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Jasper, ab
Canada
1029 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 07:04 AM
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We just recently returned from a four and a half week trip that took us to Victoria Falls in Zambia to Johannesburg where we rented a car and drove 5300 kms ending in beautiful Cape Town. This trip was very special to me as it was my honeymoon. My new bride, Tanis, always dreamed of going to Africa, and I have been many times, so the decision where to go was easy. I had been to South Africa at the end of 2009 and had also been there during the turmoil years of 1993-94. Today South Africa is a marvelous country to travel in. Wonderful highways, exquisite vistas, high mountains, incredible beaches with some of the worlds best surfing, great hiking, amazing wildlife and the warmest and friendliest people that you will find anywhere on this earth. There were a couple of minor hiccups, but all in all the trip went without incident. The biggest disappointment was the one big hike I had planned in the Great Karoo got wiped out by a huge rain storm. So this TR has less to do about hiking but more about showing people, who may be looking for a country to travel to, that South Africa is full of adventure and has it all.
We landed in Jo'burg late at night, got whisked away to our hostel for the night. We got up early to catch our flight to Livingstone, Zambia for our three days at Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the natural world. We were there during high water so the view of the falls wasn't perfect because of the huge spray that comes out from the gorge. It was like being in a tropical, torrential downpour. The water was warm, so it was a blast, just hard on the cameras. Vic Falls is 1.7 kms wide and 300 meters high. Here are some shots
      
Here's a short video of the falls
http://youtu.be/H2wv8YflckE
There is a bridge that crosses the Zambezi River which has a bungee jump, the highest in the world, I was told and also has a zipline. The bridge also connects Zambia with Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is still in much turmoil. Their money is worthless. Here's what I mean. Although this bill is no longer in circulation it wasn't worth the paper it was printed on at the time.
Here's a shot of the bridge and the gorge
Here are some shots from the bridge and more gorge shots and one from the top of the falls
  
That night we went on a very romantic sunset cruise on the Zambezi above the falls. Tanis saw her first hippo, but not her last.
  
Vic Falls is a wonderful place. There are many things to do there, bungee, whitewater rafting on the number one commercially rafted river in the world, with 24 sets of class V rapids. I did it in '94.
We flew back to Jo'burg and rented our car for the next four weeks and headed to Kruger National Park for five glorious, hot days of animals watching. Two months earlier Kruger had been inundated with 18 inches of rain in 36 hours and flooded the park like it had never in all its history. Many roads and bridges were wiped out, complete campsites were destroyed. The end result for us was that there were many more water holes than normal, so the animals didn't need to congregate at the bigger holes, plus the grass was much higher, making it more difficult to see the wildlife. But we still managed to see plenty.
                                
From Kruger we drove south to Swaziland where we spent a couple of nights in a beautiful hostel. Swaziland is an amazing kingdom. Fair trade practices are the norm in that country where people make a decent wage for their labour. From there we headed down to the Dolphin coast to Zimbali Lodge where we stayed for a week, about 45 kms from Durban. Fairmont has two hotels there and since I work for Fairmont, I got the room for next to nothing. The next few pictures are from the rest of the trip along the coast to Cape Town
                        
Our last five days were spent in Cape Town, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We went up Table Mountain and went shark cage diving. I know this is a controversial activity, but I had to see some great whites, which we saw plenty of. I didn't go down into the cage, but Tanis did. She was very thrilled with the experience, and so was I
    
In this shot a seal actually came swimming in among the sharks. Half the boat, the men, were hoping the shark would get the seal, where the other half, the women were screaming for the seal to get away. The shark had no chance against the seal in open ocean. There is an island close by that has 60,000 seals on it and that's why there are so many sharks around. The only way the sharks can get them is when the are feeding and the sharks surprise them.
  
Here are a few shots from Table Mountain and one shot of the mountain from our hostel.
   
Here are a couple of shots of beautiful Greenland from the plane coming home.
  
