Blogs from Africa - page 3353

The train from Bulawayo to Vic Falls was ok, nothing flash, just two small bunks in a very small room, an unlockable door and a window blind that kept shooting up. Still, it made a change from having to drive on the truck all that way. We arrived at Vic Falls at 7am, tired and hungry, to find that bread wasn't available anywhere in town that day. We had a great, but expensive, time there. I went on an amazing microlight flight above the falls, we both did the "Sundowner Cruise" and watched the falls from both the Zimbabwean and Zambian side, getting really wet in the process. We also bought more souvenirs and sent more parcels back to NZ. The falls are really impressive, especially now as the river is about full. They fall into ... read more

Harare was a great city, suddenly really civilised! We went to the movies a couple of times as they were only 35c US. At that price it doesnt matter if the movies are rubbish! We both saw 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', Colin went to see 'XXX' while I saw 'Below'. We went round the National Art Gallery, some good works, most of them up for sale, and a room full of old tribal works from drums and baskets to axes and masks. None of this stuff was for sale, although you could buy replicas in the shop. That was about all we had time for, shame really, but we had better things to move on to. Next stop was Antelope Park, a private game reserve with a lion breeding program. We got to play with ... read more

The train to Vic Falls the next evening was pretty uneventful. One of the quietest sleepers I have taken anywhere - mostly because there were not really any stops I think, but if there were I didn't notice. We had a first class cabin for the two of us with just two beds in, and it only cost $5 each. It wasn't that luxurious though - the washbasin was a nice idea, but its use had been subverted somewhere along the years since the mirrors were made - the RR of Rhodesia Railways etched on them. In Vic Falls we arrived at 9am and walked through the town to the great backpackers - shoestring. Brian was a great host and barman and it was a great place to stay. We watched Arsenal win the FA cup ... read more

We left Gweru for Bulawayo the next day. The bus station in Gweru was great - and it looked like you could get everything the lodge told us was unavailable right now because of the political situation in Zimbabwe - bread, gas etc. I wonder if it was illegal to buy bread on the black market? We caught a very loud bus back to Bulawyo - loud because of the local music blaring out of the home speakers installed at the front of the bus. The bus got us 90% of the way to Bulawayo before stopping seemingly because it had run out of gas. Luckily another bus stopped right away and picked up the Bulawayo-bound passengers. What happened to the people travelling further than Bulawayo on the bus I don't know - we left them ... read more

Recently the nights have been pretty chilly, the fleeces have come out, the sleeping bags are zipped up, and we even, gasp shock horror, put on shoes and socks the other day! What is the world coming to?! It is winter here, but its also Africa!!!!!!! Zanzibar was so lovely and warm. We drove from Dar es Salaam down to Malawi, spending a few nights at different "resorts" on the shores of Lake Malawi. We didn't do a lot, there's not a lot to do there apart from laze around! We read several books, wrote a few letters, took a catamaran on the lake, got bored! We bought ourselves two Malawi chairs, a table and a couple of wooden bowls. All we have to do now is get them all home! But it was good to ... read more