Today was a sad day for us. We were leaving Cape Town. We were only there for three days but we grew to love the city very quickly. The people are very friendly and warm and the city itself is beautiful with a fantastic blend of old and new. We both would love to come back again soon.
Joburg Airport
We arrived in Johannesburg at around 9:30am and wanted to check the internet. The terminal had free wi-fi but couldn’t have made it any more difficult to get access. After 40 minutes of stuffing around and not connecting, we decided to head towards our departure gate. The gate, we thought was due to close at 10:40am and it was only 10:30am. As we walked towards the gate, Dan glanced at the departures board and noticed ‘Flight BA### Victoria Falls 1040 CLOSED’. He freaked out and broke into a sweat as well as a slow job and was thinking ‘this is impossible!!’ He was preparing himself for what we would say to fight to get aboard. As he looked up at another board he saw the same notice, but this time 'Gate Number A24'. We remembered we were heading for A27 so Danial stopped in his tracks and briefly thought the gate had changed when he realised he had checked the wrong gate. He searched for A27 and found ‘Flight BA### Victoria Falls 1125 OPEN'. Turns out there is more than one flight going to Victoria Falls. Who woulda thunk it? :P Relief washed over him like cold water on a hot day. We were ok.
We waited in the departure lounge until we were ready to board, finally able to laugh about Danial’s little mix-up. We caught the bus from the terminal to the plane and boarded. Danial sat down and noticed a young kid about 10 years old and though immediately, ‘this won’t end well!’ He said to Ev as she took her seat “I bet this kid starts kicking my chair any minute” and he did. It didn’t last long thankfully but Dan was still a little bit edgy. Hey, I like kids and all, but there are some you just want to say, “Brother, shut the @#!? up!!!” He was one of those kids. He would not shut up. Thankfully we had earplugs and the kid calmed down a bit.
The flight was fairly smooth up until we started our descent into Zimbabwe. There was a lot of turbulence and the pilot was banking sharply from left to right to line up his landing. Don’t know what it is, but trying to land a plane in the middle of nowhere freaked Danial out a bit. The pilot made one last bank to the right and we could see the runway about two kilometres ahead. It seemed we were only about 100 metres off the ground at this stage but the plane was still trying to fight against itself. Ev was fine, but Dan wasn’t the only one struggling at this stage. The kid behind started talking about turbulence and then yelled; “Oh God, please let this plane land!” This was followed by a power spew into the sick bag, not once but twice. Mmm...Smells like spew! This drew a laugh from some of the passengers. Dan almost felt sorry for him for a second. The ground was getting closer and closer but we couldn’t see any runway until about two seconds before we landed then the runway slid underneath the plane and we had reached terra firma safely.
Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) Airport
This was just the beginning of our Zimbabwe/Zambia experience. We exited the plane and headed towards the small terminal. There were very little instructions given by airport staff inside but we were divided into two lines for some reason and a third line was formed from out of nowhere and they were getting processed much quicker than the rest of us. We assumed it was for African passport holders as we were surrounded by Spaniards and British and the only South Africans we knew of (including the vomit kid) were in that line. As mentioned there was no real direction given to anybody and we were split into two separate lines. The line we were in had a sign above that read ‘Visa Payment’ and the other line had a sign saying ‘Non-Visa Requirement’. This is why we couldn’t work out what the third line was for. Ev ended up asking one of the airport officials which line we should be in and was told it didn’t matter. Alrighty, one problem solved. We were overtaken in the queue by a pushy Spanish group and were no closer in discovering the Visa mystery as we filled in an immigration form on the way. We weren’t sure if we needed to pay anything because we were actually staying in Zambia. We only had about R150 or $25USD on us. We only realised we did have to pay when the couple in front of us gave the immigration official US dollars. Thankfully our bags were all laid out on the floor just beyond the Immigration desk and Dan was able to aid his bag quickly which had $570USD. Dan got to his bag and found that his lock had been busted and was missing and his bag was slightly open. In a panic he searched for his wallet and the money which was stashed in a secret compartment. Thankfully they were both there. We won't be doing that again. He got back to the Immigration desk as Ev was being served and handed over $60USD for our Visas. We were finally through. Ev wanted to check the busted bag to make sure everything was there, and nothing had been added, but Dan just wanted to get outta there!
