Namibia made Former USA President, Bill Clintons Bucket List! Thats awesome. Please read on: When you are a former president of the United States, a person that has traveled the world and, on the strength of your post-presidency speaking engagements, can claim a substantial net worth, the number of things that youd love to do at some point in your life is undoubtedly small. When you are William Jefferson Clinton, put on the spot to identify the things on your bucket list (may that term expire from common usage as soon as possible), the number of things youd like to do is three. And they are, per an interview with Politicos Mike Allen: Riding a horse through the Gobi Desert to the place where Genghis Khan is supposedly buried, Climbing Kilimanjaro before climate change strips it of its snow cover, and Visiting the oldest desert in the world in Namibia. Because the Clintons are pressed for both attention and attendants, we decided to figure out just what it would take to make Clintons wildest dreams come true. Clinton actually listed those bucket list priorities in inverse order of difficulty. So well work our way from easiest to hardest. Go to Namibia to see the Namib desert. There is a travel company called Abercrombie & Kent which specializes in putting together trips for people like Clinton: high-end, high-cost sojourns to places of international interest. (Well, to be fair, people like Clinton probably would buy a package deal even from a high-end packager, but bear with us.) A&K has a Namibia package that includes two days in the Namib. (Specifically, per the brochure: on day one, you fly to Sossusvlei and the Namib Desert. Spend the afternoon at leisure at your desert-situated lodge, and on day two set out on an early morning, guided nature drive to dunes through a private gate on the Tsauchab River. Later, pause for a sundowner in the Namib Desert.) If Clinton wants to bring himself, his wife, his daughter and her family and a few assistants (say, four), it would cost $70,900 and take nine days. Of that amount, $20,000 is the cost of flying around inside the country; airfare to and from Africa is not included. The airport in Arusha. Philip Bump/Washington Post Climb snowy Kilimanjaro. This is trickier simply because of the qualification Clinton puts on travel. Scientists anticipate that the peak could lose its Northern Ice Field within 20 years, meaning that the Clintons would probably need to go some time before Chelsea runs for president. The good news is that our friends at A&K do this trip, too. And, it boldly claims, visitors get to the peak some 97 percent of the time, unlike other operators. This one also takes nine days, and only costs about $52,000 for Clintons entire entourage. Of course, you have to get yourself to Arusha, Tanzania, which isnt simple, but we trust that Clinton can make it happen. Crossing the Gobi to Genghis Khans tomb. So this one is not easy. First of all, theres the question of where Khan is actually buried. He was born in what is now northern Mongolia, near the Khentii Mountains, and it is assumed that he is buried in that area, perhaps near the Onon River. The Gobi is somewhat south of that range. And theres another spot, across the border in China, that claims to be the site of his mausoleum. To make this simpler, we called In The Saddle, a British company that offers riding tours of various places, including Mongolia. The companys director Olwen Law spoke with us by phone. We have rides in Mongolia that go down to the Northern edge of the Gobi desert, so we can give anyone that feeling of riding into the emptiness on a Mongolian horse, Law said. That wouldnt be difficult at all. She made it very clear, though, that staying within Mongolia would be easier than trying to negotiate ones way across the Chinese border. Everythings possible, she assured us, but visas get tricky. We posited that Clinton would probably figure out how to work some connections, but she noted that there would be locals in the group as well. We dont want to judge Mr. Clinton, but the ride itself would not be easy. The companys website notes that riders should expect to ride for seven hours a day -- much of which is spent standing in the saddle. Khan insisted that the men stand in the stirrups to keep the weight off horses backs, Law said. They wore coats with wide bands, which they say helped them with their lower backs. At shop-e-mongol such a coat would cost Clinton about $690 dollars, worth it to save on the medical costs, if nothing else. While this would be a custom deal, Law estimated costs and duration: Probably be a couple of weeks with a support team. $7,000 dollars for a couple of weeks. That was assuming a trip into China; heading north to the Khentii range would be less expensive. In total, then, were looking at about a month of travel and a total cost (excluding international airfare) of about $130,000 -- a sum easily covered with a 30 minute speech. The Clintons should get moving, though. Theyve got a busy few years in front of them. washingtonpost/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/19/completing-bill-clintons-bucket-list-will-cost-130000/
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 14:02:22 +0000
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