by Jim Bellomo | Oct 12, 2025 | Uncategorized
We have never sailed on American Cruise Lines (ACL) before. When speaking with people who have experienced it or reading reviews online, the results are typically mixed. Some love it, others not so much. One member of our Trilogy Travel Club really dislikes them, while another has taken three cruises with them and loved two of them and is going again. So, expectations were not high, but I came into this with an open mind.
As I write this, we are moored in Kalama, Washington, where 99% of the passengers will disembark to see Mt. St. Helens. Kathleen and I have decided to skip the three- to four-hour ride on the “luxury motor coach” and stay on board. We have been to the Mount St. Helens visitor center several times, and the weather is VERY rainy and cloudy (typical Pacific Northwest weather), so photos would look pretty dull. This led us to stay on the ship.
By the way, since I have been on board for almost a full day, I have decided this is a ship. It’s much too big to be a boat. We are on board the American Harmony. That’s her photo above that I stole from their website because I don’t feel like getting off and getting too soaked to take one myself. Hope that’s OK. I promise to get one myself later on the cruise, maybe when the weather improves in Eastern Washington.
Now, back to the trip. When you sail with ACL, you get an extra night at the hotel included before your cruise. At the hotel, everyone was informed of the departure time on Saturday morning and that their luggage should be ready to go by 7:00 am. Strangely enough, we were told to leave our luggage in the room, and they would come to pick it up—not outside in the hallway like on other cruises we’ve been on. There were then two options for departure. Some of the people taking the cruise would do a free pre-boarding excursion to Multnomah Falls. Since the six of us had visited the falls earlier in the week, we left the hotel at 11:00 am. We’re very glad we did because the ship carried more than 135 people; when we visited earlier, there was hardly anyone there. My photos from that day clearly show how great we had it. I think that other than the six of us, there were fewer than 20 people there.
Since most people were taking the falls tour, when it was time for the rest of us to head to the ship, there were only six of us and one other couple left. So, we got a really nice Mercedes Sprinter van for our 45-minute drive to where the ship was moored in Stevenson, Washington. We had originally been told we would board much further downriver, in the northern part of Vancouver, Washington, but the river levels at the edges were low, which meant we had to go further upriver, where dams controlled the water levels.
Once we arrived at the dock, it was a quick (but wet) walk to the gangplank, and we were on board. Since they had picked up our luggage at 7:00 am, it was already in our room (which was nice), so we could unpack and head to lunch. Here’s a quick look at our stateroom. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through using your arrow keys or by swiping. Feel free to look at them on your phone. These aren’t meant to be art, just informational photos.
Our Stateroom—414. Midships on deck 4.
Inside…the bed. Very comfortable. Had a great night’s sleep.
The bed again. This time so you can see the small verandah.
The bathroom. Plenty of room, hot water and water pressure. There things I absolutely need in a cruise ship bathroom.
One of the benefits of being on Deck 4 is that both the River Lounge at the front of the ship and the Sky Lounge at the back of the ship are on our floor. The River Lounge is where performances, lectures, and other fun activities take place. Last night, our entertainment was a very funny guy named Kevin Neil. His performance was called “Cowboys and Curmudgeons” and, as I said, was hilarious in a dad-joke kind of way.
Here’s a merged panoramic photo of the River Lounge. Unlike the ship photo at the top of the page, you can click on the panoramas, and they will enlarge to fill your screen, allowing you to see the details if you want.
The River Lounge
The Sky Lounge is a really nice space that combines a mini buffet, living room, game room, and snack bar all in one. It offers chairs, couches, and snacks available around the clock, along with complimentary drinks, including both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options. I am currently sitting on a very comfortable couch, enjoying a large glass of lemonade while writing this post. Here’s another panoramic shot of the Sky Lounge. On the far right in the back, you can see a bar that serves drinks throughout the day and evening, and it also serves as an alternative breakfast spot if you prefer to skip the dining room for that meal. We dined there this morning, and I had some really good lox and bagels with all the toppings, plus an excellent blueberry scone. By the way, the coffee on this ship is excellent, which is saying a lot because I am very picky about my coffee ?.
