Twenty-four hours after leaving Toronto Pearson International on October 7th, we arrived in Cape Town at 9:30 p.m. and following a good sleep, used the two days prior to our first safari, to take a double-decker Hop on Hop off tour of this beautiful city. Our hotel was conveniently located five minutes from the waterfront and attractions and although we always felt safe walking around, the presence of security guards everywhere, reminded us that we needed to pay attention.
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| Cape Town Waterfront |
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| Bike with a trunk |
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| Beautiful architecture and colours |
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| Very cool statue |
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| Where the wealthy live |
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| Waterfront entertainment |
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| Me and Lego-man |
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Hark! Is that a halo slightly askew?
It's a ferris wheel silly! |
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| Beautiful at night |
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Bob and the Nobel Prize boys...you know the ones
Nelson, Desmond, etc, etc. Hmmm Lego-man seems to be
following us! |
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| Lovely and busy beaches |
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| It's all there for you! |
Our first safari briefing was scheduled for the night prior to our departure and we were excited to meet everyone who would be our new mates for the next 21 days. We loved our guide, Adam Kadowatha on sight and the fun began.
OUR GROUP
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| Russ Carol - Parksville, BC |
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| Les - Byron Bay, Australia |
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| Dora and Sam - Edmonton |
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| Our Truck |
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| That would be us! |
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| Bryan & Nelda - Victoria, BC |
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| Adam - Guide and driver |
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| Stephan & Anja - Germany |
A bit of history, courtesy of Lonely Planet Guide. I will be quoting them frequently in the blog and when I do, will follow the quote with (LP) to avoid the courts.
You've probably heard the claim that Africa is 'the birthplace of humanity'. But before there were humans, or even apes, or even ape ancestors, the was...rock. Africa is the oldest and most enduring landmass in the world. When you stand on African soil, 97% of what's under your fee has been in place for more than 300 million years. During that time, Africa has seen pretty much everything - from proto-bacteria to dinosaurs and finally, around 5 to 10 million years ago, a special kind of ape called Australopithecines, that branched off (or rather let go of the branch) and walked on two legs down a separate evolutionary track. This radical move led to the development of various hairy, dim-witted hominids (early men) - Homo habilis around 2.4 million years ago, Home erectus some 1.8 million years ago and finally Homo sapiens (modern humans) around 200,000 years ago. Around 50,000 years later, somewhere in Tanzania or Ethiopia, a woman was born who has become known as 'mitochondrial Eve'. We don't know what she looked like, or how she lived her life, but we do know that every single human being alive today (yup, that's EVERYONE) is descended from her. So at a deep genetic level, we're all still Africans. The break from Africa into the wider world occurred around 100,000 years ago, when a group numbering perhaps as few as 50 people migrated out of North Africa, along the shores of the Mediterranean and into the Middle East. From this inauspicious start came a population that would one day cover almost every landmass on the globe.(LP)
Our trip took us from Cape of Good Hope, up the west coast of South Africa, through Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland, Zululand, Free State and back down the east side of South Africa, back to Cape Town. Two of the safari's were in a game truck (as seen above) with 3 star accommodation at night. Between the two truck safari's, Bob and I flew into the bush in Zambia and experienced an 8 day walking safari.
Our first day was spent driving south to Cape of Good Hope, visiting little African penguins along the way and attempting to take the cable car up Table Mountain in Cape Town (closed due to high winds).
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| Rugged coastline |
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| Amen! |
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The last thing I saw before he
ran over me. |
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| They are everywhere! |
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| Adorable African penguins |
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We were all excited to see our first Ostrich
at the Cape |
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| Exciting...and WINDY! |
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| Bracing water. |
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| View from the lighthouse - Atlantic and Indian Oceans |
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| Protea - South African National Flower |
Day 2:
Departing Cape Town, we passed through the picturesque Namaqualand region arriving in the historic town of Calvinia, nestled on the foot of the Hantam Mountain range. During the months of August to October the landscape is transformed into an explosion of colour due to the numerous wild flowers of the region.
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| This one's for my brother! |
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| Baboons enjoy a good view too |
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| Looking back at our track...gorgeous! |
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Wildflowers everywhere..."explosion
of colour" indeed |
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| Adam filling our brains with info |
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It's a cricket....but it's a poisonous
cricket. Don't touch!!! |
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More flowers
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Calvinia is an historic town, settled by pioneer trekboers in the mid-1800's. It is the hub of one of the largest wool producing districts in South Africa. We visited a farm museum where Carol and I were enthralled with lanterns, milking equipment and old appliances that we recognized from our youth, hers in Alberta and mine in Ontario. Adam happened to overhear us and was stunned to learn that we had experienced no running water and no electricity. He said that he was certain that no disadvantaged African would know this, believing instead that every visitor grew up with every modern convenience in the western world. He told us that he learned a really valuable lesson that day.
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| Old houses, lovely architecture |
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Home cooked meals at this
restaurant owned by the people
who also owned the property where
we were accommodated |
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| Beautiful old church |
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| A perfect moon over the rooftops |
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| Old homestead where we stayed |
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Some of us stayed in what were former
stables beautifully renovated |
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My very own sherpa. I carried
the camera |
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We were teased about being assigned
the 'Bridal Suite'
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