Today we had to start our day off with some administrative things that we have been putting off including getting in touch with the bus company and the airlines. It's not interesting so I'll skip the details. Basically we had been spending the last few days researching the tickets and we finally decided on our dates and made the big purchases. Transportation in Africa, even the budget type, is quite expensive and is adding up. This plus the cost of visas for most countries is a bit crippling. We went to one of the more posh malls in Stanton which also has Nelson Mandella Square right in the middle of it. Its a large open area with fountains, restaurants and a giant statue of Nelson Mandella. He is a hero to the people of South Africa and well loved by them. His role in the abolishment of racial segregation was key for his success. He was a freedom fighter who stood up against the appartheid the Africans had set up. We spent the rest of the evening with our hosts eating dinner and watching movies. This is a nice relaxing way to end each day and learn more about each other.
The next morning Crawford (our host's son) took us out once again. It was very nice of him to take the time to do so on his day off and we had a great time. We drove over an hour out of town to a place called Maropeng, The Cradle of Humanity. This is the place where human skulls were found that are the oldest ever found on earth. They date back over two million years. This was a time when the earth was one continent called Pandora, it was only later in the years that the earth's land has come to be the way it is now. This is where the human race first started as believed by most scientists and experts around the world. It is a Unesco World Heritage site. There is a huge interactive museum and gallery giving all sorts of information on human evolvution, evolution of the earth and the history of the African people. The surrounding area is all protected land and all over the continent there are other sites like this where ancient human skeletons have been found but the ones found here are the oldest. There was a boat ride and tour involved and we spent several hours there.
After the museum we went to grab some famous chicken pies from a nearby restaurant. On the way, we got pulled over by some cops who wanted to search the vehicle. Apparently sometimes the cops need a little extra cash and they will pull someone over and try to find anything they can to try and get a bribe. This is true in many of the countries we have visited where the police offices do not make much money and they try to supplement their income. It surely happens in Canada as well, but it is more discreet there. Upon finding nothing, they waved us on our way. We thoroughly enjoyed the chicken pies and swung by Crawford's friends house for a quick visit. We were greeted by two of the cutest dogs ever. One was a bulldog and the other was a type of bull mastif. We talked with his friends and played with the dogs for a short time then headed home.
Before supper our hosts had to deliver their birds to their daughter's home who would be looking after them while we were away. We tagged along and had a nice visit before returning home for dinner. Then next morning we were off early (5:30am) to Kruger National Park so we packed our things and went to bed.
The drive to the park was around six hours with a couple of stops for fuel and breakfast. We had breakfast at a very cute restaurant where Tyson had an American style meal full of meats and I had spinach and feta pancakes. Our first day in the park was wonderful, our expectations were blown away. In a park bigger than Scotland, Wales and Israel, we were expecting the animals to be hiding in the non developed areas. Before we even entered the official park , however, we saw crocodiles and hippos near a small pond. Once we entered we were told the rules of sharing the animals with everyone in the vehicle. Everyone must stare out their window on their side of the car, if you spot something you must yell STOP. This is the only word that the driver will stop for. I learned this the hard way when I yelled "ZEBRA" and no one got to see it because we continued on. With our eyes glued on the terrain we spotted loads of animals. Impalas are very common and after seeing fifty or so of them we stopped stopping and just saw them in passing. We saw many African elephants in families with babies crossing the street, playing and eating.We saw rhinos hiding in the bushes, zebras near the roads a few times, many warthogs eating grass, many wildebeasts in groups, a few kudu, and many different types of birds including the famous hornbill (as seen on the Lion King). All of this was just on our first day on our way to the first camp called Skakuza which is the biggest campsite.
It is nothing like seeing animals at a zoo, we are watching wild animals in their own habitat, living in harmony and completing the circle of life. They only kill what they need to eat, they stay on their own land, create offspring and try to survive. It is amazing to look out of the window and see these creatures out in the open and not constricted to small cages. Embarasingly enough, most of my knowledge about the animals came from the Lion King. For example, I recognized the hornbill because of "Zazu", I knew that hyenas eat meat because they chased Simba when they were hungry, I knew of warthogs because of Pumba (and I was saddened that I couldn't find Timone anywhere) and so on.
