Zimbabwe!

Beth and I were a little apprehensive about visiting the Zimbabwe side of the Falls, as there's a wee bit of political turmoil in this country.  After doing some research online and talking with our parents/sister who visted a few years ago, we decided to split our time at Vic Falls with 2 days in Zambia and 2 in Zimbabwe - a split for Zim and Zam.

We arrived this morning across the Vic Falls bridge, breezing through immigration/ customs with the help of our new best friend Chris (who arranged our tour to Chobe the day before - this man is quite a taxi driver/entrepreneur!).  Immediately, you could see the difference between Zim and Zam - Zim is much more geared towards tourists (whereas Livingstone in Zam is a regular town that's just coming around to a tourism focus).  Driving through the main town, it seemed much more sanitized and clean - clearly a tourist town and less an authentic African town (though still many many hawkers around town, so not completely sanitized).   At the same time, the roads were in major disrepair.  As our driver told us, in the '90s Zim had great roads (even better than Zam's roads) but there's no money any more to maintain them, even in the tourist mecca of Vic Falls that Mugabe has barely been able to reach (apparently this area is under control of a different tribe, so Mugabe's henchmen don't dare come to this area for fear of them). 

We headed to the very posh Victoria Falls Safari Lodge where the rest of our family had stayed previously and raved about.  Their reviews were right on target.  It's a beautiful resort - much nicer than any hotel we've stayed at thusfar on the trip.  We were greeted very effusively, and then even more enthusiastically once they discovered who we are (the head porter's son is coming to intern at Gabriel next week, due to conversations he had with my dad 4 years ago).  Thomas treated us like queens, giving us a grand tour of the lodge, upgrading our room, and asking us many questions about what life will be like in Chicago for his son.


We enjoyed the surroundings and view of the waterhole until being picked up for our helicopter flight over the Falls.  As previously stated, these falls are immense.  So immense that you can't get the full extent of them from either Zim or Zam.  So we headed up to the air to get the full view of them.  13 minutes later, we had circled the falls both clockwise and counter-clockwise (to give both sides of the helicopter a great photo op) and started to understand a bit better the power of these Falls.

After a quick nap back at VFSL, we woke up to elephants at the watering hole outside our window.  What a way to wake up.  We watched them drink and spray water on themselves, before covering themselves with dirt.  They headed out of the watering hole and even closer to our room, chopping at the trees and bushes along the way.  Su-weet.

We then headed out for a sunset cruise along the Zambezi River, which forms the boundary between Zim and Zam and also leads to the Falls themselves.  We were way upsteam of those Falls.  A few elephants, hippos, crocs, and glasses of wine later, we watched the sun set through the clouds.  A perfect end to a beautiful African day.  Our cruise was quite international with visitors from France, Spain, UK, and USA.   Luckily, the French guys spoke a bit of English, so I didn't have to try to butcher their beautiful language again.  I did tell them I loved Paris, and I swear in French they said something to each other about it being funny that an American loved Paris.  Ha!

We ended the evening with a dinner of delicious warthog (perhaps they just caught the ones grazing in our front lawn area?) at the hotel restaurant, overlooking our waterhole.  (Lagan, my warthog also came with potato lasagna - I think you would have been in heaven with the tasty carbs)  A herd of elephants and buffalo kept us company during dinner, entertaining us until our food arrived.  As we left the restaurant, a group of male singers arrived to serenade the diners with traditional Zimbabwean a capella tunes.  VFSL knows how to treat its customers well.

Two Thumbs Up For The Duty-Free Shop!

As Mike mentioned, the Mike and Jen post-mortem blog entry is still to come, but I did want to quickly toss out my two cents on my newfound appreciation for the airport duty free shop. Polei, these shops may come in handy on your way back to the States. While I normally am not too interested in how much money I can save buying bulk packages of Toblerone, the Johannesburg and Munich duty free shops were wonderful. Looking for tasty nightcap before that long overnight flight? Head to the duty free shop for free shots of Amarula liquer! Need to freshen up after a long flight? Head to the duty free shop for free samples of Evian face spritzer, moisturizer, and a wide assortment of perfumes and colognes! Looking for the perfect last-minute Munich souvenir? Nothing says Munich like a duty free "I Heart Munchen" t-shirt from the duty free shop. If only I had a need for discounted Hummel figurines and crates of vodka...

Elephants, Elephants, and More Elephants!

