I knew it was too good to be true, escape Africa without feeling the total wrath of her beauty. Maybe I was being too cheeky - drinking tap water in SA and in Zambia, breaking my food rules while away, brushing my teeth with tap water and maybe the straw that broke the camels back - the sugar cane juice from the street vendor in Stone Town. Either way, I don't know how or where I got sick, but boy did I ever get sick.
Everything was going great - we are in a small town in Zanzibar soaking up the rays and drinking by our plunge pool (we will tell you more about Zanzibar soon) and then I woke up the other morning far too early and feeling pretty rough. Borrowing the term from Shantaram - I had loose motions and then came the puking. Finally 9am rolls around and I tell Arnold that we should go eat and maybe it will make me feel better. I try and keep down a piece of toast, but I know its never going to happen. We are both taking Malarone (to prevent Malaria) and I know that it has to stay in my system for an hour in order for it to work - so I keep asking the time, praying that I can last an hour without puking. But it doesn't happen.
The problem with getting sick in Africa is you have no idea what you are sick with and if its going to be harmful. You don't want to jump to conclusions, but at the same time you don't want to risk things. I think Arnold decided not to risk things and asked the hotel to call the doctor. By this point, it was clear that I wasn't getting better and I wouldn't be able to keep anything down. It was a pretty rough 6 hours for me and just after 11am the doctor shows up. After a couple questions and a few quick tests, he thinks that I have a bacterial infection - which is very common when it comes to us mazunga's. I think he told Arnold that 9 times out of 10 when he comes to the resort, its because of this.
So the next thing I know, I am being hooked up to an IV and have three different types of antibiotics prescribed for me. I left Arnold to deal with the doctor and the medication instructions after I was finished with the IV. I was really exhausted and just wanted to sleep by that point. I spent the rest of the day sleeping and woke up at dinner so I could have another piece of toast (which I managed to keep down). Arnold figures that I slept for 18 hours that day - I was completely done for.
As it turns out, I am allergic to the meds he gave me, so we had to call him back today and I have new meds for my rash and some cream as well. Hopefully, I will be back in to normal soon, but for now, its lots of water and rest - as per my new Doctor, Dr. Lee. The one great thing that came out of this, is that I got to see an amazing sunrise, but I think that's about it haha.
Off to sleep now.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
An Aerial View of the falls - by Microlight
Once you get to the falls, there are a bunch of activities that you can do while you are there. Due to our timing, unfortunately, we couldn't do a lot of them because of the season and unsafe conditions. So rafting was out, going to devils pond was out and going to the Island was out. But there was still a lot to see and do. I left it up to Arnold to get some information on what we could do, but there were two things that I knew I wanted to do - 1) an Aeriel tour of the area and 2) a sunset cruise. We could also bungee jump, zip line or do the "swing" which sounded pretty cool. When it came to doing an Aeriel tour, you had two options, a helicopter (which sounds great because I have yet to be in one) or microlight. After a bit of chatting, it was decided the microlight was the best option and I wasn't informed enough to say no. I'm not going to lie, it was such an amazing experience, but it is the most terrifying experience at the same time. A microlight is essentially a hang glider with a motor and that is about it. There is only enough room for the pilot and you - no taking pictures, nothing in your pockets, no doing anything, but holding on for dear life. So Arnold went first and when he came back, he was just sweating a bit (despite it being chilly up there) and didn't say too much about how it was. As soon as we took off, I knew, I was in for 15 minutes of terror. It was by far, the scariest thing I have ever done, and I'm not sure if I could do it again, but it was really, really amazing (when I could actually look around despite my fear). Seeing the falls from the air is soooooo different then seeing it at eye level. You could see the zig zag of the gorge and see how in 30,000 years from now, there will be a new fault line for the falls (according to our pilot). We flew over Zimbabwe and got to see a bit of wildlife as well. I loved the experience, but I was glad to be on the ground. We still haven't had a chance to view all of the pictures from the flight (but we will post them if we get a chance- a camera is mounted on the wing of the plane and it takes pictures of your flight that you can buy at the end).
On the subject of extreme sports and all that jazz, I have come to realize a couple of things about myself. I am NOT extreme by any means, I am actually a big chicken sh*t. There is a bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe, where you can do the bungee jumping, gorge swing and zip line (which I thought I could handle) so we went there to check it out. There was a couple of people there doing the swing and bungee and well I wanted to puke on their behalf. It was INTENSE watching them - I almost couldn't watch. You were scared for them. I was set to do the zip line across the gorge until I actually saw where it happened and couldn't do it. You are above the falls (about 111M above ground) and either doing a bungee, gorge swing or zip line. 111M ABOVE GROUND. Like how do you even jump off that bridge to bungee jump is beyond me. So yes, it was at that point, that I realize how soft I really was. Despite, Arnold always telling me that I was soft, I came to recognize and accept that I was. I will never be "EXTREME DWARF" for him.
