Classic East Africa: Kenya & Tanzania

From Harare, Zimbabwe we flew to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (or just Dar, to those who know it). Here we had two more college fairs and school visits. It was hot, since we were on the coastal plain and no longer the highlands. The college fair at the US Embassy was outdoors. Enough said. Directly from said fair we caught a charter flight to Mombassa and then a dirt strip somewhere east of Mount Kilimanjaro, taking only an overnight bag and leaving most of our luggage behind in Dar with the local high school counselor. We were now in for a real treat: a full day and game drive in Tsavo West national park. The pics say it all.


The horse we rode in on...


Entrance to Finch Hatton's




Boaboab






monkeys






A good example of nature's camo...


Now look closer between mom and dad


hungry, hungry


Hippo from underwater observation thingee


dusk


The accomodations

After our respite it was back to Dar just long enough to get our luggage and then catch a flight to Nairobi. Or at least that was how it was supposed to work. Instead, our flight was downgraded to a smaller plane with no room for our luggage. We had to repack another overnight bag. Therefore, the next day in Nairobi we were stinky and unhappy. We’d already checked-out of the hotel once we got our luggage back, so it was of no use. I decided this was the perfect moment for a group photo:


Juan Camilo makes sweet, sweet love to the camera

Hotel Zimbabwe

Our ambassador: Quite happy with himself

The timing of our arrival was very lucky for the American Embassy in Harare. The ambassador, Dell, had just gotten himself in hot water with the local government. Mugabe, the president and big time a-hole, was actually quoted in the paper as saying, “Dell can go to hell.” Dell was quite proud of it, as this was just the kind of rise he was trying to provoke. He had recently given a widely publicized speech at a nearby university, blaming corrupt and inept governance for Zimbabwe’s economic woes, rather than sanctions and drought, oft blamed by said governance. It sounded as if he was actually disappointed that Mugabe didn’t outright expel him. Instead, the American Embassy threw a party at the house of the director for public affairs. We visiting American education reps were the excuse for the party. It wouldn’t be seemly to throw a party in response to successfully pissing off a dictator.


Party time: one of our own on drums

Once again, the weather was more pleasant than we had right to hope for. Nice and cool. The public fair we held in the hotel was very successful. Very busy. I even found very cool presents for all my bartender buddies back in Southville. I won’t say what they are, because I’m afraid they might be illegal.


What 40 US dollars will get you on the black market in the local almost-useless currency.

First-class Ticket to Dodo-Land

Ah, the weekend. Our first pleasant surprise was that the travel agency in charge of all our arrangements managed to upgrade all of our tickets to business class for the 4-hour flight to the island nation of Mauritius. Mauritius is way, way out in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles east of Madagascar. This is the (dormant) volcanic island where once lived the unfortunate flightless bird known as the Dodo. These isolated fowl were so unused to predators that settlers didn’t even have to chase or shoot them. I read that some Dutch guy walked up and bludgeoned the last one to death. Poor little fellas. Why did God make you taste so good?



Disembarking the plane, I felt we had been transported to the Caribbean. The culture however, belongs more to South Asia. Diwali decorations were all over the airport. The air was surprisingly cool, as it has been at all our stops, luckily. We hopped on a bus and drove to the north-west coast – about an hour and fifteen minutes. After quickly checking in to the Hotel Maritim, the tour members were treated to a reception with local school and embassy employees down by the water. Since booze was provided, and there were no activities scheduled for the next day, a group quickly formed towards the end to continue the evening at a nearby bar favored by both tourists and locals.

Drinking here continued apace. Some of our hardier members decided to continue on to a late-night club. I did not. I’d had a lot to drink, but not nearly enough to dance. That would require liquor, which I am still taking a break from, and I wanted to enjoy the next day – our first day off.



I woke around noon. In the lobby I joined our tour leader, an embassy employee, and three fellow tour members. We had been invited to visit the home of a local Franco-Mauritian businessman for lunch. Wow, what a pad. If I ever have the luxury of retiring, I'd like it to be to a place like this. Right on the water, open to the breeze... He also took us out on his boat. This was the French version of what we in the South would call a redneck speed-demon. Way too much horsepower for a narrow 20-foot hull. But, it was fun, in a "Holy shit, he almost killed us" kind of way.

Next day: back to work. School visits and flight back to Joburg.

S.A.

Going from school to school...

On the first official day of the tour we had two school visits and one visit/fair. So, a full day. Bright kids all round. White South Africans, black South Africans, and third country national from many different countries. We drove all over the Cape transferring between the schools and going to lunch at a winery. This is a beautiful region, and the local climate varies drastically as one moves from side to side of the massive Table Mount which dominates the skyline. Overall it is much cooler and wetter than I had imagined, but welcome.


The Cape

Once back at the hotel I decided to take a walk south and east along the coast of the Cape with a rep from Vancouver, Damara. We strode through several waterfront suburbs and wandered into a gathering of the area’s Muslim population at a park. It might have been the end of Ramadan, but I’m not sure. I’m having a hard time keeping up with my own calendar, let alone others’. Overall a good little trek that took us about two and a half hours down and back. Glad I took it – now I feel as if I’ve gotten to know Cape Town a bit, outside the touristy developed part of the waterfront I saw earlier. Too bad we didn’t have more time here to explore. I’ll have to come back.


Table Mountain from the hotel

The next day it was a very early wake-up: 5 am. Then we were off to the airport and Johannesburg, or Joburg for short. We had to be dressed for work, as we did not even stop at the hotel before conducting our school visits and college fair. The school where we held the fair was actually in the middle of hosting a men’s and women’s soccer tournament, so we were able to speak to students from several countries we are not able to visit on this tour.


