Happy birthday to my first born grandson Jaxon with all my love best wishes always.

Breaky at 6:30… leave beautiful permanent tented resort about 7:25 to go on game drive at Hluhluwe where we’ll see lots of rhinos….

Imfpolozi

Just inside the park we see 4 Warthogs together, then soon

“wide mouth” miss-named as white rhino ……wide mouth for grazing. …. sole rhino got closer & closer then had a mud bath in front of us totally unconcerned. Mud acts as a free sun screen but mostly when mud dries and drops off it takes the ticks with it.

6-8 zebras grazing with impalas.

Big herd of water buffalo

18 rhinos …. all white so far

Nyala antelopes that I cant seem to be able to get a picture of.

Sole buffalo, a giraffe.

Bung beetles…. 2… happy couple… seed in middle to hatch…. over 1500 varieties

Trumpet hornbill….very cool beak.

Sickle Bush with pendulum pink and yellow flower.

White round balls hanging in trees are nest of white frogs that when hatched drop into the water.

Whole family of nyala at lunch place in the park…..also family of vervet monkey that stole watermelon and kept trying to steel the rest of the time we were there. Baboons shortly after leaving.

70-100 water buffalo in one herd.

Zebenzilee…. name of the Zulu guide …. very nice lady….. wanted to be a teacher but something happened (didn’t catch what) so now she is a tour guide.

We visited a family of Nomporno village… all buildings care painted pink.

Special greeting whenever meet…. enquire as to health of whole family ……ancestors too.

Center of kitchen has fireplace … says smoke is no problem unless raining. This family have 17 in it ….neighbour has 28.

Lunch and dinner is cooked…. (everyone eats together or just outside)Maize or polenta and vegetables,

All girls share cooking and washing etc. Old people (women) don’t have to cook anymore after girls 15-16 age.

Married women must wear long skirts, no short shirt, covered hair.

Man can have multiple wives but he must give 11 cows dowery for each wife. It’s not necessary to pay all at once though. Girl give quilts to family of groom including ancestors.

2-3 or 4 per bedroom but old or ancestors get one bedroom

From the age of 10, girls learn to carry 25 litres of water on their heads. Women get more food to eat than men because they do all the work.

Everyone wears school uniform….go to school from 5-18 age.

Girls like to take wash to river. It’s a place collect firewood and meet the boys.

Ancestors hut’s…. bones above door, goat gallbladder, spear…. where communicate with spiritual ancestors to discuss problems. “Imbaypo” plant that is burnt … used to awaken forefathers. Wedding, 21 bday, death of fathers, etc special occasions, they slaughter goat and cow. When leaving ancestors hut the men leave first to protect the women (not as someone suggested… food for the lions….lol).

Very special for a girl that has reached 21 a virgin….it takes a whole village to raise a child not just the parents.

Homemade beer used in ceremonies. 10,000 people in this village learn English and Zulu language. 10.2 million people in province…40% are Zulus

Back at our tents got something to drink… had chat with Noni and Caesar ( manager). So nice!!!Noni and another ladies do cooking, making up the tents and if you put out your laundry, they will wash…. for whatever you want to give them.

Shandle told about whites and blacks. The middle aged and older say they forgive what they endured under apartheid but truthfully have resentment and lack of trust. ….. not surprising cuz they remember. The young people though are different because they mix at school and socialize, hang out with each other. It will take another generation to get past the past.

Also talked to Helena about volunteering in the townships. She said the children are not well cared for at home, they get all their behaviour training at kindergarten. School gives them 2 meals a day so they get some food in their bellies. She never felt safe at anytime. They could never go anywhere without being in numbers. Taxis between townships (mixed breed is worse than black townships for crime and violence), is called catching a cockroach. At first when she was talking about them, we couldn’t figure out what she was talking about. Cockroach to me/us…. means a disgusting bug not a taxi!

Last night we had a terrific thunder (directly overhead) & lightning storm with the rain on the thatched roof sounding about the same as roofs at home. Again who would imagine!!!!

Eric’s 19th birthday today and this morning he was in a panic cuz he couldn’t find his passport. What a way to start his year.

In Capital of Swaziland…Mbabane 250,000 pop. …modern buildings ….. seems to be quite industrialized….huge tract industrial park.

Manzini administrative city of Swaziland. Actually the country seems to be quite prosperous.

