Today was big cat day! We were hoping to see the big cats today in Etosha NP: lions, cheetahs, and leopards.
We had an excellent breakfast as we watched dawn break and listened to the birds and other creatures wake up the day.
At 6:30am we met our guide (we never caught her name) and were off, just the three of us in the back.
We retraced our route from yesterday for the first hour, until we cut off from the C38 in the park. Along the way in we saw a Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, a type of owl. Either our guide spotted it, or more likely knew its favourite spot; both boded well for the safari :)
We saw a clan of spotted hyenas, including a very young one. Watched them play around for a few minutes. Our guide was in contact over the radio with her colleagues to find out where game had been spotted. They used a numbered code to identify animals, by size. We were most interested in the 3s (lion), 4s (leopard) and 5s (cheetah).
We got word of some 5s beside some road. Our guide checked with us if we were okay with doing 60km/h (the speed limit, although in an open air safari vehicle on dirt roads, it was dusty), and then took off like a bat out of hell, at 80km/h. She was quite the character, we really liked her as a guide.
We saw the two cheetahs at a distance, not really worth a pic yet. Our guide said they might come towards the road, so we waited. She had a tea in the meantime. Then her radio called out about a 4, in action, and she quickly turned, said ‘Hold my tea’ and we took off at 80km/h again.
It was a leopard stalking a baby zebra! I think every guided safari in the park was at the location, at least a dozen vehicles (one disadvantage of national parks vs private reserves). Marissa wasn’t comfortable with watching a kill, so we took some pics and then went back to the cheetahs.
The cheetahs had since made their way to the road! And were drinking from a small puddle at the side of the road. We took lots of pics. Our guide got on the radio excitedly to her colleagues ‘5 on the road! You must push!’ (meaning go fast). We found her hilarious.
Drove around some more, and saw another pair of cheetahs, and then a leopard in a tree! Our guide was very surprised at the volume of cats - normally these are very difficult to spot in rainy season.
We returned back to the lodge around noon, a very enjoyable game drive thanks to our guide.
The afternoon game drive was at 3pm, which didn’t leave much down time. Instead, Heather and I opted out, and were planning to do some birdwatching on the property. Marissa went on the drive, joined by some other random guests. The guide saved her the full front row though :)
Our bird watching didn’t pan out as it absolutely poured rain all afternoon. We actually enjoyed relaxing in our tent with the rain coming down, so it all worked out :)
We chatted with some of the other guests in the main lodge. Everyone had done the same circuit (it’s really just a choice of clockwise or counterclockwise) and in fact we had mostly stayed at the same places (also not a surprise, as there’s not many options at each price point).
Marissa arrived after her game drive and we sat down for dinner. It was at a communal table, so we chatted some more with the other guests. Marissa had seen a lion, We had grilled beef with a pepper sauce, it was the yummiest yet. The kitchen here at Mushara Outpost is excellent.
Friday, December 27, 2024
Thursday, December 26, 2024
Etosha, Namibia
Another day, another safari lodge. Today we drove through Etosha to our next lodge, Mushara Outpost, at the east end of the national park.
We packed up at Safarihoek and said our goodbyes to the staff. The staff here are great, one of our favourites.
We started on yet more bumpy gravel roads. After a couple hours, reached a gas stop just before the southern gate of Etosha NP at Okaukuejo. It was a nice stop, with very clean bathrooms and a decent curio shop. Got some more cash from an ATM, this time without the lineups or cultural exchange.
We arrived at the park border where there was a checkpoint. Marissa had her passport on her (ours were packed in our suitcases), so she completed our paperwork to enter the park. We’ve been changing lodges every 2nd day and it’s hard to remember where we’re coming from or going to - which unfortunately were some of questions Marissa had to answer. We had to look up on our phones. At least we knew we didn’t have any firearms or drones (or plastic bags).
A couple km later at the park gate, we showed our completed paperwork, paid our park fees (150 NAD per person, 50 NAD for the vehicle, about $40 CAD total) and drove in.
We have a couple game drives in Etosha tomorrow with a guide, so just drove straight through today. We did see quite a variety of animals, including zebras, ostriches, blue wildebeest, eland, springbok and oryx. Pretty good for us amateurs!
The roads were bumpy gravel, with a max speed of 60km in the park. It was slow going. We originally had plans to stop for lunch at a camp in the park, but that would have added about 45 minutes of driving time, so instead just headed for our lodge. We could see rain falling from storms all around us, but somehow our route avoided all of them.
Showed our paperwork again at the eastern gate at Namutoni. Our lodge, Mushara Outpost, was another 10km down the C38. We passed by a couple dazzle of black-faced impalas, a vulnerable species, for which we stopped to take some pics.
We arrived at our lodge, but weren’t sure if we were at the right spot, as there was no signage. We thought it was maybe a private house. So jumped back in the vehicle and followed the arrows. We then realized the arrows pointed to the exit; and so we looped around, parked, and emptied out of the car again, trying unsuccessfully to act cool like nothing happened.
Anyways we were in the right spot :) had our welcome drink (rooibos iced tea), and settled into our rooms. It’s another different setting - each chalet is nestled in the woods, like a fancy cottage. The main lodge reminded us of going to a friend-of-a-friend’s cottage, with leather couches, large antiques and artwork.
The food here at Mushara Outpost is excellent, the best we’ve had on the trip. We were swarmed again by the big moths that come out after it rains. (We had them at Safarihoek as well). Had a tense walk back to our cottage in the dark, hoping that lions didn’t get us. (Lions did in fact walk through the grounds later in the night).
We packed up at Safarihoek and said our goodbyes to the staff. The staff here are great, one of our favourites.
We started on yet more bumpy gravel roads. After a couple hours, reached a gas stop just before the southern gate of Etosha NP at Okaukuejo. It was a nice stop, with very clean bathrooms and a decent curio shop. Got some more cash from an ATM, this time without the lineups or cultural exchange.
We arrived at the park border where there was a checkpoint. Marissa had her passport on her (ours were packed in our suitcases), so she completed our paperwork to enter the park. We’ve been changing lodges every 2nd day and it’s hard to remember where we’re coming from or going to - which unfortunately were some of questions Marissa had to answer. We had to look up on our phones. At least we knew we didn’t have any firearms or drones (or plastic bags).
A couple km later at the park gate, we showed our completed paperwork, paid our park fees (150 NAD per person, 50 NAD for the vehicle, about $40 CAD total) and drove in.
We have a couple game drives in Etosha tomorrow with a guide, so just drove straight through today. We did see quite a variety of animals, including zebras, ostriches, blue wildebeest, eland, springbok and oryx. Pretty good for us amateurs!
The roads were bumpy gravel, with a max speed of 60km in the park. It was slow going. We originally had plans to stop for lunch at a camp in the park, but that would have added about 45 minutes of driving time, so instead just headed for our lodge. We could see rain falling from storms all around us, but somehow our route avoided all of them.
Showed our paperwork again at the eastern gate at Namutoni. Our lodge, Mushara Outpost, was another 10km down the C38. We passed by a couple dazzle of black-faced impalas, a vulnerable species, for which we stopped to take some pics.
We arrived at our lodge, but weren’t sure if we were at the right spot, as there was no signage. We thought it was maybe a private house. So jumped back in the vehicle and followed the arrows. We then realized the arrows pointed to the exit; and so we looped around, parked, and emptied out of the car again, trying unsuccessfully to act cool like nothing happened.
Anyways we were in the right spot :) had our welcome drink (rooibos iced tea), and settled into our rooms. It’s another different setting - each chalet is nestled in the woods, like a fancy cottage. The main lodge reminded us of going to a friend-of-a-friend’s cottage, with leather couches, large antiques and artwork.
The food here at Mushara Outpost is excellent, the best we’ve had on the trip. We were swarmed again by the big moths that come out after it rains. (We had them at Safarihoek as well). Had a tense walk back to our cottage in the dark, hoping that lions didn’t get us. (Lions did in fact walk through the grounds later in the night).
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Etosha Heights, Namibia
Merry Christmas! We were awakened by a passing rainstorm around 5am. We had to get up soon anyways so just stayed up and watched the rain over the plains.
It was still drizzling when we headed to the main lodge for breakfast, so we got to break out our new travel umbrellas we bought for the trip. We were the only guests so just left them to dry in the lodge when we went on safari.
We boarded the safari vehicle and headed out. We heard a lion rumbling in the distance. Drove through the reserve slowly, looking for animal tracks. I actually spotted a large bull elephant in the hills, munching away on branches as thick as my arm.
On the safari we saw lots of giraffes, some including an Angolan giraffe with very different markings than what we’ve seen previously. We also saw lots of bird species, and a turtle.
We returned to the lodge for lunch, and then had a few hours to relax before the afternoon activities. It was the first extended down time we’ve had and I used it to catch up on my blog and pics. We usually build in more down time to relax; however the excursions and safaris have lasted much longer than I expected. We’re still glad we saw what we have, even though it’s been jam packed. Woe is us :)
I skipped out on the afternoon safari so I could hang out at the photography hide. The three of us were driven down to the hide at 4:30pm (there’s predators about, so it’s not safe to walk), and then Heather and Marissa were picked up at 5:30pm for their safari.
I really enjoyed watching the animals from the hide (and got some cool pics too!) The hide windows are at ground level, and the perspective from that angle is great. Got some pics of giraffes drinking which I hadn’t seen before.
It’s easy to get focused on an animal through the lens and miss out on other activity around the watering hole. I almost missed a confusion of guinea fowl right in front of me. I only noticed when they started chatting with each other. I’ve always had trouble getting a good pic of one - they tend to run off at first sight of humans and like poor lighting conditions. Here I was able to get some in focus, with some bokeh to boot.
Also in the hide was Olwen Evans, the photographer who designed the hide for Safarihoek Lodge. She gave me a couple wildlife photography tips, for example that smaller birds love the puddles in the roads after a rain shower, and that low light pics usually look better in b/w.
Later we had our Christmas dinner in the lodge, including a roasted turkey. The staff provided a little entertainment, singing some traditional songs. I really like how Safarihoek promotes the local culture. Yesterday our server had provided click language translations for the menu options. We tried to learn thank-you, and sort of got it, minus the clicks. We really enjoyed our time at this lodge.
