We hopped into a tiny propeller plane at Nelspruit for a one hour ride south to Durban. There we picked up our rental car ready to plot through Durban rush hour traffic and scoff at the people who thought we were mildly insane to drive 3 hours to St. Lucia in the dark. Turns out we were mildly insane. Our 3 hour trip took 5 hours with a couple of detours. One detour to get burgers from a fast food joint (Steers) which is ridiculously good. The second detour was to get unlost. We missed the final turn sign into St. Lucia because we were distracted by the bright lights of KFC and missed the poorly lit road sign. By the way, KFCs are abundant here! We've seen maybe one McDonald's in the entire country. Sorry, tangent.
We finally arrived to the Santa Lucia B&B to the sweetest host Rika and a palatial, well stocked room (meaning they provided excellent sherry wine!). Rika and her husband Francois van der Mewre were a highlight of our time in St. Lucia. They pampered us the way grandparents do, and never let us leave without home baked muffins, allowed us to pack a lunch from their kitchen goodies, provided a cooler with ice, chairs, and towels and so on.
Our first full day in St. Lucia, we took a self drive trip through an ecological reserve and spotted more animals (we're pros now!). Highlights were the Vervet monkeys and their playful babies. These monkeys must be like squirrels to the locals, because nobody stops to look at them except for us Americans. Unfortunately there appeared to be considerable commercial logging in the area. As well as historic remnants of logging in the reserve as evident by many stumps amidst the grasses.
And that's about it. It was a warm and relaxing couple of days.
N&B
Hungry Hungry Hippos and more...
On our final morning in Kruger our hosts suggested we use the best of our time and take up another activity. We opted to stop by the touristy Swazi cultural center on our drive to the airport. The center's entrance is located just outside the Swaziland border, but the road on the inside curves past the Swazi border. SO we didn't need to get a Swaziland stamp on our passports (how convenient!), but technically we were on Swazi soil...so we're totally counting that as a country we visited!
The center's main attraction is the traditional village area set up behind the shops and restaurants. Our guide Mapompo took us on a tour of the dome shaped straw huts, talked about a few traditions including clothing and such, and reminded us that men are considered superior in Swazi culture. This meant I (Noosha) had to enter the huts behind the men and on the other side of the door. Bah! Additionally, men have multiple wives (but in reality the chief's mom runs the show). Anyway, the real treat of the whole thing was the music and dancing. The organization recruits talented youth from the local rural villages to be part of the performance group. The group consisted of single male dancers, married female dancers, ready for marriage female dancers, and adolescents with their tatas revealed. Powerful percussions were coupled with high kick and foot stomping dances. It was really enjoyable to watch! They made me (Noosha) get up and dance, and mom might be shocked, but I was a good sport. I danced and had fun! :) Here are some pictures.
For those of you who love dung filled facts, the floors are somehow made using earth, dung, and animal fat.
(We forgot to allow comments on the previous safari posts. If you have been burning to leave us a comment, and we must admit, we do love the comments :), you may do so now. Cheers! N&B)
For our third act we offer you a walking safari. Noosha was not feeling up to walking around the bush so early in the morning (out the door at 5:30 AM again) so I went solo. Ludovic drove me into the park before dawn to meet the guides and the rest of the walking safari guests. Turns out there were no other guests so I got my own private walking safari with two armed guides.
Chester and Isaac lead the safari. Shortly after sunrise we began our meander into the bush after a short discussion of the rules. The guides were to travel in front and in back of me. We were not to talk if there there animals around, only communicate with hand gestures or gain another's attention with animal sounds or clicks. If an animal were to charge we must stand our ground until directed by the guide as the animals 9 times 10 will mock charge (sounds reassuring ya?).
I was also informed that one typically does not see many animals on a walking safari. The animals in Kruger have grown up seeing vehicles. They see the vehicle as just another animal, one in which they have never been shot by. As soon as you step out of the vehicle, stand up in, or lean out of the vehicle you change the shape of vehicle/animal they will run. If one is walking they see you has a human and something that has killed them in the past. For instance you can drive within a foot or two of an Impala and they will hardly stop eating, walk within 50 yards of an Impala and they will dart off. Knowing all this I was under no expectation to see any large animal on the walking safari. This tour was to be about the more subtle things one see in the bush and how to read the environment, the dung, the plants, the footprints, etc.
