Its been a pretty stressful last day or so, and I dont just mean Francoise HATING the casino complex that was next to our hotel and forbidding me to join the high rollers club here or buying tacky gambling flavoured merchandise eg slot machine coffee mugs, little working poker machine banks etc)
We discovered a connecting train ride we intended to take Joburg-Port Elizabeth had been wrongly booked by the operator for May 2nd (when we to be in Zambia!) not May 5 as we wanted. Its a nightmare trying to get hold of the train operators in SA, not just with finding a phone line or net connection that works but also getting hold of anyone that cares. They seem completely disinterested especially as they have our money already. So we were madly trying to sort that out as we checked out of the Emperor's Palace, finding out they had 'misplaced' our 400 rand bond for phone use as we had to rush for the airport shuttle. So we were seething, out of pocket and scrapping about awful service as we were dumped into the monstrous queues of JoBurg airport. With no luck getting hold of the train on airport phones we concentrated on getting on our flight (Customs didnt recognise my fresh faced passport photo compared to my current hardened face and travel beard) to Zambia. They chuck you on a bus and drive you the length of the airport to a dinky little jet.
No vegetarian fare on the 2 hour flight for Francoise not helping her mood.
Random Poison Interlude-I have see black widow like spiders called Button Spiders, golden orb weaving monsters but only seen 2 wild snakes here, 2 puff adders (with venom that rots your flesh) crawling across roads in front of game drives we were on. However I was going to the bathroom late in our little room in the Serondella Reserve 2 nights ago and there was a scorpion the size of my middle finger on the wall. I felt the safest course was the squish it with an air freshener and hope it was not endangered.
A nice view of the Victoria Falls from the plane at least. Looks like a huge rent in the earth with smoke billowing out of it. Got into the 27 degree temperatures of dusty Livingstone Airport, Zambia for a rude surprise=$50 US visa fee each! no travel agent or net research told us that! So we ponied up the cash found our transfer and we taken through the quirky town of Livingstone (past signs that said 'Succeed the RIGHT way not the CORRUPT way') to the Zambezi Sun Hotel. We were met by and photo-ed with guys in tribal dress (less embarrassing than being drummed into Serondella again 2 days ago like we were royalty)
The hotel complex is nice and African themed ('fake looking' Francoise sneered) and right on the lip of the Vic Falls (you hear it rumbling all the time-its in peak flood this time of year). Such a tourist trap here-everythin in US dollars which is 1 US Dollar to 3000 kotcha? the local currency...so we cant eat or drink too much...I didnt budget for tourist traps
Cue more stress of no working phone or net lines to confirm/rebook the bleeding Port Elizabeth Train. After the additional upset of finding out the Vic Falls African Elephant riden safari was booked out for days in advance (I was devastated) we went to look at the falls themself to calm down....
They are staggering, monstrous. Photos dont really do them justice when your a speck on the edge of a huge abyss of white water and mist. You get soaked in the spray wandering along them past poor railing and slippery ground. I had some Africans roaring with laffter as I tried ducking under their raincoats.
'Dont get too close Doug!'
With phone and net out we gave up on the train for now, Francoise got on the net finally while I wallowed in the huge swimming hotel pool they have here and strutted for the bathing beauties (until a huge German did a bomb into the water yelling 'Wunderbar!!!'
We then went and had expensive drinks and dinner (dam US bucks!!!) with a cheesy african band playing Shania Twain music for the jetset.
Next day we did an early walk along the falls with no one else around wearing togs. Sliding around on narrow bridges and paths where you cant see anything in front of your face but whiteness with the roar of the water. Bitchin.
We've stuffed to capacity on the complimentary breakfast (so we dont need to eat anymore) with more walks today and a cruise on the Zambezi at night. Now if we can just get hold of someone in the stinking South African rail system
sigh
Manfred
photos to come
We discovered a connecting train ride we intended to take Joburg-Port Elizabeth had been wrongly booked by the operator for May 2nd (when we to be in Zambia!) not May 5 as we wanted. Its a nightmare trying to get hold of the train operators in SA, not just with finding a phone line or net connection that works but also getting hold of anyone that cares. They seem completely disinterested especially as they have our money already. So we were madly trying to sort that out as we checked out of the Emperor's Palace, finding out they had 'misplaced' our 400 rand bond for phone use as we had to rush for the airport shuttle. So we were seething, out of pocket and scrapping about awful service as we were dumped into the monstrous queues of JoBurg airport. With no luck getting hold of the train on airport phones we concentrated on getting on our flight (Customs didnt recognise my fresh faced passport photo compared to my current hardened face and travel beard) to Zambia. They chuck you on a bus and drive you the length of the airport to a dinky little jet.
No vegetarian fare on the 2 hour flight for Francoise not helping her mood.
Random Poison Interlude-I have see black widow like spiders called Button Spiders, golden orb weaving monsters but only seen 2 wild snakes here, 2 puff adders (with venom that rots your flesh) crawling across roads in front of game drives we were on. However I was going to the bathroom late in our little room in the Serondella Reserve 2 nights ago and there was a scorpion the size of my middle finger on the wall. I felt the safest course was the squish it with an air freshener and hope it was not endangered.
A nice view of the Victoria Falls from the plane at least. Looks like a huge rent in the earth with smoke billowing out of it. Got into the 27 degree temperatures of dusty Livingstone Airport, Zambia for a rude surprise=$50 US visa fee each! no travel agent or net research told us that! So we ponied up the cash found our transfer and we taken through the quirky town of Livingstone (past signs that said 'Succeed the RIGHT way not the CORRUPT way') to the Zambezi Sun Hotel. We were met by and photo-ed with guys in tribal dress (less embarrassing than being drummed into Serondella again 2 days ago like we were royalty)
The hotel complex is nice and African themed ('fake looking' Francoise sneered) and right on the lip of the Vic Falls (you hear it rumbling all the time-its in peak flood this time of year). Such a tourist trap here-everythin in US dollars which is 1 US Dollar to 3000 kotcha? the local currency...so we cant eat or drink too much...I didnt budget for tourist traps
Cue more stress of no working phone or net lines to confirm/rebook the bleeding Port Elizabeth Train. After the additional upset of finding out the Vic Falls African Elephant riden safari was booked out for days in advance (I was devastated) we went to look at the falls themself to calm down....
They are staggering, monstrous. Photos dont really do them justice when your a speck on the edge of a huge abyss of white water and mist. You get soaked in the spray wandering along them past poor railing and slippery ground. I had some Africans roaring with laffter as I tried ducking under their raincoats.
'Dont get too close Doug!'With phone and net out we gave up on the train for now, Francoise got on the net finally while I wallowed in the huge swimming hotel pool they have here and strutted for the bathing beauties (until a huge German did a bomb into the water yelling 'Wunderbar!!!'
We then went and had expensive drinks and dinner (dam US bucks!!!) with a cheesy african band playing Shania Twain music for the jetset.
Next day we did an early walk along the falls with no one else around wearing togs. Sliding around on narrow bridges and paths where you cant see anything in front of your face but whiteness with the roar of the water. Bitchin.
We've stuffed to capacity on the complimentary breakfast (so we dont need to eat anymore) with more walks today and a cruise on the Zambezi at night. Now if we can just get hold of someone in the stinking South African rail system
sigh
Manfred
photos to come
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