What lives in Africa that’s Sharply Dressed Yet Endangered?

If you visit Cape Town South Africa, be sure to spend at least a day traveling around its southern peninsula. This is where you’ll find Cape of Good Hope, the tip of the peninsula, and you will be rewarded with incredible views of the Atlantic ocean.

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Cape Peninsula

As we began our journey around Cape Peninsula, we stopped for a quick photo opp where you can see the outline of the shore.

One of our first stops on Cape Peninsula was Seal Island. You embark from a scenic marina at Hout Bay and make your way out to an area that is densely populated with seals.

Seal Island looks like a sea of brown debris but closer inspection illuminates dog-like animals barking at each other, stretching, and clumsily making their way along the rocks into the ocean for their next meal.

As we made our way to Cape of Good Hope, we found spots that give you a better view of False Bay.

The southern most part of the peninsula is Cape of Good Hope. Along the way, you get panoramic views of False Bay.

Arriving at Cape Good Hope, you can grab a bit of exercise by climbing the stairs to the top of the lighthouse. They also offer a lift to the top if you prefer less exertion.

You’ll immediately be greeted by baboons that will happily accept any portions of food (feeding them is not recommended by the way).

Once you make it to the top, you are rewarded with some really nice views.

As we left Cape of Good Hope, we saw an ostrich just hanging out by the coast, that’s not something you see every day.

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African Penguins

So what’s dressed to the nines but is on the extinction list? African Penguins!  As we made our way towards Simon’s Town, we came upon an interesting road sign. Not sure I’ve ever seen a sign like this before.

Nestled in a sheltered cove between Simon’s Town and Cape Point is a safe haven for African Penguins called The Boulders. It all started in 1982 when a pair of penguins made this area home and the population has catapulted to over 2,200 penguins.

Here are a few facts about these penguins:

1. They are on the endangered list.
2. In 1910, there were over 1.5 million African Penguins but only 10% of that number by the year 2000.
3. These penguins have an annoying braying call that sounds like a donkey. Some of the locals call them Jackass Penguins.
4. They can swim about 5 miles an hour and can stay underwater for 2 minutes.

Our final stop around the peninsula was to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Not as impressive as Buschart Gardens in Canada, but if you like plants, trees and anything that flowers, it is worth a look.

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Wine Country

The Cape Town wine country is worth an entire day of exploration. In fact, had we known ahead of time, we would probably have stayed a few days in Stellenbosch, the focal point of wine country.

The architecture is very Dutch, with white buildings set with beautiful mountains as a backdrop.

We live just off scenic 30-a, a coastal highway close to Panama City Beach, Florida. Only a mile into 30-a, you come to a beach community called Alys Beach. Below is a picture of houses from Alys.

Here is a picture of a house in Stellenbosch. See any similarities?

During our wine tour, we visited several wineries including Waterford, Roca and Anura. We also stopped for lunch in Franschhoek at the Dieu Donne winery. If you are in the area, I highly suggest having lunch here, it is incredibly scenic, surrounded by colorful mountains.

This was also the first place I tried ostrich steak. You would think it would be white meat, similar to chicken but no so. It is red meat and tastes like a filet mignon. If you get the chance to try it, I highly recommend it.

Most wineries are set on sprawling lands of mountain valleys. As we drove up to our first winery visit (Waterford), this was our entry.

As we got closer, we could see our host awaiting us at the door.

We sipped on whites and reds and enjoyed the best of South African wines.

 

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Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this post on our trip to Africa. If you missed any of our other posts on Africa, you can see them here.

If you are not subscribed to our blog and would like to subscribe so that new posts come directly to your email, scroll up to the right top section of this page and type in your email address.

I’ll leave you with a final picture of the menu we saw at a restaurant. You can choose from a list of wild game that they serve in South Africa. Would you be bold enough to order any of these?

 

Cape Town South Africa: 5 Things You Probably Don’t Know

As your plane descends into Cape Town South Africa, you are immediately mesmerized by the scenery. A bay town situated at the edge of the ocean and flanked by grandiose mountains, Cape Town is a very special place. During our stay, we learned a lot that most don’t know about Cape Town — more about that later.

As you can see, Cape Town is the at the southern point of Africa and has been a pivotable trade route for Europe and India.

Cape Town  Waterfront

If you love cities flanked by water, you will really love Cape Town. It’s clean, easy to navigate, and relatively inexpensive for Americans.

With Table Mountain as a backdrop, you will want to explore the city to appreciate its beauty from different angles.

As a bay city, it offers lots of great restaurants that specialize in seafood. We had some of the best fish and shrimp dishes in Cape Town.