On with the safari... Our first stop was at a dry sandy river bed where we looked at the difference between White and Black Rhino prints, Hippos, Elephant prints (both adult and youth and determine the direction of travel), and determine the difference between cat (plus cheetah and versus other cats) and dog.
Cat Versus Dog:
Within the main pad of both animals lies the difference. The cat has what appears to be three lobes where as a dog has two. So a Leopard will have three and a Hyena two.Cheetah Versus other Cat:
Most cats have retractable claws while the Cheetah does not. This allows the Cheetah to maintain better traction while running and turning at high rates of speed. One can see the difference between the two by the presence of little holes/circles/dot around the outer front edge of the print.White Versus Black Rhino:
Along the trailing edge of the print, a White Rhino will have a notch of sorts pointing towards the front of the print, which looks like a W, whereas the Black Rhino has a more oval pad. Each has three toes.
After moving on from the lesson on tracks Chester discussed dung, yes dung. One could spend hours discussing the finer points of dung. I must say it was very fascinating. We first stopped at a Black Rhino dung. The Black Rhino is a browser, meaning they eat leaves and branches as opposed to grasses. As such their dung is filled with undisturbed, undigested branches due to their poor digestive system. Additionally the branches are 0.5" - 1" in length and cut at a 45 degree angle. Next to the Black Rhino dung was an older Elephant dung. One can tell the difference between the two by the color (or colour for some), the Rhino is darker. The Elephant is also a browser and the dung is filled with undigested branches. Unlike the Black Rhino, the Elephant dung has longer branches which have been smashed by chewing. Up next we had an even longer discussion on the White Rhino's dung pile. The White Rhino pile is a large toilette used to mark the territory of a male individual. They will come back to this pile over and over again to mark their territory. The dung will get trapped in cracks within their feet and be deposited throughout their area, informing others who is boss. Female Rhinos will also deposit dung at the pile but around the edge of the pile. The White Rhino is a grazer, meaning it eats grasses and ground plants. It will have a wider mouth to help in this effort. And their dung will be filled with grasses. Within the dung we found a Dung Beetle (pronounced by Chester as Beet lee). The story of the Dung Beetle is a fascinating component of the ecosystem, which I will not go into but is worth researching.
White Rhino dung pile:
Black Rhino dung (note the small undigested and undisturbed branches):
The walking safari was an amazing experience. While the diversity of sightings was extremely limited to two Rhinos, the feeling of being untethered in the bush and unprotected in such close proximity to massive beasts is a once in a life time experience. I will tell my grandchildren about these moments. Thank you for reading through my David Attenboroughesque post.
(Day 2 was spent lounging around the lodge, chillin' with curious wart hogs, and taking a sunset river ride. Don't forget to read the Day 1 post below!)
We woke up dark and early for a dusk to dawn safari of Kruger with Bushwise's guide Ludovic (yes, how delightful is his name!). We jumped into our safari vehiclele, bundled ourselves in hoodies, beanies, down jackets and woolly blankets for a crisp and windy hour drive to Kruger National Park's southern entrance. Even Ludovic who described himself as "not a sissy man" bundled up.
Safari Vehicle:
Don't worry moms! It was only cold in the morning. The rest of the day was perfectly sunny.
We watched the sunrise and listened to Ludovic passionately point out every winged, hooved, predatory (and non) creature he knew of. He included tidbits about dung, insects and other things that I (Noosha) probably missed (meaning forgot ;))
Having been schooled that game viewing is part knowledge and part luck we seemed to have a fortuitous morning. Big five citings included elphant, buffalo, the rare black rhino, and even lions!! It was amazing!!! The lion strutted right next to our open window vehicle. It was closer than you could get at a zoo! If we lacked sense, we could have reached out to touch him!! SO exciting! After a while the lion wandered away from the road when inconsiderate drivers were cutting him off for pictures. Nothing attracts a massive group of cars in the vast Kruger Park (think size of Portugal) like a feline sighting.
