By LaReese Crippen, 6-time traveler, Louisville, Colorado
After returning home and settling in, I’m ready to share some of my experiences visiting Africa with OAT last year. I’ll start from the beginning of my first trip, Ultimate Africa, when a small group of us took the pre-trip extension South Africa: Kruger National Park. Landing on an airstrip with baboons playing on it, I got off the plane and had one of those “pinch me” moments—realizing that I was actually in the African bush. After months and months of planning, I had finally come closer to what I had hoped to experience.
LaReese Crippen enjoys a Born Free moment in Botswana.
The main trip continued on to Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, ending in Cape Town for the post-trip tour. We flew from location to location, which was a great blessing, since the “main” roads are not much better than the bush roads. The terrain varied from the desert to the delta, with all types of animals in all different conditions. Truly a marvel!
I loved Cape Town—a first-rate city in a third-world country—with the backdrop of Table Mountain, which in itself is one of Mother Nature’s great wonders. By the end of my first adventure, I had truly fallen love with Africa.
Next, I joined a group for our Namibia & the Skeleton Coast: Africa’s Last Wilderness trip. What a difference in terrain. The highlights were the sand dunes, and the adaptability of the animals to the desert conditions. I would say that if I had just visited Namibia without having seen other parts of Africa, it might have been disappointing, but it’s a must-see as part of an in-depth African tour. I loved it.
LaReese shares a special moment with a Maasai woman in Tanzania during her travels through Africa.
Tanzania, which I visited twice (on Safari Serengeti and The Best of Kenya & Tanzania), was the highlight of my trip to southern Africa. My, what a beautiful country, what amazing animal life, what beautiful people! During four days in the Serengeti, we saw 67 lions, five hunts and two kills, five cheetahs, and three leopards. In one day alone, we even saw Africa’s “Big Five” mammals—the lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and black rhino. Seeing these animals up-close was truly a privilege, and I never tired of it. I also loved Tanzania’s Oldupai Gorge, where we visited the Leakey Museum and saw replicas of 3.5 million-year-old footsteps found in the area—significant because they proved early man was upright, had feet like ours, and shared a common ancestry with apes and chimps. I was so excited to see this place twice. I was somewhat overwhelmed with it the first time, but I was able to ask questions, look at things more closely, and really appreciate what I was seeing the second time.
Beyond Tanzania, Kenya added a lot to my experience in that I saw the homes of Karen Blixen, whose fascinating life was depicted in Out of Africa, and Joy Adamson—the renowned wildlife conservationist who authored Born Free. We also visited a game park where we saw 14 out of the 20 rhinos used as breeding stock for other parks, as well as hundreds of thousands of flamingos.
I then spent a few days on the post-trip extension to Zanzibar, the place where Arab slave traders bought and sold human lives. It was affecting to see the conditions where they were kept and how they were treated. It was also known as the center of the spice trade, and I visited a place where we could see the various ways that spices are grown. Most enlightening! Stone Town, Zanzibar’s old city and cultural center, is a vibrant place to visit. Local markets are always interesting, and those in Stone Town did not disappoint. Although it’s just the way things are here—and we just had to laugh—getting off the island was a bit of an adventure in itself because chaos reins everywhere.
One of the highlights of LaReese’s journey was crossing the dunes of the Sahara Desert in Morocco.
Following a brief visit to Amsterdam (a great contrast to Africa!) to meet some friends, I then ventured to North Africa to begin my Morocco Sahara Odyssey trip, an unexpected contrast. Morocco is another must-see—from its exotic, interesting people and religion to its terrain and history. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip there. One of the highlights of this adventure was spending two nights in the Sahara, climbing the dunes, and meeting the nomadic people there. I also loved Marrakesh—an exciting place, to be sure. I hadn’t considered just how much shoreline there is and how truly beautiful it is. We rode camels on the beach past near-naked Europeans vacationing there, and the camels even seemed to know their way. We chuckled over that. I just can’t say enough good things about Morocco, though Casablanca didn’t have as much to offer as I’d expected. I loved that I was able to participate in Ramadan, and gained great respect for the process, and what it means to the people and the religion.
Morocco is progressive, but not as much so as its North African neighbor—Tunisia—where I went next for my final trip, Tunisia: From the Mediterranean to the Sahara. I was not ready to go home and looked forward to more adventure, though I didn’t like Tunisia as much as I did Morocco. With more European influence, Tunisia is more modern. And in its capital city of Tunis, where 50 percent of the population is under 20 years old, there isn’t a lot of depth or history, but a lot of energy. I enjoyed this trip, which was engaging and informative, but it wasn’t exotic in the same way as the rest of the trip. It is interesting to realize now that Italy is only about 60 miles across the Mediterranean from Tunisia.
Throughout my four-and-half-months on this incredible continent, the women of Africa completely touched me. It’s so heart-wrenching—because they endure so much, yet are often so powerless. The women are the fabric of Africa, and you just have to love them. My African odyssey was absolutely fabulous, and I wouldn’t change a thing—not even the parts that didn’t go perfectly. I can say that what I experienced there truly changed my life in quite simple and profound ways. But what I loved most was seeing it with my fellow travelers, some of the most beautiful and wonderful people I have ever met. I made 80 new friends, whose love and support are what made the trip for me!
Experience the breathtaking landscapes and exotic wildlife on our Ultimate Africa: Botswana, Zambia & Zimbabwe Safari, Namibia & the Skeleton Coast: Africa's Last Wilderness, Safari Serengeti: Tanzania Lodge & Tented Safari, The Best of Kenya & Tanzania, Morocco Sahara Odyssey, and Tunisia: From the Mediterranean to the Sahara adventures.