Afterthoughts

This was truly an incredible vacation.  It’s hard to say what the highlight was.  Obviously, being 15 feet away from lions, cheetahs, Cape buffalo, elephants, leopards, etc., with nothing between us, was amazing, as was learning about the animals from our guide at Kruger, Khimbini, and our guides at Chobe, Martin and Crispin.

The children we met, both at Ethne’s school and the dance academy, were also incredibly loving, energetic, and enthusiastic – and the only reason many of them were that way was the care and love given to them by mentors and angels.  Many live in circumstances that would make your heart break, yet they are being given the opportunity to excel.  Who knows – maybe one of these youngsters will become another Nelson Mandela!

Our guides and other people that helped us along the way were warm and friendly, as were all the people we saw everywhere – people we passed walking along the roads would smile and waive.  Unemployment is a significant issue, as it ranges (per our guide in Jo-berg) at around 38% to 40%.  This leads to significant crime in the large cities, but didn’t seem to be as serious an issue elsewhere.

Southern Africa is full of fledgling democracies, some working better than others, but the people seemed happy and optimistic about the future in all the countries we visited.  I’m betting that their optimism will prove to be justified.

In the category of “chuckles that we’ll always remember,” our guide in Cape Town, Acilia, taught us the phrase “buy a donkey,” which means “thanks a lot" there.  We thought that was an odd phrase, and later learned that the actual phrase is something that sounds like “buy a,” followed by the Dutch word for “thanks” – dankie.  Acilia also caused a chuckle when she asked if it was OK to drink the water in NYC – she had heard that you shouldn’t.

A special thanks to Ethne and Going Africa for planning a great vacation for the Steinbergs and the O’Koons, and for allowing us to experience many facets of southern Africa.

Now all I have to do is sort through almost 3,800 photos!  Oy!

Final Day in Africa!

Monday, October 11

We started our final day in Africa at 9:00, with a tour of various areas of Jo-berg, including a “fly-by” of the stadium that hosted the opening and finals of the World Games earlier this summer, a drive down Vilikazi Street, which is the only street in the world that has the residences of two Nobel Peace Prize winners (Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela both lived here at one time), and Soweto (which refers to a combinations of several townships in Jo-berg – a shortened “South Western Townships”).  We also spent time at the Hector Pieterson memorial.  He was a young black man of 13 when he was shot and killed by police on June 16, 1976, during a peaceful march of 16 thousand black school children – a protest to the requirement that all schools be taught in Afrikaans rather than the historical languages of the black people.  That day marked a new beginning to the civil rights movement in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela Bridge

Site of the opening games of the World Cup, and the finals.

Soweto has a population of more than 1.3 million, and a population density of approximately 22,500 per square mile.  (Compare to New York, with a metro population of more than 19 million, but a density under 3,000 per square mile.)

We had a great lunch at Linger Longer, a restaurant that Sarah found in Fodor’s…and that was a great choice!  The owner (and chef) took a personal interest in all of his customers, and the food was a fitting last meal for our African adventure.  (My lunch included springbok and ostrich.)

Typical home in Soweto.

Home to two Nobel Prize winners - Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu

The house where Mandella once lived

This is Winnie Mandela's restaurant

Abandoned cooling towers - Now used for bunge jumping!

(But not by us!)

Hector Pieterson Memorial - Carrying his lifeless body after

the police shooting, with his sister accompanying

Hector Pieterson Memorial

After lunch, we made a short stop at Mandela Square, then a longer stop at the craft market, adjacent to our hotel – Sarah’s insatiable shopping genes had kicked in!   Then back to the hotel for frantic packing.  We headed to the airport around 4:45 p.m., arriving at around 5:30 – rush hour made the journey slower than normal.  Then the usual flurry through check-in, immigration, security screening, etc., and off to home.

With Chef Walter Uhl at his restaurant, Linger Longer

In Nelson Mandela Square

Our airplane home was an Airbus a380 – the largest airliner in the world – a double-decker.  Depending on the configuration, it will transport between 525 and 853 people.  We were on the upper deck, while Sarah and Chuck were in steerage.  We landed in Paris around 6 Tuesday morning, and left on a direct flight to Cincinnati about 4 hours later, arriving around 2:00 Tuesday afternoon.  Then we’re off to Indy.  Welcome home!

On to Our Final Stop: Johannesburg!

Sunday, October 10

The rear of the Victoria Falls Hotel - Very British!

Terrace dining area at the hotel; you can almost make out the

Victoria Falls bridge in the far background.

Rita wanted her picture next to the zebra we didn't buy.

