Travels off the Beaten Path

Justine Murray
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  • PLACES & TRAVEL

My sometimes bizarre and always unforgettable adventures around the globe, often as a solo woman traveller, gave me great insight into living a fulfilled life blessed with all my senses to enjoy the wonders the world has to offer. From wildlife encounters, midnight crashes, dodging stalkers and trekking with tribes, to travelling with a child and around work commitments, I will entertain you with my stories and what each adventure has taught me, along with some general travel wisdom along the way. I will also be interviewing other travellers who can captivate us with their own travel stories.

  1. EP55: African journey finale

    04/25/2023

    EP55: African journey finale

    So Africa is a wrap after 50 odd episodes. This episode sums up my epic journey overland across Africa by car, truck, bus, boat, train, bicycle, horse, camel, donkey and on foot. I travelled from the top to the bottom of Africa. Over that journey, I had the most incredible experiences with wildlife, immersed myself in amazing cultures and viewed stunning terrain. This journey changed my life in so many ways including: i) to take every opportunity to come my way, ii) to be so grateful for what I was experiencing and yet somehow always remaining safe, iii) to open my mind to the diversity everywhere in this world, iv) to seek a new career pathway through my discoveries and interests that arose in my travels, and v) to stop searching for my place in this world but find it is inside me all along. To celebrate competing my African stories, I created this episode as a video to listen and/or watch - including some of the photos and videos I took on my journey. Has this journey aroused your interests to travel? I am also a travel coach. If you planning on a trip to Africa and are on the fence, just do it. If you need help planning, get in contact with me and we can plan that African experience you dream about. Safe travels!! Videos in order: 1. Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre, Kampersus, South Africa 2. Nungwi, Zanzibar 3. Mountain gorillas, Mikeno Volcano, Buhumba, Democratic Republic of Congo. 4. Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo 5. Congo River, Zaire 6. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania 7. Nigerian wedding, Kano, Nigeria 8. Samburu ceremony, Timau, Kenya. Music played in order; Solitude, Sand Take me to the Lake, Punch Deck - Magheda, Ambient Bongos by Alexander Nakarada, Bumbumchack by Alwin Brauns, Tribal joy by Alexander Nakarada. https://www.serpentsoundstudios.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    51 min
  2. EP54: Volunteering in an African game reserve

    03/26/2023

    EP54: Volunteering in an African game reserve

    In this episode I recount my period I spent volunteering at a game reserve in the Limpopo Province in eastern South Africa. It was at the Enkosini Eco Experience (https://www.enkosini.org/) at Makalali Game Reserve, near Hoedspruit. Here I was involved in monitoring studies of predators and herbivore numbers, movements and behaviours. I also took part in the elephant contraception program, where elephant herds are monitored and females are given contraceptives to slow the density of elephants in the reserve. While I was there, we were lucky to be involved in removing radio collars off three bull elephants. This required watching the vet dart the elephants from a helicopter and being part of the ground crew. The experience was an amazing experience of morning and night game drives, walking safaris and bush camps. One particular encounter with lions was especially memorable. I was also able to visit the Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre and Jessica the hippo. While these have become tourist attractions, they do play a vital role in educating the public and rehabilitating wildlife back to the wild. In light of this, I discuss the merits of zoos with animals restricted in their movements. Lastly, I dwell on the lessons I picked up volunteering, including the gratitude I felt in being able to enjoy this experience and being immersed in this African landscape teeming with wildlife. I finish with my telling of my respect for the wildlife I encountered and suggest we should consider showing respect to the animals through keeping noise to a minimum when we experience these wildlife encounters.

