Recently in Our Travels Category

After the conference, Doug, James and I hit the rapids at the Source of the Nile near the town of Jinja with guides from Adrift Adventures. I’ve wanted to do some white water rafting in Africa, but the horror stories from the Zambezi (Zambia/Zimbabwe) were off-putting. Adrift and the Nile, however, have an established reputation for safety. Then again, these types of activities are often marketed as “wild, but safe” regardless of their actual injury/fatality statistics. However, feedback from colleagues who rafted a few weeks back was reassurance enough.

I think signing the non-indemnity form before doing these types of things is the most gut-wrenching part. You think, “Oh shit! What am I doing?” There’s no assurances of “wild, but safe” on the non-indemnity from—just a reminder that you can’t sue if you shatter your pelvis or dislocate your shoulder.

Once we loaded the boat, however, I forgot about clauses of non-liability and just enjoyed the ride. Our guide was a Kiwi with significant commercial experience, but had been on the Nile for only two weeks. His local inexperience showed when we missed the four meter high waterfall that we were supposed to go over and instead parked on rocks on an adjacent, narrow through way. With an assist from the camera man, we managed to free the boat and shoot the narrow spill without any problems.

Other than that, things seemed to be under control. A few flips here and a thrown paddler there—all in a days work. I ate it pretty hard though on the last rapid (see the pic of everyone’s feet). I think I was flipped off in the opposite direction of everyone else and got sucked through the rapid a couple of times before being flushed out in the middle of the fast part of river. Everyone else went under once or twice, came up, and doggy paddled to shore in calm waters. I had to wait for one of the kayakers to come pull me back from way down the river.

Pics: I’m the guy in the red t-shirt, yellow helmet, and blue shorts.

Umvuvu Camp is a little known treasure in the northern Okavango Delta area. We only know about it because a PCV in our training group lived in Seronga and met the owners there. While I like other locations in this series on “favorite places” Umvuvu Camp is at the top of my list for many reasons. First is the facilities, including the best camping showers in Botswana. (Open-air with hot water and a changing room areayou’re your clothes don’t get wet.) I could spend hours sitting by the hippo pool and they provide a clean and convenient cooking area. The second reason I love Umvuvu Camp is the reasonable costs. Camping cost P66 pp pn or they have chalets with beds for P110 pp pn that looked super comfy. (We rented camping mattresses – i.e. mattresses literally ripped off the beds from the chalets – for the best P10 I’ve ever spent.) Finally, Umvuvu Camp has great staff. Al, Scott, Brian and I were the only people at camp and had great personal service from two staff in particular, Meshack and Lovemore. Meshack took us on an Island Walk and introduced us to the local flora and fauna used by people from the area for purposes as varied as teeth brushing to medicine. Meshack and Lovemore were also our polers for the mekoro trips where Lovemore was able to spot a herd of zebra almost 1km away and Meshack stopped to show us wild potatoes that grow in the river. (And collect some for a stew he would make himself for dinner another day.)

The very small downside to Umvuvu Camp is that Seronga is difficult to reach (but from there Umvuvu Camp will pick you up for P60 pp). There’s no public transport, to drive from Mohembo requires a car with clearance so the only other option is a boat transfer from Swamp Stop in Sepopa. We had to charter our own boat because there were no previously scheduled transfers while we were there. It cost P965 each way for four people and totally worth it. If your schedule is more flexible Ryk at Swamp Stop (+267 71379326) said they make regular transfers that would have been less expensive. Altogether, though, I can't recommend Umvuvu Camp high enough. They're building a lodge and putting in a swimming pool and I'm looking forward to visiting again the next time we visit Bots. Contact them at umvuvucampbots@gmail.com or call Mark directly at +267 72574643

As I mentioned before Al + Scott brought items from the dollar store in the U.S. to trade for crafts in Zimbabwe. The economic situation there is completely out of control so people cannot get basic necessities. Several friends and colleagues suggested bringing inexpensive items from the U.S. to trade so we decided to try it out ourselves.