The king has 12 wives and 4 girlfriends.

Sign advertising condoms for inner peace!!!

Pineapple fields

Very busy in the streets of Manzini with everyone buying for Xmas. .. most are Christians so celebrate starting on 24th, 25th (big bbq of goat or cow)…. and Boxing Day (“the day when people get drunk”). Sounds like home, eh?

After leaving the city there was a checkpoint/road block. Brian says they wanted to know if anyone had rhino horns….. not on this bus!

Apparently there is hunting in the area just across the border back into ZA but not for elephants or rhinos. 3 rhino were killed in Plattensburg NR but that isn’t nearly as bad as it was 3 yrs. ago.

Soy beans farming.

Just past where we stopped for lunch there was a water reservoir used for irrigation. It is a river that has been dammed. At its fullest, it covers over 70,000 hectares.

Mkuzi NP

Fever tree with green skin …. where lots of water …..where mosquitos live hence Europeans thought it caused fever of malaria

At watering hole Turpins…. one with baby on back, giraffe and lion prints in concrete walk.

Last night there was a big thunder and lightning storm that scared the animals deep into the forest. Yea… I’m not surprised. Hardly any to be found. .., ngali antelopes…..(shy ones), a few giraffes, wildebeests, impalas, warthogs and guinea hen.

We leave Lower Sabie at 6:30am ….. driving out of the park for our last game drive for next 2-3 hours.

Martial eagle ripping apart breaky, black-shouldered kite, a sole white rhino,

Large pack of hyenas watching for the chance to take the lion’s kill… a male and female lioness but I could not spot them…. too far away. Hyenas are opportunists. Three more spotted heading ….following the scent of kill

2.5 metres wing span on lappet-faced vulture….. very large.

Vervet monkeys, family of warthogs,

Brian says this is not a job, it’s a passion….wants to share his knowledge with everyone that is interested. As a child every chance he could he would go with uncles ( he had 5 uncles that were all game guides…. one being a boss and organizing) on flight game drives or trucks as a child… if there was a vacant spot . Learned lots before going to college.

Leaving the park about 9:30 at Crocodile Bridge …. got coffees… I’m the last one to get one so it’s the hottest… I’m in the back of the truck where it’s the bumpiest…. speed up one out my coffee spills over me and everything. Hot, hot, hot.

They were growing sugar cane as we left the park.

Crossed into Swaziland somewhere between 11& noon. No pictures whatsoever of border guards or police.

Oh my…what a difference to ZA. It’s very mountainous…. reminds one of Austria/Switzerland or the Kootenays of BC. Terraces! So many plantations of pine and eucalyptus …. logging and e one mills…big rigs….B trains. Would you have imagined???

1271 metres above sea level. It so beautiful…. the air is fresh…..We/I hiked in the mountains for close to 3 hrs. 6-7 kms…14,000 steps according to one of the gals. I was the one Chandle drove the “red elephant” to pick up. J didn’t go at all cuz she is still coughing. I was so exhausted after that.. … and burnt…. and wind burnt.

On the way back up the hill Brian explained all the schooling that he took before being allowed to be a guide.

The place we stayed the night Hawane Lodge, was all built in the traditional way with thatched roofs on “chalets”….. gardens were lovely with huge aloe plants and tiny irises, etc.. The restaurant and reception was a large round building with a open fireplace built in the centre.

The morning started early. Up before 5, breaky at 5:30 & on the road by 6. Before we left someone spotted baboons near one of the cabins. We watched a whole bunch …. maybe 6-8 file in the open door of the unit. Another guy that was outside yelled at them ( there were more outside) and waved his arms. Well what a hullabaloo happened as all of the baboons ran out shrieking as they were fleeing. A few moments later a man appeared at his open door in his underwear. Not sure if he had been in the bathroom or in bed but whatever….. I think he got quite the shock. Too funny but could have had dire consequences.

White spoor is hyena poop…someone referred it as skeleton shit.

Female hyenas are alpha. Female is bigger than male. Will kill another female to have dominance. Male is submissive to female. Hyenas are only afraid of male lion.

Scented thorn acacia only giraffes eat it cuz it is poisonous…. and thorny … had wild cucumbers…. a vine climbing in it.

Water…at river saw kingfisher, African jacanas (male was very frisky but was not being accepted), squacco heron. Warthog males have 2 sets of horns… 3 males together…. another bachelor party.

