Just some thoughts about our trip. First of all I thought the itinerary was perfect except I would have liked another day in Cape Town to really explore Stellenbosch. With that exception, we had just enough time in each location. I didn’t feel rush and I didn’t feel like we had too much time. All the people we met were warm and friendly, however I didn’t feel safe at night in the cities of South Africa. Our guides were extremely knowledgeable. Of course the animal sightings were amazing. We saw every animal you would expect to see in Africa. We heard about poaching which is a very real threat that needs better management locally and globally to reduce/eliminate both the supply and the demand sides of the problem.
As I mentioned early I think Iguazu Falls were much more impressive than Victoria Falls but that could be because we were there when it was drier.
The most importantly I felt that Southern Africa has a long road ahead of them to prosperity. South Africa was really ravaged by Apartheid. It will take a long time to undo the damage that was done. I could say a similar thing about Zimbabwe which endured 37 years of mismanagement by Robert Mugabe and today suffers from 90% unemployment. In summary I am left with the belief that we need to treat people fairly and justly all the time because it takes a long journey to recover from oppression.