Cooling off in Cape Town

And COOL is the operative word here! About 14 degrees at the moment and not a lot warmer during the day. But before we do Cape Town and all the things in between - let's finish off Botswana.

Our last afternoon and morning in Botswana unfortunately didn't produce a leopard, although a boat trip down the Chobe River brought lots more elephant, including babies, lions, crocodiles, all sorts of birds and some buffalo. Timan came with us and seemed to enjoy the trip. Kaiser picked us up at White Sands and we did a slow game drive back to camp. More of the usual suspects, including giraffes. Our last night at camp was uneventful although the elephants were very close and there were certainly hyenas about. We tried to ask all the questions to which we hadn't already had answers. Kaiser and I were last up and I managed to get lost looking for the loo, thank goodness he was still up and came to my rescue or I may still be wandering the Chobe bush. No, not true, Kaiser is an excellent tracker (and always ready to teach us, so now we can recognise lion tracks, hyena, wild dog, impala, elephant, hippo, cheetah, all of which will be of enormous assistance to us next time we go out into the bush) - I'm sure he would have found me by now. I'm ashamed to say I even had a torch and still couldn't find it!

Chobe is an interesting park, still showing the signs of the village and the industry that were there many years ago before the park was declared. It was still dry and dusty, but the river winding through it opened some incredible and beautiful vistas from the hills. The game had eaten it bare, so unless they are prepared to swim to Namibia or one of the river islands, or to eat the flowering trees, they need to travel up to 40 km from the river for food. No wonder the elephants sounded restless. So the game wasn't as concentrated during the day and we worked harder to see it. Elephants and impala being the exceptions of course.

Our last morning was really bitter sweet - lots of photographs taken and hugs given out. We waved goodbye to Amos and Timan around 8.30 and set out on our last game drive, with many comments being thrown around about last chances to find a leopard. Which we didn't. (But we won't hold that against Kaiser) . We did find a lion kill (completely stripped by the vultures) and the lions sleeping it off. A last visit to Kasane to tidy up the paperwork and look regretfully at the art gallery and it was off to Kasengula to cross the border into Zimbabwe.

Finally armed with our visas (a long and tedious manual system) and our Zimbabwe guide having arrived, we made heartfelt farewells and crossed over into Zimbabwe headed for Victoria Falls. As CC Africa had been late, we quickly threw our bags into our rooms and grabbed a taxi to the Falls to make sure we didn't miss getting a long look at them. Lon and I LOVED the taxi. You need pictures to get the real idea: yellow Mazda 323 around 20 years old (Osbornes think of the Colt with a battered yellow paint job) - one of the Executive taxi fleet. With the sweetest and most reliable driver! The Falls are truly mind-blowing, powerful and awe-inspiring, and deserve their place as one of the natural wonders of the world. If I could upload some images I'd show you - maybe tomorrow!

While JD and Shelley went back to the hotel, Lon and I did a little shopping (surprise, surprise!). We were frequently approached by people asking us did we want to trade our clothes, followed by children holding out begging cups and accosted by stall holders touting for business. The hotel didn't have water or virtually any soft drinks, and only 3 dishes on the dinner menu. The economy seems to be struggling to say the least. The people were wonderful however and we especially thank Rochelle who did our laundry on the morning we left in less than an hour - washed and dried and beautifully folded. All the hotel staff were impressive.

It was a looooong day the next day. We said goodbye early to Jeremy and Shelley with an agreement to meet in Cape Town for dinner on Friday night and then had a two-hour flight to Johannesburg first up, with around 3 hours at the airport to try and find Lonni's luggage. And yes, there it was eventually, only with a broken zipper and missing a whole bunch of stuff. Sad to say the losses from both our suitcases add up to around $7000 - so hopefully both Emirates and travel insurance will come through. Everything took so long that without the assistance of a great porter who got us checked through Alliance Gold Star we would have missed the plane to Cape Town. Then to top it all off we had the driver from hell pick us up at the airport to drive us for 2 hours to Groot Bos. Ten to twenty ks over the speed limit all the way (already set at 120), non-stop talker and so arrogant that we both struggled to stay calm and quiet. Lon escaped into her iRiver but I had the joy of the front seat!

Groot Bos (a private nature reserve), once we got there in one piece, proved to be a fabulous and very luxurious, quiet retreat. We were welcomed by Andre and Michelle and nothing was too much trouble - luggage delivered to our rooms while we had a quiet late dinner, and when we got to our rooms there was a fire going and everything was ready for us to fall into bed. Up early for whale watching and we saw lots, as well as penguins, seals and a great white. In the afternoon we were supposed to go off on some other activity but sleep overtook us both. Another enjoyable dinner and lots more sleep! There's something to be said for 5-star treatment on occasions.
Another fairly early start and Nzuzos took us on a beach and cave tour - a great deal of climbing down sand cliffs and over rocks, and steps and interesting caves used by the Koi people around 80,000 years ago as well as some time on the sand. The water is COLD though.

The same driver came to pick us up and I made Lon sit in the front - once again she escaped into her iRiver but this time I matched her, falling alseep not far out of Hermanus and only waking up a few minutes from our hotel. I thought if he snapped his fingers in front of her face just one more time she'd have them off at the elbow - much easier to sleep and pretend I heard nothing! That way I couldn't testify.

Anyway, the Victoria and Alfred on the waterfront is a beautiful hotel and Cape Town a pretty city. I'll have to tell you the rest tomorrow night - it's getting late and I still have to take the hired laptop back. Lonni is already showered and reading in bed and I need to get there myself.
Both cameras have been in for a clean at a camera repair place we found - I collect them tomorrow and hopefully everything will be in good working order for Namibia. They are also downloading all our cards, so maybe I can get some photos up tomorrow night. I can't wait to see them on the screen anyway.

Gotta go - will tell you about Cape Town and our activities tomorrow night.

lotsa love - L & L