Saw a huge troup of baboons. Damboti Tree that giraffes eating is extremely poisonous to humans

A huge lone bull elephant just about charged us. Very dangerous when dripping secretion from back pouch (shroud)……(it stinks) plus on side of face …. also when ears out is a warning.

Black belled Korkaan seen on top of termite hills…. eat the termites.

Kruger Park became national park in 1890’s…..used to be called Sabie Game Park.

Waterbucks (we’ve only seen females) don’t get eaten by lions or alligators because they have a unpleasant taste.

Turpin is fresh water turtle, the ones in sea water are turtles, tortoise are land turtles (only one that can totally bring heads inside shells).

Saw a dead impala hanging in a tree, half eaten. A leopard kill….. usual routine…. up a tree where lions and hyenas can’t climb. He’ll probably be back later.

There are only about 1000 lions now in Kruger ….Lions had been decreasing in Kruger but now increasing slowly. They kill each off because of hierarchy as well as they die due to killing and eating of water buffalo that carry tuberculoses.

Wildebeests, 1 honey badger, genets, kudus, several hyenas, 1 giraffe, owl, white rhinos

After having a very good sleep cuz it was cooler,windows open… (1340 metres above sea level) it was fresh.:….maybe because it was foggy.

We left the Graskop Mogidi Lodge at 8:30 but had to make a first stop 40 minutes later at Hazyview for fresh fruit and veggies and of course the bushy bushy. Looks like a very prosperous town … huge shopping mall,etc. This area can grow everything including “rubber boots”….lol……so says Brian. Seriously bananas, papayas, lychees, yadda, yadda. Kruger is an open boarder park… 70,000 sq. kms. no fences on borders between ZA and Botswana or ZA and Mozambique. Just before entering the park, Shandy pointed up ahead that it was where he lives. Later he said he misses his home and see it until February. We arrived in Kruger at Phabeni Gate about 10:30 and for the better part of 3 hours we drove. We came across some zebras…. a ways away. Then giraffes. Stopped by a watering hole where there we saw water buffalo, a croc, tortoise, African eagle & hippos.

Came across a solitary lion casually sauntering along the road. He then just as arrogantly walked off through the bush strutting his prowess. He was probably between 5-7 yrs old so has been booted out of the pride. You can tell his age because his mane is started to get black.

Herds of giraffes …. huge numbers … one big older guy between 3-4 metres high…. his spots are darker as they age. Giraffes don’t make good mothers. They just drop them and then the young are on their own…. unlike elephants that are very maternal. So many impalas everywhere. I can imagine they are much more prolific than our deer. 160,000 impalas

Elephants….Breading head or matriarch head. They are grazers….they wallow in mud… used to cover their skin to prevent their skin from sunburns. Also when it dries the mud pulls any ticks off at same time.

There were 25 plus in the herd in this one.

The sound transmitted by elephant can be heard for 7 kms.

Water buffalo all line up facing away from the wind

Lower Sabi River where we saw hippos (out of the river), the huge herd (some are a large as 100) elephants and herd of water buffalo…. all within .5 km. Amazing!

Kindergarten of impalas took off with one snort from mama.

Chacma baboons in a tree…. maybe a dozen.

Kudu ….. whiter tip of horns means fully grown about 7 years…..16 kilos baby…. a lot of bachelor parties…. males only. Couple were play fighting but sometime they lock and cannot separate. After 4 hours they are exhausted and the lions come in

for the kill….. it’s easy pickings!

Martial Eagle in a tree. Birds on the ground squawking warning that dinner is on the way for Eagle.

We had an elephant about 8yrs old, right by the truck… so unconcerned.

White -backed Vulture …. not very common.

Arrive at villas in Lower Sabie camp for 2 nights. We can see hippos in the river in front….. snorting away…. love it…. cool!

Shandle (said Shandly) & Brian are our guides. We leave in the sunshine, at about 7:20 am from Road House Rivonia…. a very budget hotel…. nothing like the place on CT.

4million people live in city of Joburg….8-9 million in area. It just looks like any huge modern city with rolling hills. I’m sure that parts of it have the slums I was expecting.

Our truck, they call, the Red Elephant. If you have to use the toilet, you just say”bushy, bushy”…lol! …. and they will stop wherever.