South of Cape Town

Finally, at around 5:30 pm, we checked into our hotel – the Michaelangelo on Mandela Square. Very posh. Lots of shopping and restaurants directly connected, so no need to brave JoBurg proper, which we have all been warned can be dicey. I had some great Thai on the square.

The city itself is much more American feeling than I’d expected. Reminds me a good bit of Austin, Texas – a medium sized city set amongst green, rolling hills. So far I have not at all felt like I am in Africa, culturally or meteorologically. The weather has been much too pleasant. That might change tomorrow when we go to Botswana.

Ten Hours in Botswana

We woke early this morning, broke our fast, and headed to the JoBerg International Airport. There we caught a prop plane to Gaborone, Botswana. From the air Gaborone does not look so much like a city – more like some buildings and roads mistakenly placed in what is otherwise godforsaken wasteland covered in scrubby foliage (see pic of “airport”). Botswana is sparsely populated – only 1.7 million people in the whole country. And soon it will probably be even more sparsely populated because approximately 680,000 of these people have HIV or AIDS. Yep. That was not a typo. Forty percent. This is not the place to open a singles bar. Or visit one.

Despite these grim statistics (or perhaps because of them?) the school visit was very productive. These kids are pumped about attending university in the USA. After the visit the school’s counselor took us to a couple of shopping locations. I never should have gotten out of the bus. At the first stop I bought all kinds of knick-knacks for people back home – which I now have to lug across the rest of the continent. At the second stop I found a café, bought a beverage, and read my book. The best way to resist temptation is to avoid it.


Fake wildlife outside the airport

Then it was back to the airport for the return flight. The employees there must have thought us eccentric pop-in tourists. As we are preparing to take off there is of course a thunderstorm moving in. This city has been in the middle of a very long drought. Just my luck it breaks now. I hate turbulence.

Re-entering Joberg a funny thing happened. Planes were backed up because of a thunderstorm there as well. The airport bus that transported us from the plane mistakenly took us to the domestic terminal instead of the international due to some glitch. Therefore, no customs procedures. It being after 9pm, many in the group wanted to just go back to the hotel – it was the airline’s mistake, right? However, I pointed out that when leaving South Africa tomorrow, the officials might find it disturbing that we had no re-entry stamp, and that could cause problems. After some bickering, we all trudged to the international terminal to fix things. Good thing we did. It would have been a 3,000 Rand fine if we had not. I am right again. Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah. Really, I didn’t gloat or say “I told you so” but all my travel-mates owe me beer.

Yay! Pictures!

Who is looking at who?

Yes, I exchanged my battery re-charger for a new one that works. All the following pics in this entry were taken at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. I walked there from the Radisson Waterfront after I checked in.




Schlepp-on Luggage:
I have been meaning to rant about this for awhile. I HATE the “carry-on” luggage that people drag behind their sorry asses. If it is too heavy to actually carry, you need to check the damn thing, or go to the gym. I believe it is dubbed “carry-on” for a reason. It is small, and convenient, and you carry the damn thing, dispensing with it quickly once you reach your seat. When these people (and I realize many of my travel-mates are these people) drag this shit behind them it creates a serious obstacle, especially when they forget they are taking up three times as much space as they should be, and stop with it right in your path. Every time one of these idiots cuts me off I am tempted to drop kick the thing and see how durable it really is. Then, most of them can’t pull it in a straight line, so when walking the aisle, they snag it at least half a dozen times on the way to their seat. As a finale, if they are feeble, they will then ask for your help to stow it in the overhead – at which point you give yourself a hernia.




So I get to Cape Town the night of the 31st. I have made no reservations. No problem. I found a place called the Road Lodge online. It is right across the street from the airport. Just so happens that a shuttle from the Lodge is picking up someone from my flight. I hitch a ride. It actually is not the hell-hole that it sounds like it might be. I’m in bed a half-hour after my plane landed. Bliss.




I sleep in and try to let my body adjust to local time. Then I get a cab in town to the Radisson. I have a few hours to burn before our first group meeting, so I go down to the Waterfront district, get a bite, walk around, and look at some fish. After I have seen enough fish, and smelled enough penguin poo, I head back to the hotel to meet my travel-mates for this trip. Typical ice-breakers and going-over of itinerary. It’s a killer, by the way. The 14 of us then go downtown to Africa Café and gorge ourselves on traditional dishes served communal style. This means I eat way more than I should, because I don’t even have to ask before eating off other people’s plates – it’s just there for the taking.


We stink!


Then to bed with my distended belly. I seem to be on local time already, so I’m not going to ruin it.

Carnality Catch-up

You know you are flying too much when you start to recognize members of the sky crew. And when they recognize you in return. And remember that you like those snack pizzas and bring you an extra one.

It was good to be back in Southville for a few days, even though I didn’t really feel “home.” Never got settled back in. Did tons of errands, paid bills, and put in way too many hours at the office. But as hard as I worked, I definitely caught up on the playing as well. As I deserved. Southville celebrated Halloween on Saturday night. I crashed some parties and drank some beer, but kept my vow not to shoot any liquor. Therefore, even though I only had two hours of sleep, I was roaring and ready to go on my next trip in the morning. In fact, this sleep deprivation was in no way related to partying. It was to deliberately upset my body-clock, so that when I arrived in South Africa I could re-set it to local time. At least it turned out that way.