Cage Diving with Great White Shark

Cape Town, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

It is an unique experience to see the while shark swimming around the boat. It is more than 3.5 meter long. I saw its teeth under water!

Very interesting but it cost me a lot!

Cape Town

Cape Town, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Cape Town in South Africa, so modern that you do not feel like in Africa. I went to Robben Island where Mandela was imprison here. The ex-political prisoners guide told us the stories of the Island. The table mountain, is really flat. However, the table cloth, dense cloud, came and I saw nothing at the top!

Harare

Harare, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

It is surprisingly easy to pass the border to Zimbabwe and back to my HKSAR passport.

And, this is my first time to take a ride by truck, heading to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

Many stories were heard before my trip to Zimbabwe: No food in the shop, lacking fuel for car, water shortage, the official exchange rate of USD to Zim dollar is 1 to 250 while the parallel market is 1:200,000, etc.

And the situation is not so bad when I arrived. This is true that I cannot find Coke in the city centre, the menu has separate pages for the prices due to the huge inflation rate.

Lower Zambezi River

Lower Zambezi River, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

I joined 3 day canoe safaris on Lower Zambezi River, the nature border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Along the river, you can see elephants and hippos. It is a luxury trip as we have a support boat following us. I can even have cold beer on the camp.

It is good to see elephant crossing the river during sunset and hear the noise made by hippos during the night.

Lusaka

Train to Zambia, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Tazara train connecting Tanzania to Zambia was built by China in 1970. I spent 46 hours for this journey, first class is quite comfortable. I even have showers in the train!

The visa problem did not come easy. The immigration officer in the train did not think that I should have 2 passports and only grant 1 day entry to me. I need to report to teh immigration office in Zambia's train station.

The situation did not get better when I talked to the immigration officer in the train station. At last, they ask me money (~HKD40) for "talk time" of mobile phone to talk to his boss! Finally, I got the entry stamp but I missed the bus.

I walked to the town for bus going to Lusaka. On the way, the bus ran out of gas and we stopped, waited for the passby vechicle for petrol!

P.S. I found that some of my email has classified as Spam in my gmail account. So, pls check your Spam folder.

Zanzibar

Zanzibar, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Once an important trading port of spices and slaves, Zanzibar Island has old stone town and nice beaches. There was many food stalls along seashore of the stone town, the food is good and really cheap.

I spent tow days on the beach, Nungwi, at the north of the island. Every evening, people crowded on the beach to watch the sunset.

Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Dar es Salaam, the major city of Tanzania. Besides as a passby city, there is not much to see. However, I have to get my visa to Zambia here and this is the first time I need to apply visa in the neighbouring country in advance.

However, it is not smooth. My HKSAR passport required 7-14 days to processed. That make me feel really bad as I have already bought my train ticket departing next week to Zambia and I am going to Zanzibar this afternoon.

After discussion with the reception of the cosulate, it seems the best way is to use my British passport for visa application. However, dual nationality is not accepted in many African countries. I don't know, just go and see!

Moshi

Moshi, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

Moshi, near the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I am not going to climb theountain but just want to see this highest mountain in Africa. I stayed in Moshi for 2 days but it was so cloudy that I cannot see the mountain at all.

Safaris in Kenya

Lake Nakuru NP, originally uploaded by Tak from HK.

I spent six days Safaris in three different national parks, Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli National park. But, I have spent half the time on driving between the parks.

Visiting the national park in Kenya is one of my highlights in Africa and it really was. At the beginning, I do not really know how can I enjoy the tour because I am too busy with taking photos. However, only on the last day, I finally realized that I was really happy when I saw a dikdik jumping or an baby Zebra running or an exhausted lion after hunting a wildbeast. I was happy when I saw the wildlife in their living place which is the reason I am here.