The Escarpment

Several Fridays ago (is that really a workday for most people?) we thought we’d hop in the car and check out the local surroundings.

So what kind of scenery does the South African low veld have to offer? Well, just in what the touring books refer to as the "panoramic escarpment route" there are several main attractions: God’s Window, Berlin Falls, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, The Three Rondawels, Blyde River Canyon, and more.

God's Window
That’s right you heard me, God’s Window. I don’t care what it is, if it’s named God’s Window it has to be good. Naturally, we were excited. Not wanting to mess around, we headed straight there.
That wasn't God's Window. Just a road. But I wanted you to feel like you were coming with us and we have to start somewhere.

Almost there…just thought we’d stop and take in the view. Not bad. Oh, you want to know what I am looking at? Well, here you go. Okay, we arrived at the trailhead. Are you ready for God’s Window? It’s up these stairs… Down this path… Are you coming? Come on! No more messing around! On second thought, we should stop to rest. Trust me. You’ll thank me later. Almost there…didn’t I say that already? Just through this little pathway and we are there. Just a little further… Finally...God’s Window! Hey, how did he get there? He’s ruining the picture. Hey buddy, this is my photo op! That’s better. Off in the distance you can see Blyde River. Okay, let’s go off the beaten path just a little bit and see what else God’s Window has to offer. Are you ready? I'm ready! Once you get beyond the heavily forested area it opens up a little. Just beyond the open field we spot some vegetation. Steph races ahead and because she’s faster and in better shape she quickly disappears. When I finally catch up, I see she is entranced by this big rock. What is she doing? Nevermind…I can get ahead of her while she’s distracted by the overwhelming beauty of our surroundings. Just beyond the rock it opens up just a little for another fabulous view.

OK, it’s time to turn back and head to our next destination, but because I know you can’t get enough of this…here are some more pictures we took on the way back to the car. Okay, let’s get out here and go see the Berlin Falls. But before we do let’s see what these street vendors are selling. Most stuff is selling for R20-R100 (about $2 - $10). On the way to Berlin Falls we spotted this little village that is set on a hill and each house has this incredible view of essentially what we just saw. You will just have to trust me on this one since you can’t see it in the picture.
Berlin Falls
From a tidy little placard at the beginning of the very short 30m trail, you learn that “the Eastern Transvaal Escarpment is characterized by a number of spectacular waterfalls. These waterfalls, situated in the waterfall spruit and named after the farm on which they are situated, are 45 meters high and originated as a result of the differential weathering resistance of the local rocks.” Oh, very interesting. Here's a nice glimpse of what Steph is admiring: Very nice, but no rest for the weary. Onto the next stop...


Bourke’s Luck Potholes.
Funny story: I pull up to the gate and the man there asks us for 55 bucks. I am about ready to lose it because I see on their board “1 car = 5 RAND”. So I give him a piece of my mind and once I finish letting him have it, he calmly points to the board and explains that it’s 25 Rand per person plus 5 Rand per car. Set straight, I reply as sheepishly possible, “Oh, that makes sense. Right. So, where do we park?”

As we pull into our parking place we see this little guy sitting on the fence directly in front of us. It wasn't the least bit skittish (probably thought we would feed it). We got so close we could even see the wrinkles in its hands. Then came the baby monkeys…up to some mischief, I suspect. Please let them not be heading to our car. Whew! Someone else’s car. These monkeys are having so much fun…it’s hard to discipline them when they are so cute. You might have noticed in the background of the picture with the monkey sitting on the fence there is this pile of dirt. Believe it or not that is one of the smaller termite hills we’ve seen. Okay, onto the actual potholes. Now, it gets a little dangerous here (as you can tell from this sign). So, you must stay on the footpath. And not get too close to the bridges’ railing. Careful! It's dangerous here, remember? But it's difficult not to break these rules since what you can see from the bridge is incredible…

I guess this what they mean by potholes:
More pictures of the potholes.
Three Rondawels
Boy, I'm tired. Long day. Luckily this view of a vast canyong easily lifts our spirits. Can you see why this is called the Three Rondawels? I just don't have the energy to explain...


