Kruger National Park

Unlike Etosha and Chobe National Parks, Kruger has a horrendously early start for the day to see the animals.  Wake up calls begin at 5am and when you get woken up with a knock at your door six minutes earlier than the scheduled wake up call, you definitely feel robbed.

Kruger has private game reserves which allows the safari trucks to go off road and get really close to the animals which is exciting and scary all at the same time.  We saw 4 of the big 5 with the leopard proving elusive, although we did see cheetahs and they have spots so I have decided I can substitute the cheetah for the Leopard.     Purists may not agree with the substitution. The big 5 are animals where if you came across them in the wild, you have  50% chance of survival.

At one point, the driver put us right in the middle of a buffalo pack and one wasn't that thrilled and I wasn't too thrilled being so close to those horns.   The buffalo eventually decided it was too hot to worry about us and lay back down with the others.

 

When I first arrived in South Africa, I read a news article about a black rhino that charged a vehicle at Kruger and hurt some tourists.    I got to see that cranky rhino from a distance fortunately.   Later on , the same rhino tried to charge our vehicle and surprisingly all we needed to do was move the car forward two metres and it left us alone.   The guide suspects the rhino always likes a clear path so that small movement forward was enough to keep the rhino happy.   My heart skipped a beat as I offered to swap seats with people on the other side of the truck when I saw a charging black the rhino.    Amazingly no one accepted my offer of a seat swap.

I was glad no one accepted the seat swap when we drove through trees, parked in massive spider webs only a metre from a lion.   It was a close call as to what was scarier, the lion or the spiders.  While the guide has a rifle, I didn't believe he could remove it from its cover, take aim and shoot before the lion devoured someone. 

The cheetah breeding centre was certainly an education and I still find it amusing to watch an orphaned Zebra follow a sheep around.  A sheep is used for orphaned animals as they are very maternal, a herd animal and stupid enough to not realise it is not a sheep following them.   The cheetah breeding program removes the cubs away from the mother after 5 months to disattach and become self sufficient, a process which takes approximately two weeks to overcome.   Many of the animals have been abandoned by either their herd or the circus and some will never be able to survive in the wild but at least they have a home where they are treated well.

Now this trip is over I need to start thinking about where I go to next.  Croatia, Greece, burma who knows we will all have to wait and see.

Wishing everyone a great 2013

Victoria Falls

Victoria falls was best seen via a helicopter to appreciate the size and power of the waterfall.   Although firmly belted into the helicopter there was still a degree of nervousness sitting next to the glass door overlooking the falls.   It is very much a tourist town with lots of adrenalin water based activities and lots of people on the street following you and trying to sell trillion dollar notes or some other product.    Costs of drinks were higher than Namibia, still cheaper than Australia though.

The end of the tour was a traditional dinner at the Boma.   Upon arrival , you will be dressed in a colourful sarong and have an animal painted on your face.  After my recent encounters with snakes it was only appropriate this was painted on my face.   I was expecting a squiggly line and that was it, not the level of detail I ended up with so I definitely looked the part when we joined in with some African drumming.

Victoria falls airport was an interesting experience as you check in and get a hand written boarding pass and then when you board the plane, you identify your luggage on the Tarmac as you walk out to the plane.  The irony was that security insisted everyone remove their shoes to go through the scanner.

Camping at Chobe National Park

The boat trip again was a tin boat during lightning but it was worth it to see hippos out of water.   We came pretty close to one family on the shoreline which they took offence to as they entered the water with rapid pace to clear us as a threat.   Fortunately, the tin boat went for zero to warp speed in a matter of seconds to remove he danger.  Hippos at huge when you see them out of water.

This was my one and only camping night for the entire tour and in case you weren't aware I really don't like camping.   Some very kind friends of mine  spent many years convincing me camping isn't that bad and I should try it again and they had all the gear for me including a slow leaking air mattress timed to perfection to me sleeping on the ground by 2am.    I now only camp if no other choice and the reason for camping was to see the best of the animals.

We arrived at the camp site and it was all set up for us, it just had decided to bucket down as we arrived and of course it was dark when we arrived.   The toilets were a drop toilet with a proper toilet seat with a canvas surround.  The lack of roof on the toilet provided a natural flushing system in this weather.  Due to strong winds, the lanterns would not stay alight so I relied on my $5 bunnings torch to navigate.   Mental note self, stop being an accountant as you pay peanuts you get monkeys as the torch only had a metre range on it.  The one advantage to the lack of light is no African dive bombing gin and tonic bugs which have tried to spoil more than one of my drinks on this trip.

The instructions when camping in a national park with lots of dangerous animals are to keep tents shut at all times, look and listen before exiting tents. If you have to exit in the dark, shine the torch out and see if there are any animal eyes.   If you see eyes and the eyes move with the light flashed in their eyes, they will be from the cat family so hold on longer for the toilet.   If the eyes don't move they herbivores.   I was also told to listen for animal sounds during the night.  I awoke to hear what I though was lions to later figure out it was someone snoring and once I heard it there was no going back to sleep.

