Our plan to stop in Quartzsite, AZ was twofold. First, our friends the Carlyles where Boondocking there for a week so we would be able to have a 3 day visit and the second reason was that we had our ONT friends ( Mary and Evan ) with us and we really wanted them to see "The World Famous" Quartzsite. The trip from Laughlin to Quartzsite is a 4 hour drive thru a few small cities, which incidentally are also RV havens for some folks, mainly those interested in Golf. We first had to navagate thru the city of Needles, Ca. It is a very small city but you have to make at least 1/2 dozen left and right turns in order to get to I-40. We did have the GPS on but Carroll kept doubting it and she kept saying, " I don't remmeber going this way before". Since I have driven or I should say, negotioated this city many time before, so I ignored Carroll's complaints and just kept going. I will admit I seldom ignore Carroll's direction because she is the navigater.. period, but i do know how to get thru Needles.
As we drove thru the next city of Lake Havasu, Mary and Evan took note of this area because they were told by a few friends that they should stay here for a holiday and they did return after they left us.
Another city that was of interest to Mary and Evan , was Parker , AZ. It is right on the east side of the Colorada River with several RV resorts and many golf courses. The opposite side of the river is California and it too has golf courses and RV resorts.
We arrived in Quartzsite in the early afternoon and dropped Mary and Evan at a campsite because they were not prepared to Boondock. Then we had to find our friends who were parked somewhere in 500 acre dessert along with 1000's of other Boondockers. However, we had specific direction so it would be a piece of cake.
Here are the directions: Once you reach Quartzsite, turn left at the Stop sign, drive to the Tee junction, turn right and go over the overpass and keep going to another Tee junctions; there is a small church on your left; turn left and follow the winding paved road, about 2 KM until you see a sign on your right that says " Scaddan" ; turn right into the dessert and sign in at the "Camp Host ". At this point the Camp host fills out a card which allows you to stay free of charge for 2 weeks. From here it gets tricky because you are now in a dessert among a "Sea of Motor homes and 5 th wheels.
The directions are to follow the trail and worm you way between a green and a brown Motorhome, continue on the trail and go thru the WASH ( that is dessert talk for a dry creek or ditch ) and you will see a yellow cowboy boot hanging from a tree, continue along the trail until you see another boot hanging from a catus, continue along the trail another 500 M and our friends are parked on the right. Even though we know their 5 th wheel we could not find it so we were total lost... we think. After driving in circles for about 10 mins hoping to see our friends we finally stopped and decided to phone them.
No dam wonder we could not find them because they had just left with their trailer to dump and to reload with water at the local Dump station some 5 KM away. So we waited for them to return so we could park near them, to what would be our dessert home for the next 3 days.
This was enough travelling for today so we did a quick "Setup" including the Satellite. It was now Happy Hour so we got together with our friends and met two more couples that they were with them. After Happy Hour Carroll and I headed for the local "Eatery " for a Chicken and Ribs supper for 9.99. This resturaunt is not fancy but it serves excellent food at a great price and the seating is family style, which means grab a seat where you can find one. The resturaunt is always full.
first,
Monday, 13 February 2012
Thursday, 9 February 2012
27 th Jan off to Laughlin and Quartzsite
We left Mesquite, NV at 8:30 AM with Mary and Evan in tow. We advise them that getting thru Las Vegas was our first hurdle and to stay close once we entered the city as there was a tricky sweeping turn to get from I-15 to Hwy 515. Although I have traveled this route many , many times I still got in the wrong lane but i did a quick manevure , which incidentally, probably got me off a local residence christmas card list, and got on the right lane to get on to hwy 515. Our friends had time to get into the right lane and we were now on our way to Laughlin, NV where we would spend the night.
The trip from Las Vegas ( better known as Loss Wages ) to Laughlin is about a 1 1/2 hour drive. Hwy 515 out of Vegas ( actually Henderson ) goes to Boulder city and to the majestic Hoover Dam and then onward to Kingman AZ and eventually to Laughlin. Or you can turn off to Hwy 95 which goes to Laughlin. We always take 95, probably out of habit. This highway was upgraded from a well used 2 lane hwy to a 4 lane road shortly after 9/11 as the other road crossed the Hoover dam and the Homeland security stopped all RV and Commerical traffic from crossing the Dam hence this hwy was the only way to get from Vegas to Phoenix. As a point of interest, the US Gov't recently ( about 2 years ago ) constructed a new bridge across but away from the Hoover dam site, so traffic can now get to Kingman and Phoenix without going around thru Laughlin. This new bridge is well worth a stop as it is huge.
