April 5, 2011
1:00pm
To continue with the second half of this tour, we’ll have to jump on an international flight to Livingstone, Zambia, which took off at 10:20am Sunday March 13th. Transport to our backpackers in Livingstone was waiting at the airport when we disembarked the aircraft and it was in that navy blue van that we met two nice young gentlemen traveling individually. My Mother was quite disturbed by this idea that people could travel solo. Not long after checking into the “Rhino” room, the name of our private room at this really cool backpackers, and getting settled in with a beer and the book of possible activities to do at and around Victoria Falls she had temporarily adopted one of the gents who was from Sweden. After insisting on paying for his lunch and joining us for a river cruise that evening, I informed him that he had just been “mommed”. :-P
The Zembezi River cruise on the Lady Livingstone boat at sunset was absolutely beautiful! The three of us sipped on our free cocktails and nibbled the appetizers, listened to the identification of birds and animals hanging out on the river banks, and witnessed a gorgeous sunset over the Zimbabwean horizon. I also learned quite a bit more about Zambia, Zimbabwe, and strangely enough Sweden! Haha.
Our viewing of the magnificent Victoria Falls the following morning was quite a …. wet experience. During this time of the year, right after the rainy season, the water levels going over the falls are at an all time high! This means that the mist crashing up from the lower level of the falls is also at its optimum intensity. In the native language to the area, Victoria Falls are actually called Mosi-oa-Tunya or “the mist that thunders”. This is not an exaggeration. Mom and I thought we would be fine hiking the paths in front of the falls armed with our travel umbrellas. Ha! I remember turning around, after crossing over a bridge about 2/3 the way up the falls, and I saw Mom clutching her umbrella which was bent backwards. We were thoroughly drenched and laughing hysterically!! The mist blocked much of the view of the falls, but we hiked all the paths possible. We even hiked down into the gorge to a spot on the lower river called “the boiling point”. An Australian guy we passed down there characterized it perfectly by saying, “I feel like I’m in an Indian Jones movie”. It was breathtaking, literally and figuratively.
It started raining as we left the park. Perfect timing! We went to a faux Italian restaurant for lunch, grabbed some popcorn necessities to make dinner that night and went back to relax at the backpackers. We spent the rainy afternoon reading books on the most colorful and large pillows which made up the “chill zone” in the center of this establishment. Our Swedish friend joined us for a bit, but then fell asleep on the much too comfortable pillows.
`Relaxing and rejuvenating the previous day made the very early morning rise not as bad. Instead of crossing the bridge to view the very misty falls from the Zimbabwe side, we decided to expend our double entry visa on a safari trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana. I certainly think we made the correct decision. We were shuttled to the border and crossed the river in a small boat. Geographically this point in the water was situated between four different countries. If we had floated just a bit down river we could land on either Zimbabwe’s or Zambia’s coast. Heading straight across landed us in Botswana, and to our right was Caprivi Strip of Namibia. It reminded me a lot of Four Corners in the States only on an international scale. :-)
On the Botswana shore we were given a lift in the safari vehicle to border control and customs. After passing through all of that, we were back in the safari vehicle and transported to the small café adjacent to the tour’s office. The group from Jollyboy Backpackers consisted of two Dental Hygienist Professors from Sweden and three university students from Germany. We jumped on a flat motorized boat docked on the Chobe River behind the office and took off toward the national park. There were a TON of hippos segregated into their own groups along the shore. We saw multiple crocodiles, impala, cape buffalo, water monitors, warthogs, I think they are called mongoose, and many bird species. A herd of elephants even ran down to the waterfront for some H₂O cocktails and a romp in the mud. We pulled up on the shore not too far from them to enjoy the show. As we were making it back to our starting point it started to rain and the engine of our boat started acting up. Watching a large storm move across the Namibian side of the river was actually unbelievably beautiful. We made it back to the café in time for a yummy lunch, while Mother Nature got the rain out of her system. By the time we boarded our safari vehicle for the afternoon game drive it was sunny once again.
Chobe National Park certainly wasn’t as well manicured as Kruger. The drive was quite a bit bumpier, but the animals were just as amazing! About halfway through the drive another guide called over the radio that a lion was sited hunting a cape buffalo. Whatever our planned path was at that point, it was never traversed. We did a quick u-turn and sped as fast as possible back toward the front of the park. Five minutes later we joined the ranks of vehicles watching the fully grown male lion sitting quite majestically in the middle of a clearing. The cape buffalo was somewhat close but the lion didn’t seem to be too motivated to take on a fellow big five animal by himself at the time. We watched him for a while, found the tracks of his brother walking into the bush on the other side of the road, and then saw as he yawned, got up, and sauntered into the bush toward the road! We tried to figure out the trajectory of his path to so he could not circumvent our vehicle when crossing the road. Unbeknownst to us, his plan was to seek shade in the bushes and we couldn’t spot him thereafter. These animals are really good at hiding when they want to; even when we know they are right in front of our faces!
