Today was 2nd day of three transit days in a row to get from Loango to Príncipe. We had a flight from Libreville to São Tomé at 3pm, which gave us the morning to run errands and repack for the next part of the trip. On the past few trips we've used the hotel in our hub city (in this case Libreville) to store left luggage with items we need for only some legs of a longer trip.
First was more francs. Our hotel suggested we try the ATM at the next door hotel (Le Meridien) and sure enough our cards worked there. That was very convenient. Next was onto the grocery store just down the street for some toiletries. We ended up also buying a fresh baguette, prosciutto and babybel to make sandwiches for lunch.
Back at the hotel I posted my pics (we had been without Internet access while at Loango).
We were ready to go by 12:30pm, so we checked out. We were planning to have a coffee at the hotel but our driver was already there so we figured we'd just grab one at the airport.
However we ran into the same AfriJet terminal problem, they wouldn't let us in until 90 minutes prior to the flight. So we waited outside in the heat again. We had an international flight today, which I thought would mean a different path through the terminal, but it was just an official at a desk between baggage check and security.
It's only a 45 minute flight from Libreville to São Tomé, with an time zone change, so in theory we'd arrive before we took off. It was cloudy and hazy so I wouldn't be able to get pictures from the airplane, although I think it's the approach to Príncipe that is more photogenic.
For some reason the pilot circled a couple times around the airport at São Tomé, including a flyover. Maybe they were doing a visual inspection of the runway as a training exercise. Whatever. But it did mean that our flight took just over an hour.
In São Tomé we made sure to walk quickly on the tarmac to get to immigration ahead of the rest of the plane. We filled out an arrival form (almost every country we've been to recently has done away with these, with the exception of getting back home to Canada), and then onto immigration. There were no issues with our evisa, we paid our 20 Euro each and got a couple stamps in our passport. They also gave us back the printed evisa with a stamp. Maybe we'll need this to exit? I guess we'll find out.
The luggage was just starting to come out on the conveyor belt as we entered the room, ours was one of the first pieces. We had just enough time to get a cart and grab our bags before they disappeared for to start another turn around the belt.
And we were through! Got a taxi to São Pedro Guesthouse, checked in, and relaxed in our room for a bit, just to cool down. It was New Year's Eve and sometimes restaurants have specials which we wanted to avoid. Asked the guesthouse for recommendations, and then walked into town around 6pm. It was a full moon and a clear sky. The town itself is very approachable with a lot of character. There's all sorts of cafes and restaurants in old colonial buildings with tall ceilings. We have a few days in São Tomé after we return from Príncipe so lots of time to explore.
We walked about two km along the bayside road to Sabor do Îla in Parque Popular. Their specialty is grilled fish, so that's what we had. They were out of local beer so I had a Sagrès, Heather had a 50cl of vino tinto. Dinner was excellent, we were glad we went out. We even had an espresso even with the late hour, just to try the São Pedro coffee beans. It was really good.
Walked back before too many fire crackers started going off in the street. We were asleep by 10pm to be rested for our early morning departure to Príncipe. We were woken up by the New Year's Eve revellers just before midnight and heard the countdown in Portugese.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Libreville, Gabon
We had a relaxing breakfast because we thought we were departing at 10am. We chatted with some of the newly arrived guests, including one who is a travel writer for the Financial Times and the Telegraph. She had recently been to São Tomé and Príncipe and gave some advice for both. She was debating on which excursions to go on at Loango and based on how much we liked Akaka, she decided on the gorillas and Akaka.
After breakfast we found out we were actually leaving with another group at 9am. So rushed to finish packing, pay our bill (just for the alcohol, everything else was included) and say bye to everyone. Jannie asked us to say hi to the bartender at the Roca Belo Monte in Príncipe (Jannie was the project manager that built both Bom Bom and the Belo Monte years ago).
And so we were off. First was an hour in a safari vehicle to Camp Liambissi. (I forgot to mention that on our excursion to Tassi, we crossed through flooded areas about 4' deep, the water pooled over the hood of the vehicle. It's the deepest water I've driven through). Anyways parts of the trail to Camp Liambissi are washed out and only a safari vehicle would make it.
We switched vehicles at the camp. Another group of seven was returning today as well, and so we needed a second vehicle to get to Port Gentil (POG). We lucked out because it was Philippe (the camp manager) who was driving back to POG for other reasons, and we joined him in his nice air conditioned SUV. We were provided with lots of water and a snack, I guess they quickly made changes to their procedures after our hungry and thirsty ride down!
It was an interesting conversation with Philippe. He's worked to build up tourism in Gabon for the past 16 years. Between him, Jannie and Zeka, I can see tourism growing quickly here.
We were back in POG by 2pm. Relaxed at Le Bouganviller until closer to our flights. The flight for the other group was two hours before ours, but we just went to the airport with them (it was a wash for us whether we waited at the airport or the hotel).
Unfortunately, with AfriJet, they only let you in to their terminal 90 minutes before the flight. There were no seating areas in the (air conditioned) check-in area of the main terminal, so we sat outside in the heat. After an hour or so, we were getting sleepy and noticed there was a little cafe in the terminal with a good coffee machine. So we grabbed a cappuccino each. They offered us seats in the business lounge, which was nice of them.
So finally the check-in opened at AfriJet and we made our way through baggage check and security. Now that we knew it was okay to take water through security we weren't thirsty waiting for the flight.
Arrived after sunset in Libreville, and initially had trouble finding a taxi at the AfriJet terminal. We asked around and someone showed up to drive us for 6,000 Franc, cheaper than what we paid the first time through.
They were expecting us at the Royal Palm. It was Guy at the desk, who Heather had been emailing with over the past few months to sort out our changing itinerary. The restaurant was open until 11pm (it was already 8pm) so we had time to shower and clean up before dinner.
The restaurant was packed at the Royal Palm, it's a destination for locals, especially with tonight being Saturday. Dinner was good, I had the lamb noisette and Heather tried a local fish (capitain).
