Filed Under Africa, Travel
Finishing off our trip, Meghan and I flew back to Nairobi and then on to an overnight flight to Heathrow.
We took the Picadilly Underground into the city which dropped us off just across the street from our Kensington Gardens area hotel. Since we arrived first thing in the morning, we were unable to check in to our hotel room so we just dropped off our bags and walked around for a bit.
We started off through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, eventually hitting Oxford Street but being a Sunday, it was pretty quiet as most of the shops were still closed. But, we found a cafe for breakfast and enjoyed a light meal with some good coffee.
After our breakfast we continued walking around for a bit and eventually found ourselves in front of Buckingham palace where the changing of the guard was going on - or so we thought.. we later realized that it was a bit more than that, with two marching bands performing and was probably associated with the annual Colonel’s Review (which happened the previous day) and Sovereign’s Birthday (which would happen the following week). We stayed there for a little while and enjoyed the music and watched the crowds and then eventually moved on.
We next walked along the Thames for a while checking out the London Eye and walking along the water. The weather was quite warm and there were a lot of people out on the streets enjoying the sun, as were we, though we were starting to feel the effects of the overnight flight, no shower, and a little too much sun. So we sat on the shade side of a pub with a couple of pints and relaxed for a while.
We decided to take an underground back to our hotel so that we could finally check in and shower but the tube station was closed so we found ourselves walking further to the next station. Along the way we saw a billboard for the Lion King which we thought would be a fun end to our Africa trip so rather than heading back to the hotel we grabbed a train in the opposite direction and got tickets for the matinee performance.
It was a lot of fun seeing the Lion King and fully appreciating all of the Africa references in the performance - like the sets and costumes and the way the animals move - so much of it is right on. And with all of the kids in the theater for the matinee we got the added treat of enjoying the show with their perspective exhibited through their laughter and gasps.
After the play we finally head back to our hotel where we showered and changed while watching a little of UEFA EURO 2008 soccer. And when we were ready to head out we went to a local pub to watch the beginning of the next game (Germany Poland).
For dinner we found an Indian restaurant with a TV so we could watch the remainder of the game while enjoying a good Curry.
By the time we finished dinner it was about 10:00 and we were amazed that it was still light out! During our whole Africa trip the sun had been setting by 6:00 so we were a little taken off guard that it was already so late. And with the weight of the flights and the trip behind us we were pretty beat. So off to bed and up the next morning for our flights home.
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
After our unfortunate experience in Dar Es Salaam, Meghan and I were just about ready to call it quits on the rest of the trip and just head out of Africa. We had realized pretty early on - during our planning for the trip - that to make it to Rwanda was going to create a bit of a travel headache.. and indeed it did. Getting up to Rwanda (with a swing through Tanzania) meant a lot of time in airports and airplanes and the mix up with Kenya Airways was the straw that broke us.
Our energy was low.
But, we were able to get onto flights the next day so we only lost one day from our original itinerary which in the grand scheme of things, isn’t too bad.
We flew up to Nairobi and then over to Kigali where we were met at the airport by a representative from a tour company who would be arranging our trip.
After a good lunch at “Bourbon Coffee” (an interesting coffee enterprise in Kigali started by, we later overheard by an ex-Starbuck’s guy) we drove through the countryside up to the Virunga mountains. We were instantly aware of the differences between Rwanda and Tanzania/Kenya. It was surprising to that the city of Kigali was really well kept and seemed almost more Asian than African. This may have been because of all of the motorbike taxis zipping around, but there were also the parks - which had flowers. And the city was just cleaner than other places we had visited recently.
The countryside also reminded me of Vietnam or Thailand - with lots of lush hills supporting a lot of agriculture. The steep slopes of the hills had plots for grazing and farming running clear up to the top of the mountains.
We arrived at our hotel near the Volcanoes Park where we settled in for the evening and had a few beers (Mutzig is definitely the beer to drink in Rwanda - skip the Primus). While sitting in the hotel bar we overheard a conversation that a producer for CNN was having - making arrangements for Anderson Cooper who would be visiting the area soon.
The next day we got up early (again) and after a brief breakfast made our way over to Volcanoes National Park where we were matched up with a guide and other guests to trek into the mountain jungle.
We hiked up the densely-vegetated volcano for about 1 to 2 hours until we finally met up with our designated group of gorillas. We were able to spend only 1 hour with the gorillas but it was incredible. Our group consisted of 1 silverback male and 5 females - 4 of which had ‘baby’ gorillas 2 years old or younger. We sat and watched them all in amazement.