When we arrived in Laughlin we stopped at the parking lot of the Tropicana hotel and casino, which we had done many times in the past and it was always free. However, we were surprized at first to see such few " Boondockers" because it is normally 90 % full. And secondly, the reason became quite obvious when we found out there was a 7.00 per overnight charge to park in their lot. Seniors ( us included ) are attracted by the word free. Mary and Evan agreed to Boondock with us even thought they were not fully prepared, nor had they Boondock before. Anyway, we spent the afternoon and evening in Laughlin ( Carroll donated another 20.00 )and we agreed to depart for Quartzsite, AZ around 9 AM. Out of curiousity, Carroll and I checked out several other Casinos to see if they charged to park overnight and all but one Casino ( there about a dozen in Laughlin ) was charging 7.00 per night. Most of the casinos were "dead " compared to other years , so I'm sure the overnight charge was the reason. Did mention that Seniors are attracted by the word " Free ".
The trip from Las Vegas ( better known as Loss Wages ) to Laughlin is about a 1 1/2 hour drive. Hwy 515 out of Vegas ( actually Henderson ) goes to Boulder city and to the majestic Hoover Dam and then onward to Kingman AZ and eventually to Laughlin. Or you can turn off to Hwy 95 which goes to Laughlin. We always take 95, probably out of habit. This highway was upgraded from a well used 2 lane hwy to a 4 lane road shortly after 9/11 as the other road crossed the Hoover dam and the Homeland security stopped all RV and Commerical traffic from crossing the Dam hence this hwy was the only way to get from Vegas to Phoenix. As a point of interest, the US Gov't recently ( about 2 years ago ) constructed a new bridge across but away from the Hoover dam site, so traffic can now get to Kingman and Phoenix without going around thru Laughlin. This new bridge is well worth a stop as it is huge.
When we arrived in Laughlin we stopped at the parking lot of the Tropicana hotel and casino, which we had done many times in the past and it was always free. However, we were surprized at first to see such few " Boondockers" because it is normally 90 % full. And secondly, the reason became quite obvious when we found out there was a 7.00 per overnight charge to park in their lot. Seniors ( us included ) are attracted by the word free. Mary and Evan agreed to Boondock with us even thought they were not fully prepared, nor had they Boondock before. Anyway, we spent the afternoon and evening in Laughlin ( Carroll donated another 20.00 )and we agreed to depart for Quartzsite, AZ around 9 AM. Out of curiousity, Carroll and I checked out several other Casinos to see if they charged to park overnight and all but one Casino ( there about a dozen in Laughlin ) was charging 7.00 per night. Most of the casinos were "dead " compared to other years , so I'm sure the overnight charge was the reason. Did mention that Seniors are attracted by the word " Free ".
24 th Jan Heading South
We arrived home on the 17 th Jan but it had taken us the biggest part of a month to find the time to start the Blog again, so here goes.
We spent a week at Todd's place in Okotoks getting re-organized and re-aquainted with our family and a few friends. Clark's family was in Calgary on the weekend as Morgan and Paige had a Dancing Fesh, so we were able to watch the girls dance and have supper with the family. We also managed to get some time with Connor as he opted to go swimming, with his cousins rather than being bored watching his sister dance.
On the 24 th Jan we departed Todd's place around 6:30 AM with a target of reaching Idaho Falls by night fall. Since we left the trailer in Mesquite, NV in Oct when i was in St. Geo, UT playing ball, we made good time without the trailer and managed to get to Idaho Falls with mainly clear roads. We had about 30 KM of snow covered roads going thru the Manida Pass but other than that it was clear roads all the way.
I did make a pit stop at the Cdn Duty Free to pick up a couple of cheap ( less expensive ) bottles of RYE. So we stayed at the Comfort Inn , in Idaho Falls, since we had enough points for a free room. Of course it snowed during the night but only a light dusting.
25 th Jan..... We again departed Idaho Falls early so we could reach Mesquite , NV before dark were we thought we might pick up our trailer from the storage lot. However, when we reached Mequite we decide to check out the price of a room and it was 26.00. A camp site was $22.00 so it was a no Brainer. We immediately decided to take the room and get the trailer in the morning. After, checking in and having supper, Carroll decide to donate $20.00 to the casino so i went to a nearby Macdonld's to take advantage of their Free WiFi. While perusing my email I overheard a couple having trouble getting a connection so I ask if they needed assistance. I knew they were Cdns because the man was wearing a CANADA hockey sweater. ( Just to be clear.... Yes this couple are now our friends but the story gets better.) They accepted my charity and i show them how to access Macdonald's. They did not realize that they had to check " I agree ". Before I left Macdonald's they ask if i would meet them in the morning to help get on the web site again, so I agreed. Yes, Carroll donated the $20.00.
