Watching the Tablecloth

It was 100 degrees F when we went through Stellenbosch, and it did not look like the pretty wine town we were expecting, so we contined on to Cape Town. What a fabulous view as you approach the city, seeing Table Mountain looming over the city.

I had booked us at the African Train Lodge, and interesting sounding concept were you sleep on rail cars in an old train station. A few problems, as lovely as Cape Town is, its old train station is in a very scary part of town. There is unfortunately, so much crime in South Africa. The other problems is that a train compartment is a tad stuffy when there is a heat wave on. We braved it out one night, Andrea bunking with us because she was too scared to be alone in her room.

We moved to a nice guesthouse in the Sea Point area the next day, and were much more comfortable.

We explored Cape Town, including its interesting gay neighbourhood. We also spent time at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, took a boat trip to Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisioned for many years. One day when the wind died down, we actually made it up to the top of Table Mountain, with the fog whipping in and out. I tell you, I thought San Francisco had amazing fog, but it is nothing compared to Cape Town. Same kind of speed and coolness, but it rolls over the top of Table Mountain in the most spectacular fashion - thus the expression - the tablecloth!

















We also had some really great dinners in Cape Town, the one that really stand out is Addis in Cape Restaurant - featuring genuine Ethiopian cuisine.

The Ostrich Capital of South Africa

We drove over some spectacular mountain passes into the Ostrich farming capital of South Africa - Oudtshoorn. The area is very hot and sunny, and has some great scenery. We stayed in a fabulous guesthouse complete with pool. We have been doing "self catering" apartments all over South Africa, and we really enjoyed this one.

We even invited some of our GAP travellers over for dinner at our place one night. The GAP truck had caught up to us here, but we were very fussy about who we got in contact with.

We went to a place that claimed to be an animal sanctuary, where we could experience cheetas first hand. It turned out to be not much more than a glorified zoo, so we left before the "show" ended. I don't think I will ever be able to see animals in confinement again, after seeing them free and as they should be in Africa.

We did the first of our wine tasting in this region too. South Africa has a variety of wine regions, including the really famous ones that have been around for hundreds of years. The new up and coming regions are really interesting, with hot climate ones like here, as well as some cool climate areas around the southern most part of the continent.

My friends Craige and Greg would just love it hear, prettier than Napa, with truly great wines at a fraction of the price. A really good bottle of wine can be had at a restaurant here for about US $6, with something really fabulous fetching about $10 - $12. A good bottle at the store is about $3 - I think I should move here.














After Oudtshoorn, we headed out through the Karoo on famous Route 62. And yes, we did stop at Ronnie's Sex Shop, and must stop at restaurant and pub along the way.

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Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear

We have seen many amazing animals in our Africa travels, but one of the highlights must be Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa. Yes, we have seen quite a few elephants in other parks, but the park has the highest concentration in the world. You don't just see elephants, you see herds of them, interacting, playing and socializing.

This was also different, in that we did not have to do game drives in the GAP truck, or open air park vehicle - we drove ourselves around in our little Nissan. It was just great, and we got to stop as long as we wanted for photos etc.

One afternoon, Dwayne and I came upon two male juevenilles "playing". They were scuffling, and pushing each other around right on the road, just feet away from our car. It was both exciting and a little scary. They were both way bigger than the car!















The next day the three of us were driving around, and a huge male started following us down the road. As the title says, he was a lot closer than it looks like. We just stayed ahead of him as he lumbered behind for about 1/2 a mile. Then we came upon a huge herd feeding on both sides of the road. We did not want to disturb the herd, so we stopped, and waited to see what happened.

The huge guy following us came right up to the back of the car, then just turned slightly, and walked past us very close. The herd obviously knew him, and they were all greeting him happlily. We sat there for quite a while watching them all interact, it was amazing!

We also saw lots of zebra, warthogs, kudu, tortoises, giraffes, and wildabeasts. We also spotted a lone male lion walking along a ridge just to the left of our car.

Africa really is all it is supposed to be.

Durban to Port St. John

It is so nice to have the freedom to go where we want. The GAP group was off to the mountains, so of course we headed toward the ocean.

We had heard that Port St. John was a funky little seaside town, and were not disappointed. It had a spectacular setting, this cliff separating it and its beach from the rest of the world.

