Month: May 2016

Samaria Gorge

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Samaria

The second trip that I decided to take while I was in Chania was a hike through the Samaria Gorge.  The gorge is a major tourist attraction on Crete. It is the deepest and longest canyon in Europe.

Very Early Start

I was told that I would be picked up 6.00 a.m. The mini bus arrived spot on time.

What to Expect

We picked-up the other people of the trip very quickly and we headed of town.

As we drove along our guide, Thomas, told us what to expect on the hike.

The gorge is 16 km long, starting at an altitude of 1,250 m at the northern entrance, and ending at the shores of the Libyan Sea in Agia Roumeli. The walk through Samaria National Park is 13 km long,

More importantly, he told us the path is “very rough”.  It is not good for people with “problem knees”.

He described the different sections of the walk.  The first part is “very steep.  If you have a problem going down, you have to make a decision if you want to go on.  If you don’t think you can go on, turn back”.

The second part follows the river valley floor. “The path is very rocky”.

At one point you arrive at the Samaria village.  “This is a ‘check point’.  If you don’t leave there by 13.30 p.m. you are going too slow”.

The next part of the walk is through the narrow part of the gorge.  “This is a dangerous part as you may be hit by a falling rocks.   This part of the walk also includes a “lot of river crossings with stepping stones”.

The last part of the walk is another three kilometres to Agia Roumeli from the park exit, making the hike 16 km long.  Thomas said that we had to be at the exit ‘check point by 15.30 p.m.

His  final piece of advice was “to go as fast as you can while still being comfortable”.  The path could  be very busy later in the day.

Walking Poles

Thomas said that he could provide walking poles for a fee of EUR 6.  He said that “they are very useful on the steep sections and when you are doing the water crossings”.

I decided to hire the poles

Off we Go

We arrived at the entrance to the National Park at 8.40 a.m.  Thomas wasted no time in getting us moving.

He led us to the start of the path and reminded us of the check point times.  He said that he would start 30 minutes after us and would be around if we needed any assistance

The turns out to be as Described

The walk turned out to be pretty much as Thomas described.  The first part was very steep.  I was very glad that I had hired the poles.  They turned out to be very useful.  A lot of the other walkers on the path had poles. Most of those without  poles were clearly very experienced walkers and didn’t need them.  Others without poles probably wished that they had them.

The village of Samaria is about 11 kilometres through the walk,  just inside the main gorge. It was finally abandoned by the last remaining inhabitants in 1962 to make way for the park.

The most famous part of the gorge is the stretch known as the Gates (or, albeit incorrectly, as “Iron Gates”), where the sides of the gorge close in to a width of only four meters and soar up to a height of almost 300 meters (980 feet).  This part is very spectacular.  Check out the Flickr links.

Sometimes Alone

I am not sure how many people were on the path on this day, but there must have been hundreds.  Notwithstanding that, there were periods when I found myself walking alone will no one in sight.

Late Lunch

After leaving the park, I headed to the coast and had a late lunch in the Kir Kir restaurant.

Ferry Ride

Late in the afternoon, we caught a ferry from Agia Roumell along the coast to Sougia.

Our mini bus was waiting at the jetty.  It was an interesting drive over the maintains back to Chania.  The roads has a lots of sharp turns. I would have preferred being on a motorbike rather being in the bus.

Big Step Count

It was after eight when we got back to Chania.  I walked from the drop-off point to a restaurant on the beach nearby to apartment.

When I looked at my Fitbit, I found that I had completed 30,000 steps for the day.  This is PB since having the device.

 

Flickr Link (Videos)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskA9m7FE

Flickr Link (Photos)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskANiExz

About Samaria Gorge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samari%C3%A1_Gorge

 

Gramvousa and Balos Lagoon

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Gramvousa and Balos Logoon

 

The owner of the apartments where I stayed in Chania was keen to sell me some tours. I decided to take two.

The first was a trip to Gramvousa Island and the Balos Lagoon which are off the north west coast of the island of Crete.  Apparently the Balos Lagoon has “the most beautiful beach in Crete and possibly, all of Greece”.

Lots of Pick-ups

I was told the place where I would be picked up by a bus in the morning. There were only two other people on the bus when it arrived. As we made own way through the town on Chania we made more stops at various hotels.  It seemed that there were only one or two people to be picked up at each place.  Also, given that network of one way streets, we seemed to be going around and around in circles.

After about an hour we final made our way along the coast to the west on Chania.  We made a few more stoops to pick up people before arriving at the town of Kostelli.

Ferry Ride

About half the passenger piled off the bus and headed to a ferry that was “due to leave in about an hour”.  The other half were going on another tour.

Finally, the ferry left the port. As we made our way along the coast, the person giving a commentary explained that this part of the island experienced a major earthquake that had tilted the land quite dramatically.

Balos Lagoon

It wasn’t long before we rounded the peninsular that points north from Kostelli and headed west to towards the island of Gramvousa.  We passed south of the island and headed into the famous Balos lagoon.

I must admit, that the colour of the water is amazing.  Without my camera, I was left to use my phone to take the photos.  Even with the phone photos, you can get an idea of the vivid colours.

