So, I've just managed to post 2 items about the first part of my safari that happened one month ago. The other parts will eventually follow, hopefully before I get back home in October :-) By the way, I've completely given up on even trying to upload pictures, it's just too slow and frustrating. You'll have to wait until I get home to see all my pictures starting from China all the way through Africa.
I'm now heading to my final destination in Africa: Egypt! I'm flying into Cairo today and will spend the next 3 weeks visiting Egypt and maybe Jordan before meeting Johanne in Turkey for the last month of my trip. I'm enjoying my last few weeks to the fullest, but am now really starting to look forward to coming home and seeing all my friends and family. I can't wait!!!
Again, read the posts in the opposite order if you want to get the right sequence. Bye for now.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Safari part 1 - Kruger National Park
The 2-week safari I'd booked was in actual fact a combination of 3 different tours. A sort of 'a la carte' safari that meant I wouldn't be with the same group over the next 2 weeks. The first group was on the smallish side, with just Phil the Aussie, Monia the Italian and myself. We started off a bit weary after our late night expedition, but there was a lot of driving involved in the first day, so plenty of time to rest in the van...
The weather was crappy, so much so that we skipped out on viewing "God's window", since visibility wasn't good enough to see it. Since I've no idea what "God's window" is, I've no idea if I should have been disappointed or not. We did stop along the way at Blyde River Canyon, which had pretty amazing scenery, so I was happy.
After a longer than expected (expected by me, anyways) drive, we finally arrived at the tribal village that would be our stop for the night. As I got out of the van, I was hoping that the bored looking people dressed in skimpy tribal outfits weren't there to great us, but no such luck. They were. I was horrified when these very bored looking people started singing to our tiny little group as we approached the entrance. No eye-contact, no smiling, just some unenthusiastic singing on their part. How awkward.
Things didn't immediately get better as we were shown around the village by a young man claiming to be the tribe leader's grandchild. He explained to us some of the tribe's traditions and how they lived. He brought us around the different buildings and would occasionally call upon a tired and put-out looking woman to show us some of the daily chores like the grinding of maize or making grass mats. Oouf. I'd seen enough of this 'in real life' to feel how fake this was. I know I sound like I'm complaining, but I've been brought on tours to see 'traditional village life' enough times to last me a lifetime on this trip. Definitely not my favorite.
Things did get a bit better after dinner, when the village boys were called around the bonfire to dance for us. The reason it was better was because the boys finally looked like they were having fun, and weren't so much dancing for us as they were for themselves. We later found out they hadn't danced together for a while, so they really were having genuine fun. Of course, all 3 of us had to join in and dance a little, which was fine, but things got dicey when we were asked to sign a song from our country. Phil started us off with the Aussie classic 'Waltzing Mathilda', but was soon thrown off by the fact that the boys knew the words to the song. Pretty funny. I of course couldn't think of a single Canadian song I could sing and I certainly wasn't about to start belting out a Celine tune, was I? I decided to go with 'Frere Jacques', which yes, I know is not Canadian per se, so sue me. At least I knew it would be a laugh to hear the boys sing the same tune in their own language, cause of course 'Frere Jacques' is translated in every language known to man. I wasn't disappointed.
By 8 o'clock that night, every single person in the village was in bed except our tiny little group of 3. I managed to stretch the evening out until 10PM (woohoo) by chatting and staring at the slowly diminishing camp fire, before going to sleep in my mummy sleeping bag on what would be the first of many early nights of camping.
We woke up bright and early (or should I say dark and early) the next morning to head out to Kruger for our very first game drive. I'd slept well enough, if a bit uncomfortable in my mummy sleeping bag, not realising that you weren't supposed to try to turn around IN the sleeping bag but WITH it. Lesson learned. There was also evidence of a creature (most probably a rat) having visited us during the night, since Phil's cough drops were no longer in his pocket but now lay near my sleeping bag in a tattered chewed up mess. Lovely.
