Safari Camp

Taking a holiday to Africa will provide you with one of the most fascinating travel experiences in the world. There are the towering peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro, beautiful beaches in Zanzibar and an amazing array of wildlife. While living costs are low, travelling through the region will likely prove more expensive than you think. However, with some planning, you can still travel through Africa on a budget.

Consult an expert travel company like Wild Africa to help you decide which part of the continent you can’t miss. By selecting more affordable destinations and trip activities, you will help keep your travel costs down. And, it will provide you with the opportunity to see a different side to the amazing continent. Instead of always travelling in private vehicles, choose local low cost transportation like buses or taxis. Or if the roads are not good, hire your own vehicle or even car share with other travellers to save time and money. Share your accommodation with other travellers. Eat where the locals eat and get a fresh taste of life.

Whatever you do, ensure your budget for a safari. Three of the best safaris are found in South Africa (Kruger National Park), Botswana (Okavango Delta) and Tanzania (Serengenti National Park). Here you will find a range of safari options to suit every budget. Forgo the luxury lodge for some bush camping under the stars. But at the top of every traveler’s wish list has to be exploring the world heritage wilderness of the unique Serengeti. It was recently proclaimed the seventh world wide wonder and is famous for annual animal migrations and spectacular game-viewing. Hundreds of thousands of zebra, Thomson’s gazelle, buffalo and wildebeest pound the open plains. Elephants, giraffes, lions, cheetahs and leopards hunt in their natural environment.

Elephant in an African Safari

Plan and research your African trip before you go and you will have a once in a lifetime trip!

Lions in a tree. African Safari.

Rachel and I in Buenos Aires

Since a vacation is heavy on my mind today, and I am anxiously awaiting my trip to Barbados, I’m in the mood to transport you with words. Let’s take a mental flight back to Buenos Aires. Here is the journal entry I wrote on my last day there.

9/2/12

On my ultimo dia here, Buenos Aires transformed into the Buenos Aires I’ve always known. The reason for this metamorphosis is the sudden warm weather. Gone is the cold and with it the indifference. As soon as the sun blessed Buenos Aires with its warmth the city blossomed and spread its petals.

On this nice day, I walked to Plaza Serrano at 11:30 am. It was the most peaceful and serene walk I’ve gone on since I arrived here. On my way to the plaza, I was about to cross Avenida Jaun B. Justo when an old man—out on his morning jog—wearing sunglasses and a cap on his head spotted me. He looked so adorable milling along, his fists boxing the air.

“It’s very hot, no?” He asked in Spanish.

I nodded. “Si.”

He came to rest in front of me. “Where are you from? Brazil?”

“No.”

“Cuba?”

“No.”

“Colombiana?”

“No. Los estados unidos.”

“Ah. Los estados unidos.” Still speaking in Spanish, he began to say something about his vacation in Miami. I couldn’t follow the conversation. So I assumed he was speaking about a positive experience, which resulted in me throwing a universal thumps up.

“No.” He vetoed my thumps up with sign language of his own, signaling what he said was not good.That’s when I explained to him that I did not speak Spanish well.

“Ah,” he replied and took my hand is his. “Ciao luego,” he said and then continued on his jog. The moment made me feel warmer than the sun touching my skin. This is the Buenos Aires I remember I thought, continuing on my walk.

One block later, a young guy waiting to cross the street started to sing the moment his eyes fell on me. I smiled to myself. This was a characteristic I noticed most about the Argentine men I encountered. The sight of dark skin charmed them into song.

This particular young man paused his serenade for me. “Are you from Brazil?” He asked in Spanish.

“No.”

“Colombiana?”

“No. Los eatados unidos,” I said, cutting round two of the guessing game short.

“Ah. North Americana. You understand castellano well.”

“No. No. Un poco.”

He nodded and we parted ways.

For my entire walk, beeps blared from cars followed by “Hola, Morocha!” And I couldn’t help but smile. I felt like Buenos Aires was giving me a proper send off. When I made it to the plaza, Argentines went out of their way to help me find my café. The man who helped me first smiled warmly and said, “Ciao, chica,” before he left my side.

On my way back home, the beeping cars began their melodic salute again, joined by bicyclist, all of them greeting me with the same salutation: “Hola, Morocha!”

I do still believe my life is not meant to be in Buenos Aires again, but the possibility of me returning for a short pass through is not impossible. Buenos Aires belongs to me in the spring and summer, and this will be the only time I will return—if one day I decide to.