The ferry boat moored inside the lagoon.

Small, boats took us on the shore.

The beach is not great as for as beaches go. The sand is a bit grey. There is shallow  lagoon on an isthmus between the mainland and a rocky outcrop.

Big Climb

I walked around the shallow lagoon and up the rock path that leads up the mainland.  The views are amazing.  The contrasting colours in the water and the shallow lagoon are very spectacular.

It is quite a climb to the top of the hill.  I checked my Fitbit.  It told me that I had done 99 floors.

Russian Invasion

As returned to the beach, I noticed a large ferry boat approaching the isthmus on the other side of the lagoon.  It was able to travel ride up the beach.  Clearly the water is much deeper on that side.

As I walked along, passengers from the ferry boast came towards me.  They seemed to all be Russians.  It was a serious Russian invasion.

Boat Breaks Down

I headed to the point of the beach were we had been deposited by the small boats.  They had started the shuttle service taking the passengers back to the ferry boat.

One of the small boats had just left the shore and was heading to the ferry boat.  The motor was making a very strange noise.  Suddenly, the noise stopped. So did the boat.

A French bloke standing next to me said: “I think they have a problem”.  A German couple who also nearby chatted about something being “kaput”.

I think “kaput’ is so descriptive.

As it turned out, the motor was really ‘kaput’ and the broken down boat had to be towed back to the ferry by the other small boat.

Across to Gramvousa

There was bit of a delay getting the all passengers back on the ferry boat.  Once everyone was aboard we headed across to Gramvousa.

The main point of interest on the island is the ruin of an old fort.  The fort has a long history, being built, captured and destroyed, rebuilt and captured again, over the centuries .

During Ottoman occupation of Greece  it had be used by a group of Cretans who survived by being pirates.

In 1828, the Ottoman  Governor of Greece, sent  a force with British and French ships to Crete to deal with the pirates. This expedition resulted in the destruction of all pirate ships at Gramvousa and the fort came under British control.

Another Climb

It is a big climb from the jetty up to the fort.

The views back to the mainland of Crete are spectacular.

Flickr Photos

https://www.flickr.com/gp/twwilko_photos/9W244f

Flickr Videos

https://flic.kr/s/aHskANiYNx

About Gramvousa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramvousa

 

Pretoria

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Pretoria

It was a long trip from Chobe back to South Africa.

I had decided to stay in Pretoria rather than returning to Johannesburg.

I had booked into a hostel in the suburb of Hatfield.   The mini bus dropped me off at the hostel. The place turned out to be yet another house that had be converted into a hostel. Others that I had stayed at were in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.  It was a large rambling house with a pool and servant’s accommodation.  I suspect my room was formerly a servant’s room.  It was very small.

Delivered Meal

It was after dark by the time that I was checked in and settled into my room.  The owners told me that “the best way to get a meal at this time of the night was to order a delivered meal…it was too dangerous to walk in the streets at this time”.  I was getting used to this in the RSA.

Guard on Duty

I woke up fairly early.  I noticed someone wandering in the yard outside my room.  It turned out to be a security guard.  It is so sad that the hostel sees the need for such measures.

Gautrain

The next day I decided to check out some of the city.

The hostel was very close to the Hatfield train station which is part of the Gautrain network.  This is a very modern train line that links Pretoria with Johannesburg and the O. R. Tambo International Airport.

I walked up to the station.  As was often the case in the RSA, I was one of very few people walking in the street.  I was certainly the only white person.

I noticed that all of the houses had razor wire, electric fences and signs with the names of the 24-hour security companies that the owners had employed.

Downtown

I took the train into main Pretoria station. I was heading to Church Square which is the centre of the CBD – the Martin Place of the city.

I asked a bloke, who also got off the train, the way to Church Square. He told me that his car parked nearby and that he “would give me a lift”. I asked “how long would it take to walk?”.  He said “it would take less than ten minutes”.  When I said “I would walk”, he looked at me at little curiously.

I walked away from the station to the square.  It was a crowded street.  I felt safe, but I did notice that I was the only white person on the street.  This is in city where ‘whites’ account for over 50% of the population.

At first sight, Church Square is impressive. Victorian era building surround the square – banks and public offices.

A closer look reveals that it is very ‘faded’.  There were also a lot of seemingly destitute people lying on the grass.

I quickly walked around the square and the surrounding shops.  I was a bit of a curiosity.

Forced to Eat McDonalds

I was hungry and needed to eat.  The only place I could find was McDonalds. That about says it all.

Boer Monument

The next place I wanted to see was the Voortekker Monument.  This was built by the Afrikaans South Africans to the commemorate the ‘long march’ of the Dutch Boers from the Cape Province to the Transvaal between 1835 and 1854.

The monument is not far from the CBD.  Not surprisingly there is no public transport to the place. I ordered an Uber Taxis.  The driver didn’t seem to be too keen to chat to me when I told time where   I confirmed where I was going.

The Voortekker Monument is a strange place.  There are strong religious over tones. As most know, the Boers were Lutherans.  They were very pious and conservative.

