Tourist Life Part 2

The bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia, over the Zambezi River

After our delightful experience in Botswana, we headed a bit north to Zimbabwe for Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls is also something I would recommend googling. It is a world heritage site and is many times larger than Niagra Falls. We stayed in a larger lodge here and it was interesting for me to suddenly be out of my comfort zone. The whole time we were in Botswana I felt at home. I knew the customs and the language. I knew the people and how they acted and why. When we got to Zimbabwe I was suddenly unsure. I didn’t know what language people were speaking or what the appropriate greeting was or if what I was doing was culturally acceptable. I suddenly felt very aware of my whiteness and my americanness and my ability to make a colossal mistake without realizing it. It did not help that we were in an extremely touristy place and I suddenly felt like I was screaming $$$. 

Victoria Falls, however, was beautiful. I am very glad that we went and we were able to experience it. It is absolutely massive and we had to wear rain coats most of the time because of the mist. 

We also enjoyed another sunset cruise on the river and saw many more hippos. 

Hungry Hungry Hippos

We saw a vulture feeding during one day and watched hundreds of vultures swarm the sky. One night we went to a dinner where they cooked tons of game meat and had drum performances as well as a song where they taught everyone how to drum followed by a dance circle. 

At the dinner we tried mmopani worms (caterpillar), warthog (amazing.), impala, kudu, guinea fowl, and a few more traditional dishes. The food was awesome because it was so different for me. I loved trying so much and laughing over the stranger dishes. It was a great night. 

After Victoria Falls we made our way south to Cape Town, South Africa. We had a wonderful few days, and I can definitely see myself returning to Cape Town again to explore even more of the city. First of all, the food. I have been deprived of real restaurants for a year now. Cape Town was full to the brim with incredible restaurants. I focused on sea food and red wine above all else, but everything we ate was delicious. 

View of Cape Town and Table Mountain from Robben Island

On our first day we went to Robben Island, formerly a political prison where many of the most famous anti-apartheid activists were housed, the island is now a museum where former prisoners and former guards live and work together to preserve the history of the island. We were about to see Nelson Mandela’s maximum security prison cell on our tour as well as the house Robert Sobukwe was held prisoner for years. Our guides were dedicated to the museum and did an exceptional job of setting the scene for us.

Our guide showing us the different menus based on race. 

Where Robert Sobukwe's children slept when they were allowed to see their father

Nelson Mandela's Cell

 I was honored to be somewhere where so many political activists were together, finding ways to resist together even from within the confines of their prison cells. Our guide for the prison was a former prisoner who had been plotting and hiding in Botswana for a number of years before he was caught and tortured for information. I later found his picture among a mural- he was on the kitchen staff. It was moving to see former prisoners and guards working together to ensure this part of history is not forgotten. The idea was a breath of fresh air from the tumultuous habit of hiding the bad parts of American history. I was inspired. 

In the afternoon we made our way up Table Mountain, the massive mountain that frames Cape Town and is quite flat on top, like a table. We made our way up in a cable car and spent some time exploring the beautiful views of Cape Town. 

After we took a driving tour of the city which included seeing some of the famous beaches, suburbs, a jewelry showroom, and the Malay Quarter, famous for it’s bright colored houses. The Malay Quarter is currently mostly populated by the muslim population in Cape Town. As we arrived it was nearing dusk during Ramadan, and the streets were becoming alive as people prepared to break their fast. It was a beautiful sight to see. Cape Town is truly an international city, and the natives are even more diverse. I was happy to experience it’s charm, even if only for a few days.

The Malay Quarter

Beaches!

On the second day we took a Peninsula Tour with a fantastic guide who got us to the penguins early in the morning in order to see their bathing ritual. The penguins were adorable and were all over! They’re called the Jack Ass Penguins because when they make noise they sound like a donkey. It’s shocking that such a loud and obnoxious sound could come out of such tiny and adorable creatures! Many of the penguins were also nesting and mating. Since we went so early we were some of the only people there and we got to see so many! 

