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runawaywidow · 5 years

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The Uber drivers were plentiful, but not always well marked. The friendly fellow working in the median near the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg helped us find a black car. The driver quoted us a fair price to our desired location and we all hopped in. He took us safely to our location and advised us that we would be safe if we stayed on the main block in Maboneng Precinct. We paid him and thanked him, and imagined how shocked our husbands would be over our inhibitions!

When the four of us from our book club decided to travel to Africa to go on safari, we wanted to make the most of the trip. We googled, pinned blogs and borrowed library books about Africa. After several dinner meetings, and communications with a travel agent, our itinerary was settled.

Two nights in Johannesburg. Six nights on safari and 3 nights in Capetown.

We flew from New York to Johannesburg on British Airlines with a 2 hour layover in London. The long flight in coach was bearable with friends, and movies and wine and my butt pillow. Really, the butt pillow was key on this trip. We tried to sleep a little on the 11 hour flight from London to Johannesburg. We had a busy day ahead of us.

We arrived in the morning and were met by our driver that had been arranged in advance by our travel agent. Some people avoid visiting Jo’burg due to poverty and crime. We avoided those areas and did not go out late at night and were just fine. Should you visit Johannesburg? YES!

Our driver took us to The Winston Hotel in Melrose Estate, Johannesburg. A small boutique style hotel with a pool, bar and restaurant. The service was friendly and although the rooms weren’t ready, we enjoyed lunch by the pool upon arrival and soon checked into the spacious rooms.

Our hotel called for a taxi to take us to the Apartheid museum We felt being in South Africa we should get some background information on the history of the country. Apartheid was designed to segregate people of different races: white, black colored (mix of black and white) and Asian. Upon entering the museum, you must enter through a randomly generated admission ticket: white or non-white. It gives you a sense of the era.

After our visit we were stumped with how to get to the next place. One of us had the Uber app but cell service was not so good, the sun was setting and we needed help. The friendly valet hailed us a ride to Maboneng Precinct where we enjoyed strolling the street looking at hand made crafts. We dined in a crowded restaurant featuring live music and African cuisine called Pata Pata. After dinner, the restaurant manager called an Uber for us and went out to the street to talk to our driver to be sure we made it back to our hotel safely. We felt safe and full of adventure after our first day in Africa.

Our car was waiting in the hotel parking lot at 4:30 am. The hotel packed us breakfast for the ride as we started our hour journey to Bill Harrop’s Original Balloon Safari. Three balloon were impressively inflated and we climbed into a basket holding 12 adults. We took amazing photos and were awed by the quiet being thousands of feet about the ground. Upon landing we toasted with a champagne breakfast.

Our private car was waiting after the flight and took us to the nearby Cradle of Humankind. We took a guided tour of the Sterkfontein Caves were the discovery of a 2.3 million year old human fossil (Mrs. Ples) was found in 1947. The museum detailed archaeological developments throughout history. After we had our fill of history, our driver took us back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing poolside and enjoying dinner at the on site restaurant.

Day 3 the Uber driver picked us up early and we headed to the airport for a flight to Durban King Shaka International airport. The one hour flight is relatively inexpensive with over 150 flights from Jo’burg per day. Our flight was uneventful and we were met by a van from the Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge where we planned to spend the next 6 nights.

We arrived after the 3:00 safari had already left so we were unable to take a drive on the first day. The property was pleasantly designed with 2 outdoor pools, a large restaurant, spacious rooms with updated bathrooms, a lobby with WiFi, a shop and even a Zulu Cultural Village with daily tribal reenactments.

Day 4 in Africa we started with a 6:00 am drive to the nearby fenced in Zulu Nyala Game Reserve. The reserve is small at seven square miles. It has 4 of the big 5 – Leopard, rhino, elephant and cape buffalo – no lions but we did see a very relaxed cheetah. Our guide planned to be with the 4 of us and 6 other guests for each drive during the week. He let us know about different excursions available and we made arrangements to take advantage of those as well.

Each day we had a morning and late afternoon safari drive. Our guide would communicate with the other trucks who were also in the reserve and bring us to the areas where animals had been sighted. We saw giraffes walking beside our truck at sunrise, hippos swimming in a waterhole, a cheetah sunning herself on the road, elephants drinking from the river, cape buffalo and a variety of deer.