Nearby to the Monument, there is a museum with exhibits about the Afrikaners time in South Africa.  It covers the Apartheid period. There is one section the celebrates the Afrikaners ‘achievements’.  These include being successful at rugby, Zola Budd (remember the girls who ran in the Olympics in bare feet) and the armaments industry that developed during the period of trade sanctions during the latter part of the Apartheid period.

Uber Drivers not Keen

It took me three attempts to book an Uber taxis from the Monument back to the railway station. The first two drivers called me and asked me to cancel my request.  One said was “too far from where he was”.  The App showed he was less than 10 minutes away.

The third driver seem to be pleased that I was Australian.

Good Restaurant

Back in Hatfield, I went to a restaurant that was recommended by the people who owned the hostel. Like many places I had eaten in while in the RSA, it was very good, and reasonably priced.

I walked back to the hostel in the fading light.

Old Lady fearful of the Future

The next morning, I walked to the nearest shopping centre for breakfast.  I came across an older woman walking her Scottish Terrier.  I was surprised to see a white person the street, let alone on older woman walking alone.

We had a brief chat.  She told me that “she didn’t walk far from her house, but the dog needed to get out”.  She said that “her children had moved to the UK, but she was too old to move”.  She said that she “feared for the future of the country and the young people (take that to mean young whites) who could not leave the place”.

Train to Airport

The wife of the family that ran to hostel drove me to the Gautrain station where I caught the train to the O. R. Tambo International Airport.

Next was Doha en-route to Rhodes in Greece.

Flickr Link

https://flic.kr/s/aHskA5QhUW

About Church Square

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Square,_Pretoria

About Boer Monument

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voortrekker_Monument

About Gautrain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautrain

Chobe Safari

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Chobe

We left Victoria Falls about mid-morning.

The border crossing back into Botswana was singularly uneventful.  It was then a short drive to the town of Kasane.

We set up our tents and had a late lunch.

Into the Park

After lunch a 4WD came to pick us up and take us into the Chobe National Park. My cousin, Dr S the elder, had told me that the Chobe Park was a must do.  As always he turned out the be correct.

The part of the park we visited is on the Chobe on the border with Namibia.

Lots of Animals   

We entered the park before 3.00 p.m. and headed towards the river.  I took one photo and then my Sony Camera, which was only 18 months old, stopped working.

It wasn’t long before we came cross some elephants.  One came very close to the vehicle as it passed us and headed to the river.  Check out the GoPro video on Flickr.  The guide was a bit worried.

In quick succession we saw more animals, including hippopotamuses in the river, more elephants, zebras, loads of antelope, and wildebeest.  We then came across some buffaloes.

It was all happening.

Lions Close Up

As we followed the river, the guide spotted some lions close to the water.  He drove a head.  One the lionesses came close to the vehicle.  Unfortunately, the wide angle of the GoPro does give a real indication of how close she came.

We continued on the guide spotted another lioness in the bushes.  She was eating something.  The guide said it look like a piece of buffalo. He said that “this pride often takes buffaloes. They are very good at hunting a group.  Up to four of the pride work together in an attack”.

As we continued along, we came across more of the lions in the pride.  They were above us on hill.  As we watch a buffalo ran at one them through some bushes.  The guide said that “buffaloes and the lions hate each other.

Rush to the Gate

By this time, it was getting late.  We had to be back at the park gate by 6.00 p.m.

The guide put his foot down as we sped along the sandy track by the river.  We stopped briefly to see the very spectacular sunset.

Copying some Pictures

It was a pity about my camera.  I was, however, able to copy some photos the German Professor in our party took.  They are on the Flickr like.

Flickr Link

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskztJgsh

 

Garmin Link

 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1168149812

 

About Chobe National Park

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chobe_National_Park

 

 

Walking across the border into Zambia

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Zambia

I have mentioned that when I crossed from Botswana into Zimbabwe, I paid for a ‘double entry’ visa.  The reason I did this was so that I could go across into Zambia when I was in Victoria Falls.

Border Fetish

I have to admit to having a bit of a ‘border fetish’.  I suspect that this is probably due to being born and spending most for my life on the ‘island continent’. Naturally we do not have a land border with another country. This can also be said for the other place where I have lived for some time- the UK.

I have been across some interesting borders.

Remembering the Border between East and West Berlin

A very interesting border was between East and West Germany in the divided city of Berlin.  I first made that border crossing in 1983.  In October 1984 I went to East Berlin on a Department of Foreign Affairs trip.

I stayed in hotel near to the ‘Wall’ on Friedrichstraße.  I did not like the food in the ‘East’. I decided that I would eat as often as possible in the West.  This involved crossing the border at the Friedrichstraße train station.  After eating a good meal, I would return across the border at train station or at Check Point Charlie.

Leaving Zimbabwe

The road to the border is quite busy up the point where you enter the Victoria Falls National Park.  After that it is quite quiet.  There are not too many people making the crossing.

Getting through the Zimbabwean border control was uneventful.

The Bridge

After passing through the border crossing, it is not far to the bridge over the river.

