South Africa

Now I ask you, what sort of idiot goes on her dream vacation to South Africa and doesn't have her camera with her?!?!!? Well, actually, I had my camera, I had just left the battery at home in the charger - grrrrr! And that's how the trip started. I have wanted to go to South Africa for as long as I can remember, and this was certainly the trip I have most looked forward to . . . and I was not disappointed.

I traveled with three of my colleagues/friends fromUCQ - Jackie, Lisa and Pam - flying first to Johannesburg. The only problem was that Pam was bumped from the flight! Jackie, Lisa and I live in the same building so we went to the airport together. Pam went to a Bryan Adams (yes, he was here in Doha!) concert before going to the airport (see more re: flight times below) and when she didn't show up at the departure gate, Jackie, Lisa and I were certain she had just gotten to the airport too late. In fact, she had arrived just about the same time that we did; however, she had not checked in on-line, and the flight was over-sold, so when she arrived at the airport there were no seats available! I guess she was not alone in her dilemma, as many unhappy passengers were taking out their frustrations on the poor staff members. Pam said she felt so devastated and helpless as the time ticked by and she knew the flight was gone. She phoned to let us know what had happened - good thing Jackie still had her cell phone on. The airline was able to get Pam on a flight that left Doha at 7:00 a.m. the following day, but she would not arrive until about 2:30 p.m. - long after we were gone from Johannesburg.

Many flights leave Doha in the middle of the night which I always thought was crazy, but I'm starting to think it's not a bad idea. I now find that when I get on a plane I simply want to close my eyes and sleep/doze. So our flight left at 1:00 a.m. and we flew all night - 8 + hours, arriving in Johannesburg at about 8:00 a.m. (one hour time difference). We met our guide who is a lovely woman who bears a striking resemblance to my friend, Ineke Ruhnke! We drove about 3 hours to a private game reserve where we spent the next three nights. The rooms were separate rock-shaped cabins that were so lovely - and the shower was actually outside. There is something about baring itall in front of God and everyone that is very liberating!

We had barely arrived when it was time to head out on a 'sun-downer' safari. We were in an open vehicle with a French couple and their guide, as well as the safari guide. It was a lovely warm evening and we saw so many animals - including a huge lion with a fabulous mane. He was quite a way off, but still so satisfying to be able to see him in the wild. Also saw zebras, giraffes, a hippo (who actually performed a bit of a dance for us - jumping up out of the water and spinning around. I know, I could barely believe it myself.); tons of impala, crocodiles, wart hogs (they are so ugly that they're cute), etc., etc. We stopped in an opening just as the sun was going down for a drink, and then headed back to the camp. What a wonderful way to start my African adventure!

We spent much of the drive from Johannesburg and that evening texting Pam to let her know how to connect with us when she arrived in Johannesburg. She had to book a domestic flight from Johannesburg to Nelspruit where a hotel staff member was able to pick her up; but it cost her quite a bit. The airline at least had the decency to upgrade her to business class. We have been teasing her that she will now be impossible to travel with as she has been so spoiled. The tour company also provided a letter outlining the costs Pam incurred for her to submit to the airline in hope of getting some compensation for that (keep a good thought for her).

The next day we (w/o Pam who had not yet arrived) headed to Kruger National Park. We had only gotten about a kilometre into the park when we saw a leopard! Leopards are quite elusive, so this was a real treat to see him - lounging in a tree and very close to the road at that!

Honest, he's in that tree!

In addition to the leopard, our safari yielded: giraffes, zebras, white rhinos, elephants, kudus, impala, vervet monkeys, baboons, buffalo, elephants, waterbuks, springboks, wildebeests, vultures, marabou storks, African fish eagles, and lots of other birds, including one absolutely beautiful blue bird called the woodland kingfisher. I never knew birds could be so beautiful!

That evening Pam arrived at the lodge and we enjoyed our dinner as she related the entire story of what had happened to her. We were all very glad that she was able to join us at last.

The next day we went for another Kruger safari. We saw all the same animals, except the leopard; but added hippos to the list. The hippos are so amazing and they make me smile. I was glad Pam was able to see as many of the animals as we saw. There was one huge herd of elephants that was fascinating to watch as they crossed the road. They just kept coming and coming - the babies were so adorable, and there were a couple of young males who actually threatened to charge. We moved out of the way very quickly! Having seen Asiatic elephants last year in Sri Lanka, I am really happy to have gotten the chance to get up close to African elephants - I love their big, floppy ears.

On our way back to Johannesburg we stopped at the Jane Goodall Chimp Eden which is a rehabilitation reserve for chimps. Chimps are not indigenous to South Africa, so the chimps at the facility have been rescued and brought in from other countries. These chimps have been so badly abused that they will likely never be returned to the wild; but they are getting good care and are in a fairly natural environment.

It is a long drive between Johannesburg and Kruger (~ 4-5 hours, depending on traffic), but the country is so beautiful that we didn't really mind. We are so starved for greenery in Doha that we drank in all the lushness we could! Both Jackie and I said we didn't know what we had expected, but were surprised to find that the countryside we drove through looked much like the foothills in Alberta - the area between Cochrane and Kananaskis. It was beautiful!

