Favorite Philosopher's Blog

By now you all know we built a house in Hardeeville, SC, specifically Jimmy Buffet’s brainchild Latitude Maragaritaville. I am starting to lose track of the timelines but we had looked at Hilton Head Island, which is about half an hour from Savannah or, during the summer and holidays, ten and a half hours away. Our biggest concern about buying a home there was meeting people. So we jumped in with both feet and decided to move to a 55+ community. Just today as we hung out in the pool on our floatee things for about two hours I was saying “I never thought I’d live in a place like this but it’s not so bad”! However that is for another time.

Today I am wanting to tell the tale of the move in. We had our act together from the get-go. We filled a 16’ POD with professional help (although I packed every.single.thing myself). We got rid of a lot of stuff but still. We ended up filling a second 8’ POD with our patio furniture (Al had gotten it all from Salvation Army ten years earlier for $120 and it was quality, so yeah). Anything else we could fit in we did, and at the last minute Al – who had been living in the house until it sold in April – threw in the guest room mattress. This little tidbit will be quite fortuitous.

Everything was going smoothly. The PODS were sent to Savannah, Georgia and waited for the green light to deliver them to the house. We closed on the Margaritaville house in April 29. PODS to be delivered that day. The 8’ was delivered first and the 16’ was due later that same day. Our building supervisor put a no parking sign in front of the house. We were really the first house to be finished in our “phase” of Mville so there was nothing but construction around us. Normally, a POD can’t be put on the street there but because of the circumstances our guy said not a problem.

Somewhere it all got lost in translation and the next thing we know we have a text from PODS saying they will pick up the first one and deliver the second three days later.

I’m going to spare my typing fingers and just do this recap:

Mary has nervous breakdown.

Calls PODS and customer service cannot help, says it’s scheduled through the warehouse.

Guys who are scheduled to unload both PODS unload the one but because we are talking end of the month they are booked and can’t come back.They feel terrible about it.

Mary has nervous breakdown.

Mary calls some company that will unload and they say they can have someone there by 4 the next day.

Al and Mary run up to Savannah and the guy at the PODS warehouse says “you’ve come to the right place” and with the click of the computer arranges for the exchange to happen the next day. I am not without a little bit of guilt thinking someone else just got bumped for us, but hey, squeaky wheel, etc.

Next day the PODS are exchanged. Guys to unload never show up.

Mary has nervous breakdown.

Customer service assures Mary that they will find someone for the next day. I’m realizing that I have actually called a broker who is trying to find people to do the job. I tell them I just want my money back and they agree. That night I honestly felt like I was going to have a heart attack if I didn’t calm down. It wasn’t the inconvenience, really, it was trying to talk to customer service at PODS and the broker. They were all so nice and sweet and patient. I was being as nice as I could be and knowing that having a shit fit with them would be useless. Best save my shit fits for Al.

In the meantime we start unloading boxes from the second POD. This POD was the 16 footer with most of our stuff, including my piano. But at least we had dishes to eat off of now and we did at least have the patio furniture and that mattress that Al threw in at the last minute from the 8 footer.

That night I looked at Al and said, honey, let’s just do this fucking thing ourselves. We can go to Home Depot and rent dollies and ramps and that’s exactly what we did. Recliners? Done. Huge bookcase? Done. Endless boxes (why do I need ANY of this crap.). Bed frame? Done. 6’ glass table with glass pedestal? Done. Piano?

Piano. I went on You Tube to get some tips. It’s an upright and I’ve moved it around the house but this was a different animal.

Now then. If you ever need to move a piano from a POD over a threshold into the house, not to worry.

Buy two basketballs from Walmart,

Deflate basketballs.

Put one basketball under each end of piano.

Reinflate basketballs.

Slide dolly under piano (note to self, next time? Bigger dolly).

Try not to injure your 70 year old selves getting it out of POD and into house. This was the hardest part because we only had two ramps and the wheels had to be perfectly centered. There was a moment we thought all was lost.

Take dolly out from under piano. Deflate and remove basketballs.

Go to Bar and Chill and have the best cod sandwich and margarita you’ve ever tasted.

I told my kids I want this story told at my funeral. My mom moved a piano.

I am never moving again.

Sometime in April of 2024 it was time to move into the condo in Minneapolis. I had the place pretty well furnished with stuff I got for free in October from the lady down the hall whose mother was moving out. For the price of a couple of moving guys I had a big ol’ desk hutch, several hassocks, two recliners (one needed work both structural and electrical, which I of course handled in April because I love nothing more than fixing stuff!), a sofa bed, two sitting chairs, a coffee table, two side tables, some lamps and I don’t know what all. Jeff and Raina had filled in the blanks during the winter with FB marketplace deals. A lot of it has been replaced by now but it got me started.

Al and I decided to drive out from California with an 8 seater van – my sewing machines, winter clothes, dollhouse building stuff, kitchenware, books, etcetera, etcetera, ETCETERA. The van was jam packed. We had picked it up at the Orange County airport, packed it up and the next morning the “tires need air” light was on. We topped them all off and left.

Then the light came on again. We stopped for the night somewhere in Utah in a KOA cabin and the next day we found ourselves having to stop every two hours to fill up the tires. We were on our way to our Denver stop. This tire situation started to make us nervous as we had to traverse the Rockies. So before we started our ascent we stopped at Grand Junction as there was a small airport there with a Budget rental office. Unfortunately they did not have a van to exchange and our next option was the Denver airport.

This little time detour (with a stop at Costco for pizza and an air fill) was disastrous. By the time we hit the Vail Pass, the “possible snow” was SNOW. I was driving (because it is safer for all involved under difficult circumstances for me to drive as Al is better at remaining calm in the passenger’s seat, unless it’s Scotland). It was – terrifying. The truckers didn’t seem to mind it, the Coloradans didn’t seem to mind it, I minded it and just drove slowly and prayed. By the time we got to Denver, again, the “possible two inches” was a raging storm. We found our way to the Denver airport and Budget office. Because of the storm, I guess, the line for the rental counter was – I’m not exaggerating – 30 people long. I got in line but Al just stormed up (you see what I did there) to the counter and interrupted the customer. I would never have done this but later he told me he had once been told by a rental car person that if you have a problem like that you should never stand in line – just come up.

Fortunately they had another van for us, but the only place we could transfer everything was in the carport area where they clean the vehicles. The snow was wet and blowing sideways and opening the back door to the new van resulted in a coating of snow almost instantly. We close it and went through the side as much as possible until the end.

It had taken Al and I four hours to carefully pack the van in California. It took us an hour and ten minutes to transfer everything into the new van. True, we had sort of an idea of where everything went but it was mostly that we were freezing. It was a shining example of the kind of mean, lean team Al and I can be under duress it was a foreshadowing of what would occur a year later during our move to South Carolina. I personally think it would make a good reality show. Pitstop: Before your team can proceed, you must unpack and repack everything you are moving into another van in a raging snowstorm. Make sure you take movies of the new van that had clearly been in an accident/sideswiped before you took possession.