We planned a visit to a nearby residence to have a close encounter with 2 beautiful, tame older elephants. They had been orphaned and hand reared and now wandered free at this private reserve. They seemed to enjoy visiting with us as we fed them and posed for photos during our visit.

Another afternoon we took advantage of a different game park that had lions. We were in for a thrill when our tour guide brought the truck not 10 feet away from 2 lionesses and 2 cubs lounging in the sun. We watched for over an hour as the cubs nursed, napped, played and then mom pounced but missed a clueless warthog who wandered too close to the family. Lion Safari in South Africa

Not being ones to lounge around on this trip, we decided to head to the Indian Ocean with our guide one day. Feet in the ocean is always a fun goal on any trip! Our excursion this day also included a boat ride on the St. Lucia River to see hippos, birds and crocodiles. We had lunch in a little beach town that warned people of hippo crossings – the most dangerous animals in Africa that cause more deaths than any other animal.

Our time on safari ended too soon but we had one more exciting part of our journey to go: Capetown.

The people at Zulu Nyala Heritage Safari Lodge arranged for our transportation back to Durban for our two hour flight to Capetown. Upon arrival taxis were available, however our travel agent had once again booked a car service for us to our hotel. We had researched hotels and decided that The Portswood Hotel near the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront would best suit our needs.

We settled into our hotel rooms then quickly took an Uber to Table Mountain. The cable car is accessible from the bottom in town and brings a group of about 60 up to the top. The views were amazing and we stayed to watch the sunsetting. One of the best sunsets ever.

We called for another Uber back to our hotel, freshened up and walked over to the lively waterfront area. Lots of shops, restaurants and tourists walked happily beside the ferris wheel, street musicians and boats along the harbor. We had arranged with a native South African who had visited the States to give us a private tour during our time in Capetown. We met him during our breakfast, which of course was included with the hotel room as had been every morning of our trip so far.

We packed a bag and piled into his car for our wine tasting tour day which started at a local farm. Then onto the Stellenbosch vineyards and some sight seeing at Boland Mountain Complex Park. Dinner that night was at the hotel and we turned in early.

Day 11 we met at breakfast and started our trip down the coast of Capetown. We went as far south as we could get at the Cape Point National Park. We drove past a wild ostrich and then onto Boulders Beach where we walked along a board walk and saw then happy little penguins on the beach. After a lovely lunch at Fish Hoek in Kalk Bay where we saw seals and sea lions on the dock we headed to Muizenberg to see the surfers and the colorful beach cabanas.

Our day trip was amazing as always and we felt the urge to shop and bring home souvenirs that evening. Plenty of shops had stuff to buy right there at the waterfront (although we could have gotten the same thing if we waited until we got to the airport)

The last day, we had an afternoon flight. Our tour guide picked us up after breakfast and took us through the colorful streets in town called Bo-Kaap. After taking a few fun photos, we drove up Signal Hill to see Table Mountain from another angle as well as Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. After that we went to the beautiful Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden where we ate lunch and saw the most interesting flowers and birds.

Each day of our visit we were more in awe of what we experienced. From the people we met, to the animals we saw to the places we visited it was indeed the trip of a life time. Some of the trip was done with our own research. Some was supported with the help of our wonderful travel agent, Rosemary Martinek. Some was provided by the safari we went on. Some with a little help from a friend.

If it is on your bucket list, do it. You will not be disappointed! amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "runawaywidow-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "My Amazon Picks"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "4855e4af5258f3292f5186fb8dfc125c"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B01AITOZSA,B07CVG467T,B07RXW9J75,1492620599";

Best 12 days in South Africa without renting a car The Uber drivers were plentiful, but not always well marked. The friendly fellow working in the median near the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg helped us find a black car.

#Capetown #Johannesburg #lifeafterloss #SouthAfrica #travel #Widow #Widowtravel #women #womentravel #ZuluNyala #ZuluNyalasafari

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chambej · 7 years

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Maintenant, nous quittons Le Cap pour nous diriger vers l’est. Le trajet sera principalement en autocar et en avion compte tenu de la distance à parcourir. Nous quittons les températures fraiches de la côte pour des températures chaudes qui sont une des caractéristiques de ce pays.

