Suzanna Travels to Africa/Victoria Falls

� If you go with Adventures Abroad, make sure you pack pants with an elastic waistband.

� If you have any water crossings with your luggage – put everything in a huge plastic garbage bag before you put it in the suitcase. Just in case your suitcase gets dropped into the water!

� If you have laundry done, make sure every piece has a tag where they can staple the item identifier. One of my T-shirts did not have a tag and they can’t/won’t/don’t staple the color-coded paper the garment so my shirt almost got lost.

� If you are a runner or like to go for walks for exercise, forget about doing that on this continent. It’s too dangerous; you may get robbed (or eaten).

� Irvin’s travel tip - If you don’t feel well, skip the day and stay in if possible. Your health is more important than sight seeing.

� Make sure you try Rooibos Tea –“Red Bush” tea. Also try the Appletiser and Grapetiser drinks. Very tasty.

� About the airplane seat - I flew on South African air on 747 economy class. I was very comfortable in my window seat UPSTAIRS on the airplane. There’s a big storage bin between your seat and the window to you have lots of room. Also VOD (video on demand) to watch any movie you want any time you want. South African Air phone is 1-800-722-9675

� Arrive a day before the tour starts. I slept 12 hours straight so I was rested and ready to start non-stop travel for 16 days on the tour.

� If you’re going to Robbens Island in Cape Town on a very hot day, prepare to be very uncomfortable in the bus part of the tour. They pack 60 people on a bus!

Other notes:

� I highly recommend this tour! Adventures Abroad has tours that go to over 100 countries. Over 5,000 people travel with them. 15 years in business. Jeannie Deagle (x 6242) was my booking agent.

Atlanta, Georgia USA to Cape Town South Africa to Johannesburg (18 hours total)
Johannesburg to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg to Cape Verde (Isle de Sol) to Atlanta, Georgia (19 hours total)

Johannesburg to Kruger (2 nights) to Swaziland (1 night) to Zululand (1 night) to Durban

� If you ask for a cup of tea, and the waiter asks you if you want a “cloudy day”, it means tea with milk. A “moonlit night” is no milk.

� There are special rules for the golf courses on this continent. What to do if there is a hippo on the course, if a crocodile is sleeping near the water, if a monkey or baboon picks up your ball and runs away with it.

� Hippo is responsible for the most people deaths in Africa than any other animal. Cape buffalo is second.

� I got Adventures Abroad RBC Travel Insurance Company for Voyageur Travel Insurance. 19 days Unlimited coverage. $229. It included “Terrorism coverage”! (While I was on this trip a bomb went off in Bali)

Apricot, peach & almond Nibbles. They are made by Bellair Natural Products PO Box 206 Montagu 6720, Klein Karoo. Web site is www.lando.co.za/bellair .

www.sandtoncity.com International Shopping center across from our hotel in Johannesburg

There is a permanent exhibition of the sculptures of Zimbabwe in the transportation tunnel between the "A" and "T" concourses underneath the airport. They are made from locally quarried springstone with mallets, hammers, and chisels. Some sculptures are over 10 feet tall. They show the sad, even tragic recent history of the nation through tenderness and deep concern that only this style of art can convey. "Traveling Family", by Amos Supuni and and "Protected Family" by Joe Mutasa. For more see

http://www.atlanta-airport.com/sublevels/airport_info/kids/club_exhibits_01.html

AIDS Information

This is what I wrote down when Martin was reading off Time magazine and the United Nations statistics:

There are over 12 million orphans. There is huge economic crisis to take care of the sick and dying and orphans.

A story came out that if you sleep with a virgin you will be cured of AIDS. Rape increased significantly. People need more education.

The Zulu village promotes abstinence from sex as a defense again aids infection. Women must take a virginity test. In Bulwer they get a sticker on their forehead if they pass the test.

1992 February 13 Atlanta Journal Newspaper article "Viruses point to Gabon as AIDS birthplace."

2003 March 15 Atlanta Journal Newspaper article: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/saturday/news_e3271da47411e10200a1.html

Day 0 Travel

Getting settled for my long ordeal of a flight. I had a comfortable window seat upstairs on the 747. 6 seats abreast. Storage compartment by my seat and the window give me room to spread out my stuff. Lots of leg room. Even with my back pack under seat in front. No one in the middle seat. Girl in the aisle was obviously best friends with the girl behind me so I asked the girl behind me if she wanted to switch seats. She was so excited that now she could sit next to her friend. A couple hours into the flights they made a point to thanks me and express their gratitude saying that it was definitely a “God thing” that I offered to switch. They were on a mission trip to Mozambique. I had an empty seat next to me, then a pastor is sitting in the aisle seat near me. Lots of people on mission trips on this plane.

The plane trip was not that bad. Said goodbye to Jim at 9 am at the airport in Atlanta. Fly to Cape Town. On the ground for an hour to refuel, then fly to Johannesburg. 18 hours total. We had dinner (beef or chicken), snack, lights out for 8 hours, then breakfast. I watched 4 movies with video on demand. (VOD). Ya Ya Sisterhood, The Importance of Being Earnest, Something About a Boy, and Windtalkers.

When we were on the ground in Cape Town I walked around the airplane and saw a couple of people that I knew. There is a group of 40 people on this plane on the Adventures for Singles trip to South Africa. Met a lot of people in the group. Talked with Joan (went to Russia years ago). They are only going to Johannesburg, Kruger, and Cape Town. My adventure is a lot more extensive since it’s 10 days longer and it’s just a little more expensive. They see one country and my trip will take me to seven countries including Victoria Falls .

The flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg was 1:45. The airport was a non-issue. I saw the Atlanta Singles group meeting near the baggage claim. I didn’t check any luggage (had everything for 3 weeks in my carry-on). I did not stop to talk to anyone. That “get-on-my-own” feelin’ kicked in.

I breezed through customs. Got information on the “Magic Bus”. It was R80 (US$8) with door-to-door service instead of R250 (US$25) for a taxi. I change some money, then caught the bus across from Terminal 4. That’s a good feeling to walk quickly and know exactly what you’re doing. Kindly saying “no” to all the taxi driver that want your business. I’d rather take an airport bus any day. I checked into the hotel. It’s located inside the circle road around Johannesburg on the North side. Nice room. Slept 4 hours. Now I’m sitting in McGiney’s pub waiting on my dinner. Chicken Pie with vegetables. It is about US$3. I think I’ve figured out this easy exchange rate US$1=R10.

It was a very good idea to arrive a day early to orient yourself and relax. I remember Hanoi – I should have gone to the Perfume Pagoda the day that I arrived early. I’m not pushing it on this trip. No one else to bother with or worry about . Just myself to take care of and that’s perfectly fine with me.

Day 1 Arrival and Orientation

Friday. First day of the official tour. Orientation meeting was at 5:30. I could tell at this meeting that this was going to be fabulous trip. 20 people in the group. Good trip leader. His name is “Martin”. He seems to really know what he’s doing. No surprises in the orientation . Oh yes. One surprise. He said the water was OK to drink in all the hotels where we are staying, except for one because the water is too salty. We can also eat all the salad and fruit that we want. I think I’ll still try to be careful. Breakfast and dinner are included in the tour. Every tip to whoever should get a tip is also included.