Thanks to everyone who has been reading - we are glad you are enjoying it. Also, by the sounds of things, people really enjoy watching the Bachelor on TV - I've had a few people tell me that they were thinking of us while they watched the Bachelor while they were in South Africa. haha ... all you closet Bachelor fans.
Much Love
Melissa and Arnold
On the subject of extreme sports and all that jazz, I have come to realize a couple of things about myself. I am NOT extreme by any means, I am actually a big chicken sh*t. There is a bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe, where you can do the bungee jumping, gorge swing and zip line (which I thought I could handle) so we went there to check it out. There was a couple of people there doing the swing and bungee and well I wanted to puke on their behalf. It was INTENSE watching them - I almost couldn't watch. You were scared for them. I was set to do the zip line across the gorge until I actually saw where it happened and couldn't do it. You are above the falls (about 111M above ground) and either doing a bungee, gorge swing or zip line. 111M ABOVE GROUND. Like how do you even jump off that bridge to bungee jump is beyond me. So yes, it was at that point, that I realize how soft I really was. Despite, Arnold always telling me that I was soft, I came to recognize and accept that I was. I will never be "EXTREME DWARF" for him.
Thanks to everyone who has been reading - we are glad you are enjoying it. Also, by the sounds of things, people really enjoy watching the Bachelor on TV - I've had a few people tell me that they were thinking of us while they watched the Bachelor while they were in South Africa. haha ... all you closet Bachelor fans.
Much Love
Melissa and Arnold
Mosi-o-Tunya
Victoria Falls, what more can I say. One of the most amazing places to see and maybe a must see. As mentioned in the previous post, our hotel was less then 5 minutes walking to the falls, located right in the park. We could hear it from the hotel. See the mist, feel the mist from the hotel. And the first time seeing it, does not disappoint. March is when the rainy season starts and the falls are fast moving and almost at peak flow. We saw people coming back from the falls soaking wet, but didn't understand, how they could get so wet? Our first trip to the falls, we brought my little Nikon camera and our rain jackets from the hike, not sure if we would need them or not. At first, we were thinking "umm we don't need these, there is barely a spray from the falls" haha. We walked to the Eastern Cataract and couldn't believe how fast the water was moving (it was actually really scary to think about) and you are sooo close to the water, with no fences, barriers, or guards watching to tell you to stay back). As we ventured around we started seeing more people that were soaking wet. So I guess this is where you need your jacket. Well I don't think either of us expected the torrential down fall that the mist gives us. In one second you are completely soaked!! Like you jumped into a pool, wet. It was the hardest, but warmest rain/mist I have ever felt. The falls are 1.7(ish)kms long and 108M tall. And during peak time, they are so impressive and powerful that its actually scary (or as Arnold likes to say "it was all out, every shift"). We have to cross "knife Edge Bridge" in order to get to another viewing point of the falls. Well, ummm, I almost couldn't cross, I started and turned around and told Arnold I didn't know if I could do it. So he went ahead of me, held my hand, and we went sooo slowly across this bridge to get to the other viewing area. I should mention that this isn't just a "bridge" that scared me. It was the fact that it was raining/misting on you like you were in the high pressure shower, it was 100M above the ground, all you could see was mist, and there was a small river running down the bridge that we had to walk across. All I could think of was "what if this bridge breaks" haha. But we made it across and the mist just got more intense closer to the other side. It was honestly, the coolest thing we have ever seen. I can't really describe how amazing it was being that close to the falls, because, well I don't think it will do it any justice. And the pictures won't help either. But, what I can tell you, was that it was one of the best things we have done so far on this trip. Hopefully we can post some pictures for you guys and yes, I took some pictures of the bridge for you, but I don't think it will capture the reason for my fear. We went and saw the falls almost every day that we were there - it was such an incredible experience that I think you can only understand when you see it for yourself.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Love Melissa and Arnold
Zim or Zam
