I lived in southern Africa from 1956 to 1980 and have traveled there often since. Now I'm going back and this blog will record both new plans and past experiences including diaries from many trips, helpful tips for first time travelers, and a few tales from the past. Those interested in Africa are invited to comment or add your own stories!
On our way up Abel Erasmus Pass. Stunning scenery.
Leaving then Kruger National Park, our
destination was the Manor Guest House in Lydenburg. We stopped for a tour of the Cheetah
Sanctuary, or the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center (HESC) where Joe had booked an
11:00 a.m. tour several months before. When we arrived the staff had no record
of our booking. We were shown a 25 minutes National Geographic video and taken
on a 30 minute drive in a Land Rover. We
drove between numerous, spacious fenced enclosures and were disappointed that
we couldn’t see any of the animals close-up without a fence between us. The
lunch was good however, salvaging some of the disappointment. An African Grey
parrot kept Avery amused. The HESC is a worthy project but when you have spent
ten days seeing wildlife roaming free in the open bush it is a disappointment.
The
scenery along the highway to Lydenburg was ever changing as we left the bush
and drove westward to Abel Erasmus Pass, past the Blyde River Canyon turnoff
and up the mountain to the J. G Strijdom Tunnel. We stopped to look at the crafts and visit a
bit with the women who sat there all day with their small children enticing
tourists to buy their wares. We drove on
and detoured to Blyde River Canyon overlook and took photos of the Three
Rondavels on the opposite the edge of the gorge. Regrettably we had not allowed
ourselves time to explore this region which is very picturesque and has many
interesting stops. It was late in the day when we arrived in Lydenburg and city
traffic was just like rush hour at home.
The streets were filled with people walking in all directions as it was
the end of the workday. It took a while
to find our B&B (Manor Guesthouse) and it was a little difficult to park
the large van in the small gated area.
The Manor Guest House - Lydenburg
The accommodations were spacious and lovely,
however, very cold. The hostess turned
on our electric blankets and the wall space heater. CJ and Joe and Jan had free standing
fireplaces in their rooms—but J&J couldn’t light the fire because they had
no matches. We took the van and went in
search of something to eat and found a pizza-fish place, fast food that was
filling and satisfying. Michelle caught
the attention of the girls behind the counter, they noticed she was American,
and soon they all left their posts and were asking all sorts of questions about
the US. Pictures were taken, the food
was delicious and we were on our way to Spar (store) for more provisions. Biscuits disappeared quickly and we had
another day on the road tomorrow. The
beds were warm and comfortable, but the wi-fi was tricky. We had been without email for a several days
and we needed to check in.
It was nice to have coffee and tea service in our
room, so we enjoyed a cup before packing up and having breakfast at 7:30 Wednesday in the sun-room in the main
house. We again had typical African
fare, a choice of cereals, fruit, yogurt and cooked breakfast of eggs,
mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon or sausage and toast.
The N4 to Pretoria
Our drive was mostly on a toll highway to
Pretoria. We had a standing PBJ (peanut
butter and jelly – for those who are not familiar with this staple) picnic at a
rest stop on the way. Pretoria (Tswhana)
is a bustling capitol city to the north of Johannesburg. We stopped at the historic Union Buildings
where the administrative government for South Africa has its offices. The lovely gardens were not in bloom, as it
was wintertime, but the vista was impressive and there were crafts to
browse. Michelle and Avery picked up
small gifts for Avery’s friends.
Joe phoned Barry Blair (old friend from Rhodes University and Rhodesia) and got directions to
his home. Of course, we missed a turn on
the busy confusing highways but Kevin used his GPS and rescued us. Barry welcomed us and served tea before
Hilary arrived home from teaching her Pilates class and reminded him of the
milk tart (melktert), so we each had a slice of the wonderful pudding. Joe and Jan wanted to visit with their
long-time friends and the kids were eager to move around so Barry and Joe took
them to nearby MonteCasino where they toured the Bird Sanctuary and shops. Jan stayed to visit with Hilary and then we
made plans to have dinner at our airport hotel that night. J&J then met the kids at Monte-
Casino. Before entering, we had to pass
through a security check, opening our bags and being frisked—they were looking
for handguns. We sat with the kids while
they had an Italian dinner and heard tales of the birds attacking them in the
aviary. They laughed so hard telling us
about their experience there.
