For those interested in reading our blog, we apologize for the lengthy delay in providing updates. Connectivity and transmission speed in Africa, including South Africa, has proven to be rather challenging. As mentioned in our Turkey blog, we did arrive safely, but very tired in South Africa after being on planes for 24 hours. We have titled this blog "Lekker South Africa" because lekker in Afrikaans is slang for cool, great or awesome.
Let’s quickly rewind; the flight from Istanbul to Cairo was thankfully uneventful and this time we did not hear strange sounds coming from the undercarriage. Nevertheless, we think we will not chance it anymore with Egypt Air and will leave flying with them to people braver than us. Also, if possible, try to avoid Cairo airport at all cost, and here is why: Once we disembarked the aircraft, we were ferried into an arrival terminal where we had to complete health cards and underwent a scanning of our retina, although we were only in transit. After much confusion, we were told to wait in a small holding area and not to worry about our bags or the bus to our next terminal – RIGHT!!!! After waiting for about 30 minutes, we were told to catch the next bus which would take us to our designated terminal. The only problem was that the exit doors would not open and there was absolutely no room to squeeze in between the crowds entering the building. After politely inquiring as to where we could exit to catch our bus, we were told to push and squeeze our way through the crowds to exit the building. Using elbows and a few unfriendly words, we were finally out of the building – but which bus to take??? No signs and nobody willing to explain what was going on. We banged on the glass wall of the building we just exited and finally got some assistance. We made it onto a bus.
After driving aimlessly for about 15 minutes, we made it to the international departures building – or so we thought. After explaining once again that Liechtenstein is a legitimate, sovereign state, we demanded to see our luggage, which we were not able to locate, but were repeatedly told not to worry. Our bags were finally produced and instead of checking them in, we were told to hold on to them (btw, there are no carts for your luggage…) and were stripped of our tickets and passports as a security measure, so that we would not leave the confines of Cairo airport. Airport personnel instructed us to show up at 8pm to get our tickets and passports and to take the bus to the right terminal. We now had about 5 hours to spare in a terminal that thankfully had an “American corner”, containing the likes of McDonald’s and Starbucks.
We show up at 8pm and surprisingly, we got our passports and tickets without having to pay some “baksheesh” or tip (aka bribe) and jumped on a bus which would drive for another 15 minutes in the confines of Cairo Airport. We had both flown internationally and seen many airports, but Cairo must rank as the absolute worst to date. After paying the obligatory baksheesh to the driver (which is his job, but never mind), we were at the right terminal and ready to check in our bags. Instead, we were told to leave our bags with a tourist police official, give up our passports and tickets and come back in one hour. OK, that would make it about 9:30pm, with plenty of time to spare before our scheduled departure of 12:30am. At about 9:45pm, Martin made his way back to the tourist police official, somewhat confident that he would get the boarding cards and passports. Instead he was greeted by a smiling, smoking, non-English speaking tourist police and told to come back again in 30 minutes. OK, that would make it about 10:15pm, still with plenty of time to spare. 10:30pm came and went and a smiling and persistent Martin inquired again as to when the boarding passes and passports would be ready. He was told to come back in about 30 minutes, but instead he insisted on waiting. To his surprise, the luggage had now been moved as well, but to where would be anyone’s guess and the tourist police hardly spoke English.
At 11pm (only an hour before departure and almost 3 hours after giving up our tixs and passports the second time around), a friendly, well-spoken Egypt Air official finally handed Martin the passports and boarding cards. He explained that he had put our bags on the plane and that we would not have to worry about our luggage until Nairobi. Cool, off to a short flight to Nairobi… well no not really, we find out at the gate that this plane is flying to Nairobi, via Khartoum, Sudan. At about 3am we safely landed in Khartoum where half the passengers disembarked and many new people came on board. It was a bit eerie to see a UN mobile tank next to our airplane (we guess it was a protective measure) and after an hour on the ground we were off to Nairobi where we changed planes and then went on to Johannesburg. Kudos to Kenya Air! They had clean, modern planes, impeccable service, good food and on-time departures and arrivals.
