We have returned from our trip to south eastern Africa (Mozambique, Victoria Falls, Lesotho, Swaziland, and the eastern half of South Africa).
The highlight for us was Mozambique. It's still relative untouristed, especially in the north. Supposedly the middle area around Tofo is busy with beach-going South Africans, but we didn't go there so can't really say. We loved Mozambique Island and Coral Lodge. To give an idea of how untouristed Mozambique Island is, there is only one store selling souvenirs on the whole island. The whole island is a UNESCO Heritage Site and the centuries old buildings are being quickly restored. There was hardly any hassling of tourists, for the most part nobody gave us a second glance. Maputo was also amazing, with a unique architectural style in the core, great food, and artsy feel.
Victoria Falls was cool to see, and the last of the big four waterfalls on my list (Iguazu, Angel Falls, and Niagara being the other three). I would put Victoria Falls 3rd on the list, if only because it's hard to get a big picture view of its size. Maybe in high flow season if I took a helicopter I might have a different opinion.
The safaris were good with lots of game. We both liked the remoteness of Kidepo in northern Uganda better than any of the safaris on this trip, with maybe the exception of Mountain Zebra NP because of the interesting landscape. We saw the big five on this trip, which wasn't really a goal, but cool anyways. One thing we realized about safaris this time around is to stick to the highlights for each game reserve. For example, Mkhaya is known for its rhinos -- so it's better to focus on the rhinos there, and not try to find the one hyena (I made that up) in the park.
Lesotho was a contrast to the rest of South Africa. It reminded us of Bolivia, as both are at an altitude and people wear distinctive clothing that's somewhat similar. Lesotho had the least-developed infrastructure out of the places we visited this trip. It would be better with a 4WD.
This was one of the few times I've rented a car on vacation. It's really the only way to see South Africa / Swaziland / Lesotho, as it's all very car-centric. It was interesting as we got to see parts of the country that we wouldn't normally if we just flew from place to place. In particular we loved the Karoo region around Cradock.
Our next vacation is hopefully to North Korea. Depending on how long we have, we may try to tack on Cambodia while we're half way around the world.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Johannesburg, South Africa
It was a nice sunny day when we woke up in Maliba Lodge. We had breakfast and were packed up and ready to go by 9am. It's a five hour drive from Maliba to Johannesburg, although we were planning to take our time and not just drive for five hours straight.
The drive from Maliba to Butha Buthe is really scenic. I stopped in a bunch of places to take pics of the villages and rondavels that dot the valley. There were a few groups of people in the fields (couldn't tell if they were harvesting or planting or something else).
In Butha Buthe we tried to find the craft shop. We drove down some really pot-holed side streets looking for it, but had no luck. Gave up before the car got stuck in one of the giant potholes and headed for the border.
The border crossing at Calendspoort was quicker leaving Lesotho than entering. It was also one of the easiest land crossings we had this trip. We parked at the Lesotho exit and walked in to get our exit stamp (which had the wrong date -- Dec 28 instead of Dec 27). Then drove through, where they stamped our passports again. I guess if you leave by car, you don't need to park -- you can get your exit stamp at the drive-through.
So now we had two exit stamps from Lesotho, one for today and one for tomorrow. Hopefully this wouldn't cause problems entering South Africa! They didn't even bother to look at the stamps at the entrance though, just took our passports and gave us a stamp for entering South Africa. They asked us to pop open the trunk at the gate, saw a bunch of backpacks, and sent us on our way. Very easy, and no attempts to bribe unlike most other border crossings we went through this trip.
Our route to Johannesburg was not on the main highways which was good, as they sounded backed up based on the radio traffic reports. Around noon we left the highway in Frankfurt to look for a little cafe or restaurant. The town looked like it had seen better days. Most of the store and restaurants were closed and boarded up. The busiest (and only open) restaurant, based on cars parked outside, had no windows, never a good sign. Instead we went to the grocery store we had seen on the way in. This also had seen better times -- half the shelves were empty. We bought some cheese and crackers to tide us over and left Frankfurt in a hurry.
The GPS was really helpful at getting us to 33 Melville. We drove through downtown Johannesburg along the way, our only view of the downtown core, which looked just as car-centric as the rest of the country. We arrived at the b&b around 3pm, the end of our long road trip. We drove 4,500km over 21 days, covering a good chunk of the eastern half of South Africa.
We had earlier emailed the b&b to arrange to have dinner. We both chose fish options (sea bass for Heather, salmon for me) which were cooked properly. We ate outside because we figured it was one of our last chances to do so before we flew back to Toronto. It was a bit chilly but okay with our jackets.
...
The next morning we had a pleasant breakfast, seated in the kitchen. We both asked for french toast to break up the monotony of eggs, eggs, and more eggs that have been on offer the entire trip.
It was drizzling as we drove to the Apartheid Museum. The GPS proved very handy again. We parked and ran over the ticket booth to escape the rain. Then we realized half the museum was outdoors, so Heather ran back to get our umbrellas. The entrance to the museum is separated for blacks and whites, just like during apartheid. The tickets alternate between a "white" and "black" ticket, and depending on which one you get, that's the entrance you use. The first displays are separate -- you only get to see the half you're in. After about 5-10 minutes, they group up again. It really emphasizes partially what it was like during apartheid.
There's lots of details in the museum. We took about 3.5 hours to get through, skipping over the temporary exhibits as they aren't necessarily apartheid related.
We decided to eat at the on-site café because usually cafés at museums and art galleries are pretty good. Except for this one. Both our dishes were bland. Oh well.
On the way back home we called into a couple craft stores for our final look at souvenirs, Art Africa on Tyrone, and Kim Sacks Gallery. In particular we were looking at the african bed that's made from a single piece of wood, and is used by westerners as coffee tables. We took some pics and dimensions and will decide when we get back home. Our favourite was 79" x 29", so I think it might be too big for our house.
We had debated eating out at a restaurant just to check out the scene, but most places were closed over the Christmas holidays. We just ate at the hotel again, we had ordered lamb, which was amazing.
...
Our flight departed at 11:59pm so we had the full day in Johannesburg. I had booked 33 Melville for a 1/2 day so that we could shower and relax before we got on the flight.
In the morning we visited Liliesleaf Farm, which is where the underground movement was arrested at the height of apartheid. All the reviews we had read said that it was very underrated. They were right! It was an excellent museum, with lots of interactive displays and explanations. Their café was excellent too. It's a good complement to the Apartheid Museum that we had visited the day before.
After lunch we returned back to the b&b and packed up our bags for the flights home. Surprisingly all of our stuff fit into our two backpacks and one carry-on suitcase. We were planning to check the suitcase because it had the sculptures from Mozambique that were made from old gun parts. We didn't want the hassle of trying to take it as carry-on.
We had a light dinner, a repeat of the fish we had the other night. I still had to drive the rental car back to the airport so didn't have anything to drink. Also didn't want to be dehydrated getting on the flight.
So followed the GPS to the airport. I was a little nervous as the route took us through the city streets at night. At some of the red lights, the other cars used them as stop signs so I followed suit (it's to prevent possible carjackings at red lights while you're stopped). We made it without issue to the airport, dropped off the car, and checked in. We browsed around the souvenir shops while waiting. There's an Art Africa in departures, and the quality and variety was really good. We could have just waited and bought all our souvenirs here!
Our flight left about 30 minutes late, and then we were on our way back home!
The drive from Maliba to Butha Buthe is really scenic. I stopped in a bunch of places to take pics of the villages and rondavels that dot the valley. There were a few groups of people in the fields (couldn't tell if they were harvesting or planting or something else).
In Butha Buthe we tried to find the craft shop. We drove down some really pot-holed side streets looking for it, but had no luck. Gave up before the car got stuck in one of the giant potholes and headed for the border.
The border crossing at Calendspoort was quicker leaving Lesotho than entering. It was also one of the easiest land crossings we had this trip. We parked at the Lesotho exit and walked in to get our exit stamp (which had the wrong date -- Dec 28 instead of Dec 27). Then drove through, where they stamped our passports again. I guess if you leave by car, you don't need to park -- you can get your exit stamp at the drive-through.
So now we had two exit stamps from Lesotho, one for today and one for tomorrow. Hopefully this wouldn't cause problems entering South Africa! They didn't even bother to look at the stamps at the entrance though, just took our passports and gave us a stamp for entering South Africa. They asked us to pop open the trunk at the gate, saw a bunch of backpacks, and sent us on our way. Very easy, and no attempts to bribe unlike most other border crossings we went through this trip.
Our route to Johannesburg was not on the main highways which was good, as they sounded backed up based on the radio traffic reports. Around noon we left the highway in Frankfurt to look for a little cafe or restaurant. The town looked like it had seen better days. Most of the store and restaurants were closed and boarded up. The busiest (and only open) restaurant, based on cars parked outside, had no windows, never a good sign. Instead we went to the grocery store we had seen on the way in. This also had seen better times -- half the shelves were empty. We bought some cheese and crackers to tide us over and left Frankfurt in a hurry.
The GPS was really helpful at getting us to 33 Melville. We drove through downtown Johannesburg along the way, our only view of the downtown core, which looked just as car-centric as the rest of the country. We arrived at the b&b around 3pm, the end of our long road trip. We drove 4,500km over 21 days, covering a good chunk of the eastern half of South Africa.
We had earlier emailed the b&b to arrange to have dinner. We both chose fish options (sea bass for Heather, salmon for me) which were cooked properly. We ate outside because we figured it was one of our last chances to do so before we flew back to Toronto. It was a bit chilly but okay with our jackets.
...
The next morning we had a pleasant breakfast, seated in the kitchen. We both asked for french toast to break up the monotony of eggs, eggs, and more eggs that have been on offer the entire trip.
It was drizzling as we drove to the Apartheid Museum. The GPS proved very handy again. We parked and ran over the ticket booth to escape the rain. Then we realized half the museum was outdoors, so Heather ran back to get our umbrellas. The entrance to the museum is separated for blacks and whites, just like during apartheid. The tickets alternate between a "white" and "black" ticket, and depending on which one you get, that's the entrance you use. The first displays are separate -- you only get to see the half you're in. After about 5-10 minutes, they group up again. It really emphasizes partially what it was like during apartheid.
There's lots of details in the museum. We took about 3.5 hours to get through, skipping over the temporary exhibits as they aren't necessarily apartheid related.
We decided to eat at the on-site café because usually cafés at museums and art galleries are pretty good. Except for this one. Both our dishes were bland. Oh well.
On the way back home we called into a couple craft stores for our final look at souvenirs, Art Africa on Tyrone, and Kim Sacks Gallery. In particular we were looking at the african bed that's made from a single piece of wood, and is used by westerners as coffee tables. We took some pics and dimensions and will decide when we get back home. Our favourite was 79" x 29", so I think it might be too big for our house.
We had debated eating out at a restaurant just to check out the scene, but most places were closed over the Christmas holidays. We just ate at the hotel again, we had ordered lamb, which was amazing.
...
Our flight departed at 11:59pm so we had the full day in Johannesburg. I had booked 33 Melville for a 1/2 day so that we could shower and relax before we got on the flight.
In the morning we visited Liliesleaf Farm, which is where the underground movement was arrested at the height of apartheid. All the reviews we had read said that it was very underrated. They were right! It was an excellent museum, with lots of interactive displays and explanations. Their café was excellent too. It's a good complement to the Apartheid Museum that we had visited the day before.
