Solo-on-a-Scooter on Safari, Pre-Trip Report South Africa, March 2013 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Solo-on-a-Scooter on Safari, Pre-Trip Report South Africa, March 2013
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.
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Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
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.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
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