Where Are We Sleeping Tonight? – Year 2
Between October 8, 2013, and October 7, 2014 we traveled across different countries in Europe and from Southern to Northern Africa via the East route. In contrast to the first year of travels, sleeping arrangements were less spontaneous. We usually had an idea of the accommodations option available before arriving to places and a plan to follow. The major reason for this change were the fewer accommodation options in Africa and the higher prices in Europe compared with our previous destinations in Asia. We found searching and sometimes booking accommodation crucial in order to guarantee good deals and a place to sleep. During our second year, we again did a lot of Couchsurfing and through this amazing initiative we were fortunate to meet wonderful people in: Finland, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Britain, and Ireland. We also had the opportunity to reunite with old friends and new friends that we met while traveling. They invited us stay with them in Russia, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Netherlands, and Britain. We bought a tent and camped all over East Africa and Europe. We also did some WWOOFing in Tanzania and Ireland which gave us the opportunity to live with local families while learning about local organic farming. In Europe we started using Airbnb, a great online booking website to find accommodation with good prices and location. Most of the time we used Airbnb we paid for a room but had the privacy of an entire apartment to ourselves with amenities including wifi, kitchen, and washing machine. These places felt like the perfect home away from home in Rome, Florence, Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Galway.
Regardless of having a plan for most nights, the adventures and unexpected still occurred and we have many stories to tell. To begin our second year, we spent 4 nights sleeping in the Trans-Siberian train from Ulanbaatar to Moscow. This trip was a fantastic way to relax and look forward to what was coming ahead of us. In the train, as we traveled during low season, we had a cabin for four passengers all to ourselves. The landscape of Siberia unfolded through the window as we recollected the experiences of our first year. We took plenty of food, tea, wine, and chocolate to enjoy this journey of a life time.Â
We have unforgettable memories sleeping in South Africa: camping in front of a gas station early in the morning after our hostel pick-up didn’t show up; sleeping in many overnight buses while sweating due to their heater always turned on; and spending a night playing cards inside a 24-hour fast food restaurant in a gas station, since sleeping was not allowed and our connecting bus did not depart until the next day. Â
During low tourist season in Nkhata Bay, we found a hostel that gave us a room with a front view of Lake Malawi for the price of camping plus the opportunity to volunteer with their community projects. We will never forget how much we learned during those days! Ethiopian accommodation was the cheapest in our African travels, a double room with shared bathroom for 80 to 85 Birr ($4 US) or with private bathroom for 120 Birr ($6 US) per night in Shashemene and Woldia. One of the best nights of our second year of travels took place while traveling by ferry through the Nile River from Waldi Halfa, Sudan to Aswan, Egypt. That night we slept on our camping mats and under a clear sky full of stars on the top deck of the boat, it was simply spectacular!Â
More stories and facts of our second year:
We did a lot of camping in Africa and Europe, including Kruger, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Bale Mountains National Parks, the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, four Greek islands, Venice, Hadrian’s Wall Path from Carlisle to Newcastle in Britain, the Scotland Highlands, and Northern Ireland.
In Malawi, during an overnight trip in the Ilala Ferry from Monkey Bay to Likoma Island, we bought “first class tickets” but had to sleep on the floor, it was quiet funny, we will never forget it! Â
In the north of Zanzibar Island after walking and bargaining for a while, we found a double room for $20 US a night with breakfast included just a few steps away from the ocean in Nungwi Beach, a white sand and turquoise ocean paradise, which was a great deal within the high rates of this touristy destination.
We slept sitting or lying down over the chairs of different overnight ferries across the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Â
We had to wash and hang our clothes in the bathroom of a hotel in Harar, it took 2 days to dry but we finally had some clean clothes!
Camping in the Greek islands saved our budget and it was the most affordable accommodation in the country.
We had to spend one night at a four-star hotel in St Moritz, Switzerland. Believe or not, this was the cheapest accommodation available in this expensive town.
Let’s see where next year take us, stay tuned to discover where we will be sleeping 😉
