Category Archives: Travel

Back to Zimbabwe – The Road to Victoria Falls (Part 1: Bus Ride North)

Posted on by
2

7 July

This morning involved more packing than I had envisioned and it was good that we had planned to go to the mall for one last wifi session, as that time gave us what we needed to finish packing. We were doing one last ‘tough’ trip, without some of our amenities that we have taken with us around south Africa while we had our vehicle.

Alisa’s new backpack nearly fit everything we were taking until we saw that none of our supplies nor toiletries would fit, and so we repacked with half in the new Adidas soccer bag that I bought for this trip, that I have begun to hate immensely because of the strap not sitting flat on my shoulder and a rip that has formed and is to lengthen along the zippers end. Carrying it while heavy thus becomes an arduous task with the strap burying into my shoulder despite me constantly stopping to adjust it. While Alisa caved and bought a proper backpacking pack, I will unfortunately have to finish with the adidas bag and save up to buy one like Alisa’s before my next venture to Africa.

Once we were packed, Garth gave us a lift to Park Station where traffic made it difficult to get around, but the daylight made the area safer for us to walk through and we got out and walked the block and a half left to the station, with the normal stares from locals who must have wondered where we were going with Alisa carrying two backpacks, one on the front and her new one on her back, and me with a backpack, my duffle, and a Woolworth’s insulated bag with our remaining food.

Once checked in and off to the bus, I could immediately see Alisa doubting her approval of me picking Continue reading →

Last Minute Packing for Zimbabwe

Posted on by
2

July 6

Today we hung out at the house and started packing. It took us awhile to really get started because we had to do laundry and separate everything that was going with us for two weeks from what we would leave at Elna’s. In addition, we packed my nice REI rolling duffle with all our souvenirs that Alex will take back to the states with him.

Alex spent a good portion of the day registering for classes and organizing our transportation to Cape Town. We have decided to bus from Joburg to Kimberely and Kimberely to Cape Town and then we will take the Shoshaloza train back to Joburg from Cape Town. I booked us at Cape Town Backpackers for our 4 nights in Cape Town, which I believe is where my mother and I stayed in 2007. So off from Joburg on the 19th at 10am, arrive in Kimberley in the afternoon, have dinner, then see the sights all on the 20th, and catch another bus that night taking us onwards to Cape Town. We’ll depart Cape Town on the 25th, taking a 24 hr train trip back to Joburg so we can have one more day in Gauteng before we fly onwards.

At 8 pm we order Italian take-away from across the street and went to Garth’s friends house to watch the semi-final match between Uruguay and the Netherlands. I think Alex enjoyed it because David, Garth’s friend, knew enough about soccer to have a conversation about players and teams with him, which Alex doesn’t get when he watches the games with me.

Last minute packing tomorrow and then were off to Zimbabwe.

Gold Reef City and Our Trip North Through Zimbabwe

Posted on by
1

After last night’s planning and booking for our overland trip through Botswana, we went to booking the rest of the journey in order to have us in Victoria Falls by the 11th of July. This meant booking a bus from Johannesburg to Bulawayo where we will then catch a train that runs from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls. Luckily Elna’s odd internet allowed us to load Computicket.com and we purchased our bus tickets of R280 on an overnight bus departing 1400 on the 7th of July, which will have us into Bulawayo at just past 0500 the next day. From there, we will catch the train that departs Bulawayo every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday to Victoria Falls. Many travel sites have talked about doing this, but it wasn’t until we stumbled across seat61 that I felt much comfortable about going this route. Tickets for the train can only be purchased day of, and the website makes it seem like this train is never full, so bookings are not difficult. Thus upon arrival (which will surely be much past the 0500 that is advertised), we shall head to the station and book a ticket for the train that departs each night just before 2100 and completes the 480 km trek north to the Falls. This also means we can save two nights of accommodation by taking the two overnight trips, however, our last overnight trip to Maputo wasn’t very restful and it wiped me out the next day (though the after effects of my food poisoning probably didn’t help). Thus we are looking for someplace in Bulawayo that we can perhaps drop our stuff off, and maybe catch a nap. Lonely Planet doesn’t have many backpackers listed, and neither does SafariNow.com. We shall do more research on possible accommodation as we get closer to departure in the case we do need to sleep the day away someplace.
Continue reading →

Gautrain Bus: The Calm Before the Tempest

Posted on by
2

July 1

Drove from Elna’s to the airport this morning to return our car to Tempest. The guy inspected the car and gave us a good to go, so we headed off to the Gautrain. On our walk through the airport we stopped by several shops to see if there were any sales on World Cup memorabilia. A few had French and Italian apparel on sale, but that was about it. I guess we have to wait until July 12 for the real sales.
Continue reading →