We didn't see a lot of animals at Chobe due to the rain as natural water holes are created so they don't need to come to the tourist water holes for drinking.


Wish I was on the other side of the boat when this photo was taken.

Facing fears on the Okavango

Creatures of nature that scare me the most are sharks, crocodiles and snakes.   The rotto swim I wouldn't say conquered my shark fear but at least was a small step towards taking back some power (well in my mind anyway).  

Travelling along the crocodile infested Okavango river in a tin boat during lighting storms with hippos very willing and able to tip you out of your boat if you threaten their territory covers off on my crocodile fear.  

The houseboat we stayed on for two nights was comfortable and compact.    The bathroom size would be similar to airplane toilet and the handbasin and shower was an all in one so it was easy to achieve showering and cleaning your teeth at the same time.

I am  forever grateful for the low water levels when we travelled along in dugout canoes with the locals.     All the instructions about what to do if tipped out of the canoe by a hippo were not required to be put into action as we didn't see a hippo.  The key message I took was if you were tipped out of your boat by a hippo is to swim to the nearest shore line.  When the question was asked about crocodiles when in the water, the response was "you are having a very very bad day on the river if you are tipped out of your boat by a hippo and taken by a crocodile".

Not only were we lucky enough to avoid becoming hippo or crocodile kill, we saw four elephants cross the water just ahead of us in our canoe.  Wish this kind of luck would translate to lotto winnings.

My snake fear was tested on the island accommodation when I opened the door, dropped my bag and noticed a cord in the floor next to the window.   As I approached to investigate further, the cord slithered and moved away so I  stepped backwards, shut the door behind me leaving snake still in the room.    I now just needed to find someone braver than me to remove the snake from my room .  As it turned out the  snake was harmless, which they discovered after they killed it , so when less than an hour later when I nearly stepped on the snakes sibling I should have had a less degree of panic.   I followed the same routine of running away and letting someone else deal with the snake.

Etosha National Park

On the way to Etosha national park, we made a stop at a cheetah park to watch them feed.  These cheetahs were rescued as cubs and raised in the park however they will never survive if released to the wild.  They look like big harmless kittens until you stick meat through the fence to feed them and you appreciate their killing capability.

Etosha National Park was incredible to see the variety of animals and really with the exception of the lions, the animals live in harmony.   

We managed to see lions sleeping in the grass by the side of the road and if we 
didn't have our tour guide spotting, we would have missed them completely as their colourings blended with the grass perfectly. 

We almost got excited about the possibility of a game kill when the giraffes wondered past a lion resting under a tree.   The kill did not eventuate either because the lioness wasn't hungry or she realised without her mates to support her the kill would be unsuccessful.  There are some irresponsible tourists who  

also ignored the rules of the park and got out of their vehicles and could have become game kill.

Meeting tourists in the way to Etosha we heard from several of them there were lions mating right by the side of the road and according to our tour guide, they will mate continuously for five days straight so we were in with a chance of seeing the

same event.  We were so close as we found the lions question and it was looking promising until the lioness lay down on her side with a headache.  

We found some cubs sleeping about a kilometre away from the lion pride in their own, and we were assured the mother knew exactly where she left them, however I found it unsettling to have the cubs unprotected so far away from their mother.

Watching the sunset over the Waterhole with all the beautiful colours was a treat in itself and as a bonus a rhino wandered down to complete the perfect sunset.    As my camera broke I am now using the ipad as a camera, however you can still see the reflection of the rhino in the waterhole against the sunset.

After spending two days looking for elephants we almost admitted defeat and on our final game drive we found a herd of elephants and was even lucky enough to see twins baby elephants which is very rare.    A juvenile elephant was showing off when he saw our truck and ran towards it and made a lot of noise.   The guides told us not to worry as he was not charging the bus, but if you see an elephant running at you,  it is a little hard not to feel a sense of panic.   The elephant was such a show off he even got down on is knees in front of the bus.

Himba

 The Himba people are descendants of Herero herders and are semi-nomadic people who opt for traditional ways of life.

The village is based on a farmers property and is predominantly women and children as the men work away and by the volume of children they tend to visit home fairly frequently.

They don't reject all modern technology as I noticed a mobile phone hanging from the tree as reception was best there .

Himba women never shower, however I didn't notice them smelling.   They apply an ochre mixture on their skin.  The Himba people were welcoming and the children were happy and by excited to see us arrive.   They were ecstatic when our tour guide became the human helicopter service.

Cape Cross Seal Colony

Visited the seal colony near Cape Cross and this time of year the seals have all given birth or close to giving birth.  The beach was covered with mother seals and their young while the males were in the water keeping a close eye.   I found it very emotional to see the abandoned baby seals who did not survive.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of seals on the beach and the overpowering smell and noise they generated, I felt like I needed a shower to get the final residual of eau de seal off me.

