Travel Log

Spring is for lovers…and cherry blossoms.  Despite love’s penchant for sometimes proving elusive, over a million people can be counted on to flock to Washington, DC to immerse themselves in pale pink when over 3000 cherry trees unfurl to full bloom.  A gift from the wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States 107 years ago, Viscountess Chinda presented them to President Garfield as a gesture of lasting friendship between the two countries. Usually reaching peak in late March to early April, the trees now symbolize the unofficial arrival of Spring and an irresistible draw to people from all over the world.

The crowds and celebrations commemorating the pink explosion are nearly as impressive as the natural beauty painting the capital when the trees are in bloom.  Under the warm rays of a bright sun, the panoramic sweep of the tidal basin is breathtaking. To help visitors time their trips to coincide with the trees’ flowering, the National Park Service begins posting bloom predictions four to six weeks in advance of peak.  With parades, fireworks at the city’s gleaming restored harbor, kite festivals and food tie-ins at chic restaurants, festivities surrounding the splendor can border on lavish. 

Easily the most popular place to see the trees is along and around the Tidal Basin, the site of the trees first planting with the Jefferson Memorial anchoring the vista’s south end.  Arriving early before 8 would be prudent. Paths threading around the Basin may be slightly less thick with people and cameras at that hour.  Even in the early morning chill, women will be wearing sleeveless sheer pastels as they strike pose with clouds of cherry blossoms filling the background of their photo ops.  Tripods proliferate like sunglasses in Cannes. It’s at the Tidal Basin that the sheer scale of the event becomes visceral.  Thousands of people gathered in one spot to take in the abundant beauty of a 100-year-old gift with iconic monuments in the distance and the majesty of a nation’s capital all around you. 

Less frenetic opportunities to absorb the spectacle are plentiful.  Pockets of calm can be found in late afternoon on quiet walks like the short stroll from Union Station to the Library of Congress. The sidewalks on Independence Ave. are open and wide with a small postcard worthy  park filled with resplendent cherry trees and serenity just to your left.

Like any leisure visitor to DC, taking advantage of the chance to gorge on the endless trove of treasures found in many of the capitol’s excellent museums and galleries should be considered mandatory.  And while finding them may require recommendations from locals, Washington is also loaded with one of a kind jewels in the neighborhoods you’d be remise to ignore like Eastern Market and Union Market; both in NE. 

Eastern Market with its red brick facade and wide variety of specialty meat, fish and other premium concessions is like a micro version of Philadelphia’s massive Reading Terminal Market. Neighborhood scaled, there’s always a long line queued up on weekends for killer blueberry pancakes at the rustic eatery in the market’s north end.  Outside, artists and craftsmen from high to not-so-high sell everything from remarkable pottery and rare maps to cleverly irreverent T shirts and eclectic clothing; making the scene a swirling confection of counterculture and fine art. 

Union Market; newer, sleeker, hipper has proven itself a formidable rival and has the Fishmonger among its many superb culinary charms in its quiver.  It’s Mahi Mahi fish tacos are so bountiful, fresh and delicious, they shoot the standard for excellence up at least ten notches. You can also find one of a kind unisex shoes from the tiny company Sabah.  Made of water buffalo hide and hand stitched, their simple beauty ooze of classic good taste and comfort.

Back in the city’s center and along the Mall, the thrills are all visual and housed in sensational architecture.  As one of the oldest public buildings in Washington, The National Portrait Gallery is Greek Revival at its finest and now home to a painting that’s been boosting the gallery’s foot traffic since with was installed last February.  Much like the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, the official portrait of President Obama by Kehinde Wiley has taken on a life of its own with people lining up to take selfies in front of the life size portrait backfilled with bright leafy green. 

From one of the city’s oldest public structures, it’s about 3 miles to the far end of the mall and one of the newest and most celebrated buildings in town, the National Museum of African American History and Culture or NMAAHC. Directly across from the still closed Washington Monument, the NMAAHC has been racking up acclaim since it opened two years ago and to date has hosted over 5 million visitors.   Long waits and crowded galleries were the norm for months and tickets nearly impossible to secure.  Even now, with visitors from around the globe and across the country filling Washington, the mass of people flowing through the museum’s five remarkable floors are imposing and occasionally daunting.  As the museum settles into itself and the consciousness of the country, the diversity of visitors continues to expand.

