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"
Friday, 27 January 2012
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.
11 Jan Wedesday D- Day or Packing day
Today is the last camping day of our ZA trip and it will be a busy day. First i had to take the MH to the Wash Rack, which i previously had made an appointment for 9 AM for a Full cleaning. However, we had to unload the MH and pile everything on the ground as we ask the Wash Rack people to clean inside and outside including a complete vacuum of the storage area. The food stuff and Fridge was left for us.
After delivering the MH to the Wash Rack we started to sort out what we would need for our trip to Victoria Falls and then decide how to arrange the other stuff so we would only have our limit of 50 Lbs in each bag. We started with 1 large Hockey bag and two smaller sports bags. This was proving to be most difficult as we appeared to have too much stuff for the bags. I really don't how that could happen. Like i told Carroll it was her fault but I blaming her anyways. ha ha. I then googled KLM to see if our bag limit was 2 per person and if i read it correctly that we are allowed 2 bags each weighing not more than 50 lbs each. So we went shopping for a 4 th bag/suit case. Now with the 4 bags we had to do some more re-arranging but I think we have the bag weight down to 50 Lb limit.
After 2 1/2 hours af packing and repacking I went and retrived the MH. They did a fantastic job and only charged 20.00 Cdn. Then we started to put the bags and other stuff back in the MH and it was about that time I realized the MH was too dam small.
Since we had to return the MH to KEA tomorrow we called to see what time we had to have it back. They said 3 PM would be great so we decided to hit the wave pool and worry about cleaning the fridge and the cupboards tomorrow. I always say " Don't do today; what you can leave for tomorrow". However, we rec a Bonus by calling the KEA office. They are really helpful and they ask if we had a hotel to say at tomorrow night. Carroll told them we called a couple but could not get thru. They said ;good, we have Guest Siutes for our customers, free of charge, and you are welcome to stay with us. We also have a kitchen so bring your supper and cook it on site. Talk about luck???
After a couple of hours at the pool we decide to see if the 5 PM Game drive had an opening and it did so we took the 2 hour game drive just to kill the evening. These are not wild animals , in fact the Rhino's was a tame as a Milking cow. However, it was an enjoyable evening.
After supper we headed back to the indoor/outdoor Hydro pool for our last swim. Actually !/2 of the crowd from the previous night must have went home because they were not there. Also we were not the only Whites in the pool. Many of the Muslum ladies go in the pool fully dressed.
Note: this may be the last Blog until I get to Okotoks because we will return the MH tomorrow and then off to Vic Falls, where i will not have a connection. I am on a Vodafone SIM card and it does not work in Zimbagwe.
After delivering the MH to the Wash Rack we started to sort out what we would need for our trip to Victoria Falls and then decide how to arrange the other stuff so we would only have our limit of 50 Lbs in each bag. We started with 1 large Hockey bag and two smaller sports bags. This was proving to be most difficult as we appeared to have too much stuff for the bags. I really don't how that could happen. Like i told Carroll it was her fault but I blaming her anyways. ha ha. I then googled KLM to see if our bag limit was 2 per person and if i read it correctly that we are allowed 2 bags each weighing not more than 50 lbs each. So we went shopping for a 4 th bag/suit case. Now with the 4 bags we had to do some more re-arranging but I think we have the bag weight down to 50 Lb limit.
After 2 1/2 hours af packing and repacking I went and retrived the MH. They did a fantastic job and only charged 20.00 Cdn. Then we started to put the bags and other stuff back in the MH and it was about that time I realized the MH was too dam small.
Since we had to return the MH to KEA tomorrow we called to see what time we had to have it back. They said 3 PM would be great so we decided to hit the wave pool and worry about cleaning the fridge and the cupboards tomorrow. I always say " Don't do today; what you can leave for tomorrow". However, we rec a Bonus by calling the KEA office. They are really helpful and they ask if we had a hotel to say at tomorrow night. Carroll told them we called a couple but could not get thru. They said ;good, we have Guest Siutes for our customers, free of charge, and you are welcome to stay with us. We also have a kitchen so bring your supper and cook it on site. Talk about luck???