Our flight back to Jo-berg wasn’t until 3:00, and we used this morning for relaxation, photos of the old colonial hotel, etc.  Upon arrival in Jo-berg, we were met by our guide, Themba, who gave us a driving tour of the sections of town that we passed on the way to the hotel, including Nelson Mandela’s current home (mansion is a more appropriate term).

Interesting facts about Jo-berg:  Started with the discovery of gold in the 1880s.  Population of the metropolitan area is more than 10 million – 20% of the total population of South Africa.  You can’t appreciate the size until you fly out after dark and see the lights from the air.  It is the business center of South Africa.  Altitude is higher than Denver.  (That was a surprise to me.)  Gold, diamonds, and other minerals are a significant source of wealth.

John Lightfoot was waiting for us when we arrived at the hotel, to take us to a warehouse in Alexandra Township for a performance by the by the “Sigiya Sonke” (Youth Stand Together) group.  This program is under the leadership of Jack Letsoela, and has been dancing for 17 years.  Jack is assisted by his wife, Beauty, and their son and daughter.  (Their son also choreographs.)  All the dancers come from seriously disadvantaged families, and all get a meal each evening after rehearsal.  This program not only teaches a useful profession (Jack said that several "graduates" of the program have gone on to professional careers), but keeps these kids off the streets, where crime and drugs abound.  Sigiya Sonke has several “angels” that help it flourish, including Jenny Prangley, and John Lightfoot and his wife, all friends of Ethne.

In 2006, this group represented South Africa in the World Hip-Hop Championships in Prague, coming away with overall second place!  I can see why.  They exhibited incredible power and enthusiasm in their dance.  It was a very enjoyable evening.  We presented the group with posters from the Louisville Ballet and Dance Kaleidoscope (the Indianapolis modern dance company), in each case signed by the dancers of that company.  The kids were thrilled.  Jack’s son, whose goal is to become a professional dancer and choreographer, was practically in tears!  It was a wonderful last evening in Africa.

Note a little classical (by Jack's son) in with the hip-hop; also note

that I'm NOT a professional videographer:

The night we were there was Jack's birthday...thus a surprise cake!

One of the dancers read a note to Jack about

what he and his program meant to them.

Jack, Beauty, and John Lightfoot

The company with signed posters from the Louisville Ballet

and Dance Kaleidoscope...they were thrilled!!!

Dance Kaleidoscope poster held by

young company members.

At Victoria Falls!

Saturday, October 9

There are sculptures for sale next to the Jungle Junction restaurant:

We loved the zebra...but the freight home would be a killer!

After breakfast at the Jungle Junction, we met Moses and Leo and headed for Victoria Falls Park.  On the way, we stoppped a a baobab tree, which Moses said was around 1,500 years old:

This is one tree, and too big to capture with my lens!

Once in the park, we headed first to the end closest to the Victoria Falls Bridge, and then working our way back.  This is a slow time for water over the falls, and the side closest to Zambia has almost no water, as they are diverting it for hydroelectric power.  The side closest to Zimbabwe (where we were) does have more water, but less than usual.  Moses told us that, running full strength, the mist thrown up by the falls can be seen from 50 kilometers away.  Also during that time, you can’t avoid getting soaked, even in rain gear, and you can forget taking photos!

The falls were pretty impressive, even at the lower flow level…I can’t imagine what it would be going full bore!

The Victoria Falls bridge, connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe;

fabricated in England and transported here

for installation in 1905

Note the white water raft

Tourists!  Chuck is in the orange shirt.

Sarah, Moses, Chuck and Rita

Dr, Livingstone, I presume.

A rainbow at one of the sections of the falls

Monkey and baby - what she gets for monkeying around!

There were lots of birds, monkeys and other animals in the park…typical Africa!

Then it was back to the hotel for a brief stay, and we were scheduled for a river cruise and picnic lunch on an island starting at 12:00.  There was some delay – we didn’t know why – so Leo drove the bus through the part of Victoria Falls (the village) where he lives, to show us the market and other places.   We ultimately arrived at the boat and started our cruise.

Market in the village

As we arrived at the island, we saw Nico – the chef from yesterday – and Munya, another Victoria Falls Anytime representative that was also at our roadside picnic yesterday.  Our “picnic” lunch was served in the shade on the sandy island on a table covered by a tablecloth, and sitting in chairs, and consisted of beef wellington as the main course, along with several other delicious dishes.  Quite a surprise, and a nice treat!  Nico was assisted by his wife, Corrie (also known as "princess").

