South Africa!

**Note** This blog was penned on Jan 9, but Isaac slacked in getting the pictures and videos up.

Hello All,

    It's the first day back at school and I have TONS of work to do to figure out how to teach this semester.   I've been teaching for 3 1/2 years and one of these days I'm going to figure out how to do my job.....but not today because I need to write a blog about our fabulous trip to South Africa!  I'm sure my students won't care....

Dec 17:  We arrived in Port Elizabeth at about 2:00 pm South Africa time after literally having to run through the Mumbai airport to make our connecting flight.  Thank goodness we didn't miss the flight and have a repeat Philippines experience!

We met with our agent, Colin, who helped set up all of our accommodations.  He's British, so that was fun.  He was very excited and told us that we weren't typical Americans which I think had something to do with Isaac's hair...or because we pack lightly.  He invited us to a bbq where there would be real beef at his house!  I was expecting half naked oiled up men, but settled for steak.  It was soooo nice to finally get to eat red meat after 6 months of chicken and "mystery beef"aka water buffalo.  It's just not the same.  We had a lovely bbq or Braai as they call it in South Africa.  Isaac and I were the only Americans and there were 7 British folks plus Colin's kids who were raised in South Africa so they say things like yaaaaaaaaaaaaaah when they mean "yes".  And they say heah when they mean "here".  Anyway it was a bunch of funny accented people talking about random things as people do.  Isaac and the other boys watched a soccer game and Isaac decided that now he's a fan of this team called the Wolves.  Hooray!  Another losing team to follow!  That should be fun!

"Yeah! We are about to be relegated!" Photo: Getty Images

After dinner and chatting with people who I had to ask to repeat what they were saying about every other sentence because of the language barrier, we headed back to our lovely hotel in Port Elizabeth for the night.  

Dec 18-20:  We headed out in our rental car to drive to Addo Elephant park and the Zuurberg Mountain Inn.  Here's what Colin told us about the park and the Inn in our itinerary:

Addo Elephant National Park is home to the Big 5 and around 450 elephants, and 2 prides of lion. On a good day you  should see several hundred elephants and plenty of other animals.  (we saw Zebras making sweet love and we saw MANY elephants but no lions...don't worry, we saw them later!

The Zuurberg mountains consists of four high chains running parallel, but separated by very deep rugged kloofs (I don't know what this is, but I think it's pretty). As you ascend between the kloofs to the mountain summit, Cycads Encephalartos Altensteinii (darker green leaves) and the Encephalartos Lehmannii (light grayish leaves), the Aloe pluridens gracefully contrast themselves out against the harsh background of the typical East Cape shrubs, and red rocks of the conglomeritic Enon Formation. ( I don't understand any of these words but we walked up this mountain area and Isaac almost got a tic!  He saw it before it shoved it's face in his leg, as anyone would if given the chance).  

As you get to the top of the mountain, and go over the ridge, to descend down the other side, the shock one gets as a result of the contrast from one side of the mountain to the other is quite sensational. It is like Mother Nature has taken her powers and created a new arid world here, for different soils, different plants, different animals.  The Zuurberg Mountain Village is a haven of historical delight set high up on the Zuurberg Mountains.  It is a tranquil and truly unique mountain top retreat set in 160 hectares of indigenous vegetation with breathtaking views overlooking the Addo Elephant National Park.

I love this picture because this was the first wildlife we saw in Africa. We were so excited. We were driving through Addo and I (Isaac) abruptly stopped the care and looked across the plains. After a few minutes of pointing out to Becky where to look, she finally found this Ostrich. How cool, we thought. It wasn't long until we were quite bored with ostriches, but this one was special.

A bit after encountering the ostrich, we saw a huge herd of elephant, but they were quite far away. We thought that was as close as we would get, but as we rounded the corner, we came face to face with this BULL elephant.