The most popular items Al + Scott brought were personal hygiene products like toothbrushes and bars of soap. This was followed closely by packs pens (in fact, packs of anything were pretty popular). Notepads, packs of playing cards and single pens were less popular, but we were still able to trade everything away. Brian and I, on the other hand, brought used clothes to trade. In retrospect we wish we brought more with us because we have plenty of old clothes and they were popular. We did find out that women prefer skirts (the pants I brought were all traded with men) but men’s pants and shirts were both very popular.

At first we were nervous about trading – you don’t want to scam people who are already much worse off than you – but once we started trading it was addictive. There are, however, a couple of keys to successful trading. The first is understanding a sellers’ trick. It’s the old “foot-in-the-door” persuasion technique – ask for something small and then up the ante. Many sellers will offer to trade for something they see on you, like the hat you’re wearing. Once you agree to trade your hat the seller then asks for your hat and $5. Usually people walks away saying, “I just got ________ for my hat!” when in fact they got it for $5 and the seller took your hat as well. Therefore the trick is to get the cash price down so far that the seller won’t accept it outright. Then, as you’re about to walk away, you offer a trade to sweeten the deal.

The other key to trading is that you will almost always have to include at least some cash in the deal. (Although I did get a set of carved wooden serving spoons for a pair of women’s pants and a Zebras4Life wristband, the asking price was originally $8.) It takes understanding that the sellers need cash to replace the item you’re buying, so the trades are something valuable to them but are cutting into their cash profits.
Altogether we got a bunch of great stuff. Brian and I got two wooden bowls, four hand-painted magnets, two pieces of decorative fabrics and a set of carved wooden spoons for less than $35 plus trades. Al + Scott got three wooden giraffes, a rock carving, a batik, and some small animal carvings. I’m not sure how much cash they spent, but they were able to trade everything away that they brought with them.

Here are some of my favorite pics from our travels with Al + Scott. It was a lot of fun to hit our favorite sites in Bots again. I've edited our pictures down to just over 700, not bad. Our itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Pick up Al + Scott in Joburg.
Day 2: Drive Joburg to Gabs, braii at Ben & Sheelagh's
Day 3: Rest day in Gabs
Day 4: Gabs-Nata, overnight at Nata Lodge
Day 5: Nata-Kasane, sunset river cruise, overnight at Chobe Safari Lodge
Day 6: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Day 7: Rest day in Kasane
Day 8: Kasane-Sepopa, overnight at Sepopa Swamp Stop
Day 9: Sepopa-Seronga, overnight at Umvuvu Camp
Day 10: Mekoro trips
Day 11: Seronga-Ghanzi via Etsha 6 basket co-op
Day 12: Ghanzi-Gabs
Day 13: Molepolole day-trip via Thamaga Pottery
Day 14: Gabs day

Southwest Township (Soweto)
Staying at Lebo's Backpackers in Soweto is must for anyone passing through Jo-burg. Despite the population density, Soweto has the vibe of village life. I felt much safer in Soweto than in Jo-burg and found that people were very friendly and talkative. Lebo, the backpacker's owner/manager, lived with his relatives in Botswana while his parents were in exile for their activism against aparthied in the 1980s. His takes on South African history and Soweto life were very interesting.

Photo (clockwise starting in the upper lefthand corner): Mural on Lebo's outside wall; me Shaq-attacking the hoop; at a shabeen drinking shake-shake; view of Orlando West in Soweto; Nelson Mandela's former house; Lebo's courtyard; on a bike tour with Charlemagne through Soweto.

Animals Everywhere
Kruger National Park in South Africa was awesome. I've heard complaints from people that it is too zoo-like. But I don't really think that is true. Yes, the camp sites are surrounded by electric fencing and developed much like a national park in the states. And yes, there are paved (and unpaved) roads that run through the park. But going on game drives through Kruger wasn't much different than in Khutse/CKGR in Botswana, expept that you see WAAAAAY more game in Kruger.