26 th Jan..... After breakfast, Carroll and I meet the couple ( now called Mary and Evan Roy , a nurse and a farmer from Ontario ).During our 1/2 to 3/4 hour chat we found out they sold their farm in Melborne and bought 600 arces in new Liskard, ON. However, they were in Calgary and the Peace River, visiting their two boys and decided ( as apposed to planning )to take a trip to southern USA for a couple of months. We thought we could give them some tips on where to go and were to camp since they had never been down this way before. We then agreed to meet for supper and we would enlighten them.
Carroll and I retrieved our trailer and moved it to a local camp site, where we had to do a bit of cleaning, and to unpack our bags with the clothes we had brought with us. Next we had to do a large grocery shopping but first I had to get the truck washed. It was still dirty and to be perfectly honest, it was a mess from the slushy streets in Calgary. There was a Wash Rack about 200 M from the grocery store and he offered to clean it, both inside and outside for $12.00 . I just said.. get at it.
After getting the trailer sorted out and swapping a few lies with our camping nieghbours in the camp ground, from AB, it was time for supper with our new found friends. During supper we offered and they acceted the offer, for us to lead them as far south as Quartzsite, AZ; a place they had heard about and were anxious to visit. We agreed to leave at 8:30 in the morning and bid them goodnight. Carroll donate another $20.00
We spent a week at Todd's place in Okotoks getting re-organized and re-aquainted with our family and a few friends. Clark's family was in Calgary on the weekend as Morgan and Paige had a Dancing Fesh, so we were able to watch the girls dance and have supper with the family. We also managed to get some time with Connor as he opted to go swimming, with his cousins rather than being bored watching his sister dance.
On the 24 th Jan we departed Todd's place around 6:30 AM with a target of reaching Idaho Falls by night fall. Since we left the trailer in Mesquite, NV in Oct when i was in St. Geo, UT playing ball, we made good time without the trailer and managed to get to Idaho Falls with mainly clear roads. We had about 30 KM of snow covered roads going thru the Manida Pass but other than that it was clear roads all the way.
I did make a pit stop at the Cdn Duty Free to pick up a couple of cheap ( less expensive ) bottles of RYE. So we stayed at the Comfort Inn , in Idaho Falls, since we had enough points for a free room. Of course it snowed during the night but only a light dusting.
25 th Jan..... We again departed Idaho Falls early so we could reach Mesquite , NV before dark were we thought we might pick up our trailer from the storage lot. However, when we reached Mequite we decide to check out the price of a room and it was 26.00. A camp site was $22.00 so it was a no Brainer. We immediately decided to take the room and get the trailer in the morning. After, checking in and having supper, Carroll decide to donate $20.00 to the casino so i went to a nearby Macdonld's to take advantage of their Free WiFi. While perusing my email I overheard a couple having trouble getting a connection so I ask if they needed assistance. I knew they were Cdns because the man was wearing a CANADA hockey sweater. ( Just to be clear.... Yes this couple are now our friends but the story gets better.) They accepted my charity and i show them how to access Macdonald's. They did not realize that they had to check " I agree ". Before I left Macdonald's they ask if i would meet them in the morning to help get on the web site again, so I agreed. Yes, Carroll donated the $20.00.
26 th Jan..... After breakfast, Carroll and I meet the couple ( now called Mary and Evan Roy , a nurse and a farmer from Ontario ).During our 1/2 to 3/4 hour chat we found out they sold their farm in Melborne and bought 600 arces in new Liskard, ON. However, they were in Calgary and the Peace River, visiting their two boys and decided ( as apposed to planning )to take a trip to southern USA for a couple of months. We thought we could give them some tips on where to go and were to camp since they had never been down this way before. We then agreed to meet for supper and we would enlighten them.
Carroll and I retrieved our trailer and moved it to a local camp site, where we had to do a bit of cleaning, and to unpack our bags with the clothes we had brought with us. Next we had to do a large grocery shopping but first I had to get the truck washed. It was still dirty and to be perfectly honest, it was a mess from the slushy streets in Calgary. There was a Wash Rack about 200 M from the grocery store and he offered to clean it, both inside and outside for $12.00 . I just said.. get at it.
After getting the trailer sorted out and swapping a few lies with our camping nieghbours in the camp ground, from AB, it was time for supper with our new found friends. During supper we offered and they acceted the offer, for us to lead them as far south as Quartzsite, AZ; a place they had heard about and were anxious to visit. We agreed to leave at 8:30 in the morning and bid them goodnight. Carroll donate another $20.00
Friday, 27 January 2012
16 Jan 2012- The flight Home
It is hard to believe that a week and half has passed since we were sitiing in the Joburg airport waiting on our Midnight launch time to fly back to Calgary. But i finally found time to close out the final chapter of out trip to ZA as i am sitting in MacDonld's in Laughlin , NV on our way to Yuma.