We settled in to our gigantic two bedroom accomadation which was actually a chalet that sleeps six and went for a walk around the area. The four of us sat by the river and ate a variety of flavors of frozen yogurt with our binoculars out just in case. We saw more elephants, geese, fish, bats, birds and baboons near to our chalet. There were two wild bores feeding in the grass just outside our place. Tyson and I got close enough to get a picture with them and quickly left them alone when they glared at us. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, snacking, reading books and chatting. We had a huge braii of steaks, sweet corn, potatoes, sausages and coleslaw. After dinner we walked around and spotted a few exotic looking bugs and geckos and watched the stars through an Iphone application that identifies the constellations and satellites. You just point the phone at the sky and it connects the stars and labels them. We even saw Mars and Saturn.
All in all the first day was an amazing experience. We are so lucky to have our hosts with us who have been to the park twice a year for dozens of years and have the experience of how to work the visit best. Without them, we could not have made the trip here because it is far from Johannesburg and you have to drive through the park. We are again so very grateful for so much that they have done for us!!
On the second day we set the alarm for 6:30 am and planned to wake up early to catch all the animals at the lake. At 8:00am we heard our host's voice waking us up. We now realize we truly have a problem with mornings and we need help. We had a huge fried breakfast with eggs, tomatos, sausages, bacon and coffee, we went for a walk around the property and head out in the car for day two. We drove over one hundred kilometers stoppng for lunch at an accomadation half way to where we were staying for the night called Olifants. We ate chicken pies and chips and gravy while watching monkeys fighting and playing in the trees. As far as game today we were fortunate. We saw dozens and dozens of elephants throughout the day. Most were in families of ten or more and they were much larger and darker skinned than the ones we saw yesterday. I was videotaping one when it started towards the car which freaked me out slightly. We saw a black rhinoscerous and a white rhinoscerous which is very rare and endangered in Africa. Of course we saw hundreds of impala eating and running in herds. We saw many giraffes today which was new for us. They are amazing creatures that reach their heads high above the trees and stare at the car as we stop to take a look and snap some photos. We saw many warthogs, buffalo, hippos in the water swimming, water bucks, a variety of birds, a snake, herring, ostriches, wildabeasts, mongoose, mere cats, hornbills, ground hornbills, fish eagle, saddle bill stork, glossy starling, black widows, baboons, vultures, cape vultures, bats, sacred ibis, oxpecker, vervet monkeys, lizards, geckos, huge cockroaches, squirrels, kudus, buffalos and zebras. We have photos to prove all of this if anyone doubts us.
We got to our private bungalow with a gorgeous lake view around four pm. We settled and went to the viewpoint to see more impalas and hippos near the water. We relaxed for a bit in our own place before joining Alesdair and Joyce in their suite two doors down. They cooked a delicious braii with chicken, sausages, sweet corn, potatos and green salad which we enjoyed greatly with non alcoholic wine. We even roasted marshmellows afterwards. It was a great evening all together and we despite our record, Tyson and I still set the alarm for the next morning at 6:30am.
Of course the alarm did nothing to wake us up. In fact Alisdair came by our place and woke us up around 7:30am when we got up to see some hippos out of our deck for a few minutes and then we fell back asleep. We got woken up again at 8:30 am when we finally got out of bed. We had cereal and fruit and braii for breakfast before walking to the viewpoint in the camp. On our third day we made the drive to Lower Sabie accomadations about 150 kilometers away. On the drive we started seeing the same animals that we had been seeing for the last two days but in different situations. We saw the animals bathing, eating, fighting, running and so on. We saw them closer up than previous times. We also saw many more types of beautiful birds. Our third accomadation was beautiful in the southern part of the park. It had a large pool and since the weather was floating around 40 degrees, we went for a swim right away. We saw many rare birds flying around the trees above us and it was quite a peaceful time. Later that evening we went to the lookout and saw some hippos and crocodiles with a torch. We missed the "sundowners" by the lake because we both passed out for two hours. This is an African term that is used to describe drinks around the time of sunset.
