Learning About the Cats in Northern Africa

 

There are so many stray cats in North Africa, it reminded me of my travels to Turkey where we saw so many in Ephesus what were considered famous historically. So that got me thinking about he cats I saw in Morocco on the Overseas Adventure travel Trip, Morocco’s Sahara Odyssey.  I wasn’t sure if these stray cats dated back to the time of Cleopatra as they did in Turkey, but I was curious about their origin. Even though I’m not particularly a cat person, this is of course, one of the joys of travel; the ability to learn about things that don’t necessarily cross our paths (in this case, quite literally). 

Exploring the Beauty of South Africa: The Garden Route, Dutch Cape Architecture, and Some Wine

 

Photos: Jann Segal
Winery along the Garden Route

I have long heard it said that the two most beautiful cities in the world are Sydney and Cape Town. Now that I have been to both, I can say that its true. But South Africa stunned me all the way around, with not only its rich and abundant animal life and diversity of culture, but its perhaps unparalleled beauty. The area known as the Garden Route sounded beautiful just in the name alone, and it didn’t disappoint in enjoying the experience of it.

On the tour with Overseas Adventure Travel now titled South Africa:  Swaziland, The Garden Route, and Cape Town, our first introduction to the beauty of the Garden Route was Knysna. We passed some beautiful gorges along the way, revealing the many faces of South Africa. This was surely a different South Africa than what I had experienced thus far on the trip considering the safari, animal wildlife, and culture days that were part of the itinerary. 

Adventures of a Passionate Solo Traveler

 

Photo: Jann Segal
Waterfall flowing upward in Iceland

They say if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. That has certainly been true during some of my travels, either independently or with a group, but always traveling solo. I've had a number of unplanned adventures during my travels which certainly added to the experience. Some were a bit scary, but all added to my exploration, and tested my skills at knowing what to during an uncertain travel situation.

 

My late arrival after 11 pm in Phuket, Thailand certainly qualifies, after the plane from Bangkok was running late for hours. A taxi drove me to a tiny Marina area in a jungle forest with a lone pier. There I was, late at night and nobody else around, where I was supposed to meet staff from my timeshare on tiny private Coconut Island. My taxi driver was just going to drop me off in the dark; he informed me he had ot catch the next ride from the airport.  I surveyed the surrounding area, and there wasn't even a hotel or restaurant nearby. Just jungle, completely unlit, no place to call if necessary. So, when he dropped me off at the dark and lonely pier, imagine my surprise when I saw a person standing next to a small boat saying," Are you Jann Segal?" 

Exploring Fez, Morocco: Time Travel in a Rich and Textured City

Photos: Jann Segal
Water salesman

When I went to Fez, Morocco with OverseasAdventure Travel, we were in parts 9th century, parts 14th century, in a glorious country that had the modernity of Tangier and Casablanca and the antiquity of Fez. We had left the 21^st century behind in the capitol city of Rabat where the base trip began for Morocco’s Sahara Odyssey.  Even our Riad, or traditional Moroccan guest house, was a step back into a different century with unique architecture, vivid colors, and artifacts from the past everywhere.

The first of our two days in Fez was a tapestry of traditional Moroccan sights, smells and sounds, but quite different from others we had already seen. They were perhaps the richest day of travel on the entire trip, although each day was unique. We spent the day at the Medina and started in the Mellah district also known as the Jewish Quarter. We visited the Aban Danan Synagogue, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The synagogue had a very simple door entrance as any other house in the same neighborhood, but the interior was somewhat elaborate and had undergone restoration. It even had a very old mikvah there, or a ritual cleansing bath. Our Trip Leader opened the Torah ark, and I was invited to take the dressing off the Torah along with one other woman who is Jewish. But she knew better than I... a Rabbi needs to be present, and a special blessing said, and she didn't know the blessings (nor was there a rabbi). Still, it was nice to have my heritage recognized like that, which I was hardly expecting. I left a donation in the tzaka box on the way out for charity.

Southern Africa: A River Runs Through It

Map Source: Wikipedia

 Any visitor to the Southern African nations learns quickly about the majesty of the Zambezi River; the fourth longest river in Africa; the longest river in the continent by some measures, but still only about half the length of the Nile. Having experienced both the Zambezi and the Nile rivers, the Zambezi is by far the most formidable, and certainly a completely different experience than the Nile.

