The
61 Day Safari, Part 3
Zanzibar
to Victoria Falls
Getting ready to depart for Zanzibar.
Views of the harbor.
Coming into Stonetown we saw the
House of Wonders.
Karibu means welcome in Swahili.
We took a tour to Changuu also known
as Prison Island.
It never actually served as a prison
so the boutique isn't as strange
as the prison part of the name.
The tortoises were brought here from
the Seychelles and were
nearly as big as the ones we saw in the Galapagos Islands.
They are free to wander about just as
we were.
That gave us the opportunity to pet
them if we wanted to.
They seemed to enjoy it.
Sunset, drinks, and friends, Zanzibar.
A reflection within the lens created
an inverted image of the sun on the
felucca's sail.
Vendors in Forodhani Park on the
waterfront in Stonetown.
Anglican cathedral Christ Church is a
Stonetown landmark.
It is on the site of the slave market.
In fact the base of the post where
they were tied is visible in front
of the altar.
One of the cells where the slaves
were kept chained to the floor.
Up to 100 men would have been held in
this room.
What do you want? You could
probably get it at the market.
The entrance and inside the Old Fort
in downtown Stonetown.
On to the spice plantation.
Where we saw banana trees.
Lemon grass
I don't remember what this is so if
you can identify it please send me
a note.
Star fruit, Averrhoa
carambola
Turmeric,
Curcuma
longa
Soursop, Annona muricata
Mgerenge, Peacock flower tree, Albizana
gumifera
Cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum fruit and parasites on a leaf.
A small cinnamon tree.
The fruit of the Achiote Bixa orellana from which annatto is
produced.
It is used for color in many foods.
And by the guide who showed us a
cacao pod then sliced it in two to
show us the "beans" inside
This is what coffee looks like when
it is growing.
Because they didn't ripen at the same
time each of the "beans" have to be picked individually by hand.
The flower
of the Ylang-ylang Cananga
odorata tree,
used in making perfume.
Black pepper Piper nigrum
Kapok, once used to fill life
preservers but now replaced by synthetics.
Cloves prior to drying.
A palm tree climbing demonstration.
The only equipment was a loop of sack
material between his feet made
from a bag that they use for packing spices.
If you are wondering the tree was
about 130 ft (40 meters) tall.
We sampled jackfruit and a fruit
whose name I have forgotten that
tasted like vanilla pudding.
The King and Queen were supplied with
accouterments woven from palm
fronds.
The beach where we stayed at Zanzibar
Craft market. Nancy got some
ideas for decorating gourds.
Back near camp I found some of young
men who showed me that they knew
Cat's
Cradle.
Masai have always been regarded as
fierce warriors so that tribe
provides security guards for many businesses on the mainland and here
as well.
This guy was the guard at one of our
camps.
Note the knife at his waist.
A tiny gecko visited us one night.
Inside the House of Wonders in
Stonetown.
A more picturesque part of the
Stonetown harbor.
We returned to the mainland and
continued our safari.
We saw way too many really big rigs
on their sides
More animals along the highway as we
drove west.
The markings identify the giraffes as belonging to the Masai
subspecies.
And Baobab trees.
A rather prosperous shop at a stop
along the road, kids on their way
from school, younger ones waving as we pass, a large town we passed
through, and setting up camp one evening.
We were treated to a traditional meal
of corn, beans, a corn meal paste
called umgali, squash and an antelope stew.
Paul and Jodi were our our host and
hostess attired in traditional garb.
Most meals were more like this.
We all rotated through the jobs that
needed to be done.
Farm fields, rice, and one of the
unique landforms we saw.
This is the collection of adapters,
power supplies, and wall warts that
were needed to keep all the phones, iPods, cameras, and other
electronics charged and ready to go.
This is probably a young Angolan Bush
Duiker
We stopped in Mzuzu, Malawi for
supplies.
We didn't need anything high tech but
there were quite a few
electrical, phone, and electronic stores here.
We stopped at a roadside charcoal
vendor to pick up supplies for a
unique cookout later.
Malawi is noted for it's
carvers. We picked up more souvenirs.
We were tempted to buy a two piece
Malawi chair.... but how can we get
everything home?
We made a short stop at a rubber
plantation where we saw how they make
grooves in the bark where the latex oozes out and is collected in pots.
The last picture is the fruit of the
rubber tree.
On the shores of lake Malawi.
That charcoal we picked up was for
the party that evening.
A pig was wired to a spit which was supported by sand mats.
