Part 1 - Zimbabwe & Kenya 2019

Our 2018 trip to Kenya was not a very memorable one, what with a lot of issues with the agent who booked us into the wrong itinerary, last minute issues with a good jeep and incorrect lodges. We wanted to go back to Kenya using the agent's compensation, and chose the same time of the year to see some of the crossings. We also wanted to visit a new country and decided to head to Zimbabwe.

We took a flight out of Dubai and landed early evening in Lusaka, Zambia, then took a bus ride and crossed the border over to Zimbabwe. We spent three nights 528 Victoria Falls which was run by a South African couple who also lived on the property. A green and new home that we really loved. Our first morning was spent flying in a helicopter over the Zambezi River and the gorgeous Victoria Falls. This was followed by a good 2 hour hike on the edge of the Vic Falls on the Zambezi side. We saw a lot of flora and fauna, walked past the bridge that connects Zambia & Zimbabwe which is a popular bungee jumping location.

The next morning, we went on an early safari into the Zambezi National Park that was both on the jeep watching quite a few elephants and antelopes. We also did a 1 hour walking safari with the anti-poaching squad that showed us how snares are put up and how the squad works towards keeping both animal and plant poachers at bay. The same evening was our sunset cruise over the Zambezi river and saw quite a few water birds, and the usual crocs, hippos etc. but the sight of the sun setting in Africa is always a gorgeous one.

On the 4th morning we flew out on a chartered flight to Lake Kariba's Bumi Hills Airstrip. The ranger from the lovely Musango Camp picked us up and took us on a safari through the Matusadona National Park, and when we landed in the camp, we were informed that we had no internet connections and were cut off from the outside world. What a welcome change this was!

We spent 4 days here with the lovely Steve Edwards, the most knowledgeable and kind ornithologist. He challenged himself and took us on several boat trips, and a couple of jeep rides around the Lake Kariba and covered close to 106 different species of birds. We were enthralled and looked forward to every single interaction with him. The Camp itself is thickly wooded and is a welcome home to several species of birds, with an elecric fence around to keep the big game out, we felt safe and special on the island. As part of our outings, we did some unsuccessful fishing, fed the fish eagles and took a trip to the island village nearby.

We flew out of Lake Kariba and landed in Nairobi, Kenya for a night. Our next morning's flight took us to Masai Mara, for the second part of our trip.

Part 3 - Austria - April 2019

An evening walk around town, and the next morning to Tirol for our scheduled ski lessons. Which turned out to be super fun for the boys, and they actually learnt to ski. Both the adults managed a load of falls and gave up quite easily, what with the realization that skiing was like doing yoga on a floor smeared with oil. The Ski boots are super heavy (3 kgs on each foot) and skis and sticks and the stiff walking and in and out of cable cars, this was hard. But we had fun, and actually were happy to know that given so much heavy duty walk and weight, the cold didn’t even affect us.

With Tirol & Skiing behind us, we drove out the next morning to Leichenstein, which is a 25km long principality is a German speaking country. Beautiful, quaint with alpine landscapes and medieval castles, we walked all over its capital Vaduz. We then drove to Appenzel Village through the narrow winding roads up the hill to take in the gorgeous view.  After stopping for some hot chocolate and muffins we drove back to Innsbruck.

Our next day began with a drive to Salzburg, where the evening was spent walking through the ‘Sound of Music’ famed Mirabel Palace, the Abbey, the Cemetery, and the Fountain. Since we had nothing much planned for Salzburg, we decided to drive to Munich the next day. Regretted not spending more time here – we saw the Marienplatz, Frauenkirche and the BMW Museum, but missed the English Gardens.

Our next morning was spent with the Von Tropp family locations on the second part of our Sound of Music tour in Salzburg. With a lovely Mexican meal near the Mozart home, we wound up for the day. We drove to Vienna the next morning and drove around the city, caught some views and a lot of traffic and renovations. But our highlight was the much-needed Fondue fix, now we were truly ready to get back to Dubai.

Part 2 - Switzerland - April 2019

We took an early morning train to the cutest, quaintest, smallest car-free town of Zermatt. Our best meal through the trip was lunch at an organic restaurant here, where we had the tastiest healthy sandwiches made from bread that was freshly baked by a family run bakery in town.

We spent 5 hours outdoors walking around, getting drenched in the rain, and riding the underground funicular up the canton of Valais, to see the beautiful Sunnegga lookout. It was snowing hard up there and was freezing cold – it was like silent rain and felt so serene. We spent a night in Zermatt so we could take the early morning Glacier Express to St. Moritz – most expensive tourist spot in Switzerland.

Glacier Express - The 9 hour ride through the Alps gave us the most spectacular views – of lakes, meadows, quaint villages, snow capped mountains, valleys, and several tunnels and bridges. Parts of the tracks in some valleys were cleared off snow just a few minutes before the train passed, giving us a beautiful snow path view.

St. Moritz welcomed us with a strong drizzle and light snow. But, this didn’t deter us, we checked in and immediately went on a long walk on the banks of the River Staz. The river was frozen solid, but not safe enough for ice skaters, so it was empty but for the runners and dog walkers around its bank. We then found our way to Devil’s Place, a bar that houses 2,500 different kinds of whiskies. We needed the stiff drink, and the boys enjoyed a yummy mugs of hot chocolate after the cold tiring walk.

It snowed all night, and the morning view from the hotel room was a heavily snow covered city. Since our plans to do another funicular ride up the Alps could not happen, we did the next best thing on a mini-blizzard day. We went for a 2.5 hour tennis session to an indoor academy and enjoyed ourselves.

                                     

We waited at the lobby of the hotel the next morning, before the high-ways were cleared off the avalanches. We then picked up our car from the beautiful village of Samedhan. We drove through mountains covered with snow into green green Austria. We checked into an Airbnb place in the cute little town of Igls in Innsbruck.

Part 1 - Switzerland - April 2019

This was a holiday that needed to be put together in a hurry. With the Botswana plan turning out to be beyond budget, Zimbabwe losing connectivity, Zambia being off season, and Namibia not having an embassy outside Delhi for Indian passport holders, we were left with Europe to plan. In a span of two weeks, we completed the research online, and made flight, train, car and accommodation bookings.

We took off on a Friday and landed in Zurich around mid-day. With nothing much for us to see in Zurich, we took in the green meadows and the snow-capped mountains in the distance as we drove west towards Lucerne. After an evening of walking around the little town, and seeing the beautiful Lion monument, we spent a tired yet cozy night here.

The next morning, we drove towards Lake Geneva and spent a night at Lausanne. A walk around the busy town to see the animated clock tower that strikes every hour. This is accompanied by an automated puppet show with a history based audio. We then drove to the cathedral to see the newly planted tulip buds for the Tulip Festival and the first view of Lake Geneva. We then headed to Montreaux for a really good slow walk on the promenade. Taking in the Lake, the Alps, some quirky statues, Freddy Mercury’s famous statue, the view of the Chillon cathedral and returned to Lausanne for the night. 

The next day marked the beginning of our snow adventures. We drove to Interlaken, checked into a cute apartment, and drove up to Grindelwald to see skiers enjoying the day on the mountains, and a lot of snow around town, including roof and treetops. The kids had a lovely first time with snow.

We returned the car the next morning and walked to the train station and went up to Jungfraujoch. This is the most popular tourist spot in Switzerland and is the highest railway in Europe, that gets you to experience the glaciers of the Bernese Alps. After a cold and freezing day up there, we took the train back to Interlaken, and retired for the night.