Once at Kruger, we met 3 more people who'd started their safari the day before, so our group was now doubled from 3 to 6. One of the girls warned us that it might be *ahem* a tad cold on the truck, so be prepared. Understatement of the year. Have you ever been sitting on an open vehicle going 50 km/h when it was 5C outside? It may not sound like much, but remember, this is Africa, not Canada, where I would be appropriately dressed. I was wearing all of my layers plus the new fleece I'd bought (thank god), a scarf and wrapped in 2 blankets and still I froze. I spent the morning alternating between states of frozen misery and absolute wonderment at what I saw.
Setting aside the weather for a minute (did I mention it also rained a little? While sitting on an open truck?), it was pretty freaking cool to be there on a safari in South Africa's biggest game reserve. Between the time we left at around 6:30 AM and breakfast a few hours later, I saw: guinea fowls, water bucks, hyenas, impalas, giraffes (yay!), buffalo's, zebras, elephants (yay again!) and vultures. A bit later on in the day, and you can add to that list hippos, crocs, kudzu, bush bucks, a white rhino (sort of. even with binoculars, it was only a black spot on the horizon), warthogs, a wild cat and a baby zebra less than a few hours old.
After the first full day of game drives on safari, I've discovered that it's much like I imagine fishing to be. You sit around waiting and doing nothing much for many hours and have brief moments of excitement along the way. OK, the major difference between fishing and a game drive is that there aren't any beers on the truck, those only come after.
The moments of excitement for that day: watching a herd of elephants cross the road in front of our truck, seeing tons of giraffes, graceful yet geeky all at once, and seeing vultures pick off the rest of a lions meal. And the quiet moments were very 'zen' like for me. Very relaxing and peaceful, with lots of time for thinking and just taking it all in. If I could have recorded my thoughts during those quiet hours, my blog would now be a 500-page novel.
Another evening spent by the campfire before settling into our freezing tents for the night. I slept fully clothes, with jeans and all of my layers, but stupidly used the blanket provided to me as a pillow. I really can be dumb sometimes. :-(
The next few days were very much similar, but in a very good way. We were on a hunt for lions and leopards, and were halfway successful. We saw a lion walking around, looking for prey to stalk, and later saw 3 lions resting after having gorged themselves on a poor unsuspecting zebra. Lots more animal watching (love those giraffe and elephants!), taking pictures and daydreaming the rest of the time. The camping was comfortable, regardless of the weather, and the food was very good considering this was a budget safari.
The weather was crappy, so much so that we skipped out on viewing "God's window", since visibility wasn't good enough to see it. Since I've no idea what "God's window" is, I've no idea if I should have been disappointed or not. We did stop along the way at Blyde River Canyon, which had pretty amazing scenery, so I was happy.
After a longer than expected (expected by me, anyways) drive, we finally arrived at the tribal village that would be our stop for the night. As I got out of the van, I was hoping that the bored looking people dressed in skimpy tribal outfits weren't there to great us, but no such luck. They were. I was horrified when these very bored looking people started singing to our tiny little group as we approached the entrance. No eye-contact, no smiling, just some unenthusiastic singing on their part. How awkward.
Things didn't immediately get better as we were shown around the village by a young man claiming to be the tribe leader's grandchild. He explained to us some of the tribe's traditions and how they lived. He brought us around the different buildings and would occasionally call upon a tired and put-out looking woman to show us some of the daily chores like the grinding of maize or making grass mats. Oouf. I'd seen enough of this 'in real life' to feel how fake this was. I know I sound like I'm complaining, but I've been brought on tours to see 'traditional village life' enough times to last me a lifetime on this trip. Definitely not my favorite.
Things did get a bit better after dinner, when the village boys were called around the bonfire to dance for us. The reason it was better was because the boys finally looked like they were having fun, and weren't so much dancing for us as they were for themselves. We later found out they hadn't danced together for a while, so they really were having genuine fun. Of course, all 3 of us had to join in and dance a little, which was fine, but things got dicey when we were asked to sign a song from our country. Phil started us off with the Aussie classic 'Waltzing Mathilda', but was soon thrown off by the fact that the boys knew the words to the song. Pretty funny. I of course couldn't think of a single Canadian song I could sing and I certainly wasn't about to start belting out a Celine tune, was I? I decided to go with 'Frere Jacques', which yes, I know is not Canadian per se, so sue me. At least I knew it would be a laugh to hear the boys sing the same tune in their own language, cause of course 'Frere Jacques' is translated in every language known to man. I wasn't disappointed.