In the morning we had a big fried breakfast with eggs, potatos, tomatos, bacon and coffee. Then we packed up and hit the road with a brief stopover at the viewpoint. We watched hard for lions, leaopards and cheetahs which are very commonly seen in the park but alas we only saw a rock shaped like a lion, but we were happy. We saw all the other animals we were looking forward to seeing and this was an unforgettable trip. We stopped for lunch on the way home and had chicken wraps. We napped, sang and read all the way back to Northcliff where Alisdair and Joyce live. Then we attacked the computor to catch up on the few days worth of emails from when we were away. That night we pigged out on pizza and enjoyed our last sleep in Johannesburg. It's been wonderful!!!
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
The next morning Crawford (our host's son) took us out once again. It was very nice of him to take the time to do so on his day off and we had a great time. We drove over an hour out of town to a place called Maropeng, The Cradle of Humanity. This is the place where human skulls were found that are the oldest ever found on earth. They date back over two million years. This was a time when the earth was one continent called Pandora, it was only later in the years that the earth's land has come to be the way it is now. This is where the human race first started as believed by most scientists and experts around the world. It is a Unesco World Heritage site. There is a huge interactive museum and gallery giving all sorts of information on human evolvution, evolution of the earth and the history of the African people. The surrounding area is all protected land and all over the continent there are other sites like this where ancient human skeletons have been found but the ones found here are the oldest. There was a boat ride and tour involved and we spent several hours there.
After the museum we went to grab some famous chicken pies from a nearby restaurant. On the way, we got pulled over by some cops who wanted to search the vehicle. Apparently sometimes the cops need a little extra cash and they will pull someone over and try to find anything they can to try and get a bribe. This is true in many of the countries we have visited where the police offices do not make much money and they try to supplement their income. It surely happens in Canada as well, but it is more discreet there. Upon finding nothing, they waved us on our way. We thoroughly enjoyed the chicken pies and swung by Crawford's friends house for a quick visit. We were greeted by two of the cutest dogs ever. One was a bulldog and the other was a type of bull mastif. We talked with his friends and played with the dogs for a short time then headed home.
Before supper our hosts had to deliver their birds to their daughter's home who would be looking after them while we were away. We tagged along and had a nice visit before returning home for dinner. Then next morning we were off early (5:30am) to Kruger National Park so we packed our things and went to bed.
The drive to the park was around six hours with a couple of stops for fuel and breakfast. We had breakfast at a very cute restaurant where Tyson had an American style meal full of meats and I had spinach and feta pancakes. Our first day in the park was wonderful, our expectations were blown away. In a park bigger than Scotland, Wales and Israel, we were expecting the animals to be hiding in the non developed areas. Before we even entered the official park , however, we saw crocodiles and hippos near a small pond. Once we entered we were told the rules of sharing the animals with everyone in the vehicle. Everyone must stare out their window on their side of the car, if you spot something you must yell STOP. This is the only word that the driver will stop for. I learned this the hard way when I yelled "ZEBRA" and no one got to see it because we continued on. With our eyes glued on the terrain we spotted loads of animals. Impalas are very common and after seeing fifty or so of them we stopped stopping and just saw them in passing. We saw many African elephants in families with babies crossing the street, playing and eating.We saw rhinos hiding in the bushes, zebras near the roads a few times, many warthogs eating grass, many wildebeasts in groups, a few kudu, and many different types of birds including the famous hornbill (as seen on the Lion King). All of this was just on our first day on our way to the first camp called Skakuza which is the biggest campsite.
It is nothing like seeing animals at a zoo, we are watching wild animals in their own habitat, living in harmony and completing the circle of life. They only kill what they need to eat, they stay on their own land, create offspring and try to survive. It is amazing to look out of the window and see these creatures out in the open and not constricted to small cages. Embarasingly enough, most of my knowledge about the animals came from the Lion King. For example, I recognized the hornbill because of "Zazu", I knew that hyenas eat meat because they chased Simba when they were hungry, I knew of warthogs because of Pumba (and I was saddened that I couldn't find Timone anywhere) and so on.
We settled in to our gigantic two bedroom accomadation which was actually a chalet that sleeps six and went for a walk around the area. The four of us sat by the river and ate a variety of flavors of frozen yogurt with our binoculars out just in case. We saw more elephants, geese, fish, bats, birds and baboons near to our chalet. There were two wild bores feeding in the grass just outside our place. Tyson and I got close enough to get a picture with them and quickly left them alone when they glared at us. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, snacking, reading books and chatting. We had a huge braii of steaks, sweet corn, potatoes, sausages and coleslaw. After dinner we walked around and spotted a few exotic looking bugs and geckos and watched the stars through an Iphone application that identifies the constellations and satellites. You just point the phone at the sky and it connects the stars and labels them. We even saw Mars and Saturn.
