The Dead Sea, Masada, Qumran, the Israel Museum, "the wall" and checkpoints dividing Palestinian neighborhoods from Jewish settlements and . . . Oh yes, Tel Aviv !
We saw the Dead Sea  |
| The Lowest Place on Earth |
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| Masada |
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Israel Other than Jerusalem
The Old City of Jerusalem
Entering the Old City of Jerusalem is a sensation of converging sights, sounds, aromas and smells. Each turn on the narrow cobblestone alleyways, every ancient arch, each hidden courtyard instantly reflects a place and a mix (if not clash) of cultures and customs unfamiliar and interesting.
The Oberoi Zahra Luxury Nile Cruiser
I believe in the saying, "The price is what you pay; the value is what you receive." I have never found this more accurate than our stay with Oberoi Hotels and Resorts on their luxury Nile cruiser, the Zahra. While the price was high, the experience was unmatched. Let me share, with apologies in advance, for any "over the top" moments, descriptions, or "ain't this just too great to believe" mutterings.
We started our excursion with an odd moment. Having disembarked from the plane landing in Aswan, we along with another couple boarded a large airport bus. The doors quickly closed behind us, and the bus whisked away. We totaled four passengers on a bus that could hold 80 people. My first thought was that we were being abducted. Wrong; we were being Oberoied. We, along with our new chums, Chris and Sarah Hockey, were being transferred to the Zahra.
Next stop … unbelievable!
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| The Oberoi Zahra, Luxury Nile Cruiser |
Billed as the Nile's most luxurious vessel, Zahra impressed us with it's first-class facilities, elegant décor, and exemplary service.
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| Lobby |
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| Lounge |
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| Stairwell Between Decks |
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| Deck C with 12 Cabins |
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| Deck D - Spa and Our Cabin |
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| Our Bedroom |
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| Desk and Sitting Area |
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| Bathroom |
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| Restaurant Entrance |
The accommodations were brilliant, matched only by what was to follow.
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An experience is a good one when expectations are met. An experience is a great one when expectations are exceeded. An experience that takes you one step further, a special surprise, is one that you remember for the rest of your life. The surprise was meeting and spending time with some extraordinarily terrific and interesting people ~
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| Sarah a.k.a. The Mrs from Blighty |
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| Chris a.k.a. Chunka |
from Chunka ... "Looking forward to hearing about the Egypt leg and about "those extremely pleasant English people you met?!?!" Make sure you keep in touch as we don't get out much over here and have few friends so we have now officially branded you both our "best friends" even though we just met ya!"
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| Prue Prue is a (literal) dame, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and a Michelin-starred restaurateur. She's ghost-written recipes for royals, improved the catering on British railways, and has 12 books under her belt. She was on this cruise as a Board Member of the Orient Express Hospitality Group ( a competitor of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts). |
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| Cheryl and Dave |
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| Julian and Sue |
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| Robert and Silvia |
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| Strange Bedfellow |
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| Monkey Boy |
Thank you to all who made this an experience that we can add to our collection of lifetime memories.
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| Allah Akbar |
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Saturday, April 23, 2011
Egypt Today and Yesterday
The people of Egypt are truly "in a transition". The 25 January revolution began a completely new experience here. Everywhere, the people feel a kind of freedom from repressive rules which restricted and limited the daily lives of the normal citizen. Our guide
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| Hassan |
would chuckle at how chaotic the city streets were. Traffic was unregulated. Pedestrians would crisscross through busy thoroughfares with impunity as police were nowhere to be found to uphold the rules of the road. For in this transition period, the people are free even to break simple rules. Hassan would laugh and we laughed along with him.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Cairo and Giza
Our travel from Cape Town to Cairo took nearly 24 hours with stop-overs in Johannesburg and Istanbul. The approach and descent into CIA gave us an initial feeling of just how large and densely populated Cairo is. Our drive to our hotel allowed us a glimpse of the grinding poverty and squalor of the city. Cairo is a paradox of rich history and spiritual people caught in an era of corruption and abuse of human rights … but that was before “25th January”.
The drive to our hotel, the Mena House, took over 1½ hours to go approximately 24 miles. Traffic is very heavy even today, a Sunday afternoon. We drove through areas that had unfinished construction projects, piles of uncollected garbage, roads of broken pavement, and crowds of meandering people. Where were the benefits of the “revolution”?
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| Upper-Middle Class Apartment |
Saturday, April 16, 2011
The Blue Train
Nearly 30 years ago, Gus worked on his first cross-border transaction. The financing involved a German lease and a South African sublease of a BMW plant in Johannesburg. The arranger in Johannesburg, who worked on the deal, spent more conversation on what he called the "greatest train ride in the world" than he spent talking about the financing. Ever since, Gus wanted to someday ride the Blue Train.
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| Blue Train at Pretoria Station |
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| Staff of Butlers |
We boarded the Blue Train at 9:00 a.m., and our butler ushered us to our suite and helped us settle ourselves.