Tropic of Capricorn & Quad biking

Crossing over Tropic of Capricorn, it is weird to expect more than a sign to differentiate between north and south of the line.  For some reason I expected to see different landscape or geographical differences immediately on either side of the sign.     What was more amazing to me was some people on the tour did not know what the Tropic of Capricorn was in the first place.    My geography lessons memory could only dig up that it was below the equator and the Tropic of Cancer was above as the word Capricorn was longer than Cancer and therefore heavier so it sunk below the equator.

In Swakopmund we spent two hours quad biking through the sand dunes.  Now mother before you worry about if it is safe, I got issued with the hair dryer model quad bike and watched the rest of the group ride off into the sunset while I had my bike on full throttle.  It was a bit like Thomas the tank engine going up hills, "I think I can I think I can"

I even tried sandboarding, which was really like a comedy skit as I tried to climb the sand dune and kept slipping back down as the sand was so soft and then when I went down the dune, my helmet was too big for me so it slid forward over my eyes so I couldn't see a thing.    Maybe that was for the best as I didn't wipeout.  Although I am still getting the sand out of my clothes.

Namib-Naukluft

I was worried when the tour said we  were staying at a bush camp in the desert.   This is my kind of bush camp, flushing toilets, running showers, proper beds, electricity all under the same brick/canvas roof.   

The view from the bar is also not half bad.

Rising at dawn to avoid the heat of the day we climbed Dune 45, named that because it is 45km from the park entrance.  The red colour of the dunes is amazing and it was even worth the torturous climb to the top of the sand dunes before the temperature rose to 46 degrees. Even though you know if you fell off the side of the crest during the climb you will have a soft landing, it is still in unnerving to look at the slide down.  

As the temperature began to soar we visited Sossusvlei which is the end of an ancient riverbed.    By the time we walked through sand dunes to get there I was a little tired, hot and bothered of fully appreciate the place.

Finishing the day at Sesreim gorge for a short walk to see where the occasional flood waters in the desert have created a gorge over thousands of years.

Now where is a day spa when you need one?

Fish River Canyon

We crossed over the border to Namibia in time to reach Fish River
Canyon in time for the sunset.   The canyon is 30km across and 160km in length and as the sun is setting the colours of the canyon changes.  Despite my best attempts it is really not an event that can be accurately captured on camera.

Sipping wine while watching the sun set over the canyon was a great way to end the day after spending most of the day on bus on gravel roads.   A tad sore by the end of the day.

Khwa Ttu

In between long bouts of travelling on bumpy roads with a bus with poor suspension, we did make time to stop to visit the Khwa ttu education centre.

The tractor took us through the bush track to see a sample of what the bushmen huts looked like and how a camp was normally set up for maximum protection.   The tribal men only hunted enough as is required to feed their families and would not waste anything.  An ostrich egg is the equivalent to 24 hens eggs so can make enough omelette to feed a tribe.  The egg is then washed out and filled with water and sealed with bee wax to create a bpa free water bottle for the hunter.

Unless a man can light a fire and hunt without assistance he would not be given permission to marry as he is not seen as being able to provide for his family.   

I saw my first Springbok today at a distance and then a lot closer up later on, on my dinner plate.   Springbok curry was the speciality of the day. 

A springbok has a white rear end and when danger is sensed they will run towards the sun and flash their white rear at the predator to avoid becoming main course.

I failed the tracking test as it is important to know which Animal footprints you see as you don't want to run into a lion when you looking for a springbok.  I wouldn't last an hour with my powers of observation. 

Check out the toilet signs for male/female here:

The Capes

On the drive to the peninsula we stopped to visit the penguin colony.    The penguins were currently going through their annual moulting which involves shedding their feathers and growing new feathers.   They do not eat during the three week period as they have no protection for hyperthermia so they don't enter the water.  so really what I saw was ugly and hungry penguins .  Missed out on the timing for that one.

Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope is national park further than the eye can see with stunning coast lines and the end of Table Mountain can be seen in the sea just off the coast.

Luck was on our side and glad it wasn't wasted on happy feet penguins as there were four zebras at Cape Point which the tour guide says he has not seen in the area for five years.  All was going well until some over zealous tourist wanted a closer photo and scared  them off, not before I filled up my camera memory card though.

The trek up to the lighthouse was worth the shaking legs at the end with panoramic views of the peninsula.

Found a cure for motion sickness on a large coach travelling along winding roads - alcohol.   South African wine pours are "midi" size pours so two wines at lunch was ample to overcome travel sickness.

Tipping is something I am still adjusting to as someone shaking your hand is not them being polite.  There is an expectation of funds transfer during the hand shake.    I am so used to operating with minimal cash and doing everything on credit card or online banking back home having cash is my purse is a bit of a novelty.