It is here we believe one of our hubcaps was stolen by a local while we dined at KFC - serves us right for eating there.

We also started our pattern of cooking nice dinners "at home". It was kind of easy considering we scored ourselves a three bedroom villa overlooking the ocean beach for the sum of 750 rand (US $75). The power failed for a while in the middle of dinner, but is was already cooked, and of course we had candles going. Ah, this sure beats sleeping in soggy tents and eating truck food!

Escape from Durban

Another upgrade to an ocean view suite in Durban, and we were ready to escape from the group. Many in our group were leaving at this point, so there were lots of goodbyes for people we were really fond of.

The news broke at our farewell dinner for the others, and the good people left behind were sad that we were leaving. The next morning the remaining rag-tag group was off in the truck, and we stayed one more night to "recover".

The next day we got used to our new rent a car, a Nissan Tida, by shuttling our buddies who were leaving to the Durban Airport. Andrea had not driven for half a year, and I had to get used to driving on the other side of the road - interesting. Andrea only had to scream LEFT! at me once.

Another night in our oceanview suite, then we were off on our South African adventure.

St Lucia and Hiuhluwe - Umfolozi National Park

After Swaziland, it was back across to South Africa, and the St. Lucia area. No, we did not take a wrong turn in the Carribean, St. Lucia is South Africa's first World Heritage Site, and the home of an amazing landlocked estuary, that has many hippos, crocs, and some sharks trapped inland when the sea was cut off. It is also very close to Hiuhluwe-Umfolozi National Park, another South African gem.

At this point we have established a pattern when arriving at a new destination - are there upgrades available? As much fun as it is staying in tents, it is often very easy to get accomodation at the same location with real beds, air conditioning and the all important fridge - for just a couple of rand. No problem doing this in St. Lucia, so we were well rested before our morning game drive into the Park.

We drove about an hour on the highway in open air vehicles, before entering the Park. Just minutes after entering, we had a very close encounter with a group of lions. There was a large male, which is always a thrill. Dwayne's camera got the images, so check with him when he gets back. But the scary part was a beautiful female, up close, staring at us, growling, then doing a short mock charge at us! Yikes, everyone was thrilled, but Andrea and I got a little nervous. Another younger male crossed the road behind us with the other two - what an experience!

The rest of the day was viewing a variety of game, including hippos, elephant, giraffe plus a very rare Black Rhino.

That night we headed out on the estuary for some close encounters of the hippo kind. There were far more hippos than we have seen so far, and we were very happy we were in such a large boat. Again, Dwayne has some great pictures - 10X optical zoom rocks!

That night was also birthdays for our companions Andrea and Aida, so we celebrated with champagne with our hippos. That was also the night we hatched our "escape plan" to get away from the obnoxious elements in our GAP group.

Swaziland - A Big Surprise

After Mozambique, we crossed over a rather quiet border to the Kingdom of Swaziland. The change was immeadiately apparent, as Mozambique is extremely poor, and Swaziland appears to be more like its neighbour, South Africa. The topography also changed to green, mountainous, and very beautiful.

We staying inside Milwane Wildlife Sanctuary that, while not home to the big five, held some wonderful viewing surprises. Many of the grazing animals would wander right into our camp, especially at night. The logo for Milwane is a warthog, and we saw lots of those. Many of the warthogs had just had babies, so they were wandering around with mommy warthog. Many of the antelope in the Park had also just given birth, so lots of aaahhhh moments.

When we were not outside seeing the scenery (which was fantastic!) or doing game drives, we sat in this fabulous bar overlooking a watering hole. There was some real action one day, with a croc attacking who knows what accross the way as we sipped drinks (actually we were too riveted to sip).

The other highlight was what must have been our best and most interesting accomodation on the trip - beehive huts. One hut for two people, real cute on the outside, and absolutely huge inside. And yes, each one had a private bathroom.

We also went to a Swazi village to visit. Unusual for the area, the village chief was a woman, and what a character she was! We learned about their traditional ways of life, then the women and men in our group took turns making fools of ourselves, singing in the Swazi language, and dancing traditional steps. I can honestly say the we men were even worse than the women, but it sure was fun, and we laughed a lot.

We must say that we were totally charmed by Swaziland, and would strongly recommend it as a stop when visiting this part of the world.