Historic Union Buildings - Administrative Capitol of SA.
We encountered rush-hour traffic on the drive to
the Garden Court Hotel at O.R. Tambo Airport.
An accident brought traffic to a halt—no matter what country one may be
in, highway traffic can be a pain.
Thankfully Kevin used his GPS to get us on the right highway. As we neared the airport, we could see the
hotel, but couldn’t find an exit to get to it, so we went in circles until
Kevin found the exit we needed on his GPS.
We were all a bit stir-crazy by the time we unloaded our luggage. Joe needed to return the rental car but
decided to call the agency and asked them to pick it up at the hotel—the road
maze was too much to deal with a second time. Advice to anyone visiting O. R. Tambo airport in Johannesburg for the first time (or tenth time!) - call for help.
We put our luggage in our room just as Barry and
Hilary arrived. It was so much fun
sitting down for a relaxing buffet dinner and catching up, laughing like we
always do together. The dinner was
delicious and the puddings plentiful. We
had long ago given in to the delicious fare. _____________________________
And so ended our adventures in the northern provinces. Tomorrow we would fly to the coast at Port
Elizabeth and bring Joe back to the familiar Eastern Cape where he had attended
High School and University in the 50s and 60s.
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I interrupt the usual narrative about our 2012 safari plans to talk about a brief visit to Egypt 50 years ago.
The Great Sphinx and Khafra's Pyramid at Giza - 1961
Current events in Egypt seem to have attracted some attention around the world. I am not an expert in foreign affairs nor have I had any experience in having a domestic affair. But I have lived and worked in several countries and have traveled to, or through many more, including Egypt. Probably because of this I have an abiding interest in world affairs and events. The political shifts taking place in the Middle East now are remarkable. Egypt is the largest and most populous country in the Middle East and what happens there will have significant consequences around the world.
We discuss American history across the span of a few centuries. Egyptian history spans many millennia. Its recorded history goes back, some estimates say, to about 3150 BC – That’s over 5,000 years!
When I was seventeen years old I had the good fortune to be able to pass through Egypt while traveling with my family. We were living in South Africa at the time and my father was due to return to the United States on business. He planned a sea voyage up the east coast of Africa, starting at Port Elizabeth, on the 17,382 ton HMS Durban Castle. The ship was one of Her Majesty’s mail ships in the Union Castle Line which had won its initial contract in 1857 to carry mail from England to South Africa and on to Calcutta. When the Suez Canal opened in 1869 the Union Castle line predecessor (The Union Line) stopped using the Cape sea route for traffic to India but continued to grow in importance as a mail and freight service to and from South Africa and coastal ports around the entire African continent. In 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, precipitating the Suez Crisis, temporarily ending shipping through that vital and much more economical route. By the time our voyage was to begin, in December 1961, the Union Castle Line had reopened the East Coast route. I recently learned that the famous “round Africa” service closed one year later and so my family was fortunate to have made this amazing voyage when we did.
My mother (right) with our tour guide in Tahrir Square.
Eventually the Union Castle Line made its final mail ship voyage in 1977, ending a 120 year history of operation. Its demise was brought about by the introduction of faster and more economical jet airliners in the 1960s and 1970s. For a fascinating look at this historic steamship service go to: http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/History%20of%20UnionCastle%20Line.htm
My account of our east African adventure will be the subject of a future story in this blog series in which I will try recollect and write about our stops in Durban, Lorenco Marques (now named Maputo) and Beira, Dar es Salaam, the island of Zanzibar, Tanga, Mombasa, Aden (in Yemen), and on through the Red Sea to Port Suez at the southern end of the canal.
We arrived in Port Suez two days after Christmas. My father had planned to stay on the ship with my young brother David who was only six years old. Early in the morning my mother, my twin brother John and I were taken ashore by lighter and boarded a tour bus for a road trip to Cairo. For most of the drive, which took only an hour or so, all we could see was sand on either side of the road. To the east, looking in the direction of the canal, we would see the funnels of ships passing through the seaway. Only the moving funnels were visible as sand dunes blocked sight of anything else. It looked, for all the world, like ships sailing across the desert.
