Day 11 – Ermelo to Kruger

Posted August 30, 2010 By Pheather
Next morning was crisp and clear. We packed in record time  guess we are getting better at it) and with maximum efficiency – we have to double check the bags to make sure they’re all there because it seem each time we pack there is more space available.  We got stuck behind a truck which was transporting raw sheepskins straight from the abbatoir, bloodied and glistening. White flecks of animal product were flying off the open load body and suddenly our bakkie was speckled with white bits of what could have been animal fat, innards or exctretia. Totally grossed out we decided to pull into the next town for a full carwash. This little town was called Cristina and the only operational carwash was in a dirt parking lot operated by two entrepreneurial Zulu’s with a high powered sprayer. We waited with taxis and other cars, watched a worker’s strike group march past, and wondered if we would ever go to a similar car wash in Cape Town – probably not likely.  After just a short wait, they tackled the bakkie and honestly I have never seen a vehicle washed so thoroughly, not even at our local carwash in Hermanus.  They scrubbed every inch of the vehicle by hand, and the cost was only R30!
Back on the road minus animal bedeckment, we were now officially on our way to Kruger. Plenty of large trucks heading in both directions – it seems that Nelspruit is quite the industrial and commercial hub of the region.  We thought we had seen a lot of sugar cane plantations going through KZN, but Mpumalanga trumps them, at least what you can see from the road. We decided we’d like to try raw sugar cane, but all of it was fenced in. So we did the next logical thing; we drove into the nearest farm entrance and went boldly up to the guard gate to ask for a piece of the plant. There was no guard so we “borrowed” a piece from the nearest bush and high-tailed it out of there with our ill-gotten gains.  Funny enough, it’s like chewing on bamboo with the exact same taste as the white sugar you buy in the shop, but with a juicy consistency.  You chew the stalk until it loses its flavour then spit it out.  Too much hard work but it was fun to try!
We arrived in Nelspruit in desperate need of a zoom lens for the camera. No point going to Kruger with the standard 50mm lens. We procured one from Deon Wired, situated in a very modern, clean shopping centre where parking is FREE! In fact, Nelspruit is a busy, bustling town with all the advances of Cape Town but without the filth on the streets. Not sure what the crime stats are but we didn’t feel unsafe at any time.  Swung past the very impressive soccer stadium and snapped a pic – they built it to look like a group of giraffes, as Heather pointed out.
All the way up to Nelspruit we noticed burnt stretches of land. It seems that this time of the year this part of SA is subjected to many fires. Just outside of Nelspruit we saw a raging fire on the side of the road and called in to report it.  Seems we were the first to call it in, cause the fire chief knew nothing about it even though it seemed to have been burning for some time.  I can’t believe the local Mpumalangans don;t care enough about their own town to call in fires – it takes a Capie to do it for them!  Maybe they’ll have less fires if they just bother to take a minute to call the FD when they see one.
Arrived at the Kruger Crocodile River Gate shortly after 5pm. Turns out we have to be at Sabie Camp by 6pm before they lock the gate.  The park has a speed limit of 50km/hr (enforced by speed camera, no bull!) so we had just enough time if we did not stop for animals.
Along the road we spotted a group of Rhino drinking at a pan – our best viewing of Rhino yet!  On the way we were blocked off by a group of elephants crossing the road.  I whipped out my camera to get a pic and suddenly the biggest bull elephant started flapping his ears and turning towards us. All very impressive, so I started to position the camera, when Heather suddenly started shouting for me to back away “he’s charging!”. Without hesitation I kicked the bakkie into reverse and with Jumbo looming over the bonnet we raced backwards at about 40km/hr, about the max the bakkie will do with foot flat. Jumbo kept pace with us, wildly throwing his head about and flapping his ears, with the distance between car and elephant no greater than when the chase had started.  After about 150 metres I thought about the car we had passed a little earlier and wondered whether it would round the bend and put a fullstop on our reverse, thereby offering us up to the elephant.  Just then Jumbo must have run out of steam, as he quit chasing us (very reluctantly) and turned into the bush.  This was the most awesome and fearsome experience. A tour guide later told us they can run at 50km/hr, so it was very close!  We decided if we saw nothing else, this Kruger trip was worth it just for the charging elephant.  But there is always more to see. Just heading into camp we saw a Hyena skulking off into the bushes, and a group of fast-moving rodents.
Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 10 – Hluhluwe to Ermelo

