near Johannesburg, in our trip or stick to one of the game reserves near Cape Town. Ultimately we decided to stay closer to Cape Town so we’d have fewer flights and more time to relax here.

Though I suspect anyone who has been to Kruger would say Inverdoorn Game Reserve just doesn’t compare, we all had a great time there over the past two days. The drive from Cape Town took about three hours, including stops for pictures of the scenery, and we arrived just in time for lunch by the pool.

We chose a driving route that took us through the mountains at Bain's Kloof Pass - definitely made the drive more scenic!

The road flattened out as we got closer to the reserve but we were still surrounded by mountains in the distance

We had time to relax by the pool for a few hours after lunch, then we got ready for our first (of four) safaris. The schedule was arranged so that we’d do two evening and two morning safaris and we had the same ranger, Eugene, the whole time so he made sure not to take us to the same place twice. The reserve is about 20,000 acres so there were plenty of areas for us to explore! We were able to see all the different animals that Inverdoorn has on its reserve: elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, rhinos, lions, buffalo, hippos, zebra, wildebeests, kudu and springbok. The first safari definitely felt more special than the last one because we were tracking the same animals each time (Inverdoorn only has two elephants, for instance, rather than a larger herd that you would find at Kruger). Nevertheless, we had a great time driving around the reserve scouting the animals and marveling at the beautiful scenery.

Our first sighting of the elephants. The smaller one is 18 and the bigger one is 30. Eugene said they are working on getting a female elephant companion for these guys, but for now they just have each other.

Evening stroll with the elephants on day two of the safari.

A mother and baby giraffe at dawn.

On our last safari, Eugene stopped the 4x4 so we could get out and walk among the herd of giraffes.

We spotted a male cheetah lounging in the brush at dawn on day two.

The male rhino (there are also two female rhinos) with some springbok in the background.

The herd of buffalo approached our vehicle as we passed by slowly.

Some zebra and springbok feeding on hay left by the rangers.

We had a few quick rain showers while at Inverdoorn (though none happened while we were on safari, thankfully). Just as the rain was letting up Sarah ran out to snap this picture of a rainbow.

The mountains and clouds gave us a couple of beautiful sunsets – here’s just one of them.

One other benefit of waking up at 5:30 for the morning safaris: sunrises like this.

In addition to the four safaris, we were able to participate in a “cheetah interaction” on day two. A trainer introduced us to Velvet, a five-year-old female cheetah that we were able to pet for a few minutes each. It was pretty intimidating being so close to a giant, wild cat but fortunately Velvet was in a friendly mood and we all left without a scratch.

Really not sure how this picture came out so well. Most of the time I was looking at Velvet to make sure she didn’t make any quick movements. Sarah had a quick reaction with the camera when I managed to look up!

Good girl, Velvet.

Our experience at Inverdoorn was definitely one of the highlights of our entire trip. We got to observe native African animals up close in (almost) their natural habitat and the “cheetah interaction” was just amazing – never thought I’d get to play with a cheetah on a leash! Our next stop is South Africa’s famous wine country: first we’re going to Franschhoek, then the bigger city of Stellenbosch. Will be a good way to relax after a couple days in the wild!

Cape Town

The flight from Dubai to Cape Town was long (10 hours) but relatively painless. Our flight was operated by Emirates and we quickly learned that its world-class reputation for in-flight services and entertainment is well deserved. We were able to spread out – only Sarah and I occupied a three-seat bench – and pass the time catching up on movies (they had all the Oscar nominees!) until we began our descent into Cape Town.

We met our friend Dana at the airport and headed to the Gardens district to find our guest house. (By the way, Dana had almost a 24-hour journey from NYC so we really had nothing to complain about!) After we settled in, we set out to explore the neighborhood and find some dinner: Chalk & Cork caught the ladies’ eyes so we stopped there for tapas and wine before heading home to get some sleep.

We budgeted our time so that we’d have two full days in Cape Town before heading north for a safari. Our first day was earmarked for the city’s historical and cultural sights; our second day was planned around a hike to see Table Mountain. So, after filling up on breakfast at our guest house on Friday, we walked over to the District Six Museum to learn more about the atrocities of apartheid.

One of the many artifacts in the museum from the apartheid times.