The bridge was the brainchild of Cecil Rhodes and is part of his grand and unfulfilled Cape to Cairo railway scheme.  It was constructed by the Cleveland company.  They built the Sydney Harbour bridge and the much smaller bridge over the Tyne river in Newcastle in the north east of England.   That bridge is the same design as the Sydney bridge, but one eighth the size.

They also built the arch for the new Wembley stadium in London.

Given its age and the lack of maintenance, there are strict limitations of the use of the Victoria Falls bridge by trains and heavy vehicle.  Most of the crossings appear to be by foot or bicycle.

The falls are very close to the bridge.

Into Zambia

Getting through the Zambian border control was quicker than the Zimbabwean side.

Boiling Pot

I didn’t have too much time available.  I had thought about taking a taxi into Livingston, but I didn’t have enough time to do that.

I decided to walk down to see the famous ‘boiling pot’.  It is the point in the ‘Second Gorge’ where the Zambezi River Gorge makes a sharp right turn and has carved out a deep pool which is about 150 metres across.  Check out the video.  It is amazing.

It is quite a steep walk down to the ‘boiling pot’.  The return climb added to my Fitbit floors.

Victoria Falls Hotel

After crossing back to Zimbabwe, it dropped into the Victoria Falls Hotel. It is very up market and super expensive.

 

Flickr Link

https://flic.kr/s/aHskAD9zLg

About the Bridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls_Bridge

 

 

Zip Line at Victoria Falls

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Victoria Falls Zip Line

There are a number of activities on offer at Victoria Falls.  These include ‘high-wire’ activities.  These are: bungee jumping, bridge and gorge swings, zip line and flying fox.

The place is, of course ideal for these activities.  It has the iconic Rhodes Bridge which links Zimbabwe with Zambia. There are also the series of gorges that zig zag away from the falls.  These ae very deep with the Zambesi river flowing at extreme speeds below.

I booked myself in to do the zip line.  I was told that it was half way between do the flying fox (very lame) and the gorge swing.  The Swiss Nurse in our party booked herself into doing the gorge swing.  The English bloke and the young Canadian girl booked to do the bridge swing.

I arrived at the Lookout Café at the appointed time to do the zip line.

Norwegian Girls Argue

The taking off points for the zip line and the swing are a short walk from the café.

When I arrived someone had just jumped into the gorge on the swing. Their friends were watching.  They turned out to be a group of Norwegian girls.  When the ‘swinger’ emerged at the top of the gorge there was lot of excitement and animated discussion in Norwegian.

The girl who had just done the swing was shaking like leaf. She told me that “that was just so scary, but so good”.  She tried to stop her hands from shaking by holding them together.  It was to no avail.

Next to swing were two of her friends.  They were doing a tandem swing – tied together.

There was an awful lot of carry on before they finally jumped.  Their screams could be heard above the sound of the water.

It takes some time before the ‘swingers’ are brought back to the top of the gorge.

Even before they were at the top of the gorge the voices of the girls could be heard.  They were clearly having an argument.

As they were being unshackled, the argument continued.  Their friends were standing next to me and were in hysterics.  The ‘swingers’ walked to towards us and switched from speaking Norwegian into English: “we were supposed to jump at the same time….it was your fault the we didn’t… no it was your fault…can’t you count to three?…..”.  It went on and on.

Apparently because they didn’t jump at the same time, they immediately started to spin and could not stop spinning. Not only did they have a 120 plus metre free fall drop followed by the swing, but they were also spinning like a top.

After they had calmed down, I asked them “why did you switch to speaking English.  They told that they I assumed that I would be able to understand English and that it would have been rude to keep speaking Norwegian.

It was all very amusing

My Turn on the Zip Line

Next it was my turn to do the zip line.  It is like a flying fox, but drops down into the gorge and up the other side.

I was told by one of the operators that I would be travelling at 80 kilometres per hour.

The photos and the video show what happens.

It is a bit of thrill, but not nearly as scary as the swing.

The video shows how quickly it is all over.  It does however understate how low to the water the line goes.

You can see from the photos and the video that one of the operators came to collect me.  Some people who have seen the photos assumed that something went wrong and I was being rescued.  That was not the case. It is simply how the thing works.

Swiss Nurse Jumps

Next to do the swing was the Swiss Nurse from our party.  As I have previously noted, she is a very assuming girl.  Some of her comments before and after the swing were priceless.

There is a great shot of her on Flickr at the start of her free fall.

There is also a video of her reaction after the jump.

French Bloke is a Show-off

After the Swiss girl had jumped, it was the turn of a French bloke.  He had booked to do the two swings, the bungee jump and the bridge and the zip line.

He was clearly a serial jumper, having done these sort of jumps around the world.  He asked me to take a ‘slow motion video’ of him leaving the swing platform using his Apple Phone.  To my amazement I actually did a good job of taking the video.

 

Flickr Link (Videos)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskzTozur

Flickr Link (Photos)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskA7NAzk

 

Wild Horizons Link

http://www.wildhorizons.co.za/

Helicopter Ride over Victoria Falls

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Victoria Falls Helicopter

 

In the evening of our first night at Victoria Falls we had dinner at the camp.  Our guide and driver, David confirmed that he is also a really good cook.