It was really great to juxtapose the Gorilla trekking with the game drive safaris that we had done earlier in the trip. While I also really enjoyed those experiences as well, there’s something satisfying about hiking yourself in, rather than just sitting in the back of the car. Also, watching the animals out in the open - without the benefit of the safety of a vehicle - is just more intimate. Finally, the Gorillas were just different creatures - and when you get eye contact with a silverback it’s just nothing like staring down an impala.
After our time was up we hiked back down the mountain to our awaiting car. We then drove back to Kigali where we spent the night.
Before heading to the hotel we made a detour to the Genocide Memorial. The memorial/museum does a really good job of explaining how the Rwandan troubles began - the history leading up to the massacres - and it gives a lot of very personal testimonies to the atrocities. It was very moving.
And unfortunately, that’s all that we had time for. Our flight out was the next morning where we returned to Nairobi (on a flight that swung through Burundi just in case we hadn’t touched down in enough countries) and then took an overnight flight to London.
Rwanda is definitely on my short-list of African countries to re-visit. The countryside is beautiful, the nature-opportunities are quite varied with great National Parks around the hills and mountains and you can also see rare species of monkeys there as well as more ‘traditional’ safari animals like Giraffes, Elephants, etc., on top of the gorillas.
But, for now, it’s on to London for 1 day of walking around to break up the flights back to the US.
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
Our safari adventure was coming to an end so it was time for Meghan and I to head off.
We woke up at 5:30 AM for our last game drive, and after the following brunch we droveout to the airstrip for our last bush flight(s). As it turned out we’d be making 1 stop somewhat along the way. 30 minutes flight to another camp and then another 30 minutes and we landed in Maun Botswana - hey this looks familiar..
From Maun we got our flight to Johannesburg. There we went back through passport control and customs and collected our bags.. only to move to the departure lounge for our next (and 4th take off) of the day. But that wouldn’t be for several hours which we spent hanging out in airport cafes and lounges until we were allowed to check in - after which we found a quiet corner in which to sleep. Our flight left after midnight and took us up to Nairobi - but we weren’t done there.
A couple of hours in Nairobi and we were boarding our flight for Dar Es Salaam. Upon arriving in Dar Es Salaam we found out that only 3 of us made it.. Me, Meghan, and Meghan’s bag. We filed a claim with the luggage desk and then took a quick taxi ride to the old terminal where we boarded our LAST flight (6 for those keeping track) to the island of Zanzibar.
At Zanzibar we were met by a driver arranged by our hotel. Wali drove us the hour up to the Northern tip of Zanzibar where we spent a few days lounging around the beach. Unfortunately we didn’t find Zanzibar to be the awesome destination that it had been made out to be by just about everyone we have talked to.. Perhaps this was due to the fact that the island hadn’t had power for 8 days - and woulnd’t likely have it for several weeks more…
We also spent one day on the island wandering around the small streets of the old “Stone Town” section of Zanzibar town. This was entertaining and we played the tourists and got lost in the miriad of streets changing directions here and there.. but still we were not as enamoured with the island as we expected to be.
After Zanzibar we took a ferry (2+ hours) back to Dar Es Salaam where we checked in to our hotel for just the one night. Unfortunately this would not be true.. After losing my bag (which I had since recovered), Kenya Airways also managed to lose any record of us having paid for our next flights - and thus cancelled our tickets. This, of course, we didn’t find out until we were standing at the check-in desk at 4:00 in the morning…
So we spent an additional night in Dar Es Salaam pretty annoyed with Tanzinia and Kenya both. Because of this delay we would be pushed out one day and thus lose a valuable day in the next leg of our journey - trekking gorillas in Rwanda.. but that’s a story for another post.
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
After our stay In Livingstone, Meghan and I departed on our Safari adventure. We had an AMAZING time. We traveled with a very nice company - Wilderness Safaris - that provides for an exceptional safari experience. We stayed in small Safari “camps,” situated throughout the Okavango Delta and the Linyanti Spillway areas of North-Eastern Botswana. Each camp held 12 - 20 people in luxurious semi-permenant tents (think Curry Village in Yosemite, but really really nice).
We flew bush planes into our first camp, and between camps. The planes were little prop-planes seating 5-15 passengers and the airstrips were little more than clearings in the bush - Bumpy landings and short take-offs for sure!