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| Hallway of Our Car |
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| Our Suite |
Once we were settled we explored the common cars:
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| Observation Car |
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| Lounge Car |
Soon, we joined Curt and Lynn for the first seating of lunch.
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Dining Car
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The Blue Train experience was everything we expected, plus a bit more. The suites were comfortable, plus each twin bed was covered by a goose-down duvet; all windows on the train were picture windows, plus they had recently been cleaned; the food was delicious plus the service was even better; the cocktails were generous plus the wine list was superb. We could easily have mistakenly believed we were on the "Orient Express" with Hercule Poirot.
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| All-Dressed-Up Dinner |
After a restful night and a slow-paced following morning, we arrived in Cape Town midday. Curt and Lynn were off to the airport for their return home. Gus and Joan returned to the Mount Nelson.
Thanks to Bunker Snyder for recommending the Blue Train 30 years ago.Friday, April 15, 2011
Jabula
While visiting Cape Town Joan decided to have her hair plaited in African braids. The experience was fun yet more than a little bit painful. It was a chance to learn how the many beautiful black African hair styles seen on women in South Africa are created. It was an opportunity to try a style that could travel very easily on this trip and why not try something new, something really different.
Victoria Falls
If there was ever a question of why Victoria Falls was included in the list of The Seven Natural Wonders of the World …
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| The Wonders |
… what follows should indeed provide the answer.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Robben Island
The tour of Robben Island was educational on many levels. The conditions of life as a prisoner on that island are well described in Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. Seeing the cell blocks,
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| Mandela's Cell |
Apartheid Museum and Soweto
We flew to Johannesburg this morning. After checking into the Westcliff hotel we began our tour of South Africa’s dark and turbulent past. We first traveled across Johannesburg to the south of the city to visit the Apartheid Museum, which opened its doors in 2002.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Winelands
We had an early start to our day in the Winelands. Our goal was modest. We hoped to visit three wineries and taste a Chenin Blanc, a Bordeaux style wine, and a Shiraz. We picked Stellenbosch Valley (comparable to Napa Valley) over Franschoek (comparable to Sonoma) and Paarl. The three wineries and three wines:
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| Ken Forrester Vineyards |
Monday, April 11, 2011
Botswana Safari Camps
Our journey to the Botswana safari camps began with a 30-minute flight on a Cessna light aircraft.
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| A short flight from Maun Airport to Khwai River Lodge |
We were just 1,800 feet off the ground and close enough to begin spotting our first elephants. In the camps, elephants were affectionately called "ellies."
Khwai River Lodge, located in Moremi Wildlife Reserve, was our first destination, where we were met by our bush guide Otsile ("O.T.") who led us through our adventures in the African savannah for the next three days. O.T. has a passion for the drive and ushered us through some very wild experiences. He was calm, focused, persistent, and very patient.
With O.T we saw:
herds and herds of impala, a favorite prey species, which were seen all over the reserve ...
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| Sole impala, the most numerous of antelope |
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| Ellie Elephants found in small bachelor groupings, alone or in a matriarchal clan. |
We sited the majestic Bateleur eagle.
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| Bateleur eagle with its enormous black head and body and orange-red beak and talons |
and a pair of owls,
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| Milky Eagle Owls They are usually found alone or in pairs. Their call is a deep gruff hooting call "hryu hryu hooo." They rarely hunt by day and roost in large trees, preferably in the shade. |
With O.T. we were mock-charged (to Gus' chagrin) by a male, ear flapping elephant. Later we skirted past the open jaws of a partially submerged hippopotamus...
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| Hippopotamuses Love water, which is why the Greeks named them the "river horse." Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in rivers and lakes to keep their massive bodies cool under the hot African sun. |
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| Leopards Are graceful and powerful big cats closely related to lions, tigers, and jaguars. |
...that were quietly moving through the bush. O.T. gave us a wealth of information about animal behavior, the sensitivities of each, lifespan, and place in the hierarchy of who eats who or what.
Just to list other animals we observed...
giraffes,
Burchell's zebra,
kudus,
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| Giraffes Typically, these fascinating animals roam the open grasslands in small groups of about half a dozen. |
Burchell's zebra,
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| Zebra Burchell's zebras are the most common species. They live in small family groups consisting of a male (stallion), several females, and their young. |
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| Perhaps the most beautiful antelope is the Greater Kudu with its majestic spiral horns and delicate face, and although reasonably common, they are shy and prefer dense bush. |
eland, bushbuck, blue wildebeest, red lechwe, puku, steenbok, and warthogs...
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| Warthog and Kids Look fierce, yet are generally peaceful and often avoid fighting by running away or dodging into a burrow |
...vervet monkey, a Nile crocodile...