After a couple of hours at the pool we decide to see if the 5 PM Game drive had an opening and it did so we took the 2 hour game drive just to kill the evening. These are not wild animals , in fact the Rhino's was a tame as a Milking cow. However, it was an enjoyable evening.
After supper we headed back to the indoor/outdoor Hydro pool for our last swim. Actually !/2 of the crowd from the previous night must have went home because they were not there. Also we were not the only Whites in the pool. Many of the Muslum ladies go in the pool fully dressed.
Note: this may be the last Blog until I get to Okotoks because we will return the MH tomorrow and then off to Vic Falls, where i will not have a connection. I am on a Vodafone SIM card and it does not work in Zimbagwe.
10 Jan move to Bela Bela
Bela Bela will be our last camp site as we will be here for 2 days to PACK and to have the MH washed and cleaned. Ironically, Bela Bela was were we stated for the first two nights of our trip. I'm sure you folks all knew that because you would have read in the Blog for 1 and 2 Nov.
To refresh your memory Bela Bela ( previously called Warmbath until the ANC gov't decide to change some city names to a Black Africa name ) has many attraction that all go with the price of admission. They have a huge hot pool for swimming, a Wave pool and a couple of small pools for toddlers. Along with the swimming they have a water slide, a Tube slide, a Single Zip line and paddles boats. For an extra fee they have Cable skiing which is water skiing pulled by a cable around a 1/2 KM oval waterway.
They have a fair size hotel and convention centre. But most of all they have 2 Olympic size Hot pools. One is inside and one is outside and they are attached by a 50 foot Isthmuis.
When Carroll and I went to the pool tonight I could not find another white person. I was not sure if I was in India or Iran. I actually thought there was some kind of Muslum/ Indian convention but I was advise otherwise. When i ask were they all came from the answer was mainly Pretoria. You probably know that Pertoria is the capital of ZA and with a large population of Muslums and or East Indians... join that up with the ANC and the minority Whites don"t have a pray about the SAY in Gov't. Enough about politics.
When we came to Bela Bela in Nov the price R160 per night and because this is "High" season the price was R360. Talk about inflation, actually they call it " screwing the Public " .
To refresh your memory Bela Bela ( previously called Warmbath until the ANC gov't decide to change some city names to a Black Africa name ) has many attraction that all go with the price of admission. They have a huge hot pool for swimming, a Wave pool and a couple of small pools for toddlers. Along with the swimming they have a water slide, a Tube slide, a Single Zip line and paddles boats. For an extra fee they have Cable skiing which is water skiing pulled by a cable around a 1/2 KM oval waterway.
They have a fair size hotel and convention centre. But most of all they have 2 Olympic size Hot pools. One is inside and one is outside and they are attached by a 50 foot Isthmuis.
When Carroll and I went to the pool tonight I could not find another white person. I was not sure if I was in India or Iran. I actually thought there was some kind of Muslum/ Indian convention but I was advise otherwise. When i ask were they all came from the answer was mainly Pretoria. You probably know that Pertoria is the capital of ZA and with a large population of Muslums and or East Indians... join that up with the ANC and the minority Whites don"t have a pray about the SAY in Gov't. Enough about politics.
When we came to Bela Bela in Nov the price R160 per night and because this is "High" season the price was R360. Talk about inflation, actually they call it " screwing the Public " .
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
9 Jan Monday Sun City
Today we went to Sun city which is Theme Park located 20 KM from the Nation Park but in the middle of NOwhere. This is a mining area , mostly platinum so why the built here is beyond me, possible because the land was available and cheap. There is a town 5 KM away but I am quite sure no one in that town can afford to go to the theme Park. The closes city is Pretoria which is about 1 1/2 hour drive and Joburg would be at least 2 hours so that would be where the majority of the patrons would be from. The theme park has a huge Hotel, some less expensive self catering chalets, a large Wave pool with a sand beach, a "Killer" watwer slide , a casino and a huge amphitheatre to watch sports and each seat has a VLT screen to take youe money as you watch sports.