By 8 o'clock that night, every single person in the village was in bed except our tiny little group of 3. I managed to stretch the evening out until 10PM (woohoo) by chatting and staring at the slowly diminishing camp fire, before going to sleep in my mummy sleeping bag on what would be the first of many early nights of camping.
We woke up bright and early (or should I say dark and early) the next morning to head out to Kruger for our very first game drive. I'd slept well enough, if a bit uncomfortable in my mummy sleeping bag, not realising that you weren't supposed to try to turn around IN the sleeping bag but WITH it. Lesson learned. There was also evidence of a creature (most probably a rat) having visited us during the night, since Phil's cough drops were no longer in his pocket but now lay near my sleeping bag in a tattered chewed up mess. Lovely.
Once at Kruger, we met 3 more people who'd started their safari the day before, so our group was now doubled from 3 to 6. One of the girls warned us that it might be *ahem* a tad cold on the truck, so be prepared. Understatement of the year. Have you ever been sitting on an open vehicle going 50 km/h when it was 5C outside? It may not sound like much, but remember, this is Africa, not Canada, where I would be appropriately dressed. I was wearing all of my layers plus the new fleece I'd bought (thank god), a scarf and wrapped in 2 blankets and still I froze. I spent the morning alternating between states of frozen misery and absolute wonderment at what I saw.
Setting aside the weather for a minute (did I mention it also rained a little? While sitting on an open truck?), it was pretty freaking cool to be there on a safari in South Africa's biggest game reserve. Between the time we left at around 6:30 AM and breakfast a few hours later, I saw: guinea fowls, water bucks, hyenas, impalas, giraffes (yay!), buffalo's, zebras, elephants (yay again!) and vultures. A bit later on in the day, and you can add to that list hippos, crocs, kudzu, bush bucks, a white rhino (sort of. even with binoculars, it was only a black spot on the horizon), warthogs, a wild cat and a baby zebra less than a few hours old.
After the first full day of game drives on safari, I've discovered that it's much like I imagine fishing to be. You sit around waiting and doing nothing much for many hours and have brief moments of excitement along the way. OK, the major difference between fishing and a game drive is that there aren't any beers on the truck, those only come after.
The moments of excitement for that day: watching a herd of elephants cross the road in front of our truck, seeing tons of giraffes, graceful yet geeky all at once, and seeing vultures pick off the rest of a lions meal. And the quiet moments were very 'zen' like for me. Very relaxing and peaceful, with lots of time for thinking and just taking it all in. If I could have recorded my thoughts during those quiet hours, my blog would now be a 500-page novel.
Another evening spent by the campfire before settling into our freezing tents for the night. I slept fully clothes, with jeans and all of my layers, but stupidly used the blanket provided to me as a pillow. I really can be dumb sometimes. :-(
The next few days were very much similar, but in a very good way. We were on a hunt for lions and leopards, and were halfway successful. We saw a lion walking around, looking for prey to stalk, and later saw 3 lions resting after having gorged themselves on a poor unsuspecting zebra. Lots more animal watching (love those giraffe and elephants!), taking pictures and daydreaming the rest of the time. The camping was comfortable, regardless of the weather, and the food was very good considering this was a budget safari.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Safari prep
When I first 'planned' (I use the term very loosely) the Africa part of my journey with Melissa, we'd decided on doing at least 1 safari, if not 2, during our 2 trip. The first one that caught my eye was a safari that went from South Africa, in Kruger National Park, all the way to Zambia at Victoria Falls. By the time I got my act together and tried to book the safari, the 7-day trip was not an option, so I threw all budget thoughts out the window and booked the 14-day trip instead. It was basically the same trip, with the added bonus of going to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Sounded good to me.
