We had settled on Madagascar as one of our locations. Many of the flights to and from Madagascar had to be served through Air Madagascar via connections in South Africa or France. South Africa you say: Elephants, Great White Sharks, Giraffes, Surfing, Capetown. That all sounds awesome! We had heard so many good things about South Africa that we had to check it out for ourselves. It has all the things that Kara and I love: wild animals, wild country and coast line! We did our research to determine our ability to move about and stay for an extended period of time in the country. South Africa has no visa requirements for US citizens and we can stay for up to 90 days without additional paperwork. We also found bazbus.co.za which sealed the deal, making  ZA a part of our Epic Adventure itinerary. For those unfamiliar, the Bazbus is a pretty sweet service that allows backpackers to move up and down the South African coast staying in cost efficient backpacker lodges and camp grounds. This was exactly what we were looking for.

While looking at the costs of airfare we realized that its equivalent to over a month actually staying in a country. Ouch. Since we were looking for ways to financially get the most for our money, we decided to cancel the Thailand portion and just fly in and out of South Africa. The decision was made easier when our friends left Thailand. Sometime around April or May 2014 the Final Destination become South Africa and Madagascar!