Posted August 29, 2010 By Pheather
The following morning Heather surprised a Hyena skulking around the braai area like a naughty dog. He skulked off into the bushes looking over his shoulder with an injured expression on his ugly face.  A short while later Heather heard crashing through the tress and woke me up at the ungodly hour of 5:45 am to witness two bull elephants at the edge of the clearing right in front of our cottage. This was an awesome experience and we have decided we would definitely return here to spend a few more nights living amoungst the animals. No other game parks we have encountered bring you into such close contact.
After a quick breakfast of Pro-Nutro we packed up and embarked upon a morning game drive which would eventually lead us up to the Hilltop camp for lunch and then the memorial gate. Along the way we had the best sightings of giraffe,  zebra, rhino and impala (aka lion food) but sadly did not see anyof the big cats – we were told that they can be seen at night. This seemed quite odd to us because of the R300 fine after 6pm rule, but after observing all the headlights in the bush the night before we assumed that the folk out there were happy to break curfew to see lions for a measly R300. Next time we may also do an impromptu night drive and pay the R300 spot fine.
We exited the Memorial Gate and once again found ourselves driving through darkest, rural africa past women with mud painted on their faces and bright pink rondawels. We were expecting a quick drive to Ermelo on the N2, on the map the N2 appears as a thick blue line which up until now has been beautifully maintained single or dual carriage ways and we thought the same would be true for the 300km stretch to Ermelo. Iin fact, this part of the N2 is a lot worse than some dirt roads with deep pot holes and corrugations plus the damaging effect of poor and repeated patching of the road surface. Fortunately for future travellers they are currently upgrading this road, but unfortunately for us these road works added over an hour to our journey.
We got to the Izimbali Lodge in Ermelo at about 5pm, unpacked and went straight to dinner at the conjoined bistro. If you ever eat here order something from the steaks and grills menu and not pasta or fish, as they specialise in grills but are not too hot at the rest. The steak I had was excellent, Heather’s pasta was awful. I decided I’m on holiday so I ordered a grilled chicken to the room. Feeling outdone, my cholesterol packed it’s little duffel bag and went into hiding.
Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 9 – Durbs to Hluhluwe

Posted August 28, 2010 By Pheather
Woke up to a beautiful quiet Sunday morning at the Durban beachfront. A complete contrast from the night before, the air was nice and cool at 6:30am and many joggers and dog walkers were out enjoing the fresh ocean air.  In the daylight it looks a lot better.  It looks like a lot of money went into upgrading the entire frontal beach area. Paved bricks and dedicated bike and jogging paths as far as we could see in either direction along the coast.  For Capetonians, this can be compared to a cleaner version of the V&A Waterfront, Sea Point and Camps Bay, all rolled into one very well-planned coastal area. I’m not sure whether they did this in preparation for the World Cup Soccer, but it looks great and any overseas visitor will be impressed by the grand scale of development.
The N2 to from Durban facilitated a quick journey to Hluhluwe with only a brief stop at Game at the Gateway Mall to purchase a new Canon Eos 1000 for Kruger. Hluhluwe Imfolozi National Park contains all of the big five plus many other creatures. Most of them we saw on our first trip into the camp on the way to the rest camp. The gate guard sent us 20km in the wrong direction and we arrived at Impila Camp instead of Hilltop Camp which was 50km away, due to speed restrictions in the park it would take us another hour and a half to traverse the 50km [plus a R300 fine for being on the road after 6pm] Heather managed to wangle a nights accommodation at Impila. Erica had had enough of the day already and couldn’t be expected to travel further.
This was a blessing in disguise since Impila camp does not have any game fences and the wildlife are free to roam amoungst the cottages and facilities. The cottages were in our opinion, the cleanest and most well maintained accommodation so far and with all three of us feeling better after a few days of illness we turned in early for a very relaxing and comfortable night on the most comfortable mattresses to date.
Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 8 – Garden Castle to Durban

Posted August 27, 2010 By Pheather
The next day was our final day at Lake Naverone we had a relaxed morning while packing our gear, then headed off to the Sani Pass, this time to do it by 4×4. Everything you have heard about how treacherous this route can be is TRUE. Some very rocky and steep inclines plus very sharp corners and precipitous drops make this one of the most dangerous roads in Southern Africa. If that was bad enough throw in some icy rivers for good measure. We were very careful and successfully made our way to the top, yet just as we were reaching the top a taxi, packed to capacity, started tailgating us. Imagine our suprise that this Toyota Hi-Ace Super 12 could possibly make it up this kind of trail, yet apparently they do it every day! I have photos taxis crammed to capacity making the ascent! South Africa does not allow any 2×4 vehicles over from the South African side, but if you are coming from the Lesotho side you can pretty much drive anything you want to. The Lesotho taxi drivers cleverly come only as far as the SA border post, then the passengers cross the border and climb into another taxi waiting on the other side. They have to do this because the taxis would not be allowed back over the SA border post once in SA!
The view from the top is spectacular and its well worth making the journey whether you decide to hike, bike or 4×4, (or catch a taxi!).  The bar at the top is well known and highly spoken of yet we weren’t especially taken with the yuppiness of it and didn’t bother having a drink there with the many gautengers dressed as if they were at a ski-resort, complete with snowboarding goggles. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and Heather was wearing a summer dress – I guess if you’re from the Western Cape you just don’t feel the cold the same way as the Gautengers do. I remember the Gautengers from our diving holiday in 2008, huddling on the boat after the dive in full wetsuits shivering like we were at the north pole and occasionally puking over the side and fouling their expensive brand new Cressi outfits. Heather and I would peel off our short suits as soon as we got topside – after all, the water is always above 20 degrees and just because it’s rainy season doesn’t mean it’s cold in Mozambique!!
We purchased some Lesotho keep sakes from a nearby vendor called the Kings Shop (in a zinc shack) and I bought a Lesotho branded sweat shirt from the customs official.
I thought the descent would be much more difficuly yet it proved to be really easy compared to going up, this must be why the sign states that vehicles coming down are to give way to vehicles coming up.
After a disgusting lunch at the Sani Hotel we refueled in Underberg and made our way to Durban. This time we trusted the GPS on Heather’s new Nokia E72 which got us to Durban in 2.5 hours shaving an hour off the route which is normally recommended. Of course this was another dark Africa detour, yet again with surprisingly good roads. We arrived at the Blue Waters Hotel on the beachfront in central Durban in record time (two hours and thirty minutes). The receptionist could not believe that 3 hours earlier we were in Lesotho.
The hotel was nothing like the pictures on the internet, with grotty rooms, dirty, oily underground parking, porters who are not available when you need help carrying your bags and filthy old carpets with a lived in smell (and too much carpet powder) that one would expect from a cheap porn theatre instead of a hotel. The hooker roaming around in the front of the building added to the ambience as did the drunken Saturday night revellers, Indian drag racers and the noticable police presence. One drunk somehow got trapped in his own car and leaned on his hooter for most of the night in a desperate bid for someone to help him out of his drunken stupidity. Foolishly we ordered room service and got food which made Heather feel ill and which I refused to eat, so we demanded a refund. The food was cold, bland and tasteless. I went out onto the balcony to get some fresh air, trying to avoid the carpet but not succeeding and breathed in a lung full of cigararette smoke emanating from the surrounding balconies. Smoking is not allowed in the hotel rooms but it seems that you can smoke everything short of weed on your balcony. With all of us sick we refused the room upgrade that was offered to us by the manager after we complained, and turned in for a very restless nights sleep. This was the worst R1000 I have ever spent. The hotel breakfast the next morning was unmentionably bad.
Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 7 – Lake Naverone and Sani MTB