My safari would begin on the Saturday from Nelspruit, South Africa. I arrived there from Swaziland on Thursday morning and was set up in an empty dorm room in a quiet looking hostel. I went shopping that afternoon for some last minute safari stuff (ex: sunglasses-mine are broken, extra batteries for my camera-too cheap to buy an adapter for my charger so they hadn't been charged in a while, baby/face wipes-invaluable when you can't shower on a regular basis). I came back later that day to a now busier dorm and met up with 2 Dutch sisters I'd already met in St. Lucia, an Aussie guy who just happened to be booked on the same Kruger safari as me, and a slightly annoying American man who kept asking pushy questions about politics.
More 'chores' the next day, including a 5-hour blog updating marathon and some more last minute shopping. I initially went shopping with the intention of buying a few summer type items like shorts and a t-shirt or 2 (mine are now too big-yay! and very decrepit-boo!), but was quickly brought back to reality once I got to the stores. Ever try buying summer clothes in winter in Canada? Well, the same thing applies in South Africa, even if winter here isn't as harsh. Tuques (woolly hats for the non-Canadians out there), winter jackets, gloves, fleeces, all these were easy to find. It's amazing that they sell basically the same winter clothes in South Africa than in Canada, minus the winter boots and the jackets don't look so much like the Michelin man over here.
The winter days in South Africa have been pretty amazing, with sunny daytime temperatures ranging from 15-25 C. The nights, as I believe I've mentioned before (and most probably will mention many many times again), are freaking cold. Nothing compared to our winter you might say, but I still manage to freeze my ass off cause I insist on wearing flip-flops and still only have my disgusting grey-now-turning-slightly-pink hoodie with me. I FINALLY caved on that final day before my safari and bought myself a fleece. I was all set for camping!
That night, a small group of us from the hostel decided to go out to see what Nelspruit's nightlife had to offer. We were guided on our expedition by JP, the guy working at the backpackers that night. It ended up being a very surreal experience and felt like the wildlife-viewing part of the safari had started early...
The first stop was at the Irish pub down the street. Standard fare, quiet crowd, not an Irish person in sight ;-) We then went off to a place called 'The Barn', but not before JP gave us stern warnings to 'stick with him' and try not to attract too much attention. I took all of this in with a grain of salt, another seemingly paranoid warning from local maybe? But once we got there, it was a sight to behold: The place literally looks like a barn and upon entering, we were greeted by the sight of 20 or so Afrikaans couples (white South Africans) dancing together 'cowboy style' to a Bryan Adams song. Talk about surreal. I felt like I'd been transported right into a barn dance in America's Bible-belt, or how I'd imagine it to be, since I've never been there (nor do I have plans on going any time soon).
From the warnings that JP had given us, I wouldn't have been surprised if someone from our group got their asses kicked before the night was over. One of the joys of traveling on your own is meeting different people, and this night was no exception. These people were 'different'. There was an over-the-top Frenchman who'd spent so many months mute because he doesn't speak English very well that I think he was now a bit 'loco', if you know what I mean (we hadn't even gotten into the supposedly 'dangerous' club and he was already mooning people in the parking lot). Then there was the very flamboyantly gay American who was dancing like a madman amongst the Afrikaans cowboys and his very blond and bubbly English med student friend. Rounding out our group was the Aussie, who appeared fairly normal ;-) Luckily, no one got their asses handed to them that night, but we did pick up a stray along the way. JP overheard some guys talking about beating the crap out of some guy who was a 'Fall Out Boy' lookalike, so he grabbed the guy and lead us back to 'safety'. I still don't know if it was real or paranoia on JP's part (he himself was a bit bizarre if you ask me), but it was an interesting start to my 'safari' time for sure.
My safari would begin on the Saturday from Nelspruit, South Africa. I arrived there from Swaziland on Thursday morning and was set up in an empty dorm room in a quiet looking hostel. I went shopping that afternoon for some last minute safari stuff (ex: sunglasses-mine are broken, extra batteries for my camera-too cheap to buy an adapter for my charger so they hadn't been charged in a while, baby/face wipes-invaluable when you can't shower on a regular basis). I came back later that day to a now busier dorm and met up with 2 Dutch sisters I'd already met in St. Lucia, an Aussie guy who just happened to be booked on the same Kruger safari as me, and a slightly annoying American man who kept asking pushy questions about politics.