The District Six Museum provided us with a massive amount of information on the history of Cape Town and the apartheid regime. Though we thought we had a sense for the tragedies that unfolded in South Africa, we left feeling sad and devastated by the impact the social regime had on the country's citizens. After about an hour in the Museum we decided to walk further down toward the waterfront and made a quick stop at the Castle of Good Hope. We arrived just as a group of men in uniform marched in step around the castle grounds – we missed the intro so it was probably more interesting for the hundreds of school children lined up to watch!

The demonstration mostly consisted of these guys marching in formation across the castle...

...so we made our way to the top level to check out the views of the rest of the city.

After a quick lunch at Nando’s – a spicy chicken place we discovered in Singapore – we headed over to the Bo Kaap neighborhood. This area is known for its brightly colored houses so it didn’t take us long to find! The bright colors reminded us of some of the smaller island villages we’ve been to; we had to remember that we were actually in the middle of a big city.

Sarah snapped a picture of me and Dana in Bo Kaap.

A rainbow of colors in Bo Kaap.

We finished our meandering route to the waterfront in time for our ferry to Robben Island, our last stop for the day. This island is home to the prison that housed Nelson Mandela and thousands of other political prisoners during apartheid, and is accessible only by boat. Like the District Six Museum we all learned a lot here…but it was difficult to listen to the conditions the prisoners had to survive from a former prisoner himself. The visit was very worthwhile even though we all left in a very melancholy mood.

The ladies on the pier before boarding the ferry.

Looking back on Cape Town from the ferry to Robben Island.

In addition to political prisoners, lepers were sent to Robben Island because no one knew what to do with them. Here is the graveyard where all deceased lepers were buried.

Our tour stopped for a photo op so we convinced another tourist to take a picture of the three of us (in descending height order, of course).

Sparks, our guide, explained the identification cards the prisoners were required to carry...as we listened in the group cell he spent 7 years in.

Nelson Mandela's cell.

By the time our ferry returned to the V&A Waterfront, a thick fog had set in and we could barely see the dock. Rather than trying to find a place to eat with a view (which was completely obscured at that point), we headed to Belthazar and had steaks at the bar – a great way to end a long day exploring Cape Town.

We woke up on Saturday happy to see clear skies for hiking. Rather than taking one of the trails that leads to Table Mountain – which are apparently very hard – we decided to hike up Lion’s Head. This smaller peak adjacent to Table Mountain provides great views of Cape Town and Table Mountain with a slightly less strenuous route to the top. Feeling ambitious, we walked from our guest house to the trail head…which we probably wouldn’t recommend because that in itself is quite a climb!  

Looking up at Lion's Head...after about an hour walking uphill on the road to get to the trailhead!

Almost to the top - pretty steep climb!

The reward for our hike: this view of Table Mountain.

This view of Cape Town isn't bad either.

Three amigos after a long hike.

After resting at the top of Lion's Head for half an hour or so we headed down to find some lunch. Fortunately, Sarah had already scouted out Liquorice & Lime - a great place not far from the trailhead. We all ate well and rehydrated before returning to our guest house for a siesta (well, Dana and I had a siesta; Sarah went shopping!). We returned to the waterfront for an early dinner and headed to bed to rest up before driving up to Inverdoorn Game Reserve for day one of our safari tomorrow!

Arabian Nights

We made it to the Conrad Dubai at midnight on Saturday and were immediately whisked to an enormous honeymoon suite, courtesy of my residual Hilton Honors status - the gift that keeps on giving, apparently! After two tiring weeks in India and a long day of flying, the beautiful Conrad really was a desert oasis.

We slept in on Sunday and then began two solid days of celebrating my 30th birthday. Knowing I'd be indulging and also wanting to take advantage of the fanciest gym we've seen since NYC, I started with a workout before heading to our home away from home during the past few days: the Conrad Executive Lounge. The spread in the lounge was a sight for sore eyes (well at least our eyes after two weeks of Indian fare), featuring any breakfast delight you could imagine. 

Once Alex and I properly savored everything included in the executive lounge spread, we headed down to the Purobeach Club on the sixth floor. While the sky was a little hazy, we still enjoyed laying by the pool and relaxing until early afternoon.

The setup definitely has a Las Vegas or Miami Beach vibe.

