Wirld Wind Month

It has been a whirl wind month since I left for the rainbow country. I spent one night in Cape Town the night before the olds flew in. I did not quite get there in time to get out to Newlands for the Canes Stormers clash as I had hoped. Stayed the night on Long Street which has a thousand backpackers, bars and cafes. I certainly was not short on options to watch the rugby which was great and quickly made some drinking buddies after consuming some Nando’s in preparation for what ended being a big night.

Mum and Dad flew in late on the Sunday so I checked into the apartment down on the Waterfront which we stayed in for five nights. The Waterfront can be explained as maybe a bigger new and improved Darling Harbor. Good restaurants, Music, Bars, shopping and still a working harbor. This was all within view of the apartment and proved to be very convenient to walk down for dinner each night. I got my self comfortable on couch to watch the IPL until M&D arrived late Sunday night.

Cape Town was great. It was strange being back around so much infrastructure and convenience again. All the big sites were conquered; Table Mountain the first day, Robbin Island the second, down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope on the third and up to Stellenbosch on the last. Robbin Island was great for me after reading so much about Mandela’s time there. The tour was conducted by an ex political prisoner which certainly got your attention more. The District Six museum was also really interesting. It was a tribute to a multiracial colored community just off the CT CBD who were kicked out of there homes before they bulldozed the whole suburb, that is how it remains to this day. It really hit home how close in time this was, even with in my lifetime. Before we knew the five days were up and we were off to Victoria Falls.

After all that had happened over the past month I was pretty interested to see what Zimbabwe was going to be like. After a belly flop landing on the plane that felt like we were actually going to end up in the falls we dumped our bags at our outstanding lodge and headed to the falls. You could see the spray even from the plane as the river is running at like eighty percent capacity at the moment. Up close you got a sense of how immensely powerful it is but it was not until the next day when we took a helicopter flight up above the falls when you get some perspective on how vast and what an unusual land formation it has created. Ponchos were a must up close to the falls which Mum had of course packed and brought from Aus. We were able to watch some game loitering around a waterhole from the bar at the lodge which made for an easy afternoon. We also took a sunset cruise up stream from the falls on the Zambezi the next day. We got to see some elephants and hipos, experience how actually huge the river is and drink as much as we could on the boat for two and half hours. In the end we heard little about the political problems; I guess you are so far from Harrae, a couple of locals talked about it but only when they were by them selves. Yeses the town was run down though, the menu was interesting. Example: Coke $10 000 000

Joberg was next on the hit list. Spent one night there and the next day Mum had a route planned to drive out to Dulstrum to stay on the way to a gorge all towards Kruger from Joberg. After a few accdents on the roads (not us) we ended up getting there late. Turns out Dulstrum must be the trout fishing capital of Africa. The place we stayed had a dam where you could walk out the front door and toss a fly out. Nice drive the next day, once the fog lifted anyway. Was all highland country and sometimes felt like we were driving down to the snowy’s with the odd gorge thrown in. Bit nervous on the way back, when we discovered although it appears first world, petrol stations were not so frequent. Driving into Joberg worried you will run out of petrol can get the heart racing. Just like Brett Stewart appeared from the heavens for the Sea Eagles a few seasons ago, we eventually found one.

The trip to Zanzibar was not quite as routine. Once into Dar es Salaam and at the transfer desk, Dad realized he lost all of his tickets. To simplify the story; after a few arguments and let me tell you if you are in a hurry Tanzanians can provide some fuel for your frustration Dad some how got through on my ticket. I went off to find another way across the channel to Zanzibar. After driving to another airport a few backward deals and paying off a few people I found myself on some obscure Airline, destination Zanzibar. I arrived just in time for dinner which was on top of our hotel not far from the water in the middle of Stone Town, which provided a great view at sunset. A walking tour the next morning which was very interesting and a necessity, as after three hours of walking I could have sworn we halfway to the east coast but sure enough we popped out right next to our hotel. Up to the resort straight after which was and hours drive north east. It was amazing how much it all just changed into your stereotypical paradise. Blue water, white sand, forests of palm trees, it had it all. The feature Dad and I got most use out of was the bar in the pool. It was certainly relaxing in between the super 14 games sitting on the beach and Dad and I went sailing on a Dow which was fun. Think I might get board after a week though.

Back to Arusha and the beautiful weather and even worse roads after the rain season. The olds were off on Safari on the Monday so I took them to a near by orphanage and had a look around town on the Sunday before they were shipped off. They returned really pumped about it all which was great as they were a little apprehensive about it all considering all the driving in the Northern circuit in Tanzania. I was able to take them to a Send Off for a Maasai Wedding on the Thursday evening which Mum especially loved. At assembly on Friday they were asked too present awards and then after school we went to visit a student’s home. I think especially after the couple of days around Arusha they felt as if they had seen something off the tourist track which was good. I had a game of rugby on the Saturday, so they drank while I played and then we went out to watch the Tahs over dinner.

Was great to travel with them the whole time but especially to show them around Arusha which I think they got a buzz out of, above all else. Was weird to think the next time I will see them will be in Canada in December.