Last Day in Zimbabwe...with King Kong

They didn't even look up at us

When we were leaving the border crossing from Zambia, we took the "short cut" through the bush and came across some warthogs and King Kong. Seriously....This guy with long dreads stopped us and introduced himself to us as King Kong, then went into his sales pitch.  He had some old Zimbabwe money including a one hundred trillion Zimbabwe Dollar bill.  After some negotiating (his starting price was $25 USD), I paid $1 USD...I still probably over paid but he said he wanted some money to go watch the Manchester United vs. Liverpool soccer game. How could I say no to that?

Many of the sales people would call themselves crazy names so that you would remember them... King Kong, Wisdom and Simba just to name a few.

For dinner our last night, we just went to a pizza place in the casino connected to our hotel. We struck up a conversation with the waitress about life in Zimbabwe.  She said that during the inflation days she would not have enough money to buy food for her 2 children even though she had a full time job. Inflation was so bad that you didn't know how much you were making would be worth when you took it to the bank. She said that during that time, on more than one occasion she went to the bank to cash her MONTHLY pay check and she only received $1USD and there were time when she didn't even get paid! You would literally have to take stacks of money to the store to buy a loaf of bread! Now the official currency in Zimbabwe is the USD and these million, billion and trillion dollar Zimbabwe notes are practically worthless - except of course in the eyes of tourists - then they're apparently worth at least $1 USD each.

That is 15 Zeros!

Across the street from our hotel there was a gas station and convenience store that we would go to get drinks at every day.  The second day I offered to buy Hloni, the young man working there a Coke, he was shocked and very happily took me up on it.  He told us that he has a 10 km walk to and from work. He works 10 hour days, 6 days a week. When we told him we were leaving he asked if we had a Face Book page... apparently we are literally the only people in the world without a Face Book page. 

When we got to the airport (again, the smallest airport ever!) the line was long, it was crowded and HOT and no A/C... again.  When we finally got to the counter we found out EXACTLY what was taking so long, the boarding passes were all hand written.  Not a computer in sight!

I have never looked forward more to getting on a cold airplane - especially on the first leg of a long journey "home." After we arrived in Johannesburg, we "enjoyed" another 13 hour flight to Hong Kong.

What a great trip! Now, the only question that remains is when are we going back? 

Zambia..in a Day!

Zambia also has a section of Victoria Falls, so we decided to check out the view from the other side of the border. And just like the man we met the day before, we decided to walk there from Zimbabwe rather than cabbing it. To get to Zambia, you have to pass through two  border checkpoints (one for leaving Zimbabwe and one for entering Zambia) that are connected by the Friendship Bridge. All along the bridge artists sell their wares to tourists - from copper bracelets to wooden rhinos. For all you adrenaline junkies, you can go bungee jumping from the bridge too. Though I am not sure if the adrenaline is from bungee-ing or the fact your are doing it from an old...bridge... in the center of a third world country...in Africa.

In front of the Zambian section of the falls there are numerous "stalls" selling numerous souvineers from wood carvings to stone working. The guys certainly have their sales pitch down..when someone asks you "Hey where are you from," it's hard (if not impossible) to give the cold shoulder and the standard "no thank you" doesn't exactly work in this situation.  The problem is that when you stop in a shop and buy something, the next shop owner says "looking is free, come into my shop too."

That spray in the distance is from the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls

The Falls were a little disappointing from the Zambian side though everyone was very quick to point out that it was because it was dry season.  After viewing the Falls, we decided to do some shopping.  After buying a few things, we headed to Livingstone, the closest large town in Zambia.  The guy working at the stall near the Falls where we bought a few things had offered to arrange a taxi for us.  However, when the taxi pulled up, he jumped in as well and said that he would show us around.  Initially, this put me off a little bit but it didn't take long for us to appreciate Martin. He was amazingly hospitable and took us off the beaten track and we certainly saw many things that we would not have seen otherwise!

Livingstone has one main street that is paved, but once you go one street in, you are on dusty dirt roads.  Martin showed us the local crafts market and some of the historical sites - including the oldest standing hotel in the city - over 100 years old (standing...but not operational).  Then we headed to the local market which had everything from fruits and vegetables to dried fish to knitted blankets.  The back section of the market was where the restaurants were located...and an electronic repair store where they were patiently repairing DVD players and TVs.