Posted August 26, 2010 By Pheather
After an early breakfast we were back on the road early heading for our next stop at Lake Naverone, deep in the heart of the southern Drakensberg near Castle Rock. If yesterdays drive felt rural, then thid days drive felt like deepest darkest Africa. We were impressed with the quality of the homes built here, most of them seemily built by the owners with little or no brick laying experience. Fortunately most of them were well constructed although here and there you could see the house that Jack built. It seems that there is some inniative to encourage small business in the form of brick production in this area, not sure if it is government sponsored but with all the impromptu brick yards we passed it seems that in a few years time this part of the Eastern Cape will look very different.
We arrived at Lake Naverone down a shady tree lined avenue between two picture perfect lakes. I geusse they are picture perfect because they are man made lakes providing water frontage for all of the cottages around them. Dove cottage was set aprt from the rest in a shady copse of trees in front of a third smaller lake, our own private lake except we did share it with a heard of horses. The accommodation was the biggest that we have stayed in yet, almost a house on its own with two large bedrooms a double bed in the one room and 4 beds in the other, a large lounge fireplace, fully stocked kitchen and best of all an anthracite stove to warm the chilly drakensberg air. Although the house was clean and lacked nothing the carpets furnishings and curtains, wall paint, bathroom and toilet all seemed a little tired and dated and in general the entire place needed a little refurbishment at R1400 for two nights we felt that this accommodation should have been in better order, especially since the photographs on the brochure were not the same as what we ended up with. Aside from that we had a wonderful stay here.
On the Saturday I woke up sick having inherited Heathers cold from the day before, but this was the only day available for me to tackle the brutal Sani Pass ride. After an hours drive I parked the Bakkie at the Sani Hotel and set off on my bike. The first 13km up the South African border post was a continous and difficult up hill although not technically challenging immediately after stamping my passport and riding through to the Lesotho side of the trail it suddenly got alot steeper and alot more technical. I managed 5km of the total 8km remaining and then had to turn around due to serious cramping and concern that I may not make it back in time to cross the border before they close at 4pm. Its still extremely cold in this part of the world and there is nothing warm to overnight with on the Lesotho side of the fence unless I can find a friendly baboon.
The return down the mountain was almost more technical than the accent, with me having to compensate for the very steep decline by feathering brakes while attempying not to slide on the loose rocky surface on the Lesotho side. I descended the slope and got back to the Hotel, just in time to receive Heathers sms that she was busy calling mountain rescue because she had not received any of the sms I had sent her during my ride apparently due to poor reception. I was missing from 10am until 3pm.

After an early breakfast we were back on the road early heading for our next stop at Lake Naverone, deep in the heart of the southern Drakensberg near Castle Rock. If yesterdays drive felt rural, then thid days drive felt like deepest darkest Africa. We were impressed with the quality of the homes built here, most of them seemily built by the owners with little or no brick laying experience. Fortunately most of them were well constructed although here and there you could see the house that Jack built. It seems that there is some inniative to encourage small business in the form of brick production in this area, not sure if it is government sponsored but with all the impromptu brick yards we passed it seems that in a few years time this part of the Eastern Cape will look very different.
We arrived at Lake Naverone down a shady tree lined avenue between two picture perfect lakes. I geusse they are picture perfect because they are man made lakes providing water frontage for all of the cottages around them. Dove cottage was set aprt from the rest in a shady copse of trees in front of a third smaller lake, our own private lake except we did share it with a heard of horses. The accommodation was the biggest that we have stayed in yet, almost a house on its own with two large bedrooms a double bed in the one room and 4 beds in the other, a large lounge fireplace, fully stocked kitchen and best of all an anthracite stove to warm the chilly drakensberg air. Although the house was clean and lacked nothing the carpets furnishings and curtains, wall paint, bathroom and toilet all seemed a little tired and dated and in general the entire place needed a little refurbishment at R1400 for two nights we felt that this accommodation should have been in better order, especially since the photographs on the brochure were not the same as what we ended up with. Aside from that we had a wonderful stay here.
On the Saturday I woke up sick having inherited Heathers cold from the day before, but this was the only day available for me to tackle the brutal Sani Pass ride. After an hours drive I parked the Bakkie at the Sani Hotel and set off on my bike. The first 13km up the South African border post was a continous and difficult up hill although not technically challenging immediately after stamping my passport and riding through to the Lesotho side of the trail it suddenly got alot steeper and alot more technical. I managed 5km of the total 8km remaining and then had to turn around due to serious cramping and concern that I may not make it back in time to cross the border before they close at 4pm. Its still extremely cold in this part of the world and there is nothing warm to overnight with on the Lesotho side of the fence unless I can find a friendly baboon.
The return down the mountain was almost more technical than the accent, with me having to compensate for the very steep decline by feathering brakes while attempying not to slide on the loose rocky surface on the Lesotho side. I descended the slope and got back to the Hotel, just in time to receive Heathers sms that she was busy calling mountain rescue because she had not received any of the sms I had sent her during my ride apparently due to poor reception. I was missing from 10am until 3pm.

Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 6 – Karoo to Drakensberg

Posted August 25, 2010 By Pheather
Woke up to a beautiful clear Karoo morning. We decided to get an early start to see if any early grazers were up for breakfast.  Today we planned to do one of the three 4×4 routes – hopefully see more game on these less-used routes. Turns out that it was an AWESOME 4×4 experience but not much game to be seen – we saw some of the animals we saw yesterday and the only new ones included the ground squirrels and a red mongoose with a white tipped tail.  Not sure if the mongoose was allowed in the park ’cause he wasn’t on the brochure, so maybe he snuck in under the electrified fence and started squatting.
We enjoyed some challenging rocky ascents and dry riverbeds on the Umgeni Circle, with Erica blissfully rocked to sleep. That done it was almost midday and it was time to hit the road again and head for Elliot where we would be staying at a three star hotel 20km from the city centre. We had no idea what we were in for as that was the only hotel we could find in Elliot. We skipped lunch in Cradock in favour of stopping at a 1 stop, except as we soon discovered there were no 1 stops along this part of the Eastern Cape which we believe runs through on of the formeer homelands. The roads were in an impressive conditions, comparable to other semi major routes such as the R27 between Cape Town and Langebaan and the road to Hermanus. Lots of thatch roofed rondawels zink roofed rondawels, little rondawels, big rondawels, pink and blue ones made it feel like we were driving through a gigantic box of smarties. The homesteads consisted of small lots with enough space for a small hut and a little bit of subsistance farming. Cows goats sheep and even the odd donkey or horse roamed everywhere including across the road seemingly oblivious to the high speed death rushing towards them from all sides. Having vowed last year never to ride through homelands again here we were on the other side of the Eastern Cape doing just that. Thanks to good roads and a full tank of gas we got to Elliot fairly quickly and then began the 22km trip towards the Hotel. Along this route we soon became aware that the elevation was increasing rapidly and we soon realised that the road was taking us up into the south most part of the Drakensberg, impressive cliff faces and lush vegetation made this one of the most beautiful drives on our trip so far.
The Mountain Shadows was nestled deep and high up in the heart of the southern Drakensberg at 2050 meters above sea level. First impressions of this three star hotel felt more like arriving at a 5 star hotel. The welcome we got from Kobus was hearty and genuine and within a few minutes a very warn out trio were ensconsed in the comfort of a detached hotel room – this hotel chooses to have the rooms detached from the reception, bar and dining area which is great for privacy and comfort. Tired as she was little Erica achieved another one of her first milestones by standing up and taking one step before falling down on her little bum. Looks like she’ll be running about very soon. Erica was unsettled from the long drive and probaly a little dazzled by all the colourful huts so as hungry as we all were we had to take turns eating. Heather went to the fine dining room to enjoy a meal comparable to a sunday roast and I stayed at the room to feed Erica her bottle of milk. Fortunately Erica went to sleep quickly and Heather wolfed down her food attracting a few surprised looks to that I could have a chance to go to the dining room, I unceremoniously wolfed down the gormet dinner.
AT R940 for dinner bed and breakfast for two adults we thought it was a little steep but after enjoying the bean soup, roast beef and veal pie with a delicious vegetable spread followed by tasty cheese cake we both agree it was worth every cent.