We had them
along to use under the wheels of our 16 ton truck
"Claudia" if we got bogged down in sand or mud.
Roasting took several hours but was well worth it.
Overlanders
are those who seek
adventure, knowledge, and new experiences.
They are travelers who engage in
exciting and adventurous pursuits.
They are that strange breed who chose
to travel long distances, over
many days, with friends they have just met.
A word of explanation; Kandi
Beach Malawi is the site where
overlanders have for many years chosen to celebrate their adventure
with a party.
Not just any party but a dress up
party.
Not just any dress up party but one
for which one of your companions
has chosen your wardrobe.
We drew names to see whose outfit we
would be responsible for that
evening and of course we would never know who chose ours.
The vendors in the town were ready
with an unbelievable array of fine
attire as you will see below.
Nancy had he hair done in many tiny
braids which she tied up in two
ponytail like bunches.
We got bags with the clothing that
others had selected for us.
The then went and donned them and
returned to the amusement of all
concerned.
Everyone who took part in the fashion
show.
Dinner that evening.
While gathered around the campfire we
were introduced to one of the
local beverages, a interesting concoction called Shake Shake.
It is the absolute worst beverage I
have
ever consumed.
It tasted like it had been in my
stomach which
rejected it and I got to "enjoy" it again.
Which very nearly happened.
It is made from sorghum or
corn.
It tastes like bacteria and yeast
both work on the initial mix so it rots as it ferments.
The process continues even after it
is packaged so the cardboard cartons all bulge.
If left too long they would probably
explode.
However, it was popular with the
local folk.
There is no accounting for taste.
The next day Nancy's braids
came out leaving another unique
hair style.
Our friend was a totem of good
fortune.
A bike repair shop and vegetables for
sale along the road and Claudia
at a shopping center in Lilongwe.
Malawi is a very poor country but we
did see crops raised for export as
well as domestic use.
Papaya, tobacco, grain elevators,
greenhouses for flowers, and a lumber
mill.
A few random shots to give you a
sense of the country.
On to Zimbabwe where we visited the
Great Zimbabwe.
These stone walls are part of a
fortress nearly as old as the pyramids.
They were built without mortar at the
top of a hill that overlooked the
valley.
The site was well protected. To
approach you had to pass through
easily defended crevices.
Entry was through a doorway in the
wall.
Once inside you could appreciate the
skill and care of the builders.
It was built entirely without mortar.
On the valley floor were other
structures some more grand than the
fortress.
In the largest enclosure was a mound
that had been used as the place
where girls were introduced to the secrets of women.
Nancy as the matriarch of our group
had that duty for the young women in our
group.
There was a village near the valley
structures.
The folks there entertained us with a
dance and encouraged us to join
them
Bowls and sculptures were made of
clay, fired and then rubbed with
graphite.
We supported their endeavor by buying
several.
I really liked the symbolism of the
shaking hands.
This unusually well appointed camp
had fresh grapefruit ready for
picking.
Moving on.
The next camp had marula fruit
littering the ground.
It has been reported that elephants
can get drunk by eating the
fermented fruit.
That is probably not true unless
elephants have a very low tolerance
but it makes for am amusing mental picture.
The ripe fruit is good and the
fermented product, available as Amarula,
is especially so.
It was hard to believe that some of
these rock piles were natural or
even possible.
Roads in the Matobo Hills aren't
exactly smooth.
This video has the benefit of
stabilization in the camera and post
processing to reduce the shakes but it still gives you some idea.
People have been painting pictures on
the walls of this cave for
thousands of years.
Antelope, giraffe, and zebra were
most common with a few people
scattered about.
The arch in the last picture probably
represents the sky.
We had seen similar flattened arches
when we were in Egypt.
Those apparently represented a deity
with the arch being the body and
head, hands, and feet added at the ends.
We stopped at a village where Chief
Bondo told us about when he was a
young man
out hunting and was attacked by a leopard.
He was malled and would not have
survived if someone had not come by
and taken him, unconscious, to a hospital.
When he came to in a white room with
electric lights his first thought
was ... "Maybe I died".
He showed us the scars from the
attack on his back and legs.
And if you are wondering that is the
leopard's skin he is wearing.
He was proud to show the hole where
his spear had entered.
He also showed us some paintings in a
natural rock shelter near the
village.
We had fun with the kids there,
dancing, teaching, and learning some
new string figures.
Chief Bondo's grandson showed me
several figures.
I didn't understand most of his names
for them but we had fun anyway.
The first one is called Two Bridge in
other parts of Zimbabwe.