The mountain you see in the background is called Table Mountain. Aptly named, it has a flat top that resembles a table. Each day you get a different look from the mountain. Some days it is flat with no low-hanging clouds. Other days, clouds tend to hover just over the table top and locals call this the tablecloth.

Table Mountain

Seeing Table Mountain from below is inspiring but catching the view from the top is simply spectacular. You can board a gondola for a 5-minute ride to the top.

You are rewarded with incredible panoramic views of the city and seascape below.

Bo-Kapp

Originally settled by freed Muslim slaves, Bo-Kapp is an area of Cape Town formerly known as the Malay Quarter. Muslims wanted the houses to be as beautiful on the outside as they were on the inside, so they painted the exteriors in pastel colors. This attracts lots of visitors each year. As we cruised these streets, we saw Muslim children playing and enjoying the day.

Juxtaposition of Wealth

As beautiful as Cape Town is, it has a checkered past. As we were riding from the airport to the city center, we noticed a sprawling area of shacks and shanties.  Our driver told us that over 2 million people live in the townships that are primarily filled with shanties. Five minutes later in our drive, we were surrounded by opulent homes and outward signs of wealth.

The all-white (mostly Dutch) Nationalist Party took power in South Africa in 1948 and quickly instituted Apartheid, a social system instituted to segregate blacks from whites.  In 1960, the government stormed the township called District 6 and forced the black residents to leave their homes, then bulldozed the homes. They were then relocated to less desirable areas of Cape Town and surrounding areas and were stripped of basic human rights and this was the beginning of the shanty townships.

One of our tour guides was forced from his home in District 6 and he told us of his personal losses in property and dignity. He said he has forgiven South Africa for this but he vows to never forget. The government is starting to make amends and plans to rebuild District 6 and give the new homes back to the families there were driven out.

Although Apartheid ended in 1994 and all South Africans were granted equal rights, we were floored by how families still live this way today. We took a bicycle tour of the shanty towns and it was truly eye-opening.

As you can see below, the houses are right on top of each other and most are made of tin.

Many shanties lack running water and we saw residents getting water from community wells. However, we were always greeted with a smile and a quick hello.

Our tour guide was a well-known philanthropist that built a community center that specializes in empowering youth from the community to ride bikes and live a more healthy lifestyle. His after school program keeps youth off the street, offers computer access and provides a positive influence during the critical formative years.

You might think the interior of the shanties would have dirt floors. Surprisingly, we saw nice furniture, flat screen TVs, satellite dishes, and nice appliances.

Robben Island

Just a 30-minute boat ride from Cape Town is Robben Island, a prison island where Nelson Mandella was enprisoned from 1964 to 1982.  Nelson Mandella was an anti-apartheid revolutionary jailed due to influence in the anti-apartheid movement. As you enter Robben Island, you can see it was heavily fortified.

The tour guides for Robben Island were actual prisoners that were incarcerated at the same time as Nelson Mandella, so they have first-hand knowledge of how it was. They explained their plight and showed us the jail cell Nelson Mandella occupied during his stay.

It was a small cramped room with nothing more than a pad to sleep on. No pillows or quilts. They also explained how black inmates were given small rations of food while white inmates were fed more food.

Nelson Mandella was freed from Robben Island after 27 years and became South Africa’s president in 1994.

5 Little-Known Facts of Cape Town

Although Cape Town and South Africa has a difficult past, there is a lot of beauty in this place — we highly recommend you visit.  While there, we learned a few facts we would like to share:

1. The first heart transplant was performed here – Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first successful heart transplant here. However, the patient died 18 days later of pneumonia.
2. There are 11 official languages in South Africa – While most South Africans speak English, their second most popular language is Afrikaans. As we spoke with people in the townships, we heard many people speaking a language that has “clicking or popping sounds” as part of the language – very interesting!
3. The Castle of Good Hope had a sea view – The oldest colonial building in South Africa is the Castle of Good Hope. It is located about a mile or so inward of the ocean but when it was originally built, it was ocean front. Through the years, Cape Town’s landscape was extended out to allow expansion and the sea was replaced with land.
4. Fountain of Youth – Over 43% of Cape Town residents are under 25 years old!
5. Income Equality – Income wise, Cape Town has better income equality than all of it’s South African neighbors. Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Buffalo City are the worst regarding income equality.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this post on our trip to Cape Town. We visited a lot more coastal areas surrounding Cape Town, I will be chronicling those visits in the coming weeks.

If you are not subscribed to our blog and would like to subscribe so that new posts come directly to your email, scroll up to the right top section of this page and type in your email address.