The Sky Lounge
Behind the Sky Lounge is an open deck area with a few places to hang out when it’s not raining, as well as an alternative food option if you are not feeling like what’s being served in the dining room for breakfast or lunch that day. It does burgers, hot dogs, wraps for lunch and oatmeal or a breakfast sandwich in the morning. There is also a large deck for outdoor seating when the weather is better. Much of it is covered, but so far it has been empty due to the cold. Here’s a shot of the Sun Deck and the Back Porch Cafe.
The Back Porch Cafe
The Sun Deck
That’s about it for Deck 4. Deck five above us only has staterooms and a little-used sun deck. But it is a great place to go and take photos when it’s not raining. For instance, I took this merged panoramic from up there as we headed west. It’s the “Bridge of the Gods.” We had seen it near Hood River last Wednesday when we drove out this way.
Deck three consists solely of staterooms and the pilot house/bridge, although decks 2, 3, and 4 feature a special alcove that we will discuss in a minute. On deck two aft is the gym. It’s a somewhat unusual gym/exercise area because, while one side features a variety of workout equipment, the other is equipped with tables and chairs that can be used for playing cards or enjoying drinks. Not sure I want to do that while I smell the sweaty folks working out, but you do your thing, I’ll do mine ?. Here’s a pano of that interesting room.
This is the exercise room/gym as well as having a place you can sit and enjoy the view?
Deck two also has the laundry. Essentially, this consists of three stacked washers below three dryers in a small room, roughly the size of our closet at home. It is nice to be able to do some laundry, especially when we have already been on the road for six days and are trying to limit our luggage so it fits in the fan. It has been really busy until this afternoon. Strangely enough, the washer/dryer units are exactly the same ones Viking Ocean ships have. And since there is one laundry room on every deck on Viking Ocean ships with 950 guests and just one room on this ship with fewer than 200 guests, it’s really not that bad.
Another thing I really appreciate about this ship is the elevator that stops at every floor. Not for me, since I usually take the stairs on a cruise, but for Kathleen, who has knee and hip issues. I also like that around the elevator on decks 2, 3, and 4, there is a small, cozy room with couches, chairs, and tables. These are great spots to play games (with many options available), assemble a jigsaw puzzle (many are provided), or simply read a book (they have a small library). Here are pictures of each one.
On deck two
On deck three
On deck three
On deck four
On deck four
I think that about does it for today. I just wanted to give you an idea of what the ship looks like. YIKES! I just realized I don’t have a shot of the dining room. A room that truly exceeded our expectations. It’s big, there is a very large amount of space between tables, and our waiter (and others) only have two tables to deal with each, so the service is amazing. More about that and the food tomorrow. Here’s a photo I took with my iPhone from just before lunch yesterday.
The Dining Room
To sum up and conclude the headline…so far, American Cruise Line is far exceeding what I thought I would get. Except for a few small glitches (to be detailed later), I am totally impressed.
Exceeding expectations is where satisfaction ends and loyalty begins. —Ron Kaufman
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 10, 2025 | Uncategorized
What can I say about yesterday? We had an amazing breakfast, followed by a very long drive to a creamery to witness cheese being made, then a short drive to see a large rock, followed by a long drive to get back and finally an incredible dinner.
That was it. I feel like I let my fellow October Gang buddies down with a rather long and boring trip to the Oregon Coast. We have always loved the Oregon Coast, but other than a tour of the Tillamook Creamery, it was pretty much a snooze. I think our memories of Cannon Beach were too old. We remember being able to walk out on the beach much more easily. And we remember that we used to like shopping. Now it does nothing for us. Twenty-five years ago, when we first visited, we spent hours in all the shops. Now we couldn’t care less. We are done collecting items from places we have already visited.
On the other hand, this trip is rapidly morphing into a five-day food tour. Kathleen’s daughter, Michelle, and her husband, Brian, visit Portland on a regular basis, and they have recommended several places to eat. Yesterday morning, we tried one of their breakfast options, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve never had a breakfast I liked more. The food and service were amazing. The place is called Petite Provence. How good was it? We are going back again in about 30 minutes from when I am writing this. Here are some pics.
Here’s the sign so you don’t miss it. It’s on Alberta Street.
Their croissants are HUGE!
This dish is Bourguignon Brunch. It has…tender beef braised in red wine ancho chili sauce, served over a piquant hash of butternut squash, bacon, leek, Provence potato, green pepper, harissa, and jalapeño. Topped with an egg and Horseradish Crème.