Anyhow our 20 hour boring flight got airborne at 10 min after midnight and our first leg was an 11 hour ride with a 2 hour stop in Amsterdam. Most of the trip was uneventful as most of the Brats, excuse me, kids , were sleeping. Althought they fed us twice both Carroll and i managed to get a few hours sleep.
After leaving Amsterdam for the 9 hour flight to Calgary, which swear was at least 2 days long and noisey, we were finally on our way home. I believe they purposely awoke all the kids and fed the candy and coffee, especially the 2 located 2 seats in front of us because they hollered and screamed most of the flight, hence, no sleep time.
We arrived in Calgary at 3 PM and the temp was - 33 C and our bodies went into shock. After spending 3 months in shorts and tee shirt, the cold temp seemed to go thru us like a knife. Yvonne, Emily and Rhett met us at the airport and she brought us coats, mitts and hats which was much appreciated.
I think i got caught in the Jet Lag syndrome because I could not get much sleep for the next three days.
As most of you know, we intended to head south until apr so my next Blog with start with our trip south effective Tuesday. South Africa is a wonderful country and i think everyone should add it to your " Bucket List"
Anyhow our 20 hour boring flight got airborne at 10 min after midnight and our first leg was an 11 hour ride with a 2 hour stop in Amsterdam. Most of the trip was uneventful as most of the Brats, excuse me, kids , were sleeping. Althought they fed us twice both Carroll and i managed to get a few hours sleep.
After leaving Amsterdam for the 9 hour flight to Calgary, which swear was at least 2 days long and noisey, we were finally on our way home. I believe they purposely awoke all the kids and fed the candy and coffee, especially the 2 located 2 seats in front of us because they hollered and screamed most of the flight, hence, no sleep time.
We arrived in Calgary at 3 PM and the temp was - 33 C and our bodies went into shock. After spending 3 months in shorts and tee shirt, the cold temp seemed to go thru us like a knife. Yvonne, Emily and Rhett met us at the airport and she brought us coats, mitts and hats which was much appreciated.
I think i got caught in the Jet Lag syndrome because I could not get much sleep for the next three days.
As most of you know, we intended to head south until apr so my next Blog with start with our trip south effective Tuesday. South Africa is a wonderful country and i think everyone should add it to your " Bucket List"
Monday, 16 January 2012
15 Jan Sunday.... Victoria Falls
I know that my last Blog said no more blogs until I get to Okotoks but I'm sitting in the Joburg airport in the KLM "Slow Lounge" with nothing to do but drink Beer, Jack Daniels and Tea in that order so I will do my Sunday blog.
Sunday morning after breakfast our guide picked us up for a trip to the World famous Victoria Falls and they certainly are great. But first the guide had to pick up 7 other people around town. The next 2 ladies were ready as there pick up time was about 2 mins after us. Then we moved to the Kingdom hotel to pickup a couple and their adult son ( and I use the word adult loosely ).
The couple were ready but the son was nowhere to be seen. After 5 mins the driver said to go get him and i will return after I pickup another couple. In less than 5 mins we return and still no son. So we waited and waited and after about 10 mins this idiot finally showed up. Even after the driver ask him to hurry he just saundered.
The trip to the Falls is just a few mins away but we needed two hours to walk the entire lenght of the Falls and take time to shoot some Pics and we had to be back to our hotel to catch a Bus to the airport by 11:15.
Now we get to the Falls and we are behind time so the guide pushes us to keep moving because there are 16 lookout points to take some pics. We did have time to shoot as many pics as we wanted but we hurried from one spot to another. Now the idiot and his parents and another couple where from Argentia so they where guided by a Spanish speaking guide. I'll get to the Falls in a min. The Argentias must have taken their sweet time because they where 20 mins behind us. By this time our driver/guide is getting mad so he tells they to hurry and they don't give a dam. Instead of getting in the bus they go to watch some dancers performing in the parking lot; then they decide to buy a CD. Finally the driver tells them that some of his passagers have to get to the airport so please get in and they did. I was told later that Argentias are like that.
Now for the Falls: Victoria falls is much like Niagara Falls ( but much bigger ) in that it dives two countries. Fhe Falls is located in the Zambea river which divides Zimbabwe and Zambeze, however, the majority of the Falls is in Zimbabwe. There are actually 7 set of Falls, all have a name of course and they are at different heights, albeiit by several metres. The shortest is 70 M and the highest is 107 M. These Falls set up such a spray that it actually rains down on you as you are very close to the edge. There are 16 lookout points from where you can take some pics but you are so close you can not alway see where the sheet of water hits the river. The noise is deafing. After the water/river passes over the falls it then joins another river running thru a gorge and this povides a venue for white water rafting. I spoke to a guy who went rafting and he says it is so wild that you will definitly get thrown out of the boat in some of the rapids.