Before arriving in Zambia, I spent hours (and I do mean hours) looking for a hotel for us to stay at. The problem with Zambia/Victoria Falls is that the accommodations are either really cheap or really expensive - no mid range, which we stay at. So you can either stay at a hostel for $40/night of an "alright hotel" for $180/night. So if you are going to spend $180 for an "alright" hotel, you might as well buck up an extra $40 for a sweet hotel. Right? Well that was my dilemma. Anyways, after I finally found a really nice hotel for us to stay at for a price that was "okay" (meaning expensive for our budget), but had great reviews. We show up at the airport super excited to be in Livingstone and ready to see the falls!!!! Wooo ... haha.... BUT small problem, our airport transfer was no where to be seen, which wouldn't be a problem, if the hotel was on the Zam side, but the hotel was on the Zim side and well, Zimbabwe isn't really a country you want to be messing around in. So we had two options, 1) take a taxi to the border, walk across the Zim border, then grab a taxi on the other side to our hotel - sounds easy, but when you are in Africa, it can be risky business - you never know what is going to happen or 2) grab a taxi and try and find a new accommodation. Which again sounds very easy, but after you have spent hours researching, you know your options are either very cheap or VERY expensive (like $400+ a night expensive). So trying to make the best of things we decide to take a cab to the city centre and head to the Internet cafe. I run in, while Arnold stays with the taxi. I write the hotel we were supposed to stay at an urgent note asking what happened to our transfer and letting them know that we aren't too happy. (I mean come on, we definitely aren't paying $100 a night and we are there for 4 nights - so we expect a bit better service). After a quick search on expedia, I'm not feeling any better. The $180 "alright" hotels are now sold out leaving the $400+/night options open. I start to stress because to me, $400 a night is WAAAAY too expensive, maybe under different circumstances we could say "well this one time", but when you are gone for a long time and on a budget, that is crazy!!!!
So I get back to Arnold and our waiting taxi, not really sure what to do. Our taxi takes us to this resort that he seems to like, but as we pull in, I know that it won't work for us. So we tell him to take us to the Zambezi Sun Hotel - and that's when I let Arnold know that that hotel is very expensive, even on expedia. His thoughts are, get there, see what the price is, and if we don't like it, at least we are at a hotel that the hotel on the Zim side can come and get us from. Okay, deal, but I still feel deflated. We arrive and as predicted there prices are pretty high. So back to the drawing board. Arnold went to try and call the hotel and I stayed with our taxi driver sort of waiting to see what was going to happen, I didn't want to tell him to leave in case we needed him and yet I didn't know if we were just wasting his time. So we started talking and I was trying to get him a deal. And honestly, we couldn't have picked a better driver for this situation - he was amazing!!!!! (on a side note, he spoke FOUR languages). He started talking to the hotel guys on our behalf, trying to get us a better deal. One of the guys at the hotel was asking me what my lowest price would be and I told him and he said he would see what he could do.
They came back to us with a lower price - still higher then what we wanted to pay, but at this point we were starting to feel desperate. Either we make our way to the Zim side or we just suck it up and pay to stay there. After Arnold and I chat about it, we just decide to stay at that hotel because 1) they are located in the park and we wouldn't have to pay the park fees every time we wanted to enter to see the falls, 2) we wouldn't have to pay for a Zim visa and then again for a Zam visa (which is $50/person/entry) and 3) we were running out of options. So I went up to the counter to start the process of checking in. The agreement was, they were giving us a "local" rate, meaning our taxi driver was going to put his home address and number on the form, instead of our Canadian address, which would allow us to get
a lower rate. We couldn't believe it. After all was said and done, our hotel rate was even cheaper then they told us, I'm not sure how or why, but we were taking it. Our driver signed off on everything and we were set. It was even cheaper (somewhat) then the hotel we were going to be staying at, so needless to say, I was VERY excited. We were sooooo close to the falls (like we could see the mist from the falls from our hotel). Just when I thought our luck in Africa was finally starting to turn, we met the right taxi driver who got us a sweet deal on a hotel room and turned somewhat of bad luck, into something good.
So I get back to Arnold and our waiting taxi, not really sure what to do. Our taxi takes us to this resort that he seems to like, but as we pull in, I know that it won't work for us. So we tell him to take us to the Zambezi Sun Hotel - and that's when I let Arnold know that that hotel is very expensive, even on expedia. His thoughts are, get there, see what the price is, and if we don't like it, at least we are at a hotel that the hotel on the Zim side can come and get us from. Okay, deal, but I still feel deflated. We arrive and as predicted there prices are pretty high. So back to the drawing board. Arnold went to try and call the hotel and I stayed with our taxi driver sort of waiting to see what was going to happen, I didn't want to tell him to leave in case we needed him and yet I didn't know if we were just wasting his time. So we started talking and I was trying to get him a deal. And honestly, we couldn't have picked a better driver for this situation - he was amazing!!!!! (on a side note, he spoke FOUR languages). He started talking to the hotel guys on our behalf, trying to get us a better deal. One of the guys at the hotel was asking me what my lowest price would be and I told him and he said he would see what he could do.
