Part 1...Bookings for South Africa...The "adventure" and it's "paperwork" never ends...

We find these colorfully painted building interesting and befitting the somewhat flamboyant nature of Buenos Aires.

Where do we begin and end? This outrageous lifestyle only knows an end when we "can't do it anymore."  Surely, someday this will come.  But, for now, we keep planning and booking one adventure after another.

I used the word "adventure" based on our perception of what adventure may be.  To many, adventure connotes white water rafting, mountains climbing, bungee jumping and other physically related risk-taking events.

There are many designer-type furniture shops in the area.

For us, an adventure may be defined as follows from the dictionary:

adventure

ədˈvɛntʃə/

noun

1. 1.

   an unusual and exciting or daring experience.

   
   

   "her recent adventures in Italy"

   
   

   synonyms:

   exploit, escapade, deed, feat, trial, experience, incident, occurrence,  event, happening, episode, affair;

We focus more on the above stated, "an unusual and exciting" experience and less on the "daring."  Well, not totally.  Couldn't "daring" be described as selling everything we owned, leaving our family and friends, to travel the world for years to come; homeless, without a car, with no storage anywhere, no apartment/condo to return to, to repack and take care of things?  I guess so. 

Perhaps, for us, all of it is an adventure.  We've never considered we must put our physical beings in harm's way in order for our lives to qualify as an adventure. 

Colorfully painted buildings are a common trend in Buenos Aires.

Along that path is the future planning for what we consider the ultimate adventure...re-visiting Africa (we were there four years ago) which will transpire in a mere 46 days (with the cruise to Antarctica in between in only 27 days.)  Good grief!  Could it get more exciting for us in this short period of time?

Finally, yesterday, after checking prices for a few months, we booked our flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Nelspruit, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga,   South Africa, a location other "adventurers" fly to in order to embark on their own personal journey on an insatiable quest for adventure.

Another colorfully painted building.

The cost for the one-way economy flight for two was shocking.  We've never paid this high a fare for a one-way flight.

Here are the details:

Price summary Traveler 1: Adult $1,754.66 Flight $1,301.00 Taxes & Fees $453.66 Traveler 2: Adult              $1,754.66 Flight $1,301.00 Taxes & Fees $453.66 Expedia Booking Fee $14.00 Total US $3,523.3 (ARS 64,934) All prices are quoted in USD.

705 points for this trip

Travel time:           16 hours total (3 flights)
Depart:                  12:50 PM, February 10, 2018
Arrive in Nelspruit:    9:50 AM, February 11, 2018
Layovers:       2 hours in Sao Paulo, Brazil,
                     1 hour 40 minutes in Johannesburg, South Africa

Airlines:         GOL Linhas Aereas S.A
                          South African Airways (last two flights)

We flinched paying this high a fare for coach but, we made up for it a little when we were able to rent a car at the Nelspruit Airport for a total of 89 days for only US $1,750 (ARS 32,252) including all taxes, fees, and insurance which averages at US $583 (ARS 10,745) per month.

We plan to stay in Africa for up to 13 months and will share more details as we book further into the future, much of which will be outside of South Africa.  But, we'll continue to return to Marloth Park after satisfying visa requirements for a maximum of 90 days as required in most African countries.

There isn't an abundance of flowers blooming at this time in the Palermo area.

Today, we're finalizing the details of our vacation/holiday rental with our dear property manager friends, Louise and Danie Thiart who can be reached at this site.  We're so appreciative of their friendship and assistance in finding us more outstanding accommodations in Marloth Park.

Tomorrow, we share details of what will be our new home beginning on February 11, 2018.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Photo from one year ago today, December 27, 2016:

This was the view from our holiday home from an elevated road in Penguin, Tasmania.  For more details, please click here.