Ludovic cooked us a hearty, traditional, and yummy South African breakfast of eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes, onions and toast which we ate overlooking Kruger from a Lebombo mountain viewpoint. Its worth noting that we also had the most delicious aromatic papaya. A clever but misguided Vervet monkey tried to steal food from the picnic-ers (word?) We know it shouldn't have been there, but it was so small, jumpy, and cute!
Other animals we saw:
Elephant (Big 5)
wart hogs are Noosha's favorite for the it's so ugly it's cute factor
and the ubiquitous but essential Impala
Tangent: Why did Chevy name their car after a common and ordinary antelope? Bad call Chevy. Bad call.
Tangent 2: Did you know that the antlers of antelopes are actually called horns for African antelopes.
After a very long, but seriously awesome day we watched the sunset around 5pm and made our way out of the park which closes at 5:30pm.
I forgot to mention the many birds we saw. Let's try and remember their names! There was the kingfisher, the franklin quail which looked plump and tasty, several species of eagle/hawk/vulture, and the bird called Zazu in Lion King. :) Real name currently unknown!
Anyway, if you ever get the opportunity to have a safari experience, we strongly recommend it. Spend several days watching the animals and go with a knowledgable guide. We had a great time with Ludovic. It was a surreal and amazing experience.
Noosha & Brian
The tale and pictures you've been waiting for!
We arrived at the tiny thatched roof Nelspruit/Kruger National Park airport to Tim, another friendly South African face welcoming us to "proper Africa. Cape Town is European."
Tim is co-owner and architect of the Bushwise resort in Marloth Park, a conservation park just outside of Kruger. The lodge is beautifully designed with a thick thatched roof that is a requirement for developing in the area. The view from the the balcony of Bushwise is of Kruger National Park and the Crocodile River. The properties are only divided by a wire and electric fence (which apparently doesn't really work on the leopords!). Everyday we get to see a still and serene landscape, and at night hear the lions and hippos declaring their territory. Very cool experience!
View from the Bushwise upper deck:
Very nice little infintity pool over looking Kruger:
Shortly after arriving we went on our first safari adventure-the night run. Guides from the park take a group of about a dozen on a sunset to evening ride in a vehicle with spotlights to see the nocturnal animals. Fortunate for us we had a jolly guide (Isaac) with a good sense of humor because after 2 hours of riding and having cold wind and water slapped in our faces, and seeing nothing but common impalas and bush babies we were feeling a little grumpy. Eventually we did spot animals. An adolescent elephant, black backed jackyl and hyenas! On future winter night rides, I recommend a ski mask and several wool blankets. ;)
-Noosha, the blossoming blogger and Brian
We are safely in St Lucia and enjoying our trip. Access to the internets has been limited. We hope to have better access in Port Elizabeth with Timo's cousin. We will post pictures of all the amazing animals we saw in Kruger and St Lucia then.
Quick note with no pictures, sorry. We have arrived in bush country. Ltterally, we are staying at Bushwise Safari Lodge. We went on a 3.5 hour night safari last night and had a relaxing day today. Tomorrow we awake at 5:00AM and set off for a full day safari at 5:30AM. Tonight we had a lovely dinner outside over wine, a full moon, and the sounds of lions and hippos. AMAZING!!!
The lodge is right against the fence of Kruger National Park. Noosha and I walked along the park fence this afternoon and Ludwig (our guide) took us on a sunset tour along the fence before dinner.
Hopefully we will have better internet access in a few days to post pictures. TTYL
B&N
Today the weather was not so nice for heading up to Table Mountain, so we headed into the city to shop. We hit up the V&A Waterfront. One of the guide books mentions Cape Town is proud of the gentrification which has taken place at the V&A. It was a nice enough shopping center but it is just clothing shops and stuff. A bit too manufactured and Disneyesque for our liking. Got plenty of that stuff in the States. If we haven't found kitschy African stuff by the time we are back we will head to one of the many African crafts shops at the V&A.
Next we tooled on over to Long Street, City Bowl area. This area reminded us a bit of the Market area in San Francisco with some buildings looking as if they were plucked right out of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Parking was interesting. Pull up to any open street parking spot and before you can get out of your car a parking attendant is there to take your parking toll. You decide how long you want to stay up to the maximum allowed for the area and you're all set.