Last stop: Blyde River Canyon / Blyde River Dam

We made it to the top of the dam just as the sun was going down. Good thing this is only 30 minutes from home!
What a day! Thanks, South African low veld, you never fail to impress.

An Elephant of a Day

It just doesn't seem right to live on the doorstep of Kruger National Park and not visit it on our way home from church. So, off we went on the old Phalaborwa-to-Orpen drive two Sundays ago.

You'd think we be bored with all these animals by now, but we can't seem to get enough. There is just something about Kruger that keeps you coming back. Since it's a wildlife park, not a zoo, the animals roam free and you can get as close to them as you (or they) dare. And this is just what we like to do. We had no idea, for example, that elephant had such cracked and wrinkled skin or that their ears are rather rough and jagged at the edges. Fascinating. We also like that the animals here are "wild". . . no zoo-keepers to look after them making sure they are nicely groomed for onlookers. No scrubbed faces, plucked eyebrows, manicured nails, or regular feeding times. It's all wild all the time. So, it's possible that you might not see anything at all. This is what makes Kruger so thrilling.

We got lucky. It turned out to be a day full of elephant. (Yes!) Now, I suppose it is reasonable to assume that people don't find elephant as interminably interesting as we do. But, we can't help but try to convince you of their indomitable power, grace, and beauty.




Of course, many of them didn't stick around very long...


But, we were close enough to one that we finally got to see some of the details we usually miss...ears, knees, tusks, trunk, and tail. (Hhmmm, this is sounding a bit like a primary song.)






Despite all of these exciting sightings, Neil found it possible to squeeze in a "quick, 5-minute" nap.

Actually, it was closer to 45 minutes. I can't blame him though. Those 2 two hours of church are pretty tough in the sweltering heat. Nothing like a little air conditioning and a serene, untamed landscape to knock you out. And, boy, was he out.


The only problem with this (aside from the possibility of him swallowing some bugs) is that he was supposed to be the "spotter". Who knows what we missed on the other side of the road while he was dreaming about Peanut Buster Parfaits and the Huskies actually winning a football game.

Upon his return to the land of the fully-conscious, however, he more than made up for his temporary absence. At his insistence, we took a little dirt side road we've never driven before which follows along the Timbavati River for several kilometers. It was here that he made some sightings about which I was very captivated and he was very proud. (Now that's the face of vindication).


A family of elephant in the grass! And a baby elephant to boot! They weren't too terribly attentive to us (typical behavior--unless you're eating something in front of a baboon), but still amazing. Eventually they wandered off into the trees and we moved along down the road.


Then Neil suggested we take the numerous circular outlets positioned along side the road. This was great fun at first since these little offshoots give you incredible views of the river and substantially increase the probability of spotting various wildlife. But, after a dozen of these side trips had yielded little more than a different angle of a dry river bed, I was not only a little nauseous but also slightly irritable. I was just about to invoke my last allotted veto of the year when we heard quite the ruckus coming from the river. Naturally, a grumbly stomach and a hint of annoyance take a back seat to this kind of potential sighting. So, we ventured onto the nearest circular offshoot where we were delighted to see yet another elephant family. Again, with baby in tow! Admit it, few things are better than baby elephant.

Actually, when we first happened upon this group, two adults were having some sort of elephant scuffle...trunks raised, tusks interlocked, bodies thrust against each other. Eventually one knocked the other down whereupon it fell onto it's side and rolled down the sloped riverbed. (Yes, really.) Not being animal behaviorists we have no idea what was going on, but we convinced ourselves that this little ruckus was the result one of them getting to close to the baby....probably the one that ended up on the ground. We were so enthralled by this interaction that by the time we managed to get the camera out, this little tussle was over. But you can see here the aftermath of the battle.

It's difficult to top this kind of sighting. But, to our delight, there was more to come. When we rounded the next corner, we found ourselves face-to-face with this beauty.

I'm certain I don't have to explain why we stayed here gawking for a good 30 minutes. We'd have stayed longer too, if we'd didn't need to get to the park gate before it closed. No problem. There is always next Sunday...

