It’s our 2 year anniversary today = )
As a gift, Drew did stand-up sandboarding w/ me. The novelty of boarding down however was replaced by the awfulness of climbing back up the dunes wearing boarding shoes whilst carrying your board in the 80 degree heat. So, we stopped boarding after the 4th time and tried our hand at lie-down sandboarding. Drew went first and the speed gun clocked him at 68 kmph. I went after and my tumble (check my facebook) clocked in at 70 kmph. Never one to back down, I went again a 2nd time after Jazz the dog looked at me, barked at me and then proceeded to run down the dune. Seeing as Jazz obviously had a fun time going down the slope, I did the same thing and had a perfectly great 2nd run w/out any tumbles = )
After this am adventure, we went to the other side of the road to try our hand at quad biking. While there, we saw signed pics of Brangelina on the wall. As it turns out, Angelina gave birth to Shiloh here in Swakopmund. With this bit of info, I expect everyone to now know the answer to the trivia question: in what country is Swakopmund in? A: Namibia!
Quad biking was just a-m-a-z-i-n-g and a tad scary at the same time. There are these moves called roller coasters and what you do is go up the side of a dune and do a sharp 180 to go back down. When you make the turn, it feels like you’ll fall off first to the side, then forward as you change your bikes course. Every couple of adrenalin runs, we would stop and take a look at the area’s resident chameleons whose colors would change from vibrant multi-colored hues to bland sandy hues as it would camouflage itself during the group ‘show and tell’. We also stopped for picture taking and it was surreal to have this vast expanse of nothingness spread before you from all angles.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sept. 3/Day 7: Swakopmund
Sept 2/Day 6: Mirabib - Swakopmund
We headed towards Swakopmund today where we would be sleeping in A-style German framed bungalows. Right next door to the bungalows was laundry service **Walking on air, can things get any better??!!**
Today was a chillaxed day. The only thing mildly stressful was figuring out which activities Drew and I should sign up for the following day: Sandboarding? Quadbiking? Paragliding? Township tours?
Once that decision was made, it was time for a night out in town and we all headed to a restaurant. The only thing was, with everyone having made proper use of their private bathroom at the bungalows, it was difficult to recognize anyone. Everyone smelled good and looked clean and pretty – the ladies wore make-up and jewelry, the guys all wore clean clothes and smelled of aftershave.
September 1/Day 5: Sesriem to Mirabib Bushcamp
Today, we woke at 4:30 to catch the sunrise at Dune 45. Though a long, difficult, trek to the sandy top, the views were absolutely rewarding. As the sun continued its ascent, the khaki ocean went from a dull blackish brown to magnificent shades of red as the dunes sparkled, illuminated by the sun’s rays.
After the sunrise, Richard and I raced down the dune together. The poor guy was in need of a good laugh as one of his sandals got stolen by a jackal at the camp we stayed at last night. Several miles away from Dune 45 was our next destination, Sousevlei National Park, where we had the most amazing, most entertaining, most informative simply the B-E-S-T-E-S-T guide ever: Frans. We learned a lot from Frans like how the dunes don’t move because at their base are tree roots that keep them in place. Using a magnet, Frans also demonstrated that the black sand corrupting the vibrant red color of the dunes was iron. We also walked to a petrified dead forest where we tried our hand at being Ansel Adams by trying to capture the eerie beauty of trees defeated by their harsh waterless environment
Frans also found for us all sorts of bugs, lizards and spiders that were hiding in the sand to escape the strong heat of the sun. He also taught us how to catch lizards so that if any of us were voted off the bus to stay in the desert, we would have an instant source of food and water. In addition to the fact that there are plenty of lizards in the dessert, Frans also stressed that out of all the sand crawlers, lizards easily beat ants and spiders in the raw taste department!
After the hike, we settled down in the cool shade of a tree to learn about Frans culture. Frans, like the titular character in the fantastic ‘The Gods Must be Crazy’ movie, is a Bushman. For the benefit of all the (still) single guys in the group, Frans explained the winning Bushman way of marrying a woman. First, he had to go in the desert to hunt for an Oryx, a large male antelope with 2 long, straight vertical horns. Once the deed was done, he had to cut the Oryx’s tail as proof and bring this to the father and mother. The father and other male relatives would then go to the Oryx to inspect the animal to check if 1) he hunted on his own and 2) if the Oryx was strong, powerful, young. If all was well, the whole village would celebrate, the oryx would be prepared and eaten, and the man and woman would marry and live happily ever after. If there were 2 men competing for the same woman, the two would first perform a special dance and then go out and capture an oryx. Whoever caught an oryx first would take the woman and then live happily like in the movies. To ensure this joyous union would last, Frans also doled out the Bushman’s key to happiness to us married females (myself and 60 y/o Sue). This advice was to stay sweet, keep smiling, and keep the talking to a minimum. We all share a hearty laugh at the novelty of the idea.
Next up on the one man F show was “How to catch your lover cheating.” First, Frans directed our attention to his bare feet and the sandy landscape. Now, if a man suspects his wife is being unfaithful, he can easily catch her by tracing her footsteps. Bushman, you see, are feet signature experts and they can easily distinguish their father’s, mother’s, wife’s, son’s, daughter’s, uncle’s, auntie’s (get the picture) footprints in the sand. They can even identify if a person is young or old based on the distance between steps and the depth of the imprint on the sand.
The best part about this tour however, was hearing Frans speak in his native language: the 4 click clicking (as opposed to the 7 click which Frans doesn’t understand whatsoever). It was crazy how they use clicks in between sounds to communicate. Afterwards, everyone tried to call everyone in 4 click (albeit incorrectly) and all you could hear on the bus was *click click click E click click click click VETTE* and so forth.
After the tour, we were back on the road to our next camp, Big Rock bushcamp in Mirabib. For the uninitiated, bush camping = no running water so no toilets & no showers. For the Aussies, English & Irish in the group, bush camping = no bar. And so before we got to camp, we made an emergency pit stop at a grocery store to stock up on a couple of essentials like the following: 12 6-packs, 1 Amarula, 1 Vodka, 4 5-litre wine casks and the odd single bottle of wine for the non-drinkers. Did I mention the bushcamp was just for one night??? Lol.
Camp that night was absolutely gorgeous. We were out in the middle of nowhere with nary a person in sight. For dinner, we all huddled around the fire underneath a massive slab of rock overhang. For storytelling, we listened to Matt talk about the glory days of overlanding in Africa. Like how in the late 80s, they used to camp right by the Ebola River or how a whole group once ended up in a Zimbabwean jail in the 90s because one of the guys took a picture of Mugabe’s front gate. Now, except for the bribery, everything is tameish. Take our bushcamp for example, p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y safe. In the old days, there were few and far campsites in between and camping at bushcamps were done out of necessity, not novelty. These camps were not always safe. For example, Matt has been w/ groups where drunk locals shot poisoned arrows at the group for fun. Most of the time, the locals’ drunkenness meant the arrows always missed. Once however, the result was deadly as an arrow landed on a guy’s leg. The group ended up traveling w/ a corpse (and a lot of ice) for 3 days (they sent his ashes home *so sad*). Drunken locals w/ poisoned arrows aside, even mosquitoes are no match for today’s (properly taken) anti-malarial tablets. In the early 90s, someone always came down w/ malaria and half of the African experience was the ‘will I get it?’ anxiety + the ‘we gotta hustle to the hospital before someone dies’ clamor.
August 31/Day 4: Fish River Canyon to Sesriem
We drove north through the Namibian desert towards Sesriem today. An interesting tidbit was that to our west lay the vast Namibian diamond mines owned by De Beers. It was crazy to think that for 10 straight hours, just 50 miles west of us were security guards armed w/ current AK 47 bullets guarding an area teeming with my best friends: diamonds = )
Anyways, the long drive day meant another day of card games. This day belonged to the Aussies however as Scott, the 40 y.o. fun loving beer guy from Down Under, taught us how to play Yuka 500. It was nice having something new to play but as the game had a lot of variables, the other Aussies kept quipping about the version that they knew and played, complicating things just a bit. Or was the confusion because of the constant beer o’clock hour? Hmmm.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
August 30/Day 3: Orange River to Fish River Canyon
This morning, the group split in two as half took a canoe ride on the Orange River while the other half lazed about the campground. We were in the latter group and Emily taught me how to keep accounts. It was pretty easy. Basically, every dollar spent needs to be tracked. This includes: groceries, camp site expenses, tour expenses, etc. Not a bad job for someone who already tracks money on a daily basis. And considering I’m an excel pro, I promptly created a worksheet that did all the calculations from giving me daily running balances to calculating foreign exchange rates for the S. African Rand, Namibian Dollar, Botswana Kwacha and Zambian Kwacha. Because I’m a nerd, the worksheet also broke down expenses by category: accommodation, food, tours, etc.