I’ll leave you with a final picture of an interesting experience we had. We learned that a local delicacy of Cape Town (especially in the Shanty townships) is sheep’s head. Yep, you heard it right, sheep’s head. As we cycled through, we stopped and visited a place where you could buy sheep’s head. The lady in the picture below was using a hot wand scorches the hair off the sheep’s head. Once that’s done, they boil it, then serve it.

Would you eat it?

Zimbabwe Africa Safari: One Thing We Did That Takes Nerve

After tracking the Big 5 in South Africa, we set our sights on one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

This led to an interesting encounter that took a bit of nerve — more about that later.  This area of Africa is at the cross section of 4 countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

You’ve probably seen Niagra Falls – an enormous waterfall that borders the USA and Canada. Victoria Falls, bordering Zimbabwe and Zambia has been billed as the greatest falling curtain of water on this planet, making it one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

It is enormous and awe-inspiring. There are some small pools of water at the edge of the falls and we saw people swimming right up to the edge of the falls, we did not have time to do that but it would have been incredible.

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Zambezi River Sunset Cruise

The Zambezi River feeds Victoria Falls and we took a sunset cruise along the banks of the river. It’s all you-can-drink as you meander down the river. Arriving at the launch point, we saw warthogs grazing on the property.

It’s interesting that they take a kneeled posture to get closer to the ground as they graze. You can see that a lot of the grass has been cleared by their efforts.

In South Africa, elephants eluded us until our last day and were the last of the Big 5 we spotted. On the sunset cruise, it took all of 5 minutes to spot an elephant drinking from the river.

We also saw a hippo family with a baby hippo following close behind.

As we floated quietly down the river, we saw a tower of giraffes feeding. The guide said that it is not an everyday occasion to see a giraffe. As we cruised down the river, sipped on cocktails and took in the view, we discovered how unencumbered wildlife is in Africa.

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Lion Encounter

Earlier, I mentioned that we did something that takes a bit of nerve. Just outside of Victoria Falls is an active conservation program called Lion Encounter. Here, you can get up close and personal with lions.

These lions are actually cubs – 19 months old. They were born in this conservation park and will eventually be put into the wild. Lion Encounter was started to raise money to conserve lions and to prevent poaching.

Are these lions tame? No, they are wild animals and they hunt game right in the conservation park. The rangers told us that this pair recently killed a baboon and zebra. However, they’ve become accustomed to people and aren’t likely to attack. In our group, there was a ranger with a gun (just in case), nicknamed Rambo!

During your visit, you can walk with the lions. You must carry a stick because in the unlikely event they get unruly, it takes their mind off attacking you if you dangle the stick in front of them.

It was a treat to spend time with these magnificent beasts and to learn about the conservation efforts to prevent them from becoming extinct.

Would you have the nerve to walk with them?

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Chobe Game Reserve in Botswana

Just a 2-hour drive from Victoria Falls is a game reserve called Chobe.  It’s unique in that it offers a river and land safari so you get to see wildlife in their native habitat from boat and land cruiser. We started our adventure by boat and as we cruised out to the Zambezi River, you immediately appreciate the scenery.

Pictures don’t do justice to how pretty this place is. You see all kinds of wildlife, like the Cape Buffalo grazing below.

Crocodiles and hippos bask in the sun and you see more birds than you can easily recognize.

As we meandered down the river, we saw a heard of elephant crossing the river ahead. They don’t seem fazed by the depth of the water, they just swim until they reach the other side.

The younger elephants stop on the other side to play in the mud, using their trunk to stream mud and water onto their back.

As you cruise down the river, you cross over from Botswana to Namibia. As you cruise the river, you see hard-to-reach villas lining the shore.

There is even a bar and restaurant called “The Raft” that is only accessible by boat.

Many of the locals live along the shore and take a water taxi to get to the mainland each day.

After the water safari, we boarded a land cruiser and continued our journey. Not as impressive as the water safari but it does offer a different view.

Along the way, we saw giraffe, monkeys, impala, and kudu.

Giraffes are built to eat from the tree tops, it is funny to watch them try to graze on grass.

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Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this post on our trip to Africa. We also visited Cape Town, South Africa, a beautiful port side city, we will chronicle that trip in a few weeks.

If you are not subscribed to our blog and would like to subscribe so that new posts come directly to your email, scroll up to the right top section of this page and type in your email address.

I’ll leave you with a final picture of the view we had from the Chobe Marine water safari, couldn’t you imagine hanging out here for a while?

South Africa Safari: Bet you can’t name the Big 5

Imagine visiting a land where giants roam the bush with indifference for humankind. True indifference — you’re not a staple of their diet yet they aren’t intimidated or scared of you. That’s when it hits you – Africa is a spectacularly unique destination.