On the way back to the border and our boat to Zambia we saw many more elephants hanging by the side of the road. There are no fences keeping the animals in Chobe National Park, and as a billboard said, “Elephants have the right of way”! There was also a lineup of dozens and dozens of semi-trucks alongside the road waiting to be ferried across. Our guide told us that the line was about 3km long and they had been waiting there for two weeks!! The currents were too strong to transport them across at this time and sometimes the line reaches back 5km or more. Being a semi-driver there would be quite a tiring and frustrating job description. Why they haven’t built a bridge there yet, floors me! I would think it would pay for itself within a few short months. But I digress; we got across the river just fine and were transported back to the hostel after re-clearing Zambian customs.
Our final evening in Zambia was uneventful and perfectly laid back. That final morning we attempted to spend the remaining kwacha we had left (Botswana uses pula and both countries prefer USD) and then made our way to the small airport for a flight back to the hub of Jo’Burg.
A quick flight jump at Jo’Burg got us in the air heading to the gorgeous city of Cape Town, our final vacation destination. I LOVE this city! Driving in our little rented car into the city as the sun set behind the famous Table Mountain was at the same time beautiful and frustrating because of a loss of visibility. We found Abbey Manor Guesthouse and were instantly impressed by our amazing accommodation. This B&B was located just at the bottom of the mountain and a few minutes from the heart of the city known as the “city bowl”. We fulfilled one of my major objectives of being in this amazing city within that first night: we found an authentic Mexican restaurant! Soooo good.
Since the weather for Thursday morning was sunny and clear, we took the opportunity to cable-car up to the top of Table Mountain. We hiked all over the top of the plateau enjoying the tablecloth-free views (clouds around the top of the mountain have been nick named the “tablecloth”). After taking the longest paths possible on the main plateau, we decided to hike off towards “Echo Point”. That journey was a bit more strenuous, but lots of fun! We rehydrated (well, one of us rehydrated and the other had a beer :-P) at the café on top of Table Mountain before descending the same way we came up.
With a good dose of exercise in our systems we chose a leisurely, scenic joy ride down to Cape Point. Arriving at the gate of the national park in which Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope are enclosed, we found the weather had changed slightly. A dense force of clouds had overtaken the once clear sky. A wonderfully honest women working at the gate told us that the visibility at the peninsula’s point at that moment was not worth the park entrance fee. No worries there! We still had beautiful scenery to see along the eastern side on our return trip to the city. We even stopped to walk along Boulder’s Beach and say “hello” to the famous Simon’s Town penguin colony. They wished me to pass along their greetings, although I’m sure I would butcher their accent! :-)
Being this close to the sea, we felt it would be negligent to not stop for sea food. We had the GPS do a restaurant search and it landed us in a small, local Portuguese restaurant. This restaurant had closed their kitchen ten minutes before (at 3pm) and weren’t scheduled to open again until dinner. Luckily, the hostess said that the owner/cook was still here and, after checking, he would be willing to make up another order! Not knowing exactly what we were ordering when asking for the fish and steak “esperda” (spelling?), our jaws hit the table when two skewers, hanging vertically and loaded with meat, were set in front of us. About the same time the heavenly meat arrived the radio reminded us that it was St. Patty’s Day! What do two respectable part-Irish lasses do when informed that it’s an Irish holiday while sitting in a restaurant/bar... we order another round of drinks, of course!! (sadly, no green beer present)
The next order of business, after returning to our lovely room, was to get decked out! That evening we were going to the theatre!!!! We had purchased two tickets to see the opera Carmen at the Artscape Theater. Just sitting in the house, before the show even started, I felt as giddy as a kid in a candy store. I miss theater so damn much! Anyway, Carmen was a three hour long show set in Spain but sang entirely in French. :-P As most things in Africa, it did not start on time, nor did the 2 separate intermissions keep to only 10 minutes! Regardless, I was in heaven… Mom on the other hand might have chosen a different location to describe the situation. Haha. Even with English prompts on a screen above the stage, some of the actions and dialogue were misinterpreted. :-P Although barely scratching the surface of my theatre deficit, it was one of the main highlights of the trip for me.