It was still drizzling when we headed to the main lodge for breakfast, so we got to break out our new travel umbrellas we bought for the trip. We were the only guests so just left them to dry in the lodge when we went on safari.
We boarded the safari vehicle and headed out. We heard a lion rumbling in the distance. Drove through the reserve slowly, looking for animal tracks. I actually spotted a large bull elephant in the hills, munching away on branches as thick as my arm.
On the safari we saw lots of giraffes, some including an Angolan giraffe with very different markings than what we’ve seen previously. We also saw lots of bird species, and a turtle.
We returned to the lodge for lunch, and then had a few hours to relax before the afternoon activities. It was the first extended down time we’ve had and I used it to catch up on my blog and pics. We usually build in more down time to relax; however the excursions and safaris have lasted much longer than I expected. We’re still glad we saw what we have, even though it’s been jam packed. Woe is us :)
I skipped out on the afternoon safari so I could hang out at the photography hide. The three of us were driven down to the hide at 4:30pm (there’s predators about, so it’s not safe to walk), and then Heather and Marissa were picked up at 5:30pm for their safari.
I really enjoyed watching the animals from the hide (and got some cool pics too!) The hide windows are at ground level, and the perspective from that angle is great. Got some pics of giraffes drinking which I hadn’t seen before.
It’s easy to get focused on an animal through the lens and miss out on other activity around the watering hole. I almost missed a confusion of guinea fowl right in front of me. I only noticed when they started chatting with each other. I’ve always had trouble getting a good pic of one - they tend to run off at first sight of humans and like poor lighting conditions. Here I was able to get some in focus, with some bokeh to boot.
Also in the hide was Olwen Evans, the photographer who designed the hide for Safarihoek Lodge. She gave me a couple wildlife photography tips, for example that smaller birds love the puddles in the roads after a rain shower, and that low light pics usually look better in b/w.
Later we had our Christmas dinner in the lodge, including a roasted turkey. The staff provided a little entertainment, singing some traditional songs. I really like how Safarihoek promotes the local culture. Yesterday our server had provided click language translations for the menu options. We tried to learn thank-you, and sort of got it, minus the clicks. We really enjoyed our time at this lodge.
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Etosha Heights, Namibia
We had breakfast, packed up while enjoying the view from the room, and were on the road by 10am. We stopped at a couple large boulders near the entrance to Mowani Mountain Lodge for some pics for Marissa.
We enjoyed about 10km of pavement before we turned off onto gravel roads yet again. The route from Damaraland to Etosha Heights is not a common one, and this was reflected in the lack of upkeep of the road.
We stopped at the 2nd gas station in Khorixas, to fuel up and get cash from the ATM. The Mowani folks had said this was the less-busier gas station; they also told us how to pronounce the name of the town which I’ve since forgotten.
There were about 10 people in line for the ATM. Heather and Marissa waited in line while I got gas. The ATM line took over half an hour, as some folks seemed unfamiliar with using one, and others had trouble getting cash. Christmas Eve is a popular time to get cash, as most everything shuts down at noon for a couple days.
Heather and Marissa had a good time chatting with the other folks in line, one of the few interactions we’ve had with locals.
The ATM looked like it might be broken or out of cash by the time they got to the front. They gave it a try, and immediately got their cash. They made a beeline for the car (I had the engine running) in case they did in fact empty out the ATM, leaving a long line of cash-less people behind.
The directions became conflicted between ExpertAfrica, our physical map and Google Maps. The road conditions weren’t quite as bad as the way into Mowani, but certainly couldn’t be called good.
We passed through six gates where we had to manually open and close, I guess to protect farm animals. They each had a sign mak toe asb which Marissa Google translated as Afrikaans meaning close the gate please and not something bad like ‘road closed due to flooding’ or ‘keep out’.
We finally saw a sign for our next lodge, Safarihoek, and knew we were on the right track. Followed the signs to the private reserve main gate, where we signed in with a guard, and then a few km to the lodge itself.
We had the whole place to ourselves, as we were the only guests tonight. The view from the lodge and our rooms is a vast plain all the way at to the horizon. Quite the contrast from our previous lodge!
We had a mini-lunch (it was 3pm and we didn’t want to ruin our dinner). We had plans to head to the photography hide for the sundowner, but a large herd of elephants (20+ including some babies) had walked by earlier, so instead we had a small safari to track them down.
We saw them just before the border with Etosha! It was quite cool to watch them walk by, protecting the little ones. Our guide, Mamsi, said they were less than one month old. We had a fake charge by one of the males, we kept calm and they just went on their way.
We got to the hide just in time for a sundowner. Chatted with Olwen, the in-house photographer who helped design the photography hide.
Dinner was outside on the deck. There were dozens of large moths flying about, which happens every time there’s a big downpour. We ate quickly and went to bed. There was a fireplace in the main lodge, so maybe a chance for Santa to visit.
We enjoyed about 10km of pavement before we turned off onto gravel roads yet again. The route from Damaraland to Etosha Heights is not a common one, and this was reflected in the lack of upkeep of the road.
We stopped at the 2nd gas station in Khorixas, to fuel up and get cash from the ATM. The Mowani folks had said this was the less-busier gas station; they also told us how to pronounce the name of the town which I’ve since forgotten.
There were about 10 people in line for the ATM. Heather and Marissa waited in line while I got gas. The ATM line took over half an hour, as some folks seemed unfamiliar with using one, and others had trouble getting cash. Christmas Eve is a popular time to get cash, as most everything shuts down at noon for a couple days.
Heather and Marissa had a good time chatting with the other folks in line, one of the few interactions we’ve had with locals.
The ATM looked like it might be broken or out of cash by the time they got to the front. They gave it a try, and immediately got their cash. They made a beeline for the car (I had the engine running) in case they did in fact empty out the ATM, leaving a long line of cash-less people behind.
The directions became conflicted between ExpertAfrica, our physical map and Google Maps. The road conditions weren’t quite as bad as the way into Mowani, but certainly couldn’t be called good.
We passed through six gates where we had to manually open and close, I guess to protect farm animals. They each had a sign mak toe asb which Marissa Google translated as Afrikaans meaning close the gate please and not something bad like ‘road closed due to flooding’ or ‘keep out’.
We finally saw a sign for our next lodge, Safarihoek, and knew we were on the right track. Followed the signs to the private reserve main gate, where we signed in with a guard, and then a few km to the lodge itself.
We had the whole place to ourselves, as we were the only guests tonight. The view from the lodge and our rooms is a vast plain all the way at to the horizon. Quite the contrast from our previous lodge!
We had a mini-lunch (it was 3pm and we didn’t want to ruin our dinner). We had plans to head to the photography hide for the sundowner, but a large herd of elephants (20+ including some babies) had walked by earlier, so instead we had a small safari to track them down.
We saw them just before the border with Etosha! It was quite cool to watch them walk by, protecting the little ones. Our guide, Mamsi, said they were less than one month old. We had a fake charge by one of the males, we kept calm and they just went on their way.
We got to the hide just in time for a sundowner. Chatted with Olwen, the in-house photographer who helped design the photography hide.
Dinner was outside on the deck. There were dozens of large moths flying about, which happens every time there’s a big downpour. We ate quickly and went to bed. There was a fireplace in the main lodge, so maybe a chance for Santa to visit.
Monday, December 23, 2024
Damarland, Namibia
We had a normal safari-time start to the day - up at 5:30am, breakfast at 6am, and then out on safari by 6:30am.
We wore our puffy jackets to start the day, it was about 18C, and in an open-air safari vehicle. We were hoping to see the desert-adapted elephants, in the Torra Conservancy.
We crossed them off our list within an hour, as we saw a herd of five elephants. They have larger feet for the sand, and longer trunks. We watched them at a watering hole for a few minutes, then continued on further into the conservancy. We spent the next few hours tracking down elephants, giraffes and other wildlife.
We were back for lunch, had a brief hour-long break and then were back on the road at 3pm, to see the ancient rock engravings in Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We had mistakenly thought these were rock paintings in caves, but in fact they’re engraved, and exposed to the weather. There’s thousands of engravings scattered around the area.
Twyfelfontein is the colonial name, the official name is ǀUi-ǁAis which means jumping waterhole in the clicking language of Nama/Damara. Our guide spoke Nama/Damara, which is the first time I’ve heard the use of click consonants in real life.
Our guide took us on the 45 minute circuit. The highlight is an engraving of multiple animals including a lion.
We were back at Mowani Mountain Camp around 5:30pm. We decided just to relax in our rooms until dinner, as the view was the same as the sundowner spot. We haven’t had much down time this trip, what with these lengthy excursions, so I was falling behind in my blog and pics.
Dinner was excellent yet again. It was busier at the lodge; they said they were fully booked from here through New Year’s. And so ended another full day of vacation :)
We wore our puffy jackets to start the day, it was about 18C, and in an open-air safari vehicle. We were hoping to see the desert-adapted elephants, in the Torra Conservancy.
We crossed them off our list within an hour, as we saw a herd of five elephants. They have larger feet for the sand, and longer trunks. We watched them at a watering hole for a few minutes, then continued on further into the conservancy. We spent the next few hours tracking down elephants, giraffes and other wildlife.
We were back for lunch, had a brief hour-long break and then were back on the road at 3pm, to see the ancient rock engravings in Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We had mistakenly thought these were rock paintings in caves, but in fact they’re engraved, and exposed to the weather. There’s thousands of engravings scattered around the area.
Twyfelfontein is the colonial name, the official name is ǀUi-ǁAis which means jumping waterhole in the clicking language of Nama/Damara. Our guide spoke Nama/Damara, which is the first time I’ve heard the use of click consonants in real life.
Our guide took us on the 45 minute circuit. The highlight is an engraving of multiple animals including a lion.
We were back at Mowani Mountain Camp around 5:30pm. We decided just to relax in our rooms until dinner, as the view was the same as the sundowner spot. We haven’t had much down time this trip, what with these lengthy excursions, so I was falling behind in my blog and pics.
Dinner was excellent yet again. It was busier at the lodge; they said they were fully booked from here through New Year’s. And so ended another full day of vacation :)
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Damaraland, Namibia
We had a really nice breakfast at the Strand Hotel, one of the more extensive buffets we’ve had this trip. Watched the beach activity come to life with beach volleyball players, surfers and other water sports. It was only 18C but I guess it’s all relative.
