Ngala Reserve - Day 8

We had an excellent morning game drive with LeeAnn and our four new friends from Rochester. New species sighted include a female zebra who came down to the watering hole for a long drink, two separate groups of hyenas, a group of waterbuck and - most majestically of all - a female leopard who another group had sighted and then radioed us over to join. We watched from no more than 20 yards away as the leopard walked along the dried banks of a creek bed and then darted up the other side and leaped into a tree. It rolled itself out along the branch about 15 feet off the ground surveying the land and plotting its next move. It stayed long enough for us to drive through the bush around to the other side and capture some photos that even our guides said were extremely rare. Truly an incredible animal in its beauty and stealthy intrigue.

                                Spotted Hyena

                                Zebra

                                Waterbuck (female)

                                Leopard

                                Tea Break...

This afternoon we relax in our villa, head to lunch at the lodge at 2 and then head out on a quest for lion, rhino and cape hunting dogs.

Ngala Reserve - Night 7

 We had an amazing game drive with LeeAnn and Ernest as our ranger and tracker, respectively. Sighted on the drive were, among others, a herd of impala, a group of cape buffalo, a herd of wildebeest, a group of kudu, threee herds elephants with four total baby elephants, a group of four male giraffes, a group of three mongoose, a pack of baboons (including babies) and a handful of nyala. All of the animals were amazingly close. Despite seeing some prints, we did not yet spot a leopard, but we have four or five drives to go.


    Impala

    Water Buffalo

    Wildebeest


    Kudu


    Elephant

 





    Giraffe 

 


    Baboon 

We stopped for a sundowner out in the bush and had a glass of wine while the sun set. The other four members of our drive group were late to arrive to camp so it was just Jen and I tonight - although we met the four women who will be joining us on our upcoming drives later at dinner - they are from Rochester and seem like they'll be lots of fun.

Dinner was amazing - a full meal with a professional chef - Oscar - who came around and met everyone before dinner and thanked us for being there. The main courses were lamb, prawns and a white fish, with an orange salad, carrots and couscous on the side. The setting of this place is like something out of a story book. Lit lanterns adorn a deck veranda overlooking a dry river bed with a sky full of stars and the sounds of the African night surrounding you. Occasionally a bat or a nightjar flies overhead or a hyena squeals in the background. The people here cater to your every request and leave you with nothing short of completely blissful satisfaction.

Tomorrow morning at 6:30 sharp is our second drive where we will pick up the trail of the leopard.

Ngala Reserve - Day 7

 After two short flights up to the northeast part of the continent, we found ourselves on the runway of Hoedspruit airport where we met up with our guide Elvert. We loaded up in his range rover and began the 1 hour drive to Ngala, seeing giraffe, warthog and springbuck along the way. We don't have Internet here so we will post a bit from my phone - and no pictures. But rest assured, our "tent" accommodations (which is more like our own bungalow) are amazing and the setting is unreal. We just watched warthogs in our front "yard" from our deck ten feet away. We have our first game drive version. Check in later...

Garden Route East (Bloukrans Bridge Edition) - Day 6

As most of you know, Jack is the writer in the family so the blog is his baby on our trips. It is up to me, however, to tell you about one of our side trips on the Garden Route today.

One of the first things that caught my attention while reading travel books about South Africa was the Bloukrans Bridge. Not because of my love for civil engineering (sorry Dan),  but because it's the site of the world's highest commercial bungee jumping at 216 meters - approximately 708 feet. I've been going back and forth for several months leading up to the trip trying to decide whether or not I would do it, but it wasn't helpful being married to Mr. Logical Thinking who consistently told me that based on his "risk to reward calculations" there was no way he would join me.

Luckily, the bridge just happened to be on our way to Port Elizabeth, so we decided to stop and at least watch some of the other insane people take the plunge. After watching two other people jump, you guessed it, I signed up. I figured, if you're going to cross bungee jumping off your bucket list, it might as well be at the world's highest, right?

Jack and I enjoyed a Windhock together at the Cliffhanger Pub before it was my turn to go. (Perhaps I enjoyed it a bit more...I can only assume Jack was planning how he was going to explain some freak bungee accident to everyone back home!)

 Within a few minutes, it was time to get the show on the road. The absolute worst part was walking to the center of the bridge over a walkway with a grated bottom and open sides. I didn't look down once! Once we reached the center, it was decided (not by me) that I would go first of the three people in my group. The workers strapped me in and assured me I was now the safest person in South Africa. They led me to the edge, and 5,4,3,2,1...BUNGEE!

I kept my eyes open the whole time, and it definitely was an experience, but I'm glad it's over. I am excited I did it and can say now that I am pretty certain I will NEVER do it again!

