Zimbabwe - Thundering Water, Collapsing Economy

After a fun-filled day at Dubai’s Atlantis Water Park, we took an overnight flight from Dubai to Zimbabwe via Qatar and Johannesburg.    Our flight took us 6,000 miles south and we went from frolicking in the water park one afternoon to cruising alongside hippos and crocodiles on the Zambezi River the next. 

With only 3 days in Zimbabwe, we only got a glimpse of its beauty and a limited understanding of its turbulent history.  We visited the part of Zimbabwe where people flock for 2 reasons, 1) to see the famous Victoria Falls, and 2) to go on safari in Chobe Game Park in Botswana.  We did both.

Victoria Falls forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and claims to be the largest waterfall in the world, spanning 1km across by 100 m high (there are numerous competing claims for largest waterfall - height, volume, width, etc, etc).  The Falls put so much moisture in the air that they create their own weather system and rainstorms come in waves around the Falls despite the sun shining a short distance away.  The spray and mist make it challenging to take pictures and keep your camera and yourself dry.  It literally feels as if you are in a strong rainstorm!

We went to the touristy but interesting Boma cultural dinner and took part in a fun drumming session.  The boys ate the famous game meats and Jay and Luke tried the local delicacy, Mopani worms (which are actually caterpillars).  We thought they were going to be fried and crunchy.  Unfortunately, they are fried, chewy and dry.  To make matters worse, we ate them at the Mopani worm table so we could get our certificate and didn't have water to wash them down!  Yuck! 

On our final day, we tried to get a glimpse into life in rural Zimbabwe by visiting a village and their chief.  Although it had no electricity and was primarily a subsistence farming community, through the guidance of the chief it seemed at least to be prosperous.  Although many self-sustaining villages like this are surviving on these Tribal Trust Lands, the economic and political situation in Zimbabwe seems dire.


In 2000, President Mugabe enacted land reform, forcibly redistributing land from white farmers to Africans.  That transition went poorly as the new farmers did not know how to farm and run businesses, causing Zimbabwe’s GDP and exports to plummet and inflation to skyrocket.  The resulting hyperinflation led Zimbabwe to print one hundred trillion dollar notes ($100,000,000,000,000) and Luke managed to buy an old $10 billion note for his collection.  The country has since adopted the US dollar and 8 other world currencies as its currencies, which has stabilized inflation, but with an estimated 80% of the population unemployed the situation seems pretty hopeless.  No immediate economic or political improvements seem imminent.  As we travelled around Victoria Falls, the situation was made apparent by the huge number of young men constantly trying to sell you the same selection of carvings or other items.  In one makeshift covered market near our hotel, about 40 vendors were competing for the same customers with the same items.  It's hard to imagine how they were surviving on the few tourists that came there way.  We will be keeping an eye on Zimbabwe.  Even before we knew the unemployment statistics, we knew something was wrong by the sheer number of men in their late teens, 20's and 30's that seemed to be hanging around idle in the streets.  That kind of environment is not one that seems to be sustainable as idle young men are a dangerous constituency.  

Dubai - Giant Buildings, Endless Shopping and Monsoon Rains

After recharging our batteries, we found ourselves on our way to a brief two day stopover in Dubai.  It was one of those “since we are going to be in the area, we should stop in” kind of trips.  There are limited options to get from India to Africa where we were rejoining the ship so we had to pass through Dubai and elected to at least check it out.

Our first stop in Dubai was the Burj Khalifa.  It’s only the tallest building in the world….and not by a little.  It stretches 2,700 feet up into the sky, and seen from a distance, it looks spectacularly out of place with all the “small” 50-story buildings around it.  We rode up to the observation deck at about 1,500 ft, which is tclosing in on the height of the next tallest building in the world – the CN Tower (including its radio tower).  The Burj Khalifa is actually 50% taller than the number 2 building a huge leap in height.  From the observation deck you could see many miles around.  And we learned that sunset from the observation deck occurs something like 7 minutes after sunset on the ground due to it’s extreme height. 

Surrounding the building is one of the world’s largest and busiest shopping malls.  Within the mall there were no fewer than 3 Starbucks and somewhere around a dozen international coffee shop chain stores in the Mall.  In addition to all of the other restaurants, clothing stores, book stores there was also a skating rink and an aquarium.  The Mall allegedly attracts more visitors (65 million) than any other site in the world, surpassing NYC (52 million) in 2012.  It is also home to a spectacular water show that runs several times a day.