Today we journeyed to Botswana and Chobe National Park, which is known for their high density of elephants. We were picked up this morning by Chris, a very nice taxi driver who gave us great detail about our itinerary for the day (he coordinates everything with the people on the other side of the river). And, thank god we had him with us going through immigration - he was very swift and sped us through the process which otherwise would have been very intimidating for us. We bypassed the ferry across the river by traveling in a small boat to the Botswana side. In the middle of the river (at the confluence where the Chobe River and Zambezi River meet), you are actually in 4 countries at once - Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. They told us that is the only place in the world where it happens. I don't know if that is true, but it's still pretty cool.
As a side note, as we drove both to and from the river crossing, we noticed semi truck upon semi truck parked along side of the road. The shortest way (distance-wise) to cross the border between Botswana and Zambia is by ferry (or a private boat), and the ferry can only take 1 semi at a time. Therefore, the drivers sometimes wait for weeks to cross the river. They've talked about building a bridge to replace the ferry, but it would have to also go through Zimbabwe, and they are stonewalling the project. The only other way to get from one country to another is to go through Zimbabwe, but as our taxi driver explained, most drivers don't prefer going that way because the taxes charged on the goods change on a regular basis. TIA man, TIA.

On the other side of the river, we were greeted by a very nice gentleman who again escorted us quickly through immigration, and took us to the Chobe Safari Lodge, where our boat safari was to depart. On the way we stopped at a ginormous Baobob tree, which was estimated at 1,000 years old. It was HUGE! Once we arrived at the safari lodge, we were greeted by our river safari guide, Moses, who took us to our boat. To our surprise, we were the only ones on the tour that morning, so we had our own private safari! Awesome! We saw lots of crocs, lizards, and too many hippos to count (seriously, there were hundreds!), but the best part was the elephants. Because there is a national park on both sides of the Chobe River, the elephants can swim from one side to another. And what did we see??? Elephants!! Swimming in the river!!! It was amazing - I think even the Monkeys would have been jealous, even with the hundreds of elephants they saw at Addo.

After eating lunch at the safari lodge, we were met by our guide for the afternoon game drive, Custard (who we later found out lived in the US for a year and worked at Disney's Animal Kingdom via there international program - very cool!). We knew topping the morning ride was going to be difficult, but Custard was up to the challenge. We saw HUNDREDS of more elephants, some getting as close to us as 2-3 feet from our vehicle (in our opinion, maybe a little TOO close :). We also saw baby elephants taking baths and playing in the water - Baby + Elephants + Water = Too Cute! However, the best part of our game drive came when we stopped by a couple of other vehicles who we assumed were looking at the hippos right off the bank of the river. Oh no, they were not looking at the hippos, rather they were looking at the 3 leopards that were sleeping in a nearby tree. Yes, 3 leopards. Sleeping in a tree. Do I have to say more?!? It was amazing! It was 1 female and her two cubs - they didn't move much, but were very cute! The first time we passed them we could only see 2 of the leopards, the second time we passed them on the way out, they had moved and all three were visible! It was definitely a highlight of the day. As Mike would say, it was re-donkey-donk.

After searching for the lions our guide had seen that morning (with no luck, but I really can't complain since I saw 3 leopards in a tree), we headed back to the border, where we had a very uneventful (thank god) trip back through the borders and then back to our hotel. Our taxi driver from the morning (Chris) took us home, and though he is a bit of a crazy driver, he got us home in one piece.

Tomorrow we move to the Zimbabwe side of the falls, and we've got some really fun activities planned, including a helicopter ride over the falls, a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, and an elephant back ride. More updates to come...

joburg to munchen to south carolina to ORD

After a sad farewell to the Polei, Jen and I wandered around the airport coughing and continued to support the SAfrican economy. We found the JNB terminal had more shops and vendors to explore than the terminal we were in at Heathrow - very surprising. Because I might be neurotic about timely arrivals for flights, we had about 2.5 hours after checking in, and spent every minute exploring, including a free shot (and shot glass) of Amarula! Eventually we boarded our plane with a the rest of the vuvuzela carrying folks and headed for Germany.

The SAA flight was again fantastic (sorry Sarah). All the wine and other beverages we could handle. The only downside was the dinner options were limited to chicken and lamb, and Jen doesn't eat lamb, and by the time they reached us they were out of chicken. The rest of the meal was tasty, if unremarkable.

