DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA … ON OUR WAY … BUCKET LIST #23

So we left Mozambique and spent the night at sea traveling further south arriving in Durban, South Africa mid morning. I was excited to see Durban. We had been there years ago and remembered it as a vibrant city … also looking forward to a more developed country after Mozambique.

… so this turned out to be another interesting stop. We were getting ready to get off the boat and wander around the city when an announcement came over the PA system …. It’s never a good sign when an announcement is made outside the normal schedule …. the ship runs like “Love Boat” … the PA broadcasts are on a schedule … 9 for Morning Activities … 12 for Afternoon and 6 for the Evening. It was 10am … there are not suppose to be any announcements.

The Cruise Director, Ray, proceeds to read out a big long “prewritten” message …. “If you decide to get off …. You should NOT bring cell phones, money or your passport. Do not walk in this part of town or that part of town and then another part of town and so on …. You may go out … but it is at your own risk.” ( It starts to sound like New Haven Ct ). By the time he was done … no one was getting off the boat. It turned out the Durban mayor required him to read the message …. Not sure what was going on in the city …. But what tourist is going to venture out in a city without a cellphone, passport or their money.

What planet do they think we came from? … that was the beginning and end of Durban.

Fortunately later in the day we were leaving Durban anyway to go to Victoria Falls … Bucket List #23 … we were going to Zambia and would be meeting the boat in Cape Town 4 days later. Turns out a storm was coming in … so it was a good time to get “out of dodge.” That evening a group of 18 of us headed off the ship in our “bullet proof” bus ( Just kidding … I think ) and headed to the airport. We flew to Johannesburg … the center hub of aviation for South Africa.

The plan was to stay overnight in “JoBurg” ( “JoBurg”… its’ nickname … makes it sound like we do this all the time ) … we would catch a flight in the morning to Zambia. ( Home to Victoria Falls )

Flying in South Africa is a bit of a “goat rodeo.” The process is very slow with a surprising amount of pencils used vs computers …. At least in the smaller airports … like Livingstone ….where we were headed.

Changing countries is a big process … ( there are a lot of them in Africa …. 54 … more the any other continent in the world … with over 1000 languages spoken and a total of 1 Billion people ) …. So travel usually involves multiple countries … basically like going around the US with “every state” its’ own country and “each one” speaking several different languages.

Lots of different accents and soft spoken voices ( at least to my old ears) … I can’t understand most of what they are saying even though it is suppose to be English … I try to be polite … but there are only so many times you can say “pardon” or “what did you say?” In the end I just agree and nod …. And that’s how I ended up with a Visa not just to Zambia … but also a few extra countries … Zimbabwe and Botswana. I wondered why my immigration process took so much longer than everyone else’s. No harm done … out a few extra bucks … unless I end up making a country detour.

So 24 hours later … and two flights … we arrived at our destination, Livingstone … 1100 miles from where we started.

Dr. Livingston … you may recall from the Zanzibar Post … was a Christian missionary from Scotland. He was credited as the catalyst that led to the outlaw of slave trading. He was also the first European to see Victorian Falls … naming it after Queen Victoria. He spent a lot of time in this area … the town is named in his honor.

… so off to our accommodation with my 3 visas … we pulled up to a place called Sussi and Chuma ( Named after African slaves that Dr. Livingstone rescued and took as guides through Africa. )

Our lodging was a treehouse on the Zambezi River that had great views and lots of wildlife.

18 Treehouses sitting on the River…. ( We were Treehouse # 8 ) … the entire resort has raised walkways so the animals can roam freely underneath. As long as they stay below … all is good.

Numerous Impalas roamed below us. Their fur looks like it would make a great rug … ( that’s the designer in me talking ) … but a synthetic version would do the trick too.

At night they dropped mosquito netting to surround the entire bed … And Mother Nature dropped the temperature … around 50F … but we had electricity, toilets and running water … so we were happy “ClAMPERS.”

Sleeping amongst wildlife … we were told to keep the door to our porch closed at ALL times and more important “locked” … not for “human” criminals … like in Durban …

… rather our 4 legged friends … monkeys and baboons who know how to get in … they can open the porch door and they know where the biscuits are in the minbar ( in a sealed jar ) …. they will help themselves. Who wouldn’t come in for a good biscuit.

So we got outselves unpacked … and off to the Zambezi River for a boat ride.

The scenery was beautiful … peaceful and totally quiet .. aside from the sounds of animals …

There were lots of hippos walking in the water with those big nostrils peaking out. Listening to their cute … but loud snorts … may keep a lite “treehouse sleeper” up at night ( like Tom ) … but not me. Come to find out that even though hippos love water … they actually can’t swim.

We also ran into a few crocs resting on the riverbanks waiting for their next dinner to come by … Clearly we did not want to fall in …

… and their were some incredibly large birds in the trees … lots of them. I am not a bird person … but some have a wing span of over 3’…

… their enormous size was mind boggling and there were way too many for my comfort ) … there were also a few vultures hanging around …probably eying us.

We saw the “iconic” African Baobab Tree … A symbol of the African Continent …

…… its’ bark and fruit provide over 300 life sustaining uses to various animals … it is the basis of many indigenous remedies, traditions and folklore … Also known as as the “Tree of Life.”

And as Dusk approached the soft light on the water with a backdrop of the riverbank was beautiful. …

… as the sun went down … we enjoyed an amazing dinner overlooking the river.

We ended the night with an incredible sunset …the scenery was right out of the set of “Out of Africa.” ( For those old enough to Remember )

Tomorrow is a chance to finally see BUCKET LIST #23 … “The Falls” and an added bonus … a Game Drive in the afternoon. Nothing like a good night sleep in our treehouse.

DAY 154-155 … BUCKET LIST #23 … VICTORIA FALLS TO BE CONTINUED