Overall we both really enjoyed Loango. The highlights were the gorilla tracking and the boat ride to Akaka. We saw other big animals including elephants, buffalo, hippos, duikers and chimpanzees, but the real attraction is just the isolation and lack of other people in the park.
After breakfast we found out we were actually leaving with another group at 9am. So rushed to finish packing, pay our bill (just for the alcohol, everything else was included) and say bye to everyone. Jannie asked us to say hi to the bartender at the Roca Belo Monte in Príncipe (Jannie was the project manager that built both Bom Bom and the Belo Monte years ago).
And so we were off. First was an hour in a safari vehicle to Camp Liambissi. (I forgot to mention that on our excursion to Tassi, we crossed through flooded areas about 4' deep, the water pooled over the hood of the vehicle. It's the deepest water I've driven through). Anyways parts of the trail to Camp Liambissi are washed out and only a safari vehicle would make it.
We switched vehicles at the camp. Another group of seven was returning today as well, and so we needed a second vehicle to get to Port Gentil (POG). We lucked out because it was Philippe (the camp manager) who was driving back to POG for other reasons, and we joined him in his nice air conditioned SUV. We were provided with lots of water and a snack, I guess they quickly made changes to their procedures after our hungry and thirsty ride down!
It was an interesting conversation with Philippe. He's worked to build up tourism in Gabon for the past 16 years. Between him, Jannie and Zeka, I can see tourism growing quickly here.
We were back in POG by 2pm. Relaxed at Le Bouganviller until closer to our flights. The flight for the other group was two hours before ours, but we just went to the airport with them (it was a wash for us whether we waited at the airport or the hotel).
Unfortunately, with AfriJet, they only let you in to their terminal 90 minutes before the flight. There were no seating areas in the (air conditioned) check-in area of the main terminal, so we sat outside in the heat. After an hour or so, we were getting sleepy and noticed there was a little cafe in the terminal with a good coffee machine. So we grabbed a cappuccino each. They offered us seats in the business lounge, which was nice of them.
So finally the check-in opened at AfriJet and we made our way through baggage check and security. Now that we knew it was okay to take water through security we weren't thirsty waiting for the flight.
Arrived after sunset in Libreville, and initially had trouble finding a taxi at the AfriJet terminal. We asked around and someone showed up to drive us for 6,000 Franc, cheaper than what we paid the first time through.
They were expecting us at the Royal Palm. It was Guy at the desk, who Heather had been emailing with over the past few months to sort out our changing itinerary. The restaurant was open until 11pm (it was already 8pm) so we had time to shower and clean up before dinner.
The restaurant was packed at the Royal Palm, it's a destination for locals, especially with tonight being Saturday. Dinner was good, I had the lamb noisette and Heather tried a local fish (capitain).
Overall we both really enjoyed Loango. The highlights were the gorilla tracking and the boat ride to Akaka. We saw other big animals including elephants, buffalo, hippos, duikers and chimpanzees, but the real attraction is just the isolation and lack of other people in the park.
Friday, December 29, 2017
Loango NP, Gabon
Today we had a boat cruise down to Akaka. Loango does a good job of limiting the number of tourists per safari so that the experience is optimal. Otherwise the first boat goes down river and scares the animals, and the second boat hardly sees anything. They also don't crowd people into vehicles or boats.
So there was no need for us to rush through breakfast as weren't delaying anyone else for the safari. There was hardly any wind, which boded well for the boat ride through the lagoon.
We left the lodge around 8:45. It took about an hour through the lagoon to reach the starting point for Akaka, about five minutes past the gorilla research camp. The lagoon was like glass, perfect for the boat ride.
Akaka is a wetlands area, with a narrow waterway (about 15' wide) that goes on for kilometres. I don't know what the proper term would be, but it was river-like. Anyways we slowed down and put-putted through. There were lots of birds on both sides, along with flowers, fauna, and even a duiker. It was really cool to cruise up. I took a lot of pictures, trying to capture birds in flight. Some of them flew in unison with the boat, which made it easier to focus and take pictures. Supposedly Akaka is better in dry season because there's more wildlife, but we enjoyed it just for the atmosphere.
It took about 90 minutes to reach a small satellite camp where we had lunch. It's possible to then hike in the surrounding area, but there were lots of bugs and mosquitoes and we weren't prepared to possibly get our shoes wet, so we just asked to go back to the lodge. Plus we'd get to relax for a couple hours before dinner.
So cruised back down the 'river' to the lagoon. There was a bit more wind and so it wasn't as smooth as the ride in, but it was still a pretty comfortable ride. Plus the rain held off and we didn't get wet.
The cruise to Akaka was excellent, our second-favourite thing here at Loango after the gorilla tracking.
The lodge folks asked if we wanted to do any other activities to fill out the day, they really like their guests to maximize their safari time. We just wanted to relax so declined.
We cleaned up, half packed for tomorrow's departure, and then back to the main lodge for reading / blogging / picture editing.
The kitchen had issues with their oven and so our appetizer was the same coleslaw that we had for lunch (the kitchen has been great here - we haven't had anything twice). Our main was lasagna, which was filling. We had a drink after dinner to celebrate the end of the Loango part of this trip. There was still no breeze and so we felt a couple bites, but more like sand flies than mosquitoes.
So there was no need for us to rush through breakfast as weren't delaying anyone else for the safari. There was hardly any wind, which boded well for the boat ride through the lagoon.
We left the lodge around 8:45. It took about an hour through the lagoon to reach the starting point for Akaka, about five minutes past the gorilla research camp. The lagoon was like glass, perfect for the boat ride.