Following the penguins we drove to the Cape of Good Hope which is part of the Table Mountain National Park. It was absolutely breathtaking to see the Atlantic Ocean from this side with the massive waves and huge rocks. The national park is part of the world-renowned Cape Floral Kingdom which is the smallest floral kingdom and has thousands of diverse plants (I’m no botanist, but it was beautiful). We saw more baboons as well as two Ostrich chasing each other. 

We hiked to the top of the point to where the lighthouse is to look out for another beautiful view. Following, we ate lunch at a local place that looked like it was out of a fairy tale the way the meadow, water, and mountains came together in the background of the children playing and the adults sipping warm drinks, all with blankets included (it is winter here, after all). I had a fabulous shrimp curry and took in the sites, and we made sure to stop by the homemade dessert shop on our way out. 

What's Vacation without an OHIO!

Next we drove along Chapman’s Peak Drive, a famous cliff hugging and ocean view road that reminded me of Great Ocean Road in Australia. The sites were remarkable and we had a beautiful clear day to enjoy it all. We stopped at a winery on our way back to town and I had my first wine tasting. On our last night we grabbed food at a sports bar with live music and had a great time.

Cape Town was an awesome experience. I hope I can go back to explore it more like a local at some point during my service. The entire two weeks was like something out of a dream. I am so grateful for my parents for taking me on an adventure of a life time and I’m glad Pam and Tim were able to join us for all of the fun. 

Thank you Mom and Dad, I love you. 

Tourist Life

At the end of June I had the incredible privilege of picking my parents and two family friends up from the airport for a two week adventure around southern Africa. It had been 10 months since the last time I had seen my parents, and I was thrilled beyond belief to be able to spend so much time with them. Family is something that has always been important to me, but this experience has shown me that my relationships are my top priority and my family is everything to me. I’m grateful to be here and I do not regret leaving for two years, but I miss my family all of the time, so it was extra special to have my parents here to share my experience with. 

At the Airport!

This is a bit of a lengthy post but I promise to get pictures in it to make it fun! I am also more than willing to give anyone any more information about the places we went, just let me know! 

I first brought them back to my village for the weekend. The five of us spent two days exploring my village and introducing them to the people in my life here. Our first stop was my school. It was great to show my parents where I work every day and to tell them more about what I do. Everyone we talked to were so gracious and excited to meet my parents. Time after time, people told my parents “She is our daughter.” At first I didn’t really think about the statement. But then people continued to claim themselves as my mother, in front of my own mother. My dad would make a joke about me or would ask about my work, and they would continue to talk about how I was their daughter. And I realized that they were giving the biggest compliment of all: they were making sure my parents knew that I am cherished, I am taken care of, I am protected, I am loved. They wanted my parents to know that they did not have to worry. I would be looked after. I was overwhelmed with love from having so many parents in one room. 

After some amusing interactions with students where they taught my parents some of the handshakes, we made it back to my house for a night of card games and talking. Saturday morning I woke everyone up with an early Fathers Day breakfast so we could make our way on a hike through the village. We headed over to Mannyelanong Game Reserve (Mannyelalong means ‘where vultures defecate’ in Setswana) on foot (about a 60-90 minute walk across my village) in order to give them a better understanding of village life, and so we could try to see some Cape Vultures. Luckily my dad is becoming a great photographer and we got some awesome shots of the nests high up on the cliff ledges. 

Dad, the Photographer, getting great shots of the vultures.

Saturday evening we through a Braai (BBQ/Cook out, etc) on my compound. A few of my PCV friends came, as well as some of my host siblings from my training village, and a few friends from the village. Everyone brought dishes to share, and I asked the Americans to bring traditional BBQ dishes. We made deviled eggs that were a HUGE hit, as well as pasta salad and my parents famous jalapeño cheese squares which my dad passed around until they were finished in approximately 10 minutes. There was tons of delicious food and my talented host siblings grilled for us. The Kgosi (Chief) of the village even stopped by with his wife for a bit! We had the driveway for a dance floor, one of the braai stands as a fire pit, and speakers pumping music into the clear night sky. My host dad taught me the Cape Town Quickstep, and the majority of the night was spent exchanging American and Bots dance moves with friends. If you know me, you know this is my favorite kind of night. So many people I love from so many different parts of my life coming together for one celebration with food, booze, and dancing. And, of course, I was the last one on the dance floor.

