Africa Overview--September 13-24

It was needed!!! Vacation!!! The Musician and I haven't taken much vacation this year because we were saving our time for this trip. I have always wanted to see the Zambezi River. It goes back to my childhood and is deeply rooted.
My first day of third grade, I got lost walking home and a new friend showed me the gravestone of Osa and Martin Johnson. They were American explorers who were among the first to go on Safari in Africa for the purpose of exploration and photography. They hunted, everyone did. But, their prized  trophies were their photographs, memories, and positive interaction and trade with indigenous population. I spent a great deal of the next 10 years exploring the tiny, but packed, museum in Chanute, KS. It's a surprising treasure trove in this little town.

I also grew up riding the Zambezi Zinger at World's of Fun. It was my first "grown-up" roller coaster and I couldn't get enough. In addition to the climbs and turns and drops, we went through a tunnel of darkness and I have always thought of Africa that way. I know, silly.

We have been hearing about the proposal to dam the Batoka Gorge for hydroelectric power. If this happens, and it appears increasingly likely, the Zambezi will be flooded up to 650 meters of Victoria Falls. The amazing rapids of this fierce river will be lost. The plains and ecosystem will be flooded. We felt we had to go now if we were ever going to have the adventure on my bucket list. The Zambezi has some of the most awesome white-water rafting in the world. The Musician and I were intimidated by the idea of Class IV and Class V rapids as we've never done more than a day trip on Class III. But, we researched and found Bio Bio Expeditions. The owners served as guides along these rivers for many years in their youth ... they cut their teeth here. They know people here. And, they had planned an amazing trip. They were sold out the week we wanted to go, but they made phone calls and were able to accommodate 2 more people. And, they assured us they could accommodate our plant-based diet as well. So, we signed up. Ensured our passports were up-to-date. Got our vaccines, malaria prophylaxis, and prescription for other prophylactic meds. Got my overseas clearance, and we were off. Packed (a ton of INKnBURN for travel) our safari and camping clothes.

We expected reassignment to DC this summer and we had to book flights well in advance, so we booked from DC. Well, reassignment didn't happen, so we had to book from San Antonio to DC. We stayed overnight in DC to make sure we didn't miss any connections.  But, we were already in vacation mode and celebrated during our layover in Dallas.

The Musician was excited because this was his first flight on a 747. Mine too, but I don't get excited about these kinds of things. I couldn't tell you the differences between planes. It was a big plane, that's all I know. We knew international flights would be long, so we splurged a little and booked Premium Economy seating on Lufthansa. It's a smallish cabin between business and economy and provides a level of service in between, but what I really wanted was the leg-room. And, there was plenty of leg room and space with a drop down foot rest from the seat in front of us. and extra water bottles to keep us hydrated. This is all important for a 7-hour, 40-minute flight.

As we were seated, we were offered passion fruit juice as a refreshment. After take-off, this was followed by a pre-meal cocktail and our dinner.

We had requested a special vegan meal and were served first (bonus of special meal requests). I swear, our roasted vegetable dinner looked much better than the other meals that we saw served. And the fruit for dessert was amazing. Odd, though to have brie and butter cookies, which we did not eat.

I declined after dinner coffee, tea, or cordials. We enjoyed the extensive current movie selection (we watched Terminator Genisys and Spy) and took a nap for our overnight flight. Service was great through the night. Attentive, but not invasive. Amenities with socks, eye mask, ear plugs, little toothbrush and toothpaste, and a face wipe. The blanket was soft.

We awoke to hot towels before breakfast was served. Breakfast was amazing with marinated vegetables (also looked better than the other meals). And, before landing, we were offered a pack of mints. The flight was quite uneventful ... which I always appreciate.

We had a 14-hour layover in Frankfurt. So ... deplane, go through customs, and walk and walk and walk through the airport to find a hotel inside the airport (sort of ... we didn't have to go outdoors, but we did cross a skywalk over a road and found ourselves in a train depot). The Hilton Garden Inn had day-use rooms and we were happy for privacy, a hot shower, and a horizontal and comfortable bed to get some better rest in. No matter how comfortable the plane seating is ... it's not  quality sleep- just not great.

We woke up, and headed back to the airport to catch our flight to Johanesburg. We went back through security and found a meal before settling in to our terminal. The Musician was excited again about his first flight on an A380. All I know is that it is a big plane and it had stairs inside. We did not go upstairs. Premium Economy seating was pretty much the same as on our other flight. But, for a 10-hour, 40-minute flight ... I was happy for the space. Service and space was similar.