As we headed past customs we found a guy holding a sign with ‘GARRETT x2’. Thankfully our transfer had waited the hour for us to get through Immigration. Our drivers name was Tsolo and he would drive us to the checkpoint between Zimbabwe and Zambia. We had a nice chat with Tsolo and he decided to take us on a scenic route to show us some massive trees called Baobab. The trees weren’t overly tall but they were incredibly thick at the base of the trunk. Just as we were about to head off again we spotted a large male elephant cross the dirt road we were driving on. It was amazing. It wasn’t a nature reserve or a zoo, it was a wild elephant just doing its thing. Ev was able to get some pictures just as it crossed into the bushes. Our African adventure had begun!!
Zimbabwe & Zambia Checkpoints
Tsolo eventually got us to the check point and as we parted ways we were greeted by our new driver, Figo, who would take us to the Zimbabwe/Zambian boarder to get our Visas and also take us to our third driver who would take us to the campsite. Figo got us to the Immigration office where we got our Visas and passports stamped and found there were semi-trailers and people everywhere waiting to get clearance to or from Zimbabwe, Zambia or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Inside the Immigration office we filled out some more papers as Figo waited with us. The Visas were $50USD which were valid for 10 days in Zambia.
We got back in the minivan with Figo and waited for our new driver. We looked around and tried to take in as much as possible as it was a bit of a culture shock but also surreal as we couldn’t believe we were here. After 5 minutes or so our new driver arrived. We grabbed our bags and introduced ourselves to Kelly. We all chatted as we walked towards the car and completely forgot we had walked through the checkpoint when we heard “Hey!!” We turned around startled as Kelly walked towards the angry seated soldier with the very real machine gun. He looked offended and Kelly was very apologetic. After presenting our documentation we were finally allowed through. Dan decided not to make light of the situation because he wasn’t sure if his sense of humour would translate all that well with this type of culture.
As we walked towards Kelly’s Hilux, we passed some baboons strolling on the stress and were amazed. No one else cared. After dropping Ev’s brand new 70-300mm lens on the road, yes he dropped it, we were approached by a guy selling One Hundred Trillion Dollar notes. Zimbabwe dollar is worth nothing due to political turmoil in the country so they now use the US dollar. Either way we had to buy one for $5USD’s just to say we’re Trillionaires. Boom!!
We had to pick up two other people on the way and drop them off at a nearby lodge. They took about 20 minutes. Finally a young Mexican male and his grandfather emerged from the hotel they were staying at. As we left the complex Dan noticed a swamp to the left near the entrance with a sign that read ‘Beware of Crocodiles’. No fence, no net, just a swamp inside the hotel grounds with a croc! We asked Kelly if there were really crocodiles in there and he said, ‘Yeah, but they are not very big ones’. We felt so much better :P We dropped the Mexican gents off at the lodge and headed towards our campsite which was next door. On the way Dan asked Kelly, “Those crocs, how big is not very big?”. He gestured with his hands that the last time he saw them they were about 40cm long but they’d be about a metre now. He said once they get too big they are transported to the Zambezi River. Amazing!
Setting up Camp
We arrived at our Waterfront Hotel campsite shortly after and checked in then were shown to our tent. On the way we passed a group of monkeys playing on the ground near our tent. It was very cool but still a bit foreign to us. We stood our bags inside the tent and headed back to reception to withdraw cash not thinking we’d need any local currency called Kuacha. We still had enough for the kitty for our safari and general supplies. Unfortunately the Barclays Bank back in town was the only place that could withdraw and exchange cash and it was closed for the day. We will have to go in the morning. The shop onsite also didn’t have any sunscreen or insect repellent so that too is on the shopping list.
We did manage to book a helicopter flight over Victoria Falls for tomorrow morning using our Visa card so we can’t wait for that. Ev took some wonderful shots of the beautiful sunset over the Zambezi River from the restaurant. We bought some potato chips and water for dinner and hit the sack early after a pretty interesting day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/
Our flight to Joburg was for 7:30am and we were up around 4:30am to pack and organise ourselves for the busy day ahead. We headed down to reception to check out, hand the key back and to fix up any outstanding payments. The concierge handed us the itimised bill and we nearly fainted. R730 which was roughly $110AUD. It turns out the washing we requested to have done was a little more expensive than we first thought, R480 or about $75AUD. We should have asked first. We'll be hand washing from now on! We cleared the bill and grabbed our paper bagged breakfast and boarded the airport shuttle. As we drive around the base of the mountain, or Lion’s Head, we took one last look over Cape Town as morning broke to a brand new day.