After our trip up the tower and the next morning, we did the requisite shopping, dining and sightseeing around the area.  In the afternoon we set off to check out the Old Dubai, visiting the Old Souk (market), a couple of museums and the Gold Souk.  Our trip happened to coincide with the heaviest rainfall in Dubai that anyone could remember, resulting in flooding in parts of the city.

After fighting our way through the aggressive sellers in the Old Souk, we caught a water taxi across Dubai Creek to the Gold Souk.  If you ever wondered where most of the world’s gold is, it’s not in Fort Knox anymore – it’s in the gold market in Dubai.  Apparently there is a tradition in the Middle east concerning regularly buying gold, and that it needs to be new gold.  We never did get much information on this or whether repurposed gold was OK, but we certainly saw incredible amounts of gold in the shops in Dubai.  Unbelievable amounts.  Like “Willy Wonka chocolate factory” amounts of gold.   We ended our day at the Emirates Mall, which is best known for its indoor ski hill – yes, real snow, real skiers. 

We spent our second night in Dubai at Atlantis, about as fantastic a hotel as you could want to stay in.  Packed to the gills with people, shops, restaurants and even a giant aquarium full of everything from sharks to stingrays to school of fish.  However the highlight of Atlantis is the attached waterpark, built in the same style as its sister park in the Bahamas.  That was the highlight of our last day in Dubai.  We spent most of our day exploring the rides in the water park including a very steep “gravity” fall that Christy and Ryan did.   Christy also braved a ride where a trap door opened beneath her and she fell directly down into the water slide tube.  Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough momentum (ie weight) to carry her through the loop de loop and she got stuck partway down the ride!

Dubai is certainly an interesting place.  We saw the full range of Islamic life from women without headscarves to the man who had four wives (fully veiled) and his children following behind him.  And we saw more shopping and gold than we had ever seen in our lives before.  In our opinion, the two full days we had there were plenty to see the main things we wanted to see.  If you add a day in the desert, maybe you could extend to three days but, unless you love to shop, two days was plenty of time to get a feel for Dubai.

The Maldives

The Maldives – Paradise and a “Vacation from Traveling”

 

After leaving the chaos of India, spending some time in the idyllic island setting of The Maldives was very appealing.  While we do enjoy relaxing, the idea of the beach vacation to “veg” on the sand usually runs fairly counter to our travel instincts. 

In a traditional view, travel gets put into two buckets - work travel and family vacation.  The hardships of work travel have conspired to make that as inconvenient as possible while family vacations are supposed to be stress reducers, with the least amount of discomfort as possible. 

Our philosophy on travel adds a third category.While work travel is inevitable, we look at our family time as “traveling” and “vacationing”.  Traveling makes up the vast majority of the time we spend away from home.  It encompasses programs like Semester at Sea, studying Spanish in Mexico (even if it is in Cabo!) or traveling in Peru.  “Traveling” means learning, growth, uncertainty, calculated risk and typically some level of discomfort.  Traveling includes the “hard” trips, where you push yourself to do something difficult, learn something uncomfortable, share others circumstances and see things that will leave indelible marks upon you.  It can be draining but is ultimately the most rewarding aspect of travel. 

A guiding motto for us is “There is little growth in comfort, and there is little comfort in growth”.  Traveling means a mud hut on the shores of Lake Titicaca, a homestay in a South African township, or four hours a day of intensive Spanish in a Guatemalan village.  It doesn’t include the nicer hotels we all love where the staff speaks English, you can drink the tap water and any inconvenience can be solved with a call to the front desk.

Sometimes though, you just need to recharge.  And that’s where the nicer hotels, the beach vacations and the comfortable living come in.  And that’s certainly where The Maldives lie on the spectrum of travel!  Other than very minor growth from visiting a new part of the world, understanding a little more about life on a very low lying island and seeing some new fish species, we expected a lot of comfort!  And it delivered.   Spectacular sunsets, great food, great company and bicycles! 

We semi-coincidentally ended up visiting The Maldives with our Lifelong Learner shipmates, the Belfiore Family and the Bryar's (friends of the Belfiore's who are living in Singapore).  We spent six great days at our resort, on the beach, snorkeling, cruising alongside dolphins, eating great food and relaxing in general.  The Maldives can certainly lay claim to being one of the most beautiful places on earth and have an incredible abundance of fantastic reefs and fish.