Thanksgiving, SA style

There is a shocking lack of recognition and celebration surrounding American holidays in South Africa. (OK, we're not too shocked. And, if nothing else, this experience has given us a newfound understanding of immigrants' desires to preserve their native traditions.) "Thanksgiving? What's that? Are we suppose to be giving you thanks or something? For what? You Americans have so many weird holidays."

Now, without going into the nitty gritty of American history in all of its glorious inconsistency, it was difficult for us to explain the benefits of Thanksgiving outside of there being a huge amount of food and lots of family and friends around to help eat it. Luckily, that was a good enough explanation to merit having a little get-together...replete with much food and good company.

That said, it is a bit difficult to get the proper Thanksgiving fixings over here. Although there are plenty of Helmeted Guineafowl wandering around our front yard at any moment...


it's not really our style to choose one...chase it, catch it, slaughter it, pluck it, gut it, stuff it, cook it, and eat it. (If only they weren't so gamey.) Plus, we're hard-pressed to find the right side dishes to compliment said gamey fowl. Cranberry sauce and mom's made-from-scratch stuffing (YUM!) don't come too easy in these parts...especially with no moms around. We could rustle up some yams, green bean casserole, or mashed potatoes and gravy, but that doesn't really hit the right chord when it's 40 degrees Celsius. Nothing much does sound good when it's this hot. Except for maybe the ever-loved "Death By Chocolate" Magnum bar (the South African answer to Haagen Dazs) which offers complete bliss in any weather.

So, what to do? A pizza party, of course. Yeah! Calling all (six) friends: Thanksgiving in South Africa is a go!


Turns out one of our colleagues (the only other American) worked at a pizza place in his younger years. So, he had us over to show us how to make his super secret dough and delicious Chicago-style pizza. Seriously, it was phenomenal. Thick, chewy crust, just the right amount of tomato sauce, and loads of delectable toppings. For a brief moment I thought I was actually in Chicago.


Neil could hardly wait till it cooled...


All said and done, we made five of these scrumptious (and very large) pizzas. There was one with peppadews, artichoke hearts, and beet root that made my heart sing. Then it made my heart burn a bit too. But it was worth every burn-accompanied bite.


Another one was covered in nothing but cheese, beef sausage, and mince. Beef-lovers pizza, indeed.


I haven't heard Neil profess this much satisfaction with a meal since my mom visited Seattle in 2001 and made a spinach and mushroom quiche. (She maintains that it was nothing special. He refuses to admit/believe this). Of course, this time his euphoria may have had less to do with flattering a potential mother-in-law and more to do with the warm glow of a television...a common comfort of which he has perhaps been too long deprived. Ah, what could be better than gourmet pizza and South African soap operas? What a happy little Thanksgiving this was shaping up to be.


Of course, there was a tiny cooking mishap which resulted in the entire house filling with smoke. And when we opened the doors and windows, it filled with bugs too. So, we shut of all indoor lights and (rather reluctantly) made our way to the porch where although we would become the Thanksgiving feast for the bugs, at least we wouldn't asphyxiate to death. The fact that we might all live to see another day made us all pretty happy.


But, where is Neil? Well, you see, Neil is so brilliant a shade of white that the bugs thought he was a huge light bulb and their positive phototactic tendencies went into overdrive. After his arms got tired of swatting away trillions of giant winged-beetles that sound like fighter jets when they whiz by your head, he retired to the darkened house and proceeded to wash all the dishes. What a decent person...and superb dinner guest. He was making quite the headway too until this little friend of his ended up losing it's grip on the soapy surroundings and plunging into the dish water.


It's true that no rural South African event would be complete without some major bug component. But coming from the relatively bug-less haven of Seattle, it's taking us some time to adjust to all of these little creepy crawlies. And this little development brought our involvement in the evening's festivities to an abrupt close. "Bye, everyone! Got to run...bug in the sink. Happy Thanksgiving!"

Rainy Days

The rainy season is upon us. Not only does this mean lots of much-needed water, but also lots of much-needed nighttime excitement...

This kind of light display usually even quells the young locals from “the village” (Acornhoek) who love to blast fusion music over loud speakers which we can actually hear quite well despite the fact that we are about 5 kilometers away and in the middle of the bush. 2am on a Saturday? Party on.

