Kruger National Part SAFARI

We were all a little nervous but soon realized that most of the roads were paved or good dirt roads in Krueger and Piet seemed to know the park very well. I didn't really know what to expect but was soon very excited as we spotted our first waterbuck, Impala, Nyla and and Elephant. Piet told us the safaris started off slow and then the sightings  just get better and better as we go.

Everyone was really excited as we spotted animal after animal. The four of us took on the challenge of spotting and did our Canadian name proud as we were the best spotters in the van.




Piet spotted the tortoise as it was crossing the road.  Normally if the tortoises are on the move it means it is going to rain.

 Joyce spotted a rhino laying under a tree. Piet told us to look for a rock under a tree and when we stopped and put the van in reverse to go take a look it was actually a huge boulder under a tree not a rock and then it lifted its head much to our surprise. It was amazing to see as it is one of the very few that still has its horn. The rhino horn is extremely valuable on the black market and has fallen prey to poachers to the point it is danger of being extinct. To help save the rhinos from poachers they have been removing the horn safely so the poachers won't kill the animal. Very sad so finding one with their horn in tact is a treat.

  We also spotted two Sables which are very rare to find, Piet was very excited as he hadn't seen one in a while and you don't usually find two together. They were very beautiful animals. We ended our first safari on a high as we felt we had seen way more animals than we had anticipated. We headed back to the lodge for lunch and then a few hours of spare time before we headed out again with our safari guide Jose.

The second safari started off slow as it was hot and the animals were resting and hard to find.

The first animal we spotted was this magnificent giraffe.  They are huge, but very graceful with their long legs and massive thighs.  It was right beside us on the road!  

 However as the afternoon sun started to go down we heard that there was a leopard in the area. We headed out to another area in hopes of finding him. No luck at our first stop but we received another tip and took a slight detour to see what we could find.  We turned off the main road and over the drainage ditch and Jose slowed the truck. Piet then heard the monkey warning calls which could mean the leopard was near.  We came up onto the ridge and I happened to look to the left and holy shit there he was. I yelled “stop” as softly as I could and then we backed up slowly. He was crouched along a crack in the rock.

  A few seconds later a second leopard walked from behind the bush right beside my side of the truck. Freaking amazing!  They told us they were most likely brothers who had been kicked out of the den by their mother and were approximately 18 months old. Usually leopards are solitary animals but due to their age they were still together. We sat quietly and watches these two magnificent animals for about 30 minutes. Both Piet and Jose were very impressed with our find as we were the only truck there.

 It was getting dark so we had to head back.

 As we were travelling along we came over a hill and wham, there were two very large male elephants. They walked past us one on each side as we sat there as quietly as possible. Suppressing your excitement is really really hard!

The sun was now setting and we experienced a fabulous South African sun set. By the time we got back to camp it was dark and our African Safari was off to an amazing beginning. (Can't say awesome or I will have to buy beer). Apparently we say this word way to often so we are attempting to break the habit. WOW we weren't sure how we were going to beat this day, but Piet told us we would.

WEDNESDAY

Today we traveled from Joberg to our safari lodge. It took us about 5 hours to reach Graskop which is the small town we stopped at for lunch. The landscape is very similar to our Alberta prairie only they are growing Maze instead of wheat. South Africa is experiencing a drought right now so some of the crops are not doing very well and they are concerned about a food shortage as maze is their staple crop. Their other large industry is mining for gold and coal. They use coal to generate power so there are semi trucks full of coal travelling to generating stations through out this region.

 From Graskop we did a loop to see Lisben Falls, Bourke’s luck pot holes,

and God’s Window which were all beautiful view points and sightseeing stops. We then headed to Hazyview and entered Kruger National Park at the Numbi gate.





Our safari lodge was just inside the gate. This was the lodge that had tents. Marty, Carol and Marcy from the Jersey Shore N.Y. were a little worried about the tents but when we arrived they were pleasantly surprised that they were very large raised structures with heavy canvas walls with large windows and attached bathrooms with indoor and outdoor showers.

