March 10/11 (Updated 3/12): Tsitsikamma National Park

We get-up early for a game drive, have breakfast and say farewell to the elephants of Addo. Our early drive safari is a bust...there is too much water and brush cover to see many animals. The best time to visit Southern Africa is their winter months (June, July, August).

We drive along the beautiful coast marveling at the beauty of the Indian Ocean while by-passing Port Elizabeth. We stop at a beach resort, Jeffery Bay, which has wide-white beaches and famous for its surfing waves. Unfortunately, the wind is blowing and it is lightly raining. I walk the beach and picked-up some shells for my grandchildren. I have a nice calamari lunch basket before we leave for Tsitsikamma National Park. Tsitsikamma means " place of abundant water".



Beach Areas of South Africa

Amusement Park - Jeffery Bay

   





Calamari Lunch

Jeffery Bay's Wide-White Beach

 Our accommodations at the Protea Hotel located at the Tsitsikamma Village of Storms River. The place is a 3 star hotel and my room has twin beds. We eat dinner, I update a portion of my BLOG and we end the night at a backpacker bar and play pool and drink 10 rand red wine. There is another Nomad group camping at this facility and we swap stories.

My Room

Protea Hotel Facility

After breakfast, we leave for the Park...what a magnificent place. It is very, very similar to the Big Sur and the northern coast of California. Steep cliffs, pounding waves and a gorgeous ocean. You can rent a fully equipped cottage for 2 or 4, facing the ocean for $90 or $140 per night...what a deal.  Sea shell picture is for my grandchildren and a reminder of the upcoming summer at the beach.

Rough Surf

Tsitsikamma Coast Line

  

Pounding Waves



Area Sea Shells



Swirling Indian Ocean












Some of the folks take a  hour trek to a waterfalls; I opt to walk the coast line and visit a suspension bridge. My choice didn't disappoint. Look at the magnificent  waves as they pound the rocky shore, feel the spray as you approach the tidal pools and enjoy the 1/2 mile walk to the suspension bridges. Around 11:30 AM, I take an hour out to read the local paper and enjoy another calamari lunch.....delicious.......my luncheon companion was a french fry eating bird...

Swaying...Swaying

Suspension Bridge from Walkway

French Fry Eating Bird

I arrive back at the hotel and begin to catch-up on this BLOG. It is a long and arduous process since the computers are about 4 years-old but most importantly, the communication links are slow. I have been able to catch-up to this AM which makes me ecstatic. My updates should be complete as I reach Cape Town on Tuesday, March 15...I can't believe that the time has passed so quickly and I did have a fabulous time.

Hey wait a minute...what is this store/restaurant located in the little Village of Storms River. ...why...why... it is a USA 1950/60s era throw-back soda bar emporium named "Chrome and Fin City" named in honor of Elvis, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. It has hundreds of pictures of these stars, jukeboxes playing 50/60 music, 50 vintage Chevy Impalas with wide fins and a soda shop....what a hoot!!! I met the owner, John Durban, who is a big Elvis fan. He invites me to sit a special couch built on the rear-end frame of a Chevy and takes my picture. All cars are in mint condition and he drives them a few blocks every other week. Of course I had a soda made by a real African "soda jerk"!!



John Duran and 1950s Chevy Impala



Chrome and Fin City



50's Memorabilia




Seat of Honor with Elvis
"Jail House Rock" Pillow

 



Winged Glory

Look at the Rear Fins

Pink Beauty

 








A Real Pinball Machine





Cool Pink 50's Jukebox







South African Soda Jerk

I almost finish the BLOG but dinner calls.....chicken stew over rice. We spend the rest of the evening at the backpacker resort playing pool and drinking South African red wine. Tomorrow should be an easy day because we only have about a 2 hour drive.

March 6 (updated 3/11): 2nd Day at Malealea Lodge in Lesotho

The choice today was hiking or a pony trek. I decided to do the hike to the "Bushman Paintings" with Sylvia and a guide. Bushman were aboriginal people living throughout Africa. They were skilled hunters who followed animals to kill them with poison arrows/spears in order to provide food their family groups. It is said that a Bushman could consume up to 10 KG (22 pounds) of meat at a single sitting....an animal once killed had to be consumed, meat spoil or hunter attacked by predators such as lion, leopard, hyena, etc....best eat all you can!!

We left camp at 9 AM after a leisurely breakfast. The hike round-trip is 8 km (~5 miles) and was to be relatively easy; so Shadi said. We hiked down-hill for about 3 km to the edge of a river's gorge...the descent down to see the paintings was steep but not as bad as the Zambezi gorge at Vic Falls.

