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Seniors Traveling Internationally on A Budget – Our Exciting Life Plan!

How Our Plan Took Shape for these active seniors traveling internationally on a Budget – The Itch is Real…

As active seniors traveling internationally on a budget we think we are ready for this exciting life plan! We’ve been living on a loose budget for years stateside so international travel shouldn’t be any different? You think? Yes, there are naysayers but we aim to prove them wrong!

[UPDATE as of November, 2023: Today, late in 2023, we still cannot believe we have been able to put a plan into place & follow it. We’ve been to Central & South America, Asia & now presently we are on the continent of Africa! Can you believe it? All because of our budget! Yes, you can travel year round on a budget & you do not have to feel you are being cheated on anything! Back to the article, we’ll catch up later in newer blogs. Thanks for following!]

As active seniors traveling there are a lot of things to take into consideration! We are on a set budget. I know you are probably already of hearing that word – budget but I’ll warn you now that you will hear it again & again in my posts. We need to play our cards right & do some homework before we start our grand adventure. Where do we want to start?  Do we want to travel abroad or out of country? Do we want to put roots down along the way for our new home? Where would we want to move abroad? Are we nuts? Maybe, a little. We believe that prior proper planning will prevent any unforeseeable mistakes, we hope! We know there may be road bumps along the way, however, we do anticipate that but nothing we cannot handle. We hope to share both our good & bad experiences with you along our grand adventure. Just maybe by following us you will be inspired to take the steps to become the next active seniors for international travel!

Believe me, we do not take this lightly. As we learn along the way, we will be able to pass those lessons on to you. We may find that at some point we may have to amend our plans. Again, you will learn as we go on this quest we have set out for ourselves.

Your mission, should you accept it, is to begin following us, sit back & enjoy the adventures with us. Will an interracial senior couple traveling be happy living outside of the states? Oh yeah, we truly believe so but to be totally up front we know as seniors traveling there are specific things we need to consider. Let’s see what we can find!!

American Expats Living Out of Country

It was not that big of a surprise to us that moving out of the country is not a ‘new thing’.  What did surprise us was the number of seniors who do actually move out of country. Here are some interesting tid-bits about expats.

According to the World Atlas, millions of Americans live outside of the U.S. Twenty out of every one hundred travelers becoming an expat are over sixty years young! When you think about it, the economic benefits of living outside of the U.S. can be very beneficial especially if you are living on a tight budget as most seniors do in the U.S.

The top countries for American expats to move are Mexico, Europe, Canada & then Southeast Asia. Mexico & Canada make sense as they are border countries to the U.S. with easy access. Italy, Germany, France & the U.K. are the most popular European countries for American expats. Now India & Philippines being the most popular SE Asian countries is, to me, surprising but I think that is because not everyone moves for the same reasons.

Marriage, relationships, politics, economics & work are just reasons that play into a move to a foreign land from your home country. For us, the ongoing racial issues in the states played a large part on our desire to explore our options outside of the states.

Back to our Plan for this interracial couple Traveling Internationally

Remember when you were 20 years young & you thought your parents were old because they were in their 50s? Then when you turned 40 [I did!] I thought hmmm 65 is old. Now that we are over 65, I think how silly. We both feel like we are just starting over again! Yes, we are seniors & I don’t mind saying that at all! Seniors get discounts folks! My sister-in-law Sweet Mary introduced me years ago to Dairy Queen senior discounts! LOL. I digress.

We are in good health & continue to work on keeping it that way with daily exercise, walking, biking & in general just trying to eat healthy. Like most seniors over 60 years of age, we live on a set income & just need to be sure we can financially afford to make this escape. To do this, we have to put a budget & plan into place to make it happen!

Just the fact that we are at those retirement years, traveling internationally as a mixed race senior couple, leaves a lot of things to worry about that younger travelers may not. We have to be healthy & financially able to take care of ourselves separate from our families in the U.S. We may be hopping country to country – its not like we can just call and say hey ‘can you come over to help’. You know what I’m talking about. We knew we had to be both – healthy & financially stable – to make this escape. We needed to finalize our Plan to make the big adventure happen. This was in 2017 with a five year time frame to make it happen.

Where will we travel to find our piece of Paradise as an interracial senior couple?

Of course our main concern is the acceptability of an interracial senior couple in the country we land in. This travel blog is a way to connect & to share our photos & experiences once we get on that flight for whatever foreign country we have decided to visit or possibly move. The Big Guy & I have been blessed with coming into these retirement years & not being bogged down in a whole lot of debt. Paying off credit cards is not easy but such a feeling of satisfaction once it is done! It’s just not comfortable to us to gain debt once the old debt is paid off. Make sense?

We have never been that couple who had to keep up with the neighbors with newest electronics, vehicles, latest game machines, etc. You get what I mean. Really, once we were committed to the mindset that living on a budget could make our Big Adventure of traveling [or moving] to foreign countries come true, the word budget developed a whole new meaning! We knew if we worked together we could reduce even more spending to make the goal of world travel a dream come true for us. This is now.

International travel as interracial senior couple becomes part of our life

The Big Guy was selected to work in the Middle East from 2006 to late 2011.

The Big Guy in Middle East.
The Big Guy in Afghanistan.
Children of the Middle East conflict.
Afghanistan children & soldier.

I was able to meet him once or twice a year for a vacation for me/R&R for him. We visited foreign countries that we never would have been able to except for his job. I won’t lie, the countries I met The Big Guy in were more of destination vacations.

Let’s just be honest, we decided an international destination sounded nice. Though we are not big spenders, we were able to see some sights on budget.

That was our introduction to world travel as a couple & it opened our eyes to how sheltered we were in our own little piece of the U.S. There was so much to see in other countries, culture, sights, amazing people, the list goes on and on. We wanted to see more!

Between the two of us we have visited over 25+ countries; UK, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Thailand, Italy, Turkey, Greece, San Salvador, etc with OUR last trip being to Poland in 2015. Some of the countries visited were by way of our jobs at various times. Now that we are older, we are looking for a place that will provide a peaceful & friendly environment for seniors like us.

Then The Big Guy’s Middle East mission was completed & he returned home

Once his mission was complete, he was back home & our international meet ups were for a while at least put to rest… We didn’t sit home & not go anywhere but budget was a big factor for any travel plans. A trip to Rome in 2012 with Jordan [one of the girls] was awesome, another short trip to San Salvador later that year & finally Poland in 2015 ended our international travel or so we thought.