This was a great experience and well worth the money. It would have been ashame to come all this way and not see this "Wonder of the World".
We did manage to get to the airport on time and flew back to Joburg where we rented a car or what passes for a car in this country. I ask for a spare "Bobbin" as i thought it was too small to fit an engine in it. It did hold our 4 peices of luggage. Then we drove to the store and picked up supper and returned to the KEA Rental lot where they graciously gave us suite for the night. This was all prearranged before we left. After three days of running for 12 to 14 hours we were quite content to just rest for the evening. Another chapter in our travels come to a conclusion. Tomorrow we fly home.
Sunday morning after breakfast our guide picked us up for a trip to the World famous Victoria Falls and they certainly are great. But first the guide had to pick up 7 other people around town. The next 2 ladies were ready as there pick up time was about 2 mins after us. Then we moved to the Kingdom hotel to pickup a couple and their adult son ( and I use the word adult loosely ).
The couple were ready but the son was nowhere to be seen. After 5 mins the driver said to go get him and i will return after I pickup another couple. In less than 5 mins we return and still no son. So we waited and waited and after about 10 mins this idiot finally showed up. Even after the driver ask him to hurry he just saundered.
The trip to the Falls is just a few mins away but we needed two hours to walk the entire lenght of the Falls and take time to shoot some Pics and we had to be back to our hotel to catch a Bus to the airport by 11:15.
Now we get to the Falls and we are behind time so the guide pushes us to keep moving because there are 16 lookout points to take some pics. We did have time to shoot as many pics as we wanted but we hurried from one spot to another. Now the idiot and his parents and another couple where from Argentia so they where guided by a Spanish speaking guide. I'll get to the Falls in a min. The Argentias must have taken their sweet time because they where 20 mins behind us. By this time our driver/guide is getting mad so he tells they to hurry and they don't give a dam. Instead of getting in the bus they go to watch some dancers performing in the parking lot; then they decide to buy a CD. Finally the driver tells them that some of his passagers have to get to the airport so please get in and they did. I was told later that Argentias are like that.
Now for the Falls: Victoria falls is much like Niagara Falls ( but much bigger ) in that it dives two countries. Fhe Falls is located in the Zambea river which divides Zimbabwe and Zambeze, however, the majority of the Falls is in Zimbabwe. There are actually 7 set of Falls, all have a name of course and they are at different heights, albeiit by several metres. The shortest is 70 M and the highest is 107 M. These Falls set up such a spray that it actually rains down on you as you are very close to the edge. There are 16 lookout points from where you can take some pics but you are so close you can not alway see where the sheet of water hits the river. The noise is deafing. After the water/river passes over the falls it then joins another river running thru a gorge and this povides a venue for white water rafting. I spoke to a guy who went rafting and he says it is so wild that you will definitly get thrown out of the boat in some of the rapids.
This was a great experience and well worth the money. It would have been ashame to come all this way and not see this "Wonder of the World".
We did manage to get to the airport on time and flew back to Joburg where we rented a car or what passes for a car in this country. I ask for a spare "Bobbin" as i thought it was too small to fit an engine in it. It did hold our 4 peices of luggage. Then we drove to the store and picked up supper and returned to the KEA Rental lot where they graciously gave us suite for the night. This was all prearranged before we left. After three days of running for 12 to 14 hours we were quite content to just rest for the evening. Another chapter in our travels come to a conclusion. Tomorrow we fly home.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
13 and 14 th Jan Friday.. Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe
We had a great sleep in our Five Star suite, compliments of KEA rentals. After breakfast we repacked/rechecked our luggage to make sure we has the right things and enough things for our trip to Vic Falls. After living in a MH for 2 1/2 months, a suite case was kind of a novelty to us. Besides we were only taking one suite case so whatever did not fit did not go.KEA was taking us to the airport so we had a pickup at 9:15 AM for our 11:30 flight. We flew British Airlines and they are comparable to Air Canada but some friends we met said that BA is not as bad as United.
We arrived in Vic Falls, Zimbabwe at 1:30 and it took us an hour to get there immigration and we had to pay 75.00 USD per person for a Visa. More on that story later.
We had a packaged deal that include all the meals; a Sunset Cruise ( actually a boat ride) on the Zambeze river on Sat evening and a guided tour of the Falls on Sat and then a traditional supper ( called a BOMA dinner ) on Sat evening. Carroll got to thinking ( and that is dangerous )about all the spare time we would have so she ask the Bus driver, who picked us at the airport if we could change our timing and he said "absolutely" . So we took the Sunset cruise at 5 PM Friday and changed the guided tour of the Falls to sunday morning since we were not leaving until 1:30 PM to return to Joburg. Now we had all day Sat to kill so the Bus driver suggest we go to Botawana as he was taking a group of 7 and had extra seats at a cost of 175.00 USD per person. Did I mention the a trip to Zimbabwe is not cheap. Anyway We took the deal so now we are set for the 3 days.