Jersey (as we nicked named them) had never experienced an outdoor shower, Joyce and I were excited to once again shower in the open air.






We all freshened up and met for dinner which was in an outdoor area and was a traditional African Braai. We had a great young fellow as our waiter who kept our glasses full of wonderful pinotage. We got to know our travel mates and then headed to our tents as we had decided to do an extra safari with Piet as our guide using our van. Our scheduled safari was not until tomorrow afternoon.

TUESDAY

Today we are headed to Joberg for the safari leg of our tour but our flight does not leave until 2:15pm so we decided to skip breakfast at the hotel and try the bunny chow at the chocolate shop. This is normally a dish that is had a dinner consisting of a half loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with a cape curry, they used the bread as a dish to transport their dinner. The version we were going to try was a small banana bread filled with dark chocolate sauce and ice cream. We were going to have it for desert but the shop was closed so this was going to be our last chance so we decided breakfast it would be. It was amazing, very rich but the chocolate sauce was to die for. We were going to share but at the last minute decided we all needed our own. Yummy.

After breakfast Joyce and I sent the boys to the bank and we went to check out the jewelry store we had spotted around the corner from the hotel. We spent about an hour admiring all the unique pieces and found a few to take home. By then it was time to check out and head to the airport. The flight was only a couple of hours which was good because Mango Air is about as tight as Air Transat.  Our new guide Piet met us at the other end and took us to Malikana guest house to meet Soekie our host.

The guest house was beautiful and had 8 rooms. We were treated to a traditional African Braai which is similar to our BBQ. We enjoyed a couple or two bottles of wine and visited with Soekie. We were leaving at 6:45 am the following morning to a long road trip so we were not late going to bed.

MONDAY

Ryan picked us up at 9 this morning and our first stop was Truth Coffee. This was a large coffee roasting company with a great bistro attached. We were taken on a tour of the roasting facilities which were very impressive. The engineer had restored a very old {1940's} traditional roaster and modified it to include current technology. They roast 2 tons of coffee each week and then distribute it to a number of coffee shops and export out of the country. We sat down for a tasting and had our first ever coffee martini!  This was a blend of coffee and orange juice and was extremely tasty. The next one was a flat white. Which was two shots of espresso and a small amount of steamed milk. We were told the coffee was so smooth we would not require any sugar. They were so right, even Bill drank his without sugar!
Next we visited the District 6 museum. This was a museum set up in an old church to display the history surrounding the removal of the non whites during Apartite.  The whole community of District 6 was relocated, their homes bulldozed and their lives devastated. To this day the land that was District 6 is still virtually vacant. The museum told the story of the people that were affected in hopes to provide some healing.

We then jumped back into the van and Ryan took us to a small shopping area called the biscuit mill. He had found a wine shop that carried the Pinotoge we had ordered at lunch a couple of days before. We spent some time wondering around the shops and then headed to our Township tour of Langa.

A township is a low cost housing development within the cities. Some are very poor and the houses consist of tin shacks propped up next to one another, however Langa is made up of very small 1-2 rooms houses which are attached to one another. All of the people that live in the townships are black or coloured. They do own their houses and there are basic infrastructures such as power, water and sewer.  Some even have satellite dishes.
There are also some small shops selling freshly plucked chickens, basic groceries and some clothing as well as a traditional healer. The township communities are very strong and close and help one another.

In this particular township one family has set up cooking school to help young people gain life skills and basic cooking skills as well as some work experience which enables them to obtain employment and become self sufficient.  In order to help support the school they also run a small restaurant and cooking lessons.

