Friday, July 4th, Umkhumbi Lodge, Zululand, South Africa

Greetings!

I know some of you think that Zululand is just some B movie backlot, where black actors in the 1950's starred as tall warriors fighting the British.  It can't really still exist.  I mean, it's South Africa, didn't all that get eliminated when Mandela was released?

If you're like me, and didn't follow very closely, you'll have missed yesterday's whole country (Swaziland), and probably also not understood that South Africa has quite a few complexities.  One of which is that the Zulu people still occupy a significant area in the north eastern part of the country.

We're staying tonight and tomorrow night in three of ten small one-room structures hidden away in a forest in Zululand.  Umkhumbi Lodge is very cozy, and provides us with the perfect location to use as a base for to explore the Hluhluwe/Imfolozi Game Reserve.  It was the Zulu King's private game hunting area, and so became the sanctuary for animals when the general slaughter of anything farmers hated in the apartheid era.

To see all of the photos we took today, click on Friday, July 4th, Umkhumbi Lodge, Zululand, South Africa.  To check out our route tomorrow, click on our Google Engine Map of the itinerary, and find the placemark for July 5th.

Thursday, July 3rd, Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Swaziland

Greetings!

We almost didn’t get into Swaziland.  Quinton had a full passport, with no blank page on which the immigration official could place her stamp.  His new passport is at home in Cape Town.  And he thought he could talk his way around the rule, and get her to place it on a page with some room on it.  Turns out he did, but it took some pretty good theatrics and much sweet talk.  But she definitely could have re-routed our trip had she insisted on the rule that you need one blank page.

Today was mostly a transit day, so there are few photos.  We’re staying at the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, in a very large reed and branch basket about fifteen feet high and thirty feet wide.  It even has a bathroom connected to it, and a fan overhead.  There are about ten of them arranged in a circle, and we made our way through kudus, impalas, wart hogs, and hippos who also find this area home.  The name says it, and we’re just visitors.  Tomorrow morning, we’ll see who else is in our neighborhood.

To see the few other photos we took today, click on Thursday, July 3rd, Mlilwane Wildlife Santuary, Swaziland.

Wednesday, July 2nd, Hippo Hollow, South Africa

Greetings!

The two of us are listening to Tommy Emanuel through a small speaker attached to Pat’s IPod touch.  Pat’s writing in her journal, and I’m trying to come up with something as good to write here.

So just how do you spot African wildlife while crossing miles of thick head-high brush and trees at a healthy pace?  

First, you hire a top-notch driver/guide.  Quinten has the worst view, as he’s three feet lower than us in the cab, and has to keep half his focus on the road and the other safari vehicles around us.  

But he’s been at this along time, and amazes us when he finds Hippos 200 meters away in a clearing.  Or eagles in a tree across a lake. He says there are techniques.  Watching for straight lines (not usually in nature), looking for odd shapes and contrasting colors, trying to achieve a deep depth of field so things both far and close are seen. 

Knowing where things usually are helps alot.  Birds are in trees (except guinea fowl and others that walk around), and are sillouetted against the sky.  Felines hide in the tall grass, and you only see their heads and ears.  And in the heat of the day, they’re in the shade under bushes and trees.  Everything loves the river, and the green food growing along its banks. 

So with six sets of eyes, not too many other tourists around, and cameras and binoculars at the ready, we achieved another great day in the Park.  Toward the end of the day, we started getting a little blasé about elephants, giraffes, and monkeys.  Just give me a lion, leopard, or cheetah, please!

To see the rest of the photos we took today, click on Wednesday, July 2nd, Hippo Hollow, South Africa.  And to learn more about our adventure tomorrow in Swaziland, check out the Google Engine Map of our trip.

Tuesday, July 1st, Hippo Hollow, South Africa

Greetings!

Pat’s already asleep and it’s only 9:30pm.  We’re both tired from an exciting day in Kruger National Park.  On the way to the park, we peered over the edge of the escarpment at the Blyde Canyon Forever Resort.  For over 100 years, the company of resorts which included Blyde Canyon was owned by the government of South Africa.  Known to be used as a getaway for government officials, it was sold in 2003 to an American chain of Arizona investors who operate marine and park-based resorts around Lake Mead.  Promoting itself now as dedicated to charities serving the young and those with HIV-AIDS, it seems appropriate for us to visit and take in the view.

A few hours later, we arrived at Kruger National Park, and started our search for Africa's famous wildlife.  Binoculars and cameras in hand, we spent the next several hours scouring every tree and bush from Kruger's extensive road system.

We'll be back tomorrow for another round of hunting (with eyes), and the illusive lions, leopards, and rhinos are high on my list of animals to find.

In the meantime, to see the photos we took today, click on Tuesday, July 1st, Hippo Hollow, South Africa.

And check out the Google Engine Map we made to show the route and itinerary for the rest of the tip.  Tomorrow's activities are found on the placemarks for July1-2 in Kruger National Park.

Monday, June 30th, Graskop, South Africa

Greetings!

Every so often, there is this little sign along the roadway which says “Highland Meandering”.  It’s meant to indicate access to a river, but I think it aptly describes our journey today.  We meandered up a long low incline until we got to the foothills of a mountain, had lunch, and then climbed up over the top.  

A short distance down the other side, we visited Pilgrim’s Rest, where we explored South Africa’s original gold rush town.  Finally, we drove lower into the valley below to our hotel in Graskop.

The town sits atop an escarpment, not unlike a bench seat.  Tomorrow, we head over the knees and down 1,000 meters into Kruger National Park.

To see the few photos we took today, click on Monday, June 30th, Grastop, South Africa

June 29th, Pretoria, South Africa

Greetings!

It’s Sunday night here at the Pretoria Hotel, but most of you are just preparing lunch.  From the OR Tombo Airport in Johannesburg, we took the train to Pretoria, then drug our bags to the hotel.  Checking into a nice suite overlooking the pool and river, we caught a few hours sleep before some unusual thunderstorms awakened us in time for our meetup with the tour staff and fellow travelers.

There are only three others besides us on the tour, all from Australia.  Anne, Margaret, and Albert are all traveling alone, and like us, they’ve been many places.  Our guide (Quintin) grew up in Cape Town, and is a tall white guy our age who grew up under apartheid, whose wife is “dark as can be”, with a three-year old child.  He’s eager to get into any subject in depth, and it appears we’re all ears and questions.

We walked to dinner at a small restaurant called Ocean Basket in a nearby car park.  Their fish, mussels, shrimp, and chips were all excellent, and they must go to great lengths to bring them so far inland so fresh. 

After stopping at a mall to pick up a unique electrical adapter and some supplies, our 16-passenger bus (with lots of room) will head northeast toward Kruger National Park, near the Mozambique border.  The size of Wales, Kruger is a must-see destination for most who come to Africa.  Passing first through mining country, tomorrow is mostly a traveling day.  Our destination is Graskop, just past Pilgrim’s Rest.

To see the few photos we took while traveling from SF to Pretoria, click on June 29th, Pretoria, South Africa

Gregory and Pat

Africa Revisited

Greetings!

On June 27th, we'll be traveling back to Africa to visit some more game reserves and southern Africa locations.  We'll be back on August 10th.

Here is a map, using Google's new Map Engine Pro, of the areas where we'll be.