Approaching the sprawling city Cairo we passed through miles of poor suburbs, constructed of red mud covered bricks and seemingly all part of one massive contiguous structure, intersected with a myriad of narrow alleyways. I knew that if I were dropped off anywhere in those streets I would never be able to find my way out again. From recent photos I have seen of that city, much of the impoverished areas of Cairo look the same today. Bicycles - thousands and thousands of bicycles, moved along the streets making driving a car or bus seem impossible.
In the center of the city we drove along the Nile River and crossed several bridges. Modern hotels and apartments lined the river in places. We stopped at the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities and walked through the galleries for an hour or so. The first museum was built in 1835 but was moved several times until 1902 when it built where it now stands on Tahrir Square. Our guide, a young lady whose English-speaking skills were excellent took us into some of the more famous galleries. Only after I had taken several photographs of Tutankhamun’s famous gold and bejeweled burial mask did I realize we were not permitted to take photos. I left the museum feeling a little guilty but no one seemed to be following us as we left to move on to the pyramids. King Tut’s mask is made of 24.5 lbs of solid gold and is thought to be a good likeness to the young king in real life.
The 3,000 year old gold mask of Tutankhamun
On the outskirts of Cairo we arrived at the Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza and I have attached a photo or two of the scene. The sphinx and the pyramids here were built about 4,500 years before and are, I believe, the largest pyramids in Egypt. We were able to walk a short distance into the largest pyramid or Khafra’s Pyramid and we climbed a short way up one side. The square blocks used at the base of the structure are huge, standing way above my head. I learned that the 66 ft high (20M) Sphinx was largely covered by sand when archaeologists began to excavate it in the 1880s. An extensive network of tombs and ceremonial avenues was revealed around it when the excavation was completed. Of course the ubiquitous camels were everywhere. I didn’t ride one and still, after 50 years I have no regrets about my decision.
After a short rest stop and snack at a nearby hotel we boarded our bus and began the drive north to Port Said. The drive took us through vast Nile River irrigation areas and revealed mile after mile of productive agricultural land, unlike the arid desert we had passed through near the Suez Canal earlier in the day.
Port Said is the northern most town of the Suez Canal and it lies on the Mediterranean Sea. Our ship had passed through the canal and we would meet it there. Our final stop in Egypt was a small restaurant near the harbor. We had dinner, which no doubt included some Egyptian delicacies, but I don’t remember too much about the food. I do remember a bevy of belly dancers on the dance floor to entertain us. Well after dark we were transported to our ship by small boat and shortly after boarding we set sail into the Mediterranean Sea. Our next destination was the Italian port city of Genoa. Passing the Island of Sicily the hot lava spewing from Mount Etna was visible the following night. We reached the busy harbor of Genoa the next afternoon. It was New Years Eve.
I am more certain of this date than any other date on our journey. Our hotel was close to the harbor and at midnight on December 31, 1961 every fog horn on every ship erupted to welcome the New Year.
The Zambezi River near Imbabala Safari Camp - 2001
Imbabala Safari Camp
On Thursday, July 19, after two days at Elephant Camp, the schedule that Chris Worden of African Bush Camps has proposed calls for a late morning transfer toImbabala Safari Camp. So, after a morning elephant ride (ho-hum) we would have breakfast and be picked up by Wild Horizons at 11:00 a.m. for the one hour drive westward on the road from Victoria Falls town to the Kasane Border Post (Botswana).
Jan and I have been to Imbabala twice before and each visit provided wonderful experiences. Some photographs of our previous trips are shown here.
The thatched roofed chalets at Imbabala - 2001
Chris Worden's itinerary describes Imbabala as follows:
Situated where Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia converge, 80km west of Victoria Falls, Imbabala Camp has its own concession bordering the Chobe National park in Botswana, in which game drives are conducted and is directly on the banks of the Zambezi River, also offering pontoon cruises on the river to view the game and extensive bird life.
(This is the only place in the world where 4 countries meet)
The lodge offers every comfort for your sojourn in the wild. There are just 8 thatched chalets accommodating a maximum of 18 Guests, so individual attention and service is guaranteed.