After breakfast, we headed to the coast. Our first stop, after a 90-minute drive, was the Tillamook Creamery. If you’re in the USA, you’ve probably heard of Tillamook cheese and ice cream. This is where they make it. If you’re on the Oregon Coast, I highly recommend a quick visit. It’s a self-guided tour that offers a view over the cheesemaking and packaging process. Then, enjoy a sample of cheese and, of course, some of their famous ice cream. Here are a few photos from that experience.
The front of the building is really cool with the biggest cow painting I have ever seen.
The stairs leading to the tour are haloed by cheese blocks.
Cheese is packaged here in giant blocks to age.
This woman is making sure that there is no air in the bag.
The workers do the final packaging. I have always wanted a “Robotic Debagger.”
These folks make sure all the cut blocks weigh the same. If not, they slice some off. I have no clue what they do if the blocks are under weight.
After our cheese adventure, we headed north to Cannon Beach… or so we hoped. None of our cell phones had coverage (thanks, T-Mobile), and there were no signs indicating Cannon Beach ahead. I stopped for gas and asked a man, who said it’s about 15 miles up the road. We finally arrived, and the place was crowded. You can no longer easily get out to the beach to see Haystack Rock. The guys went out to take a photo while the ladies stayed behind. The stairs were too steep. There are numerous shops selling things we don’t need, and everyone just wanted to return to the hotel. So off we went. I should mention that neither the road we took to Tillamook nor the road we returned on to Portland had many restrooms. It made for a lousy trip back to the hotel.
We had a 7:00 pm reservation at Andina, a Peruvian restaurant downtown. This was the place we canceled after the food tour on Tuesday because we were so full, and moved it to last night.
Speaking of downtown, as the driver, I find it funny that everyone keeps asking if I am okay driving back downtown or if we should eat somewhere near the hotel. I keep telling them that the only places to eat near the hotel are the hotel itself or the airport. Of course, I don’t mind driving downtown for the kind of food I get there.
Andina was incredible. Just when I thought the food here in Portland couldn’t improve, we had two utterly fantastic appetizers. One was a scallop ceviche, and the other was a barbecued rib. We shared them, but honestly, I could go back tonight, order just those two appetizers, and that would be it. I also had an amazing entrée. They called it “lomo saltado,” and it was like a hybrid of stir-fry and poutine. It featured beef and onions stir-fried in a savory sauce and then poured over French fries. Strangely enough, they served it with garlic rice. Not sure why two starches were included, but they were both delicious. Overall, Andina was a winner. Kathleen and I visited there about ten years ago, and to be honest, they have improved even more since then… and we loved them then. I also had a cocktail (notice I said A cocktail…as the designated driver, I get one ?) but it was a winner. It was called a Carmen St. Revue. I asked the bartender for the recipe, but it contains so many special ingredients that it would be nearly impossible to recreate at home.
My cocktail…it was amazing.
The remains of our appetizers. I wish I had remembered to take a before photo.
My entrée
Kathleen’s chicken entrée…almost half a bird.
That was our day. Tomorrow is our last day in Portland, and I am not sure what we are doing. I had planned for us to visit the Oregon wine region, but after today’s long drive, I’m not sure if anyone is up for doing that.
This activist loves Oregon more than he loves life. —Tom McCall
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 9, 2025 | Uncategorized
Yesterday morning, we headed out to the Columbia Gorge (after a hotel breakfast that left much to be desired) to visit Multnomah Falls, Vista House, and Hood River. Then it would be back to Portland for some outstanding Greek food for dinner.
Multnomah Falls is about 25 miles due east of Portland in the Columbia River Gorge. That’s about all I can say about it, other than it is a waterfall, it’s pretty, and it’s fairly accessible. I will let some pretty pictures do the talking. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
A truly beautiful waterfall
The bridge does a nice job of giving you some perspective and scale.
Photo time!
Looking back from the bridge.
Cathy didn’t walk up to the bridge.
So she waited for us and took photos for everyone who came by.
The waterfall again
And near the bottom
My favorite shot. The sun peaked through and turned the water almost blue.
After our waterfall experience, we drove about six miles back down the Gorge to drive up to Vista House. This is an old structure that perches on top of a very high point along the Columbia River and offers amazing views in both directions. I took a few shots there, and then we are off to Hood River.
