Chateaus and Cathedrals – A French Pilgrimage

Still struggling to keep up with the blog writing. Since I’m not sitting in a truck travelling through Africa for hours at a time I don’t have the copious amounts of time to sit and write. So many other distractions! Now leaving France* so will cover quite a few days of French adventures. [Also having real problems finding good internet recently - nearly been African standards when trying to upload photos so no photos this blog unfortunately]

 Saumur

Was picked up with no problems after getting out of the TGV train at Angers. I’ve joined some friends and their parents as they travel around Europe and it was quite a task fitting in the luggage into the people mover. Bit like a puzzle, making sure the bags fit but the convenience of having our own car to go where we want is a pleasant change from Africa. Another improvement has been the accommodation – all of the places have been incredibly researched and booked over a year ago so we’ve been staying in some pretty fantastic hotels and apartments/houses. The first night in Saumur was a great introduction to the new style of holidaying as the house was situated above the river Loire next to a chateau.

Next day we headed to a tank museum which was pretty cool. Was getting antsy since couldn’t climb onto to these behemoths of machinery but luckily found a kids section where you climb through some of them. One thing that is becoming evident is that it’s definitely not peak travel time – and there are hardly any crowds anywhere. Unfortunately quite a few attractions close over this time as we found out later – the curse of November.

 Vilandry Gardens

We re-joined the rest of the group (since amazingly not everyone was interested in tanks…) and visited this nice garden and chateau complex. Some crazy carp in the water as well as meticulously trimmed hedges and gardens were the highlights. There was also a maze which seemed very exciting until we arrived and completed the maze in about 5 seconds. You weren’t supposed to race through but enjoy the serenity of the passageways. Still don’t get it…

Chataeu d’Azay Le Rideau

This blog could have easily included 30+ photos but since I couldn’t be bothered to upload them all and one chateau begins to look like another one had to cull the photos. One of my favourite photos was this chateau – all the places we’ve visited have been very well restored and maintained.

 

(chateau reflection)

It’s just been such a change of scenery and attractions from Africa - it’s all very exciting. The rest of the group have been in Europe for nearly 2 months so have been a bit more exposed to cathedrals and castles so it’s a bit like I was with game drives at the end of Africa.

 Chateau Chambourd

Another day, another couple of chateaus. Chambourd was massive with some impressive architecture and incredible number of rooms. One of the best staircases wound like a double helix through the main keep and the warm fireplaces inside were fantastic.

 

(Chambourd with its numerous turrets)

The weather has been incredible for this time of year in Europe. Don’t want to jinx it too much but it’s making me believe more and more in global warming.

Chateau Cheverny

2nd chateau for the day and famous for its link with Tin-Tin. Don’t know enough about that comic but will watch the movie and see if I can recognise anything. Even more fascinating were the hounds that we saw being fed. Talk about madness with so many dogs fighting for food.

Le Puy-en-Velay

Next day we headed to another quaint French village and had accommodation on the edge of the old city. Unfortunately the curse of November hit and all the attractions we were excited to see were closed – some by only a day. There was a massive statue on the top of a hill you could supposedly climb into and look out the eyes/head (much like the Statue of Liberty) and another chapel perched on the top of the rock mountain. The chapel reminded me of Meteora cathedrals. Got a photo of the monastery lit up at night – had to spend a fair amount of time getting the camera to take a somewhat decent photo.

(night photo of monastery after many attempts)

Driving Day through Mountains

After 2 nights in Le Puy we continued heading towards Spain by driving through some mountain passes. One of these was used in the most recent Tour de France and it’s amazing to see the roads the cyclists had to race up. Seeing the race on the TV gives you no idea how steep the roads are. The pass we crossed was supposedly infamous this year since a French TV car took out some racers. After driving to the top of a 2nd pass we rashly decided to climb a mountain peak called Puy-Mary. Wasn’t a very long climb but I wasn’t at all prepared and with the steps being a bit tricky and slippery I was very glad to get to the top.

(view from the top)

Just as we were beginning the climb two fighter jets roared through the valley. Didn’t know what the sound was until we saw these planes banking through the pass and flying off into the distance. Shame we weren’t at the top and been above the jets – no chance of me being quick enough and getting a photo of them unfortunately.