An Upsetting Song

After the meal a group of blokes in ‘native garb’ appeared.  They danced and sang some songs – some in the local language and some in English.  The last song was “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”.  I know that this is an American negro spiritual song, but it is also sung by English Rugby supporters. This can be very upsetting for a Wallabies supporter.

Wake up for the Helicopter Ride

One of the activities that had booked to do in Victoria Falls was a helicopter ride.  My cousin Julie had sent me an email telling me that is a ‘must do’.

A mini bus picked me up at the camp gate we headed to the heliport.

Remembering a previous ride

This was to be my second ride in helicopter.  The first was when I was working for Caltex. The company operates a pipeline that runs from the Kurnell Refinery through Silverwater and up to Newcastle. Part the environmental conditions for the operation of the pipeline is that it has to be subject to periodic visual checks. This done from the air. I had opportunity to take a ride in the helicopter than performs the checks.

We flew from Bankstown airport across the harbour and up the coast to Newcastle.  I can recall that the helicopter we incredibly noisy.  I also remember that it was quite a different experience to flying in light plane.

Buying an Upgrade

The mini bus arrived at the heliport and  we taken into a building.  The other passengers, and Swiss couple and French man and woman, had arranged to have ‘up-grades’. It was explained that this involved an extended flight that would include flying over the gorge downstream from the falls and a trip up the river.

It decided to take the upgrade.

The flight

Once the payments we made for the up grade were made, we were off.

We headed straight to the falls.  It was an amazing experience. You really get to see the falls in a different perspective than you experience on the ground.  You see the wide river leading to the falls, the spray billowing into the sky, and rapid flow of the water through the tight gorge zig zagging downstream.

We made a couple of passes over the falls before following the path of the river down the gorge.

The last part of the flight involved flying up the river.  We then headed slightly away from the river to see some herds of Zebra and elephant. At various times the pilot made some very sharp turns and swooped down so we could get a better view.

Unfortunately, my photos and videos probably don’t do this part of the trip justice.

Good Tip Julie

To sum up: cousin Julie was right.  The helicopter ride was great.

 

Flickr Link (videos)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskA1kVBp

Flickr Link (photos)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskwPHHpr

Getting Wet at Victoria Falls

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Victoria Falls

After crossing the border from Botswana into Zimbabwe we drove to past the Victoria Falls Rest Camp where we were to stay.

Souvenir Sellers taking a Risk

We drove down a dirt road to see a large tree.  It was fairly interesting.  However, what was more interesting was a group of blokes who emerged from the bushes.  David our guide  explained that they were “illegal souvenir sellers”.  Apparently anyone wanting to sell souvenirs in the official markets in the town has to pay a high fee.  These characters get around this by plying their wares in this road.

David explained that using this location comes with risks.  Firstly, they ae liable to be caught by the police and secondly they run the risk of being attacked by a wild animal.  David told the in the last month one of the sellers was attached and killed by an Elephant.

After seeing the tree, we returned to the camp.  Selous has ‘permanent’ tents set up in the camp. This saved us having to pitch our tents.

Lots of Activities on Offer

Over breakfast our guide David explained a bit about the town of Victoria Falls.  He said that it “was very safe”.  There are a large number of police and they are “looking after the tourists”.  He also said that, like the rest of Zimbabwe, there are a lot of ‘secret police’ informants’ basically spying on the people and looking out for critics of the government.

After having breakfast, David introduced to a representative of Wild Horizons, a travel and ’experience’ operator in Victoria Falls.  There was a bit on offer: river cruise, helicopter rides of the falls, bungee jumping, zip-line, flying fox and bridge and gorge swings.  Each of the party bought something to do.

Victoria Falls

Once we had our ‘activities’ sorted, it was time to see the falls.  We walked through the town to the entrance of the National Park.

We paid the fee and entered the park. There is a display giving details of the falls and comparing them with the other big falls – Niagara and Iguassu.  These comparisons are also at the link below. There are lots of ways to determine which are the biggest falls.

Spectacular

I was with the German speaking girls. The Swiss nurse was very amusing the whole trip.  She was in good form this day.

There are a number of lookout points (I think 16 in all).  Each gives a different perspective of the falls.  You can see the river prior to the falls, one of the gorge falls and the main falls).

At a couple of the view points for the main falls, you get very wet. Check out the Flickr video.

Statue of Livingstone

There is a statue of the ‘European’ discover of the falls, David Livingston.  He named the falls after Queen Victoria.  She must have more places (e.g. the State of Victoria), streets and parks etc. named after her than anyone else in history.

The Bridge

At one point in the park, you get a very view of the famous Rhodes bridge that crosses the Zambezi River and links Zimbabwe with Zambia.

Very wet

I was still saturated when we left the park.  I took the short to the Gorge Lookout Café for lunch. It was the most expensive meal I have had for months.  Having to pay in USD made it a double shock.

Being offered Million Dollar Notes

On the way back to the camp after lunch, I was approached by numerous characters want to sell worthless Zimbabwean bank notes.

These notes are from the period of hyper-inflation up until 2009, when the country switched to the USD.