They came back to us with a lower price - still higher then what we wanted to pay, but at this point we were starting to feel desperate. Either we make our way to the Zim side or we just suck it up and pay to stay there. After Arnold and I chat about it, we just decide to stay at that hotel because 1) they are located in the park and we wouldn't have to pay the park fees every time we wanted to enter to see the falls, 2) we wouldn't have to pay for a Zim visa and then again for a Zam visa (which is $50/person/entry) and 3) we were running out of options. So I went up to the counter to start the process of checking in. The agreement was, they were giving us a "local" rate, meaning our taxi driver was going to put his home address and number on the form, instead of our Canadian address, which would allow us to get
a lower rate. We couldn't believe it. After all was said and done, our hotel rate was even cheaper then they told us, I'm not sure how or why, but we were taking it. Our driver signed off on everything and we were set. It was even cheaper (somewhat) then the hotel we were going to be staying at, so needless to say, I was VERY excited. We were sooooo close to the falls (like we could see the mist from the falls from our hotel). Just when I thought our luck in Africa was finally starting to turn, we met the right taxi driver who got us a sweet deal on a hotel room and turned somewhat of bad luck, into something good.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
A random little side trip
On our last night in Cape Town, before we were leaving for the Garden Route, we were sitting outside at the waterfront and there is this massive screen in the plaza playing assorted clips of Africa that we were watching. A clip of Victoria Falls came on and I told Arnold that when we come back to Africa one day, that we would have to head there next and I was a bit sad to not see it, but was happy with our choice to come to SA. After a couple of minutes, Arnold suggested that maybe we should see how much it would cost us to do a quick side trip up there seeing how we had 5 days here that we didn't have plans for. So we got back to the hotel and as it turned out, flights from Jo'Burg to Livingstone, Zambia were actually very cheap (less then $500 for the two of us to fly there and back - which is crazy cheap by Africa standards, because nothing is cheap here). So the next morning I called SA Airlines to see how much it would cost to move up our Cape Town to Jo'Burg flight and it was very, very little so we did it and then booked our
flight to Livingstone right after - and just like that, we are going to see Victoria Falls. We leave first thing tomorrow morning and are spending the next 5 days in Zimbabwe/Zambia. The falls is right between Zambia and Zimbabwe, but the hotel that we want to stay at is actually on the Zimbabwe side so we will probably be going between the two countries for the next couple of days. Arnold wants to do the white water rafting - and well I am completely terrified of water/rafting, but I told him I would do it with him - I'm crazy, I know. And hopefully (fingers crossed) if the water isn't too crazy we are going to take a visit to Devil's Pond, but it all depends on the water. We might be in the wrong season for it. Anyways, I can NOT wait to see the falls and get back into "Africa". We both miss the craziness of Africa, things being TIA and never right and just the general buzz that we had in Tanzania. South Africa has been a great trip and the perfect getaway for us, but we are ready to get back into the thick of things. Sorry for the delay in getting all these blog posts up, but I haven't really had a lot of time to sit down and write. We hope that everyone is doing well and we hope you guys are enjoying reading the blog. Next time you hear from us, it will either be from Zambia or Zimbabwe ... and hopefully I survive rafting if we go - aaah .
(lots of posts today so keep scrolling toget caught up)
Much Love,
Melissa and Arnold
flight to Livingstone right after - and just like that, we are going to see Victoria Falls. We leave first thing tomorrow morning and are spending the next 5 days in Zimbabwe/Zambia. The falls is right between Zambia and Zimbabwe, but the hotel that we want to stay at is actually on the Zimbabwe side so we will probably be going between the two countries for the next couple of days. Arnold wants to do the white water rafting - and well I am completely terrified of water/rafting, but I told him I would do it with him - I'm crazy, I know. And hopefully (fingers crossed) if the water isn't too crazy we are going to take a visit to Devil's Pond, but it all depends on the water. We might be in the wrong season for it. Anyways, I can NOT wait to see the falls and get back into "Africa". We both miss the craziness of Africa, things being TIA and never right and just the general buzz that we had in Tanzania. South Africa has been a great trip and the perfect getaway for us, but we are ready to get back into the thick of things. Sorry for the delay in getting all these blog posts up, but I haven't really had a lot of time to sit down and write. We hope that everyone is doing well and we hope you guys are enjoying reading the blog. Next time you hear from us, it will either be from Zambia or Zimbabwe ... and hopefully I survive rafting if we go - aaah .