Akaka is a wetlands area, with a narrow waterway (about 15' wide) that goes on for kilometres. I don't know what the proper term would be, but it was river-like. Anyways we slowed down and put-putted through. There were lots of birds on both sides, along with flowers, fauna, and even a duiker. It was really cool to cruise up. I took a lot of pictures, trying to capture birds in flight. Some of them flew in unison with the boat, which made it easier to focus and take pictures. Supposedly Akaka is better in dry season because there's more wildlife, but we enjoyed it just for the atmosphere.
It took about 90 minutes to reach a small satellite camp where we had lunch. It's possible to then hike in the surrounding area, but there were lots of bugs and mosquitoes and we weren't prepared to possibly get our shoes wet, so we just asked to go back to the lodge. Plus we'd get to relax for a couple hours before dinner.
So cruised back down the 'river' to the lagoon. There was a bit more wind and so it wasn't as smooth as the ride in, but it was still a pretty comfortable ride. Plus the rain held off and we didn't get wet.
The cruise to Akaka was excellent, our second-favourite thing here at Loango after the gorilla tracking.
The lodge folks asked if we wanted to do any other activities to fill out the day, they really like their guests to maximize their safari time. We just wanted to relax so declined.
We cleaned up, half packed for tomorrow's departure, and then back to the main lodge for reading / blogging / picture editing.
The kitchen had issues with their oven and so our appetizer was the same coleslaw that we had for lunch (the kitchen has been great here - we haven't had anything twice). Our main was lasagna, which was filling. We had a drink after dinner to celebrate the end of the Loango part of this trip. There was still no breeze and so we felt a couple bites, but more like sand flies than mosquitoes.
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Loango NP, Gabon
I woke up a few times from the lightning and thunder overnight. It was still raining lightly when we went down for breakfast.
Today's excursion was a safari to Tassi. The lodge has a satellite camp in the middle of the savannah at Tassi. The attraction for some is the remoteness and being in the middle of nowhere. For us the downside was no electricity or mosquito net, so we just visited on a day trip.
We again crossed the lagoon and boarded the safari vehicle. Tassi is on the Atlantic side of the peninsula, about 5km west of the gorilla research camp on the lagoon side. It was still raining lightly, so we put on our baselayers and rain jackets. We saw a chimpanzee in the distance, running across a field with its white bum standing out in the haze. I took out my camera to attempt a pic, but my lens got all fogged up as it was the first time I had removed it from the case after sitting in the air conditioned room all night. So no pics.
We also saw a very young elephant with its mother. Our guide said the baby elephant was about one week old. I got a picture, but because of the rain and the distance it looks out of focus.
We reached Tassi after a couple hours, mostly wet. We dried off in the breeze, and then had lunch. Normally on the Tassi excursion there's a walk along the beach, with the possibility of seeing more chimpanzees and other animals. However the animals dislike the rain as much as us, and there wasn't anything to see, so we decided just to call it a day and head back to Loango lodge. We were lucky to have seen what we did.
Back at Loango, we showered and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The main lodge is very comfortable to hang out at, there is usually a nice breeze coming off the lagoon which it overlooks. The lagoon is saltwater so it also helps keep mosquitoes to a minimum. Had a tea, then later an aperitif, caught up a little on my blog, and read our books. There's no wifi here, one of the first places in a long time that we've been off the grid.
Dinner was excellent again, the main was pork with plantain and a rosemary sauce, a fusion creation by the kitchen.
Today's excursion was a safari to Tassi. The lodge has a satellite camp in the middle of the savannah at Tassi. The attraction for some is the remoteness and being in the middle of nowhere. For us the downside was no electricity or mosquito net, so we just visited on a day trip.
We again crossed the lagoon and boarded the safari vehicle. Tassi is on the Atlantic side of the peninsula, about 5km west of the gorilla research camp on the lagoon side. It was still raining lightly, so we put on our baselayers and rain jackets. We saw a chimpanzee in the distance, running across a field with its white bum standing out in the haze. I took out my camera to attempt a pic, but my lens got all fogged up as it was the first time I had removed it from the case after sitting in the air conditioned room all night. So no pics.
We also saw a very young elephant with its mother. Our guide said the baby elephant was about one week old. I got a picture, but because of the rain and the distance it looks out of focus.
We reached Tassi after a couple hours, mostly wet. We dried off in the breeze, and then had lunch. Normally on the Tassi excursion there's a walk along the beach, with the possibility of seeing more chimpanzees and other animals. However the animals dislike the rain as much as us, and there wasn't anything to see, so we decided just to call it a day and head back to Loango lodge. We were lucky to have seen what we did.
Back at Loango, we showered and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The main lodge is very comfortable to hang out at, there is usually a nice breeze coming off the lagoon which it overlooks. The lagoon is saltwater so it also helps keep mosquitoes to a minimum. Had a tea, then later an aperitif, caught up a little on my blog, and read our books. There's no wifi here, one of the first places in a long time that we've been off the grid.
Dinner was excellent again, the main was pork with plantain and a rosemary sauce, a fusion creation by the kitchen.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Loango NP, Gabon
It took us a while to wake up from my alarm at 6:30am, we were in a very deep sleep after our long day yesterday. We were the only guests (aside from Jannie and his family, but I didn't count them as he worked for the travel agency). Breakfast was pretty good considering our remoteness. Ordered an omelette to get more protein as we had a big day ahead.
Mathieu had reviewed today's itinerary With us the previous evening after dinner. In the morning was gorilla tracking, followed by an afternoon safari to see elephants on the beach.
We packed for the gorilla tracking. We debated wearing beach shoes because there was good chance we'd be crossing streams and swamps, but didn't like the idea of open ankles for ants and other insects to nibble on so wore our trekking shoes.
At 8am we left by boat for the research camp, an hour south on the lagoon. One of the researchers, Zeka, met us at the dock. She was also our guide for the gorilla tracking. First we went through an orientation and the rules. There's three species of gorillas. We had previously seen the mountain gorillas in Uganda. Here we would see the lowland gorillas. The third species is not yet habitualized (I forget what they're called).
