Around The World

Landing in Johanesburg for the third time in a month was weird. First time I was excited to be in Africa, second time I was excited to be going to Egypt but this time I was on the way home. Two tours. One month. I was exhausted wanted to sleep for days in my own bed. It was the first time I had been overseas for more than a week and certainly the first time where it was anything but luxurious.

Johannesburg International Airport is the main hub of South African Airways and the major primary airport for both international and domestic travel in all of Africa. After going to a few duty free stores looking for books and dvds, I took some photos of the World Cup Memorabilia. The 2010 World Cup would be held in South Africa and it was an exciting time for the city and the country to showcase itself to the world. As such the airport had been doing massive improvements.

It has recently been renamed O R Tambo Airport after Oliver Tambo. In 1985 he was elected President of the ANC. He returned to South Africa in 1991 after over 30 years in exile, and was elected National Chairperson of the ANC in July of the same year. Along with Nelson Mandala, Tambo played a pivotal part in the abolition of apartheid. Tambo died aged 75 due to complications from a stroke on April 24, 1993.

As you walk to the departure gate there is a great big sign that says, ‘We hope to see you again in Africa soon.’ Trust me, I hope so too.

Egypt is perhaps best known as the home of the ancient Egyptian civilisation, with its temples, hieroglyphs, mummies, and – visible above all – its pyramids. Egypt stimulates the imagination of western tourists like few other countries and is probably one of the most popular tourist destinations world-wide – too bad its national carrier didn’t give me the best introduction – unfriendly staff, bad movies and bad food. The only upside was the view from the plane as we descended. The Nile.

The plane landed in this ancient land early in the morning and we were met by Shaggy, a representative of On The Go who picked us up and got us through this massive and busy airport quickly.

The tour was beginning that morning and the meeting point was the hotel Oasis. We were allowed into one of the rooms to shower and get ready for day one.

Anyone who has ever been on a group tour before will agree that a tour leader can really make or break the experience. Fortunately, our leader for the next week was Sharif, an Egyptologist. Sharif was a funnyman – he had the catch phrase, which he said, before any monument – “Get ready, get excited, this is the moment you have been waiting for your entire lives.”

The first stop on day one was in a town called Giza. One of the premier attractions of Egypt, if not the world, the Pyramids of Giza represent the archetypal pyramid structures of ancient Egyptian civilisation and – together with the Sphinx at the base of the Giza plateau – are the iconic image of Egypt. The Great Pyramids consist of the Great Pyramid of Kiza, the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre a few hundred meters to the south-west, and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure a few hundred meters further south-west. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex, facing east. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as “queens” pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids. Also associated with these royal monuments are what appear to be the tombs of high officials and much later burials and monuments (from the New Kingdom onwards). At the time of their construction and for many years after, the Pyramids of Giza were the tallest structures on the planet. Khufu’s pyramid originally rose 479 feet but has been reduced to 449 feet with the loss of its limestone casing. Khafre’s Pyramid had stood 471 feet at its completion while Menkaure’s Pyramid stands at a modest 218 feet. “In 1300 AD the Great Pyramid was surpassed as the tallest structure in the world by England’s Lincoln Cathedral.” but to this day remains the most massive structure on Earth.

Of the seven ancient wonders of the world – the pyramids is the only one that remains. We were able to climb on the pyramids, although officially forbidden and were able to go through a 1x1x1 tunnel for approx 100 meters in the second pyramid into the ancient burial chamber. We were able to get some nice pictures from the Giza Plateau and then ride a camel through over to the pyramids.

Afterwards, we went and visited the Sphinx, which is the oldest and largest monolith statue in the world. I always believed it was Napoleon who destroyed the nose of the Sphinx, but it is now thought that heretics did to prove non-existence of gods. If there were really were gods, it would be magically replaced they tried to teach the people of Egypt. After this we went to the Saqqara.

Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of mastabas. Located some 30 km south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 km by 1.5 km. At Saqqara, the oldest complete hewn-stone building complex known in history was built: Djoser’s step pyramid, built during the third dynasty. 16 other Egyptian kings have built pyramids at Saqqara, which are now in various states of preservation or dilapidation. High officials have added private funeral monuments to this necropolis during the entire pharaonic period. It remained an important complex for non-royal burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3,000 years, well into Ptolemaic and Roman times.