After lunch we returned back to the b&b and packed up our bags for the flights home. Surprisingly all of our stuff fit into our two backpacks and one carry-on suitcase. We were planning to check the suitcase because it had the sculptures from Mozambique that were made from old gun parts. We didn't want the hassle of trying to take it as carry-on.
We had a light dinner, a repeat of the fish we had the other night. I still had to drive the rental car back to the airport so didn't have anything to drink. Also didn't want to be dehydrated getting on the flight.
So followed the GPS to the airport. I was a little nervous as the route took us through the city streets at night. At some of the red lights, the other cars used them as stop signs so I followed suit (it's to prevent possible carjackings at red lights while you're stopped). We made it without issue to the airport, dropped off the car, and checked in. We browsed around the souvenir shops while waiting. There's an Art Africa in departures, and the quality and variety was really good. We could have just waited and bought all our souvenirs here!
Our flight left about 30 minutes late, and then we were on our way back home!
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Ts'ehlanyane NP, Lesotho
We were up by 7am on a nice Christmas morning. We were the first down for breakfast, outside on the patio.
Maliba has detailed maps of various treks in the area. We chose a shorter walk for today, a circular route to Black Pool, about 6.5km round trip.
We were on the trail by 9:15am, starting with the Upper Trail. It ascended to about 2300m, through a well-marked trail. There were hundreds of butterflies flitting about as we walked. The temperature fluctuated almost 10C depending on the sun/clouds and side of the valley. There were a handful of streams to cross with rocks, nothing too difficult.
We reached Black Pool in just over an hour, slightly ahead of the map timings. (We were comparing our times for reference in case we decided to do a longer trek tomorrow).
We rested for 10 minutes then header back on the Lower Trail. This was easy until we passed a sign that said "Cross at own risk". Hmm. A few metres on was a stream that had rocks to cross, but only if you had some speed. So mapped our route and hopped across.
Still dry, we walked on and then there was another stream, this one we would have to take off our shoes and socks. Picked the place where the stream was shallow and slow enough, and got across with water up to our knees.
After crossing we realized there was a family watching us as they were trying to cross the other way.
The rest of the walk was easy. We walked down by the self-serve cottages and saw the start of a different trail that we were interested in. However it started with fjording the river, which made it less interesting to us.
We walked back up to our chalet, showered, and went to the main lodge for lunch. The lodge put on their big Christmas spread for lunch - roast beef, roast pork with crackling, chicken, and lots of sides. The crackling was my favourite, although I was a bit concerned about chipping a tooth. We felt justified in eating so much cause we had just done an 8km trek.
It was a gorgeous day, perfect temperature. Our chalet doors opened up fully (four door widths), and so it was like the entire chalet was open to the view.
We were still full when we went down for dinner. There were lots of day-trippers at the restaurant, and the staff were really busy. Dinner was mostly leftovers from lunch. Just like Christmas at home :)
...
We had planned to go hiking again but Heather had a big bruise on the back of her heel, we think from yesterday's river crossing. It was too sore for shoes so instead we made plans for a cultural visit of a nearby village.
Our guide was one of the staff from who we had been trying to learn how to say "thanks" in Sesotho.
We drove about 15 minutes to a local bar, and tried some home brewed beer. It was slightly sweet. Next was a visit to a house / rondavel, and then to a traditional "doctor". People nowadays go to a real doctor (we saw mobile clinics on the road) and use the traditional doctor more for conflict resolution, like family fights.
Anyways the cultural visit was something to do.
Lunch was my favourite at the lodge, pan-fried lamb chops. It came with a half plate full of seasonal vegetables. It was very similar to what we might have for dinner at home!
The rest of the day was uneventful. We were still full from lunch when we went down for dinner, and didn't eat much. A typical Boxing Day :)
Maliba has detailed maps of various treks in the area. We chose a shorter walk for today, a circular route to Black Pool, about 6.5km round trip.
We were on the trail by 9:15am, starting with the Upper Trail. It ascended to about 2300m, through a well-marked trail. There were hundreds of butterflies flitting about as we walked. The temperature fluctuated almost 10C depending on the sun/clouds and side of the valley. There were a handful of streams to cross with rocks, nothing too difficult.
We reached Black Pool in just over an hour, slightly ahead of the map timings. (We were comparing our times for reference in case we decided to do a longer trek tomorrow).
We rested for 10 minutes then header back on the Lower Trail. This was easy until we passed a sign that said "Cross at own risk". Hmm. A few metres on was a stream that had rocks to cross, but only if you had some speed. So mapped our route and hopped across.
Still dry, we walked on and then there was another stream, this one we would have to take off our shoes and socks. Picked the place where the stream was shallow and slow enough, and got across with water up to our knees.
After crossing we realized there was a family watching us as they were trying to cross the other way.
The rest of the walk was easy. We walked down by the self-serve cottages and saw the start of a different trail that we were interested in. However it started with fjording the river, which made it less interesting to us.
We walked back up to our chalet, showered, and went to the main lodge for lunch. The lodge put on their big Christmas spread for lunch - roast beef, roast pork with crackling, chicken, and lots of sides. The crackling was my favourite, although I was a bit concerned about chipping a tooth. We felt justified in eating so much cause we had just done an 8km trek.
It was a gorgeous day, perfect temperature. Our chalet doors opened up fully (four door widths), and so it was like the entire chalet was open to the view.
We were still full when we went down for dinner. There were lots of day-trippers at the restaurant, and the staff were really busy. Dinner was mostly leftovers from lunch. Just like Christmas at home :)
...
We had planned to go hiking again but Heather had a big bruise on the back of her heel, we think from yesterday's river crossing. It was too sore for shoes so instead we made plans for a cultural visit of a nearby village.
Our guide was one of the staff from who we had been trying to learn how to say "thanks" in Sesotho.
We drove about 15 minutes to a local bar, and tried some home brewed beer. It was slightly sweet. Next was a visit to a house / rondavel, and then to a traditional "doctor". People nowadays go to a real doctor (we saw mobile clinics on the road) and use the traditional doctor more for conflict resolution, like family fights.
Anyways the cultural visit was something to do.
Lunch was my favourite at the lodge, pan-fried lamb chops. It came with a half plate full of seasonal vegetables. It was very similar to what we might have for dinner at home!
The rest of the day was uneventful. We were still full from lunch when we went down for dinner, and didn't eat much. A typical Boxing Day :)
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Ts'ehlanyane NP, Lesotho
We were the only guests staying at Patcham Place in Clarens so had our choice of tables for breakfast.
I had booked for two nights in Clarens because all the guest houses in Clarens had a two-night minimum for booking over a weekend. However the owners didn't hold us to the 2nd night and only charged us for the one.
Clarens was a nice enough town to visit for the afternoon but there wasn't too much keeping us beyond that.
So onto Lesotho, the 75th country for me, three-quarters of the way to my goal of 100.
It was a 45 minute drive to the border town of Caledonspoort. There were a couple police checks along the way as we got closer to the border, as well as a check for drinking and driving (similar to the RIDE stops in Toronto).
At the border, we parked the car at the South African side and stood in line for about 10 minutes to receive our exit stamp. It was busier than normal because of Christmas.
There was another lineup on the Lesotho side. Non-regional visitors have to fill out a form; the helpful staff also gave us a few tourism pamphlets. Heather got held up for a bit as the border official was asking her for a visa. Canadians don't need a visa and it didn't look like an attempt at a bribe so we're not sure what was going on. Anyways he called over another person and then let Heather through.
There was a cursory check of our trunk, and then we were on our way.
It was still early in the day (about 10:30am) so we decided to head first to Hlotse for craft shopping, adding about an hour to the drive.
I wasn't sure where the craft shops would be so followed the signs to the town centre. It was the local centre, which looked very similar to some of the smaller towns we drove through in the Eastern Cape, south of Lesotho.
I pulled over and we looked up in google maps (I had offlined the area earlier) the craft shop mentioned in the pamphlet we received at the border. It was just around the corner from us.
We drove in and parked. There was a sign on the door to call a cell number if the door was closed. We didn't have a data plan so walked around, and found the lady who ran the shop in her home next door. She came by and opened the shop.
They had good quality mohair crafts per Heather who's more particular about woven goods. Bought a few items, and then got back on the road.
The way to Maliba Lodge in Ts'ehlanyane NP was clearly marked. The road wound through the river valley and through small villages with speed bumps. Lots of gear shifting!
The people reminded us of Bolivia, with distinctive hats and ponchos/blankets for the cold. Lesotho is mostly at an altitude between 2-3000m, a very different climate from South Africa.
After 45 minutes we reached the gate to the national park, and the road turned to gravel. Another five minutes and we were there!
I had booked Maliba over Dec 24-25-26 as it offers full board, and we've found restaurants and stores hit-and-miss for being open over Christmas. There's lots of hiking opportunities, so seemed like a good fit for Christmas. Plus it would keep us off the roads, the DUI rate is very high in South Africa, and I figured more so over the holidays.
Anyways it was still before noon and our room wasn't ready yet. We had a very nice 3-course lunch (the restaurant at Maliba is one of the better ones in Lesotho according to the Lonely Planet).
Maliba has only six chalets (as well as some self-catering cottages) and I had booked back in April to make sure we got in. I guess cause we were first to book they gave us the "honeymoon" chalet, more secluded from the rest of the complex. We had a really nice view down the valley from our room and large balcony.
We relaxed until dinner. They had some cultural dancing that started at 6:30pm, we're not big fans as usually it ends up with audience participation, so only went down to the main lodge for dinner at 7pm.
Heather had the winner for her main, duck breast with a red wine sauce.
We were tired (I think we've been on safari time the entire trip) and went to bed around 9am. Our room had a fireplace, the first time in years that we've had a chance for Santa to drop by.
I had booked for two nights in Clarens because all the guest houses in Clarens had a two-night minimum for booking over a weekend. However the owners didn't hold us to the 2nd night and only charged us for the one.
Clarens was a nice enough town to visit for the afternoon but there wasn't too much keeping us beyond that.
So onto Lesotho, the 75th country for me, three-quarters of the way to my goal of 100.
It was a 45 minute drive to the border town of Caledonspoort. There were a couple police checks along the way as we got closer to the border, as well as a check for drinking and driving (similar to the RIDE stops in Toronto).
At the border, we parked the car at the South African side and stood in line for about 10 minutes to receive our exit stamp. It was busier than normal because of Christmas.
There was another lineup on the Lesotho side. Non-regional visitors have to fill out a form; the helpful staff also gave us a few tourism pamphlets. Heather got held up for a bit as the border official was asking her for a visa. Canadians don't need a visa and it didn't look like an attempt at a bribe so we're not sure what was going on. Anyways he called over another person and then let Heather through.
There was a cursory check of our trunk, and then we were on our way.
It was still early in the day (about 10:30am) so we decided to head first to Hlotse for craft shopping, adding about an hour to the drive.
I wasn't sure where the craft shops would be so followed the signs to the town centre. It was the local centre, which looked very similar to some of the smaller towns we drove through in the Eastern Cape, south of Lesotho.
I pulled over and we looked up in google maps (I had offlined the area earlier) the craft shop mentioned in the pamphlet we received at the border. It was just around the corner from us.
We drove in and parked. There was a sign on the door to call a cell number if the door was closed. We didn't have a data plan so walked around, and found the lady who ran the shop in her home next door. She came by and opened the shop.
They had good quality mohair crafts per Heather who's more particular about woven goods. Bought a few items, and then got back on the road.
The way to Maliba Lodge in Ts'ehlanyane NP was clearly marked. The road wound through the river valley and through small villages with speed bumps. Lots of gear shifting!