(lots of posts today so keep scrolling toget caught up)
Much Love,
Melissa and Arnold
SAFARI!!!
Sorry for the delay, but this blog post needed time and a bit of thought so it was put off. We are trying to figure out the picture situation, but our pictures are very large files and its hard to download them, but we will keep trying and figure something out. (Also sorry for the grammatical errors, posting on the fly).
Coming to Africa is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time, since I was in Grade 9 actually, and it is a place that I didn't want to go for just a couple of weeks, I wanted to spend some time here. So when we finally decided to go and then booked our safari it was pretty surreal. We decided to do a 7 day safari with a mix of game viewing and culture tours in Southern Tanzania (and then an added bonus was doing the two day safari in Kenya at Lake Nakuru). We were unbelievably lucky in what we saw and nothing was short of amazing. The first park we went to in Tanzania was beautiful and so different then Kenya - as Arnold described it, it looked like a golf course at times.We must have seen close to 200 elephants that day - and most of them very close to our cruiser. It was so interesting watching them and how they all co-existed together. We spent the night in that area in our tented lodge and my alarm clock that morning was an Elephant walking next to our tent - all I have to say, is that they make a lot of noise - but sooo sooo cool to be woken up by that and to look outside and see one right there.
The next two days were the culture part of our safari - we visited a Maasi family and learnt about how they lived and their lifestyle. Which is a bit crazy - they have more then 1 wife (many more), the whole family (including all the wives, live together, they live off the land and are quite primitive in comparison to normal African lifestyles. One of the main males in the family we saw was 35, had two wives and had killed 2 lions by his spear. He was a great warrior in their family.He also told us their recipe for curing Malaria - part of the recipe involved cow's blood - umm yuck. It was very fascinating spending time with them and very educational. The next day was spent hunting with the Hadzabe Bushmen - who lived an even more primitive lifestyle then the Maasai's. They would only stay in one spot for a week or so before packing up and moving to another location. Their huts were made of branches and sticks. They ate food that they hunted (if they were successful) and roots and vegetables they could find in their surroundings - one of the reasons they were always on the move, for more food. When hunting, they used homemade bow and arrows and for the larger game they would put a homemade poison on the arrow tip in order to kill their prey. Which was made from plants and roots in the area. (IT was so strong that it would kill a human in seconds). We learnt that there were only 1,500 bushman left and that they weren't a growing tribe because most of their children under the age of 5 would die. As you can imagine, the huts provide little warmth and therefore the child could not survive the cold nights. We went on a morning hunt with three of the men from the tribe, but they were unsuccessful in their attempts (and we couldn't help but laugh, because they weren't really that skilled with their aim that morning haha).
The remainder of our safari was solely game viewing after that and what an experience we had. Any big game animals that you can think of, I think we saw. The one day we came across three cheetahs and they were looking like they were about to start a hunt so we stayed with them and got to see them go in for the kill. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in their attempt, but seeing a Cheetah in action is so impressive. We ended up spending two hours watching them. On our last day we had another cool experience with the cheetahs and saw them again in action, but we were so shocked by what we saw. The cheetahs were trying to locate either the young or the weak in the group of Zebras that were in the area, but the Zebras would hide the young amongst the adults and then the males charge the cheetahs trying to steer them away from the young. We thought that the Zebras would bolt at first sign of the Cheetahs, but the exact opposite happened. It was pretty cool to watch. Our guide told us that the strips on the Zebras confuse the cheetahs and make it hard for them to pick out the babies when they are in a big group like that. Another amazing experience that we had the chance to witness was baby season!,!! On two different occasions we arrived about 15 minutes after the birth of a Water Buffalo and Zebra - the baby zebra we saw was just starting to walk and it was exactly like that moment in Bambi haha - it could barely walk ... sooo amazing. We definitely got lucky. I could go on and on about our safari, but I think that gives you a pretty good idea about it. And yes, we saw Lions, lots of them actually and man are they impressive up close, we just wish we could have seen them in action, but considering they sleep 19 hours a day, I think it can be a bit tough unless you follow them around. None the less, they are impressive and scary all at the same time. They are still Arnold's favourite animal, whereas the Cheetah is now my fave. Our guide for the safari was fantastic and we learnt a lot of the Tanzania lifestyle and the people.