Once the group came back, we headed towards Fish River Canyon. The drive today was blissfully quiet as 90% of the group was recovering from yesterday’s hangover. With everyone sleeping, the miles of empty road stretched further than usual, the only distraction coming from the huge nests of the weaver birds. Camp today was out in the dusty dirty desert amongst baboons. For those washing clothes, those baboons meant being creative with knots on the clothesline. It was at this time, while talking to Stephanie who was doing some washing that I found out that Dragoman actually imposed an 18kg weight limit. As Stephanie, an Australian 60+ female, was overlanding through Africa through 2010, she decided to bring a lot less and clocked in at 15kg! Amazing! Good thing the crew didn’t enforce that rule on us as each of our bags weighed 24kg+.
Given that bags came out every night and got put back in the following morning, we did spare the back locker people by just using our 3rd smallish luggage. Well, that and another plastic bag that held our sleeping bags and sleeping mats. Speaking of sleeping mats btw, I discovered that the secret to a good night’s rest is having 3 sleeping mats. Even w/ grass coverage, I had a sleepless 1st night using just my personal mat and my Drago one. However on the 2nd night, I spied an extra mat and quickly and stealthily threw that under the tent on top of my 1st mat. Let me tell you, that extra inch of foam padding made all the difference.
Anyways, while I was chatting with Steph, Drew was with another group by the pool area. Like all outdoor pools in the winter, the water in this one was bone chilling. Nevertheless, whether it was last night’s drinks still talking, the thick layer of dirt on skin after a long day of driving through the desert, or just plain wackiness, the hung overed decided to jump in the water. I heard their screams from afar and taunting them with my tea a little later, saw the effects of the cold on their purple lips.
Later that day, we drove a short distance to Fish River Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world. As the sun crept downwards, we sat in silence admiring the magnificent, desolate beauty of the epic contours of the canyon.
August 29/Day 2: Citrusdal to Noordewer/Orange River
We also crossed into Namibia today and passed through the worst customs official. The guy was an absolute jerk and made rude comments and off color remarks to everyone. It took our group an hour to pass through and that’s not including the time we had already spent exiting out of S. Africa.
We had another nice campground today. Actually, this campground is my favorite out of all the campgrounds. There was grass everywhere, the bathrooms were spacious, the bar was nice and the dining area was also great. That night, Andrew tried to teach Richard, Paul and the English family how to take pictures in the dark w/out using flash.
After that lesson, Drew & I went to bed but the majority of the group had a bonding experience over Jaeger Bombs in the Camp Bar. Actually, I should write that the Arsenal fans had to drown their sorrows while the Man U fans drank their happiness as Man U won a controversial 1-0 game. To repeat the endless conversations, “Offside, what do you mean offside? What the heck does that stupid referee know about offside from that angle?”
August 28/Day 1: Cape Town to Citrusdal
Our first night Overlanding, originally uploaded by Andrew & Yvette's world travel.
Before we head for breakfast, Drew & I bring our bags down to the back locker/luggage container. It’s basically an empty box rectangular in shape and fitting 19 people’s luggages and miscellaneous items is like the game Jenga with muscles.
When we head out, we sit at the back by the tables and first meet Jeanine and Wayne, a couple from Australia. They’ve been together for 8 years and it’s been Jeanine’s lifetime dream to come to Africa. They will be vacationing for 2 months and are also doing the Gorilla Loop.
Our first stop on this trip is Cape of Good Hope. While most in the group take the hike to the light house, we decide to do the Beach Hike along with some others who have also already visited the nature reserve. Our group for the hike is Richard, a vegetarian on a year long vacation throughout Africa, Paul, a retired nurse from Australia who is on the same itinerary as Richard, Grace, the Irish version of Marcia Cross who is on a career break and is traveling from Cape Town to Istanbul and Gerry, Grace’s partner who is just on a 3 week vacation. We all have a good getting-to-know-you chat.
After the hike, we get back on Helena where we have a couple hours of driving ahead of us. As we drive through S. Africa, I am surprised and amazed at how green, how developed, and how pretty the country is. During the drive, Andrew, always the loud one, asks whoever is around who knows how to play Pusoy Dos. No one?! How about Vietnamese Poker? Well, no one’s been to Vietnam but quite a few know how to play poker. Andrew goes through the rules of the game and for the next several hours, various people join in the game. The afternoon goes by quickly and we soon arrive at our 1st campsite: Felix United in Citrusdal.
The campsite is nicer than I anticipated. Actually, it’s not a campsite but someone’s front lawn and backyard. The co-ed bathrooms are also nice but w/ only 3 toilets and 3 showers, it doesn’t stay that way for very long.
At the campsite, Emily and Matt also go over a couple things with us: 1) How to set up and pack a tent, 2) cooking groups and 3) responsibilities. The tent set up I leave for Andrew as this is his idea. For cooking groups, Drew is in group 5 and I am in group 6 with Gerry and Johnnie. Being on the last cook group is great as this means I’m only on cooking duty twice for the whole of the trip = ) Another great surprise for me is the fact that I have been assigned to do the kitty. This means I am the trip accountant and responsible for $12,616 USD. Drew’s job: table cleaning/set-up 3x day.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
August 27: Briefing Night
Our Overland ITIN from Capetown to Livingston - 22 days, originally uploaded by Andrew & Yvette's world travel.
We check out of the Protea Hotel and into Saasveld Lodge. Strike 1. The hotel is . . . not the nicest. In addition, we’re on the 3rd floor and the Lodge has no elevators.
We meet our group later that night and everyone joins in sizing the others up. There are 19 passengers: some are couples, most are single, a few are young, some are old, others look gay?, none are butch. There are also 3 crew, Emily, Matt and Charles, and 1 supermodel truck/bus, Helena.
August 24-26: Cape Town
We arrive in Cape Town and plan for activities that we missed the first time we were here. However, shark season ended early this year and so our plans for cage shark diving are canceled. Table Mountain is also shrouded in fog so we decide against taking the cable car. So, we laze around the city once more driving around and buying miscellaneous items needed for our 45 Day Overland Journey/Participatory Camping experience.
August 23: 6th Day – AM Drive (10th game drive)
Our final game drive day = (
After seeing so much, we really didn’t know what else we wanted to see. Having come without any expectations, we were definitely overwhelmed with all the sightings we’d been able to see. What would today yield? Wild dogs to complete our sighting of the Magnificent Seven?? Sadly, we didn’t get to see any of them. We were however, able to see the hyenas again. Despite gnawing the elephant bones raw, these creatures had not yet figured out the need to go looking for leftovers elsewhere.
Later that morning, we had another leopard sighting and took another hundred pictures. At this point, my head is actually pounding thinking about all the pictures and video we have to go through. Between the two of us, Drew and I are filling 12MB of memories per game drive!
Alas, the drive ends and we tearfully say goodbye to Ashleigh and Dollom who have made our first ever safari the most amazing experience ever. We have breakfast and we also say goodbye to the fabulous head chef who has fed us so well to the tune of 1+ kilo each for our weeks stay.
Right before we leave, a warthog strays to our suite and oinks goodbye. Yes, it’s been a fantastic trip.
August 22: 5th Night – Dinner
August 22: 5th Day – PM Drive (9th game drive)
We had the Land Rover all to ourselves for this game drive! As a treat, the Sabi Sabi management decided against pairing us with new guests and so we had free reign on what we wanted to see. And what did we want to see most? The fat, stuffed lions! Specifically, the alpha male whose lazy bum we had not yet captured awake in the daytime as he was always hogging the shade whilst sleeping. The lions were spotted over a vast area earlier in the morning so we had a difficult time tracking them. After an hour of looking and with no footprints in sight on the road, Ashleigh and Dollom parked the car and tracked on foot. While we waited, a noise suddenly thundered in the distance. Drew and I looked at each other and then had a very calm conversation eliminating the dangers that could have been associated with that noise, ie, a gunshot as A & D were ambushed by lions, elephants on a stampede as re-energized female lions go on another hunt, rhinos roaring?! It’s funny how these safaris can teach you so much and so little . . . like not being able to identify noise and not knowing how to call for help. Anyways, A & D come back w/ a smile on their face which can only mean one thing. They spotted the lions, not the other way around – always a good thing. We go off on a drive and we ask Ashleigh about the rumble in the air: elephants bringing down trees.