Once back in Jo-burg, we boarded a flight to Cape Town, arriving there in the evening. The next day we took the half hour ferry ride to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years of incarceration. I had expected Robben Island to be much like Alcatraz, but it is a much larger island and had a much different history. It was used as a place to isolate 'undesirable' populations (lepers, the mentally and chronically ill). It was also a military base in World War II. We toured the entire island by bus, saw the quarry where the prisoners did hard labour - moving a pile of rocks to one side and then back to the other. There is a cave that was used for the prisoners to get shade from time to time, to eat and to use as a toilet. Since it was so smelly (from the human waste) the guards did not go near the cave. Educated prisoners taught the illiterate prisoners how to read and write by scratching letters in the wall of the cave; and many political discussions and plans were held there. Some of those illiterates went on to get university degrees. They call the cave the world's smallest university!

Cave on the far left is'the world's smallest university"

We were then dropped at the prison where we were guided by a former political prisoner. He showed us the very cell block he had been imprisoned in - along with 59 other men; it wasn't all that big and is hard to imagine 60 men in it. We also, of course, saw Nelson Mandela's cell and the corner of the yard where his buried his book (Long Walk to Freedom).

Nelson Mandela's cell at Robben Island prison

That afternoon we took the cable car to the top of Table Mountain and enjoyed wandering around the area - it's huge, and is the start of Table Mountain National Park which goes all the way down to the Cape of Good Hope. It was a spectacularly beautiful day so we could see for miles. The following day was really socked in, so I'm glad we had such a good day. We had such a huge lunch that no one was hungry for dinner!

View of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain

The South Peninsula tour was our next day's adventure. This took us on a short boat trip to see some seals, on to Simon's Town where the South African naval base is located - tiny little navy, and we saw some Cape Penguins (cute little critters). This area is also know for wild baboons, but were were not fortunate enough to see any; although I did spy an eland! We then went to the Cape of Good Hope and hiked from there to Cape Point (~ 3 km) - where most people think the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Our tour guide quickly disavowed us of that notion. They oceans actually meet at a point farther south at Cape Aghulas! The entire southern peninsula is wildly beautiful and is mostly national park land. This is one amazingly gorgeous country!

My traveling buddies and I at the Cape of Good Hope

A trip to the wine country made up day three of our Cape Town trip, and is yet a different type of geography, but equally as beautiful. We visited and tasted at three wineries, and had lunch at a fourth. The scenery was stunning from the patio of the winery where we had lunch and the food was amazing. What a life!

Enjoying lunch in wine country

That evening, back in Cape Town, we walked from our hotel to the Waterfront - which is a highly touristy area. You often read that it is unsafe to go out at night in South Africa, but we felt completely safe in this part of Cape Town. Since it was 2 days before Christmas there were performers everywhere - a choir singing Christmas carols, a male African choir, a marimba band . . . it was very festive. We walked around, shopped and, of course, ate dinner!

On Christmas Eve we boarded a plane for Durban where we picked up a rental car and drove (on the left side of the road - Lisa did a great job of driving a standard) the whole 20 minutes to a guest house in a beach resort town called Ballito. This guest house was so nice. It was called Le Papillon and each room (there were about 8 rooms/suites) was named after a type of butterfly. The bedrooms were very comfortable and had lovely private bathrooms. The common areas (pool, patio, living and dining rooms) were really nice. The area is a very busy tourist area, and we found we were too late to get a reservation for Christmas dinner and many restaurants were closed on Christmas Day; so we went to the grocery store and bought cheese, crackers, olives, salami, oysters, etc. and simply pigged out on all that and some lovely South African wine - quite a different type of Christmas dinner.

A Christmas toast!

Since it was a rainy day on Christmas Day, we found a movie theatre in a very large mall and went to see Meet the Parents the Little Fokkers - bad movie, by the way. We were amazed how many people were at the movies and walking the mall - and there were even a few stores that were open! The rest of our time we spent being lazy at the pool or beach.

On Tuesday, we flew to Johannesburg where we toured the Apartheid Museum which is very interesting and well done. Our driver/guide, although he did not say it in so many words, was obviously not of the opinion that Apartheid should have been outlawed. We stayed at a hotel/ casino that night and there was a display there about the history of South Africa and 'the struggle.' Part of the display was photos and quotes from every day South Africans - and the opinions are very split. It was quite fascinating to read them.

After 12 days of seeing wonderful sights, eating fabulous food (oh, the food, the food - I really don't want to get on the scale), and relaxing, we headed back to Doha. We had a bit of time in the Johannesburg airport before we took off. I found/bought myself a set of noise reduction head phones, which just may be the best purchase I made on the trip! They block out that dull roar of the engines and really quiet down that screaming baby a few rows behind you! Speaking of shopping, I found some great souvenirs of my time in Africa; but also managed to leave a bag with three items somewhere along the way! Oh, just as I started the trip without the camera, I ended the trip without some of my purchases!! I think I'm losing my marbles!