Neither an art gallery or a house regaling the wonders of the natural world, NMAAHC commemorates a people’s past and chronicles their journey to the present.  A place where that  past is remembered soberly and compassionately.  And one where it and the journey to the present are beautifully celebrated.

David Adjaye, lead designer and Philip Freelon, lead architect brought elements of two worlds together to craft a building whose stately elegance is destined to grow with time.  Using aspects of classic Greco-Roman design for its core, the building is tiered with by a series of stacked crowns “inspired by the three-tiered crown used in Yoruban art from West Africa”.

Like so much of the bounty found in Washington, testaments on this scale can’t be entirely absorbed in a single day.  Which makes the NMAAHC one more reason among many to return to Washington DC in any season.

Often called infinitely fascinating, Africa is unexpected and exciting in a million different ways.  If you’ve finally decided to go on a safari and live your fantasy, there’s many ways to do so.  Most people choose conventional accommodations that include a comfortable bed, hot meals and showering facilities when they book their lodging.  More intrepid travelers can choose to place themselves in closer proximity to the landscape and nature.

Promoting the concept of one stop shopping, most cruise lines contract with local concerns to offer guests excursions that include extended experiences like safaris.  The cruise line becomes the single point of contact for guests who derive comfort in knowing precisely who to call if they have questions or if things go awry.  When traveling, the fewer points of accountability you have to deal with, the better. 

Prior to your trip, your travel agent may advise that you look into vaccinations that would be appropriate to your destination.   There are numerous malaria free safaris offered in Africa. The Cape area has been malaria free for years now.   However yellow fever and other types of infections are still potential dangers.  Checking to find out what your doctor or travel clinic recommend regarding vaccinations is highly advisable.  If shots are required, they can run into the hundreds of dollars and are not generally covered by insurance plans.  Some travel agents are comfortable enough to even advise skipping vaccinations all together based on guest feedback from previous bookings.  Generally, however it’s always best to err on the side of caution.     

In South Africa’s Eastern Cape, land once used for farming and livestock has been converted to game reserves. Approximately a one and one-half drive outside of Port Elizabeth, Amakhala game reserve is the end result of eight families combining their land to protect their own economic well-being.  Sustained losses in agriculture prompted them to look to tourism to re-establish ongoing fiscal viability. 

Typically the number of guests being served by any given safari lodge is relatively small; often consisting of ten or fewer people.  At the Safari Lodge on the Amakhala’s northern edge, a clutch of solid round thatch-roofed structures simulating the look of huts are part of an enclave. A small and attractive welcoming space with couches and a serene view is linked to an open-air communal dining area that can be enclosed on cool evenings.   Some units even boast personal watering holes effectively enticing animals like Norman the elephant to your “backyard”. 

Staff is lean with a driver for the daily outings, a cook and a host who also acts as the server during meals.                                                         

Safari Lodge is one of eight lodges scattered throughout the reserve’s 20,000 acres.   Hundreds of tourists from around the world travel to it and other game parks throughout the region to see the big five (elephants, lions, water buffalo, leopards and rhinos) as well as scores of other indigenous wildlife unique to that part of the continent. 

In January, during the areas peak season, roads crisscrossing Amakhala see plenty of traffic with rugged oversized all-terrain vehicles from several lodges rumbling down paths in search of game.  Even with heavy activity, “bunching” at specific sites never occurred.  To optimize guests seeing as much wildlife as possible, tours start early, include a lunch break and then you’re out again until dusk.

Though living quarters run from the comfortably rustic to the luxurious, excursions out into the reserve may test your hardiness.  Even in their January summers, mornings and evening can be quite cool.  A warm jacket could prove an asset on some drives out into the bush and although a broad brimmed hat is also recommended to protect from sun exposure, a good baseball cap works fine too. 