Cape Town Airport
We got to the airport and checked in our luggage to be sent directly through to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. We then headed towards the security terminal and unloaded our belongings into the tray provided, including a room key for the Ritz Hotel. Dan forgot to hand it back in and the airport shuttle was long gone. There was no post office in the terminal so we'll post it back when we get a chance. Unfortunately our sunscreen and insect repellent was confiscated at the security checkpoint because it was over 100ml. It’s strange how we’ve been able to take it this far through other checkpoints, but when we actually need it the most in Africa, we don’t have it. We will need to get some as soon as possible in Zimbabwe or Zambia even. We both had our bagged hotel breakfast while we waited for our flight to be called and were served another breakfast again (Dan was still hungry) and basically slept the entire way.
Joburg Airport
We arrived in Johannesburg at around 9:30am and wanted to check the internet. The terminal had free wi-fi but couldn’t have made it any more difficult to get access. After 40 minutes of stuffing around and not connecting, we decided to head towards our departure gate. The gate, we thought was due to close at 10:40am and it was only 10:30am. As we walked towards the gate, Dan glanced at the departures board and noticed ‘Flight BA### Victoria Falls 1040 CLOSED’. He freaked out and broke into a sweat as well as a slow job and was thinking ‘this is impossible!!’ He was preparing himself for what we would say to fight to get aboard. As he looked up at another board he saw the same notice, but this time 'Gate Number A24'. We remembered we were heading for A27 so Danial stopped in his tracks and briefly thought the gate had changed when he realised he had checked the wrong gate. He searched for A27 and found ‘Flight BA### Victoria Falls 1125 OPEN'. Turns out there is more than one flight going to Victoria Falls. Who woulda thunk it? :P Relief washed over him like cold water on a hot day. We were ok.
We waited in the departure lounge until we were ready to board, finally able to laugh about Danial’s little mix-up. We caught the bus from the terminal to the plane and boarded. Danial sat down and noticed a young kid about 10 years old and though immediately, ‘this won’t end well!’ He said to Ev as she took her seat “I bet this kid starts kicking my chair any minute” and he did. It didn’t last long thankfully but Dan was still a little bit edgy. Hey, I like kids and all, but there are some you just want to say, “Brother, shut the @#!? up!!!” He was one of those kids. He would not shut up. Thankfully we had earplugs and the kid calmed down a bit.
The flight was fairly smooth up until we started our descent into Zimbabwe. There was a lot of turbulence and the pilot was banking sharply from left to right to line up his landing. Don’t know what it is, but trying to land a plane in the middle of nowhere freaked Danial out a bit. The pilot made one last bank to the right and we could see the runway about two kilometres ahead. It seemed we were only about 100 metres off the ground at this stage but the plane was still trying to fight against itself. Ev was fine, but Dan wasn’t the only one struggling at this stage. The kid behind started talking about turbulence and then yelled; “Oh God, please let this plane land!” This was followed by a power spew into the sick bag, not once but twice. Mmm...Smells like spew! This drew a laugh from some of the passengers. Dan almost felt sorry for him for a second. The ground was getting closer and closer but we couldn’t see any runway until about two seconds before we landed then the runway slid underneath the plane and we had reached terra firma safely.
Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) Airport
This was just the beginning of our Zimbabwe/Zambia experience. We exited the plane and headed towards the small terminal. There were very little instructions given by airport staff inside but we were divided into two lines for some reason and a third line was formed from out of nowhere and they were getting processed much quicker than the rest of us. We assumed it was for African passport holders as we were surrounded by Spaniards and British and the only South Africans we knew of (including the vomit kid) were in that line. As mentioned there was no real direction given to anybody and we were split into two separate lines. The line we were in had a sign above that read ‘Visa Payment’ and the other line had a sign saying ‘Non-Visa Requirement’. This is why we couldn’t work out what the third line was for. Ev ended up asking one of the airport officials which line we should be in and was told it didn’t matter. Alrighty, one problem solved. We were overtaken in the queue by a pushy Spanish group and were no closer in discovering the Visa mystery as we filled in an immigration form on the way. We weren’t sure if we needed to pay anything because we were actually staying in Zambia. We only had about R150 or $25USD on us. We only realised we did have to pay when the couple in front of us gave the immigration official US dollars. Thankfully our bags were all laid out on the floor just beyond the Immigration desk and Dan was able to aid his bag quickly which had $570USD. Dan got to his bag and found that his lock had been busted and was missing and his bag was slightly open. In a panic he searched for his wallet and the money which was stashed in a secret compartment. Thankfully they were both there. We won't be doing that again. He got back to the Immigration desk as Ev was being served and handed over $60USD for our Visas. We were finally through. Ev wanted to check the busted bag to make sure everything was there, and nothing had been added, but Dan just wanted to get outta there!
