Archives for October 2009

Smoke on the Water – Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Victoria Falls

October 30, 2009 by Susan Getgood

The Smoke that Thunders

Tuesday September 15, Zambia

As my brother and I hiked around the Eastern Cataract area of Victoria Falls on Monday afternoon, we understood exactly what the guidebooks meant when they said that the best view of the Falls was from the Zimbabwe side. From the edge of the island we were on, we could just see, around the bend, that it must be a terrific view. However, there was no way we were going into Zimbabwe.

Plus a lot of hiking on uneven ground wasn’t terribly comfortable for Mum. We decided to look into the helicopter tour of the Falls.

The next morning, we booked a 15-minute helicopter tour through the Bushtracks Africa excursions desk at the Zambezi Sun.

It was SO worth it. The pilot did two loops around the Falls, giving us a chance to see them from multiple angles. We also saw a herd of elephants from the air.

The local name for the Falls is Mosi-0a-Tunya (also spelled Mosi-O-Tunya). It means “the smoke that thunders.” We were there in the dry season, so we didn’t really hear (or register) the thunder, but it is certainly true that you can see the “smoke” for miles around.

I was very glad I had invested in my Tamron 18-270mm lens. In addition to covering a wide distance range, it has an anti-shake feature that made a definite difference in these pictures from the helicopter.

Now, to the Smoke on the Water reference. When my brother and I were growing up, someone in the house behind us was learning to play guitar. Unfortunately, all he seemed to know was the opening riff of Deep Purple’s (now classic) Smoke on the Water. Which he played over and over and over and over.

Dun dun duh dun dun da da dah Dun dun duh dun dun da da dah.

Great song. It has taken me 30 years to appreciate it. Enjoy.

Dr. Livingstone I presume — Victoria Falls, Zambia side

October 30, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Monday September 14, 2009

After breakfast, we departed the Southern Sun for the terminal and our flight to Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls. It was about a two-hour flight, and we caught our first glimpse of the Falls from the air.

The terminal in Livingstone is exactly what you might imagine a colonial African airport to be. One building. Lots of people. Seeming chaos, but not quite. We had to wait in quite a long line to purchase our visas, definitely a strong revenue stream for the Zambian government given the political situation in Zimbabwe next door. When we were planning our trip and mentioned we would be going to Victoria Falls, everyone we spoke to — everyone — said: Zambia, right?

Once through immigration and bag claim, we were met by representatives from Bushtracks Africa, the travel company that has the concession for transport to and from the Sun Hotels properties in Livingstone. After about a 30-minute drive, we were at our hotel, the Zambezi Sun.

The Zambezi Sun is right on the edge of the Eastern Cataract of the Falls, about five minutes walk, so after we got settled, we decided to walk over to the Falls and investigate.

On the way, we were “waylaid” by Webster. Webster is a member of the grounds staff at the Zambezi Sun, and as far as we could tell, a big part of his job is feeding a small group of zebra, giraffe and impala. He invited us to join him to meet his friends during the day’s 3 pm feeding. It was a tremendously pleasant way to start our African wildlife adventure. I’m sure I will never be this close to a zebra again in my life.

After our mini-wildlife adventure, we walked over to the Falls. You can see the full set of my photos from that afternoon on Flickr, but here are some of my favorites.

That evening after dinner we attended a performance of Dancing Around Zambia presented by the Livingstone Performing Arts Foundation. There were not too many guests in attendance, and that was their loss because it was a terrific performance of African dance and song. My brother shot video, and hopefully he will post a copy online at some point.

A word about the Zambezi Sun. The rooms are quite small, and it is not as elegant as its sister hotel the Royal Livingstone. Luckily, Mum, Doug and I get on quite well, and we weren’t in the room that much anyway. However, I did feel a bit sorry for my mom as both my brother and I were fighting off colds when we were in Zambia and it must have sounded like a herd of elephants was IN the room at times.

The location of the hotel, however, cannot be beat and the service and food were excellent. I highly recommend it. The Sun is definitely the right choice for families. On your honeymoon? Maybe the Royal Livingstone. It’s not that far from the Falls and a bit more upscale. It also has gorgeous views of the river.