The captain gives his speech about life preservers, etc.

The reason lunch was delayed:  when Nico and crew came out by boat to set up lunch on the island they normally use, the picnic spot was full of elephants.  Being of sound mind, and wanting to stay of sound body, they opted to go to another island, thus the delay.  Where else could you use the excuse that you were delayed by elephants?  (That’s one that you can try, Bob.)

After lunch, Chuck tried his hand at fishing, but a backlash soon ended his fishing career in Zimbabwe.

We all piled on the boat for the trip back, and saw that the herd of elephants was still around the other island.  Persistent critters!  Here's a video:

Then back to the hotel.  Rita went to the spa, I showered and worked on the blog, Sarah went to the pool, Chuck caught up on a little rest.  We decided to have a light dinner on the terrace at the hotel, since we’ve done nothing but eat for the past two weeks!

Only two more nights on our southern Africa adventure (not counting the overnight flight from Jo-berg to Paris).  Bummer!

Ntwala Island Lodge, Namibia, to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Friday, October 8

Here are a few photos of our hovel at Ntwala that I took this morning:

We were up early, had breakfast, said our goodbye’s to the staff, and set off by boat to the reverse of our trip here two days ago.  At the Botswana – Zimbabwe border, we transferred our luggage to the small bus we had before – our first air conditioning in two days.  (OK…I’ll admit it…we’re spoiled Americans!)

Shortly down the road there was a police road-block…a normal thing to check papers, licenses, etc.  Sarah took a photo of one of the people there, for the bright colors in his uniform.  One of the policemen noticed her doing so…and apparently, since September 11, it is illegal to photograph law enforcement officers in Zimbabwe.  That led to one policeman entering the bus, and a heated discussion with our guide (not in English).  We weren’t sure if Sarah was going to lose her camera, go to jail, or what.  Then it appeared to be a shakedown for a “fine” (that would likely go into the policeman’s pocket).  The final resolution was that Sarah deleted the image, the policemen made her scroll through more than a 100 photos on her camera to make sure there was no other image of police, or other forbidden subjects, and we were off.  No jail time and no fine!

Our next surprise (but this a good one) was that Victoria Falls Anytime (our guide service in Zimbabwe) had set up a lunch stop just outside Victoria Falls – Chairs and tables by the side of the road, with interesting hors d’oeuvres and champagne.  We just pulled over to the side of the road and hopped off the bus!

Chuck and Chef Nico

We checked in to our hotel (the Victoria Falls Hotel), and you would have thought that we were back in British colonial times!  Uniforms unchanged since then.  Memorabilia all over the walls.  Serve high tea at 3:00.  And air conditioned rooms!

We sat on the veranda for a drink with Moses and to discuss what we would do the rest of our visit to Vic Falls, then walked over to the craft market…an area with crude shops (some just laid out on the dirt) which had a few hundred vendors, many selling the same things, and all of them pestering you to come over and see their crafts.  We did buy a small hippo stone carving for my office, a wall hanging for home, and a beautiful wood bowl.  After negotiating the prices, we thought they were bargains, by our standards.

Wonder if one of these would make our luggage overweight?

There must have been thirty (maybe more) booths like this one

Liked this artist's work, but didn't buy

And, of course, there are monkeys all over the place

On the walk to the craft market and back, we were accosted by young children either begging for money or asking you to buy old Zimbabwe money as a souvenir.  The money is now worthless, but rampant inflation caused them to print large bills – I saw one for twenty-five trillion!

Rita and I thought the craft market reminded us of the bazaar in Istanbul, and Sarah described it as “worse than China.”

We had dinner at the Jungle Junction restaurant at the hotel – a good buffet.  I tried my first crocodile…it tastes like chicken.  During dinner, a local group performed typical native dances.

Rita went to bed early, while I got caught up on the blog.  When I finally got to bed, I started laughing hysterically – there are two light switches next to the headboard on my side of the bed.  One does nothing.  The other turns the light in the light on in the dressing area when pushed one way, and turns my reading light on when pushed the other way.  Get the picture?  Either way the switch is, there’s going to be a light on in the bedroom.  Exit light bulb from reading lamp.  Problem solved.  I was wondering if the toilet would flush when I turn on the shower in the morning.

There is a sister hotel next to ours – new construction, with a casino.  It reminded us of Las Vegas, only the casino was virtually empty when we stopped, and the big payoff in the slots was something less than $600.  Yes…that $600 US dollars!  Wow…who could pass up trying for a bonanza like that!  I’m guessing that hotel isn’t making a lot of money from its casino operations!