South Africa - A Pleasant Return but Troubling Undercurrents

After 5 nights and 4 full days of safari (and eating), we were ready to return to reality.  We were tired of sitting in the safari jeeps and boats and just wanted to have our own schedule (when we did not need to get up at 5:30 a.m.) and get some exercise.  Cape Town provided the perfect recovery destination. 

Between the Maldives, Dubai, Zimbabwe and Botswana, we had been away from our floating home for 21 days and we were happy to reunite with the MV World Odyssey in Cape Town harbor.  The ship was docked near the V&A Waterfront so we spoiled ourselves with familiar comforts and amazing food.  Looking ahead to Ghana we knew we needed to stock up!

After a sedentary few weeks, we were psyched to do the steep 2+ hour hike up Table Mountain.  We enjoyed the stunning views from on top before taking the gondola back down.  The second day we walked along the water front for hours and just enjoyed being in the comfortable bubble of Cape Town. 

We were sorry we did not have time to revisit our favorite places around Cape Town.  In 2009 & 2012, we overnighted in the townships, toured Robbin’s Island and went to Cape Point.   We also regretted that we missed meeting Desmond Tu Tu, who sailed on our ship between Mauritius and Cape Town (when we were doing our own independent travels).  How special for the shipboard community to interact and learn from the leader who partnered with Mandela to bring about peace and forgiveness at the end of Apartheid.

South Africa’s economy has weakened and the currency had dropped by half against the US dollar.  In US dollar terms, everything we bought seemed incredibly cheap due the weak Rand.  There seems to be more unrest and increased tensions within South Africa.  Without Mandela, there is no political leader that everyone supports and the current president, Jacob Zuma, is widely (and correctly) viewed as corrupt.  However there doesn't appear to be an alternative as the ANC has strong overall control.  

There is a widening gap in wealthy and poor and increasing frustration with the lack of upward mobility for the masses.  The current crop of new voters are referred to as "Born Frees" as they were born after Apartheid came to an end and the expectation that this would lead to new opportunities for them has been largely unrealized.  The most disturbing trend is the rise of racially motivated nationalism and talk of how Zimbabwe did the right thing by expropriating land from (wealthy) white land owners and putting the means of production in the hands of the (poor) black majority.  If you wonder how that went, look back two posts to see our blog post on Zimbabwe.  Desmond Tutu is one of the last links to the era of forgiveness and reconciliation and there are true concerns of what will happen when he is no longer around to symbolize the Rainbow Nation.  

Not all is lost though.  As in our previous voyage in 2012, we saw hopeful signs that South Africa will overcome.  We noticed in 2012 that the mix of people in shops, both customers and staff, was more diverse than we had seen in 2009, suggesting to us that the new generation were integrating.  We saw even more evidence of that in 2016 and hope that is an indication that, to many in South Africa, race is less of a barrier than it had been.  We are hoping for the best for South Africa.  It is a place of great beauty and people and we hope it can live up to it's promise to show the rest of us how reconciliation is possible!

Botswana - Awesome Safari!!

From Victoria Falls, it was an easy 2-3 hour drive to Chobe Game Preserve in Botswana.  We stayed at Chobe Game Lodge, which boasted all female guides and is the only lodge inside the game park.  Botswana prides itself on restricting the hours the park is open and the number of visitors allowed in the park so staying in the park means you don’t have to compete with others to see wildlife in the early and late hours of your safari.  There are rivers and lakes throughout Botswana so we alternated between boat and jeep safaris. 

Chobe has a huge diversity and density of animals so we always saw something interesting on our safaris.  Chobe has 42,000 of the 140,000 elephants in Botswana, so elephants were everywhere.  We saw them playing in the water and with their young babies who were small enough to walk under their mother’s bellies.  The only animal that was more abundant than the elephants were the impalas, which are similar to deer and who provide a steady food supply to the cats.

Everywhere we looked we saw hippos, crocodiles, lions, warthogs, zebra, giraffe, and beautiful colorful birds.  But the most entertaining to watch were the baboons and monkeys.  We could have watched them run around and attack each other for hours!  

After 2 nights in Chobe, we took a tiny bush plane south to the Okavango Delta and landed in a dirt airstrip next to the Moremi Game Reserve.  We spent 3 nights at Okuti, a small luxury tented camp along the river.  The staff was exceptional and performed evening dances and songs and the manager and guides joined us during the meals. 

Moremi was much more remote (and bumpier) than Chobe and did not have the density of animals, but it was much less crowded and we were able to get closer to both of the big cats in the area - lions and leopards.  We came upon one pregnant lion who did not seem bothered at all by our presence and kept moving closer to our jeep.  See it yawning behind Jay and Ryan. 

The absolute highlight of our trip was the mother leopard and her cubs, whom we saw on multiple occasions.  Our guides were able to find her each day because of the impalas she killed and put up in the trees or dragged into bushes.  On one early evening safari, the mom was away from the kill and the cubs played in the nearby bush and trees.  We wanted to pick one up and take it home with us, but thought our cat and dog would not appreciate it (not to mention the Botswana authorities)!  

Botswana is one of the most stable and progressive countries in Africa.  With only 2 million people and a stable democracy since its independence from Britain in 1966, it is in stark contrast to its troubled neighbors.  In 1967, diamonds were discovered and they now account for 1/3 of the GDP.  The country focuses on conservation and has some of the largest areas of protected land in Africa.    As we flew around the country (really the only way to get around),  we were surprised at the vast open areas.   other African countries can follow Botswana’s lead on racial equality, economic stability, multi-party democracy, strong conservation practices and a growing tourist income stream.

Our three stop safari adventure in Africa was an awesome experience. Between the frolicking baboons, splashing elephants, charging hippos, running rhinos and playful cats, we saw everything we could hope to see on our safari.  We have all of our hosts, who did an awesome job keeping us well fed (and well liquored with "Sundowners" during every sunset safari), to thank for making this a great trip!  We booked our trip through what turned out to be a local outfit at www.adventuresinafrica.com.

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.