Tackling the Globe…

Much of my planning for my month in Africa will likely be left for the 11th hour (i.e. next Wednesday), as I have a self-imposed daily 3,500-word count I must write for my Tennessee book, on top of tending to my queries from Frommer’s and mundane production stuff (i.e. the dreaded maps!) and working on all the other magazine stories that I have due in the next month. I don’t want to be a total workaholic stress case while I’m trekking about Africa for four weeks, after all, so I’m trying to knock out the majority of my work in advance. Besides, Lord knows, I have plenty of time to sleep during my three(!) days in transit. That said, I still feel like there’s stuff I need to do, such as:

-Kit out my camera. In traveling in third-world countries, it’s always best to not look like a rich tourist. Sure, my foreignness is going to be blindingly obvious, but if I’m going to tote around a fancy camera, it will benefit me to look janky, meaning lots of layers of Gaffa tape. Hey, who do you think the thief is going to go for: little ol’ me and my equipment with all its wear and tear or the guy beside me with his pricey Mark II so obviously expensive dangling from his neck?

-Stock up on mosquito-fighting agents. SVV and I doused ourselves in 100% DEET while in Central America and still got gnawed to pieces by skeeters, sand flies, fleas and the likes. My nurse told me that 30 to 40% DEET is really all I need, but that it would benefit me to spray all my clothes in clothing repellent, which lasts three or more wears, as well.

-Uh, pack. Now, I consider myself an expert packer by now, but I fear I’m not going to be able to abide by my normal carry-on-only philosophy, as I will be gone exactly one month and necessary electronics alone will occupy half my bag. Thus, I’m going to take my laptop bag and a medium-sized checked bag. I’ve been collecting things in a pile for a month when I think about needing them, but so far the random odds and ends that I’d likely forget in the end are collected in one spot. Also, after my good pal May got her CHECKED BAG broken into on her recent flight via a Mexican carrier, I’m going to be extra cautious from now on. Even though, my electronics will remain on me always, when flying an airline that has a bad rap or I’m unsure of, I will be locking my bag, wrapping it in plastic (many airports offer this option) and documenting it on camera prior to each flight. Travel writer friends have had similar experiences on South African Airways, and as Mom and I are flying them domestically, we will be taking necessary precautions.

-Print out every last hotel and flight confirmation, forward it all on to SVV and another friend just in case, as well as keep separate copies in my carry-on and checked bag, and pay all my bills in advance. ‘Nuff said.

-Shop. I’ve gotten better about not using every last trip for one massive Target run—if that were the case, I’d be broke as a joke, yo—but there are some things I need such as a functioning converter (recs on one that actually lasts?), aforementioned skeeter deterrents and healthy snacks for all that time spent in transit so I don’t use a growling stomach as an excuse for a diet consisting of chocolate purchased at duty free.

-Purchase our wedding bands. Unrelated to travel, yes, but still! Wedding clock’s a ticking. When I return, I have all of 38 days remaining until I get hitched! (Save your “you’re crazy!” comments for another day, please.)

On the flip side, here’s what I have done already:

-Vaccinations. It may surprise you to know, but with all the traveling I’ve done, I’ve rarely been required to get any sort of vacs or take any drugs. Thus, in order to go to Rwanda, I had to be a human pincushion for a few days. On top of seasonal flu and H1N1 shots, I was required to get updated tetanus and polio, Hep A, typhoid and yellow fever. I’m not going to sugar coat it, the last two made my arm hurt like a bitch for several days, but all in all, the experience was pretty easy breezy. I had called a travel clinic that quoted me something short of highway robbery like $1,000, so in the end, I went to San Francisco’s Adult Immunization & Travel Clinic at the public health department headquarters. Given that this is located in homeless central, I was a little bit worried about the quality of care, but in the end, was very pleased with my experience. The nurse could not have been nicer—she even laid me down to administer all my shots, as she took one look at my pallid face (I am squeamish to a fault) while she was talking about the procedure and feared I might pass out—as well as very informative. For example, I opted against the rabies vac ($600 and three painful pricks? no thanks!), so she gave me the blow-by-blow on what to do should I get bitten or scratched (hightail it to Nairobi for proper treatment, it seems). In all, two visits and two aching arms later, I was set to go.

