Country running out of fuel!

After two fantabulous weeks in South Africa, we came back to the “Real World”, with a big surprise waiting for us. We got a hint of what is going on, on the last day in Johannesburg. I got in touch with Adrian, who was supposed to pick us up from the airport, only to find out that he is unable to do that, because he cannot find fuel. When was the last time that happened to you? I was more than a little surprised, but after our arrival in Lusaka, we just took a cab home. The driver shed a little more light on the situation. We heard that the shortage started a week before our arrival.

I’m told that refineries have shut down, and fuel (the finished product) can be imported duty free (usually there is a 25% tax). However, given that Zambia is a landlocked country, and (from what I hear) most fuel will be imported from South Africa, it may take a while for enough fuel to arrive to normalize the situation.

Azadeh and I sold our CRV just before our departure to South Africa, but agreed with the buyer that we’d be able to use the car for the two weeks that we’ll be back in Zambia. Unfortunately, due to the crisis, the buyer was unable to put fuel in the car, and we received the car with almost no gas in it. We had to start strategizing on how to handle logistics.

Yesterday, we caught a ride to the Supermarket with our lunch caterers. On the way there, we saw a fuel truck at a gas station. We jumped out of the car and hurried to the BP station in Kabulonga – without a car and without a canister - I was going to figure out something… Also, sure enough, we weren’t the only people that spotted the truck, as a huge line had already formed. People started pushing around, cutting in line, and paying off security guards to get a better position. I was told that “on average” people wait two to three hours at gas stations, and sometimes still don’t get gas. I started walking around the gas station and strategizing what to do. A taxi driver was wondering what I am doing at the gas station without a car or a canister, and asked if I needed a ride somewhere. I told him that I am not there to look for a cab, and that I needed gas. He called over a friend who offered me 20 liters of petrol (the max 1 person can get these days) at a price of 200 pin (200,000 Zambian Kwacha, which with the current exchange rate is around $45), which is over 70% over the “market price” – I was “guaranteed” gas, and I would not have had to stand in line at all. I quickly calculated the premium he demanded, and I figured he deserved every bit of it. However, the question becomes whether or not I should support a black market. We did end up getting gas, but not without standing in line.

For me this gas shortage is the first experience of its kind and magnitude - An ENTIRE COUNTRY running out of fuel. The closest thing to this was Hurricane Katrina, but (with respect to fuel) that was only an issue for a couple of days (for me), not weeks! At work, there are plenty of theories how and why this happened, and plenty of politicians are being pointed at. From my point of view, this is nothing short of unbelievable. I have no idea how and why this happened, but this happened without any warning to the people, which is just mind boggling to me. Somebody had to see this coming. Some colleagues and friends expect this situation to continue for another three weeks, but I hope that won’t be the case. I am curious to see how this crisis affects the economy.

Tourist Destination Cape Town

For those of you who haven’t had the chance to visit Cape Town: It’s an amazing tourist destination! It offers something for everyone. Below are the activities that I have participated in:

Robben Island – Not very exciting, but a “historical must”. The island houses the prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in imprisonment and many other political prisoners were held there as well. One of them gave us the tour of the prison.

Cage Diving – This is very likely "the" highlight of this trip. Being inches away from great white sharks is just amazing. In one case, one of the sharks even bit the cage, and I’m very happy not to have been in the cage at that time ;) Unfortunately, I took several pictures with an under-water camera, and have not developed the film yet (when was the last time you had to develop a film???) so the pictures I am sharing are a few of the ones I took from the boat.

Table Mountain – Breathtaking views from the top of the mountain! Given that the table is “flat” on top, one can walk around and get pretty close to a 360 degree view.

Canal Walk & Tyger Valley – Both malls are serious competition for any mall in the US. I still think the Galleria in Houston is #1, but I find these malls are more “modern”.

Garden Route – Due to bad weather and plenty of construction, we spent a whole day driving. Views are nice (here and there “spectacular”), but overall, I feel it’s overrated. However, if we wouldn’t have made the trip out here, we would have missed out on the following:

Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Center – They house different types of cats, but for me the highlights were the Cheetahs. We were allowed to play with two of them… We had the option of also going on a walk with Cheetahs, but decided against it, given other priorities. Handling Cheetahs was another major highlight of this trip!

Monkeyland – Not quite up to expectations, as they didn’t have “big monkeys”, but something to do nonetheless.

Please note that these activities are just a “fraction” of what there is to do around here.