We only had about 3.5 hours in Munchen - definitely not enough time to head into the city - so we just wandered around the airport eating and drinking and supporting the German economy. One of our first stops was a coffee stand so we could get some juice when I saw a basket of freshly baked pretzels. I wasn't really hungry enough for any encased meats, but the other 2 things we talked about eating in Germany were pretzels and beer. So I ordered a pretzel with my juice - absolutely buttery and fantastic. Best pretzel ever. We continued wandering and made a last stop for a beer and a basket of pretzels. 9am beers are great for headcolds. Really. The beer was good if unremarkable, and the pretzels were tasty but not as buttery as the previous one.

Our flight back to the US was possibly even better than the SAA flights. It was definitely the biggest plane we've ever been on, had the restrooms downstairs (which was great because it eliminated the aisle congestion) and the pleasant German staff could not pour us enough wine or juice. Literally every 15 min someone was offering us something. And possibly the greatest thing ever - metal sporks! Fantastic. We didn't get a lot of sleep, but we did watch plenty of mediocre to bad movies.

Arriving in Charlotte was sad. We were excited for the wedding and the chance to soon see old friends and family, but Charlotte is way less exciting than anywhere we'd been in 3 weeks. Because I'm dumb, instead of just driving from Charlotte I had us fly another 20 min to Asheville. Seems innocent enough, but this cost us about 4 hours of our lives we'll never get back. Somehow our bags didn't make it onto our plane, so we had to hang around the Asheville area for an hour hoping they would come in on the next flight. Luckily they did. Then yesterday when we were leaving, apparently there were storms in Chicago that had delayed the earlier flights between AVL and ORD, so we were delayed. Instead of getting home at 7, we got home at 7:45. And AVL might be the smallest airport ever. There is literally 1 employee for each airline, and that employee is responsible for all tasks - checking in, boarding planes, retrieving luggage, etc. Hilarious, but not efficient. And when we finally got on the plane, the captain came on and was like well, I have some bad news - this flight usually takes about an hour 15 hour 20, but because of the line of storms it's probably going to take about 2 because we have to fly to St. Louis to avoid them. Sweet.

Even though we were somewhat sick and severely jetlagged, we had a great time hanging out with Scott and Jess and the rest of the wedding folks. It was also great seeing Jen's grandma and aunts and uncles. We didn't *need* that ham, greenbean casserole, biscuits and oreo pie, but it was totally awesome.

Arriving back in Chicago was bittersweet. It was great to be home, and we were excited to see our furry little friend, but the adventure of a lifetime was officially over. And the sobering realities of "work" and "bills". Dislike. Pictures will be uploaded soon, and a post-mortem will be prepared. Like everyone else, Jen and I are now living vicariously through the Polei....

MO

Majesty

Now we understand why Victoria Falls is such a tourist destination.  It's hard to describe the immensity of these Falls.  In fact, because we've only seen them from the Zambia side, we haven't even seen the majority of the Falls yet.  And, still we're amazed. 

We walked along the Zambian National Park side of Victoria Falls today (the Zambezi River separates Zambia and Zimbabwe, with viewing from each side and Zim being known for the more expansive views).  We avoided getting wet for the most part, though many others around us were wearing ponchos and pretty soaked from the spray.   A few years ago, my dad ruined one of his cameras trying to capture the wet essence of Victoria Falls, so I brought a waterproof throwaway camera with me.  Hence, any close pictures will have to wait until we get home to get them developed.  It's a bit strange not to have these pics in digital format!

Victoria Falls is known as Mosi-o-tunya or "Smoke that Thunders" in the local language, and that pretty much describes the Falls.  The Zambezi is a very wide river, so when it reaches the steep edge, it falls hard and in massive quantities.  The water billows up an amazing amount of mist, which looks like smoke from a short distance.  It's also incredibly loud as you approach.

Almost contrasting that is the Zambezi River itself.  We stopped for a drink at the Royal Livingstone Hotel, with a bar alongside the Zambezi River as it heads towards the Falls.  You could see the smoke billowing up but not the Falls themselves.  The water was pretty calm though moving at a rapid pace, but it was almost hard to believe that just a few hundred meters downstream, Victoria Falls would spectactularly erupt from this river.

Beth & I walked to the Royal Livingstone from the Falls, enjoying the hotel and river as we walked along it through the hotel property.  As we turned the corner, following signs to the hotel bar, we abruptly stopped in our tracks.  Zebra.  On the path ahead.  Our time in Kruger with the guides had taught us to keep a healthy distance from any wild animals, even those as "tame" as zebra.  We inched closer, when Benny, the game keeper, neared us.  He brought us closer to the zebra and then even closer to the hotel giraffes (the mama giraffe is pregnant).  It was a surreal experience, passing close enough to both the zebra and giraffe almost to pet them, though Beth & I stayed as far to the other side of the path as possible. 

