Only In New York

Part of preparing for the big trip is gathering information, and of course talking to anyone who has lived or been to any of the places we are going. Or places we aren't going. I'm curious about travel in general and love to hear people's experiences anywhere they've been. Knowing this, our friend Jeff invited us out to meet some friends who recently moved to NY from South Africa. We met at a trendy Noho bar (North of Houston, for those you you not sick of the abbreviations yet) called 6 Bond that severely outclassed me in my slip-on shoes. Exactly as Jeff had told us his friends Mel and Sami had moved to NY last year and had a wealth of great information to share. Mel asked us if we knew anything about South Africa before beginning to give us advice, and I dutifully told her no, since I honestly didn't feel that having watched a Globetrekker special on it counted as 'knowledge'. Mel was in the travel industry in South Africa and continues to do that while in New York, but she specializes in high-end travel and as we will decidedly be on the low end (the cocktail in my hand equalled roughly what our daily spending allowance will be) she felt like she couldn't be a massive help, but fortunately her friend standing next to me worked for the South Africa tourism board. What? I couldn't believe our luck! She immediately gave us some very helpful tips for backpackers, such as the 'Baz Bus' that allows on-off access during an a to b trip, and both of them encouraged to ask them anything more as we continue to plan. We told them more about our plans to travel in the countries just north of South Africa, including Botswana, and it turned out that a third friend, also standing just beside me had been born there. We were on a roll! Mel then suggested I talk to Sami, her husband, about other countries in Africa as he was "fairly well traveled". We started chatting with him and I was immediately taken by his charisma and excitement about the places he spoke of. In fact, he was so knowledgeable and helpful that I felt as if I were talking to the very guy that had hosted the Globetrekker feature on South Africa. That was pretty far fetched but they had the same cheerful British accent and looked somewhat similar. Talking with Mel a few minutes later she mentioned the road trip through West Africa she and Sami had taken, and how wonderful it was even though there was a film-crew with them the whole time. Film crew? I asked. And it clicked. Sami WAS the Globetrekker host I'd seen. Not only is he a Globetrekker host, he's a huge celebrity in South Africa, having hosted South Africa's "Idol" show and being involved in any number of other hosting gigs. He is South Africa's Ryan Seacrest.

But much more than Seacrest. His and Mel's enthusiasm for travel in Africa, and travel in general was infectious. They, and their conveniently situated friends, got us so much more excited to start the trip itself, and SEE things. There is so much planning going on that it is easy to forget to look forward to the experiences we'll have. Sami talked of having breakfast during sunrise on the sanddunes in Namibia with such detail and fond reminiscence that for the first time I got a little giddy about the what lies ahead. Of course I've been excited since we started planning, but much of that was nervousness. Last night was the first time I actually pictured ourselves on the road and got really psyched about what I saw.

In which we meet the perfect ambassadors for South African travel

Of course all the credit for this fortuitous meeting goes to Jeff, but much of it might also go to New York City which is as far as I can tell the only place on earth where we'd be able to drink cocktails with the world's best ambassadors for South African travel.