But hopefully we can figure out the picture situation soon, We are actually going to be in one place for a bit of time so I might be able to finally do it. Ooh and I should mention that most of our safari was spent in "tents", but when I say "tents" they aren't your average tent. They were amazing and beautiful, just creepy at night when you hear all the sounds.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Coming to Africa is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time, since I was in Grade 9 actually, and it is a place that I didn't want to go for just a couple of weeks, I wanted to spend some time here. So when we finally decided to go and then booked our safari it was pretty surreal. We decided to do a 7 day safari with a mix of game viewing and culture tours in Southern Tanzania (and then an added bonus was doing the two day safari in Kenya at Lake Nakuru). We were unbelievably lucky in what we saw and nothing was short of amazing. The first park we went to in Tanzania was beautiful and so different then Kenya - as Arnold described it, it looked like a golf course at times.We must have seen close to 200 elephants that day - and most of them very close to our cruiser. It was so interesting watching them and how they all co-existed together. We spent the night in that area in our tented lodge and my alarm clock that morning was an Elephant walking next to our tent - all I have to say, is that they make a lot of noise - but sooo sooo cool to be woken up by that and to look outside and see one right there.
The next two days were the culture part of our safari - we visited a Maasi family and learnt about how they lived and their lifestyle. Which is a bit crazy - they have more then 1 wife (many more), the whole family (including all the wives, live together, they live off the land and are quite primitive in comparison to normal African lifestyles. One of the main males in the family we saw was 35, had two wives and had killed 2 lions by his spear. He was a great warrior in their family.He also told us their recipe for curing Malaria - part of the recipe involved cow's blood - umm yuck. It was very fascinating spending time with them and very educational. The next day was spent hunting with the Hadzabe Bushmen - who lived an even more primitive lifestyle then the Maasai's. They would only stay in one spot for a week or so before packing up and moving to another location. Their huts were made of branches and sticks. They ate food that they hunted (if they were successful) and roots and vegetables they could find in their surroundings - one of the reasons they were always on the move, for more food. When hunting, they used homemade bow and arrows and for the larger game they would put a homemade poison on the arrow tip in order to kill their prey. Which was made from plants and roots in the area. (IT was so strong that it would kill a human in seconds). We learnt that there were only 1,500 bushman left and that they weren't a growing tribe because most of their children under the age of 5 would die. As you can imagine, the huts provide little warmth and therefore the child could not survive the cold nights. We went on a morning hunt with three of the men from the tribe, but they were unsuccessful in their attempts (and we couldn't help but laugh, because they weren't really that skilled with their aim that morning haha).
The remainder of our safari was solely game viewing after that and what an experience we had. Any big game animals that you can think of, I think we saw. The one day we came across three cheetahs and they were looking like they were about to start a hunt so we stayed with them and got to see them go in for the kill. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in their attempt, but seeing a Cheetah in action is so impressive. We ended up spending two hours watching them. On our last day we had another cool experience with the cheetahs and saw them again in action, but we were so shocked by what we saw. The cheetahs were trying to locate either the young or the weak in the group of Zebras that were in the area, but the Zebras would hide the young amongst the adults and then the males charge the cheetahs trying to steer them away from the young. We thought that the Zebras would bolt at first sign of the Cheetahs, but the exact opposite happened. It was pretty cool to watch. Our guide told us that the strips on the Zebras confuse the cheetahs and make it hard for them to pick out the babies when they are in a big group like that. Another amazing experience that we had the chance to witness was baby season!,!! On two different occasions we arrived about 15 minutes after the birth of a Water Buffalo and Zebra - the baby zebra we saw was just starting to walk and it was exactly like that moment in Bambi haha - it could barely walk ... sooo amazing. We definitely got lucky. I could go on and on about our safari, but I think that gives you a pretty good idea about it. And yes, we saw Lions, lots of them actually and man are they impressive up close, we just wish we could have seen them in action, but considering they sleep 19 hours a day, I think it can be a bit tough unless you follow them around. None the less, they are impressive and scary all at the same time. They are still Arnold's favourite animal, whereas the Cheetah is now my fave. Our guide for the safari was fantastic and we learnt a lot of the Tanzania lifestyle and the people.
But hopefully we can figure out the picture situation soon, We are actually going to be in one place for a bit of time so I might be able to finally do it. Ooh and I should mention that most of our safari was spent in "tents", but when I say "tents" they aren't your average tent. They were amazing and beautiful, just creepy at night when you hear all the sounds.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Driving in SA!