Now that we’ve been in Kruger for several days, we finally see (and hear) the reason for the culling of 8000 elephants. Overpopulated with these massive mammals, Kruger Park is slowly dying as these creatures consume 225kg of plants on a daily basis. And since that kind of appetite just can’t be supported, herds of elephants need to be eliminated for the greater good of the wild community. So sad = (
Anyways, we arrive at the lions resting place and OMG it stinks like crazy. The buffalo carcass is nowhere to be seen but the sleeping lions are having a go farting and belching. Though I can’t quite see it, I am convinced there is a cloud of gas hanging over them. The lions have clearly eaten well as evidenced by the fact that our presence goes largely unnoticed. The first time we saw them sleeping, they were alert and bidding their time till hunting hour. This time around, they were in lion heaven and their bellies were stuck to the floor. Nowhere was this more evident than in the male lion who was sleeping in his private area. His stomach had filled up by about 25 kilos and there was clearly no way we were going to get a shot of him moving around. Had Ashleigh not been there, Drew and I reckoned we could have thrown rocks on his head and he wouldn’t have paid much attention.
After getting our dose of eau de buffalo, we decided to head back to the lodge early so that we could prepare for our special dinner.
August 22: 5th Day – AM Drive (8th game drive)
Red Billed hornbill aka Zazu from the Lion King, originally uploaded by Andrew & Yvette's world travel.
After the scene that unfolded before us last night we feel a bit spent. We saw lions hunt the 1st night, saw a massive herd of elephants and leopards feeding on the 2nd day, spent an hour w/ the cheetah on the 3rd day, and then we saw lions feast on buffalos yesterday. All this in only 7 game drives!
The 1st half of our morning starts off tame with just the usual sightings of elephants, hippos, antelopes, birds, etc. It’s funny how one can be so blasé about such sightings after only 5 days of such close encounters. During our morning tea, we had a visitor: Zasu’s cousin: a yellow billed horn bill. This bird spent his time w/ us jumping from one place to the next picking at our leftover Madeline and granola crumbs.
The 2nd half of our drive was spent tracking down a male leopard. Our search excites us as we have just realized we have not yet had a ‘proper’ leopard sighting, ie, in full view in daylight. Yes, now that we have been spoiled, we’re now picky re: our sightings. = )
On the way to see him, we passed by a dry riverbed where Ashleigh told us the story of a female leopard who used the rock enclosures as a den. She had given birth to two cubs twice but all 4 cubs had been killed. The 2nd set had been killed by a male leopard. We were surprised to hear of this but apparently, males kill cubs that are not his own as he views them as competition.
We arrive at the place where the leopard has been hunting for an anteater. He is on top of a termite mound and it is incredibly hard to spot him amid all the trees, bushes, and long grass. In fact, leopards are more common than you might realize but, using expert camouflage to stay hidden, it is one of the hardest creatures to track. We stay in our high vantage point waiting and trying to display the same patience leopards use when stalking a prey. As we wait, Drew and I quietly debate if there really is a leopard somewhere down there. Eye straining minutes later, the wind moves in the right direction and binoculars finally reveal leopard spots. Ashleigh takes a chance and decides to take us closer. Although we make a lot of noise bushwacking, the leopard seems unperturbed and doesn’t move. Parked right by the termite mound, we are now less than 5 feet away from the leopard. And still we have a hard time looking for him! Finally, he raises his head ever so slightly, careful not to rise above the grass. His face is amazing: muscular, cute, and sleepy?! When he raises his body, his face suddenly transforms as his eyes survey the surroundings intensely. He decides to leave the mound but heads straight towards heavy bush territory. He settles in this shady area and gives us a butt view to which we must content ourselves with.
August 21: 4th Day - PM Drive (7th game drive)
Finally, 16:00. We can’t wait to track down the lions but Ashley decides against tracking them this early in the afternoon. And so, we look instead for zebras. We haven’t seen any yet and Ashleigh explains that just like the wildebeests, the zebras are in danger of becoming endangered in Kruger due to the lions, leopards and crocodiles (wet season only). Our search for zebras takes us to a completely different area of the park: near the private airport. We take our sunset drinks by the landing strip and Ashleigh explains that all tarmacs in the Greater Kruger are being re-asphalted w/ special chemicals. Apparently, lions had been chasing and steering giraffes onto the tarmac where the giraffes would then slip and fall due to the smooth surface. The lions would then descend on their fallen prey.
Speaking of lions and their wily hunting habits, we head straight towards them right after finishing our drink. Along the way, we spot a side striped jackal from afar. Although we would have loved a closer look, we are not allowed to go off-roading and we must content ourselves to spotting it through Ashleigh’s powerful binoculars.
We continue our drive and minutes before the last rays of sun disappear, we arrive at the open plains where we spot the lions forming a wide circle surrounding the buffalos. Too quickly, the sun sets and we are immersed in total darkness. Before our eyes can get used to the dark, Dollom’s voice pierces the night air. Forgetting protocol, he screams at Ashleigh in panic and in English yells to her, “Back Up, back up, back up! Hurry! Back Up!” The LR jolts screeching backwards and I fall off my seat to the floor. Moments later I hear and feel the source of Dollom’s panic. Unbeknownst to us in the dark, we had parked ourselves right next to the buffalos. As the lions edged in for a kill, the buffalos went on a stampede straight towards us. It was nerve wrecking being tossed about and still being able to hear the din of the buffalos above the roar of our LR. When our backward maneuvering finally stopped, the ground was still trembling as the buffalos continued their run for safety.
A minute or so later, there was a sudden stillness followed by a horrific, tortured howl. We turn the LR lights back on. To our right are the herd of buffalos who are baying and walking in agitation. In front of them is a lone lion. We continue our gaze around and then we see it, the kill: A baby buffalo on its back, a lioness and her fangs clamping down on the buffalo’s neck, a cub using his paw to slap the buffalo’s kicking foot as it tries in vain to prevent its asphyxiation. We see one or two more lions descend on the kill. But where is the rest of the pride? We hear our answer when another cry fills the charged air. Africa’s most feared predators have made two kills.
Soon, every member of the pride comes towards the 1st kill. It seems the alpha male will have the 2nd kill all to himself. Before eating his share though, the alpha male comes to the sight of the 1st kill and marks his territory. Before long, the scene turns savage as the 14 lions roar and fight for eating space. Equipped with teeth that tear effortlessly through bone and tendon, the gnawing and tearing of the flesh commences. It doesn’t take long for the lions’ mouths and paws to turn bloody. Suddenly, a noise stuns us: a long, agonized, tormented cry. The 2nd buffalo is still alive. The alpha male has not bothered to suffocate it. The 2nd buffalo is being torn asunder and being eaten alive.
August 21: 4th Day – Afternoon Tea
August 21: 4th Day – 2nd Bushwalk
We did our 2nd bushwalk in an open area of the park today and learnt more about our surroundings. We also identified animal tracks and Ashleigh was able to show us the leopard tracks around the property from the leopard we tried to track just yesterday morning. She also showed us a tree whose branches locals still use as a toothbrush.
The highlight of our walk though was spotting 2 giraffes. We actually had a staring competition with one of them. Although there’s nothing to fear from giraffes ie, they don’t attack and if they do they’re easy to spot and don’t run very fast, they were still a bit intimidating as we were out in the open instead of sitting inside our LR. Nevertheless, we won the staring competition and within minutes, one of the giraffes took off and ran across the open plain. Our pictures captured the run on camera and in one of the frames, the giraffe looks like it is doing a ballet as all 4 of its’ legs meet in the centre midair = )
August 21: 4th Day – AM Drive (6th game drive)
We saw the cheetah again today! *woohoo* but we only saw it for 3 minutes. We saw it from afar, then it came within a foot towards our car, and then a minute later it was gone. It went into thick brush where we couldn’t follow = (
Afterwards, we saw the wildebeests again. We saw them up close today and we have to say they are quite ugly and apparently pretty dumb as well. Ashleigh joked saying when the wildebeests were created, they were created from leftover pieces.
After the wildebeests, we drove some distance and then found a huge herd of buffalos. Thirty seconds later and less than 100 meters away, we found the pride of hungry lions. *yeah* Although we hadn’t given up hope, we were starting to think that our 1st lion sighting would also be our last. When we arrived, most in the pride were sleeping, such as the alpha male who was sprawled underneath the shade and another who slept with his 4 paws all up in the air. The sleeping ones looked cute and harmless and I wished we could step out and pet them. The others who were awake though, looked anything but friendly. They kept sniffing the air showing their razor sharp fangs, and despite the heat of the sun that would normally render them lazy, they looked ready to pounce.