We would continue to chat & reminisce how much fun we had riding the elephant ‘with an attitude’ in Thailand, taking the Bosphorus Riverboat Cruise in Istanbul, walking the ruins in Greece, etc. We have such fabulous memories from every country we have visited.

I think we were asking ourselves could we live in a foreign country? Was that an unreachable dream? That’s really when I started researching the possibilities.

The Big Adventure Plan for this Interracial Senior Couple to Travel Internationally on a Budget Starts to Take Shape

The itch was there. The research showed me that I was not alone. I found numerous online stories of expats which prompted us to start watching travel shows – you know the ones showing folks moving to a foreign country to live as an expat overseas. We would look at each other & say “why can’t we do that” or  “we could live there” or “man that trip was awesome”, secretly thinking we could do that. At the end of one of these conversations late 2016, I made the statement “we keep talking about moving to another country, let’s make a plan and do it!” Well The Big Guy smiled the biggest grin & this is where it all began.

Initially, we thought we wanted to be expats living Thailand. We just fell in love with everything about Thailand… Phuket had been a dream vacation for the two of us. The culture just wrapped its arms around us & we felt like we really could belong there. So at the beginning – Thailand was our main goal.

We started looking outward to countries that neither of us had seen & that held an interest for both of us. I researched for best countries for American expats to live & found gold. F/B & YouTube were full of info. Just do a search for the country you are interested in & see what pops up in the forums.

Reality set in and we realized this might take a little more work. Wherever we moved, there would be certain criteria that we deemed necessary for us to be comfortable & it had to be on point with our budget.

Additional Things We Had to Consider to be ready for International Travel:

I love spirals and should have bought stock in the company…yep, there were a lot of things to take into consideration. Many sheets of paper have been wadded up, tossed to the trash to get a clear picture of what we needed to happen to make this Adventure come to reality – smoothly. Allow me to get you up to speed on our present day thinking or the culmination of our 2017 “five year plan”.

2017 – initial notebook contained a short “To Do” list – make sure passports are up to date, which vaccines are required for which country, etc.  Also, started scratching down names of countries that intrigued our wandering spirit. Had to take close look at finances, etc.

2018 – started researching online for other expats living in foreign countries & getting familiar with their sites. Researching visa requirements for a few of the countries we had listed previously on Bucket List. Our plan to be sure all debt was paid off at take off was a little harder. We both are on track to minimize spending.

2019 – things are looking really good! The Big Guy is thinking we could possibly get the house on market late fall or winter of this 2019 year! Yikes, that is too soon for me I tell him. I have to close my business, get rid of décor, find new connections for my realtors, etc. I’m freaking out a little – this is too fast!

In November 2019 we decide we’ll put house on market Feb or Mar of 2020. We will still be ahead of our original move of 2021 but it will give me time to do what I need to do to close my staging business by end of December, 2019. Wow, a lot of work but its done!

Have been following a couple expats/nomads living in Thailand, Portugal & Mexico that are awesome about their experiences, etc. Embassy listings are a great place for collecting information once you decide which country you want to visit &/or move.

by late 2019 we decided maybe April, 2020 would be good date to list house. House is ready. Cleaning out closets. Interviewed realtor… Then  Covid-19 hit & everything shut down as you all know.

By Late 2020  The good new was even though Covid initially slowed our plans, we were able to get house on market during the boom of December 2020.

Bucket List – Must Haves for Countries

As we checked off various aspects of our to do list, our Bucket List of countries started growing but still looks doable! It seems our idea of moving to just one specific country is now to see how many countries we can travel inexpensively. We are thinking bouncing from country to country on visitor visas is more what we really want to do. Thus, our Bucket List of the best countries for expats to live is becoming more of a list of cheap foreign countries that we can just visit, land for 3-6 months & then move on to the next on our list!

In the meantime, our Bucket List is getting tweaked. The new updated plan was to build a Bucket List of inexpensive countries to put on our “to travel” list. Once that list is done, we can tweak that list down to countries that we both agree are economically agreeable to our planned budget & entered as our official Bucket List.

1] I had wanted to revisit a different area of Greece but we didn’t agree so it is off the list. I’d been to UK, France, Holland & Belgium in my prior life and would have loved to visit again with The Big Guy but European countries just don’t appeal to him.

After much conversation, we agreed that Central & South American countries would be a great starting point for us. SE Asian countries pretty much finished off our list. A couple other countries are still in discussion phase. Ha.

2] Secondly, we made a Cheat sheet of items that would have to be considered to make our visit/move to a particular country smart. UPDATE: Oct. 2020 We go into more detail on this in our “Top 20 Issues to Research When Considering A Move Abroad” though it would be pertinent for travel abroad as well for really any age traveler.

3] Next was the 5”x7” index cards with a country name printed across the top & the list of items [#2 above] we deemed as important to research before we made any final decisions.

4] As we do our due diligence on our proposed countries we are getting down to final Bucket List!

Stay tuned and lets see how this rides out.

Quito’s Cost of Living Breakdown & Best Kept Secrets!

Quito’s cost of living breakdown is just one of the best kept secrets of Ecuador! For three months we explored the culture, cuisine & beauty of Quito while at the same time enjoying the economically friendly budget. Boy, did we have great adventures in Quito!

If you are budget minded as we are, Quito’s cost of living breakdown will answer some of your questions about visiting Ecuador! We were not ready to leave, I really meant “NOT READY TO LEAVE.” Quito, Ecuador has an amazing cost of living, but I didn’t realize this until I sat down & took stock of our budget! We had been to Quito a few years back but for only a month which was not enough time to really settle in & get to know all the wonderful things Quito had to offer. This time we decided we would stay three months in Ecuador to see what the Capital City of Ecuador had to offer these traveling seniors! This trip was turned into an awesome adventure with only a little glitch at the end (we will talk about that at end of post). We stayed in the Mariscal neighborhood in Quito, which is the same as during our first stay in Quito a few years back. We were – again – surprised by how friendly the people in this neighborhood were to us.

We met people that we now consider lifelong friends and will be forever grateful to them for making us a part of their lives. Let me just say to really get a feel for the people & the lay of the land you really more than just a month.

A Little History About Quito, Ecuador!

Quito is the capital of ‘Ecuador with a population of around 3.3 million! The city sits on the side of the Pichincha Volcano in the Andes Mountains at approximately 2850 meters (9350 ft) above sea level. Quito is the 2nd highest capital above sea level in the world (behind La Paz, Bolivia at 3650m/11954 feet) above sea level. Needless to say, altitude sickness is a real thing if you are not acclimated to the thin oxygen. It took us really a couple weeks to be able to walk without feeling like we were sucking air.