Friday morning we found ourselves perusing the shops and attractions at the popular V&A Waterfront. After loading up on recommendations and maps at the information center, we left the city in search of the mystical and wondrous Wine Country. Not more than 20 minutes out of town there are a plethora of amazing wine estates to make any wino drool. The first location was Bilton Estates where wine tasting was pair with Belgian chocolates!! Yummm… We sure acted like we knew what we were doing by commenting/reading up on the full-bodiedness, plum, grass, lemon, pepper, etc flavors, and how the tannin lingered on the palate. The chocolate was written in the same manner and tasted delicious! The next winery was called Uva Mira, and was in the most beautiful location nestled halfway up a hill overlooking the ocean, city, and neighboring vineyards. We ordered a cheese tray, which turned out to be enough to feed 5 people (or, as it turns out, 2 cheese-loving Crocker women :-P) and sipped our wine tastings while enjoying the spectacular scenery. The third and final winery we visited was not as noteworthy as the first two so I have promptly forgotten its name. Do not worry, my forgetting has nothing to do with my alcohol intake at the time, although I let Mom fully take over the tasting at this stop. Afrikaans names are always difficult for me to store in my long-term memory.
A goal of mine for the trip was to have Mom try Ethiopian food at a restaurant on the bustling Long Street that I enjoyed immensely with Claire the year before. Although full on our cheese, we attempted to visit said ethnic restaurant. Sadly, or maybe luckily, it was closed being between lunch and dinner at the time we arrived. Instead, we walked up and down the famous street and investigated Green Market Square. To close out the day we returned to the V&A Waterfront to enjoy an ice cream cone and then board a sunset cruise sailboat. Seeing Robben Island, the World Cup Stadium, Table Mountain, Cape Town, a glorious sunset, and even a few seals from a wind powered boat in Table Bay was truly spectacular. Being on the water, with my mother, did not make me want to run back to a dry landlocked country! Oh, Swaziland. :-) We took in some jazz music at The Green Dolphin restaurant before calling it an absolutely perfect night.
The final morning of our vacation was all about pampering. No alarms were set and the glorious breakfasts served at the Manor were thoroughly enjoyed before packing up and leaving. With the help of our hostess, we booked a quick massage and beautifying session at a nearby spa. The masseuse had a hard time getting 2 years of hand washing clothes and schlepping heavy stuff onto public transport out of my shoulders. :-P Following that utterly amazing and relaxing experience we went to the Nelson Hotel to have a spot of tea. Neither my mother nor I are big tea drinkers, but many people suggested we experience morning tea at this 5 star historic hotel. We were certainly glad we did. The selecting and preparation of the tea was literally called a “ceremony” and a two tiered plate of sandwiches and pastries accompanied our beverages. The most adorable and entertaining part of the experience was watching the gentleman near us who had brought his young daughter. She was thoroughly dressed up for the occasion, and they walked arm in arm after the conclusion of their daddy-daughter date. :-)
Sadly, the time had come. After almost two weeks of freedom and fun, I had to give up … my wheels. :-P We returned the car to the airport and hopped on the return flight to Jo’Burg. Upon arriving to the major airport, we found out that Mom’s flight had been delayed by an hour. This was great news, because we had one more hour to sit in an airport restaurant and postpone the inevitable. Once that hour was finally over, I saw Mom to security and we waved goodbye. Her story now differs a quite a bit from mine but was certainly more dramatic and entertaining. While taxiing out to the runway the nose of the plane was damaged. Unbeknownst to me, she sat in a plane in Jo’Burg for another two hours before leaving me and Africa. Although running, without shoes (taken off at security and no time to put them back on) through the Atlanta airport, she missed her connecting flight by a few minutes. Not to worry, though. According to her telling of the story to me a day later, the airport staff redirected her itinerary and she got home only an hour after the previously scheduled time.
Again, somehow having SO MANY MORE miles to cross than me she got home before I did. After waving goodbye in the airport I got picked up and taken to a backpackers near the airport. The transport from the airport back to Mbabane, Swaziland left the following day at 12pm. I stayed with a wonderful group of girls, who live and work in Mbabane, that evening. One of the girls was having a welcoming braii for her mother who was visiting for a couple weeks. Ironic, no? I had an all day meeting at the office Monday, shadowing and interviews at Baylor Tuesday (see “Future Plans” blog entry), and fulfilled my PSN (Peer Support Network) duties by showing up to the three day Group 8 Grief and Loss workshop on Wednesday. From that emotionally draining workshop I joined some friends at Hlane Game Park on Friday to celebrate Ali’s birthday. We were camping and it rained heavily both nights, but we still managed to have a blast! Finally, a week after my mother got on a plane to return to the States, I made it back down to my hut and home in the lowveld of Swaziland.
This concludes our tour. All tips should go to the wonderful person who made it all happen. Love and miss you Mom!