Each day was pretty similar from camp-to-camp. Our routine went something like this:
- Wake up call at 5:30 or 6:00 AM
- Breakfast (light meal) at 6:00 or 6:30 AM
- Game Drive until about 10:00 to 10:30
- (during the morning game drive of course we would stop for tea)
- Brunch (second breakfast!) at 11:00
- Siesta from 12:00 to 3:30
- Tea at 3:30
- Game Drive from 4:00 to 7:30
- (during the afternoon game drive, a stop for a sundowner (Gin & Tonic of course)
- Dinner at 8:00
So, as you can see, we were really suffering. I think I finally understand what it means to be British.
We saw an exceptional variety of wildlife - easily 70 or more species during our trip. It was too amazing for words. I can’t recommend enough that everyone do this, however they try to struggle to pay for it.
Needless to say, I have LOTS of photos and I will publish many of them once I’m back at my computer and able to reliably download images from my camera onto a computer and up to the internet. I can’t wait to see many of the images myself and I can only hope that they come out as well as I can remember the scenes unfolding before my eyes.
As a highlight, we saw Lions, Cheetah, Leopards, Elephants, Hippo, Cape Buffalo, Giraffes, Baboons, Wart Hogs, Jackyls, Hyenas, Wildebeasts, Aardwolfs, Bat-Eared Fox, Gennets, Civets, and about 7 different species of antelopes. We also saw birds, birds, and birds. Oh, and more birds. And some Owls and Bats.
We did not see any kills or feeding (for better and worse) though we did see a little attempt and some aftermath. The amazing thing overall is just sitting in the open-air vehicle watching these animals so close up. I just can’t do it justice sitting in this internet cafe rushed for time.
Meghan and I both hope to be able to return for another Safari experience (and hopefully soon!) and we’ve come to realize how easy it would be to make a trip here and do a safari without needing a month-long trip. Reallly with a 2-week vacation it would be very possible from the states.
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
The ‘guided’ part of our Africa trip (the part where a travel agent booked everything for us) started with a flight from Windhoek, Namibia to Victoria Falls via Maun Botswana.
We took the smallish propeller plane (2 seats per row, 12 or 14 rows) to Botswana (an airport we’d see at the end of our safari) and then on to Victoria Falls.
Since the travel agent booked all of this for us, we hadn’t paid much attention to this part of the trip. Imagine our surprise when we’re filling out the arrival card in the airport that we were in Zimbabwe! Who knew?
We were met by a handler (arranged again by our agent) who guided us through the entry process and then drove us to the Zimbabwe/Zambia border - where we were then met by our Zambian handler. This is not only the first trip where I’ve used a travel agent, but it’s now the first trip where we’ve had our own fixers!
Our Zambian driver took us all the way in to our stupidly nice hotel the Royal Livingstone. This 5-star hotel is located just off of the falls (you can easily see the mist and hear the falls from the lawns of the hotel). We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the falls - oh, after high tea that is.
Victoria Falls really is impressive and it’s the first of the world’s 7 wonders that I’ve seen.
We got soaked by the mist whilst walking along the pathways checking out the overlook spots.
That night we skipped dinner first because we had the ridiculous high tea and second because we didn’t feel we had the attire to join the rest of the diners.
We did, however, enjoy a sunset drink along the Zambezi river.
The following morning (after a quick last check of the falls) we were again picked up by our handler and we were off on our safari adventure. But that’s for another post.
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
Meghan and I are backfrom the wilds and once again find ourselves connected after 2 weeks away from the hyper-connected world.
We’ve had a great time which I’ll post about in the next few days.. that is, assuming we can connect. It seems Zanzibar (where we are now) has been without electricity for 8 days because of problems with their under-sea electrtic lines. Since they have no generation facilities on the island everyone (that has them) is running off generators. They expect they could be without electricity for another 2 - 3 weeks.
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
After leaving Swakopmund, Meghan and I trekked East and then South into the Namib desert. This is the big sand-colored swath that you see across Southwestern Africa. The drive was beautiful and it took us many many hours as we kept stopping to admire the views and take photos.