Black Ski Summit 2013

When I invited a few girlfriends to the Black Ski Summit in February, most of them said “There’s a Black Ski Summit?!?!” I’ve known about it for a while but never had a group of friends to go with me. I grew up in Littleton, Colorado (city of the Columbine tragedy) where I had no friends that looked like me and racial tensions were high. I would meet a Black kid my age briefly at church. But I was shy and didn’t have consistent opportunities to forge friendships. When I did have the rare conversation with a contemporary, I was often informed that I wasn’t Black in fact because of my prep school accent/my suburban zip code/lack of in depth hip hop knowledge. And at the age of eight, this seemed to make sense and (sadly) I agreed with the critical words of the other kids. So when I finished high school, I went to Spelman College to give myself a chance to be a part of a community and legacy that I’d never experienced.

Now I’m living in New York and meeting people that not only look like me, but snowboard. One friend actually said I needed to get my weight up before we went to Summit or else I’d embarrass him (I forgive you Kennis). So I got a part-time job at an outdoors store in Soho to build my very expensive snowboarding wardrobe, with an employee discount. When I wasn’t working and shopping for gear, I met my friends at 6 am on Saturday mornings to listen to Nirvana and drive to Hunter Mountain for snowboarding lessons and street meat.

When I clicked the link to the Summit, I was a bit disappointed. The website had a few pictures of an older crowd, networking and looking pretty serious, in very static poses. I didn’t know if this would be the crowd for me. But when have I ever had a group of friends who wanted to take a 4-hour flight to Aspen just to snowboard? I logged on to Jetblue.com and booked my flight.

When I got to the Summit, I loved it. It was a lot like an HBCU homecoming. At night, the bars at base camp (the base of the ski slopes), turned into happy hours and clubs. Greeks stepped, the DJ played old school hip hop (Unk, 2pac, Bone Thugs N Harmony, 69 Boyz, UGK), promoters passed out flyers for after hour parties. I met a lot of people from Detroit and Houston, where a few of the ski clubs that support the event were based.

Happy hour and clubs at Black Ski Summit 2013

There were too many run-ins with cute guys, drunk friends, ‘New Yorkers with a bad sense of direction but unwilling to share the car keys with the rest of us’ to describe here. So I included a recap, in the form of ‘travelling lessons learned,’ below. Here is what helped me get through the trip with my friendships intact and avoiding overdraft fees on my checking account.

1. Sadly, fros do not fit under snowboarding helmets. Plan your hair care regime accordingly.
I pulled back my fro into a small afro puff at the nap of my neck on our first trip to Hunter Mountain. When the girl at the counter helped me smush my helmet onto my head, I knew it was too tight. But I heard the horror stories of hard falls and headaches, so I knew I needed the helmet. Not surprisingly, I fell on my back, with my head hitting the ice during the fall. The helmet went flying, probably because it was too tight to begin with. But the fall could have been much worse without it.

2. Bring a spare change of clothes and park in the deck closest to the slopes to change from snowboard gear to more comfortable clothes for after hour events. Don’t go home to nap/relax/change clothes or you could miss great opportunities to make friends.

When travelling with a group, there are too many debates about who is using which car and where they plan to go. So to avoid lengthy discussions on when to go back to the hotel, how long you should stay, and when to head back to the parties, just don’t use the car during the day at all. Pack for a full day. You can always find a place to freshen up once you get to your destination.

3. If you leave the parking deck after 9pm, the attendants go home and you don’t have to pay the day rate.

We accidently found out that leaving and coming back to the parking deck throughout the day cost $25 and up. So we parked in the deck in Snowmass ski resort by 9am and left at about 9pm. But there was no attendant there when we left. We decided to stick to this plan for the rest of the week.

4. Book your gear rental at a chain (we used Breeze) on skirental.com so that you can pick-up/drop off outside of Aspen for a cheaper rate.

You can check out gear rental rates at your destination in advance online. But the closer you are to your destination, the higher the prices are. Since we flew into Denver, we had to drive to Aspen. So we decided to pick up our snowboards and boots on the way, which saved us about $50 each. Plus, we could return our gear to any location in the state.

5. Not all friends travel well. Bring snacks to make them smile.
There were some disagreements among friends. Snacks broke the silence and killed the tension in car rides.

6. Ask your hotel/lodge if they offer discount lift passes.

We stayed at Aspenalt and saved about $25/day on our lift tickets by picking them up from the reservation desk every morning instead of at Snowmass.

7. Hydrate. Drinking at night and skiing all day can make you sick, especially in high altitudes.

There are numerous stories with predictable endings to tell here. Just drink water/Gatorade throughout the week.