What do these one and a half pages have to do with South Africa you might wonder? You are right, absolutely nothing, but we thought it would be worthwhile and amusing to mention the confusion, ineffectiveness and frustration governing the Cairo Airport – ahh, Egypt…!
We arrived in Johannesburg in the early afternoon, were picked up on time and transferred to our hotel from where our 18-day overland explorer tour to Cape Town with Drifter’s Adventures would start. Although we barely saw anything of Johannesburg, we did notice the stark contrast of shanty towns and modern, multi-lane freeways clogged with modern cars and the ever present reminder of the 2010 Football (Soccer) World Cup which South Africa will host next year.
After a lovely spare rib dinner at our hotel, we met our guide, Brett, a good humored, twenty-something year old who would later turn out to be a fantastic guide and friend to both of us. To our positive surprise, we found out that the tour group would only consist of 4 people, and this included the tour guide and us. The fourth person was Nanna, a young lady from Denmark whom we met the next day.
We rose early the following morning and were on the road by 6:30am. The poverty and the many shanty-towns which we passed on our way out of Johannesburg left a lasting impression. We stopped for lunch at the artsy and historic town of Pilgrim’s Rest before we visited the Bourke’s Luck Potholes (a river plummeting into a canyon) and the impressive Blyde River Canyon where we got our first glimpse of the small, yet beautiful and cheeky vervet monkey. We spent the first two nights at a tented camp adjacent to the world famous Kruger National Park, affording stunning views over the surrounding bush and a floodlit waterhole.
The next morning we again rose early and went for a 3-hour game walk with a friendly local guide named Joe. We learned a lot, including which animal droppings can be eaten, or squeezed for water to drink (sorry to gross you out, but elephant poop is the way to go for water, and do not eat poop from carnivores, herbivores poop is fine) and which ones are best left alone. We were briefed on what to do if charged by elephants and lions and learned about the significance of the flora in the bush. In short, the bush provides everything, from wood making perfect tooth brushes and ashes for tooth paste, leaves that are perfect to wipe your rear and the marula tree from which a nice drink named Amarula comes from (similar to the better known Bailey’s). We saw many tracks and droppings, the most significant being water buffalo, lion and elephant (three out of the ‘Big Five’). Within an hour of our walk, we encountered our first giraffes which seemed as much at awe with us as we were with them. They quickly determined that we were of no threat and went on munching on leaves only meters away from us. We also saw the massive golden orb spider and the ever present red billed hornbill bird. We soon thereafter made our way back to our campsite and were treated by the sight of zebras and female kudus drinking from the waterhole.
That very evening, we went on an open vehicle game drive and saw zebras, water buffalos, kudus, blue wildebeests (gnus) and impalas. The following day we headed into Hazyview where we visited a snake park and admired some of Africa’s and the world’s deadliest snakes, including the puff adder, snouted cobra and green mamba. We also admired the totally harmless and hyperactive small file snake, known to eat other snakes. The afternoon we walked along a river in search of hippos and unfortunately (or fortunately) we did not see any of them. We saw plenty of tracks and were a bit on edge during the walk as we did not want to see them on land. Hippos are herbivores, but more people in Africa are killed by hippos than any other animal, because they are very territorial.
We left Hazyview early the following morning and drove to the world-renowned Kruger National Park. Due to the size of the truck and the restriction that we had to remain on the main roads, the visit to Kruger was a bit disappointing in terms of wildlife spotting. Although we did see elephants, giraffe, impala, glossy starling (a strikingly fluorescent blue colored bird), woodlands kingfisher and klipspringer, we were once again denied the sights of the water buffalo, rhinoceros, leopard and lion (four of the Big Five).
