When is the best time to travel..?

I many times get the question `when is the best time to  travel to´ South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and I must say that the answer is often complex. It will depend on many things including your interests, exactly what you want to visit and why you're travelling. One person's best time can be another's worst! There is low and high season but that does not mean you should not travel during low season, it is more a question what would you like to see and enjoy that is of importance. Of course most Scandinavian people want to escape the miserable winter season, and at that time southern africa has the perfect climate to offer, but here I will point out a few things that might be helpful:)
January , summer
February, summer
March, fall
April, fall
May , fall/winter
June, winter
July, winter
August, winter
September, spring
October, spring,
November, summer
December, summer

If starting with safari, and your only focus is animals, see as much as possible and breath the nature, I would say best time to visit southern africa is during the dry season,and that means towards the end of the winter season and beginning of spring season,July- September,when there is no rain and nights are  quite chilly, and the nature is dry and animals cant hide so well in the bush, and as it is not too hot the animals move around much more in search of water, this is absolutely the best time to see animals, but maybe not the best time if you enjoy sun and heat.

To visit Cape Town I would suggest from October- April, but try to avoid December when south Africans have summer holiday, then the otherwise so great service might not be top notch, and you might also end up standing for hours in a line  to get up to  Table Mountain.
The Cape Winelands can be visited all year round but if you want to enjoy the harvest time you should visit during February - March, as in South Africa there is one harvest  a year and during harvest time there is festivals and harvest activities you can part take in.
Cape Town is not so pleasant to visit during the wintermonths May-August, as the weather is then mostly rainy and windy,and houses have no heating like we do have in Scandinavia, so you might end up sitting most of the time by the fireplace with a blanket around you...like me always:).

If you plan to visit Victoria Falls , a good time would be when the water is on mediun level. As the rainperiod starts in October-November, it takes a while for the watermasses to reach the falls, so immediatley when the rainy season starts the water level is still very low and not so spectacular, but towards January- February the viewing is very good when the waterlevels are higher,  but then the further on the season goes the waterlevels get very high and you can hardly see your hand in front of you because of the  mist , an umbrella wont be to any help, you will get wet, the mist is very thick:) Then again a few months after the rainy season it is a good time to visit,between June to August.

Then to Namibia and the famous sanddunes: Best time to visit would be during the dry season May-September, the sanddunes are magnificent to see during sunrise and sundown, the reflexion of the sun on the dunes is amazing. During the summer months, November- March, the day temperatures can get very high ( +40) and then you do not want to be stuck in the desert. I have been during these months and it is still fine to go but just dont do the mistake of going to the desert in the middle of the day....and with a car without aircon:) Anywhere you travel in Southern africa during summer months,if you rent a car, make sure you have aircon.

These are just a few guidelines, and when planning a holiday you have to figure out what you want most. If you enjoy sun and pleasant weather, enjoying safari but happy if you see a few animals, then the summer months has much to offer you in southern africa.

So here is a starters holiday package to South Africa:

5 nights Cape Town in end of October/or March, visiting Table Mountain, the winelands, Cape Point, walking along  Clifton beach, visiting the V&A Waterfront, eating great food
4 nights northern part, enjoying safari, visiting Blyde River canyon, a day in Kruger Park and then flying home again.

Or a bit more advanced package:

4 days Cape Town February/March, same program as above
3 days Namibia, visiting Windhoek and Sossusvlei (
3 days Victoria Falls, visiting the falls,maybe a helicopter ride, or elephant back riding,and then flying home trough Johannesburg.

That was very short and sweet :)

Have a wonderful day my friends!

Jannika

Viivis B-Day, Spring,Stockholm

Hello everyone,
Seems like Im updating once a month nowdays, but what can I say, not that much is happening, days are getting longer, life rolls on and we are all happy:) I dont feel like writing about small things like what I had for breakfast or what shoes I bought...:) , but now when summer is coming I think we will have more going on over here again.
Viivi turned 4 years old on saturday 28.04, and she is very proud! She had a kiddies birthday and we had a bunch of children visiting. Everything was quite at first but give the children 5 minutes and it sounded as we had 50 children in the house:) But they had all fun! On monday we went to a friend/collegues 40th birthday party, a very fun evening, the guys did the balloon dance towards midnight....Im not going to go into detail about that, but it made us all laugh, great done guys!:) When we came home at 02.00 in the night, Viivi was still up and keeping my dad company, by dancing and singing for him....not what we had in mind for her in the middle of the night( no more daytime sleep for her, as she slept 3 hours in the day that day..and my dad is not very strict in getting the girls to bed).
On 1st  of May we took the girls on their bicycles to the 1st of may happeing here in our village, and Liina is doing great on her own now, Viivi still needs some guidance to steer the bicycle in the right direction, but we made it there and back. Afterwards we had a big lunch at Katcha& Anssis house.
This weekend I have been in Stockholm with my good friend Immo, we left on saturday morning, arrived to a sunny Stockholm at about 10am, checked in to the Hotel Sture Plan, a nice hotel and very well located for us, as our main activity for the day was shopping, and there is plenty of shops we like in the area,but at 1pm we realized that we had not got further than to Sture Gallerian, where we also did have lunch, so after lunch we speeded up and rushed further, walked trough Biblioteksgatan and almost run to Åhlens, our plan was then to start from there but suddenly the time was already 4pm and we had to be at Berns Asiatic restaurant at 5pm, no chance , so we changed the time to 5.30 pm, just to get enough time to get to the hotel and get ready for the evening. We had a wonderful dinner at Berns, and after dinner and 3 glasses of wine it was time to go to see the Musical Dirty Dancing at China Teather, and what a show, I just loved it and laughed and felt a few tears pushing trough also a few times, I do recommend everyone to go and see this musical. It doesnt matter how many times one has seen the movie, the musical is still something of its own class. After the musical we where so tired that we went back to the hotel and fell asleep with a happy smile on our lips and tired feet:)
And Stockhom, it is a lovely spring town, I love to visit this city, to feel the atmosphere, watch the people and just enjoy the vibe, it gave me lots of energy.
Now Im home again and it feels great to be home! But definitely soon again a visit to Stockholm is planned in.
Next weekend we have south african friends coming over , they do live in Tampere nowdays , so we will have a braai, biltong and savannahs:)

