An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
We bid adieu to our African palace and were driven to the Vic Falls airport, not even minding the lack of air conditioning in the van as it was pleasantly cool outside. W
e had a bit of a tiff with the security personnel who insisted (not so nicely, we may add) that we run our camera through their x-ray machine which we did not want to do. We finally relented (the machine did have a sign on it saying that it was safe for film <1000asa) after taking their names and badge numbers and threatening U.S. sanctions, etc. Shortly afterward, the head of security (wearing a wild print shirt) came over to smile a lot and to smooth things over (we think); he said we should have come to him first. Whatever.
The flight to Harare was short and empty; the Harare (capital of Zimbabwe) airport was one of the smallest we’d seen that was serviced by two 747s that came in while we were there, and that appeared to be larger than the airport itself. There were also the requisite (as we’ve seen in so many of the non-first-world countries we’ve visited) 30 or more people standing on a balcony of the building just watching the (few) planes come and go.
Although we had a 2 1/2 hour layover, we got to spend it in the Air Zimbabwe/Kenya Air first class waiting room, which had the feel of an old public school teachers’ lounge (sorry, BC), but did have an impressive selection of cold drinks. Milton also took the opportunity to use the last of our Zimbabwe dollars (plus $4 U.S.) to buy a cool “White Water Rafting Zimbabwe” swatch with a raft that goes around the circumference on an invisible second hand.
The flight to Nairobi was a bit bumpy, but the flight attendants were memorably nice and sincere. The countryside we flew over was mostly lush green farmland and river deltas. We also took the opportunity to write and then exchange the Valentine’s Day cards that Wendy had so thoughtfully remembered to bring.
Upon landing, we were a bit peeved after traveling all day to get our bags and find that our ride was not there, but we used the opportunity to pick up the last two days’ Herald-Tribunes, which we hadn’t seen in a while. The very nice Cliff then appeared (along with his wife) and drove us in his big ol’ green Land Rover to this Leading Hotel, which is set on the main park in the center of town. (the info in the room does say that it is not safe to walk around after dark, though)
We then did the big switchover — loading up the duffel, which will be all that the two of us will be living out of for the next 6 days, due to weight restrictions on the flights from camp to camp. Milton then went for his monthly workout in their excellent fitness facility, which is evidently quite the club, with a large membership from outside of the hotel and a big, beautifully tiled outdoor pool, while Wendy luxuriated in a long, hot bubble bath.
We ordered room service and had chicken comsomme, prawns, curry vegetables (a medley of mushrooms, lentils, zucchini, spinach) and a snapper tartar, along with a Tusker - a Kenyan beer which was familiar from NYC. All of it was wonderfully tasty and flavorful.
It was then time for bed (as it was, in fact, an hour later here than where we came from), before setting off on our safari tomorrow. We did appreciate, though, the fact that since this hotel has central air, we didn’t have to apply/spray/rub any bug repellent after bathing this evening.