Luke shared his first scuba diving experiences with Alexander and discovered what it looks and feels like underwater.  Christy rekindled her love of scuba with some incredible dives with Joe and Kristina, and Ryan and Jay snorkeled in the ocean and lazed in the pools. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our “vacation from travel” in The Maldives and would highly recommend a visit there – especially on the tail end of visit to India, which can be so chaotic and such a physically and mentally draining place.

Tea, Forts and Houseboats - India Three Ways

India is a delight to the senses, with its colorful patterned scenery, jovial people, and brilliant saris; its flavorful food and constant sounds -- be it soothing sounds of the jungle or the incessant honking as cars jostle for space along the narrow roads. 

We were last in India in 2009 when we visited the large towns of Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Agra (Taj Mahal).  Our current visit brought us to the southwestern part of India and the region of Kerala. Kerala is less hectic, cleaner, and more orderly but just as full of life as the other parts of India we have visited in the past.  This time, we ported in Cochin and quickly left its sweltering heat for the cool mountains of Munnar, about a 4-hour drive up narrow, twisting roads to the East of Cochin.  If you look back to our blog post about Sri Lanka, you might see some similarities with the road travel there. 

Munnar

Munnar sits at about 5,000 feet above sea level and is surrounded by thousands of acres of tea plantations.  Textured green fields cover the contoured mountains in every direction.  Munnar is a destination that attracts locals from Cochin escaping the heat and vacationing honeymooners and families from all over India.  We stayed at Chancey’s Windy Woods and since there were few foreigners at the resort, we had a truly Indian experience with wonderful cuisine.  The hotel was set on a mountainside with 4 distinct buildings that were connected by a maze of elevators and stairwells.  We got our exercise by trekking up the man-made jungle path, complete with waterfalls and bridges, which wove its way under the buildings from our room up to the lobby.   It was an 8-story climb from our room up to the lobby (or three different elevators)!

Rather than try to navigate the very very windy roads full of crazy traffic, we hired a driver for our two days in Munnar and explored the tea plantations, high mountain lookouts, reservoirs, and spice gardens.  The tea and spice tours were interesting and we saw where so many of our foods and spices come from and how they can heal us as part of the Indian Aryuvedic tradition.

The second day, we were entertained at Dream Land, an adventure park where we could try 25 activities including riding mechanical bulls, walking the tight rope over a pond, climbing rope walls and attempting obstacle courses.  It was good fun and provided some much needed exercise.   After a VERY oily massage, we went to the local martial arts show where young men demonstrated their skills in fighting with swords, spears and sticks in addition to acrobatics where they flipped over top of Jay and Ryan (and six (!) other people) and through fiery rings. 

Allepy Houseboats

After three nights in the mountains, we headed back to the coast to explore Kerala’s extensive backwaters with 550 miles of lakes and channels.  1,200 houseboats take visitors on daytrips and overnight excursions on the tranquil waterways that weave through immense rice fields and small villages.  Our two-bedroom houseboat had a large air-conditioned, glass walled sitting room where we played games, ate meals and enjoyed the scenery as we cruised around the backwaters. 

We docked for the evening alongside one of the villages, which backed up on literally miles of rice paddies.  The homes lined the channel and were connected by a dirt path running in front of them.  Christy took an early morning walk down the dirt path and witnessed how the local people started their day.  People were bathing, swimming, washing dishes and brushing their teeth along the channel.  One couple loaded their round basket boat with bananas while others played with their children before breakfast.  It seemed out of place when a man walked by while taking on his cell phone.  As in many parts of the world, in India it seems that the cell phone is the one ubiquitous technology that bridges the gap between 100 years ago and today!

Fort Cochin

We spent our last day and night in Fort Cochin, which was packed with tourists and retained a European feel from the colonial era. We went from among Indians on their vacations to among foreign tourists in the lap of luxury. Kerala is trending towards being a “dry” state and Munnar and Allepy were leading the charge so it was nice to find a glass of wine and a cooling swimming pool at the Old Harbour Hotel.

We adventured out in the sweltering heat to try our hand at the large Chinese fishing nets that line the harbor.  After casting the net, we each grabbed a rope line and heaved as hard as we could to lift the net into the air.  Alas, it was not the season to catch fish in the harbor, so no fish for us. 