Photos: Most of these are from Kruger. One or two is from St. Lucia or Mlilwane

Mountain Kingdom
The countryside in Swaziland looks more like The Sound of Music than The Gods Must Be Crazy. We stayed at Sonzela's Int'l Backpacker in the Mlilwane Wildlife Park outside of Mbabane. Sonzela's is definetely THE place to stay if you are traveling through Swaziland. It's peaceful and senic, but there's lots to do. The backpacker has a pool, pool and ping pong tables, bar area, braii spot and big kitchen. You can also book activities outside the park through the front desk or arrange for non-affiliated adventure operators to pick you up at the gate. If you're low on funds, you can hike and bike your guts out on the trails that run through the santuary (there are no predators, buffalos, elephants, or rhinos--so it's safe).

Photo: On a bike ride through the Mlilwane Wildlife Reserve in Swaziland.

Mildly Amusing Road Signs
South Africa and Swaziland have a lot of midly amusing, interesting and confusing signage. My favorite was one in South Africa that read, BEWARE YOU ARE ENTERING A HI-JACKING ZONE, but Heather wouldn't pull over so I could take a picture of it.

Photo: I guess these don't need much explanation--expect for one. Is it just me, or doesn't that look like it is saying, BEWARE OF NAZIS TRYING TO TIP OVER YOUR CAR.

The Beach
It was great to hit the beach at St. Lucia and Durban. Antsey's Beach Backpacker on the Bluff just outside of Durban is an awesome place to stay. The surf is a little too rocky in spots and pretty rough for swimming (perfect for boogie boards and surfing though). I cut up my feet pretty bad swimming out to retreave a frisbee that was sucked up by the undertow.

Photo: View of the Indian Ocean from Antsey's.

• First and foremost I have to say the best part of Mozambique was the Indian Ocean. I have always heard that water in the Indian Ocean is warm like a bath, but I didn’t fully believe it. When we finally got to the ocean on our second day I started running towards the waves to wade in but in the back of my head was readying myself for the water to have a cold bite to it. There was no bite. In fact, I don’t know if you can believe how warm the water is until you’ve felt it yourself. It was the perfect temperature that made you want to be in the water all the time. Not only is the water magnificently warm but it’s also the most clean, pristine water you’ve ever seen. Just looking out over the landscape you’d see hundreds of shades of aqua. I tried very hard to capture the beauty of it through photos but it’s just not possible.
• The village of Tofo was definitely Brian and I’s favorite place we visited on the trip. The waves were the best to play in there (not too big, but big enough to body surf) and the village was very accessible – just a 15 minute walk down the beach from Bamboozi. Vilankulos was beautiful but the water was shallow and the village was very spread out. In hindsight we would have spent more time in Tofo we liked it so much.
• Having a crab crawl across my face when we slept overnight on Bangue Island in the Bazaruto Archipelago. Sleeping outside on the beach was amazing (and one of the best nights sleep we had in Mozam). Waking up to a crab on your face is an experience you’ll never forget.
• Snorkeling off the Magaruque Island. I’ve never been snorkeling before but I think I’m addicted! The colors of the fish you see just off the reef are amazing and snorkeling was easy to pick up, even for somebody who’s not a strong swimmer like me. I will definitely be looking for more opportunities to go in the future.
• The dhow turned gondola trip across the bay from Inhambane to Maxixe. There is a motorized ferry that you can take across the bay, but a local guy offered to take all nine of us for 100 meticais (about $4) in his dhow (traditional sail boat). It would have cost us 112.50 mets to take the ferry but we thought taking a dhow would be a great adventure and agreed to go. Unfortunately for him there was no wind on the bay so he ended up pushing us gondola style all the way across!
• Last, but definitely not least, was the central market in Maputo. It is a shopping experience straight from my romanticized visions of Africa. There were women selling fresh fish, every type of fruit and vegetable imaginable and lots and lots of crafts! All under one roof! It was so cool. I realized how spoiled we are in Botswana (and especially Molepolole) where we have many supermarket chains to choose from. While I loved shopping at the market in all the villages we visited, it would be hard to live like that all the time.

Now it is back to life as normal. Beginning in March we won’t be able to take any leave until the end of our service (as early as the beginning of May) or until we start a third year if we decide to extend. So, Mozam will be our last big trip for a while. It’s good in a way because there is so much we want to do in the next few months it will be nice just to be at home for a while and get into a groove.

