3 Days in S Africa's Kruger National Park

Klipspringers check out the US Tourists

We are fortunate to spend 3 days here at Kruger National Park, the largest of South Africa's parks – 7,500 square miles of protected land, one of the largest parks in the world! We're in Buffalo Rock Camp located on the southwest corner, not far from Mozambique. We have guides that drive us around in Safari (jeep-like) vehicles on dirt roads through the preserve. They are skilled in spotting animals. The goal of most tourists is to spot the BIG FIVE: Elephant, Cape




Joanne with the handsome park guides

Water Buffalo, Rhino, Lion and Leopard. There is no guarantee to see them, but they do their best! And, there are many other fascinating animals to see and unusual birds to spot.

Elephant grazes in "the wild"

The camp is made of individual tents with indoor bathrooms, comfortable beds with soft blankets. There are 12 people in our tour from all over the U.S. Most are retired or semi-retired, active and interesting people. Food is spectacular. There is a camp chef who tries to please. Meals are outdoor affairs that rival anything you can find in a nice restaurant. As an example, breakfast was eggs, waffles, fruit, fresh coffee and teas – you get the idea! Lunch was fresh salads, a pan fried mild white fish called hake, grilled chicken, salads, etc. Dinner around the campfire consisted of appetizers, Greek salad, charcoal grilled steaks with stuffed baked potatoes, veggies, bread, wonderful S African wines and beer, cheesecake and flan. Awesome!

Last night, we had a camp visitor: a young male elephant decided he liked our tree outside our tent. We were told to be quiet and let him enjoy his dinner. He was a noisy eater! We were told this only happens occasionally so we felt lucky that he chose us. This morning we went on a bush hike. We had to stay close to our guides (who carried loaded rifles) just in case...We saw a small herd of elephants and water buffalo. He pointed out female leopard tracks. It was really fun. Later today, we'll go on a sunset drive to spot some of the nocturnal animals.

Does anyone know what FEMALE ABLUTION means?

Richard's favorite zebra

 
 We still have another full day here. We will then fly to Zimbabwe to visit Hwange National Park which is known for its herds of sable antelope.

African sunset

Johannesburg

Johannesburg Tour - We booked a 4-hour tour with another American couple from Atlanta who will take a different Overseas Adventure Tour (OAT). Some observations - Freeways are modern like those in the USA and also like the freeways in big USA cities, congested.  Walls topped with razor wire surround almost all houses. Almost everyone we saw on the streets, shops and cars was black.  It was a strange feeling to be in the minority.  The guide related that their country is experiencing similar challenges as the U.S.  Many people are pouring in from poorer African nations.  There are problems with drugs especially in these "foreign" inhabited sections.  The guide took us to an interesting Zulu Shop.  Here are herbs made from the bones of wild animals that their healers (aka "witch doctors") use to hopefully, cure ailments.  They also use native plants to find remedies for illness.

Nelson Mandela

The highlight of the tour were the visits to Nelson Mandela's law office and home.  We were educated in depth about the struggle of the people again discrimination and apartheid.  He spent many years in prison, paying a high price for himself and the African people.  After 26 years he was freed and became a national hero to his people, much as Martin Luther King is to ours.  We saw many of his awards, plaques and recognitions from around the world.  We  also visited the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto.  This chronicled the killing of young children who in 1976  protested when  the white government decided to change their language to Afrikan.  It was a touching memorial for the rights of the black South African people,

Other interesting facts from our guide ... Unemployment is almost 40% and the government is considering lowering the retirement age from 65 to 60 or younger with the hope that jobs will open up for its youth.  Health care is free for the population and most everyone receives a government pension of about $100 per month upon retirement.  There are mostly 2 classes:  the rich and the poor with very little middle class.  We saw slums around the city with people living in shacks without indoor plumbing.  We also saw very pretty prosperous areas with nice homes.  Government corruption is rampant.  Recently, the current leader built a "government paid-for" home that cost in the millions while the population struggles. By the way, the downtown area has pretty skyscrapers.   In other areas of the city, we saw women walking with their husbands carrying heavy loads on their heads and arms, while their husband walked unencumbered next to them.  So much for women's rights!