All in all the first day was an amazing experience. We are so lucky to have our hosts with us who have been to the park twice a year for dozens of years and have the experience of how to work the visit best. Without them, we could not have made the trip here because it is far from Johannesburg and you have to drive through the park. We are again so very grateful for so much that they have done for us!!
On the second day we set the alarm for 6:30 am and planned to wake up early to catch all the animals at the lake. At 8:00am we heard our host's voice waking us up. We now realize we truly have a problem with mornings and we need help. We had a huge fried breakfast with eggs, tomatos, sausages, bacon and coffee, we went for a walk around the property and head out in the car for day two. We drove over one hundred kilometers stoppng for lunch at an accomadation half way to where we were staying for the night called Olifants. We ate chicken pies and chips and gravy while watching monkeys fighting and playing in the trees. As far as game today we were fortunate. We saw dozens and dozens of elephants throughout the day. Most were in families of ten or more and they were much larger and darker skinned than the ones we saw yesterday. I was videotaping one when it started towards the car which freaked me out slightly. We saw a black rhinoscerous and a white rhinoscerous which is very rare and endangered in Africa. Of course we saw hundreds of impala eating and running in herds. We saw many giraffes today which was new for us. They are amazing creatures that reach their heads high above the trees and stare at the car as we stop to take a look and snap some photos. We saw many warthogs, buffalo, hippos in the water swimming, water bucks, a variety of birds, a snake, herring, ostriches, wildabeasts, mongoose, mere cats, hornbills, ground hornbills, fish eagle, saddle bill stork, glossy starling, black widows, baboons, vultures, cape vultures, bats, sacred ibis, oxpecker, vervet monkeys, lizards, geckos, huge cockroaches, squirrels, kudus, buffalos and zebras. We have photos to prove all of this if anyone doubts us.
We got to our private bungalow with a gorgeous lake view around four pm. We settled and went to the viewpoint to see more impalas and hippos near the water. We relaxed for a bit in our own place before joining Alesdair and Joyce in their suite two doors down. They cooked a delicious braii with chicken, sausages, sweet corn, potatos and green salad which we enjoyed greatly with non alcoholic wine. We even roasted marshmellows afterwards. It was a great evening all together and we despite our record, Tyson and I still set the alarm for the next morning at 6:30am.
Of course the alarm did nothing to wake us up. In fact Alisdair came by our place and woke us up around 7:30am when we got up to see some hippos out of our deck for a few minutes and then we fell back asleep. We got woken up again at 8:30 am when we finally got out of bed. We had cereal and fruit and braii for breakfast before walking to the viewpoint in the camp. On our third day we made the drive to Lower Sabie accomadations about 150 kilometers away. On the drive we started seeing the same animals that we had been seeing for the last two days but in different situations. We saw the animals bathing, eating, fighting, running and so on. We saw them closer up than previous times. We also saw many more types of beautiful birds. Our third accomadation was beautiful in the southern part of the park. It had a large pool and since the weather was floating around 40 degrees, we went for a swim right away. We saw many rare birds flying around the trees above us and it was quite a peaceful time. Later that evening we went to the lookout and saw some hippos and crocodiles with a torch. We missed the "sundowners" by the lake because we both passed out for two hours. This is an African term that is used to describe drinks around the time of sunset.
In the morning we had a big fried breakfast with eggs, potatos, tomatos, bacon and coffee. Then we packed up and hit the road with a brief stopover at the viewpoint. We watched hard for lions, leaopards and cheetahs which are very commonly seen in the park but alas we only saw a rock shaped like a lion, but we were happy. We saw all the other animals we were looking forward to seeing and this was an unforgettable trip. We stopped for lunch on the way home and had chicken wraps. We napped, sang and read all the way back to Northcliff where Alisdair and Joyce live. Then we attacked the computor to catch up on the few days worth of emails from when we were away. That night we pigged out on pizza and enjoyed our last sleep in Johannesburg. It's been wonderful!!!
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
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