Misc Africa

On the eve of my departure from Africa, I am reminiscing about the good times I had here in the past 5 weeks. Yes there were some difficult times - constantly getting ripped off, having persistent body odor and shitty ass Wifi that makes Skype a pipedream. But all in all, Africa is a fascinating place both on the surface for tourists and deeper down for travelers. I have barely scratched the surface of the real Africa, but here are some of my tourist highlights and anecdotes:

Dr Tim and Victoria Falls
In Lusaka, my canoe trip buddy Niels bid me and Adiel adieu. Like clockwork, a Dutch MD/PhD named Tim sat down in his chair. Dr Tim had just arrived at the hostel about 30 minutes prior and planned on spending a few days in Lusaka before going to Livingstone for a medical conference. He left to explore Zambia's capital city and I kind of chuckled because there is nothing to see in Lusaka. Within 2 hours, predictably, Dr Tim was on the bus to Livingstone with me.

We checked into the Jolleyboys Hostel, which has every amenity under the sun, but zero hospitality and is run more like a penitentary than a hostel. It is owned by this hypocritical Canadian woman who, in my humble opinion, treats the guests like children and the staff like thiefs.
Dr Tim and I visited Vic Falls and it was as expected, a really really huge waterfall. Perhaps Niagara Falls has made me blase about lots of falling water.


The real excitement came when we visited the Royal Livingstone Hotel for high tea and sunset. Sure we were scrubby from hiking around the falls all day, but we sure felt opulent at high tea. It was $17 all you can eat finger sandwiches and delicate pastries.


The highlight was probably this zebra strolling past our seats on the porch right before sunset.


Rafting the Zambezi
I knew I had to book a white water rafting trip down the Zambezi River when Fabian (professional white water guide, photographer and kayaker) told me how jealous he was that I was there.

The Dutch Dr Tim and I linked up with 4 other Dutch students to share a raft with our guide Babyface. (Sidenote: I am searching for most notable African first names... So far in the running: Octopus, Potato, Not Yet who was on a hill prematurely, and my bartender friend Justin Case.)

We were lucky that the water level was conducive so that we could do full day rafting tour through all 25 rapids. The put-in was at the base of the falls and so rough that 50% of the rafts capsized on the first rapid. All of my raft companions were novice rafters, so not capsizing was quite an accomplishment.

Our lead paddlers up front were Dr Tim and Remco, a super sweet Dutch student who was about to spend several months teaching in a Zambian village, but secretly hoping to get a coveted spot in a local performing arts program.

Remco proved to be a strong paddler and we all had a great time tackling the rapids...until Rapid 7. We basically got caught in a violent dishwasher type rapid and Remco popped out. Only 3 of us managed to hold onto our paddles and we got thrust out of the dishwasher and atop two rocks, where we were at great risk of capsizing. We paddled like crazy to get over the rock and managed to free ourselves without flipping.

Remco had momentarily appeared clutching the front of the raft, but disappearred quickly and was out of sight. Turns out he was underwater, getting slammed between the raft and a giant rock.

It was a long rapid and we still had more work to do. We were freaking out because it was a violent rapid, and Remco was no where to be seen. This was the first time in my life I thought someone might have really died in front of me.

But we finally spotted Remco hanging onto a safety kayaker for dear life. He was all bloody, shaken up and had lost a tooth. His friends were equally shaken up as poor Remco sat shivering and bleeding at the back of the raft and we navigated the next 2 rapids with only 3 paddles.

Lucky for Remco, we had not only a doctor on board, but one that spoke his language. At the time, he didnt feel so positive about it, but by now I am sure Remco has recovered and is singing and dancing all over Zambia!

Chobe Safari (Botswana)
I arranged a 2 night/3 day lux camping safari from Jolleyboys (they have even a tourist desk, but they are no nonsense on the prices). The price was fair - less than $300 for the package.

When I got picked up, I was surprised to see Nick, a Welsh guy I had met in Lusaka who rather enjoyed talking about stereotypes. Also in the van were 2 high-spirited businesswomen from the UK, Catherine and Fiona, who would be with me for the next 4 nights on our back-to-back safaris in Botswana and then Zimbabwe.


We started our safari in Chobe National Park and saw an abundance of wildlife over the next two days. We had a really inattentive guide, but luckily here were so many animals that we were satiated.