Quito is the oldest South American Capital city founded in 16th Century on Inca city ruins. The country was conquered by Spain in early 1500s. By 1800s Ecuadorians started their push for freedom & became its own country by May 13, 1830.

As the oldest capital of any South American country, Quito was the northern capital of the Incan Empire and in 1533 the Incas destroyed the city to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Spanish Conquistadors, but Quito was rebuilt a year later. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978! If you take a walking tour of ‘Centro’ alone, it is easy to see why this award was granted. It is a photographers dream with its architecture & beauty. Ecuador got its name from being the country closest to the sun & sitting on the equator! Ecuadorians have a very high appreciation for nature.

Spanish is the spoken language but schools do teach English so it is not unusual to meet people fluent in both languages. The theme in many countries that we have visited outside the United States is that English is a requirement as a secondary language & we have met a number of people that have learned English during the educational studies or on their own by watching movies & listening to music. We are questioning the reason our younger generation has not put an emphasis on learning or becoming fluent in a second language…. Just saying. We have had students pass us on the street, hear us speaking to each other, then turn around & walk back to speak to us in English so they can ‘practice’.

Currency in Ecuador

A quick note, Ecuador runs on the U.S. dollar system which makes it nice not having to convert currency, etc BUT having said that, Ecuador can be expensive depending on what you buy. A lot of items are imported & taxes/tariffs can really raise the price & you can see that at the tourist malls but there is hope. We found El Jardin Mall which has a variety of stores, but the best part is that this Mall is located directly across the street from Las Carolinas park to chill in after a day of shopping. The mall also had quite the selection of coffee shops!

Food Shopping

Buying at the local Santa Maria vegetable/fruit/meat market in the area where we stayed saved us money on wonderful fresh fruits & vegetables. Fresh fruit juice is always available at a reasonable price. At Santa Maria, the vendors charge one set price for everyone including tourists. The building is huge with several floors & we didn’t even know we could also go there for local meals until our friend, Shihan, invited us for a Sunday breakfast.

The great thing about markets like this is that you can buy the exact amount or number of products you want! No receipts to show, but believe me when I say local markets are the best places to buy the freshest foods. The vendors take great pride in providing everyone with farm-fresh meats, fruits & vegetables. Many vegetables were unique to the tropical mountainous growing environment in Quito & the vendors explained how people cook/ate those vegetables.

Bottom line again Quito was easy on our budget. Groceries included staples/essentials we might need for when we wanted to just stay home & cook. This also included bottled water. Our monthly grocery allowance is 11% & came in under budget!

Eating Authentic Ecuadoran Food!

I can give you two reasons that we loved eating authentic Ecuadorian food. First, the price is very economical especially on a budget plus secondly, the food is fresh & amazingly tasty. We had our choice of local kitchens/Mom Pop cocinas to choose from so more than likely we spent most days going to a variety of restaurants to try the almuerzos (lunch special). Meals can range from $1 sandwiches to $2.50 or $3 USD for a full meal! The full meal would include soup, meat, rice, salad, sometimes beans, sometimes dessert (depending on which place we were that day) & a tall glass of fresh squeezed juice (limonada, pina, berry, etc). I could rarely finish the soup because I wanted to be able enjoy the main dish!

Bottom line although grocery expense was under budget we did go over on our 4% monthly allowance for dining out as we ate out for most meals = under budget for groceries vs over budget for eating out = ‘win win’! Also, on the dining out cost we included bakery & coffee shops which are a norm for us as a daily expense no matter where we might travel. Alameda Cafe on Avenida Amazonas had the absolute best bakery products!!!

chicken & potato soup part of a typical almuerzo lunch special
A typical lunch soup with chicken, potatos, spices – Yummy!
Jif peanut butter on grocery shelf in Quito.
Jif peanut butter in Quito. Yes that is USD pricing. We thought it was extremely high but we have not US shopped for a few years?
Vege & fruit stand in market priced.
Santa Maria Vegetables & fruit stand with all product marked!

And, if you aren’t up to authentic Ecuadorian food, there are the typical American fast food chains everywhere. Pizza, hamburgers & KFC seemed to be the popular choices as they were abundant. Be prepared to pay American prices if you eat at the Mall Food Court restaurants as they will happily charge you U.S. prices! You do you but for these two traveling seniors on a budget, local kitchens are the bomb!!

Airbnb Rental in Quito

Airbnb rental in Quito can vary depending on time of your travel & your personal preferences. We prefer low season since prices will be lower so April & May were the perfect choice for us although rent did increase for June as it considered a “busy” time. For this three month trip, we rented a beautiful Airbnb that we had previously stayed for the first two months of our trip. Since this was our second stay at this Airbnb & again low season, we had a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment with a penthouse terrace which equaled to $400 USD per month, plus all utilities paid. The penthouse was in the Pichincha area & we were quite happy being able to walk almost everywhere – grocers, coffee shops, salons, parks! Awesome right? Well when we went to rent for the third month – June – we were told this was busy season & the rent doubled. Needless to say, we moved to another apartment more conducive to our budget, newer & still a great area but rent was $750.

Bottom line we have 26% in our budget designated to cover monthly rental wherever we may be. In Quito for the three months, we were extremely happy to see “under budget” for housing!! That’s definitely a plus for us!

While We Are Discussing Airbnb Rental – Lets Talk Airbnb Nightmare in Quito!

Let me say we stay in Airbnbs 85% of the time & have walked away with many happy experiences. The last month of the Quito stay we moved to another apartment to save $. All was great in every way UNTIL we moved out & received notice from Airbnb & the host that had filed a “property damage claim.” The Airbnb host filed a fraudulent claim thinking that older Americans are feeble/weak and would not take the time to challenge his fraudulent damage claims. He had a plan to replace his well worn microwave & rice cooker on the back on these retired seniors. It took almost 3 weeks & a strongly worded appeal to Airbnb, but the matter was eventually closed in our favor.

Lesson Learned from above:

Some people mistake kindness for weakness: Really, I think that because we ended our stay by buying lunch for (5 people) security & maintenance, the owner decided we could buy him some new appliances. Wrong! Lesson learned, we no longer will give security or maintenance people “gifts” no matter how small. Also, since this last issue, we video the whole apartment & then we photograph EVERYTHING including pots/pans, dishes, silverware, linens, etc. just to be sure we are covered in the future.

