South Africa -Simon Town

On our last day in Cape Town we drove to Simon Town. This town and the coast around the tip is definitely worth another visit. It was pouring rain this day so not the best day for sightseeing but the little penguins were very coperative for photo shoots.

These African Pengins are endangered. The sign said please do not disturb. This little fellow was right on the path so rather than disturb him and given it was raining I headed back to John who was keeping our parking spot and staying nice and dry in the car.

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South Africa – Cape Town

Back in Cape Town we stayed at the same unit as previously, 8 floors above the beach lovingly watching and listening to the surf for 3 more days. During that time we visited Langa Township in Cape Town and Robben Island.

Langa Township is the oldest township in the city and was developed in the 1920’s as a place for black male workers from the Eastern Cape. It was part of the pre-Apartheid system of race and family separation instituted by the British. Langa evolved into a township which later included women and families. After 1948 when Apartheid was made official, it grew rapidly. Since 1991 and the end of Apartheid, it has continued to grow. Our tour guide, Namhla, showed us some of the original barracks built for single men, as well as shipping containers, which are used as homes for people who are waiting for proper housing, apartments, and detached houses.

Namhla, who is Xhosa with roots in the Eastern Cape, was very proud of her township, very knowledgeable about its history, and hopeful that the future will bring more change and improvement.

Local Store.

We sat through a presentation for students on the history of the settlement. The speaker was very dynamic as he explained how the history of Langa and the history of Apartheid South Africa were intertwined.

Cooking sheeps heads for food.

Local beer.

The sharing jug.

The following day we visited Robben Island, which is now a museum. Nelson Mandela and many others were jailed there for years.

The island includes the maximum security prison in which Nelson Mandela spent 27 years, before liberation and the fall of Apartheid in 1991.

The bus ride from the ferry slip to the prison itself was very interesting; The lime quarry where prisoners worked, the village set up for the guards, and the various outbuildings are all set against a gorgeous view of the Atlantic, and Cape Town in the distance – a heartbreaking site to the more than 800 political prisoners who were incarcerated for long terms or, like Mandela, for life.

The walk through the prison itself and a look at Mandela’s cell, was brought to life by our guide, who was a political prison for eight years, beginning as a very young man in 1984.

He explained the daily routine as well as the political education which many of the prisioners provided for their fellow inmates as a way of keeping the fire of resistance alive.

Portions of letters were cut out before being delivered to the inmates.

Menus for blacks were different from those for colored. Whites were never incarcerated here.

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Back to the mainland.

South Africa – Leisure Island & Hermanus

Leisure Island, our next stop, was a lovely community with a spectacular coastline and beautiful flowers.

Old cozy cabin homes sit next to the new spacious modern ones.

Bird life abounds.

The community of Hermanus was also incredibly beautiful with spectacular coastal views and great accommodations.

South Africa – Graff-Reinet

The countryside after Golden Gate National Park was semi arid, which John says is much like the outback in Australia so not too exciting but plenty warm with lots of sunshine. Graff-Reinet, the gem of the Karoo, was next. This town is a tourist destination and is the fourth oldest town in South Africa. We stayed in an old home that was converted to a BnB / Airbnb. The breakfast was the best we have ever had.

We drove to Camdeboo National Park where the lookouts give a dramatic view of Graff-Reinet below.

The piled dolerite columns against the backdrop of the plains of the Great Karoo give a breathtaking view. The landscape is said to be the product of volcanic and erosive forces of nature over a period of 100 million years. The town sits below in the bend of the Sunday’s River.

Along the trails the plants were identified with plaques and their use by local people was identified.

South Africa – Malelane Bushveld Wonder & Golden Gate National Park

On our way back to Cape Town we stayed at Malelane Bushveld Wonder, an Airbnb where they raise and breed animals for other game preserves. The owner has taken it upon himself to help save the rhino population. He has over 600 rhinos and has moved them from this ranch to one in an area less populated to deter poachers. Matt, his grandson, entertained us during our stay. He loved the guinea pigs and delighted in telling us all about them. Little did he know they were raised as bait to catch predators that attack the birds they are raising. He was such a delight to be with. What a fantastic place for a child to grow up.

The guest cabin was lovely and came complete with an affectionate cat and dog that were happy to stay as long as we were happy to have them.

The birds were lovely to watch…

as were the other inhabitants of the reserve.