We made it to our next KOA cabin which was lovely. When we woke up a total of five inches of snow had fallen. Despite the ugly sideswipe, the new van was much more comfortable than the first one and had the added advantage of not needing to put air in the tires every two hours.

Our next stop was Rawlins, Wyoming where we took a really cool tour of the Wyoming Frontier Prison, the Wyoming State Penitentiary that had been in operation from 1901 until 1981 and didn’t look like much had changed since 1901. To say that it was marginally humane is being generous. Very little heat, cement bed frames, dark. It had an electric chair and we were taken to that room. Lots of ghoulish stories were told by our tour guide. I will say that the cute dog one couple had in their arms had been just pleased as punch to be hanging out with us until we were in the execution room. Once in there it started to growl and bark. I was happy to leave with the owners and most of our small group agree that ghosts exist…

We stopped and spent the night at Mt Rushmore – we’d been there on our honeymoon and it doesn’t disappoint. Also went to the Crazy Horse site on which work still continues and won’t be done in our lifetimes. Stopped at the Badlands and intended to stay in Mitchell SD before the final push to Minneapolis. Although we’d staying in a couple of “super cabins” in KOAs, this one was not and we would have had to schlep our cooler in, get up at night to use the common facilities. We looked at each other and decided we had four more hours in us. We arrived in Minneapolis that night and fell into the hide-a-bed for which I’d gotten a new mattress back in October.

Home at last.

It started maybe three years ago. Covid was over. I had missed my family – Joe in Denver, Andy in Virginia, Jeff in Minnesota.

It was becoming more evident to me that despite my fantasy of the “kids” coming home all at one time to utilize the spacious home we bought overlooking the ocean, it was impractical for them to do so. They are adults. They have lives. To expect them to spend their time off traveling for a full day on either side of a vacation, and to do it at Christmastime, and all at the same time was just that – a fantasy.

Moreover, I missed the Midwest. I missed deciduous trees. I missed the seasons. I missed the people. I missed the lakes. I missed my kids. I felt like I was just existing. I had acquaintances, rode my bike on Sundays, played mahjong, but still, something was missing. Something essential.

Al, in the meantime, was happy as a clam. He was golfing with his pals every Sunday. He was retired and loved sitting on the patio from morning til night reading, no matter the weather. Despite the reputation California has for fun in the sun, coastal living is temperamental, with it being chilly more frequently than it is surfin’ USA. Even in the summer the ocean was cold – less so than in Northern California but still required a wetsuit for any type of prolonged ocean activity – one of the reasons I stopped scuba diving was the exertion of putting on a 7 mm wetsuit wiped me out before I even got in the water.

To say that Al was less than enthusiastic about the idea of moving is an understatement. It required marriage counseling and finally a decision on my part. I was going with or without him. To be fair, I had chosen to “follow” Al from Illinois to San Francisco, from the city of San Francisco to the suburb of Lafayette (not my favorite placed I’ve ever lived but a “wonderful place to raise kids”), to Southern California. I don’t take kindly to regrets. Even the most awful experiences in my life I have chalked up to lessons learned at worst or the start of a new adventure at best. Nearing age 70, it was my turn to go and Al’s turn to follow if he chose to do so. I truly started to feel that if I didn’t get back to the Midwest I was going to regret it on my deathbed. That was a deal I was not willing to make.

Al and I have been married for 43 years now. It is not because it has all been a bed of roses of course, but we agree that we are both a couple of good eggs. Because Al is a good egg and I guess because he thinks I am, he finally relented. It was an incredible amount of work on his part, as he is the quintessential “finance” guy and it required him to manage our funds until we could sell California. He did it expertly but not without what seemed like an interminable lousy mood.

In October of 2023, our search for a condo in Minneapolis yielded a miracle when this three bedroom condo in a 55+ building popped up for a sell-it-now price. All we really could afford up to that point had been a one bedroom, not very nice ones at that and in so-so locations. It is my happy place for sure. Two blocks from one of the three lakes in the city limits of Minneapolis, 15 minutes from Jeff and Raina and now Obie. We moved in April of 2024. There is a story about that which is a blog entry I will get to.

The day we arrived the kids announced that I had 7 months to make a baby quilt as Raina was pregnant. This was, to be honest, a major reason I wanted to be here. Jeff and Raina openly wanted kids, the other two sons not so much. I wanted to have a “room of my own” – where my winter coats would not have to be schlepped in each time, where the grandkid toys would have a closet in which to be stored. It all came true. I met mahjong players almost immediately and they are all good Democrats and surrounded me with friendship like only Midwesterners can. The lilacs were blooming when we arrived, the fall colors came on cue in October and snow came in November. There was only one problem. We could not stay in California as a primary residence. Where to go? I will tell you, but first I must chronicle how we got to Minnesota…

What an amazing trip. I doubt very much I will ever be back here and I couldn’t have asked for more. From seeing lions eating their kill, to leopards, to a hyena nursing her young, elephants, elephants, elephants, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, birds aplenty, jackals, baboons, baboons, baboons, cape buffalo, kudus, impala, wild dogs, I’m sure I’m missing something. The lovely people of Africa who made our stay comfortable and made sure we all came home ten pounds heavier. But we weren’t done yet.

After leaving Okavanga Delta via flights to Maun and Johannesburg after final safari experience on the way to the airstrip, we arrived exhausted in Cape Town. The next morning everyone but me got up early for the city tour (ugh) and the Desmond Tutu Museum. I would have liked that but I had hit the wall. When they were dropped off for the traditional Gate One Tours local family home lunch, I was picked up by the bus driver and declared myself Queen Mary for this special treatment. Unlike most Gate One local experiences this was rather unexpected because it was a Muslim family who hosted us and the food was more like Morocco than what we thought we would have. Anyway, the neighborhood is mostly Muslim and since I didn’t go on the city tour I don’t know much about it except that the whole neighborhood was slave quarters a long time ago for a guy who lived on the hill. It is painted bright colors now and that’s all I know.

After lunch we were free to wander and took a shuttle to the Waterfront, which is the San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf of Cape Town. There’s a real live shopping mall and some small souvenir shops. We opted to take a sunset cruise with some of our fellow travelers and it was well worth it, with lovely views of the city, Table Top Mountain and the headlands. Speaking of the SF Bay Area it is similar in topography and I really thought I had a house somewhere on the other side of the headlands.

Afterwards, John, Larry, Al and I had dinner. As usual when I travel, my gut is beginning to revolt, so the next day when everyone went on the winery tour, I stayed in and wrote. The verdict:” You didn’t miss much”. Al did say it looked a lot like Napa Valley, again with the SF Bay Area topography.

Yesterday we hopped on the bus early and when to the end of the African continent: The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. I have now been to the southernmost tip of South America and the southernmost tip of Africa. I ask myself how I ended up living this life and I have no answer. A lot of luck, some hard work, perhaps, but mostly luck.

On the way out to the Cape we saw an ostrich doing a mating dancee photo. More stuff-I-never-thought-about-seeing and if I DID think about seeing it, I never thought I would actually see it. After hiking up almost to the lighthouse – I really did my best and had we more time I would have made it all the way, but the 120 steps just seemed more than I could do at one time after already hiking straight up for 20 minutes to where the steps began, at least in the time I had left to do so. Regardless it was all a glorious view.