In city there are man-made lakes that anyone can canoe in, fish, play in the park, etc although there is also private membership probably for the golf course part and other facilities. Very nice! Again not what I was expecting.

We have Anne from Munich, Helena from Frankfurt , Katrin from Karlsruhe, Martine from Ratingen …all from Germany, Peter from Graz, Austria,

Rosie, Leif and their two boys Eric and Dennis & a girl Olivia from Stockholm, Sweden, and Jeanette and me from Canada on this trek.

We passed by one of the shanty towns on the way out. Brian said that a lot of people choose to live there because it is too expensive to live in Joburg. They have electricity, satellite dishes and public transport….. just not the homes (these are literally tin shacks) and gardens necessary to keep up with the Jones.

He says this is the beginning of rainy season. Very flat…. farms (predominantly corn) are being planted recently) for harvest around April.

I noticed large hills surrounded by farms….. enquired as to what they were??? Garbage dumps that are then covered with grass.

We passed by a couple of coal fired power plants(no smoke so thought they were nuclear) provide 10-15% of the electricity used in ZA. On the right there were 6-7 huge stacks. We also passed by open pit coal mines.

I think we are traveling on the N4 -a toll Hwy…….Nice, not too much traffic.

Men working along the highway using weed wackers….. not ride on lawn mowers or tractors. Another work project????

We stopped at Belfast for groceries, drinking water and alcohol for the next 3 days.

Dullstroom famous for fishing….head waters of Crocodile River that flows through to Kruger…. beautiful surrounding area, gorgeous little town…. touristy shops and restaurants.

Beyond Dullstroom the topography changed to something similar to the foothills of Alberta. Who would have thunk!

1776 metres above sea level at Crystal Springs mountain lodge. Pine tree and eucalyptus plantations in this area….2million hectares. We stopped at outlook to view Pilgrims Rest. We then drove down to the town yes there are the original old buildings, but it was filled with locals selling crafts….pushy!

Then on to Bourke’s Luck Pot Holes….. absolutely spectacular. After hiking down and back up again in the approx 27-28C heat I think I sweated breakfast and lunch off. The potholes have been made by the swirling waters of the Breur River (river of sorrow) converging with the Blyde River (river of joy).

Went for dinner after relaxing and cleaning up a bit to be met by pouring rain and thunder and lightning. What will tomorrow bring.

Lower Sabie tomorrow.

On the way in from the airport, I noticed that it was 17 C…. a long way from the 38 we had yesterday in CT. Lightning flashed and it’s starting to rain. That reminds me of when we were leaving Durban while on the ship, there was lightning flashing almost continuously for about an hour and half. Following that show they closed the decks and we rocked and rolled for the next couple of days. Great for sleeping! I do hope that this weather isn’t with us for the rest of our tour.

I took the hop on hop off bus while Jeanette stayed back at the hotel to try and recover before we start our safari tour. Certainly wouldn’t want her coughing while trying to see the elusive big five.

First noted landmark….Green Point Lighthouse.

The opening of the Suez and the political climate more or less killed economy and its place in the world. V&A (Victoria & Alfred)Waterfront started being built in 1990’s… rejuvenated Cape Town.

30,000 cyclists here in March for the Cape Town Cycle Tour… 109 km. annual completion .

In 1795 British took CT from the Dutch so most people speak English here.

What was the old grain silos is now the “Arts Centre”

Rump of Lions Head part of Signal Hill….. where the hang gliders take off from.

Highest water restrictions anywhere…2 minute showers only and asked to save the cold water from start …. in a bucket to be used later on plants.

Convention centre built in 2003 has also brought more life to CT.

Originally to be a penal colony.

Civic centre government etc. building on left,

On right used to be beaches now in the middle of the city.

Bo Kaap area is where the slaves moved to after being freed. Also called the Malay Quarter but were actually E. Indians. Means Upper Cape… back drop of table mountain

Because they were denied to wear coloured clothing, when freed they coloured their houses bright colours

“12 Apostles” is actually 17 buttresses….. on back of Table mountain.

The ocean water is actually colder in the summer than winter because of winds and currents

Clifton beach least windy so most expensive. Originally the government paid people to move out there….. cuz it was “too far out”. It probably would take 15 minutes with light traffic.

Bantry Bay …. most homes have their own pools cuz you can’t swim in ocean….. too rocky for one.