Woke up to a beautiful clear Karoo morning. We decided to get an early start to see if any early grazers were up for breakfast.  Today we planned to do one of the three 4×4 routes – hopefully see more game on these less-used routes. Turns out that it was an AWESOME 4×4 experience but not much game to be seen – we saw some of the animals we saw yesterday and the only new ones included the ground squirrels and a red mongoose with a white tipped tail.  Not sure if the mongoose was allowed in the park ’cause he wasn’t on the brochure, so maybe he snuck in under the electrified fence and started squatting.
We enjoyed some challenging rocky ascents and dry riverbeds on the Umgeni Circle, with Erica blissfully rocked to sleep. That done it was almost midday and it was time to hit the road again and head for Elliot where we would be staying at a three star hotel 20km from the city centre. We had no idea what we were in for as that was the only hotel we could find in Elliot. We skipped lunch in Cradock in favour of stopping at a 1 stop, except as we soon discovered there were no 1 stops along this part of the Eastern Cape which we believe runs through on of the formeer homelands. The roads were in an impressive conditions, comparable to other semi major routes such as the R27 between Cape Town and Langebaan and the road to Hermanus. Lots of thatch roofed rondawels zink roofed rondawels, little rondawels, big rondawels, pink and blue ones made it feel like we were driving through a gigantic box of smarties. The homesteads consisted of small lots with enough space for a small hut and a little bit of subsistance farming. Cows goats sheep and even the odd donkey or horse roamed everywhere including across the road seemingly oblivious to the high speed death rushing towards them from all sides. Having vowed last year never to ride through homelands again here we were on the other side of the Eastern Cape doing just that. Thanks to good roads and a full tank of gas we got to Elliot fairly quickly and then began the 22km trip towards the Hotel. Along this route we soon became aware that the elevation was increasing rapidly and we soon realised that the road was taking us up into the south most part of the Drakensberg, impressive cliff faces and lush vegetation made this one of the most beautiful drives on our trip so far.
The Mountain Shadows was nestled deep and high up in the heart of the southern Drakensberg at 2050 meters above sea level. First impressions of this three star hotel felt more like arriving at a 5 star hotel. The welcome we got from Kobus was hearty and genuine and within a few minutes a very warn out trio were ensconsed in the comfort of a detached hotel room – this hotel chooses to have the rooms detached from the reception, bar and dining area which is great for privacy and comfort. Tired as she was little Erica achieved another one of her first milestones by standing up and taking one step before falling down on her little bum. Looks like she’ll be running about very soon. Erica was unsettled from the long drive and probaly a little dazzled by all the colourful huts so as hungry as we all were we had to take turns eating. Heather went to the fine dining room to enjoy a meal comparable to a sunday roast and I stayed at the room to feed Erica her bottle of milk. Fortunately Erica went to sleep quickly and Heather wolfed down her food attracting a few surprised looks to that I could have a chance to go to the dining room, I unceremoniously wolfed down the gormet dinner.
AT R940 for dinner bed and breakfast for two adults we thought it was a little steep but after enjoying the bean soup, roast beef and veal pie with a delicious vegetable spread followed by tasty cheese cake we both agree it was worth every cent.

Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 5 – Addo to Mountain Zebra National Park

Posted August 24, 2010 By Pheather

The beds at Addo are really comfortable and they have jazzed up the facilities since our last visit.  That could explain the R100 increase in price to R840 per cabin.

We woke up bright and early, 6:30am wake-up call courtesy of Erica our beloved little munchkin. A nice warm bottle of milk and our hungry little spud was appeased.  We had a quick cereal then packed our gear back into the bakkie – checkout from Addo is at 10am, so we decided we’d rather pack up early then take our time cruising through the game area. While packing, we got our first sighting of Buffalo right in front of our chalet! Last time we searched everywhere for them with no luck!

Erica had her first real fall when she went down a low step in her walker. Poor kid now has a big blue lump on her forehead – mom and dad felt really bad that we could not prevent it, but I guess you learn these lessons as you go.

Besides Erica’s fall, the day was off to a good start. Shortly after re-entering the game area we happened upon a mother elephant with two younger calfs. They were eating the brush right next to the road so we stopped about 20 metres away.  The thing about elephants, is that they have legs. So those legs carried them forwards and right up next to our vehicle. We could have reached out the passenger side of the vehicle and touched one! We could hear the heavy breathing and then a deep rumbling sound as the mother called her calves nearer.  We were worried for a few anxious seconds when the mother elephant was behind us and the one calf was in front of us . . . not a good idea to get between an elephant and her calf!  The baby caught up to mommy and we relaxed, reaching for the wet wipes to clear the stains off the seats of our pants.  This experience was at once awesome and terrifying.  The bakkie was dwarfed by mommy elephant.  I have no doubt she could crush the cabin with a few well-placed strikes using her front legs.

Onward we went and the experience just got better.  We got close up to another mother and two calves, this time on the other side of the vehicle.  They slowly moved off in a group, apparently unperturbed by our approach.

Further down this track, called the Gorah Loop, we saw a group of elephants to the right of us, moving in a direction which we assumed was towards the water hole.  We continued driving, hoping that the road would curve enough to get us closer to them.  Rounding the next bend, we passed some Burchell’s Zebra, bush pigs and a few Kudu with hardly a second thought; we were foucussed on getting to the water hole.

Rounding the next bend we saw a vista of elephants. They were dotted in groups all over the grassy areas to either side of the road, happily munching away.  This must be the main group towards which the smaller group of elephants were making their way. We identified a spot where the track approached close by to a group of females with calves, and switched the vehicle off.  Again the elephants used those mastadonian legs and within a few minutes were very close to us, too close for me to start the engine in case they became startled. So we chose to sit tight and see whether they would continue towards us or divert in another direction.  One assumes wild animals prefer to stay clear of humans, after all.  Again, this assumption proved incorrect; the greater part of the herd began walking directly towards us, and in a few seconds they were all around the vehicle, with heavy breathing and elephantine rumbling. They are incredibly well-coordinated creatures – they flowed past our vehicle close enough to brush it but not one of them so much as whacked their tail against us. I have a priceless photograph of the expression of wonderment on Erica’s face – this experience is by far the best we could expect with any wild animal, and I’m so glad Erica got to see it.

After that there was nothing else that could beat it.  We enjoyed a peaceful lunch at the well-planned picnic area near the main water hole, then it was time to hit the road again.  Next stop was Cradock for lunch at the Wimpy and then about 15km onwards to the Mountain Zebra National Park.  This park is set in the Karoo, and similarly to the Karoo National Park it is situated in an arid area amongst mesa formations and interesting geographical formations in every direction as far as the eye can see.  It is truly breathtaking and leaves you feeling awed and humbled by the sheer size and beauty of this desert landscape.