More elephants than imaginable, especially at the mud bath at sunset (which resembled my safari underwear so much that I had to pull up my undies to show Catherine, much to her chagrin).



All sorts of giraffe, which looked at you quizzically with their long-lashed eyes, when they werent doing giraffe yoga...




We saw more Impala than in a Hertz car rental parking lot.



The camp site was great - with cozy campfire an pre erected tents with mattresses and duvets!

We spent 2 days doing very long and dusty game drives. Catherine kept insisting that we'd see lions on the 3rd day, but it wasnt looking too hopeful based on our crappy guides who were speeding along and likely scaring away the cats.

On the 3rd day, on the way out of the park, Fiona shouted, "What is that?? Lions!!" to which the guide responded, "Where?"



Sikumi Lodge safari near Hwange Natl Park (Zimbabwe)
After our horrendous experience with the guides in Chobe, we made a sigh of relief when we met Sam at the Botawana/Zimbabwe border. He was friendly, knowledgeable amd enthusiastic. We had lunch in the Zim town of Vic Falls and made our way via private (air conditioned!) van to our lodge near Hwange National Park.

Sikumi Lodge (http://sikumitreelodge.net/) was similar to one of those places you have surely read about in a travel magazine but never imagined that staying there would actually be within your reach.

We were staying in lux tree houses overlooking a watering hole that was frequented by all sorts of wildlife, including lions.

Abel, the accounting manager, told me that seeing lions was like seeing a dog in your backyard. He told me this while he was online searching for a fix for my iphone, and then taking my phone to his room when the power was out so that he could plug it into his laptop to charge as soon as the electricity came on in the middle of the night (I only had my USB charger at this point). And Abel wasnt the only first class service - the meals were served near the fire pit, and for those that were seated at the far end of the table, they brought an urn of ashes over to keep everyone warm and toasty. The dining service was really superb - our waiter had served the Royal Family and the Queen drank G&Ts and Prince Charles drank Zambezi beers.

Cleobus, our field guide, was so passionate about his job that he gave us extended and extra game drives because he too loved what we were seeing. We'd be driving along after dark, bundled up with blankets an hot water bottles, and Cleobus would be flashing a spotlight around the dark until he found us something good. Sometimes "Eagle Eye" Fiona would take over


The highlight was not one, but two lion kills within 200-800 meters of the lodge. At the first kill site, we our first sight was the male lion eating the buffalo, as bloody as can be, then mating repeatedly with the female lioness.







I really cannot say enough about the service about this portion of our safari. If you are ever near Zimbabwe, or near Vic Falls, Sikumi Lodge is really a place not to be missed.

The great thing about traveling independently in Africa is that if you do not book in your home country, and have a bit of flexibility, you can get amazing experiences for a fraction of the cost. The 3 day safari, including transport from Botswana and to Zambia, game drives, sundowner drinks, room and board, was under $300 per person.

Dar/Zanzibar - Eiid
After the back-to-back safari's, I headed to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. At the airport, I was pleasantly surprised to see Nick fpr the 3rd time in southern Africa. I briefly wondered if he was following me, but then pushed the paranoia aside as I realized he would be able to help carry my bags, including that huge basket my sponsor kid had gifted me.

I spent a few days on "South Beach" in Dar es Salaam marveling at the Eiid celebrations and having deep conversations about how mizungo's will never fit truly fit in in Africa with my new ex-pat friends Casper and Philip at the Mikadi Beach Camp. I had a primative open air bandera and was really just wasting time at the beach camp, because it wasnt really safe to leave the compound (the back of the bathroom doors said INSIDE CAMP = SAFE, OUTSIDE CAMP = NOT SAFE, THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!!)

On that note, I decided to check out Zanzibar.


Zanzibar
My trip to Zanzibar is yet another example of me visiting places for really silly reasons. Zanzibar is a bar on the corner on 45th and 9th in NYC. I loved going to this bar when I lived right around the corner, because it had a Pier 1 feel, great hip-hop music and patrons who danced worse than me. So naturally I added Zanzibar as a last-minute stop.

I upgraded the extra $5 and bought a First Class ferry ticket from Dar to Zanzibar (apologies to anyone that has traveled with me on this trip when I was trying to stick to an unrealistic daily budget and would refuse porter service of $0.50 and instead insist on carrying our bags that contained 4 huge ceramic bowls in sweltering Balinease sun from the ferry boat to the hotel 800 meter away). But I digress.