Zambian BBQ chicken

TV repair, how about DVD player?

From Livingstone, Martin insisted on taking us to see his village.  Mukuni Village was completely in the middle of nowhere - a good 20 minutes off the main road, accessible only by a long dirt road (which the taxi driver anticipated as he stopped at the gas station beforehand to inflate his tires!)

Mukuni Village, Zambia

Eating Zambia Fruit 

Village craftsmen 

First, Martin took us over to an area where 6 guys were listening to BBC radio working on their woodwork (where the things we had bought by the Falls that morning actually get made!) Then we ran into his grandmother who was collecting fruit that had fallen to the ground. She offered us some fresh fruit and we certainly couldn't turn her down and surprisingly we were glad we didn't - it was pretty good!

A group of boys came by as well. They were a little shy until I showed them the photos I had taken of them and then they went crazy, practically taking the camera out of my hands.  These boys were amazing - living in a remote village in homes without electricity or toilets much less a computer or the latest video game but they were almost without a doubt the most carefree and joyful kids we have ever met.  Smiles and laughs all around! We loved every minute of it!  

Then we met Martin's brother. He and his family are quite the entrepreneurs!  His two boys (both less than 10!) were preparing juice in bags to freeze and then sell to their friends at school.  His wife was making beer in an old oil drum.  He informed me that the beer had been fermenting for 4 days and tomorrow they would cook it and then would be selling cups to other villagers for basically a dime a cup. He joked that it took 4-5 days to make but only 1 day to drink! 

Backyard Beer - Mukini Village style! 

Thanks Martin!

Welcome to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

On this trip we wanted to see some "real" Africa, so we went to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.  As Zimbabwe has been in the news for hyperinflation and all of the problems associated with it (more on this later), we really didn't know what to expect.

Upon arrival in Victoria Falls Airport, a set of stairs came to the side of the plane for deboarding and that is where things became eerily different.  There was only an old Russian propeller Zimbabwe Airlines plane sitting there on the tarmac and a long walk to the terminal - the smallest terminal ever!  Upon arrival, everyone has to get a visa. However, the price you pay is determined based on what country you are from. Yes, Americans pay more! Strangely enough for some reason, Canadians pay the most - twice as much as Americans!


The immigration line took FOREVER.  First you had to pay one person, (make sure you get that receipt to prove you paid or you might have to pay again) then you go to the next desk where someone prepares a hand written visa in your passport and a duplicate copy for their records. Despite how long we were there (which was bad enough), what made it worse was that Zimbabwe is....HOT and there was no A/C and the "terminal" like I said is the smallest terminal ever! 

As we didn't have that much time on the ground, we hurried to the hotel, checked in and headed down to Victoria Falls.  The front desk said "go out the front and turn right," simple enough.  So we headed out then turned right, until there was a fork in the road, so we decided to head back to the hotel and get some clarification.  Before we got half way back, we ran into a very nicely dressed guy (dressed like someone you could have run into during rush hour in HK) heading our direction.  I stopped him and asked him how to get to the Falls and he said "I show you, follow me." He walked us all the way to the Falls, around 15-20 minutes. It turns out he is a tobacco farmer in neighboring Zambia and was walking back home from his business meetings in Zimbabwe. 

After paying the hefty foreigner entrance fee ($30 pp tourist versus less than $10 pp local) we were finally at the famous Victoria Falls Park! The Falls were absolutely amazing.  As we hit the perfect time of the day, there were rainbows in the spray! 

After enjoying the Falls, we began to head back to the hotel.  A tourist police stopped us.  "Where you  going? I take you!" He said that there had been some issues with locals harassing tourists (we never encountered any of this, just a lot of people trying to sell us things but after 5-7 "No thank yous," they would go along on their way) I think it was more about him getting a small tip so I gave him $2 USD. Over the next couple of days, we were "accompanied" by several tourist police.