There is now talk that Zimbabwe will introduce ‘bonds’.  These will be tied to the USD and will come in paper form.  They will effectively be money.  They have already introduced small denomination ‘bond’ coins used in giving change.

I suspect that the paper ‘bonds’ will result in the high levels of inflation again.

Remembering my Trip in Mid 2016

As I walked along, I remembered my first visit to Zimbabwe in 2016.  This was part of a Foreign Affairs trip that took in London, Lisbon, Madrid, Lagos, Nairobi, Addis Ababa and Dar Es Salaam.

I was due to return to Australia after Dar  Es Salaam.  However, before I was due to leave, I received a cable instructing me to fly to Harare. There had been a fraud committed at the High Commission.

I didn’t see much of the city apart from the inside of the hotel, the High Commission and the residences of the staff.  However, I meet some ‘white’ locals and was able to walk the streets.

This was the early days of the Mugabe regime and the place was yet to fall apart.

Another memory of that trip was trip a precipitous fall in the AUD that followed Paul Keating’s ‘Banana Republic comment.  My recollection is that the AUD was worth USD 0.75 when I left and got my Travel Advance.  After the comment which was made when I was in Addis Ababa it fell to USD 0.53.

 

Flickr Links (photos and videos)

https://www.flickr.com/gp/twwilko_photos/76816U

About Victoria Falls

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls

Keating’s Banana Republic Comments

http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/20-years-from-keating-what-price-a-banana-now/2006/05/14/1147545209134.html

Victoria Falls Days 1 and 2

billrider2013Leave a comment

To Botswana and into Zim

After the Kruger Park part of my tour I stayed in hostel on the outskirts of Johannesburg. There was some discussion with Eugene in the Selous Safari office as to when I would be picked up for the trip to Victoria Falls.

The owner of the hostel confirmed my thoughts- “Eugene is a dill”. The owner told me that “he has never old him the correct numbers to expect to be staying at the hostel – surely that can’t be difficult”.  It seems that Eugene finds most things difficult, including telling the time.

Anyway, it was finally agreed that I was to be picked up a 5.00 a.m. The driver, David arrived 10 minutes early.

We headed into the Maboeng Precinct to collect some more passengers. They turned out to be an English Bloke in his early twenties who works for Transport for London, a young Canadian student, a Swiss nurse and German dental technician.

Off to Pretoria

We head out of Johannesburg for Pretoria.  Once into the city, it immediately reminded me a bit of Canberra.

We went into the suburb where a lot of the embassies are located.  Our next passenger was German bloke who is an Economics Professor.  He was in Pretoria delivering some lectures at the university.  He was taking advantage being in RSA to do this safari.

Long drive

With all the passenger on board we headed north towards the Botswanan Border.  It was a very long drive. The journey was broken with meals stops, comfort stops and a stops, short of the border, to buy some supplies.

Crossing the Border

Crossing the border was uneventful, however I did notice that the window for the Diplomats was also where the ‘Retirees’ were processed.  I guess these two groups have similar characteristics.

Rhino Sanctuary

It was late in the evening when we arrived at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary where we were to stay the night.

David checked us in at the office at the main gate.  We then drive on a very sand track to the camp ground, which turned out to be over 3 kilometers from the main gate.

We had to pitch our tents. This was a bit of a slow process in the dark.  Once that was done, David cooked a meal.  This was a great effort considering he been up since before 2.00 a.m. and had driven all day.

Wake up to be the Animals

We were woken up before dawn.

One of the park Rangers arrived in 4WD.  We were off to see some rhinoceroses at other animals. It was quite a long drive through quite dense low trees and bushes before we emerged in to an open area.

The Ranger pointed out a rhinoceros in the distance. He said that we would see it later and we drove on. We came across some Zebra and lots on antelope.

As we continued on we came across some wilder beast. One much to the amusement of the Swiss nurse decided to relieve himself.  This was a very long process.

We turned back to the where the Ranger had spotted the rhinoceros.  Has had fully grown horn.  There is no need to take the horns off in the park, as there is no poaching.  The Ranger told up the “the military deal with poaches”.  I think we can guess what ‘dealing’ means.

As we moved on we came across a herd of springboks.  At various times they would suddenly start to run in one direction, leaping into the air as they went.  They would then turn and head back to where they had come from.  The Ranger explained that they were “teaching the young how to run and jump.  This is how that they escape from lions and leopards.

We then came across two young rhinoceros.  One was on the ground.  The other was nudging it.  The Ranger said the one on the ground was a female and the other, a male, was trying to get her to stand.  It was funny to watch.

As we headed back to the camp, we crossed lots of different tracks.  It would be very easy to get lost in the park.

Back at the camp, David had cooked breakfast.  It was really good.

Heading further North

After breakfast we were back in the bus and heading north.  It was another long day of driving.

We stopped for lunch at a shopping centre.  The most popular place to eat seemed to be Wimpy.  This was because it had internet Wi Fi , not because of the food.

Elephant Sanctuary

Our camp this night was at the Elephant Sands resort.  This is a fairly flash place. We had a meal in the restaurant.  It was very good food.

The main entertain was a ‘Bush Baby’ a.k.a Gagalao – tiny monkey.  It was very tame and played with the guests.

