Moving to Africa
 

Hello,

No, I'm not...but when Matt and I met for lunch we talked about it quite a bit, which made me wonder who else has considered moving to Africa, and where.

If I moved to Africa tomorrow (assuming I haven't won the lottery and bought out Londoz or Mombo) I'd probably choose Cape Town.

Cheers,
Julian

OH MY GOD!!!! i cant believe you posted this.my life is on the verge of being turned upside down because of me with this africa thing.of course i cant get into it here-but trust me. africa is the reason and i want to move to kenya at some pint.
thx, d

Julian -

You'd need more than a lottery to buy Mombo!

Richard Branson made an offer to buy the whole company of WS years ago and was turned down flat.

Fun to dream though, hey?

A fascinating tidbit, James!

I'm seriously considering Zambia in a few years. I'd like to get a small farm in Chipata or along the Kafue River near the Copperbelt. A friend who lives in Lusaka said I'd get bored, but I'm bored in Hawaii after two trips to Africa and a third on the way. I've got a few business ideas I'm working on, and if it wasn't for my dog and cats, I'd leave tomorrow! Just think of the airfare I'd save!!!

Wow...I really considered posting a thread about this in the last day or two. Thanks Julian, for reading my mind.

I too, would definitely move to Africa, given the chance. As late as yesterday afternoon, I told somebody I would jump at the chance to move to Capetown. Or Nairobi.

Being single again, if I knew I could bring my four cats with me, there would be no looking back.

There is a saying that one of the DFGFI scientists said to me on my recent trip...
"I came to Africa for the animals, but I stayed for the people".

And being able to experience it from a non-tourist point of view on this last trip, I completely understood where she was coming from. So, so true! :-)

Africa, she touches your soul.((L)) Enough said!

My husband and I fell in love with South Africa on safari there ten years ago. We looked into finding jobs, but were not thrilled with the opportunities at the time. Now that we're in our late 30's and have a young child, we've come to terms with the fact that we'll only be visiting while on vacation. Maybe we can hope for an early retirement and run a lodge? When dreaming of Africa, anything is possible.

I definitely consider moving to Africa often. My hope is to get some time in the bush doing some research -- Botswana would be my first choice currently. Retirement to a beach community somewhere, maybe Knysna area would be great as well. I need to do a lot more exploring to figure that out.

"the ancient dust of africa has settled in my soul..."

Definitely considering moving to Africa, I'd prefer Namibia , but any of the other countries would do if given the chance !

Hello,

Hmmm....I'll have to ask Sir Richard about his aborted WS purchase the next time I see him in town (he lives near Oxford). Maybe they thought he was being greedy, given that he already owns Ulasaba and an island or two!

Personally, I'd settle for one camp -- it wouldn't have to be Mombo! LV or Duma Tau would be just fine. Though I suppose the concession fee would be the ultimate in high-cost rent (even worse than London!).

It's fascinating to see how many of us have thought about/are thinking about moving to Africa. Like Divewop, I also have a cat, so that's one of my hesitations -- she finds travel very stressful, and I promised her that I wouldn't subject her to any more plane flights after our last move. My medical speciality also wouldn't be in terrribly high demand in a developing country. But maybe at some point in the future, Destiny Africa UK could become Destiny Africa SA...

Cheers,
Julian

Julian,
Given the chance, I’d move to Kenya. This is something I think of several times every hour. With a fat lottery win I’d get my own camp. But, I’d do any boring job in Nairobi as long I could afford a home with a proper bathroom in a neighbourhood with constant water supply and at least two safaris and a trip home every year. Though this would mean a standard of living far above 99 % of Kenyan people, and isn’t very realistic. I do have a bank account where I put money for “some kind of business in Kenya”, but there’s very little money and a risk I’ll use it for something else - like half a trip to Kenya. Due to the way I’ve spent my youth I have no chance of an early retirement, nor any retirement at all before death.

My cat has never travelled further than the 3 kilometres to the vet and then she complains loudly all the way. She’d be well taken care of by my parents and I’d miss her more than she’d miss me. Maybe she could be given a tranquilliser before the flight …

I'm a veterinary technician,and when I was in Nairobi for a layover on my way to Rwanda I actually looked in the phone book for names of Veterinary Clinics. I was pleasantly surprised at how many there were. I've always kept that in the back of my mind. Once my kids are grown who knows where I'll end up. If I'm not in Africa I hope to be in a small RV travelling the US.
Lily

Lillipets
SA vet schools turn out an excess of vet doctors. The funny thing is, the grads can write their own tickets to a degree because many then go overseas for employment or to start their own practices. A friend of mine had 3 clinics in Joburg since '75. Had a difficult time keeping good vets. Always better opportunities no matter the deal he gave them.