Gorilla tracking at Loango only opened up about seven months ago. It wasn't an option when I was planning the trip - we only hoped to see the gorillas randomly on a safari, for which the odds were rather low. Zeka said we were the first tourists to the gorillas who didn't have a connection to Gabon (e.g. an expat from Libreville or friends / family visiting someone in Gabon).
The trackers were out early in the morning, and radioed the location back to camp. We washed our hands so that we didn't bring germs into the gorilla habitat. We then took a boat ride to the nearest point so we didn't have to walk as far through the rainforest. We followed elephant trails (they are nicely wide) for about 45 minutes, to about 200m from the gorilla family. We stopped to put on a medical mask (for the gorillas' protection), remove our cameras / binoculars from our packs, and packed away our water bottles. Then we were on to see the gorillas!
First we observed Kamaya, the silverback on the family. He pretty much ignored us, which was what we wanted. Next we moved on to other members of the family. Over the course of the hour visit, we saw 13 of the 14 family members. We were fortunate to observe the family during a rest period, and that they were on level ground. There was pretty dense underbrush which made for dim lighting and difficult focusing for pictures. Lowland gorillas tend to spread out, unlike mountain gorillas which clump together. So there was gorilla activity all around us, about 20m away, and near the end we were encircled by the family! The researchers said it was a sign that the group was truly habitualized, otherwise the silverback would make sure he was always between the humans and the family.
After our hour was up (tourist exposure is limited so that the gorillas don't become over-habitualized), we left the family. After 200m we were able to remove our masks. The trackers led us back to the boat and we returned to camp. We were really lucky with our tracking - there was no rain, it was a short walk to track the gorillas, they were in a relatively flat area, and we didn't have to cross any swamps or streams. It was really cool to see the gorillas. It's the first time a baby gorilla hasn't hugged me, breaking my streak at two.
We chatted with Zeka over lunch. She's doing her masters thesis on something related to gorillas and ecotourism, and was very interested in what drew us to Loango. She was very knowledgeable and passionate about gorillas.
The boat ride back to the lodge was pretty bumpy, as the wind had picked up. We were back at the lodge by 3pm, just enough time to freshen up and head out on on next excursion.
We were joined by another group of four tourists. Took a boat ride 500m across the lagoon, and boarded the safari vehicle. We drove over white sand, which was far more bumpier than I would have thought sand could be. We drove to the Atlantic facing side of the peninsula, along the way seeing elephants, buffalo, and other animals.
One thing we did not like was that the guides purposely antagonize the elephants to try to get them to charge so that tourists can get videos to post to social media. It's very stressful for the elephants. The other tourists we met at the lodge all showed off their videos, so the problem is that there's a demand for it, which safari drivers and the lodge are happy to supply. Anyways it the lowlight of our time at Loango.
On the Atlantic side we drove parallel to the beach, hoping to see elephants and / or hippos on the beach. There was a lot of garbage on the beach. We came across buffalo and elephants on the grasslands adjacent to the beach, but not actually on the beach. There was no use taking pictures what with all the trash.
We returned back to the boat, and then back across to the lodge. Showered and then went to the main lodge for dinner. We had red snapper for our main, which was excellent. We had had maybe ten minutes of downtime since our arrival at Loango and were pretty exhausted. Fell asleep almost immediately.
Mathieu had reviewed today's itinerary With us the previous evening after dinner. In the morning was gorilla tracking, followed by an afternoon safari to see elephants on the beach.
We packed for the gorilla tracking. We debated wearing beach shoes because there was good chance we'd be crossing streams and swamps, but didn't like the idea of open ankles for ants and other insects to nibble on so wore our trekking shoes.
At 8am we left by boat for the research camp, an hour south on the lagoon. One of the researchers, Zeka, met us at the dock. She was also our guide for the gorilla tracking. First we went through an orientation and the rules. There's three species of gorillas. We had previously seen the mountain gorillas in Uganda. Here we would see the lowland gorillas. The third species is not yet habitualized (I forget what they're called).
Gorilla tracking at Loango only opened up about seven months ago. It wasn't an option when I was planning the trip - we only hoped to see the gorillas randomly on a safari, for which the odds were rather low. Zeka said we were the first tourists to the gorillas who didn't have a connection to Gabon (e.g. an expat from Libreville or friends / family visiting someone in Gabon).
The trackers were out early in the morning, and radioed the location back to camp. We washed our hands so that we didn't bring germs into the gorilla habitat. We then took a boat ride to the nearest point so we didn't have to walk as far through the rainforest. We followed elephant trails (they are nicely wide) for about 45 minutes, to about 200m from the gorilla family. We stopped to put on a medical mask (for the gorillas' protection), remove our cameras / binoculars from our packs, and packed away our water bottles. Then we were on to see the gorillas!
First we observed Kamaya, the silverback on the family. He pretty much ignored us, which was what we wanted. Next we moved on to other members of the family. Over the course of the hour visit, we saw 13 of the 14 family members. We were fortunate to observe the family during a rest period, and that they were on level ground. There was pretty dense underbrush which made for dim lighting and difficult focusing for pictures. Lowland gorillas tend to spread out, unlike mountain gorillas which clump together. So there was gorilla activity all around us, about 20m away, and near the end we were encircled by the family! The researchers said it was a sign that the group was truly habitualized, otherwise the silverback would make sure he was always between the humans and the family.
After our hour was up (tourist exposure is limited so that the gorillas don't become over-habitualized), we left the family. After 200m we were able to remove our masks. The trackers led us back to the boat and we returned to camp. We were really lucky with our tracking - there was no rain, it was a short walk to track the gorillas, they were in a relatively flat area, and we didn't have to cross any swamps or streams. It was really cool to see the gorillas. It's the first time a baby gorilla hasn't hugged me, breaking my streak at two.
We chatted with Zeka over lunch. She's doing her masters thesis on something related to gorillas and ecotourism, and was very interested in what drew us to Loango. She was very knowledgeable and passionate about gorillas.