Lovely flowering trees were abundant on the property.

Leaving here we headed to Golden Gate National Park with its very striking scenery. Prior to arriving we passed fields of these lovely pink and white flowers.

Golden Gate National Park.

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South Africa – Kruger Park

When we arrived at the park they gave us a pamphlet indicating all the birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians in the park. It was a way to keep track of what we had seen. At the end of day 4 our total sightings were 31 bird species, 19 mammals species, 1 reptile and 1 amphibian.

Never saw the birds that inhabit these but it was like little community, not something you often see when it comes to birds nests.

So majestic.

This fellow was working so hard cracking seeds.

Pretty interesting pose.

Too many cars in front of us and darn they won’t let you out of you car so this was as close as I could get. The one time I poked my head out of the car to get a better shot a warden was there and in a very nice way impressed upon me my transgression.

South Africa – Kruger Park

Day 3: The one time we left the paved road today, we followed a group of safari vehicles a long way and fortunately were rewarded with seeing a herd of elephants running. Pretty neat!

Can you see the snake it is eating?

Interesting spider webs.

So cute!

They are eating bark off a tree.

Baobab tree.

Our only leopard sighting.

A lioness from a distance. We managed to see four of the “big five”. Missing only rhinos, which, due to poaching, are more difficult to find.

South Africa – Kruger Park

On Day 2 we saw giraffes, a baboon family, turtles and impala. We drove further North on dirt roads with not as many sightings today. As we were trying to get out of the gate for 6:00 before shutdown 2 elephants locked tusks on the road right in front of us. That caused us enough stress that I never even get a photo. We thought they were going to start fighting; however it never happened. One just untangled himself and moved on. Whew! We later thought they were teenagers just playing around but definately not at the time.

These fellows are so immense; it was awe inspiring when they emerged from the bush and not just a little breathtaking as were more than twice the size of our little rental car.

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Perfect end to a great viewing day.

South Africa – Kruger National Park

March 22, 2019

On the way to Kruger Park, we spent one night in Swaziland. The tiny country is surrounded by South Africa and seemed quite peaceful and certainly very beautiful. Its official name is now Eswatini.

We spent 4 full days at Kruger Park. Each day the gates close once a certain limit of vehicles has entered. We arrived on a long weekend plus school vacation so we were not able to get accommodation in the park. Hence we were up every morning at 3:30 and at the park gate by 5:00. Traveling as far as we had to see the park we did not want to miss possibly not entering one day. It did mean seeing some lovely sunrises.

On day 1 we were blessed to see many giraffes and impalas as well as a baboon barking in a tree. Birds and warthogs were also on our day 1 list of sightings.

The impalas were so beautiful and everywhere.

Here you can see an oxpecker on his back.

The variety of birds was incredibe.

This baboon in the tree was a real surprise as we were parked near the tree and could not figure out where this intermintant sound was coming from.

Flowers were not in abundance but those we saw were exsquisite.

Kruger had five entrances. At each entrance was a sighting board so it gave you an idea in which direction to drive that day depending on what animals you wanted to see. The only sighting people were asked not to mark was that of the Rhino because poachers are a big problem and any information could be used by them to find one. We were even asked not to use our mobile phones to tell others about the location of a rhino if one was spotted.

South Africa – KwaZulu Natal Province

We traveled through the Transkei in KwaZulu Natal Province, with its rolling hills, winding roads and beautiful scenery. This was the area during the Apartheid years that was declared a Zulu homeland with its own “self government”. In fact, the national government in Pretoria was in complete control. The homeland was terribly overpopulated, with the local people needing a passbook to venture outside their territory. After Apartheid was dismantled in the nineties, the Transkei became a region of the province.

At Saint Lucia, we did a trip on the lake to see the hippos but the one in our yard was by far the best possible sighting. The owner, where we were staying, knocked on our door at 6:30 in morning to tell us a hippo was sleeping in the yard. He was a young bull. They only come out at night because the sun actually burns their skin. Hipo’s are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa being responsible for more fatalities than any other animal.

Checking out the sleeping hippo.

The people whose unit he was sleeping in front of let me in their back door.

At 4:00 AM, I got up because I could hear him eating right outside our unit. This was a young bull that was being attacked by a large male in the group so he was on his own a lot. He would regularly come to the yard to escape his much bigger adversary.