HA ... it is such a trip to actually drive yourself on the other side of the road and to be mixed in with the crazy drivers here (they actually remind me of how Albertans drive - FAST!! haha). I am happy to say that this time around I never got pulled over once (unlike when I drove in New Zealand and got pulled over for driving to slow haha). Arnold did most of the driving, but I helped out from time to time and its like you are a new driver all over again. Its hard!! Shifting with your left hand takes a bit of getting used to and we have a tendency to hug the shoulder so yes, we definitely had a good couple of laughs about our mad driving skills. The road signs, rules and construction here is honestly crazy. You can drive 100km+ and pass other cars (even though the signs say different) in construction zones. If someone is driving too slow for you, they will pull all the way over onto the shoulder so you can pass them (regardless of where you are) and after you pass them, you put on your four ways to say thank you. I think they should implement that into Canadian driving - its awesome and then you don't have to until a passing lane to pass. Also, passing police is okay, I did it once and so did Arnold. Its definitely a bit scary because you don't know if you are going to get pulled over or not haha, but we just did as the locals did. And chivalry isn't dead here - remember back in the day when you were taking road trips with your parents (but some of you were probably driving on your own by then) and people would flash their lights to warn you of cops ahead, well they do that here and its great! I love it - and it might have even saved me a speeding ticket as well. It's another thing that I wish Canadians would do again - I don't really see that on the highway anymore. On the topic of speeding tickets, I have a feeling we may have gotten a couple on our way back to Cape Town, but I guess only time will tell if the charges show up on our visa. LOL
Love Melissa and Arnold
Love Melissa and Arnold
The Garden Route
So the whole reason for coming to South Africa was to drive the Garden Route - it's an 800km drive down the coast of SA to Port Elizabeth. Most people hire a car and then stay in bed and breakfasts along the way in any of the towns along the route. After doing a bit of research we decided on the towns we were going to stay at and our game plan for the next 5 days. Our first stop was Stellenbosch - wine country!!! We spent the afternoon doing winery tours and soaking up the hot, hot heat (it was +37 that day). We managed to visit 4 wineries and everything was incredible - we did a wine tour while in France, but we enjoyed this more, maybe because we were driving and weren't on any sort of schedule except our own. We didn't learn as much about the wine as we did in France, but had a lot of fun (Poor Arnold had to be the DD for me). The next day we were off to Mossel Bay (about 400km from Cape Town) and spent two days there, one of the days there, Arnold had a chance to golf at Pinnacle Point. I'm not much of a golfer and/or seen a lot of courses, but WOW, this course was stunning!! Right along the ocean with some beautiful views. You will have to ask Arnold about his thoughts on the course and how hard it was because I was just there to watch. After Mossel Bay we spent the night in Knysna and toured around the area that next day. And that was the furthest point we made it to on the Garden Route because we had to head back to Cape Town after that. We spent our last night in a small town called Swellendam and are now currently driving back to Cape Town as I write this. The landscape is beautiful and at points so different then Canada and then at other points you feel like your driving through parts of BC/AB and then through parts of Europe. So it's a bit hard to explain, but it was such a great experience and we are so happy that we were talked into it by our hosts in Arusha otherwise we would have missed out on SA and everything that is has to offer.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Love Melissa and Arnold
Cape Town
Cape Town is an extremely beautiful city and South Africa, in general is definitely not what I would have ever expected. You definitely don't feel like you are in Africa when you are here. From only what we saw (and I know we aren't seeing a lot) it is definitely not third world. Cape Town is a very modern city and it has everything we could want or need here. We went into the mall and they have all the beauty products that I use (Redken, MAC, Kerastase) and I couldn't believe it. We are actually going to load up on a couple of goods before we leave haha. You can drink the tap water in Cape Town (and I think most of South Africa actually), you feel very safe in the areas we were, but still need to exercise common sense and take Taxi's when it gets dark. Since leaving Canada, I had been craving vegetables like crazy - I have had veggies since arriving in Africa, but never fresh, raw veggies. So when we got to Cape Town, I was so excited to finally get to eat a salad, actually, I have had a lot of salads because I know it will be a while until I can have them again. (Long story short - I don't eat any raw vegetables where the tap water is undrinkable due to getting very sick in the past). I have also been eating a bit of chicken - I'm breaking all my travel rules here, living on the edge! haha. But back to Cape Town, we stayed at a hotel within walking distance to the V&A Waterfront and spent most of our time there, exploring the area. Lots of places to eat and shop. On our last day in Cape Town, we went to Robben Island to see the prison where Nelson Mandela spent his jail term. It was pretty incredible to go there and hear the stories and see the prison and his cell. Our guide for the prison tour, spent 7 years in that prison in the 80's because they thought he was a terrorist and charged him with it (which is incredibly sad). I don't know if i would be able to go back to the place that I had to spend 7 years at for something that I didn't do (and the conditions obviously weren't very good, especially for a black man at that time). But as we learnt, the unemployment rate in SA is at 43% and it doesn't leave a lot of people an option and they have to do jobs that they would much rather not. Our guide said he has forgiven what has happened to him, but I'm sure its still hard to see every day. We are both really glad to have had the chance to see that and learn even more about South Africa's history. But on a lighter note, I wish Calgary was more like Cape Town because we went into the grocery store to get a couple items and I bought a great bottle of wine for $5!! It was amazing - we had a french picnic in our hotel room every afternoon a couple of hours before dinner. I could really get used to all this great wine and for so cheap. So yes, Cape Town has definitely been amazing.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Love Melissa and Arnold
First Time for Everything...