After getting some sun, we ventured out to the Dubai Mall for one of my other favorite pastimes – shopping. Since the mall is the largest in the world with over 1,200 stores, we did what I can only describe as power-shopping, moving quickly to select stores we had identified from the extensive mall directory. We were blown away by the selection – they had a Bloomingdales that could compete with the NYC flagship location, complete with the same in-store restaurant, 40 Carrots. We easily picked up a few items we needed but left before doing any serious damage!

Pretty impressive Bloomingdales. We were amazed to see women in full burqas who were trying on eyeliner at the makeup counter!

We returned to the Conrad to shower and get ready for happy hour, which was complimentary in the executive lounge. Enjoying a glass (or two) of wine and appetizers on the 24th floor was a perfect way to unwind after a very busy day…of doing nothing at all. The only reason we managed to tear ourselves away from the lounge again was to make our dinner reservation at The Rib Room. After two weeks in the land of the sacred cow, I made sure to book dinner at an American-style steakhouse for my birthday.

BEEF. It's what's for dinner. Feasting on expertly prepared steak and red wine was a perfect way to celebrate turning 30!

Monday consisted mostly of a repeat of Sunday’s itinerary, with the addition of a luxurious couples’ massage and trip to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. At 5:30pm, we took an extremely swift elevator to the 122nd floor and enjoyed a few expensive cocktails with a view to match.

First view of the Burj - pretty impressive!

We were so much higher than all of the surrounding buildings that it was really difficult to maintain perspective!

Sunset - sort of - over Dubai.

On top of the world for my birthday!

Looking down!

One last shot before saying goodbye.

Wanting something a little more casual for dinner – and hoping to offset our earlier upscale experiences – we headed to one of my favorite places, The Cheesecake Factory (of course there is a Cheesecake Factory in Dubai!). I’m not ashamed to admit my love of American chain restaurants and I was thrilled with my oversized chicken salad (apparently other locals agree as the restaurant was the most crowded one we saw)! Best way to end my two-day birthday celebrations - thanks to Alex for indulging me!

We slept in Tuesday and lingered in the executive lounge for one last time before packing up and heading to Abu Dhabi. The drive takes a little less than two hours, but getting there by taxi is easy (and only costs about US$50 total).

I was able to use more Hilton Honors points to secure a room at the Hilton Abu Dhabi, which was nice but it’s no Conrad Dubai! After getting settled, Alex and I headed to the one sight we’d been told see while in Abu Dhabi: The Grand Mosque. Completed in 2007, the mosque has capacity for over 40,000 people and is definitely more of a tourist attraction than house of worship.

Looking out over the noticeably empty women's prayer area.

Sporting my borrowed "mosque-appropriate" outfit. The staff demanded I "sag" my pants to ensure my ankles were fully covered!

Pretty impressive.

We could barely get a shot of the entire spire.

Really a beautiful place.

The mosque was amazing and really highlighted some of the opulence that has become characteristic of Abu Dhabi and its fancier sister, Dubai. We left and returned to our hotel and had an excellent dinner at Toki - we found delicious sushi in a desert! - before going to bed.

This morning we threw on bathing suits and walked to the Hiltonia Club, located on the Persian Gulf, across from our hotel. We spent the day lounging on beach chairs and soaking up the sun before getting ready for our desert safari with Emirates Tours.

View of downtown Abu Dhabi from the beach.

The beach included this floating dock that you could swim to.

After showering and getting ready - and pondering what to wear to the desert - we were taken with two other couples via jeep for our middle eastern adventure. We started with "dune bashing," otherwise known as sliding and jumping in a 4x4 through the sand dunes, and were fortunate to survive unscathed.

We passed a poor guy who had forced his caravan to pull over so he could throw up. Bad for him, great photo op for us.

Happy we got the majority of the dune bashing over with before enjoying our dinner, we headed to the camp site for the evening activities.

Before...

After.

The whole affair was a little touristy - dressing up in costumes, riding a camel around a circle path and watching a woman belly dance - but we had a great time anyway (plus we love Middle Eastern food!).

Desert taxi queue?

My "ride" lasted about one full minute.

Sunset in the desert

Tomorrow we wake up at 4am in order to get to Dubai in time for our flight to South Africa. We are meeting up with our friend, Dana, and looking forward to hitting up a new continent with a new travel companion!