Because Amakhala is so well stocked, there’s always plenty to see during a day’s outing.  Giraffe seem to be everywhere, as are zebra, wart hogs and orecks.  There are lions lazing after a morning kill, and water buffalo late in the afternoon rushing to a watering hole to drink and loll in the cooling water.  A springbok might whiz by reacting to the presence of some unseen danger and rhinos move slowly in the distance exuding the formidability of a slow-moving tank. 

Safaris are far more than open air zoos.  They are stages where life and death are in a constant dance.   Much of it conducted in total silence.  It’s also in this natural environment that you clearly detect the innate intelligence programmed into every species.  In natural settings, you can sense animals making decisions based on the degrees of safety or danger they feel in the instant.   Life becomes the twin constants of watching and listening.

Gaining a renewed knowledge and understanding of the natural world through an African safari is a gift that would thrill at any age.

Next:  High End Cruising

There are places in the world that let you know immediately how closely we’re connected and Cape Town is one of them.  Seventeen hours by air from the United States, three-quarters of an entire day, it is on the surface very much like what a large American city looks like with its solid infrastructure and its thriving tourism economy.  Even within the throes of a dire drought, the city continues to bustle with little evidence of its desperate prospects.

Most city dwellers love urban life and they often look for its pleasures when they travel.  People from around the world flock to Cape Town during the region’s summer months of November through February.  Every day during peak season, 180,000 of them of them end up at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, a sprawling playground of shops and restaurants that lacks the gaucheness of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf and exudes a carefree open air European chic.  Wonderfully talented musicians like the Ilitha Lelanga Marimba Ensemble and exotic mimes compete to enthrall out of towners with the electric pulse of their sound or the eerie realism of the motionless characters they’re impersonating. 

Walking distance from downtown, the Waterfront is just as popular with locals; much in the way Chicago’s Navy Pier remains an irresistible siren to its residents.  It’s also where you’ll see the kind of cavalcade of faces that you won’t experience anywhere else on the globe.  A place where worlds meet and a place that shows first-hand what humanity looks like when opposite worlds blend.  Some of the most engrossing of them all are the native faces that carry the unmistakable look of place.  Whether they are Zulu, Dinka, Sotho or another of the many tribes of South Africa, their features are distinct and beguiling.  

The gastronomic side of the Waterfront features seafood and fast casual predominantly with a good representation of Italian cuisine. Not only are most restaurants geared to western tastes; most of them can be considered good to very good. 

Venturing into the core of the city, a different profile emerges as people wait in queues for buses or walk purposefully along the streets.  Here the diversity in faces virtually disappears and the harsher economics of the city come into sharper focus.  The architecture of colonialism emerges along with the vestiges of South Africa’s apartheid past.  It’s here you begin to see the city’s and the country’s complexity and glimpse some of the challenges that they face.

Some of those challenges stem from one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions:  Robben Island.  Approximately 20 minutes by ferry from the glistening retail pomp of the Albert and Victoria Waterfront, the island has been in use since the 17^th century.  Formerly a leper colony, Robben Island’s true notoriety comes from its use as a maximum-security political prison during the Apartheid period that began in the late 40’s and ended in 1990.  Nelson Mandela, it’s most famous inhabitant, eventually rose to become the country’s president after 27 years of incarceration.  Now ex-prisoners are docents, giving first person accounts of the types of lives they lived on the island. 

Remote and stark, the island carries with it a sense of suspension; like some heinous memorialized purgatory.  Walking the grounds, peering into the cells and listening to the guide’s accounts of daily life at the prison, you can also faintly discern the spirit and spirits of the facility.  Not only the did the degradation perpetrated at the prison feel tangible, but reliance and strength the prisoners provided each other also become clear through the guide’s narrative.  South Africa’s current political struggles leave the impression that Robben Island is as much tied to South Africa’s present as it is to its past. 

