Southern Africa , November 2008:

Southern Africa 2008 (updated Dec 3/08):

1. 10 days cycling (mountain bike), "Cycleventures" trip, Botswana, Nov 5-14/08 details (click)
2. 5 days, 5 of us staying in a B&B near Capetown (...doing the typical tourist stuff)
3. 9 day coastal safari with "Drifters", Capetown to Durban.Nov 20-29/08 details (click)

..... personal impressions .... see: after at the last day reported

..... photos(click) best 20 of 547

.....Nov5/08 arrived on schedule,.... unfolding as it should,... just saw the news about Obama result. Not very warm today, staying at a pretty fancy hotel, 'The Peech' in Johannesburg

....Nov 4 did a one day tour of Jo'burg and Soweto, stopped at the Hector Peterson museum, met Frank Flatters for dinner

....Nov 5 met Greg the guide for the next 9 days and rode east for 4 hours to Mpulanga, and stopped over night at the Misty lodge

....Nov 6 started cycling on a rough road , and right away Jetje stumbled and twisted her ankle, but continued to ride. Did 30 Km because the last 10 were a bit difficult , .. so were met by Danie in the truck, and taken to the so-called "cottage" which is a beautiful place, as nice as Ive ever been, ..very luxurious.........

.........seems only rare occasions for Internet access.... Nov 9, 16,19,22, home Dec 1....revisions in red.

Nov 7 up for 7:30 breakfast...kind of cool, overcast,and Greg was worried we were under dressed for the coolness. Jetje decided not to go because of ankle, but came with Danie in truck for lunch. Was rather difficult uphill, even for Greg, but Trent (the local guide) did it.. Started to do single track (path of animals) with some difficulty when uphill, but kind of fun if level, ... you've got to get the rhythm.., and realize the bike is built to go over rocks. Brian became anxious and bailed out, but I was glad I continued. Greg stayed with Brian and went back to the cottage. At the lunch spot, after the 'staircase" ...very steep, had to carry bikes. we had lunch under the tarp/shade.Back to the cottage in the truck and did a short hike. Played snooker after dinner, for six players.

Nov 8 7:30 breakfast, Brian decided to rest for the day, but Jetje came. Uphills difficult, but gentle downhills are great !!!, lots of rocks, on kind of a jeep track. Stopped at ancient gold town and Greg looked after bikes as we went on excursion with Trent, as we entered a narrow mine shaft, we heard a "snort" and were taken aback, especially by Jetje who pretty much pushed me into the bushes in her haste to get out,.....turned out to be Greg's snort, ....all schemed by Greg (...there's no real need to watch bicycles). Since there was a fine mist we went back to cottage for lunch. Saw 100's of wildebeests, kind of running in every direction, in fear of us. Dinner was chicken, ...excellent.

Nov 9 Because it had rained overnight, we took the van to Pilgrims rest ... Had lunch at Harries pancakes, very good. Since we hadn't ridden, Greg stopped for some road ridding , about 10Km at "God's Window"....cloudy, rather cold.... not the sunny warm SA I was expecting. Stayed overnight at Royal Hotel ... went to dinner buffet, and the kitchen staff put on a African "music /dance" show, ... pretty good.

Nov 10 Drove 6 hours to Botswana border, 2 hours through an apartheid homeland (very poor, many shocks). At the border there was typical border stuff and crossed the dry Limpopo river and had sandwich lunch and met the 4 black Bostswanans, our hosts for the next for days.Saw a sign at the SA border that said, "no dumping of babies, call tel# and we will pick them up"...very strange. The Botswana border guard said..."We are happy you are visiting our country", leaving a powerful impression, Trent said I wish the SA guards were as welcoming.We met Joe the lead Botswanan, who gave us an intro and overview,...spoke perfect English. Greg wanted me to remove my white Nike shirt, ... strange, but he said white is kind of a "red flag" to wildlife. The lead guide, Joe, carries a big '438' (I think) rifle, as does the sweep. Charging elephants could be a real problem, since we are effectively in their path, and we quickly retreat, if there's any sign of danger. Cycled for hour to our camp on single track. Joe, the main guide in Botswana, 30, is impressive, speaks English very well, and has an impish sneaky smile. Camp was an impressive arrangement of six 2-man tents with cots. As Greg said it would be, it was hot 30C and sunny, that evening we saw several elephants 200m from the camp, just walking by. We had a perfectly acceptable makeshift shower, ...bucket of water suspended, shower head, tepid water, ...very refreshing whn it's 30+C. Everybody thought the water would be too little, but it was fine,... unsheltered nude, ...out in the wilderness breezes, standing on a flat rock in 30C temperatures.