The second one he may have called
Spear and I have no idea what the
third one is.
Here is a simple escape trick he
showed me.
Get a loop of string and try to
follow, I bet you won't be able to unless you are very observant.
It is quick, he does it twice in 11
seconds.
he isn't hiding any moves, do exactly
what he does and it works.
Here is an clip as we were leaving of
him showing me that he
knew how to do the one
that I had taught him.
Take note of the vehicle we used
while we went in search of big game,
note especially the lack of solid sides.
Also note the sign says no firearms
are allowed so we didn't have that
option if attacked.
And the roads did not make it easy if
a quick getaway was required, we
had to clear fallen trees several times.
And if we happened to stumble on
poachers or have been mistaken for
them we would have certainly not have fared well.
The guide did say it was OK to
approach this rhino, just not too close.
His name was Gumboots.
With a
name like that it was hard to take
him as a serious threat.
His horn is starting to regrow it had
been cut off to reduce the chance
that poachers would shoot him.
Unfortunately the effort to keep him from being shot by poachers wasn't successful. He was killed less than one year after we met him. RIP Gumboots.
A mom and a baby at another location.
Nancy is pointing to the bullet hole
in a skull of one who had been
killed by poachers.
We stopped to take a picture and the
guide got ahead.
We found that it was easy to lose
sight of him in the tall grass.
Fortunately I had marked the
vehicle's location on my GPS.
You take a moment to relax whenever
you can.
Or grab a cool drink.
At another stop our guide spilled a
little
cola on the rock and these lizards
came out to lap it up.
Mother-in-law plant.
If you happen to eat some your throat
will swell until you can't talk.
How do you think it got it's name?
Another artist with one of the
carvings we bought.
A little of the wildlife in southern
Zimbabwe's national parks.
The footprint left no doubt about the
animals who had been giving
themselves dust baths here.
A night wildlife drive let us see
different view.
One of the surprises was when the
driver went crashing through the
brush toward a tree where a troop of baboons had bedded down.
Suddenly they were raining down all
over
the place.
I wish I had more than a mental
picture for you.
Another shot of our crew.
We made it to the city of Victoria
Falls.
One of our stops there was a deck
where we could look down at a water
hole and enjoy a libation.
Then on to Boma a restaurant
specializing in game foods and other
African foods and entertainment.
We were outfitted with appropriate
robes and some had their faces
decorated..
And plied with an array of foods that
you have to experience to believe.
In addition to the foods you see
below we also sampled zebra, eland,
impala, crocodile, and others.
One of the "highlights" of the
cuisine was the Mopani worms that were
served.
We tried them and have the
certificates to prove it.
Some of the entertainers.
Musicians playing Kalimbas (thumb
pianos) in gourd resonators.
Drum lesson and game.
We were each given a drum and then
this fellow taught us how to play
them, then tested us with a game.
A Doo Wop group also provided entertainment.
We bought their CD.
Victoria Falls is where
Stanley
finally found Livingston.
This tree is where they met.
The falls are more than a mile wide
1,708 m (5,604 ft).
The massive flow crashes into a
narrow gorge 108m (360 ft) deep
creating spray that has no place to go but back up to where you are,
at times entirely blocking the view of the other side.
An impressive sight.
When you visit be aware that you will
get very
wet.
It was like being in the most intense
downpour I have ever experienced
and I have exxperienced a hurricane.
The volume varies with the season
with the maximum monthly flow being
greater than that of Niagara.
Looking at the falls from downstream.
Zambezi river gorge.
The perpetual mist from the falls
gives a unique ecological mix.
Below the falls a bridge spans the
river.
It is used to get to and from Zambia
by
heavy truck traffic that passed
through town and occasional light pedestrians.
I found a couple of folks who showed
me some string figures.
Silvia showed me one she called Two
Bridge.
I saw the same figure on the island
of Fakarava in the South
Pacific where it is called Fishing Net.
She also showed me one she called
Four Bridge which has 4 diamonds
between the top and bottom strings and resembles the bridge over the
Zambezi.
It is nearly the same as one called
Jacob's Ladder in Kentucky.
This fellow showed me a another
figure.
I didn't get his name or the name of the figure.
We saw these animals while I was
wandering on the edge of town.
Local folks told about having
elephants come downtown on occasion.
Huge ivory tusks decorated one of the
old hotels near the bridge.
A cruses on the Zambezi above the
falls gave us the chance to see even
more wildlife.
And a beautiful sunset.
Thank
you Andrea and Marielle for
sharing the pictures from our trip.
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