 Cairo is the most populated city in Africa and one of the most populated cities in the world. You tend to get used to the sound of beeping horns when you here. A downside to this is that there is extreme pollution. Massive piles of debris clog either side of the Nile. We navigated our way through the city to a legitimate papyrus store. We were able to purchase some papyrus before having dinner and making our way to the train station for our overnight train to Aswan. After arriving in Aswan we caught a boat to a hotel on an island, in the middle of the Nile. The hotel was called Isis and was the reportedly the nicest in Egypt.

We had some day tours lined up. One of which was a trip to Lake Nassar. This is the largest artificial lake in the world and is created from catching from the Aswan Dam – one of the biggest in the world. Aswan Dam was build by the Russian’s in the 1940’s in the hope of getting Egypt on side during the world war. It serves great purpose at is takes away the effects of the annual flooding of the Nile which had devastating ramifications on the country prior. The temple in Philae is a temple that had been moved to its own island due to damage. It is thought to be the resting-place of the god Osiris and is held in high respect by both Egyptians and Nubians for its historical significance. The markets in Aswan were different to anything I had ever seen before. Unlike in places like Thailand, where they know that no means no – the Aswanian’s did not take no for an answer. You were offered marijuana among other things, and it is an ordeal to make it out of the place. That night we had dinner at the Isis Hotel with Katie H and Sarah from our tour group.

 The next morning was an early rise – 2.30am – we could catch a flight to Abu Simbel on Memphis Air. Abu Simbel was one of the highlights of all of Egypt and I was probably more impressed with this than I was even at the pyramids. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his alleged victory at the Battle of Kadesh, and to intimidate his Nubian neighbours. However, the complex was relocated in its entirety in the 1960s, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir.

The relocation of the temples was necessary to avoid their being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. The temples were created in perfect alignment to the sun and have certain spots inside where the sun projects to light up paintings on the wall. After we flew back to Aswan we were then about to board our two-day Nile cruise on a felucca.

A felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in protected waters of the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean including Malta, and particularly along the Nile in Egypt, Sudan, and also in Iraq. Its rig consists of one or two lateen sails. They are usually able to board ten-some passengers and the crew consists of two or three people. Despite being made obsolete by motorboats and ferries, feluccas are still in active use as a means of transport in Nile-adjacent cities like Aswan or Luxor.

They are especially popular among tourists who can enjoy their quieter and calmer mood than motorboats have to offer. We were joined by Sarah, Katie H, Colin from New Zealand, Sam from USA, Debbie and Adam – Kiwis living in the UK and Katie M and Rachel – Melbournites living in the UK. When you are living in such proximity to people you end up making really good friends with them and I still keep in contact with over half the people from the felucca cruise today. It is such a great way to see the see the Nile as we cruised down stream. One night we went to a traditional Nubian House to learn Belly Dancing and smoke the hashpipes; another night we had a Belly Dancing competition, which I was the representative for our felucca, around a bushfire. We were chased by kids with pitchforks and sold necklaces by other kids. I couldn’t leave Egypt without having a swim in the Nile.

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It was a major source of life for the Ancient Egyptians and is probably the most famous river in the world.

 We got off the Felucca after two nights and went to two temples – Komombo and Edfu. I was a little templed out by this stage. One of them was an ancient doctor surgery and one was a place for mummification and burials.

In Egypt, it is very likely you will come across a snake charmer and whilst waiting for other people in the group I got as close to a cobra as I ever want to get. We eventually arrived in Luxor – a beautiful city on the Nile where we got to have dinner. Our particular felucca group had a party in one of the hotel rooms here and named ourselves Cult Broccoli after some in-jokes from the trip. We decided to make a human pyramid and spent some of the night practicing whilst drinking.

The next day was for three purposes.

1. Valley of the Queens – The Valley of the Queens is a place in Egypt where wives of Pharaohs were buried in ancient times. In ancient times, it was known as Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning –‘the place of the Children of the Pharaoh’, because along with the Queens of the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties (1550–1070 BCE) many princes and princesses were also buried with various members of the nobility. The tombs of these individuals were maintained by mortuary priests who performed daily rituals and provided offerings and prayers for the deceased nobility. In Queen Titi’s tomb we were able to see the skeletal remains of a foetus, which has, been preserved.

2. The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut is situated beneath the cliffs at Deir el Bahari on the West Bank of the Nile near the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Designed by the architect Senemut, the mortuary temple is dedicated to the sun god Amon-Ra and is located next to the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II, which served both as an inspiration, and later, a quarry. It is considered one of the “incomparable monuments of ancient Egypt.” Hatshepsut’s temple is considered the closest Egypt came to the Classical Architecture. It marks a turning point in the architecture of Ancient Egypt, which forsook the megalithic geometry of the Old Kingdom for a temple which allowed for active worship, requiring the presence of participants to create the majesty. The linear axiality of Hatshepsut’s temple is mirrored in the later New Kingdom temples. The architecture of the original temple has been considerably altered as a result of misguided reconstruction in the early twentieth century AD.

