Author: Henberta

Plettenberg Bay is in the heart of the Garden Route, with lots of animal sanctuaries, including Birds of Eden and Monkeyland!

Nature Valley Beach was an isolated spot with lovely animal, vegetable and mineral features….

Robberg Nature Reserve has a challenging hiking trail – about 10 miles of narrow cliffside paths and grueling rock climbing, but worth the reward of seeing seals frolicking in protected inlets.

We were proud and exhausted after completing the trail….

…but duly chastened when we encountered another couple who had completed the same circuit in much less time …… while wearing flip flops! 

Tsitsikamma National Park felt like coming home to extensive pine forests.  Intermittent heavy rain did not deter us from exploring on Segways…..

On the way to Oyster Bay, we passed through wind farms and pine plantations and saw lots of cows used in milk production (including a very newly-born calf) – all right alongside the Indian Ocean.

Oyster Bay was our opportunity for an equestrian experience, across the wetlands, over the dunes and along the beach.

And a beautiful sunset…..

Next, we leave the coast to head north for the last of our traditional South African safaris…….

Gorah is a truly classic safari camp in the Addo Elephant reserve, with an historic central lodge where we dined before a roaring fire our first night.

The accommodations are very elegant tents on permanent platforms….

The safari drives include open vehicles and refreshment stops, in addition to animal sightings.  Not too many of the latter at this site, largely due to heavy rains just before we arrived.

On to Sabi Sands, with some memorable close-ups with the animals, under the guidance of our first female ranger, Chanyn, who is armed and ready for….. bear, rhino, buffalo, whatever……

We took a little time off from safari for some badly-needed professional grooming.

And lastly to Marakele National Park north of Johannesburg….. our safari vehicle got stuck in deep sand our first evening.

Lots of rhino there….

Zebra and my favorite antelope, the kudu…

The bird life is incredibly diverse, but hard to capture on film….. here is one of the most brilliant birds in Africa, the lilac-breasted roller – caught in flight by our guide Hein, a professional-grade photographer.

Walking safaris and water safaris were also on the menu….

One of the biggest thrills of the trip was coming across a mother giraffe with a baby who had been born less than 2 hours before.  We saw the young one stand for the very first time, take his first steps, and nurse.  Absolutely fabulous…..  (these two photos also being to Hein’s credit)…

If this is to be our last safari drive, at least it ended on a high note.  After so many outings, it’s hard to think that we may not be back to experience again the incredible feeling of this environment and being close to these precious creatures.   We are humble and extremely grateful.

This particular journey will continue, however, with a few days on the beach in Mozambique, then on to the wilds of Madagascar.

Tertius decided we should take a beach break from the rigors of safari life before moving on, so we spent several days at a swank resort on Benguerra Island in the Bazaruto Archipelago off the coast of Mozambique.  The most entertaining part of this interlude was actually the helicopter ride to the island…..

We hiked around the island, climbed up and down the big dune, rode on a boat and did a bit of snorkeling….. the usual beach-y stuff.

Evidence of marine life was easy to find on the mostly pristine beaches….

The lizards help keep down the bug population…

The local people are very pleased with the job opportunities that the two resorts on the island bring to them.  They live fairly simple lives… generally without electricity or indoor plumbing…. and are otherwise dependent on fishing and the fruits of the sea.

Here are some of the people we came across…..

Lovely people who mostly seem to be content to stay on their little island and have lots of babies.  Some of them yearn for better education and opportunity, and we hope they get both.

On a different subject, a cautionary note for the traveler:  If you stay in a hotel with mosquito netting, there is probably a reason.  You should use it.  We didn’t one night and I have a dozen bites.  Sure hope the malaria prophylactics work!

And so we bid farewell to this little bit of paradise…..

The flurry of blog postings recently means that we have had good internet service for a couple of days, so now we are completely caught up!  Tomorrow we leave for Madagascar and will hope to post again from there.

Apologies for failure to update until now.  The only time in Madagascar when there was fair connectivity, I was laid low with food poisoning… again.   My second excuse is that now that we are home, I’ve become distracted by other priorities.