We met till 6:45, then Martin arranged taxi’s for us to dine at Brown’s. Very nice restaurant and an excellent meal. At least 6 choices for appetizers. They call it a “starter”, main dish and dessert. “Line Fish” is the fresh fish of the day. I had the “Game Plate” which was ostrich. Cr�me Brule for dessert. I’m definitely going to gain weight on this trip.

Day 2 Johannesburg to Soweto to Pretoria and back to Johannesburg, South Africa

7:30 am wake up call. Buffet breakfast in the hotel. Departure at 9 am. It is 33C, Sunshine, clear sky. Louis is our bus driver. This bus is big enough for 40 people. There’s only 20 of us so we can each get a row of our own. Sightseeing in Johannesburg. There’s not much history here so really not much to see. Soweto is a must.

Population in South Africa 41-45 million. There is a “Brain Drain” here. About 13,000 South Africans left the country last year. They emigrate to Britain, Australia, New Zealand and US For the higher salaries. Doctors and nurses are leaving. To UK to make more money.

About Johannesburg

Per Martin – Johannesburg is almost as dangerous as Columbia. One of the most dangerous places in the world. Everything you’ve read about what happens is true.

It is located in the Gauteng (pronounced “Ho-ting”) province. It means “place of gold”

Pop of Johannesburg is about 1 million. It is 6 million if you include Sandton and suburbs.

Gauteng (Johannesburg) is in the smallest province but it yields greatest percent (36%) of the GDP for South Africa and 28% of the GDP of sub-Saharan Africa. It has 43% of S. Africa’s urban population, accounts for 60% of the fiscal revenue, contains 30% of the world’s gold reserves. Working mines have yellow mounds that are clearly visible from the air.

There is 40% unemployment rate here. It is more tolerable here (compared to other countries ) because everyone looks after each other. That is definitely not the case in the Western world.

The real business activity is Johannesburg occurs all along the pavement. Street hawkers selling their wares. Other businesses have moved out. Banks stayed though.

Police and security cameras now help keep the city going and business is starting to come back.

Martin said that crime is so bad cause it’s easier to kill and rob, than to just rob.

Stock exchange founded in 1887 moved from downtown Johannesburg to Sandton in 2001.

This is a very new town, new sky line. If a building is more than 50 years old, it is town down and a new one is built in it’s place.

Gold mine dumps are being reworked to reclaim the land. There is 1.5 grams of gold dust per ton of dirt. There were over 400 mine dumps in Johannesburg. Now there are about 100. If gold price drops below 287, the gold mines close. Now it’s about 312 so the gold mine dumps throughout the area are open.

The last published statistics on crime were from 1999. The president stopped publishing the statistics so people are skeptical about any number they hear.

A 3000 square foot house may cost 1 million Rand. (US$100,000) In Pretoria, a 3 bedroom is R580,000 (US$58,000). 1 bedroom R28,000 (US$2,800)

There are armed response unit signs on every house. Murder rape, home burglary is very common. If the alarm goes off, there is no phone call to verify. They just show up with guns ready to shoot. Many many people are armed. You must have a permit to carry a gun. It is OK to run a red light if you feel threatened.

A LoJack type of system that demobilizes the car via GPS system. There is a very high success rate to get the car back.

South Africa covers less than 4% area of the continent. It has less than 6% of the people on the continent, but it provides more than 50% of the electricity output, more than 50% of the cars, homes, banks and ATM machines.

S. Africa is entirely self-sufficient for all agricultural products, but farming conditions are substandard.

US$10,000 is a very very high salary. A very good teachers may get about US$4000. Average per capita income US$3,500 per person per year.

It was a half hour drive from Sandton to Soweto. They took to the places where it looks like a very nice community now. I’m sure there are areas where there are thousands of shacks that we didn’t see. Tour lasted a couple hours.

Soweto means “Southwestern Township”. It is an “Informal settlement,” a squatter camp.

There are four entrances to Soweto. You must have a permit to reside here. All traffic is regulated.

Cost of homes R200,000 to 1 million (US20,000 to 100,000). There are 23 houses are registered to millionaires.

The walls aren’t very high here because high walls imply snobby people and they don’t want that in Soweto.

There are public phone booths available on the street. Most people don’t have phone in their house.

People position thorny bushes (acacia branches) or huge rocks along road in their yard so no one drives on the grass.

Before 1990, owners rented from the government. Now they only pay water and electricity and secure deeds and pay a mortgage.

2 years ago there were 1,200 shacks with a population of 6000 in the squatter camps. They are how relocated.

Some neighborhoods have a drug problem. Mostly marijuana, not much worse. Alcoholism is also a problem too.

A preschool is a “cr�che”. We visited one. There are 46 kids 4-8 years old, 35 kids 2 months to 4 years old. 8 am to 5 pm. Cost is R60 (US$6) a month includes food. There are seven orphans living here now.

A average family here has from five to 10 kids here. An upwardly mobile family has one child. Middle class may have 3.

Herbalist – herbs heal. These healer have put pressure on the existence of plant life here so they are careful to only harvest in a responsible manner.

40 percent of the people who go to the hospital have gone to a traditional healer first. The government is using these traditional healers to educate the AIDS awareness campaign.

Martin said that three months ago the government said that 50% of the people in South Africa have aids.

There are over 200 funerals in Soweto on a typical weekend. A funeral may cost up to R5000 (US$500). It costs R1500 (US$150) to buy an ox to kill as part of the ceremony. Cremation is not usually done here, but they are running out of burial space. They are encouraged to bury in the upright position.

There are 9 hospital in Soweto. We drove to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

It is 173 acres. It had 3,200 bed hospital. 11,000 on staff. 570 doctors. Cost is R13 (US$1.30) to enter the hospital grounds. Workers are charged in proportion to what they are paid. A “Surgery” is a private doctor’s consulting room. The hospital was built in 1942 for the war. After the war it became a public hospital.

Many people visit relatives in the hospital. There is always a taxi any time of the day or night. Taxi (vans and buses) are the a primary means of transport, Public transportation is not that good.

There are more than 4000 registered mini-bus taxi’s here. But they clone (copy) the registration so there are realistically a lot more. Taxi’s start at 3 am. They load FIFO. Cram as many people as possible in. I saw 17 people crammed in a minivan taxi.

Martin told us about a bad accident that killed 20 people. The taxi driver had removed the steering wheel in an attempt to fit more people in the vehicle. He was using vice grips to steer.

20 oxen day are killed here to cater to (feed) the taxi drivers. BBQ, boiled and cooked.

There are unique hand signals to flag down a taxi. The position of the hand and fingers indicates where you want to go.

He showed us a bottle of clear liquid (in a Smirnoff bottle). He called it “Glosseria”. He said they put it on their skin in the winter and it protects you from the bitter cold. I can’t imagine what was in that bottle. Water maybe?

There is no government assistance for the unemployed. If you are working, a percent of your salary goes to unemployment insurance fund. You can draw from that fund if you become unemployed. Draw until that money runs out. Sounds like forced savings.

The police make R400 a month. South Africa loses more police officers in the line of duty than any other nation. In one six-month period, 244 police officers took their own life.

We spent about 40 minutes in the museum. Seems like that was enough, but two hours would have been better. We do have a lot to see and do.

There were uprising from ’76 to ’86. Hector Zollie Pieterson was the first to die. He was only 13 years old. There is a monument “to honor the youth who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom and democracy. This museum only opened 6 month ago on 16 June 2002.

Sign to boycott work: “Notice: Ladies and Gencleman No work tomorrow. Please people you must not go to work.”