During our visit we had a taste of life in Kerala for a few days.  India is so vast and diverse that we always find ourselves saying that we need months, not days, to explore even the smallest corner of this fascinating country.

Myanmar - Emerging from the Shadows?

Three years ago we visited Myanmar at the height of their hot season with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees.  It was so hot we couldn’t even get in the swimming pool to cool off!  The heat sapped our energy and we felt we missed out on some experiences in Myanmar because it was simply too hot to go out and about.

This visit was different. The recent election results, the debate over whether the military would allow the elected government to assume power, the future of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the delightful monk who sailed with us for the days leading up to Myanmar sparked everyone’s enthusiasm to explore the country.  There were discussions on the ship about whether tourism was akin to financially supporting a repressive regime or whether tourism supplied foreign “observers” who could be a positive influence and ensure that the Burmese people got the change they were looking for. Although we heard that the military still has a stranglehold on the country, its oppressive presence was almost non-existent in the places we visited. 

After a brief visit to the largest city and former capital, Yangon, and the famous Shwedagon Pagoda, we flew to Inle Lake, a community of fishermen and artisans who have built their stilt homes and life around this picturesque lake.  The cooler mountain air, bustling village life, delightful people and delicious food energized us.  

On our first full day in Inle, we borrowed our hotel’s bikes and did a 14 mile loop around the lake to see the countryside. A couple of the bikes wouldn’t shift and were effectively cruiser bikes so it was a bit more of a challenge than we thought it would be! Along the way, we witnessed all the stages of development from people plowing their fields with oxen, to pushing a basic motorized plow to the modern farm equipment you would find in the West.  

We needed to cross the lake during our ride and piled the bikes into one of the small long-tailed boats.  The driver wove his way through passageways cut through the reeds surrounding the lake.  Stilted villages are scattered along the lake’s edges and are only reached via boat.   It is remarkable to see schools, post offices, “gas stations”, stores and monasteries all raised up on stilts and accessible only by boat.  

The next day, we all piled into another little long-tailed boat for a full day exploration of the lake. Fisherman dotted the lake as they let out their fishing nets while "paddling" their boats with one leg.   We wondered how long this lake could sustain all these people and the increasing number of visitors each year.  It seems hard to believe that the lake could produce enough fish to replenish stocks with the level of fishing we saw. Another concern, especially as increased tourism is inevitable, is that there are virtually no sanitation systems anywhere and toilets flow directly into the lake that people used for cooking, drinking and cleaning.    

We were “boated” to the local artisan floating shops to see how goods were made – but really so that we would buy from their shops.  We visited jewelry making, boat making, and weaving factories, all which used techniques from the last century.  A highlight was the chaos of the floating market where people sell you goods from their boats (and don’t let go of your boat until you buy something or come up with a good excuse).  With motorized boats careening amidst the much smaller, dugout canoe style boats of the vendors, it was a miracle that no one ended up in the water.   In addition to feeding the local economy with our small purchases, we also visited a Pagoda and Monastery where we found about a dozen friendly kitties.  

We stayed in a wonderful boutique hotel near the main town north of Inle Lake - Thanakha Inle Hotel.  A canal connected the town and our hotel to the main lake and there was a constant stream of long boats roaring past the hotel each day.  We learned why most hotels do not have rooms facing the canal – those long boats are really noisy and run constantly from dawn to dusk!  

The food in Myanmar was delicious and TripAdvisor’s website steered us to great places that did not make us sick, unlike many of our shipmates.  Christy had the best salad of her life in Yangon with freshly made mozzarella cheese, pumpkin and roasted seeds (check out Sharkey’s if you are in Yangon).

On our fifth day, we navigated the rudimentary airport system and highly trafficked and pot-holed roads to get back to our ship.  Jay and Christy used the last hours in port to join thousands (and thousands) of locals in their Pagoda festival that included endless rows of markets, carnival rides and food stalls.   It was a very crazy couple of hours as we shopped and people-watched.

We left this Buddhist country loving our experiences and wanting more.  It was the most interesting country so far on this voyage and it is really poised to take off after decades of mismanagement and oppressive government.  We can only hope that the democratic transition actually happens and the new government can deliver on improving life for the Burmese people.  Next up...India!