3. Valley of the Kings The area has been a focus of archaeological and egyptological exploration since the end of the eighteenth century, and its tombs and burials continue to stimulate research and interest. In modern times the valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (with its rumours of the Curse of the Pharaohs[7]), and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. In 1979, it became a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis.[8] Exploration, excavation and conservation continues in the valley, and a new tourist centre has recently been opened. We visited three tombs in total – Ramses 1, a joint tomb – the largest in the valley; and then the tomb of Sipah. The walls were still bright with colours and size was amazing.

That afternoon we went to the temple of Karnak – made famous in the Indiana Jones movies. Stone had to be imported from other parts of the country and the sheer weight showed they were well ahead of their time. We managed to complete our human pyramid here before some of the group continued their tour to Dahab.

We joined Katie M and Rachel for dinner at the Ritz, in Luxor for dinner and boarded another overnight train to Cairo that night. When we got to Cairo we went to our hotel and the water was not working. It took a few hours to get it ready. It was also a coincidence that it rains 3 days a year in Cairo and this particular day was on of them. We were able to have a final breakfast with Katie and Rachel before they left and then we went to the Cairo Museum.

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history. It houses the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, and many treasures of King Tutankhamen. The Egyptian government established the museum, built in 1835 near the Ezbekeyah Garden. We didn’t get Sharif for this visit; rather another guy who didn’t seem interested in showing us the main things on everyone’s mind – the death mask and the mummies. These particular treasures are world famous and behind tight security. Tutankhamun’s treasures were solid gold and mummies were so lifelike and well preserved you could see fingernails and hair. You can tell if a mummy is royal or not by their fingernails as the royals all had manicured nails. Among the mummies was that of Ramses II, the greatest pharoah in Egyptian history.

We had a brief stopover at a perfume store and then onto the Cairo markets for some shopping. We went and had some dinner before going back to the airport for our returning flight.

The land that wets our appetites more than any other leaves you with so much history and memories and has you begging for more. One visit was not enough and I cant wait for the day when I get to go back and walk with the Egyptians once more.

Victoria Falls Airport was a small airport – it was the first time any duty free store actively tried to bargain with me. We caught a South African Airlines flight, which seated only 38 people, to transit through Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport. I had 8 hours to kill before catching my next flight so I caught up on some e-mails, sent some postcards and tested out the airport food – which is the worst KFC I have eaten.

How amazing is it that we travel to the other side of the world, dine on bugs, antelope and crocodile and then find a way to criticise the one food they like the best. I always like to try out the local fast foods. I tend to enjoy McDonalds everywhere in the world but the KFC tastes better at home.

 Dagobert D. Runes said, “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” And it was as I sat in different parts of the airport that I really began appreciate this. I would usually be pulling my hair out with nothing to do in seven hours and here I was people watching in absolute amazement. The travel bug had finally hit me and I couldn’t wait to go to Egypt and explore even more.

Smart Traveller listed Zimbabwe as do not go zone for Australians. It is true that no one will hear about Zimbabwe besides the complete mess the country is in. It currency is worthless and a majority of the world have negative opinions of the president Robert Mugabe. Even the tour had to be rerouted through Botswana due to the dangerous situation the country was in. I crossed the border from Botswana and was feeling much better after the food poisoning and felt that a new country bought upon much welcomed health.

We went to the Africa Travel Co office in the town of Victoria Falls and as we crossed the road to the camp saw a string of limousines, security and jeeps drive by. In one of them was the aforementioned Robert Mugabe – perhaps the most unpopular leader in the entire world.

After a quick bite to eat with Alison and Craig I went to Victoria Falls. The Victoria Falls are some of the most famous, considered by some to be among the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer, is believed to have been the first European recorded to view the Victoria Falls – which he did from what is now known as ‘Livingstone Island’ in Zambia, the only land accessible in the middle of the falls. David Livingstone gave the falls the name ‘Victoria Falls’ in honour of his Queen, but the indigenous name of ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ – literally meaning the ‘Smoke that Thunders’ – is also well known. The World Heritage List recognises both names.