Transportation in Quito, Ecuador

Transportation in Quito can be very economical. Taxis run on meters, but beware there is always someone who may try to take advantage & take you around the city just to go a few blocks. My suggestion is to have your map on your phone & let the driver know that you know where you are going. This happened to us when a friend got the number of a taxi driver & called them for a short ride home one night. What should have been a $2 USD fare turned into a $6 USD fare, that was enough for us to stop using taxi’s & only use Ubers (unless traveling with a local). To us Uber was super easy & comparable to taxis in fares. Buses were pretty nice & cost us each .40 cents to ride. The buses do travel like a bat out of hell on the streets so just be warned. Ha.

A pleasant surprise for us since out last visit was the new underground Metro! Wow, beautiful, clean, fast & .50 U.S. p/p to ride!

El Ejido Metro
Inside the El Ejido Metro Subway station (about .45cents!)

Walking in Quito

Wide sidewalks, beautiful architecture, SAFE, coffee shops, FRESH AIR (once you get use to altitude). Here are some photos but it is up to you to step out of your safe zone to meet people. I can’t say enough about the Ecuadorians. Super welcoming but we also met many other nationalities that were really nice & accepting of us.

Tree lined streets
Trees & floral decorating the sidewalks.
Beautiful cathedrals
Beautiful cathedrals
Unusual building architecture in Quito
I called this the jenga building.
Group of people sitting around table for coffee in Quito after exercising
You meet the most amazing people when you don’t expect it. Our exercise buddies enjoying coffee after exercise at parque!
Milly, owner of the best hair/nail salon in Quito!
Milly, owner (and who we consider a member of our int’l family) of the best hair/nail salon in Quito! In Quito? Her shop, Milly’s, is on Amazonas & Jorge Washington!
Weekend entertainment at parks! Today was dancing.
Weekend entertainment at parks! Today was dancing.

If you have a chance to get out of the city for a Quito day trip – TAKE IT!

Our friends Milly & Marcelo with Shihan showed us some amazing sights just an hour or so outside of the city. Cotacahi Lagoon, Otavalo Waterfalls, mountain ‘climbing’ Canton Ruminawi, our first sugar cane juice….we talk about these trips to whoever will listen. So much fun but I have to admit the first mountain climbing excursion was tough on this broad but happy to say the second mountain was so much easier.

Our monthly budget for entertainment is 4% & we were under budget by $75. That included any time we shared fuel bill for car or meals out with friends. We have found that there are many ways to enjoy day trips. You find guides online for just about anything you want to see. We have been fortunate that our int’l families wanted to share the beauty of their country(s) with us that are so much more, I think, interesting as you hear their stories. Now of course you can’t just hop into anyone’s car who wants to take you on a trip…if it is not a legit guide, I would say NO. If you care to build a relationship with anyone, you may be surprised at the invites you receive. We cherish every day our coffee chats with friends, exercising with Shihan in the parks, day tripping with Milly & Marcello…awesome memories.

Waterfall at top of mountain climb outside of Quito.
Waterfall at top of mountain climb outside of Quito on Canton Ruminahui.
Steps up the mountain.
Our friend Marcelo waiting. Steps up the mountain. This trek was easier than the earlier mountain as it had steps & was not so hard…maybe I was more use to it this time?
Cotacachi lagoon
View from boat in Cotacachi lagoon

Spanish Lessons

We are on a continual path to learn Spanish which is why we decided to stay 2024 in South America. In Quito we found the Beraca Spanish School & took lessons during our stay in Quito. This was worked into our budget as a Personal so it made us go over our budget in that category but in the end did not effect our average for the three month stay.

In closing…

Quito should definitely be on your Bucket List to visit. I would suggest a longer visit vs short so you can really get the feel of the neighborhood, people & the food! We really felt accepted & enjoyed our stay so much. Was it an “extended vacation” as a acquaintance called our travels? Nada but then someone who doesn’t know us – doesn’t understand our life plan… It definitely gave us something to think about…could we live here? I think we could but we are not done checking out other places yet…Oh did I say there was an earthquake during the end of our stay? That was a bit scary for a couple minutes but they all took it in stride. Ha.

A friend took us up on our “open door” policy for visitors & flew down for a couple weeks. So much fun & so great to have the time to show her a piece of this beautiful country. Here are a few shots of her visit.

Elsa arriving from US to Quito airport!
Elsa arriving from US to Quito airport!
One of our excursions with Elsa to top of Pichincha Volcano in Quito
One of our excursions with Elsa. Here she, Horace & I are working our way to top of Pichincha Volcano in Quito from the Teleferico.
La Carolina Parque sign
La Carolina Parque with The Big Guy, Elsa & Shihan. I have to admit I am a fan of these colorful name displays on parques & cities in Ecuador!

Next stop, we are off to Bucaramanga, Colombia!!! Stay tuned!!

One Month In Lovely Salta, Argentina Was Fantastic!!!

Where do I begin…our one month in Salta, Argentina was absolutely fantastic! Salta can be best described as the 4 F’s, Food, Friendly people, fantastic weather & fabulous mountain views just the beginning. We intended to have a short visit with friends before heading back to the U.S. for a visit with our family. In a video catch up with a solo female traveler that we had met back when we first started traveling, she asked us to come join her & check out Salta. Well we looked at our budget & decided that 30 days in Argentina was more budget friendly than an additional 30 days in the U.S. so off we were to Salta, Argentina. OMG Salta turned out to be more excitement & adventure than we could have ever imagined. We were able to play ‘catch-up’ with Schuanne & see some an amazing country at the same time.

I have to preface this blog & say, Salta, Argentina was very economical on our fixed monthly budget even with the daily up/down flux of the Argentina peso (I’ll discuss more below). Lets get started.

A Little History Please about Salta, Argentina

Salta has a rich history founded in 1582 by Spanish settler Hernando de Lerma. The city served as a connection for ports in Lima, Peru & Buenos Aires, Argentina but also had a significant role in Argentina War of Independence in 1813 when Spanish forces were defeated in Salta under General Manuel Belgrano’s leadership. We learned about the history of Salta, when Schuanne arranged an incredible bi-lingual museum self guided museum tour at the Guemes Museum.

Along with Belgrano’s leadership, General Guemes was recognized for his bravery & leadership as well. The Guemes Museum is a must see in Salta! The Museum consists of ten rooms, some with pictures, videos & audio supported scenes from the war. The Guemes Museum was recognized in 2023 as a Country Brand for its contribution to national history. The center point of the display is the significance of General Martin Miguel de Guemes & his leadership of the Argentinean people in the war.

