April 14th through 20th - We stayed in Cape Town with Annie's parents and Aunt, Allen, Martha and Harriet. The shark diving that I discussed earlier was a highlight of that week. In total, we saw 14 different great whites, with the largest being 16 feet long and around 1,000 lbs.
April 20th through 25th - The 5 of us flew to Johannesburg and did some tours of various sights of the city. We spent a day at the Apartheid museum, and also drove through the township of Soweto, which is the largest organized township in South Africa, with around 4.5 million inhabitants. We also visited an archeological site called the Cradle of Humankind, where some of the most famous and important hominid fossils have been found. Several of them are still in the rock in some of the caves that we explored. The hotel where we stayed (the Airport Game Lodge), had poor internet offerings, but a fenced in area with springbok (antelope-like animals), geese, and ostriches that would eat grain out of your hand.
April 25th - Our 12-day safari with GAP Adventures started. There are 16 total people (so we make up a third of the group) and we are traveling in an 18-person van and pulling a trailer with all of our equipment. Each night we find a campground and pitch our 2-person tents, and we have been cooking most of our food and doing our dishes. The official description of the safari calls this "participation camping" and so far it has been working out since we have a crew that is always willing to do their share of what needs to be done. We have 4 people from Switzerland, a handful of Australians, several Canadians, and a Finn. There has been quite a bit of sand at all of the campsites, so we are collectively learning to tolerate sand in our shoes and backpacks.
At one of our campsites (Elephant Sands), the site is situated close to a large salt pan, which means that all the water in the area has become salty. The swimming pool was salt water, the sinks in the bathroom were salt water, and the showers were salt water. This made for an uncomfortable couple of days, but apparently didn't bother the elephants, who visited the saltwater hole near the eating area in the evening around 7pm. 9 elephants showed up, including 1 young baby, and casually stood there and ate while we watched from 50 yards away. We went on a game drive that evening, where we drove for 2 hours through the African bush in a safari vehicle, but hadn't seen any animals. We were all glad the elephants showed up afterward. And, the next morning when we were back on the road, we saw an antelope and then 5 giraffes standing by the side of the road.
We spent around 2 days driving northwest from Johannesburg to the Okavango Delta, and then 1 full day from there to get to Zambia, where we are now. Victoria Falls is an awesome spectacle, and when we visited yesterday afternoon we got to feel a bit of the power of the falls via the rain-like mist that pours down permanently in several spots. We rented ponchos for $1 apiece, but even those were little match for the volume of water we encountered.
Crossing the border from Botswana to Zambia - This was an exciting couple of hours. The Zambezi river is the border between these countries, and there is a ferry crossing but no bridge. Apparently there were investors and a plan to build a bridge, but Zimbabwe and Mugabe somehow got involved and the investors pulled out. The Zambezi is flowing at extremely high levels right now with some recent rains, but the ferry crossing is still only around 1km. As we approached the river in our van, we saw maybe 100 to 150 loaded freight trucks parked on the side of the road waiting for the ferry. Our guide says that they typically wait 2-3 weeks to get across, and this was one of the first indicators that Zambia is something less than a fully functioning economy. We got to go straight to the front of the line, where we exited the van and waited for the ferry to arrive from the other side. When it did, 20 people in front of us in line started loading cases of beer and gin onto the ferry. They took the alcohol from trucks parked near the shore and then stacked it right at the back of the ferry. They were rushing around dramatically but we didn't think too much of it.
As we were 2/3 of the way across the river, a mokoro (dugout canoe) paddled over to the ferry, docked at the back end, and was loaded up with the beer. 5 or 6 other mokoros rafted over to the ferry to load up, and we quickly realized that this was an underground alcohol smuggling operation in progress. They were paddling the alcohol back into the bushes to take it across the border without going through customs. Then, we saw a customs boat racing from the shore, full of customs officers. The mokoros scattered, people on the boat started yelling, and guys started running around the boat holding any of the cases of beer that hadn't been unloaded yet. As soon as we hit the beach on the other side, they jumped off and ran into the bushes. There was a lot more yelling and running and pushing of tourists (us) at this point, and it was clear that the woman who seemed to be in charge of the smuggling operation was not happy about this latest development.
Victoria Falls adrenaline sports - we've turned down a few options to skydive or bungee jump so far on our trip, and decided that today would be the day that we would indulge ourselves. The pictures are off the falls and the bridge nearby that we jumped from, which is 111 meters in height. We did a 3 activity package, where we did a zipline across the river, a bungee jump, and then a swing, where you free-fell for most of the way down before swinging out and getting great views of the waterfall, the spray, and the resulting 360 degree rainbows that formed in the bright sunlight. The experience of standing at the edge of a platform and then willingly jumping off of it is hard to describe. You talk yourself into it without too much trouble because you see so many other doing it, but then a split-second after jumping you have this realization that perhaps you didn't fully think through the reality or consequences of your actions. Annie and I both had this sensation. We felt the swing was scarier than the bungee, perhaps because you are in a sitting sensation and can't see what you are falling towards. I also think it is because the bungee cord starts to slow you down relatively early, whereas in the swing you fall a long distance before anything starts to affect the path of your swing.
Monkeys - There are vervet monkeys everywhere at the camp area where we are staying. They got into our garbage bag and spread garbage around our kitchen area this afternoon, and were threatening some of the diners who were getting breakfast at the reception area. They will see someone get a plate of food, then approach them. If someone tries to wave them away or yell at them, the bolder monkeys hold their ground, hiss, and advance further on the food. You have to wave a chair or stool at some of these monkeys to get them to leave. Cute though, especially the babies. There are also lots of baboons around, which are larger and scarier.
Food - the food here in Africa has been enjoyable, particularly following on the heels of our Indian diet that was light on meat and which made both of us ill. It is remarkable how quickly your body and mind are able to change its opinion of Indian food once it makes you sick. Meat is very much on the menu here. Last night I had a crocodile burger and a crocodile salad, both of which were delicious. Annie had a kudu stew, which is another antelope-like animal. The night before we had a buffet that included a choice of chicken stew or oryx stew. Ostrich is offered on the menu of a local KFC-type restaurant, and breakfasts at hotels have included multiple types of sausage and bacon. Our game lodge served ostrich egg omelets.
Tomorrow we head back to Botswana and then have a few more days of safari-ing and camping before making it back to Johannesburg on May 6th. After that Annie and I have 3 more days of exploring South Africa and then return home. Happy May, everyone.
You guys are too much! Most people would be content just to look at the falls, not "free-fall for most of the way down before swinging out and getting great views of the waterfall"
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