Our special meal came out first and I really liked the potato and tofu dish and marinated cold vegetables. This time, I accepted a Bailey's after dinner cordial. I'm a pretty simple girl, so these things make me feel decadent. Same movie selection, but this time the Musician and I watched different things (Mad Max is terrible and I didn't watch the whole thing, I did watch Cinderella, Aloha, and the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).

Short nap and hot towel followed by a breakfast of hot grains that I dont' really recognize with marinated vegetables and fruit. Another offer of mints before landing. And again, another uneventful flight.

 The Johanesburg layover was brief. We did have to go through customs. Go through security clearance. Check our passports several times. We checked out the duty free shopping, but didn't purchase. There were some stores of Africa, but it seemed very tourist-centric and I am not convinced that some items weren't made in China. Sadly, we also saw real animal skins for sale and that disturbed me. I was hoping they were fake, and couldn't bring myself to check. The Musician confirmed. I just don't understand how someone can look at a beautiful animal and think it should be a rug.

Our flight to Victoria Falls was on South American Airlines. They don't have a Premium Economy section, but it's less than a 2-hour flight. Service is still not like US Airlines. Snacks. We had Fruit and Nuts. I think it was better than the bland looking sandwich everyone else had.

 And, there we were, landed at Victoria Falls Airport. We had to go through customs. Grab our bags and get in line for our Visa. It moved quickly and we bought the Kaza Visa that allows multiple entries between Botswana and Zambia and Zimbabwe within 30 days. Other alternatives had fixed number of entries and would require filling out paperwork and paying additional fees with every entry. It is small airport and we quickly met with our guide and the majority of the other people on our trip. There were three more folks arriving later in the evening through Livingstone Airport in Zambia and one of our river guides (from Peru) missed his flight and would be joining us a few days later.

 We hopped a bus and drove to our first lodging. The majority of our trip was lodging and activities arranged through Wild Horizons. If you do anything around Victoria Falls, you will likely arrange it through this company. They have known the owners of Bio Bio for years, and they took great care of us. This post is long enough and each adventure in Africa deserves a post of it's own. So ... I'll be brief (ish). On our drive to the lodge, I was already speechless. We saw Baboons, Monkeys, Elephants along the road. And, the trees, stark and stunning ... I didn't have a camera out and they are indescribably beautiful with winding and interlocking branches. They are engraved in my mind.

We spent our first few days and nights at Imbabala Safari Lodge. We were met with juice and cocktails and escorted to our room that had a view of the river. All of the lodges had views of the river. It's an open lodge and we were required to have escorts at night because animals walk through the camp. We got to know our traveling companions a little more, enjoyed relaxing and wonderful meals, had river and land game drives, took a day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We were well cared for.

In order to get to know our companions better, we played a "name game" the first evening. The idea is that you say your name and something you brought on the trip that begins with your initial. Then, the next person has to repeat all the names and items before them ... and so on.

The Owner and the Prom Queen (Lorenzo brought Love of the River, Terry brought Tranquility, Tequila, Tranquilizers)

The Kayakers (David brought Daring, Kay brought Kick-ass Kayaking skills)

The Surgeon and his Angel (Tug brought the Tower of Power, Angela brought an Angel to look over us for safety)

The Cops (Phillip brought Pot, Celeste brought Cash)

The Brothers and their Dad (Dylan brought a Dry Duffel, Walker brought a watch, Forrest brought Fear of the River)

The American Dentist and the American Hygienist (Saira brought Several Cipro, Jerad brought Jelly Beans)

Power Paddler and Ski Patrol (Nickki brought Nostalgia, Troy brought Toilet Paper)

The Friends (Cristin brought yoga term that begins with C, Jodee brought Jubilation)

The Argentenian (Gaston brought ??)

I did NOT bring Marijuana (but I smelled it which is why it came to mind). The Musician brought... rhubarb?

 Throughout the trip, we were also given a little Bio Bio Swag. You know I like Swag. 

After three nights of "camping" we took a trip to the Lookout Cafe where we had amazing views of the Gorge. We had adventure opportunities. We declined the Gorge Swing and the Flying Fox, but did a tandem Zip-line. The video is NSFW because of the heavy use of f-bombs. It's not like a canopy zip-line. It's 160 km/hour descent into the Gorge (by the way, there was a huge crocodile waiting for lunch in the river below). I swear our video looks a lot slower than the fall felt. We then took a drive to Zambezi National Park where again, we saw more elephants and my highlight was the Zebra herd on either side of us. They moved fast though, so our pictures (later) aren't awesome. We spent the next few days camping on the river and canoeing a calm part of the Zambezi upstream from Victoria Falls. Hippos and laughing children were the highlights. 