The people reminded us of Bolivia, with distinctive hats and ponchos/blankets for the cold. Lesotho is mostly at an altitude between 2-3000m, a very different climate from South Africa.
After 45 minutes we reached the gate to the national park, and the road turned to gravel. Another five minutes and we were there!
I had booked Maliba over Dec 24-25-26 as it offers full board, and we've found restaurants and stores hit-and-miss for being open over Christmas. There's lots of hiking opportunities, so seemed like a good fit for Christmas. Plus it would keep us off the roads, the DUI rate is very high in South Africa, and I figured more so over the holidays.
Anyways it was still before noon and our room wasn't ready yet. We had a very nice 3-course lunch (the restaurant at Maliba is one of the better ones in Lesotho according to the Lonely Planet).
Maliba has only six chalets (as well as some self-catering cottages) and I had booked back in April to make sure we got in. I guess cause we were first to book they gave us the "honeymoon" chalet, more secluded from the rest of the complex. We had a really nice view down the valley from our room and large balcony.
We relaxed until dinner. They had some cultural dancing that started at 6:30pm, we're not big fans as usually it ends up with audience participation, so only went down to the main lodge for dinner at 7pm.
Heather had the winner for her main, duck breast with a red wine sauce.
We were tired (I think we've been on safari time the entire trip) and went to bed around 9am. Our room had a fireplace, the first time in years that we've had a chance for Santa to drop by.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Clarens, South Africa
It was much nicer in Bloemfontein in the morning. The temperature was cooler, there was no wind or dust storms. The "view" in Franklin's View (the hotel name) made more sense now.
Loaded up the car and took off for Clarens. This was a straightforward 3h drive along major highways. We actually paid attention to the traffic reports on the radio as it was for the highways around Jo'burg.
Passed through Bethlehem on the way. I had looked into staying there when I was doing the planning but everything was already booked over Christmas. Haha.
We arrived in Clarens just after 11am. It was still early to check in so we parked our car and walked down the street for lunch.
It was unusually hot for Clarens, about 31C. None of the hotel rooms have a/c as that's never been an issue here. It was also very windy, and dusty due to the drought.
Clarens is a small town (pop. 800) that reminded us of Banff or other small resort places. The motorcycle guys we met in Barkly's Pass said Clarens is full of yuppies who drive up in their BMWs and sit on patios drinking their cappuccinos and craft beers. I resemble that remark!
We had lunch at Mosaic Pizza and tried a craft beer. Both were good, although I found the pizza too cheesy.
Walked back to the hotel and checked in. Then back out to the square and Main St (that's all there is to this town) to browse through the boutique stores. It was mostly kitschy generic stuff, of average quality, so the browsing didn't last long. Had a cappuccino at a little café.
About 3pm we called into the Clarens Brewery which was packed with tourists. We had a voucher for a free beer each. Tried the free samplers of nine beers, and made our choices. Unfortunately the keg was too fizzy for my choice so I had Heather's pick too.
It started raining and looked like it could downpour so moved inside. Just in time too, as the skies opened up and then everyone moved inside. We had a little hightable in the corner, overlooking the whole bar.
It was still raining when I finished my free beer so ordered another one. It briefly hailed marble-sized hail, nothing big enough to damage our car.
The skies cleared so we ventured home, showered, and then back out for dinner. Our hotel had recommended Gosto (which they also owned, but it did get good reviews on TripAdvisor and had great atmosphere when we stopped in earlier to check the menu and make a reservation).
The weather was perfect for outdoor seating (under a covered patio, in case of rain). I had the ribeye (first time I had seen this cut) and Heather had the lamb. Both were rather large portions. It went well with the red wine recommended by the waitstaff.
It started pouring rain towards the end of dinner, but after about 10 minutes it stopped long enough for us to walk home.
Loaded up the car and took off for Clarens. This was a straightforward 3h drive along major highways. We actually paid attention to the traffic reports on the radio as it was for the highways around Jo'burg.
Passed through Bethlehem on the way. I had looked into staying there when I was doing the planning but everything was already booked over Christmas. Haha.
We arrived in Clarens just after 11am. It was still early to check in so we parked our car and walked down the street for lunch.
It was unusually hot for Clarens, about 31C. None of the hotel rooms have a/c as that's never been an issue here. It was also very windy, and dusty due to the drought.
Clarens is a small town (pop. 800) that reminded us of Banff or other small resort places. The motorcycle guys we met in Barkly's Pass said Clarens is full of yuppies who drive up in their BMWs and sit on patios drinking their cappuccinos and craft beers. I resemble that remark!
We had lunch at Mosaic Pizza and tried a craft beer. Both were good, although I found the pizza too cheesy.
Walked back to the hotel and checked in. Then back out to the square and Main St (that's all there is to this town) to browse through the boutique stores. It was mostly kitschy generic stuff, of average quality, so the browsing didn't last long. Had a cappuccino at a little café.
About 3pm we called into the Clarens Brewery which was packed with tourists. We had a voucher for a free beer each. Tried the free samplers of nine beers, and made our choices. Unfortunately the keg was too fizzy for my choice so I had Heather's pick too.
It started raining and looked like it could downpour so moved inside. Just in time too, as the skies opened up and then everyone moved inside. We had a little hightable in the corner, overlooking the whole bar.
It was still raining when I finished my free beer so ordered another one. It briefly hailed marble-sized hail, nothing big enough to damage our car.
The skies cleared so we ventured home, showered, and then back out for dinner. Our hotel had recommended Gosto (which they also owned, but it did get good reviews on TripAdvisor and had great atmosphere when we stopped in earlier to check the menu and make a reservation).
The weather was perfect for outdoor seating (under a covered patio, in case of rain). I had the ribeye (first time I had seen this cut) and Heather had the lamb. Both were rather large portions. It went well with the red wine recommended by the waitstaff.
It started pouring rain towards the end of dinner, but after about 10 minutes it stopped long enough for us to walk home.
Friday, December 23, 2016
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Breakfast was confusing at the Victoria Manor in Cradock as to what was served vs self-serve.
Back at our cottage, packed up, and made some cheese sandwiches for lunch with bread and cheese we had bought yesterday at True Living.
It's a 4.5 hour drive to Bloemfontein and we took it slowly, stopping to stretch at one of the picnic stops found every few km along the highway. Our route took us on the N1, the main highway between Cape Town and Jo'burg. The opposing traffic was packed with people leaving Jo'burg for their Christmas holidays, mostly to the coast.
It was very windy and dusty due to the extended drought in southeastern Africa. We stopped for lunch and ate our cheese sandwiches.
We arrived at the Franklin View about 3pm. There wasn't much time to get to museums or art galleries (they close at 4pm) so Bloemfontein turned more into a transit stop, even though it's possible to spend a day or two.
Gustav (the owner) made us reservations at Margaritas. It's rated #6 of about 80 in Bloemfontein and was only a ten minute walk. Gustav assured us it was safe to walk to the restaurant (there are safe spots in South Africa, but you need to get local advice).
A huge dust storm blew up on the distance around 4pm, but by 7pm it was calm and we walked over to Margarita's.
It's both a steak and seafood place, we went for the steak. The steak was okay, cooked perfectly, but nowhere near the excellent steaks we had in Argentina and Chile.
Walked back home without issue, and went to bed.
Back at our cottage, packed up, and made some cheese sandwiches for lunch with bread and cheese we had bought yesterday at True Living.
It's a 4.5 hour drive to Bloemfontein and we took it slowly, stopping to stretch at one of the picnic stops found every few km along the highway. Our route took us on the N1, the main highway between Cape Town and Jo'burg. The opposing traffic was packed with people leaving Jo'burg for their Christmas holidays, mostly to the coast.
It was very windy and dusty due to the extended drought in southeastern Africa. We stopped for lunch and ate our cheese sandwiches.
We arrived at the Franklin View about 3pm. There wasn't much time to get to museums or art galleries (they close at 4pm) so Bloemfontein turned more into a transit stop, even though it's possible to spend a day or two.
Gustav (the owner) made us reservations at Margaritas. It's rated #6 of about 80 in Bloemfontein and was only a ten minute walk. Gustav assured us it was safe to walk to the restaurant (there are safe spots in South Africa, but you need to get local advice).
A huge dust storm blew up on the distance around 4pm, but by 7pm it was calm and we walked over to Margarita's.
It's both a steak and seafood place, we went for the steak. The steak was okay, cooked perfectly, but nowhere near the excellent steaks we had in Argentina and Chile.
Walked back home without issue, and went to bed.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Cradock, South Africa
We were up early at 6am to get ready for the cheetah tracking excursion at Mountain Zebra NP. The hotel had packed breakfasts for us, and we were on our way by 6:45am. It's only 12 minutes to the park gates (the excursion started at 7:30) but we weren't sure how far we had to go to after the gates.
We arrived at the entrance at 7am, just a couple minutes before it opened. We were amazed at how close it was to Cradock. It was then about 15 minutes drive on gravel to the reception, where we paid, and parked our car.
The reception person was pleased that all eight of us were on time. The cheetah tracking is limited to 8 per day - I had booked back in July. They track the cheetahs with GPS, and then you get out on foot to get even closer. We were lucky to have seen a cheetah in Sabi Sands so it was already checked off the list, but I didn't count on that back in July.
Paid about $100 CAD between the two of us, which included both the park fee and excursion. They even took credit card.
We piled into the safari vehicle. The ranger had a very short intro while putting together his tracking antennae, mentioning something about seeing a family of lions. Wait, lions? I hadn't read anything about lions!
First we ascended to a high point in the park, so that the ranger could try to get a signal. He waved his antennae about for a few minutes. All I heard was static but he seemed pleased to have a sense of where both the lions and cheetah were. Lions??
Lions were the last of the big five for us on this trip. We had seen lions when we were in Uganda, so had the career big five, but it would be nice to see them on the same trip.
We drove for a couple more minutes and then the ranger stopped and waved the antennae. This time I heard a beep beep beep!
A car drove past us in the other direction and chatted with our ranger, saying they had seen the lions about 200m around the bend. The ranger listened politely, and then drove 5m forward and then off-roaded around a large bush to our left. There were two male lions!!
We stopped and watched them. Then two females walked by to a tree about 50m away. While we were busy taking pics, the cubs strolled out from under the same bush. It was really cool.
The cubs posed for pics while the adults watched from the shade under trees.
Finally it was time to move on to find the cheetahs. The ranger said very dryly, that wasn't a bad start to the day. (We were only about 15 minutes in).
We drove slowly through the park to a slight depression. There laying by a watering hole were two cheetah!
The ranger gave a very short safety spiel, loaded his rifle, and then we got out of the vehicle and walked closer to the cheetah, to within 10m. The cheetah looked over at us with a bored glance.
Another couple cars pulled up (it's possible to do self-driving safaris, but you have to stay on the road and in your car). The ranger hoped they didn't join us down by the cheetah. Apparently some don't realize it's an organized excursion with a ranger with a loaded shotgun.
As it was they got out of their cars to take pics. We walked back to our vehicle and the ranger asked the other tourists if they were concerned about lions, black rhinos, or even the cheetahs? I don't know if they understood the danger they were in but they got back in their cars.
We had only been on safari for 1:15h and had checked off both the highlights! We drove around some more, saw some more game, but nothing as exciting as the three lion cubs.
The safari was 2.5h in total. We had breakfast in the restaurant at reception, then drove back to Cradock.
