VICTORIA FALLS

Victoria Falls one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. A magical place that I had a opportunity to spend 4 days ones again, I have been there 2 times before and now I went there to meet my husband, who is still riding the bicycle from Cairo to Cape Town. I flu from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls airport, the town also is called Victoria Falls in Zimbabwean side. Zimbabwe and Zambia are sharing the Vic Falls, the falls are actually part of the border line between these two countries.

When the plane is landing you can notice a cloud on the ground level and that indicates the falls from the air...Zambezi river is a large and long river with full of wild and bird life...

In the afternoon when the sun shines from the right angle to the misty cloud lifted up by the power of the water running down on the falls, you can see a rainbow, at least during an hour just under the bridge, it really

We only hear sad stories of Zimbabwe on the news... But I must say that Zimbabwean are very nice people and you feel safe to walk around in the town of Victoria Falls, I walked from the hotel to the border to the passport control, (you need visas for both countries paid in cash US dollars) and then crossed the border on the bridge to Zambia...

Lots of traffic crossed this bridge, people on foot, cars, trucks and trains... Goods for Zambia from South Africa and minerals from mines from Zambia...

This area has lots of history Dr Livingstone discovered the Victoria Falls and he met Stanley who has been searching  for Livingstone for many years... The town just few kms after the border in Zambia,  actually was named after Livingstone

At the border on the bridge you can do bungee jumping or just carry on walking on the other side and look at the side of the falls and then on the other side you can see the Zambezi river gorge...This guy is Peter, he is Zambian and we walked with me on the bridge trying to sell me some souvenirs, Mosi-oa-Tunya is the name that the native people of this region calls the Victoria Falls, it means "the smoke that thunders"...So this Peter off course had a brother who was a taxi driver and I needed to catch a taxi after getting my Zambian visa to go and meet my husband who was busy arriving just 3-4 kms away from the border post. I was told that the taxi will cost about 5 US$, but his brother told me that no, it will be 15 dollars, so I told him that he is trying to rip me off and went to see the two European looking guys who where at the passport control behind me. They were just busy getting in to their pick-up car and I asked if they could give me a lift, because this taxi was ripping me of, so I had a nice short lift with a native white Zimbabwean gentlemen and we manage to find the arrival of the Cairo to Cape Town Race...

ON THE BOAT...

We were lucky to have a place for the car on the cruise boat between Stockholm and Turku...and a nice cabin too...This time of the year lot of people have Christmas parties on the cruise boat... After a nice dinner in a Russian restaurant on board we did some serious wine shopping in the wine bar of the boat... Lot of excellent French wines at tax free prices for our Christmas meals... These  two photo were taken while waiting to get in to the car deck...

KIRSTENBOSCH BOTANICAL GARDEN

Cape Town has so many things to visit… by the sea and on the mountain tops, but one of my favorite is the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. It is part of the National biodiversity institute and it is one of the world heritage sites. Kirstenbosch is in the heart of the Cape Town, few km’s from city centre. The vast park area offers more than just a beautiful set up of different gardens, it is a place for picnics and summer Sunday concerts and art…It is a real jewel of the plant world…

Today we are in Stellenbosch for wine tasting and visiting the Cape Town wine routes…So from tomorrow you will find some photos of our visit in Stellenbosch and surroundings…

TAKE IT EASY

Ones again greetings from Kruger Park…I am sitting in the shady terrace, drinking nice glass of white wine and watching the elephants on the other side of the lake and all that from the comfort of the Mopani rest camp, where we have rented a big guest house. The days here has been really hot and we have seen so many animals and wau so many lions… Yesterday morning we did a morning walk with game rangers, we started 4.30 in the morning at sun rise and headed to a empty lake area, the north of Kruger Park is very dry at the moment. The evening before the walk we had seen lions eating a buffalo at that empty lake, so the rangers took us there by car and as we game to the area we could see few lions heading to the other side of that lake area… The rangers had guns and we had a short lesson about safety before starting our walk… I have done several walks in different parks and I must say that when you have seen the lions so close and you know that they are around you somewhere, it spice up your walk. During the walk we did not see many animals because they always run away when they can see or smell humans, but every time I have learnt a lot about reading the nature. After the walk and breakfast we packed our bags and food and headed to Mopani camp where we are staying now for two more nights … This morning we slept longer and started the first drive only after ten o’clock. We are just on the Tropic of the Capricorn and so we headed for a dirt road that is actually named after the tropic. After 16 km we stopped to observe some Zebras and Roan antilopes, which are very rare in the park and Tsessebies, which are the fastest antilopes in the Park, when we stay longer next to the animals or we don’t want to disturb them, my husbands who drives cuts the engine off. So this morning we enjoyd taking photos and then my husband wanted to start the engine again and nothing… Either the battery was flat or a cable must got loose with all that shaking while driving on the dirt road. Luckily this morning it wasn’t too hot and we had the cooler box with full of water to drink… And the mobile phone had a signal…

We called our camp site and they sent somebody to help us…Few days ago we weren’t so lucky, our tire burst and nobody around us, no connection for mobile phone and a very hot day… We had to get out of the car and while the guys where changing the tire, the ladies were watching around for lions and the two big elephants that were on their way towards us. Normally we should just wait inside the car and wait somebody to pass by and tell them to get help… Luckily our tire changing team was fast and we could carry on our journey. Anyway this is Africa, still wild even very modern, here the life circle follows it’s journey, waiting for rain to arrive and ones they get it everything gets so green in few days. Only ones who are unhappy are the humans because most of the times the storm will cut of the mobile connection so this is also a reason why I haven’t posted anything for two days… I hope you don’t care because I don’t I have had a most wonderful time ones again in Kruger Park…

SOUTH AFRICAN FOOD

Food is delicious in South Africa, where ever you go they have some local specialities. The Rainbow Cuisine is a wonderful cooking book and with a help of this book you can start a culinary journey in your own kitchen. On the plate Kingklip fish with garlic and butter sauce and stir fried vegetables and creamy spinach...