Bantu education policy - In 1975 for every R644 the government spent on the white students, only R42 was spent on the black student.

The poor people in Soweto respect the rich. The rich are sort-of their role models. The height of the walls is an indication of he crime rate in the area. Not so high walls in Soweto.

We drove by Vilakazi Street. From ’46 to ’64 Nelson Mandela’s house. All the Mandela kids were born in that house.

Origin of Afrikaans came from the Dutch. 1925 it was declared the official language. Blacks saw Afrikaans as a symbol of superiority.

There are 300 churches here in Soweto. 40% Christian, <1% Muslim, 12% African independent church (AIC).

Informal settlements have communal water taps. No gas – they cook with paraffin. It’s a haven to illegal immigrants. There is no good way to tell how many people live there.

Instead of begging, small businesses are starting to emerge . A car wash, barber. Under tents on the side of the road.

On the way to Pretoria we stopped at the Voortrekker Monument. There are not that many monuments in Africa. I’m glad we got to see this one.

I got a picture of me by the “The women till the field and defend the Laagers while the men are out on commando.” It’s a marble relief frieze of Voortrekker history. We spent about 30 minutes there. I wish that we could have spent more time in the museum, but we had to get to Pretoria.

Pretoria was beautiful. Hundreds of Jacaranda trees full bloom with fragrant purple flowers. 66,000 Jacaranda trees here. They only bloom in October so are all purple this week.

UNISA University is here. 135,000 foreign correspondence students. The largest in the world.

We had lunch in the Venning Park Rose Garden. I had “pancakes” which were crepes with spinich and feta cheese. Drank Rooibos Tea –“Red Bush” tea. Everyone has discovered the Appletiser and Grapetiser sodas here. Yum. What a beautiful place for lunch. Two brides were being photographed while we were there.

The US Embassy looks like a big cement bunker. Other embassies are in old Dutch homes. We saw the Union Building. Sign on the statue in Church Square: Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger 1825-1904.

The cost to ride the Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town was US$1000 per person. Now with the competition, price is lower. A 2002 rate sheet has a price of US$665 for the Luxury Suite.

City Hall statues on each side are “Andrea Pretorias” on a horse. The town was names after him. The other statue is “Martinea Pretorias” We saw the Transvaal Museum – there is a huge dinosaur in front.

This house is named after Melrose Abbey in Scotland. It has beautiful 1868 late Victorian architecture. It was the British headquarters in the war. Everything in this house came from Britain (UK).

We got here at 4:20 pm and it closes at 5. I guess that’s why we spent such a short time at the other monuments, so we could see as many things as possible in a short time. Martin is a good guide. Definitely knows what he’s doing.

What a beautiful day for touring. Feels like 78F. It’s about an hour ride back to Sandton. A lot of people commute this distance . It’s cheaper and nicer to live in Pretoria.

We got to the hotel at 6. Dinner was at 7.15. We walked across the street to Sandton City to Montego Bay restaurant. I had an appetizer of shrimp with avocado and a nice sauce. A (very big) roast lamb shank with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was a lot of food. The price on the menu was R65 (US$6.50). Unbelievable.

T Bone steak 500 grams (cow) was R65 (US$6.50) and fish of the day (Line Fish) is R66.50 (US$6.65). These are very high prices for locals. Considering that US$10,000 is a very very high salary. A very good teacher may get about US$4000.

I did not get dessert. It was hard to resist. Mary got the death by chocolate and she wasn’t kidding that she wouldn’t share. She actually ate the whole thing. Now that is my role model! I hope they have something very chocolate tomorrow. I’ll try to do dessert every other night.

It was a long dinner. A couple hours. It was nice to start to get to know the people on this trip. True travelers. Lots of good stories and experiences to share. Got back to the hotel at 11 pm.

Our room was on the seventh floor and I did the steps up and down at least three times. That should justify a big dessert tomorrow. Martin said that too much good food and not enough opportunities foe exercise would be a problem on this trip. Such a problem!

Day 3 Johannesburg, South Africa to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

We got our 7 am wake at 7.20. I was up at 6.30. Go figure. I didn’t think that I was morning person. Vacation is different. I also figured that I’m on the other side of the equator so everything is backwards here. Nice breakfast buffet again. I’ve gotten my glass of milk every day so far. Yogurt and fruit. They kept trying to take my plate away before I was done eating.

Bags in the hallway outside our room at 8 am. 8.30 bus leaves the hotel. We had to make sure we saw our suitcase so it got the airport. 30 minute bus ride to the airport. Group check in. We only had to take care of our carry-on bag. Martin gave us our boarding pass and we had on hour to kill in the Johannesburg airport. I have not bought any postcards yet.

The flight to Victoria Falls was one of the roughest flights that I have ever been on. Per Irwin “We Rock ‘n’ Rolled our way to Zimbabwe. We “wiggled and waggled our way to Zimbabwe”.

Suzanna’s note: Irwin supplied numerous adjectives for this journal. I was so in awe of most situations and encounters that I was at a loss for words. I would solicit Irwin’s verbose vocabulary to try to encapsulate the moment in a sentence. Easier said than done. I hope that when I read this, I can re-create the moment in my mind… I digress.

It was a 20-minute ride to the A’ Zambezi Hotel 2 km outside of the city. Martin said that the (unfortunate) situation is Zimbabwe enabled us to move up to a nicer hotel (four star). They are really starving and destitute in this country. Tourism money brings in enough for sustenance living, but not as many people are traveling there so hotels are not full. Sad situation.

1,503 whites are being deported and their land is being distributed between 160,000 black families.

Most of it is going fallow because most of these people have never farmed in their life.

In 2000 Mubabwe (leader) expelled all foreign correspondents. He is quite a Marxist thinker.

In 1980 there were 300,000 whites. They switch to black rule here and all the whites are all leaving (or being forced to leave). Before 1980 it was Southern Rhodesia, but now “Zimbabwe”. Subsistence villages scattered all over the country. I noticed them from the airplane window. They live in what looks like mushroom huts. Round thatch abodes. 75% are Shona tribe (they make the stone sculptures), 20% Ndebelly tribe.

Zimbabwe government plans to buy 4.4 million acres from white owners for redistribution to blacks. Prime Minister Robert Mugabe Nov. 1981 . Marxist now. “You cannot overhaul capitalism over night”

In 1965 development started here in Victoria Falls. Population is 20,000. They are ALL employed in tourism sector. There is no other industry here. There is ZERO crime rate. VERY VERY safe city. That’s a first for all the places that I’ve traveled. I remember getting off the bus by myself in Siam Reap, Cambodia and trusting that I would get back to the hotel safely. Zero crime here. They know that if something, however so small happens to one tourist, that it would get out to every tourist. So few tourist are here that they can’t afford any bad press. Thus, no crime. Nice.

Suzanna’s note: Statistics come spewing from Martin mouth – he’s so full of so much information. My writing obsession causes me to try to write the numbers down. I know these are numbers that you can’t obtain from tourist books. So this is my disclaimer – I’m not positively sure that I have gotten all these number down correctly. I tried to record everything that Martin narrated correctly, but I was on vacation, and this is only my hobby. OK , that’s my disclaimer.

Statistics for Zimbabwe - 65% unemployment. 80% are involved in farm life. They grow maize, coffee, tobacco, fruit and vegetables. There is a 65% inflation rate now.