Sarlat

I’d been fighting a bit of a cold after leaving London (always get sick when I transit through London… or maybe when I have a long flight which always seems to end up in the UK) and it eventually knocked me out in another nice village called Sarlat. Managed to visit some great places like Domme, Beynac and Rocamadour which were all a bit similar in that they were built into the side of a mountain. The most exciting was Rocamadour where we spent a fair amount of time – luckily there were funiculars that saved a lot of stair climbing.

(top of Castle at Rocamadour)

Drive to Carcassonne

Continuing on with the trend of castles and cathedrals we headed to one of the best known French villages of Carcassonne which has its old city completely enclosed in fantastic walls. Along the way we stopped at Cahores which had an impressive medieval bridge and then had lunch at Albi. Albi’s claim to fame is a combination of a cathedral and a castle – it’s a hugely fortified brick church. It has the doubly French declaration in that it is the biggest brick building in France as well as having the largest organ in France. Listened to some Bach organ music in the car after visiting here.

(Albi’s Cathedral and Ruined archway)

We arrived at our amazing accommodation - a fantastic villa just outside the walled city of Carcassonne. One of the rooms in the triple level building had views towards the castle. Problem was however the heating had been set for sub-arctic conditions and the house was like an oven. After opening doors and windows and turning some of the heaters off we managed to somewhat reduce the sweating.

Carcassonne

The problem with travelling at this time of year is a lot of the villages are fairly shut up after dark. We had to find dinner and thought we’d save eating in the walled town on the top of the hill for a later night so headed down to the city by the river. The city was in a complete grid of really dark streets – and with a bit of rain falling had quite a spooky feel. The trip advisor recommended restaurants were all shut so we wandered the streets a bit and eventually found a really up-market French restaurant situated in some old stables. Bit of a bizarre experience but the food was pretty good.

We had a full day free to wander the town of Carcassonne. Quite an amazing walled town that you can walk around very quickly. Went to the proper castle and strolled around the ramparts taking lots of photos.

 

(Walls and Gates – yet another photo folder full)

Left the castle and began my Carcassonne mission. The mission was to find the game of Carcassonne – thought it would be a great souvenir to buy the game from Carcassonne (and honestly didn’t think it would be Mission Impossible). After asking pretty much everyone in the walled section and being sent all over the town we stumbled upon a shop that was selling the game and its 6 expansions. Unfortunately the closest I got to those games was looking at them longingly through the window since the November curse had descended on that shop. It didn’t open at all that day or by 10:30 the following morning when we had to leave.

So we headed down to the river part of town and eventually (after asking at the tourist information desk) found a bookshop that sold the game. Even got to play it that night. Took this photo looking back up at the walled part of town. Some fantastic photo opportunities or vistas to paint/draw if you’re into artistic things.

(Full view of Old City of Carcassonne)

Now heading to Barcelona before ducking back into France for our final 2 nights of French accommodation this trip. [Wasted so many days waiting for decent internet - eventually given up with photos...]

The Rookie Mistake… (Abridged)

I’m sitting here trying to write this blog when I know I’ve committed the unpardonable crime of blog writing. I’ve left my updates for too long and have felt overwhelmed by how much I need to write which scared me away from writing this blog. And it was only getting worse… So to try and correct my mistake I’m going to have to quickly cover some amazing times.

Giants Playground

Can’t believe I stopped writing here and I’m now in France having to think back. Oops. The playground is actually a massive area of rocks littered around in some fantastic shapes. Unfortunately we didn’t have long to explore (even though some people got ‘lost’ on their way back) but had some rushed fun taking photos.

(playing in the playground)

Fish River Canyon

We left the invisible giants to their games and headed to one of the largest canyons in the world. Again depending on what you were measuring this canyon could compete with the Grand Canyon. Arrived in time for sunset which was very difficult to photograph since the sun set right into our eyes and camera lenses.

(facebook profile photo?)

After another ‘fun’ PFT (Plan for Tomorrow) Meeting it was decided we’d return there for some more sunset photos since it was so impressive. Was nice to see the light hitting from another angle but (and probably going to start a trend for this blog) the photos just didn’t do it justice. Certainly worth a visit if you’re in the area and the 5 day hike would have been incredible. Even had some hot springs at the end of the hike.