Wooden display Guemes Museum iin Salta, Argentina.
Wooden display of those who contributed to the War of Independence at Guemes Museum iin Salta, Argentina

One Month in Salta, Argentina – Housing & Argentina Peso

We normally go thru AirBnB to find housing but this time around for our one month in Salta, Schuanne found an apartment for us through a local real estate agent. Schuanne learned Spanish while traveling the last 3 years in Mexico & Latin America & she used her language skills to negotiate a very good rental price on a one bedroom one bathroom large apartment with a 180° balcony. We had to pay the owner in local currency (Argentinian peso). This is where we got our first lesson & major confusion about the various currency exchange rates for Argentina. The apartment was beautiful & the cost quoted to us converted to $500 USD per month all bills paid – we checked multiple currency converters & found it equated to about $459,000 ARS. We ordered the money to cover the above rent thru Western Union & went to pay the owner rent the next day. The owner had used an unofficial rate from the Argentinian National bank that inflated the price up to $580 for the month. After some complaining & negotiating the owner finally agreed to accept the equivalent of $540USD or $500,000 ARS and installed a microwave & clothes drying rack.

Is Salta Safe?

Is Salta safe? Absolutely! Salta sits in the northern part of Argentina & is quite safe. Of course, you have to be aware of surroundings & should keep your head on a swivel but the people are super nice. With well lit streets & an ever present police & security presence walking the streets day & night you should be fine. Yes, though it isn’t normal for us to be out after dark in a foreign country, we never EVER felt unsafe the few times we happened to be walking home during night-time hours.

We only had the need for Uber a few times & it worked fine. We have learned that when you use a taxi, you have to tell them to follow the direction on your map & change the language so that the map is giving verbal directions on your phone speaker in their language. This will avoid the taxi driver taking you on an unnecessary round-about route that could easily pad that meter amount!

TIP:Not all taxi drivers are willing to take advantage of a ‘tourist’ but it only takes once for it to happen to you. For safety, we use Uber & share our location with family members, we also set Uber to provide a pin number that the driver has to enter correctly to start the trip.

Climate in Salta?

The February temperatures in Salta worked well for us. The daytime temperatures can get a little warm with temperatures ranging from the mid-70’s to the low 80’s. Most places in Salta, do not have heating or A/C, the same for our apartment, so we used the electric fan to help us stay cool during the warm days & nights. Spending the month of January in Salta worked out perfect. Salta is known for its subtropical weather temps, which is normally 70’s during the day and cooler at night, however I don’t believe you could pick a wrong month to visit.

Things to do in Salta, Argentina!

Our Paragliding Adventure!

Our paragliding adventure was a dream activity for us. The Big Guy will admit he is not a fan of heights & here he is being pulled off Cerro San Bernardo mountain in Salta, Argentina – a mountain that towers more than 4,700 feet high!!! I told him once he got in the gear he could not change his mind. Ha!!!! Once in the air he was having a blast, but once on the ground he said he I did it and will never do that again!!

‘Until you spread your wings, you have no idea How far you will fly’

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Paragliding Video in Salta, Argentina

The price for this day of fun was under $100 for the two of us – each with a 30 minute flight. Marking this off our bucket list!

TeleferiQo San Bernardo

Salta sign at top of TeleferiQo San Bernardo, Salta, Argentina
Salta sign at top of TeleferiQo San Bernardo, Salta, Argentina
Teleferico San Bernardo from the top!
Teleferico San Bernardo from the top!

Train to Clouds or “Tren alas Nubes”

The Tren alas Nubes as well as the San Bernardo Cable Car were both recognized as ‘Country Brands’ for Argentina.

Holly on Train to the Clouds in Argentina.
Holly on Train to the Clouds in Argentina.
A sample of mountain view from Tren alas Nubes!
A sample of mountain view from Tren alas Nubes! No words to describe!

The Tren alas Nubes is well worth the experience. You will see salt flats, striped colored mountains & a wide array of plants & nature. The bus ride to the train station was enjoyable & very comfy. The various mountain views are wonders of nature for sure! We didn’t feel the altitude until we reached the end of the tracks on mountain.

Pena Folklorica

Salta is well known for its “PENA’s”, which are traditional couple dancers that perform dances in their restaurant or on the street while you eat a traditional meal. We had heard about the Pena’s Folklorica & specifically searched for one of these restaurants for dinner. All we had to do was find Balcarce street dressed with sidewalk tables & fully decorated for a night of fun, food, music & dancing. The street is literally lined up with local restaurants with street entertainment by the dancers of each restaurant.

Pena dancer in Salta.
Pena dancer on Balcarce Street in Salta.

Each Pena has its own menu of traditional foods & with the traditional brilliant costumes & foods with lively music you can’t help but smile!

Pena folklore dancing in Salta, Argentina!

Walking the Streets Enjoying the Views

Cathedral of Salta, Argentina
Cathedral of Salta, Argentina
Iglesia San Francisco
Iglesia San Francisco

It seemed like there was a park for every couple blocks & all you could see were families enjoying time together!

One of many parks in Salta, Argentina geared to family!
One of many parks in Salta, Argentina geared to family!
Holly & Horace at Salta Park, Argentina
Holly & Horace at one of many Salta Park, Argentina

In Closing…Salta was such a pleasant experience!

Salta was a dream for a spur of the moment trip. With cobblestone streets, fantastic music/food/scenery, we were never at a lack of ‘what to do today’. Walking was very safe & we did walk & meeting the locals was the best! Could we live here? Since we were only here a month, we concentrated on Salta vs trying to get out of the area. The economy fits right in with this budget minded couple for sure…we will keep it at the top of our list for now.

Misc pics from Salta, Argentina!

Tren alas Nubes
Tren alas Nubes
Sheepherder in Salta
Sheepherder in Salta
Truck used as fruit stand in Salta.
Truck used as fruit stand in Salta.

One Surprising AND Educational Day in Johannesburg, South Africa!

It has been hard to put into words…our one day in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was both surprising & very educational to me. What a history lesson! There is no way I can write about everything we learned but I’ll give you some tidbits. My hope is that you will be interested enough that you might do more research into South Africa & exactly what Aparthied was. Where do we begin

It really was hard for me to know where to start to post about our day trip to Johannesburg, South Africa. It was educational & definitely one seldom if ever taught in schools nowadays! A downtown area that was once thriving with beauty & wealth that was taken from the lands of South Africa was now a ghost town of sorts. Let me see if I can give you an accurate taste of our visit.