As we headed past customs we found a guy holding a sign with ‘GARRETT x2’. Thankfully our transfer had waited the hour for us to get through Immigration. Our drivers name was Tsolo and he would drive us to the checkpoint between Zimbabwe and Zambia. We had a nice chat with Tsolo and he decided to take us on a scenic route to show us some massive trees called Baobab. The trees weren’t overly tall but they were incredibly thick at the base of the trunk. Just as we were about to head off again we spotted a large male elephant cross the dirt road we were driving on. It was amazing. It wasn’t a nature reserve or a zoo, it was a wild elephant just doing its thing. Ev was able to get some pictures just as it crossed into the bushes. Our African adventure had begun!!
 |
| Elephant crossing our road |
Zimbabwe & Zambia Checkpoints
Tsolo eventually got us to the check point and as we parted ways we were greeted by our new driver, Figo, who would take us to the Zimbabwe/Zambian boarder to get our Visas and also take us to our third driver who would take us to the campsite. Figo got us to the Immigration office where we got our Visas and passports stamped and found there were semi-trailers and people everywhere waiting to get clearance to or from Zimbabwe, Zambia or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Inside the Immigration office we filled out some more papers as Figo waited with us. The Visas were $50USD which were valid for 10 days in Zambia.
We got back in the minivan with Figo and waited for our new driver. We looked around and tried to take in as much as possible as it was a bit of a culture shock but also surreal as we couldn’t believe we were here. After 5 minutes or so our new driver arrived. We grabbed our bags and introduced ourselves to Kelly. We all chatted as we walked towards the car and completely forgot we had walked through the checkpoint when we heard “Hey!!” We turned around startled as Kelly walked towards the angry seated soldier with the very real machine gun. He looked offended and Kelly was very apologetic. After presenting our documentation we were finally allowed through. Dan decided not to make light of the situation because he wasn’t sure if his sense of humour would translate all that well with this type of culture.
As we walked towards Kelly’s Hilux, we passed some baboons strolling on the stress and were amazed. No one else cared. After dropping Ev’s brand new 70-300mm lens on the road, yes he dropped it, we were approached by a guy selling One Hundred Trillion Dollar notes. Zimbabwe dollar is worth nothing due to political turmoil in the country so they now use the US dollar. Either way we had to buy one for $5USD’s just to say we’re Trillionaires. Boom!!
We had to pick up two other people on the way and drop them off at a nearby lodge. They took about 20 minutes. Finally a young Mexican male and his grandfather emerged from the hotel they were staying at. As we left the complex Dan noticed a swamp to the left near the entrance with a sign that read ‘Beware of Crocodiles’. No fence, no net, just a swamp inside the hotel grounds with a croc! We asked Kelly if there were really crocodiles in there and he said, ‘Yeah, but they are not very big ones’. We felt so much better :P We dropped the Mexican gents off at the lodge and headed towards our campsite which was next door. On the way Dan asked Kelly, “Those crocs, how big is not very big?”. He gestured with his hands that the last time he saw them they were about 40cm long but they’d be about a metre now. He said once they get too big they are transported to the Zambezi River. Amazing!
Setting up Camp
We arrived at our Waterfront Hotel campsite shortly after and checked in then were shown to our tent. On the way we passed a group of monkeys playing on the ground near our tent. It was very cool but still a bit foreign to us. We stood our bags inside the tent and headed back to reception to withdraw cash not thinking we’d need any local currency called Kuacha. We still had enough for the kitty for our safari and general supplies. Unfortunately the Barclays Bank back in town was the only place that could withdraw and exchange cash and it was closed for the day. We will have to go in the morning. The shop onsite also didn’t have any sunscreen or insect repellent so that too is on the shopping list.
 |
| Camp Site Reception |
We did manage to book a helicopter flight over Victoria Falls for tomorrow morning using our Visa card so we can’t wait for that. Ev took some wonderful shots of the beautiful sunset over the Zambezi River from the restaurant. We bought some potato chips and water for dinner and hit the sack early after a pretty interesting day.
 |
| Zambezi River Sunset |
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/
1 comment:
wow, what an interesting day post! I'm having such a great time reading your stories. and not just skim reading either. I feel like i'm on the trip with you. must have been amazing having those animals just hanging around, haha. xx
Post a Comment