Each chalet has a view over the Zambezi. Each has en-suite facilities and mains electricity.
Meals are taken Al fresco or in the main dining room, and are of a very high culinary standard.
The swimming pool offers cool relaxation during the heat of the day.
Activities at Imbabala include 4x4 game viewing safaris in the Lodge's own concession, walking safaris and river cruises on the Zambezi River on Imbabala's own pontoon boat - enabling close viewing of the wildlife that comes down to the River to drink as well as the amazing variety of birds that are attracted by the papyrus reeds that border the Zambezi.
Opposite the camp is Nampini Island, the home of the only population of Sitatunga antelope in Zimbabwe and you will try and photograph these shy animals by pontoon.
3 nights at Imbabala Camp, in a twin bedded room, with en suite facilities, on a fully inclusive basis.
_________________________
There are not too many places in Africa where such a profusion of wildlife, especially elephants, can be viewed up close from a boat. Several times we were able to float alongside herds of elephant as they swam across the wide Zambezi.
Watching elephant cross the Zambezi from a pontoon boat. Imbabala Camp is in the background.
Elephants are, without any doubt whatsoever, our favorite animal to observe in the wild. The activities of their disciplined family units constantly amaze us. They are exceptionally intelligent creatures and the tenderness and affection that adults openly display toward their young is remarkable.
A typical family unit along the Zambezi River.
Is it obvious that we want to return to this magical place?
Preparing for school in South Africa
The two-day voyage around the Cape of Good Hope from Cape Town had been under overcast skies and, as I recall, too cool and windy to spend much time on deck aboard the SS Enterprise. At last the city lay before us as we turned to port and entered the harbor in Algoa Bay.
It was the middle of winter when we docked in Port Elizabeth (hereinafter referred to as “PE"). It was cloudy and overcast and a little windy as our floating home for the last two weeks was eased into the harbor and tied up at berth. We were met and driven out of the harbor area past the 175 feet (53.5M) tall red brick Campanile (or clock tower) standing as a memorial to the arrival of 4,000 British settlers in the area in 1820. PE actually became a city in 1820, 16 years after the town of Uitenhage, 15 miles to the north. For many years I would always have a mental image of PE as a windy and dismal place, no doubt due to the weather conditions on the day I arrived. But the place actually was then, as it certainly is today, a picturesque city overlooking a beautiful bay. It has always been called “The Windy City” however for good reason. The city had been named for the late wife of the Governor of the Cape Province back in 1820, in case anyone might have thought it was named for Queen Elizabeth the 1st.
The family would spend a week at the Marine Hotel, south of the city along Marine Drive. As soon as we had settled in to the hotel my Dad would be taken to visit the tyre (South Africa spelling for “tire”) factory where he would work for the next three years. The day after our arrival we were driven to Uitenhage, past the tyre plant and up the hill to our new neighborhood called Mosel. The house we were to occupy was one of about ten homes that had been built since 1948 when the Goodyear plant was built. It wasn’t ready to be occupied so we moved into a smaller house across the street, where we stayed for a few months. These were not luxurious homes but they were certainly well built and comfortable.
As it was still winter we were happy to find the days mild and sunny. Houses here did not have air conditioning, either heat or cold. Space heaters or, in many cases, fireplaces would be used to warm the rooms during those brief months when the weather would turn cold and drop down into the 40s. The electrical supply was 220 volts, 15 amps, so the puny little two-pin American plugs wouldn’t work and the several dozen 110V light bulbs we had brought with us were useless as well. It was in those first weeks of our stay in South Africa that I took pliers, screw driver and other tools in hand and fitted all of our lamps and smaller appliances with the large three-pin 15 amp plugs required and discovered that I really enjoyed fixing things.
One of the changes we had to get used to was driving on the left side of the road. Most cars had the steering wheel on the right but some of the Goodyear management people had American cars that had been imported without that modification. Our green Nash Rambler would stand out for years to come because of its left side steering wheel and, of course, for its size. It also had a six cylinder engine which made it a fairly potent machine. Most local cars were smaller and there were an unusually high number of Volkwagen Beetles in the region. The Volkwagen (hereinafter known as “VW”) and Goodyear plants were adjacent to one another in Uitenhage. Much of the tyre production was passed on to the VW plant through a conveyor system.