Packed up the car and headed north on the C34. We made a quick stop to see the Zeila Shipwreck, a few metres off shore. We then turned inland around Henties Bay, our last look at the ocean until Cape Town.
The temperature slowly climbed as we drove east on the C35. By the time we got to Uis in Damaraland, where we stopped for lunch, it was over 30C.
Uis is a cute little town. We had relaxing lunch at the Cactus and Coffee Teagarden, including a home-made iced tea. They had some nice souvenirs too; both Marissa and Heather bought some curios.
Filled up on gas, and then continued along the C35. The road condition was the worst we’ve had this trip, sandy/gravelly and very bumpy. The scenery however was spectacular, with giant rectangular boulders the size of houses and piles of other large boulders.
The road switched back to pavement and it felt amazing. After a few km we reached the turn off to Mowani Mountain Camp, our lodge for the next two nights.
The lodge and rooms are built in and around the boulders. It’s one of the more scenic entrances to a lodge we’ve seen. As usual, the staff were waiting for us at the entrance with cool towels and a refreshing drink.
Our room was nestled between two giant boulders, overlooking the plains below and the rocky hills in the distance. It even had a/c :)
After our really hot stay at Rostock Ritz, we had looked at which other places didn’t have a/c, this was one of them. On the drive up we were dreading another couple hot nights. But the design of these lodges created a natural draft that cooled the place down even without a/c. Anyways it was quite a relief to us.
Relaxed and washed up, and then met up for a sundowner. This was the same view as from our room :) although with a Rock Shandy, the local non-alcoholic drink of choice (soda water, lemonade and bitters, technically not 100% non-alcoholic but close enough).
After the sunset we had an excellent dinner under the stars.
Packed up the car and headed north on the C34. We made a quick stop to see the Zeila Shipwreck, a few metres off shore. We then turned inland around Henties Bay, our last look at the ocean until Cape Town.
The temperature slowly climbed as we drove east on the C35. By the time we got to Uis in Damaraland, where we stopped for lunch, it was over 30C.
Uis is a cute little town. We had relaxing lunch at the Cactus and Coffee Teagarden, including a home-made iced tea. They had some nice souvenirs too; both Marissa and Heather bought some curios.
Filled up on gas, and then continued along the C35. The road condition was the worst we’ve had this trip, sandy/gravelly and very bumpy. The scenery however was spectacular, with giant rectangular boulders the size of houses and piles of other large boulders.
The road switched back to pavement and it felt amazing. After a few km we reached the turn off to Mowani Mountain Camp, our lodge for the next two nights.
The lodge and rooms are built in and around the boulders. It’s one of the more scenic entrances to a lodge we’ve seen. As usual, the staff were waiting for us at the entrance with cool towels and a refreshing drink.
Our room was nestled between two giant boulders, overlooking the plains below and the rocky hills in the distance. It even had a/c :)
After our really hot stay at Rostock Ritz, we had looked at which other places didn’t have a/c, this was one of them. On the drive up we were dreading another couple hot nights. But the design of these lodges created a natural draft that cooled the place down even without a/c. Anyways it was quite a relief to us.
Relaxed and washed up, and then met up for a sundowner. This was the same view as from our room :) although with a Rock Shandy, the local non-alcoholic drink of choice (soda water, lemonade and bitters, technically not 100% non-alcoholic but close enough).
After the sunset we had an excellent dinner under the stars.
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Swakopmund, Namibia
I was up early before the sun rose. Decided to stay up with the hopes of seeing a meerkat from our front balcony. The temperature was pleasant outside when I first got up but it was discernibly rising. By 7am it was already too hot in the sun. Didn’t see any meerkat.
Anyways we had breakfast, packed up and headed to Swakopmund. The hotel folks had suggested we check out the pink flamingoes along the way in Walvis Bay, with some vague directions. The guide book, Google maps and hotel all had different suggestions on exactly where to find them.
The drive was really scenic through the Kuiseb Canyon. About 30km outside Walvis Bay, the highway became a divided highway with two lanes each direction (and only us on the road).
First we tried going down the exit to Dune 7, a tall sand dune that visitors can climb. Supposedly there were flamingos nearby, but we didn’t see any.
Closer to town, Marissa navigated to get us to a ‘flamingo viewpoint’, according to her phone. Sure enough, there was a parking lot, boardwalk and hundreds of flamingos! Gave a tip to the car watcher (20 NAD) and got out of the car to get pics. It was then that the temperature change hit us. It was only 19C with a mist blowing in from the ocean, almost a 20C swing from Rostock. Brrr.
Our flamingo watching didn’t last long. Back in the car, turned the dial to heat, and continued onto Swakopmund. We took the more scenic B2 rather than the new highway a little inland.
Got to the Strand Hotel, the place to stay in Swakopmund. Marissa went in to reception to sort out parking etc. They seemed to be expecting us, which seemed odd. Then we remembered that our last hotel had asked us to deliver a bag left behind by other guests, who were also staying at the Strand. As I had mentioned, the place to stay :)
We cleaned up and headed down for lunch. It was nice to be back in an urban setting, although it’s not like we’ve been roughing it by any stretch.
At 3pm we headed to the lobby to meet the Sossusfly folks. We had booked an excursion to fly over the dunes, south to Sossusvlei and then over some ship wrecks on the way back. Heather and I had always wanted to do a flying safari along the Skeleton Coast, and this was a good way to get the same view.
We picked up another couple tourists who were doing a different flight. Got to the airport, security let us through the gate and we drove on the tarmac right beside the plane. I thought it was really cool, like a private jet experience :)
It was just the three of us in a little prop plane that seated five plus the pilot. She gave us the safety blurb and then we were off!
It was cool to retrace a bit of our path over the last couple days, this time from the air. The sand dunes are fractal and it’s hard to get scale, so just enjoyed the view. It was warm in the plane (I had thought it would be cooler at an altitude), almost hot.
Sossusvlei looked very different from the air, but we did recognize it. Flew back up along the coast. The ship wrecks were interesting, although hard to get pics in the slight turbulence. The large sand dunes dropping into the ocean were cool too. Reaching Swakopmund, we flew over stands of flamingos (another collective noun I had to look up). This was the highlight of the flight imo. I just took lots of pics and hoped some were in focus (only one turned out). The last sight was of the salt pans, also cool to see, before we landed back at Swakopmund Municipal Aerodome. Overall it was a great experience, and we didn’t feel airsick at all :)
We were dropped off at our hotel around 6pm. We barely had enough time to sort through our pics before heading down to dinner. I thought I had built in down time on this trip, but apparently not! It was a rather full day, another transit day that did not feel like it.
Anyways we had breakfast, packed up and headed to Swakopmund. The hotel folks had suggested we check out the pink flamingoes along the way in Walvis Bay, with some vague directions. The guide book, Google maps and hotel all had different suggestions on exactly where to find them.
The drive was really scenic through the Kuiseb Canyon. About 30km outside Walvis Bay, the highway became a divided highway with two lanes each direction (and only us on the road).
First we tried going down the exit to Dune 7, a tall sand dune that visitors can climb. Supposedly there were flamingos nearby, but we didn’t see any.
Closer to town, Marissa navigated to get us to a ‘flamingo viewpoint’, according to her phone. Sure enough, there was a parking lot, boardwalk and hundreds of flamingos! Gave a tip to the car watcher (20 NAD) and got out of the car to get pics. It was then that the temperature change hit us. It was only 19C with a mist blowing in from the ocean, almost a 20C swing from Rostock. Brrr.
Our flamingo watching didn’t last long. Back in the car, turned the dial to heat, and continued onto Swakopmund. We took the more scenic B2 rather than the new highway a little inland.
Got to the Strand Hotel, the place to stay in Swakopmund. Marissa went in to reception to sort out parking etc. They seemed to be expecting us, which seemed odd. Then we remembered that our last hotel had asked us to deliver a bag left behind by other guests, who were also staying at the Strand. As I had mentioned, the place to stay :)
We cleaned up and headed down for lunch. It was nice to be back in an urban setting, although it’s not like we’ve been roughing it by any stretch.
At 3pm we headed to the lobby to meet the Sossusfly folks. We had booked an excursion to fly over the dunes, south to Sossusvlei and then over some ship wrecks on the way back. Heather and I had always wanted to do a flying safari along the Skeleton Coast, and this was a good way to get the same view.
We picked up another couple tourists who were doing a different flight. Got to the airport, security let us through the gate and we drove on the tarmac right beside the plane. I thought it was really cool, like a private jet experience :)
It was just the three of us in a little prop plane that seated five plus the pilot. She gave us the safety blurb and then we were off!
It was cool to retrace a bit of our path over the last couple days, this time from the air. The sand dunes are fractal and it’s hard to get scale, so just enjoyed the view. It was warm in the plane (I had thought it would be cooler at an altitude), almost hot.
Sossusvlei looked very different from the air, but we did recognize it. Flew back up along the coast. The ship wrecks were interesting, although hard to get pics in the slight turbulence. The large sand dunes dropping into the ocean were cool too. Reaching Swakopmund, we flew over stands of flamingos (another collective noun I had to look up). This was the highlight of the flight imo. I just took lots of pics and hoped some were in focus (only one turned out). The last sight was of the salt pans, also cool to see, before we landed back at Swakopmund Municipal Aerodome. Overall it was a great experience, and we didn’t feel airsick at all :)
We were dropped off at our hotel around 6pm. We barely had enough time to sort through our pics before heading down to dinner. I thought I had built in down time on this trip, but apparently not! It was a rather full day, another transit day that did not feel like it.
Friday, December 20, 2024
Rostock, Namibia
We all woke up refreshed at Hoodia Desert Lodge, our first good sleep of the trip :) Today was our shortest drive, only two hours to Rostock Ritz.
It was a pretty drive through the Naukluft Mountains. We passed by the Tropic of Capricorn but missed the sign, and weren’t interested enough to make a u-turn for a pic.
We had a pit stop in Solitaire to fill up on gas. It’s a hopping little junction town. They had a little gift shop that we browsed. Marissa bought, wrote and mailed some post cards.
We arrived at Rostock Ritz about 2pm, checked in and had our lunch. It was 38C but in the shade and a breeze it was bearable. However our igloo-style rooms were really hot. They were built with stone walls to supposedly keep out the heat but instead the stones were getting heated and so the whole room was hot. Marissa said it was like we were in a pizza oven.
