Friday, September 22, 2006
Sept. 17
It was a slow day. Slept in and went for a good long run by the embassies in Pretoria in the morning. The afternoon was spent in the Aparthide museum in Jo'burg. The weather was great, so the run really hit the spot. The air was a little crisp and the streets empty (Sunday). The Aparthide Museum was powerful. Very visual and very graphic. It was on the same level as the Holocast museum in Washington DC. To see the division of people, the uprisings and the violence was moving. It is amazing that system didn't go away until the late 1980's. There is still tension and crime in South Africa. Economic distribution does not seem to have changed much since aparthide. Poverty is predominately black. Barbed wire at the top of a fence is common (an almost every building in surrounded by a fence). Anywhere you park a car, you have to pay a guard. It was so bad that when we left the aparthide museum they made us turn the car off and then back on to show it was not stolen. In general, I didn't feel unsafe in South Africa...it is just that there are so many people that don't have anything to lose.
Sept. 18
Today was a huge travel day. We took a bus from Pretoria to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The bus was 2 hours late getting to Pretoria, so the day did not start out the best. It was a Greyhound, but not as nice as the one to Pretoria from Durban. There was music or a movie on constantly, and neither were very enjoyable. In total it was a 13 hour bus ride. The first adventure was changing money. The Zim government sets the exchange rate with the dollar and doesn't recognize the huge inflation...so there is a black market for money. The offical rate was 250 Zim = $1 US...but on the street it was 750 Zim = $1 US. So we exchanged money just before the border with a lady that got on the bus. It is illegal to do, but everyone does it...the prices would be so high if you don't. The border was an adventure too. We got there at night and had to get a visa (can only pay foreign currency if a foreigner) and get our bags looked at. People were bringing alot of stuff with them. Not so much on the bus, but in pickup trucks...at the time I did not know why. We got into Bulawayo at 12:30 AM...about 4 hours after we had planned and did not have a room. A guy on the bus (Mbuso) walked us to a hotel and we checked in for the night.
Sept. 19
We walked around Bulawayo all morning. Strangely enough, Mbuso was there to take us around. He took us to the train staion to get train tickets to Victoria Falls. Then we went to the art museum. It was small, but good. And cheap. You could buy the art right off the wall for pretty cheap. I got a signed print for less than $15. If you know much about African art, you could really get some amazing deals...with the black market currency rate. Conor got one too. After that we walked to the history museum, but they would not take our Zim dollars...all they wanted was US. It didn't look that good (and it was 30 time more expensive for US) so we walked back through a park and got some lunch. We bought some for Mbuso. After lunch we went back to the hotel and had some beers and waited for the train. I am not sure if Mbuso wanted money or what...I think he did, but he didn't push...and we didn't give him any. Bulawayo was a pretty town. It had wide tree lined streets and the store fronts were right out of the 60's or 70's...about when the current administration came to power. People we super poor and there were lines at the supermarkets for staples. During the day it felt safe. In the twilight we walked to the train station. On the way we saw a terrible auto accident. A police car ran a red light and was smashed by a truck...the officer had to have been killed. A huge crowd gathered and some teenagers were cheering...we got out of there quick. We had to wait alittle for the train....and when we got our cabin it was a little disheartening. There was not electricity on the car and it was not the newest...it felt a little dirty. It was an over night train. When the conductor came by he said to lock our door for safety. The train made stops all night in what felt like the middle of no where. There were people on and off the train, it was dark...it felt weird. Needless to say we did not sleep the best.
Sept. 20
When we woke, it was daylight and beautiful. The compartment was not the best, but did look better in the daylight. The landscape was similar to that of the bus ride up to Zimbabwe two days earlier. We got into Victoria Falls at about 9 AM and went straight to a booking agency called backpacker's bazaar. Here we set up 2 days lodging in Vic Falls and 2 days in Livingston. We also booked a safari to Chobe National Park and a whitewater rafting trip. We dropped our bags at the hostel and walked down to the falls. Entrance was $20 US, but when in Rome... The falls were spectacular despite being the dry season. I can just imagine what it would be like with more water. It is higher and wider than Niagra Fall. After walking around for a couple of hours, we cleaned up and went on a sunset cruise on the Zambezi river. There were free drinks a great sunset and only 5 other people. The highlight was seeing 4 elephants up close get into the water. After 2 hours on the water, we came back to the hostel.
Sept. 21
Today we went to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We left the hostel at 7 AM went to the border. It was an easy crossing. In the morning we did a 3 hours game drive in the park. We were the only 2 in the truck, so it was like a private tour. We saw so much game. It is the end of the dry season, so the only water source is the Chobe river...so all of the animals are there. We saw hundreds of elephants, umpala, hippos, giraffs, buffalo, and warthogs. It was literally amazing. After the game drive we did a 2.5 hour boat cruise and saw the animals from the river. We also had a picnic lunch on the boat. Again, it was just the two of us. The weather was perfect (about 80 and not a cloud in sight). After the safari, we returned to Zimbabwe and bought water, postcards and got dinner. We had to get rid of as much Zim dollars as we could because no one will take them outside of Zimbabwe. We couldn't get rid of all of them, so if anyone wants one, just give me an email.