Our Day in Johannesburg, South Africa

Our day in Johannesburg, South Africa was very much an educational visit. We went there with the intent of spending a quiet Christmas Holiday in the bed & breakfast that we had picked on the outskirts of Johannesburg before heading back to the states

Let me back up a sec to tell you how we actually wound up in South Africa. The Big guy was summoned back to the United States for jury duty. How he feels about Jury duty is a whole story that I would need days to explain.

Anyway back to how we decided to travel from Windhoek, Namibia to Johannesburg, South Africa. While we were researching flights back to the United States from Namibia (the second least populated country in the world), we found that we would have to fly 8-12 hours backwards to Europe & then a flight from Europe an equal number of hours forward to the United States. We found the costs associated with that kind of travel was not within our budget, therefore we started researching other flight options. We soon discovered the closest major International Airport was in Johannesburg, South Africa & due to its size with the number of international flights coming & going from its airport, we could fly to Johannesburg, stay at a hotel & catch an international flight that was within our budget. So we reluctantly booked a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. Yes, I said it out loud, “reluctantly”, because everything that we read online about crime & safety of Johannesburg made us feel like we were going into a war zone with no weapons.

Finally, this is where our day in Johannesburg begins.

Upon arrival in Johannesburg, a driver from the B&B met us at the airport transporting us to our lodging in Sandton, a suburb located outside of Johannesburg. Our original plan was to stay in our tranquil & secure B&B avoiding all contact with Johannesburg. While we were traveling to Sandton, we could see the massive skyscrapers of Johannesburg towering into the clouds. We asked the driver about the dangers of Johannesburg & he confirmed that what was once the beautiful financial center of Johannesburg had experienced a high rate of criminal activity.

Our B&B in Sandton was a highly secure gated community that was safe to walk around. A staff person from B&B agreed to give us a ride to the nearest mall to pick up a few supplies before the stores closed for the Christmas Holiday. As we drove through the streets of Sandton we noticed well maintained beautiful trees & plants everywhere. Side note: we were told later that over six million trees (some indigenous & others from South America & Australia!) had been planted in Johannesburg which supposedly could be seen from satellite!

We asked the staff person about Johannesburg & they told us they would arrange a driving tour to explore downtown Johannesburg & the well known Soweto neighborhoods. The next day an older gentleman named “Sunny-boy” picked us up to begin our day tour of Johannesburg & Soweto Town.

The start of our day tour was to downtown Johannesburg. Having had read so many negative things on the internet about crime in downtown Johannesburg, which the South African people lovingly refer to as Jo’Burg, we looked at each other like soldiers preparing to go into battle.

We wondered what we would see. We wondered if our being a mixed black & white couple would cause us any problems? Other than a side eye or rare frown, we were treated with kindness.

To our surprise it looked like a ghost town filled with skyscrapers. The streets were either empty or full of homeless people & trash. There are no longer ‘shoppers’ on the streets of this city of over 4 million people. It was explained to us that the once great & thriving Johannesburg, which was also called the City of Gold, was now nothing more than empty glass & metal towers with squatters & trash lined streets. After Apartheid, crime in Johannesburg had become so bad that the owners of many of the downtown skyscrapers decided to close their businesses & moved outside of Johannesburg such as Sandton or Rosebank.

One of many abandoned buildings in Jo'burg.
One of many abandoned buildings in Jo’burg.

After a few minutes of driving down the empty streets of downtown Johannesburg, our driver decided to take us to an area that contained a cruel history of how the South African police treated native (Black) South Africans during apartheid. “Apartheid” is an Afrikaans word meaning apartness.

metal tree of hanging blacks
Is there really any need to interpret this metal sculpture?

Our driver drove to a multi-story police building & began telling us stories of how the white South African police officers would end interrogations of black suspects by handcuffing the suspect & throwing them out of the upper floor windows. We were told that many of the survivors of the police interrogations now roam around the streets of downtown Johannesburg disabled in wheelchairs. The police were responsible for the investigation of their own staff & many of the police that conducted the interrogations are still on the police force.

Johannesburg Jail used for interrogations & punishments
Johannesburg Jail used for interrogations & punishments & still in use

We then drove to a location of a building that former political prisoner & eventual President of South Africa – Nelson Mandela – once took boxing lessons. One of the building walls was lined with photos of many civil rights activist black leaders from around the world & was the original law office of Nelson Mandela & Oliver R. Tambo.

The original law office of Mandela & Tombo in Johannesburgl, South Africa
Wall of civil rights movement leaders
Wall of civil rights movement leaders on Mandela/Tombo original law office- now a museum in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Did you know South Africa is the only country in the world where two Nobel Peace Prize winners lived in the same neighborhood. Soweto’s Orland West neighborhood is the only neighborhood in the world where two people from that neighborhood won a Nobel Peace Prize. Yes..with a little research, you will find that Nelson Mandela received the 1993 Nobel Peach Prize [shared with FW de Klerk also of South Africa]. Desmond Tutu, the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner that was known for his work in apartheid was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace! Nelson Mandela & Desmond Tutu at one time or another resided in Soweto’s Orland West neighborhood.

Dancing is a large part of African celebration and life.

Metal sculpture dedicated to dance of life.

A Few Facts About Apartheid in Johannesburg

During apartheid black people were not allowed to enter the urban areas as they were reserved for whites only. Blacks that worked as laborers in the city were issued an interior “passbook”, they referred this passbook as “Dompas”, which literally meant “dumb-ass”! It allowed them to enter the city only during their working hours! It was illegal for a Black person not to carry the passbook. If they were found in the urban areas WITHOUT the passbook they were taken to jail and interrogated (refer to the above paragraph regarding interrogation).

If your interest is peaked, check out the story of Hector Pieterson {Petersen}, the 14 year old killed during the Soweto Uprising in 1976! About 1500 school children were conducting a peaceful protest against learning the Afrikaans language in school instead of their native Zulu. That’s it. The school children drafted a letter of protest against being taught the Afrikaans language and went to present it to school administrators. The school children were surprised to be met at the school administration offices by a Police force that was authorized to use lethal force to disperse the students protesting the enforcement of the teaching of Afrikaans language. The police opened fire on the school children & the first school child shot & killed was 12 year old Hector Pieterson. Check out this article for all the details.

Plaque in Johannesburg South Africa in memory of peaceful student protest & the face of Hector Petersen, the first of many students murdered that day.
The Gardens with rock walls representing students & the snapshot someone took of Hector being carried after being shot.