Cette portion du voyage nous amène à visiter des villes importantes, telles que Port Elizabeth, Durban, Pretoria et Johannesburg/Soweto, un parc nature et aussi des parcs privés comme le fameux parc Kruger.

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Now we leave Cape Town to head east. The trip will be mainly by bus, and plane given the distance to travel. We leave the cool temperatures of the coast for warm temperature that is a characteristic of this country.

This portion of the trip takes us to visit important cities, such as Port Elizabeth, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg / Soweto, a nature park and also private parks like the famous Kruger Park.

Parc national de Tsitsikamma / Tsitsikamma National Park

Ce parc est la troisième réserve la plus fréquentée d’Afrique du Sud. Il est situé près de Wilderness/Knysna et s’étend sur une bande côtière de cinq kilomètres de profondeur et de 80 km de littoral.

Avec une température maussade, nous allons suivre une piste nous amenant à une série de ponts suspendus. Tout au long de notre marche, nous avons accès à une splendide vue sur la côte de l’océan Indien et sur la végétation locale.

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This park is the third most visited reserve in South Africa. It is located near Wilderness / Knysna and extends over a coastal strip five kilometers deep and 80 km of coastline.

With a gloomy temperature, we will follow a track leading us to a series of suspension bridges. Throughout our walk, we have access to a splendid view of the coast of the Indian Ocean and the local vegetation.

Nota : Pour une meilleure appréciation des photos, nous vous suggérons de visionner une par une chaque photo en «cliquant» sur l’ensemble des photos. /Note : For a better appreciation of the photos we suggest you view one by one each photo by «clicking» on the group of pictures.

Entrée du parc. / Entrance to the park.

Vue de la côte, photo prise du sentier pédestre. / View of the coast, photo taken from the pedestrian trail.

L’embouchure de la Storm River vue d’un des ponts suspendus. / The mouth of the Storm River seen from one of the suspension bridges.

Ma conjointe et moi sur le pont suspendu traversant la rivière Storm River. / Photo of my wife and me on the suspension bridges crossing the Storm River.

Vue en surplomb des ponts suspendus du sentier. / Overhanging view of the suspension bridges of the pedestrian track.

Vue de la côte et de l’embouchure de la rivière. / View of the coast and the mouth of the Storm River, photo taken from the pedestrian trail.

Vue sur la côte. / View of the coast, photo taken from the pedestrian trail.

Vague déferlante sur la côte de l’océan Indien. / Wave breaking on the coast of the Indian Ocean.

Ma conjointe et moi sur la petite plage à l’embouchure de rivière Storm River. / My wife and I on the small beach at the mouth of Storm River.

Petite chûte d’eau près du sentier pédestre. / Small waterfall near the pedestrian trail.

Port Elizabeth

Nous voici à Port Elizabeth. Cette ville est reconnue pour les sports nautiques et ses magnifiques plages.

Le jour suivant, nous faisons une brève visite au centre ville avant de prendre l’avion pour Durban.

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Here we are in Port Elizabeth. This city is known for water sports and beautiful beaches.

The next day, we make a brief visit to the city center before flying to Durban.

Plage de la baie d’où on aperçoit le Shark Rock Pier. / Bay beach from where you can see the Shark Rock Pier.

Donkin Park — Sculpture métallique de Nelson Mandela commémorant son leadership. /Donkin Park – Nelson Mandela’s metallic sculpture commemorating his leadership.

Plage du quai Shark Rock. / Shark Rock dock beach.

Monument en hommage au mythique prêtre-roi Prester John et au découvreurs portugais du pays. / Monument in tribute to the legendary priest-king Prester John and the Portuguese discoverers of the country.

Donkin Park — Monolithe en l’honneur de Nelson Mandella. / Donkin Park — Monolith in honour of Nelson Mandella.

Statue dans le parc Donkin d’une femme regardant l’océan derrière une chaise. / Statue in Donkin Park of a woman looking at the ocean behind a chair.

Donkin Park — Sculpture en l’honneur de Nelson Mandella. / Donkin Park – Sculpture in honor of Nelson Mandella.

Hôtel de ville / City Hall

Rue de la ville en pente accentuée. / City street in steep slope.

Rue d’un secteur commercial de la ville. / Street of a commercial sector of the city.

Marché Victoria / Victoria Market

Boutique d’épices et autres produits au Marché Victoria. / Spice shop and other products at the Victoria Market.