    42 min
  3. EP53: Dung beetles have right of way

    04/24/2022

    EP53: Dung beetles have right of way

    In this episode, I describe my last trip to South Africa to Port Elizabeth (now called Gqeberha) in 2007.  I describe my mixed feelings as I board the plane from J'burg to Port Elizabeth alongside people handing in their rifles in a permanently-designated gun lane. I was attending an international conservation biology conference while finishing my Ph.D. However, at the same time there was a hunting competition and a large game auction happening at the same time in the region. Such conflicting agendas  - conservation, hunting and game farming - all big money earners in their own right.  While I was within the district, I visited Addo Elephant National Park. The third largest park in RSA is famous for >600 elephants, 400 Cape buffalo and nearly 50 black rhino. The park has the title of being the only park to host the Big 7 after it has picked up neighbouring marine reserves that also have whales and great white sharks and two islands of St Croix Island and Bird Island that houses penguins, seals and many Cape gannets and crowned cormorants. It is also famous for the largest population of wingless dung beetle (Circellium bachuss) that has an important ecological relationship between itself and the elephants - moving the incredible amounts of elephant dung deposited by over 600 individuals back into the soil along with accompanied seeds that have survived an elephant's intestinal tract. The dung beetles have a right of way in this park.  I found the region very pleasant with a the level of safety being much better than the bigger cities of Johannesburg and cape Town. Besides the conflicting areas of interest, this area is a definite place to visit on a trip to South Africa.

    29 min
  4. EP52: KwaZulu-Natal - wildlife and history from a different perspective

    03/27/2022

    EP52: KwaZulu-Natal - wildlife and history from a different perspective

    In this latest episode of my podcast, I discuss my journey back to Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa. It was five years since apartheid ended and four years since my last visit, and South Africa had completely changed as the sanctions had been lifted and now the big commercial chains had moved into the country. I stayed with a Zulu friend, visiting the infamous Soweto township in J’burg and then went to Empangani near Richards Bay in Natal. We visited the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park and Thanda Safari – Big 5 Game Reserve, where I enjoyed showing my daughter the African wildlife. I also visited the Islandlwana and Rorke’s Drift battlefields which were major events in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. Islandlwana is famous for the first major loss the British suffered by an Indigenous tribe. Around 20,000 fighting warriors were able to sneak up close to the British camp and wipe out the camp even though the British had superior weaponry and the Zulu mostly only had their assegai (short stabbing spears) and a cowhide shield. Rorke’s Drift is famous for a handful of men holding off a Zulu attack. Eleven Victoria Cross medals were awarded for this one battle. Between 3000 and 4000 Zulu attacked 150 soldiers and injured left at the hospital and barracks.  While there is a museum at Rorke’s Drift celebrating that British win, there is little evidence of a major battle was held at Islandlwana except a small memorial and some stone cairns. When visiting places, it is always good to ensure you hear and understand the history from all perspectives so you receive a balanced view of events, and not be coloured by any inherent bias.

    38 min
  5. EP51: Zimbabwe - Vic Falls, rock art and colonialism

    03/16/2022

    EP51: Zimbabwe - Vic Falls, rock art and colonialism

    In this episode, I travel to Vic Falls in Zimbabwe and explore the gorge on the ground and in the air. It was an awe-inspiring example of the power of nature watching the sheer volume of water dropping off from the Zambezi River into the gorge. I enjoyed the 15-min helicopter ride over the falls to view the ‘smoke that thunders’. It was short but it gave me an idea of the sheer scale of the falls through this crack in the plateau. It made me consider what the explorer Livingstone thought when he came across the falls. We then travelled south to Hwange National Park to observe large herds of elephants and then continued to Bulawayo, where we saw some great tribal dancing along with artistic examples of traditional costumes and masks. We also visited Matobo National Park to marvel at the unique rock formations, view the 2000-yeat-old rock paintings and visit the famous colonist Cecil Rhodes gravesite. I finish the episode discussing the ramifications of colonialism including my thoughts on its recent bearings of global issues and dealing with discrimination.