Very Early Start

We had a very early start in the morning.  David explained that he wanted to get to the Zimbabwean border as soon as possible to avoid being delayed.

As we approached the border, we came across a large number of trucks.  These trucks were headed to Zambia.  The Zambian border is very close.  David explained that trucks the trucks have to wait up to a week to cross the border as there is no bridge and there are delays on the ferry.

Border Crossing  

The border crossing into Zimbabwe turned out to be relatively painless.  You are required to purchase a visa in USD.  There ae a number of prices, depending where you are from.  Surprisingly Australia is in the cheapest category. The UK and EU citizens pay the mid-range.  Much to the horror of the Canadian girl, there is a special higher price for them. Somehow the Canadians must have upset Mugabe.  I suspect it was Harper.

I bought a ‘double entry’ visa.  This would enable me to cross over to Zambia while we were in Victoria Falls.

Once from the border we were soon at Victoria Falls.

We had breakfast and we ready to head off to see the falls.

Flickr Links

https://flic.kr/s/aHskwNWfSj

Link to Khama Rhino Sanctuary

http://www.khamarhinosanctuary.org.bw/

Elephant Sands

http://www.elephantsands.com/

Bush Baby

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galago

Kruger National Park

billrider2013Leave a comment

 

Kruger

I had booked a tour to the Kruger National Park with Selous Safaris.  My dealings with Eugene in the office did not give to me too much confidence in the company.

The bloke seemed to be a bit of dill.  He seemed that he could not deal with more one issue in a single phone call i.e. make the booking, pay the deposit, pay the balance and receive details of the pick arrangements.  All these steps required separate phone calls and/or emails.

I subsequently found in discussions with others, that I was not the only person who found it difficult to deal with Eugene.  In fact, everyone I spoke to found it difficult to deal with him.

It is fortunate that Eugene has a minor role on the company.  The guides and the drivers I dealt with were excellent.

Very early start

I had to get up really early to start the tour.

A small car appeared in the street outside the hostel.  The driver asked for “Thomas”.  That is first name in my passport.

I immediately assumed that the car would be taking me to the tour bus.  As it turned out, the only people on the tour were myself and a young Austrian girl called Hanna.

Fog

The driver, Joe-Joe (a double barrelled first name), explained that he would be taking us part of the way to the Kruger National park, where we would be met by another driver who would taking us the rest of the way.

It was relatively easy to get out of Johannesburg given the early start and fact that it was Sunday.

The road was wide sometimes six lanes. At one point we came across some very thick fog.  Joe-Joe explained that accidents as a result of the fog were frequent. I could see why.

Stop for breakfast

We stopped for breakfast in a service station.

As we continued on, we passed by some very large coal fired power stations.  Tony Abbot would love seeing them.

As we travelled north the road changed from dual carriage way to progressively narrower and narrower roads.  The condition of the roads also declined.  There were signs warning of pot holes.  Those signs are there for good reason; there were lots of pot holes.

Slow puncture

We stopped at service station to get some petrol.  The Joe-Joe checked the pressure in the tyres.  As he suspected, we had a slow puncture in the front offside tyre. He decided to continue on to where we would be meeting the Selous bus heading from Kruger back to Johannesburg. The driver of the bus would be swap with Joe-Joe and take us on Kruger.

We met Moses the other driver about 20 kilometres further on.  Not fixing the ‘slow puncture’ turned out to be the classic ‘hospital pass’.  It was now a ‘fast puncture’.  Moses stopped in the next town to get it fixed.

The camping ground

We finally got to the camping ground where we were staying at around 4.00 p.m.  The place is outside the Kruger National Park and is next to two ‘private’ game parks that adjoin the National Park.

The Selous company has ‘permanent’ tents at the camping ground.

Once settled in, we headed off to an Animal Rehabilitation Centre not far from the camping ground. Before touring the centre, we were given a lecture on why it had been established and the work that it does.

Animal Rehabilitation Centre

The centre is privately funded and looks after animals that have been rescued.  They have typically been injured by poachers or hit by vehicles on the roads.  Many of the animals have been caught in snares.  Most of the animals cannot be released back into the wild because they have become accustomed to humans.

Cheetah

After the lecture we were taken on a tour of the centre.  The first stop was an encounter with a Cheetah. It has been rescued as an orphan and has reared at the centre. Naturally it is used to humans. Apparently Cheetahs do not see fully grown humans as prey.  This particular animal was very tame.  It was brought out of its enclosure placed on a table.  The visitors were encouraged to pat it.  It seemed quite happy to be patted, and purred like a domesticated cat.

Badgers and other Animals

The next stop was an enclosure will a badger.  The African badgers are much than those found in the UK.

Next we were taken to see some eagles and vultures. It was sad to see them locked up in cages, but I guess they are still alive.

We also saw two lions and two leopards.  The leopards were very lively.  I was amazed how difficult it was to see them when they climbed into a tree.

The last stop was to see some Wild Dogs.  Apparently they are really under threat in the wild mainly as a result of disease.