(I know many of you are asking to see photos but neither of us is traveling with a laptop and these internet cafes are not particurlarly good at handling the large files that come out of our cameras.. looks like it’ll have to wait until we return… but in the meantime, there are plenty of other photos from Thailand, Belize, etc., over at PicsFromTrips 
)
Our destination for the day was the Little Sossus lodge, located just outside the ‘town’ of sesriem. We managed to get there just as the sun was setting - as I said, we took our time on the drive because we kept stopping. One of the reasons for this was the scenery - which changed dramatically from drier-than dry desert (sand, basically) to a semi-arid desert landscape lush with geologic sights as well as animals. We saw springbok, gemsbok, ostritches and countless other bird species. It was really cool and got us even more excited for our upcoming safari.
One thing to note.. the entire drive from Swakopmund to the lodge - several hundred kilometers - was on dirt roads.. and we had the Camry. I had thought about renting a 4×4 vehicle but decided it wasn’t worth the extra cost…
The lodge at which we stayed was really awesome. The food was amazing, the setting was incredible and we really felt - for the first time - that we were truly in Africa. We were able to walk out from dinner, over to our little rock hut and look at all of the Southern Hemisphere stars, including the Southern Cross. And, the stay coincided with the full moon so the land around us was really well lit so we could see the grasses, the trees and the mountains in the distance.
Fom the lodge we were able to visit the Namib Naukluft park - one of the largest national parks in the world. Specifically we were visiting the Sossusvlei dunes area (yeah, more sand). This is the imagery most associated with Namibia - red dunes, open vistas, etc.,
We hiked around the dunes, took lots of photos, and saw more of the animals mentioned above.
After our stay out in the Namib today we returned to Windhoek. Here we’re just regrouping, returning the rental car (which did really well on all of the hundreds of kilometers of dirt roads that we drove on), and getting ready for Botswana!
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
Meghan and I are sitting in an Internet Cafe here in Windhoek checking in on the world before we depart for Botswana.
We’ve been spending the last few days exploring Namibia - and it has been quite an adventure.
We arrived in Windhoek a mere 5 days ago but it feels like we’ve been here for longer than that. After landing and clearing passport control we again hopped in our rental car - this time a Toyota Camry. Driving out from the airport - no - even before we landed you could see that the terrain had changed dramatically from Cape Town. We were clearly in the desert.
The drive in from the airport to Windhoek was bizarre. The road was completely empty - not only of cars but of roadside activity like houses, shops.. anything. We felt like we were in the middle of nowhere and that was reinforced by the baboons that we saw climbing a wire fence on the side of the road - baboons!
We didn’t stay in Windhoek but instead continued straight through to the coast out to the town of Swakopmund. This seaside town is “more German than Germany” they say, and there’s something to that. The town is quaint but in the off season it is strangely empty of foot or vehicular traffic.
Swakopmund is the new ‘adventure capitol’ of this part of Africa and as evidence you can do just about any kind of crazy activity especially if it involves sand. This part of Namibia is really dry with the dunes running right into the ocean, except at Swakopmund where they’ve piped and pumped in enough water to maintain the town.
Unfortunately, Meghan and I were both feeling a little under the weather (its this cough that we can’t lose) so we weren’t up for any adventure too large but we did both start taking antibiotics to fight off what we have. We did however check out a large flamingo population in Walvis Bay and we also rode ATVs around in the dunes for a little while and we capped off our stay with a hike up the dunes for a sunset chug from a bottle of S. African wine.
The Namib desert and the Trans-Kalahari drive out to Swakopmund were awesome, but there was something about Swakopmund that didn’t really excite either one of us - it’s hard to put our fingers on it just yet but I think in time we’ll be able to develop our thoughts a little more.
I’ll break the Namib adventures into two posts to keep these things a little reasonable.. Stay tuned for the continuation of our Namibian travels.
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
After visiting the Cape of Good Hope, and the Penguins, it was time to head out of Cape Town.
We drove down along the coast, through improving weather, to Cape Agulhas - the Southern-most point in Africa. We were surprised by all of the houses along the way - there are all sorts of smaller towns and such along the way which we later found out were summer homes and communities. Some of these houses are quite large. At the same time, we saw a lot of ramshackle buildings that - on the outskirts of Cape Town for intance - go on for miles and miles.
We spent the night in the town of Hermanus, along the coast in a backpackers place - it was really nice for a backpackers place. They had lounging areas, a BBQ area, a firepit, lots of picnic tables, a bar, etc.,
Hermanus is a tourist destination as its bay is visited in winter by whales (though we are about 1 or 2 months to early for that). They are also close to Gansbaai - which is the launching off point to visit “Shark Alley.”