50% of people are less than 18 years old. The life expectancy is 43 year. In 1980 it was 60 years. (WHAT A DIFFERENCE AIDS MAKES!)

Zimbabwe makes more money on people who hunt animals than the money they make on Victoria Fall’s tourists. The country produces a lot of arms (weapons). No oil and no sea ports (land-locked). Casinos bring in some money.

There are no fences around national parks. Animals have a sense that they are safe in the park area so they migrate to the (unfenced) parks. Go figure. They have smart animals here.

The length of the Zambezi River is 2,700 km (1600 miles). It is the 4^th longest behind Nile, Migel, Congo. It flows to the Indian Ocean. We are 1000 km from the source here.

The exchange rate is US$55=1 Zimbabwe$, or US$1=Zim$500. You can change your money at the bank, or on the black market. Each of us gave Martin $20 and the bus driver changed it somewhere.

Zimbabwe money is very volatile. We each gave Martin US$20 and the bus driver exchanged it. The rate is very different at the back vs. on the black market. Bank is ~ 55. We got 10,000 back so it looks like our rate was 500.

The price for something depends on where you exchanged your money. Martin said someone just signed for bottle of wine to go on the room bill. When they tried to check out, they were asked to pay US$100 for the wine unless they could absolutely prove that they exchanged at the bank.

In 1996 this place was packed with tourists. Not many people now. There are only 3 tents in the camp ground. Martin said it should be packed full this time of the year.

We checked into the A’Zambezi River Lodge at 2:30 pm. Phone 263-013-4561/4. What a nice place to spend 3 nights.

At 4 pm we have a boat ride on the river. This is a extra perq from Martin. Wow, he upgrades our hotel, and now a boat trip too. I didn’t put on any mosquito stuff and I didn’t need it either. Martin challenged us to try to get a mosquito bite. All drinks were included on this boat trip, thus the name “booze cruise”. What a vacation this is. The falls are 4 km down the river so we are going 6 km up the river.

We stopped the boat to gawk at MANY MANY hippo’s. It reminded me of whale watching in Alaska. Hippos stay down 1-2 minutes. We also saw many birds. Zambezi Stork, , Goliath Herring – tall white bird. Water Buck on the shore.

We stopped at the island where Livingston spent his last night. They took him in dugout canoe to the falls the next day. This boat doesn’t take people on the island because the monkeys have gotten a little to aggressive and we “don’t want to risk you getting rabies”. Too many people eating lunches and feeding them.

We saw a beautiful sunset on the Zambezi River. OK Irwin, I’m at a loss for adjectives again. I just can’t convey the moment appropriately enough for others to understand the mood, the setting, the ambiance, the ere. You had to be there to see the “African Queen” boat outline against the pink and red setting sun.

Dinner are buffet-style at our A’Zambezie lodge in the Amulonga restaurant. I ate impala / antelope and wart hog ribs. Very good vegetables too. I got one glass of red wine and one bottle of “still” water. The waiter asks for “One thousand dollars, please” yeow. (US$2).

The entertainment at the A’Zambezie Lodge was very good. Ok. At first I had to admit that the horn and the drums were a little annoying when we were trying to eat. This is their culture. I watched the show and I truly came to appreciate what they were doing when I understood what the dances were all about. Martin said that they sing about things - circumcision ceremony, wedding, the rain, paper. It’s not necessarily religious or singing to a god or gods. By the end of the night a lot of people from our tour were dancing with them. When the show was ending and they danced into the kitchen, Irwin didn’t follow into there. Nope no washing dishes.

Martin said groups of guys get together and to put on a show. They ask to perform for hotels for free just for the tips. There are a lot of desperate people here. And here we are leaving food on our plate when they take it away....

There are cute Vervet monkeys on the grounds. Also not so cute wart hogs walking around. I walked back to the room slowly so you don’t bother the hogs.

Day 4 Victoria Falls to Zambia and back to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

A bull elephant did some damage to the hotel grounds last night. The staff was busy cleaning up the mess. A wart hog was wandering around this morning. I ate him last night! He was delicious.

We saw the falls from the Zambia side in the morning and the Zimbabwe side in the afternoon.

The Victoria Falls or Mosi oa Tunya - "the Smoke that Thunders", are truly a magnificent sight. Here the Zambezi pours 545 million litres (120million gallons) of water per minute into a narrow chasm more than 100m (330 ft) deep. The mist and the spray may reach 500m (over 1500ft) into the sky and may be seen up to 30 kms away. David Livingstone is reputably the first European to see the Victoria Falls and in 1855 he wrote "On sights as beautiful as this, Angels in their flight must have gazed " .

ZAMBIA SIDE OF THE FALLS

We drove a short distance to Zimbabwe border station. Got a passport stamp out of Zimbabwe, and another stamp into Zambia. We walked over the Victoria Falls bridge that goes between Zimbabwe to Zambia.

The bridge is 111 meters (350 feet) high. Built in 1903- 1905. Prefabricated in UK. Bridge was widened in 1930 and in 1970 for traffic. This was the highest bungee jump at 90 meters. Cost is US$100 to jump. Now highest jump is 216 meters. The level of the now calm pool of water below rises 40 feet where all the water is channeled.

The falls on Zambian side is dryer side now (in October). We saw Eastern Cateract. A cataract is a water channel. There are nine cataracts now. The basalt rock face surface is exposed.

The rainy season starts in October. Water flow now is 5% of what it’s like in April. Nov, Dec flow is 20,000 cubic liters per minute. Peak flow is 550,000 cubic liters/minute.

At peak flow (March to May), where we are standing you would get totally soaked. Don’t even bother taking your camera near here. It will be ruined. You only see a spray of water and hear a thunderous roar. You can’t see any of the waterfall, only the mist. Rain coat or poncho doesn’t work either. Mist falls down over you and up under the coat or poncho. You’re guaranteed to be soaked. Airplanes must fly higher because of the mist.

The falls are low now so at least we’ll be able to see them. October is the best time to see the Falls. The falls are 1.7 km wide. The exposed rock is about 1 km wide now. I took so many pictures.

It’s starting already – the poor people selling things. Copper bracelets here. They ask you where you are from then start rattling off the president’s trying to impress you with their knowledge.

There is a nice paved walkway with safety rails. It’s very close to the edge. Before this was built it was very dangerous to walk around here.

We walked back to the Zambia border station. Got a passport stamp out of Zambia, and another stamp back into Zimbabwe. If you spend the night in Zambia, then you must pay another US$30 to get back into Zimbabwe. A double entry visa is US$45.

Next we’re headed to visit the Muluni Village (about 1.5 hours). It’s only 9:30 in the morning and about 84F.

7000-8000 people live here. aybe 20-30 may have a job with an income. Subsistence living.

It is the largest village in Livingston. This is typical of how most people south of the Sahara live . Some people never leave the village their entire life. Cattle is the family’s wealth. Women’s job is to fetch water.

In 1964 only 100 university graduates living in Zambia. Now they have learned how to make money

There is a male chief and a female chief and they are not married. They choose from the royal family. The female chief had more power. But when the white people came, they recognized the male chief so he came to have more power.

The chief lives in the “palace”. Chief has one wife. He is in power for life. If you become a bad chief, the female chief gives you poison and you die. Then they choose another chief.

1855 David Livingston came to the village. He was the first white person. He was never allowed inside the palace.

They money that we give to visit the village goes to build more permanent buildings.

