Victoria Falls and Chobe
It’s been a really long time since my last update. I am sorry about that but some of you know I am alive as I do post occasionally on message boards. I am now Snarfblatt at BNABBT, just because.
So here it is below the cut because it is very long.
Lets see, things were sort of quiet on the work front because my boss was in France for three weeks. I am not saying that she didn’t deserve a vacation, given what she deals with she does deserve one but it sort of left me stuck doing nothing. Well not nothing but getting the government counterpart to do anything is like pulling teeth. Ok so no-one cares.
Fun stuff, we went to do karaoke, unfortunately it was at Shabnam’s house. Now Shabnam is Muslim and lives with her parents, they don’t allow drinking in their house. Which is all fine but I don’t really like singing in public and the thought of doing that sober makes me very nervous. Still it was fun and we got to meet people.
Then it was time for our vacation. We went to Chobe National Park and did a day trip to Victoria Falls. We arrived at Kasane airport and were picked up and taken to Chobe Safari Lodge. It’s beautiful. That evening we went on a boat cruise where we say hippos, elephants, water buffalo and even two crocodiles. We also saw a bunch of other birds and stuff that I can’t really remember. I won’t be able to look at the photos properly until I get home in any case. That night was the all you can eat buffet. Well it turns out that all I can eat is quite a lot. I also tried Kudu. Kudu for those of you who don’t know is an animal. Some kind of antelope-type thing. I think we saw some on the boat cruise, then he was on our plates. Well ok it wasn’t the exact same one we saw but still.
The next day we went to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls. There is a definite contrast between Botswana and Zimbabwe. Almost immediately you can see that the people are poorer and more desperate. (Well duh). Also it’s not until you get to Zimbabwe that you remember that Botswana is unusual in that people aren’t hassling you constantly for money like they do in other countries. Well I can’t speak for all of Africa but I know they do it in both Senegal and Zimbabwe and others have informed me that they do it in Kenya, Nigeria, Niger and Gabon. We rented raincoats, Margaret got the moldiest raincoat known to man, Betty Ann got a cute fashionable raincoat and I got a serviceable navy blue one. What can I say I am a true CS girl!
Then our guide gave us an overview of the Falls and then let us loose. For some reason we thought that he would be coming with us. He was did not, which was fine because we didn’t need him. I really cannot describe the Falls. They are incredibly beautiful and breathtaking. I was highly amused by the fact that there were Japanese tourists there. Including one in heels, now I am curious how that thought process went. I’m going to Victoria Falls so I’ll wear heels? Why would you do that? It is true that I was wearing flip flops but the thing is they are sturdy resistant flip flops that actually have grip on the bottom. Anyways we spent ages looking at the Falls and I took millions of pictures. I will find the link sometime and post it.
Afterwards we left to go to the market. Now the market was really quite intense. There was a very strong feeling of desperation around everything that was going on there. When I was with Betty Anne I managed to resist buying anything but once I was alone it was just easier to fork out money for wooden animals and jewellery I didn’t really want than it was to say no. What can I say? I’m a soft touch. Besides you could smell desperation in the air. Zimbabwe really is in a bad way. This was high tourist season and there was almost no-one there. I cannot imagine how awful the rest of the country is. Things in Victoria Falls town are nice because it is a tourist destination. Oh and the prices. We paid for everything in Pula and I even got one of the sellers to give me change in US dollars. You don’t want Zim dollars unless you want to plaster your walls with them. The official exchange rate is $110,000 Zim to $1 US. Our meal cost us over a million Zim dollars.
On the way back to Botswana we saw elephants on the side of the road just chilling. I must say I really, really like just seeing animals in their natural habitat. That night the sad tale of the Evil Monkey happened.
"Once upon a time there was an innocent young girl called Gabrielle. She was on vacation in a beautiful safari lodge in the northern part of Botswana. The sun was setting and she decided to take a walk and take pictures. Gabrielle saw a bridge and crossed it. There playing on the other side was a cute monkey and a family of mongooses (mongeese?). She snapped pictures. Because Gabrielle is a city girl at heart she decided that was enough nature for one evening so she turned around to cross the bridge.
Sitting on the bridge was the Evil Monkey. He was sitting on one side of the bridge. Gabrielle foolishly assumed that he wouldn't mind if she crossed over as far away from him as possible. The Evil Monkey minded. He bared his Evil Monkey teeth and started chasing her. She walked quickly desperately looking around for a staff member. Alas she was alone with the Evil Monkey. He kept chasing her and glaring. Finally he decided he had had enough and started licking his butt. Gabrielle went back to her room and watched Oprah. "
So I realise I shoudl have waited for the monkey to move but I really wasn't thinking it through. It's not like I have experience with monkeys. My guidebook states obvious things like "don't provoke a lion" and "don't swim in crocodile infested rivers".
The next day we went on two game drives, one in the morning which involved our guide going mad looking for lions. We did not see lions but we did see plenty of other wildlife. We also saw a leopard. Now leopards are hard to see because they are shy and solitary. Then afterwards we wandered around Kasane. Now this sounds odd but the backstreets of Kasane made me very happy because they reminded me of Matam. The afternoon game drive was awesome though. We got so close to the giraffes and elephants it was incredible. I took tons of pictures but there was enough time to just observe the animals in their natural habitat.
Getting back to Gabs was hard and coming into the office was brutal. My supervisor is back and she is keeping me busy now. I am not complaining but still. Oh and I am going on a field trip to the desert for work related stuff on Sunday and coming back on Wednesday which should be exciting.