We tried to nap in the afternoon but it was too hot. I used the time (the first down time we’ve had on this trip) to finally catch up on my blog. Unfortunately I couldn’t post cause the hotel’s internet access was really spotty.
We had dinner back at the main lodge. It was okay, the first so-so meal we’ve had. At least the view was cool.
It took a while to fall asleep in the heat. Overall the place definitely felt like a transit stop.
It was a pretty drive through the Naukluft Mountains. We passed by the Tropic of Capricorn but missed the sign, and weren’t interested enough to make a u-turn for a pic.
We had a pit stop in Solitaire to fill up on gas. It’s a hopping little junction town. They had a little gift shop that we browsed. Marissa bought, wrote and mailed some post cards.
We arrived at Rostock Ritz about 2pm, checked in and had our lunch. It was 38C but in the shade and a breeze it was bearable. However our igloo-style rooms were really hot. They were built with stone walls to supposedly keep out the heat but instead the stones were getting heated and so the whole room was hot. Marissa said it was like we were in a pizza oven.
We tried to nap in the afternoon but it was too hot. I used the time (the first down time we’ve had on this trip) to finally catch up on my blog. Unfortunately I couldn’t post cause the hotel’s internet access was really spotty.
We had dinner back at the main lodge. It was okay, the first so-so meal we’ve had. At least the view was cool.
It took a while to fall asleep in the heat. Overall the place definitely felt like a transit stop.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Namib Desert, Namibia
Today was our big day to see the famous dunes and dead trees in Sossusvlei and Deadvlei!
We had breakfast at 5am and were on the road by 5:30am. It’s about a 25 minute drive from Hoodia to the park gates at Sossusvlei. Once inside, it’s a 61km drive to Sossusvlei itself; and then a few km along the dry sandy river bed of the Sossus to finally get to Deadvlei. The last bit requires an experienced driver; our guide/driver Enis (sp?) had been doing this for 15 years and he said he had seen many tourists stuck.
There’s activities along the way to Deadvlei like climbing Dune 45 that some tourists stop to do in the cool early morning, but we were most interested in Deadvlei and so booted it there.
There’s lots of dunes along the paved 61km drive, and with the sun just rising, looked amazing. I took a lot of drive-by pics at 70km/hr.
Along the sandy part, just before we arrived at Deadvlei, we passed by an oryx, perfectly posed beside the road, with some particularly nice-looking dunes in the background. The contrast of the red dunes, blue sky, green desert plants, and black-and-white oryx was really cool. We asked Enis to stop and took a few pics and then carried on. Later we looked at the pics and it was our favourite, almost like an AI generated pic.
From the parking lot it’s a 1.1km walk in the sand to Deadvlei. There were some tourists on their way back already (there are a couple lodges inside the park, they can get to Deadvlei for sunrise). Aside from them, we were the first of the 6am entry folks to arrive. We could see lots of tourists spilling out of their vehicles behind us, so we picked up the pace.
And then we were there! It’s quite amazing. I was also amazed that we had the place to ourselves, at least for a few minutes, so that I could get tourist-less pics. Our guide said that in busy season, there’s up to 6,000 people per day that visit.
I took hundreds of pics. The sun was still low enough to have great lighting. There were more trees than I had realized. Enis explained that the trees used to be sustained by the occasional heavy rains that would flood the Sossus. About 900 years ago, sand dunes cut off the Sossus. The occasional rains were just enough to turn the surface clay at Deadvlei into a solid surface, choking off the trees. Because the desert is relatively lifeless, there’s nothing to decompose the trees.
We stayed at Deadvlei for over 90 minutes, and then carried on with the excursion. Saw some more dunes, and made our way to Elim for a picnic lunch. Enis set up a carpet, table with table cloth, even a hand washing station! It was just like in a travel brochure. While he was setting up, a couple male oryx had a little turf battle, butting heads and locking horns. The older oryx won but was bloodied a little. This all happened about 100m from us, but Enis said we weren’t in any danger.
After lunch we had a quick stop at ?? Canyon and then headed back to the lodge. We were beat from the early start and the heat.
We all napped over the afternoon, and then had another tasty dinner. I think we were finally over our jet lag cause we had our first solid sleep on the trip.
We had breakfast at 5am and were on the road by 5:30am. It’s about a 25 minute drive from Hoodia to the park gates at Sossusvlei. Once inside, it’s a 61km drive to Sossusvlei itself; and then a few km along the dry sandy river bed of the Sossus to finally get to Deadvlei. The last bit requires an experienced driver; our guide/driver Enis (sp?) had been doing this for 15 years and he said he had seen many tourists stuck.
There’s activities along the way to Deadvlei like climbing Dune 45 that some tourists stop to do in the cool early morning, but we were most interested in Deadvlei and so booted it there.
There’s lots of dunes along the paved 61km drive, and with the sun just rising, looked amazing. I took a lot of drive-by pics at 70km/hr.
Along the sandy part, just before we arrived at Deadvlei, we passed by an oryx, perfectly posed beside the road, with some particularly nice-looking dunes in the background. The contrast of the red dunes, blue sky, green desert plants, and black-and-white oryx was really cool. We asked Enis to stop and took a few pics and then carried on. Later we looked at the pics and it was our favourite, almost like an AI generated pic.
From the parking lot it’s a 1.1km walk in the sand to Deadvlei. There were some tourists on their way back already (there are a couple lodges inside the park, they can get to Deadvlei for sunrise). Aside from them, we were the first of the 6am entry folks to arrive. We could see lots of tourists spilling out of their vehicles behind us, so we picked up the pace.
And then we were there! It’s quite amazing. I was also amazed that we had the place to ourselves, at least for a few minutes, so that I could get tourist-less pics. Our guide said that in busy season, there’s up to 6,000 people per day that visit.
I took hundreds of pics. The sun was still low enough to have great lighting. There were more trees than I had realized. Enis explained that the trees used to be sustained by the occasional heavy rains that would flood the Sossus. About 900 years ago, sand dunes cut off the Sossus. The occasional rains were just enough to turn the surface clay at Deadvlei into a solid surface, choking off the trees. Because the desert is relatively lifeless, there’s nothing to decompose the trees.
We stayed at Deadvlei for over 90 minutes, and then carried on with the excursion. Saw some more dunes, and made our way to Elim for a picnic lunch. Enis set up a carpet, table with table cloth, even a hand washing station! It was just like in a travel brochure. While he was setting up, a couple male oryx had a little turf battle, butting heads and locking horns. The older oryx won but was bloodied a little. This all happened about 100m from us, but Enis said we weren’t in any danger.
After lunch we had a quick stop at ?? Canyon and then headed back to the lodge. We were beat from the early start and the heat.
We all napped over the afternoon, and then had another tasty dinner. I think we were finally over our jet lag cause we had our first solid sleep on the trip.
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Namib Desert, Namibia
It wasn’t until today that we felt like we were on a road trip, having figured out how to stream music from our phones to the car; which side the fuel side was; and found various cubby holes in the car to store stuff.
Before the trip, I had researched and bought a fancy phone holder for the car, by Peak Design. I had thought I broke it the first day having loosened it too much, but a quick google search showed me how to fix it. But then it turns out the car had Apple CarPlay so it wasn’t needed. However, we couldn’t connect both my phone for maps and Marissa’s phone for music, so we needed it after all. It’s the best car phone holder I’ve tried, we’ve gone over some bumpy roads and it’s held its position, and only fallen off twice on really big bumps.
We’ve been learning how to pronounce things: bagatelle is Italian-like with the trailing e pronounced, vlei is a cross between ‘vlay/flay’ and means river, Swakopmund is phonetic and means ‘mouth of the Swakop’
It took about five hours to drive from Bagatelle to our lodge near Sossusvlei, including a quick stop in Maltahohe.
Hoodia Desert Lodge is in a beautiful setting, beside the Tsauchab River, which was dry at this time of year. It’s low season and there was just one other couple at the lodge (tomorrow it’s just us).
Dinner was excellent. We had an early start tomorrow (4:20am!) to get to the dunes so went to bed right after dinner.
Before the trip, I had researched and bought a fancy phone holder for the car, by Peak Design. I had thought I broke it the first day having loosened it too much, but a quick google search showed me how to fix it. But then it turns out the car had Apple CarPlay so it wasn’t needed. However, we couldn’t connect both my phone for maps and Marissa’s phone for music, so we needed it after all. It’s the best car phone holder I’ve tried, we’ve gone over some bumpy roads and it’s held its position, and only fallen off twice on really big bumps.
We’ve been learning how to pronounce things: bagatelle is Italian-like with the trailing e pronounced, vlei is a cross between ‘vlay/flay’ and means river, Swakopmund is phonetic and means ‘mouth of the Swakop’
It took about five hours to drive from Bagatelle to our lodge near Sossusvlei, including a quick stop in Maltahohe.
Hoodia Desert Lodge is in a beautiful setting, beside the Tsauchab River, which was dry at this time of year. It’s low season and there was just one other couple at the lodge (tomorrow it’s just us).
Dinner was excellent. We had an early start tomorrow (4:20am!) to get to the dunes so went to bed right after dinner.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Kalahari Desert, Namibia
We finally started the safari road trip today! First we had a little errand to run, buying an extra camera battery for Marissa. She had called a camera shop the day before to confirm they had her battery type. And then we were off!
It was three hours to Bagatelle on the B1, a nice paved highway, speed limit 120km. We passed through a police checkpoint just outside Windhoek. We had everything in order with our car and license and they just waved us on. About 20 minutes from Bagatelle we turned onto C20, a dirt road, and probably the end of paved roads for us for the next two weeks.
We checked in at Bagatelle and arranged our excursions. For some reason I had pictured this as a transit stop on our way to Sossusvlei, but there’s quite a lot to do here.
We got a golf cart ride to our rooms, got cleaned up, and went back down to the main lodge for the afternoon nature drive. (Marissa went on a different excursion to see the cheetah feeding.)
We really enjoyed the nature drive. We saw springbok, oryx, wildebeest, giraffes, white rhinos, and bat-eared foxes. We also saw a cory bustard flying, the heaviest flying animal currently living, according to Wikipedia. It was much more than I expected.
We didn’t have time to shower before dinner, but did return to our rooms to quickly wash up. Luckily we did so, as there was a spectacular sunset from our deck.