We then went on to see the African penguin colony. A fellow traveler pointed out another animal lounging in the sun. It was about the size of an otter but looked very rat-like. Turns out Belinda told me it was a hydrax and – get ready for this and you can look it up, I certainly did- it’s closest relative is an ELEPHANT! Crazy. She also told us it is an animal that can look directly at the sun without damaging its eyes and it loves to lounge in the sun. As you can see in the photo that was exactly what it was doing!

After that we rode back to the hotel, spent the afternoon at the Waterfront getting last minute souvenirs and relaxing. Then our goodbye dinner which is always a bit sad despite our mutual desires to get home and back to normal eating and sleeping and exercise routines. Most of us are still on the same flight back to Newark and at least six of us have traveled together before, so it’s not really goodbye…

However, I think this is goodbye from me for this trip. Thanks for reading. I write this blog for you, family and friends and of course to document the trip, but it is much more fun for me to write for an audience! Love always…

PS if you want videos let me know. Otherwise these are the last of the photos, even some of people!

OK I think I figured out the font size thing. We’ll see as we go along here. Our flight leaves tonight at 7:50 – 15 hours to Newark, lovely three hour layover just for shits and giggles and then five hours back to California. This, too, shall pass.

Every time I use WordPress for these travel journals I swear I am going to upload it all and print it and go to another blog website. This is so unuser friendly. But like remembering to change the windshield wipers on the car only when it is raining, I forget until the next time.

I was starting to write something about photos below and realized I had written a whole lot when I was off grid in preparation for posting later. I TOLD you I’ve gotten totally disoriented. So here’s what I wrote, and if I said it before, apologies. Even figured out how to fix the font, though.

Africa Part Four

We knew we were going to be flying into the Okavanga Delta in small planes, 10-12 seaters.  Turns out four of us (emphasis on US) were assigned to a six seater one prop plane.  Now I come from a family of pilots but I would by lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous riding in one of those little ones for 90 minutes.  I quickly overcame my nerves when meeting our pilot, Lionel, and I just reminded myself that my nephew DJ could just as easily have been our pilot and I would feel safer with him flying a plane with me in it than I would crossing a street in Johannesburg. (Unlike California, pedestrians do NOT have the right of way)

It was fabulous flying over the brush and then coming into the delta.  Once I got used the the ups and downs, it just felt like a sailboat crossing the sea to reach Catalina Island.  I imagined that I was a contestant on Survivor and that my friends and I had won the reward challenge and our reward was this flight.  Although it is the end of the winter and there is less water, it was exhilarating to suddenly see water after an hour of nothing but brown and dried up craters that once held water. 

We landed on the gravel airstrip and were met by our driver and guide, Titus, and our guide and tracker Sianga.  It took another hour to get to camp during which a leopard cub was spotted sitting in the shade of a termite tower and its tree.   I did not expect to see as many animals as I’ve seen and certainly did not expect the feasting lions and a leopard.  Will we see a cheetah? Who knows.

 As usual, we were given a quick lunch and then back into the jeeps for more safari, this one lasting until after dark.  We’re talking four hours of basically four wheelin’ it.  If you had asked me back in the Falkland Island when we had two hours there and two hours back four wheelin’ to see king penguins, if I would ever see myself going on twice a day four hour treks  in a jeep I would have told you no way.  But here I am.  I have my trusty back pillow and better living through pharmaceuticals so…

We saw an ostrich in the distance – it was a male.  The males are dark and the females are light – the male sit on the nests at night and the female during the day.  Pretty smart. We see warthogs everywhere and they are hilarious. They are very skittish take off in a split second.  Just like Pumba in The Lion King their tails go STRAIGHT up in the air when they run.  They also back into their underground dens butt first so if something comes after them they fly out of the den lickety split.  We saw one with just his head sticking out.  Adorable. 

Saw our first zebras.  A herd of zebras is called – you gotta love this – a dazzle.  For obvious reasons, their stripes dazzle and confuse predators.  These zebras are different than some others in Africa because they have a light tan stripe in  between the white and black ones and also they continue all around their bellies and down their legs. 

Lots and lots of giraffes, their camouflage is incredible.  When they stand stock still they just look like one of the many bare tree trunks, blending in and almost impossible to spot when they are not in the open. 

A mama hyena laid down right in front of us to nurse her pups.  Hyenas are scavengers and steal the meat from leopards and lions if they can get away with it.  Gorgeous animal, not at all like I imagined them to be.  Again, my experience in these matters is limited to the Lion King and other Disney creations.  In that vein, I now know that the Beast in Beauty and the Beast is clearly a wildebeest.  Nobody had to tell me that, I even figured it out all by myself.

Took a break next to a riverlet and watched the hippos snort and snuffle their way through the water.  Pretty funny stuff, actually, these big  manatee-like creatures bobbing along.  I took some videos, not sure how they’ll turn out.

Suddenly in the distance we saw the biggest elephant I have ever seen in my life walking towards the water behind us on a path some distance away.  And in the past few days I have seen A LOT of elephants. Regal is the only word I can use to describe how he plodded down the path and past us, as if expecting us to kneel in homage.  He was the first and then after a few minutes a second, slightly smaller and then a third, even smaller.  They were what is called an elephant bachelor group.  Males elephants get send out to pasture as they get older and as I’m sure you know, it is a matriarchal society.  The women and the babes hang out together.  As the mother of sons, I tend to engage in personification of these males who get told to take a hike when they are about 16.  My sons still like to hang out with me.  What if I said “get lost!”  I couldn’t, but then I’m not an elephant.

 I am starting to lose track of what day is which and which safari trek is what.  That was last night and after another sunset we did come back to camp with the guide using a heavy duty flashlight to scope out anything that might be running around after dark.  It was mostly the usual suspects. Well, lah de dah, Mary, aren’t YOU getting complacent?  Saw a striped jackal which I was surprised was not much bigger than a red fox.  Who knew? A few more warthogs, some impalas.

Up at  5:30 a.m. and honestly I had to force myself and probably Al, too, out of bed with the alarm and the guide gently saying “good morning”.  I could easily have talked myself into missing just this one safari but decided that would be the stupidest thing I could possibly do having come this far.  It is chilly in the morning so that helped and a quick cuppa and we were off again at dawn.  Morning is the time to hopefully see cats.

This is where our tracker Sianga blew us away.  He has no problem looking down into what looks like a kids’ sandbox that has been played with all day and seeing fresh lion tracks.  Before we knew it, there we were, face to face with two males.  These males grow up together and then hang out together and protect the pride.  If another male comes along into their territory they are prepared to fight to the death so that the interloper doesn’t come into the pride, kill the cubs thereby forcing the female to going into heat again.  They started sniffing the ground and opening their mouths into a big yawn, smelling for their females and specifically, with the yawn, determining if any are in estrus.  Again, the mysteries of survival and procreation.

