THE BIG 5!

When you first think of Africa what do you think of?... animals. And what animals do most people think of?... The Big 5. The Big 5 comes from hunters who came up with it. It stands for the 5 most dangerous animals to hunt. There animals are: leopard, lion, elephant, rhino and buffalo.

We saw all of these animals in just 3 hours.  That's right,.... 3 hours!!

The "elusive" leopard is often a hard spot but a hyena made it easy for us by accidentally running into the leopard's territory.  Then after realizing what he had just done came running back at top speed.  The leopard came onto the road just to make sure the hyena was gone and on the way passed right by our car.

The rhino was another of the Big 5 that we thought we wouldn't see.  Especially after our friend told us that her rhino spotting experience was of a man guarding a rhino 24/7 with an AK47 on him at all times (Madeleine).

So there you have it,.... THE BIG 5!

A Promise Realized - Our South African Safari

Zebras were the first African mammal
we saw upon entering the park.
It was very exciting!!  

About 3 years ago we let Chloe in on our plan of taking a trip around the world. Being 7 or 8 at the time, she had very little concept of what that really meant. Somehow though, she had heard of the idea of going on a safari in Africa. When asked if there was anything she'd really like to do on our year away that is what she chose. So Africa was put on the route!

I loved the giraffes. 

Besides having a general route, saving money and booking a couple of flights to get us on our way, we did not book much for this trip before we left. We wanted to be flexible, make plans according to what we heard from other travelers or read on blogs or travel forums. It's turned out pretty well for us so far. We generally plan the next country about a month or sometimes 2 months in advance. Once India was planned we really started thinking about how we were going to arrange this long standing promise of a safari in Africa.

lilac breasted roller

Our first stop was the Internet where we looked into 7-9 day safari's in tanzania or Kenya. They looked amazing but we felt that it was more than our budget could handle.

Then we met a guy in Bangkok who had done a 60 day overland safari in various countries in Africa and loved it. We looked into it and although some looked intriguing, we weren't sure if we'd really enjoy 21 or more days in a big truck with 18-20 other people driving from place to place and not having the freedom to stop or take a left just because we felt like it. We met 2 women at coffee bay who were on a 9 month overland safari and were really enjoying it (although when we met them they were on a short hiatus from the group and were enjoying that too- 9 months, 24/7 is a long time to spend with the same group of people! Oops- does that count as my outside voice if it's written?) If I were on my own I would likely have signed up for an overland safari but it just didn't feel right for the 3 of us.

Impalas were everywhere!! 

Finally we started looking a little more into Kruger park, got some advice from a friend (thanks again Karen) and realized that we could rent a car, enjoy a scenic drive from Cape Town to Kruger and do a "self-drive" safari in the Park. Check out Paul's post to find out more about the drive between Cape Town and Drakensburg but read on to find out about our time in Kruger National Park.

Hippos kill the most number of people in Africa, mostly in
rural area where people are near the river collecting wood,
fishing etc.  Don't get between a hippo and the water!!

We LOVED it! It's a huge park (20 000 square kilometres) that was formally established in 1926 when the Swingitsi Game Reserve(1903) and the Sabi Game Reserve (the original park opened in 1898 by Paul Kruger) were amalgamated. There are now 11gates through which to enter, 12 main rest camps to sleep at and several other bush camps and lodges spread throughout the park.

This is not the hyena that Chloe referred to in her post.
He was moving much too fast to capture in a photo.

Our adventure started in the south at Malelane Gate. That first day we drove up to Skukuza camp where we spent 2 nights in a safari tent. We drove south to Lower Sabie, north through Satara and then spent the next 2 nights in a hut at Olifants. The last night was spent at Letaba with a drive as far north as Mopani. We recorded all of the animals we saw each and every day. Our final count has not been tabulated yet (Chloe's homework), but following is a brief overview of our first morning.

Malelane Gate

The first morning we left Skukuza in the dark, having woken up at 5:00am to be amongst the first out of the gate (we were the 3rd car). By 8:30 am we had seen 1 leopard, 1 hyena, 6 elephants, 3 lions, 6 white rhinos, 2 giraffes, 8 zebras, 3 buffalo, 9 blue wildebeest, 7 warthogs, about 200 impala, 5 vervet monkeys, 22 hippos, 5 crocodiles and 12 chacma baboons plus a variety of birds. It was amazing!!!

Chloe posting our leopard siting on the board.

Pressure is now off! We all enjoyed an amazing 5 day safari in Kruger National Park, South Africa. More adventures still to come!