As our tour leader said that was our last highlight. We spent two days in a smaller truck since ours couldn’t go into South Africa. Very glad we weren’t cooped up in there for the whole 60 days. It was torture enough for that short time. Had a final meal with the group and was dropped off in an amazing city.

Cape Town

It’s not often my list of ‘Things Still To Do’ in a city is still way longer than my ‘Things I’ve Done’ but Cape Town is definitely a city that can’t be covered in 3 days. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve been too. It’s definitely a place I want to return to. The food was amazing (not that I had a high requirement after the somewhat monotonous meals we’d been having) and sitting on the waterfront was fantastic.

(view from Waterfront – Table Mountain and Signal Hill on right)

The first full day I got to spend in Cape Town actually corresponded to the 1st day of a Cricket Test Match between Australia and South Africa. It was held at Newlands Cricket Ground which is one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world. Saw a pretty good days’ worth of cricket with Clarke getting a century. However I missed the history making 2nd day which saw 23 wickets fall in one day and Australia being fairly humiliated…

(cricket ground)

Next day had one of my ‘Top 5’ experiences for the whole trip in Africa. Some of the group were going Great White Shark Diving and thought it would be incredible. Words can’t describe how amazing it was to be so close to these massive animals. It’s difficult to explain how the shark diving works but you don’t need scuba gear and they get incredibly close. After a bit of a mix-up getting picked up we spent the day there. I didn’t get any good photos but I couldn’t implore you enough if you are visiting this area to give this a go. Just take some anti-sea sickness precautions because you are wallowing in the sea for over 3 hours.

The final day was spent in Cape Town just wandering around. Wanted to get up Table Mountain but the cable-car wasn’t working due to the wind. Spent the day doing a bit of sightseeing before returning to the hotel for a shower. Headed off to the airport (where my lounge access failed me due to a code-share with Swiss’ cheaper cousin) and boarded the night flight back to London.

London

Arrived in London City Airport after a quick stop over in Zurich to find the DLR not working… Finally got to my old London flat to catch up with friends (after a quick and much appreciated afternoon nap). The two days in London turned out to be a gastronomic delight with all my favourite restaurants being visited including nitrogen ice-cream.

Had a relaxing weekend which disappeared way too quickly and on Monday was on the Eurostar to join some friends for a European adventure.

Sand in My Shoes, Sand in My Shoes…

I’ve officially left the malaria zone of Africa and don’t think I’ve caught it (fingers crossed at the moment). But with the lack of malaria mosquitoes there’s a massive increase in the amount of sand I’ve had to wade, climb, jump and fall through.

 

Seal Colony

After the night under the stars at Spitzkoppe we added to our now fantastic smells (no water/showers at all at the camp) by visiting a huge colony of seals. Thankfully there was a strong breeze so most of the smell drifted off to sea but can’t imagine what it would be like without the wind. Got some better photos of the seals later but again took tons of pretty much the same shot.

Back to Civilisation

Another holiday within a holiday with beds, hot showers and restaurant meals. I ate so well and getting dessert was (pardon the pun) the icing on the cake. I’m finding the further south we travel the better the amenities are overall. Namibia has been pretty good and Swakopmund just felt like German Europe built on sand. Swakopmund (don’t know how many different ways I pronounced the name of the place incorrectly) is a great place to do some fantastic activities and the group split up and enjoyed the excitements on offer. Was extremely surprised by how cold it got at night – even during the day I had a jacket with me and then at night-time actually wore jeans (a 1st I think for this trip).

Sand Boarding

After surviving one of the most painful experiences of my life (trying to learn to snowboard) hoped sandboarding would be an easier endeavour. I have - since the torture of snowboarding - learnt to wakeboard and thought that would help me with stand-up boarding on sand. Unfortunately I really struggled – either due to my lack of physical activity so far on this trip or I was lost without having a rope to lean against. Was able to stand up and do a couple of turns so wasn’t a complete disaster but unfortunately it was so quick going down and so much slipping and sliding trying to get back to the top of the dune I didn’t do too many runs. And walking in snowboard boots in the sand didn’t make life easier. Had to wax the board each time but it was actually a blessing in disguise in that it gave you time to rest after the sand-slog up the dune. Still something fun to do!