In both pictures, the land across the water is Zimbabwe. We are on the Zambia side of the Zambezi River.

Johannesburg, South Africa – The Apartheid Museum

October 24, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Sunday September 13, 2009 – Monday September 14, 2009

We arrived in Johannesburg at about 8am. Customs was efficient, as was the greeter from Journeys of Distinction, the travel agency that had arranged our trip. She guided three fairly weary travelers to the shuttle bus for the Southern Sun airport hotel and confirmed that Patrick, our tour guide from Wilro Tours, would pick us up promptly at 1pm for our visit to the Apartheid Museum.

Yes, we were tired but it’s always a good idea to get on local time as quickly as possible. I wanted to visit the Apartheid Museum, and the first day was our only window of time in JoBurg for sightseeing. Mum and Doug were kind enough to go with me, although I suspect they would have been just as happy relaxing by the pool. It turned out just fine though; they really enjoyed chatting with Patrick while I meandered through the exhibits.

When you purchase your ticket at the Apartheid Museum, you are given a token representing a racial identity and you enter the museum through the appropriate door (pictured above.)

Once inside the museum building, you follow a timeline of South African history that explains the roots, impact and aftermath of apartheid. I think the thing that astounded me the most was how narrow the victory was for the apartheid forces in 1948. If the opposition had been less fractured, South African history might have been very different. There was also a special exhibit devoted to Nelson Mandela.

We were there for about two hours but I could have spent a whole day. Photography is prohibited inside the museum, but I took a few pictures of the exterior. On the way back, Patrick took us on a brief tour of the city, pointing out historical and cultural landmarks.

We wrapped up the day with dinner at our hotel, and an early night. Needless to say no one had trouble sleeping!

Recommendation: I highly recommend the Southern Sun OR Tambo. The rooms are pretty standard for a luxury airport hotel, but the food and the service are far better than I have experienced in similar properties in the US and UK. When we left fairly early the following morning to catch our flight to Livingstone, Zambia, we were privileged to hear the housekeeping staff chorus that starts every day with a song or three.

The picture at left is a display at the Out of Africa store at the departure gates at OR Tambo. It gave us a bit of inspiration for the next stop on our trip: Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls.

The road to Africa – Boston to JFK NY to Johannesburg

October 11, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Friday September 11 – Sunday September 13, 2009

Our long awaited trip to Africa started with a long wait for our flight from Boston to JFK airport in New York. We were supposed to leave Boston around 2pm, but didn’t leave until 6. For a 45 minute flight.

Luckily, our flight to South Africa didn’t leave until the following morning at 11:30am, so unlike many other travelers on our NY-bound flight, we weren’t panicked about a connection that evening. All we had to do was find the airport Holiday Inn and get a little supper.

For a scary moment at the bag claim at JFK, we thought my bag didn’t make it. The belt stopped, and so did my heart, just a little. About 5 minutes later, it started up again and voila, there was my bag.

The United/South African Airways codeshare flight from JFK to Johannesburg is non-stop to South Africa. Fifteen hours in the air. That’s a long time. A very long time. On the way back, it stops to refuel in Dakar, which amazingly enough is the half-way point. Makes you appreciate just how big the African continent is. That flight clocks in at more than 17 hours with the one-hour ground stop.

The food is okay. It was much better on the way over than on the way back, but if I were to do such a long haul again, I would bring some snacks. I would also purchase extra water at the airport. I always bring at least one bottle of water and sometimes a soda too. I’d bring more next time. The flight attendants do try to bring enough by, but it is nowhere near enough to keep you well hydrated.

We arrived at about 8am or so Sunday morning. Passport control and customs were smooth sailing and at the meeting area, we had no trouble spotting the representative from Journeys of Distinction. She gave us our itinerary and vouchers and guided us to the shuttle for the Southern Sun airport hotel.

A little tired, a little thirsty and more than a little excited, we were off on our African adventure.