It was, once again, an amazing trip. We both had a great time but are happy to be back home in the Rockies.
Here are links to my 2009 trip.
http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33599
http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33602
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Edited by - lobo on 04/17/2012 12:50 PM
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over the hills and far away
Canada
708 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 07:19 AM
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| wow that's a cool experienece! Love the shark pics. |
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Victoria, British Columbia
Canada
1762 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 08:22 AM
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This. Is awesome. I miss Africa so much.
Great shot of some less seen creatures, especially that owl (?). |
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Powell River, BC
373 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 08:22 AM
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What a great set of pictures. Lots of memories of trips to Kenya (different country, similar animals). No penguins in Kenya though!
Thanks for the TR. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
277 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 08:23 AM
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That looks like a totally amazing trip-congratulations!
Sad to see the 100 trillion dollar note-I was in Zim in 1991, it was not so bad back then. I heard a rumour last week that Mugabe was dying, but it turned out to be just that-a rumour. I suppose it is only a matter of time, and things can only get better once he is gone...
What kind of lizard is that big guy?
I remember when we were near the falls the climate changed dramatically because of the moisture in the air from the spray... it went from dry savannah to a moist rainforest within a few metres.
Beautiful photos! 8)
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High River, (just south of Calgary eh!), Alberta
Canada
1703 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 08:40 AM
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Congrats to you and Tanis on your marriage, that is one cool honeymoon!
LOL! |
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Not too far from Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
224 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 09:17 AM
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Wow - gorgeous photos!! South Africa has been the one place that I've always wanted to visit :)
Congrats on your marriage, and thank you for sharing photos of your beautiful trip :) |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1197 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 11:47 AM
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| Beautiful landscape! I've been wanting to see a part of Africa and was contemplating Tanzania. Your photos make a good case for South Africa. |
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Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
331 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 11:53 AM
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| Congratulations on your marriage. I am glad you had such a wonderful honeymoon. Those are some awesome pictures. I think I will try and push this destination for one of my anniversaries. |
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357 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 3:18 PM
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Congrats!! Looks like an amazing trip.
Love this! |
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Abbotsford, BC
Canada
723 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 5:58 PM
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| This couldn't have come at a better time. For two years I've been trying to talk my husband into a trip to South Africa (I have been to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and other Subsaharan countries). He's not been interested. I hope your report and your photos will change his mind. Thank you for posting ... I loved your TR! |
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Penhold, Alberta
Canada
2009 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 7:10 PM
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Great photos Dieter, looks like you two had a great trip. Kudos to you Tanis for getting into that cage, not for me,lol.
I was glad to see you didn't have any problems flying back after I heard there was an earth quake and a tsunami watch for south Africa last Saturday morning.
Will be chatting with you soon Dieter.
Take a load off and relax you two, welcome home.
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13454 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 7:24 PM
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Incredible stunning photography, so many beautiful pictures of landscape and animals, and in bright lively colour.
Congratulations on your honeymon and to your bride; my all your days and trips be special. Thanks for sharing .
K |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
617 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2012 : 06:25 AM
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| Wow! Amazing photos / trip. So in your opinion it's a pretty safe place to visit? I have a number of friends from South Africa who have moved to Canada over the past decade or so and they always say how dangerous it is (especially for unwary tourists like myself). Then I read stories like this and I really want to go visit! (I've always wanted to visit South Africa). |
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Jasper, ab
Canada
1029 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2012 : 09:03 AM
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Thank you all for you kind comments. It was an amazing trip.
Sixer-I think that's a monitor lizard, but I could be wrong. Zim definitely needs Mugabe out of there. What happened to that country is a disgrace.
Greyowl-I hope my TR does does change your husbands mind. It's a beautiful country and fairly cheap to travel around in, except accommodations. Even backpacker hostels are expensive. But renting a car and having the freedom that goes with that is very cheap.
Darren-Yes, Tanis was pretty brave. Getting into that cage wasn't for me either. I'd rather stare down a grizzly.
I'll be ready for some trail clearing come May. Looking forward to it.
Vern-My own doctor is South African and he can't understand why I keep going back. I've driven 14,000 kms through SA
now on these last two trips without incident. You try and plan to get to your next destination before dark, a lot of drinking and driving there. And just like any other country, don't find yourself on a lonely street late at night by yourself. There was a story at the hostel in Cape Town of a young guy getting hammered at a bar and leaving very late and getting mugged. That happens in Vancouver and Edmonton too. Don't wear any jewelry or expensive watches and try not to look like a tourist, but that can be difficult when arriving from a northern country. The highways are perfect and very well marked, though I wish that I had brought my GPS, that would have saved some frustration in Jo'burg. I have absolutely no hesitation suggesting SA as a travel destination, for young and old. It has everything. |
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Hope, BC
Canada
7098 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2012 : 10:25 AM
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Awesome report and photos, I love wildlife so this one I really like...
Just curious Lobo, what kind of camera did you use mainly on your trip? |
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bandana wearin', pole huckin', view lovin', dog herdin', 4x4 navigatin', lake huntin', butt-slidin' bridge crosser, who enjoys postholing with an overnighter pack
Surrey, BC
Canada
4649 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2012 : 3:30 PM
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Cool honeymoon! What a great trip, thanks for sharing  |
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Jasper, ab
Canada
1029 Posts |
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Powell River, bc
Canada
2536 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2012 : 3:36 PM
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OMG!!!!!!!!!! SO SPECTACULAR!!!!!! Congratulations on your wedding :)
These pictures are,as always,AMAZING!!!!! I'm glad you had a great time,and even happier that your still walking :) |
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Outdoors addicted flyfishing, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking car crooner and resident motormouth
Da'Wack, BC
Canada
5372 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2012 : 8:02 PM
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| Very cool! What a fantastic experience for your wife and wonderful that you could share that on your honeymoon. |
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877 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2012 : 10:43 AM
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| A big congrats to you and Tanis! It looks like a dream honeymoon. I'm going to need to pick your brain in the coming months as I'm planning a trip there next April! |
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My return to South Africa