Half of the group that went chose just to do lie down boarding. Certainly got more speed doing that and luckily we got to join them for the longest and steepest run called Dizzy. Lots of fun and also got to see an epic wipe-out when two girls struggled to steer while tandem boarding. Worst part was that the videographer missed the excitement of the crash. The whole trip was pretty good value in that it also included a DVD and lunch (however it was exactly the same lunch we’ve been having the last 8 weeks).

Dolphin Cruise

The next day joined a few of our group and 16 other German tourists on a dolphin cruise down in Walvis Bay. We had somehow booked on the fastest catamaran which was great as we passed all the other boats in the harbour on the race out to where some whales that had been spotted. Had to head around a point and entered the true Atlantic Ocean with quite a decent swell. Finally saw the whales (a mum and calf I was told) and tried to take some photos while staying dry from the waves crashing onto the deck. Managed to get a decent video but lots of photos of clear sky or empty water as the boat rocked or the whales submerged…

(best photo of whale – video was better)

We were very lucky to see the whales since it’s a bit out of season for them to be travelling past – but also got to see a dolphin racing the boat as we headed back to the calmer waters of the bay.

 

(dolphin)

Another cool part the cruise included was them feeding semi-trained pelicans. The pelicans would fly behind and then beside the boat and either take the fish out of the hands of the guide or catch a thrown piece.

Much like the fake lion sightings of game drives, there were plenty fake dolphin and whale sightings that turned out to be the numerous seals in the area. There are no predators (besides humans) of the seals in the surrounding ocean so there were quite a few of them (with their own unique smell again). We did see a jackal on the sand that would eat any unprotected babies and dead seals but there were still a massive number of them.

There were also some trained seals who would jump onto the boat and be patted (amazing fur they’ve got) while they were fed fish. The 2nd seal who jumped on board knew exactly where the fish was stored and kept going for the ice-cooler. Unfortunately he got a bit confused and went for the drinks one, managing to tip it over and not liking the cans and bottles he found.

(seal looking for fish and finding drinks)

Sesriem

Unfortunately the great food, entertainment (including watching my first movie this trip at a cinema) and relaxation of Swakopmund had to come to an end and we headed south towards South Africa and spent the night at Sesirem. Wasn’t a very exciting day compared to the previous ones but we did cross the Tropic of Capricorn. Need to see where that crosses the Australian east coast to get an idea of what temperature I can expect.

The next day (after surviving the relative shock of returning to our tents) we had a very early start to get to the creatively named Dune 45 to climb and see the sunrise. Started to race up the sand but realised very quickly it was a huge mistake being near the front and not being able to use the compacted sand footprints of other people. Didn’t feel too well so slowed down (lack of food and intense physical activity in the early morning not a good recipe for my body) and eventually got to the top to unfortunately see a disappointing sunrise blocked by the clouds. Still was an amazing view from the top and lots of fun running back down in the sand.

We then headed further into the desert to what is known as the soussusvlei. Couldn’t go with our truck so transferred into 4x4 vehicles. Had a bit of a race between the two cars until one of our group desperately needed to STOP the vehicle to get a photo of a sand dune that wasn’t going anywhere… Have to laugh sometimes or you might go crazy after 55+ days. Also saw a deadvlei which was even cooler with the Big Daddy sand dune (largest dune in the National Park) in the background. Tried another jumping shot and it finally worked! The tradition lives on.

(Jumping on the deadvlei)

Our long day continued but we reached our destination during sunlight hours which was the first time our leader had achieved that – usually he arrived during night time – maybe the longer sunlight hours helped us. Heading tomorrow to Fish River Canyon via a stop at something called Giant’s Playground.