Also the food was great!  And we met this older couple from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) who wanted to tell us about the Boer war.  Apparently, there were Boer soldiers who stayed at the lodge and there were many old pictures and stuff in the Inn.  It was very historical.  Really cool place to visit.

We were here for 2 nights.  On the way out, we stopped at a Cheetah breeding center and got to pet a cheetah (it licked Isaac for a long time and me for a little.  I think I don't taste as nice).  AND I kissed a lion!  It was amazing!

Her purring sounded like a diesel engine. Her fur was coarse, but WOW, what a beautiful animal!

Now if I could just get Becky to pose.

Family Shot! She is LICKING ME! AWWWWESOME!

Just like Danni.

Dec 20-22

Travel through to Storms River, adjacent to the Tsitsikamma National Park.  There are many things you can do in the Tsitsikamma National Park, including plenty of hiking trails, one of them going over a “wobbly” suspension bridge. (we did this hike) You could also take the World’s largest bungy jump, at 216metres! (There is NO way I was going bungee jumping because I have a huge fear of heights, and Isaac is too cheap, but we went to watch!) 

I was excited that we were at a place in the guide book.

We stayed the night At The Woods Guest House

At the Woods Guest House in Storms River Village, Tsitsikamma offers upmarket accommodation and a relaxing and comfortable base from which to explore the Tsitsikamma and surrounding areas.  It really is just down the street from the woods which Isaac and I hiked through.  

Isaac was brave and made sure to walk through all of the spider webs so I didn't get them on me.  I think a few of them are still living in his hair.  Storms River Village is a small town that has one street but is was a really cute place to be.

Dec 22-24: we drove to Wilderness (yes that's really what it's called) and stayed in a really cute house with a big balcony that looked over a lake.  We did some more hiking around the wilderness of Wilderness...

...and then moved on to:

Mossel Bay from Dec 24-26:

Mossel Bay is a bit different because it is surrounded by industrial areas but where we stayed it was pretty nice.  We spent Christmas evening with a group of friendly Germans and enjoyed Ostrich meat and steak.  It was grand.

Dec 26: Shark Dive.  Yes, we really did it.  We paid to get into a cage in the ocean to look at Great White Sharks.  The only problem was the water was redic choppy!  So many people were barfing in the water.  I think that it attracted more sharks and made them jumpy.  See video.  I felt pretty terrible myself but Isaac was able to hold it together and take some awesome pics.

Dec 26-28:  Wine Country!  We visited spectacular Franschhoek which is a little town surrounded by mountains.  It really is breathtaking.  Also, wine tasting is awesomely cheap there so we really enjoyed a day of getting shmammed, er I mean tasting and spitting out wine.  As you can see, we really know what we're doing when it comes to wine tasting.  

Holy Franschhoek! Most beautiful town ever? Maybe so.

You gotta get your nose in there.

Color is important.

I think this picture speaks for itself.

One of my favorite parts was going through this guestbook to see if there were as many people from Texas as Chicago that had visited this winery. Turns out...it was a tie. Woohoo! I consider this a victory for Texas. Notice this potion of the picture in focus. Gig 'em Aggies! 

Dec 28-Jan1: Cape Town.

We stayed in a super nice house with a view of the mountains.  Cape Town is pretty neat and we enjoyed climbing Table Mountain and traveling to see penguins and the Cape of Good Hope and all that jazz.  On New Years Eve we spent an exciting night watching the Aggies beat Northwestern on Isaac's phone and then celebrated the new year in the house with a bottle of champagne.  Pretty different from last year, but still lovely.

When you travel with just each other, it is a pain to get the couple shot...so how bout identical individual shots instead.

Climbing Table Mountain. This should be a piece of cake. 

What! We are climbing that. Dang. Impressively, we didn't stop to rest once on the way up...passing all sorts of people on our path of dominance.

We did it!

Seal island. Clever name.

In the background: African Jackass Penguin. In the forground: American Jackass Tourist!