Pennsylvania Weekend: Crystal Cave, Valley Forge

October 5, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Last weekend was the big dog show weekend in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, culminating in the all-terrier Montgomery County Kennel Club show on Sunday. I needed/wanted to go for a few dog and dog club related reasons, but did not relish the long 7+ hour drive (each way) by myself. So I convinced Douglas and David to come along with me. I’d go to my dog club banquet on Friday night and the dog show on Sunday, but we’d skip the Saturday show, and do some family sightseeing instead.

There is quite a lot to do in the Philadelphia area – art, science and natural history museums, the zoo, plus historical exhibits like the Liberty Bell and Valley Forge.

We decided to give Doug the choice. He picked Crystal Cave in Kutztown. Boys and rocks.

I’m a bit claustrophobic and generally the idea of being in a cave gives me the creeps. This wasn’t too bad. The tour guide did an excellent job moving us through the cave, and the cave rooms themselves were fairly large, with very tall ceilings, so I didn’t get that “pressed in” feeling. Doug absolutely loved it.

The cave formations themselves are eery. Some could easily be alien life forms from a sci-fi film.

After the caves, we decided to head back and do a quick visit to Valley Forge. We’d been a number of times in the past, but Douglas didn’t remember it. On the way we stopped for lunch at a Texas Roadhouse in Royersford.

This was our first ever visit to this chain, and we were pleasantly surprised by the hospitality — warm and gracious — and the food — excellent. As first-time guests, they gave us a free bottle of their steak sauce, and asked us to fill out a brief questionnaire about our experience. I wrote in the comments that we very much enjoyed the food and wished there was a restaurant near us in Massachusetts. One of the managers made a point to come out and let us know that there were a few, including one not far from us in Worcester.

Why so good? Everything is very fresh. Homemade rolls, lots of choices for side dishes and good steaks. Is it Morton’s or Ruth Chris? Of course not. But when you are on the road looking for a quick reasonably priced meal, it’s a nice alternative to the burger and tex-mex lite chains. I particularly appreciated the 6 ounce filet for $16.00. It’s the right amount of meat for me and the price was fair. It was also very tasty.

We got to Valley Forge too late for an organized trolley or walking tour (although we have done the trolley tour in the past, and it is excellent). Instead we bought the self-guided one-hour CD tour ($15.00) and proceeded to drive through the park and learn a little history on the way.

Douglas wasn’t too interested at first, but we confiscated the Nintendo, and eventually he got into it. Admission to the park and buildings is free; there is a fee for the trolley tour.

As with all national parks, there are also special programs worth checking out if you are slightly more planful about your visit than we were this time 🙂 The park buildings close at 5pm, but the grounds are open until dusk. The last ranger-tour of Washington’s Headquarters is at 4:30 pm.

The centerpiece — literally — of the park is the National Memorial Arch. This time, we saw two wedding parties doing their formal photos. My pictures of them on Flickr.

You’ll also see lots of deer at Valley Forge. In fact the deer population of the park is a bit of a problem; if you are interested, you can read more at the park website.

For visitors, though, it is nice to see these pretty animals up close and vertical as opposed to lying by the side of the road, a sad but familiar site along Pennsylvania highways.

On Sunday, I went to the dog show. David and Doug went to the nearby Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. They had a great time pumpkin painting and exploring the garden railway.

Other things to do in the area: We’ve also enjoyed wandering around the community of Doylestown, although we did not get up that way on this trip, and Longwood Gardens. Little kids would enjoy Sesame Place, although the weather never cooperated for that when Douglas was younger and now at nine, he’s well past it. If you like to shop, the ginormous King of Prussia mall is nearby.

Where to stay: I like the Marriott Springhill Suites in Plymouth Meeting. Reasonably priced ($89 AAA-rate), all-suite hotel. Indoor pool. Free breakfast. Free in-room Internet. Near the Plymouth Meeting Mall, which offers many restaurant choices including Benihana, another good choice when traveling with kids. The mall also has an arcade which entertained Douglas (and Dave) on Friday night while I was at the dog club banquet and on Saturday night while I made a quick run to Macy’s.

Word to the wise: Traffic in the Montgomery County area, especially on the Turnpike and its feeder roads, is awful nearly all the time. Plan accordingly.

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