 

The Blue City of Chefchaouen, Morocco and the Ancient City of Tetouan

The blue city of Chefchaouen in Spanish Morocco is about six hours outside of Casablanca by bus, and a glorious and colorful city to experience.  When I took this pre-trip with OverseasAdventure Travel on their Morocco Sahara Odyssey trip, we saw many colorful sights along the way. I never thought I’d be taken by the sight of casaba melons, but as with everything else in Morocco, it was a unique and colorful sight.

Of Travel and Timelessness

 

My name is Jann Segal, and I’m a travel addict. There, I said it. Writing is my twelve - step program, and thankfully, it’s not been working. I’ve given myself over to the higher power of travel and the tour companies who entice me. They constantly triumph, and I’m delighted with the outcome. But like any other addiction, mine has genetic roots.

I always knew it was my mother’s side of the family that was to blame. My mother Anita became a travel agent after I had started traveling, but the real culprit was her brother, First Lt. Edwin B. Kane, who died in Tunisia during World War Two.   Killed eight years before I was born, I obviously never got to know my late uncle. But when his affects were sent back home, included were his well-documented photos of the many places he was able to visit while on the European and African continents before the war took its toll. I looked at the photos constantly as a child, dreaming that someday I might get to visit Egypt, Libya, Africa, and Ethiopia, (the latter he documented as Abyssinia). These photos, in addition to his souvenirs which my mother eventually let me have, were absolute treasures to me.

Traveling the Middle East and Meeting the Guy with the Gun

Photos: Jann Segal

During my recent travels with Overseas Adventure Travel to the Middle East, in Egypt, Jordan and Israel, there was a been a character following me around the  trip in all three countries. It's a different person every time of course, but he has been ever present.  He helped us cross our first street in Cairo, and one gal called him what I have since... the guy with the gun.

Yes, we needed a guy with an M16 to help us cross the street in Cairo. And security escorts would turn on their sirens and push other cars aside, just so they could be our security detail. Sometimes they looked like they needed to complete high school, but they were armed. In Alexandria, the guy with the gun (and cell phone) helped connect me with the group after a group of kids just wanted to have their photos taken and I was lagging behind a bit. I think he was more interested in his phone call, but I came to expect that Egypt wouldn't be Egypt without the guy with the gun.

Special Moments in Morocco’s Sahara

Dromedary Central

There are special moments on every trip. Times that you never forget, and which you cannot always capture in any cameras.  They are moments to just enjoy and savor, like the people I saw in Southern India counting buckets of money. The Overseas AdventureTravel trip Morocco Sahara Odyssey is one of those trips that was filled with these moments.

The day we left for our two days on the Sahara was as rich in travel texture, as the variety of spices on that night’s tagine. We left our desert castle hotel, which was really in the middle of an oasis. Even the swimming pool there looked like it could be a mirage. As we drove through the desert in 4-wheel drive vehicles, it was impossible to know how the drivers could find their way to the camp. Even tire tracks and rocks get blown away by the wind and sandstorms, and we passed one mirage after another...we kept thinking there was water.

The day was rife with human interaction, the kind a traveler never forgets. On the way here, we visited a Berber woman and saw how she lived. She's married her first cousin thru an arranged marriage. One of her children suffers the consequences of that and is extremely mentally ill. In Morocco, they still hide mentally ill children as a disgrace to the family, even abusing them and chaining them to the room. But this is their tradition and custom, and even future generations will not change It we were told. I wanted to hug that woman and give her money above what our trip leader was giving her. It was wrenching to hear her story.

Explore the Cultural Crossroads of Morocco

Morocco has more cultures to explore then the average tourist is aware of. In fact, I traveled there solo a few years ago and noticed bits of it. But it wasn't until I took Morocco Sahara Odyssey with Overseas Adventure Travel, that I was able to truly experience the country and learn about all the cultural influences. And to me, this was pure bliss.

Ritual public  bathing before call ot prayer

Cultural variances can be seen as soon as arrival in Casablanca. Although the language there is French and Arabic, Casablanca is clearly Spanish for "white house". In fact, the white house from which the city derives its name is located on the coast. I saw it when I arrived a couple of days early and had a driver and guide take me up the coast to the once Portuguese occupied town of Al Jedda among others. The Portuguese cannons facing the water can be seen in various parts of the country up and down the coast.