-Picked up my scrips. I did a lot of research before settling on doxycycline as my anti-malarials. I have heard so many horror stories about malarone and mefloquine that I wanted to avoid those at all costs. At the same time I was going through all of this, my running buddy Autumn was crashing at our house for five nights prior to her India trip. She was on one of the aforementioned drugs and acting all funny and having some mad hallucinations. The only downside of doxy is sun sensitivity (I’m good about wearing sunscreen every day as it is) and that you have to take it daily and for 28 days upon your return. Still, I’m all for inconvenience over going mental.

Despite taking meds, there’s still a very good chance I could contract malaria anyway—three blog readers wrote me saying they caught it when on the anti-malarials—but one American non-profit worker in the Sudan, Alie, told me what to do should this happen. “In Africa, malaria’s like the common cold. My advice is at first sign of muscle ache, head throbs, fever, chills, or nausea that you go ahead and take the treatment meds,” she said. “They don’t hurt to take even if you don’t have malaria. Many travelers attribute these symptoms to jet lag so they leave it for a few days. But, if possible, you want to avoid making a visit to a local clinic—THAT is no walk in the park. Take any terrible health care experience you’ve had a multiply it by 100 in Africa. So just take the meds at any sign of sickness.”

-Called my credit card company. I cannot tell you how many times Citicards has put a hold on my card for “suspicious activity” in one country or another. This is all well and good with as much identify theft going on, but when you’re stuck in a third-world country and you’re only card has been denied? Not fun. In fact, in booking our flights, rental car, etc., Citicards put a hold on my mom’s card three times, even though she called them each time and told them she was going abroad. Still, before every trip now, I phone my credit card company and give them my away dates and projected countries. Better to cover all bases in advance.

Also, were you aware you can use the Costco pharmacy even if you’re not a member? Neither was I. Just another nugget my kind nurse shared with me before she called in my prescriptions. I have horrible health care via a BCBS independent policy that never covers any prescriptions, and I picked up two months worth of anti-malarials, as well as a box of Cipro (Montezuma can quickly ruin a trip…better to start off prepared!), and my total came to a whopping…$16.23. Amazing.

What am I forgetting? Also, the final leg of our trip, the Garden Route in South Africa, still needs planning. Advice there? We have five days to drive it, and I am overwhelmed with all the information out there on the Internet. I would much prefer your help and advice!

Back in November, when I was trekking it across the Israeli desert, I got the chance to see one of the world’s wonders.* After driving for miles and miles through brown rocky terrain and placid, sandy desert, it truly is magnificent to see muted shades of turquoise peaking back through the haze from just over the other side of a steep ledge.

When our rickety little van reached the first resort town bordering the lake, we stopped at a spa for a dip. (Many of the spas along the waterfront offer entrance, locker rooms, towels and lake access for $10 or so, as well as sell the famed Dead Sea beauty products and offer food or some sort of lakeside snack bar.)  And it did not take my friend Amy and I five minutes to throw on our bikinis and go frolicking out onto the shore, ready to take the plunge. Only, you know how you always see those touristy posters where the model, perfectly coiffed and made up, is lounging leisurely atop the Dead Sea, a pina colada and magazine in hand, not a care in the world? That was NOT my experience. Check out this video footage and see what I mean:

The Dead Sea, Israel from krysleigh on Vimeo.

First of all, I could not for the life of me stay on my back while floating. I kept flipping over onto my stomach without rhyme or reason, which is precisely what you DON’T want while in the Dead Sea.

You know why? Because the Dead Sea is full of SALT (duh), and salt, it burns the eyes. And no matter what action you take to prevent this from occurring, let me be the bearer of bad news: It will happen.

Amy and I had been wading in the sea for a few moments when our eyes both felt like they’d been lit on fire. The worst part is you can’t even attempt to wipe the salt out of them, as it only makes the situation that much more dire. Luckily, I was wise enough a couple readers wrote me advising me to take my dive booties to prevent slicing and dicing my tootsies on the rocky mud and silt that lines the lake, so my feet  were one part of me that remained unscathed from the experience.