Dinner was excellent, with some of the best grilled game we’ve had (kudu).
We were pretty tired, a combination of jetlag, lack of sleep from the flights over, and a full day. The wind was kicking up the sand so it wasn’t possible to star gaze, so we just went to bed.
It was three hours to Bagatelle on the B1, a nice paved highway, speed limit 120km. We passed through a police checkpoint just outside Windhoek. We had everything in order with our car and license and they just waved us on. About 20 minutes from Bagatelle we turned onto C20, a dirt road, and probably the end of paved roads for us for the next two weeks.
We checked in at Bagatelle and arranged our excursions. For some reason I had pictured this as a transit stop on our way to Sossusvlei, but there’s quite a lot to do here.
We got a golf cart ride to our rooms, got cleaned up, and went back down to the main lodge for the afternoon nature drive. (Marissa went on a different excursion to see the cheetah feeding.)
We really enjoyed the nature drive. We saw springbok, oryx, wildebeest, giraffes, white rhinos, and bat-eared foxes. We also saw a cory bustard flying, the heaviest flying animal currently living, according to Wikipedia. It was much more than I expected.
We didn’t have time to shower before dinner, but did return to our rooms to quickly wash up. Luckily we did so, as there was a spectacular sunset from our deck.
Dinner was excellent, with some of the best grilled game we’ve had (kudu).
We were pretty tired, a combination of jetlag, lack of sleep from the flights over, and a full day. The wind was kicking up the sand so it wasn’t possible to star gaze, so we just went to bed.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Windhoek, Namibia
I was up early-ish at 7:30am as EuropeCar was dropping off our SUV at our hotel this morning. They were super efficient with the process. It’s a relatively new Toyota Fortuner, with 4WD to handle the sand.
Breakfast at the hotel was excellent (they make a pretty decent eggs benedict, although any place in NZ still takes the prize).
Relaxed back in our room, sorting out our plans for the day, and more rearranging of our packs from airplane mode to travel mode.
Because we already had the vehicle, we drove into town for our sightseeing. It gave me a chance to become familiar with driving it, and also we could stop at a grocery store to stock up on water.
The front desk folks were helpful in suggesting parking (right at the Christuskirche) and how much to tip the parking attendants (20 NAD, about 1.60 CAD).
Traffic was really light getting into the centre, about seven minutes from our hotel. Driving on the left was not a problem, as this makes 9 out of 11 countries where we rented a car and they drive on the left.
First up was Independence Museum. Namibia only became a country in 1990, which I didn’t know until we started researching this trip. The museum documented in murals Namibia’s history from colonial times through to independence. It was very well done.
On the 4th floor was a restaurant with 360° views of the city, including the classic pic of Christuskirche. The food was good, but you’re not here for the food :)
Drove back to the hotel, and timed it perfectly with Marissa arriving from the airport. Had a quick beer (non-alcoholic for us, we were having trouble staying hydrated in the heat) on the rooftop bar at the hotel.
Later we had dinner at the Butcher Block again, chatted away, and then called it a night.
Breakfast at the hotel was excellent (they make a pretty decent eggs benedict, although any place in NZ still takes the prize).
Relaxed back in our room, sorting out our plans for the day, and more rearranging of our packs from airplane mode to travel mode.
Because we already had the vehicle, we drove into town for our sightseeing. It gave me a chance to become familiar with driving it, and also we could stop at a grocery store to stock up on water.
The front desk folks were helpful in suggesting parking (right at the Christuskirche) and how much to tip the parking attendants (20 NAD, about 1.60 CAD).
Traffic was really light getting into the centre, about seven minutes from our hotel. Driving on the left was not a problem, as this makes 9 out of 11 countries where we rented a car and they drive on the left.
First up was Independence Museum. Namibia only became a country in 1990, which I didn’t know until we started researching this trip. The museum documented in murals Namibia’s history from colonial times through to independence. It was very well done.
On the 4th floor was a restaurant with 360° views of the city, including the classic pic of Christuskirche. The food was good, but you’re not here for the food :)
Drove back to the hotel, and timed it perfectly with Marissa arriving from the airport. Had a quick beer (non-alcoholic for us, we were having trouble staying hydrated in the heat) on the rooftop bar at the hotel.
Later we had dinner at the Butcher Block again, chatted away, and then called it a night.
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Windhoek, Namibia
We arrived at our hotel in Windhoek at 6:30pm, three flights and 41.5 hours after we left home. I wasn’t looking my best after back-to-back overnight flights.
Our transfer through Johannesburg was pretty easy. They’ve really cleaned up on the bribing since our last trip through there ten years ago. The immigration folks even looked for space on a non-blank page in my passport, of which I’m running short. Namibia has an entry requirement of three blank pages, and South Africa requires two consecutive blank pages for some types of visas. These rules aren’t strictly enforced, but I’d rather not leave it to the discretion of the border official.
We had a five-hour layover in Johannesburg. It took less than an hour to get our luggage, clear immigration and customs, transfer to the domestic terminal (just a floor up), check-in for our Airlink flight to Windhoek, and get some cash from an ATM. South African rand and Namibian dollars are pretty much equivalent, and can be used interchangeably in Namibia.
We arrived around 5:30pm in Windhoek, and quickly got through immigration and got our luggage. There was a bit of line through customs as they scan everything.
We were met by an ExpertAfrica rep who connected us with our driver and we were off! Country number 104 for me and 64 for Heather :)
The airport is about 30 minutes outside the city, and it’s not until the last five minutes that it’s urban. We’ll see lots more of similar landscape over the next couple weeks. Our driver even pointed out a family of baboons and a warthog along the way in. There was also swarms of grasshoppers which I’m hoping aren’t going to be messing up our windshield every day.
We checked in, cleaned up and then went for dinner at the Butcher Block across the street. We sat outside in really comfortable weather (22C) and enjoyed our dinner. A nice start to Namibia!
Our transfer through Johannesburg was pretty easy. They’ve really cleaned up on the bribing since our last trip through there ten years ago. The immigration folks even looked for space on a non-blank page in my passport, of which I’m running short. Namibia has an entry requirement of three blank pages, and South Africa requires two consecutive blank pages for some types of visas. These rules aren’t strictly enforced, but I’d rather not leave it to the discretion of the border official.
We had a five-hour layover in Johannesburg. It took less than an hour to get our luggage, clear immigration and customs, transfer to the domestic terminal (just a floor up), check-in for our Airlink flight to Windhoek, and get some cash from an ATM. South African rand and Namibian dollars are pretty much equivalent, and can be used interchangeably in Namibia.
We arrived around 5:30pm in Windhoek, and quickly got through immigration and got our luggage. There was a bit of line through customs as they scan everything.
We were met by an ExpertAfrica rep who connected us with our driver and we were off! Country number 104 for me and 64 for Heather :)
The airport is about 30 minutes outside the city, and it’s not until the last five minutes that it’s urban. We’ll see lots more of similar landscape over the next couple weeks. Our driver even pointed out a family of baboons and a warthog along the way in. There was also swarms of grasshoppers which I’m hoping aren’t going to be messing up our windshield every day.
We checked in, cleaned up and then went for dinner at the Butcher Block across the street. We sat outside in really comfortable weather (22C) and enjoyed our dinner. A nice start to Namibia!
Saturday, December 14, 2024
London, UK
Nothing like starting off a vacation with a day trip to London between two overnight flights!
We left Toronto late Friday night. We had dinner in the airport at Pearson so we could maximize sleep time on the flight to Heathrow.
Airlines have really raised the bar on safety videos. The British Airways one is the best yet. They even break the 4th wall!
Immigration at LHR was fully automated. Took the Heathrow Express train to Paddington (23 minutes), and then had a whirlwind tour of nearby sites.
It was probably the best weather we could have hoped for in London in December. Sunny (!) and about 7C.
Walked through Hyde Park towards the National History Museum. It’s timed entry (I had booked tickets for 2pm) and by donation. We spent a few minutes looking at some old bones, and then carried on. It was a Saturday and the museum was packed (or maybe it’s always like this), plus we intend to see it properly on a future trip to London. Today was just something to do to keep awake :) The blue whale skeleton, Stegosaurus skeleton, and other dinosaur fossils were pretty impressive.
Next we were off to Buckingham Palace to see the King. We cased the joint, taking pics of his residence, scoping out security and movement of the guards. We didn’t have much time as we had a plane to catch, so even if King Charles had invited us in for a spot of tea we would have had to decline.
Walked back to Paddington Station and caught the express train back to LHR. Another overnight flight and full transit day to get Windhoek awaits.
We left Toronto late Friday night. We had dinner in the airport at Pearson so we could maximize sleep time on the flight to Heathrow.
Airlines have really raised the bar on safety videos. The British Airways one is the best yet. They even break the 4th wall!
Immigration at LHR was fully automated. Took the Heathrow Express train to Paddington (23 minutes), and then had a whirlwind tour of nearby sites.
It was probably the best weather we could have hoped for in London in December. Sunny (!) and about 7C.
Walked through Hyde Park towards the National History Museum. It’s timed entry (I had booked tickets for 2pm) and by donation. We spent a few minutes looking at some old bones, and then carried on. It was a Saturday and the museum was packed (or maybe it’s always like this), plus we intend to see it properly on a future trip to London. Today was just something to do to keep awake :) The blue whale skeleton, Stegosaurus skeleton, and other dinosaur fossils were pretty impressive.
Next we were off to Buckingham Palace to see the King. We cased the joint, taking pics of his residence, scoping out security and movement of the guards. We didn’t have much time as we had a plane to catch, so even if King Charles had invited us in for a spot of tea we would have had to decline.
Walked back to Paddington Station and caught the express train back to LHR. Another overnight flight and full transit day to get Windhoek awaits.
Friday, October 04, 2024
Chapultepec, CDMX, Mexico
Our last full day here! Another nice weather day. We were pretty lucky over the trip, it's the end of rainy season and typically in October about half the days have rain. I guess there was rain most evenings which didn't really impact us; we only really needed our umbrellas one day.
We started the day at Zona Arqueológica Tlatelolco, about a 30 minute walk north from our hotel. Our path took us by the Palacio Postal, and so we gave one last try to see if it was open / accessible, and it was! We walked right in. It was one of the nicer post offices I've seen. There weren't many tourists either, possibly also discouraged by the past few days.