Another real treat of our morning safari was tracking wild dogs.  They are sooooo beautiful,. dappled deep brown and black and white with white bushy tails and are endangered in Botswana.  Why? They sometimes come in contact with domestic dogs who have rabies.  They then contract it themselves, pass it on to the pups in the den when they regurgitate their food to feed them and wipe out the whole family.  There are signs in the airports and elsewhere to report any sightings of wild dogs near humans so they can be relocated.  Of course, any ranchers in surrounding areas also have their own way of dealing with the wild dogs, much like ranchers out west deal with wolves. 

Don’t feel too sorry for the wild dogs though.  They are total assholes.  They are primary predators and aren’t very patient.  When they take down their prey, they don’t bother it kill it, they just start eating.  The guide said it is very sad to witness this, as you and I can imagine. 

Got close to zebras again but they decided we were too close and took off galloping; if you saw a sudden dust cloud on the other side of the world it was probably blown in from the Okavanga Delta after that.  Zebras are Botswana’s national animal and our guide told us the symbolism is the hope that black and white can all get along.  Wonderful sentiment, but just as we were contemplating that a couple of zebras got into it and they were vicious fighters, kicking and biting each other. 

Cutest little toddler wildebeest got separated from the group and when we neared he ran back snorting all the way.  As is often the case, I did not have my video on even though I thought I did (there HAS to be a better way on these iphones) and then after he had gone past and I turned it off I got a really great video of my lap.  I’m sure you’re dying to see it, just let me know if you want me to send it.

This afternoon we will be taking a canoe ride (alligators anyone?) and then back out into the bush again.  Tomorrow we leave this Garden of Eden and head to Cape Town. 

How about some birds for a change? I will do my best to identify and I am sorry they are not cropped. Zoom in if you care to. Pulling out my cheat sheet book to see if I can ID these in order of appearance. I am limited on time so I am not going to be able to do it all properly but enjoy the photos anyway. I’m going to just write not sure and if I get back it to before we take off, I will. Otherwise…just not sure.

Top row, L to R : juvenile Fish eagle, African Grey Hornbill, Ring Necked Dove

Second Row L to R: Not sure, not sure, and totally not sure BUT It is one of the starlings in Africa and I’m struggling to identify exactly which one but I will tell you that this photo is not enhanced in any way. They really are that brilliant. There are a few more photos down below.

Row Three L to R: fish eagle nest, not sure, not sure

Row Four L to R: Red hornbill, not sure, not surere

Row Five L to R: Hornbill of some sort, two more of that gorgeous starling

Row Six L to R: This is definitely the cape starling, yellow billed stork, some kinda egret

Row Seven L to R: The first two are the amaznig marabou storks, not sure

Row Eight L to R: Young fish eagle, fish eagle, common guinea fowl

Well didn’t do so well on that but moving on….

How about some cats? Not much to say here. Picture is worth a billion of my words.

Or some dogs? I’m including hyenas, jackal and wild dogs and their pups in this category. Wild dogs first, then hyenas, then the jackal

Above is the hyena feasting on the cape buffalo someone left behind. Below is the jackal.

Hippos next….notice the egret hanging out on the hippos back.

Odds and ends…bats in the dining hall, wildebeast, zebras, warthog, silly ass baboons, rock monitor lizard, cape buffalo, gorgeous kudus with their twirling horns, one of the thousands of impala. Not sure I mentioned that warthogs, because of their short necks and general body structure, have to kneel down to eat. This one is drinking water so I guess that doesn’t apply to drinking.

That’s about it for the animals. Will move on in next blog for Cape Town and our last days in Africa.

Well, I admit it, I’m totally disoriented. I barely know what day it is nor what days any of the following photos were taken. In general, for someone who likes to blab on for paragraphs without care for grammar or punctuation, I am pretty much at a loss for words regarding what we have experienced.

For this entry I have resorted to pulling out the itinerary to try to make sense of it all and plan to just post photos of what all we saw and learned and maybe throw in a little extra blah blah about some of the photos. I am sitting in a hotel room in Cape Town, South Africa, I know that much. The rest of the group hopped on a bus tour of wine country. More on this area later when I come to my senses.

When last we met I think we were on our way to Okavanga Delta by itty bitty plane. But to recap (more for my orientation than yours), we flew into Johannesburg, spent a day or so, flew to Zimbabwe and went to Victoria Falls, John and Larry arrived without luggage (SO GLAD THEY MADE IT!) . Went on a sunset cruise down the Zambezi River and saw our first critters.Got up early in the morning for our first real safari and saw the rhinos. Left with our shoes in a bag and went to Botswana. Went to Chobe National Park and saw lions eating an impala and lotsa birds. Okay. Got it.

Kasane Airport. We were divided into planes according to weight of us and luggage. Most people were in a 12 seater but Al and Jesse and Scott and I hit the jackpot and rode in a little 6 seater. Our pilot was approximately 10 years old. Just kidding, but he was younger than us. I come from a family of pilots – my brother flew since he was 16 and my nephew flies corporate jets for a living. I couldn’t help but think of my nephew, who for a time flew in Africa carting people around who worked for the UN.

Many people are afraid to fly, and I have my moments despite the family history. I’ve been in small planes such as this one but not for 90 minutes and it rattled me a little bit, until I saw the pilot hop into the plane. As soon as he became a pilot and not just the guy who greeted us, his demeanor changed to what I imagine my brother and nephew become: serious, focused, no-nonsense and capable. That, and I pretended I had won a reward challenge on Survivor (those who watch will understand) and that the reward was a plane ride over the African bush into the Okavanga Delta. We met Scott and Jesse in Peru and they have become friends as we live in southern California and it felt pretty special to share the experience with just them.

It was refreshing to see from the air the bone dry land become dotted with water here and there. As I may have mentioned, it was a dry summer for them here in Africa and so the water has evaporated leaving less water than expected this time of the year. The rainy season starts in November and lasts til April, and water should be lasting until October, but it’s more scarce this year. The water from the Okavanaga Delta drains from Angola, so in the future I will be watching the weather there perhaps a little more closely. Where we safari’d in the Delta can, during a normal winter, be navigated by motor boat. Not so much this year. We were crossing water with the jeep. I’m sure there are areas where we wouldn’t be able to do that still, but the fact remains the water is low overall.

Our tent cabins were comfortable but we were in the wilds now and after dinner we could sit by the campfire but once we were escorted to our tents that was it for the night. We could hear all sorts of critters out there – the ever present baboons and birds and even lions. Last month a zebra was killed inside the camp itself and they had to drag it out of the area a bit so they didn’t have to step around a lion and hyenas and vultures and what not to get to breakfast.

Except for the middle of the day there was no rest for us weary travelers. Up before dawn and real breakfast to grab coffee and a muffin before heading out with our wonderful driver Titus, and our tracker, Sianga. Our tour director was in our jeep as they are her favorites (I’m thinking maybe we are too!). Our group was Al, John, Larry, Susan, Steve and moi.

In case you’re wondering, John’s luggage showed up, Larry’s did not as yet. Fortunately the guys could share some clothes and there was free laundry at the camp. At this point Larry just wants the luggage back so he doesn’t have to replace some of the rather nice outdoor clothing he had packed, and his binocs).