The town of Uitenhage, known as “The Garden Town” with good reason, was built on a series of hills on the east side of the Swartkops River. The fertile river valley itself had, since the 1820s, enabled local farmers to provide the growing sea traffic around the Cape with provisions – fresh vegetables and fruit, meat and dairy products. It had also become a major center for the South African Railways with large maintenance and repair facilities after the first rail line from PE to Kimberly was built in 1878. Following the discovery of the world’s richest diamond mine in Kimberly in 1871, the rail system took on strategic importance in the growth of the rich mining industries inland and gave both Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage notable roles to play in the history of this southernmost tip of the African continent.
The fact that we had settled, at least for the coming three years, in a small town, in an important industrial and agricultural hub would, I understand now with the benefit of hindsight, give my brothers and me an unusually richly textured environment to grow and develop in. I guess it would be described today as a broad-based socio-economic environment; just as Littleton High School in Colorado, where my three children went to school, is described today. The friends we were to make at school came from all walks of life. My classmates and neighbors would be the sons and daughters of railway machinists, farmers, auto-workers, tyre builders and of course all of the other job categories that go along with an industrial and agricultural area; lawyers, bankers, doctors, merchants, and delicatessen owners. Of course we would be attending an all-white school, but at the time that didn’t seem different to us, coming as we had from the American Deep South.
The old Muir College Boys High School - photographed in 2001. The school has since moved to a new location with modern facilities. The building pictured here was built in 1875.
In the first few days of our move to Uitenhage we made a visit to see the Principal of Muir College Boys High School. His name was Harold Skillicorn (hereinafter to be referred to as “Skilly.” What else?) He wasn’t a tall man, probably about 5’8” in his polished black shoes. He had very bushy eyebrows, a stern look in his eye and over his suit and tie he always wore a black academic gown, as did all of the teachers. I remember his surprise when my brother and I replied to his questions with a “yes sir” or “no sir.” Previous American students had not found those terms of respect easy to get used to. But none of the previous American families who had transferred here were raised in the Deep South!
I can still remember Skilly’s office. The school building was old, with weathered wooden flooring and wood paneling half-way up the walls of offices and classrooms. His office was just inside the double-door entrance to the main building, on the left. On the right, across the hall, was the school assembly hall in which several hundred uniformly dressed boys would assemble each morning before class for a brief prayer and announcements. The whole atmosphere of this building and this institution was one of a rich tradition and history.
Then we went to buy our school uniforms. My twin brother and I were just at the age where we were growing weary of our mother’s desire to dress us alike. Now we would be wearing uniforms that would be just like those being worn by hundreds of other boys.
We've received a proposal from Chris Worden of African Bush Camps. It describes in mouth-watering detail an eight-night safari experience in the Victoria Falls, Upper Zambezi and Hwange National Park. If we could afford it today, we would be leaving almost immediately. The following extract describes only the first two days.
Jan at the falls - March 2001
Tuesday 17th July, 2011: After breakfast Safari Club will transfer you to Johannesburg Airport, where you will check in and connect to your British Airways/Comair flight 6285, to Victoria Falls, departing Johannesburg at 1125hrs, arriving Victoria Falls at 1310hrs.
Here you will be met by Wild Horizons Safaris and transferred to The Elephant Camp, situated only 15 minutes from Victoria Falls Airport and 10 minutes from Victoria Falls village and the Victoria Falls themselves.
Riding an Elephant in August - the dry season
March 2001 - in the rainy season
The tented suites are all equipped with indoor and outdoor showers, huge baths, private lounges, mini bar and tea/coffee stations, overhead fans plus air conditioning and are all mosquito proofed.
The Elephant Camp overlooks a waterhole that is fed by natural streams in the rainy season that rush down to meet the Masuwe River, and the Zambezi gorges below the Victoria Falls.
Bush walks and birding for guests supply boundless photographic opportunities in addition to the variety of activities that are available in Victoria Falls.
Interaction with the resident Elephants and Elephant back safaris are a unique attraction of this camp.
Managing the Elephant Camp is Jonathan Elway, who has 21 years experience in the tourism industry.