We continued on our walk to Tlatelolco, along a major street. The buses were mostly electric, which really cut down on the pollution that we felt on the sidewalk. The ruins at Tlatelolco are what I would call minor ruins. They aren't a destination in itself; but they are pretty cool to visit. It was very peaceful to wander around and through the restored ruins.
Just beside the ruins is a 16th century church, so we stuck our heads in for a view. It's an old church.
Abutting both the ruins and the church is the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, referring to the pre-columbian Aztec ruins, Spanish colonial (the 16th century church) and modern Mexico (1960’s urbanism). It's also the location of the Tlatelolco massacre, of which the protests had occurred in the Zócalo a couple days ago, commemorating the date.
We had thought about taking the metro to our next stop, the Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM), but ended up taking an Uber cause it was half the time and we wouldn't have to be concerned with people coughing. We've noticed an increase in people wearing masks the last couple days, so figured Uber would be safer health-wise.
The MAM was across the street from the Museo Nacional de Antropología which we had visited earlier in the week. We walked through a bit of the 1st floor, and then grabbed some lunch at the cafeteria in the gardens. There were some interesting exhibits in the gardens so we checked those out, and then the rest of the museum.
And that was it for our sightseeing in CDMX. Caught an Uber back to the hotel, relaxed and cleaned up, and had dinner downstairs.
...
Overall it was an enjoyable trip. We did see most of the things on our list, and as a bonus got to see the Inauguration celebrations. There was a lot of variety between museums and ruins and art. The food was also great, from street food to more upscale places. There's a cool artsy vibe to the city, at least in the historic center and surrounds. Definitely a good one week trip.
We started the day at Zona Arqueológica Tlatelolco, about a 30 minute walk north from our hotel. Our path took us by the Palacio Postal, and so we gave one last try to see if it was open / accessible, and it was! We walked right in. It was one of the nicer post offices I've seen. There weren't many tourists either, possibly also discouraged by the past few days.
We continued on our walk to Tlatelolco, along a major street. The buses were mostly electric, which really cut down on the pollution that we felt on the sidewalk. The ruins at Tlatelolco are what I would call minor ruins. They aren't a destination in itself; but they are pretty cool to visit. It was very peaceful to wander around and through the restored ruins.
Just beside the ruins is a 16th century church, so we stuck our heads in for a view. It's an old church.
Abutting both the ruins and the church is the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, referring to the pre-columbian Aztec ruins, Spanish colonial (the 16th century church) and modern Mexico (1960’s urbanism). It's also the location of the Tlatelolco massacre, of which the protests had occurred in the Zócalo a couple days ago, commemorating the date.
We had thought about taking the metro to our next stop, the Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM), but ended up taking an Uber cause it was half the time and we wouldn't have to be concerned with people coughing. We've noticed an increase in people wearing masks the last couple days, so figured Uber would be safer health-wise.
The MAM was across the street from the Museo Nacional de Antropología which we had visited earlier in the week. We walked through a bit of the 1st floor, and then grabbed some lunch at the cafeteria in the gardens. There were some interesting exhibits in the gardens so we checked those out, and then the rest of the museum.
And that was it for our sightseeing in CDMX. Caught an Uber back to the hotel, relaxed and cleaned up, and had dinner downstairs.
...
Overall it was an enjoyable trip. We did see most of the things on our list, and as a bonus got to see the Inauguration celebrations. There was a lot of variety between museums and ruins and art. The food was also great, from street food to more upscale places. There's a cool artsy vibe to the city, at least in the historic center and surrounds. Definitely a good one week trip.
Thursday, October 03, 2024
Centro Historico, CDMX, Mexico
It was a beautiful morning, sunny although still a bit cool (13C) at 8am. We got up a bit earlier to try to get to the 9am performance of the pipe organs in the Metropolitan Cathedral. The barricades were coming down so it was easy to enter the cathedral. We were a bit early (about 8:40am) so asked the police at the door about the timing. They said it was at 10am and that we should line up at 9:30.
So we went back to the hotel and had breakfast, returning to the cathedral at 9:30. We then realized our question earlier had got lost in translation (literally) and it was mass that started at 10am. Oh well. The organist was playing (presumably having started at 9am), so at least we got to hear the pipe organs, which was our main objective.
We then headed over to Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library to check out the mural by Vlady Kibalchich Rusakov. Mexican muralism is big thing in CDMX, and I had mapped out some of the key sites to visit.
We had to show ID to enter; they were okay with viewing our passport scans on our phones. Most visitors are academics here for the library. They didn’t mind us as tourists, in fact they were super polite and keen that we were here!
Vlady’s murals are ginormous, covering three full wallls of the library, almost 1,750 m² according to the blurb onsite. We walked around and took our pics, trying not to disturb the academic folks.
A quick change of clothes at our hotel (it was about 22C now) and then we were back out touristing.
Walked over to Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda, aka Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispada, aka SHCP Museum of Art. We were there yesterday and were thrown off by its aliases. It’s just across the Zócalo from us, much easier with the barricades removed. Anyways, it has amazing contemporary art, we were quite impressed. It was free to enter, and we only saw a handful other visitors.
Next was Secretaria de Educación Pública, aka SEP Site Museum, aka Convento de la Encarnación. This houses a lot of murals by the big three (Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiro), commissioned by the SEP. I really like the style, they could all be the cover of an Ayn Rand book. This was also free to enter and not busy at all.
We were getting hungry so had lunch at a random taco stall. The stall was really busy but they squeezed in a couple more stools for us. It was mmm good.
Tried yet again to get into the Palacio Postal. There was a long line-up to enter, filled with people waiting to do official post office stuff, so we decided to skip it.
Last stop for the day was Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela, for some souvenir shopping.
Had dinner at Paxia, which is atop the Hilton about a five minute walk from us. It was really good.
Walked back through the Zócalo, and called it a night.
So we went back to the hotel and had breakfast, returning to the cathedral at 9:30. We then realized our question earlier had got lost in translation (literally) and it was mass that started at 10am. Oh well. The organist was playing (presumably having started at 9am), so at least we got to hear the pipe organs, which was our main objective.
We then headed over to Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library to check out the mural by Vlady Kibalchich Rusakov. Mexican muralism is big thing in CDMX, and I had mapped out some of the key sites to visit.
We had to show ID to enter; they were okay with viewing our passport scans on our phones. Most visitors are academics here for the library. They didn’t mind us as tourists, in fact they were super polite and keen that we were here!
Vlady’s murals are ginormous, covering three full wallls of the library, almost 1,750 m² according to the blurb onsite. We walked around and took our pics, trying not to disturb the academic folks.
A quick change of clothes at our hotel (it was about 22C now) and then we were back out touristing.
Walked over to Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda, aka Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispada, aka SHCP Museum of Art. We were there yesterday and were thrown off by its aliases. It’s just across the Zócalo from us, much easier with the barricades removed. Anyways, it has amazing contemporary art, we were quite impressed. It was free to enter, and we only saw a handful other visitors.
Next was Secretaria de Educación Pública, aka SEP Site Museum, aka Convento de la Encarnación. This houses a lot of murals by the big three (Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiro), commissioned by the SEP. I really like the style, they could all be the cover of an Ayn Rand book. This was also free to enter and not busy at all.
We were getting hungry so had lunch at a random taco stall. The stall was really busy but they squeezed in a couple more stools for us. It was mmm good.
Tried yet again to get into the Palacio Postal. There was a long line-up to enter, filled with people waiting to do official post office stuff, so we decided to skip it.
Last stop for the day was Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela, for some souvenir shopping.
Had dinner at Paxia, which is atop the Hilton about a five minute walk from us. It was really good.
Walked back through the Zócalo, and called it a night.
Wednesday, October 02, 2024
Centro Historico, CDMX, Mexico
Today was the quietest morning we’ve seen on our street, what with Inauguration Day, protests against the government and busy weekends since we arrived Friday night. The quiet wouldn’t last all day though, as Oct 2 is the remembrance of the Tlatelolco massacre. The hotel said it was likely the protests would start around 3pm.
We finished our breakfast and hurried out to see stuff before the blockades went up.
First up was Templo Mayor, just off the Zócalo. The extent of this UNESCO site was discovered in 1978 by electrical workers digging a hole. It’s now an active archaeological site, with suspended walkways for tourists. It also contains an excellent museum within the grounds. It took us 90 minutes to wander through, and we skipped quite a bit. Templo Mayor is really impressive, a must-see in CDMX.
We then stumbled across Colegio de San Ildefonso, which was on my list, we just weren’t looking for it just then. It’s considered the birthplace of Mexican muralism. Its walls are filled with murals by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and others. We had the place pretty much to ourselves.
Navigated the crowd barricades to get to Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda, where you get tickets to the National Palace. Unfortunately the National Palace has been closed to tourists for a while with no plans to reopen :(
Later I realized the Museo is also called Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispada, aka the SHCP Museum of Art, and the SH stands for Secretaria de Hacienda. The SHCP is also on my list to see, and we were right there without knowing it :( We’ll go back there tomorrow.
We headed in the direction of Palacio de Bellas Artes, to check out a couple more places. Along the way we grabbed some excellent street food from taco vendors and some fries.
There were riot police all geared up and staging in the side street we were walking down. They just ignored us and other locals carrying on their business. It made for additional detours though.
We had an espresso and a cake in a Sanborns, which supposedly had great tiles. We had the wrong Sanborns though (they’re about as prevalent as Tim Hortons in Toronto), at least the espresso was good :)
The Palacio Postal was behind barricades and not accessible :( we did find the right Sanborns after extensive detouring. They didn’t mind us not eating and instead just looking at the tiles, just like the Moon guide suggested.
The Palacio de Mineria was also barricaded, so that will have to wait until Thursday as well.
Walked back up to the Zócalo and browsed through some side-street local markets. The police activity was increasing in advance of the protests, so we called it a day. On the way back to the hotel, stopped in at the restaurant I’d booked online for dinner, just to make sure they were actually open tonight. The restaurant is in a complex surrounded by boutique shops so we browsed around.
Our street was barricaded at the Zócalo end, which meant it was now effectively a dead-end street with low foot traffic. That made it easy for us to get through to our hotel.
Later we figured the large police presence and strategically placed barricades act as effective deterrents to crowd violence.
