Arrive Alive

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Our day started early at 7:30am, heading back to Victoria Falls to see the natural wonder in the daylight. We walked around all the viewpoints, of course taking photos at each one. We saw a beautiful rainbow in the mist. The kids looked like butterflies when the sun shone through their ponchos.
There’s not much to write about the Falls. They are a true sight to behold. One must see it with their own eyes to appreciate them.
We saw the area where our raft ride started. We really had to climb a long, steep way down (and up).
We needed to head back to the house and leave for the airport but not before buying a few memorabilia. If you need help bargaining down a price, take Shaya with you on your trips. The African wares are beautiful; wooden and rock statues of animals, teak and amarula wood bowls, colorful clothing, beaded jewelry and more.
Some facts/thoughts of the Africa we’ve been to so far:
There are no sidewalks.
Because there are no sidewalks there are huge road bumps on the road to keep the drivers from going too fast. They all basically come to a stop before each one.
The government turns off the electricity daily. We never knew if there’d be light or not. Stores and hotels all have generators but the fuel is hard to get by.
It’s hard to get used to using bottles water for brushing teeth. We used so many bottles of water, in general, and there’s no recycling over there.
According to one of the driver’s we had (our Botswana trip driver, Eric) the average salary in Zimbabwe is $300 per month. They live on tips in the tourist areas.
People are SO nice. Everyone says hello, waves, smiles.
Apparently, the warthogs that roam around freely are protected. The government thinks they are good for tourism.
Africans are like Israelis, instead of saying “yashar, yashar, smola, yashar, and you’re there”, they say “10 minutes, just go to town and you’ll find it”. Not quite. 10 mins seems to be another way to say about an hour.

We said goodbye to Zimbabwe and boarded a tiny plane to Johannesburg. Anyone over over 1.80 would have to crouch while standing. There were 3 seats across and one steward. But we made it and now are on our way to a place called Sabie, not too far from Kruger National Park. We have two huge cars with Adam and Shaya as the main drivers, on the wrong side of the road. I always wonder why it’s necessary to say Gomel when you return from a trip since in my opinion driving is more dangerous than flying. In our case, we need it for both.
The sign on the road says Arrive alive. Drive safe. Amen to that.

Good tips so far:
Great idea to bring packaged wraps (tortillas), thank you Hester.
Great idea to bring heavy tins you can cook in, thank you Rebecca.
Nussbaum’s in Johannesburg is amazing. Ready made, yummy, kosher food wrapped and packed delivered to the airport to take wherever you are going. Life saver.

We made it to Sabie, Mpumalanga. The house is very nice but it’s cold. And apparently the South African government is like the Zimbabwean, and turns off the water instead of electricity. And instead of mosquitoes we have a nice big spider keeping us company. Gotta love the adventure of it all.

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Photos

Livingstone and Noam
Niagra + Victoria = Viagra Falls. What comes out when trying to remember the name of Victoria Falls while thinking of Niagra. -Noam