The boat ride back to the lodge was pretty bumpy, as the wind had picked up. We were back at the lodge by 3pm, just enough time to freshen up and head out on on next excursion.
We were joined by another group of four tourists. Took a boat ride 500m across the lagoon, and boarded the safari vehicle. We drove over white sand, which was far more bumpier than I would have thought sand could be. We drove to the Atlantic facing side of the peninsula, along the way seeing elephants, buffalo, and other animals.
One thing we did not like was that the guides purposely antagonize the elephants to try to get them to charge so that tourists can get videos to post to social media. It's very stressful for the elephants. The other tourists we met at the lodge all showed off their videos, so the problem is that there's a demand for it, which safari drivers and the lodge are happy to supply. Anyways it the lowlight of our time at Loango.
On the Atlantic side we drove parallel to the beach, hoping to see elephants and / or hippos on the beach. There was a lot of garbage on the beach. We came across buffalo and elephants on the grasslands adjacent to the beach, but not actually on the beach. There was no use taking pictures what with all the trash.
We returned back to the boat, and then back across to the lodge. Showered and then went to the main lodge for dinner. We had red snapper for our main, which was excellent. We had had maybe ten minutes of downtime since our arrival at Loango and were pretty exhausted. Fell asleep almost immediately.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Loango NP, Gabon
I was a bit nervous about the Loango part of the trip, that it would actually happen. After our plans changed in early November due to flight schedules, the Loango part had taken the longest to confirm, with the booking only being finalized a week before we took off. My bank transfer for the balance owing had been declined by the receiving bank because the IBAN (account #) was invalid, even though I had sent a deposit to the same IBAN back in September. So I was hoping that someone would be at the airport in Port Gentil (called POG by the locals) to meet us.
First we had to get to the airport in Libreville. We had arranged an early breakfast at 5:30am, but there was no one at reception or in the kitchen at the Royal Palm. Not a promising start :(. The person on duty came out from a back room (looked like we woke him up). We asked for petit dejeuner and he sprung into action, and by 5:45am we were enjoying croissants and pain au chocolates with tea and coffee.
We asked about the taxi we had reserved for 6am to give them some time to work out in care there wasn't actually a reservation. Quickly ate (for us anyways - for most other people it was probably normal speed). Then got our packs and back to the reception. We still had to pay - we had tried the previous evening after dinner but the credit card POS wasn't connecting. It worked the first time (we had Euros as back up but preferred not to spend them so early), a taxi was there at 6:05am and we were at the airport by 6:25am.
We were flying domestic, the driver had asked around a few people to confirm the correct terminal for AfriJet. It took all of five minutes to check in, go through security (bottled water allowed), and get to the (only) domestic gate.
The other passengers looked like oil industry folks heading back to work after Christmas. At 7:15am, we walked out on the tarmac to board, right on schedule. It was a larger prop plane, a manufacturer I didn't recognize.
Thirty five minutes later we touched down at POG. We waited a few minutes for our luggage, (they actually checked the tags when we exited), and out into the sidewalk. I didn't see anyone with a D'Souza / Murray sign, but before I could look fully around, someone walked up and asked Loango? He had a Loango Lodge tshirt too, so it all seemed legit. So far so good!
The driver took us to Hôtel Le Bouganvillier in town, about 10 minutes from the airport, which was the same hotel that had been mentioned when I was originally booking back in July.
We switched to a quatre-quatre (4x4) for the next leg. They weren't quite ready to leave so we had a 2nd breakfast, including an omelette, as we hadn't had any protein with our 5:30am breakfast and I wasn't sure when we'd be eating again.
Our first driver came back from the pharmacy with a pair of generic reading glasses, and asked if we could deliver to Mathieu (the manager at Loango). Like most remote places, there's infrequent transport to a main centre and anyone going back and forth becomes an ad hoc transport service.
We drove through POG, to another hotel, where we picked up a group that had their own vehicles but had to follow our driver in a convoy.
So now we were four vehicles on our way to Loango. Our driver said it was about 3.5 hours to another meeting point, where we would switch vehicles for the last hour into Loango.
It was a long hot bumpy ride over a dirt road. There is a road being constructed, and for parts of the drive the new road was operational. There weren't lane markings or anything, but aside from a couple of construction related vehicles, there was no one else on the road.
I hadn't realized that the entire drive would be through undeveloped countryside. There weren't any little towns or even junction towns e.g. to buy water. Never mind junction towns - there wasn't even a junction - there was just this one road, from POG to Loango, with nothing else in between. This would have been good to know before we left POG, as we would have bought some extra water. We had a 1L bottle that we had carried on the plane, but that was it.
There were a couple of security checkpoints, related to the construction company. Our driver makes this run frequently and knew all the checkpoint people so there were no issues.
Finally around 3pm we reached Camp Liambissi, very parched and hungry. This was the destination for the rest of the convoy, which finally made sense to us. We had been wondering how the group of 14 including 7 young kids would handle Loango, as there's not many kid-accessible activities.
The manager, Phillipe, greeted us and invited us to stay a few minutes to have a snack. I guess the driver had called ahead to let them know that were hungry and thirsty tourists incoming :) It was the fastest Heather and I have ever finished a 1.5L bottle of water, less than 10 minutes.
We switched to a safari vehicle for the last hour to Loango, just me and Heather. It felt great to be in the open safari vehicle after the hot enclosed ride for the previous five hours. The scenery was amazing - intermingled grasslands and forests. It reminded me of a very large golf course in the woods, except this was natural.
We reached Loango around 4:30pm. We met the manager, Mathieu, as well as another person who introduced himself with what sounded like Yanni. Turns out it was Jannie who I had been emailing over the past few months. He had signed his emails alternately as Jan or Jannie, and I had assumed it was a female name of someone with Africa's Eden, and based in Portugal. So finally I knew that the Loango trip wasn't an elaborate Internet scam :)
Mathieu showed us to our chalet. We quickly washed up and then went out for a short tour of the lagoon which separates Loango National Park from Loango Lodge.