Nov 11 Breakfast at 7AM and we cycled out at 7:45, although Jetje stayed behind, must have wrenched her back. .... gave her some of my supply of Costco Ibuprofen. We saw several elephants, and at one point the matriarch roared and we all quickly retreated. Dave tried "disappointment hill" and had a serious derailleur problem, and they replaced the hangar on the spot, and replaced/changed the derailleur later on. Trent did a successful run of disappointment hill (... the only one to do so). At 4:30PM we did a jeep drive and saw leopards, a cheetha (very rare). The cheetah had just made a kill, and was intent on feeding , so we had a good view,... from about 18m.

Nov 12 Did a bike ride much like previous day. After the coffee break Brian Jetje &Joe took the van, and I admit I had trouble keeping up in the last 10 minutes, .... so Greg lagged back with me. At 5pm we went with Joe to see lions (... and I was skeptical), but in the end we got really quite close, to 2 males and a female who joined, all close to an eland (their large kill of the day), ... about 10-12 meters away ..... clearly the highlight of the trip to date. Although the earlier section at the cottage was somewhat disappointing due to weather and trail difficulty (... the cottage itself was superb), I am now loving the Botswana camp experience (sunny hot, and many large animals). It rained at dinner time (customary) and I had a tent with a porch canopy, so Joe joined me to have dinner out of the rain and we had a conversation, a little forced, but he was well informed, ... eg about the G8, or G20 in his world, and the only time he asked what I meant was when I referred to the "GDP/pp" (not exactly an everyday subject in Botswana or Canada for that matter, ... so I was impressed with Joe, as would be Mel Lastman, no doubt.)

Nov 13 Kind of a rainy day so we decided to not go to the "baume" (sp? area surrounded by logs, open sleeping) since we would be sleeping under the stars. Trent and Earnest left to go back to Mt Andreson. So we did a typical ride, .... and it became sunny after the coffee break. I rode in the van with Jetje, and Brian back to the camp. Dave and Doug talked of the excitement of "riding/running with the wildebeest" heard on their quick ride back. In the van we saw a leopard and a leopard tail. Greg took a bit of a chance and had sent the crew to get the gazebo shelter from the "baume". At 5 pm we set out in the land cruiser but headed back when there was a heavy downpour,... thankfully Greg had sent for the gazebo (15 x 40 ft) but the rains were so intense (rising floods) we had to relocate the gazebeo to higher ground, as well as relocate the fire. We walked to the top of a nearby hill when the rain stopped,... was kind of a memorable moment, sunset re-freshed air, and all that rain/puddles etc. Dinner (the last in Botswana) was special, with a BBQ of beef fillet, impala sausage, and guinea hen, and maise with tomato sauce.

Nov 14 Last day in Botswana. Woke up early 5:40 AM to leave a 7am (6:38 in fact). Joe made a little ceremony to give us Tshirts and a decorative bicycle. By the way, I went to the open outhouse at 6:00 am (200m away) and heard a distinct animal grunt/snort, and Greg called me back, ...it was elephants, .... which can be a big problem, so although I had an important agenda of my own, I reluctantly headed back. Joe and Moussa accompanied us to the border and we bought CYCLEMASHATU cycle shirts (70US for 2) from Greg's border depot..... good value. As we drove 6 hours back, Greg relayed that the Rattray owner had bought both Mashatu (75,000 acres) and Mt Anderson, etc for 1 million Rand about 30 years ago... today,.... priceless!!!. Drove to Johannesburg, 6 hours, got the Kalula flight to Capetown, 2 hours, and were met by Nasi, 22, a Greek-origin guide for Southern Routes, ... drove us to our B&B, in Simonstown about 1 hour south of Capetown.