So here it is below the cut because it is very long.
Lets see, things were sort of quiet on the work front because my boss was in France for three weeks. I am not saying that she didn’t deserve a vacation, given what she deals with she does deserve one but it sort of left me stuck doing nothing. Well not nothing but getting the government counterpart to do anything is like pulling teeth. Ok so no-one cares.
Fun stuff, we went to do karaoke, unfortunately it was at Shabnam’s house. Now Shabnam is Muslim and lives with her parents, they don’t allow drinking in their house. Which is all fine but I don’t really like singing in public and the thought of doing that sober makes me very nervous. Still it was fun and we got to meet people.
Then it was time for our vacation. We went to Chobe National Park and did a day trip to Victoria Falls. We arrived at Kasane airport and were picked up and taken to Chobe Safari Lodge. It’s beautiful. That evening we went on a boat cruise where we say hippos, elephants, water buffalo and even two crocodiles. We also saw a bunch of other birds and stuff that I can’t really remember. I won’t be able to look at the photos properly until I get home in any case. That night was the all you can eat buffet. Well it turns out that all I can eat is quite a lot. I also tried Kudu. Kudu for those of you who don’t know is an animal. Some kind of antelope-type thing. I think we saw some on the boat cruise, then he was on our plates. Well ok it wasn’t the exact same one we saw but still.
The next day we went to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls. There is a definite contrast between Botswana and Zimbabwe. Almost immediately you can see that the people are poorer and more desperate. (Well duh). Also it’s not until you get to Zimbabwe that you remember that Botswana is unusual in that people aren’t hassling you constantly for money like they do in other countries. Well I can’t speak for all of Africa but I know they do it in both Senegal and Zimbabwe and others have informed me that they do it in Kenya, Nigeria, Niger and Gabon. We rented raincoats, Margaret got the moldiest raincoat known to man, Betty Ann got a cute fashionable raincoat and I got a serviceable navy blue one. What can I say I am a true CS girl!
Then our guide gave us an overview of the Falls and then let us loose. For some reason we thought that he would be coming with us. He was did not, which was fine because we didn’t need him. I really cannot describe the Falls. They are incredibly beautiful and breathtaking. I was highly amused by the fact that there were Japanese tourists there. Including one in heels, now I am curious how that thought process went. I’m going to Victoria Falls so I’ll wear heels? Why would you do that? It is true that I was wearing flip flops but the thing is they are sturdy resistant flip flops that actually have grip on the bottom. Anyways we spent ages looking at the Falls and I took millions of pictures. I will find the link sometime and post it.
Afterwards we left to go to the market. Now the market was really quite intense. There was a very strong feeling of desperation around everything that was going on there. When I was with Betty Anne I managed to resist buying anything but once I was alone it was just easier to fork out money for wooden animals and jewellery I didn’t really want than it was to say no. What can I say? I’m a soft touch. Besides you could smell desperation in the air. Zimbabwe really is in a bad way. This was high tourist season and there was almost no-one there. I cannot imagine how awful the rest of the country is. Things in Victoria Falls town are nice because it is a tourist destination. Oh and the prices. We paid for everything in Pula and I even got one of the sellers to give me change in US dollars. You don’t want Zim dollars unless you want to plaster your walls with them. The official exchange rate is $110,000 Zim to $1 US. Our meal cost us over a million Zim dollars.
On the way back to Botswana we saw elephants on the side of the road just chilling. I must say I really, really like just seeing animals in their natural habitat. That night the sad tale of the Evil Monkey happened.
"Once upon a time there was an innocent young girl called Gabrielle. She was on vacation in a beautiful safari lodge in the northern part of Botswana. The sun was setting and she decided to take a walk and take pictures. Gabrielle saw a bridge and crossed it. There playing on the other side was a cute monkey and a family of mongooses (mongeese?). She snapped pictures. Because Gabrielle is a city girl at heart she decided that was enough nature for one evening so she turned around to cross the bridge.
Sitting on the bridge was the Evil Monkey. He was sitting on one side of the bridge. Gabrielle foolishly assumed that he wouldn't mind if she crossed over as far away from him as possible. The Evil Monkey minded. He bared his Evil Monkey teeth and started chasing her. She walked quickly desperately looking around for a staff member. Alas she was alone with the Evil Monkey. He kept chasing her and glaring. Finally he decided he had had enough and started licking his butt. Gabrielle went back to her room and watched Oprah. "
So I realise I shoudl have waited for the monkey to move but I really wasn't thinking it through. It's not like I have experience with monkeys. My guidebook states obvious things like "don't provoke a lion" and "don't swim in crocodile infested rivers".
The next day we went on two game drives, one in the morning which involved our guide going mad looking for lions. We did not see lions but we did see plenty of other wildlife. We also saw a leopard. Now leopards are hard to see because they are shy and solitary. Then afterwards we wandered around Kasane. Now this sounds odd but the backstreets of Kasane made me very happy because they reminded me of Matam. The afternoon game drive was awesome though. We got so close to the giraffes and elephants it was incredible. I took tons of pictures but there was enough time to just observe the animals in their natural habitat.
Getting back to Gabs was hard and coming into the office was brutal. My supervisor is back and she is keeping me busy now. I am not complaining but still. Oh and I am going on a field trip to the desert for work related stuff on Sunday and coming back on Wednesday which should be exciting.