    35 min
  6. EP50: Travelling solo as a woman

    03/08/2022

    EP50: Travelling solo as a woman

    Today is International Women’s Day so I thought I would celebrate it by publishing this episode on ‘Travelling solo as a woman’. If you have been following my podcast, you would know I have done a lot of travelling as a sole traveller, including in areas off the regular tourist path through many countries and across continents. Travelling solo as a woman exposed me to some extraordinary experiences with different cultures and situations. However, being on my own also meant I had to take extra precautions and always be aware of my surroundings. In this episode, I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of travelling solo. I also give you 15 tips to help make your first or next solo travel journey be a wonderful experience. I focus on women with it being International Women's Day. However, these tips are just as relevant to men travelling alone although potentially the risk is lower. Provided you take some care and do your prior research and follow these tips, the world is yours to explore. Enjoy the journey, and if you want to hear some of the stories I mention, go back to the relevant episodes. Photo: Author on a camel near the pyramids at Giza, Egypt (Episode 2).

    31 min
  7. EP49: Botswana - exploring an inland delta

    03/02/2022

    EP49: Botswana - exploring an inland delta

    In this episode, I continue on this short overland trip from Namibia into Botswana. We travel up to Maun and spend the next two days in Okavango Delta. Okavango Delta is two-million hectares forming an inland delta of the Okavango River in northern Botswana. it is fed by seasonal flooding from rainfall from the Angolan Highlands. The water levels drop by transpiration and evaporation and, therefore, the delta experiences wet and dry seasons along with wet and dry years. The delta is made up of lagoons and deep channels, surrounded by grassland and forested islands. The delta attracts a wide variety of wildlife, including the big five game animals and hippos, antelopes and many bird species. We spent our time being poled through the deep channels on mokoros (dug-out canoes), where I expected to meet head-on with a hippo at any moment. We also did a walking safari on one of the islands and disturbed an unusually flighty herd of elephants.   We continued towards Zimbabwe and stopped at Kasane and visited Chobi River National Park on the Chobi River of course. The Chobe River is the border between Botswana and Namibia. It is a stunning grassland with the river being wide and deep. Chobi is famous for its beautiful sunsets with large elephant herds drinking or bathing the water in the foreground. We viewed the wildlife along the water's edge on boats as a sunset cruise. There were also lots of buffaloes, hippos and different species of antelope. It was definitely a special place to visit.

    23 min
  8. EP48: Namibia - Land of the Brave

    02/14/2022

    EP48: Namibia - Land of the Brave

    In this episode I start my last whirlwind trip of the last countries I had not visited before leaving Africa. This episode describes my epic journey through Namibia. It is a land of incredible beauty, extreme weather and environment, and colourful landscapes.  In this trip I join an overland tour to visit Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. We travel through the Kalahari Desert, admiring the desert wildlife and unique vegetation, including the quiver tree and the 2000-year-old welwitschia plants. We visit an old diamond mining ghost town and trek to the bottom of Fish River Canyon a 165-km long and 550 m deep canyon to swim in the cool dark pools at the bottom. I relate my experience at the incredible Sossusvlei area, the tallest sand dunes in the world at 350 m, and describe my arduous climb up the tallest dune 'Big Daddy', where you take one step up and slide two steps back in the loose sand. My heart was thudding so hard in my chest by the time I was 3/4 the way up, making me question again the wisdom of my actions at 6.5 months pregnant. However, I made it to the top and the views were well worth it. We finished the exploration of Namibia through a stay at Windhoek, the capital of the country. I explored the city admiring the German influence in many of its buildings and the nostalgia of ordering the German beer and food in its many restaurants.  Land of the Brave is the national anthem of Namibia.  Photos: View from the top of Big Daddy sand dune at Sossusvlei, Fish River Canyon and a family of cheetahs in the Kalahari Desert.  Source: JMurray Pentax Z10, Rudi Bosbouer (FRC).

    34 min
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About

My sometimes bizarre and always unforgettable adventures around the globe, often as a solo woman traveller, gave me great insight into living a fulfilled life blessed with all my senses to enjoy the wonders the world has to offer. From wildlife encounters, midnight crashes, dodging stalkers and trekking with tribes, to travelling with a child and around work commitments, I will entertain you with my stories and what each adventure has taught me, along with some general travel wisdom along the way. I will also be interviewing other travellers who can captivate us with their own travel stories.

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