Wednesday, November 30, 2011

8th Posting - Oudtshoorn, Ostrich Capital of the World

Actually, before changing gears to Oudtshoorn, we really need to show a few photos from the afternoon in Knysna. We drove up through the Knysna Township, the black neighborhood stretching out the entire length of the ridge above the town and the Knysna Bay/Lagoon. Townships are the result of the apartheid era, but have come a long way since then. We had candy, pencils, and pens to give to kids, and Carol had brought a bunch of little John Deere tractor keychains. We shudder to think of the reaction to doing this in a poor area in the US, but things are different here. The children were well-dressed, clean, polite, and gratefully accepted what we gave them without asking for more. It's not something I would want people to see at the beginning of a tour to this country - there are still way too many misconceptions about South Africa, but as it was, the experience was probably one of the highlights of the trip for the gals.

Carol had given this little boy a keychain and he's running off to show his friend (after saying thank you!).

Everyone loves posing for pictures, and we have fun taking them.

This little boy is running alongside the van waving goodbye after getting a piece of candy.

This picture is in the town of George, but Ellen snapped it after asking the mother's permission.

Leaving Knysna we drove along the coast for another hour. This is Wilderness Bay.

The team in McDonalds were more than willing to pose for pictures.

Cango Dutch Reformed Church

Cango Caves

Cango Caves

Maxine, Leora, and Joyce maneuver through the Caves

Ostrich Feathers for sale in Oudtshoorn

Safari Ostrich Farm

One of the famous 'feather mansions' of the bygone era when ostrich feathers commanded a high price.

Maxine demonstrates the strength of ostrich eggs.


Ostrich chick

Ellen races around the arena, holding on for dear life.

Maxine and Leora show off their room at La Plume Guesthouse

For dinner we went to Nostalgie and donned hats from a former era.
The food is just wonderful in this country everywhere you go. The quality of the food is consistently good, hot food comes hot, things are prepared fresh, and the price is a real bargain. We often joke about eating our way through South Africa. People don't come on this trip for the food, but are always amazed how well we eat during the entire two weeks.

Our waitress Samantha poses with her hat! Isn't she beautiful?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

7th Posting - Knysna

At this point we should give people an idea of the enormous variety of animals and birds we have seen.
We have a checklist from the Kruger Park book and have been checking the off since we got to Kapama Game Reserve. It's astonishing the variety we see daily.

Animals and Birds we have seen

Mammals and Reptiles

Banded Mongoose, Black-backed Jackal, Blue Wildebeest, Buffalo, Bushbuck, Chameleon, 
Common Duiker, Crocodile, Elephant, Giant Land Snail, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, Impala
Kudu, Leopard Tortoise, Lion, Nyala, Pangolin, Slender Mongoose, Steenbok, Terrapin
Tree Squirrel, Vervet Monkey, Warthog, Waterbuck, White Rhinocerus, Zebra

 Birds

African Darter, African Fish Eagle, African Hoopoe, African Jacana, Black-collared Barbet, 
Blacksmith Lapwing, Blue Waxbill, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Burchell’s Coucal, Burchell’s Starling,
Cape Glossy Starling, Cape Turtle Dove, Cattle Egret, Crested Francolin, Diderick Cuckoo,
Egyptian Goose, Goliath Heron, Grebe, Green Wood-Hoopoe, Grey Heron, Grey Lourie,
Hadeda Ibis, Helmeted Guineafowl, Lilac-breasted Roller, Magpie Shrike, Masked Weaver,
Maribu Stork, Marital Eagle, Natal Spurfowl, Pied Kingfisher, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver,
Red-billed Hornbill, Red-billed Oxpecker, Red-crested Korhaan, Striped Kingfisher,
Wahlberg’s Eagle, White-backed Vulture, White-faced Duck, White-fronted Bee-eater, 
Wood Sandpiper, Woodland Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Hornbill


What a beautiful day we had in Knysna. We took part in the Featherbed Excursion, which consists of a boat ride on the Knysna Lagoon, a tractor/trailer ride up the mountain to the top of the West Knysna Head, a walk down to the water and to the sea caves, and then an easy walk back along the water to the restaurant for a wonderful buffet lunch of South African specialties.

View with a room! The view from our Candlewood Lodge

Boarding our boat for the ride to the Featherbed Nature Reserve

Ellen, Leora, and Shirley above the mouth of the Knysna Lagoon


View of the Lagoon from one of the Sea Caves

The group climbs down to water level


Dining under the trees in Featherbed Nature Reserve

The ladies are always ready to sell their wares.

Monday, November 28, 2011

6th Posting - The Garden Route and Tsitsikamma National Park

On Monday we flew from Kruger via Johannesburg down to Port Elizabeth on the south coast. We landed to brilliant sunshine and 75 degrees. Perfect! It's a beautiful drive from Port Elizabeth to Knysna along the Garden Route, with flowers and trees, great chasms and bridges, mountains to the right and the Indian Ocean to the left!

Our first stop was Jeffrey's Bay to take a walk along the Indian Ocean and look for shells.

The surf was really wild at Tsitsikamma National Park.

We watched the waves crash against the rocks and then enjoyed the sounds of the sea while hiking.

Maxine enjoys a hidden waterfall.

Shirley and Joyce rest in the big tree.

A perfect calla lily with a visitor.

Maxine, Leora, Carol and Ellen traipsing along the wooden walkways.

our first view of the bridge

Two more suspension bridges hang on the side of the mountain above the surf.

Leora runs off that swaying bridge!


Sunday, November 27, 2011

5th Posting - Kruger National Park

Again, the forecast was for rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful day - just the right temperature and a few clouds to keep the sun from getting too hot. We saw a lot of animals. The girls had said they wanted more elephants and more elephants we saw!
A zebra colt shows off his stripes.

The Impala Bucks strut their stuff.

We saw a lot of buffalo, but this old bull just looked impressive.

The giraffe are always curious.

A brand-new baby impala

Wonderful birds here! This is a woodland kingfisher.

One of our first CLOSE elephant encounters.
He walked between the two cars ahead of us!

This elephant was about 20 feet from us!


Goliath Heron at Lake Panic Bird Hide

Two hippos glare at us from the water

Vervet monkeys

Mother elephant and her young one

But that one was nowhere near as young as this infant elephant!!

Kruger has some interesting landscapes, like this rock mound.