It was well worth the effort to get out to Cradock to do the cheetah tracking excursion. It's the 2nd time we've signed up for a GPS tracking and both were excellent. It's easy to find the game, and you can off-road while other tourists peer through the bushes.
Had lunch at True Living again. I had the Karoo lamb chops, grilled perfectly.
It was getting hot (high near 36C) and we had little motivation to see museums. Caught up on reading, edited and uploaded some pics, napped.
Had dinner again at the hotel, with three different Karoo mains. We were tired with the early start, and wanted to get on the road early tomorrow, and so were in bed by 9:30pm, still on safari time.
We arrived at the entrance at 7am, just a couple minutes before it opened. We were amazed at how close it was to Cradock. It was then about 15 minutes drive on gravel to the reception, where we paid, and parked our car.
The reception person was pleased that all eight of us were on time. The cheetah tracking is limited to 8 per day - I had booked back in July. They track the cheetahs with GPS, and then you get out on foot to get even closer. We were lucky to have seen a cheetah in Sabi Sands so it was already checked off the list, but I didn't count on that back in July.
Paid about $100 CAD between the two of us, which included both the park fee and excursion. They even took credit card.
We piled into the safari vehicle. The ranger had a very short intro while putting together his tracking antennae, mentioning something about seeing a family of lions. Wait, lions? I hadn't read anything about lions!
First we ascended to a high point in the park, so that the ranger could try to get a signal. He waved his antennae about for a few minutes. All I heard was static but he seemed pleased to have a sense of where both the lions and cheetah were. Lions??
Lions were the last of the big five for us on this trip. We had seen lions when we were in Uganda, so had the career big five, but it would be nice to see them on the same trip.
We drove for a couple more minutes and then the ranger stopped and waved the antennae. This time I heard a beep beep beep!
A car drove past us in the other direction and chatted with our ranger, saying they had seen the lions about 200m around the bend. The ranger listened politely, and then drove 5m forward and then off-roaded around a large bush to our left. There were two male lions!!
We stopped and watched them. Then two females walked by to a tree about 50m away. While we were busy taking pics, the cubs strolled out from under the same bush. It was really cool.
The cubs posed for pics while the adults watched from the shade under trees.
Finally it was time to move on to find the cheetahs. The ranger said very dryly, that wasn't a bad start to the day. (We were only about 15 minutes in).
We drove slowly through the park to a slight depression. There laying by a watering hole were two cheetah!
The ranger gave a very short safety spiel, loaded his rifle, and then we got out of the vehicle and walked closer to the cheetah, to within 10m. The cheetah looked over at us with a bored glance.
Another couple cars pulled up (it's possible to do self-driving safaris, but you have to stay on the road and in your car). The ranger hoped they didn't join us down by the cheetah. Apparently some don't realize it's an organized excursion with a ranger with a loaded shotgun.
As it was they got out of their cars to take pics. We walked back to our vehicle and the ranger asked the other tourists if they were concerned about lions, black rhinos, or even the cheetahs? I don't know if they understood the danger they were in but they got back in their cars.
We had only been on safari for 1:15h and had checked off both the highlights! We drove around some more, saw some more game, but nothing as exciting as the three lion cubs.
The safari was 2.5h in total. We had breakfast in the restaurant at reception, then drove back to Cradock.
It was well worth the effort to get out to Cradock to do the cheetah tracking excursion. It's the 2nd time we've signed up for a GPS tracking and both were excellent. It's easy to find the game, and you can off-road while other tourists peer through the bushes.
Had lunch at True Living again. I had the Karoo lamb chops, grilled perfectly.
It was getting hot (high near 36C) and we had little motivation to see museums. Caught up on reading, edited and uploaded some pics, napped.
Had dinner again at the hotel, with three different Karoo mains. We were tired with the early start, and wanted to get on the road early tomorrow, and so were in bed by 9:30pm, still on safari time.
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Cradock, South Africa
It was very misty at Barkly's Pass when I woke up at 6am, so there was not to be any early morning pics.
The power was back up and I could get a wifi signal. I thought it would be stronger inside the main lodge, but there was no signal at all there. The best connection was outside our cottage so I sat on the curb, a little cold at 18C.
Heather woke up a bit later and we went for breakfast. It was the first place that served canned fruit on this trip.
So we drove down from the pass, dropping enough to get under the clouds and out of the fog. The temperature was still in the low 20s. It was supposed to reach 35C at Cradock, our destination, so we were constantly checking the temperature readout on the car's dash to see when it would rise.
Today's drive was very different from yesterday's. There were long straight stretches, again with hardly any cars. The roads were mostly recently resurfaced. I had wondered why the roads looked great but there was no construction delays, until last night when the motorcycle guys said that all the construction crews were on vacation for the holidays. That worked out great for us, as we got great roads and no construction.
The drive was through an ancient sea bed, broken up by hills every 10kms or so. Every time we got to the top I expected a change in landscape but it was always another flat plain, and you could see the road rising at the far end through another hill.
Anyways it was a very scenic drive.
We reached Cradock in 3.5h, just as the GPS had predicted. We stayed in one of the cottages at the Victoria Manor. The owners have bought up the old Victorian cottages on Market St, beside the hotel, and restored them as part of the hotel. So we had our own house: kitchen, bathroom, 2 bedrooms and a living room. They had antiques from the 1900's all about. It was like living in a museum (the 2nd time this trip we've had this experience).
We checked in and then went for lunch down the main street at True Living. Sat on their backyard patio and had a refreshing ginger beer and then lunch.
We did some touristing on the way back to the hotel, and even stopped in at the town's Info center. They recommended a couple museums. It was too hot today and I was tired from driving so we put it off until tomorrow after our safari.
Organized ourselves for the Cheetah tracking tomorrow and later went back to the main lodge for a drink at their bar. The hotel reminds me of staying at one of the old CN railway hotels in Canada - there's lots of history to the place.
Dinner was a buffet, but one of the best buffet we've ever had. The appetizers and desserts were served to the table; the three mains were buffet. It was all local Karoo dishes, very authentic. It was mmm good.
The power was back up and I could get a wifi signal. I thought it would be stronger inside the main lodge, but there was no signal at all there. The best connection was outside our cottage so I sat on the curb, a little cold at 18C.
Heather woke up a bit later and we went for breakfast. It was the first place that served canned fruit on this trip.
So we drove down from the pass, dropping enough to get under the clouds and out of the fog. The temperature was still in the low 20s. It was supposed to reach 35C at Cradock, our destination, so we were constantly checking the temperature readout on the car's dash to see when it would rise.
Today's drive was very different from yesterday's. There were long straight stretches, again with hardly any cars. The roads were mostly recently resurfaced. I had wondered why the roads looked great but there was no construction delays, until last night when the motorcycle guys said that all the construction crews were on vacation for the holidays. That worked out great for us, as we got great roads and no construction.
The drive was through an ancient sea bed, broken up by hills every 10kms or so. Every time we got to the top I expected a change in landscape but it was always another flat plain, and you could see the road rising at the far end through another hill.
Anyways it was a very scenic drive.
We reached Cradock in 3.5h, just as the GPS had predicted. We stayed in one of the cottages at the Victoria Manor. The owners have bought up the old Victorian cottages on Market St, beside the hotel, and restored them as part of the hotel. So we had our own house: kitchen, bathroom, 2 bedrooms and a living room. They had antiques from the 1900's all about. It was like living in a museum (the 2nd time this trip we've had this experience).
We checked in and then went for lunch down the main street at True Living. Sat on their backyard patio and had a refreshing ginger beer and then lunch.
We did some touristing on the way back to the hotel, and even stopped in at the town's Info center. They recommended a couple museums. It was too hot today and I was tired from driving so we put it off until tomorrow after our safari.
Organized ourselves for the Cheetah tracking tomorrow and later went back to the main lodge for a drink at their bar. The hotel reminds me of staying at one of the old CN railway hotels in Canada - there's lots of history to the place.
Dinner was a buffet, but one of the best buffet we've ever had. The appetizers and desserts were served to the table; the three mains were buffet. It was all local Karoo dishes, very authentic. It was mmm good.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Elliot, South Africa
The Malachite Manor has lots of natural light and once we opened the curtains and blinds the room was really bright. We had breakfast and packed up, on the road by 8:45.
It was supposed to a 4.5 hour drive to our next stop, but we got caught up in local traffic in towns. There were really nice views of the Drakensberg on our right as we drove.
The driving was really fun. The road didn't have a flat or straight section - I was constantly shifting gears. It's the type of road they shoot car commercials on.
At about 2:30 we were an hour out from Elliot, and I was getting physically tired from driving, what with all the changing of gears. (Unlike most driving in Canada where I eventually get mentally fatigued). We pulled into a small little bakery for a tea and snacks just outside Ugie. Their baked goods all looked very yummy. We had some scones with butter and apricot jam, and a Five Roses. (Black tea is referred to by the brand here).
I felt much better for the last stretch into Elliot. The hotel we were staying at was 20km outside Elliot, at the top of Barkly's Pass. The rock formations were amazing. Luckily there were no other cars or trucks (as there was nowhere to pass) and so it was a fun drive to the top in our little Toyota Corolla.
You would think at 1990m the temperature would be lower, but it was still 35C as we pulled into Mountain Shadow Inn. It was unusually hot.
There's no air conditioning as the issue is usually cold. But at night the temperature drops to 17C so it wasn't really needed.
The power went out around 5pm, a common occurrence at the Inn, and they were well prepared. We showered while it was still light outside, and then went to the main lodge for a drink.
The Inn has a warm British-style pub, complete with other travelers having a boisterous conversation. The ringleaders were four old friends from university that were now retired and got together once a year to adventure motorbike in different parts of the country.
We were quickly welcomed into the group and had some drinks. They were quite intrigued to find tourists in this part of the country - I guess mostly tourists hit the highlights of safaris and coast.
Dinner was excellent, South African comfort food - sliced beef, lamb chop, beets, pumpkin (which here has a tea leaf flavour when cooked), creamed beans.
The four guys had insisted we join them back in the bar area for a drink after dinner on them (or a nightcap as it's called). So we had another drink, Heather tried a amarula, a South African cream liqueur somewhat like Bailey's.
The power was still out when we went to bed, it was so dark (it was raining so there were no stars or moon) that we couldn't see our hand in front of our face.
It was supposed to a 4.5 hour drive to our next stop, but we got caught up in local traffic in towns. There were really nice views of the Drakensberg on our right as we drove.
The driving was really fun. The road didn't have a flat or straight section - I was constantly shifting gears. It's the type of road they shoot car commercials on.
At about 2:30 we were an hour out from Elliot, and I was getting physically tired from driving, what with all the changing of gears. (Unlike most driving in Canada where I eventually get mentally fatigued). We pulled into a small little bakery for a tea and snacks just outside Ugie. Their baked goods all looked very yummy. We had some scones with butter and apricot jam, and a Five Roses. (Black tea is referred to by the brand here).
I felt much better for the last stretch into Elliot. The hotel we were staying at was 20km outside Elliot, at the top of Barkly's Pass. The rock formations were amazing. Luckily there were no other cars or trucks (as there was nowhere to pass) and so it was a fun drive to the top in our little Toyota Corolla.
You would think at 1990m the temperature would be lower, but it was still 35C as we pulled into Mountain Shadow Inn. It was unusually hot.
There's no air conditioning as the issue is usually cold. But at night the temperature drops to 17C so it wasn't really needed.
The power went out around 5pm, a common occurrence at the Inn, and they were well prepared. We showered while it was still light outside, and then went to the main lodge for a drink.