Looking east up the river.
This is a merged panoramic shot looking both ways.
Our next stop was at the Cascade Locks, where the original locks were built to allow steamships to bypass the rapids on the river. Took a couple of photos there as well.
Looking west to “The Bridge of the Gods.” Not sure why it is called that but we will ask our speaker on the cruise.
Looking east. We will sail past this sometime next week.
About six months ago, my son Josh told us that he and his wife had visited Hood River and were really impressed. To the extent that they felt they could actually live there. For an urban lover like my son, that says a lot. So we had to go investigate. It turns out to be a pretty cool town. Our first stop was the pFriem Brewery, where we grabbed a delicious lunch. Here’s what we had.
I had an outstanding fish and chips and…
Kathleen had an elote corn salad.
When we emerged from the brewery, we were looking directly at the river. One of the things the Columbia is famous for is wind and windsurfing. Got a few photos of that as well.
Just beautiful blue water…
And a really nice weather day.
Not too much wind. Warm and sunny.
One of the biggest attractions (but you have to look for it) is the WAAAM. That stands for Western Antique Airplane & Automobile Museum. My son also enjoyed this, which surprised me as well, until we drove up (it’s above the city by the airport) to see it. WOW! That’s all I can say. If you even slightly like cars and airplanes, this is the place you have to visit. Here are too many photos I took there. I can promise you that for every one you see here, there are five or six more I didn’t post. There are captions on my favorites.
The outside
A collection of motors
They packed in all the cars and airplanes together.
The collection came from one man.
Read about it at the link in the text.
Just so many amazing planes and cars.
This yellow one was gorgeous. It’s a Cord.
This is actually an airliner.
First flown by PanAm.
Around the other side of the PanAm plane was…
the door where you boarded.
Not sure I want to fly far in this.
Loved this one. One of the few not restored.
It’s me!
Even motorcycles.
A whole section on military vehicles.
Cars from every era.
Love this car.
Love this old bakery truck.
Warplanes
A P-51 Mustang
So very cool.
Now we are getting into my kind of cars.
All of them are gorgeous.
These are the really fast ones.
The entire collection is amazing.
If you aren’t into cars, feel free to skip ahead to dinner. Many of you know I have a thing for hood ornaments. I just think they are art that has been lost. So when I see good ones, I have to photograph them and add them to my collection. Here are the ones I found this time. No captions. Just the art of the hood ornament.
After we left WAAAM, it was a long drive back to Portland on the Washington side of the river so we could end up in Vancouver, WA, where I need to check in with my doctor for a quick follow-up test related to some issues from the radiation I had in March. No big deal. Everything’s better now.
That night, we had dinner reservations at Eleni’s Philoxenia, a highly-rated Greek restaurant in the Pearl District. We can see why it’s well-regarded. It was amazing—fantastic atmosphere, great music, superb service, and some of the best Greek food I’ve ever had. And I love Greek food.
I had the moussaka
Kathleen had Orzo Me Arni Kokonisto. Braised lamb over orzo. Amazing.
That about covers our Wednesday. Portland is still awesome and we can’t wait to sail up the Columbia Gorge and see it from the water. Stick with us. That happens next week. Tomorrow (earlier today as I write this) we went out to the Oregon Coast.
Sometimes in L.A., we get accused of being superficial. I feel like Portland’s the opposite, in that there’s a greater depth of character, and sense of self. —Ruben Fleischer
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 8, 2025 | Uncategorized
Our first full day back together with the rest of the October bunch was all about food. We had booked a walking food tour with Secret Food Tours. Kathleen and I had toured with them quite a few years ago, and we are happy to report that they still do a superb food tour. That’s the whole crowd at Deschutes Brewery (but more about that later) above.
We started the day with a free breakfast at our hotel (Embassy Suites by Hilton-PDX), and it was fine. It gave us enough to get us to the tour. We were to meet up with Ken Lin from Secret Food Tours at 11:00 am beneath the Umbrella Man sculpture in Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland. And, not to be too political here, I can tell you that Portland is NOT AT WAR. It is NOT DANGEROUS. We saw no crime, just a beautiful day and a lot of really nice people out enjoying the sunshine in the heart of Portland.