The views from the elephant camp towards the spray of the Victoria Falls are breathtaking!
2 nights at The Elephant Camp, in a twin bedded room, with en suite facilities, on a fully inclusive basis.
These photos from our previous visits to Victoria Falls and Elephant Camp may put this whole mouth-watering reference above into better perspective.
Leaving Civilization
Let me recap my historical origins prior to stepping on African soil in Port Elizabeth in July 1956.
Indigenous peoples inhabited the Gadsden, Alabama, area for thousands of years and the agrarian Mississippian culture lived here from 1000 to 1600 AD. The French first settled in the Mobile region in 1702 and knew the local tribe as the Alibamon. The Spanish Hernando DeSoto expedition of 1540 described the Alibamo tribe of the area.
I had been born and raised in the city of Gadsden. In 1956 it was not considered a big city having a population, as I recall, of about 70,000. The first white settlement in the area was reputedly a house built in about 1825. After 1840 the first survey of land was made and the first steamboat arrived on the Coosa River from Mobile, on the Gulf of Mexico, in 1845. The new “town” was named Gadsden in honor of Colonel James Gadsden of South Carolina who, a few years later, would gain notoriety for his part, as American Ambassador to Mexico, in the Gadsden Purchase. The Gadsden Purchase was the final acquisition of territory from Mexico by the United States in 1854 and comprised an area about the size of Scotland across southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
It should be noted that Col. Gadsden was an extremely vocal supporter of the practice and continuation of slavery. The State of Alabama was to gain statehood in 1819 although it seceded from the union in 1861 at the start of the American Civil War. Also noteworthy is that Alabama created a public school system only during the years of reconstruction which followed the end of the war in 1865. It was during those post Civil War years that the Ku Klux Klan would gain enormous influence.
“After the Civil War, the state was still chiefly agricultural, with an economy tied to cotton. Planters resisted working with free labor during Reconstruction and sought to re-establish controls over freedmen. In the early years the Ku Klux Klan had numerous independent chapters in Alabama that attacked freedmen and other Republicans. After it was suppressed, insurgent whites organized paramilitary groups, such as the Red Shirts and White League, which acted more openly to suppress black voting. After regaining power by the late 1870s, in the last decade of the nineteenth century, white Democrats passed electoral laws and constitutional amendments to disfranchise most blacks and many poor whites. Having regained power in the state legislature, Democrats passed Jim Crow laws, including racial segregation in public facilities, to restore white supremacy.” (Source: Wikipedia)
I mention these historical facts to put my new home region and school system into perspective. We were thought to be going back in time, to settle in a third world country, which would almost certainly be backward in technology and education. My parents clearly did not think this way, but many of our family back home certainly did. From the moment we set sail to cross the Atlantic, they were counting the days until we would return and reestablish ourselves in civilization once more. That my father would take his young wife and three small children into such an uncertain and unsafe environment was disgraceful.
My brother and I would be attending an all boys High School, Muir College Boys High School, which was first established in 1822 as the “English Free School,” in the town of Uitenhage; established 18 years earlier on April 25, 1804 (41 Years before naming of the new town of Gadsden). It was in the town of Uitenhage (pronounced U-tin-hāge) that the Goodyear Tire Company had built a manufacturing plant in 1948, and where my dad would become the Production Director for the company.
More on these topics in my next post.
Africa is a very big place! 6,812 miles from Cape Town to Cairo.
The challenge of planning a trip to Africa is in deciding what to leave out - not what to include.
We are18 months away from fulfilling our desires to return to Africa and our initial hope was that we could include four nights in one of those very special camps in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. The good folks at Travel Beyond (http://travelbeyond.com) gave us an estimate which turned out to be $6,400 per person for four nights and that includes flights in and out (of Maun or Kasane), all meals, game drives etc. That is way out of our budget. We have done 15- 17 day tours of other areas of southern Africa for that amount of money. The worst thing is that, because we would have a child or children with us, under the age of 12, we would have to pay an extra $500 per day to reserve our own 4WD vehicle for game drives.