Little Things

I have blog title envy. We met Cam Brown in Coffee Bay who has a blog titled "Robert Frost is Wrong." Very cool title and matched by the content of the blog (http://robertfrostiswrong.tumblr.com), especially his piece on some traveling Canadians who recently gave him a lift.

We now consider ourselves safari veterans having gone out 3 times. While the guides are always enthusiastic about the prospect of seeing the elusive lion and leopard, they are also very quick to emphasize the need to take and appreciate what the bush gives you. I found that a very profound reminder of the need to appreciate what you have, as opposed to what you want.

We've also had two nights of thunderstorms in Kruger. Aside from the fear of the road washing away . It really is spectacular to see the night sky light up.



I now have a much deeper appreciation for the medicinal value of caffeine in the morning as I have developed an affinity for mochas. I apologize to all my coffee - loving friends that I have ridiculed in the past

Remember that scene from Jaws when the shark popped out of the water and scares the crap out of everyone? We had that happen to us today with a hippo as we slowly drove over a road that the adjacent "pond" was flowing over. I offered to go back for a video reenactment but was overruled.

You would think it would be a self-evident safety tip to not lean out your window to take a picture of a resting lion, but not so. I may or may not be referring to myself in this scenario.

And on that note, I am still waiting for others to join me as I relive the opening of City Slickers running from the bulls in Pamplona on July 12th. Anyone?

Road Trip

When we arrived in Cape Town we met many people who pointedly would tell us that Cape Town is not Africa. So when we got our rental car and headed out to explore the famed Garden route and other stops on the way to "Joberg" it was with a sense of great anticipation. With one notable exception so far South Africa has delivered the goods. Here's a little sampler of what has gone on so far:

Day one saw us make our way to Cape Agulhas which is the most southern point of Africa. It was here we saw the meeting point of the Indian and the Atlantic oceans. It was very cool since in Australia we saw the meeting point of the Indian and Southern Oceans.


From there we found the Skielding Guest Farm where we again had the good fortune to be the only guests in the establishment. We also had probably the best dinner/breakfast of our entire trip. Although we did get a bit concerned that the ostriches may have been planning something


The next day we got to Myoli Beach where we enjoyed some quality time in the sand and surf.


After a couple of days chilling out at the beach we made our way to the next stop, Storms River. Throughout the trip we have been looking for an opportunity to try zip trekking. Here we finally took the leap.



Next up was to drive to Addo Elephant Park for a (hopeful) date with some African wildlife. Although the king of the beasts was able to elude us, we did see many other African attractions.





After the excitement of Storms River and Addo we definitely needed to take a Coffee Break at a somewhat unique destination. It came from a very strong recommendation from our friend Karen Lavender. When we were starting to plan our trip we learned that Karen and her family were going to do the same thing, just a year ahead of us. She has been very gracious with sharing her experiences with us, and suggested that we spend some quality time in Coffee Bay at a place called the Coffee Shack.

With a name like the Coffee Shack we expected a very casual, laid back atmosphere full of other backpackers. It did not disappoint. This place redefines the word “chill”. It probably has to, as the road to get there is what I would describe charitably as “hellish” with an amazing number and variety of potholes. I managed to walk the fine line between driving swiftly in the smooth sections and swerving appropriately when required, to the occasional consternation of my travelling companions.



Aside from the unique African feel, Coffee Bay gave us an opportunity to make some new friends and for me to further indulge my new found fondness for mocha's.

Sadly we realized that you can only chill for so long. So it was off to experience the Drakensberg Mountains.



Now we find ourselves set to enter Kruger Park for five days of safari life which I hope will bring us close (but not too close) to the wild kingdom.

The $1,200 Fill-Up

In some ways I consider this post to be my penance for being (at least for a short period of time) a complete moron.

I'll spare you the excruciating and very humbling details, but the big picture is we stopped yesterday at a Shell station in Mthatha for gas and a bathroom break. Once there I saw an ATM and went to get some cash.

When my experience was over not only did I not get any money out, but the two people behind me in the line managed to steal my bank card from the machine and were able to scam the $1,200 from our account.

(insert profanity here as I recall the incident)

What followed has been a frustrating and somewhat sleepless day and night. I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent. I am certainly aware of travelers being the targets of scams and I have been dealing with ATM's most of my life. But they still got me.

At least if I was fated to be robbed it is only my pride that got assaulted (and my bank account I guess). Our valuables are all still with us. No one got hurt. We made up lots of background stories about the thieves while driving to try and put some perspective and humor around the incident. At one point we were passed by a Porsche and we wondered if that was their car Probably stolen we figured as our cash wouldn't buy that kind of a ride.