I took some shots around the Square before we met up with Ken. Just some interesting architecture, people, and the aforementioned Umbrella Man statue. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Taken from the middle of the square on a beautiful fall day.
Facing in another direction.
The Umbrella Man
Up close he’s kind of spooky.
This guy was doing pushups on his hands for a while.
On the edges of what look like horse watering troughs just down from the Square were a variety of animal sculptures. I really liked these otters.
These are called Benson Bubblers. They are all around downtown.
Once Ken (at right) arrived, it was off on the food tour. Our first stop was a food pod. We had never been to a food pod before, but it turned out to be a really nice, fenced area with numerous food carts lining the edges, seating, and a stage in the middle. BTW: we were told that these were carts and not food trucks because they have no engines, thus they could not go anywhere. They are there permanently. If you can’t find something to eat or drink there, you aren’t trying. We got to try the Cubano sandwiches from Stella’s Sandwiches, which were drop-dead delicious. Never had one with pulled pork before (always just sliced pork) and it was amazing.
Kathleen heading into the food pod.
Stella’s Sandwiches and Bowls where we got…
This awesome Cubano sandwich.
After our food pod experience, we took the longest walk of the day from downtown into the Pearl District to visit Deschutes Brewery and sample their wonderful pretzel with cheese sauce and mustard. All I can say is that it was wonderful. Not quite up to our favorite at Valley House Brewing near us in Duvall, WA but still really good.
This is the place.
This is the food.
This is the really cool urinals in the men’s room. Like almost 6 feet high.
Next up was Nong’s Khao Man Gai. It’s an interesting place that is renowned for just this one dish. As you can tell from the name, it is an Asian restaurant. When you order the Khao Man Gai, you get chicken, rice, soup, cucumbers and one of the most amazing sauces. Truly delicious.
This is the place.
This is the food! The sauce was to die for.
From there it was on to Grassa, which is predominantly a pasta restaurant. We got to sample their Pork Belly Mac & Cheese. Absolute decadence might be a good way to describe it. Just amazing.
This is the place.
This is the food.
The last spot and the last course were, of course, dessert. We went just down the street to Petunia’s Pies and Pastries, the home of some truly delicious marionberry pie. If you have no clue what a marionberry is, think of a blackberry without all the annoying seeds. The pie, despite being gluten-free and vegan ?, was amazing.
This was the place.
This was the food.
During the entire tour, I took some street photos, mostly of neon signs, which I love, as well as others of interesting buildings. They are a good way to wind this up photographically.
Definitely a happy city.
A very cool bike sculpture.
And neon.
I love neon.
Can you tell?
Just love shooting it.
That about did it for Kathleen and me. She was exhausted from all the walking, so we dropped off Steve, Jamie, Mike, and Cathy at the Portland Rose Garden, and I took Kathleen back to the hotel to rest before going back to pick up the other four about an hour later. The traffic sucked, and that’s kind of what we get for staying in an airport hotel. We had reservations for dinner at Andina, a Peruvian restaurant Kathleen and I had visited before. However, everyone was still so full from the food tour, that I called and rescheduled them for Thursday.
Tomorrow is a trip up the Gorge to visit Multnomah Falls, Hood River and see Mount Hood. Should be fun. I will let you know on Thursday.
Portland is quickly becoming one of those lovely, lush Third World countries where kinda-rich people retire with their money. Here, they can live like kings, generating only service-industry jobs and jacking up housing prices. —Chuck Palahniuk
by Jim Bellomo | Jul 27, 2025 | Uncategorized
If you, (like my good buddy Jayesh and I) are Princess Bride fans, you know that my headline is a quote from the amazing Inigo Montoya. But that’s how I usually begin my final post about a trip.
This trip was a good one. Before we went, everyone told us it was “the trip of a lifetime,” or “the best trip we ever took.” To be totally honest, it is one of the best trips, but not THE best. It does make the top five, but it’s not number one. For me, that spot is still held by our voyage to the Galapagos on Celebrity’s Flora. Let me explain. But not before I give you my favorite African Sunset photo to break up all the text.