There are five water taps in the village. Before they had to walk 6km to the Zambezi river for water. Six years ago electricity became available. They don’t really need it because there are very few things that they use that require electricity.

Chief owns all the land. The village is about 7 km across and the chief is in the middle.

If you want to build a hut, you ask the chief permission. Also need permission to expand your enclosure.

Women build the huts and maintain the property. Since they don’t have to fetch water they have more time so this is a better maintained village. A hut roof lasts 7-8 years. Hut walls last 20-25 years. Either mud between wood posts or on the outside. The termites eventually eat the walls.

We went inside a village home. The are was enclosed with a reed wall. Washing room in the back. Also a small chicken coop. They are building a kitchen.

I saw a hut with an empty J&B bottle. They (women) brew lots of beer and the men drink it. Small problem with too much drinking. Small “Jail” to hold problems people.

Lots of missionaries visit here. All school and clinics are associated with missionaries. School is not necessarily free.. Exam fee is US$3. Uniform is US$10. One third of the children do not go to school.

It was very impressive in the village the way everyone helped each other. No way does that happen in America.

10:45 and we are leaving the village in a bumpy dirt road that is grated about 2 times a year. He said you can spot the drunk drivers here because they are driving straight. They don’t try to weave around the pot holes.

On the drive back to hotel we stopped in town around noon. Some people got off the bus to shop. I stayed. I passed on all the shopping. Just don’t want to deal with it or tolerate it. This trip will be a lot less stressful if I avoid that ordeal. I know they are poor, starving, need the money but… I really want to enjoy my trip too. So I relaxed and had lunch back at the hotel. I passed on the traditional food: Capenta – little dried fishes and Bobo and got a sandwich.

It is sometimes called the “Upside-down tree” because it looks like the roots are on top. It is now a National Monument.

I went down the steep stairs to Cataract View for views of Devil's Cataract; also saw the statue of David Livingstone.

At the end of the 30 minute hike you can go out to Danger Point. The final viewpoint is nearest the falls bridge. You can perch right on the edge of a cliff and peer down into the abyss. When I was on the Zambia side , I took a pix of a guy who climbed out to the big rock here on the Zimbabwe side – looked like bad idea to me.

OK. That’s a new one. I finished the walk (hike) on the Zimbabwe side of the falls. There’s only two buses in the empty parking lot. The lot should be full this time of year. I got accosted by one aggressive guy trying to sell me a wood elephant. “Two for the price of one”. Now he’s standing 5 feet from me watching me write this. Anyway. Before he asked me where I was from. I told him that I am not interested in buying “I am going over here to pray” and I pointed to the stream. He gave me a very quizzical look. “To pray?” he said. “Yes, to pray to my God” “Your God?” He was very perplexed. He’s obviously never heard that one before. I walked away and left him standing there with his elephants.

Geez, they won’t leave you alone. They keep asking “where do you come from” I really don’t want any guilty feelings here. I don’t want to converse.

There was a sign in the hotel for Victoria Falls prices for tourists in US dollars

Dance by men who think they are worthy and are trying to move up the social ladder in the village.

After the show we had dinner in the Victoria Falls Hotel. Hotel was founded in 1905. Expensive rooms. Exquisitely maintained. The cost of the rooms in high season (July to Oct) Single is 360-373. Standard suite is 600. Presidential suite is 800. Double is 193 per person per night. Web site is Tufh.zimsun.co.zw

We had an awesome buffet dinner. I had a whole plate full of desserts first: Very good chocolate mousse, spice cake, lemon cheesecake, cr�me Brule, choc. �clair. Then dinner, then I had more choc mousse and really good vanilla and strawberry ice cream. The crocodile for dinner was ok. Lots of cartilage, chewy pieces. That was different. It was not like Aliigator at all. Alligator is like chicken, and crocodile was more like fish. The piece I got seemed to have something like cartilage – it was a little chewy.

Day 5 Victoria Falls to Botswana and back to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Wake up call at 6 am. Bus departs at 7:30. Boat safari and truck safari in Chobe today.

The hotel needs to have more coffee ready at breakfast . Our group was all there then another group of French people arrived for breakfast. Their traditional way of greeting is a kiss on each cheek.

I’m really starting to feel the stress of travel today. Pepto Bismol is good. We are really on the move constantly. I’m trying to take the time to relax. I’m glad I went back to the hotel yesterday instead of dealing with the shopping ordeals in town.

Wow. There is a noticeable difference when we crossed the border from Zimbabwe to Botswana. Immediately after you cross the border there are very good paved roads. Drainage ditches. Big banana and orange plantation. There are more vehicles, and nicer trucks and cars in this country. Many prosperous cabbage, potato farms. There is a big tractor tilling the soil. Looks like fertile dark dirt. Big horned cattle crossing the road. We saw a man with enough cattle for 2 brides! That’s a rich man.

The roads are so good here that they have speed bumps to slow you down. That’s a Speed bumps are “sleeping policemen”.

There are some nice houses in Botswana. Cement block or better. Roads are also nice. Lighted roadway. Power lines along the road so residents have electricity.

I noticed that there are no bicycles in this country! If they have any money it goes to food and not a luxury item like a bicycle. They are just that much poorer here. Oops. I just saw one bike.

There is always a little patch of green on the side of the road because of the water run off. Animals come to eat it so you have to watch closely so you don’t hit them. The grass on each side of the road grows to 7 feet tall so they cut it back to make it safer to drive. Then the animals don’t come as close to the road. Baboons and monkeys like to rest on the warm road in the morning. This is a good time to visit this country because there is not much vegetation yet. You can see a long way. The first rain has come already so there is a little green. All these trees are not dead. They are just waiting for the rain.

I ended up sitting in the back of the bus today. I can barely hear the speaker to I won’t write much today.

BOTSWANA

From ’66 to ’91 the Botswana economy grew 15% a year (faster than any other country) from mineral wealth. There is a 2% growth rate in this country now.

The government made a conscious decision to make tourism very expensive to preserve the environment. Hunting safaris are expensive here. Some people pay US$15,000 to kill an elephant in private reserves. You can’t pay any amount to kill rhino, leopard, cheetah or lion. All protected. Cape buffalo, hippo OK. You only pay for the chance to try to kill it.

US$3500 per annum average per capita income is the same as South Africa and Namibia.

There are elephants crossing the road! Wow. There are huge piles of doo doo in the road. There are many many elephants here. Some people say there is an elephant problem. But really it’s a people problem – too many people! Elephants eat 500-600 pounds of food and drink 130 liters of water a day! They really are quite regal creatures.

There are huge warehouses of ivory here. It was acquired my legal means so they want to lift the International ivory import bans.

This was in the Atlanta newspaper on 11/12/2002. The American delegation at the UN Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species offered a proposal to allow Botswana’s government to sell nearly 45 tons f elephant ivory woth millions of dollars. International trade in elephant ivory is illegat, but Botswana, along with four other southern African nations has sought permillions to sell existing ivery stockpiiles and ivery from elephant culled in herd- managemetn programs.

We went to the Mowana Safari Lodge in Kasane, Botwana. A month before this lodge was supposed to open, it burned down to the ground. President Clinton and Hillary visited here in March 1998..

We board the boat at 9:40 am for a 3 hour safari.. There are life jackets if you fall into the water, but he said “you are basically a floating appetizer so I recommend that you swim to the shore as quickly as possible.”

