VICTORIA FALLS
The town is small, so we were able to walk to the falls from our hotel. The falls stretch for almost a mile however, at the time we were there, they were not at full capacity. Poverty is rampant here my shoes were stolen out of my checked bag at the airport. Rafting down the Zambezi River was truly an experience to say the least. Our tour guide picked us up at our hotel and took us to the Zambia side of the river to start our trip. As we rafted down the river, we could see park rangers with rifles on the shoreline in case we ran into alligators in the calm part of the water. Yikes! We got dumped during one of our Class V rapids, and when we all got pulled back into the raft Dick's face was full of blood. Not good with all the organisms in the water. He hit a rock and broke his cheek bone. Black eye the rest of the trip. We had to climb 750 feet, straight up, in sweltering heat, out of the gorge.
CAPE TOWN
Estie's friends showed us a GREAT time in Cape Town, visiting Table Mountain, and surrounding area. They were such funny" tour guides", had us laughing non-stop. On our last night we had a delicious hake dinner at the Harbor front - final tab for four of us, dinner and beer - $20 USD. Can't beat that!
BOTSWANA
Our river safari started in Botswana. Upon entering the country, we had to clean our shoes with disinfectant to prevent transmission of disease. We hired our own private tour guide for the day who talked to us about their culture. Very interesting.
BLOEMFONTEIN
The working farm we stayed at here, De Oude Kraal, was outstanding. They have a five star chef who cooked us a seven course meal - cost $11 USD. Unbelievable! The guest houses were gorgeous. We enjoyed sitting at the bar talking to the owner. The bar was covered in ties that guests have left over the years. Definitely worth the drive from Johannesberg.
GARDEN ROUTE
We drove the Garden Route from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town along the southern coast of South Africa. The towns, beaches, and Tsitsikamma National Park were beautiful. Our final stay was in Stellenbosch (just outside of Cape Town), at a guest house in vineyard country, where Estie spent many a time at. While there we did some wine tasting at Rust en Verde and bought a bottle of wine to drink on our second anniversary.
