Friday, Oct 10th, Cape Town, South Africa

 

With our flights beginning after dinner, and our transportation to the airport beginning at 3pm, there wasn't much time for anymore adventurrs.  Nevertheless, Wayne took us on a walking tour of an upscale waterfront just below Signal Mountain.  We watched paragliders land on the long grassy stretch next to the breakwater.  

At the end of the coastal walk, we turned inland and cut through the community park between the golf course nd the soccer fields, just in time to catch two youngsters cooling their feet in the stream.

We'll be flying tonight from here to Washington, DC's Dulles Airport, and then from there to San Fransisco.  Barring air traffic controllers going out on sick leave, we should be getting into the west coast tomorrow morning.

To see all of the photios we took this morning, click on Friday, Oct 10th, Cape Town, South Africa.

Thursday, Oct 9th, Cape Town, South Africa

Greetings!

Our second to last touring day found us stopping by the Iziko Natural History Museum to see cave paintings, and all the stuffed animals and birds we've seen on this trip (plus a few we haven't seen), the Jewish Holocaust Museum, and a cooking class taught within a local Malay community on a hill high above the city (Bo Kaap), 

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Thursday, Oct 9th, Cape Town, South Africa.

Wednesday, Oct 8th, Cape Town, South Africa

 

Today was a day of driving.  Not like most other drives, where miles of uninspiring dirt roads took us across desert and dying trees.  No, this drive was a coastal and mountain drive - to the gorgeous scenery which surrounds the city of Cape Town.  To see the 6.5 million inhabitants of the metropolitan area around Cape Town.  

We did see animals, and one in particular which we hadn't seen before (Ostrich).  And we made it to the southern most point (at least that's what the sign said) on the African continent.  

And we reached the Cape of Good Hope, one of the most photographed pieces of land.  We passed on waiting in line for an estimated 3.5 hours to ride the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain.  Instead, we derove up to Signal Mountain to see if any hang Gliders were taking advantage of the heavy winds.  None found, but plenty of tourists were finding just one more magical view. 

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Wednesday, Oct 8th, Cape Town, South Africa.

Monday and Tuesday, Oct 6th & 7th, Cape Town, South Africa

Today, we traveled from Livingstone to Cape Town.  Shortly after breakfast, we returned to the large theater in which last night we saw a wonderful performance of Simunye Spirit of Africa.  Today, we heard a lecture on Dr. David Livingstone, the first European to witness the magnificence of Victoria Falls.

Others in our group took helicopter flights over the Falls area, and were able to get up close with elephants at the Shearwater Private Reserve.  

After lunch, we were driven to the Livingstone Airport, and were flown to Cape Town for our Post-Trip experience.  We'll meet our new Trip Experience Leader (Wayne) when we land, and will be with him until our flight home on Friday evening.

We began Tuesday by visiting the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, which we had visited on our first trip to Cape Town eleven years ago.  Coming back to this Botanical Garden was the main reason Pat signed up for this trip, and the opportunity to share this spot with BT was important to her.  It didn't disappoint us, and our timing was perfect to see many of the most spectacular gardens ever.  

Next, we drove to the District Six Museum, the Homecoming Center which is dedicated to facilitating the resurrection of the community of 60,000 individuals who were evicted from their land during the height of the apartheid era in South Africa.  Beautifully presented in voice and visual contributions, the museum documents the history of the Group Areas Act of 1950 in the 1966 bull-dozing of a major municipal district.Adding to the tragedy is the complete failure to implement the restitution called for under international pressure.

Heading down to the waterfront, we were treated to a great young song and dance group performing in a square near the docks.  If there is one common characteristic evident everywhere in our African travels, it is that Africans have learned to integrate music and dance into their lives well.  And as we showed in our group's invitation to share our music and dance talents, we have none.

After dinner, our guide (Wayne) led us on a walk through the tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly streets which surround our hotel.  We scouted out the layout we'll need to know to visit more of the City sights on Thursday.  

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Monday, Oct 6th and Tuesday Oct 7th, Cape Town, South Africa.

  
 

Sunday, Oct 5th, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Greetings!

This is probably the day that we have all been waiting for - visiting the Victoria Falls.  The day began early with a short drive from our hotel to the entrance of the park.  Our Guide, Thompson, then hosted our walk along the Zimbabwe side of the Gorge to the 16 viewpoints.  Normally, the mist from the Falls requires raincoats, but this is the dry season, and we were able to negotiate the trail and rocks easily.

Each of you should include the Falls on your bucket list, and try to experience it within a group like those offered through OAT.  You'll also want to make room in your baggage to bring back your choices of the local carved and woven art displayed everywhere.

Returning for brunch, many of our group took advantage of helicopter rides over the Falls, and visits to local elephant rescue centers.  I'm catching up on blog posts, purchasing tickets for a local play tonight after dinner, and anticipating the arrival of custom t-shirts prepared to our specifications by a young entrepreneur we bargained with at lunch yesterday.