(P.S. Having problems uploading our pictures from Mozam. Not sure what's happening, but will try again soon.)

Brian and I returned to Elephant Sands to celebrated Christmas again this year. There were 12 of us in the group this year, six repeats (us, Dave and Wendy, Colman and Melody) plus six newbites (Rachel, her mom Deborah, Scott, Suzie, Fallon and Andrew.) Don't know what to say except we had a great time as always.

After Elephant Sands we traveled to Kasane and stayed with our friend Chami. The highlight of Kasane was the river cruise where you see tons of animals. We saw mostly hippos and antelope, but also a crocodile and a herd of elephants going to the river. That was a lot of fun. Now we are enjoying a few days at home before work starts again on the 3rd. Happy new year!

We had a great time traveling last week for Thanksgiving in Maun. We took the train Friday night from Gabs - Francistown and then jumped on the first bus to Maun. There were 34 people at Dave and Wendy's house for dinner on Saturday, almost all of them PCVs. Fortunately, Wendy cooked 4 turkeys so there was plenty of food! Wendy and Dave are the most gracious hosts and also dear, dear friends. We spent an extra night with them just so we could talk and catch up. We can't thank them enough for hosting dinner and then letting us camp in their yard!

After Maun we traveled to Sepopa - Etsha 6 - Ghanzi - Kang and back to Molepolole by Thursday. It was a long trip but a good break from the craziness at work. Now it's December when everything basically comes to a standstill. My counterpart is on leave until January 8th, which is the day we're leaving for Mozambique. The time is going so quickly it will be the end of January before we know it! Then it will be just three months left in our official service.

Pictures above clockwise are: a view of the Delta from Swamp Stop; Suzie, Scott, Libby, Brian and I on Suzie's front porch; Libby, Brian and I chilling by the Delta at Swamp Stop; Brian and Suzie chatting with the neighbor kids in Etsha 6; Ostrich shell bracelet I bought at Ghanzi Craft; giraffe we saw during our walk at the Maun Education Center; Dave carving the turkey; one of the baskets we bought from the Etsha 6 basket co-op; and the whole group for dinner at Dave and Wendy's.

We have finally returned from our vacation to Namibia. What a great trip. This time we traveled with three other volunteers from our training group: Jen Overley (there are two Jennifer’s in our training group, and they’re both Jen O’s so you have to refer to them by full last name), Jeff Blagg (from our Vic Falls trip) and Scott (as usual, he’s been on every major trip we’ve made.) Brian and I have both grown to enjoy traveling with a larger group in Peace Corps. It’s just more fun to share the experiences with people outside each other. :)

The two major highlights of our trip were: 1) skydiving and 2) Sossusvlei. Let’s talk about skydiving first. As you all know, we’ve already abseiled over 100 meters from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town and jumped off the edge of a cliff into the gorge at Vic Falls. Skydiving takes the cake. Before the trip just the idea of jumping out of a plane made my heart pound. First thing Tuesday morning the lodge we were staying in called Ground Rush Adventures to sign us up and they were there to pick us up by 10:00. No time to re-think it. The people at Ground Rush were incredibly professional and made me feel very comfortable from the beginning. After a very quick introduction we were dressed into suits, hooked into harnesses, practiced hanging out of the plane on the ground and then it was wheels up! I have to say that the scariest part of the entire experience was the guy who came up in the plane with us to do a “static line jump” (where your parachute is attached to the plane and opens automatically for you.) We’re in this itty bitty plane that sits only six people. All of a sudden the door opens and one of the guys from the plane isn’t with you anymore. You’re like “Holy crap! He just jumped out of a plane!” That was only at 3,500 feet, so we still had a ways to climb.

At 10,000 feet the other single jumper opens up the door and just falls right out of the plane. Again, it was like “Holy crap! He just jumped out of the plane!” But then you realize that it’s your turn. At that point you have no other choice but to trust your tandem master and do what he says. So I lean out the door, curl my legs under, put my head back on his chest and then … we are falling from 10,000 feet.