Sure enough, when the buffalos made a low grumbling noise, we saw 15 heads pop up immediately and look towards the direction of the buffalos. The lions sure weren’t being discreet and they sure made it known to the buffalos that they wanted them for dinner. The buffalos, aware of the lions’ intentions, were also on the defensive as they put the young, old and injured in the middle of the group. As we said our goodbyes to both groups of animals, we wondered who would come out victorious tonight. Would the buffalos be able to escape the lions as the wildebeests had done 3 nights ago? Could the lions go another hungry night? We left in a state of heightened rush as we eagerly awaited the night’s decision.
August 20: 3rd Day - PM Drive (5th game drive)
We meet our new LR companions and Drew and I are a bit upset. They are a family of 5, seemingly wealthy but obnoxious and arrogant.
Tonight we spot some more antelopes, giraffes, hippos, birds, leopard and hyena. We saw the leopard around the same area we found him in yesterday. We spotted him go up a tree (where he had the kill), down the tree, and then off into the bushes. So, no super cool stories as by the time we spotted both the leopard and hyena, it was already dark and we couldn’t track them.
One thing to note about this drive though was our stop for sundowner drinks. Before this, we had not been able to stop for morning tea nor sunset drinks as there was just too much cool stuff going on. We sincerely hoped that our good spotting days were not yet over.
August 20: 3rd Day – Afternoon
As Andrew and I relaxed on the deck overlooking the watering hole, we had a pleasant interruption to our lounging. There in the open grassy plain in front of us was a lone giraffe who had come in to drink some water. Though we had seen plenty of giraffes by then, it was our first time to see one drink. It approached the pan cautiously and once it thought that all was well, it bent its two front legs and then brought down its enormous neck to drink some water. After every couple of seconds though, it would suddenly stop and stand up. At first we thought it was because it was being alert and cautious. However, it was later explained to us that when giraffes bend down to drink water, blood from their head comes rushing down. So that they don’t get hurt, they only drink for 30 seconds at a time.
August 20: 3rd Day – AM Drive (4th game drive)
Ashleigh begins the day by asking us what we would like to see today. We scream, “CATS!” Our choice though is narrowed to tracking down leopards as the lions have left the property = ( We ask about tracking down cheetahs but these beautiful creatures are sadly endangered in Kruger; there are only 80-90 left in a park that is the size of the UK. Apparently, they are losing to the healthy lion and leopard population in Kruger.
And so we are off to look for leopards. Our chances are looking good as 30 minutes into the hunt, the Lodge raises an alarm. They have had a leopard sighting. We move closer to the Lodge and soon come upon 2 other LR also looking for leopards. Minutes later, Dollom catches leopard tracks on the ground. Ashleigh parks the LR and grabbing her rifle, steps out of the vehicle w/ Dollom. They will track the leopard on foot. They come back minutes later with glum faces. The leopard is within a specific enclosure but has camouflaged itself too well. The other rangers and trackers have not been able to spot it either. We are all defeated. We ask about last night’s spot but Ash replies that those leopards have left. However, all signs point to another successful hunt by the mum.
We then leave the area and drive around spotting more antelopes along the way: nyalas, bushbacks, kudus, duikers, waterbucks. Cute as they are, we are all a bit glum. Then Ashleigh gets a call on her cv radio. After the coded conversation, she turns to us and asks us are we ready for a drive? Our hopes shoot up. She tells us to strap in. We’re a long way off from a very special sighting and she needs to slash a 30 minute drive into 15. We give a ‘Hurray’ and off we go. Along the way, she tells us all to dare to dream. Immediately, Chrissie and Andrew scream for a cheetah sighting while I yell for a baby baby leopard and baby baby lion sighting. After hearing our bursts of excited responses, she smiled a mysterious, excited smile. And then she gave the annoying ranger line, “I can’t guarantee it’ll still be there when we arrive.” *GrRrRrR* After a tortuous drive in which we kept pleading with Ashleigh to go faster, we finally made it to the sight. We train our eyes on the landscape and soon spot something moving. That something moving is a cheetah. I am in tears. ‘Dare to dream.’ Who dares dream to spot a cheetah in the wild???
The cheetah is soon moving and we are thankful we’ve spotted him in a nice open landscape. We track him and soon he comes upon a tree. Andrew whispers, “Please climb the tree, please climb the tree”. The cheetah listens and climbs up. He looks around and then sits down majestically. All the while, his head is turning this way and that. A few seconds later, perhaps finding that all is well, he lies down. After a couple of seconds, we notice his head his still looking this way and that and we get the feeling he is still at a state of unease. Sure enough, he gets up soon thereafter and steps down the tree. He walks away and we’re glad he pursues a path that allows us to continue to follow him. He weaves in and out of dry grass and as he does so we note the grace of his walk and the strength of his shoulders. Soon, he comes upon a watering hole and with a collective thought, we will it to drink water. Though he doesn’t drink, he does pick a spot and settles in. Despite the long grass that could have camouflaged his presence, we are once again close enough to the cheetah not to need any binoculars. It’s amazing to be less than 10 feet away from such a wild creature and not have any barriers of glass nor fence. Soon he is up and walking again. He comes upon another tree and we watch as he investigates and decides what action to take. He decides against the climb and next comes upon a shaded mound. Once again, he looks over his surroundings. This is not the spot either and we leave the area with him. Finally, he comes upon another mound with some tree cover and it is here that he finally rests. But it is not a relaxed rest. He is skittish, constantly looking around, as if he is expecting an attack of sorts.
I believe we were able to be with the cheetah for an hour and long as that sounds, it still wasn’t enough time. However, with such a rare and precious sighting, we must give up our turn and allow another LR to take our place. That’s one of the great things about being in a private reserve. There are never more than 3 LR at any sighting so the moment doesn’t get spoiled. Anyhow, as we head back, we notice Ashleigh’s camera and humongous lens. She too had joined in punctuating the quiet morning air with bursts of camera clicks. With this sighting, we are truly having the dream safari experience as there hasn’t been a cheetah sighting at Sabi Sands in the past 8 months.
As we head back, Ashleigh also tells us the story of this particular cheetah. The reason it was so skittish and vigilant was it had just gotten in a fight with the mama leopard from the previous night. The cheetah, having been drawn to the smell of the fresh kill, had wandered to the leopards territory. A fight ensued wherein the cheetah lost and was forced to flee. That was why she was constantly looking around, specially towards the direction she had come from. She was afraid of another attack by the leopard. It was a good thing a LR had decided to check out last night’s leopard sighting. If not, they wouldn’t have heard the fight and seen the cheetah running away.
At this point, it is also time to say goodbye to our 3 British friends. They are moving to the fabulous Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge. We’ll surely miss them, especially Chrissie, who entertained us with her non stop banter. Tonight, we will have new people join us in the LR.
August 19: 2nd Day - PM Drive (3rd game drive)
We start our PM drive in high hopes as our drives so far have been spectacular. It doesn’t take long when Ashleigh stops the car and asks us a question. ‘Are we willing to drive 30 minutes to see something that might not be there when we arrive?’ We’re all of one accord and the 5 of us agree immediately. To what, Ashleigh wouldn’t say. Thirty bumpy minutes later, we’re off the main roads. We spot a clump of trees ahead and the LR heads towards it going over bushes and trampling over trees showing us what off-roading is all about. Ashleigh then cuts the engines and directs our gaze to a spot in the middle of the trees. It takes our eyes a couple of seconds but soon we spot a mama leopard eating a mama bushback. We’re beside ourselves again. How many people are witness to such acts??!! As we continue our mesmerized gaze, we notice the look of intense concentration on the leopard’s eyes. This concentration is also mirrored on the 2 year old male leopard that is still with its mum. As it pries its prey open, the baby leopard too is forever looking around ever alert to the sounds of hyenas and other predators that could be lurking in the bushes. As it turns out, the only thing in the bushes is the baby bushback who has returned to look for its mum. As the mama leopard hears the alarm calls of the baby bushback, she leaves her cub behind and goes on the hunt. The cub continues to eat and soon its whiskers and paws are stained with blood as he rips through skin exposing intestines, liver and all other manners of bloody body parts.
After an hour or so of watching, it is time to leave the cub behind (his mum is still out hunting) and head back to our lodge. Drew and I are in a state of bliss. In addition to the Big 5--buffalos, rhinos, elephants, lions and leopards-- we’ve seen and learnt so much about a plethora of birds, antelopes, giraffes, insects, etc. We feel like we are on a National Geographic Expedition! How many times have we both dreamt of being wildlife photographers?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
August 19: 2nd Day - AM Drive (2nd game drive)
We wake up to a knock on our door at 5:30AM. At 6, we pile into the LR and what should Ashleigh give us then? A heated blanket and a warm water bottle. Lol.