It is at this point where I start to really lose track of what day it is and what we did. The photos all start to blend together. We were out until after dark our first and second days there, We were out for one early morning and a second not quite as early but still early enough for our final safari on the way to the airport, where we would take another small plane to Maun (Larry’s luggage was there!), then to Johannesburg to connect to a plane to Cape Town. It was a long day.

Since I am confused now, I will just post photos and try to make sense of the notes I took along the way. I was able to find a wonderful coloring book sized book with all the animals and birds found in the area so I may be able to identify the birds. Looking through photos between Al and me we actually got some decent shots of the birds. Here we go… this first fellow will be my forever memory of Okavango Delta. It was nearing sunset and we stopped for a snack. Like a movie, in the distance we saw this massive elephant slowly making his way towards us. I have a video and will try to upload it as well, but he was the hugest land animal I have ever seen, and we saw LOTS of elephants. He walked past us like royalty and took my breath away with his size and demeanor. I will never forget those five minutes. If you want me to send you the video via email or text just reach out to me, family and friends.

This first photo is the scary matriarch who came so close to our jeep. That’s another video I’ll be happy to send to anyone who wants it. The middle photo there is the mud bath scene, and the elephant who looks black on the bottom is just demonstrating how deep the water is that it just waded through.

What’s your pleasure next? How about my favorite animal – giraffes. They are camouflage experts and you start to think you are seeing them when it’s just a tree. Our lovely tour director, Belinda, is always trying her hand at pointing things out but she has a great track record in spotting ALT’s. Animal Looking Things. She has accompanied many safaris and does spot actual animals but she is a good sport about when she finds ALTs. Our girl on the right in the first row (who was leaning down to drink) is pregnant.

These giraffes are the Southern Giraffe. They are lighter in color than the masai rothschild giraffe and the reticulated giraffes in eastern Africa. They can be darker depending on age or the gene pool if a darker color is passed down ( through the mother). Apparently.

I do not know why this text got smaller and can’t seem to figure out how to change the font bigger. Sorry!

My lovely people, as our tour director would say, I need to stop and continue later. Dealing with photos – transferring and figuring out which ones to use has exhausted me. To come: lions, hyenas, wild dogs, warthogs, wildebeest, cape buffalo, jackals, leopards and lots of birdies…

Just filling in the blanks a bit. My next entry will be a lot of photos. I wrote this during down time on the Okavanga Delta.

There are baboons everywhere.  They are a lot more fun to see roaming around the national park than they are at the immigration crossing!  The troops are large and riotous, big ol’ males and females with babes on their backs or bellies, the babes with big eyes and hanging on for dear life, looking like they wished they were back inside mom’s belly. 

Impalas are also everywhere in the parks.  They are the deer of Southern Africa and needn’t worry about one or two being killed off by lions or leopards.  There are plenty to go around for the predators and the tourists.  Impalas only deliver during the rainy summer season (November through April) so there is enough food growing for the family.  They will wait an extra four weeks to deliver (human mothers would lose their minds) – and if no rain they will deliver and leave the baby to die so that she can live. 

The red Kalahari Desert sand is the deepest in the world – up to 200 meters deep.  Our jeep ride through it was bumpy but soft at least for a part of it. 

That safari ride in Chobe National Park ended with the guides/trackers calling each other to let us know that lions had been spotted – post kill.  The photos tell the tale as they sat in the shade and chowed down.  One cub was particularly cute – like a dog who didn’t want to share his bone he would tussle with another cub and then get up and walk a few feet away.  He did this several times until the other one just gave up and went back to mama and the other cubs.  In the photos you cannot really see them eating so much except for the male who clearly had the biggest piece of the pie.  At one point one of the females stopped what she was doing, stood up and looked into the brush – we were told she was stalking something.  

Why do the lions and other animals we see let us get so close?  They have acclimated to these big noisy “animals” coming by now and again and not shooting them.  They do not see us as individuals in the jeeps but just one big individual that they have learned does not harm them and which they know is probably too big to take down.  This would change if we were to step out of the vehicle and become an individual.  At one point one, the young man in our group – 15 yr old – was handed a bottle of water to transfer to the next jeep that was parked within tossing distance.  He misunderstood and started to step out.  Like a physical therapist who is gait training a patient who falters, the guide had grabbed the kid and pulled him back into the seat in a flash. 

The female elephants are particularly curious and/or protective, however, and more than once I was taking a video and you can hear me saying “oh my god, oh my god, oh my god” as the not-as-big-as-a-male-but-humongous-nevertheless female turned, looked at us, came a little closer and just as my “oh my god” was going to turn into “oh shit” she veers off.  We do not venture close to the males and no need – they are massive even from a distance and can be extremely dangerous for no particular reason at all.  Speaking of baby elephants, they eat their mother’s poop so create the biological biome in their gut that they need to survive. 

And speaking of poop, hyenas eat their prey bones and all.  So their poop has white stones in it it that other animals eat if they need the nutrients. 

Went out in the morning on our last day in Chobe and saw so many birds.  Because we left before sunrise many had not awakened yet.  The maribou storks were sitting up in the tree and don’t some down until the ground has warmed up  and they can ride down on thermals.  They are so big they would never be able to eat enough to fly if they didn’t take advantage of this phenomenon.  I’m going to just make a list in my final blog post because my notes have bird names scattered throughout and I’m not sure if I have them all right or if I’ve already mentioned them.

We saw kudus for the first time which are brown and in the elk family.  They also have faint stripes that, like zebras, are as unique as fingerprints.  The males have impressive horns that curl as they grow – up to five curls!  They have a weird little hump on their back that is pure muscle that allows them to just 2 meters straight up into the air.  This allows them to escape predators by jumping over obstacles that the predators cannot.  I’m telling you, Africa is a master class in how animals have evolved to survive, whether they be predators or prey.

One of our last hours in Chobe found us watching a giraffe spread its legs to reach the water, something Al always wanted to see.  This particular lady was pregnant – 14 months gestation for these graceful ladies…

Left Chobe to head to the Okavanga Delta….

Saturday August 10 and Sunday August 11

Saturday evening’s train ride was on the Royal Livingstone Express and included dinner and way too much wine, but it lent itself to wonderful stories out of the mouths of Al, his brother John and their old childhood friend, Larry. (No luggage yet). Proof yet again that my mother-in-law was a saint.

The dinner train is a restored steam train and is a small part of the “Cape to Cairo” train vision in the late 1800’s that would join all the British colonies in Africa north to south. It was never completed for a variety of reasons, including the French and Portuguese having idea of their own to cross the continent east-west. The train line now goes from Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. Nothing I love more than a restored train car and this was no exception. A good time was had by all.

No worries. We didn’t have to get going until 10 a.m. the next day. Oh wait, we signed up for an extra safari run through Mosi oa Tunya National Park to see if we could see some critters, which meant a 6:30 a.m. jump start. We saw more birds than anything but as I will soon explain, it seems like every time we head out we see more and more big game. This was a nice introduction to the many species of birds we will encounter and to learn lots of little facts.