And about travelling, in about 2 weeks we are going to Italy for 5 days, looking forward to that.

Love to you all and have a wonderful May!

Jannika

Happy Easter!

Today has been a busy but fun day. The Easter rabbit visited us last night and brought huge chocolate eggs for the girls:) and after having eggs for breakfast we dressed up, girls with special facial paintings made by Nico( a bit different from the local look:)...and then we walked from door to door in the neigbourhood wishing everyone Happy Easter! Girls made beautiful decorations yesterday that they handed out and in exchange got candy...so..plenty of sweets here today!

I wish you all a happy Easter!

Love Jannika

Back again!

I mean on the blogg:) I know , I havent written for a long while, but it seems like life has been going on a steady, normal path, without too much to write about. Work is fine, life is good, spring is almost on the doorstep, I like it, just 2 more months to summer:). South Africa next season is much more busy than this previous season, many of my old clients are going back to South Africa, or Namibia, and besides that I have many new clients,group tours, this means I will spend some time overseas next season.

I think more and more spezialized tours are becoming popular- winetours, photograhic tours....and especially outdoor tours. In south africa you can take part in cycling races, marathons , horse riding, and you will find many great hiking trails, here is a good link to a good site : Footprints, and another one is: South African Hikes. I have done quite a few hikes around South Africa, day hikes and a few days hikes with overnights, and it is a wonderful way to experience the landscapes and nature SA has to offer, ano no, you do not need to be afriad of spiders and snakes:) , I have only seen a few snakes all trough the times I have spent out in the wild, and spiders, most of them are harmless, the bigger the nicer. You can choose to do a hike along the coast or up in the mountains, or on the rolling hills of zululand. Accommodation along the hikes are usually very basic, but some trails are planned so that one has the option to stay in a guest house every night..that means a shower every night:)

As I plan tours day and night, I do plan tours every day at work also, mainly to different destinations around Europe, I have had time to plan some own trips too. In end of May me and Nico are going to Italy 5 days, flying to Rome and spending the days in an area called Le Marche, almost like Tuscany but not so many toursists, enjoying the Adriatic Sea, enjoyig good food and wine, olives, cheese and the old mediaval buildings and towns...looking forward to that!

And beginning of May Im going to Stockholm with my good friend Immo, we are going to have a girls day and night= shopping, a few glasses of wine and then see Dirty Dancing in the evening, will be fun:) And as I was busy planning I decided to book a stay for me&Nico in Copenhagen also for a weekend in June, as there is direct flights now from Vasa to Copenhagen, what better than enjoying a short get away every now and then:) That covers now May and June, but then I have to plan a family trip also, that will be for July, maybe Copenhagen again...Legoland? But many people say it is better children are over 7 years when going there...so lets hope Blue1 is still flying straight to Copenhagen in a few years time, so go for it all Vasa people, fly to Copenhagen, good rates at the moment, you can get a return trip for only 100€! including all taxes and fees! Cheaper than going to Helsinki..I actually like the Blue1 add saying `why go trough HEL? ´...when there is straight flights Vasa-Copenhagen:)

Otherwise I have had a stomachflu this week, not nice at all, just been lying in bed without energy, now Im luckily feeling almost normal again.

Im longing for the bush, my favorite place in South Africa, watching wild animals close by. Here is a clip from the safari area I always visit, seen these lions quite a few times:

Manyeleti lions

Enjoy!

I will be back sooner than later next time:)

Love Jannika

Helsinki

Spending this week in Helsinki on a course, and of course I got a flu with a burning troath and a thick head...and having no energy to walk around enjoying the city, so most of the time will be spent in the classroom and hotelroom reading a book.

It is a while since I have written, not much has happened, last week was so cold that just the thought of going outside made me freeze, and wanting to plan a trip somewhere warm.

