Final Thoughts

Julie departed Saturday with some old friends and new friends for the 35 hour trip home.  I am lucky enough to be able to stay for another's week to enjoy the sites around Cape Town with Barb and Rich Hansen.

I will just highlight some my thoughts about this wonderful country and experience:

- The tour by UW Stevens Point was fabulous.  Great planning, leadership, fellowship and a wonderful experience (at a very good value).  However, it was not relaxing.  We had a lot of 15 hour days, which were necessary to achieve our planned itinerary.  It was great and I would recommend, but show up rested and plan on going home tired.

- South Africa is a wonderful country.  The sites are fabulous, the history is interesting, the food is great, people are friendly and at 13 Rands to the dollar, it is very reasonable.    We have not seen or experienced any crime and you don't see the guns and assault rifles that you see in even European countries.  However, the security guards, things like alarms, gates, razor wires on fences and constant warning and a few persistent beggars do make a person wonder. It is a little hard to relax in the city.

- South Africa is a fully developed country.  In many respects, it is much more like a European country than how I envision Africa.  English in the areas we visited was extremely common.  All of the signs around the city, unlike Canada for example which has signs in both French and English, were only in English.  It made it very easy to navigate.  We did hear other languages like Afrikaners and what I think was Xhosa (has words with a clicking sound) on the streets. 

- Despite the success of throwing off the old apartheid system only 20 years ago, South Africa has some severe systemic issues.  I will broadly over generalize by saying they seem to me to be economic rather than racial.  However, the economic divide has a severe bias against the blacks.  The vestiges of the apartheid system are very deep and severe as we experienced in the township last week.  The challenges for the government in "the new South Africa " are formidable.  I do hope for the best.

That is about it for the blog for this trip.  It was a fabulous adventure. I will post a few pictures and comments in the next couple of days if I have some worthy material, but as far as this blog is concerned, I am signing off from Cape Town, South Africa.

Cape Town - Day 2

We had a lot of fun last night, despite a tough day.  We went to a brew pub and spent some time putting Wisconsin on the map for the other patrons.  The band used our enthusiasm to get the rest of the crowd into the spirit.  The highlight was doing the polka to a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"  Perhaps the low point was when he asked us who was famous that came Wisconsin and we really did not have a great answer.... Think about it.

The day was very different than the prior day at Robben Island and the settlements.  We did a tour of the Cape Peninsula (you can see it pretty easily on the map).  We saw penguins at Boulder beach, hiked to the lighthouse at the Cape of Good Horn, had lunch at a wonderful sea side restaurant and toured a couple of wineries.  This was along an absolutely stunning  50 mile route of beaches and mountains.

The nights activity was the farewell dinner.  I have not said much about our fellow travelers, but feel I must say that they were all fine active adventurers.  There were many, many wonderful and often funny moments over the past two weeks that we shared.  It was a very special blending of exceptional folks that shared a once in a lifetime experience.

Cape Town Peninsula beach

Another beach - note the horses at the bottom

50% of the submarines in the South Africa fleet

Penguin

At the Cape of Good Hope Lighthouse

You can never have to many picture of Penguins 

Cape Town - Day One

We finally made it to our destination city of Cape Town.  If you look at the map, you will see it is on the area called the Eastern Cape.  Nestled at the foot of  Table Mountain (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world), everything the city it is spectacular, except perhaps it's troubled past and present.

Our first day began with a tour of Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 17 of his 27 years) and ended in an swatter village called a township.  It was a very sobering day, starting with the battle to end apartheid and ending with the human consequences of the aftermath.

I will post the pictures, with a quick explanation.  I did not photograph the informal township, but will try and add pictures from my fellow travelers if I can find them.  The images of the people of this very small shanty town of 2000 individuals (out of millions in a similar situation) are something I will never forget.

View of Table Mountain from Robben Island

Former political prisoner who led our tour

Lime quarry in which Nelson Mandela labored for 8 years

Mandela's cell

Unbelievable story of Mr. Mandela 

The gate in and eventually out of Robben Island.... Despite the sign, not a very welcoming place for the brave opponents of apartheid 

Dung Beetles to Southern Right Wales

It has been a couple of more busy days with no internet connections.  We have driven from Wilderness to De Hoop Nature area (pronounced da whoop).  If you look at the map, it is the point about 2/3 of the way from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town.

The nature reserve was on the Indian Ocean and we did get to see a lot of Southern Right Wales.  They were far out and did not photograph well, but the viewing was outstanding.  I think I could have watched them all day.  They were breaching and doing all kinds of wale activities.  (We did see a dung beetle also, and they do photograph well).

At De Hoop, we were guided by a couple of botanical experts from Western Cape University.  Their knowledge of all things geographical, ecological, historical and anthological was fantastic.  The area was is prized for its biological diversity (number of different biological zones and unique (endemic) species.  They were very proud of their country.   At lunch we discussed their struggles in higher education under apartheid.