So I've loosened my purse strings a bit and somehow used the first class ticket and some good ole Grasso charm to get chatty and stand with the boarding agent. I stood with him as the masses were corralled behind gates and ropes and I was first to get my ticket collected. Upon boarding, I took a misstep and 2 african men beat me as first on board. The younger african man held the door for me and we quickly realized we were half of the first class cabin. About 7 passengers shared the huge cabin all to ourselves. Downstairs in 2nd class, the deck was massively overcrowded. No surprise the ferry crash that happened one week later was due to similar overcrowding (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-10/tanzania-ferry-sinking-leaves-240-people-dead-607-rescued.html)

After docking in Zanzibar, I checked into my shit hole of a guesthouse ($12 a night) and walked around the shit hole of Stone Town, Zanzibar. It's not really a shithole - it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but looks pretty derelict from the outside. If you were walking around streets like this, like in Philly, you would not feel safe at all. I ran into the two African men from the ferry, who turned out to be Father and Sonfrom Uganda and Dar, respectively. (Their names are Joshua and Patrick, but it is easier to refer to them as Father and Son).

We meandered around Stone Town and my shitty attitude changed. I learned that the son had studied in Denver, and the father had been a controversial journalist who was hunted by Idi Amin (if you dont know who Idi Amin is, read the Amazon eQuik Book on him, or watch The Last King of Scotland). Father and Son fast became my new buddies. I think my motivation was learning more about their histories, and their motivation was increasing the size of their enterourge. Sidenote: One day I was talking to the son and told him of my interest in going to Rwanda...he rudely pulled out his phone and started going through his text messages. Finally, he showed me a text message conversation with the current president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. Apparently the Father was his buddy during those years of opposition, and a few days before they randomly ran into him at a restaurant in Dar.



We arranged to meet up for drinks at sunset. There was a Jazz Fest, extended Eiid celebrations (and of Ramadan for anyone that attended CCD with me...)and many more cocktails to consume. I ended up whiling most of my free time carousing with these two characters, along with two of the son's crazy girlfriends from Dar who really knew how to have a good time.

One of the most notable (sober) activities on Zanzibar was the Spice Tour. I know a spice tour does not sound that exciting but it was the best $11 I have spent in a long time. Not only was my seatmate a fellow student of genocide and oppressive regimes, but learning about spices was fascinating.

At the spice farm, I got to use all 5 senses to learn about various spices you normally dont think about and let McCormick's worry about. They walked ua through the plantation and passed out freshly cut samples of pepper (who knew it grows on trees? BB, you cant answee that), a chunk of bark from a cinnamon tree, cloves, tamarind, lemongrass, vanilla, coffee beans, etc etc.

Assistant tour guides would occassionally approach us during boring parts of the tour with "accessories" made out of palm leaves - watches, neckties, necklaces, glasses.



At one point, a guy (without harness, shoes or any climbing apparatus) climbed up this very tall palm tree and cut down coconut for us, which were then hacked so we could drink and eat the delicious coconess.



This excitement was followed by a filling stew lunch highlighting all of the spices we had just learned about and an afternoon on the beach, complete with a slave cave. Yes, a slave cave where they hid slaves (after slavery was abolished) to ship off to Arabia and India.

Spices, palm leaf accessories and slave caves. What more could I ask for?

Closing Thoughts

As I sit here typing this blog entry on Zanzibar, I am grateful that I have had such a great time in Africa. I leave tomorrow night, and decided to do all of my errands today (including the blog entries) so that tomorrow I can sit on the Kendwa Beach before my flight. I was relieved to find an internet cafe with fast(ish) internet. I was able to Skype to Slovenia for the first time in 5 weeks without interruptions. I am able to upload photos in a reasonable time and feeling all around like I am inching my way towards the 1st world again. But nothing ever goes that smooth in Africa.

All of a sudden the electricity shuts down completely - all the computers, lights, fans. This is not uncommon in Africa - there have been unexpected power outages in every single country I have been to. The Internet Cafe guy jumps up and says, "wait 5 minutes please" as he runs out the door. We assume he is going to switch on some sort of generator, but soon learn that the electricity went out because he simply forgot to pay the electric bill.

Oh well, this is Africa!