We had booked a cooking lesson with mama Lindy who was this vibrant 72 year old lady who was the one teaching the students how to cook. We entered a very basic but very clean and organized kitchen with stainless steel counters and sinks. We were given hair nets, and plastic aprons and instructed to go wash our hands.  Phew she met Bills first test of food safety. We prepared traditional
African dishes of pap which looks like mashed potatoes but is made from corn and is cooked liked cream of wheat. Mama Lindy was adamant that there could be no lumps. Brian was on lump duty and of course he came out smooth.







Our next dish was sup n beans, this was also corn and beans cooked with onions and boiled for 3 hours.  This dish was started prior to our arrival. We also cooked a stir vegetable stir fry, lamb stew and a spinach and cabbage dish.



Once we were finished cooking we were taken out to a traditional African cooking fire and     Told us about the traditions surrounding the fire  and then we were offered some traditional African beer and a “smiley”.  A “smiley” is a boiled sheep head!  To be polite we tried both but neither were our favorite.

 Then we headed into the classroom which consisted of one room with a simple table and about 8 students and an instructor. They were selling hand made necklaces as a fund raiser to hopefully purchase a computer so the students could learn some basic computer skills. Joyce and I purchased a necklace to support them.
We then headed into the restaurants to eat the food we had prepared. Mama Lindy joined us and we had a wonderful meal together.






This was Mama Lindy's house and her son's store.






After lunch Ryan took us to the spice shop where we found great deals and lots of different spices to take home and try. I was looking for saffron deals but they were not as good as in Thailand so only came home with 1 gram instead of a bag full. Ryan then wanted to show Bill the butcher shop and purchase some biltong which is similar to our jerky. We ended the day having beers under the patio misters with Ryan telling him how happy we were to have spent  3 days with him experiencing his beautiful city of Cape Town. We were all sad to see it come to an end.

Sunday

Today we headed out to Cape Point with our G adventure tour guide Gail.  We toured the East Indian company garden and one of the presidents residences.

We stopped at the court house and outside was a bench at said “ whites only”. It was there to remind people of the past  she told us stories of when people had or carry ID passport which allowed them to be in specific paces of the city at certain times of the day. If you were outside that window you were arrested and sometimes disappeared forever. The ID passports indicated if you were white, black, or coloured.  Coloured people are people of mixed race.

 We then toured an area called bo-kaap . This was the area the Muslim people lived and the houses were multi coloured with a wide range of vibrant colours.  We stopped at a corner convenience store and purchased cold water, spices, snacks, but unfortunately the samosas were sold out.

We then traveled for about an hour to reach Cape Point, the southern most tip of Africa. Gail told us to keep our eyes peeled for baboons, ostrich and large antelope. Joyce and I were the Queen spotters and we saw them all. The baboons are mischievous creatures which cause all kinds of trouble. They are very intelligent and attempt to enter vehicles, break off car antennas and steal food and hand bags. We were told to keep the windows closed and only eat indoors and hang onto your bags.

Joyce was the first to spot the antelope, then the ostrich and on our way out of the Cape of Good Hope we watched a group of about 8 Baboons running down the hill to the kite surfers cars to see what they could find.

We took the cable car up to the lighthouse to the view point and experienced wind gusts stronger than downtown Lethbridge during a Chinook. The guy in front of me was Bills size and he moved 4 feet to the left in a blink of the eye. I grabbed the railing and hung on until we made it to the summit. AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

 We were rushed for time so headed straight down to the bus as the next stop was Boulders beach and our second viewing of the penguins. There were about double the amount of penguins compared to the first day. We were all thankful we spent as much time as we did on our first day as it was 38 degrees and very rushed today.

We had to que up to get our photo as the large tour buses were rolling in.

Bill wasn't feeling well today but was a trooper and made it through but decided to go to bed early and skip dinner because we had a full day booked with Cape Fusion Tours and Ryan on Monday.

Joyce, Brian and I had an amazing fresh fish tapas meal and called it a night. 38 degrees is very hot in the city!