Week Ahead

Sat, 5th of Nov Fish River Canyon

Sun, 6th of Nov Orange River, Noordoewer

Mon, 7th of Nov Citrusdal, South Africa

Tues, 8th of Nov Cape Town

Wed, 9th of Nov Cape Town

Thurs, 10th of Nov Cape Town

Fri, 11th of Nov Leave Cape Town (late) for London

(top of Dune 45)

(feeding pelicans)

The Tourists Must Be Crazy

Now another movie to watch – ‘The Gods must be crazy’. Can’t imagine what the locals think of us as tourists coming in and gawking at everything…

Rundu/Angola Border

Leaving our campsite at our regular hour of 7am (at least when I start working I might get a bit of a sleep-in) we headed deeper into Namibia. We changed our itinerary to combine 2 travel days into 1 longer one so we didn’t have to rush our visit to the bushmen. Unfortunately that meant we didn’t spend the night at a camp that was on the river which bordered Angola. Had been hoping to visit (even illegally) and say I’d been to another country.

We did stop at that border town for lunch and a few of us went walking towards the river. Again thought it was a lot closer from the directions we got but after 30 minutes walking (when we only had a 1.5 hour stop) arrived at the river but no luck in finding a boat. There have been some problems around this area with fighting or something so no legitimate place to cross the border. Contemplated swimming across but since I was the only one truly interested and was running out of time I joined the group in heading back. Frustrating to be as close as this photo demonstrates.

(photo of Angola – missed it by that much)

San Bushmen Living Museum

Struggled to write this section about the San Bushmen – there’s only about 20,000 left and supposedly only 2000 that still live off the land. Reminded me a lot of the Aboriginals in Australia and the struggle a nomadic tribe of people who live off the land can face when ‘others’ come to the same land.

It was a packed morning with our young local guide translating what the San Bushmen were doing – we got to see them pretending to hunt, collecting water from roots and then starting fires so they could smoke a leaf and rabbit droppings cigar. Don’t know if I would take a school group here – especially high school boys who would struggle with seeing the lack of clothing. I also felt a bit uncomfortable taking photos – for the clothing reason as well as the feeling I got that we were intruding. It also felt a bit artificial – like actors putting on a show for the tourists. I’m sure there are positives of us visiting and giving money to the community but it just wasn’t a highlight for me.

However, it was cool listening to them talk with the clicks and different sounds involved in communicating. Can’t imagine how tricky it is to learn that language. They also weren’t pushy at all when selling their souvenirs at the end of the trip which was an extremely nice change. People seemed happier to buy from them when there wasn’t a huge amount of pressure.

Etosha National Park Day 1

Our last place to go game driving was Etosha National Park. Namibia is extremely well developed compared to some of the places we’ve visited and the 2 campgrounds we stayed at were fantastic. Looked at upgrades but they were as expensive as hotels back home. You could certainly travel around Namibia by yourself by hiring a car. We drove around the park in our truck – nice and high so we easily saw over the cars and 4WD’s. Didn’t see too many exciting animals on the first day except for an Oryx. Pretty cool animal and particularly rare to see!

(oryx)

Also spent some time at a white salt pan – lots of people taking crazy photos. Tried to get a group jumping shot but was a bit too tricky for the photographers and our timings were a bit out.

Etosha National Park Day 2

After spending the night at a great campsite and having late night drinks in what looked like an old German fort headed off at 7am for another game drive. Let’s just say I added to my elephant photo collection and spent a lot of the time doing Sudoku (best 20 Namibian Dollars spent) and playing cards. Getting very good at ‘annoying’ the neighbour. Our viewing luck had obviously ran out for this day as we even had a bit of rain around which sent the animals scurrying for shelter.

Luckily the rain disappeared and our 2nd campsite was even nicer then the first. There was also a manmade waterhole with a huge number of seats. But again the crazy tourists ruined it by continually talking (think they were German) and ignoring the ‘silence’ signs. And if you’ve got money to burn you could pay for a chalet which was right on the edge of the water hole and look out your balcony at the animals drinking. Not too much exciting until the sun started to set and took lots of photos again. Thought I’d combine my two most photographed things:

(elephant and setting sun)

And just to emphasise how many sunset photos I took – here’s another one…

(sunset over waterhole)

After dinner and doing the washing up headed back to the waterhole. Saw a youngish rhino but in the dark my camera just failed. Ended up playing the features I could find but no luck. Saw more elephants but eventually had to head to bed.

Leaving Etosha

Headed off at [guess what time] and was drifting off to sleep when a very observant person on the truck saw this:

(black rhino photo – best of trip)

Can’t believe how lucky we were to see a rhino and especially a black rhino reasonably close. Supposedly a black rhino had charged one of our tour leader trucks on a previous trip but this rhino liked hiding behind the trees. Certainly made a traffic jam when everyone else started stopping and annoyingly blocking our view.

