Fires

We took the Rikki to Stellenbosch gardens yesterday and hiked from
there up tabletop mountain, skeleton gorge if you know the area.
Walking towards the cable car station (another 2 hours) we heard
sirens and weren't sure what it meant. When we got there everything
was closed and there were just about to load the last car down. The
fires had flared again and they were closing operations for the day.
Luckily we manged to get the ride down.

The winds were intense into the evening, strong enough to rattle the
whole building, and we could see fire from the hostel. A new spot
opened up and spread quickly driven by the wind. Someone had a long
night as it seems to be under control this morning.

Our rental car will be delivered in a couple of hours and then we are
off to the cape peninsula and probably sleeping in the winelands
tonight.

Late notes on Zimbabwe

Random thoughts and notes on Zim a couple days after leaving. Most
would apply to Botswana as well although that country seems on the way
up and Zim on the way down.

River rafting guide is a highly sought after, well paid career.

Western CD's go for $25, used.

There were no bustling markets in pirate media like you would find in Asia.

$100/month is the baseline for a desirable competitive job.

There are about Z$100,000 to the USD. The notes used are primarily
Z$20,000. The print so many they leave one side blank.

There are 50 cent slots in the casino. Thats 50 zim cents. All
addicted gamblers should be sent there with 10 USD.

I had offers to trade random crafts for everything I was wearing or
carrying, with seemingly no correlation to value.

I was never actually threatened.

Cell access

We are back in full cell coverage her in capetown. I should be
reachable via cell phone for the remainder of the trip exclusing
flights.

CPT

Another quick note on capetown. This is the first place I have been
where I could even imagine living for a while. Its nice to be
somewhere for a bit where stepping outside of the hostel or camp doe
snot put you in peril by animal or human violence.

Capetown

We arrived in capetown yesterday. Managed to catch an early BA flight
(did not actually realise that Kulula was owned by them).

We pretty much walked all over for about 8 hours today, starting out
at 8am (still on a jet lag schedule as far as I'm concerned) and hit
the waterfront, downtown, the castle, and picked up some SA wine on
the way back. So cheap. I am done with castle beer.

Tommorow tabletop mountain, which is beautifully framed from the deck
off our room.

Leaving Zim

Done with Victoria Falls. Heading back to Botswana tonight, then
jo'burg and flying to capetown the day after. Probably no more access
until then.

Rafted the zambezi yesterday which was good. Probably the best
rafting scenery I've ever seen. But the lunch gave me food poisoning
which took me out of action for a few hours. Seems OK now though.

Victoria Falls

We got to victoria falls, zimbabwe yesterday and have not actually
seen the falls yet. In a couple of hours we will jet boat up under
them. This afternoon we are going to a lion park and tommorow is a
full day rafting trip on the zambezi.

Internet cafes are plentiful here so I will probably be back with more
updates in the next couple of days.

No cell access

I should have written this earlier, but as long as I am in botswana
and zimbabwe, I have only emergency outbound calling. My cell phone
will be functional again in 5 days or so when I am back in south
africa.

Back from the Delta

We got back yesterday from 2 days camping in the delta here. I dont
think any night noises in the pacific northwest are likely to bother
me any longer after being woken by the sounds of lions, hippos and
more. We found hyena and warthog tracks at our site in the morning.

Today we will visit the pans where the flamingos have come in early
due to the strong rains. Fortunately we have managed to avoid most of
those and stay fairly dry.

Maun, Botswana

Have not head access in a while and have just a brief chance at a slow
connection now. Kruger was great, saw lots. Lots of driving. 900k
yesterday. Elephants along the highway today in Botswana. Into the
delta tommorow.

Lazy day in Jo'burg

Gemini backpackers picked us up at the airport this morning and we
will just hang out here all day. Waiting on pizza delivery for
dinner.

Flights were uneventful and in 5 or so hours in london, we managed to
ride the Eye, stop for beer and beef pie, and spend some time in the
national gallery.

Email Test

This is just a test to see if email posting works. It seem likely
that email would be our most common posting method while travelling.

Getting Ready

Gettting ready to go to Africa and so I will initiate the mandatory blog.