Nov 15, In Simonstown (near Capetown), with Nasi we did Signal Hill, Table mountain, the Victoria and Alfred waterfront, had lunch at Harries pancakes, , bought groceries at Superspar, and had salad/ chicken for dinner at our self catering B&B. Nice weather, sunny 20-23C, but sometimes very windy.

Nov 16, toured with Nasi to a False Bay beach (just to look), then Anura winetour 35km (very nice), then Stellenbach for lunch (beautiful university town), ice-cream, groceries, then self prepared dinner: salad with cold beef and ham.

Nov 17, went to Kirstenbach gardens (Heidi, a volunteer, was great guide, very enthsiastic), a muffin for lunch, then Robben Island, Mandelas cell etc ... a 4 hour tour, groceries, omlette for dinner.

Nov 18 drove to Capetown for look around, St Georges Mall (an outdoor kiosk type on a major street), Parliament buildings, Company gardens, then drove to Cape Point 2 hours, saw baboons, then dinner at Boulders restaurant, ... final meal with Brian who would be leaving for Victoria falls at 4 30AM

Nov 19, did a hike 4 hours near the B&B, ... turned out to be rather difficult (Jetje lost her hat 5 times, windy) ... climbed from 70m to 360m and terrain was so difficult, I realized Id bitten off more than I could chew. I joked ... "Day 1: Jetje twisted her ankle (so she could hardly walk, Day 2: complained that you could fry eggs on her back her burn was so severe, Day 4: wrenched her back so that she didn't cycle the next day, then Day 15: repeatedly threw away her hat for Dave to retrieve, and said "I'm not having any fun", ... the others laughed, .... Jetje:...not so much.

Nov 20 Nasi showed up on time 6:30 AM to take us over to the Drifters lodge in central Capetown, an 80 min ride (although they always say 45min). We helped ourselves to the breakfast buffet, and met the guide, named Christian, Afrikans, about 25, Jewish (despite his name). Doug and I were amazed to find out we were the only ones on this particular tour. We had a 14 passenger van rather than their big customized German Safari truck, ... and Im sure its not a profit-making operation with two customers, but they do have a "guaranteed departure" policy (apparently), and they have to get their truck back to Jo'burg somehow, albeit in a round about route. We then left on our 'Garden route' for Durban. The morning ride by the coast was interesting, but got a little dull as we headed inland. We stopped for a quick lunch (fish and chips). then onto the De Hoop nature reserve, but found that the route was water-covered, so our route was curtailed. Saw some zebras, 150m away, and used the optical and digital combination to get impressive 40X (for the first time). Christain said the next day to the manager:..."look at the powerful zoom that Gary gets on that camera". The nights stay was in a old style Dutch B&B farm site (separate building), where Christian built a wood fire on a waist high fireplace (meant for cooking). Effectively a nice change from what we'd been doing so far, now old style classic "Afrikans" experience.

Nov 21, woke up early to cloudy dreary skies, that soon changed an hour later to blue, sunny and hot. Went to the Cango caves, an hour visit,.... pretty impressive, main hall: ...97m x 60m x 20m high. Then onto an ostrich farm where it was boiling hot 38C, and we were warned that we could not ride the ostriches (... not that we wanted to.) Then a fairly long van ride to Knaysna where Drifters has one of their lodges, and we met another group Canadian soldier from Afghanistan, Australian honeymoon couple and a German woman, 35. Dinner was an ostrich goulash, ... excellent, and a gooy-good banana-caramel desert. We had separate basic cabins, using sleeping bags. Had an interesting conversation with Johan, the inn-keeper, who was remarkably blunt Afrikaaner, rather a redneck, who was frank about the lack of progress after Apartheid, and the african "give-me" attitude, Johan felt SA was condemned because it branded it as "Apartheid", whereas others (Australia, Canada) were just as bad, but just didnt brand it so.