Celebrate Cultural Connections: Women Preserving their Heritage

Photos: Jann Segal

I observe when I travel. It is part of my sightseeing experience, but more often part of my post –trip reflections. I have felt the tears of history in Vietnam; observed how clotheslines can reflect how an entire society lives all over the world, and very particularly in India; and beyond doubt, how women preserve their culture and heritage worldwide. I am sure that men participate somehow along the line, but it seems that the role of women is more prominent. Performing small acts or rituals to preserve cultural heritage is truly something to celebrate no matter the culture. For an understanding of different cultures makes us richer. Many countries have women’s cooperatives where this activity is nourished, and the women are afforded a livelihood as well.  As it turns out, the countries where I have observed this most prominently were countries I also wanted to return. In two cases, these were countries I visited on an independent trip and later returned with Overseas Adventure Travels. In the case of India, I took an OAT trip there to two separate regions, but also included independent travel.  In all cases, the way the women preserved their heritage was unmistakable.

Clotheslines: An open window to the soul of a people

Photo: Dan King

Clotheslines are a window into the soul of other people’s lives. From a seemingly small part of life, you can observe the daily ins and outs of the culture, the things you don’t get to see as a tourist. This is part of why we travel. Not just to see the sights, hear the sounds, and taste the wonderful food. We also travel to gain some insight into how the locals live, maybe even get to meet the people. Taking a look at the clotheslines outside of someone’s home is a perfect way to gain this understanding. And many tours give you the opportunity to see that, thus allowing us to understand the social and economic conditions of a country and the people who live there. But if they don’t, pay attention to the sights you see along the way. Even an unwitting tour guide will pass a local community on the way to a major sight. Some of the places that have given me this particular vantage point I took with Grand Circle Travel (www.gct.com ) or Overseas Adventure Travel (www.oattravel.com ). And of course, many I have taken independently.

Exploring South Africa, Malaria Free

I was greatly disappointed to learn during some of my recent adventurous travels, that I get severe reactions to all the various anti-malarial drugs.  For this reason, I felt that I would never be able to go on an African safari. Of course I consulted my physician, but I also did a significant amount of research. In the end, I took a magnificent trip to South Africa with Grand Circle Travels (www.gct.com) on their Highlights of South Africa trip. I traveled from May 12 to June 11 2016.  I ended up taking a wonderful cultural tour that hit all the high notes of South Africa, and also had 12 safari days out of 30, and not one mosquito bite! 

A Walk in the Park in South Africa

One thing I had not planned on was taking so many great hikes and nature walks in South Africa. I went on the Grand Circle Highlights of South Africa trip, which I took in conjunction with Outlook Safaris Classic Safari trip. This was exactly the combination of trips I wanted to take in South Africa, since I wanted to enjoy both the nature and culture. This trip had it all! South Africa is a land of true unrivaled beauty with a variety of vast and stunning scenery. Being able to hike amongst it was a real treasure that provided some unforgettable experiences.  I traveled from May 12 to June 11, 2016.  I purchased my own pre-trip from Outlook Safaris (http://www.outlook.co.za/)  and the South Africa base trip and post trip to Victoria Falls from Grand Circle (www.gct.com) .

Explore Africa: A World Like No Other in Zimbabwe and Botswana

Africa is a continent, a whole world in fact, like no other.  There are the charming cities in the southern Garden Route of South Africa as well as their wineries. The scenic Garden Route, starting in Port Elizabeth, eventually leads to magnificent Cape Town. There are the townships in Cape Town and Johannesburg that reveal to us the sordid history of South Africa and how Apartheid forever changed the face of that country – both the good and the bad of it. And of course, there is stunning Kruger Park, the largest of all the national parks, and one of the many homes to the Big Five.

Explore the Culture of Swaziland

There are many wonderful parts of Africa to visit while on a trip to South Africa, but one of the most beautifully unique is Swaziland. It is surrounded by both South Africa and Mozambique, and has a similar shared culture with Zululand, just hours away. The round huts you see as you drive thought the vast Swazi landscapes are identical to the Zulu huts in South Africa, but you are in a distinctly different country.