We’re off to three different camps in Botswana, where, for better or for worse, there’s no e-access (or any other access for that matter). For the next week, the blog will update automatically and let you, dear readers (an ever-growing elite club), know just where in the world the Savvy Navigator is located. 

As we venture out to discover the best locations for our gay tour offerings, we get to test the best (and, sadly, the worst).

For the next two days, we’ll be here at the Xigera Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta. It’s an amazing place that gets rave reviews. After our return, savvy Navigator will post the best videos and photos, including those of the cute rangers…

Today’s cool thing is the fabulous guest farm in the Swartland, about 1.5 hours north of Cape Town, Kersefontein. Farmed by its eighth-generation owner , Kersefontein is not to be missed. This working farm is a fabulous gem of a rural oasis that is the embodiment Karen Blixen’s memoirs from “Out of Africa” (imagine Savvy Navigator husband saying in his best gutteral voice, “I once had a faaaaaahhhm in Africa….”).

Charming, handsome, erudite, “but don’t call me a gentleman farmer; I’m a real one” Julian hosts no more than 12 guests at a time in comfortable quarters that are renovated farm stalls. The rooms are clean and comfortable with en-suite baths and terraces. Julian also offers a superlative food and wine experience, with the evening meal taken in the banquet-sized main dining room of his historical Cape Dutch house. Our fabulous meal consisted of wild boar, actually hunted by Julian on the farm, embellshed with amazing wines from his friends’ vineyards in the western Cape. The meal was anachronistically served by his household staff in the most charming way. It was one of those long, boozy evenings finished off with a nightcap in Julian’s parlor, while he played show tunes on the grand piano.

This morning’s breakfast was served on the veranda and the food quality was equally as good. The scrambled eggs were, as Savvy Navigator’s late grannie used to say, “Simply divine!” Savvy Navigator husband said they were the freshest he’s tasted in years and the Savvy Navigator himself consumed about 8 pieces of back bacon.

Kersefontein is an authentic experience that you too can experience in 2009 on a Savvy Navigator gay tour. Not offered by any other gay tour provider, Kersefontein is not to be missed.

Cape Town, South Africa, the premier destination for Savvy Navigator’s gay tours, sits scenically between the Atlantic Ocean and Table Mountain, which is today’s cool thing. No matter your locale in the city, this majestic burg is nearly always visible. It’s easily accessed via tramway/cable car, or, if you’re more ambitious (and in fairly good shape), you can hike to the top (like savvy Navigator did with the buff nephew in 2007).

Take a look at today’s video for a real sense of what this place is like. AND, come join us for a sundowner cocktail in 2009 on one of our Savvy Navigator gay tours.

Despite Savvy Navigator’s best intentions to get to Cape Town via JFK, Madrid and Johannesburg, the weather gods frowned upon him at Washington National (DCA) on Saturday afternoon. He was involuntarily, yet happily, rerouted via London Heathrow on a one-stop itinerary via the brand-spanking new Terminal 5 - BA’s new palatial home base.

While on other trips to South Africa planning gay tours, Savvy Navigator has passed through Heathrow a few times before. The last time was right after the new terminal opened in July, but this is the first time he’s experienced it in fully-operational mode.

Despite its gargantuan size, it’s bright, airy and filled with amenities. There’s the best of UK retail present, as well as other international luxury-goods chains. Like other UK airports, all passengers are kept in the central holding area (of course adjacent to the shopping) until their flights are called. Then it’s a 10-30 minute walk or subway-tram ride to the remote terminals.

Savvy Navigator’s favorite cool thing, however, about this terminal is the BA Gold Galleries lounge (from where this posting is being scribed). Complete with literally dozens of shower suites, to an Elemis/Steiner day spa, to the eggs-and-beans-on-toast-cooked-to-order breakfast offerings in the dining room, or the champagne bar with terrific vintages, this place is cool.

The only uncool thing Savvy Navigator experiences is the air quality in the building. As with many/most Heathrow terminals, the UK-quality air-conditioning does not quite cut it. There’s still a stuffy feel and a high amount of humidity in the air. But, compared to all the other amenities, the benefits clearly outweigh the costs.

And it’s nothing another glass of champers can’t appease….

 This one’s for the airline geeks…

Approximately 330 days ago, Savvy Navigator called AA reservations and booked the following outbound, business-class itinerary on oneworld partners Iberia and British Airways/Comair using AAdvantage miles:

IAD-MAD-JNB-CPT

The purpose of the trip was a busman’s holiday with the husband to scout out some new luxury gay tour locations in Botswana.

Several months later, after the few rounds of schedule changes from Iberia, it became this more circuitous routing:

IAD-ORD-MAD-JNB-CPT

A few months later, it became DCA-JFK-MAD-JNB-CPT, which was the final itinerary when Mr. and Mr. Savvy Navigator headed out to the airport yesterday. After an American Eagle creeping delay at DCA, causing them to miss onward connections at JFK. The next 2.5 hours were spent at the ticket counter trying to get rerouted. The friendly, yet incompetent AA agent at DCA truly struggled to reaccomodate them, but he kept coming up empty. He finally said,” There’s nothing I can do,” which was, needless to say, infuriating beyond belief. After some more keyboard tapping, this was his suggested routing:

DCA-JFK-LHR-MAD-JNB-CPT, which then became

DCA-LGA-JFK-LHR-MAD-JNB-CPT after the Eagle flight finally cancelled.

Routing from Hell

As this seemed totally inane, and the chances that the DL Shuttle DCA-LGA would also cancel, Savvy Navigator, asked, “Hey, any space on the BA flight to LHR out of BWI?” Well guess what? There WAS space and the duo happily taxied (on AA’s dime) over to BWI.

Once they arrived at the BA counter in Baltimore, the very-kind agent took pity on them and said, “Why are you going through all those different cities just to get to Cape Town? Why don’t I book you on the LHR-CPT nonstop?”

The Final Routing

And the best thing about this new ticket is that chance that they’ll possibly accrue lots of frequent flyer miles, despite flying on award tickets. The kind BA agent could only accommodate them in the full-fare business-class inventory. Savvy Navigator does not want to count the proverbial chicks before they hatch, but stay tuned for some possible good news in the near future.

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