As you meet others that have visited Africa, the first question is almost always

“did you see the Big 5?”

As soon as we landed in Hoedspruit, South Africa, we were met by a young, funny and quick witted ranger named Ruan. He whisked us off to the Kapama Private Game Reserve. Along the way, he said we would be driving through the private game reserve to our lodge and that we would be on alert for animals along the way.

Ruan asked “what did you come to Africa to see?“. I quickly said “elephants and lions” and he said “Can you name the African Big 5?“. Big 5, eh?  Not sure but my guess is “elephant, lion, hippo, giraffe, and zebra”. Well, I got 2 of the Big 5 right, they are:

• Lion
• Elephant
• Black Rhino
• Cape Buffalo
• Leopard

Just minutes on the way to our lodge we spot a giraffe. We’ve all seen this lanky animal at the zoo but to see it within a stone’s throw away was amazing.  We stopped as it contemplated drinking from a nearby watering hole.

It quickly spotted cousins and made its way to join the pack flanked by a lone zebra. By the way, a group of the giraffe is called a Tower, you can kinda see why:

At that moment, Ruan grabs his binoculars and excitingly focuses them in the distance. He sees something a half mile away and tells us to hold on. With dust flying and our backs pasted to the seat, we go flying down the road to come to an abrupt stop. As if seeing it for the first time, Ruan exclaims that one of the more difficult-to-find of the Big 5 is just ahead. He kills the engine and we wait as the giants make their way within feet of our land cruiser.

If you’ve never seen a Rhino in person or especially without any protection between you and this mammoth animal, it’s a bit intimidating.

Ruan explains the plight of Rhino. They are often poached for their horns, as just a small section of the horn can sell for over $100,000. When Rhinos mate, it can last for up to 45 minutes and local folklore mistakenly suggests that eating Rhino horn can increase your stamina. Go figure. It’s become a huge problem in South Africa, about 2,000 of these wonderful animals have been poached in the last year.

As we continue our journey to the lodge, we see a few more animals, mostly antelope. In less than an hour, we’ve already spotted one of the Big 5.

Wow, this is going to be a great trip! 

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Kapama Karula Lodge

Once we arrive at the lodge, we are greeted by name by the staff at Kapama Karula. This professional staff is very welcoming and give us a tour of the place. Their reputation is well deserved — they realize you’ve come a long way at considerable expense and want to ensure that you enjoy the absolute best experience possible.

After providing refreshments, they show us to our private villa, an incredible lodge complete with a huge deck with a private pool with direct views of the bush.

The accommodations are 5-star, with beautiful architecture. It comes with a fireplace, private pool, indoor and outdoor showers, soaking tub and incredible furnishings. The staff explains that the mini bar is fully stocked, anything we desire in food and drink is at no additional cost — enjoy everything they have to offer.

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Twice Daily Game Drives

Each day, we were awakened at 5:30 a.m. for our first game drive. It’s a bit cold — South Africa is in the southern hemisphere so our summer is their winter. Most days, it starts out at about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. We make our way to the restaurant for a quick snack before we start our game drive. We again are greeted by name by our assigned waiter. His name is Themba, a native South African with a kind manner and eager spirit. We sit by the fire as we enjoy a cappuccino and pastries as we anticipate our day.

At 6 a.m., it’s time for our first-morning game drive. Ruan introduces us to our tracker, a native South African named Nick that grew up in the bush. As a young boy, Nick learned to read animal tracks to determine which way animals are migrating. Nick sits at the front of the land cruiser and instructs Ruan as to where to go as he reads fresh tracks along our path. The picture below is not of Nick (it was another oncoming tracker), but it illuminates the vulnerable position of the tracker — they can be very close and unprotected from big game.

Although chilly, they provide blankets and a warming pad for the morning game drive. My hope was that we would see a lion today and it wasn’t long before Nick was hot on the trail of a pride of lions that we quickly found.

The lioness had cubs that were just a few weeks old. They were running around playfully, learning to become quick and nimble. In the afternoon game drive, Ruan told us of 3 male lions called “the 3 brothers” that had formed an alliance to take over the pride from an older lion. The brothers were about 4 years old and during the day they would hunt independently and come together at night. We were fortunate to track the 3 brothers on the first night and saw them at dusk taking a nap.

The next day during our drive, we spotted one of the 3 brothers out hunting. We watched as he walked across the bush in search of a warthog, one of their main staples.

As we approached the massive lion, he seemed oblivious. It was a bit eery as he made his way within feet of our land cruiser. If he made a quick jump, we could be his next meal.