Note: The United States supported the South African apartheid regime with economic & military aide from the 1950’s until 1986 when Congress passed Anti-Apartheid Act, which imposed sanctions against the South African Apartheid regime.

Wide variations between the have & have nots lead to scenes such as these on our drive thru Soweto. Homes with next to no utilities, etc are within eye shot of homes such as those in the following photo.

The have nots with minimal utilities, etc.

Many of the homes such as below have been turned into Bed & Breakfasts!

The haves in Soweto.

If you want to know more about Africa, South Africa, Johannesburg, Apartheid, etc, I encourage you to research. It really is an education.

Our Six Weeks In Beautiful – But HOT – Windhoek, Namibia!

Six weeks was not enough time to explore beauty & the mysteries of the hot capital city Windhoek, Namibia.  Yes, my thinking has changed since the last post. We really do need to come back to visit more of this African country.

This country stands out from the other African countries we have visited with its obviously strong German influence everywhere! Language, architecture, street & city names – it really has that European feel to it in neighborhoods & shopping areas.  We loved the street names though there were many street names we could not pronounce!

Street signs in Windhoek Namibian
Street signs in Windhoek Namibian

Language Barrier?

Language barrier? Not here. I have to admit that I was worried that we would face a “language barrier” prior to our trip to the continent of Africa, but boy were we surprised! English has been the official language in each of the African countries that we have visited & the largest tribe usually gets the title of being the National language. The African countries that use English as the  official language also teach it as the primary language in school & tribal languages along with the National language is usually taught in the homes.  It is not uncommon to hear someone speaking German, Dutch, Russian or one of the hundreds of tribal languages – and smoothly change/transition to another language without thinking. Amazing to hear!!

Weather in Namibia

As foreigners from the U.S. (Texas), we are used to longggg hot summer months but…Namibia tested our heat tolerance. In Namibia there are two seasons – summer from November – April with winter from May to October. There is no getting around it, Namibia is a hot country & has one of the oldest deserts in the world (Namib Desert) & the Namib desert is said to have the highest sand dunes in the world.

Windhoek sits in a bowl of sorts surrounded by mountains, which prevents the heat from escaping & makes it one very HOT city.

Mtns surrounding Windhoek, Namibia
Mtns surrounding Windhoek, Namibia

We were told northern areas of Namibia are hotter, but if you want cooler weather you can take the four hour drive to Swakopmund & Walvis Bay, both sitting on the Atlantic Ocean. It seems these are the go to cities for Namibians during holidays & are hot tourist areas for holidays as well. These two places in particular are why we need to need to come back to Namibia, specifically Swakopmund, Namibia. This is definitely high on the list!

Desert meets Atlantic Ocean in Namibia, Africa
Desert meets Atlantic Ocean in Namibia, Africa

Water Treatment in Namibia – Toilet to Tap!

Namibia has been recycling waste water or as it is called “Toilet to Tap” since the 1960s! With the harsh sun & lack of water in the country, Windhoek, has been innovative in their search for drinking water. I know when we were first told this by some Namibians, I’m sure we had that LOOK on our faces, but they just chuckled at us. The waste goes thru I think about ten processes to become drinkable. I can’t tell you the process but if you are interested, here is a short article. For these two traveling seniors, we joined in & used the recycled water re-fill stations that were located in all the major grocery stores.

Is Windhoek, Namibia Safe?

Windhoek is a diverse city with people from Angola, South Africa, Germany, Serbia, India & other European countries that have lived here for many years, but like any capital city Windhoek has its share of crime, such as pickpockets, petty thefts & robberies. We walked in West Windhoek during the morning & afternoon hours with no problems, except for people asking for money at the Mall entrances/exits. I can’t say how safe it would be for people to roam around during the night-time as we choose not to move around after dark.

The U.S. State Departments ranks Namibia as a Level 2 Security threat, which means increased chance of petty crime, etc. We try to always be aware of our surroundings & take extra care not to draw attention to ourselves no matter what country we are in & so far it has served us well. Since we do walk a lot of places we try to be aware of our surroundings or as The Big Guy calls it our heads are on a constant swivel. We also register with STEP so that we do receive any alerts about activity that could pose a danger to our safety.

Bottom line, be careful, we did not experience any danger in Windhoek & we are thankful.

Walkability of Windhoek

We’ve had some really good walks around our neighborhood & en-route to Wernhill Mall, coffee & medical shops.  The scenery was good, but there are places that are not paved for walking.  We still enjoyed the walks & loved finding these huge rocks that were intentionally left in place, while walkways were built around a few of them.   These rocks were sitting in or embedded into bricked sidewalks. Some were as white as quartz, but I can’t swear the exact type or name other than they were a nice surprise.

Bricked sidewalks in Windhoek, Namibia
Bricked sidewalks in Windhoek, Namibia

Now the traffic here is much calmer than other countries we have been in but if you are a pedestrian you must stay focused on crossing streets. As in the other African countries we traveled, cars are driven on the left side of the roads & the steering wheel is located on the right side of the vehicles. The drivers don’t always come to a full stop at stop signs, but some are very courteous to other drivers.

Oh, Windhoek is about 5,000 feet above sea level & there are hills to navigate while walking, so we had to pace ourselves, no matter where we were walking. These street signs are a mouthful! LOL!

Namibian Currency

Each country we have been in has fabulous currency art. Namibia has its own currency, called Namibian dollars, but it also uses the South African Rand. We were told that South Africa does not use Namibian dollars. The exchange rate of the Namibian dollars offered us a better rate compared to the U.S. dollar, but whenever they would give us a price they would say dollars. Our facial expressions must have shocked some people, because they would quickly state Namibian dollars. One U.S. dollar is ranges between 18.30 to 19.02 Namibian dollars, at the time of this writing.

We did find it very interesting that it is not unusual to receive Rand (South African currency) mixed in with the Namibian bills when receiving cash here in Windhoek. Here’s the deal & it doesn’t seem fair but I guess its proving a point of sorts from South Africa to Namibia. [Namibia was once part of South Africa but won its independence back on March 21, 1990 with the help of Angola!]. It could be said South Africa was just a sore loser so although their currency is accepted in Namibia…..South Africa DOES NOT ACCEPT Namibian bills. Sounds like sour grapes don’t you think?

Medical Care in Windhoek

We had the opportunity to check out the medical healthcare in Windhoek. Let me say that the standard of professionalism, treatment & care by the staff & the doctors far exceeded our expectations.