Before the sun is up, we drive towards the remains of a fallen male elephant whose carcass of bones is being chewed by a pack of hyenas. This particular elephant had gone inside the Bush Lodge during his period of tus meaning he was full of testosterone and thus very aggressive. He caused a huge commotion and much harm and after several rounds of plastic bullets, the rangers had to resort to using real bullets. The young elephant died and his body was taken to the plains where the lions quickly claimed it for themselves. When the lions were done, the hyenas and vultures quickly followed suit. Now 4 months later with the flesh stripped bare from the bones, the hyenas hadn’t yet figured out that there was nothing left for the picking. And so, we watched as their powerful jaws clamped through those elephant bones and made crushing sounds that caused our spines to tingle.
Later that morning, we then see a herd of 25+ elephants. We follow them as they slowly head east. There are quite a few baby elephants. It’s amusing to see the babies run to catch up to their mum. We soon come to a stop. We are surrounded by elephants eating to their hearts content. At one point, a huge mama elephant puts her trunk to the ground and emits a low, deep, rumbly noise. She is communicating something to the others. The sound will be heard kilometers away by other elephants. Afterwards, this same elephant looks up and turns her gaze directly at us. We settle into our seats right away. Her ears go up and we see the African continent reflected in her huge out-flapped ears. Her trunk then moves upward and she makes a trumpeting noise. Beside me, Andrew too is still as a rock. Then, she turns her gaze away from us and stomps on the grass and weeds below. We exhale breaths. Minutes later, we are clicking away on our cameras when we’ve caught another elephant’s attention. Although she doesn’t flap her ears nor make any sounds, her gaze renders us immobile again. We ask Ashleigh if elephants have ever attacked anyone at Kruger. She replies ‘No’. However, sometimes baby male elephants 3-5 feet in height will charge at a LR and stop right by the edge. It will then stomp the ground, flap its ears and make trumpeting noises to show its dominance. All this of course will attract its mum’s attention who will then call her wayward child back. Most of the time, the baby will run back to its mum straight away. At other times, the child will continue with his antics at which point the mama will have to fetch him from the LR and push the child away from the vehicle using her trunk. Upon hearing this, we immediately asked if there was something we could do to provoke such a response from any of the baby elephants eating nearby. However, such acts are completely random and subject to the whim of the baby. *Oh well*
During this morning drive, we also get our first glimpse of Cape Buffalos. Of the Big 5, buffalos are the most dangerous to humans as they do not give a warning when they attack. Rhinos and elephants will paw the ground with their front paws, lions will roar and leopards will grumble but if a buffalo wants to attack, it will just charge! Looking at them though, with birds pecking at their eyes and standing inside their ears, they seem like such docile creatures.
All too soon, our morning safari comes to an end. So far, we’ve seen 4 of the Big 5: rhinos, lions, elephants and buffalos = )
August 18-23: Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge, Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve, Greater Kruger National Park
Thanks to the South African couple we befriended in Mauritius, we were directed to stay at one of the resorts at Sabi Sands, a private area of land bordering Kruger National Park. Together, the Greater Kruger occupies an area similar in size to the UK (England, Wales and Scotland). With no fences between the two designated protected areas, we were able to enjoy a 1st class safari experience at the Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge. Before I go into our game drives, just a word regarding how our days were structured.
6-9: AM Game Drive & morning tea and snacks
9-10: Breakfast Buffet
10-11: Guided bush walk
13-14: Lunch Buffet
15:30-16:00: High Tea
16:00-19:00: PM Game Drive & sundowner drinks & snacks
19:30 – Dinner Buffet and Bar
So, basically a lot of eating really good food (the cheeses and desserts were to die for) and of course the game drives which we managed to fit in between all the food = )
The safari drives leave me speechless as each drive was an experience. Here is a breakdown of our drives and the animals and events that will be indelibly printed on our minds forever.
1st Day – PM Drive (1st game drive)
We first meet our ranger and tracker, Ashleigh and Dollom, by the open top Land Rover. We are joined on our drive by 3 people, Rob, Chrissie, and Natalie who’ve also just arrived today from England.
The first animals we spotted were 4 young male nyalas (antelope family) grazing. We were so excited at seeing them that we didn’t realize that just 50 feet away was a huge group of them. There are a lot of different types of antelope in the park. Nyalas are identified by the 2 vertical lines of black around their bum area and by the lack of markings on their bodies.
After the nyalas, we then spotted 5 white rhinos by a watering hole. When they saw us, one of the bigger ones stood guard facing us with his horns nice and visible, while the mama and her baby “crossed the road” towards the bushes for safety. Once they were by the bushes, that big one crossed the road too. *cute* There are 2 types of rhinos in the park: white rhinos and black rhino. The white rhino’s are not actually white, they are grey. However the white rhino got its name because of a translation error.
To begin with, there are 2 main differences between the black and white rhino. First, the black rhino has 2 horns of similar length while the white rhino has 2 horns of unequal length (the front is longer than the back). The second difference is that the black rhino has a curved lip while the white rhino is wide lipped (like a rectangle). The words wide and white are so similar that in time, the white rhino, which was originally called the wide lipped rhino, took on the distinction of being called the white rhino. While Kruger has no problems with the population of white rhinos, the black rhinos are very rare and only 1000 are left in the Greater Kruger. Spotting them is thus a great difficulty not only for their decreased numbers but also because they tend to hide in very thick bushes that the Land Rover cannot access.
While we were taking pictures of the rhinos, we then saw a red billed horn bill who is Zasu in the Lion King = ) We also saw some suicide birds which are birds that tend to run straight under the wheels of a car. Apparently, they get so confused when they hear noise that they end up running (not flying) straight towards a car. Don’t worry though, they breed like crazy so they are not about to be endangered. We also spot go away birds which are grey birds w/ a Mohawk. They are called that way because the noise they make while chirping sounds like “go away, go away.” We actually spotted a lot of different species of birds which are just too many to describe.
After this, we next saw wildebeests but at too great a distance for us to identify them properly. Ashleigh then explained that these wildebeests are not local but are the 2nd set to be introduced to the park. The original group of ‘local’ wildebeests died after being hunted to extinction by the lions and leopards. The 1st set introduced to the park died within months as they had not been raised in the wild and when they were being hunted, did not know to run away. The 2nd set we were staring at were raised in the wild and were better adept at responding to their predators.
After the wildebeests, we saw a giraffe and oohs and aahs escape us all. They’re lovely creatures after all. While Ashleigh is explaining to us about the ossicles on the giraffe’s head, we notice this giraffe has a swollen left eye which is due to having poked its eye at a branch. *poor thing* Here at the park when animals are hurt, the rangers don’t do anything to help animals and allow nature to take its course. It’s only when the animals are hurt by humans that they try to help the injured creatures. As Ashleigh is explaining all this to us, a lone male rhino walks into the picture. He is marking his territory by peeing at the ground every so often.
After all this sightseeing, we stop for sundowner drinks – the perfect way to enjoy the sunset.
After drinks, it is time to go on the hunt for animals again. It doesn’t take very long. Another car spots the resident pride of 15 lions and we are off to see them. There are several prides that roam the Greater Kruger Area but this pride has been the dominant pride for some time because of the strength of the previous alpha male. The previous alpha male that had been w/ this pride was very strong and had been able to fend off numerous attacks from other alpha males in other prides. Alas, a lion can only take so many hits and after numerous fights, finally died. He left his brother to take his place. Thus, while there can be more than one male in a pride, there can only be one dominant male. A dominant male is identified by the increase of tuft/hair on its head and by the black mark on the tip of its tail both of which is caused by a surge in testosterone. The male in this pride has just recently become the alpha male and only time can tell if he can defend this pride successfully. His biggest threat is a pride of 3 lions. Apparently, the alpha male of 3 (AM 3) had fought constantly with the previous alpha male (AM 15). The rangers believe that it was that last fight that finally killed AM 15. Although he won the fight, he died shortly afterwards. In this savage world, when AM15 was injured and could no longer keep up with the pride, he was left behind to fend and hunt for himself.
To return to the hunt however, we first get our glimpse of the male lion walking along the main road. I am absolutely beside myself. I didn’t dare dream about such a sighting. I am not the only one going crazy. As the group’s excitement spills over our 1st lion in the wild sighting, Ashleigh gives us all another stern warning to keep quiet and keep our bums in our seats. However, Ashleigh too is excited at seeing the pride return to the Sabi Sabi property. The pride had crossed into another property, to which Sabi Sabi guests were not allowed to go into, and there had been no recent lion sightings. After just a few moments, we see more members of the pride, 2 lionesses gracefully walking. We learn then that this pride is hunting the wildebeests we saw earlier. Dollom continues to flash his light (which doesn’t hurt nocturnal animals) around and we see more members of the pride at a distance. At this point Ashleigh stops the Land Rover (LR) and she explains that now we just sit and wait as we don’t want to give either animal an advantage. Although disappointed this feeling doesn’t last very long as minutes later, lions stop right by our LR. The closeness of the lions to our vehicle makes us all giddy again and Ashleigh must once more remind us to be calm and keep all body parts inside the vehicle, ie, no pointing or leaning or standing up. After just a few minutes, we learn that the hunt is off. The wildebeests have managed to run away and escape. After taking just a couple more pictures, we leave behind the hungry lions who are still by our vehicle. Unlike them, we have a fantastic buffet waiting for us at the lodge.
