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

Walking around Cape Town

After two days on the bus, we were ready to do some walking and had a map and a list of destinations to check out, and as you can see from these pictures, the weather was absolutely beautiful! Sunny with a cool breeze - perfect!

First we headed to the "Castle" (what we call a fort, the locals insist is a Castle), which was situated in the center of the city's Central Business District. Once you walk through the Castle's main gate, it is like you enter another world! A huge open grassy area and impressive colonial architecture.

Green & Yellow with Table Mountain in the background

After the castle we passed City Hall and took a look at some street stall shopping.  

After getting (a little!) lost, we finally arrived at our next destination. I'm not sure of the official name but I'll call it the colored house neighborhood.  We had seen these brightly colored houses from the bus and had to come back for a closer look.  It was explained to us that because the African and Indian slaves were not given any personal choice on what colors to wear and the colors available to them were bland and boring that when they were freed, they wore bright colors and painted their houses to proclaim their new found means of self expression.

After all that walking, we worked up an appetite and walked down to V&A Waterfront for dinner.

The Greek restrant was highly recommended so we decided to give it a go!  As everything on the menu looked good we ended up going with the mixed feast, and as you can see it was most definitely that - a feast!

Shrimp, rock lobster, fish, mussels, calamari on a bed of rice... excellent!

Night at the Cape!

We decided to take a night tour of Cape Town to get a different perspective. En route to the bus at the V&A Waterfront, Melissa inevitably found her new "favorite band" again so we joined the crowd for a few songs. 

The double decker bus took a scenic route along the coast stopping at a scenic lookout point with had Cape Town and Table Mountain on one side and the ocean on the other.  In Cape Town as soon as the sun goes down the temperature very quickly drops, so brrrrrrr it was cold!

Red Route, Blue Route

Funny photo? Even better - He sneezed into the map first!

On the second day, we decided to do the hop on - hop off bus tour - really, what better way to see any city!?  As there are two bus routes, this is probably the best way to see Cape Town and the surrounding areas.  We took the red route bus around one full cycle then went back to the points of interest.  As the weather was absolutely perfect, Table Mountain was on the top of that list.  After purchasing your ticket they put you into a "corral area" to wait for the next cable car.  When it arrives the doors open and the pushing match begins as everyone tries to jockey for the open window spots.  We were close but not close enough to stick our heads out.  But to our surprise, the the floor of the

cable car rotates around 360 degrees giving everyone a chance to take a photo from the open windows.  I had very low expectations for the cable car ride to the top, but it was actually very cool!  At the top it is very windy as you would expect, but the views were amazing! 

After Table Mountain, the bus went around the cape stopping at beautiful beaches such as Camps Bay which was described as the "South Beach of Cape Town" - where paparazzi wait for their next money shot of South Africa's rich and famous.

The beautiful Camps Bay with Lion's Head int he background

After the long day on the bus it was back to V&A Waterfront for some dinner.  As we missed lunch, we pulled out all the stops and went to the extreme!... Chicken in trouble, well that is what they call it on the menu. It was pretty tasty - even more tasty since there is not a good and reasonably priced chicken to be found in Hong Kong!

Yep, that chicken is in Trouble!

The third day was our Blue Bus route day which encompassed the greater cape peninsula and surrounding communities.

Our first stop with the Groot Constantia Vineyards.  This winery is one of the oldest on the cape and was even enjoyed by Napoleon! We enjoyed a great wine tasting ($8 for 10 samples - now that's a deal! The cabernet sauvignon blanc was our favorite!) Then we took a long walk around the gardens taking in all the colonial Dutch architecture.  After all of that, we were back on the bus.

What number is this?