This baboon is famous for causing trouble. Since he has been fed by tourists, he is now super aggressive and will get in cars and on tour buses to look for food. I admire him.

On the Cape of Good Hope.

Colorful Capetown.

Hello, my name is Isaac. I have a problem.

Jan 1-4: Safari!

At 10 am New Year's day, we flew to Nelspruit (where Kruger is) on the same flight as Bobby Flay!  I was too scared to talk to him because he's sorta famous although NO ONE I told here at school knew who he was.  Oh well, maybe some of you will care. Here's the description of the safari we did outside Kruger.

Experience a Kruger Walking Safari with Africa on Foot.  It's called walking although we didn't do any of that.  It was too windy one day and another day we chased a leopard and the first day we decided to drive because that's when you see the most animals.

The Klaserie Private Nature Reserve is part of the Greater Kruger Park and shares unfenced borders with the Kruger National Park. It is here that guests can take part in incredible walking safaris. On a walking safari guests will be led by experienced and professional game rangers through a wildlife area rich in game including lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, buffalo as well as hyena, hippo, giraffe, zebra and a whole host of other wildlife. In addition to walking safaris, game drives and night drives are offered allowing guests to participate in a full spectrum of safari activities. ( I saw everything except the buffalo, unless you count our guide who was pretty bulky and hairy.  I'm sure it was just as good as seeing a real buffalo. Isaac did see a buffalo; he made me put this part in.)

Africa on Foot Camp has five chalets (more like mud huts) ensuring an intimate and personal safari experience, as well as a pool, lounge and dining area and the traditional boma where guests can enjoy evening camp fires and traditional South African barbecues called “braais”.

We met lots of cool folks from places like Norway, Finland, and Brazil.  The Brazilian ladies were really knowledgeable and apparently some of the world experts on birds and sea mammals.  Fascinating!  

Words cannot describe.  See pics:

Jan 4-5: Panorama Route Drive and Sabie Townhouse

Colin's description:

This is a lovely, distinctive home, constructed of river stone and local timber, peacefully situated overlooking the stunning natural beauty of the Sabie Gorge. From the verandah you can catch a glimpse of the hyrax enjoying the early morning sunshine, the occasional fish eagle calling and we have even been lucky enough to have a hippo wander by!

Or you may like to take a short stroll across open bushveld to sit on the rocks and admire the gorge and river below. The emphasis of the spacious rooms is to give guests comfort and a place to relax and feel at home. All have a separate private entrance and overlook the lush gardens. Sumptuous breakfasts are served either in the dining room or on the verandah overlooking the swimming pool.
The Sabie Townhouse is within walking distance of Sabie village with its selection of shops and a very good choice of restaurants. 

Sabie is a small, relaxed and friendly town set among the pine covered Drakensberg mountains of Mpumalanga. The cool mountain air is fresh and pollution free and sparkling water ensures that Sabie remains free of malaria and bilharzia. The summer climate in Sabie is delightful, warm days and cooler nights whilst winters are even better, with early morning mists curling through the mountains, followed by warm dry days and crisp cold nights when the stars seem close enough to touch. 

Within a 10km radius of Sabie are a selection of truly beautiful natural waterfalls, some of which include delightful walks through the forests. There are many picturesque routes to neighbouring towns such as White River, Hazyview and Graskop. 

Sabie is within an hour of the Panorama Route which is one of the scenic highlights of any tour through South Africa, stretching along the escarpment it includes some magnificent tourist attractions such as Blyde River Canyon, with its famous Bourke’s Luck Potholes, God’s Window, the Three Rondavels, and nearby historic Pilgrims Rest.  (We saw all of these things!  See pics:)

Jan 5 Drive to Johannesburg and spend as little time there as possible.  We had a lovely last meal plus some Mickey D's. This was important as Indian McDonalds doesn't have beef, not even the stuff they call beef.  Very exotic.  

Jan 6: Fly back to India.

The end.