The Inn has a warm British-style pub, complete with other travelers having a boisterous conversation. The ringleaders were four old friends from university that were now retired and got together once a year to adventure motorbike in different parts of the country.
We were quickly welcomed into the group and had some drinks. They were quite intrigued to find tourists in this part of the country - I guess mostly tourists hit the highlights of safaris and coast.
Dinner was excellent, South African comfort food - sliced beef, lamb chop, beets, pumpkin (which here has a tea leaf flavour when cooked), creamed beans.
The four guys had insisted we join them back in the bar area for a drink after dinner on them (or a nightcap as it's called). So we had another drink, Heather tried a amarula, a South African cream liqueur somewhat like Bailey's.
The power was still out when we went to bed, it was so dark (it was raining so there were no stars or moon) that we couldn't see our hand in front of our face.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Underberg, South Africa
We made it down for breakfast around 7:30 at the Benjamin in Durban, and had checked out and on the road by 8:30.
Our goal was to get to our hotel on Underberg with enough time to go for a little trek in the afternoon.
The GPS was good and took us straight to the Malachite Manor, arriving well before noon. The roads were in excellent shape the whole way.
The Malachite is 4km outside Underberg, very close to the Drakensberg, a popular place for hikes. The access road was like driving to a fancy cottage. The lodge is just a year old, built by the owners who took great care with all the details.
We were met by the owner, Carrin. I had emailed her a couple days ago about half day hikes and she had printouts all ready for us! First was a quick lunch. We also placed our orders for dinner, steak for me and lamb for Heather.
Then we looked at the hiking options, and decided just to walk down the marked trail by the river near the hotel instead of driving to a starting point.
It was hotter than normal for Underberg, about 33C, but after 40+C in Sabi Sands it didn't feel so bad.
It was a nice little walk, with views of the Drakensberg in the distance, and lots of bird life by the river. We walked for about 4km and then turned around. It was good to get out walking after sitting around in safari vehicles the past couple weeks.
We cleaned up and relaxed in the common area. Had a drink near sunset, and then moved over to the dining area for dinner. There's lots of cattle raised in the area and so the meat was really good. I preferred the lamb and will probably order lamb the rest of the way. The steak was tasty, however the most common cut we've seen is rump steak which is not my favourite.
Another couple returned to the lodge (they had had dinner out in town). We chatted with them for a few minutes and then went to bed.
Our goal was to get to our hotel on Underberg with enough time to go for a little trek in the afternoon.
The GPS was good and took us straight to the Malachite Manor, arriving well before noon. The roads were in excellent shape the whole way.
The Malachite is 4km outside Underberg, very close to the Drakensberg, a popular place for hikes. The access road was like driving to a fancy cottage. The lodge is just a year old, built by the owners who took great care with all the details.
We were met by the owner, Carrin. I had emailed her a couple days ago about half day hikes and she had printouts all ready for us! First was a quick lunch. We also placed our orders for dinner, steak for me and lamb for Heather.
Then we looked at the hiking options, and decided just to walk down the marked trail by the river near the hotel instead of driving to a starting point.
It was hotter than normal for Underberg, about 33C, but after 40+C in Sabi Sands it didn't feel so bad.
It was a nice little walk, with views of the Drakensberg in the distance, and lots of bird life by the river. We walked for about 4km and then turned around. It was good to get out walking after sitting around in safari vehicles the past couple weeks.
We cleaned up and relaxed in the common area. Had a drink near sunset, and then moved over to the dining area for dinner. There's lots of cattle raised in the area and so the meat was really good. I preferred the lamb and will probably order lamb the rest of the way. The steak was tasty, however the most common cut we've seen is rump steak which is not my favourite.
Another couple returned to the lodge (they had had dinner out in town). We chatted with them for a few minutes and then went to bed.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Durban, South Africa
We had the full day in Durban. It hadn't made any plans in advance. When we read the LP yesterday nothing really jumped out. Which was just as well, as I was sick in the morning and we only got going at noon.
Heather and I walked down Florida Rd in search of thin crust pizza. Sat down at ?? which had a nice patio (as did most places on the strip). Our pizza was very good. We stayed for cappuccinos and took in the scene.
Our car was looking sketchy after two weeks of driving on dirt roads to safari lodges, so we went to a car wash. It was a hand wash and full vacuum, which took six people over 30 minutes, for a grand total of $4 CAD. Everyone keeps their cars looking clean so we felt better that ours was clean now too.
On the drive back we heard what sounded like gunshots for the 2nd time today. Both times the locals flinched and ducked for cover, so I don't think it's uncommon.
Parked back in our secure lot at the hotel, and then relaxed in our room. Saw Marissa and Nancy off around 3:30pm (they only had two weeks and were headed back home).
Heather and I went to MoZamBiq for dinner, having made reservations while out for lunch. It was a hopping place, busy even at 8pm with groups of friends having dinner on a Saturday night. The shrimp was better than expected. We wanted to have an early start so just split a bottle of white.
Heather and I walked down Florida Rd in search of thin crust pizza. Sat down at ?? which had a nice patio (as did most places on the strip). Our pizza was very good. We stayed for cappuccinos and took in the scene.
Our car was looking sketchy after two weeks of driving on dirt roads to safari lodges, so we went to a car wash. It was a hand wash and full vacuum, which took six people over 30 minutes, for a grand total of $4 CAD. Everyone keeps their cars looking clean so we felt better that ours was clean now too.
On the drive back we heard what sounded like gunshots for the 2nd time today. Both times the locals flinched and ducked for cover, so I don't think it's uncommon.
Parked back in our secure lot at the hotel, and then relaxed in our room. Saw Marissa and Nancy off around 3:30pm (they only had two weeks and were headed back home).
Heather and I went to MoZamBiq for dinner, having made reservations while out for lunch. It was a hopping place, busy even at 8pm with groups of friends having dinner on a Saturday night. The shrimp was better than expected. We wanted to have an early start so just split a bottle of white.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Durban, South Africa
We actually went on the early morning game drive this time because the ranger (Michael) was so good. Usually I've been skipping the early morning safaris when I have to drive but it was only three hours to Durban.
It rained heavily at some point overnight, but had stopped by 4:30am when we got up. (Yes, 4:30am). At 5am we left to find the elephant herd we had seen yesterday. Michael had tracked them to a grove of eucalyptus trees, and sure enough, they were still there. There's no nutritional value in eucalyptus trees to the elephants - they use them as scratching posts. It also made an interesting background for pics.
We went down to the docks and saw a rhino on the beach, as well as lots of birds. We finished at a viewpoint over the Narrows.
Breakfast was waiting for us when we returned at 8am. We packed up the car, which was quite full with all the souvenirs we bought in Swaziland. Heather and I had handed in half our packs to be laundered, it was good to have mostly clean clothes again.
We saw lots of game on the drive out of the park, including a white rhino! They've cut off the horns on all the rhinos in iSimangaliso to protect them from poachers. The horns are made of keratin, it's the same as cutting your fingernails. The downside is the rhinos don't look as good in pics.
It was three hours to Durban, pretty much just following the N2. It was a toll road on the latter half, which was a nicer highway, two lanes each direction and divided. We ran low on gas (there's no gas stations on the toll roads) but Garmin led us to the nearest one, a few kms off the N2. (Actually, the first one we went to had lost power (or "no lights" as they posted) so we had to find another one).
The GPS was much more useful in the city. We had booked at The Benjamin on Florida Rd, a hip street with lots of cafes and restaurants. Parked in the secure lot around back, and checked in.
I was starving and it was after 2pm so we just went to the KFC next door for an quick bite.
The rest of the afternoon we relaxed. At 7pm we went out for drinks on Florida Rd. It's patrolled by private security and safe for walking. Marissa wanted to try a different place from dinner, we ended up at a club called the Velvet. It was empty so the bartender had some time to chat with us. Apparently it gets busy from 11pm - 5am. We looked very unhip showing up at 7pm.
We had made reservations for 8pm at Butcher Boys, a steak house rated highly on TripAdvisor. Heather and I had the ribeye, which was pretty good. (Not Argentinian good, but not bad). We also split two sides, a dessert, and the most expensive wine bottle on the menu. Total cost for us including tip was $66 CAD.
After we continued our bar hopping at another restaurant, where I had a tipped (= draft) Castle Light, nice and cold. The street life was picking up as it was after 10pm.
Our hotel was right across the street so we bumbled home and called it a night.
It rained heavily at some point overnight, but had stopped by 4:30am when we got up. (Yes, 4:30am). At 5am we left to find the elephant herd we had seen yesterday. Michael had tracked them to a grove of eucalyptus trees, and sure enough, they were still there. There's no nutritional value in eucalyptus trees to the elephants - they use them as scratching posts. It also made an interesting background for pics.
We went down to the docks and saw a rhino on the beach, as well as lots of birds. We finished at a viewpoint over the Narrows.
Breakfast was waiting for us when we returned at 8am. We packed up the car, which was quite full with all the souvenirs we bought in Swaziland. Heather and I had handed in half our packs to be laundered, it was good to have mostly clean clothes again.
We saw lots of game on the drive out of the park, including a white rhino! They've cut off the horns on all the rhinos in iSimangaliso to protect them from poachers. The horns are made of keratin, it's the same as cutting your fingernails. The downside is the rhinos don't look as good in pics.
It was three hours to Durban, pretty much just following the N2. It was a toll road on the latter half, which was a nicer highway, two lanes each direction and divided. We ran low on gas (there's no gas stations on the toll roads) but Garmin led us to the nearest one, a few kms off the N2. (Actually, the first one we went to had lost power (or "no lights" as they posted) so we had to find another one).
The GPS was much more useful in the city. We had booked at The Benjamin on Florida Rd, a hip street with lots of cafes and restaurants. Parked in the secure lot around back, and checked in.
I was starving and it was after 2pm so we just went to the KFC next door for an quick bite.
The rest of the afternoon we relaxed. At 7pm we went out for drinks on Florida Rd. It's patrolled by private security and safe for walking. Marissa wanted to try a different place from dinner, we ended up at a club called the Velvet. It was empty so the bartender had some time to chat with us. Apparently it gets busy from 11pm - 5am. We looked very unhip showing up at 7pm.
We had made reservations for 8pm at Butcher Boys, a steak house rated highly on TripAdvisor. Heather and I had the ribeye, which was pretty good. (Not Argentinian good, but not bad). We also split two sides, a dessert, and the most expensive wine bottle on the menu. Total cost for us including tip was $66 CAD.
After we continued our bar hopping at another restaurant, where I had a tipped (= draft) Castle Light, nice and cold. The street life was picking up as it was after 10pm.
Our hotel was right across the street so we bumbled home and called it a night.
Friday, December 16, 2016
iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa
Instead of an early morning and then evening game drive, we had a full day boat safari from 9am - 3pm which meant we could sleep in.
Heather and I had the morning planned out, which then went out the window when Michael (our ranger) came back from the early morning game drive (with other guests). Michael had seen a herd of 30 elephants and was hoping to show them to us before the boat safari.
So we bundled into the safari vehicle and drove off to where the elephants had been. We found a few stragglers, but not the full herd. One elephant stood in the road and held us up, so we were a little late getting to the boat. Yep, late due to elephant.
On the drive over a rather large dung beetle smacked me in my shoulder and fell stunned in my seat. I was concerned that it would start flying about my face so moved over to Heather. Tristan rescued it and kept it up front until it regained its senses. Dung beetles are very important to the ecosystem and if they put the dung beetle back out while it was stunned, it could be eaten by ants.