The things we loved
The lodging was amazing in its own way. We have never stayed in such wonderful accommodations. Starting with the only one we booked ourselves (The Radisson Red on our first night in Cape Town) to the incredible game lodges at Tintswalo. All of them were great. Two of them had rooms larger than my first apartment (The Cape Grace in Cape Town and the Fairlawn Boutique Hotel and Spa in Johannesburg). The Victoria Falls hotel was just too colonial for me. Too much of a reminder of the way the European/Western world has exploited much of Africa and continues to do so monetarily today. And eating cold food because they have no indoor restaurant is just wrong.
The lodges at Tintswalo Safari Lodge may have been bigger than my first house. But I found them dark and way too isolated. Our room onboard the Zambezi Queen was fine. A little small, but just fine. And they need either doors that lock from the outside or larger safes, along with new and higher furniture in the common areas. When you have to struggle to get out of a couch, that couch needs to go ?.
One more thing about the lodging. It is drop-dead the finest in South Africa. If you visit the websites for the Cape Grace, Victoria Falls Hotel, Fairlawn, or Tintswalo, you will find that all charge around $1200 per night for a room similar to the one we had. To be honest, the best bed I slept on the entire trip was at the Radisson Red in Cape Town. Certainly, the service at the other hotels was amazing, but we also loved the service at the Red and would have been just fine staying there at $165 per night. However, if you want the best lodging in Southern Africa, this is the trip for you.
The food was fine with some amazing standouts. The Spiced Eggs I had for breakfast three days in a row at the Cape Grace in Cape Town were easily one of my favorite dishes ever. Our dinner at Marble in Johannesburg was delicious and a great dining experience. We are glad Beverleigh talked us into keeping our reservation. A few of the dishes at Tintswalo were so good I begged for the recipes, and happily, I have all four that I loved.
This trip included some once-in-a-lifetime experiences. My favorite things we did included our helicopter ride over Victoria Falls (I was too busy being amazed to worry about being in a helicopter). Our morning game drives at Tintswalo (all but one of the evening drives were a bust) and the excellent lectures we heard. The one on the boat in the Zambezi River about Dr. Livingston was especially enjoyable. The ongoing discussion of the historical significance of the mining industry in Johannesburg remains thought-provoking. Our day in the wine country with Gen was incredibly informative in many ways, not just about wine but also about South Africa.
But my drop-dead favorite experience of the entire trip was my solo (with only Gibson driving the boat) “birdwatching” trip on the Chobe River at the crack of dawn. As a photographer, that one was special. Here’s my favorite photo from that day.
I got some great photos. A significant part of why I travel is for the photography. It always makes me happy on a trip when I get great photos that I can come back and be proud of, but Southern Africa does have its photographic challenges.
I would guess that if you asked our wonderful fellow travelers who finished the trip with us at Tintswalo what their favorite segment of the trip was, they would say it was our three days at Tintswalo. For me, that was maybe my third favorite place.
It took me a few days at home working on photos to figure out why. As I compiled my 100 favorite photos from the entire trip (for the record, I took more than 8,000 pictures), I noticed something. The area around Kruger Park and Tintswalo that we visited for those three days was monotone. Everything was brown. Everything blended together.
It didn’t help that throughout our entire stay at Tintswalo, I felt rushed. Part of that feeling is due to my expectations. I thought there would be more free time. Knowing what I know now, I would have skipped all the evening game drives except the first one. Perhaps this is related to how jaded I became about the animals by the end of the trip. I am not sure how many elephants and hippos we saw, but it must have been in the thousands, especially if you include Cape buffalo. And don’t even think about counting the impalas ?.
The one major thing we didn’t like
There is a reason we probably would not do this trip again. And this is just me. I am sure that the others were fine with it, but for us, this trip is not something we would do over. Airports and airplanes are our least favorite part of travel. It would not be an exaggeration for me to say that they are the one part of traveling that I despise. And on this trip, to see everything, you have to spend a lot of time in airports and on airplanes. When I was out for my walk with Keeley (our dog) yesterday, I suddenly realized that was the problem (for us) with this trip. So when I got home, I added up our time in airports and on planes to make this trip happen. Not counting the time it took to travel to and from the airports, we spent 75.5 hours either waiting in an airport for a flight, on the flight, getting through passport control and customs after a flight or clearing it before one. That’s hell. If I had added it up before we booked the trip, we might not have gone. You don’t realize that you can easily lose entire days at airports and on flights.