Transition Day

Today we moved to our new hotel and started our G Adventure tour. Our new hotel is located right on green market square which is the square where the the local market is located. We dropped our bags off and went into the square for some breakfast.

The square is a very busy place with live entertainment ranging from musicians playing a wide range of instruments to African dancers using pop can lids strapped to their ankles for percussion beat  They danced for hours in front of all the open air cafes and shops. They earned their tip money as it was a very warm morning. We sat and listened for about two hours as our rooms were not ready yet.

We did some shopping in the market and then went up to our hotel pool to relax until our rooms were ready. None of the pools are heated so our dip was very refreshing and quick. Our beer managed to stay cold so we found some shade and hung out by the pool for a few more hours discussing which direction the cable car was descending Table Mountain. I lost the debate but I had the boys second guessing themselves until we got the binoculars out for a closer look.

As we were relaxing by the pool we heard some drums playing and wondered what was up, after a while we decided to go freshen up and head out to see some more of Long Street.  As we left the hotel we came across a drumming lesson on the street.  Some participants were better than others but it was entertaining all the same.  There was no room to join in so we headed to a patio to enjoy a cool bevy.

It was too hot for red wine so we opted for Sangria instead.

It was a nice relaxing day after 5 days of drinking wine and touring around Cape Town. We meet the rest of our tour companions tonight and start the next leg of our adventure down to the Cape of Good Hope tomorrow and a cooking class and township tour on Monday before we head up to Joberg and onto safari. Yeh!!

Table Mountain and pop up restaurant

TABLE MOUNTAIN AND THE SECRET SUPPER CLUB

Today we decided to try the hop on hop off bus and took the city tour that also went to Table Mountain.   Ryan had told us that the Table Mountain line ups can be quite long so we purchased our tickets at the bus station and started the day early to avoid the crowds and the heat.

We arrived at Table Mountain base and road the bus all the way up to the cable car. I tried to convince everyone to hike the mountain but I had no takers so we road the most spectacular cable car up 1000 meters to the summit. WOW.!  What an amazing 360 degree view of the city and the coast line. The sky was clear so you could see for miles.

 A portion of the mountain at lower levels was covered with a layer of clouds which they call "the table cloth" as it slides up one side of the mountain and covers the top before it dissipates. Luckily it was only a small portion of the mountain that was covered.

 The view from the top, over looking Cape Town, with Robben Island in the distance.  To the left is Lions Head and Signal Hill.

 We spent a couple hours walking around the flat top taking in the views from all sides. Stopped for a beer at the summit and then headed back down to the bus.

Our next stop was at a little coastal town called Camps Bay. We jumped off the bus and headed to the beach to check out the water. The waves were crashing in and the water was FREEZING. Apparently it is colder in their summer than in the winter due to the currents. Lots of people on the beach but no one was in the water.

Our lunch was a seafood salad that was a mixture of calamari, prawns and the catch of the day.  There was more seafood than vegetables so again we left very happy. We jumped back on the bus and continued the coastal road seeing some amazing properties over looking the ocean. By this time the temperature was about 30 and we were melting on the top level of the bus so we headed back to the apartment to cool off for a few hours. A pool is the only thing our apartment was missing.

When doing my research for the trip I had lucked out and found a secret supper club   Our reservations were for 7pm and it was within walking distance  Joyce searched the street view on google maps so we had an idea of where we were going. The direction told us to enter through a roll up garage door. As we arrived the only signage was the letter S for Spazie the name of the pop up restaurant   A young fellow greeted us and we walked into a warehouse type setting with a kitchen and bar.

We were served our welcome cocktail and Bill started chatting to the chef. We found out that the chef and his team as well as a winery had been matched together for the evening and invited to participate in a pop up restaurant   It consisted of a four course chef's table, paired with wine.

The food was exceptional, but it was so hot in the facility we had to take shifts going outside to get some air.  At the end of the night Joyce and I were standing on the street pouring water on our feet from the ice factory next door.