We saw some hippos, and then did a short walking safari and saw a lone elephant. Our guide / boat driver got us close to the elephant on foot. The elephant didn't take too kindly to this, and we backed off back to the boat. It all seemed rather sketch. (Over the next couple days we observed other newly-arrived tourists doing the same walking safari to a lone elephant. It looks like walking safaris are The Next Big Thing that lodges offer, without all the safety / knowledgeable guides that we've had at previous lodges.)
We went by boat to another beach and walked around to the ocean-facing side of Loango NP, hoping to see elephants or hippos on the beach. We did see elephant footprints but no animals.
We got back to the lodge around 6:30pm. Showered and then to the main lodge for dinner. It was excellent - freshly-caught jack fish, impossibly tender, with green beans and mashed potato, and a fruit crumble for dessert. Mmm good.
We were a little concerned about sleeping, as there was no mosquito net and Gabon is a great place to catch malaria. I had brought a small net but there was no place to rig it up. There was a/c and a big fan, so we cranked up both and hoped that the power didn't go off in the middle of the night. Also put on bug repellant as a back up. Turns out the power at Loango Lodge is pretty reliable and the a/c and fan did the trick, we didn't get any bites.
First we had to get to the airport in Libreville. We had arranged an early breakfast at 5:30am, but there was no one at reception or in the kitchen at the Royal Palm. Not a promising start :(. The person on duty came out from a back room (looked like we woke him up). We asked for petit dejeuner and he sprung into action, and by 5:45am we were enjoying croissants and pain au chocolates with tea and coffee.
We asked about the taxi we had reserved for 6am to give them some time to work out in care there wasn't actually a reservation. Quickly ate (for us anyways - for most other people it was probably normal speed). Then got our packs and back to the reception. We still had to pay - we had tried the previous evening after dinner but the credit card POS wasn't connecting. It worked the first time (we had Euros as back up but preferred not to spend them so early), a taxi was there at 6:05am and we were at the airport by 6:25am.
We were flying domestic, the driver had asked around a few people to confirm the correct terminal for AfriJet. It took all of five minutes to check in, go through security (bottled water allowed), and get to the (only) domestic gate.
The other passengers looked like oil industry folks heading back to work after Christmas. At 7:15am, we walked out on the tarmac to board, right on schedule. It was a larger prop plane, a manufacturer I didn't recognize.
Thirty five minutes later we touched down at POG. We waited a few minutes for our luggage, (they actually checked the tags when we exited), and out into the sidewalk. I didn't see anyone with a D'Souza / Murray sign, but before I could look fully around, someone walked up and asked Loango? He had a Loango Lodge tshirt too, so it all seemed legit. So far so good!
The driver took us to Hôtel Le Bouganvillier in town, about 10 minutes from the airport, which was the same hotel that had been mentioned when I was originally booking back in July.
We switched to a quatre-quatre (4x4) for the next leg. They weren't quite ready to leave so we had a 2nd breakfast, including an omelette, as we hadn't had any protein with our 5:30am breakfast and I wasn't sure when we'd be eating again.
Our first driver came back from the pharmacy with a pair of generic reading glasses, and asked if we could deliver to Mathieu (the manager at Loango). Like most remote places, there's infrequent transport to a main centre and anyone going back and forth becomes an ad hoc transport service.
We drove through POG, to another hotel, where we picked up a group that had their own vehicles but had to follow our driver in a convoy.
So now we were four vehicles on our way to Loango. Our driver said it was about 3.5 hours to another meeting point, where we would switch vehicles for the last hour into Loango.
It was a long hot bumpy ride over a dirt road. There is a road being constructed, and for parts of the drive the new road was operational. There weren't lane markings or anything, but aside from a couple of construction related vehicles, there was no one else on the road.
I hadn't realized that the entire drive would be through undeveloped countryside. There weren't any little towns or even junction towns e.g. to buy water. Never mind junction towns - there wasn't even a junction - there was just this one road, from POG to Loango, with nothing else in between. This would have been good to know before we left POG, as we would have bought some extra water. We had a 1L bottle that we had carried on the plane, but that was it.
There were a couple of security checkpoints, related to the construction company. Our driver makes this run frequently and knew all the checkpoint people so there were no issues.
Finally around 3pm we reached Camp Liambissi, very parched and hungry. This was the destination for the rest of the convoy, which finally made sense to us. We had been wondering how the group of 14 including 7 young kids would handle Loango, as there's not many kid-accessible activities.
The manager, Phillipe, greeted us and invited us to stay a few minutes to have a snack. I guess the driver had called ahead to let them know that were hungry and thirsty tourists incoming :) It was the fastest Heather and I have ever finished a 1.5L bottle of water, less than 10 minutes.
We switched to a safari vehicle for the last hour to Loango, just me and Heather. It felt great to be in the open safari vehicle after the hot enclosed ride for the previous five hours. The scenery was amazing - intermingled grasslands and forests. It reminded me of a very large golf course in the woods, except this was natural.
We reached Loango around 4:30pm. We met the manager, Mathieu, as well as another person who introduced himself with what sounded like Yanni. Turns out it was Jannie who I had been emailing over the past few months. He had signed his emails alternately as Jan or Jannie, and I had assumed it was a female name of someone with Africa's Eden, and based in Portugal. So finally I knew that the Loango trip wasn't an elaborate Internet scam :)
Mathieu showed us to our chalet. We quickly washed up and then went out for a short tour of the lagoon which separates Loango National Park from Loango Lodge.
We saw some hippos, and then did a short walking safari and saw a lone elephant. Our guide / boat driver got us close to the elephant on foot. The elephant didn't take too kindly to this, and we backed off back to the boat. It all seemed rather sketch. (Over the next couple days we observed other newly-arrived tourists doing the same walking safari to a lone elephant. It looks like walking safaris are The Next Big Thing that lodges offer, without all the safety / knowledgeable guides that we've had at previous lodges.)