Also? The water was COLD, y’all. Frigid even. Doesn’t it look like it would feel like the Indian Ocean, an almost-too warm 86 degrees? Well, here’s news to you: It’s not.

Would I recommend going despite the chilly temps and salty disposition? Sure, why not. If you’re in the area in either Israel or Jordan (that’s Jordan in the background, just a mile away on the other shore), it’s definitely a beautiful site to see—one that may not be around for a whole lot longer—particularly as the sun sets. Just be sure and take a sturdy set of goggles and something to keep your feet protected. And don’t be surprised if sketchy Israeli men on the banks break out their cameras and start pointing them your way. (Just my experience…I was also blown away by how few people were actually in the water. Perhaps due to the sheer size and many access points along the sea’s shores?)

*Technically, the Dead Sea was barred from receiving the honor of “World’s New Seven Wonders”  in 2009 due to political implications, but I say it deserves an honorable mention nonetheless.

When SVV and I went with my family on a Holland America cruise to Alaska two years ago, we couldn’t have gotten luckier: brilliant blue skies, a shining sun and dramatic clouds (most days).

That said, my favorite days were definitely the ones spent at sea sailing through Glacier Bay, as unfortunately I found the port of calls too touristy for my liking—until we reached Sitka, that is.

Unlike Ketchikan and even Juneau to an extent, airbrush stores and trinket stops didn’t litter the dock. There weren’t loads of other ships anchored offshore—just our little 1,000-person boat—nor were there hundreds of tourists milling about. At times, we felt like we had the whole little fishing and mining town to ourselves.

Sitka itself was so small, there was no need to book an excursion. You could wander around town and find your way in the middle of a totem pole forest. (Note: If you’re planning an Alaskan cruise anytime soon, don’t let them sucker you into paying for tours unless it’s something really cool like glacier hiking or a helicopter ride.)

Many of the structures were more than 100 years old, and it was just such an odd feeling wandering through a deserted forest and then oh! stumbling upon 20-foot-tall totem pole by 20-foot-tall totem pole.

Each more varied and intricate than the last.

Alas, I don’t know what any of them mean, but can you imagine being the person who took years out of your life to carve such a marvel? I don’t even have the patience to finish knitting a simple hat in one sitting.

The funny thing is that as a child my grandparents brought me back a totem pole statue. It sat on my dresser for nearly 20 years until my parents moved, and my mom got some fancy designer to come in and do his thang (read: take away all our childhood memorabilia). It never occurred to me then I might someday actually see one in the flesh.

*All photos taken with a Canon XSi, 17-85mm lens, housed in a LowePro SlingShot.

**For more Photo Friday fun, visit Delicious Baby.

The number one question people tend to ask when they find out what I do is easy enough to guess—What’s your favorite country?—but much harder to answer. I’ve been to—well, who really knows at this point?—but likely between 70 and 80 countries, and how do you  even go about picking a favorite? Well, I guess it depends on your determining factors. Culture? Morocco. Off-the-beaten-path-ness? Romania. I could live there for the rest of my days? Portugal. Adventure sports, adrenaline opportunities? New Zealand. Will someone bring me another boat drink while I bask in this most perfect paradise? The Maldives, Cook Islands, the Great Barrier Reef, *insert one of a dozen tropical destinations I love and to which I can’t wait to return.*

But the other day I got a much easier, more interesting question posed to me via cyberspace: What are your least favorite countries? Now, this is a question I can get behind. It’s probably going to make me unpopular with a handful of tourism boards—not to mention many of you who either hold these places near and dear to your heart or, much worse, live in them—but here are a few places I have no plans to revisit anytime soon.

-Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I’m sorry, but I absolutely hated the stretch of country that I saw. I was on the Punta Cana side for a story for Real Simple, and it was so sad to me how there was a littering of resorts on the east side of the country, totally walled off from the actual towns and their people, completely separated from reality. The dichotomy of the rich travelers in the resorts and the poor villagers was too much to bear. The handful of resorts I did visit lacked both hospitality and basic services like electricity (apparently, it’s perfectly normal for the power to go out multiple times a day…forget maintaining a normal hygiene routine). I went scuba diving and the coral was bleached and the marine life non-existent. I also didn’t dig the people at the resort saying it wasn’t wise to actually get out and see a little of the DR, for safety reasons. Why would I even want to visit a country and not see any of it, but just stay in my own little hotel box? If that were the case, I would have remained in the States and gone to Florida. And had I known I was going to be hotel-bound the duration of my trip, I likely would have opted for elsewhere in the Caribbean (Dominica, Montserrat, Bonaire, wherever). Overall, my worst trip to date. The good things? Pretty sunsets and I learned to trapeze.

-Helsinki, Finland. It could be that whole cab debacle that tainted my experience, but having lived in Denmark and spent some time in Sweden and Norway, as well, I found Helsinki to be a bit drab and nowhere near as enticing as Scandinavia’s other big players. Lapland, however, I will give a shot…one day.

-Guatemala. I wanted to LOVE Guatemala, I really wanted to, but I just…didn’t. Neither did SVV. Lago Atitlan was beautiful (unfortunately, we started our trip here and everything else was downhill after that), but Antigua was a major disappointment. I’d heard so much hype from friends who had been there before, but we just found it Little America. Everyone was an American expat and spoke English. Chichicastenango did not live up to the hype, not even close: It’s played up as “the best market in Central America,” but as a global market shopper with a discerning, I came away with an outfit for my nephew and a purse for my niece and that’s it. Guatemala City was just dirty and rundown (as we knew it would be, but we had to fly in and out of there after all). Also, it rained our entire two weeks there, and there’s not a whole lot to do indoors. Aaaaand we got bed bugs in Monterrico. Awesome. I won’t say I’d never go back to Guatemala, but if I do, it will be a side trip to Tikal (Star Wars rebel base!) when next I’m in Belize.

-Brussels, Belgium. I’ve been to Belgium a handful of times. The first was on Spring Break in college, and then on other occasions while living in Holland. I love Antwerp and Bruges with every ounce of my soul. And Brussels was where Scott and I first drunkenly made out while at a conference at the European Parliament. Nevertheless, I find the city too industrial for my liking.

-Fes, Morocco. I could have stayed a month in Marrakesh. I had the time of my life in the Sahara. I thought Essaouria was stunning in its coastal beauty. Chefchaouen, its center painted entirely in blue, was a marvel. But Fes? I don’t get the appeal. I constantly felt as if I were going to get pickpocketed, and the tight medina with its multitude of hustlers chasing us for blocks did not really a pleasant experience make. I tasted my first pigeon here, so at least there’s that.

-Cuba. I won’t say Andi and I didn’t have a great time—we did. And I won’t say we didn’t experience our share of travel trauma—we did that, as well. But I was honestly expecting so much more from this forbidden fruit than what I saw.  Likewise, the food was terrible until we finally wised up our last night and ate at our casa particular, after which her husband gave us salsa lessons (the best part of the visit, by far). Perhaps had our pleas to rent a car been granted and we had made it down to Trinidad, as well as out to la Isla de la Juventud (we had tickets well in advance, but alas, the plane never left the ground), my Cuban memories would have been a bit fonder. As it stands, Havana has some impressive colonial architecture and Playas del Este was beautiful (yet locals weren’t allowed on the same stretch of sand as tourists), but I have no immediate plans to return.

-Singapore. Singapore was clean and green and the food was good and the people were nice, and it’s not that I in any way found it non-charming or unlikable. It’s just that it’s so teensy-tiny, I feel like I saw what I need to see and, thus, should spend my time exploring new territory. End of story. Haters, go ahead and hate.

-Roatan, Honduras. On the same trip as Guatemala, so maybe I’m not given it a fair shake due to our terrible luck with weather. The diving was fine (I’ve experienced better), and our dive resort Anthony’s Key was nice enough (though the food was so terrible it’s as if the place was implying I needed to be on a diet), but honestly, we circled the whole island and I saw very little that made me in a hurry to book a ticket back.

Do you agree with my above choices? Want to talk me out of my decision and give me a convincing reason I should give them second chances? What places have you visited that you found sorely overrated?