8. Spend a day in the town of Aspen seeing the clean streets, shopping, eating Mexican food.

We ate at the Taqueria Karely food truck in a Rite Aid parking lot. I got a $6 burrito adobada (which I was not able to get a definite English translation for). But the guy in the truck hurriedly put on plastic gloves before he accepted my cash even as a steady row of cars pulled up just to get a meal. I wish food trucks in New York were as hygienic. On our last day we had my favorite Mexican dessert for lunch, sopapillas from La Palapa. It’s a sweet and light puff pastry, drilled with honey and whipped cream. You can’t get that in New York City.

Now that I’m back in New York (and missing sopapillas), I realized that Aspen was more than a chance to snowboard on fresh powder and visit high school friends. It was an experience that will be harder and harder to replicate with a schedule that grows with more weddings and baby showers each year. It was a chance to be with people I love, doing something I love. So glad I saved up for it because certain experiences cannot be rescheduled or postponed.

Black people in Aspen

Heartbreak to Bliss by Masha Dowell!

We’ve talked about heartbreak here on the blog before and how travel can be the cure for it. So I was both delighted and intrigued to hear that former Imported Chocolate of the Moment, Masha Dowell, created a new webseries chronicling one young woman’s journey and adventure through heartbreak. Masha stopped by Imported Chocolate for a short chat to tell us a little more about her new project!

Imported Chocolate: Hi, Masha! Thanks for stopping by!

Masha: Hi! I’m excited to share with your readers a bit about the series!

Imported Chocolate: So tell us a little more about your series.

Masha: Well, my series is about a romance obsessed filmmaker, Sasha McDougal (played by me), and her journey of heartbreak to bliss.

Imported Chocolate: What inspired you to create the series?

Masha: Well, I love romantic comedies! I really do with all my heart and I wanted to see a project that told a funny story about heartbreak.

Imported Chocolate: Tell us about your character.

Masha: Sasha McDougal is in love with being in love. She is very introspective about love and her life.

Imported Chocolate: If your character, Sasha, could travel anywhere to cure her heartbreak, where would it be and why?

Masha: Maybe France since it’s the birth place of cinema. And Paris is a city for lovers!

Imported Chocolate: What are your thoughts on travel and heartbreak?

Masha: Oh my! I’ve had one major heartbreak in my life, and thank God I had a job where I traveled the world! My heart hurt, but at least I was in Toronto one week, and then Boston, and then the Caribbean the next. Travel is great medicine for a broken heart. Travel is also awesome for a happy heart!

Imported Chocolate: Thanks for stopping by, Masha!

Masha: Thanks for having me!

Tune into the first episode of Heartbreak on May 1st at http://www.heartbreakbliss.com

Kinky Curly Box Braids

I don’t have to tell you how important hair is to black women. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in our lives, all is not well if our hair is not right. And when we travel abroad, it’s of the utmost importance for our hair to be in top shape. We like to look cute and we like to attract the locals. All that being said, it’s still important for us to have a good time. We don’t want to ruin our vacation, or long term trips abroad, by worrying and fussing over our hair. Hair can also be an issue if we’re traveling to a destination where black hair care or products doesn’t exist. We don’t like too many hairstylists playing in our hair either. In short, our hair is our pride and joy. Below you will find three of the most convenient ways a black woman can wear her hair abroad.

1. Box Braids

Braids are the go to hairstyle when traveling abroad. It’s the black woman’s staple style—the default. What I love about box braids is that you can rock them in so many ways. My preferred type is kinky curly:

Kinky Curly Box Braids

These box braids blend with natural hair exceptionally well; and because it’s so curly, the style lasts longer when the hair starts to grow out from the scalp. I used Milky Way Que Human Hair Braid MasterMix – Water Bulk to achieve this look.

Milky Way Que Human Hair Braid MasterMix .

The hair is $17.99 a pack at its shortest and comes in three lengths: 14 inches, 16 inches and 18 inches. You can purchase it here.

2. Crochet Braids

I discovered Crochet braids a year ago and boy are they a god send! Not only are they one of the best protective hairstyles, in my opinion, but also one of the most affordable too! I’ll just leave this here:

You can wear crochet braids with straight hair too! I love the way this Youtuber does hers. She uses Kanekalon hair, which is super cheap to buy!

For a live tutorial check this one out:

And here is a great way you can clean your scalp without ruining your crochet braids:

Here is a great product review:

3. Go Natural

Three years natural!!! And I didn’t have to do the big chop!

If you rock your natural hair abroad, you won’t have to worry about finding someone to do your hair since you will be doing it yourself. As long as you pack all your favorite styling products or have them shipped, you’ll be sitting pretty. Natural hair takes more maintenance but in the end it’s 100% worth it.