Spitzkoppe

Our target for the night was a huge rock formation called the Spitzkoppe (must be said with a German accent). This whole area reminded me of Australian outback. I haven’t been to Uluru but I imagine it’s similar to this.

Went on a walk with the aim of getting to the other side. Big mistake. It was a lot bigger the closer you got to it… Eventually gave up trying to cross what we thought was an easy part and tried to get through a bit of a ravine. No luck there either getting trapped in a maze of undergrowth and rock walls. It was good actually getting out and walking around but didn’t feel like a successful explorer.

After being defeated by the rocks we gave up and took some random photos. Supposedly there’s a Michael Jackson photo shoot or something where he did something leaning forward like this. Still looks cool regardless…

(won’t show you the photo 5 seconds later)

Now heading to Swakopmund – the adventure capital of this area. Don’t know what I’ll do – thinking about skydiving but will definitely go sand boarding.

Week Ahead

Mon, 31st of Oct Swakopmund

Tues, 1st of Nov Swakopmund

Wed, 2nd of Nov Swakopmund

Thurs, 3rd of Nov Sesriem

Fri, 4th of Nov Bethanie (Giants Playground)

Sat, 5th of Nov Fish River Canyon

Sun, 6th of Nov Orange River, Noordoewer

And That Makes 50,000

See if you can guess what the 50,000 stands for. Left Zimbabwe and had one of the easiest border crossings into Botswana. Had to walk across some disinfecting carpet to try and clean our shoes, but only the shoes we were wearing. Think I’m going to throw out all of my footwear before I return to Australia.

Chobe National Park

After a pretty short drive (compared to some of the previous days) we arrived at another very nice resort. Again we were in tents but at least we could use the swimming pool looking over the river. However our tents were set up quite near the river which had a lot of warnings about not swimming due to hippos and crocodiles. Stupidly I had my tent on the edge closest to the water – tried not to think about it too much but certainly shined my torch around a lot when I was heading to bed.

(tent by water’s edge)

Another early start for another sunrise game drive. Getting a little jaded about seeing the same old animals (which is sad) but was shocked out of my stupor when we saw a leopard pretty much as we entered the park.

(leopard – still exciting)

Think most of my photos have been the big or exciting animals – thought I’d add one of the numerous antelopes we see on these game drives. Unfortunately most times they run off but this one was too interested in the shade to rush away from the 4WD. Couldn’t imagine being out here in the middle of the day – even at 8am it’s so hot.

(impala in the shade)

Headed back to our resort which we discovered didn’t have a TV in. Had to walk down to another hotel to be able to watch the World Cup Bronze Medal Game involving Australia and Wales. Nice to get a win and so glad there are no New Zealanders on this trip. Don’t know if I could handle their gloating… After the game we all retreated to the shade by the pool and drank copious amounts of liquids.

After unsuccessfully trying to get rid of my t-shirt tan, we got on a small boat and did a river cruise. Still very warm in the late afternoon and the water looked so tempting. The river was so flat it would have been perfect for water-skiing or wakeboarding (as long as you forget about the crocodiles and hippos). These tour operators were a lot more sensitive to the hippos and we didn’t go close enough to annoy them and get the ‘yawning hippo’ photo. However our driver had no qualms about going as close as possible to some crocodiles – even right up to the bank where some were.

(crocodiles)

Rainbow Camp

Next morning we headed off to Namibia for the night – staying at a pretty good camp site which was run by an ex-tour leader. Very interesting talking to him – he used to take older German tourists which he said acted like school children over the 14 days he took them around. Also, in the men’s toilets, the urinals were actually hippo mouths – bit disconcerting late at night.

Okavango Delta

Learning a lot about African geography – beyond the fact there’s so much of it – but one interesting part of Namibia is that it has a pan-handle of land between two rivers. So we left Namibia and went back into Botswana for a couple of days. Still got enough spare pages in my passport – the Namibian and Batswana immigration stampers did a fantastic job not wasting space.