After a few nights in tents, we spent an evening at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. Now, this is total luxury. After a hot shower and some laundry, we took a dip in the pool and had drinks overlooking the Watering Hole. We were advised to keep the door to the veranda closed as baboons like to enter rooms and play with whatever they find laying around. I also got a little closer to a warthog than he liked. Scared me when he grunted.

Dinner was at a Boma restaurant with local delicacies (yes, I ate a worm) and native performance.

The luxury was brief as we headed out the next morning for several days of rafting. I was prepared for rafting ... maybe ... but the hike was rigorous. I din't think about the fact that we had to get down the 300-foot gorge before we started. We rafted with Diego from Peru as our guide and he was AMAZING. We partnered with Power Paddler and Ski Patrol, who are experienced, and the Cops. Celeste has never rafted before, so we all got a laugh about how the three least experienced were rafting together. We rafted the upper rapids twice in 2 days with camping in between. And another set of rapids the third day. Final day was a short rafting followed by a climb out of the gorge and a ride to our final lodging. I was already feeling sad that it was nearing an end.

Camp ... why didn't we take a picture of our tent? Oh yeah, not
much to see there. 

At the Elephant Camp, we had time to be leisurely and just catch our breath. We had a chance for a brief interaction with rescued elephants at the sanctuary and a meeting with a rescued Cheetah who thinks he's a person. I showered in the indoor shower and outdoor shower. And I soaked in the deep claw-foot tub, and took a dip in our personal plunge pool. Yes, I wanted to get every second out of feeling civilized again. We shopped at a local craft market and took a trip to Royal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia for a dip in Devil's Pool above Victoria Falls. Final dinner was the first meal at the Boma at the Camp. I did not go for a worm this time. 

Yes, that's a waterfall behind me. The "smile" is a grimace as I hold on.

Our final morning, we had leisurely breakfast and said our farewells.  We caught a bus with a few other travelers and headed to the Zambian Border. Customs to leave Zimbabwe. Cross the border. Customs to enter Zambia. Catch a different bus to the Airport. Said "good-bye" to Diego who took such good care of us. Security and customs then to the gate.

Our first flight was South African Airways again. Interesting that they sprayed the plane for mosquitoes before landing in Johannesburg. Snack was a vegetable sandwich. Meh, but in the states, no food at all. 

In Johannesburg, we bumped into many of our other traveling companions who arrived from flights in Zimbabwe. We booked our return through Zambia because everything was completely full out of Zimbabwe unless we paid a few thousand dollars for business upgrade. 

We hopped on an A380 to Frankfurt. We were in the front of the Premium Economy section. So ... a few differences. We didn't have a foot-rest from the seat in front of us, but instead had a recliner type foot rest built into our seat. The tray came out of our armrest. And, the video also came out of the section between seats. The negative of this is that you have to stow it during take-off and landing. When media was on the seat in front of me, I was able to watch movies uninterrupted from the time I boarded until the time I deplaned. So ... I had more media time for entertainment on my other flights. Dinner was the potatoes and tofu we had on an earlier flight. I liked it, both times, so no complaints. 

The Musician was feeling bad and refrained from pretty much everything except water. I finished watching a movie from a previous flight, in addition to the Age of Adaline and About Time. Took a nap. Hot towel. Breakfast was amazing mushrooms. 

Our layover in Frankfurt was shorter this time, only 8 hours. So after landing, we went through customs and paid for a relaxing stay in the Senator Lounge where we had hot showers and relaxing chairs. There was a great spread of a variety of breakfast foods (not vegan) that swapped out for lunch at 11 (also not vegan). We were glad we arrived in the early morning as it got more crowded as the day went on and the line for showers grew. The lounge was nice with lots of separate areas and comfortable seating. Computer stations and free wifi. 

Our flight from Frankfurt to DC was on another 747, but this time 8-hours, 40 minutes. The Musician slept most of the way. Dinner was an interesting curry dish.  

I watched 3 movies (While We're Young, Closer, and The Ghost Writer). Not much napping this trip. Hot towel. Mints. The usual. I took pictures of the snack crackers because I thought they were pretty darn cute.  I ate the heart shape before taking pictures and didn't find it again. 

On this flight, something happened that I have never experienced before. It seemed we were coming in for landing and missed the approach so pulled up and circled around again. No big deal, but different. I am guessing that with such big planes, they have to have greater precision in landing. They made an announcement about it. The Musician paid attention. I did not.

Heading home at last

Another night at the Fairfield Inn in DC and dinner with fellow INKnBURN Ambassador, OneLittleBecca (I forgot to take a pic). Then flight home and then cuddle time with my girls. I have missed them. 

HOME!!!