I hope these styles work for you.

Just wanted to pop in to tell you I will be posting a new blog post next week Wednesday. But until then, just in case you’ve missed it, check out my article on Lucylive.com where I give five tips to combat five different travel fears! Hope you enjoy and see you next week!

Since I decided to write more posts dedicated to individual readers this year, this post is dedicated to reader bludonni, aka, my oldest sibling Donette. Donette prefers warm weather and winter sends her ducking for cover—literally. She asked me to put together a post of affordable warm weather destinations and this is what I came up with.

1. New Orleans

Inside an old loft on a balcony, overlooking the French Quarter. New Orleans

New Orleans is the most enchanted place in the south that I’ve ever been to. One visit to Vieux Carré—French Quarter—with its Spanish colonial architecture, will make you feel like you’ve landed on Cuban or South American ground, occupied by French southern people. If you’re fortunate enough to enter one of these antique buildings—like I was—you will feel and breathe the history of the city through its creaky wooden floorboards and the smell of the dampness embedded in between. My favorite moment was when I stood on a balcony, drinking an ice cold sweaty glass of Lebanese ice tea as I looked down at the bustling quarter. New Orleans is the perfect cheap getaway and the perfect time to go is in April. If you book in advance, the cost of tickets starts at $431-$721 per person for three nights and four days, including airfare and hotel. Not bad, right? You can’t go wrong.

P.S. Bourbon Street at night is wild!

The bustling French Quarter below. New Orleans.

2. Barbados in Summer

My beautiful sister, Donette, on a beach in Barbados!

Don’t even think about heading to Barbados in the winter if you don’t want to break the bank, especially in February (the month of Valentine’s Day). You will pay over a thousand dollars for the trip. Now if you book your trip when it’s a bit warmer in the right month (for example, booking for a June trip in March), you can find tickets from $472-788 per person for three nights and four days, including airfare and hotel. I’m going for the first time this summer. Barbados is my mother’s home country and I’m truly excited to walk the land where half of my ancestors come from! I mean like seriously excited! I have goosebumps as I write this!

3. Miami

Miami, Florida. Photo found via.

The only part of Florida I’ve been to is Orlando, but I’d be deaf if I’ve never heard all the ravings about Miami. There’s no denying it’s one of the top hot spots in the United States so I would be a fool not to include it on this list. ;0). If you’ve ever been to Miami, please share your experience with us in the comments section. I’d love to hear your story. The cost to book a trip to Miami in the summer is $345-$524 per person for three nights and four days, including hotel and airfare.

4. Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo found via.

I’ve been dying to do a girlfriend getaway to Las Vegas. I heard the dry heat there is natural hair friendly and the city seems like rebel’s capital: throw caution and inhibitions to the wind, no rules allowed, anti corporate—anything goes. This is an environment I feel like I can let my hair down in. I will make it there one day, but for now, I’m content with recommending it as an affordable destination. Ticket prices for a summer trip to Las Vegas are $408-$633 per person for three nights and four days, including airfare and hotel.

That’s it my lovelies! I hope this post proves that you don’t need a bucket of money to take a break and get away for a few days.

As I mentioned before, this year I will be posting blog posts that are specific to reader interests. This one is dedicated to reader Leshia. Leshia loved the video I posted on how to pack light, but wanted to see some “packing light” tips from a woman’s perspective. Marcia of Inside Journeys was kind enough to offer her tips in this guest post. I am super excited about this post too! I will be traveling to Barbados in June (I bought my ticket already! Yaaaay!), and would like to travel with only a duffle bag I can carry on and these tips will help make it happen!

Now i will let Marcia take it from here! ;0)

Smart Packing Tips for the On The Go Traveler by Marcia Mayne

How many times have you returned from your trip with clothes you never wore?

Whether you’re packing for a weekend getaway or a trip around the world, the biggest decision you have to make is what to leave behind. Seems simple enough, right?

But it rarely is as too many times we listen to the voice in our heads and pack that extra outfit, or two — just in case.

I wasn’t always a light packer. I remember lugging what seemed like all my earthly possessions from one terminal to another to board a connecting flight in Madrid, swearing with each step that I’d never travel again with more than I needed. Of course, I forgot that promise as soon as I returned home.

Change was forced on me several years ago and I found myself with one suitcase — a 19” wheeled one that I’d used previously for weekend trips. The details of how I ended up with that little suitcase are vague now but having it as my only piece of luggage forced me to learn how to pack smart, and light.