Please note I took notes on this when listening to our guides. I don’t carry this info around in my brain from school nor do I plagiarize, so if I get some of the facts wrong, blame it on thick accents of the guides or iphone autocorrect that changed my notes into something unintelligible. I’m trying to multitask after all – taking notes, taking photos and staying in the moment by not doing too much of the former. So here are some facts:

Hippos kill more people than any animal in Africa except for mosquitoes. My son, Joe, introduced me to the term “murder horses” and I guess they are. How can something with such cute nostrils and ears be so dangerous?

Baobab trees are called “upside down” trees because they are very skinny at the bottom and without leaves their branches look like roots, as if they’ve been planted upside down. Even with leaves you can see this. Elephants eat baobab especially for the moisture they provide.

Their favorite tree to eat, though, is the mopane (moh PAH nee) and what a clever little tree it is. The elephants start to eat it and in an effort to avoid being wiped off the face of the earth by ravenous elephants, the tree produces extra tannins which race to the leaves and the elephants suddenly are left wondering why they thought these were a delicious thing to eat a few minutes ago. This is one of the reasons elephants rip the branch totally off before starting to eat. It’s a game of cat and mouse for sure!

Elephants eventually lose their teeth when they get old as they get ground down from eating and then they starve to death. That’s pretty depressing, huh? African Elephants live to about 60-70. Before they are 40 they get a few sets of teeth and so, we were told, the younger elephants eat with reckless abandon, not caring if they are grinding rocks along with the grass. After they are 40 they are noted to be a little more careful with their chewing. Kids.

I was sorry to learn that although mopane worms are a delicacy which have three times the protein as beef and chicken, it is unlikely they will be on our menu; it is more commonly served in Namibia and we won’t be there. I’m always game to try weird new food (hey, haggis is delicious depending on the recipe). Except beets and brussel sprouts. Save your breath on how they are both delicious when cooked blah blah blah.

One bird we saw, the ground hornbill – you may have to look most of these up if you want photos, it is extremely hard to photograph most birds with my iphone – likes to eat snakes. If you look at the photo (I’ll see if I have anything) it has a red wattle-like thing on its neck which it used to attract snakes – which it then eats.

Saw egyptian geese, egrets, white backed vultures.

Giraffes have high blood pressure because of those long necks. They can’t have their heads down for too long which is why they eat from the tops of trees. (Whose idea was this anyway?) Giraffes are my favorite animal, but I never knew that they sleep standing up and can only sleep 7 mins at a time, and for fourteen minutes twice a day. If their heads nodded down like ours do on a long plane ride, they would die because the blood couldn’t get to their heads. Or something along those lines. Suffice to say they are my favorite animal but we clearly have nothing in common as 14 HOURS of sleep would be my preference. Lying down, too.

Our last stop on this morning safari was to see the white rhinos. Nine of them. There are eleven in ALL of Zambia. They are not white and actually the name comes from a misunderstanding somewhere along the line, when they were called “wide rhinos” because of their wide mouths. These were sleeping happily, farting and snorting in greeting, and are guarded 24/7. As the ranger on guard told me “if they weren’t, they’d be gone”. This was the only time we were allowed out of the jeep for a short walk to see them. It felt very special to be able to see these endangered animals, and also to know that in Kruger National Park the Black Mambas are on patrol – look it up, these are some mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it-anymore women who will happily shoot a poacher on sight. Well, maybe not, but the poachers can’t be sure of that now, can they?

Back to the hotel to pack up. We had to put our extra shoes (in our case just our sandals) in plastic bags. We would be leaving Zambia to go to Botswana where the soles of our footwear would be disinfected (we had to do this before seeing penguins in the Falkland Islands, too) – this time for mad cow disease. John and Larry didn’t have to do this as they still don’t have luggage. It is expected today.

Hopped on a bus and headed across the Kazungula Bridge which only opened in 2021. Before that everything had to be ferried across the Zambezi or Chobe River (depending on which direction you’re looking) and trucks could wait for weeks to cross. This made the area quite unsavory with much prostitution and general debauchery. The bridge curves markedly, as does the railroad track in the middle of the bridge. Here again I am going to have to direct you do research this further if you like, because it has something to do with four countries sort of meeting except for 400 or so feet, a war in 1970 to hash it all out and who knows what all else. But curve it does.

The Zambia/Botswana entry point is a huge, new building, unlike the hot stuffy Humphrey Bogart-esque offices of the Zim/Zam border crossing. You walk in and veer right to stamp out of Zambia, then walk across a large hall to stamp into Botswana. Then you leave the hall and disinfect your feet and shoes that are in the plastic bag. But not John and Larry. Oh? I said that already? Imagine how sick THEY are of not having luggage!

We said goodbye to our Zambian bus driver and squished into two small vans for the short ride to our hotel. Quick lunch and then onto a boat for our first view of the (now Chobe River) and Chobe National Park. Not to be outdone by all the other international conflicts about borders, Namibia and Botswana had to got the the International Court in the Netherlands to settle who owned what part of the channels on either side of the island whose name escapes me now. Botswana won for reasons I don’t remember either but now it’s all part of Chobe National Park Botswana.

This is where our trip started to get real. I know you’ve been waiting for this but so were we. A couple of lazy hippos in the water. Not sure if I mentioned they stay in the water all day and only come out as the sun goes down – otherwise their skin can’t handle it. Also fun fact, they are so massive they cannot copulate on land and have to do it in the water where they are more “buoyant”. I don’t know why this isn’t true for elephants and rhinos and whatever, but there you are.

We saw cape buffalo, mostly males. Just an FYI, a cape buffalo will be happy to chase you up a tree, and will patiently wait there until you decided to come down. Do not mess with a cape buffalo. Saw lots of elephants. They are unbelieveably massive. The males hang out mostly by themselves, but the females, led by a matriarch who knows where to find food, hang out together. We were VERY fortunate to watch all of them cross the river. The huge male, followed by a juvenile male, was able to walk across as were the grown females, but the babes looked like they were swimming for dear life. When they started to finally walk up the bank on the island, one of the babes flopped itself back into the water like it was glad to be alive! A juvenile male had followed them across and was not thwarted by the grown female who took up the rear of the parade, but once on land again she shooed him away with a great elephant trumpet. Felt kinda sorry for him. He’s only a teenager after all….

A ridiculous amount of birds are everywhere and I wish I could photograph every one of them. African Jacanas with chestnut rumps and white and black heads that are locally known as “Jesus birds” because they can walk across lily pads as if they are walking on water. Black herons, African spoonbills, huge Maribou storks, Southern Red Billed Hornbill (“flying peppers” as opposed to “flying bananas”, yellow billed hornbills). I find the helmeted guinea fowl, although ridiculously common that the guides don’t even pay any attention, quite colorful and beguiling. Hoping to get a nice photo before this is all over.

Our boat ride ended with another African sunset and it’s a good thing because I took more photos of elephants than a person should ever take.
So thus far we have seen three of the Big 5 – elephants, rhinos, African cape buffalo. Will we see lions and leopards? Who knows, I hope so!