Nov 22, a rainy cloudy day, 20C max, went to farmers market (very white) and then on a boat ride out to sea, with the Drifters Johan as the Captain..... then to lunch Harry Bs and the Internet, ... great for a rainy afternoon.

Nov 23 Drove to the TSI?? park and went for 3 hour hike along the rocky shore... then lunch close to the van. Then drove to a private orange farm for a two night stay. Stayed in round african huts with thatched grass roofs. Dinner was kind of a chicken stew.

Nov 24 Went to the ADDO elephant reserve, 164,000 hectares vs 33000 at Mashatu, saw many elephants =/- 50, kudus, buffalos, tortoises, antelope etc. Back to orange farm for lunch and a small kayak trip for Doug and Christian, then back to Addo for an evening elephant tour.

Nov 25 Dove to East London in time for lunch, then went on a 2-3 hour township tour with Sheppard. then dinner in restaurant.

Nov 26 Drove to Mahata ?, saw the Nelson Mandela museum. then the longest dirt road to the "Wild Coast", kind of the end of the world (eg no power, except local wind power).....will have to give more thought as to how to describe this place,, although the Wild Coast is a start....eg when we drive by, the kids come running out just to see and wave and see who is passing by. the Drifter's Inn was fine and there was a distinctly unfriendly heavy drinking Beglian group of 12.

Nov 27, went on waterside hike to a ship wreck BBC China, andd then to the waterfall.... and the flatest beach I've ever seen, cows chewing their cud on the beach,.... strange. Not really warm, maybe 23C and fairly windy...pretty much just rested in the PM

Nov 28, Drove 7 hrs to Durban, our destination, and to Drifters Dolphin seaside Inn... pretty nice place by the sea. Will leave on Sunday at 10:30 AM for flight to Jo'Berg, then 20:30 to Paris, 11:30 on Dec 1st to YYZ.

Nov 29 Colin, the inn-keeper, gave me a lift to downtown Durban and I walked to the USHAKA marine world, where I spent most of the day. Colin and a lady residents warning "to be careful", made me uneasy, made me wonder if I looked like an "easy mark". The Ushaka aquarium was very good, and I did go to see the dolphin and seal shows, although Ive always promised I would never would do that (... those who work there say you'd never go, if you know what went on). Took a cab back, 300R and went to the nearest pizza place for dinner, ... pretty good

Nov 30/Dec 1 all the flights were on time (35 elapsed hours) and seemed painful at the time, but in retrospect were OK.

photos, best 20(click)

Personal Impressions (to date, Nov 28)
.....Botswana was the clear highlight, sleeping in bush camp etc, ... seeing animals (elephants cheetah, lions), and closer (roughly 10-15m) than expected

...... Doug says: everything "exceeded expectations"..... but for me the mountain biking was rather too difficult at Mt Anderson, very rocky/steep and the weather there a bit too cool cloudy. The "cottage" itself of course was ultra-luxurious, and is probably best suited to the cream-puff crowd (like M&L W). The Botswana cycling difficulty level was perfectly fine though.

...... overall it has been a pretty "cushy" and a rather "white" tour... unfortunately not much sense of black Africa ...... It may be presumptuous for me to say:.... but Apartheid may be gone, but its "shadow" is large, .... though the few blacks we encounter seem happy and the white/black interaction that we see, seems cordial.

..... the three components 1. cycling Botswana/ 2. Capetown, kind of self-managed and self catered, and 3. Drifters, a kind of "Afrikans slice", all were complimentary, ... and I enjoyed the combination specifically.

the revisions are in red