While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it is claimed to be the largest. This claim is based on a width of 1,708 metres and height of 108 meters, forming the largest sheet of falling water in the world. At the time of my visit, the Zambezi was having its biggest flood in a generation and white water rafting was forbidden. This meant the water levels were even higher, but visibility was less. We had raincoats and umbrellas but were still soaked with the water as we made our way to many different outlooks.

My earliest memories of Botswana were when someone in highschool updated their MSN and called themselves Bushpig. Their location was somewhere in the jungle, Botswana. How remote and untouched it seemed. In reality, Botswana is seen as an African success story. A sparsely populated country whose main concerns is not civil war, but the effects of AIDS.

The Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust is a community based wildlife project, established in 1992 to assist in saving the vanishing rhino, restore an area formerly teeming with wildlife to its previous natural state and provide economic benefits to the local Batswana community through tourism and the sustainable use of natural resources.

I was lucky enough to visit the sanctuary on my first day in Botswana. We set out in jeeps through the park and saw plenty of rhino, wildebeest, giraffe and zebra. The rhino got nice and close, which allowed for excellent photo opportunities.

We stayed in the town of Palapye, at the Camp Itumela. We were treated to a nice dinner in the restaurant – Kudo & crocodile. After seeing the camping facilities, on the hard dirt, and the shower/toilet in an outdoor cubicle, I knew sleep would not be easy to get so I headed to the bar. Unlike most bars, the bartender, Mike, encourages intoxication. Iker, Craig and I had vodka shots. These weren’t your regular vodka shots however as in them was widgity-grub like bugs. These are a delicacy in Botswana – they were awful. After some more drinking we ended up on the bar dancing with the girls from Holland and putting up our Australian flag.

We bid farewell to Palapye the next day for Francistown, the second biggest town in Botswana. I was craving vegemite so at the shopping centre I went in mad search of the traditional Australian food. I ended up talking to some people at the supermarket, Gladys and Lenty – we exchanged contact details. Apparently Batswanans like to collect addresses of foreigners. Go figure.

We set up camp that afternoon – this was probably the most boring day in Botswana. Malaria is a big problem in this part of the world and we were advised this was high Malaria area. A few us went to the local Internet cafe and this is when the mosquitoes started out. We got a little paranoid so all went back to camp. At the caravan park was a casino with the old-style poker machines so Alison, Craig and I decided to go and bet our Pula for the night. We didn’t end up winning a whole lot but had a heap of fun with the old school machines.

Elephant Sands is a traditional safari bush camp about 50kms north of Nata in central Botswana. This was where we stayed the next night. We set up camp near a waterhole where elephants and other animals come to drink. The come up close and personal, and here I was, waiting for lunch when three walked not twenty meters from me to have a drink. There was no electricity at this site which was a good idea for an early night as the next morning I woke early to join the walking safari. Here was a good chance to walk by the animals in their habitat. We were all excited as our guide was carrying a gun for protection. Unfortunately, the animals weren’t out an about this particular morning and all I got to see was an elephant maybe 50 meters way. It was pretty cool to be on foot so close to the animals though.

The next town on the list was Kasane, a town bordering Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was a busy little town, mainly full of tourists making their way between the four countries. It was situated on the Zambezi river, which at the time flooding. We were told not to set up camp to close to the water as hippos and crocodiles would not be far away.

The Chobe National Park in the countries northwest is probably best known for its spectacular elephant population: 50,000 elephants today, it is actually the highest elephant concentration of Africa. Moreover, most of them are probably part of the largest continuous surviving elephant population on Earth. The elephant population seems to have solidly built up since 1990, from a few thousand. They have not been affected by the massive illicit exploitation of the 1970s and 1980s. Elephants living here are Kalahari elephants, the largest in size of all known elephant populations. Yet they are characterised by rather brittle ivory and short tusks, perhaps due to calcium deficiency in the soils. I did an overnight safari here one night – not only does it have thousands of elephants, it has accessible lions, crocodiles, hippos, baffallo, giraffe and baboon. We felt a bit uneasy here as an elephant almost charged our jeep at one point and before bed we were briefed on how to understand a particular animal sound and what do should we see or hear one during the night. Alison and I bunked in a spectacular five star tent and at one point had lion’s fifty meters away at the most. It made for one of the most interesting toilet breaks of my life.

South Africa is a kaleidoscope of contrasts. The average person’s image of South Africa ranges from safari suits to apartheid, georgeous Table Mountain to Soweto, modern wines to AIDS. This is a country that needs to be seen to be comprehended. My first taste of Africa went from the five star Bangkok Novotel and Thai Airways first class to a backpacker’s dormitory.