Top Takeaways - Nineteen (India)

Our time in India consisted of very stark differences and many contradictions; honestly, the past two weeks have been a little difficult for us. As the world's largest democracy, India is developing rapidly and already has some of the advances we have in America. However, many Indians remain mired in poverty and the economic disparity has perpetuated appalling displays of racketeering, outright theft and antiquated views on gender. Never have Alex and I felt so out of place or so at risk. At the same time, we loved admiring the historic sights, tasting local cuisines and exploring each beautiful place we visited. While we understand the sadness and level of desperation that forces one to try and cheat or steal or take advantage of our obvious Western tourist status, being scammed, groped, stared down and pick-pocketed is still a horrible experience and it really took away from our time here. Having said all of that, we were lucky to meet some truly kind and welcoming people in India - most notably the Reddy family! - and we are doing our best to let the great memories outweigh the bad.  Below are our top takeaways.

The Taj Mahal: the highlight of our trip to India.

1. The first thing we noticed upon arriving in Mumbai is that there are not nearly as many tourists and very few Westerners. We stick out and people stare at us - at length and without discretion. By now we are pretty used to it, but it still makes me feel a little uncomfortable since it's mostly Indian men who look me up and down.

2. There is a very serious though unspoken dress code. Shoulders and knees are essentially never shown - for both men and women - and most women wear very modest, loose-fitting outfits. I unknowingly made the mistake of wearing shorts and a tank top on our first day in Mumbai and while no one said anything to me, I quickly realized why we were being stared at (more than usual).

3. Poverty is omnipresent. We thought we were prepared but we didn't appreciate the average living conditions until seeing firsthand how many people live. Much of the urban areas are littered with garbage, creating a landscape that hardly seems livable. We felt sad, helpless and dumbstruck a lot of the time - it was very difficult to keep from feeling overwhelmed.

4. Indian food is delicious and much more varied than we previously thought. Approximately 50% of the country is vegetarian (India has more vegetarians than the rest of the world combined!) so we tried a lot of different items and particularly enjoyed the chickpea and lentil dishes. Having missed oatmeal for the past few months, I fell in love with Dalia, a split-grain breakfast food similar to porridge. Luckily, we weren't afflicted by the infamous "Delhi Belly" but I'm not so sure we avoided Buddha Belly - most Indian food seems very rich and heavy. Diet starts tomorrow, right?

5. Antiquated gender roles are deeply entrenched in India's culture. After a few early incidents, we learned to let Alex do most of the talking as some men would simply not address me. (At one hotel, I was asked to sit down while Alex checked in...even though the reservation was under my name!) Women rarely work outside the home, dress very conservatively so as not to attract attention and are almost never alone. Alex and I found this to be very unnerving but still respected the cultural norms while out and about. Harder was biting my tongue when asked if I'd pose for a picture with a group of men or when a group of teenagers bent down and tried to look up my dress.

6. Walking is almost never the way to get around. In each place we visited, we found the major sights and destinations to be very spread out, which makes sense because the main cities are massive, each with millions and millions of inhabitants. Additionally, many of the streets are crowded and without sidewalks, making walking a particular challenge given the traffic (and tuk tuks!)

7. Trust won't get you very far. After a few early encounters where Alex and I were very obviously being taken advantage of, we essentially adopted a "trust no one" attitude (or as he might say it, we adopted an "everyone is trying to scam us" attitude). It was a very sad shift for us but one we felt was necessary in order to avoid being cheated. Whereas previously we were of the more traditional "innocent until proven guilty" mindset, we realized that 90% of people who approached us had ulterior motives and we always needed to have our guard up.

8. Honesty isn't always the best policy. We found ourselves experts in the art of deception pretty early on so as to avoid unnecessary confrontation. Saying we already had tours and transportation booked, that we weren't interested in shopping and that we were out of money are a few examples that quickly come to mind.

9. Not everyone is out to take advantage of you. Despite our negative experiences we still met some of the nicest people during our time in India. The staff at most of our hotels, the family we stayed with in Chennai, a few taxi drivers and fellow tourists all left us feeling grateful to have met them.

10. Political corruption is rampant throughout India. The Reddys, our hosts in Chennia, thought this was the single biggest issue holding back the development of the country. Based on some of the things they described, we have to agree: for instance, less than 50% of funds allocated to help the poorest citizens arrives at its intended destination. Middlemen take a piece of all public funds spent throughout the country. It's so bad that there is an advertising campaign encouraging everyone to open a bank account so that government money can be deposited directly (to cut out the scammers in between). The plight of many of India's citizens is heartbreaking; the fact that a minority of corrupt bad actors perpetuate the problems of the less fortunate is disgraceful.

