London

We are out of africa and I am spending the night in london. We
arrived this morning from Port Elizabeth via Jo'burg. Debbie flew
back to Seattle after a quick trip to the british musuem and around
the town a bit. She should be landing in a couple of hours.

I hit the natural history musuem where I was amazed to find long
queues due to a refurbed dinosaur exhibit.

I'm heading off on my rail pass in the morning but not exactle sure
where to as of yet.

Jeffreys Bay

We are in jeffrey's bay, sa tonight. Internet access has been sparse.
Frequently we find cafe's closed at 5pm anf the backpackers will
have only one slow term in constant use.

Got in the waves a bit today. This is a famous surf break.

Heading to addo elephant park tommorow, then to port elizabeth.
Flying to London the day after.

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.