Planet Hoppers | November 2018

November 2018

Featured Trip Of The Month

Jenna and Mitch's Honeymoon (with Friends) in Africa

Zimbabwe - Kenya - Madagascar - Seychelles

"I cannot believe I didn’t go on safari earlier or that I don’t know of more people

who have, because it is the most awesome thing you can do."

-Jenna

Jenna had always wanted to take a safari in Africa. In fact, there were many places she wanted to see in Africa, but she never thought they could all be done in one trip. Should she go on safari with her close group of friends who enjoy traveling the world together? Or should this be the exotic honeymoon she and her husband postponed since getting married last year? Amy from Planet Hoppers helped her have it all by planning the perfect trip. Jenna and her husband, Mitch, would start the trip with adventure and fun shared with their friends–like a bachelor/bachelorette party. Then Jenna and Mitch would head to Seychelles for a perfect, relaxing honeymoon – a vacation after their vacation.

I recently spoke with Jenna and one of her traveling friends, Liz. They excitedly spoke

about the first part of the journey in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Victoria Falls. Here's an

excerpt from their interview. Click to read the full transcript or to see additional photos.

Did your trip have a theme song or soundtrack?

The Lion King soundtrack. When we were kids, we learned a lot about Africa by watching The Lion King. That was our view of safari. Once there, we noticed a lot of the words in The Lion King were correct, Swahili words. A lot of the actual animal behaviors displayed in that movie are accurate. The hyenas vs. lions is actually a real thing! When we were there we saw a

lion attack and eat a wildebeest. Some people couldn’t watch that but for me, I just sat there the whole time with my mouth open, I couldn’t stop watching. It was nature being nature. Maybe it would have been sadder if the wildebeest were a cuter animal.

What was the biggest surprise or “a-ha” moment?

I work in the energy industry, so I’m biased towards looking at how people use plastics or how much trash is around. In

Kenya, I didn’t realize there was a total ban on plastic – plastic bags were not allowed at all. I thought that was pretty cool. I was also surprised at how many countries gave us paper straws. In Madagascar, I was surprised at the state of the pollution and trash they generate and don’t do anything with. It was surprising especially because their economy is based on eco-tourism. Another thing that was surprising was the number of baby animals we saw. We saw so many and I wasn’t really expecting that or didn’t think about it. I mean, it makes sense because the animals are just out there living

their lives. In Madagascar, it seemed all the lemurs had babies.

Tell me something funny that happened

Dinner on the steam train. The train was chugging along but stopped quickly so the wine we were drinking went very where.

Red wine. White shorts. We were covered in it! We never found out why it stopped so suddenly.