Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Peace Out

As you have probably guessed by our severe lack of blog posts recently, we've entirely given up on this medium as an vehicle for sharing our life stories. Fear not! Your broken hearts will mend.

Just so as not to post something without pictures, here's what we woke up to the other morning:


A big, colorful balloon chuck full of people flying overhead. We waved energetically with arms high above our heads. No response. They were probably miffed that we weren't a couple of giraffe.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

ThornyBush

There we were, in sitting our office, staring idly at our computer screens and trying desperately to get our minds to focus on our work. (Tough to do when all we can think about and plan for is the next 3-day weekend). Then we got an unexpected phone call from a friend of ours who was looking for two more people to accompany him and his friend on a game drive through Thornybush Game Reserve. Would be interested in going? We needed about 3 seconds to confer and give him a resounding: "Yes!"

Since we live within 5 minutes of several different private game reserves, Neil was getting antsy that we hadn't visited one yet. Finally, our time had come! We were excited. This would be different for us.

Like Kruger, Thornybush has lots of accessible vehicle-accessible terrain, breathtaking scenery, of course, oodles of animals.

But unlike Kruger, it is a private game reserve. So...
  • it's much more expensive (unless you know someone who knows someone...)
  • it has several luxury lodges scattered throughout (one of which is Elton John's preferred venue whenever he visits South Africa)
  • it's smaller...about 11,500 hectares (Kruger is > 2.2 million hectares)
  • there are fewer animals, but they are not allowed to roam across fences lines to neighboring reserves...so they are always around somewhere
  • the guides communicate (via CB radios mounted underneath their dashboards) with each other so that they know where all the animals are then they drive you right to them
  • you can go as early and stay as late as you like
  • we don't have to do the driving
Basically, you're guaranteed to see some incredible things inside a private game reserve. Afterall, that's what they are set up to do...deliver the Big Five and much, much more.

Our guide, Olaf, and his spotter, Freddy, picked us up from the front gate of our "compound" around 4:30 pm in a sturdy looking, army green, open-air Land Rover. Nice. We were on our way for a sunset drive.

Over the next few hours we enjoyed the sights and sounds of Thornybush. Accompanying us on our journey were:

Wildebeest

Ostritch

Spotted Eagle

Hippo

Elephant





Giraffe

and Lion (Yes, she's in there...you may have to squint to see her).


Our last sighting of the evening was this guy...sitting next to the road.


At first he was a quite interested at our arrival. A little too interested, perhaps. Look at those eyes! Is that his "I'm about to pounce!" position or what?


But, within a few minutes he became quite bored with us. Just another group of awed tourist. He started to yawn a lot and eventually wandered off into the bush searching for something a bit more tasty.


Well, as you can imagine, we were pretty thrilled. Never had we seen so many animals, so close, and in so short a time before. And a male lion to boot! It was exhilarating. Little did we know that the most exhilarating part was jet to come...

As we were on our way home, Olaf decided to try crossing a little stream. But the water was too deep and the edge of the bank too steep. So, naturally, we got got stuck.


We were beginning to wonder just how long Olaf would continue to spin the tires further and further into the soft sand below. Eventually, he stopped this questionable behavior. Then he told Freddy to get out the one and only shovel they had and start digging out the wheels. It was dark by now and, of course, Olaf's flashlight didn't work...needed new batteries. So, Neil and I headed around to the rear of the truck to help Freddy dig out the back tires with the aid of the red focus light on our camera. Occasionally I would push the button down entirely and temporarily blind all of us with a bright flash. (Not fun.)

So, there we were, sitting ducks in the middle of a Big Five game reserve. It's all well and good to hear lion moan from the safely of our home at night, but quite another when you're its potential prey. At this point, I was beginning to second guess Olaf's rule of never taking a fire arm with him on game drives.


This plan of attack soon far ran out of steam. We weren't getting anywhere. Eventually, Olaf called for help (why not do this earlier, I wondered?). So, we waited.

Then, as we were gathering up our tools and shoes, without warning, the male lion we had seen earlier came rushing out of the bush at full speed straight towards us...roaring like he was possessed...


Well, not really. Actually, we just got back into the truck and within 20 minutes another truck came to pull us out of the stream. Yeah! We had escaped entirely uneaten. We live to play another day!


Saturday, April 4, 2009

Camping in Kruger

Way back in December we went camping in Kruger with a couple of friends from Tzaneen and their four kids.

We met them at Letaba Camp, which is a rather large camp located in the north-central part of Kruger along the Letaba riverbed. One wonderful aspect of Letaba is its huge lawns and tall, shady trees...
Sycamore Fig, Natal Mahogany, Sausage Tree, and Apple Leaf. Just look at this place! It's magnificent! (No, that's not a live elephant. But that is the entry to Letaba Camp.)