This river goes along the border of Botswana and Namibia. There are 80 types of fish in this water. We saw:

Elephants - Martin estimated that we saw 700 elephants today! They spend 20 hours a day eating. They only digest 40% of what they eat. They can drink up to 70 liters of water at one time.

Hippos. Lots of hippos. Big pods of hippos. They put the small ones in the middle. Hippo is responsible for the most people deaths in Africa than any other animal. Cape buffalo is second.

Cape Buffalo - You cannot domesticate a Cape Buffalo, but you can domesticate a water buffalo. Very hard to kill a Cape Buffalo with old weapons. An injured buffalo is more dangerous than a live buffalo.

Hammer Kop bird – builds the largest nest of any bird. You can find anything in their nest. Nest may weigh up to 80 pounds with bones, panty hose, electrical wire, aluminum foil. “kop” means “head” in Afrikaans.

“THE BIG 5” includes Buffalo, rhino, leopard, lion, and elephant. So named because they are the hardest to kill.

We followed an elephant along the shore. He must have know that everyone on our boat was watching. He seemed to really show off for us. Trish named him “Macho”. Our boat followed him as he walked along the shores. He stopped to dig up mud and spray it on his belly and back sides. Then back to land to kick up dirt and spray it over the mud on his body. Then the finale’ – he had to do “bioligical things” with quite a show of his manhood.

Elephants lumber along when they walk. Their trunk swings back and forth like a girls’ pony tail when she’s running. They bumbled down to the water. They seem so excited when they get near the wate, then they run right in and get wet. Elephants are fun to watch because they are always doing something. It seems like they are looking at us also.

Martin is really looking out for us finding more wildlife than I’ve ever seen at one time. He raised his hand to slow the boat and drift up beside a tire (a crock-a-tire perhaps?). That was the first bit of pollution that I’ve seen on this river. “We don’t slow the boat for cattle.” A cow is a “domestic buffalo”.

I told myself OK no more hippo pictures. Then he finds a big pod of hippos with their backs out of the water. I took three more photos.

Lunch was at the game lodge. Very nice buffet. I’m still full from the food we got on the boat.

It’s 1:45 pm. We’re in three 4-wheel drive safari vehicles for 21 people. Open and everyone has a window seat. We went throught the Sedudu Entrance to the Chobe National Park. There is a cool breeze blowing. Very nice day.

11,000 sq km (4,500 sq miles) and combines river flood plains with open pans and riverine woodlands. Tawana said that we may see lion , giraffe. Probably won’t see zebra because the park is so big, they only come by the water in the evening. We will see elephants. In 1994 there were 45,000 elephants. There are maybe 100,000 elephants here now Tawana said. They live to be 65-78 years old. The live as long as they have teeth (they have to eat to live).

When we were driving into the park, it looked very dry and barren. There was one green tree surrounded by brown ones. As we approached the river the river, there were more green ones.

We can’t drive off the road, but the “road” is just deep soft sand. There is no pavement. This zig –zag path snakes around the bushes where lions may hide. Tawana said that it has not rained this year.

Elephants (“Ellies”) Zoo’s sell elephant dropping for fertilizer “zoo poo”

Lion - There are maybe 300 lions in the whole park. A lioness may live up to 17? years.

Hippo - We saw a hippo out of the water with a baby! 350 kilo baby about 6 months old. I took a picture of it with mama.

Giraffe – great picture! They usually run away. This one was standing, posing for us.

We stopped for lunch. Per Irvin “There is a hot wild wind blowing.” It is quite warm.

I took a picture of a lodge in the background of the landscape. He said it is in Namibia across the river.

The ride back to the lodge is about 7 km. The speed limit varies from 60 to 80 but he is only going 50. We’re getting very wind-blown in this vehicle.

What a good day. We saw 3 of the “Big 5” today. Hippo, elephants, and cape buffalo.

Oh yeah, not such good day for one person - “it” hit on the safari in the park.

We got back to the lodge at 7. What a long day, I was so tired. Dinner in 30 minutes, but none of our room keys worked. What a pain to walk all the way back to the office. I got ginger ale for roommate and a hair dryer. But there’s no place to plug it in. The shaver plug in the bathroom didn’t have a 3 prong. We can use the plug for the water heater, but you have to sit in the floor cuz the cord is not long enough. So we didn’t even use it.

7:30 buffet dinner at the hotel. I had yummy wart hog ribs, some chicken, beef stew. I also need to mention that the veggies are very good here. Tasty carrots, cauliflower, eggplant one night. They had a delicious mixture of julienne veggies on the grill one night. There is always quite a salad bar too. I have not had any lettuce and I don’t take anything that looks like it has mayonnaise. There’s always some cucumber type dish, fruit salad. Other odd looking things. Oh, fresh slices of avocados. Bowl of cashews. Yum.

When I was walking back to the room, three wart hogs were eating the grass between me and the stairs. I just kept walking towards them and they scattered like they were afraid of humans. Martin said that if you corner them, they will definitely fight back, but otherwise they’d rather not bother with you.

Day 6 Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to Johannesburg, South Africa

No wake up call. Very nice relaxing morning. The serve breakfast till 9.30. Bags out at 11. Bus leaves at 11.45.

There some folks in the group that signed up to do an ultralight flight – two seater plane with a little engine. I think they set wake up calls for 6 am, so everyone in the group got calls at 6. I went back to sleep till 7.30. Shower, wash hair, leisurely breakfast buffet.

Jan said Irwin, Peter, and David’s flight was cancelled . There was a lot of wind last night and there was some damage to the ultralight plane What a disappointment. Irwin had wanted to do that all his life. I’m sure they’d rather be totally safe though.

It’s still amazing to me that we can drink the water in all these hotels. That is one of the big advantages of traveling with a group. Martin said his group used all bottled water until he talked to others in the hotel and the staff said the water was OK to drink. I would be nervous being the one to see if the tap water was potable. It’s just so yucky to travel when you feel yucky. I’ve been doing maximum doses of Pepto every day. I sure need it. Some people get stopped up, I get the opposite. Oh, maybe too much information.

Flight from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg is 1.5 hours. While we were waiting, Irwin and David walked out to the tarmac to look at the ultralight planes that they didn’t get to fly in. I walked out there too and took their picture. I think a security guard got in trouble because he didn’t see us exit the building.

Flight was from 1 to 3 pm. It’s now 4:15 and we’re on the bus at the airport headed into the rush hour drive to Sandton. We’re going back to the familiar and very comfortable Holiday Inn.

7 pm dinner at five-star restaurant named Le Canard. Very good. The presentation was spectacular. Never seen that before. Silver dome plate covers on all ten of our dinners. The waiters lifted them all at once. I started to cut into my chicken but I had stop because they had to pour flaming gin over it. What a show. I have never seen chicken put together like that. A leg with thigh dark meat and a big wing drumstick with some white breast meat put together like it was one piece. It was a seven course decadent, delectable meal. The presentation was impeccable. The cost of our dinners is always included in the tour, but we pay for drinks. A glass of red wine was US$1.60, white wine US$1.10, a bottle of Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon US$14.50, Martini US$2.00 (they had no idea how to make a “dirty martini” so I had a “dry” one).

Nice, long, enjoyable dinner. We took taxi’s home. We didn’t get back till 10.30 pm. It was too late to send an email and this was our last chance to access the Internet for awhile.