After dinner, we are escorted back to our rooms by a ranger. Numerous animals regularly visit the lodge grounds and guests are not allowed to go to their suites alone at night. Inside the room, Drew gets into bed when he suddenly freezes. Unable to speak, I follow his eyes, which are filled with fear, to the foot of his bed where there is a round lump right by his feet. My heart jumps as the worst things come to my head. Seconds pass by with the two of us still frozen in fear. Then, Andrew suddenly jumps out of bed and I scream. But the lump has not yet moved. Curious. Wouldn’t a snake have moved??? We get an umbrella and we start poking the round lump. Nothing. We put our hands by the bed cover and feel warmth. Should we call the office? No. We can handle it. Andrew gingerly grabs the edges of the duvet with the intention of exposing the warm, round thing. We decide that in the count of 3, he will pull the cover off. I stand behind him with my umbrella at the ready. 1 – 2 -3. Exposed at last is a warm water bottle. We fall to bed laughing.
Monday, September 28, 2009
August 15-18, 2009: Johannesburg
We were a bit scared being in Joburg but we didn’t experience firsthand any of the crime and violence the locals had warned us against. However, a mall we went to was violently robbed the day after we went there. So, needless to say, when the opportunity came to spend 5 nights in Kruger came up, we took it immediately. So, all we really saw/experienced of Jozi was from the township tour we did where we drove through Soweto. Soweto is the largest township in Joburg and for all the negative publicity the township generates, we thought the area wasn’t so bad a place to live in. During the tour, we also passed by Nelson Mandela’s and Desmond Tutu’s former homes. In addition, we stopped at the Henry Pieterson museum which focused on the events leading up to the deadly riots that were caused during the government’s push for Afrikaans to be taught in school. English had always been the main language in South Africa, but in a drive to segregate whites and blacks even further, the government pushed legislation that all schoolwork in public schools be taught in Afrikaans, a secondary language that few were versed in. The end result would be the failing of many blacks and coloureds thereby depriving them even more of their education. In the end, a quiet protest turned deadly when white policemen, overwhelmed by the numbers, started shooting at the kids who had participated. Henry Pieterson, 12, was one of those who was murdered that day and his death, captured by photo, came to symbolize the injustice that blacks suffered under the policy of apartheid.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
August 8-15: Mauritius
Hilton Beach Suite - Mauritius, originally uploaded by Andrew & Yvette's world travel.
Ah, time to C H I L L A X.
I remember awhile back in Peru, I was complaining to Andrew because of all the hostels we had been staying at and his response was, ‘Just wait for Mauritius.’ And after 10 ½ weeks, the wait was finally over.
We used our points to stay at the Hilton Flic en Flac and using our Diamond Status got ourselves a corner beach suite complete with a butler. The resort was grand and beautiful and was a great place to relax and unwind (yes traveling can get tiresome). Our resort also had a lot of free activities on offer such as water skiing and sailing. I tried the water skiing and after only my 3rd try, was able to stand up for a whole circuit. So exciting! We also tried sailing on a small catamaran and that was a rush. It was actually quite easy to learn and within just minutes both Drew and I were sailing Kiran (our teacher). Dolphin tours were also free and during one of our mornings, we took a boat ride to see a pod of them. Of course we also did a couple of dives but those dives were largely forgettable.
With all the activities on offer and a hammock right in front of the beach to relax in afterwards, it was a bit hard to leave our surroundings. However, we did manage to drag ourselves out of the resort and into the city for some museum hopping. One of those, the Blue Penny Museum, gave a fascinating and detailed account of Mauritius’ history. Among the things on display were the famous Blue Penny stamps worth 3 ½ million USD. When they were made, they were incorrectly printed with the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid” and that mistake made these stamps a philatelic’s dream. Afterwards, it started raining so instead of going to the botanical gardens, we decided to go to an old sugar mill that had been converted to a museum. Needless to say, we were on info overload after today.
On a different day, we went for another drive and headed to Chamarel or colored earth. The area boasts of the ground being covered in 7 different colors but the sight was underwhelming to say the least. After this area, we continued our drive around the island. On one of the parks, we saw a family of monkeys and I had a scary monkey moment. I had seen a cute baby monkey and wanted a picture. I approached it slowly but when I got within 10 feet it hissed and started running towards me! I hightailed out of there and made it to the car where Andrew was dying of laughter after seeing me scream and freak out. Apparently when I stood, the monkey realized my size, changed course and ran up a tree instead. Not bothering to look back, I ran a whole parking lot in panic. After this excitement, we continued our drive around the island. However, because of the rains, we decided against doing any of the hikes and headed back to our resort where the weather was windy but sunny. As we settled in to our lounge chairs, we received a call from the reception telling us to go the parking lot immediately. There, to our disbelief was our car on the other side of the lot where we had originally parked.
Apparently, Drew had forgotten to put the hand break up and our car had rolled and hit another guest’s car. *gRrRrR*
Thankfully the rest of the week went by uneventfully and we spent the rest of our days in blissful relaxation enjoying the pools and the spa treatments. Alas, after one glorious week, it was time to head to Joburg.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
July 30 – August 7: Cape Town
Stop and think for a moment, how do you imagine South Africa? Can you picture a waterfront as beautiful as Sydney Harbor? A downtown as modern and eclectic as Manhattan? South Africa is all this and more with countrysides of green rolling hills, coastlines filled with Southern Right Back Whales and Great White Sharks and national parks blooming with flowers and teeming with wild animals. Our first stop in South Africa was Cape Town with impressive Table Mountain dominating the skyline in the background while the city sits on a bay fronting the Atlantic Ocean. We can only talk about the beauty of our surroundings though in retrospect. This is because Drew rented a car and not only did he have to drive a stick while sitting on the right side of the car, we both had to concentrate on staying on the left side of the road. We had several tense moments after entering the wrong side of the streets but our little Yaris served us well during all our reverse moves.
Breaking the mold with 6 full days in the city, as opposed to the grueling schedule of 3-4 days/city in South America, we decided to relax and take it easy. And what better way to relax than going to the Stellenbosch wine festival. The festival showcases wines from all over the region and for only $18 per person, you can try as many wines as you want/can. No boozing for us though as we had Kingdom Hall bright and early at 9am the following day. Following the meeting and field service, Brother English and his family invited us to their house for lunch. After two months of eating out, it was a treat to have a home cooked meal for lunch. After lunch, Drew and I drove up to Table Mountain. However, the cable car trams were closed for maintenance and we weren’t able to enjoy the panoramic views afforded from the top of the mountain.
After 2 days of relaxing, it was time to get back to what we do best: being on tourist mode and haggling for the best possible prices. However, a storm was brewing and tours to both Robben Island and Gansbai (for the Shark Cage Diving) were cancelled. Unexpectedly stuck on land, we were a bit lost as to what to do. So, we decided to go to the US Embassy and get more pages on my passport. With more than 6 countries left to visit and only 8 blank pages left on my passport, we decided now would be a good time to fix the situation. After waiting only 30 minutes to get extra pages, my passport was once again ready for some country stamping. As the weather was still good after this, we then drove to Boulders Beach to visit the resident colony of African penguins. There were hundreds of the cute little buggers waddling all over the place and it was all Andrew could do to stop me from trying to pick one up to hug and squeeze it. By the time we were done, it started to rain so we headed back to the hotel for my favorite pastime: napping = ) Relaxed and well rested, it was now time for dinner. We headed back to the Waterfront to Nobu where we met a Filipino working at the sushi bar. We got in a chat and he asked if we liked Bagoong and Talong because he had some. Although I was craving sushi, Filipino food sounded so good so I was really happy and excited. To my left though, Andrew was gagging and nagging talking about being in Nobu for goodness’ sake. What came out though was Filipino gourmet: cubed eggplants with a dash of bagoong and green onions all drizzled in ponzu sauce. Heaven!