So - on to Plan B. This morning we talked, via Skype) with Chris Worden of African Bush Camps. (http://www.bushcamps.com/) Chris lives and works from the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. ABC's core business is safari marketing, consulting and sales. Quite simply they focus on planning and arranging tailor-made safaris in Africa for independent travellers and small groups.
Quite frankly, when I saw that ABC has permanent staff in Victoria Falls, Kariba and other locations in nearby Zambia, as well as offices in the UK, I was anxious to talk with them. My Sunday email was answered promptly by Monday morning. When I described our objectives to Chris, he immediately gave us some great ideas on how to plan a tour of the Victoria Falls area, staying at kid-friendly bush camps. I have been to Victoria Falls many, many, times, so to talk to someone who could update me on current conditions and facilities was a relief.
Taking refreshments at Makalolo Plains Camp
We asked about Elephant Camp and Imbabala Safari Camp on the Zambezi River. Chris confirmed that these camps had upgraded since we last visited and were still reasonably priced, high quality, camps. He then suggested we consider Makalolo Plains or Little Makalolo Camps in the Hwange Game Reserve. So we threw together a tentative passenger list and slightly more positive dates and emailed him. By tomorrow we will have a budget cost for the first nine days of our Zimbabwe Tour.
On the subject of travel - generally
A few final recollections from my pre-Africa youth concerns the whole subject of travel. Few southerners in the first half of the 20th century and before (1865 to 1950s) ventured far from home. Heaven forbid it would be necessary to go north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The movement of new industry into the southern states slowly began to change the “bunker” mentality that had lingered since the defeat and surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox.
When my dad was 22 years old and had been a tire builder for four years he was sent to Sweden as part of a team of trainers to help start up a new Goodyear tire plant near Stockholm. So in 1938 he crossed the Atlantic and worked for a year in an instructor’s role. He made friends with yankees and foreigners and saw quite a bit of Europe, getting around by train. Before going back to the USA, he was in Berlin in 1939 when Americans in Europe were advised to leave in expectation of the conflict that was just months away.
My dad (left) with friends in Copenhagen, 1939
He boarded the first available train and headed home, getting a berth on a steamer out of France. So he had a taste of the outside world, unlike most of his contemporaries. In the years after I was born in 1944 my dad would have two weeks of vacation every year. My parents could only afford to go on vacation every other year, and we would load the car to drive to south Alabama or on to St. Petersburg, Florida. It was a two-day journey each way. Of course the Interstate Highway system had not been thought of at the time, though it was possible that President Eisenhower had plans for such a system all along.
I vividly remember the narrow paved roads from Gadsden into south Alabama along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Early on when I was about two or three, we stayed in a very “modest” (could also be described as run-down) cabin along a waterway in Gulf Shores. Of course there was an outhouse in the back. Meals were cooked on a two-burner, Coleman, portable gas stove. My dad had rented a small boat and outboard motor and would take his boys out fishing. At a very early age I became familiar with baiting hooks and taking fish off the line. Looking over the sand dunes we could see the tops of ships passing by along the Inland Waterway.
The roads through the rolling wooded hills were dotted with old farmhouses, and large barns with advertising on the roofs. Pecan orchards were common along the way and, of course the ubiquitous Burma Shave signs offered some humor. We drove with the windows wide open because there was no air-conditioning. Tourist stops along the way would advertise two-headed snakes and five-legged alligators. Dad would let us tell him where to turn at road junctions, so we would learn to read the highway maps and watch for highway signs. If there was any uncertainty he would wait until we studied the map and then follow our recommendation on which way to go. My interest in and love of maps would continue throughout my life.
For a couple of those vacations we stayed at the same motel on the shore of the Gulf in St. Petersburg. On our final trip, in 1954, we stayed in a two story home for several days. It was a modern home with wood-paneling throughout and we could see the ocean from our upstairs bedroom. The main feature was the hidden storage spaces behind the wall panels upstairs. Our young imaginations ran wild as we found new hiding places and explored their secrets. Silver Springs, Florida, was a memorable stop over one year. We visited an alligator farm and saw Manatees in the clear springs for the first time. It was the first time I was exposed to the animal kingdom in earnest, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
Nine months after this vacation, in March 1955, we welcomed the arrival of my young brother David who was to accompany us on our journey to the Dark Continent at the tender age of one year.