Now, there was something else that comes with the rains…what was it? Oh yes, bugs. Lots of bugs. (I don't know if worm-type things like centipedes and such are considered "bugs" by hoi polloi, but they certainly bother me, so I'm categorizing them as such).

Here is a sampling of a few little attractions I encountered on a 10-minute walk from our house to the WRF lodge just down the road:

I especially liked seeing this beetle take a quick dip in the community pool. And that's just what was floating on top of the water. Pool party, anyone?

My skin is crawling just looking at these pictures...and I still have to walk to walk back home. Ugh. Fortunately, there are also lots of things wandering around here that love to eat bugs. The so-called "critters" of the bush.

The gecko, for example loves flies...even the ones with wings! (This one seems rather rotund. I commend it for evidently ridding us of so many pesky bugs.)

This one is much more slim and should certainly eat more bugs, but deserves some accolades for not blending into it's environment and sneaking up on you when you're out and about.


Lizards are also a nice, natural bug-trap. The only problem with this one is that it likes to relax and sun itself on our windowsill in the afternoon making it a bit problematic to open the windows when it gets stuffy inside. But we encourage anything that reduces the surplus bug population, so we try not to disturb its meditations.


Birds are a great way to get rid of bugs. Not only do they eat lots of ants, termites, worms, etc. but they are quite a pleasure to watch...chirping and hopping about. Oddly, this one seems to have taken a particular likeness to our car. I think it may have mistaken it for a giant plum.


Spiders. I have yet to decide whether I prefer spiders to bugs. It doesn't really matter, of course, since it seems both spiders and bugs are omnipresent here. (Yes, that is our living room curtain...this one was about the size of Neil's palm. When he tried to swat it, it did a backflip off the curtain, landed on his side, and quickly proceeded to scurry up his arm. Neil instinctively performed a groovy 80's dance move to get it off of him and when it hit the floor he hit it...about 12 times with his shoe.)


Speaking of spiders...the other day in church I opened the closet to get a piece of chalk and encountered a spider perched on the inside of the door at eye-level. It was even bigger than the above. (Believe it if you dare.) But it was brown and skeleton-like. Ugh! The kids went into hysterics (uhm, aren't they supposed to be used to this kind of stuff?) and we had to eventually disturb the adult class in order for someone to come remove it with a garbage can and poster board. One heroic man took it outside. Of course, we had to take a little field trip too. When we were done gawking at it from a safe distance --"Whoa, it's SO big!" , "Yuck, it's looking at me!", "I wonder where it will live now.", "Do you think it's mommy will miss it?" (yeah, these kids are that cute)-- we went back inside to finish our lessons. After church we all raced outside to see it again. But, it was gone...

Then there are snakes. OK, I've only see one...a green mamba (small, but highly dangerous). I am more than happy I didn't get close enough or hang around long enough to photograph it. While we may not encounter many snakes, we do see more then our fair share of snicks, you know, sticks that look like snakes. Believe me, snicks are just as scary as snakes when you're out wandering in the bush all by your lonesome. (Aside: When Neil saw this picture he said: "No way, you found a snake? Oh, no. Wow, that stick really looks like a snake!" See, I told you.)

Other people around here have much better luck running across the real deal. A few days ago our neighbor excitedly reported to us that he had found a python in his garden. (I think he told us because he secretly wanted to see us squirm...which we did, of course.) A bit later in the conversation he urged us to come by for dinner sometime. We assured him we would as long as he was serving python stew...and lots of non-python side dishes.

Despite this intrepid crew of bug predators, there are still so many bugs! What are these things doing all day? For instance, the other night we heard what sounded like rain outside. This seemed odd since the skies had been clear and sunny all day. Plus, rains here are usually accompanied by plenty of lightning and thunder (as evidenced above). What was going on? On closer inspection (not too close, mind you), we discovered that about a zillion little beetles and winged ants were taking turns throwing themselves into our windows. It was raining...bugs!

We do our best to keep these kamikaze bugs outside by keeping the windows closed and squeezing through a partly-opened front door when we leave. If the bugs do manage to get inside, they rarely survive to the next morning. (Will they ever learn?) As a result, our windowsills get very crowded.

That's OK, though...because it gives us yet another picture to post on our blog that is sure to gross you out.