We were also impressed with how fast the feel of the Zócalo changes. One moment there’s 50k people protesting in the square; two hours later we looked outside and the square was empty and clean. When we went for dinner the barricades were still up between our street and the Zócalo; 90 minutes later we came back and they had vanished. It’s crazy how fast the scene changes.
We had dinner at Azul Historica, just around the corner from our hotel. It was traditional Mexican dishes, in a nice atmospheric courtyard.
We were quite full after eating so walked into the Zócalo for a few minutes. It’s nicely illuminated at night. Saw the monumental flag being lowered for the night and then getting carried away by soldiers, which was cool.
We finished our breakfast and hurried out to see stuff before the blockades went up.
First up was Templo Mayor, just off the Zócalo. The extent of this UNESCO site was discovered in 1978 by electrical workers digging a hole. It’s now an active archaeological site, with suspended walkways for tourists. It also contains an excellent museum within the grounds. It took us 90 minutes to wander through, and we skipped quite a bit. Templo Mayor is really impressive, a must-see in CDMX.
We then stumbled across Colegio de San Ildefonso, which was on my list, we just weren’t looking for it just then. It’s considered the birthplace of Mexican muralism. Its walls are filled with murals by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and others. We had the place pretty much to ourselves.
Navigated the crowd barricades to get to Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda, where you get tickets to the National Palace. Unfortunately the National Palace has been closed to tourists for a while with no plans to reopen :(
Later I realized the Museo is also called Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispada, aka the SHCP Museum of Art, and the SH stands for Secretaria de Hacienda. The SHCP is also on my list to see, and we were right there without knowing it :( We’ll go back there tomorrow.
We headed in the direction of Palacio de Bellas Artes, to check out a couple more places. Along the way we grabbed some excellent street food from taco vendors and some fries.
There were riot police all geared up and staging in the side street we were walking down. They just ignored us and other locals carrying on their business. It made for additional detours though.
We had an espresso and a cake in a Sanborns, which supposedly had great tiles. We had the wrong Sanborns though (they’re about as prevalent as Tim Hortons in Toronto), at least the espresso was good :)
The Palacio Postal was behind barricades and not accessible :( we did find the right Sanborns after extensive detouring. They didn’t mind us not eating and instead just looking at the tiles, just like the Moon guide suggested.
The Palacio de Mineria was also barricaded, so that will have to wait until Thursday as well.
Walked back up to the Zócalo and browsed through some side-street local markets. The police activity was increasing in advance of the protests, so we called it a day. On the way back to the hotel, stopped in at the restaurant I’d booked online for dinner, just to make sure they were actually open tonight. The restaurant is in a complex surrounded by boutique shops so we browsed around.
Our street was barricaded at the Zócalo end, which meant it was now effectively a dead-end street with low foot traffic. That made it easy for us to get through to our hotel.
Later we figured the large police presence and strategically placed barricades act as effective deterrents to crowd violence.
We were also impressed with how fast the feel of the Zócalo changes. One moment there’s 50k people protesting in the square; two hours later we looked outside and the square was empty and clean. When we went for dinner the barricades were still up between our street and the Zócalo; 90 minutes later we came back and they had vanished. It’s crazy how fast the scene changes.
We had dinner at Azul Historica, just around the corner from our hotel. It was traditional Mexican dishes, in a nice atmospheric courtyard.
We were quite full after eating so walked into the Zócalo for a few minutes. It’s nicely illuminated at night. Saw the monumental flag being lowered for the night and then getting carried away by soldiers, which was cool.
Tuesday, October 01, 2024
Chapultepec, CDMX, Mexico
Today was Inauguration Day in Mexico, a newly-created public holiday. While planning, I had read that the new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, would officially take office today, but hadn’t realized how big a deal it was until we got here.
The official ceremony was held at the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro, about 1.5km east of our hotel.
The Zócalo was the focal point of the people’s celebration. We watched tens of thousands of people stream into the Zócalo starting at 9am. Some wore their traditional clothes and danced up the street, as well as several marching bands. I couldn’t find any news reports on the crowd size, however last Sunday they had over 70k for a rebroadcast of a musical performance, and I’m sure this was more.
The large crowds in and around the Zócalo as well as it now being a public holiday meant we had to rejig our plans for the day. (Having a new holdiay created after I’d checked timeanddate.com for holidays is a new one for me).
We had tried to get into the Cathedral for their 9am daily pipe organ performance, but the Cathedral was barricaded from the public (we’ll try again later this week). I called the National Anthropology Museum (MNA) and they confirmed that they were indeed open today.
After breakfast, we watched a bit more of the incoming crowds from our balcony, and then headed out to the MNA.
We walked about four blocks away from the Zócalo and got an Uber. It was slow going due to temporary road closures for the inauguration. Took about an hour to get to the MNA, which normally would be a 20 minute drive.
The first view after entering the MNA is of El Paraguas, a giant art installation in the middle of the courtyard. It’s become a symbol of the MNA.
Decided to have lunch before seeing the rest of the museum. We’ve had good luck at museum restaurants, and it continued here. It was also fairly quick service.
We then started touring through. It’s a large museum, with 11 archeological rooms grouped by region. Our favourite was the Mexico room (ie city of Mexico), which contains the enormous Aztec Sunstone, and several other large artefacts dug up around Templo Mayor, just off the Zócalo. The Teotihuacán room was also impressive. It’s definitely a museum requiring multiple visits.
After, we caught an Uber back to the Zócalo. Traffic was still a mess so we just asked the driver to get us anywhere within a 20 minute walk. We were walking upstream the whole way back to the hotel, although it was just the last 50m that were squished.
We arrived back in time to catch the latter half of President Sheinbaum’s speech. It was pretty cool to see the size of the crowds, from the comfort of our balcony.
We were pretty much done for the day. Watched the VP debate (Canadians watching a US election debate while in Mexico), had some tacos from across the street, and called it a night. Hopefully no more sound checks tonight!
The official ceremony was held at the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro, about 1.5km east of our hotel.
The Zócalo was the focal point of the people’s celebration. We watched tens of thousands of people stream into the Zócalo starting at 9am. Some wore their traditional clothes and danced up the street, as well as several marching bands. I couldn’t find any news reports on the crowd size, however last Sunday they had over 70k for a rebroadcast of a musical performance, and I’m sure this was more.
The large crowds in and around the Zócalo as well as it now being a public holiday meant we had to rejig our plans for the day. (Having a new holdiay created after I’d checked timeanddate.com for holidays is a new one for me).
We had tried to get into the Cathedral for their 9am daily pipe organ performance, but the Cathedral was barricaded from the public (we’ll try again later this week). I called the National Anthropology Museum (MNA) and they confirmed that they were indeed open today.
After breakfast, we watched a bit more of the incoming crowds from our balcony, and then headed out to the MNA.
We walked about four blocks away from the Zócalo and got an Uber. It was slow going due to temporary road closures for the inauguration. Took about an hour to get to the MNA, which normally would be a 20 minute drive.
The first view after entering the MNA is of El Paraguas, a giant art installation in the middle of the courtyard. It’s become a symbol of the MNA.
Decided to have lunch before seeing the rest of the museum. We’ve had good luck at museum restaurants, and it continued here. It was also fairly quick service.
We then started touring through. It’s a large museum, with 11 archeological rooms grouped by region. Our favourite was the Mexico room (ie city of Mexico), which contains the enormous Aztec Sunstone, and several other large artefacts dug up around Templo Mayor, just off the Zócalo. The Teotihuacán room was also impressive. It’s definitely a museum requiring multiple visits.
After, we caught an Uber back to the Zócalo. Traffic was still a mess so we just asked the driver to get us anywhere within a 20 minute walk. We were walking upstream the whole way back to the hotel, although it was just the last 50m that were squished.
We arrived back in time to catch the latter half of President Sheinbaum’s speech. It was pretty cool to see the size of the crowds, from the comfort of our balcony.
We were pretty much done for the day. Watched the VP debate (Canadians watching a US election debate while in Mexico), had some tacos from across the street, and called it a night. Hopefully no more sound checks tonight!
Monday, September 30, 2024
Teotihuacán, Mexico
Today was our day trip to Teotihuacán! This will be the first ruin complex we’ve seen post-covid, although we did see some castle ruins in Okinawa last year. I'm big into ruins :)
The guidebooks and travel blogs all suggest leaving the city by 8am to beat the crowds at Teotihuacán. Getting up early didn’t seem to be very vacation-ish so we just had a casual morning and left the hotel at 10am.
Walked out of the pedestrian area to catch an Uber. Our driver suggested a flat rate to go there and back, which we agreed to as it just made logistics simpler. We also agreed to take the toll highway which cut travel time in half!
And so we arrived at Teotihuacán a little after 11am. Paid our entrance fees (95 MXN each, about 6.50 CAD), took a pic of our driver’s car to remember it, and then we were off!
Sat on some steps in front of Pyramid of the Sun and read the Moon Guide overview of Teotihuacán. Then we walked down Avenue of the Dead towards the Pyramid of the Moon. When I backpacked through in 1997 it was still possible to climb both pyramids, however all the ruins are now off-limits to protect them. Probably we shouldn’t have been climbing them back in the 90s either, although the number of tourists was far lower.
Near the Pyramid of the Moon is the Palace of Quetzalpapaloti. I didn’t remember the excavated palace from my first visit; it was cool to see. Also we lucked out with the timing, in a lull between tour groups. Teotihuacán is huge and can absorb a lot of people, although it didn’t seem very crowded while we were there. The small enclosed spaces in the palace can get busy though.
Next was the 2km walk down to the other end of Avenue of the Dead, to see the Temple of Quetzalcóatl and stone carvings of serpents’ heads lining a staircase. Along the way took a million pics because the lighting was great over the pyramids.
It took us just under two hours to see the main attractions in Teotihuacán, with lots of time spent stopping for pics. For me, the most impressive thing about Teotihuacán is its size. The ruins aren’t as artistic as others but it is massive.
Our driver was waiting for us at the exit, and we took off back to the city.
Had lunch at the very busy taco place across from the hotel. Every time we’ve looked out from our balcony there’s been a line-up, mostly with locals, always a good sign. Shared the special of five tacos and a Coke for 65 MXN (4.50 CAD). They were yummy and hit the spot.
Cause we used the tolls roads, we still had the afternoon for more touristing. Started with the Metropolitan Cathedral in the Zócalo. The cathedral itself is quite amazing, with two enormous pipe organs.