About 4;30 the bus picked us up at our hotel along with a few others for the Boat Cruise at 5PM. We just happen to say hello to a young couple from Solvakia ( who spoke fluid English) on the Bus so we invited thenm to our table on the cruise. They were very interesting couple as she is an executive with Johnson Controls and she is part of a Team working for the next to in Joburg as the make car parks for the car manufacturers in South Africa. He is a self employed Mechanical Designer. After the Boat Cruise we returned to the hotel called the Safria Lodge and had supper around 8 PM. The hotel is built on a hill overlooking a forest and a small watering hole for the "wild " aninals , if warthogs and baboons are still considered wild aninals. All meals were 3 course and I had Impala (antelope ) verison steak and Carroll had Filet Mangon. the cost was 48 USD, althought our meals were include. I tell you right now that Zimbabwe does not have a currency so they prefer USD but will accept the ZA Rand, reluctantly.
Saturday 14 th
Since we had to leave at 7 AM on Saturday for our trip to Botawana, some 70 KM away, we had to order a "Takeout " since the kitchen did not open until 7 AM. The downside was that we had to eat it before we got to Botawana as we could not take food into the country but the driver never mentioned it until we got to the Border so we had to leave it on the bus. since this bus could not cross the border, he and his family had a good meal on us.
I should mention at this time that the others on the trip with us were: a couple from Castlegar, BC: the young Solvak couple; a mother and daughter from Austria; and a young man from Japan.
Crossing into Botswana was easy. We just filled out the normal form and he stamped out passports and that was it. The Botawana bus driver then took us to the Marina lodge were we would pre order a 3 course lunch including beer and then board a boat for a 3 hour boat ride to see wild animals along the river and to get an history lesson on the Chobe river and the national Park including the land and water dispute between Botswana and Namiba. This dispute had to be settled by the World Court in the Hague. Both countries are now happy with the Agreement. There is a point on the Chobe river were it joins the Zanbeze river that all 4 countries actually meet. That is Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namiba and Zambia. It is the only place in the World where this occurs. The best part of the river cruise was that we seen and where within a 100 KM of a herd ( more than 35 but less than 50 )of Hippos grazing on the island in the river. This is rare because Hippos normal stay in the water but apparently they will grass if the grass is pentiful and near their watering hole; this case the river. It was at this point where our camera batties went dead so no camera for the rest of the day because our spare batties were in Joburg. However, all 3 couple are sending us the pictures and the couple from Castlegar are sending us a disk so we will definetly have enough pictures.
At 12;30 we returned to the Marina Lodge for our lunch which was great. At 1;30 we were picked up by a Game Drive vehicle and taken to Chobe National Park for another game drive for 2 1/2 hours. The park covers 11000 sq KM and has 60,000 Elephants. Do you think we seen any Elephants? The only wild animal that does not live in Chobe N.P. is the Leopard.
Now we have to return to Zimbabwe and the immigration is no more freindly than it was yesterday. They charged us another 75 USD each to get another Visa. Canadian are charged the highest rate and do not get a "Double entery " because Mr. harper has decided to Bad Mouth president Mugabe about his " Human Rights" policies. As an example the US citizen only pay 30.00 and can get a "double Entery".
When we returned to Vic falls, I ask the bus driver to stop at a camera store so I could get sone batties. this is a small town so he didn't think i would have any luck, especially since it was after 5 PM. While driving down the street we spotted a small Kiosk that said Camera and Bike Hire so we stopped. But it was closed so the driver ask some kids if the knew where the owner live. One kids said he did so he went and got the owner who open his shop and sold me the batteries. Just try to get that kind of service in Canada.
Tonight we are going to a " Traditional " dinner called a BOMA. (Don't even ask what it means ). Reservation was 7:30 so we were pickup and delivered to the BOMA House. We were met by a warrior ushered us in, then a young lady " Warrior " dapped some paint on our face and another Warrior wrapped and tied a shawl around us so we looked like them. Now for the food; They had a beautiful layout of food, including cooking a lamd over an open fire inside the building. it was buffet style and it had many of the eadible wild meat in Africa such as Alligator, Warthog, several species of Antelope, Guiney Fowl ( a wild chicken ). I had to taste some Traditional home made beer but it taste like dish water. During our meal there was Traditonal Dancing and much playing of the Bongo Drums. It was most enjoyable evening
History: Botswana has a population of 2 Million and their main industries are diamond mining and tourisum. They have a Democratic gov't which is not corupt or self fulfilling as is so in Zimbabwe. According to the Game driver the people are happy with the PM and the gov't.