With a towering 3500’ natural wall at its back, Cape Town also has natural beauty standing right at his shoulder.  Table Mountain, with its two-mile-wide plateau at the very top is easily Cape Town’s most photographed attraction.  More correctly, the views of Cape Town from the mountain’s summit rack up the most snaps.   Although there are many who choose to climb the mountain to the plateau, the preferred mode of transport is a gentle cable car in continuous rotation from the foot of the mountain to its flat top. Crowds can get intense.  Planning your visit to avoid peak attendance is highly recommended.  If you find yourself in a two-hour queue for a descending cable car, you might question whether the captivating views were worth it.  They are.  But if you have an option to make the visit less tedious, maximize the quality of time you spend in Cape Town and do your homework on this one. 

Next:  Into the bush on an African Photographic Safari –

When boarding takes place in cities whose renown rests in a storied history, adventure or exoticism, many cruise lines will offer excursions that brings travelers closer to the distinguishing aspects of the locale.  They also provide opportunities to explore cities freestyle by selecting hotel accommodations well situated for walking and discovering.

Even more strategically, business class air options are often built into the cost of the cruise.  Lines will routinely provide a credit if you choose to make your own arrangements but the credit often does not result in a savings and can result in a greater expense.  And you can always upgrade from business to first class at your own expense.

First class on British Airlines means spaciousness, exaggeratedly attentive service and good food.  With a flight time of eight hours between Chicago and London, the trip across may not be Concord quick but it’s still considered short.   Boarding at 8pm and arriving early the following morning, a gourmet dinner, a seat that converts to a bed with sheets and blankets and a complimentary pair of pajamas are all intended to insure a restful as well as a pampered experience.

The eight-hour layover in Heathrow may have been inconvenient and tedious, but it provided yet another chance to see how differently cities look from the vantage point of its airports.

London’s Heathrow International Terminal looks more like Chicago’s Michigan Ave. than it does an airport terminal. It’s the energy that gives it a patina of vibrancy.   Bustling with shoppers, its aisles are more like streets lined with every haute couture franchise you can imagine.  Herme’s, Prada and Gucci; as well as every other name associated with luxury and glamour, have sparkling little outposts teeming with bling.

Dollars are accepted as well as the British pound but change will only be provided in local denominations.  Visa, MC and Amex remain the true international currencies.    If it doesn’t come as part of your airfare, paying the going rate for access to an airline’s club facility (usually $50) might be worth your while.  Some even have showers and sleep rooms.  All have food.  Compared to Heathrow, the British Airways club lounge in Chicago O’Hare airport is a meager but perfectly functional affair.  Although in London there are several hot options from soups to entrees, virtually all of it was very disappointing.  The offerings were more like food facsimiles rather than satisfying nutrition options.

An eleven-hour business class flight from London to Cape Town constituted the last leg of the rendezvous with Explorer and the difference in aircraft getting us there couldn’t have been more stark.  Reclining seats were oddly arranged and it was often necessary to awkwardly climb over another passenger’s feet to visit the washroom.  Flight xxxx also was showing its age with molding around one of the crew’s storage bins becoming loose and dangling dejectedly over the aisle.  Even though an air of age and use pervaded the entire cabin, the feeling was one of watching a seasoned workhorse continue to perform soundly and reliably.   Both first and business class categories offer full body reclining seats but even by lying completely flat and being provided covering, capturing real sleep was hard, even when exhausted.  That said, coach is coach and quarters are even more confining.  Your age, resources and maybe even your curiosity should guide final category buy decisions

The age of elegant cruising when women hopped on board beautiful ocean liners with ten steamer trunks stuffed with gowns and men never went to dinner without a tux are long gone.  But fashion evolution is about the only thing that’s changed about cruising.  Its popularity remains immense now that the cost to meander on the high seas fits just about any pocket book.  Growing with every new season, there are enough niches in the industry to capture any interest.  Fitness cruises, holiday cruises, singles cruises, entertainment cruises and cruises for the disabled tell you why the industry can thump its chest and croon about its 40 billion dollars in annual revenues.  One segment that is making a not so surprising resurgence are lap of luxury cruises that push the boundaries of sophistication and service. 