Spring is coming closer, and summer too:) so I can actually start planning our summer holiday, maybe a trip to Italy in May? Croatia in June and a roadtrip to Norway in July and .......so many places to choose from. The planning is something I do enjoy:)

Time to go, hope you all are feeling good today!

Love Jannika

My weekend!

Sitting at Helsinki airport on my way home again, quite tired after a busy weekend in Helsinki, working at the MATKA travel convention. Even if it was a busy weekend it was fun, talking to lots of people both saturday and sunday. We ( me and my collegue Jonas) arrived on friday evening , flight 1 hour delayed because of snowstorm, got to the hotel and met up with our collegues for dinner, and I think all of us where tired so we decided to eat at the hotel. Following morning we started the day around 9am, the convention opened at 10am, saturday was probably the busiest day, and besides talking at our stand I walked around checking out what new destinations I could find, new ideas...many to choose from, so it is easy to dream away a bit while walking around and also getting a bit confused by all the choices( where to find all the time to do all the travelling...). Last night we went out for drinks+ dinner but I think all of us where in bed before midnight. Today was not as busy as yesterday and I had a few people visiting me from earlier tours, nice to see them all:) I met many new contacts and at the moment Im busy planning a tour for example to Italy, will let you know more details later when the plan is finalized. After standing all day long at the convention I was very happy to find a stand where they offered free massage for 5 min ,I closed my eyes and enjoyed those 5 min:)

Tired but happy, now Im on my way home, cant wait to see my family:)

Have a nice sunday evening all of you!

Jannika

January!

So far it has been a good month. I had a private group travelling to South Africa, and they are already back, they had a wonderful time,even saw a leopard. On sunday I have a few more people travelling to South Africa, and they are very excited as it is their first time.

Tomorrow Im going to the travel convention MATKA in Helsinki,Im there until sunday,presenting Ingves Travel Agency and telling about their tours, we are even having a tour to South Africa for spring 2013. Come and say hi if you happen to be at the convention.

My excersising this month has started out well, been every week at least 4 times this month. Yesterday evening me and the girls went to our local ski resort, Öjberget, and had a great time in the snow, sliding down the kiddies slope. It is a nice time of the winter now, I like the soft snow, not too cold.

Last saturday we had a late christmas party from work, a fun evening, we ate at Linds Kök,a great food experience, a green tunnel restaurant where they grow tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers in the restaurant:) even the snaps we had with the food was in cucumbers, tomatoes and red peppers. And for the entertainment we had 3 guysin the age 18 called KAJ, and they where fun:) check this out:KAJ

I wish you all nice evening, tonight I will watch my new favorite tv- series: Revenge, very good:)

Love,

Jannika

Cold and white!

Finally we have some snow and colder weather, today -10, which is the coldest we have had for ages.

This year has started good, I have been busy planning many grouptours, about 7 for next season in southern africa( both in South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe).

And I started a new job, and that is... of course also in the travelling field:) From now onwards Im working at Ingvesresor in Vasa.

Girls ( Nico and me too) enjoy the snow outside, Liina got new skies and the girls have been trying a few times skiing on our yard....I think it is time for Nico also to pull those skies on and see if he has any talent for it( better tell everyone that he has only skied once in his lifetime before, so he has a bit to learn:)

After a nice afternoon we made some potate mice for dinner, found from the kiddies recipe book ( very popular at the moment, we make about 3 recipe a week from that book on Liinas request) , are these mice not sweet:)

Have a lovely saturday evening! We are about to watch the movie ( triology, by Stieg Larsson) `Män som hatar kvinnor`. Me and Nico went to the movies last sunday to see the english version `the girl with the dragon tattoo´, so it will be interesting to see the swedish version again( I have seen it once before) . The english version was very good and worth seeing.

Love,

Jannika

2012!

I wish you all happiness , joy and dreams come trough for the new year 2012! Hope you all had a wonderful New Years Eve! We had such an enjoyable evening with friends! Children of different ages played so nicely together, and we adults enjoyed a delicious dinner and sang `snaps´songs and had many good laughes, a perfect way to end the year 2011 and start the year 2012. At midnight all children where still awake and we went outside to shoot rockets.

Most of us have new plans and make promises for the new year, and that is good, we need goals in life, and even if we do not reach our goals, at least we tried and gained new insight along the road,maybe even new possibilities, as the saying goes: Always aim for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Love,

Jannika

Christmas!

I have always loved christmastime, all the small things like decorating, planning ,candle lights,and listening to christmas carols. Only thing missing is the snow, I dont mind the darkness, but I would like to have a white landscape in front of me and feel the snow under my shoes...but Im happy as it is:)

All presents are wrapped and Santa Claus is coming tonight, we have a wonderful smell of christmas ham in the house, I had a 10kg ham in the oven over night and it turned out perfect and delicious:)

We are spending christmas at home, with sauna, dinner and family. Girls are so excited and it is enjoyable seeing how happy they are,running around the christmas tree, looking at the presents Santa Claus brought here last night while they where sleeping,and now they cant wait for the evening when he come back to hand them out ...:) makes me think of myself as a child.

I WISH YOU ALL LOVE, PEACE AND HAPPINESS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU,

Jannika