We went on an afternoon hike in the foothills.  The climb ended at a cave with a 5000 year old cave drawing by the aboriginal population.

We continue to eat (and drink) extremely well.  The food has been fantastic.  We had Ostrich steaks one evening and lamb is common.   We have meat pies often for lunch, which we both enjoy (think pasty with fillo dough).  Although I am not a wine drinker, I understand that the wine is fabulous and inexpensive.  The service people are exceptionally friendly. 

This morning we are on our way. To Cape Town via the most southern point of Africa.  It should be another adventure filled day. 

(I included a picture of Julie and myself at the southernmost point in Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.  I must admit, this is a place I never dreamed I would ever visit)

A dung beetle of course 

Southern Right Wales

Blue Heron - National Bird of South Africa

Blue Herons and sheep hanging out

Bontebok

Elands - Largest Antelopes

At Cape Agulhas

Wilderness, South Africa

We are in Wilderness, South Africa.  If you look at the map, we are about half way between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.  We are near a National Park, in a beachside area which is becoming the adventure capital of South Africa because of all wonderful natural attractions.

Today is Sunday and a day of rest for the "Wisconsin Wild Dogs" (our unofficial group name in honor of the first animal we saw and the home of the group members).  We lived like normal people today by sleeping until 8 am, having French press coffee, a big breakfast and going for a walk along the beach.   We got a little wash done, which was very nice.

The beach is on the Indian Ocean.  The host of our Inn, the Moontide (which is a fabulous place) told us that if you went swimming this time of year, you would probably get swept out by the currents and if by chance you did not drown, the Sharks would eat you.  Needless to say, we stayed away from the water.  

The walk was lovely.  It was about 60 degrees, which I am guessing will be the high today.  Remember, it is winter down here.  The climate is very much like coastal California.

The next event was abseiling (what we call rappelling).  We went down a 130 foot cliff, landing in a river.  On the way down, you passed right next to a waterfall.  I got a few pictures of Julie coming down and think I captured her relief and joy in getting into the boat at the bottom.  Ten of our group did the event and all had a wonderful adrenaline filled experience. 

Addo Elephant Park

It has been a busy couple of day's, so this note will be another conglomeration of areas, events, experiences and pictures for you to enjoy.

As of this moment, we are departing Addo National Elephant Park.  If you reference the map, it is on the southeast of the country, near Port Elizabeth.  We got here by driving from Kruger Park to Johanessburg and flying over an hour and a half to Port Elizabeth (known as PE locally).  We spent a day and a half doing "game drives" in the park.  For those who think this is a relaxing vacation, we have gotten up at 5:30, 5:45 and 5:15 the past three days and not gone to bed until after 10 pm.  Fun, but not relaxing.

The highlight of this blog was spotting and observing the behavior of 4 male lions.  At one point a lion walked within 10 feet of the open vehicle in which we were traveling.  The picture on the blog is a very slight telephoto shot of an 8 year old male.  We saw a chase covering many miles demonstrating territorial behavior.  This park has open hills and scrub type vegetation, so we were able to observe the event with binoculars over the countryside.

Another highlight was a talk by a lead ranger of a Black Rhino reserve.  I have a picture of the ranger (the tall black women) with one of our leaders, Susan and another male ranger from Kruger Park.  She told us about life on a reserve, how it worked and the challenges in fighting poachers, especially those that kill black rhino's for their horns.  Unfortunately, in Vietnam the powdered rhino horns are prized for this alleged ability to alleviate hangover.  In truth, the horn is the same as the material in our fingernails.

On a similar, but different topic, Julie ordered venison last night for dinner.  It turned out to be Kudu (definitely not endangered) and very good.  The South African diet has a lot of meat and it is inexpensive and very good.  Afterwards, Julie serenaded the group on a rendition of Southern Cross (by Crosby, Stills and Nash) in honor of a dark star filled southern hemisphere night.  in case you could not guess, the wine in South Africa is inexpensive and plentiful, also.

Today we are headed to the coast and an area called the Garden Route.  Hopefully we will have some adventure activities and a little exercise tomorrow.

The Safari

I am going to try to summarize our safari experience of three days into a single post.  Although my pictures were taken with a simple point and shoot, I hope you will like the photos and videos (if I find an Internet connection fast enough to upload them).

Our first safari experience was at Kruger National Park.  If you look on the map at the bottom of the blog, it is in the far northwest of the country, a 6 hour drive from Johanessburg. Our list of sightings over the next 3 days and proximity to the animals far exceeded my expectations.

Here are a few of the highlights:

- We saw 4 of "the big five" - Lions, Cape Buffalo, Rhino and Elepahnts on the first sunset safari.  Despite the very best effort of our guides, we did not see a Leopard.  Our hotel did have signs posted that there was a leopard sighting on the grounds and to stay off the ground level.