After the Falls, we were starving so we asked the front desk for a restaurant recommendation. They said Mama Africa, a local cuisine restaurant about a 10 minute walk down the road. As it was early, we were the only people there and they gave us a table under a huge mango tree in the courtyard.  We scoured the menu for something that looked good and became a little concerned as nothing jumped out at us.  The waiter recommended the national dish, Sadza Ndiuraye... sure why not? Surprisingly, it was excellent! We also enjoyed some local Zimbabwe beer and a creme brûlée!

We talked with the waiter for a bit and his story really gave us a lot of perspective into Zimbabwe.  His wife and 2 kids live 100km away and he only see them 4 days per month as he does not have a car and public transportation is very expensive for him.  It is also not practical or affordable for his family to live in Victoria Falls (where the jobs are). His shared house (room) is over a 8km walk away.  His hospitable attitude and enthusiasm were so overwhelming, we thought he was the owner of the restaurant and were shocked to find out he was "just a waiter!" How inspiring! 

Cape Town Botanical Gardens

Specially engineered birds of paradise for Nelson Mandela called Mandela's Gold

Cape Town's Botanical gardens are heavily touted as an "absolute must do. That said, I really didn't want to go (maybe because I was expecting something similar to the HK Botanical Gardens which while a nice reprieve from the concrete jungle and free, aren't much), but as it was part of our Cape Peninsula tour, we really didn't have a choice.

However, I was really surprised about the diversity of flowers that were brought here by the Dutch and the English.  It was explained that the flora found in the Cape is over 3 times larger than what is found in the UK at a fraction of the landmass.  What added to the beauty of the gardens was the towering Table Mountain surrounding us.

Throw a coin and make a wish

Strange looking flowers were everywhere

The resident owl sleeps with one eye open

Guinea Fowl, also residents of the Botanical Gardens

Cape Peninsula Day Trip

On the quiet side of the boat

For our last day in S.A, we scheduled a day trip of the Cape Peninsula.  The Cape Peninsula is the southern most tip of the African continent - also historically recognized as the place where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. The Cape has a long and interesting history and is home to diverse wildlife from ostriches to penguins.

The day started off with with a short boat ride to Seal Island.  About 95% of the people on board were part of a Chinese tour group and if that was not bad enough, their tour guide commandeered the intercom system...for the entire boat ride!  I felt like I was back on the Hong Kong metro...or on the Star Ferry to be more exact! At one point, their guide told them to look on the left and they all went to that side of the boat...needless to say, the boat began to lean toward that side - yikes!






Seal Island is the home of a few thousand juvenile male seals.  As you could imagine with that many seals, you could smell the island long before we got close.  But when we got there, it was amazing!!  The water was so clear you could see the seals swimming in the water while others floated their backs.  The island itself was covered by seals drying themselves.

As we headed down to the Cape of Good Hope we came across a family of ostriches just along the side of the road - check out the babies!

It was explained to us that this is not technically the place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, even though that is what we have been taught in school.  Due to the tides, currents and winds, that actual point shifts.  But the "true" point of the meeting of the two oceans does not have this cool sign or a light house to boot!

Atop the Cape of Good Hope, there is a light house that is guarded by....baboons! Yep, baboons!  The grounds are scattered with signs saying that baboons are dangerous and not to feed them.  Melissa saw some stealing food from tourists on a restaurant patio.

So perhaps not entirely true? 

Baboons.. They were everywhere!

After Cape of Good Hope, we went to a penguin colony that is in a coastal neighborhood.  Some elevated walkways were built in the sand doons giving great access to the penguins.  

These little guys attract A LOT of tourists!

Robben Island...Prison

Robben Island has had so many uses over the years. The Dutch used it as a stop over and restocking point for ships that were going around the Cape of Good Hope. Both the British and Dutch both used the island as a holding area for prisoners and for quarantine purposes.  But the post British apartheid government used the island for political prisoners - the most famous of whom was Nelson Mandela, the first elected post apartheid president of South Africa.  The fact that the tour was done by a former political prisoner made it seem all the more human. 

On our way to Robben Island with Table Mountain behind us

Every cell had a photo of a former prisoner and the dates he was there

This is Mandela's garden where he hid his manuscript/manifesto from the guards. A fellow inmate was able to smuggle some of them out.

Cape Town looks so close, but in reality it is a very long and extremely cold swim to freedom