It's quite nice to camp in Kruger because you can choose from several different types of accommodation. You can get:
(1) a tent/caravan site where you bring your own tent/caravan
(2) a rustic hut that has beds, but nothing else
(3) a safari tent with beds, a mini-fan, a hot plate, refrigerator, and table and chairs
(4) a fully-equipped bungalow with air conditioning
(5) a decked-out guest cottage that houses that sleeps about 10-15 people

Our friends opted to bring their own tent. Despite much begging, pleading, and puppy-dog eyes on their part (non-stop from the kids for the preceding 4 weeks) for us to join them in their tent, we held strong and opted for a separate bungalow. Honestly, can we really be expected to pass up air conditioning when it was a blistering 45 degrees Celsius everyday that week? Answer: No, we can't.
So, while the family was on the other side of the campground unpacking the car, setting up the tent, and trying to make the most of their grass-less campsite, we were kicking up our heels on the porch of our sweet, sweet bungalow.

In between reading snippets from engrossing (and non-work-related) books we took in some of the scenery and wildlife. It was quite peaceful. Around the camp, many of the animals are so tame that they will eat right out of your hand. Not very sanitary, perhaps, but incredibly endearing. Aaahhhh. A person could get used to this.

Of course, monkeys are all very fun and lovable until they steal your food out from under your nose. True story: As Neil was unpacking our cooler and loading the fridge he set a bunch of grapes on the table, turned to open the fridge, then turned back to get the grapes. Too slow, Joe. By then the monkey was halfway across the lawn with grapes in its hand and glee in its heart. Turns out monkeys don't even have to wait until you leave something out. They'll just open your fridge while your out walking around. So, the campground officials "strongly recommend" that people turn around their refrigerators to face the wall (as shown below).

Apparently, monkeys haven't quite yet figured out how to work as a team and scoot the fridge away from the wall. Just give them a couple more generations.

Eventually we joined our friends and walked around exploring the camp together.


We spotted some fun things along the way...

Ohhh, what's that?

That is a big lizard...



What Neil was saying before he was so rudely cut off by the person filming (this is the same person who has figured out that videos longer than about 20 seconds take way too long to upload on a blog) was basically this: Snakes, like lizards, love to eat eggs. They enter chicken coops at night and gorge themselves...swallowing eggs whole and crushing them inside their bodies. (Yum!) Now, the people to whom the chickens and eggs belong do not like this. But, it's difficult to catch snakes in the act, especially if they are up to all this mischief in the middle of the night and may bite you if you disrupt their feast. But people are clever. They set out hard-boiled eggs in the chicken coops. The snakes then swallow these eggs. But since the snake cannot crush a hard-boiled egg once its been swallowed, they are immobilized. The next morning people find the frozen snake and kill it...often with shovels or rocks.

There are also less slithery animals about like this little bushbuck who was quite interested in what we were up to.



The kids especially liked watching the monkeys. (We kept a tight eye on our food.)






They were even more fascinated with squirrels...which are apparently incredibly rare up in Tzaneen. We let the kids borrow our camera for a little while and it came back to us with about 2GBs worth of squirrel documentaries. Can't really blame them though...I remember going camping with my family when I was a kid and being filling with glee whenever I'd see a chipmunk or squirrel scamper across the road and up a tree. (The only thing that lessens my excitement for them now is that I've spent the last 10 years trying to keep them out of our apartment. Trust me, a up-close encounter with a squirrel on your bed is much less fun than seeing them romp around in the wild.)

Unfortunately, the not-so-short film "The Life and Times of an Unnamed Squirrel" had to be deleted. We needed that 2GBs for all the elephant we saw along the way:



After such a long walk, it was nice to put our feet up.


Later that evening we moseyed over to their camp for some festivities. We had a braai (wherein I successfully managed to eat zero meat without having to defend such odd behavior and Neil managed to eat a lot of meat with the constant declaration of its gloriousness).


We played Uno (Neil and I actually won several games without cheating...too much).


By that time we were plum tuckered out, so we headed back to our cozy, air-conditioned digs and settled down to a cool, mozzie-free night. I don't remember much after that which I interpret as some good sleep.

The next day was a scorcher. So, we didn't do too much other than just enjoy eachother's company...


Looks like somebody could have used a little A/C last night!


Don't we all look just swell? These candid shots are great. Give your camera to a five-year-old boy and you're sure to get the real story. Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun!

Eventually we had to part ways and Neil and I headed home through the park towards Orpen gate.

Along the way we had two great elephant encounters:







Whew! They don't get closer than that!

We learned a few things from this experience:

(1) Always opt for air conditioning in Kruger. Always.
(2) Do not...I repeat: DO NOT...come between a Mama elephant and her baby or cut off an elephant bull when he is trying to cross the street.
(3) Know where reverse is on your car.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Holiday - Part Five: The End...Finally!

Well, here is it. The final installment of our holiday adventure (and only 2 months later, too...has anyone else besides us lost interest by now?).