Day 7 Johannesburg to Hazyview, South Africa

Johannesburg to Hazyview is 262 miles. We traveled east through beautiful landscape. Corn field, lots of horticulture. Very rich soil. Farmers irrigating with well water. Travel to Whitbank and Middleburg, then we turned North at Belfast and through the mountains. Very scenic. The highest peaks in Drakensburg are 10,000 feet. We traveled from 2,000 to 5,000 feet.

Lunch in Lydenburg. It means “town of suffering”. Most people died of Malaria here. There is an original school house and church dated back to 1851. 1000 acres cost R100,000-500,000 in this area.

We saw Olive trees. They are the only Olive trees in South Africa (for Marty’s and my martini’s!) Tobacco drying sheds here.

Near Ohrigstad there is a small micro climate. This is the “high belt”, an inland plateau in the Drakensburg escarpment. There are tall prickly pear cactus and aloe plants everywhere. Also Bougainvillea and Jacaranda trees. In some communities it is illegal to plant Jacaranda tree because they suck almost as much water at the Eucalyptus.

We passed a field of outhouses! That was quite a sight. The government poured the cement slab for the homes and provided an outhouse with each slab. They never built the homes. It really was a field of outhouses! Sometimes, even when the government does build the homes, the people don’t want to move out of their shacks (“informal housing”). Instead of relocating 2 km away, they’d prefer to still live in their shacks with no facilities. After the homes are built, they are warned and sometimes are physically forced out of the shacks.

Mandela made a promise to build 1 million homes. He did build half a million. The current government claims that they have built 1.2 million homes in the last 7 years. But there are at least 7 million still homeless. Government tries to release state land to people. It is still a big problem.

There have been a lot fires in this area. Many natural fires are allowed to burn. A wide variety of plants sprout after the fire because the high heat is required for the seeds to germinate.

At least 100 million (or 75,000 hectares) of trees must be planted annually to sustain fuel for the population. Reforestation is being privatized.

We saw “The 3 Rondovels” in Blyde River Canyon. A “rondavel” is a round hut in Africa. The canyon is 30,000 hectares, 26 km long gorge. 800-1000 meters (2500-3000 feet) down. Striking rock formations.

Blythe River means “joy river”. Truer River means “sorrow river”. The men left the women to explore how to get around the canyon. They did not return by the specified date to the women named the Sorrow River. The women started to make their way back assuming the men were dead. But they all met up here so named Joy (Blythe) River.

After we got back on the bus I solicited opinions and overall, fellow tour members concur that the grand canyon is far more spectacular.

Cylindrical holes 15 million years old. Up to 30 meters deep. Discovered by a man named Bork, a gold prospector.

Gods Window - Over 3000 foot drop. You could see a long, long way over the mountains. Such perfect weather today. Seems like it may be got up to 85F today.

There are many souvenir shops at these stops. They are not pushy for you to buy things and they wait for you to ask how much before they start trying to bargain. I was noticing a newspaper under the items for sale. The paper was dated June 25, 2002. They have to pack all this stuff up every day. This is October 17 so they have been using this newspaper over 4 months!

5:00 and were leaving Gods Window. We’re riding around with 20 people in this huge air conditioned bus made for 44. Everyone can have their own row . Martin has been here 14 times now so he really knows a lot of history and good stories. He knows exactly how long to allow at each place we are the lead bus with about 4 following us. We have a 1 hour drive to Hazyview.

Harries Original Pancake House is in Grasscop. It started here and now It’s a chain across Africa now.

Near Hazyview, it looks like the banana trees are wearing condoms. Big blue bags so the baboons and elephants don’t see the fruit. Sounds logical. Actually they put the bags over the fruit so it ripens evenly.

We arrived at the hotel about 6. We’re staying in another “fine quality Protea Hotel” They have quite a sense of humor. Vaseline Intensive Care lotion had a sticker on it “Just think of it was shampoo for bald people” The foam bath had “Just add partner and mix”.

Our room at the hotel in Hazyview had a sliding glass door. The building had a thick thatched roof. We spend two nights here, then we’re in a different hotel every other night of this trip.

There were very loud frogs outside. The pool at this hotel was in a perfect setting. It was so picturesque. WHAT A VIEW! Adjacent to the pool, there was a trampoline and swing set in the playground. I spent an hour on the swinging. I tried to go as high as I could to soak in the view that went on forever. That’s a good memory to try to recreate in my mind when I’m sitting in my office in Atlanta.

Day 8 Hazyview to Kruger and back to Hazyview, South Africa

Wake up call was at 5:15. Departure at 5:45 with a breakfast box of enough food to make our lunch also.

30 minute bus ride from Hazyview to Kruger. Then an all-day safari until 5 pm. We started our safari at 6:30 am. It’s 7 am now and we have absolutely perfect weather. There’s a little coolness in the air so it’s even a little chilly now but it’s going to be a hot day. The temperature was 33C (90F) yesterday. There is very good light for pictures. The sunlight is shimmering on the grass. We stopped to eat our box breakfast at 7:45 to 8:15.

Kruger is 365 km long and 45-67 km wide. Kruger park is the same size as Israel. There are 2 million hectares in the park. 1000 km of paved roads. We’re going to mostly stay off the paved roads.

There are 8 gates to enter/exit the park. We came in through the Kruger gate. We’re in three open 4x4 safari vehicles for 20 people. They convert Toyota and Nissan pickup trucks to hold safari seats. 2 people per bench so everyone got a window seat. Our (distractingly gorgeous) guide’s name was Andre. He was excellent (at finding game). I love the accent that people have in this country.

Kruger has 360 km border with Mozambique. People from Mozambique try to enter South Africa through the park. Police don’t have to do much work to catch them because the lions do that for them. If four people start, maybe one may make it to South Africa and he is “scared shitless”.

There are 504 species of birds and over 147 different mammal species in this park. If we don’t see Rhino here, we will definitely see them at Hluhluwe. The were greatly sought after by the trophy hunters.

We used the “Clock system” for viewing . The front of the vehicle (or boat or bus) is always 12 o’clock. If you see an animal, you call out “Antelope at 9 o’clock!”

At 8:45 we got onto the dirt roads. Rock and roll. The roads are smoother here. However, in Chobe I sure did need a sport bra. We did a potty stop at 11:40 am. It was 36C. We headed South where there are no places to get food so we should have a our lunch with us. At 12:40 pm it was 41C. Very dry heat. I truly was not uncomfortable because there was no humidity. (the hot air is nice when you wash clothes, they are dry within a couple hours.)

Our exciting leopard sighting happened within the first two hours of the safari. Another truck spotted the leopard, and they radioed to our other two trucks. That’s a great advantage to having experienced guides with radios. Our truck got there and Mr. leopard had moved back in the brush. OK. Now time to be patient. With the binoculars, I am positive I saw a dark cat-like creature in the brush so I claim that as my leopard sighting. I think we hung around there at least 30 minutes. It was great fun watching other cars come by and stop and look. They had no idea what to look for and where to look being on their own. They probably thought we were looking at the “ellies” (elephants). There weren’t very many ellie sightings in Kruger. No good close-ups like we saw in Chobe.

