Why I've been AWOL...

Sorry for the couple of weeks lag time in between posts! I've really been trying to get better about posting more often lately, but at least I have a great excuse...I was in South Africa!

The back-story: a couple of months ago, I entered a contest through one of my travel suppliers, Goway. Their AfricaExperts "Ultimate FAM* Trip" was open to all agents who had recently booked client trips to South Africa. I entered my bookings for a chance to win, and then, to be honest, forgot all about it. Until I arrived at my hotel in Zurich, Switzerland on the last night of my Labor Day European vacation (to be blogged soon) and was handed a phone message telling me I had won and needed to get in touch with Goway ASAP since we were set to leave in exactly 4 weeks!
*FAM is short for "familization", and refers to a trip that travel agents take to get first-hand experience with an area, hotel, etc.

Here is the press release about the trip - if only they'd spelled my last name right (it's actually Caroline Bracewell)!
http://travelworldnews.com/2010/09/goway-announces-winners-for-the-%E2%80%9Cultimate-fam-trip%E2%80%9D/ There's an old PR axiom that "all publicity is good publicity, as long as they spell your name right". Since this release can in no way be considered bad publicity, I guess it would fall into the arena of neutral publicity? ;)

But not too worried about that...I'm just thrilled I got to go! It was an amazing trip, and I can't wait to share pictures, reviews, and stories of my adventures on the dark continent. In the meantime, a sneak peak of one of the most amazing things I saw (warning: not for the squeamish!)...

Nicaragua part 3 - Big Corn Island

 Upon arriving back on Big Corn, we grabbed a cab and headed for our hotel, Casa Canada. At $109 + tax per night (including breakfast), this property is a bit pricey by Nicaragua standards, but is also the most luxurious hotel in the Corn Islands.

Nicaragua part 2 - Little Corn Island

We arrived at the La Costena Airlines check in area (a small, smelly, and very crowded room in a building separate from the main part of the airport) and spent the next 45 minutes hoping the long line was not going to make us miss our flight. This fear was unfounded, though, as the flight did not actually take off until 7:30 (in talking to a pilot, this "delay" seems to be pretty typical for this airline/route, as he laughed when we told him the original departure time we'd been given). Note: you do need to pay a small fee (I believe it was $2-$3USD/$40-$60 Nicaraguan Cordobas per person) before going through security, so it's good to have some small bills on hand. Once you get through security, there's a small waiting area with 2 stands selling drinks and food (prepackaged snacks and some "fresh"--I use this word loosely--pastries/rolls).

We finally boarded the plane for the hour or so flight (including a short stop in Bluefields on the Caribbean coast) to Big Corn Island.