Early start

Back at the camp, we had early dinner.  We were to awake at 4.30 a.m. Waking up that early isn’t in my skill set.

The drive to Kruger Nation was very chilly.  It was a good job that we were provided with thick blankets. We entered the park through the Orpen Gate.

Our guide Lloyd, explained that we would be travelling as far as we could to maximise the chances of “making sightings” [of animals].

We headed off and soon saw lots of antelope and giraffe.  Lloyd told us that it was “not usual to see so many giraffes in the same area.

At one point we came across a hippopotamus in a river.  They rarely get out of the water during the day.  This doesn’t make them very good photo opportunities.

We stopped at point that overlooks a major river that runs through the park.  At this time of the years that river is dry.  However, it does have water holes.  These attract elephants.  We saw two groups of elephants making their way down the river.

Lunch

We stopped for lunch at camp in the park.  As well as being our guide, Lloyd was also our cook.  He did a really good job.

The camp we had access to the internet.  I received a Facebook message from ‘George from Georgia’ who I mentioned in my Coffee Bay post. George had also been on the same Kruger Park Safari.  He was enquiring as to who was my guide.  I messaged back the it was Lloyd.  It would appear that George and Lloyd got on well.

Don’t Take Directions from an Afrikaans Woman

As we left the camp after lunch, Lloyd stopped the 4WD to chat with some women in a car.  He asked have they had “had any sightings”. He switched to speaking Afrikaans.

As we drove off, Lloyd told us that the women had seen some lions and had given him the directions where to go.  He did say however that “the direction didn’t seem right”.

We continued down the road and turned right where the Afrikaans women had told us to go. They had said that the lions were near a bridge.  After a long drive we came to a bridge.  There were no lions to be seen and there was no other vehicle in sight. Other vehicles are a sure sign that there is something interesting to see.

Lloyd came to the conclusion that “we had been sent to the wrong bridge”.

We retraced our steps to the point where we had tuned right and this time we turned left.  We soon came across a large number of vehicles near a bridge.  We had found the lions.  There were in the distance, but still interesting to see.

Buffalo

On the way back to the gate on our way home we saw a large group of buffalo.  We you see them wandering along. It is difficult to appreciate that they are very dangerous.  They do, however attack humans and kill.

Back late Dinner

It was dark by the time that we got back to the camp.  We had dinner and an early night in preparation for another early start.

Great sun rise

As we headed back to the National Park, we drove towards a great sunrise.

Hyena Clan

As we entered the park, Lloyd spotted a hyena.  He stopped the 4WD.  As it turned out, there was more than one animal, it was clan.  There were some on one side of the road, and others on the other side of the road.  They were very active.  Lloyd told that “they may be two clans having a bit of an altercation over their territories.  Animals sometime use roads as boundaries to their territories.

As it turned out, the hyenas seemed to be all members of the same clan.  However, it was interesting to see a large number together and the hear then communicating with their unique, ‘laughing’ calls.

Rhinoceros

Shortly after seeing the hyenas, we saw a rhinoceros.  It was a bit far off.

After than we drive for a long time without seeing much except some buffalos.

Lunch

We stopped for lunch at a camp.  Over lunch we chatting to South African visitors.  They told us that they were regular visitors to Kruger.  One bloke said that “it becomes additive; you never tire of seeing the animals”.

They also said that you can go for days “without seeing much and then suddenly you have a lot of interesting sightings”.  They told us the on this visit they had seen a “white lion and a leopard and its cub.

Not much to See

After lunch we drive a lot without seeing too much except some giraffe and baboons.

Rhinoceros Reserve

We got back to the camp in the late afternoon.  The plan was to visit a rhinoceros reserve near to the camp. Lloyd received a call from the reserve. They told him the “that there has been a poaching incident” and our visit would have to be delayed.

Apparently “incidents are common in the reserve”.  The owners however, “do not tell much about what happened.

After a couple of hours, were told that we could enter the reserve.  By this time, it was very dark. There was also storm brewing.

Shortly after entering the reserve we saw some rhinoceros and buffalo feeds on saw straw that the operators of the park put out for them.

We then drove around for about an hour.  Lloyd had a spot light and pointed out some animals.  He also explained that the cats, like the leopards “did not like the rain and wind and would have gone to ground”.  There was no much chance of seem them given the brewing storm.

Chat about the state of the RSA

Back at the camp we had dinner and few wines.  Lloyd was not working the next day and didn’t have to have an early night.

After a few wines he opened up about thoughts of the state of the RSA.  I will probably include something about that in a later post.

Blyde Canyon

We had a fairly early start to our trip back to Johannesburg.

The route took basically the same we took to get to Kruger, however on the way back we stopped at Blyde Canyon.  It is not as big at the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but it is very spectacular.

Early Night

I was dropped of a hostel in the outer suburbs of Johannesburg.

The owner of the hostel thought it was important that I knew the colour of the other guests.  Apparently there were “four whites, two coloureds and four blacks”.  The blacks were in the same room”.

I had a very early night as I was due to wake up at 4.15 a.m. for the pick for the Zimbabwean part of the safari.

Flickr Links

https://flic.kr/s/aHskBP22dM

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskA5RXtY