We went by boat to another beach and walked around to the ocean-facing side of Loango NP, hoping to see elephants or hippos on the beach. We did see elephant footprints but no animals.
We got back to the lodge around 6:30pm. Showered and then to the main lodge for dinner. It was excellent - freshly-caught jack fish, impossibly tender, with green beans and mashed potato, and a fruit crumble for dessert. Mmm good.
We were a little concerned about sleeping, as there was no mosquito net and Gabon is a great place to catch malaria. I had brought a small net but there was no place to rig it up. There was a/c and a big fan, so we cranked up both and hoped that the power didn't go off in the middle of the night. Also put on bug repellant as a back up. Turns out the power at Loango Lodge is pretty reliable and the a/c and fan did the trick, we didn't get any bites.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Libreville, Gabon
We managed to sleep through the night so I hoped we had skipped jetlag on this trip. Breakfast was yummy at the Royal Palm - pastries, pancakes, fresh fruit salad and the best scrambled eggs I've had.
We spent most of the morning reorganizing our packs. We had used the carry-on suitcase to pack clothes in case our luggage didn't make it. (We were leaving the carry-on at the Royal Palm to carry souvenirs back at the end of the trip.)
It was Christmas so everything was closed, so we just walked into the centre of Quartier Glass to stretch our legs and see what the neighbourhood was about. Similar to Toronto, Libreville is a city of neighbourhoods. We did have a few objectives -- get local currency (CFAs), find a place for lunch, and buy some bottled water.
We tried a couple of ATMs but no luck, so went to Hotel Le Cristal to see if they would change some Euros. They had an ATM, so we tried that first, and it worked!
Flush with cash we continued on our little tour. Heather spotted a happening place in an old colonial building, with people seated around the 2nd floor balcony. It was starting to drizzle and it looked like a nice place to at least have a coffee so we stopped in. It turns out the salon de thé, Le Pelisson, is a Libreville institution (at least according to the Bradt guide). We decided to have lunch there, even though it was still before noon and a bit early for us, as we hadn't seen much else open. The food wasn't anything to write home about, but the coffee was great and the dessert was amazing.
We figured that was enough for the day and so headed home, stopping in at a gas station convenience store along the way to buy some water.
Cleaned up and then went to the pool area to have a drink and watch the sunset. I was expecting the sun to slant down across the sky, but then remembered that we were close to the equator and so the sun just goes straight up and straight down. The sun got close to the horizon and then disappeared behind some clouds.
So it was now dark and we figured respectable enough to have dinner. However the bar staff said the kitchen wasn't open and to come back later. They weren't really clear on the reason. So we surfed a bit in our room, looked up some back up places that might be open on Christmas. At 7:30 we went back our to the bar and luckily, they were now open for dinner.
I had the grilled langouste and Heather tried the duck with fig. Both were pretty good, our Christmas dinner. We had an early start the next morning so went to bed early around 10pm.
We spent most of the morning reorganizing our packs. We had used the carry-on suitcase to pack clothes in case our luggage didn't make it. (We were leaving the carry-on at the Royal Palm to carry souvenirs back at the end of the trip.)
It was Christmas so everything was closed, so we just walked into the centre of Quartier Glass to stretch our legs and see what the neighbourhood was about. Similar to Toronto, Libreville is a city of neighbourhoods. We did have a few objectives -- get local currency (CFAs), find a place for lunch, and buy some bottled water.
We tried a couple of ATMs but no luck, so went to Hotel Le Cristal to see if they would change some Euros. They had an ATM, so we tried that first, and it worked!
Flush with cash we continued on our little tour. Heather spotted a happening place in an old colonial building, with people seated around the 2nd floor balcony. It was starting to drizzle and it looked like a nice place to at least have a coffee so we stopped in. It turns out the salon de thé, Le Pelisson, is a Libreville institution (at least according to the Bradt guide). We decided to have lunch there, even though it was still before noon and a bit early for us, as we hadn't seen much else open. The food wasn't anything to write home about, but the coffee was great and the dessert was amazing.
We figured that was enough for the day and so headed home, stopping in at a gas station convenience store along the way to buy some water.
Cleaned up and then went to the pool area to have a drink and watch the sunset. I was expecting the sun to slant down across the sky, but then remembered that we were close to the equator and so the sun just goes straight up and straight down. The sun got close to the horizon and then disappeared behind some clouds.
So it was now dark and we figured respectable enough to have dinner. However the bar staff said the kitchen wasn't open and to come back later. They weren't really clear on the reason. So we surfed a bit in our room, looked up some back up places that might be open on Christmas. At 7:30 we went back our to the bar and luckily, they were now open for dinner.
I had the grilled langouste and Heather tried the duck with fig. Both were pretty good, our Christmas dinner. We had an early start the next morning so went to bed early around 10pm.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Libreville, Gabon
Our flight was Saturday at 6:35pm. We got most of our packing done on Friday night so we weren't too rushed on Saturday to get to the airport. We had booked our flights back in June through Heather's cousin Cindy and got a great deal for Business class. I hadn't realized this also meant we skipped the line up through security, which was a nice bonus, especially over the busy Christmas season. The agent verified our visas to Gabon in Toronto; I thought they would only check before the flight from Paris but I guess it makes more sense. (Airlines are responsible for flying you out if you're refused entry to a country, so they check to make sure your papers are in order before you board.)
The food was pretty good on Air France, and we both slept for the latter half of the flight. The Air France lounge at CDG was under renovations and the temporary lounge was packed (woe is us). It was a short connection, just enough time for a coffee and pastry, and then we were off to Gabon!
We napped a couple times on the second flight and arrived relatively rested in Libreville. We were one of the first people to disembark and I accidentally followed the first class passengers to the VIP immigration, before one the VIPs helpfully pointed out the normal immigration checkpoint.
