Our Farewell Breakfast at Cape Grace!  Cape Town to Johannesburg.		Johannesburg to Paris, ten hours, then Paris to Los Angeles.
Space.
Eleven Hours from Paris to Los Angeles, then an hour to the City!		Finally after almost 40 hours, my Southwest Flight to San Francisco!

Chuck's View as he got home, tired but a great trip!

My friend Gail called me from Los Angeles and left a message on Saturday, October 17th, 2005.  She asked if I wanted to go to South Africa!  I  of course, immediately said yes and then told Gail to began our trip planning.  In this photo we are going to dinner at the Captains table on the Uniworld Cruise in the Netherlands in the spring of 2004.     Gail suggested we may fly into the Lake Victoria region and visit the Victoria Falls, something I have always wanted to do!  We then would fly back to Johannesburg and drive to Kruger for a few days, back to Johannesburg and fly to Port Elizabeth and drive along the coast to Capetown.  It is interesting that my friend Barbara, whom I met in Turkey in November of 2004, asked me to go with her on a trip in October of 2005 to Costa Rica.  So two friends have asked me to travel with them in the course of just a few months!  Life is good!

This information is per my friend Jeff who has been to Capetown twice!  He said:  Concerning the Malaria drugs, try not to take the Larium. It has the easiest regime (1 tablet per week), but it messes with your mind. One of the possible side effects is suicide. It doesn't happen that often, but you only have to kill yourself once and then you're dead.  

Don't believe the doctors/drug companies when they say that side effect is so rare.  I took the doxycycline. It just made me feel a little bloated, and you have to try to avoid the sun, which is easy, you just wear a hat. You shouldn't be trying to tan anyway in South Africa because the sun can be pretty intense.

And this information is per my friend Barbara, whom I met in Turkey!  She said:  I took the chloroquine pills for malaria every day during our trip to Turkey (and the week or so before according to directions).  there was a whole list of possible side effects. The main one being dizziness and problems with equilibrium. That's why Helen didn't take it but I had no side effects or problems taking it at all.  It's the most recommended drug for malaria.

After all this helpful info, everyone I talked to has taken the Larium and hadn't any response, suicidal or otherwise so, I did take the first pill and nothing happened.  So one a week for two weeks before and during and after the trip for a total of eight weeks.   #1: Do not wear "Hollywood style" and/or camouflage outfits. Normal non-synthetic, comfortable fitting, neutral colored clothes are what you need to be taking with.

#2: Bright colored clothing should be avoided and white clothes will show up dust and dirt. Red makes you very conspicuous to the wildlife especially on a walking safari. Khaki, brown and olive colors are ideal.

#3: Not packing something warm. Although the days in Africa can be blisteringly hot the temperature will sometimes drop sharply at nights. Pack a jersey, pullover or safari jacket.  

#4: Don't go without a safari hat.  Safari Hats are essential to ward of the African sun and protect you from sunburn.

#5: Packing in your heavy walking boots is unnecessary (unless you are doing a walking safari). Simple lightweight safari shoes/trainers (non white) or sandals/sports sandals are more sensible.

#6: Packing too much clothing. You will not need more than 2 or 3 comfortable non-synthetic short sleeved safari shirts and the same amount of long sleeved safari tops.

Also pack 2 or 3 (each) comfortable non-synthetic shorts and long trousers. Long trousers and a long sleeved safari shirt can be worn at night to stay warm and protect from mosquito bites and safari vests are great to carry all the essential gear with you.

The continent of Africa covers more than 30 million sq km(11 million miles see Africa map to the left of page). Africa is the world's second largest continent, the largest being Asia. It is nearly bisected by the Equator, both northern and southern Africa extend to the mid-30's of latitude so that its climatic zones mirror each other from the tropical forests of the equatorial region through semitropical savannahs, dry steppe lands and desert to the Mediterranean climates of the extremities. More than 800 million people live in Africa, but the continent is lightly populated in accordance with the square area.

The birth rate in Africa is high, but is no longer matched by the high death rate. The people are poor, and disease, famine and drought are all too prevalent. Most of Africa consists of high plateaus, which descend steeply to generally narrow coastal regions. Waterfalls and rapids flowing off the plateaus made explorations difficult, since the only way into the continent for explorers was by sailing upriver. This contributed to isolation of the continent for a long time.

If you view the map of Africa you will notice there are few natural harbors and the coastline is very short in relation to the landmass. Fourteen of the forty-seven mainland African nations are landlocked. Four of the world's greatest rivers are on the African continent namely, Nile, Zaire (Congo), Niger, and Zambezi rivers.

There are some majestic mountains, often made more so by their isolation in vast plains. In the north the Atlas range stretches 1400 miles from the Atlantic to Tunisia and reaches up to13671 ft at its highest point. In East Africa the Ethiopian highlands form a great massif of intersecting ranges, whose loftiest peak is Ras Dashen 15157 ft. Farther south along the East African Rift Valley are the Ruwenzori mountains permanently covered with snow and climbing to 5110 m (16765 ft). Mount Kenya 17060 ft), Mount Meru 14977 ft. The mighty Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain at 19340 ft.

The East African Rift Valley, which is part of the Great Rift Valley system, is the world's most spectacular geological depression. It stretches from Beira in Mozambique to Lake Malawi.  One branch runs north as far as Lake Albert (Mobutu), while the eastern branch becomes the trench of the Red Sea and continues to south-west Asia. Along the Rift Valley are some of the world's largest lakes, Malawi (30040sq km or 11600 sq miles), the 676km (420 mile) a long Tanganvika and the sea-like Victoria - 70484 sq km or 26828 sq miles.

Nearly one-third of the African continent is desert. The Sahara, the planets largest arid area covers twenty five percent of Africa about 7.7 million sq km or about 3 million miles.  To the South are the Namib and Kalahari deserts.

Much of central Africa is occupied by a great expanse of tropical rain forest, second in size only to the Amazon basin. It covers much of the coastlands of West Africa from The Gambia to Cameroon, and it covers Gabon, Congo and half of Zaire. Overgrazing and climatic changes in the Sahara is causing the Sahara to advance its borders at an estimated rate of 5km or 3 miles a year. Africa is the hottest of the continents. 

Two-thirds of it is tropical or subtropical. The forests receive heavy rainfall that leaches the soil. Other parts of the continent get less than 250mm or 10 inches of rain a year. Devastating droughts are frequent. In 1983 - 1985 both the north and south especially Ethiopia suffered one of the most savage droughts in history.

Created on:2006.03.25

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