The boat was captained by an older gentleman, Warwick. He was really nice and knew the water systems like the back of his hand. Michael and Tristan (a new hire at the lodge, tagging along for training) joined us on the boat.
Unfortunately due to recent rains and water management, they had yesterday opened some dams and so the water level was two feet higher and very muddy. This impacted the favourite sand bars of the hippos as the sand bars were now much deeper.
We saw a few groupings of hippos, although none out of the water. I did get a pic of a baby hippo yawning!
There was lots of bird life. We got up close to the weavers and saw nests in progress. I tried tracking the big birds flying and was getting the hang of actually having the bird in the frame fully zoomed. I was in burst mode, without refocus, so I had to focus, then track within the same focal range. Luckily I got a few in frame and in focus.
We docked back on shore where we had a picnic lunch, as well as a couple craft beers that Michael had packed.
We were back at the lodge by 3pm, with lots of time to relax and lounge around the lodge. I caught up on my blog over tea and chocolate cake.
It had been a very hot day (over 35C) and so the boma was too hot with the fire. We had a drink at the bar inside while the evening cooled down.
Dinner was good. The owner dropped by our table to chat and then sat down for a beer, so we ordered another round. It was about 10pm by the time we headed off to bed.
Heather and I had the morning planned out, which then went out the window when Michael (our ranger) came back from the early morning game drive (with other guests). Michael had seen a herd of 30 elephants and was hoping to show them to us before the boat safari.
So we bundled into the safari vehicle and drove off to where the elephants had been. We found a few stragglers, but not the full herd. One elephant stood in the road and held us up, so we were a little late getting to the boat. Yep, late due to elephant.
On the drive over a rather large dung beetle smacked me in my shoulder and fell stunned in my seat. I was concerned that it would start flying about my face so moved over to Heather. Tristan rescued it and kept it up front until it regained its senses. Dung beetles are very important to the ecosystem and if they put the dung beetle back out while it was stunned, it could be eaten by ants.
The boat was captained by an older gentleman, Warwick. He was really nice and knew the water systems like the back of his hand. Michael and Tristan (a new hire at the lodge, tagging along for training) joined us on the boat.
Unfortunately due to recent rains and water management, they had yesterday opened some dams and so the water level was two feet higher and very muddy. This impacted the favourite sand bars of the hippos as the sand bars were now much deeper.
We saw a few groupings of hippos, although none out of the water. I did get a pic of a baby hippo yawning!
There was lots of bird life. We got up close to the weavers and saw nests in progress. I tried tracking the big birds flying and was getting the hang of actually having the bird in the frame fully zoomed. I was in burst mode, without refocus, so I had to focus, then track within the same focal range. Luckily I got a few in frame and in focus.
We docked back on shore where we had a picnic lunch, as well as a couple craft beers that Michael had packed.
We were back at the lodge by 3pm, with lots of time to relax and lounge around the lodge. I caught up on my blog over tea and chocolate cake.
It had been a very hot day (over 35C) and so the boma was too hot with the fire. We had a drink at the bar inside while the evening cooled down.
Dinner was good. The owner dropped by our table to chat and then sat down for a beer, so we ordered another round. It was about 10pm by the time we headed off to bed.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa
Heather and I skipped the morning game drive at Stone Camp as we'd already seen everything we wanted to see in park (the baby black rhino yesterday was the last item on the list), plus I wanted to be rested for driving.
A family of nyalas wandered right by our lodge again and a couple younger males were playing around butting heads.
Breakfast was at 8am and we were loaded up in the safari vehicle by 9am for the drive to the park gate.
A little delay at the secure parking lot because the ranger forgot the key to the lot; he called on his cell and someone drove up on a motorcycle 10 minutes later and we were off.
Next stop was iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa, a three hour drive. Half way through we crossed the border. Another attempt at bribes entering South Africa (the border official said we needed a permit to bring masks into the country) but I just played it dumb and eventually he gave up and waved us through.
The GPS was accurate this time (we've been going to a lot of address-less places reached by dirt roads, which Garmin had trouble with).
At the park gate I asked how to pronounce iSimangaliso, so now I could at least say where we where going. (It's phonetic but I wasn't putting the stress on the right syllable).
The drive into Makakatana was like driving into a cottage. The trees created a tunnel around the single-lane sand road. There was a slight decline to get to the lodge, and I was worried about eventually driving out uphill in sand. But that was for another day.
The staff was waiting to greet us at reception. There's only eight lodges at Makakatana and on the day we arrived the was only one other lodge occupied.
We sorted out the luggage by room, and I parked the car in the shaded carport. I still find reversing strange, as you have to look over your left shoulder.
We had a welcome drink and the manager went through our program for the next couple days. Game drive this evening; full day boat safari tomorrow; and an early morning game drive on our last day.
We had arrived with enough time to shower before the evening game drive. It was an outdoor shower, one of the best I've seen. (We didn't want to shower after the game drive in case of bugs at night). We took our soap and shampoo back into the lodge to keep away from vervet monkeys and bushbabies.
We met our ranger, Michael, and then headed out. Michael was one of our favourite rangers we've had. He was really knowledgeable, providing new facts and info that other rangers hadn't.
I had booked Makakatana for the wetlands safari, but they also have decent grasslands game too. Saw lots of giraffes, including seven eating from the same tree.
The sundowner was right by the lake, with a group of hippos about 30m away, and the sun at the perfect angle. At first the hippos had to establish their dominance by some fake charges. Once they started ignoring us, Michael set up a small table with snacks and we got out of the safari vehicle for our sundowner. It was our favourite sundowner location to date.
Michael used the hippo tracks as a guide to get back to the dirt roads. Back at Makakatana, we quickly washed up and then met at the boma for dinner. The setting was really nice - a central fire pit, hip lighting around the perimeter. We enjoyed our 4-course dinner and then crashed for the night. It was hard to believe our day had started at Stone Camp in Swaziland.
A family of nyalas wandered right by our lodge again and a couple younger males were playing around butting heads.
Breakfast was at 8am and we were loaded up in the safari vehicle by 9am for the drive to the park gate.
A little delay at the secure parking lot because the ranger forgot the key to the lot; he called on his cell and someone drove up on a motorcycle 10 minutes later and we were off.
Next stop was iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa, a three hour drive. Half way through we crossed the border. Another attempt at bribes entering South Africa (the border official said we needed a permit to bring masks into the country) but I just played it dumb and eventually he gave up and waved us through.
The GPS was accurate this time (we've been going to a lot of address-less places reached by dirt roads, which Garmin had trouble with).
At the park gate I asked how to pronounce iSimangaliso, so now I could at least say where we where going. (It's phonetic but I wasn't putting the stress on the right syllable).
The drive into Makakatana was like driving into a cottage. The trees created a tunnel around the single-lane sand road. There was a slight decline to get to the lodge, and I was worried about eventually driving out uphill in sand. But that was for another day.
The staff was waiting to greet us at reception. There's only eight lodges at Makakatana and on the day we arrived the was only one other lodge occupied.
We sorted out the luggage by room, and I parked the car in the shaded carport. I still find reversing strange, as you have to look over your left shoulder.
We had a welcome drink and the manager went through our program for the next couple days. Game drive this evening; full day boat safari tomorrow; and an early morning game drive on our last day.
We had arrived with enough time to shower before the evening game drive. It was an outdoor shower, one of the best I've seen. (We didn't want to shower after the game drive in case of bugs at night). We took our soap and shampoo back into the lodge to keep away from vervet monkeys and bushbabies.
We met our ranger, Michael, and then headed out. Michael was one of our favourite rangers we've had. He was really knowledgeable, providing new facts and info that other rangers hadn't.
I had booked Makakatana for the wetlands safari, but they also have decent grasslands game too. Saw lots of giraffes, including seven eating from the same tree.
The sundowner was right by the lake, with a group of hippos about 30m away, and the sun at the perfect angle. At first the hippos had to establish their dominance by some fake charges. Once they started ignoring us, Michael set up a small table with snacks and we got out of the safari vehicle for our sundowner. It was our favourite sundowner location to date.
Michael used the hippo tracks as a guide to get back to the dirt roads. Back at Makakatana, we quickly washed up and then met at the boma for dinner. The setting was really nice - a central fire pit, hip lighting around the perimeter. We enjoyed our 4-course dinner and then crashed for the night. It was hard to believe our day had started at Stone Camp in Swaziland.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Mkhaya Game Reserve, Swaziland
I woke up around 5am as it was already bright outside. It wasn't too noisy sleeping *outdoors*, about the same as camping.
At 5:30am the camp staff came by with a tray of coffee, tea and freshly-baked muffins. It was especially tasty. We ate outside our cottage so we didn't leave crumbs for ants.
The morning safari started at 6am. We saw about 15-20 rhinos, all white. Then just before the end of the drive, we spotted a black rhino! Now that we know the difference, it's easy to spot the different nose, back and neck arch.
We returned to camp at 8am for breakfast. It was a full breakfast, fruit and yoghurt, and eggs and bacon made to order. The staff made toast over the coals from yesterday's campfire.
There wasn't much time to rest before our waking safari at 10:30am. The day was starting to get hot (I think it went up to 35C). It was a small group - me, Heather, Marissa, and a couple who also happened to be from Ontario.
We drove out with our guide, Africa, to a grasslands area which was our starting point. As usual the walking safari started off slowly, with explanations about various plants and insects. I'm pretty sure the guides also use this as a chance to evaluate the group. Outside of the safari vehicle, we're no longer the top of the food chain.
Anyways we gained enough trust of the guide to get into denser bush. We walked from wallow to wallow in search of rhinos, but weren't having much luck.
Towards the two hour mark, we headed to one last wallow. Suddenly Africa put up his hand, the signal to stop. In the distance I heard a low rumble. Then about 20 metres away I saw dust and shadows of Cape buffalo as a group of over twenty stampeded by us. Our guide said they had picked up our scent and got afraid, and so stampeded. Lucky for us they couldn't tell our direction.
We took a more circuitous route to get to the last wallow. Sure enough, there was a white rhino and her son! The white rhinos are calmer compared to the black rhino; and this particular rhino had been hand-raised and familiar with humans. If anything the danger was from the rhino getting curious and following us.
We observed the rhinos from about 20m away, until the mother noticed us and started wandering over to say hello. Our guide backed us up into the bush to get away; and then we hiked back to the safari vehicle.
Walking through waist-high grasses and through thick underbrush with animals all about was really cool, one of the highlights of the trip so far.
We arrived back at Stone Camp around 1pm. It didn't seem like we had been walking in the heat for 2.5 hours!
Had lunch and then showered. I also washed my shirt, it dried in about an hour.
At 4pm we went out for the evening game drive. Africa was our ranger again (we had a different ranger for the morning drive, who was tracking the black rhino but sped around a lot. We preferred Africa's driving). We saw another black rhino, this time a mother and baby.
After dinner there was another song and dance show by the staff. (I forgot to mention we did this last night too). It's traditional Zulu songs, a little bit touristy for me, although authentic.
We were exhausted after three safaris in the day and fell asleep quickly.
At 5:30am the camp staff came by with a tray of coffee, tea and freshly-baked muffins. It was especially tasty. We ate outside our cottage so we didn't leave crumbs for ants.
The morning safari started at 6am. We saw about 15-20 rhinos, all white. Then just before the end of the drive, we spotted a black rhino! Now that we know the difference, it's easy to spot the different nose, back and neck arch.