After check-in there was just enough time to do a quick self-drive before sunset, during which we spotted numerous Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Kudu, Blesbok, Springbok and of course, Zebra.  As we were heading back, we got the closest sighting yet of Zebra crossing the road in front of us.  Instead of bolting, they casually settled at the side of the road and started grazing.  This was a great photo opportunity – I hope my pics look OK after not using the flash. I didn’t want to startle them especially because the flash would have been far more noticeable in the late afternoon shadow.  We could not get close to the Wildebeest, which other than the Black Rhino and Cheetah is the main attraction here, so we’re going to tackle some of the rougher trails tomorrow where 4×4 is a requirement.  Who knows, maybe we’ll see the Black Rhino too!

We just realised that we’ve done game drives in two national parks in one day!  Might be an interesting challenge to try to better this!

Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 4 – Tsitsikamma to Addo

Posted August 23, 2010 By Pheather
Woke up bright and early 6:45 am – thanks Erica for making sure we don;t oversleep! We decided to hike quite early so after a quick breakfast of Pro Nutro and coffee we started our walk to the new Wilderness suspension bridge, constructed only last year.
A very pleasant walk through shady forest brought us to the suspension bridge spanning the mouth of the Storms River. A very intimidating sight at first, it made us think of Indiana Jones crossing perilous rope bridges with natives in hot pursuit. Fortunately we were sans the natives, and the bridge was constructed of industrial stainless steel, anchored to each side by monolithic concrete blocks re-inforced with steel.  Must have cost a fortune, but what an impressive sight!  After a few stalling tactics taking nervous photos of each other in front of the bridge, Heather boldly stepped on first and started crossing, and then me with my Erica-backpack. Towards the centre the bounce became quite unnerving, so much so that each time I had to glance at the thick industrial strength cables on either side to reassure myself that we would not be taking a random plunge into the churning waters far below (now I know why they call it the Storms River!).
The bridge is actually incredibly strong, even in appearance, and the sign says it is rated for 25 people.  There is a hiking trail which continues on from the far side of the bridge but we were short of time and needed to get back on the road, so started to head back over the bridge. Lo and behold, there were two more bridges running along the length of the bank we had just come from!  Looks like SANParks went all out on this one (low whistle).
Well, here we are, there’s no way we’re not crossing the other two so back across we went and then braved the remaining 2 bridges. These led us back up the mountain up a different path and eventually wound back to the small beach and not so small restaurant at the start of the trail.  Quite a lot of action packed into just 1.8km, round trip!
Oh and almost forgot, a large-bodied black spider dropped onto the back of my leg – Heather ordered me to stop instantly (I’m thinking SNAKE!),  then said “I don’t actually know what to do!” just in time for the spider to scurry away under the walkway.  She wanted to swat the spider off but didn’t want to use her hand! Needless to say, we frisked Erica and each other very well before continuing!
Back on the road again, we stopped for lunch near PE in a leafy area called “Ocean View”. The restaurant was called Barnacles, highly recommended in a Tourism Brochure , so we thought what the hell and showed up in a hungry state. Being a Monday afternoon, off-season, we had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Erica had an absolute ball, crawling all over the place and actually ended up in the kitchen when we took our eyes off her for a second. She’s learning to stand up on her own and we reckon she’ll be walking before she turns 9 months.
Service at Barnacles was friendly and quick – although they specialise in seafood, I had the Oxtail special and Heather ordered a Spud with toppings.  The Oxtail was delicious – for only R86 half my plate was meat and the other half was home-made veggies. Heather’s spud was covered in so much bacon, cheese,spinach, mushrooms and veg that she had to do a fair amount of digging to find out out if there was actually a potato somewhere under all of it. The good food, strong coffee and relaxing view over the ocean refreshed us for the last leg of our day’s drive.
A side note: A funny thing we noticed about Ocean View, was that we kept seeing old classic cars in varying stages of decomposition parked outside places of business, some with signage and some without.  We counted 3 in the short stretch from the N2 into Ocean View.  Must be some kind of fad.
Also in this area is Lion Park, which we skipped (hey we’re going to Kruger) but this may be a worth a visit for anyone not prepared to drive too far.  We also went past a Rhino sanctuary not far from Lion Park which looks like the type of place you may as well visit if you’re visiting the Lions.
The last hour and a half to Addo was uneventful with boring countryside. I’m glad I had the two coffees.  We drove past GM Motor’s factory which I really wanted to visit – I’m sure I could slip past security in my Ford Ranger and with a bit of luck negotiate a quick tour of the factory. Sadly time was not on our side and we still wanted to do an afternoon game drive at Addo before the 5:30pm lockdown (in summer they lock up a little later at 6:30pm).
After driving through the town of Addo, I suddenly realised that I didn’t even bother to look at anything in the town.  It really is that small and uninteresting.  I wonder if the town of Addo came into being because of the game park, or vice-versa?  I’ll have to look this up on Google when I get some decent internet speed.
Just outside the town of Addo is the Reptile Park, which we’ve visited before. They have a few crocs and a very good range of snakes – it’s worth a visit if you come to Addo and I recall the entry fee wasn’t much.  By the way, you just can’t get fresh food in the town of Addo, unless you eat at the one restaurant. So stock up on fresh veg, fruit and meat beforehand.
We arrived at Addo at 4pm, collected our key and went straight into the game section. Saw a few sparse elephants, lots of Kudu, some bosvarke and only one or two tiny dung beetles (they were much bigger and plentiful in January 2009, must be a summer thing).
When we arrived at the Harpoor water hole we lucked upon a mother elly with a juvenile and a baby. They had just finished at the water hole and were crossing the road directly in front of us, just a few metres from our car.  This was a great sighting, but we are hoping to see a lot more in the morning.  Last year we counted around 75 elephants at this same watering hole – we’re hoping to catch them early tomorrow morning for their sunrise ablutions.
Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 3 – Wilderness to Tsitsikamma