The morning after our trek through Lesotho, we managed to beg a ride back down to South Africa from a taxi driver. Now, normally we avoid taxis like the plague because they are a fine way to pick up various communicable diseases. But, it was either brave the taxi or bike down the steepest/scariest cliff in the world in the dark with our cooler and suitcase. Tough decision. We seriously considered strapping the cooler to one of the bikes and holding the suitcase between us as we maneuvered down the mountain. But, when it came down to it, that taxi looked pretty inviting at 5:15 in the morning...disease-ridden or not.

Port St Johns

Once we were safely back through the border post, we headed out of Kwa-Zulu Natal and into the Eastern Cape province towards the Wild Coast and the coastal city of Port St. Johns.
Although quite exhausted, we were excited about the last leg of our journey. Mostly because whenever we mentioned to a local that we were headed to Port St. Johns their eyes glazed over and "ooh" and "aah" sounds escaped their lips as if savoring one of their favorite holiday treats.

We were told of a place where "laws don't exist" and the roadsides are packed with local fisherman selling underweight seafood for next to nothing. We imagined pristine beaches with endless, white sands; fine restaurants and specialty shops; a diversity of peoples and flavors.

What we found didn't exactly fulfill our wildest dreams.

There were beaches. But, the rocky shores lined muddy waters and smelled of rotting rice.
There were restaurants. But, they were anything but fine. Neil's personal favorite was the N.E.W.S. Cafe where he ordered "fresh crawfish" and got a funny colored one that we deduced was either days old or previously rejected by another customer because he saw the "cook" remove it from the microwave and throw it into a styrofoam box when his order was up.
And there were shops. But, those that weren't boarded up specialized in booze. (Sorry, we only patronize pubs in trees or on mountain tops).

This was looking like a bust. But there was still hope...our accommodation could save us! I'd booked a 3-night stay in self-catering room at the Umzimvubu Retreat. The situation looked promising. This place was well advertised all over the internet and on billboards for several kilometers outside the town:
Plus, it boasted a location not 1o meters from the ocean and had quite an inviting landscape with tree-lined walkways and flower pots outside the rooms.

All good signs.

Then we went inside our room. The bedroom was as least livable...minus the hundreds of mosquitoes and the obvious lack of a mozzie net. (You'll have to envision it without all our stuff.)

The bathroom, however, was another story. Downright frightening.
How, we wondered, were we supposed to feel clean after showering in this? Wearing shoes in the shower helped.
Want a relaxing bubble bath after a long day of driving? Forget about it. Unless you find soap scum especially soothing.
Oddly enough, Neil wasn't super thrilled about our digs.
The communal kitchen looked slightly more promising. This was a relief since we weren't too keen to check out other restaurants in town. However, we soon discovered upon preparing some fish and veggies for dinner that the stove didn't work. We tried everything. Including fidgeting with the gas line that ran from the wall to the stove (kids, do not try this at home). Eventually we heated up some nachos in the microwave...after running to the store for a cheese grater. Fully-equipped kitchen...yeah right!
Truthfully, by the end of the day, we were pretty set on suffering through the night and leaving for home in the morning. But then we realized we were only a couple hours away from a few other places we wanted to see. So, come the morning light we shooed the mosquitoes off our exposed appendages, rolled off the sticky bed, schlepped ourselves into the car once more, braced ourselves for a pothole-ridden ride, and ventured south.

Coffee Bay
Our first stop was a place called Coffee Bay. This is another town on the eastern coast of the country. It's smaller than Port St. Johns but much more attuned to the tourism market.

There were little shops along the streets selling bait, tackle, and refreshments to the beach bums there for the weekend.


Frankly, this felt a bit like Spring Break '89, so we passed through rather quickly.

Hole in the Wall
Just down the road from Coffee Bay is the third-most photographed place in South Africa, Hole in the Wall.

To get there you must drive a few kilometers on a winding dirt road that takes you past ocean views, family huts, grazing cattle, bountiful farmlands, and hundreds of children chanting "Sweets! Sweets!" from the roadside.
Eventually the road stops and you find dozens of young boys waiting to take you on a guided walk from the "parking lot" to the Hole in the Wall...for a nominal fee, of course. Actually, I think those who wait and watch your car while you're gone have the right idea ..."only paper money".
Eventually, you arrive at the Hole in the Wall, a place known for and named after, well, a hole in a wall. OK, yes, I can expound...

The Hole in the Wall is a huge detached cliff with a giant opening through its center carved by the waves.
The local Xhosa call this place "izi Khaleni", which means "place of thunder". During high tide the clap from the waves can be heard throughout the valley.
In short, this place was great. We had a grand time relaxing, exploring, and generally being awe-struck by the capability, power, and beauty of nature.





And that, as they say, is that. Our Christmas holiday in a nutshell. Well, everything except the 16-hour drive home...