Enjoy the pictures:

The former political prisoner that gave us the tour of the prison at Robben Island

Cage Diving among Great White Sharks

We were told that on average they were roughly 4 meters, which is more than double my size

A view of Table Mountain and part of the city from the way to Robben Island

Views from the top

Pointing out where I'd like to be next year - inside the stadium :)

Canal Walk food court with huge TV

Canal Walk from the outside

A fully grown Cheetah at Tenikwa

Azadeh petting a Cheetah - I'm proud of her :)

A cat nibbling on me

Monkeyland

Mom taking care of baby

King Julien

South Africa - First Impression

So we finally made it to South Africa, with our expectations through the roof. They were so high, that S.A. was bound to disappoint us, and sure enough … it did … at least initially.

Not So Good Start

Days before the trip, Interlink Airlines cancelled our flight, which caused us to have to spend a day in Jo’burg, and also caused us to spend roughly $300 more on a hotel in Cape Town for spending one night less. Note to self – Do NOT book with Interlink ever again – After this happened to us, I heard similar stories from others about their Interlink experiences in South Africa. Second note to self: Don’t trust that the Hotels.com agent knows what s/he is doing. If he (in this case it was a guy) was following proper procedures, we wouldn’t have had to pay $300 more. However, we couldn’t “prove” that the agent didn’t follow procedures (I assume I need to start recording conversations to ensure proper customer service), and hence we had the option of cancelling our booking free of charge, which would cost us significantly more on another hotel, or we could accept the offer of roughly $300 in different forms of discounts and an apology, but still pay $300 more than originally planned for staying a night less. Hotels.com – Usually, they are pretty good, if not excellent, but this time they did BAD, REALLY BAD.

Awesome Scenery & Good Food

Now, to the bright side – From what we’ve seen, Johannesburg and Cape Town are not really Africa as I would have imagined. These two cities (not sure what the rest of the country is like) are extremely developed, and seem to be a cross between Europe and the US. Cape Town, in particular, reminds me of a cross between San Diego (La Jolla in particular) and Laguna Beach. It offers absolutely breathtaking views, especially because Table Mountain is on one side, and amazing beaches on the other.

We plan on participating in several activities, and hopefully I’ll be able to write about them in my next post. So far, I can tell you that it felt good visiting good restaurants after a looong time:

Zorba’s: Nice Steak and Seafood House – After the appetizer (Great calamari - likely the best I’ve had), I enjoyed a 400g steak with potatoes and Mushroom sauce. It’s been a long time, and it was NICE.

Quay 4: Nice Fish & chips and nice location – Usually fish & chips are nothing to write home about, but in this case it is J

Next on the list is sushi – likely tomorrow night.

Lessons Of Zambia

I must say that I miss Zambia very much, and I can tell that Zambia has taught me several lessons. Here are a few of them:

Appreciation for food – I take special care not to waste food after seeing and spending time with people who are unable to eat “regularly”.

Patience – We planned on visiting Robben Island yesterday – the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for the great majority of his imprisonment – and the company cancelled the trip due to “wind”, which resulted in several hundred people forming a line to either reschedule or to get a refund. “Pre-Zambia” I would have gone through the roof – We wasted a few hours waiting for the trip, then standing in line for an hour or so to go on the trip, and finally standing in line for another hour or so to get a refund. I was quite amazed at myself of how I have become much more patient.

Appreciation for luxuries in life – Let’s face it – although I am disappointed with the “logistical parts of the trip” – flight, hotel & rental car – I am more than grateful for being able to enjoy such a vacation. Further, I actually appreciate the “little things in life” such as freeways and smooth roads for example.

I Miss Zambia!

From what we have seen so far, I must say that I find the people of Zambia MUCH more friendly, relaxed, open and hospitable. I wonder whether that has to do with the fact that South Africa is a more developed nation, or with historic events, or...

Further, we have been told that South Africa is “the” place to go shopping in Africa, and Azadeh got very excited about that. Once we arrived, we noticed that a lot of similar and sometimes even the same items (clothes, books, arts & crafts,…) are much more expensive than in Zambia. From bookstores in malls to arts and crafts markets, the difference in price is tremendous, often double or more (especially for arts and crafts, but also for books). However, the one benefit of having visited the arts and crafts market here in Cape Town is seeing the “Egg Man” in Green Market Square. He is a guy from Benin that I read about on the plane. He is one of the attractions not unlike the naked cowboy is in New York. Rather than being naked, this guy is known for his headwear – 22 pounds from what I remember.

Here are some pictures we took in the last few days:

The view from our original hotel room

Me & The Chief

Beauty in a beautiful place!!

Nice Scenery

Does this remind you of Laguna Beach?

Getting ready for 2010!!!

Mr. Egg Man in Cape Town