My third excuse…. and a dilemma that still confounds me…..   is pure stupefaction over how to approach a report on our Madagascar experience.  

The first reaction upon arriving in the capital city of Antananarivo was excitement – Oh my gosh, are those acres of rice paddies at the entrance to the airport?

Look at all the laundry spread on the ground to dry in the sun!

Ox carts in the roads!

Humanity milling thickly along every thoroughfare!  Heaps of trash burning!

Heaps of trash not burning!

So many colors and textures!

What are they cooking over there?

The senses are assaulted by so many impressions that you can’t quite sort them all out.

Then with additional exposure traveling from the city through the suburbs and in to the countryside some clear observations ….. Foremost, this is a very poor country.  Most of the lives of its people are lived outdoors on the streets, as the shacks/lean-tos/huts in which they sleep are extremely small and primitive, often with no indoor plumbing, power or cooking facilities.

 

In many places, drinking water has to be physically transported.

Emaciated zebu (cow) with a shepherd not much better off..

Obviously, animal welfare is not a big issue here.  Dogs are pests, not pets.

A young mother, proving her worth by making fire.

No telling what this guy is ready for…. 

Very few old people…. we think these two are probably our age….

Jillions of children. The birth rate is shockingly high.

Along with the lack of resources goes a lack of infrastructure.  The roads, especially outside the several cities, are appalling, with potholes several feet deep and frequent breakdowns in the road ways.

 

What appears on the map to be a straightforward drive of 45 miles can take 6 hours or more to traverse.  On first blush – kind of fun, especially since a skilled local driver is behind the wheel.  But soon it becomes tedious, and then quite apparent that the difficulties in moving from one spot to another cripple local commerce, severely limit developmental opportunities for the people, and damage the potential for a robust tourist economy.

 

All that said, we had fun with some of the locals.

This guy saved our lives…. cables and chargers were stolen on one of our Air Madagascar flights; he had workable solutions.

A boy and his goose.

One of our guides has ambition to be a future president of his country (getting some pointers here from a seasoned senior….)

A friendly group of brick makers.

A final posting tomorrow with flora and fauna….. much more uplifting!

As promised, an uplifting look at the special beauty of this island off the eastern coast of Southern Africa.

White sandy beaches….. clear blue/green water….

Baobab trees…..

Amazing tsingy formations, geological features that distinguish the island….  and provide for very challenging “hikes”…..

Lots of caves…

Flora!

Fauna!  Separated from the rest of the world, unusual species have developed in Malagasy woods and jungles.  Many types of chameleons and lizards…..

Other non-cuddly types

…

And finally….. the creatures most people go to Madagascar to see….. lemurs!

And a baby billy goat…. 

There is so much more to this place, which we would be happy to discuss with anyone who has an interest.  But this blog now comes to a close on the Madagascar phase of our journey.

Two nights in Johannesburg before heading back home from this phenomenal and inspiring trip.

We had no great ambition for these last two days; however, we did stay at a small bed and breakfast located in a house that Mohandas Gandhi lived in for a couple of years while he developed his concept of non-violent non-cooperation, or Satyagraha, to bring about change.  Learned a few interesting things about his life.  

 

Whoever you are out there, you must go to Africa.  What an amazing place.  Go for the animals and be awe-struck by their majesty.  Go for the scenery… still so untouched and raw in places, and unbelievably soul-stirring.   Go for what you can learn about politics; cautionary tales that can teach us how important it is for power to be balanced with compassion and humanity.   Go for the sociological lessons, both historical and present-day.  Go to get in touch with our anthropological roots.  You will emerge with a new respect for nature, and changed for the better as a citizen of this precious planet.

Upcoming – we will be traveling by conventional cruise ship trans-Atlantic to Europe early in November, spending some time in Normandy and Paris, northern Spain, and then returning with the trade winds via the same route Columbus used… on a true sailing ship, the Sea Cloud.  Back to East Texas the day after Christmas.

Happy days, all.