Zimbabge has a terrible gov't and it shows. We had to pay 30.00USD to visit the Falls because it is a national park so I ask the driver where does the money. He said, you never ask a gov't offical about money because it is hazardous to your health and well-being . One good point about Zimbabwe is that when it was Rodesia and Smith was the President, ( before Mugabe ) he had all the blacks educated to the British standard , hence they are well educated. ZA on the other had spent less money on educating the blacks and the country is now paying for it by having so many under educated.
My next blog will be from Canada.
We arrived in Vic Falls, Zimbabwe at 1:30 and it took us an hour to get there immigration and we had to pay 75.00 USD per person for a Visa. More on that story later.
We had a packaged deal that include all the meals; a Sunset Cruise ( actually a boat ride) on the Zambeze river on Sat evening and a guided tour of the Falls on Sat and then a traditional supper ( called a BOMA dinner ) on Sat evening. Carroll got to thinking ( and that is dangerous )about all the spare time we would have so she ask the Bus driver, who picked us at the airport if we could change our timing and he said "absolutely" . So we took the Sunset cruise at 5 PM Friday and changed the guided tour of the Falls to sunday morning since we were not leaving until 1:30 PM to return to Joburg. Now we had all day Sat to kill so the Bus driver suggest we go to Botawana as he was taking a group of 7 and had extra seats at a cost of 175.00 USD per person. Did I mention the a trip to Zimbabwe is not cheap. Anyway We took the deal so now we are set for the 3 days.
About 4;30 the bus picked us up at our hotel along with a few others for the Boat Cruise at 5PM. We just happen to say hello to a young couple from Solvakia ( who spoke fluid English) on the Bus so we invited thenm to our table on the cruise. They were very interesting couple as she is an executive with Johnson Controls and she is part of a Team working for the next to in Joburg as the make car parks for the car manufacturers in South Africa. He is a self employed Mechanical Designer. After the Boat Cruise we returned to the hotel called the Safria Lodge and had supper around 8 PM. The hotel is built on a hill overlooking a forest and a small watering hole for the "wild " aninals , if warthogs and baboons are still considered wild aninals. All meals were 3 course and I had Impala (antelope ) verison steak and Carroll had Filet Mangon. the cost was 48 USD, althought our meals were include. I tell you right now that Zimbabwe does not have a currency so they prefer USD but will accept the ZA Rand, reluctantly.
Saturday 14 th
Since we had to leave at 7 AM on Saturday for our trip to Botawana, some 70 KM away, we had to order a "Takeout " since the kitchen did not open until 7 AM. The downside was that we had to eat it before we got to Botawana as we could not take food into the country but the driver never mentioned it until we got to the Border so we had to leave it on the bus. since this bus could not cross the border, he and his family had a good meal on us.
I should mention at this time that the others on the trip with us were: a couple from Castlegar, BC: the young Solvak couple; a mother and daughter from Austria; and a young man from Japan.
Crossing into Botswana was easy. We just filled out the normal form and he stamped out passports and that was it. The Botawana bus driver then took us to the Marina lodge were we would pre order a 3 course lunch including beer and then board a boat for a 3 hour boat ride to see wild animals along the river and to get an history lesson on the Chobe river and the national Park including the land and water dispute between Botswana and Namiba. This dispute had to be settled by the World Court in the Hague. Both countries are now happy with the Agreement. There is a point on the Chobe river were it joins the Zanbeze river that all 4 countries actually meet. That is Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namiba and Zambia. It is the only place in the World where this occurs. The best part of the river cruise was that we seen and where within a 100 KM of a herd ( more than 35 but less than 50 )of Hippos grazing on the island in the river. This is rare because Hippos normal stay in the water but apparently they will grass if the grass is pentiful and near their watering hole; this case the river. It was at this point where our camera batties went dead so no camera for the rest of the day because our spare batties were in Joburg. However, all 3 couple are sending us the pictures and the couple from Castlegar are sending us a disk so we will definetly have enough pictures.
At 12;30 we returned to the Marina Lodge for our lunch which was great. At 1;30 we were picked up by a Game Drive vehicle and taken to Chobe National Park for another game drive for 2 1/2 hours. The park covers 11000 sq KM and has 60,000 Elephants. Do you think we seen any Elephants? The only wild animal that does not live in Chobe N.P. is the Leopard.
Now we have to return to Zimbabwe and the immigration is no more freindly than it was yesterday. They charged us another 75 USD each to get another Visa. Canadian are charged the highest rate and do not get a "Double entery " because Mr. harper has decided to Bad Mouth president Mugabe about his " Human Rights" policies. As an example the US citizen only pay 30.00 and can get a "double Entery".
