Today is our first day in Africa! We landed late last night after a long journey from Missoula including two missed flights and an unintended layover in Atlanta. Note to self, practice what you preach and get trip insurance! I am also wishing we would have booked our flights through Exito – live and learn.
We had a full day of touring planned for today. We were supposed to do a cycling tour through Soweto, South African’s most populous township (the home of Trevor Noah), visit the Apartheid Museum, as well as do a tour of Lilliesleaf Farm. Since we hadn’t slept in a bed for over 56 hours, we decided to sleep in and cancel the tour of the township.
Our first stop was the Apartheid Museum. The tour guide, also our driver, did not wait until we arrived at the museum to start the tour. He pointed out places of historical and cultural significance the whole way, while simultaneously giving us an abbreviated history of South Africa.
Apartheid Museum (Emily Steinberg)
Upon arrival at the Apartheid Museum we were each given a ticket. The ticket provided entrance to the museum, but we were also assigned a skin color. I was black, my husband was white. We proceeded into the museum and took different halls, based on our assigned skin color. We of course, had quite different experiences. We then met up and continued the tour with our guide. Apartheid Museum (Emily Steinberg)
After the Apartheid Museum, we rushed to Lillie’s Leaf Farm, the property where Nelson Mandela went underground right before his imprisonment. We learned of the work he and his colleagues of the National African Congress executed as well as the details of his capture (not surprisingly aided by the CIA).
By the time we left Lillie’s Leaf Ben and I were both exhausted from the information overload and the emotional rollarcoaster that comes with learning about the human rights abuses that took place not so long ago. We headed back to our hotel in time for the dinner reservation we made at the Peach, which, was absolutely exquisite.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
3 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
4 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
6 days ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.