A no holds barred January vacation provided a glimpse into what that world is like.  For those with the means to escape winter by dipping below the equator for a month may find this series illuminating.  The complete itinerary includes a journey to Cape Town South Africa, an unforgettable wild life safari, a two week westward voyage across the Atlantic on with stops in Namibia and the remote island of St. Helena before ending in explosively vibrant Rio de Janerio.  These observations will give you a sense of how adventure can be grafted onto a luxury sea cruise.

Billing it as“the most luxurious ship ever built”, initially critics thought Regent Seven Seas was taking a big gamble two and a half years ago when it launched Explorer. They doubted the market could sustain such pronounced opulence that includes sumptuous cabin appointments, quietly stunning common areas, multiple exceptional dining options and service that’s as discreet as it is impeccable.   

Regent’s five ship fleet was already courting the upper reaches of the cruising market before Explorer joined the pack.  Based out of Miami and owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines, Regent recently invested $125 million dollars in refurbishment costs to bring the rest of the fleet in line with the “all balcony, all suite” Explorer which went into service in July 2016. 

The all-inclusive pricing structure of luxury cruising ranks as one of its most overwhelming draws.  Couple never having to reach for your wallet with pervasively posh beauty and service so polished to approach elegance, it’s really no wonder why traveling of this style has a strong appeal. 

The Plan

Every trip starts with a wish and a plan.  If it’s on the planet and has a port, there’s a cruise that will get you there.  Having spent years enjoying the pleasures of boarding a ship, unpacking and being chauffeured from one exotic location to the next without having to pack again and change hotel rooms, it was time to do it in style.  A PBS program on the making of the Regent Explorer and an accidental upgrade a few years ago to a sumptuous boutique cruise line in Alaska propelled the craving. 

Then the question became “where”.  Settling on a photographic safari in Africa, the last piece in the puzzle became “how”. 

For both convenience and ease of management, cruise lines specialize in packages.  They can include everything from the cruise itself, the airline arrangements to get to the ship, excursions at the ports of call, hotel accommodations, and ground transportation.  And, despite their being more expensive, most guests take advantage of them for sheer expedience.

Next:  Rendezvousing with Explorer

How alien is rail travel to the average American?  In an age of instant everything, how relevant is the passenger train?  Headed to San Francisco from Chicago, with stops in Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, Vegas and Yosemite, I was about to find out. 

Union Station may be one of a handful of truly grand passenger rail terminals in the United States.  Even restored and beautiful, its Grand Hall lacks its most appealing feature; bustling people. That’s changing.  On a bright sunny September afternoon, a low-grade buzz persistently hums.

 

A kiosk resembling something you’d see in the Museum of Science and Industry stands in the middle of the sprawling room, giving a touch of modernity to the classicism of marble and stone.   Not a bad place to wait for a train.  Spacious, filled with light, monumental.  But there are places with more comfortable seating; like the Metropolitan Room.  

To think that there will ever be a day when rail could compete with air travel is to dream.  How can a mite challenge a mastodon?  But it’s refreshing to see gumption and Amtrak’s effort to woo customers is to be applauded. Take that Metropolitan Room, Amtrak’s answer to airline clubs.  Electric.  Only open since June of last year, crossing its threshold is like stepping into a Michigan Ave. salon.   Bright, polished, refined, it’s simplicity and mood are an ideal counterbalance to the natural scramble of a major rail terminal.

Airline clubs can have the tendency to sprawl; based on the size of the airport.  As spacious as United’s B terminal club is, at peak times it still feels very tight.  The Metropolitan Room also possesses impressive scale and has been adapted to purpose.  Broken up into sections that flow from room to room, one is scaled to children and separated from the other seating areas.  Upstairs, another expansive space, the Pennsylvania Room, acts as complimentary adjunct.  Large leather couches and arm chairs in neutral grays and beige cover over 2000 square feet of tiered space.  Attractive railway themed artwork adorn the walls.  The mood is one of tranquil serenity and comfort. 

Set up very similarly to their airline rivals, the Metropolitan Room is geared to business and passengers who’ve chosen to elevate their traveling experience by opting for sleeping cars on long journeys.  You can also purchase a day pass for $50.  Showers are available. 