Please don’t misunderstand me, we had a great time, but when I realized how much time we spent centered on flying, it blew me away. Just under one-fourth of the entire trip was spent getting to and flying on airplanes. Sadly, I don’t know how else we could have seen everything we did in that short amount of time, but until they invent the Star Trek transporter, I don’t plan on doing another trip like that ?.
As many of you know, Kathleen and I have cruised extensively. We have always said that one of the best parts of cruising is the fact that you only have to unpack once, and your hotel moves you around for a week. While that may have been true on the Chobe River, we never really unpacked anywhere. Which also tells you that we are not the type of travelers who like living out of a suitcase. And dragging two medium-sized suitcases, one carry-on, my backpack with camera and laptop, as well as Kathleen’s backpack, was not fun. I am always envious of people like our new friends, AJ and Diane, who can pack everything they need for an 18-day vacation into two large carry-ons. One pair of my shoes would fill that backpack. And this vacation was all about layering. We needed clothes for hot weather and clothes for cold weather. And there was no real laundry service or opportunity until we got to Tintswalo. Plus, in a few places (like Johannesburg), we couldn’t send any out because we weren’t there long enough for it to come back before we left.
This vacation was just too much moving from point A to point B. We loved all points A, B, C, D and E, but getting there was no fun.
The absolute best thing about the entire trip
Hands down, it was the proud people of Southern Africa. I don’t think we met a single person who lived there who wasn’t trying to be the best they could be, even though they may have been living through horrible circumstances. The service was hands down the best we have ever received in all our travels, and all were supplied with smiles and cheerful voices.
And the openness was amazing. The willingness to discuss their countries, how they felt about what was going on in their country and the world. They had opinions both good and bad, but they expressed them with calmness and thought. They answered my tough questions and made me want to know more about the region and their country. To see the faces of our Namibian crew on the Zambezi Queen singing their national anthem for us brought a tear to my eye. But hearing from a South African that their government still has some ugly remnants of apartheid made me mad as hell. And seeing the poverty of Soweto and the wealth of natural resources, leaving the country to make a profit for those outside of it, left me seething. But as my new friend AJ told me (a very wise man), this is a generational thing that won’t change overnight. But it does need to change.
People that stood out and were amazing included the incredible Delia (this trip could not happen without her), the wine expert Gen, who gave me a five-hour education and contributed to my knowledge of her country, my birdwatching buddy Gibson, who amazed me with his knowledge of the birds, animals and fauna of the Chobe river. And he speaks 11 languages and loves his work—you can tell. Bernard, who runs the Zambezi Queen, is a great leader and so proud of his country, Namibia. Our driver (it pains me that I did not find out his name) at the Fairlawns, who had frank discussions with us on our drives. Beverleigh, who shared her perspective on her country and its foibles during one of the best dinner discussions I have had during our travels. Every single person we met at the Kliptown Youth Program in Soweto, but especially Thando Bezana. Their spirit is indomitable. They are succeeding where others have failed. They truly make a difference. Perhaps they are the beginning of that generational change that AJ discussed.
And speaking of AJ, we met and traveled with some really great folks. We missed our new friends Lorraine, Betty and Dennis at Tintswalo when they took the train as their end-of-trip excursion. Our final 12 at Tintswalo were the heart and soul of our group. AJ and Diane (who we hope to see again in the Bay Area). They did a great job of tempering my enthusiasm with their well-thought-out views. I always gravitate to people like that because they are what I need to slow me down and get me to think. The two Marinas were a total hoot. M-1 was always fun and M-2 just totally cracked us up. Riding in the back of the safari truck with her made the afternoon game drive a bunch more fun. Vicky, David, Sonnet and Fred were great people to be around, and just listening to Nancy‘s tales and Rich’s stories of cooking for her still brings a smile to my face. Look in the dictionary under “picky eater” if you want to see what Nancy looks like ?.
That about does it. We had a great time, we wish we had flown less and been able to spend more time seeing things, but Delia made it possible for us to get through airports without wanting to jump off a cliff. Thanks for coming along. Watch this space in October when the October Bunch does Portland and a Columbia River cruise.
I want to leave you with a photo that kind of sums up the end of things. I saved it for just this spot. It’s the end. Enjoy.
The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa – for he has so much to look forward to. – Richard Mullin