Posted August 22, 2010 By Pheather
Erica woke us up bright and early at 6am. Finished sleeping and bouncing like a baby.  We dragged our tired carcasses out of bed and started packing our gear. I was planning to do the nearby mountain bike course but sudden heavy rainfall and cold put a quick end to that idea.  The MTB trail is accessible from the campsite and winds up a very steep hill. Heather and I are having and ongoing debate about whether the term “meander” or “snaking” is more applicable to narrow mountain trails or wider jeep tracks – sadly still no conclusion but my take is that only narrow paths can snake up a mountainside while wider roads meander.  I was told by the local adventure company that the ride is incredibly tough but the veiw from the top is well worth it!    We’ve decided to return in a few weeks time to do this trail in better weather – plus the accommodation is excellent and at only R385 for entire cabin the Ebb and Flow Rest Camp at the Wilderness National Park is great value for money.
We left Wilderness at 9am.  Stopped in Knysna for a coffee at the viewing point over the heads (no chance of cycling Harkerville Forest in this rain), then went onwards towards Plett.
En-route we stopped off at the Wolf Sanctuary.  Erica was not interested in the wolves, black-backed jackals or hyenas, but instead was enthralled by the goats playing on various obstacles created for them. It is unbelievable what a goat can balance on – I have pics of goats casually walking on poles which ants would think twice about! Erica loved the babies and the inquisitive Emu’s who came up to the fence. The tour cost only R60 per person (kids R20, babies free) and afterwards you are free to picnic while the kids play on the well-constructed playgyms or the petting zoo (wolves are unfortunately not included! Just bunnies, goats, emu’s, tortoises and anything that generally won’t take your hand off).
We got Spur take-out in Plett and then resumed our journey.  By this time the rain was coming down quite heavily. The countryside was green and lush in all directions. August is a beautiful time of year to travel, plus the weather is not too hot.
Onwards and we arrived at Nature’s Valley reception at 2pm, but unfortunately could not find the SANParks guy who was supposed to give us the key to our cabin.  We saw some scuffmarks in the dirt which gave us the answer – he was dragged off into the bush by 3 baboons who mistook him for a breeding female. Either that or he was having a very late lunch. Forty minutes later, with Erica due for her nap, our options were (a) break into a chalet or (b) get SANParks to arrange accommodation at their nearby Tsitsikamma Reserve.  Despite waiting 40 minutes for the guy on the longest lunch ever, sanity prevailed and Heather managed to arrange upgraded accommodation at no extra charge at Tsitsikamma. This turned out to be a much better location than Nature’s Valley with awesome views over a turbulent sea.  Well constructed kiddies playpools and natural rockpools along the jagged coastline make it very safe to swim. The campsites and caravan stands are well apportioned, and all the log cabins are nestled in the original forest of the area. In this primeval Lord of the Rings setting, I felt a little like Frodo, but that soon changed to Saramon when I found out the toilet seat was busted.  The camp cavalry arrived quickly and after a quick pit stop we were saved from the prospect of hovering or descending on cold porcelain for the rest of our stay.
Sadly no microwave or kettle is  available to warm up baby bottles, but there is a nearby outdoor kitchen with a hot water urn which does the job. Heather took advantage of the very good laundry facilities and while waiting took a little walk. Desperate for a microwave, she watched a newly arrived group unpacking to see if they had a microwave. This must have looked sinister in the semi darkness, especially with Heather’s hood pulled up against the cold, ’cause soon after they went inside and closed the curtains. Heather suddenly realised that she was still watching them through the windows – just like a stalker! We had a good laugh about this when she got back to our cabin.
Tsitsikamma’s SANPark has a suspension bridge which we’re going to walk across tomorrow to start our hike. Garth gave me a great child-carrier backpack for Erica, complete with sunshade and beer-holders! This should be a lot easier than negotoating obstacles with the pram or attempting to carry all 10kg of baby for the duration of the hike – that doesn’t sound heavy but just try it for just 1km and you’ll see how 10kg starts to feel like 20kg.
Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park

Day 1 and 2 – Fisherhaven to De Hoop

Posted August 21, 2010 By Pheather

So we finally managed to clear our desks, but cut it so fine that our bumprints hardly had time to erase themselves from our office chairs.  Throw in a punctured bicycle tyre, the late pick-up of Heather’s new cellphone and a stop in Napier to check Erica’s sore throat, it’s a wonder we managed to make De Hoop at 6:30pm yesterday.

We arrived in semi-darkness.  Little Erica slept like a, well . . . like a baby, the entire way.  Turning into the dirt drive leading up to the chalets, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by many breeds of antelope and what we thought were Zebra.  We switched off our headlights to see better (I know that sounds odd) and continued to crawl forward in the bakkie.  We got quite close and saw that the “Zebra” were quite small with poorly-defined stripes, probably the result of attempts to re-breed the extinct Quagga into existence.  It probably says something about this on the brochure which I’ll post here when I get a chance to dig it out.