We had dinner and went to our rooms, not allowed to walk back from restaurant that was a five minute walk because – well, the National Park is an open park. I was shocked when I went to set my alarm for the 5 am wakeup and thought my phone was wrong. It was only 8:30 pm and felt like 11 pm. Full days, these land tours. No rest for the wicked.

It is now time to leave Chobe National Park. I was hoping to get back to this so I could fill in the blanks and add some photos, but yesterday was a full day with a 5 a.m. safari and a 3 p.m. safari. In between I wrote this and never was able to get back to download some photos. Yesterday we saw it all – elephants, giraffed,kudus, more impala (one in pieces as we watched an entire pride of lions feast on it) and more. This morning we are headed to Okavango Delta where we stay in tents and have to be escorted everywhere by guards as we will be IN it. There will be no internet etc so I wanted to get this posted. See you on the other side. I’ll be writing offline and I’m hoping my photos transferred to the laptop from my phone now so I’ll be able to catch up. Here are just a few photos from today to wet your whistle:

Africa Part 1Wednesday June 7, 2024

Johannesburg, South Africa via Newark.

I wasn’t looking forward to this journey.  5 or so hours to Newark from California, then 15 more to Johannesburg.  We left on time ok but with the anger of Hurricane Debby hitting the southeast coast of the US, there was always a question mark if things would go well.

They did, sort of.  We arrived on time but things at Newark were a mess.  We had to wait for a gate to open up, things had stalled because they couldn’t put the walkway thingies out until a certain amount of time had passed since the last lightning strike.  So we sat.  I’ve never had a plane just turn off the engines while we sat and waited. for a gate.  It really wasn’t more than forty minutes, but we were getting nervous as we had a connection that wasn’t tight to begin with but was getting tighter by the minute.  The only consolation was that nobody was going anywhere and indeed our flight to Johannesburg took off three hours later than scheduled.

We were the lucky ones.  Al’s brother, John, and old friend Larry got diverted to DC from St. Louis and with every passing minute the news got worse.  Their new flight to Newark was delayed, then cancelled.  The flight to Johannesburg the next day was full.  I’ve had a hard time keeping up with all that went down but the text messages were not upbeat. 

I’m not sure what happened to all the OTHER people who were supposed to make that connection, but when our plane took off it was missing a lot of people.  So much so that my wish to have business class was dang near fulfilled, without the cost.  I was able to lie down across three seats and slept soundly (with a little help from my friends, of course) for hours. Photo “business class” – the cheap way.

Before I knew it we were a couple of hours out of South Africa.  John and Larry were getting a flight through Frankfurt the next day but after that would have to spend ANOTHER 15 hours sitting around the airport in Germany before catching a flight to the final destination.  Luggage? What is this luggage you speak of? (I am writing this Friday night, they have joined us along the tour but Larry’s air tag says the luggage is still at Newark).

This fiasco made Al’s dismay at having his luggage arrive with nothing but wet clothes inside from sitting on the tarmac for hours in Newark seem like the minor inconvenience that it was. Photo: I’m not in it, I’m behind the camera, photo of us and fellow travelers arriving in Joburg, Four of the people we travelled with in Peru a couple of years ago: Dana and David, Jesse and Scott. Susan and Steve are neighbors of Jesse and Paul in Long Beach.

Thursday, April 8, 2024

Johannesburg, Apartheid, Smog

We had been warned that Joburg (I just can’t keep typing it out, and that’s the shortcut that everyone uses) was not a safe place to roam around by oneself.  Our plan was to grab a Hop on Hop off bus and just get off at the highlights, but the guy who was supposed to take us to one of the HO-HO stops convinced us and the other 6 people we were with that he could show us a better time for not much more. 

He did do that (sorry, no stories of being ripped off or anything).  He drove us all around the city, rich areas, poor areas, Nelson Mandela’s home for 11 years after he was released from prison (rich area). The Mandela family still lives there and the trees outside the walls are surrounded by river stones that bear messages of gratitude from visitors. Photos: Our guide Sophi in front of Mandela’s post-release home (he has four daughters – TWO sets of twins!) River stones with memorial messages.

He took us to the solitary tourist street about two blocks long with beautiful murals commemorating the “revolutionaries”.  He took us through the Aglo-Boer war district which was a war over gold, imagine that.  The buildings there were all built with gold money and along the way were vestiges of the times – railroad cars, various digging machines. (Apologies for the third grade vocab  but hey – ) I was very sad as we went through some of the more creative areas – wholesale ribbons, for example – as these are places I certainly would wander into in just about any other city.  Our guide assured us it was not safe during the day or the night, not with him or without him.  I asked what might happen and basically it was being held up  – and refusing at one’s own risk. 

On to the Apartheid Museum – we spent two hours there and could have spent six.  It is a VERY confusing history and not at all just about blacks and whites, there was a healthy dose of classism – not all blacks were limited due to being black and not all whites were free as a bird due to being white.  An exhibit of real ID cards blown up to poster size demonstrated the many nonsensical classifications. Classifications could change depending on one’s circumstances.  An exhibit from a newspaper article in 1986 showed the re-classifications “with the stroke of the government pen” that occurred just in 1986. (Doesn’t that seem like yesterday?) Add colonialism to the mix and you have one wild and dangerous history.  I’d like to explain it more fully but honestly I’d need to read more than one book about the history to even scratch the surface.   There was so so so much information in this museum – many videos of speeches given throughout the history, exhibits how the various factions of whites vs white and blacks vs blacks and whites vs black and…and…; as I say, I left wholly confused and totally fascinated.

Who said this?: Answer at end of this post.

“I call him savage, something to be civilized off the face of the Earth. The world will be all the better when his place knows him no more.” From Apartheid Museum exhibit.

 We went to Soweto to see where Bishop Desmond Tutu lived (he was a very short man and his front doorway reflected that).  Also the home where Nelson and Winnie Mandela lived in their younger years with their daughters. He was a taller man and his front door reflected that.   When Nelson was imprisoned, Winnie of course continued their work and holes can still be seen in the brick where the authorities would blanket the house with bullets to try to frighten her.  The home was very small (an aptly named matchbox house in the style of the neighborhood) and is now a museum with his many awards.

Other than those magnificently curated museums, Joburg doesn’t have much to offer.  The smog burns the eyes and made us local Californians realize how clean LA is these days.  There were entire neighborhoods that were nothing but “used” car parts businesses.  We went past them too quickly for me to snap any photos but one would be just mufflers, one would be just doors, one would be just mirrors.  All essentially stolen. 

No, I won’t be walking around Joburg alone any time soon….

(Answer to above question):   Looking for some roots of systemic racism? Here ya go:

Friday,  August 9, 2024

Zim Zam

Goodbye to Johannesburg, on to Zimbabwe for our first glimpse of Victoria Falls.  I never did write about Iguazu Falls in Argentina/Brazil which is a shame because I’ve never seen anything like it and even today I wonder why Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World and Iguazu isn’t.  Victoria Falls is the tallest, but Iguazu is three miles wide and I’m not talking trickling, I’m talking Victoria Falls and Niagara Falls kinda falls.  It was one of the most mind-blowing experiences I’ve ever had. 