He had his sights set upon a warthog just a few hundred feet ahead. The lion began to crouch as he made his way towards the warthog who got spooked and luckily made it safely out of harm’s way.

On our second day, we heard that the most elusive of animals had been spotted nearby. It was the leopard, many people on safari never get a glimpse of this elusive animal. We raced out to the spot where he was last seen and as we arrived, he was making his way to the road, spraying his scent as he marked his territory.

As the leopard approached our land cruiser, Ruan warned us to not make any quick movements and not to stand up. I nervously snapped a few pics as the leopard walked a foot from our cruiser.

After seeing the leopard, Ruan and Nick spotted buffalo tracks. Within 10 minutes, we came across a buffalo heard making their way to their morning drink.

We watched as they drank and playfully splashed around in the pond.

Wow, in just two days we’ve seen 4 of the Big 5.

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In Search of Elephants

Lynn and Ruan have similar personalities. Both are great conversationalist, fun loving and are always joking and teasing, so they got along well. Lynn kept teasing Ruan because he would see animal scat (like a huge pile of Rhino dung) and would pick it up, inspect it for what the animal had recently eaten in an effort to help Nick track its location.

Since we had not seen elephant to round out our Big 5, Lynn and Ruan made a bet. Lynn told Ruan that if he would find elephants, she would pick up some elephant dung. If you know Lynn, she is a slight germaphobe, so picking up dung would certainly be out of character.

It was our last morning drive and we had yet to see any elephants. Ruan and Nick spent all morning tracking elephants. They spotted tracks and sectioned off quadrants of where they thought the elephant would be. But they were elusive, each time we thought we got close to seeing them, they were nowhere to be found.

Although we saw lots of other animals along the way, I could sense that Ruan and Nick were frustrated that we could not find elephants. We saw zebra, antelope, and Impala.

As we were finishing our last morning drive, we stumbled on a heard of hippos getting a bit of vitamin D.

They are loud and rambunctious. We learned that hippos are the most dangerous of all African animals — big, nasty and can sprint at 35 miles per hour on those short legs. If you are between them and their watering hole, you could be in great danger.

We returned from our last morning drive without seeing an elephant. We had scheduled a massage at the lodge spa and that wiped away the disappointment of the elusive elephant. Lynn and I get massages often and we left the spa both thinking that this was the best massage we’ve ever had. The masseuses at Kapama Karula are simply the best.

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Settling the Bet

It’s now our last game drive at the Kapama private game reserve and elephants have been elusive. Ruan and Nick are feeling the pressure of their bet with Lynn. They want to track an elephant in return for Lynn stepping out of her comfort zone in picking up and inspecting elephant dung.

We spend hours tracking fresh elephant tracks. Each time we feel we are close to finding them, we speed up to the area they should be and we see no sign of them. It doesn’t look like we are going to see them this trip, but 4 of the Big 5 isn’t bad. I can the see frustration in Ruan and Nick’s eyes as we drive mile after mile with the same result.

Earlier, Lynn and I told Ruan about a recent movie we saw that we really loved called Baby Driver. It is a story about this young gifted driver that was the getaway driver for a gang of robbers. If you haven’t seen the movie, it is a must — one of the best movies we’ve seen in a long time.  Ruan is a great ranger and incredible driver, so much so that Lynn teased Ruan as being “Baby Driver”.

The sun is setting, it’s our last game drive. The prospects of finding elephant look dim and Ruan apologizes to Lynn for not spotting any elephants. We stopped at a water hole and Ruan asked if Lynn would still pick up the elephant dung. Lynn’s a good sport and decided to do it even though we had not seen an elephant.  The picture below doesn’t do it justice, but Lynn was squirming back and forth as she handled the dung.

We decided to make our way back to the lodge and along the way, Nick spots more elephant dung and fresh tracks. Ruan quickly reverses the land cruiser in the direction of the tracks and speeds forward. After a couple of turns, I hear Ruan exclaim “there they are!“. In front of us stood not just one, but a huge herd of elephants.

Mission accomplished.

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Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this post on our trip to Africa. We visited a lot more areas than just Kapama, I will be chronicling those visits in the coming weeks.

If you are not subscribed to our blog and would like to subscribe so that new posts come directly to your email, scroll up to the right top section of this page and type in your email address.

I’ll leave you with a final picture of the view we had each day at the end of a game drive as we made our way back to the Kapama Karula lodge.

If you are planning an African safari, I can’t say enough about the warmness of the staff at Kapama Karula lodge. If you want to learn more about Kapama Karula lodge, click here.