(Mom and Dad, you can now say that one of your children builds bridges, and the other jumps off of them!)

For more pictures, check out my Picasa Album:

Bloukrans Bridge Bungee

Garden Route East - Day 6

After one last delicious breakfast at Villa Afrikana, we had to say goodbye to our hosts and head east. We started taking a quick side route through downtown Knysna to get a closer look at the heads that separate the ocean from the lagoon.


Then it was onward along the garden route toward Port Elizabeth (or "PE"). We took a few sidetrips along the way - by far the most notable of which Jen will inform of in a separate posting. For a late lunch we went to La Cameleon in Humansdorp, which was specifically recommended by Justin. It was unexpectedly fancy in the middle of an industrial town and you had to wade through a small market and gift shop to get the restaurant. We got there just before the kitchen closed, which was fortunate because we had some terrific sandwiches.

We then continued on through Port Elizabeth and arrived at our hotel. We're going to head out briefly down to the Boardwalk and then relax before our two-flight-and-car-ride trip to the reserve tomorrow.

Knysna - Night 5

We went back down to the Waterfront, escorted by our faithful cab driver Bennie (he was our driver for all four of our Knysna cab rides - a truly jovial and pleasant fellow). Justin (Jen's new beau) wasn't at JJ's tonight (as he said he wouldn't be), but as soon as we got in the door Carel, the manager in his stead, said "Philadelphia? Justin said you'd be back!" and showed us to the corner table overlooking both sides of the bay.

At Carel's recommendation, we tried a different Pinotage with our dinner, which was largely the same as the night before (why fix what isn't broken). We once again started with the grilled calamari and garlic cheese bread appetizers; Jen duplicated her previous night's order of the prawn and kingclip platter (featuring three kinds of prawns), but I mixed it up and ordered an ostrich steak (last night I had the zebra filet - which was excellent). At the insistence of our hosts Bianca and Ross - who gave us their suggestions on the balcony while we headed out - we also ordered an appetizer of the sticky chicken wings.

Like last night, everything was ridiculously amazing. Unlike last night, the entire kitchen and wait staff came out and sang three traditional African songs to the entire restaurant. (Justin told us last night was an anomaly in its lack of music because of some unexpected barotone absences in the kitchen).

It was a fantastic last night in Knysna - we are sorry to be leaving in the morning. What a great town, hotel and restaurant we have stumbled on here in the middle of the Garden Route. Tomorrow we head to Port Elizabeth where we will be staying on their waterfront and early Wednesday morning we catch a flight into the wilds.

Knysna - Day 5

Because of it's quasi-tropical climate and steady tourism industry, Knysna finds itself perfectly situated to host a number of animal sanctuaries, so today we checked out three of them.

At the elephant sanctuary we saw five elephants that had been rescued from bad situations and will eventually be reintroduced to the wild in national or private game reserves. We were able to walk with them with their trunk in the palm of our hand and learn all about them from their trainers. They are magnificently intelligent and emotional animals - it was an awesome experience.


Only a half a kilometer away was MonkeyLand, which hosts nine primate species (both indigenous and exotic) within a 25 acre enclosure that you walk through with a guide. We saw seven of the nine species, many of which were feet (if not inches) away. (One baby squirrel monkey even jumped on my leg long enough to make a face at me and then ran away). All of the monkeys within MonkeyLand have been rescued from laboratories or were abandoned pets - the facility is world renowned for its rehabilitation of monkeys. It also featured South Africa's longest suspension bridge, which took you through the treetops at 50 feet above the ground. Below is a gibbon (the only ape species at MonkeyLand) and two Capuchin monkeys.


Immediately adjacent to MonkeyLand was Birds of Eden, which is a gorge covered in a giant series of netting, in which over 180 species of birds from around the world live. (By our count, we saw approximately 64 of them). You walk through the gorge on a series of wooden walkways that start off at ground level and then gradually meander to the top of the gorge, during which you pass through streams, ponds and canopies, all covered with curious birds flying about and feeding. One parrot was even so bold as to jump on each of our shoulders for a very temporary ride...


We passed but did not stop at a snake sanctuary and a wold sanctuary (there's always tomorrow). We hadn't heard anything about those and they didn't look as reputable, so perhaps we won't chance it. I'm not sure walking alongside wolves or through pits of snakes is my cup of tea - maybe Jen's.

On our way back to Knysna from the sanctuaries (about 50 km), we stopped at Plettenberg Bay to check out the town and grab a bite to eat, then it was back to relax at our luxurious and beautiful accommodations at Villa Afrikana before heading back down to the waterfront for - yes, you guessed it - a repeat appearance at JJ's.