Shark Alley was our destination for the next day. We boarded a fairly large speedboat/small fishing boat and head out in rough seas (10 foot swells) for about 30 minutes until we reached a pair of islands just off shore. Similar to the Faralon Islands off the coast of San Francisco, they attract lots of seals and sea lions, and similar to SF, they in turn attract sharks.
The plan was to get in some wetsuits and get into a cage attached to the boat and watch the sharks from under water, but unfortunately the rough seas in combination with the 30 minute wait, anchored, before the sharks arrived, proved to be too much for our stomachs. One hour in those rough swells, with 25 people crowded onto a boat, just sitting anchored rocking back and forth - in quite large swells.. well… Neither of us was able to make it under water, and we instead spent the time on board in the “VIP lounge” (read: the front of the boat, leaning over the rail).
We were disapointed not to see any of the sharks up close but hopefully our future wild animal encounters will go a little better. Back on land we had some tea and eventually started to feel better.
Yesterday we drove from Hermanus up to Franshoek, taking dirt back roads most of the way there. Along the way we passed a great little winery - Beaumont Winery - this being the S. African wine region. We had some tastes and bought a couple of bottles before heading on.
In Franshoek we stayed in a really nice B&B and spent the afternoon chilling out. In the evening we went to a super fancy winery for dinner and had a great meal accompanyied with good wine.
Last night the rains returned in strenght, ensuring that we would leave Cape Town without seeing Table Mountain. Sure enough the whole drive back to Cape Town was cloudy or raining and while it hasn’t rained since we’ve been here in Cape Town, the cloud cover remains. We returned our rental car, checked in to our next fancy hotel (the Dunkley House) and aer contemplating what to do with our remaining time in S. Africa.
Tomorrow it’s off to Namibia - we fly to Windhoek and then rent another car for the drive out to Swakopmund along the Skeleton Coast.
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Filed Under Africa, Travel
We’ve had a few more days here in S. Africa and things are great.
After writing the other day we went out for dinner and chose an Indian restaurant that was amazing. Unquestionably the best Indian food I’ve ever had. We both joked that that meal was reason enough to justify the long flights to get here. Something tells me we’ll eat there again before the trip is up..
Yesterday we spent the day wandering around (more) in Cape Town, including a visit to the District 6 museum which tells the story of displaced blacks during the time of apartheid. There was a whole community that was relocated during the 50s and 60s to make room for urban improvement - not unbelievable given the political system here, but remarkably similar to the same kind of efforts going on around the states as well. The museum was well done - its displays were a bit haphazard which encouraged random wandering around the exhibits and created the feeling of discovery as you checked out the different areas.
We also followed a Lonely Planet walking tour of the downtown area, but it was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday.. The architecture was interesting though, as was the realization that this town is really not all that large.
Today we rented a car and drove down to the Cape of Good Hope (and the Cape Peninsula - or Cape Point as its known regionally). It was quite the experience driving a stick shift car on the Left side of the road.. took a little getting used to and definitely taxed the nerves.
But the drive was great and we saw some awesome scenery and also drove through Simonstown where there lives a colony of African Penguins. We spent some time with the penguins which was really cool, and then we continued down to the Cape of Good Hope. Despite what I remember from my grammar school education, this is not actually the tip of Africa - that we will hopefully see tomorrow - but is instead the tip of the Cape Peninsula (and geographically not far from the most Southern tip of Africa).
One thing to note about the trip so far is the rain! We’ve had really bad weather here, which is a little unfortunate. We were expecting to be just ahead of the rainy season, but it appears to have come early this year. Oh well. It hasn’t terribly hampered our activities yet, but it certainly threatens to, and it’s prevented us from any sweeping vistas as the low clouds keep visibility to a minimum. we’ve yet to see Table Mountain which towers above Cape Town..
I think we’re both also a little surprised by the feel of Cape Town. I booked this early in the trip figuring it would be a good entry point into Africa and help ease the culture shock, but this is ridiculous. It really feels just like a European city. I think the next few days in S. Africa will bring more of the same - and probably Namibia as well. It won’t be until the later part of the trip that I think we’ll start to get a feel for the ‘real’ Africa.
But… that having been said, Cape Town is an excellent city - one definitely worth visiting, for the Indian food alone - but really, the surrounds are really beautiful, and a few days along the Cape Peninsula would be as great as a few days in Marin County.
Tomorrow we’re off along the Southern Coast of S. Africa, making our way back to Cape Town in a few days and then on to Namibia.
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