The following day was still dreary but we decided to make the long beautiful coastline drive to Hermanus and try our chance spotting the Southern Back Whales. Hermanus is actually the best place in the world for land based whale spotting. At certain times, the bay is home to 70 whales!!! That afternoon though, there were only 2 in the bay and they barely surfaced = ( After a quick cappuccino break to warm up from the cold and get away from the rain, Drew and I headed out to meet the Lurie family, our new friends from the KH, for dinner. We had to keep them waiting for over an hour though because Drew left the lights on in the car and drained the battery. *GrRrR* Upon arriving, we met the rest of the Lurie family and enjoyed home cooked pizzas of different varieties.
The following day we drove up to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. It was a beautiful day and just before we entered the park, we saw Chacma Baboons up the road eating, picking out each other’s lice and just swinging around. It was definitely a This is Africa moment (in a good way). Once inside the park, we hiked up to see the old lighthouse, posing at every possible moment to capture the beauty of the scenery. After the hike, we went to another tourist/picture trap: the most southwestern point of the African Continent. Just before getting there though, we saw some more baboons, but this time these baboons were of the naughty variety: one of the alpha males opened a car door letting his other cohorts in the car! And what did these boys come out with??? A Tupperware filled with food which the alpha male promptly started eating without sharing with the others. It was a funny scene up until the point when we passed the car and saw that there were 2 young kids sitting at the back. Just before getting back, we had another animal sighting of 2 ostriches at the beach. I’ve always thought ostriches were desert creatures but apparently they like the water also.
On our final day, we decided to do another wine tasting. As usual, we started our booze to be day bright and early. We visited 5 wineries tasting not only wine but brandy and champagne as well. The wines were largely forgettable but this day stands out for one very special reason: we met our future dogs in one of the estates. As we were doing a chocolate wine tasting pairing on the 2nd estate, the owners 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks came out. They were magnificent and it was definitely love at first sight.
Alas, it was now time to head to Mauritius, our vacation from our vacation destination.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
July 28 – 30: Buenos Aires – London – Cape Town
London
After a 12 hour flight, we landed in London where we had a 12 hour layover. Thankfully, BA has an arrival’s lounge which Drew and I put to good use by freshening up with a shower and a 15 minute massage. After storing our hand carry and waiting an additional 10 minutes to get the discounted tube passes (@ 9:30 they are only 7.50 pounds for the whole day), we were finally set for a day of sight-seeing.
First up on our to do/see list was getting my pounds out of Barclays Bank. After a 3am phone call to my dad, whose help I needed as the bank searches account numbers by last name and zip codes(???), Drew and I walked out 190 pounds richer (w/ more pounds left in the bank)! Can you believe it??? I thought I only had 70 pounds but apparently I had more money than I thought. With this newfound wealth, we headed straight to Harrod’s. Or rather straight to the tube station next to Harrod’s (come on guys, I’m w/ Andrew, as if I can actually spend my money). We next went to see Big Ben, walked through Hyde Park and posed aplenty in front of Tower Bridge. Walking pass the double decker red buses and the iconic black taxi cabs really made me miss living in this city. I’ve genuinely missed the London fog and the few hours spent here were so short. I wish this afternoon stretched out forever, however, as is typical in London, our outing was cut short by the rain. And so we strolled in to Nobu for a late lunch and watched the beautifully dreary city pass by in the rain.
July 24-28: Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, architecturally speaking, has the most beautiful buildings in South America. Walking through its streets, you’d be forgiven if you suddenly thought you were in Paris. Modeled after the City of Lights, B.A. dare I say, rivals Paris’ beauty with its grand buildings, palaces and statues. What Paris lacks though, B.A. has in good supply: friendly helpful people who smile even when you mangle their language; all in exchange for helping said stranger with their English = )
During one of our mornings, we took a free city tour where we walked through tree lined streets and passed through numerous dog parks. When we stopped at the Pink House, the flag was at full mast meaning the President, Christina Kirchner, was present. Sadly, she didn’t wave to Andrew and I from the balcony where Evita Perron used to make her speeches to the people. While in front of the Presidential House, we also learned about Argentina’s rather recent and very painful memory. In the 1970s, there was a military coup wherein thousands of people disappeared. Parents were murdered and babies handed over to those in the correct political circles. Most recently, a group of grandmothers have come out stating that if anyone in their mid 20’s to mid 30’s (our age) are suspicious of their past, they can do a DNA test to determine their family line. This campaign has led to a large group of young individuals to tragically discover that the parents who raised them were responsible for the murder of their real parents. Discussing history however, the triumphs and follies, is always charged with opposing opinions. As there were local Argentineans in the tour, there was a heated debate about these “tragedies”. After this surprisingly emotional tour, the locals, who had come to practice their English w/ us tourists, took us for a ride on the oldest city subway line (Linea A) and then afterwards took us to a local restaurant where we enjoyed a typical 3 hour long Saturday lunch.
That night as we headed back to our hotel, we met 4 sisters who were with the English group. We felt them to be a blessing as we found out their Sunday meeting had been moved because of the CO visit. Had we missed them, we would have arrived at the time given by Bethel and come to an empty Kingdom Hall. Now before we got there, Andrew and I joked how funny it would be if this CO was the same one as the CO at Iguazu. When the CO went to the stage, Andrew and I got a shock as the CO’s looked absolutely similar. The only difference was their voice and manner of delivery. When we brought this up with the brothers and sisters, one of them explained that the CO had a twin and if our picture memory was correct, then we heard ‘twin’ programs! After the meeting, we joined in the field ministry where I was able to place a tract w/ the following phrase, “Puede una para leia”
The following day we visited Bethel and met with more brothers and sisters. The other couple in the group was visiting their son and it was funny because the brother, who spoke quickly in a thick Spanish accent, was amused by us and loved talking to us. It was all we could do to keep up with the tour and his running commentary.
Now a visit to B.A. must also include a tango show. So for one of our nights, we went to Madero Tango for a dinner and professional tango show. I say professional because all we did was watch and enjoy the fabulous show. Other places/shows require participation but with our 2 left feet we decided sitting on our bums would be more enjoyable.
Alas the 28th came too soon and it was time to pack up our bags again. Before we start sharing about Africa, we thought we’d compile a list of all things South America:
Favorite Country from most to least: Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Panama and Bolivia
Favorite Activity: WMDR in Bolivia, and Diving Galapagos.
Best Restaurants: Q Grill (Hyatt Mendoza, Argentina) and Porcao Rio’s (Rio De Janeiro),
Must See’s: Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls
Favorite Hotel: Hilton Buenos Aires / Sao Paolo, Secret Garden Inn Puerto Iguazu and Swissotel Quito
Favorite Airport Lounge: Lima Intl Airport (Bar tender makes killer Bloody Mary’s)
Distance Traveled: over 20,100 miles
# of Countries: 6 = Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina
# of Accomodations: 26 different hotels
Traveling Days: 64
July 21-24: Mendoza
As a result of horsing around in Iguazu, I re-sprained my bad ankle and had to pass up skiing fresh powder in Las Lenas = ( So instead of swooshing in the snow, Andrew and I did another type of swishing, that of swishing wine. We signed up for a wine tasting tour and boy did we have the best, longest lasting buzz ever. We’ve never done this type of tour before and expected to have just one glass at each of the four wineries. We were so wrong. Each estate offered 3-6 huge glasses of wine!!! Even though we didn’t finish any of our glasses, our low estimate is that we each drank 2 fantastic bottles of wine that day. *hehe*
The following day, armed with the knowledge of how to taste/appreciate wine (smell, taste, swirl, smell, gargle/taste), we went to a fab wine tasting bar where we had some more excellent wines. Don’t think though that all we did was drink. We also ate! We ate a lot and we ate well! You see, Mendoza is like a fabulous boutique restaurant where the wines are exquisite and the food sublime. Great as Brazil’s churrascaria’s were they were no match for Argentina’s parrillada’s. Argentinean meat is great and the restaurants around Mendoza have really perfected the art of gourmet barbeque. As I write this, my stomach is growling for the rib eye at Q Grill paired with my Ruca Malen Malbec. The restaurants here really know how to pair their food with wine and one of our favorite meals in our lifetime is the 5 course wine pairing lunch we had at the Ruca Malen estate. *sigh* All this food write and all I have to eat is this salami sandwich = ( Better move on to Buenos Aires.
July 18-21: Iguazu Falls (Puerto Iguazu, Argentina)
All we can say is wow, w o W, w O W, W O W
We hiked the trails covering the falls and at every turn, all we could think of was how can it possibly get better than this? And yet somehow, when we rounded on to another corner, the view was more amazing than the last: the butterflies dancing through the rainbows, the swifts slicing through the falls, the water cascading thunderously to the ground. We saw the falls at both the Brazilian and Argentine side. The difference being the Brazilian side gave a panoramic view while the Argentine side allowed you to see the falls up close individually or in other words, the Brazilian side is the seat while the Argentine side is the show. Regardless of the side however, the net effect was the same: W O W. Although I’ve never been to neither Niagara nor Victoria Falls, I believe it when others say Iguazu Falls is the most mesmerizing.