We returned to camp at 8am for breakfast. It was a full breakfast, fruit and yoghurt, and eggs and bacon made to order. The staff made toast over the coals from yesterday's campfire.
There wasn't much time to rest before our waking safari at 10:30am. The day was starting to get hot (I think it went up to 35C). It was a small group - me, Heather, Marissa, and a couple who also happened to be from Ontario.
We drove out with our guide, Africa, to a grasslands area which was our starting point. As usual the walking safari started off slowly, with explanations about various plants and insects. I'm pretty sure the guides also use this as a chance to evaluate the group. Outside of the safari vehicle, we're no longer the top of the food chain.
Anyways we gained enough trust of the guide to get into denser bush. We walked from wallow to wallow in search of rhinos, but weren't having much luck.
Towards the two hour mark, we headed to one last wallow. Suddenly Africa put up his hand, the signal to stop. In the distance I heard a low rumble. Then about 20 metres away I saw dust and shadows of Cape buffalo as a group of over twenty stampeded by us. Our guide said they had picked up our scent and got afraid, and so stampeded. Lucky for us they couldn't tell our direction.
We took a more circuitous route to get to the last wallow. Sure enough, there was a white rhino and her son! The white rhinos are calmer compared to the black rhino; and this particular rhino had been hand-raised and familiar with humans. If anything the danger was from the rhino getting curious and following us.
We observed the rhinos from about 20m away, until the mother noticed us and started wandering over to say hello. Our guide backed us up into the bush to get away; and then we hiked back to the safari vehicle.
Walking through waist-high grasses and through thick underbrush with animals all about was really cool, one of the highlights of the trip so far.
We arrived back at Stone Camp around 1pm. It didn't seem like we had been walking in the heat for 2.5 hours!
Had lunch and then showered. I also washed my shirt, it dried in about an hour.
At 4pm we went out for the evening game drive. Africa was our ranger again (we had a different ranger for the morning drive, who was tracking the black rhino but sped around a lot. We preferred Africa's driving). We saw another black rhino, this time a mother and baby.
After dinner there was another song and dance show by the staff. (I forgot to mention we did this last night too). It's traditional Zulu songs, a little bit touristy for me, although authentic.
We were exhausted after three safaris in the day and fell asleep quickly.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Mkhaya Game Reserve, Swaziland
Next on our itinerary was Stone Camp in Mkhaya Game Reserve. It's the best place to see rhinos in all of Africa.
Rangers pick you up from the park gates at either 10am or 4pm. We had booked 48 hours starting at 10am, so left Ezulwini Valley at 8am just to be safe (our hotel said it was a 90 minute drive).
We followed the GPS most of the way and then the directions from Stone Camp to get to entrance gate by 9:40am. Another car with tourists pulled up shortly after, so we figured we were in the right spot. It was slightly drizzling as we waited.
At 10:04am the ranger arrived in an open safari vehicle. We followed him to a secure parking place, and transferred our packs. We had been warned that we could only bring a small overnight bag, as there wasn't much room for luggage in the safari vehicle. Heather and I travel fairly light (about 15kg each) so we were okay with our regular packs.
The drive in is also a game drive, and we saw lots of giraffes, and some rhinos! The park is fenced off for breeding purposes, where the ranger would stop, open the gate, drive through, close the gate. It was like being on a TTC streetcar when the driver has to change the switching to turn.
It had stopped raining halfway through the two hour game drive, and was getting hot in the sun when we arrived in camp.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew there was no electricity (Heather and I arrived with our devices and cameras fully charged), but wasn't sure about plumbing.
The cottages turned out to be much better than I hoped! They are open-concept, with a only a two-foot stone wall between us and the wilderness. They had running potable water (hot and cold), showers, and comfortable beds with mosquito nets. Due to the drought there were hardly any bugs. It was almost better than Inyati!
We had another evening game drive at 4pm, so didn't have much time after lunch to relax and enjoy the place.
As advertised, we saw plenty of rhinos on the game drive, about 20-30 in different groupings. Today we saw only the more common white rhino. The name had nothing to do with the color of the rhino, but was a lost-in-translation thing from way back when.
Dinner was excellent around a fire. They even had cold beer! I had a Sibebe, the local Swazi beer. Heather had a chilled Sauv Blanc from South Africa. As Marissa said, this is our kind of camping.
Walked back to our cottages along paths lit with paraffin lights. Our cottage was similarly lit, looking very pretty. There were hardly any bugs which made getting into bed easier.
Rangers pick you up from the park gates at either 10am or 4pm. We had booked 48 hours starting at 10am, so left Ezulwini Valley at 8am just to be safe (our hotel said it was a 90 minute drive).
We followed the GPS most of the way and then the directions from Stone Camp to get to entrance gate by 9:40am. Another car with tourists pulled up shortly after, so we figured we were in the right spot. It was slightly drizzling as we waited.
At 10:04am the ranger arrived in an open safari vehicle. We followed him to a secure parking place, and transferred our packs. We had been warned that we could only bring a small overnight bag, as there wasn't much room for luggage in the safari vehicle. Heather and I travel fairly light (about 15kg each) so we were okay with our regular packs.
The drive in is also a game drive, and we saw lots of giraffes, and some rhinos! The park is fenced off for breeding purposes, where the ranger would stop, open the gate, drive through, close the gate. It was like being on a TTC streetcar when the driver has to change the switching to turn.
It had stopped raining halfway through the two hour game drive, and was getting hot in the sun when we arrived in camp.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew there was no electricity (Heather and I arrived with our devices and cameras fully charged), but wasn't sure about plumbing.
The cottages turned out to be much better than I hoped! They are open-concept, with a only a two-foot stone wall between us and the wilderness. They had running potable water (hot and cold), showers, and comfortable beds with mosquito nets. Due to the drought there were hardly any bugs. It was almost better than Inyati!
We had another evening game drive at 4pm, so didn't have much time after lunch to relax and enjoy the place.
As advertised, we saw plenty of rhinos on the game drive, about 20-30 in different groupings. Today we saw only the more common white rhino. The name had nothing to do with the color of the rhino, but was a lost-in-translation thing from way back when.
Dinner was excellent around a fire. They even had cold beer! I had a Sibebe, the local Swazi beer. Heather had a chilled Sauv Blanc from South Africa. As Marissa said, this is our kind of camping.
Walked back to our cottages along paths lit with paraffin lights. Our cottage was similarly lit, looking very pretty. There were hardly any bugs which made getting into bed easier.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Ezulwini Valley, Swaziland
Heather and I were still on safari time and were up at 6am, so got ready and went for breakfast when it opened at 7am.
The manager, an eccentric old lady, came over to find out what our plans were for the day, and then gave us a Swaziland tourism magazine and suggested we take a day trip to nearby Malkern Valley, which had all sorts of arts and crafts shops, and a nice pub for lunch.
So we waited for Marissa and Nancy to wake up, and headed out. Having a car was coming in very handy!
First stop was Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, so that Marissa could check out horseback riding for later in the afternoon. At Mlilwane it's possible to do a self-drive and self-walking safari, as there's no predators in the park. We were more interested in souvenirs so carried on.
Malkern was another 15 minutes down the MR103. There's occasional speed bumps at shared taxi stops and school crossings, otherwise the limit was mostly 80km.
We drove to Swazi Candles, which had the famous Swazi candle-making shop, as well as a number of other little craft shops. One-stop shopping :).
The candles were actually pretty cool. We bought some, as well as a bunch of other souvenirs. It was our only chance for souvenir shopping in Swaziland so we stocked up.
Had lunch at Malandela's, where they had large draft beers, that tasted like Coors Light according to Marissa. I thought it had a little more taste, and hardly any alcohol, but anyways they were pretty refreshing in the heat.
We later stopped in at Mantenga's Cultural Village, and then called it a day.
Had dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday as we weren't very motivated to find another place.
The manager, an eccentric old lady, came over to find out what our plans were for the day, and then gave us a Swaziland tourism magazine and suggested we take a day trip to nearby Malkern Valley, which had all sorts of arts and crafts shops, and a nice pub for lunch.
So we waited for Marissa and Nancy to wake up, and headed out. Having a car was coming in very handy!
First stop was Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, so that Marissa could check out horseback riding for later in the afternoon. At Mlilwane it's possible to do a self-drive and self-walking safari, as there's no predators in the park. We were more interested in souvenirs so carried on.
Malkern was another 15 minutes down the MR103. There's occasional speed bumps at shared taxi stops and school crossings, otherwise the limit was mostly 80km.
We drove to Swazi Candles, which had the famous Swazi candle-making shop, as well as a number of other little craft shops. One-stop shopping :).
The candles were actually pretty cool. We bought some, as well as a bunch of other souvenirs. It was our only chance for souvenir shopping in Swaziland so we stocked up.
Had lunch at Malandela's, where they had large draft beers, that tasted like Coors Light according to Marissa. I thought it had a little more taste, and hardly any alcohol, but anyways they were pretty refreshing in the heat.
We later stopped in at Mantenga's Cultural Village, and then called it a day.
Had dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday as we weren't very motivated to find another place.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Ezulwini Valley, Swaziland
I skipped the morning game drive at Inyati because we had a five hour drive today and I didn't want to be tired.
We were on the road by 10:30, Marissa navigating with Garmin, Google maps offlined on my iPhone, and the directions that Marissa had printed off before the trip. We decided to take a shortcut through a nature reserve on the border. The South African side had great views as we climbed to the pass. We stopped at a little interpretive site roadside for pics.
Exiting South Africa was easy, although the border officials seemed surprised to see us. Entering Swaziland was also easy - no fees for Canadians, and just a $5 fee for the car. They didn't ask to see the document from Avis allowing us to take the car into Swaziland.
A few hundred metres down the road there was a police check, all they did was note our license plate number. We were only the 6th car through.
Then we found out why. The next 18km was a pretty rough gravel road. There were other little cars like Citroëns meeting us the other way so we figured it was possible in our little Toyota Corolla. It was slow going though, it took about 45 minutes to get to pavement. So much for our shortcut! It did have nice views though.
The rest of the drive in Swaziland was on good roads. They even have a short stretch of highway where the limit is 120km, it's the road between the main city and the Royal Residence.
It's a very hilly country. I was trying to use the engine to brake on downhills but the little engine couldn't handle the weight. Hopefully the brakes will last our trip!
We reached Mogi Boutique Hotel around 5pm, well before sunset. It's a nice location on the side of Ezulwini Valley. The views would be nice if it wasn't rainy :)
The Mogi doesn't have an onsite restaurant but they recommended a place just down the road. We were told it's dangerous to walk so we piled into the car and drove.
The restaurant had wifi so we all checked our email. (Lightning the previous night had knocked out the router at Mogi). The food was okay, a little touristy, but it was reasonably priced and had vegetarian options for Marissa.
We were on the road by 10:30, Marissa navigating with Garmin, Google maps offlined on my iPhone, and the directions that Marissa had printed off before the trip. We decided to take a shortcut through a nature reserve on the border. The South African side had great views as we climbed to the pass. We stopped at a little interpretive site roadside for pics.
Exiting South Africa was easy, although the border officials seemed surprised to see us. Entering Swaziland was also easy - no fees for Canadians, and just a $5 fee for the car. They didn't ask to see the document from Avis allowing us to take the car into Swaziland.
A few hundred metres down the road there was a police check, all they did was note our license plate number. We were only the 6th car through.
Then we found out why. The next 18km was a pretty rough gravel road. There were other little cars like Citroëns meeting us the other way so we figured it was possible in our little Toyota Corolla. It was slow going though, it took about 45 minutes to get to pavement. So much for our shortcut! It did have nice views though.