We found a few really cool little shops with music and African themed tees. Noosha got a little art too. After a while it started to sprinkle a bit so we ducked into a cafe for a milkshake and chai tea. Nice little cafe with a strong alt flair. Two girls purchased an awesome photo of the Beatles circa Sergeant Peppers right off the wall of the cafe just to give an idea of the place. Next we strolled into a music store specializing in African music. We purchased an album playing in the store by Goldfish. Cool stuff.
Given the increasing rain we decided to drive around a bit looking at
neighborhoods and get some photos for Nick Green of the new football (soccer) stadium being
built for the 2010 World Cup in SA. Nick is the husband of Kayla,
whom I work with at the City; he writes the 100 Percent Soccer: Soccer In and Around Los Angeles blog.
The following are a few pics of the stadium:
On the way back to our B&B in Camps
Bay we stopped off to
grab some food for another late lunch. Our original intention was to hit
up this African place we spotted but they were not open yet. So we headed
a few door down to this little place called Caveau Deli. Think of the best
artisan cafe in Napa. Noosha
had fresh handmade ravioli with butternut squash and feta with creamy butternut
squash sauce and I had fresh handmade pasta with this amazing sauce with bacon
in it (that will come as no surprise to some of you), a leak and mushroom
quiche, and a Syrah. Every bite was perfect. This place is a perfect
10! Oh and the best part...the bill was US$22. We are still full now and
contemplating heading back for a dinner of dessert at Caveau.
Tomorrow we are headed to Kruger National Park. We’re not sure if we’ll have internet connection there, so don’t worry about lions having eaten us if you don’t see a post from us for a few days. :)
-Brian the epic blogger, with edits and final comments by Noosha the contributing blogger
Today can be summed up by one word: windy. It was windy out there today kids. The kind of wind that makes you earn every step. We got a nice early start today about 11:00AM and drove south along the Atlantic making our way towards Cape Point.
Here is a nice picture looking south a short distance away from the B&B:
Random Ostrich cruzin' down the road:
After Cape Point we visited Boulders Beach. Sight of African Penguins chillin' on an amazing beach.
Good morning! Our 27 hour journey turned into a 30 hour journey, but we arrived safely and well, AND we got a good night's rest. We haven't left our B&B yet, but the coastal view is WOW. I think we're going to enjoy Cape Town. Here is Brian with the details while I go get ready!
Noosha
As Noosha mentioned, the journey was long. Three movies, multiple magazine articles, countless airplane meals, and several transfers. We arrived at LAX at 6:00AM on Sunday and arrived in Cape Town around 10:00PM Monday. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the terminal in Dakar as we sat on the tarmac and not at a terminal, oh well.
Going to Africa is a bit different than going to other places we have traveled. Namely people come here to kill. We saw several people dressed as if they were going on safari the moment the exited the plane. Seriously, they had the safari shirts, zip off pants, their safari hats with one side pinned up, and camo everything. This one guy had some tree camo shirt and matching jacket and backpack. Too funny.
Interestingly we sat next to a South African Parliament member on the flight from Joburg to Cape Town (in coach no less). It was like sitting next to Dianne Feinstein or something. Very down to earth guy who got us pillows and shared his chips with us. He invited us over for dinner with his wife while in Cape Town and told us to call him if we need anything while in his country.
In typical fashion we threw ourselves into the adventure head first. Nothing like arriving in a new country after traveling for 27 hours with minimal sleep than renting a manual car and driving on the wrong side of the road. Yep. We picked up our little Opal Corsa manual (a week old I might add) at the wrong terminal and were set loose to wreak havoc on the roads of Cape Town. Actually it was not bad at all. I keep telling myself (and Noosha yells to) KEEP LEFT!
We managed to get ourselves a bit lost getting to the hotel. Add to that we really had no directions to the hotel. All we had was an address and a note that it was off the main road. We drove up and down the main road 3 times and no Hove St. As luck would have it we found a police officer patrolling the neighborhood who nicely escorted up to Hove St around midnight.
The B&B is quite nice. I am writing now in the living room looking over the Atlantic with Table Mountain behind us. You can see the cable car out the back from the pool. The winds are quite stiff but the sun is out and the winds are actually kind of warm. Things are shaping up to be a great day!
Brian
(the epic blogger)