More 'chores' the next day, including a 5-hour blog updating marathon and some more last minute shopping. I initially went shopping with the intention of buying a few summer type items like shorts and a t-shirt or 2 (mine are now too big-yay! and very decrepit-boo!), but was quickly brought back to reality once I got to the stores. Ever try buying summer clothes in winter in Canada? Well, the same thing applies in South Africa, even if winter here isn't as harsh. Tuques (woolly hats for the non-Canadians out there), winter jackets, gloves, fleeces, all these were easy to find. It's amazing that they sell basically the same winter clothes in South Africa than in Canada, minus the winter boots and the jackets don't look so much like the Michelin man over here.
The winter days in South Africa have been pretty amazing, with sunny daytime temperatures ranging from 15-25 C. The nights, as I believe I've mentioned before (and most probably will mention many many times again), are freaking cold. Nothing compared to our winter you might say, but I still manage to freeze my ass off cause I insist on wearing flip-flops and still only have my disgusting grey-now-turning-slightly-pink hoodie with me. I FINALLY caved on that final day before my safari and bought myself a fleece. I was all set for camping!
That night, a small group of us from the hostel decided to go out to see what Nelspruit's nightlife had to offer. We were guided on our expedition by JP, the guy working at the backpackers that night. It ended up being a very surreal experience and felt like the wildlife-viewing part of the safari had started early...
The first stop was at the Irish pub down the street. Standard fare, quiet crowd, not an Irish person in sight ;-) We then went off to a place called 'The Barn', but not before JP gave us stern warnings to 'stick with him' and try not to attract too much attention. I took all of this in with a grain of salt, another seemingly paranoid warning from local maybe? But once we got there, it was a sight to behold: The place literally looks like a barn and upon entering, we were greeted by the sight of 20 or so Afrikaans couples (white South Africans) dancing together 'cowboy style' to a Bryan Adams song. Talk about surreal. I felt like I'd been transported right into a barn dance in America's Bible-belt, or how I'd imagine it to be, since I've never been there (nor do I have plans on going any time soon).
From the warnings that JP had given us, I wouldn't have been surprised if someone from our group got their asses kicked before the night was over. One of the joys of traveling on your own is meeting different people, and this night was no exception. These people were 'different'. There was an over-the-top Frenchman who'd spent so many months mute because he doesn't speak English very well that I think he was now a bit 'loco', if you know what I mean (we hadn't even gotten into the supposedly 'dangerous' club and he was already mooning people in the parking lot). Then there was the very flamboyantly gay American who was dancing like a madman amongst the Afrikaans cowboys and his very blond and bubbly English med student friend. Rounding out our group was the Aussie, who appeared fairly normal ;-) Luckily, no one got their asses handed to them that night, but we did pick up a stray along the way. JP overheard some guys talking about beating the crap out of some guy who was a 'Fall Out Boy' lookalike, so he grabbed the guy and lead us back to 'safety'. I still don't know if it was real or paranoia on JP's part (he himself was a bit bizarre if you ask me), but it was an interesting start to my 'safari' time for sure.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Quick update
Hi all,
Just to let you know that yes, I'm still alive, and am enjoying myself in Africa. Since I last posted, I've been through Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and am now in Tanzania. I have a ton of updates to the blog to do, but Internet has up until now been frustratingly expensive (in Zambia), unavailable (Botswana) or too slow (Malawi).
I'll try to update you soon! I hope you're enjoying the last month of summer back at home, even if it's been crappy I hear...
Bye for now
Just to let you know that yes, I'm still alive, and am enjoying myself in Africa. Since I last posted, I've been through Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and am now in Tanzania. I have a ton of updates to the blog to do, but Internet has up until now been frustratingly expensive (in Zambia), unavailable (Botswana) or too slow (Malawi).
I'll try to update you soon! I hope you're enjoying the last month of summer back at home, even if it's been crappy I hear...
Bye for now
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