The country makes most of its money in mining - particularly platinum and gold. Like we saw in Costa Rica, even the poor have cell phones and the guide said that those in the slums somehow manage to acquire a flat screen television.  Most know all about U.S. politics and watch many of our movies.  Our influence is felt here.  Below are some interesting photos.  Note the "non white" shop.  Tomorrow, we fly out to the beautiful Kruger National Park and will get our first view of wild animals.





African Steps to the prison - statue represents losing possessions




Raw Material for Witch Doctors

Nice skyscrapers in city center

HUGE Soccer Stadium
 

African Safari Time

The lure of Africa hit us last year and we've spent many an hour researching the best tour company for us to explore this land.  We settled on Overseas Adventure Tours (OAT) because we've heard from friends that they run a great tour at a fair price with no more than 12-14 people in the group.  We also like that we will experience A day in the Life of a Village near Victoria Falls.  Our tour is Southern Africa that includes the countries of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana.  It's 18 days plus we added a few more days to stay on in beautiful Cape Town.

Our plane flight leaves from Tampa, Florida and takes us to Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C.  From there we change planes for a direct flight to Johannesburg.  Our journey will take us to Kruger National Park, Hwange National Park, Victoria Falls, Impalila Island, Namibia, Chobe National Park, and then onto Cape Town.  We are looking forward to the Safari rides to view the animals and Richard can't wait to take photographs.

We chose to leave in August because it is the dry season there (less bugs and rain) and their "winter."  That means we can expect lows in the 40's and highs in the 70's.  That sounds good to us as we've been experiencing hot weather here in Punta Gorda.  We could use a little cool air.

We will try to update this blog from Africa, but you can imagine that the internet won't always be available.  We will do our best and fill in later, if need be,   The adventure begins on Monday, August 15.

Visiting our friends in Asheville, North Carolina

Richard, & Joanne with Betty & Richard enjoying the hike

Betty & Joanne take a dip in the waterfall run off - Nice!

Allegiant Airlines had a summer getaway sale.  We couldn't resist hopping on a plane right here in Punta Gorda and just 1-1/2 hours later we touched down in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina.  Our traveling buddies, Betty & Richard, were waiting for us.  What a great time we had catching up and sharing in Asheville adventures.  In one short week, we hiked some great trails, gazed at magnificent waterfalls, drove through the mountains, and even had time for a massage and salt air room meditation!  Check out the picture of the 4 of us.  Not too bad for us retired people!

Indigo Star

We purchased a Mainship 400 2006 trawler! Known as Rising Glass, she was berthed at the Sarasota Yacht Club for three years. Her first owner, Jake Dye, fellow IYC member and former commodore, had named her Rare Indigo. We are the third owners. She is now Indigo Star. 

 Following a sea trail and general and engine surveys, John Jorgensen and Ron Vendegna helped us bring her down to Punta Gorda.  Our trip home was uneventful other than running hard up the harbor to beat a big, bad, and black thunderstorm racing up from Fort Myers. 

Last week we had her hauled out at the Punta Gorda Marina to replace a few seacocks. Now we are busy cleaning up the boat, making minor repairs and generally figuring out what is what.

Goodbye to Eagle's Wings!



Beautiful Eagle's Wings sailing down Charlotte Harbor

It's been hard to write about selling our beautiful sailboat, Eagle's Wings, a 2003 model 350 Catalina, #37.  We had such a wonderful time over the 13 years we owned her! This boat kept me sane when I was working a very stressful job because every weekend I knew I could go down to the marina and chill out aboard her.  Not only did Eagle's Wings provide lots of adventures and growth opportunities learning to sail her, the greatest joy was in all the friends we met along the way!