After spending a night in Kruger, we were on a long drive through Swaziland to get to our next camp near Hluhluwe National Park, famous for its white and black rhino populations. On this day, luck was on our side as we saw giraffes and elephants up close. We were then treated with an extraordinary sight – a male kudu standing in a waterhole, bleeding from its upper right hind leg, with a large chunk of flesh missing, surrounded by three spotted hyenas. What followed was a waiting game, something out of a David Attenborough documentary, where the hyenas circled the kudu and the kudu fended for itself. After observing this for over an hour with no further action (in a twisted way, we were all hoping to see nature at its finest and have those hyenas kill the kudu), we decided to move on. We later found out that the kudu eventually left the waterhole with the hyenas in pursuit, though no word on the final outcome.
In Hluhluwe National Park, we went on an open game drive and quickly spotted rhinoceros from a safe distance. We also saw an elephant skinning tree branches when a massive male in heat chased it away, not far from the road. The male elephant then noticed us and headed straight for us. He did not come within meters of our vehicle, but within inches (see photo at share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CYtm7Fu5as4A), and we thought he was going to clip the vehicle. Fortunately, we all remained calm and he turned away at the very last moment. This was enough excitement for the day, plus it was pouring rain and cold, we retired to our camp.
The next day we visited a rural Zulu high school and were treated to songs sung by kids with absolutely amazing voices. The rest of the day was rather uneventful as we started the relatively short drive to Durban where we would spend the night at an inn by the beach.
After a night in Durban, we drove to the majestic Drakensberg mountain range, a National Heritage Site. Upon reaching the foothills, we were transferred to a 4X4 vehicle which took us far up into the mountains and a rustic inn where we spent the next 2 days in cozy, but very cold log cabins. We spent time hiking and exploring the area, and one of the highlights included observing the flying skills of the massive, yet graceful vulture living in this mountain range.
The following days were spent making our way west and south towards the coast and we visited the artful little village of Clarens, a farm near Ladybrand, the Karoo interior with its quaint and remote farming villages, including Nieu Bethesda, before reaching the historic town of Graaff-Reinet with its many museums. We then crossed the mighty Outeniqua Mountains, a geological barrier between the dry interior and the lush coastal Garden Route area before reaching the beautiful town of Knysna. Knynsa was rather relaxing and we enjoyed a ride on a custom built tuk-tuk from Thailand, with a local who showed us the main sights in and around town. We also visited an elephant sanctuary near Plettenberg Bay, where we walked and fed the elephants.
After two relaxing days in Knysna, we travelled along the coast before heading inland and around the Hottentots Holland Mountains, following the “Whale Route” to the quaint, touristy town of Hermanus, famous for its whale watching. Unfortunately, we were too early in the season to see the whales and our tour only allowed us to get a glimpse of this cute town before we were off to the city of Cape Town. The drive along the coast from Hermanus to Kleinmond, Betty’s Bay and Gordon’s Bay on the shores of False Bay was absolutely stunning. The interaction of pounding surf, soaring cliffs, fluffy clouds and sun remains unforgettable – truly majestic landscape!
While in stunning Cape Town, where we enjoyed sunshine and mild temperatures, we visited the beautiful Victoria & Albert Waterfront, took the cable car up to Table Mountain where we were treated to fabulous views of the bays, then drove along through beautiful coastal suburbs such as Camps Bay, Hout Bay, Fishhoek, Simon’s Town, Boulders Beach (where we interacted with penguins) and visited the famed Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point – the most southwesterly point of Africa.
On our final day of the tour with Drifters, we visited the world-famous Stellenbosch wine region and took in two wineries and a lunch before heading back to Cape Town where it was time to say good bye to both Brett and Nanna. We did not want to say goodbye to either of them, because this tour felt more like a road trip of South Africa with your closest mates. Our next tour, Cape Town to Victoria Falls, would be a 3-week overland tour with a company called, Kumuka. We learned that it was at 100% capacity in a truck with 22 people, including the tour guide and a driver. We were not looking forward to this tour, given that we shared an 18-seater truck with only 1 person and a guide.
We knew ahead of time that our visit to Cape Town and its surroundings as part of these tours would be too short and that we wanted to see it in greater detail. We will come back after we would be done exploring Southern and Eastern Africa with Kumuka - till then, wait for our next tales of Africa.
Val and Martin