Our journey down to South Africa was going to be a long one - we had to take three different flights in order to get to Cape Town. Our flight leaving Arusha to Dar left at 7:30pm, our next flight from Dar to Jo'Burg left at 2:30am and then our last flight from Jo'Burg to Cape Town was at 7:30am. So we knew we had a long night of travel ahead of us, but we were excited about SA and knew it would be worth it. The wait for our Jo'Burg flight at the Dar airport was long and a bit weird because we didn't have anywhere to go and we couldn't check in yet because it was too early. So we went to this cafe until we were kicked out of there and then we sat at the check in counter (amazing race styles) and waited till we could get checked in. While we were waiting we met a really cool guy from Jo'Burg who was taking the same flight as us - he was super nice and gave us a bunch of information about his country and offered to show us around if we came to Jo'Burg and even told us his brother in Cape Town could take us out as well. Anyways, after finally being able to get checked in we sat down in another cafe (at 12am) and watched the last bit of the Man U football match with a bunch of airport staff (which I thought was pretty cool - everyone down here loves their football). I think it was at that point that I started getting a bit of heartburn, but didn't think too much of it because I get heartburn every so often. Just figured that it was because I should be sleeping and my body was just off. Once we boarded our flight (at 2:30am) it progressively got worse - which once again, I wasn't worried about, it was just uncomfortable and I didn't feel the best. Seat belt sign comes on, they go through their safety routine and we were off heading to the runway and well that's when things got ugly hahha. I knew I was going to puke, but I couldn't get up because we were taking off so I had to grab those nice little white bags they provide for those situations and yes, puked my guts out into the bag. I was pretty embarrassed, but thankfully the plane wasn't full. Still not feeling better, about two minutes later, my body thought that it was time for round two (seat belt still on) so yep, was sick again into my little white bag. The worst part of it was that I had to hold onto the bag for another 5 minutes until I could get up. I think the flight attendants felt really bad for me because I looked rough, had tears in my eyes and had a bag of puke - they kept asking me if I was okay and were very sweet to me for the whole duration of the flight. I made one more bee-line for the bathroom and then passed out. Thankfully my stomach settled down after that and there were no more incidents. And so that is my story for my first time use of the white bags on airplanes and I hope that it was the last as well.
Love Melissa and Arnold
Love Melissa and Arnold
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Our next destination
Just wanted to post a quick update (as usual, the power was out for the majority of the day, meaning no internet). Anyways, as of yesterday morning, it was decided that we are going to South Africa!! Actually, we are leaving for the airport in about 30 minutes. Never, ever did I think that I would ever go to SA, but here we are soon to be on our way. We booked our flights yesterday morning after hours of researching which country we should go to next.
The plan was always to head to Zambia to see Victoria Falls - and then we thought about heading to Rwanda, Uganda, back to Kenya, Mozambique etc etc and the owners of the hotel we are staying at convinced us to go to SA. And actually, we are very, very excited about it - me especially, because we are going on a bunch of wine tours - woot woot. And before you panic, we will not be staying in Jo'burg (at all - we just fly in and out of there and don't even leave the airport)
By tomorrow morning we will be in Cape Town.
Anyways, I have to run, gotta get ready for the flight - we might be back on later to post more if we can get internet at the Airport.
Much Love
Melissa and Arnold
The plan was always to head to Zambia to see Victoria Falls - and then we thought about heading to Rwanda, Uganda, back to Kenya, Mozambique etc etc and the owners of the hotel we are staying at convinced us to go to SA. And actually, we are very, very excited about it - me especially, because we are going on a bunch of wine tours - woot woot. And before you panic, we will not be staying in Jo'burg (at all - we just fly in and out of there and don't even leave the airport)
By tomorrow morning we will be in Cape Town.
Anyways, I have to run, gotta get ready for the flight - we might be back on later to post more if we can get internet at the Airport.
Much Love
Melissa and Arnold
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