We were spending our first night in the delta in complete bush camping – no facilities at all. To get to the deserted part in the delta we all paired up and got in a mokoro (small canoe). Weren’t very stable – think small gondolas with the guy at the back poling us along. I didn’t get a great photo – didn’t feel very stable and wanted to avoid rocking the boat.

After getting all our tents, cooking utensils and food to our camping location we had a relaxing afternoon before a sunset mokoro cruise. Went extremely close to some hippos who can make an incredible amount of noise. We were close enough for the jaws music to play through my head and some of the more personally protective people were asking for our guides to move us away. Headed back to some open waters and watched the sunset over the papyrus reeds. As I’ve mentioned before I’ve taken so many sunset photos but thought I should attach at least one.

(sunset over the Delta)

After some dinner and entertainment from the locals (when they asked us to entertain them afterwards we failed miserably…) we had a relatively early night. The stars were incredible but I still haven’t seen the Southern Cross. Woke up early (but not nearly early enough) to go on a game walk which was so boiling hot I detoured into the shade whenever it was possible. Didn’t see too many animals but saw some lions tracks maybe 200 metres from our campsite. Makes you wonder how close animals have come during this whole adventure when we’re not AWARE. (And that makes 50,000 words on this blog! Kind-of scary). And having to drink lukewarm water is not fun – what I would have given for some ice at that moment…

When we stumbled back to our campsite our tents had been thankfully taken down and we got back into the canoes. Middle of the day mokoro ride is not my definition of fun. My canoe partner grabbed the milk carton box and fashioned herself a hat which was very trendy while our guide had a whole massive cardboard box he hid beneath. Dipping my hat into the water and then wearing it was a temporary cooling measure and by this time my water bottle could have been used for a cup of tea. Was an insidious type of torture since coolish water was so close but we couldn’t go for a swim.

Umvuvu Camp

We returned to our truck, swapped our dirty clothes for a cleaner version and then got in the canoes again for a thankfully short trip to a permanent campsite on an island in the delta. We were even spoiled with permanent tents and beds. There was a possibility of even playing paintball on the island (and really cheap at only $20USD) but the temperature was so high that getting into the safety overalls was too intense – let alone running around. Was a great campsite with some fantastic open roof showers but the only blemish was the number of mosquitoes in the area. Obviously being in the stagnant waters of the delta didn’t help but my trusty Bushman’s Repellent did extremely well – just my failure to adequately cover my feet when I took off my sandals and being attacked while showering resulted in a few bites.

After a fantastic sleep only interrupted by one of the best thunderstorms I’ve heard in a long time we awoke and headed back to our truck by canoe to leave the delta. Some of the canoes had portable chairs while in the others you had to prop yourself up. Finally worked out this system and stole some of the chairs for our mokoro much to the displeasure of the previous owners. Was one advantage of being first down to the boats.

Back to Namibia

We again did the Botswana-Namibia crossing and realised it’s my penultimate border crossing for this African trip. Returned to the Rainbow Camp – where we had left a few of our group who wanted to watch the World Cup Final (and maybe spend 4 nights in the same location). We’ve got about 2 weeks in Namibia then head straight to Cape Town. Can’t believe how quickly the time has gone.

Week Ahead

Wed, 26th of Oct Grootfontein

Thurs, 27th of Oct San Bushmen

Fri, 28th of Oct Etosha National Park

Sat, 29th of Oct Etosha National Park

Sun, 30th of Oct Spitzkoppe

Mon, 31st of Oct Swakopmund

Tues, 1st of Nov Swakopmund

Mosi-Oa-Tunya or the ‘Smoke that Thunders’

Another one of the holiday within the holiday times – setting up for 3 nights at the same place and getting a chance to experience the excitement of the place. There were lots of adventure options such as white-water rafting, bungy-jumping and gorge swinging but just couldn’t get excited about paying for them. If they were free would have done everything but thought I’d save for money for other adventures/comforts.

