Solo-on-a-Scooter on Safari, Pre-Trip Report South Africa, March 2013 About This Page:

[lauriep]

How it all began…..

I’ve always wanted to go to southern Africa, but although I’ve traveled quite a bit in Europe and northern Africa (Morocco and Egypt) it just never happened. While I was working it was hard to take 2 consecutive weeks off, and I wouldn’t take that long flight for less than 2 weeks. With my love of animals, an African safari went to the top of my bucket list after I retired. I did some research into safaris in Kenya, Botswana and South Africa, and decided to do the Adventures by Disney South Africa. The itinerary on that trip is fantastic and it made sense for me to go with Disney. I had some worries that travel with the scooter would make the trip impossible, but the folks I talked to at ABD assured me that the trip was accessible. I spent several months on cloud nine, waiting for the 2012 itineraries to come out and as soon as they did, I tried to book. It was a MAJOR disappointment when they told me that they could NOT handle the scooter on this trip.

After a few days of depression about this, I got mad and decided I could do the trip on my own! By this time I’d done a bit of research in guide books and on the internet and knew that accessible tourism was definitely do-able, with South Africa being a bit easier than the other countries. South Africa fascinates me, and I knew I wanted to see more than just the animals. When I was younger my heroes were Desmond Tutu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, so I wanted to do the “Walk to Freedom” tour that follows the struggle through apartheid to the release of Mandela from prison. That tour is in Cape Town, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, so I knew I needed some time in that city. South Africa is a huge country and I don’t drive, which meant I needed to narrow my goals to two or three locations around the country.

I’d read Ashli’s South Africa trip report here a few years ago and that just made me want to go even more, but it did worry me a bit, as they were able to see so much by renting a car. After lots of time reading reviews on TripAdvisor, I finally narrowed down the long list of places I wanted to go to three locations. I’ll cover the itinerary in my next installment.

[Disney4us2]

Hi Laurie,

I'll scoot along with you. Looking forward to more adventures by Laurie :-)

[Roxie2006]

I am looking forward to tagging along on this adventure. This is going to be one awesome trip. Will be waiting for next installment!!!!!

[chezp]

Great start - I've been looking forward to this!

[mcc0313]

I am so looking forward to the Laurie, I am so excited for you

[Thomhazel]

This sounds like a fab trip. SA is high on my hubby's bucket list so we will need to do someday

[DrDolphin]

I've been looking forward to this TR!!!

[lsugirlinutah]

I'm excited to read more!

[num1DVCfan]

I'm excited you've started this! I love your trip reports.

[dwonderz]

Great Start! I really enjoy reading your TR's - I'm sure South Africa is going to be awesome!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Laurie!

[lauriep]

Many thanks, everyone for joining in! I probably started this PTR way too early, but I'm so excited I just HAD to.

[KMB733]

Great start!!! I can't wait to hear all about your adventure!

[Ashli]

Yay, Laurie, I'm so glad to see you've started your PTR! I can't wait to follow along on your trip to my favorite country. You are going to have such a wonderful time, I just know it! I'm so glad we got to meet last month, so now I can really imagine you on all of your SA journeys.

[pamcarey]

This is going to be an amazing trip! I'm so excited to read all about it!