It was a slow day. Slept in and went for a good long run by the embassies in Pretoria in the morning. The afternoon was spent in the Aparthide museum in Jo'burg. The weather was great, so the run really hit the spot. The air was a little crisp and the streets empty (Sunday). The Aparthide Museum was powerful. Very visual and very graphic. It was on the same level as the Holocast museum in Washington DC. To see the division of people, the uprisings and the violence was moving. It is amazing that system didn't go away until the late 1980's. There is still tension and crime in South Africa. Economic distribution does not seem to have changed much since aparthide. Poverty is predominately black. Barbed wire at the top of a fence is common (an almost every building in surrounded by a fence). Anywhere you park a car, you have to pay a guard. It was so bad that when we left the aparthide museum they made us turn the car off and then back on to show it was not stolen. In general, I didn't feel unsafe in South Africa...it is just that there are so many people that don't have anything to lose.
Sept. 18
Today was a huge travel day. We took a bus from Pretoria to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The bus was 2 hours late getting to Pretoria, so the day did not start out the best. It was a Greyhound, but not as nice as the one to Pretoria from Durban. There was music or a movie on constantly, and neither were very enjoyable. In total it was a 13 hour bus ride. The first adventure was changing money. The Zim government sets the exchange rate with the dollar and doesn't recognize the huge inflation...so there is a black market for money. The offical rate was 250 Zim = $1 US...but on the street it was 750 Zim = $1 US. So we exchanged money just before the border with a lady that got on the bus. It is illegal to do, but everyone does it...the prices would be so high if you don't. The border was an adventure too. We got there at night and had to get a visa (can only pay foreign currency if a foreigner) and get our bags looked at. People were bringing alot of stuff with them. Not so much on the bus, but in pickup trucks...at the time I did not know why. We got into Bulawayo at 12:30 AM...about 4 hours after we had planned and did not have a room. A guy on the bus (Mbuso) walked us to a hotel and we checked in for the night.
Sept. 19
We walked around Bulawayo all morning. Strangely enough, Mbuso was there to take us around. He took us to the train staion to get train tickets to Victoria Falls. Then we went to the art museum. It was small, but good. And cheap. You could buy the art right off the wall for pretty cheap. I got a signed print for less than $15. If you know much about African art, you could really get some amazing deals...with the black market currency rate. Conor got one too. After that we walked to the history museum, but they would not take our Zim dollars...all they wanted was US. It didn't look that good (and it was 30 time more expensive for US) so we walked back through a park and got some lunch. We bought some for Mbuso. After lunch we went back to the hotel and had some beers and waited for the train. I am not sure if Mbuso wanted money or what...I think he did, but he didn't push...and we didn't give him any. Bulawayo was a pretty town. It had wide tree lined streets and the store fronts were right out of the 60's or 70's...about when the current administration came to power. People we super poor and there were lines at the supermarkets for staples. During the day it felt safe. In the twilight we walked to the train station. On the way we saw a terrible auto accident. A police car ran a red light and was smashed by a truck...the officer had to have been killed. A huge crowd gathered and some teenagers were cheering...we got out of there quick. We had to wait alittle for the train....and when we got our cabin it was a little disheartening. There was not electricity on the car and it was not the newest...it felt a little dirty. It was an over night train. When the conductor came by he said to lock our door for safety. The train made stops all night in what felt like the middle of no where. There were people on and off the train, it was dark...it felt weird. Needless to say we did not sleep the best.
Sept. 20
When we woke, it was daylight and beautiful. The compartment was not the best, but did look better in the daylight. The landscape was similar to that of the bus ride up to Zimbabwe two days earlier. We got into Victoria Falls at about 9 AM and went straight to a booking agency called backpacker's bazaar. Here we set up 2 days lodging in Vic Falls and 2 days in Livingston. We also booked a safari to Chobe National Park and a whitewater rafting trip. We dropped our bags at the hostel and walked down to the falls. Entrance was $20 US, but when in Rome... The falls were spectacular despite being the dry season. I can just imagine what it would be like with more water. It is higher and wider than Niagra Fall. After walking around for a couple of hours, we cleaned up and went on a sunset cruise on the Zambezi river. There were free drinks a great sunset and only 5 other people. The highlight was seeing 4 elephants up close get into the water. After 2 hours on the water, we came back to the hostel.
Sept. 21
Today we went to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We left the hostel at 7 AM went to the border. It was an easy crossing. In the morning we did a 3 hours game drive in the park. We were the only 2 in the truck, so it was like a private tour. We saw so much game. It is the end of the dry season, so the only water source is the Chobe river...so all of the animals are there. We saw hundreds of elephants, umpala, hippos, giraffs, buffalo, and warthogs. It was literally amazing. After the game drive we did a 2.5 hour boat cruise and saw the animals from the river. We also had a picnic lunch on the boat. Again, it was just the two of us. The weather was perfect (about 80 and not a cloud in sight). After the safari, we returned to Zimbabwe and bought water, postcards and got dinner. We had to get rid of as much Zim dollars as we could because no one will take them outside of Zimbabwe. We couldn't get rid of all of them, so if anyone wants one, just give me an email.
# posted by Adam @ 7:41 AM 