Some funicular tracts built for taking groceries up to houses built on the side of the hills….. it’s very steep. Also on the water side you only see street level parking lots…. actually built on top of condos that go down to the shore below 10-12 stories. Law states buildings cannot be built above the road level because it would block the view.

Some authorities say that Sea Point is in a wind-free zone???? Not ! First kind of trees (can’t remember names) lean toward the land while further toward town the pines get the winds bouncing of the buildings so lean out to the sea. Odd!!!

What an absolutely spectacular city and surrounding area! What a shame that every building has razor wire & other sharp things on the top of fortress like fences or walls. …. none of which are offensive looking. Even at our boutique hotel, the front entrance is locked and so you have to ring the buzzer get in. Everywhere there is a security guard or the place is wired for security. And at night…. taxi to return anywhere after dark.

Apparently the temperature since we have been here, has been probably 10C more than usual. ….. 36C yesterday. Too hot to really even do or go anywhere….. just zaps your energy. Consequently we spent a lot of time in the pool.

Today the 8th, we are off to get our flight to Johannesburg.

It has been a wonderful trip on the whole. The last couple of days since leaving Durban, we have been having to deal with the “motion in the ocean”. It is the best to sleep with. Actually Jeanette thinks she should get a stimulator…. I mean simulator…. she’s been sleeping so well. Walking is a totally different matter although it isn’t nearly as bad as when we were off St Tropez.

Time was spent saying our good-byes to fellow passengers, wonderful staff and the entertainment guys and gals, wishing everyone safe travels etc. Now we are laying by the pool of our “lodge” in Cape Town. The pool is a lot cooler than the ocean water we had aboard the ship but very refreshing…..it’s possibly going to 32C today. The humidity isn’t an issue here …..apparently but it is still stinking hot. We are still waiting on our room so that we can go out and explore. This lodge is so lovely & quaint…. very Italianisque…… sweet!

So far what we have seen of Cape Town is absolutely spectacular. Nothing like seeing it in person!!!. The ride coming into the harbour was a little dicey especially considering the entrance is like 150 feet wide and it was blowing like hell. The city seems to be spotless. There is about a 34% unemployment/homeless rate in Cape Town so they give the unemployed a bag to collect garbage. They are paid when they turn them in. Maybe we should do that with some of our homeless.

OMG we just heard that it is going to 38C tomorrow. Not sure how we are going to handle that. Didn’t do too well today. We never left the hotel pool and room today. Doesn’t help if you aren’t feeling well. I’m coughing a bit but Jeanette is really, really quite sick!!! I do hope she gets over it soon or maybe they won’t let her on the safari.

We walked to a restaurant about 15 minutes away … for dinner tonight but the guy at the lodge insisted that we get a taxi (Uber) back… 21Rand (about 2CAD). A little paranoid but maybe with good reason. It’s such a shame cuz this city is so spectacularly beautiful and appears peaceful…. in daylight anyway. .

We were delayed coming into Durban cuz of rough seas…. then were pushed into port by a tug. What a beautiful looking city! Spectacular beaches ….”the Golden Mile”, stadium near the waterfront, humongous port…. wow!

Because we didn’t have an excursion booked we just took the shuttle into Ushaka Marine Park (which seemed to be more of a shopping centre with great crafts & fashions). From there we bought an all day bus pass thinking we were getting a Hop on,Hop off. Not! By the way it costed about 1.50CAD each. First we got of at this Golden Mile Beach. Miami Beach, English Bay have nothing on this! This was the weekend at the start of summer holidays and Christmas shopping. Everybody was at the beach. We were definitely in the minority… probably less than 1/2% white. These beaches apparently have lifeguards and nets to protect swimmers from the sharks. ((Not so for most beaches in ZA. Something was happening at waters edge but because we were too far away, couldn’t determine if someone got hurt, drowned or what. We had a beer and wings (nice waiter named Ali) at “California Dreaming” that told us where to get the bus to the Victoria Market. But….. 2 busses didn’t stop cuz we didn’t flag them down. A lady explained that and said we didn’t have time to go there, that we should go back to the ship rather than miss it. So…. went back to Ushaka and shopped before getting back on board. Not enough time here. Not enough time in Maputo either.

I just remembered that when getting near to Richards Bay, they helicoptered the pilot on board. That was thrilling to watch him get dropped down ….. in gale force winds!!! Everybody was up top to watch.