Climbing down in the Gorge

Walk Down towards River Gorge

Half-Way Down

Gorge Path to Paintings

There were 3 painting sites, each located deeper into the gorge; paintings are estimated to be over 600 years-old. As you look at the paintings you can make out group's of individuals, some animals and hunting activities. The Bushman revered the Eland, a large African antelope, which you can see in the paintings.



Group of Hunters




Hunters and Eland



Individuals



Tall Man

The gorge's scenery is rugged and beautiful. The climb back-up is difficult but doable; the hike back to camp is strenuous since it is mostly uphill.


A Tired King of the Hill



Tom Climbing Out



After cleaning-up, a little rest and lunch, a number of us head for the village located to the Lodge.We meet some of the local people and visit their bar for a drink. I am invited to play pool against the local pro and lose but not by a lot. It was fun.

The Hustler Being Hustled

Shadi, Soliwe, Slyvia and Margata

Village Lady - Take My Picture



Entrepreneur - Hair Salon



I really enjoy this place because you are offered an opportunity to be in a pristine environment, see and experience events/people that you normally don't meet and appreciate the world for what it is outside of "civilization". I meet the Malealea's owner/director and his family...Michael, Debbie, Gema (4 years) and Bryce (2 years) and discuss his business and how it is living in an outpost such as Malealea. The big question they are wrestling with is the education of their 2 children...home or boarding school.



Michael, Debbie, Gema (3), Bryce (2)



TV Viewing Area - Malealea

Dinner was hake fish, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. Since tomorrow is a travel day, we will be getting up at O-dark thirty, that means early in America slang.....shower, read until 9:30 PM....am I glad Ann Marie convinced me to get a Kindle.....lights out at 10 PM...ready or not....

Feb 28 (Updated 3/8): 2nd Day in Swaziland

After breakfast, 5 of us decide to go horseback riding for a couple of hours; all are novices except one. It was quite nice exploring Mlilwane which is the home to countless animals and bids. There are no predators since the facility is attempting to rebuild Swaziland's Animal parks. We rode through the fields, into the woods, along streams and lakes and trotted for short distances. We saw numerous animals "Born Free" with no predators to worry about. I must admit that my posterior was quite sour after this engagement.

Tom + His Harem

Hi-O- Teddy

On-the-Trail

Over the River, Through the Woods

 

Eland from a Horse

Yellow-Tinted Zebra

A short dip in the pool made me feel better. After lunch we all left for a visit to a typical Swaziland village.

It was an excellent introduction to their culture....meet the Chief (a female), women and children... their weaving capabilities, dances and cooking. The women in our group had to wear a sarong to show respect to the Chief.

Ladies Properly Dressed

Village Chief

Children Dancers

Ladies Join the Dancers

Tom Joins the MaDancers

He Got the Beat - Encore

Making Maze

Sabina's Balancing Act

It was a busy day...dinner....see a local dance group....bed by 9:30 PM in my "Bee Hut"...now iI know how Lily felt in "The Secret of Bees"...zzzzzzz

Feb 26 (Updated 3/8); 2nd Day at Kruger

We woke up at 5:00 AM to have a breakfast an depart on a Safari drive in a 4 wheel vehicle. This was an optional activity which cost 450 Rand ($65).We thought that we would be back by 11 AM; the safari drive lasted until 4PM; 10 hours of seek, find, photograph. Our driver's name was Ivan, a South African,who did  nice job of attempting to locate the hard to find;  rhino, lion, cheetah and leopard. although the day was long and we did not find all of our quarry, what we fond was the following (big and small):

• warthog eating nuts out of elephant dong. An elephant's digestive system is very  inefficient - I processes a small amount of what it consumes and discharges the rest, unprocessed.
• rhino -  2  separate sightings - a lone black rhino and a huge white rhino (white rhinos eat grass and are 2 - 3 time the size o a black rhino, black rhinos east brush...both are the same color; difference is the mouth an size).
• Water Buffalo  -  a loner near the river; probably a  young male.
• Tree full of vultures waiting for dinner.
• Elephant stripping a tree. Elephants are extremely destructive - stripping bark, pushing over larger trees.
• Bunch of grasshoppers - I told you we noticed the smallest.
• Little leopard turtles
• Grey Heron fishing
• Southern white-faced scops owl
• Little monkeys and baboons

Warthog Eating Nuts

Impala Herd

Birds + Baboons

Buzzard Lookouts

Large Male Giraffe

Large Black Rhino

Ivan dropped us off at a 2nd Kruger camp which was even better than the 1st. I  unpacked and went to the pool for  cooling dip. A nice dinner of chicken stew  and rice. Went back to the room, read until 9:30 PM and went to bed. After getting up a little after 5 AM, I was exhausted.

Cool Pool Dip

Nice Accommodations

Shadi, our guide, is disappointed that we did not see the lion or leopard. Suggests that we take an early morning drive safari before we depart Kruger. We all agree that 5:30 AM would be a good departure time.

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