To see all of the photos taken this morning, click on Sunday, Oct 5th, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Saturday, Oct 4th, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

This morning, we got up early, said goodbye to the Camp staff, and were driven to our local airstrip to catch two small planes to the border of Botswana and Zimbabwe.  On the way to the planes, we saw another majestic -looking Sable Antelope.  At the border, we left Botswana and crossed into Zimbabwe.  We're all getting very good at clearing immigration and customs, with the help of our OAT Trip Experience Guide (Thompson),  

After lunch at our hotel, we walked into town to shop and retrieve some cash from a bank.  We're staying at the Shearwater Explorers Village,, very near the center of Victoria Falls. 

Finally, we were driven to selected resident homes for a dinner and evening to get to know the families.  This is a regular feature of OAT, and one we thoroughly enjoy.

To see the few photos we took today, click on Saturday, Oct 4th, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Thursday & Friday, Oct 2nd-3rd, Mbabe Camp, Botswana

These last two days of the main part of the OAT's Ultimate Safari Adventure are collapsed into one post.  This is partly because it has been somewhat more difficult to access the Internet, and partly because we've had a spectacular experience that was overwhelming to write about.

Long before we arrived, a large pride (21) of lions occupied this area.  Several males who were related had fathered many young lions with many females.  A more powerful male entered the area and killed the dominant male, causing the pride to split up, seek shelter in subareas, and separated the remaining males from their mates and the young lions.  To add to the trauma, one of the young mothers lost one of her daughters to a leopard in a violent attack.

Early in a morning safari on Thursday, we encountered three mothers and four of their young attempting to cross a river to pursue a herd of water buffalo approachng a few miles away.  Five safari vehicles lined up on the other side of the river from the lions, ands watched cautiously as the small pride carefully tested the riverbank and waters for the presence of crocodiles. 

It was almost comical to watch as they individually and collectively gathered their courage, tested the water surface, and dared each other to be the first to jump in.  Finally, one took the leap.  Pat caught it on video, and i'm going to try to put her video up on YouTube (with a link here).  After one made it with a leap almost all the way across the river, and the next one leap in and swam across unharmed, the others followed suit one at a time.

Shaking off the water on the other side, and following their moms, they played together testing each other's fighting prowess as the pride made its way across a large grassy plain toward the dense forest in the distance.

We raced ahead to try to arrive at the point where the lions could be expected to encounter the herd of water buffalo.  When there, our guides gave us their understandings of the many ways that an attack the herd could occur.  

We all hoped that we could be in the right place to watch such an attack, when we got a call on the radio that one of the other vehicles had witnessed the attack on a single, isolated buffalo aparte from the herd.  We raced off to the location, and found the seven lions attacking the buffalo in a coordinated manner.  One had a grip on the mouth, suffocating it.  One was gnawing into its back, and another tearing into the shoulder ner the ribcage.  The others waited their turn on the ground nearby.  The buffalo struggled to keep from dying, but was soon overcome.

We watched as one of the clearest examples of life's cruel requirements took place.  The survival of the lions depends on their ability to hunt and eat other beautiful animals.  We left during a pause in their eating, as most lie exhausted on the ground around it.

We continued our morning drive, spotting lots of other wildlife, and then returned to our camp for brunch, lectures, and some rest.  We also had to decide which of the hundreds of photographs we had taken this morning were perfect enough to make the final cuts in our collections.  Needless to say, we're still deciding.

Later Thursday afternoon, we revisited the kill site, and found the carcass still mostly whole, but still surrounded by possessive lions.  we wondered how long a meal it would provide, and learned that many others (hyenas, vultures, other lions) were becoming aware of the kill.  It was becoming a race to consume.

Soon, we were alerted that a single male lion was coming from the same are that the seen had earlier come from.  Attempting to cross the river at the same point, we saw the sheer power of experience and maturity. Following the same trail, the big lion roared his way to where he thought the kill would be.  Our guide positioned our vehicle just ahead of his pathway, and we wathced and listened as he beckoned their response.

We learned from our guide that the females at the kill site were more interested in making sure their young got the bulk of the Buffalo meat, and knew their response would bring him running.  Though the females would eventually need him to keep the hyenas away, he would claim the carcass for himself.

We left as the male wandered in vain, continually roaring and marking territory.

Friday was our last day of adventure safari experiences.  It was no less exciting, and included a pool full of yawning hippos, another bull elephant in search of sex, and a very patient owl above us at our sundown drink site.   Each of our two-hour outings brings us new animal species and greater number of those already seen.  It does seem like, however, we're getting a little bored with zebras, giraffes, elephants and hornbills

To see all of the photos taken on Thursday and Friday, click on Thursday, Oct 2nd, Mbabe Camp, Botswana and Friday, Oct 3rd, Mbabe Camp, Botswana.