Up to 1 million people may visit the park in a year. Mega coaches can go through, but only on the paved approved roads. Most people go through on open vehicles now. They were only allowed in this park 4 years ago, but they may disallow them because people are pretty stupid sometimes. I can’t believe the lady in the car between us and the lion. She was about 20 feet from the lion. Her car window was down and she had her baby in her lap. The baby made a noise and the lion looked up. That baby would make a good appetizer! Here’s some more stories:

A man parked his car near a watering and stopped the engine so he could watch the animals for awhile. When he was ready to leave, his car wouldn’t start. He was hoping someone else would come by, but no one drove by. You can’t get out of your car so he was stuck for the night. He tried to go to sleep in the back seat and woke up to a rhino, or I think it was a hippo. Two huge front legs on the hood of his car. Yeow. What a scare. He jumped out and started running as fast as he could. Barefoot and no shirt. He made it 3 km to a safe place. The next morning they found the car. Half of it was pulled into the water.

A big bus broke down in the park. The driver had to get under the bus to try to fix something. Lions came but the lions were too big to fit under the bus. They kept swiping at the bus driver under the bus. The lions finally got bored and left.

He help the film crew of the Discovery Channel to make a movie called “Eternal Enemies”. It’s about Lions and Hyena’s. They filmed it near Crocodile Bridge. The lions in the film are true man-eaters. The lions were not taking the bait so they could be filmed. They were busy with their own kill – some Mozambicans. They drove the truck up on top of the (dead) people to get the lions away.

Hyena doodoo – It is white because the Hyena has a high calcium diet. Small white droppings. Pregnant women eat it for the calcium. He told us that you can add some water to it and use it as toothpaste.

Vervet monkeys – A whole troop of them! They have different a call for a cat on the ground or an eagle in the sky.

Guinea Fowl – Hard breast plate so bus drivers always slow down when they see them on the road. They can come straight through the windshield (they call it ‘wind screen’ here).

Wart Hog – Both male and female have tusks. During a drought wart hogs are the first to die so it is a good sign when you see them.

Marabou Stork – Carnivorous birds. 3 meter wing span. Massive bill. They look like vultures. Their head and neck are bare. It’s easier to keep clean when they feed on animals. Easier to stick their head in a rib cage.

Giraffe – Humans have 7 neck vertebrae. Giraffes also have 7. They take little naps that total maybe one hour per day that they sleep.

Lions – At Muhlambamadrube we saw a lioness eating her lunch and two male lions under the far tree. A buffalo kill usually lasts 3 days. This is second day and it is mostly consumed. There were eight lions here yesterday. It was near a man-made watering hole where a windmill pumps ground water up to the reservoir. There are some nervous Impala around. They are so thirsty for a drink of water, but there are lions everywhere.

Rhino – We found a large torn up area with lots doo doo where a male was marking his territory. There are less than 3000 black rhino left in the world. There are about 3500 white rhino in this park.

Baboon – I took a close picture of the dominant male. He had just been in a fight and he was very agitated. They mate 170 times in one week!

Hippos – and they are out of the water! Baby and four adults. Thick skin but lions can kill them. They almost look pink because of the mucus gland that secretes they very own sunscreen protection. Most animals move away from water for safety. Hippos go into the water for safety. Hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal. They have very poor vision.

Elephants – In the summer time You might not ever see an elephant in Kruger. We saw plenty on our safari. Ellie plops (doo doo’s) look like a “half loaves of whole grain bread” per someone in our group. Yup. That’s a pretty good description.

Cape buffalo – They were in the water. (Not Water Buffalo). You cannot train a Cape Buffalo.

Ground Horn Bills - 90 cm. We saw three big black birds with red eyes. Outside of the National Park they are rare.

Rooibok (Impala) 92,000 in the park. There were up to 145,000 at one time but Impala are food for so many animals. They are the true “fast food”. They have a black “M” on their butt so we started calling the “McDonald’s” By the third safari they we’re simply NABA or NABI’s (not another bloody antelope / impala ) Someone would say “NABI’s at 9 o’clock” and we’d keep driving.

Impala’s give birth about six months after mating. They weigh 60 kilos and the baby is 6 kilos. They can put off giving birth up to 3 weeks until the first rains start to come. They all give birth at the same time because there is safety in numbers.

There is a huge variety of animals here. We saw 23 species in one day. There is lots more grass here in Kruger. It’s 1-2 feet high all over. Compared to Chobe that was barren. It was easier to see the animals there.

In February, 2000 there was a huge flood here. Water level of the rivers rose till it was almost over the train bridge.

We saw a big statue of the three men who were the founders: Piet Grobber, Paul Kruger, and James Stevenson Hamilton

We drove about 150 km in our safari today. We entered Kruger park at Skukuza. We did the loop paved road that goes over the Sabie and Sand Rivers. Then head south. To the Stevenson Hamilton Memorial Tablet, Renosterkoppies Dam, Muhlambamadrube. Down to Afsaai (Afsan), then west on Voortrekker Road (Voortrekkpod) 31 km up to Pretoriuskop (Pretoriuskop). Around the Fayi Loop and the Shabeni Loop. Then out the Numbi Gate (Numbihek).

You CANNOT hang out of the truck because you can’t change the profile of the vehicle. Do not call attention to yourself.

At one time Bushmen were considered animals. In the old days, when hunters returned from a safari, they would give a final count of how many animals shot. Included in the count were the number of Bushmen shot.

There is a computer email system here called “Bushmail”. You pay about US$1000 for a modem to the email.

I’m glad that we got to go to Chobe too. There were so many elephants and such different terrain in Chobe. Kruger, there is more grass ground cover. More lush vegetation.

All the people in our truck got to see a rhino! The other truck went straight and passed the historical site sign. Andre radioed ahead that we were going to turn. After about 1 km, he points to the left and calmly says, there is a rhino.. Yup. There was a rhino. She was huge – the size really shocked me. I guess you don’t ever see a human standing next to one on TV so you can’t gauge the size. Seeing it in real life was amazing. It was a female with a baby. Of course we were all so excited. You can’t help but to make some noise. She got up so I got a good picture of her body. Andre radioed that we spotted her, but I heard the response that it was a few kilometers back for them so the other trucks didn’t join us.

We were in those trucks from about 6.30 am to 6 pm. They took us back to the hotel so we were quite wind-blown by the end of the day.

Dinner was a delishous BBQ outside. We had great bread pudding the first night and not so good the second night. Drinks were very inexpensive. Wine was R12 (US$1.20).

The waiters needed a little more training carrying and delivering drinks. He dropped two glasses of red wine. One glass went on Liz's shirt. He left to bring back another glass and it ended up spilling into Victoria's purse. Lucky she wasn’t sitting there. Liz asked for some soda water to clean and wash the accident off her shirt and they tried to charge her for the drink.

Also, the waiter made Martin pay for Joan and my drinks again last night. I’m positive that we paid cause I gave him a big tip. There are two tour groups here and I think they just got confused. Martin said it’s gotten a lot better over the years as the staff is better trained on how to handle tourists. This staff has never ever in their lives eaten at a restaurant, so they really have no idea what we expect. Tourists are a little demanding some times. And everyone at the hotel was so nice.

Laundry was very very cheap. US$3.40 for about 30 pieces including 4 pairs of presses pants. Too cheap!

Day 9 Hazyview, South Africa to Mbabane, Swaziland

No wake up call today. Bags out at 8.30. Departure at 9 am. Porters always handle all our luggage. They pick it up from the hotel door and we have to ID it before they will put it on the bus. That way we always know our bag is with us.

Today we are on the road again. We’re going South to White River and Nellspruit. About 1 hour. Then East along the Crocodile River. 2.5 hours to get to the border crossing at Jeppes Rief on the northwes

Tips for this trip