Follow Along as I Head to Africa This Week!
I don't like to play favorites, but I have to say that I get most excited traveling to Africa. I fell in love with the continent when I first went to South Africa several years ago on safari, seeing the Sabi Sands in Kruger National Park and staying at the Savanna Lodge. The whole experience was eye opening. Since then, I've returned to Africa twice, including my last trip working with PeaceJam in Ghana and a visit to Rwanda, as well. Every place I've visited in Africa has been insanely beautiful.
Needless to say, I'm excited to return for another trip this week. What makes this trip different and so exciting for me is that I'm bringing my parents along with me who have never been to Africa. Honestly, it can be hard for me to get excited about travel sometimes because I do it so much. But for this trip, I am completely beside myself, smiling ear to ear every single day thinking about taking my parents. To get to Ghana this time around, I'm going to be flying JFK to Accra (ACC) on Delta. I used 70,000 miles and $5.60 to fly on Delta's nonstop route, which I reviewed in an episode of TPGtv, but stay tuned for a full flight review, coming soon on the blog.
Last year after visiting Ghana, we decided to launch Points for Peace to support PeaceJam. So, the first stop of this trip will be in Accra, Ghana, for this year's PeaceJam conference with Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee. The Nobel laureate will lead the conference with several PeaceJam team members and will teach the 350 PeaceJammers in attendance how to bring positive change to their communities by promoting peace.
Last year in Ghana, I didn't get the chance to explore, to go to the coast and do some of the more touristy things, so I'm going to spend some time traveling the country — with my parents by my side. In fact, the head of PeaceJam in West Africa is named Wisdom Addo, and he invited us to the village where he grew up; we'll even meet his village elders. We're going to be bringing six bottles of Scotch that we'll get in duty free as our gift to them for inviting us. If you had told me five years ago, or even a year ago, that I'd be going to visit village elders in rural Ghana with my parents by my side, I wouldn't have believed you.
After Ghana, I'll be taking my parents to Ethiopia and Tanzania. In Tanzania, we'll be going on a safari for three nights where we'll be staying in a tented camp. Hopefully, we'll get to witness the Great Migration, which is one of the most incredible wildlife natural occurrences in the world.
Stay tuned for lots of flight and hotel reviews from our entire trip to Africa (in Ghana, I should have good reception, but in the middle of the Serengeti I can't guarantee it). Be sure to follow along on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for what will truly be the trip of a lifetime.
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