A few monkey encounters later, we enjoyed a drink at the bar overlooking the river, and then headed towards the adjacent Zambezi Sun resort (once again passing our friends the giraffes and zebras) to watch the England v. Germany soccer game.  The comment Beth & I have gotten most today when finding out we're from the US has been along the lines of "Sorry you lost last night to Ghana, but you played a good game."  We've heard that from just about every Zambian we met.  And after watching England get their butts kicked by Germany, I can be even more proud of the way the US played again Ghana, not embarassing themselves or their country.  The English team is going to have some wicked headlines tomorrow morning back home.

Tomorrow: off to Botswana to visit Chobe National Park.  We're scheduled for a 3 hour river safari, followed by a 3 hour game drive through the park.  Hope to have some cool pics to upload tomorrow (though we have to pay for internet access by the MB, so those pics may wait until our internet access is free again).

Mother Africa Wins

Last night's match had quite a different outcome than we'd hoped for when we headed over to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium to watch USA v. Ghana.  The other matches we went to were definitely pro-US crowds, but last night's crowd was a decidedly pro-Ghana crowd.  That's not to say there weren't many many many proud American supporters, but Ghana had the support of Ghana visitors, South Africans rooting for Mother Africa, and irritated British fans rooting against the US.  It was clear during the national anthems that the American fans were mostly from America (we sang loud and proud), but few of the Ghana supporters knew the words to their national anthem. 

I understood and appreciated the African support for an African team (though slightly stunned by the amount of Ghana gear and flags that South Africans own - was this all purchased in the last few days?), but the British fans were ridiculously annoying and rude.  They were upset that the US victory over Algeria meant that their tickets for this match weren't for the first place English team (since they ended up in 2nd place due to their lackluster performance versus Algeria).  We had one group of Brits in front of us who had special shirts made that said "Ghana's #1 Fans, by default" with the back stating "Donovan's a $#%!".  They all decked themselves out in South African wigs and Ghana face paint.  One of them spent the entire game standing, facing away from the pitch, yelling at American fans behind him, guzzling many beers.  Ah, Brits, you slay me.  And now I'm rooting heartily for Germany this afternoon instead of England.

But our Yanks put on a good fight last night.  We were not embarrassed by Ghana, and, in fact, I would argue outplayed them for much of the game (not counting the first 20 minutes or overtime).  We seriously lack a good striker to complement our strong midfield and decent defensive line.  Altidore drives us crazy (laziness, slowness, lack of focus, inability to finish), and clearly Bradley doesn't have anyone he trusts on the other side.   But it's been a great ride and so much fun to be in South Africa with a team to be proud of.  Donovan has more goals in the tournament than many other heralded players (Rooney, Ribery, etc).   While other country's supporters proudly wear their gear all the time, it's only been since the victory over Algeria/winning our pool that I've noticed a lot of American shirts, jackets, etc.  as we tour around (our fellow zipliners yesterday were wearing matching USA soccer jackets).  Go USA!  Hopefully the future of American soccer is strong, and we'll have an even better showing in Brazil 2014.

Off to Zambia/Victoria Falls!  More soon since we should have internet access the next few days (it's been seriously lacking the last few).

Kloof Canopy Tour

Beth and I embarked bright and early this morning for our canopy tour (aka ziplining).  The previous times we've zipped, we've gone from treetop to treetop, stopping on wooden platforms on high trees along the way.  This time, however, we zipped from side to side along a canyon ("kloof" in local parlance), stopping on wooden platforms built into the sides of the kloof.  Our highest zip was 50m above the canyon floor, and our longest zip was 150m.  It was great fun!  Beautiful scenery along the long zips, with enough time to appreciate it before getting to the other side of the canyon. 

Our guides also took a lot of time to point out characteristics of  the trees and animals in the area (Jen, there were dassies!  lots of them!), and even gave us all sorts of info about various animals that we didn't see on our tour (rhinos, klipspringers, tortoises, etc).  We learned that our lead guide was in school studying to become a tourist field guide (a la Godfrey on our safari), so he was testing out sharing his knowledge with us.  We ended our 10 slides with a steep hike up out of the canyon and were rewarded with a free lunch when we got back to the base camp.   Another successful ziplining experience!

(Johanna, I'm pretty sure you would have hated this even more than the one in Tsitsikamma - we were HIGH off the canyon floor.  And no Marius to ride with you....)

Off to Rustenburg to get ready for the big US v. Ghana match tonight!