In addition to all the hiking, I also took some time out for the Nautical Adventure. This adrenaline activity involved riding a boat that goes through the San Martin and Devil’s Throat Falls. Although the sun was hiding in the clouds and the water was super cold, I joined the group in repeatedly chanting “UNO MAS, UNO MAS.” We went through the falls several times and despite having a poncho, I still came out soaked. There was just no way of escaping getting drenched as the falls crashed down my body and the waters whipped about in frenzy.
In addition to visiting the falls, we also took a tour of the Itaipu Dam which sits on the Brazilian and Paraguayan border. The dam supplies clean energy and continuously provides for 90% of Paraguay’s energy needs and 25% of Brazil. We took the informative 2 hour tour which allowed us to see the engineers in the control room, the working turbine room and the walk bridge above the dam.
We came a day early however and missed the dam opening. The area had been receiving a significant amount of rain and was due for another storm the night we visited. Had we come the following day we would have been witness to a manmade waterfall, more powerful in force than all the 80+ falls in Iguazu combined, when the dam opened to ease/release the water buildup on the other side.
Although Iguazu Falls was “que lindo” and Itaipu Dam an engineering marvel, the highlight of this trip was 1) finding out our driver was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and 2) attending the Sunday meeting. We made a lot of new friends but we didn’t shake hands or kiss. Gripa A (swine flu) was gripping the congregation, or rather the country as a whole, and physical contact was discouraged as a precaution. Now, we were told this by our initial greeters but after the meeting, we had a lot of people extend their hands and give me the requisite besos on the cheeks. Needless to say, given the warning in the beginning, this sudden friendliness made us a bit paranoid. Over the next two days, we confused our tiredness with Gripa A and needlessly swallowed a whole lot of pills.
Our next stop in Argentina was Mendoza but we were tempted to spend a night in cowboy Paraguay where the DVDs are cheaper than the ones in Thailand and the 2 for 1 special is the “buy a gun, get a grenade for free.” Though the country also beckoned to us with the promise of another stamp on our passports, we (wisely?) passed up the offer.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
July 15-18: São Paulo
Did you know that Sao Paolo is the helipad capital of the world? Every major person here travels via helicopter! Isn’t that crazy. There’s a mall here, Daslu, and Lonely Planet says it’s forbidden to get there by walking and arriving by taxi is a major embarrassment. The proper way to arrive is through a helicopter!
So obviously we’re no longer spending $1 for 20 minute taxi rides and gone is our $15/day allowance for eating. Sao Paolo is crazy expensive. So for tours, we did none. We just walked around the city. Actually the most exciting thing we did was watch Transformers! Yeay!
As you can see, our pit stops through Brazil were city breaks. Even though Brazil is famous for the Amazon Rain Forest, we decided to do that kind of tour on a different time as it’s a tour that requires trekking for a minimum of 2 weeks for maximum appreciation.
And oh, before I start blogging about Argentina, yeah, of course we made it to Daslu = )
July 11-15: Rio de Janeiro
We’re in RIO!!!
We’re in a CITY!!!
After 7 weeks of traveling, it definitely feels nice to be in familiar urban surroundings. Even better, we’re staying at Copacobana. “At the Copa, Copacobana, music and passion are always the fashion, at the Copa, they fell in love”. Sorry, I can’t help myself from getting all Barry Manilow as this is the famous beach that inspired that song. *hehe*
Copacobana is like a cross between Ala Moana (Oahu) and Ocean Drive (Miami) except of course it has the Brazil factor which means in the not too far distance are islands and mountains covered in green. Apart from the beach scene, which was always busy with locals, there was also the food scene and OMG. After just 2 hours in the city, we hit up a churrascaria, and 2 hours after that, our pores started oozing meat. We had the green light on for meat the entire time! After awhile, the servers started joking with us re: how much we were eating. After stuffing ourselves with so much meat, you’d think that we’d give our stomach a break but nope. Just a day and a half later, we found ourselves in another churrascaria. The good thing though was we were there for lunch so at least we had a half day to walk it off. And my goodness, did we need that afternoon! The 2nd place was bigger and better and we got to try other meats too like ostrich, goat and I think rabbit also. The food was sooo good, the caipirinha excellent, the juice made of 100% real mangos and with views of the harbor and Sugarloaf Mountain, we felt this restaurant was a destination by itself = )
Ok so apart from eating, we actually did make it out to see the city. We walked along the beaches of Copacobana, Ipanema and Leblon. We also took in a game of futevolei which is like volleyball except you don’t use hands, which makes it similar to soccer. Check out the video on Flickr (Will be posted soon). It’s amazing and definitely something Artesia cong. should try next Tuesday (in between volleyball Mondays and soccer Wednesdays).
A visit to Rio is also not complete without seeing Cristo Redentor, the famous figure of Christ overlooking the city. For a non touristy month, this place was chocked full of people doing the outstretched arms pose. And of course as tourists, we did the same thing (except we took a shower in the morning which sooo many people obviously did not do!). We also went to Pão de Açúcar / Sugarloaf Mountain at night, so as to get a view of the city from a different perspective.
On our last and final day, we got some bummy news: Our hang-gliding appt at 1 got cancelled because of windy weather. *boohoo*
July 9: WMDR
WMDR as in The World’s Most Dangerous Road, not Weapons of Mass Destruction (we’ll try that in Cambodia! *lol*).
Today was all about biking downhill through muddy, gravelly and potholly roads. We had world class mountain bikes and the whole day was an adrenaline rush. The road we biked on was about 10 feet wide, curvy w/ no railings and had a vertical drop of 90 feet. The road is also still used by the locals (though not very much anymore) and it was an amusing game calculating when to pass the cars given the curves and the potholes.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
July 8 -10: Civilization La Paz
July 4 – 7 – Southwest Circuit: Salar de Uyuni, San Pedro de Quemes, Ojo de Perdiz
After 12 very long hours on Bolivia’s laughably marketed “premier first class luxury bus company,” we finally made it to Uyuni where the daytime temperature had finally warmed to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. We met our guide Luis who was friendly but spoke not a lick of English.
Our 1st stop of the tour was at a salt factory in Colchani where 2000- 9000 kg of salt is packaged each day. The numbers are impressive considering the space this all happens in is the same size as our 1st floor apartment.
After this stop, we entered the blinding white beauty of the Salar de Uyuni salt dessert. The absolute whiteness of the place made this the most surreal 4wd tour we’ve ever taken. The Salar is definitely something different and definitely something to put on a destination list.
Some of our other stops on the Salar include Isla Incahuasi which is an island full of cactuses that are hundreds of years old. We also went to see the Coquesa Mummies which are 6 mummies inside a small, dark, rock cave. These mummies are on a very poorly marked trail and are not on a lot of tourist agendas so seeing them in their natural environment was freaky and claustrophobic. The cave also relies on natural sunlight so that made it a little scary as we arrived in the late afternoon when the sun was coming down on the horizon. Another similar stop was the Galaxy Cave and the Chullpas cemetery. The Galaxy Cave is a “petrified stromatolite reserve” ie, a cave with cool rock formations. The Chullpas cemetery was discovered by two farmers just a couple of years ago and contains the burial grounds of families that lived in the area hundreds of years ago. The bones have petrified into their surroundings and are just there for you to see. Like the Coquesa Mummies, these skeletons aren’t enclosed in a sterile glass box inside a museum so it’s a somewhat spooky experience seeing them in their original setting.
On our 3rd day, I got car crazy driving through the vast expanse of the dessert and spent about 2 hours annoying Andrew and Luis by singing along with the love songs on the tape (see flickr videos). This day was actually forgettable as all we saw were lakes and another volcano spewing smoke in the background. What was really amazing though was seeing an Andean fox in the wild. Neither of us had ever seen a fox in the wild and it was a nice treat to see one.
We experienced the bitter cold of winter on our 4th and last day of the tour. At -30C, the temperature was the coldest we’ve ever experienced. At 12 the weather was still in the negative so we decided to opt out of swimming in the Hot Geyser Springs of Polque. We did however get out of the car to take pictures of the herd of pink flamingos on Laguna Colorado. This was an unexpected sight as usually, flamingos migrate away during the winter season. Other sights of interest were Laguna Verde which was not very green because it was partly frozen, the Arbol de Piedro, which is a rock that looks like a tree, and Dessert Dali which is a dessert with huge rocks strewn about. From the distance, the view looks like a painting from Salvador Dali’s mind.
Following this tour, we got back to Uyuni where we had another 12 long and bumpy traveling hours ahead of us.