We could not see much at night as we moved our gear into the rondawel, but we guessed that we were right next to the lake.  The night sounds of water birds drifted over the water towards us.  De Hoop is very quiet at this time of year which adds to the ambiance.  I confronted five large ants as we stepped inside the rondawel – they took a fair amount of killing and we made doubly sure their buddies were not hiding under the beds to exact revenge during the night!  Once the perimeter was secured, a quick supper of Pro-Nutro was all we had energy for, then we pushed the two single sleepers together and created a bed for 3.

Next morning we opened the door to a panoramic view over the water and bush, with myriad species of birds busily attending to their morning schedules. One such bird had a breakfast meeting with us – how the hell does a pheasant eat porridge off a step?  One would think a beak is most unsuitable for the task, yet not a scrap of porridge remained!  Obviously this pheasant’s mother taught it manners because it ate all it’s food and did not come into the rondawel without an invitation.  We were however keeping an eye on the troupe of baboons arriving on the opposite bank who apparently need no such invitation.

Heather braved the chilly morning for a refreshing outdoor shower.  The facilities at De Hoop are immaculate, and all this for only R430 per night, off-season. They even remembered to include a two-prong plug!  For those who prefer camping, there are vast level grassy areas perfect for pitching a tent. While we were looking at the almost-empty campsite, we spotted some Ostriches nearby breakfasting on the abundant wild fig.  Erica was quite astounded by the size of them – just wait till we get to Kruger!

De Hoop is awesomely beautiful.  We did not have time to visit the restaurant, river mouth, sand dunes,  4×4 and MTB course, but we will definitely return on the first long weekend which presents itself.

Back on the road this morning just before 9am, heading toward Malgas.  They have a pont there which we wanted to check out, having never crossed a river in this manner before. I was expecting some kind of motor-driven barge, but instead we encountered a large floating slab of pavement pulled along by no more than the strength of 3 men!!  Of course, they need lots of rest so we didn’t spot them at first sleeping in the bushes on the opposite bank.  We drove to the nearby Malgas B&B and obtained cellphone numbers to call the pont to our side of the river.  This massive, floating bulk of tar and concrete held the weight of 3 bakkies without appearing to sink even slightly.  The 3 ropesmen casually walked up and down, pulling on the guide rope without much effort. I still can’t believe how this setup actually works – they do it 7 days a week, 365 days a year during office hours.

The pont was a great experience.  After a brief moment of panic when we got underway, the ride across the river was actually quite novel.  Sitting ensconced in the comfort of the bakkie while being ferried across the Breede River in absolute silence.  We’ve decided to do some more pont-tourism, crossing rivers in this manner whenever and wherever we get the chance!

So the next stop was a Wimpy on the N2 to have a break and re-gas.  Except the gas was coming from us after a double egg breakfast. We both started at the same time shortly after leaving the Wimpy – man what do they put in those eggs!

Confined cabin space forced us off the road into the safety of a den of Lions – I’m not even kidding!  This den of lions was called Jukani Predator Park and cost R85 per head to enter. We joined a tour of the very well-maintained premises where lions, tigers, leopard, cheetah, caracul and wild dogs are free to roam . . . in their spacious enclosures, that is!  They also had some white lions and white tigers set up just on the other side of a fence from an unsuspecting cow – the tigers perpetually stalk the none-the-wiser cow but are always a wire’s width away from closing the deal.  Apparently this is to keep them amused, but even if they got out of the enclosure they wouldn’t know what to do with the cow.  Food in Jukani travels by wheel and not by legs. The wheel is attached to a wheelbarrow, which should never be brought into the enclosure.  The tigers are sure to hunt both barrow and bearer into extinction!

All these predators consume a lot of food.  The surrounding farmers phone in when they have livestock deaths which are not related to diseases which can be passed on through the meat.  If a mad cow is a bugger, can you imagine a mad lion!

After our brief stop we were feeling fresh and rested.  We deemed it safe to enter the cabin and proceed carefully to our next destination – Wilderness SANPark.  For those who are hungry most of the time, like myself, there is no SPAR in Wilderness.  You can drive back about 6km to George (which was not an option for us – we avoid large towns as much as possible) or you can drive a further 15km to Sedgefield where you can obtain all the usual deli delights plus the most KICK-ASS chicken pie this side of the equator.  There was so much chicken that the crust seemed like a pointless formality. And what crust there was, was crispy and brown.  Not like those half-cooked, tepid pastries you find near Cape Town.

So after scoffing our pies in transit, using nothing but bare fingers in the absence of suitable plastics,  we finally arrived at Wilderness just in time to check in at 4:50pm. This immaculately maintained park offers quaint log cabins along the river banks, with well-apportioned braai areas and parking for two vehicles – I think Heather said it was about R490 for the cabin.  The bungalows all have full shower bathrooms and look brand new.  There is DSTV in the mian building, and we arrived just in time for me to not watch the Springboks lose to the All Blacks by a hair’s breadth.  I walked right past it during the Haka and proceeded to light the fire for our all-kebab cast. Told you we get hungry!

Some fatty chicken, a hot shower and an unopened Toblerone later, I’m about to join Heather and Erica in our two-sleeps-three arrangement.  What’s with all the single beds?

Categories: Road trip to Kruger National Park