January 5, Thursday

January 5, Thursday

Today I fly to Zimbabwe for my 4 day excursion to Victoria Falls, and side trip to Chobe in Botswana.   The reason I selected the Radisson Blu is that it is kitty corner from the Gautrain Station.   I left the hotel at 8:30 since I was not sure exactly at what time the trains ran (1 to the airport every 20 mintues).   My flight was at 11:25 and I had to be at the airport 2 hours before.   Everything worked out fine, there was actually a train waiting to leave for the airport, so I got there in plenty of time.   The flight was only 1 hour and 40 minutes.  
The urban sprawl lasted for about ½ an hour, then we were flying over forested areas.   At one point, about 1 hour into the flight, I got to see the tip of the Kalahari desert off to the left.  The landscape changed again, leaving forests behind and going to a flatter area, with sparser vegetation.  You could clearly see where the rivers were now because of the greener vegetation running along the banks.

I had asked for a window seat, and got one, but had a hard time seeing out because I was on top of the wing, with a big engine beside the window.

 View outside the plane's window.  What is that silver block on the wing?

  Is that duct tape ? ? ?

We landed at the airport, which is about 20 km from the town of Victoria Falls.   I had been advised by the travel agent to buy a “multiple entry visa” into Zimbabwe since I would be entering at least twice, possibly three times  (Arriving from South Africa, returning from Chobe, Botswana, returning from the Zambia side of Victoria Falls).   When we got off the plane and entered the airport (tiny by the way !)  we were sorted out into 3 lines:  one for single entry visa, one for multiple entry visa, one for no visa required or already holding a paid visa.   I said I would require a multiple entry visa so was placed into the middle line, which was short, but did  moved slower than the other two lines.   After about 15 minutes my turn came and I was advised that I could not get a multiple entry visa because I was from Canada ! ! !   It was OK if you were from the USA however, they could pay $55 for a multiple entry vs $35 for a single entry,  and be on their way.  As a Canadian (don’t know if it applies to other countries) I should have obtained the visa ahead of time.   I apologized and explained that the travel agent in South Africa had not been aware of that fact.   I was taken out of the line and told I would have to be $75 for a single entry visa.  ( I wondered why $75 for Canadians and only $55 for USA, but decided not to ask until everything had been resolved. When I asked what would happen when I went to Botswana and came back to Zimbabwe, I was told I would have to pay ANOTHER $75.  (That’s in USA funds svp !)  What the hell did the Canadian Government do to piss off Zimbabwe ?   I did not have an US funds, and I didn’t have enough South African Rands.  Sorry, no ATM machine at the airport, and they don’t accept credit cards,  something else the travel agent probably did not know.  “So what am I supposed to do?”, I asked.   The guy was really nice and asked if anyone was meeting me.  Yes !   He accompanied me past the Immigration and past the Customs areas and we went to find the company driver who was picking me up.   The guard explained the problem and asked the driver if he could pay the $75 and I would refund him once I arrived at the Hotel, by using the ATM machine.  How embarrassing !    He was very nice as well and handed me a $100 USA bill.   I accompanied the guard back to the immigration area, and had to go into the first line to give the other guard at that line my passport and $100 for processing.   This guy was NOT so nice.  He started talking to the guard who had helped me in their language, so I did not understand everything that was being said, but HE was not willing to assist.  He kept on serving the people in his line and ignored my passport.   I waited while he processed 5 other people, then politely asked him if he would make me wait until everyone in that line had been served.  HE WAS NOT AMUSED !   He started giving me hell for trying to cut in line ! ! !    I WAS NOT AMUSED !    I told him that it was not my fault that I had been placed in the wrong line, nor was it my fault that I had not been given the correct information in South Africa at the Travel Agency.   I shut up after that but I was absolutely fuming.   He processed two more people, then finally processed mine.  He had the gall to smile at me and say WELCOME TO ZIMBABWE.   I thanked him, took my passport and was about to walk away when I realized he had not given me my change !   “Excuse me sir, do I not get change from the $100?”    “Oh,  yes”  he replied ….. as if it was on oversight, and handed over the $25.   I just took it and walked away.    #*%&$(@& ! ! !
I apologized again to the gentleman who was picking me up along with others who had been on my flight and explained that I was very embarrassed about the entire thing.   Ever the gentleman, he told me not to worry, and that we would stop at an ATM machine just across from the hotel.   So, that’s what occurred and I made it to “The Kingdom Hotel” in the town of Victoria Falls.  