Luangwablondes,

That's interesting to hear. Maybe they would consider a vet tech with 30 yrs of experience instead of a veterinarian? I can do everything except surgery and prescribe meds! And my specialty is crabby cats!
Lily

Lily
I have a friend who is sales manager in SA for a company that sells stuff like the hip replacement(joint stuff for stryker products). The salesmen actually are trained to do the operations and train the doctor how to use their products during the operation. My friend has done lots of operations for doctors in the course of training. Doubt if they have higher standards for mangy mutts. You could probably do it all.

We have friends who are living in Pretoria for the next two years and we will be visiting them in early 2007. Just this morning DH & I were saying over breakfast, "Imagine living in Pretoria... we could just drive to Kruger for the weekend any time we wanted." And then we were both silent for quite a while. It is a thought that lingers.

We loved Cape Town and had fun reading the real estate ads when we were there. We like to do this whenever we're on vacation no matter where, just for fun -- stroll Santorini or Paris or Queenstown or Santa Fe or Sydney and see what a place would cost. Try on the idea and see how it feels. Someday we may do it for real.

After numerous trips to visit an American friend in Stellenbosch, my husband and I faced the reality that we had fallen love with Africa and needed a place of our own for our retirement. In 1998 we bought a small condo with a view to die for in Gordon's Bay on the eastern side of False Bay, about 40 minutes from Stellenbosch. He unfortunately did not live long enough to enjoy it very often, but I still own it and am thrilled to have this little piece of Africa to call my very own.

Now retired, I make two trips a year there (February and September) and spend about 5 or 6 weeks each time. In between, I try to rent it out. I make new friends each time I visit, and it has been a very enriching part of my life. The South Africans always challenge me to stay longer, but I can only ask people (actually, my sister)to look after my house, and pay my bills for so long. My cat goes to live with another family, but I'm always afraid she'll like them better than me.

So far I have a South African bank account and cell phone. Next project will be to buy a car--the rental rates are killing me. In addition to doing some of the tourist things, I shop in the hardware and appliance stores, and contract with painters, carpet installers, and handymen. Little by little, I am putting down roots in Africa, and I am loving every minute of it.

Leann

Friends visited SA in 2003, fell in love (w/Cape Town) and next I knew they were planning of picking up and moving. They made a return visit to decide where they wanted to live and settled on building a house in Wilderness which is about 4-hrs north of CPT on the Indian Ocean. Their view was wonderful (from the photos they sent during the building process) till some guy, two years later, decided to build kinda in front of them partially, but still great views. It was quite an experience having this house built, which is absolutely beautiful; today has almost doubled in value. They didn't buy a car, but had two Harley's shipped from the States and this is what they use for transportation. Over the years there, they're returned Statesides at least once a year... apparently, they have to leave SA every 6-months to somewhere (if not the States... then a trip to a nearby country). They have thought to buy a pub or some sort of business, but don't know if they've done so. I have an email in to them to see what they're up to now. Generally, they love their life in SA, but do miss family back home.

I have never seriously considered moving to Africa - I know that a few weeks on safari hardly gives me the impression of what it would be like to live there - but I've certainly fantasised about being rich enough to safari wherever, whenever and for however long I want to!!!

Pete and I have long wanted to buy a second home in France (not financially on the cards anytime soon) and Cape Town is the only place I've been that competes but, despite the recent increase in weekend visitors, for me it's just too long a haul from London.

Kenya is on the table for me. I love the safari business and would like a position if possible. However, I too, have 4 felines who refuse to even go out on my balcony...so even though I am single with no human kids, it would be a difficult manuver. I would love a position in one of the privately owned camps if it were possible, but negotiating and setting up a camp is pretty difficult and costly, so I don't know how it would be possible unless I got in at the start up level. The other thing to consider is the corruption. Life is completely different over there - but if I win the lotto - it would be a bush camp in the NW sector of the Mara or Amboselli. I am also looking into going to school for conservation which is taught by the KWS.