Victoria Falls – the Town

We stayed at a fairly big campsite with a nice pool and bar. Lots of overland trucks. After getting through Zimbabwe without too many pushy salesman I’ve realised they’ve all moved to Victoria Falls. Don’t know how many carved animals, wooden salad spoons and bowls, billion dollar notes and even illegal drugs I had to say no to. Did buy some old Zimbabwean dollar notes (ranging from $1 up to $100 trillion. So many zeros…)

First day just spent relaxing by the pool – enjoyed buying my own food since our cook had the 3 days off. And having a different breakfast was an exciting development. In the afternoon ventured out and went to the very British/Colonial ‘Victoria Falls Hotel’. Felt a bit of a fraud walking in my sandals and shorts with the workers dressed very nicely and some in military outfits with medals.

Joined a group for high tea – had some fantastic mocktails and since we had an odd number of people (and high tea was to share; and I’m not much of a tea-man) I decided to have another British dessert – an Eton Mess. So much strawberries, cream and meringue. Just a taste of how you can visit Africa with all the creature comforts of home – and then some! Tried not to think of the days left to go in my tent.

Wandered around the grounds – the Hotel was a stop on Cecil Rhode’s hopeful railway that was to connect Cape Town to Cairo (and be British controlled the whole way). We have 1647 miles to go till Cape Town (if direct) and if we headed in the other direction it would be a massive 5165 miles to travel to get to Egypt’s capital. So yes, Africa is a big place.

Another interesting piece of history is the bridge crossing the gorge connecting Zimbabwe to Zambia (or Southern Rhodesia to Northern Rhodesia back in the day). Visited this engineering feat later in the trip.

(Looking from Hotel towards Bridge connecting countries)

The Falls

The undisputed highlight of this area – the very impressive Victoria Falls. They claim it as one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World (including Great Barrier Reef so I’ll agree with them…) and it’s an amazing sight to see. It was at low-water level and there still was a massive amount of water flowing over. Would be interested to see what it was like at high-water – but think you would get very wet! At least most of the time we were reasonably dry.

(in front of the Main Falls)

We’ve been joking about the amount of photos we take of the same thing – I could have a massive folder of photos of elephants, rocks, sunsets and now waterfalls… Would like to go visit Niagara Falls and the major one in South America (major mind blank atm) and see how they compare. Reading the information around Vic Falls they each have their own claim to fame to be the ‘Biggest’ in the world in that category.

Most of the viewing platforms (see previous photos) have a bit of a fence to try and keep the tourists from joining the Darwin Awards – but luckily (and dangerously if you bought a school group here) there is a section where you can go right to the edge. Since there weren’t many people there we had a lot of time to try and get the most dangerous position possible. There were some interesting ‘planking’ photos but since I have to uphold the ‘responsible teacher’ ethos I avoided joining in the excitement. Instead got this photo with the main falls behind me and Zambia over my left shoulder.

(posing on the Edge)

One adventure activity I would have tried if I realised it was offered was swimming at the top of the falls. There’s a naturally created pool with a rock wall right on the edge of the falls – safe to swim there and tour groups visit there but looks very impressive. One of our group did go and they hold your ankles while you look over the edge. Somewhat exciting…

(Devil’s Pool swimming (aptly named) – 100 metres above the bottom of the falls)

Zambia

With Zambia being so close a group of us headed over to another country. Crossed the bridge (avoiding/ignoring the people trying to get us to bungy jump), caught a taxi into the town of Livingstone. Town wasn’t that exciting – we were the only white people we saw, the others might all be hiding in the nice resorts we passed on the way in. Don’t know whether this is due to tourism reverting back to Zimbabwe now that’s settled down a bit. Since Victoria Falls (the town) was a no-go zone for a few years anyone wanting to visit the falls would have had to stay at Livingstone and it’s showing the lack of those tourists now. Had to get another currency out just to pay for lunch (didn’t accept USD) but was a bit of an adventure.

(entering Zambia on Bridge)

Leaving Victoria Falls

A part of our group left us at Victoria Falls and a few new people joined us. Finally got a double seat to myself which is very nice. Left Zimbabwe and headed into Botswana for the final 2 countries before South Africa.

Week Ahead

Thurs, 20th of Oct Chobe National Park, Botswana

Fri, 21st of Oct Chobe National Park

Sat, 22nd of Oct Bagani Community Camp, Namibia

Sun, 23rd of Oct Okavango Delta, Botswana

Mon, 24th of Oct Okavango Delta

Tues, 25th of Oct Bagani Community Camp, Namibia

Wed, 26th of Oct Grootfontein