- On the way home to our hotel the first night, there were two male lions laying on the road.  We actually needed to take a different route back.

- in addition to the "big 4" we many zebras, giraffes, Impalas, Kudus, crocodiles, Hippo's, baboons, warthogs, vervet monkey's and more, all in their natural environment.

- Unusual sightings included a wild dogs,  hyenas, lions snacking on a Kudu and black rhino's crossing the road.

- We saw a lot of beautiful birds, unique to Africa.  Too many to even begin to mention

- The amazing thing was how often and how close we got to the animals.  We rode in open air and thankfully elevated vehicles.  Once we entered the park, we did not get out of our vehicles until safely out the gate.

As soon as possible, I will upload as many pictures and videos as possible.  For now, you will need to take my word for it that we had an absolutely amazing time.  The park we saw in South Africa is know for its ecological diversity instead of the grandeur of places like the Serengeti.   We were fortunate to see a great deal in the time we had available.  However, we are far from done with this adventure.

Johannesburg (Joburg)

We arrived in Johanessburg right on schedule Monday morning at 5:15 am.  Having not slept in a bed since Friday night, we did the illogical thing of scheduling an all day tour of the city.  We did this to not waste our only day in Johanessburg by sleeping and secondly, to force our biological clocks to get used to the 8 hour time difference.

Seven of us had signed up for the private tour of the town.  Our guilde was, Howard, a mining engineer by training and geologist/historian/anthropologist/biologist/political analyst in practice.  As a third generation resident of Joburg, he was a fantastic guide.

We started the day with a stop at the FNB stadium, where the final game of the 2010 World Cup of soccer was played.  From that vantage point, he explained the unique geographical history of the area that has resulted in half of the worlds gold and more than half of the worlds diamonds being mined from that area.  Also very important was the historical context of the need for mining labor and the use of blacks as miners.

Next stop was Soweto, the black townships and much of the focal point of the apartheid era.  We toured the home of Nelson Mandela led by a charming young volunteer.  We saw the only street in the world with the homes of two Nobel prize winners (Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu).  Julie bought a souvineer from a man who was a lifelong neighbor of Mandela and who had played with his children in his youth.

After lunch, we visited the Aparthied Museaum.  It was a fabulous display that began with the display of early homo sapien drawings (the origin of man occurred in this area) and ended with the state of South Africa as of current day.  Inbetween was the sad development of the Aparthied system, how it was used to suppress others and the violent overthrow that resulted.

It was an unbelievable day.  It was inspiring to see this history in the setting of where it occurred.  To learn of such tragedy, triumph and the uncertainty of the future for the people of South Africa.

We got back in time for a shower (first in three days), cocktails and a nice group dinner, followed by a well earned nights sleep.

(I do have some pictured, but can't post them at the internet speeds presently available.  I will keep trying).

Seats 46J and K

On the way to South Africa via Dubai.  We'll find out soon if they serve alcohol on Emirates Airline. 

Trip Overview – I thought I would begin the blog by telling you a little about where we are going and with whom.

The program we have signed up for is with UW Steven Point Adventure Tours.  As part of their mission, the university offers adult adventure tours to interesting places.  The tours are led by faculty members and focus on nature, adventure, history and culture.  This is the perfect match for Julie and I.

The tour itinerary can be found in the attached document:

http://www.uwsp.edu/HPHD/adventuretours/Documents/South_Africa_2015-program.pdf

We will be visiting several national parks and participating in safaris.  We have been told that we will see the big five (black rhino, Cape buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, and Lion) in their natural setting.  Obviously, the only shooting will be with a camera.

We hope to have tours of both Johannesburg and Cape Town.  In preparation, we have read the Long Road to Freedom by Nelson Mandela and are fascinated to see the sites where this amazing piece of history occurred.  We will get to see the famed prison on Robben Island where Mr. Mandela and many famous world changing individuals were imprisoned.

Other activities planned are abseiling (rappelling), whale watching, canoeing and hopefully some interaction with the people of this diverse and marvelous country.

My lovely wife has graciously encouraged me to remain in the Cape Town adventure for an additional week beyond the 16 formal days of the tour.

Most of the 18 folks on the tour are from Central Wisconsin.  We are very fortunate that several friends who expressed an interest in the area have chosen to take the trip.  Hopefully you will see them in photos over the next couple of weeks.

So Saturday night we depart on an Emirates Air flight (Boeing 777) from Chicago to Dubai.  The initial leg of the flight is 13 hours.  After a 4 hour layover, we will depart for Johannesburg, arriving 8 hours later at 5:30 am on Monday.

I hope I have an internet connection and if you chose to follow along, some good photos and stories to share.