My Village Host Dad and My Dad

My Host Sibs from Training

Sunday morning we hauled our partied out butts out of bed for an early drive to the airport. Our first stop: Savute Under Canvas in Chobe National Park. We flew to Kasane and then took a TINY 8 seater plane to the Savute airstrip.

Tiny Plane!

Our fantastic guide Sam met us with a jeep at the airstrip and we made our way to camp. We stayed in big Chalets with toilets and “bucket showers”.

My Chalet 

The whole camp is torn down and moved every 6 days so it is never a permanent structure, per national regulations. We were also warned that animals came through the camp ground at night, evidenced by the large elephant foot prints and dung outside my tent door! One day around lunch time I was in my chalet when an couple of elephants came walking through camp. It was incredible to see them so close! During our two day three night stay we took several game drives and saw an astounding amount of animals including 1 month old lion cubs, the Marsh Pride of lions, two honey badgers, a juvenile leopard, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, impala, and many many incredible birds.

6 Month Old Lion Cubs with Mom

Our guide was absolutely phenomenal and set a high standard for the rest of the trip. He was extremely knowledgeable and kind. We spent our evenings at dinner and around a fire with the wonderful camp staff that kept us well fed and laughing. I had a great time exchanging bits of Setswana with the staff and probably fooled my parents into thinking I can actually speak it! This was by far the highlight of my trip.

After a few days we flew on another tiny plane to Camp Moremi in the Okavango Delta. The delta is an incredible site to see from the air and if you haven’t yet, I recommend googling it to see it’s full expanse.

Camp Moremi was a permanent structure made up of many small cabins. The staff there was charming and accommodating and we had many more guests to share meals with. Here we took several more game drives and even took a sunset cruise in the delta where we went looking (and found!) hippos!My personal highlights for Camp Moremi included hippos, wild dogs, warthogs, baboons, and elephants crossing the water right in front of us.

Cape Buffalo

Wild Dogs!

Mom and I on our Boat Cruise

Because of the nature of the location, it is a bit more difficult to see animals there, but the guides are all on a radio system, and if they see something cool they will call the other guides to let them know, so often it feels like a chase to get to the spot before whatever is cool (like lions hunting an impala) is over.

Three Lions After a Failed Hunt

Impala 

  We had a lovely time at Camp Moremi and I once again loved meeting and talking to the staff. They took incredible care of us and were so personable. Within a few hours of arriving at camp, all of the staff knew my name, knew that I could speak some setswana, and knew that I was gluten free. It was amazing. Another highlight of our trip: While we were at Camp Moremi we FINALLY had (very limited) access to the outside world and we found out (a couple days late) that the CLEVELAND CAVILERS HAD WON THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! We celebrated (of course!) with a couple bottles of champagne, and by proudly telling everyone we met for the rest of the two weeks that we are from Cleveland.

Dad and Pam Enjoying the View

After a lovely swim

Our next stop (another tiny plane!) was Chobe Game Lodge in Chobe National Park. This was much more of a resort type place as it had a permanent structure and was all connected with many rooms. We finally had wifi access to look up all of the Cavs news we could and to read about the parade. I love Cleveland.

A View from the Air!

Warthogs at our Lodge

Dad Jokes

We once again took many game drives, and were able to take two boat cruises on the Chobe River which has Bots on one side and Namibia on the other. We saw tons of hippos, and OODLES of baby elephants.

Boat Life

At one point on our boat cruise we sat and watched the animals come down to the river to drink and bathe. It was amazing to witness how all the animals coexist.

We saw another honey badger (these things are crazy rare y’all) and I laughed every time we saw a group of guinea fowl, which are my underdog favorite now. On our last day we watched a massive male lion walk right past our car, and we even saw a hippo out of the water! 

King James?

A Rare Sighting! A Hippo Out of the Water!

Thorough out our safari’s we had a lot of delicious food, and I loved having everyone try all of the traditional dishes. We also were often serenaded (Batswana are incredible talented vocally) and even had a marimba show one night. It was beyond words to be able to be that close to the animals and to share the experience with my parents. I was proud to be able to give additional context based on my local knowledge and delighted to be able to bridge the gap between my two homes. I am so thankful.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our vacation!