We had booked an African Travel Co tour with On the Go and arrived in Jo’Burg as it is affectionately known, a day prior. The place was the Backpacker’s Ritz. It hardly was the ritz. Jetlag had set in so we slept for most of the day. We did make a small trip to the local shopping centre to purchase a memory chip for the camera and then to the service station that night for dinner.

Not many people have kind words to say about Jo’Burg and the razor wire fences seem to conjure these thoughts. The short walk to the service station had us worried with fear – all through hearsay.

The first full day in South Africa, I awoke refreshed and ready for a big day. My hopes were dashed, as there was a taxi strike on this day. The guy who owned the hostel said two white boys going into the centre of Johannesburg wasn’t the wisest of ideas so we decided to make alternate arrangements. We met a nice driver named Simon who took us to the Apartheid Museum. We arranged with his to pick us up in a few hours so we decided to go the Golden Reef Theme Park next to the museum. It was like a smaller version of the Gold Coast theme parks with ferris wheels, rollercoasters and a zoo.

The Apartheid Museum, opened in 2001, is a complex dedicated to illustrating apartheid during the previous century. One cannot underestimate the effect apartheid had on this history of the country and the aftereffects are still evident in everyday life. It was a stunning visual journey depicting the way of life before 1990.

That night was the pre-departure meeting at the hostel. We met with most people who were going on the tour. Peter, the tour leader; Ivan, the cook; Muno, the driver; Linda, Therese, Marylane, from the Netherlands – Linda and Therese had been travelling through Ghana together for six month prior; Alison, a pharmacist from Canada; Rodney, a bus driver from Coffs Harbour; Iker and Ixus, honeymooners from the Basque Country in Spain; Lee, Patrick, John, three Australian guys who were living in London, they had just done the garden route. Later we would be joined by Susan and Macca from the Northern Territory.

Because Susan and Macca were delayed and we did not know where they were, our departure was delayed somewhat. Once we left Jo’Burg we drove through various shantytowns on our way to the Kruger National Park. Peter reiterated that not even him; a big built Zimbabwean would not venture into Johannesburg centre alone. We were told that Durban and Johannesburg would soon merge into one megalopolis and that the shanty towns would probably never go. The government has tried to assist on numerous occasions but the people thrive on crime and are able slip through the cracks.

Its about a four hour drive to the Kruger National Park – we pass through different communities. One of particular interest was White River – it looked like the epitome of what us foreigners expect Africa to be like.

Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. Home to all the Big Five (Leopard, Lion, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo) – it covers almost 19,000 square kilometres. The national park alone is bigger than the whole country of Fiji.

We stayed in 5 star tents just outside the Numbi Gate. The first night we went 4×4 jeep safari. The main aim of the safari, in my opinion is to spoke the Big Five – which were the 5 most, sought after animals by poachers. It is also pretty cool to see other animals like giraffes, zebra, hippo and crocodiles. That first night we spotted Rhino, Buffalo and Elephant and right towards the end of the drive – a pack of lions. The next day the safari took place in the truck and we still missed the elusive leopard.

Corruption is rife in South Africa, as we found out in a small town called Hazyview. We went there to withdraw some money where some people of the tour were scammed at the ATM. The trick for someone to ‘help’ the foreigner withdraw money by asking their PIN to assist. Meanwhile their card is being copied and they can withdraw funds.

The tour made its way through the Blyde River Canyon. The Blyde River Canyon is located in the Mpulamanga region and is the world’s third largest canyon and has an abundance of green foliage. There are potholes, outlooks and ledges. Perhaps the most famous of which is Gods Window, a stunning outlook a short hike up the mountain.

That afternoon we set up camp and a few us went for a hike to see some waterfalls – the water was cold, but I followed instinct and jumped in. Iker and Ixus taught us all some campfire games that night. Interesting to note that I didn’t bring sufficient warm clothing/blankets and didn’t imagine that Africa would be cold. This night was the coldest most uncomfortable night I have ever slept and needless to say I went to buy some warm materials soon after.

In Africa people get paid on the 25^th day of the month and the tour made its way to the town of Polokwane the first Saturday after the 25^th. Here it seemed that everyone in town was out spending their money. The KFC was full and the PicknPay was crowded more than any other store I had ever seen. It wasn’t a big day so we ended the last night in South Africa eating Maize around camp.

So the tour ended its part in South Africa. There are not many other countries in the world where your experiences can go from two opposite sides of the spectrum. Almost getting robbed, taxi strikes and shantytowns vs spectacular scenery, wildlife and people. South Africas charm will continue to draw in a range of different tourists for years to come.