My mom used to say, “It’s best to have a few quality pieces that you love than a closet full of things you wear only because you can’t leave the house naked.” I started to think of packing the same way and over time, my mindset changed and I came up with a personal packing strategy that helped me wean myself from over packing. The system has three steps: Plan, Prune, Pack.

Plan, Prune, Pack

Plan: What I mean by plan is that you ‘walk through’ your vacation day by day and think of the activities you’ll be engaged in and what you’d like to wear. Make a list, if you need to. Then take each item from your closet and lay them on your bed. Pair pants/shorts with tops, shoes and whatever accessories you want.

Planning what clothes to pack for your vacation.

Prune: The goal of pruning is to eliminate the non-essentials. So look at the clothes you’ve selected for each activity and select the pieces that can do double duty. For example, a beach wrap that can be worn as a skirt, sweaters that can be layered, jeans and pants that can be worn more than once, etc.

Pack: Once you decide what’s going you can begin packing. I prefer the roll method – the most efficient way of packing, in my estimation.

Rolling your clothes allows for more space in your suitcase.

Rolling allows you to use every available inch of space in your suitcase. Roll each item and fit them in.

Suitcase packed using the rolling method.

It’ll take a few tries to change your old packing habits but the more you use this system, the more it’ll become part of your packing strategy. Soon you’ll skip the plan and purge phase and go straight to pack.

Toiletries, Gadgets, Etc.

Each time I go to the drug store, I buy mini toiletries – toothpaste, mouthwash, lotions, etc., which I keep in a small bag in my suitcase.

Small toiletry bag.

I also keep cell phone and laptop chargers, batteries, adapter, extra memory cards, a portable radio with flashlight, small umbrella, etc., in another bag.

Gadget Travel bag.

I’ve arrived too many times at my destination only to discover that I’ve forgotten something, usually my laptop charger so I never take these bags from my suitcase even after I’ve returned home.

Another tip I’ve used successfully is to make a list of personal items, like moisturizer, journal, etc., that I use during the week or two prior to my trip. Or, as I use them, I throw them into my suitcase. That way, I don’t forget them when I start to pack.

Other Packing Tips:

On a 7-day trip, take 3 pairs of pants, 5 tops and something for a night out. For a 2-week trip, take 5 pairs of pants and 7 tops. Dresses are better for travel as you’ll have fewer pieces to pack.

Stick to light clothing that’s washable, and need little or no ironing. If you need to, cruise lines, villas and safari camps offer laundry service, for a fee.

Take no more than 4 pairs of shoes – flip-flops, sandals, walking and dress shoes. Wear the walking shoes or the one that’s heaviest on the flight. Pack shoes in plastic bags, each foot in a separate one. Stay away from shoes with high heels – they might have metal, which can read like an instrument to the TSA scanners.

Wear the same outfit when you fly out and back. If you’re leaving in winter, send your coat back home with a loved one or carry a light coat.

Carry extra plastic bags for laundry. Hotels have great laundry bags but be sure to use more than one as one alone can get bulky.

If you need to, take hand towels instead of a bath towel or invest in travel towels, which are lighter and dry more quickly than regular towels.

If you take vitamins or prescription drugs, use a pill dispenser and count out the amount you’ll need for the duration of your trip.

Leave expensive jewelry or gadgets at home.

Use zip lock bags to carry makeup or items that might spill during flight.

Invest in a luggage scale. You can find one for as little as $20.

When you purchase your ticket, check your airline’s baggage requirements to make sure your carryon fits their size and weight measurements.

Using these tips, my 19” suitcase and I have been on a 2 ½ -week trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, that included a 3-day safari, another 2-week trip to London and Paris, and several trips to Jamaica.

19″ suitcase.

If you’re not convinced there are benefits to traveling light, consider the cost – US$50 or more, depending on the carrier – and any other perks you might have to pass up.

Before we were leaving our safari camp, the company offered to fly us to the airport but, collectively, my friends and I had too much luggage. I can only imagine how lovely it would have been to see the animals from the air. Instead, we drove in an open jeep, exposed to the cold for nearly two hours. We could hardly feel our faces when we arrived.

On my last trip to London, my sister suggested that I take the Heathrow Express and meet her at Paddington Station. What she didn’t tell me was that we’d be taking several stairs, not elevators, plus walk narrow corridors, during rush hour, to make the connecting train. All I could think as I dragged my suitcase up and down the stairs was thank goodness my bag was light.

About the best part of traveling this way is that I’ve never had to pay for overweight — I never even worry about it. And sometimes, I don’t check my luggage so when I clear customs, I’m out the door. I don’t know about you but I hate watching that carousel go round and round hoping my bag didn’t go on its own vacation.

So, on the go traveler, are you ready to pack light?