We talked about anger, and how hanging onto it is not healthy. We talked about forgiveness. Were these 2 guys who needed to do this to provide for their families? Was this our "charity" donation to South Africa?

I know I need to let go and not have this spoil my time in a fantastic country. But I also know that I will never forget.

Ugh.

A Little Cow-Motion

I guess they didn't like my India post. We are at Skeilding Guest House, which is a working farm featuring ostrich as the main "tenant."

We went out for a run tonight (we have started the Sun Run 10k training program) and came across a herd of cows having dinner. Before I could help myself I let loose with a few "moo's" which usually get no response .
Not so this time. First a few cows looked up to see us. Then they actually started mooving towards us. Then they actually started to "gallop" as we started to walk/run away.

Good thing there was a fence ..

Robben Island

All I knew about Robben Island was that it was the location where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for speaking out against apartheid.  That's it!  That's all I knew!

I know a little more now, mostly due to this man.

He was one of the many political prisoners incarcerated on Robben Island between 1964 and 1991. He was working as a rally organizer for the ANC (African National Congress) in his early 20s and was kidnapped, beaten and tortured before being taken to Robben Island where he spent 5 years of his life.  He spoke to us of the 4 most important things that he and his fellow inmates did to keep themselves sane and focused on their purpose:  1. Political classes 2. Reading the newspaper 3. Cultural and artistic expression through dance and song 4. general education (from learning to read and write to completing bachelor degrees).

About 30 men would be in a room like this in Section F.   

I learned that the leading members of the South African political parties were kept in small cells (about 2x2m), and only let out to have a small bit of exercise in the garden or to work in the lime quarries on the island.  Nelson Mandela was one of these men.

Nelson Mandela's cell in block B 

It was interesting to us that the people who were considered the most dangerous and kept in isolation were not the murderers and thieves (kept in another prison on the island), but the educated leaders of the anti-apartheid parties, those who could intelligently speak out against the atrocities of the National Party and inspire people to fight against their Apartheid Policies.

Limestone quarry where men were forced to do hard labour
under the very hot sun without any protection.  There is a cave
in the picture where classes were taught out of site of the guards.

I learned that the anti-apartheid struggle was not a war between black and whites, but a war against a system.  A system that, brought in by the National Party in 1948 separated people into 4 groups according to their skin colour and levels of "civilization";  African, Coloured People, Indians and Whites.  Different laws applied to each group and those laws were decidedly unequal.  Those of non-European decent were not allowed to vote, study or allowed any freedom (they had to carry Pass Cards, recording everywhere they went and not allowing them to be out past 8:00pm).

I didn't expect my visit to Robben Island to effect me as much as it did.  I'm so glad we went!!

Climbing the Table in Cape Town

We've now been in Cape Town for a few days and have seen many of the local attractions. One of the main sights is something that has been visible to us from the moment we arrived at the ultra-comfortable Lions Guest House. That would be Table Mountain. All the books talk about it as being one of the must-do's of a visit to Cape Town.

From the back porch and even the kitchen we have a good look at the mountain and the tram service that gets people to the top. Of course, there is also the "do it yourself" option for ascending the mountain.

"The Mountain"

We'd talked about going up for a couple of days, but recent high winds and the threat of the sudden "tablecloth" phenomena kept us from making a move.

"The Mountain with the Tablecloth"

Until today.

I think what got us off the couch was a morning spent at Camps Bay watching the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, which is the world's largest individually timed bike race. Riders challenge a 109 km course that (take it from someone who has now driven around here a bit) is both incredibly scenic and incredibly hilly. Unfortunately there was neither time nor budget for me to get a bike and a suitable spandex outfit to enter. Here's a sample of what we saw this morning.


Once we got back to the guesthouse we did a quick weather check (no wind)and gathered our gear. We were going to get into the game and climb the mountain! Here's us at the beginning of the trail with some new hiking friends we met on the roadway.


The hike is advertised as being a fairly hard 2+ hour climb pretty straight up. From this picture you can see the little gap at the top (right side) that we were shooting for.




In hindsight it may have been better to bring just a bit more water than we did. It's amazing how fast you can consume 2 litres between 3 people when you are doing a climb in 33' heat. And of course we did stop a few times and debate going back, but our Canadian stubbornness won out each time and up we went.

After who knows how long (time had really ceased having any true meaning) we made it to the top, each of us feeling like they had pushed themselves to as close to the line as we would want. I know for me Gatorade has never tasted as sweet. Here's a look at the top of the mountain and the view that we worked so hard to be able to enjoy.