We took a walking expedition to view the animals on foot and found ourselves in and among a troop of baboons who found us more curious than we found them. |
| Nile Crocodile Has a somewhat deserved reputation as a vicious man-eater. The proximity of much of its habitat to people means run-ins are frequent. And its virtually indiscriminate diet means a villager washing clothes by a riverbank might look just as tasty as a migrating wildebeest. Firm numbers are sketchy, but estimates are that up to 200 people may die each year in the jaws of a Nile croc. |
...and many varieties of colorful birds such as the green, blue and yellow swallow-tailed bee-eater, the lilac-breasted roller, |
| Lilac Breasted Roller This species is the national bird of Botswana. |
the violet-backed starling, and the giant kingfisher.
Before we left, a group picture of...
Next, our journey took us to Eagle Island Camp, located in Botswana's Okavango Delta. Another flight in a light aircraft and we settled into our second tent-home. In this camp, we toured the network of rivers in a high-performance speed boat, canoed in mokoro boats, and took a helicopter ride over the marshes to view elephants, hippopotamuses, and giraffes.
Before we left, a group picture of...
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| From the left front: Kathleen Walsh (a new friend from Arizona and daughter of Jim Walsh), O.T., Joan, Gus. From the left back row: Curt, Lynn, and Jim Walsh (a new friend from Massachusetts) |
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| Baboon Family Baboons generally prefer savanna and other semi-arid habitats. These animals form large troops, composed of dozens or even hundreds of baboons, governed by a complex hierarchy that fascinates scientists. Males use shows of physical power to dominate rivals, and troop members spend endless hours carefully grooming one another to remove insects and dead skin. |
We also visited a nearby village where the tribal peoples continue to mostly live as they have for centuries; however, they do have the benefits of satellite dishes and solar energy. We had an opportunity to learn from our guide, Setso, the many norms and customs of the tribal peoples. Setso spent time over meals with us, elaborating on the culture of his tribal heritage. He is engaged to be married and to marry; a man has to be approved by the bride-to-be's uncles. It can be a very arduous process involving the transfer of livestock, property, and currency. If the man isn't honorable, or if the woman conceives a child before she is married, he must pay "damages" to the family of the woman, since her prospects of marriage are decreased. At this camp, our canoe was "bookended" front and back by pods of hippos. We observed African jacana birds with tiny baby chicks walking atop the lily pads.
Next, we moved on to our third and final camp.
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| Curt, Hazel (our bush pilot from our last flight), and Lynn Hazel had just turned 21 and had received her pilot's license three weeks before after training for just six months. Yet, what was most perplexing, she said that she believed that the earth was flat. |
Our third camp experience was again very different than the two before it. Savute Elephant Camp, located in Chobe National Park, was spectacular in its way. Here we saw a herd of more than 200 Cape buffalo. We saw a wild cat (serval), an African wild dog...
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| African Wild Dog These endangered canines closely resemble wolves in their pack-oriented social structure. Each animal has its unique coat pattern, and all have big, rounded ears. |
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| Lion I |
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| Lion IIA |
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| Lion IIB |
Lion I stalked a herd of buffalo while Lion II was satisfied with just hangin' out and, a bit later, nonchalantly shuffles off into the high grass.
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| Cape Buffalo Herds are mostly of mixed gender. They do have a few all-male herds, but these usually consist of old males. An African herd often has more than 1,000 members. |
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| Bull Cape Buffalo |
Our guide, Mighty Awesome, pointed out a massive tree in the distance, an African baobab, also known as the Tree of Life. The tree was some thousands of years old — which was hard to grasp — and its trunk was over 30 feet in diameter. The elephants had done a number on this particular tree, tearing away deep and wide chunks of its cork-like bark. Awesome noted that the elephants go a bit mad for its water and can even seem drunk upon indulging in it. When Joan asked if the tree would survive, he told us that when the plains filled with water again in winter, the baobab would heal itself.
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| Baobab Trees Slow-growing and their life span often exceed a thousand years. |
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| Lynn, Mighty Awesome, and Joan in front of a Baobab Tree |
The African savannah has a soft yet harsh beauty.
As is customary, at we wound up our day, we stopped for a "Sundowner" ... a safari tradition.
"Sundowner" included fresh fruit, meat turnovers, white wine, and
gin & tonics, of course! On the right Hazel, Lynn, and Mighty Awesome.
On the left: Gus, Joan, Lynn, and Curt.
On the right: Joan and Gus
We experienced spectacular multi-colored sunsets each night...
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| The horizon dimmed with hues of pink, blue and lavender as the sun continued to sink, now showing behind the silhouettes of trees. |
and sunrises each morning...
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| Awakening sunrise...too beautiful |
...with no signs of man or development surrounding us, except for the jeep which carried us into the bush. The quiet and the calming sounds of nature were soothing, along with the ever-present perfume of sage and basil. When we were set to leave the camps, we were satisfied to have witnessed the indescribable beauty of unspoiled nature. We'd seen 4 of the "Big Five." The rhinoceros eluded us, but we had sublime experiences viewing the lion, leopard, elephant, and the Cape buffalo, commonly known as the "Big Five."
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