112/137 Days; 25 days remaining
Travel Day
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
To
Cape Town, South Africa
Our flight is at 10:30, but they want to take us to the airport at 08:00. The airport is maybe twenty minutes away, we learned that when we arrived. When questioned about leaving so early they said it was because you are required to get to the airport two hours before your flight. Recalling the size of the airport that seems a little like over doing it, but when in Rome.
We grabbed a cappuccino, coffee, muffin and a brioche for breakfast from the dinning room and headed back to the tent to finish packing. Again, saying all these goodbyes is really filled with mixed emotion. We have really enjoyed our time here at Elephant Camp. The people, the food and the atmosphere have all been delightful. Ok, the bed could have been a little softer, but hey it wasn’t bad.
While we are sad to leave our friends here, we are looking forward to dinner with Diane in Cape Town and getting back to our suite aboard the Mariner. We are also looking forward to continuing the world cruise adventure, and everything that follows. So, a whole bundle of emotions going on.
The airport looked much larger this morning than when we arrived. We are sure they didn’t erect this in the last few days. It still isn’t very big, but it seems more modern and much larger than when we arrived. We must have still be a little asleep when we arrived. Checking in was fairly easy, not unlike the experience at any other airport. We were told there is a business class lounge upstairs that was available to us.
We quickly got through security, immigration and customs. Here we were required to remove our shoes for the first time in a long time. Fortunately we remembered to pack a shoehorn in the backpack so I could get my shoes back on. There were a couple duty free shops, but nothing we need in any of them. There were several lounges upstairs. It took a couple tries but we eventually found the one we were allowed to use.
It really wasn’t much at all, just a large room with a few mix and match chairs, a bar area with tea and coffee machine, and some breakfast goodies wrapped in cellophane. There was however “free wi-fi” or at least that is what the sign said. Logged in but not much happened. Of course, our flight was a half hour late in arriving, but there is no hurry dinner isn’t until 19:00 and we were supposed to arrive at 13:40.
The deplaning and boarding processes were very efficient, and we were underway lickety-split. Sleep came very easily on the plane. We were awoken for the “meal”. It is impossible to even recall what it was. Clearly neither a lot nor memorable.
Looking out the window as we approached Cape Town you could clearly see the demarcation between the shanty towns and the nice neighborhoods from the plane window. This is the way it is all over Africa. The great divide between those with money and those without. The landing was uneventful, and the airport was really nice.
The immigration officer only asked how long we were going to stay in Cape Town. The response was one night, we leave tomorrow on a cruise. Bang, bang, all stamped and done. The bags came quickly. We stopped at an ATM and got 1,000 R, about $56.
We checked on Rome2Rio to see what a taxi might cost to get into Cape Town. The app said $6 to $8. That is about 120R to 160R. We found a booth that said authorized taxi. We inquired about the cost of going to the Commodore Hotel in Cape Town. The response shocked us. 480R. When the price was challenged they said that is the official price. We said no and went looking for alternatives. Even the shuttle bus into town was more.
All the while a cabbie, with an official taxi badge around his neck was watching us. Now the 480R wasn’t the problem, it was the disparity between what Rome2Rio said it should be and what we were hearing. Finally, the guy with the taxi badge said I’ll take you there for 400R. Well, that was the best offer to-date, so we took it.
Being somewhat skeptical we did track the ride to the hotel on google maps. There was no deviation from the google route and we were at the hotel about a half hour later. This is the first time at Rome2Rio has been off by that much. Sometimes they are spot on, and sometimes a little behind the times, but never by 400%. We gave the taxi driver 400R and thanked him. We should have had Debi arrange the transportation in advance.
The hotel is part of the Legacy Hotels & Resorts. There are actually two hotels attached to one another the Commodore and the Portswood. There is some history here as these are not new hotels. However, a search of the internet provided no joy. They are both very nice hotels, but knowing the history makes them more interesting. They are located on a small bluff just above the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront area.
The V&A Waterfront, as it is called, is named after? Ok, Queen Victoria and Prince Alfred. If you have to ask who they are, you need to go back to the sixth grade and start over. The waterfront is a 300 acre (123-hectare) mixed-use destination. It would be wrong to call it a mall, but the idea is the same.
There are 180 business tenants, 450+ shops, 101 entertainment activities, over 80 restaurants and eateries, 13 hotels, Seven museums, 22 historical landmarks and 15 conference venues. So, yes it is big. Cape Town is also the oldest working harbor in the Southern Hemisphere. This is something we wanted to see, and maybe stop atone of the restaurants and get a nosh to hold us over to dinner.
So we took a right outside the entrance to hotel and walked down Portswood Road, crossed Dock Street and were basically at the employee entrance side of the mall. We followed a group of people around until we came on the mall proper. Like every other mall we have visited since Dubai, it could be anywhere. The shops are basically all the same. Yes, there are a few different shops selling regional items, often made in China, but for the most part they are the names we know from America. We did stop at a Mugg and Bean on the waterfront and have a cup of tea and a muffin.
Mugg & Bean could be a coffee shop anywhere in America. However, it is a South African original. The coffee-themed restaurant is a franchise operation started in 1996 by a guy from South Africa who got the idea from a coffee shop in Chicago of all places. This location was apparently his first operation. He was bought out in 2009 by Famous Brands. Famous Brands is a South African conglomerate based on quick service and casual dining chain. Apparently, they are huge having 184 different outlets in Africa. So, despite trying to go local, we didn’t accomplish anything except help the man.
We are supposed to meet Dianne and her family at a place called the Cape Town Fish Market in the Silo District of the V&A Waterfront at 19:00. Being diligent travelers we decided to find it so we could find our way back tonight. So, we had a nice walk though the area. There was a school singing grump and in general lots of people milling about.
It didn’t take long to find the restaurant and once we did we decided to head back to the hotel, take a rest and get ready for dinner.
Now is when the fun stuff starts. On the way back we are walking up Portswood Street and just before we get to the Portswood Hotel, which is right next door to the Commodore we get stopped to two very large, very swell dressed gentlemen, who inform us that the South African President is visiting our hotel. We will need to pass security in order to enter the hotel. Then they asked something strange, could you please swipe your credit card on the reader attached to the wall so we can confirm your identity. No, but where is my room key to show I am a guest at the hotel.
For a good five or six minutes they kept trying to convince me that the way they confirm identity in South Africa is by a credit card swipe. I wasn’t going to do that. Finally I said I’ll call the hotel and confirm what they were saying. Once I took out my phone they were done. They said, ok go ahead and ask the hotel. So, we went to the hotel. The doorman knew nothing, or so he said, about the President visiting. Yes, it was all a scam. A very good one. But one which we avoided.
We met Dianne, Tersia, Graham, Merle, Sandra, Linda and Michael for a mini reunion at 19:00. We had a lovely dinner. The food was great. Mary had fish tocos, and I had the vegetable curry. The entire meal was 2,700R, including a generous tip. All of this amounted to $142.71 USD. After dinner we, uneventfully, walked back up to the hotel.
It was a beautiful day, and especially nice to see Dianne and family again. We saw some of them in Ireland in 2010 and I saw them in 2013 with Cathy & Peggy. Time to say good night.
Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico e Maria
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