Somehow we found our way inside the pipe organ room in the middle of the cathedral, and were able to see them up close. It’s a 30 MXN ticket to enter, and after we were inside, the ticket person closed the door to further entrants. Still not sure how we made the cut but oh well. There’s a free daily performance of the pipe organs at 9am; we may try to see this tomorrow before breakfast.
Next checked out the interior of the Gran Hotel de la Ciudad, to see the Tiffany glass ceiling. It was pretty cool.
We were heading back to our hotel when we realized the lighting in the Zócalo was perfect, with the low sun highlighting the large Mexican flag against a dark grey sky. So we took another million pics.
Finally made it back to the hotel, just before it started raining at 5pm as forecast.
For dinner we finally ventured off campus, and ate at Limosneros. It’s a modern take on Mexican classics. We really enjoyed it.
Saw the preparations for Inauguration Day tomorrow. There’s a very loud sound system set up in the Zócalo. Last night they were doing sound checks at midnight! The sound system does have excellent bass though - it totally shook the doors to our balcony last night.
The guidebooks and travel blogs all suggest leaving the city by 8am to beat the crowds at Teotihuacán. Getting up early didn’t seem to be very vacation-ish so we just had a casual morning and left the hotel at 10am.
Walked out of the pedestrian area to catch an Uber. Our driver suggested a flat rate to go there and back, which we agreed to as it just made logistics simpler. We also agreed to take the toll highway which cut travel time in half!
And so we arrived at Teotihuacán a little after 11am. Paid our entrance fees (95 MXN each, about 6.50 CAD), took a pic of our driver’s car to remember it, and then we were off!
Sat on some steps in front of Pyramid of the Sun and read the Moon Guide overview of Teotihuacán. Then we walked down Avenue of the Dead towards the Pyramid of the Moon. When I backpacked through in 1997 it was still possible to climb both pyramids, however all the ruins are now off-limits to protect them. Probably we shouldn’t have been climbing them back in the 90s either, although the number of tourists was far lower.
Near the Pyramid of the Moon is the Palace of Quetzalpapaloti. I didn’t remember the excavated palace from my first visit; it was cool to see. Also we lucked out with the timing, in a lull between tour groups. Teotihuacán is huge and can absorb a lot of people, although it didn’t seem very crowded while we were there. The small enclosed spaces in the palace can get busy though.
Next was the 2km walk down to the other end of Avenue of the Dead, to see the Temple of Quetzalcóatl and stone carvings of serpents’ heads lining a staircase. Along the way took a million pics because the lighting was great over the pyramids.
It took us just under two hours to see the main attractions in Teotihuacán, with lots of time spent stopping for pics. For me, the most impressive thing about Teotihuacán is its size. The ruins aren’t as artistic as others but it is massive.
Our driver was waiting for us at the exit, and we took off back to the city.
Had lunch at the very busy taco place across from the hotel. Every time we’ve looked out from our balcony there’s been a line-up, mostly with locals, always a good sign. Shared the special of five tacos and a Coke for 65 MXN (4.50 CAD). They were yummy and hit the spot.
Cause we used the tolls roads, we still had the afternoon for more touristing. Started with the Metropolitan Cathedral in the Zócalo. The cathedral itself is quite amazing, with two enormous pipe organs.
Somehow we found our way inside the pipe organ room in the middle of the cathedral, and were able to see them up close. It’s a 30 MXN ticket to enter, and after we were inside, the ticket person closed the door to further entrants. Still not sure how we made the cut but oh well. There’s a free daily performance of the pipe organs at 9am; we may try to see this tomorrow before breakfast.
Next checked out the interior of the Gran Hotel de la Ciudad, to see the Tiffany glass ceiling. It was pretty cool.
We were heading back to our hotel when we realized the lighting in the Zócalo was perfect, with the low sun highlighting the large Mexican flag against a dark grey sky. So we took another million pics.
Finally made it back to the hotel, just before it started raining at 5pm as forecast.
For dinner we finally ventured off campus, and ate at Limosneros. It’s a modern take on Mexican classics. We really enjoyed it.
Saw the preparations for Inauguration Day tomorrow. There’s a very loud sound system set up in the Zócalo. Last night they were doing sound checks at midnight! The sound system does have excellent bass though - it totally shook the doors to our balcony last night.
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Alameda Central, CDMX, Mexico
We felt much better this morning, having had a day to acclimatize to the elevation. Had French toast for breakfast which was excellent. I always find literal translations of odd English food names funny, like perros caliente (hot dog) or in this case, pan frances.
We had tickets for the Symphony Orchestra at Palacio de Bellas Artes for their 12:15 performance. It’s only on Sundays that they have a mid-day performance, which we prefer.
It was about a ten minute walk down the pedestrian-only Av Francisco I. Madero. The police barricades had been taken down overnight so it made it easier to navigate the historic centre.
Every 2nd building we walked by was some amazing looking historical building that had some gallery or museum. We could easily spend another week here :)
The police barricades were still up around the Palacio de Bellas Artes so we walked 180° around to enter the grounds, and then back 270° to get to the Palacio entrance. Good thing we were way early!
Most institutions are free to the public on Sundays so it was pretty crowded inside. It was still easy though to get a good view of the floor-to-ceiling murals on the 2nd and 3rd floor. These alone were worth the visit!
It was about noon so we lined up to enter for the symphony. I had bought tickets months ago to get front row in the balcony, just to see the Tiffany glass curtain behind the stage. The only way to see the glass curtain is by going to a performance, so here we were :)
Unfortunately, for Symphony Orchestra performances, they back the stage with wood panels (I’m assuming for the acoustics?) and so there was no view to be had :( oh well
The symphony was quite good. We had a lot of things we wanted to see before the forecasted rain started at 3pm so we left at the intermission, or half time as I called it accidentally.
Unfortunately the forecast was wrong at the rain had already started :(
We tried to get into the 8th floor cafeteria in the Sears department store across the street for the classic pic of Palacio de Bellas Artes. There was a long wait that we didn’t care for. Then I realized it’s not just the cafeteria that has the great views, it’s every floor! So went to the 9th floor and leaned over some boxes of merchandise to get my pics.
Walked through Alameda Central to Museo Mural Diego Rivera, which houses just a single massive mural, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon on the Almeda Central. We had a bit of trouble finding the building, finally resorting to Google maps.
Due to the rain, there were only a handful of other visitors, so we were able to get great people-free pics. Spent about 15 minutes observing all the details in the mural.
Next up was lunch. We were in the heart of busiest tourist attractions on a Sunday and so every restaurant had a long wait. Found a busy local restaurant on a side street and had their comida corrida, a very typical 3-course meal served for lunch (chicken soup, rice, and then a choice of main). (2nd day in a row I’ve used an Oxford comma). Lunch was quite tasty!
It was pouring rain when we finished lunch, so we skipped the last couple items on the list for today (Palacio de Mineria for some more murals plus four meteorites, and Sanborn’s for the tiles) and just headed home.
We dried off a bit and then went down to the hotel restaurant for a double espresso and split a dessert. Chatted with the manager about the best way to get to Teotihuacan tomorrow (Uber). Also asked about the Pink Panther exhibition currently showing in the gallery part of the hotel. He offered us a VIP tour as guests (so we didn’t have to go with a group). The exhibition turned out to be by various prominent Mexican artists and their take on the Pink Panther. It was pretty cool, and not at all what I was expecting!
We had tickets for the Symphony Orchestra at Palacio de Bellas Artes for their 12:15 performance. It’s only on Sundays that they have a mid-day performance, which we prefer.
It was about a ten minute walk down the pedestrian-only Av Francisco I. Madero. The police barricades had been taken down overnight so it made it easier to navigate the historic centre.
Every 2nd building we walked by was some amazing looking historical building that had some gallery or museum. We could easily spend another week here :)
The police barricades were still up around the Palacio de Bellas Artes so we walked 180° around to enter the grounds, and then back 270° to get to the Palacio entrance. Good thing we were way early!
Most institutions are free to the public on Sundays so it was pretty crowded inside. It was still easy though to get a good view of the floor-to-ceiling murals on the 2nd and 3rd floor. These alone were worth the visit!
It was about noon so we lined up to enter for the symphony. I had bought tickets months ago to get front row in the balcony, just to see the Tiffany glass curtain behind the stage. The only way to see the glass curtain is by going to a performance, so here we were :)
Unfortunately, for Symphony Orchestra performances, they back the stage with wood panels (I’m assuming for the acoustics?) and so there was no view to be had :( oh well
The symphony was quite good. We had a lot of things we wanted to see before the forecasted rain started at 3pm so we left at the intermission, or half time as I called it accidentally.
Unfortunately the forecast was wrong at the rain had already started :(
We tried to get into the 8th floor cafeteria in the Sears department store across the street for the classic pic of Palacio de Bellas Artes. There was a long wait that we didn’t care for. Then I realized it’s not just the cafeteria that has the great views, it’s every floor! So went to the 9th floor and leaned over some boxes of merchandise to get my pics.
Walked through Alameda Central to Museo Mural Diego Rivera, which houses just a single massive mural, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon on the Almeda Central. We had a bit of trouble finding the building, finally resorting to Google maps.
Due to the rain, there were only a handful of other visitors, so we were able to get great people-free pics. Spent about 15 minutes observing all the details in the mural.
Next up was lunch. We were in the heart of busiest tourist attractions on a Sunday and so every restaurant had a long wait. Found a busy local restaurant on a side street and had their comida corrida, a very typical 3-course meal served for lunch (chicken soup, rice, and then a choice of main). (2nd day in a row I’ve used an Oxford comma). Lunch was quite tasty!
It was pouring rain when we finished lunch, so we skipped the last couple items on the list for today (Palacio de Mineria for some more murals plus four meteorites, and Sanborn’s for the tiles) and just headed home.
We dried off a bit and then went down to the hotel restaurant for a double espresso and split a dessert. Chatted with the manager about the best way to get to Teotihuacan tomorrow (Uber). Also asked about the Pink Panther exhibition currently showing in the gallery part of the hotel. He offered us a VIP tour as guests (so we didn’t have to go with a group). The exhibition turned out to be by various prominent Mexican artists and their take on the Pink Panther. It was pretty cool, and not at all what I was expecting!
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