When we returned to Vic falls, I ask the bus driver to stop at a camera store so I could get sone batties. this is a small town so he didn't think i would have any luck, especially since it was after 5 PM. While driving down the street we spotted a small Kiosk that said Camera and Bike Hire so we stopped. But it was closed so the driver ask some kids if the knew where the owner live. One kids said he did so he went and got the owner who open his shop and sold me the batteries. Just try to get that kind of service in Canada.
Tonight we are going to a " Traditional " dinner called a BOMA. (Don't even ask what it means ). Reservation was 7:30 so we were pickup and delivered to the BOMA House. We were met by a warrior ushered us in, then a young lady " Warrior " dapped some paint on our face and another Warrior wrapped and tied a shawl around us so we looked like them. Now for the food; They had a beautiful layout of food, including cooking a lamd over an open fire inside the building. it was buffet style and it had many of the eadible wild meat in Africa such as Alligator, Warthog, several species of Antelope, Guiney Fowl ( a wild chicken ). I had to taste some Traditional home made beer but it taste like dish water. During our meal there was Traditonal Dancing and much playing of the Bongo Drums. It was most enjoyable evening
History: Botswana has a population of 2 Million and their main industries are diamond mining and tourisum. They have a Democratic gov't which is not corupt or self fulfilling as is so in Zimbabwe. According to the Game driver the people are happy with the PM and the gov't.
Zimbabge has a terrible gov't and it shows. We had to pay 30.00USD to visit the Falls because it is a national park so I ask the driver where does the money. He said, you never ask a gov't offical about money because it is hazardous to your health and well-being . One good point about Zimbabwe is that when it was Rodesia and Smith was the President, ( before Mugabe ) he had all the blacks educated to the British standard , hence they are well educated. ZA on the other had spent less money on educating the blacks and the country is now paying for it by having so many under educated.
My next blog will be from Canada.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
12 Jan Thursday End of our Camping
Today we return the MH to KEA around 3 PM. I'm not sure what to expect but I know it will take an hour for the paperwork. First they will do an inventory of all the cutlery, chairs, bedding etc. Then they check for damages and ensure the fuel is FULL. Anyways, there is no hurry as we are only about 150 KM from Joburg. We left the fridge for today as we had to defrost it and do a cleaning. We have some food stuff to keep cool until we get to KEA.
By 11 AM we were ready to go so we stopped at the Camp resturaunt had lunch then headed for Joburg.
We arrived in Joburg around 2:30 and went to the grocery store ( Pick and Pay ) to pick up something for supper because KEA not only has a room for us, but they also have a kitchen for us to cook/make supper since we would not be going any place until tomorrow morning.
Then we arrived at KEA and they were waiting for us. We backed into the inspection bldg which is also the guest accommodation. First they show us the guest quarters and I was floored. This is a 5 star room and it could have been the Raddison or the Hilton, and most import, it is free. The kitchen is fully furnish and design like any upscale home in Canada.
So we unloaded our 4 bags and other paraphnalia so they could actually see inside the MH and then proceded with the paperwork. As expected everything was fine.
They gave us a key for the bldg so when we return on the 15 th we can come back to stay overnight again and they will take us to the airport tomorrow morning. We whiled away the night by having supper and doing my Blog and Carroll spent her time organizing the bills to get our VAT ( this is the same as our GST )tax back at the airport.
As Carroll said as we hit the bed; finally a real bed to sleep in. there was nothing wrong with bed in the camper, but a 6 inch foam is not a 12 inch "pillow top " matress. Tomorrow we go to Victoria Falls.
By 11 AM we were ready to go so we stopped at the Camp resturaunt had lunch then headed for Joburg.
We arrived in Joburg around 2:30 and went to the grocery store ( Pick and Pay ) to pick up something for supper because KEA not only has a room for us, but they also have a kitchen for us to cook/make supper since we would not be going any place until tomorrow morning.
Then we arrived at KEA and they were waiting for us. We backed into the inspection bldg which is also the guest accommodation. First they show us the guest quarters and I was floored. This is a 5 star room and it could have been the Raddison or the Hilton, and most import, it is free. The kitchen is fully furnish and design like any upscale home in Canada.
So we unloaded our 4 bags and other paraphnalia so they could actually see inside the MH and then proceded with the paperwork. As expected everything was fine.
They gave us a key for the bldg so when we return on the 15 th we can come back to stay overnight again and they will take us to the airport tomorrow morning. We whiled away the night by having supper and doing my Blog and Carroll spent her time organizing the bills to get our VAT ( this is the same as our GST )tax back at the airport.
As Carroll said as we hit the bed; finally a real bed to sleep in. there was nothing wrong with bed in the camper, but a 6 inch foam is not a 12 inch "pillow top " matress. Tomorrow we go to Victoria Falls.
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