Anyway, I can’t diss Victoria Falls for one good reason.  Last rainy season wasn’t that rainy, thank you global warming that is supposedly a hoax.  For this reason the falls, which usually thin out in September or October, have thinned out already here in August.  It was still pretty spectacular but areas that should have still been roaring were completely dry.  Nevertheless, it is quite the spectacle.  Because of its height, when it hits the bottom the spray rises up like smoke, thus its native name: Mosi Oa Tunya  the smoke that thunders. No, I do not know which of the 16 official languages spoken in Zimbabwe it comes from.  There is a huge statue of “Dr Livingstone, I presume” who “discovered” the falls and one of the islands around which the falls flows bears his name.   

Our day started out with a 5 a.m. wakeup (I’m not a morning person, grrr) and a 6 a.m. trip to airport to fly to Victoria Falls.  We arrived in Zimbabwe and had to wait for an hour to get through the line to pay our $30 and get our one day visas.  Everything is done by hand and the endless stamp-stamp-stamp for each and every person in front of us was like something out of a Monty Python skit.  Finally, they opened another window and things went a little faster. 

On to Victoria Falls where we spent a few hours hiking along the rim across the chasm from the falls; it was very hot but the spray was non-stop and lusciously refreshing at every overlook. It was only after the trail headed back to the parking lot that it got to Grouchy Mary Level hot, but a little carton of ice cream solved that problem right away.  I do not understand the people lounging in the pools on the top of the falls.  Supposedly you are tied with a rope so you don’t go over the edge but no thank you no thank you no thank you.  Some of the young, immortal people we could see frolicking a bit on the rocks around the pools just looked like an accident waiting to happen and I don’t want to know just how many accidents DO happen. 

Very quickly our one day visas to Zim (yes, our guide assured us, Zim Zam, Bot, Nam are all commonly used by Africans.  Who has time to say all those names every time?) were stamped again in a hot little office on the Zimbabwe/Zambia border, fewer stamps this time and we were entertained by baboons running around everywhere outside like squirrels in my Mom’s back yard.  Nothing really cuter than a baby baboon clinging to mama. 

A mile down the road we again got off our bus with our passports in hand to be stamped into Zambia.  Hotter, more crowded office and I hoped I wouldn’t pass out or need to use the bathroom in the worst way. It did finally move along though and we were on our way to our hotel.

Fifteen minutes to shower and refresh then onto a boat on the great Zambezi River for a sunset cruise where we would maybe see hippos, crocs, elephants, zebras and giraffes.  Saw all but the giraffes which were spotted by the guide but were really far away and scooted into the bush before I could find my favorite animal (other than boxer dogs, of course).

I was tickled by the hippos (aka “murder horses).  In these waters they only poked their heads out now and again before disappearing under the water for a ridiculous amount of time.  It was like watching whales.  It is expected in other areas we visit we will see more than just the occasional head popping up with a massive jaw chawing away, but it was pretty cool and who knew? Not just “murder horses” but also “river whales”.

The elephants we saw at the river were MASSIVE.  One male was so big it made me glad I was in a boat and kinda wonder about being on land with one of those dudes which we undoubtedly will be. 

I had never seen a crocodile swim, swim, swim as this one did across the wide river.  Again, glad I was in a boat. 

The zebras were far away but could see them with binocs.  Al took some photos of the critters but I have a hunch like most animal photos taken with the lowly iphone, they will be less than impressive.

Smoke on the Water, Victoria Falls in the distance on Zambezi River

We came back to the lodge for dinner but I passed  – see “morning person” above.  As much as I would love to open the balcony doors it is inadvisable due to the monkeys and mosquitos.  The monkey sitting on the ledge apparently knew there had been a turnover and maybe this new lady would not be the wiser.   

I’m falling asleep as I write now, but can’t say night night until I relate how, when the sun was setting like the quintessential orange globe that it is in Africa, our guide pointed out the smoke in the far distance across the water.  It wasn’t smoke.  It was the falls, and we were on the great river that leads to the smoke that thunders, separated only by some miles and a lot of islands. 

Spectacular.

 Saturday August 10, 2024

Missed Tour but Oh Well and…

 
I am sitting here on the banks of the Zambezi.  Our guide called our room at 8:40 and asked if we were coming?  We totally slept through our wake up time.  So what we missed this morning was going to the “pool” side of the falls and not sure what else, but we’re cool with it.  I got my back exercises in (I was feeling it start to complain yesterday) and am now enjoying the peace and quiet.  As usual, after four days of lovely people and the socializing that just naturally occurs on such tours, I’m exhausted and need my space.  John and Larry did arrive last night in time for the boat ride which was nice for them.  Today they will go out to try to find some clothes.  Lord knows what native gear they will return with! 

Later today we will take a train ride and not sure what that will entail but I will get back to you.  Right now I’m going to see if I can manage to put some photos together for wordpress.  Always a challenge for me.

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon having lunch with fellow travelers from Texas, trying to stay off politics but it was a compllicated dance. Fortunately I’ve always been a left of center middle of the roader so I am able to dance that dance. No sense is storming off in a huff after making my feelings known about Trump. No minds going to be changed. Having said that, they are proof that we can all get along and be civil if we have to. Good thing, too, otherwise someone might have been lunch for the croc that lazed next to us the entire time.

In a few moments we will be leaving to take a train ride. As usual, I have no idea where I’m going nor what I will do when we get there, but if it’s a train ride, I’m all over that! Will let you know what happens. Tomorrow we go to Chobe National Park where the real “safari” starts.

I’m a dog person. Twister was Andy’s cat and we inherited her for 15 of her 17 years. Putting her to sleep was as devastating as it always is, but it is the aftermath when I am noticing the differences between losing and missing a dog and losing and missing a cat. A dog is so obvious and in some ways easier – you are forced to accept that he is gone because he is not there to greet you with joyful jumping around, or come running when you put your shoes on, expecting a walk. The acceptance is fast and brutal.

This is different, slower and in some ways more difficult. Twister was not a lap cat and except for dinner time or middle of the night howling for who knew what reason, she was quiet. She’d slink into the room – Carl Sandburg characterized it so accurately when describing fog: “The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over the harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on”. Sometimes I’d see her walk in, sometimes I wouldn’t. Sometimes she’d come sit in the basket next to my chair, sometimes she wouldn’t. Sometimes she’d be upstairs all evening, sometimes she’d hang with us. Twister was just a reluctant companion cat, requiring only that we feed her and pet her at her bidding.

Now if there is a change in shadow and light in the room from a tree branch outside, my eyes look over expecting to see her and of course she is not there. A creaking house noise quickly disappoints me as I realize it isn’t her coming to pay a visit.  It is dinner time now and there are no little cat feet, no meowing, no hovering. I count the blessing when I walk past the litter box and it is is gone, too. I count the blessing when we plan future travel and plans can change them on a dime without worrying about “arrangements”. We had a mature relationship – live and let live, and eventually live and let die, and of course a cat relationship is so different from a dog relationship, but sometimes I just feel like a little kid and I miss her and wish that she, like all my pets that came before, never had to go at all.