I'll remember the great Texas locations especially the Houston Ship Channel experiences sailing along with the super tankers.  Also, it was great fun talking to the Texas/Louisiana barge operators when we called them asking for a pass on their "one whistle" or "two whistle" side.    We loved the Texas Mariners Cruising Association (TMCA) events, especially the French Picnics in Double Bayou.  It was also fun going down to Moody Gardens in Galveston and traversing the St Bernard River.  All the friends we met in TMCA and in Waterford Harbor Marina were great.  Some of them were/are: John & Peggy Allison, Doc & Monica Mulloy, Barry & dear Barb Dupuy, Gloria & Mike Rooney, Lorna & Dave Glascock, Sue Bertram, Steve O'Brien & Alice, Ron Eddleman, Patrice  & Lee Mixon, Renne Siewers, Phillip Kropf, Gina Gibson, Sue & Hank Knippa, Marion & Ed Herndon, Karen & Alan Albrecht, Kat Ley & Doug Haberman ....and lots more!

With her beautiful spinnaker near Houston Ship Channel

Upon retirement, Richard had a wonderful adventure sailing and motoring Eagle's Wings here to southwest Florida with Captain Bill and his crew of guys - Barry & Bill.  They had quite an adventure that involved even taking the boat on a detour down the Mississippi River.  Florida has such gorgeous cruising and anchoring destinations e.g., Pelican Bay and terrific marinas to visit.  The highlight was sailing Eagle's Wings in 2011 to the Exuma Island Chain of the Bahamas.  We made it all the way down to Georgetown.  It was a wonderful time that we chronicled in this blog.  Then in 2014, we took her to the Abacos in the Bahamas -  gorgeous blue water and awesome snorkeling with new friends that we made along the way!



Anchored on the Bahama Banks on way to Exumas

We decided it was time to sell her and move on to a trawler.  We'll be able to cruise into areas that have been unavailable to sail boaters and hopefully, it will be easier for Richard to maintain.  We sold Eagle's Wings to a wonderful new owner, who is renaming her Chance.  He will sail her up to North Carolina waters where we hope she will be well maintained and loved.   Goodbye to a wonderful boat and hello to new boating adventures!

Mystery Cruise with the PGIslanders' Boating Club

3 catamarans hosted 40 PGIslander' sleuths at Mystery Cruise

Richard came up with a great idea to create a Mystery Cruise to Cayo Costa, a beautiful boat-only accessible park here in southwest Florida.  We floated the idea with the PGIslander's, our boat club, and before we knew it, the planning began.  We developed the cruise over a few months over dinners at our club member's homes.  It was originally scheduled in January, but because of bad weather, rescheduled to March 4-6.

Nancy & Steve ponder the clues on Punta Blanca
 

The mystery involved a lost treasure that snowbirds had buried somewhere in the Cayo Costa area.  There were a variety of clues that the snowbirds left on Cayo Costa that were identified by the boater sleuths.  Examples of snowbird items left were:  a snowflake, ice skates, an icicle, hockey puck, snowman, snowbird, a glove, snowballs...you get the idea!

Forty PGIslanders took part in the treasure hunt with 19 boats anchored in Pelican Bay.  Three club member's catamarans served as the "party platform" where we started off the mystery with a pot luck and listening to some ghost recordings that offered clues.  The next morning the hunt was "on"... There were 4 teams with names of Doc Ford, Sherlock, Joe Friday and the Shadow.  It was very competitive.  All the teams were able to find their respective treasure that was buried 5 ft from a cross on Punta Blanca. 

The Joe Friday Team celebrates finding treasure

The winners were determined on Saturday night by how many questions about the mystery that they answered correctly.  Everyone gathered for a taco dinner on the catamarans and the victorious team was Doc Ford!   It was a spectacular event with wonderful participation and a fun time was had by all.