Anyone else getting wanderlust during this extended lockdown?

[Colleen27]

I camped out on the north rim. It’s a beautiful campsite with nice showers. And the trails around are not that crowded. And the hike down is nice. But you better be in good shape. Lots of elevation gain to come back up the north rim.

We totally winged our trip there and ended up camping at a BLM campground at the turn-off to get to the North Rim visitor center... it was fabulous, so quiet with so much wildlife, and still had spots available at sunset! I loved the north rim as much as I hated the south (in all fairness, we were there on a Friday in peak tourist season - it was Disney World at Christmas crowded with rude, stupid people who laughed at rangers telling them not to feed the aggressive squirrels and climbing all over the place for the perfect selfie). The trails were wonderful, not at all crowded, and the people we did encounter were chill and friendly.

 

[RamblingMad]

We totally winged our trip there and ended up camping at a BLM campground at the turn-off to get to the North Rim visitor center... it was fabulous, so quiet with so much wildlife, and still had spots available at sunset! I loved the north rim as much as I hated the south (in all fairness, we were there on a Friday in peak tourist season - it was Disney World at Christmas crowded with rude, stupid people who laughed at rangers telling them not to feed the aggressive squirrels and climbing all over the place for the perfect selfie). The trails were wonderful, not at all crowded, and the people we did encounter were chill and friendly.

The GC trails are really good. Most of the craziness is at the rim. I really like the north rim. It's very rustic.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Never made a bucket list. We just plan...I honestly can say that my wants are not extreme. Lucky hubby!

 

[bananasplitkids]

I would love to hear about your South Africa trip!!! How long were you there; where did you stay; what did you see? I would also love to go back. It was an amazing experience!!!

It was such an amazing experience. We flew from Dallas with Qatar Airways. It was my first time using them and would definitely fly with them again. It was comfortable and they were constantly feeding us, the food was not bad either for airplane food. We arrived Christmas Day in Johannesburg and stayed 10 days. Once we arrived we took a flight to Hoedspruit and then a shuttle to our safari stay at Xanatseni Reserve where we stayed 2 nights. On the way to the reserve we saw plenty of animals including elephants, giraffes, and a hippo. The stay at the reserve was amazing. We ended up booking the suite which was gorgeous and fit a family of four nicely. It also has a pool in the front where one afternoon One of the main reasons we picked this reserve was if you booked the suite it came with a private game driver which was excellent and included all drinks and the price wasn't substantially more. The food was also amazing and we had a private dinner in the bush one night which was great. The staff was friendly and attentive. Our game drives were AMAZING. We were able to see all of the big 5, saw cheetahs mating, came so close to so many animals rhino, zebra, lion, elephants, etc. On one of the drives there was an aggressive elephant that came running towards our jeep, talk about a rush of adrenaline.
Some of my favorite pics from the safari!






After the safari, we took a plane over to Cape Town, where we spent 6 days. Later that night we went over to Codfather for dinner. The seafood was excellent and fresh. We stayed at this airbnb in the Devils Peak area, which was beautiful. The view was gorgeous, we were able to see Lion Heads, Table Mountain and the coast. It was a 3 level house with a rooftop balcony. It was also close to all the attractions. While in Cape Town we visited the Old Biscuit Mill for some shopping and had some food from the Market area. Definitely have to arrive early it becomes packed later in the day. Afterwards we headed to Robben Island. It was nice and very informative. Also the views from the island are beautiful. After finishing we walked around the waterfront caught an intense chess game and then walked over to the Watershed to do some more shopping. Afterwards we headed over to Willoughby's for dinner. I would highly recommend this restaurant, the sushi was excellent and fresh.

Will come back to share the rest...there's so much to share!