First off, we happen to visit Windhoek in the middle of pollen/allergy season. Go figure! For probably three weeks I was sneezing with a stopped up head alternating going through boxes of tissues like crazy & then the cough when The Big Guy suggested that I better get myself to a doctor. I searched online & found Dr. Limon at the Windhoek Family Practice close to us & called. They asked me what time I wanted to come in that day!!! Within an hour I had my consult with Dr. Limon, received prescriptions & was on my way to pharmacist at Wernhil Mall. Office visit was $25 U.S.D. & prescriptions (3) costs about $50 U.S.D. Yes, I have survived the remainder of our visit here with no repercussions!

Secondly, I was complaining of having difficulty reading, because I could not see clearly out one eye. So we decided it was time for yearly vision checkups. The Big Guy started searching google map & found a place called Rita Franks Optometrist. After reading numerous positive reviews about the optometrist we decided to get an eye checkup. We made appointments for the next week & went to see Dr. Marissa Krone. She was even better in person than all the positive reviews that had been written about the office. Thanks Google for your map, reviews & pictures, because we loved her. During my eye examination she advise me that I had a cataract in my left eye (which I knew) & that she really hated to give me glasses, because of the cataract. I told her that I would have it looked at by my vision care specialist in the U.S. with the same doctor that had removed my previous cataract in my other eye. I told her I had insurance that would cover the majority of the cataract surgery if they decided it needed to be removed. I told her my sight was starting to really suffer in that eye so I didn’t mind getting glasses now. So we proceeded with new glasses.

The Big Guy was impressed with how she sat down with both of us to explain what she had seen during our vision examination. She spent time telling each of us what she had seen during our individual eye exams. The Big Guy was made aware of the cataract she had noticed during my examination & how she would try to provide glasses that would help me until I could return to the states & consult with my medical doctor about the cataract. I was listening closely as she explained to the Big Guy about the different options he had in picking contact lenses. He said he NEVER had a doctor go into so much detail with him & he really appreciated it while learning at the same time.

Eye Surgery in Windhoek, Namibia

After The Big Guy & I walked back home, we started discussing the pros/cons of having my cataract surgery done here vs waiting til we arrived back in U.S.? We talked in detail about the possibility of having to stay in the states longer, because of the process that would be required by the insurance company before I could be approved for cataract surgery. After much discussion & looking at the potential costs to us of staying stateside in a hotel or Airbnb while waiting for insurance approval, I called Dr. Krone & she gave me two doctors names, so that I could do price comparisons.

I called Windhoek Eye Centre (yes, this is the way the Europeans spell Center) & they gave me the full fee broken down over the phone (!!) so I would know exactly how much it would cost. She even told me consultation dates & surgery dates that were open – at that time – if I wanted to call back & proceed. I then called the second clinic she had referred me to but they said basically gave me a starting price & told me it goes up from there, their price was quite a bit higher than the other. Budget minded & not liking that receptionist attitude, I went with Windhoek Eye Centre.

Finally, the cost of eye surgery in Windhoek was just a little more than I the amount that I would have had to pay out of pocket in the States, but it was less because when I include the costs of what we would have paid for a place to stay in the States. I think it was an excellent decision to get the cataract removed, so worth it in how quick they were able to get me in. Can’t say enough about the clinic, Doctor or his employees. Just perfect!

Cost of Living in Windhoek

I was very happy with the cost of living in Windhoek. As we get close to end of the month (& praying for no emergencies) we will be over budget just a bit only because of the medical expenses explained above. So am I happy? First time in 25 years I don’t have to wear glasses except for up-close reading! Yes, though some things were more expensive – we found items that were a great bargain (compared to U.S. prices). I feel by being very aware of our budget we did really well! Here are the three stand outs for December budget.

Over Budget! We had eye checkups & I had a cataract removed which was not planned for – here. These two things were outside of normal budget for month but were necessary after we compared here vs. U.S. prices!

Under Budget! Renting was higher than what we would have normally paid (we stayed under budget only by a few dollars) but our accommodations were adorable & had everything we could have asked for with very helpful owners who were quick to respond to any questions.

Under Budget! We didn’t have any favorite restaurants so we decided to eat out a couple times a week & the balance of the week The Big Guy cooked. I will say the fruits & vegetable although beautiful to look at just were not that good. It felt like everything had been frozen or picked before its “time”. We ended up under budget on groceries & that was because, we did not eat out as much. The Cork & Fork across the street from Maerua Mall had good food & priced affordable!

Final Thoughts on Windhoek, Namibia Visit

Probably our only real disappointment was not being able to find a good pedicure in Windhoek! We went to at least four or five places…sad. They are strictly nail techs & that is fine but with The Big Guy & I walking everywhere, we are really finicky about a good pedicure.

While driving, we definitely saw the disparity in living conditions. From very nice homes with that international flavor in town to the million(s) dollar homes as in Eros to the outer metal/tin house ‘settlements’ where we were told workers live that work in town – it is quite a disparity.

As in many African countries, Namibia is rich in natural resources but the resources are sold to outside countries & by time the dollars are distributed down thru companies & governments, the people get paid little to nothing for working long days.

I said earlier that one month was enough time for Windhoek but I don’t think I really meant it. With the severe allergies for a couple weeks & then the eye surgery, we flat ran out of time. There are still a couple things we would visit if we came back such as a trip to Swakopmund & Walvis Bay. Its a trip to get there & we planned on doing just that but than the eye surgery & glasses over rode the trip there…But…when we come back… Until then here are more photos/video of this wonderful city of Windhoek.

Holly in front of the Christuskirche Church in Windhoek, Namibia
Holly in front of the Christuskirche Church in Windhoek, Namibia. Originally called the Church of Peace built in 1910.
Tree with white blooms in front of blue Namibian sky.
Tree with white blooms in front of blue Namibian sky.

Friends took us on a drive around Windhoek the difference in areas of the town. We saw the new U.S. Embassy complex & it is HUGE. I took this night shot of it from one of several lookout points over Windhoek. We actually received an invite for the unveiling but it fell on doctor consult day for surgery so we missed out on it. I swear the Embassy can probably be seen by satellite at night the way it was lit up!

View from overlook in Windhoek, Namibia of the U.S. of America Embassy
View from overlook in Windhoek, Namibia of the U.S. of America Embassy

Next stop is Johannesburg, South Africa! We are nervous about this trip…lets see if what we heard is actually true? Let’s go!

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