Peak: Sunrise at the Taj Mahal

Pit: Alex getting robbed

Next Stop: Dubai

Southern (Indian) Hospitality

Spending the past three days as guests at the Reddy family residence in Chennai has been a perfect ending to our time in India. Upon telling our friend and former colleague, Avi, that we were traveling to India he insisted that we visit his family in the capital of South India. Mr. Reddy and Avi's brother Rohit have been extremely gracious and generous hosts, serving as excellent tour guides and restaurant experts. We are so used to meticulously planning our time during each stop along the trip that it was a welcome change to sit back and be taken care of, especially after a fairly hectic ten days elsewhere in India!

We landed at the airport on Wednesday afternoon and quickly spotted Rohit and Ganeshan, the Reddy family driver. We felt instantly welcomed and excited for a more home-style experience in India. After we settled in to our room at Casa Reddy, we rested and relaxed a bit before dinner time. We had a great time catching up with Rohit and Mr. Reddy at a nearby Italian restaurant before calling it an early night.

Thursday morning Alex and I woke up at 5:30am to accompany Mr. Reddy to his daily  - and extremely impressive - tennis workout at the Madras Club. We had a great workout and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, all before 8am!

Showered and ready to explore the city, we headed out with Rohit and Ganeshan to see the sights in Chennai. Our first stop was described as a standard South Indian temple but Alex and I have never seen anything like it -  brightly colored deities and illustrations cover the outside of each shrine, creating fairytale-like scenery.

The colorful detail on the exterior of the temple roofs was unlike anything we'd seen before!

Rohit was also a great photographer for us at all the sights!

After visiting the Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Rohit showed us his grandfather's home before treating us to a traditional South Indian lunch. We hadn't realized that most Indian food in the US is actually North Indian so we were excited to try some typical Southern fare. We feasted on dosias, thin crepe-like pancakes, filled with potatoes, onions and spices and dipped in various chutneys. Very different from the curries we have gotten used to up north but just as delicious...and filling.

We headed to The Government Museum after lunch and explored some of the exhibits before the carb-heavy Indian meal kicked in, making us a little tired! We enjoyed seeing some of the historic artifacts - some items were nearly two thousand years old - but I'm not sure the museum should be on anyone's "must see" list.

After brief naps, Alex and I freshened up a bit for whiskeys and an upscale dinner with Rohit and Mr. Reddy. Southern Spice is a beautiful restaurant located in the Taj Hotel and definitely the best place we've been to in India. We feasted on local seafood dishes (fish curry is a new favorite) as well as vegetarian specialties and left feeling certain we wouldn't need to eat again for many days.

Friday morning we met Rohit and Ganeshan and drove three hours south to Puducherry for the day. Our first stop was Auroville, a very unusual spiritual commune built over the past 40 years. Designed by "The Mother" - the self-assigned moniker given to Auroville's founder - the commune was created in order to enable higher enlightenment and self-sufficient living. Alex and I felt a little like we had wandered into a developing cult but the golden ball structure was pretty unique (though we couldn't go inside because that requires many approvals and is only for those who truly wish to "concentrate").

The Matrimandir, a golden metallic sphere in the center of town.

We're definitely not converts, but it was an interesting place to visit.

We had a quick lunch in downtown Puducherry and then drove toward the beach to take the scenic route home via Mahabalipuram. We stopped to check out the 1,200 year old Shore Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Five Rathas - definitely one of the more unique sites we've been to.

The shore by the Shore Temple.

Sacred cows lined the perimeter of the Shore Temple.

Rohit snapped a picture of us in front of the temple.

I managed to get a solo-shot at the Five Rathas (most of the area was teeming with children on a school trip).

Hard to believe so much detail has been maintained this long, especially right by the ocean.

On our way out, we stopped to look at this huge wall carving. It's hard to get a sense of scale from this picture but the elephants you see were life-sized.

We arrived back at Casa Reddy exhausted and sweaty so we took quick showers before having a late dinner of tasty Indochinese food, a first for us.

We woke up this morning and managed to get in one last workout at the Madras Club before packing up for our flight to Dubai. We've had a pretty eventful stay in India and are looking forward to relaxing a bit (and, of course, celebrating my 30th birthday) in the UAE.