The hotel is SPECTACULAR !   After dropping off my backpack in my room I grabbed my camera and camcorder and went out to tour the hotel and the grounds.  The bellhop who accompanied me to my room explained a number of things and also mentioned not to leave the patio doors open because the monkeys would come in.   ! ! !   ? ? ?    Did he says monkeys…. Or was that mosquitoes ?   Oh well, the accents ARE difficult to understand at times.

  My hotel room and the deck

 View from my deck

 Main dining area, with lobby area on second floor

 One of the water features on the grounds

  Guess who owns the hotel ? !

 

 20 foot wood carvings at the entrance of the Casino & shops

  The pool area

At 4 pm I was ready to leave for the River Cruise on the Zambezi River.  There were about 12 of us from our hotel, and a lot more from other areas and tour companies.   It was only a short drive to the river and we transferred onto the double decker cruise boat.

 Cruising the Zambezi River

 This is as far down the river we got.  We could see the spray from the falls.

We were given drinks and nibbles and off we went.   We were told that if we were lucky, we might see some wild life along the way.   RIGHT !     Well, we did see a small crocodile along the banks of the Zambian side of the river.   Doesn’t matter, the river was beautiful, I was seated with two couples from Brazil who thankfully spoke Spanish, so we chatted and had a good time.   We were almost at the turning point in the river (can’t go any nearer to the falls because it would be too dangerous) when we saw some hippos.   YES,  wild hippos in the river !  

 Is the big guy trying to scare us off ?

  Head out of the water, the other one is shy and we only see its ears,  but check out those bubbles on the left of the big guy !   There is another one blowing bubbles underwater.

We went back up the river, on the other side of the island and into Zambian waters.   There was a group of boats further up river, all converging on one point, so we went up to see what it was.

  ELEPHANTS !

We moved a bit further down, maybe 30 feet, and saw that there had actually been water between us and the two Elephants

 One guy was shy and stayed near the trees

 but the other one came close to the water to eat the tender shoots of grass.

 M A G N I F I C E N T  !

After about 10 minutes we left the two elephants on the Zambian side of the river and continued to head up river.   Just a little bit further, on the Zimbabwe side, two other elephants !

 Enjoying the nice refreshing water

 After they climbed up the bank they started a play fight.  The one on the left is pulling on the tusk of the other elephant.

And just past a point in the river, yet another elephant !

 This one seemed smaller than the other four.

 He is enjoying the water as well

As we moved away from this last one, and he climbed off the river bank, we could see the back of another elephant in the forest above.   SIX elephants in all.   Just amazing.
{Sandra,  a message for Emily:   It is January 5^th today, your birthday !   I’m sure that is what brought me luck today to see all these beautiful wild animals.   Sending you an extra big hug.     “Bug”

We moved back to the Zambian side of the river at about 6:15 and stayed there to watch the sunset

 Sunset on the Zambezi River

Then we headed back downriver to our docking area.   Along the way, just as we were nearing the island in the middle of the river, we saw another pod of Hippos.  Definitely not the same as before since we are much too far.  There were at least 8 of them, possibly more.  It was hard to tell since they would come up for air, then disappear underwater again to “walk” underwater to the other side of the river.   Sorry,  don't know where those photos went ! !
Also saw an aligator, who seemed to want to attack the boat !

Despite the hick-up at the airport, I must say this was another one of those GREAT days.

It was past 7:30 when we got back to the hotel.  I had not eaten breakfast, had a very small lunch on the plane and was starving.   I decided to go straight to the dining room rather than going to my room first.  They had a huge buffet laid out, with a variety of salads, hot dishes and desserts.   I tried a white Zambezi wine but must say it was not very good.   I opted for lamb (not very good either) instead of chicken, and had roasted potatoes and butternut squash.  They serve this veggie at every meal, in the soups, salads and as a side dish.  It’s a good thing I like butternut squash.  

 One of the groups who entertained us during our meal.

Back to my room where I watched a bit of TV and then fell asleep.