Could travel into space be the future of our adventures? The cost of such adventures are set to fall thanks to entrepreneurs like Sir Richard Branson and his company Virgin Galactic who intend to bring to a wider selection of the public a environmentally friendly trip into space at a fraction of the cost paid by Mr. Tito, the experience will last somewhere between 2 and 3 hours and as you enter the out atmosphere you will become an “astronaut”.

Aeroplanes are being designed now; that will travel higher than ever before, not necessarily out of the atmosphere but high enough to make a difference to the length of a long haul journey which in turn will improve the well being of the passengers and their susceptibility to “jet lag”. These aircraft will burn new environmentally friendly fuels and probably be able to carry a larger number of passengers. These journeys will not be in space like Virgin Galactic will take you, but our journeys for the conventional long haul traveller providing an efficient and quicker way to travel, they will be as near as most of us will get to travelling in space.

Do we need to go to space to find adventure? Although the highest mountains have been conquered and the poles of the earth regularly reached there are still many challenges left on this planet to keep most of us occupied for a lifetime so is space travel really necessary for most of us? If you have the money and desire to leave the world then great, but most of us will have to get our kicks from the adventures that this world has to offer us.

Take for example travelling on a safari holiday, much excitement can be had by getting up early, as dawn breaks on a new African morning and travelling through the bushvelt in an open land rover searching for predators, such as a lion or leopard returning home after a nights hunting and eventually coming across them feeding on a recently caught impala or experiencing a large herd of elephants crossing a river while crocodiles watch carefully from the bank. If you want to learn about space and the stars, go to a lodge where there is a resident astrologer, the remoteness of the lodges in Africa means that light pollution in the safari areas is nonexistent so on a clear night the stars come to life, almost as if you can touch them and with the guidance of a local astronomer and perhaps a telescope you too can travel to space! South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Kenya all offer wonderful opportunities to experience the stars and animals.

You may prefer to explore the depths of the world under the sea or just enjoy being in the sea. What has this got to do with space? In simple terms the relative distances of the earth and the positions of the moon and sun to each other all have an effect on the tidal patterns around the world. So if you go diving or snorkelling what you will see and your safety could be affected by the tidal patterns which are fixed by the positions of the moon and the sun in relation to the earth. Diving is a great adventure holiday and although this is not something you can undertake without instruction, it is something that most people can do and you don’t have to travel too far from the UK to experience the warm waters such as to Malta, Egypt and Turkey.

Those prepared to brave the colder waters can of course stay in the UK, but by travelling to places like Egypt you are likely to see a lot more. It is also possible to get great value cheap holidays to places like Turkey and Malta.

Our first step onto South African soil was at Cape Town International Airport. Having collected our luggage and made our way through the arrivals hall, we found our private car transfer ready and waiting.  The drive to our hotel was around 40 minutes as traffic was quite heavy, and our driver was constantly talking to us about places to visit and giving us useful tips. Tips, for example, like traffic lights are known as ‘robots’!

We arrived at the Romney Park Suites, a five star property roughly a 10 – 15 minute walk from the V&A Waterfront.  We were upgraded to a two bedroom suite which was far bigger than we actually needed, but who could grumble at a freebie!

During our stay in Cape Town we discovered some wonderful restaurants. You can expect to pay slightly more for dinner right on the Waterfront, but you are paying for the location and it is worth every penny.  Meats including Zebra, Springbok and Wildebeest were served which went down very well with a glass or three of red wine.  We were lucky enough to get to the top of Table Mountain on a fair day, where views were absolutely stunning. We also went across to the famous Robben Island, as well as going on a full day tour of the Winelands which included Franschhoek and the Stellenbosch region. We had four nights in total in Cape Town, which we found just right.

From Cape Town we flew to Johannesburg but were only here for one night in order to get a connecting flight the next day. Having heard very mixed reviews about how safe or dangerous Johannesburg is, we decided to order Room Service and stay put.

We then took our car transfer back to Johannesburg and waited for our flight to Mala Mala Airstrip.  Upon boarding, I was horrified to see that the aircraft only had 12 seats and two propellers!! I personally feel safer the bigger the aircraft.  I had never travelled on this sort of plane before and found the flight very turbulent and bumpy, and I was continuously watching the propellers willing them to keep going! 

Arriving at Mala Mala was a real eye opener; the runway was tarmaced which is apparently quite a luxury compared to some other National Park areas.  We were surprised to see though, that there was no terminal building. We had quite literally landed in the middle of nowhere and all that there was to greet us was a man in a high-vis jacket who took responsibility of check in, baggage handling, security and passport control (which we found highly amusing!). We climbed aboard our Land Rover and our driver took us to our lodge – The Lion Sands Ivory Lodge.

Continued in South Africa and Zambia – Part 2