Now, a little story about the Casino; Carroll plays the machine but I don't but you need to purchase a card for R20 ( 2.50 cdn ) before you can play. you then insert the card and insert your money which goes directly to this card. there are no coins nor slips of paper, it is all on the card so if you win it goes up and if you lose it is deducted. As the story goes i was standing in line with Carroll to get her card. A security lady approaches me and rambles on in Afrikan. I said "what" and she switch to English and said, turn your hat around backward. My reply was " what for". she said you are under cover, please turn you hat around backward. Carroll picked up on her request right away and said to me the camera can't see your eyes because of the peak. So i turned my hat around backwards. This was a first for me and I have been in many Casinos in several different countries.
After Carroll lost her 20.00 dollars we decide to go thru the back gate to the park which was about 30 KM from our camp site. During this self drive we had hope to see tha t wild Elephant ( just kidding ) and the every elusive leopard. We did see Elephants ( and I kept my distance ) huge Rhinos, several Giraffes, Warthogs and a Red Hartebeest which looks similar to a Wildebeest but is rarely spotted except in western ZA and this was in the north.
On out way home we decide to stop at one more Dam just to see if there were and Hippos waiting for a " Photo Op" by us tourist. The road to the Dam was about 2 KM long but was a Cul de Sac and had a 1 lane bridge. We did spot the Hippos but they could only be seen from the bridge and as luck would have 7 more tourist like ourself came behind us so I had to wait until they crossed the bridge. Just as I entered the bridge we seen an Elephant standing on the road. I looked at Carroll and said ; I seen this movie before and there is no Dam way I'm crossing the bridge first. So we waited until another car past the Elephant and i stopped him and ask where the Elephants was now as I could not see him. The driver said he was 100 M off the road so I made a run for it. No More Elephant hunting for me.
We got home around 4:30 so Carroll did a Wash as we only have 3 more days of camping before we fly to Victoria Falls. Around 7 PM we went to the resturaunt on the camp site as we are down sizing our fridge before we return the MH. I had Venision Pie with Puff Pastry for 12.00n Cdn and Carroll had pork chops for about the same price. I can't believe they can make money with these prices but I assume the waiters rely on tips.
Now, a little story about the Casino; Carroll plays the machine but I don't but you need to purchase a card for R20 ( 2.50 cdn ) before you can play. you then insert the card and insert your money which goes directly to this card. there are no coins nor slips of paper, it is all on the card so if you win it goes up and if you lose it is deducted. As the story goes i was standing in line with Carroll to get her card. A security lady approaches me and rambles on in Afrikan. I said "what" and she switch to English and said, turn your hat around backward. My reply was " what for". she said you are under cover, please turn you hat around backward. Carroll picked up on her request right away and said to me the camera can't see your eyes because of the peak. So i turned my hat around backwards. This was a first for me and I have been in many Casinos in several different countries.
After Carroll lost her 20.00 dollars we decide to go thru the back gate to the park which was about 30 KM from our camp site. During this self drive we had hope to see tha t wild Elephant ( just kidding ) and the every elusive leopard. We did see Elephants ( and I kept my distance ) huge Rhinos, several Giraffes, Warthogs and a Red Hartebeest which looks similar to a Wildebeest but is rarely spotted except in western ZA and this was in the north.
On out way home we decide to stop at one more Dam just to see if there were and Hippos waiting for a " Photo Op" by us tourist. The road to the Dam was about 2 KM long but was a Cul de Sac and had a 1 lane bridge. We did spot the Hippos but they could only be seen from the bridge and as luck would have 7 more tourist like ourself came behind us so I had to wait until they crossed the bridge. Just as I entered the bridge we seen an Elephant standing on the road. I looked at Carroll and said ; I seen this movie before and there is no Dam way I'm crossing the bridge first. So we waited until another car past the Elephant and i stopped him and ask where the Elephants was now as I could not see him. The driver said he was 100 M off the road so I made a run for it. No More Elephant hunting for me.
We got home around 4:30 so Carroll did a Wash as we only have 3 more days of camping before we fly to Victoria Falls. Around 7 PM we went to the resturaunt on the camp site as we are down sizing our fridge before we return the MH. I had Venision Pie with Puff Pastry for 12.00n Cdn and Carroll had pork chops for about the same price. I can't believe they can make money with these prices but I assume the waiters rely on tips.
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