The rest of the drive in Swaziland was on good roads. They even have a short stretch of highway where the limit is 120km, it's the road between the main city and the Royal Residence.
It's a very hilly country. I was trying to use the engine to brake on downhills but the little engine couldn't handle the weight. Hopefully the brakes will last our trip!
We reached Mogi Boutique Hotel around 5pm, well before sunset. It's a nice location on the side of Ezulwini Valley. The views would be nice if it wasn't rainy :)
The Mogi doesn't have an onsite restaurant but they recommended a place just down the road. We were told it's dangerous to walk so we piled into the car and drove.
The restaurant had wifi so we all checked our email. (Lightning the previous night had knocked out the router at Mogi). The food was okay, a little touristy, but it was reasonably priced and had vegetarian options for Marissa.
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa
I forgot to mention that while in Zimbabwe I bought some trillion dollar bills. The million and billion bills were fairly cheap; the trillion dollar bills started at $5 and the 100 trillion was over $50.
The two full days at Inyati went like this:
5:00am wake up knock at door
5:30am tea / coffee/ snacks
6:00am game drive
9:30am breakfast / brunch
4:00pm high tea
4:30pm game drive
7:30pm wash up
8:00pm dinner
10:00pm sleep
The game drives lasted over three hours each, which was much longer than we were used to. We found it a bit long to be sitting around, and also with the heat we were guzzling water without a washroom break. Woe is us.
The highlights included a cheetah resting on a termite hill, many leopards (the main reason we were here), elephants grazing within inches of us, a pack of wild dogs catching and eating a baby impala.
It was amazing how fast the dogs ate the impala. The dogs were laying about in the shade when a group of impalas accidentally walked up on them. We were parked by the dogs observing them, as wild dogs are a rare sighting. One dog noticed the impalas and they gave chase. Our driver followed them for about 200m where they caught the baby impala. Then they all surrounded and pulled bites, just 10' from the vehicle. In less than five minutes the impala was gone, bones and all.
The 2nd day was stinking hot, over 40C. Thank goodness the lodges were air conditioned.
The food was okay, matched nicely with mostly South African wines. (They have a walk-in cellar from the dining room. This was not the GAP Adventures safari I did when I was in my 20s).
We met a nice family from Singapore, as well as a number of other couples. Most of them were well-traveled.
Inyati doesn't overcrowd the safari vehicles, the most we had was six, plus the driver, and the tracker. So there was lots of space to spread out camera bags and water bottles and sunscreen etc.
It was a great safari experience at Inyati, we saw leopards, and plenty other animals as a bonus.
The two full days at Inyati went like this:
5:00am wake up knock at door
5:30am tea / coffee/ snacks
6:00am game drive
9:30am breakfast / brunch
4:00pm high tea
4:30pm game drive
7:30pm wash up
8:00pm dinner
10:00pm sleep
The game drives lasted over three hours each, which was much longer than we were used to. We found it a bit long to be sitting around, and also with the heat we were guzzling water without a washroom break. Woe is us.
The highlights included a cheetah resting on a termite hill, many leopards (the main reason we were here), elephants grazing within inches of us, a pack of wild dogs catching and eating a baby impala.
It was amazing how fast the dogs ate the impala. The dogs were laying about in the shade when a group of impalas accidentally walked up on them. We were parked by the dogs observing them, as wild dogs are a rare sighting. One dog noticed the impalas and they gave chase. Our driver followed them for about 200m where they caught the baby impala. Then they all surrounded and pulled bites, just 10' from the vehicle. In less than five minutes the impala was gone, bones and all.
The 2nd day was stinking hot, over 40C. Thank goodness the lodges were air conditioned.
The food was okay, matched nicely with mostly South African wines. (They have a walk-in cellar from the dining room. This was not the GAP Adventures safari I did when I was in my 20s).
We met a nice family from Singapore, as well as a number of other couples. Most of them were well-traveled.
Inyati doesn't overcrowd the safari vehicles, the most we had was six, plus the driver, and the tracker. So there was lots of space to spread out camera bags and water bottles and sunscreen etc.
It was a great safari experience at Inyati, we saw leopards, and plenty other animals as a bonus.
Thursday, December 08, 2016
Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa
It took a couple days in transit to get from Victoria Falls and to Inyati Game Lodge, one of the lodges in the private game reserve of Sabi Sands.
First was getting out of Victoria Falls. The check-in at the airport was really slow, as they only had one counter open. We were able to take both the large masks as carry-on without any issue.
We actually got served a hot meal on the 90 minute flight to Johannesburg. I hadn't booked a vegetarian meal for Marissa cause I figured it would just be cheese sandwiches but oh well.
We had no problems getting through immigration. Picked up our bags and found our way to Avis to pick up our cars. Nancy had messed up her reservation and got a stick shift. They only had a van remaining for automatic, so we ended up squishing into our car. Heather and I had booked a compact because we wanted a non-descript car because of concerns over car theft and car jackings, more so in Johannesburg.
Anyways we had trouble with the GPS because it switched to a simulated mode inside the airport, and didn't switch back automatically once we exited the parking lot. So we spent about an hour circling the airport down some small streets before we figured it out.
We hit some construction about 75km from Nelspruit, with only a single lane shared. We waited about 20 minutes at a time for the light to change for our direction.
We reached Jorn's guesthouse in Nelspruit around 10pm. The night watch opened the gate to let us in, and then showed us to our rooms.
...
At breakfast we could see the grounds at Jorn's. it was a pretty nice place, if we had had a morning flight it would have been cool to hang out at the bar.
Packed up our stuff into the car and then onto Inyati! It took a while to figure out how to use the Garmin, which seems decades behind Google maps. Marissa became our Garmin expert, and was comparing between the Garmin directions, Google maps which she had printed off at home, and Inyati's directions. We missed a turnoff after getting gas, but other than that things went smoothly. The roads were in great shape, and I was starting to figure out the various road markings and signs. Driving a stick on the right side was pretty easy (the pedals are the same), I didn't stall at all.
We reached our entrance to Sabi Sand Reserve right on schedule. The Garmin kept on trying to take us a different way, so we switched the voice to James because it was less annoying.
Paid the entrance fees for us and the car. The onto Inyati! It was about 10 minutes over dirt roads to reach the lodge. They were well organized, the person greeted us by name and our bags disappeared off to our rooms.
It was hot, about 33C. We had lunch at the main lodge, then went to our rooms to get ready for our first game drive that evening.
At 4pm we met up in the main lodge again for high tea. Met our guide (Omega) and tracker (Rodger). It was the four of us plus a French couple in our safari vehicle.
At 4:30pm we started off on the game drive. It was still a bit hot, we had layers of sunscreen and bug repellent. The two main animals on our checklist here were leopards and wild dogs (this was Marissa's addition to the list).
Almpst immediately we saw our first leopard(s)! It was a mother and son, trotting along. They stopped to drink at a small watering hole, and then the mother led the son to a baby impala she had killed earlier and hid in a tree.
We watched for almost 30 minutes as the son leopard ate the impala. We were very lucky to see this, even the guides were taking pictures.
We left in search of other game, also to give other safari vehicles a chance to view the leopards. The lodges coordinate to limit sightings to two vehicles, so that you don't end up with 10 vehicles looking at a lion like in Kruger.
We saw rhinos, giraffes, elephants, hippos, just to name the bigger ones. The wildlife is very plentiful here.
It was a long game drive, ending around 7:30pm. We were escorted by a guard to our chalets (the animals roam freely through the lodge grounds). At 8:15pm we were picked up to walk back to the main lodge for dinner.
Dinner was served to everyone at the same time, which I guess allows the guests to meet and talk over dinner. I had the kudu for my main, which wasn't as gamey as I had hoped.
We were in bed around 10pm, excited about the game drive, but not looking forward to the 5am wake-up call.
...
FYI I've added pics to the Victoria Falls album and the South Africa album. Links are in the right nav bar
First was getting out of Victoria Falls. The check-in at the airport was really slow, as they only had one counter open. We were able to take both the large masks as carry-on without any issue.
We actually got served a hot meal on the 90 minute flight to Johannesburg. I hadn't booked a vegetarian meal for Marissa cause I figured it would just be cheese sandwiches but oh well.
We had no problems getting through immigration. Picked up our bags and found our way to Avis to pick up our cars. Nancy had messed up her reservation and got a stick shift. They only had a van remaining for automatic, so we ended up squishing into our car. Heather and I had booked a compact because we wanted a non-descript car because of concerns over car theft and car jackings, more so in Johannesburg.
Anyways we had trouble with the GPS because it switched to a simulated mode inside the airport, and didn't switch back automatically once we exited the parking lot. So we spent about an hour circling the airport down some small streets before we figured it out.
We hit some construction about 75km from Nelspruit, with only a single lane shared. We waited about 20 minutes at a time for the light to change for our direction.
We reached Jorn's guesthouse in Nelspruit around 10pm. The night watch opened the gate to let us in, and then showed us to our rooms.
...
At breakfast we could see the grounds at Jorn's. it was a pretty nice place, if we had had a morning flight it would have been cool to hang out at the bar.
Packed up our stuff into the car and then onto Inyati! It took a while to figure out how to use the Garmin, which seems decades behind Google maps. Marissa became our Garmin expert, and was comparing between the Garmin directions, Google maps which she had printed off at home, and Inyati's directions. We missed a turnoff after getting gas, but other than that things went smoothly. The roads were in great shape, and I was starting to figure out the various road markings and signs. Driving a stick on the right side was pretty easy (the pedals are the same), I didn't stall at all.
We reached our entrance to Sabi Sand Reserve right on schedule. The Garmin kept on trying to take us a different way, so we switched the voice to James because it was less annoying.
Paid the entrance fees for us and the car. The onto Inyati! It was about 10 minutes over dirt roads to reach the lodge. They were well organized, the person greeted us by name and our bags disappeared off to our rooms.
It was hot, about 33C. We had lunch at the main lodge, then went to our rooms to get ready for our first game drive that evening.
At 4pm we met up in the main lodge again for high tea. Met our guide (Omega) and tracker (Rodger). It was the four of us plus a French couple in our safari vehicle.
At 4:30pm we started off on the game drive. It was still a bit hot, we had layers of sunscreen and bug repellent. The two main animals on our checklist here were leopards and wild dogs (this was Marissa's addition to the list).
Almpst immediately we saw our first leopard(s)! It was a mother and son, trotting along. They stopped to drink at a small watering hole, and then the mother led the son to a baby impala she had killed earlier and hid in a tree.
We watched for almost 30 minutes as the son leopard ate the impala. We were very lucky to see this, even the guides were taking pictures.
We left in search of other game, also to give other safari vehicles a chance to view the leopards. The lodges coordinate to limit sightings to two vehicles, so that you don't end up with 10 vehicles looking at a lion like in Kruger.
We saw rhinos, giraffes, elephants, hippos, just to name the bigger ones. The wildlife is very plentiful here.
It was a long game drive, ending around 7:30pm. We were escorted by a guard to our chalets (the animals roam freely through the lodge grounds). At 8:15pm we were picked up to walk back to the main lodge for dinner.
Dinner was served to everyone at the same time, which I guess allows the guests to meet and talk over dinner. I had the kudu for my main, which wasn't as gamey as I had hoped.
We were in bed around 10pm, excited about the game drive, but not looking forward to the 5am wake-up call.
...
FYI I've added pics to the Victoria Falls album and the South Africa album. Links are in the right nav bar
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