Trips like these, involving trains and 14 days of travel, require daring for those who’ve never done it before. And it requires a relinquishment of the known.  Rail travel is nothing like what we call modern travel.  Similarities end as soon as you raise your foot and place it on the train car.  Toting conventional luggage onto to train is a rookie move if you thought you’d skipped all things rigorous by copping a sleeper.  If you’re in a sleeper car, still think bare bone essentials.  It’s OK to wear the same clothes you wore getting on the train on day one to all your meals on day two.  Nobody cares.  But if you can’t make that stretch, it’s OK too.  Just keep it spartan.  You’ll love not having a piece of standard overhead luggage compete with you for precious inches in a micro-world.

And even on an 80-degree day, the cars can be freezing.  You’ll gaze lustfully at the seasoned pros walking around in fleece, impervious to the frigid breezes rushing through the vents in the observation car.   

Real adventurers are tough.  Otherwise how could they even consider riding coach on an overnight trip. There’s no escape the public eye of fellow travelers.  No way to bathe privately.  No way to not be targeted by the “Just for You” meal directive.   Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables brought to your seat.  Just don’t come to the dining car please.

Sleeping cars are a step up but the step is short.  Think of a sleeping car as a jail cell with amenities in miniature.  There is a shower.  But the shower is in the same closet as the toilet and resembles a pneumatic tube in white.  The shower spray is hand held and effective.  The water is hot.  It’s incomprehensible that sleepers accommodate two.  Rough estimates say that the space is a little wider than it is long.  Bunk beds face a single chair with a window in between.  A tiny sink with a mirror man the entrance.  My dilemma was asking myself whether I would want to shower in front of a toilet when I am not in basic training in the army.  My final answer was no. The tiny basin at the entrance provided enough water to soap, clean and shave the most crucial areas. 

Meals were interesting because the wait staff was interesting.  A steward was overheard saying that he never introduces himself to new employees because they won’t be there six months from now.  If you saw how hard train folks work, you’d understand.  The woman who mans the concession in the lounge car opens it herself at 5am and closes it herself at 11pm.  The dining car staff matches her by having the   the same crew serving all three meals.  Prepping and shut down included.  Even with that weight on their backs, they were all uniformly courteous, humorous, humane and professional.  There was also a touch of madness that peeped between the curtain. 

Even with all the brightness of light in the observation car, you felt a constant grueling exercise in constant flow.

With so much velvet agony aboard the train, you wonder why people seem to love traveling by rail so much.  There I must agree with my fellow traveler from Philly, air travel is dehumanizing.  Most of the people within earshot agreed.  The lines, the herd mentality, the imperviousness, TSA.

 Even after a 15 hour of flight from Australia, you probably won’t know anything about the 200  other people travelling with you.  Trains are different.  You have hours to size up your fellow travelers from a distance.  You can see how they move, how they look at their fellow travelers, how they carry themselves.  You have time to nurture your curiosity. 

It wasn’t until we had had a dinner and an overnight sleep that we felt comfortable enough to accept  new people.  The result, Theresa; a passionate geological enthusiast who can give you a detailed outline of the topography from Colorado and all points west.  And Jerry from Philadelphia who’s been on every line Amtrak runs;  on his way to California to visit family via train for the  999^th time.  The connections were meaningful simply because of the amount of substantive information you gained from casual conversation.   You find out how deeply you can get into a stranger’s life.

Flagstaff proved a pleasant surprise.  On this trip, it was the entrée to the Grand Canyon; a place you never tire of re-knowing.  September is still high tourist season and the park was bubbling with people from around the world.  English speakers formed a small minority in the throngs.

Buses work in tandem with trains when traveling with a group of more than fifty people and they’re infinitely more advanced than you can imagine.  An on-board toilet was expected, but the high caliber speaker system and retractable mesh window shades were not.  Drivers of these behemoths treat them like fine show dogs and keep them gleaming inside and out.  One such chariot picked us up late one night in Flagstaff and became our flying carpet to the Grand Canyon, Vegas and California.