We already had our Gabon visas and the immigration official whisked us through in no time. Her ink pad was getting dry so the stamp is barely visible, but oh well. Then we waited over an hour for our luggage (reminded me of being at Pearson), but they all arrived. Everyone was very friendly around the conveyor, moving carts out of the way to let people pass and generally being helpful.
There was a final checkpoint leaving the secure area, where the official asked if we were students (lots of students were returning home for the holidays). We said, no, we're tourists, at which point she got suspicious. Oú allez-vous? cause no-one comes here as a tourist. We said we were going to Loango, and she nodded approvingly and waved us through.
Outside the terminal it was packed with families and friends waiting for the returning students. We found the taxi line and took a taxi to our hotel. We could smell the ocean as we drove, and I remembered that the road from the airport to town ran right along the coast. It was a pleasant temperature, about 26C, and pretty humid.
We checked into the Royal Palm around 7:30pm. We cleaned up and went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. According to Heather's research it was one of the better restaurants in town, plus on Christmas Eve we weren't sure what else was open. We sat at a table outside. We were the only guests at first, but a couple other tables filled in later on. We were still a little full from the Air France food, so split the seafood platter and a couple large Régab (the local beer). The seafood was excellent, it was super fresh and cooked properly. A good start to the food on this trip!
The food was pretty good on Air France, and we both slept for the latter half of the flight. The Air France lounge at CDG was under renovations and the temporary lounge was packed (woe is us). It was a short connection, just enough time for a coffee and pastry, and then we were off to Gabon!
We napped a couple times on the second flight and arrived relatively rested in Libreville. We were one of the first people to disembark and I accidentally followed the first class passengers to the VIP immigration, before one the VIPs helpfully pointed out the normal immigration checkpoint.
We already had our Gabon visas and the immigration official whisked us through in no time. Her ink pad was getting dry so the stamp is barely visible, but oh well. Then we waited over an hour for our luggage (reminded me of being at Pearson), but they all arrived. Everyone was very friendly around the conveyor, moving carts out of the way to let people pass and generally being helpful.
There was a final checkpoint leaving the secure area, where the official asked if we were students (lots of students were returning home for the holidays). We said, no, we're tourists, at which point she got suspicious. Oú allez-vous? cause no-one comes here as a tourist. We said we were going to Loango, and she nodded approvingly and waved us through.
Outside the terminal it was packed with families and friends waiting for the returning students. We found the taxi line and took a taxi to our hotel. We could smell the ocean as we drove, and I remembered that the road from the airport to town ran right along the coast. It was a pleasant temperature, about 26C, and pretty humid.
We checked into the Royal Palm around 7:30pm. We cleaned up and went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. According to Heather's research it was one of the better restaurants in town, plus on Christmas Eve we weren't sure what else was open. We sat at a table outside. We were the only guests at first, but a couple other tables filled in later on. We were still a little full from the Air France food, so split the seafood platter and a couple large Régab (the local beer). The seafood was excellent, it was super fresh and cooked properly. A good start to the food on this trip!
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Toronto, Canada
This year's trip is to Gabon and São Tomé & Príncipe. I can't say I could have pointed out Gabon on a map prior to researching this trip, although I knew roughly the whereabouts of São Tomé and Príncipe. We picked the destinations based on the least touristed countries in the world, with things of interest to us. In 2011, São Tomé & Príncipe received 12,000 visitors, which is an average of about 30 tourists per day. Gabon is a relative hotspot with 269,000 annual tourists, which still puts them in the lowest 25% of countries. (For comparison, France, the most-touristed country, has over 80 million visitors per year). Well enough with the statistics.
The two countries provide good variety for a three week trip. São Tomé & Príncipe has great beaches and snorkeling, coffee and chocolate plantations, hiking, and Claudio Corallo chocolate. Gabon highlights include national parks, with surfing hippos, lowland gorillas and elephants on the beach.
There wasn't much choice for guide books, just a skinny Bradt guide for each country. The two put together are the same thickness as the South Africa Lonely Planet from our previous trip.
We had booked most of the trip back in June, and had to rearrange everything in November when the regional flight schedules changed from what we were expecting. Luckily we were able to change our dates for most of our hotels & lodges.
We were a bit concerned with getting visas, as there's a lot of comments all over the web about other travellers having their visa applications rejected. We had no issues, although we did have to submit a lot of documentation. The visa application for São Tomé & Príncipe is online. Gabon also has an e-visa, but we needed a double-entry so mailed our passports to the embassy in Ottawa. The Gabon visa is a nice looking full-page sticker which includes our picture! I've not seen that before.
We learnt from previous trips and did most of our shopping for gear in early summer, when stores still have hot weather inventory. We're mostly ready to go, another week and we'll be on our way!
The two countries provide good variety for a three week trip. São Tomé & Príncipe has great beaches and snorkeling, coffee and chocolate plantations, hiking, and Claudio Corallo chocolate. Gabon highlights include national parks, with surfing hippos, lowland gorillas and elephants on the beach.
There wasn't much choice for guide books, just a skinny Bradt guide for each country. The two put together are the same thickness as the South Africa Lonely Planet from our previous trip.
We had booked most of the trip back in June, and had to rearrange everything in November when the regional flight schedules changed from what we were expecting. Luckily we were able to change our dates for most of our hotels & lodges.
We were a bit concerned with getting visas, as there's a lot of comments all over the web about other travellers having their visa applications rejected. We had no issues, although we did have to submit a lot of documentation. The visa application for São Tomé & Príncipe is online. Gabon also has an e-visa, but we needed a double-entry so mailed our passports to the embassy in Ottawa. The Gabon visa is a nice looking full-page sticker which includes our picture! I've not seen that before.
We learnt from previous trips and did most of our shopping for gear in early summer, when stores still have hot weather inventory. We're mostly ready to go, another week and we'll be on our way!
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Toronto, Canada
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.
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.
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.
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