Une autre boutique d’épices que ma conjointe a adoré. / Another spice shop that my wife loved.

Magnifique porte d’un commerce sur la rue principale de la ville. / Beautiful door of a trade on the main street of the city.

Immense plage en face de notre hôtel. / Huge beach in front of our hotel.

Un père et ces deux enfants posant pour moi. Les locaux utilisent une expression typiquement locale pour désigner les Sud-Africains noirs nouvellement riches. On les appels « Les diamants noir ». / Here is a dad and his two kids posing for me. The locals use a typically local expression to descry the newly rich black South Africans. We call them “Black diamonds”.

Safari au Zulunyala / Zulunyala Safari

Après le vol de Port Elizabeth à Durban, nous prenons la route pour notre premier safari près de Hluhluwe dans le Zulu Nyala. Nous arrivons en début de l’après-midi juste à temps pour le Safari débutant vers 15 h.

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After the flight from Port Elizabeth to Durban, we take the road to our first safari near Hluhluwe in Zulu Nyala. We arrive at the beginning of the afternoon just in time for the Safari starting around 15 h.

Le flamboyant /

Éléphant femelle / Female elephant

Phachochère / Warthog

Éléphant femelle / Female elephant

Vue panoramique sur la réserve Zulu Nyala Hluhluwe. / Panoramic view of the Zulu Nyala Hluhluwe Reserve.

Phachochère / Warthog

Éléphant / Elephant

Éléphant femelle / Female elephant

Rhinocéros blanc / White rhinoceros

Hippopotame / Hippopotamus

Rhinocéros blanc / White rhinoceros

Rhinocéros noir / Black rhino

Rhinocéros blanc / White rhinoceros

Impala / Impala

Rhinocéros noir / Black rhino

Zèbre de Burchell / Burchell’s Zebra

Rhincéros / Rhino

Un jeune impala / A young impala

Zèbre de Burchell / Burchell’s Zebra

Vautours africains / African vultures

Grand Koudou / Great Kudu

Girafe / Giraffe

Spectacle traditionnel du personnel de l’hôtel. / Traditional show of hotel staff.

Swaziland

Après un bon petit déjeuner, nous prenons la route pour le Swaziland. Ce petit état est une monarchie absolue de 1 200 000 habitants. Après la deuxième guerre des Boers, elle est devenue une colonie Britannique et a reçu son indépendance en 1968.

Pays de montagnes et de plaines, sa production est surtout agricole. Toutefois, la forêt, les mines et le sucre sont aussi au chapitre de l’exportation. Tous les produits sont fabriqués à l’extérieur du pays.

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After a good breakfast, we take the road to Swaziland. This small state is an absolute monarchy of 1,200,000 inhabitants. After the Second Boer War, it became a British colony and became independent in 1968.

Country of mountains and plains, its production is mainly agricultural. However, the forest, mines and sugar are also in the export business. All products are manufactured outside the country.

Produit local qui sert de chauffe-eau. / Local product that serves as a water heater.

Section montagneuse. / Mountainous section.

Petite ferme typique du pays. / Small farm typical of the country.

Spectacle du petit village Swazi près de la frontière entre le Swaziland et l’Afrique du Sud. / Show of the Swazi Small Village near the border between Swaziland and South Africa.

Fraternisation entre notre groupe et les habitants de ce petit village. / Fraternization between our group and the inhabitants of this small village.

Une hutte du village. / Village hut.

Nids d’oiseaux. / Nests of birds.

Parc Kruger / Kruger Park

Parc Kruger est née de l’idée de partager une passion pour le monde sauvage. Avec une taille équivalente à celle de la Belgique et situé à la pointe du continent africain dans un pays qui a connu maintes crises, le Parc Kruger fait partie de ces réussites dont on aime parler. 20 000 km2 de safaris et d’animaux circulant en total liberté. (Source Kruger Park)

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Kruger Park was born from the idea of sharing a passion for the wild world. With a size equivalent to Belgium and located at the tip of the African continent in a country that has experienced many crises, the Kruger Park is one of those success stories we like to talk about. 20,000 km2 of safaris and animals circulating in total freedom. (Source Kruger Park)

Lever du soleil en route pour le parc Kruger. / Sunrise on the way to Kruger Park.

Village sur la route du parc Kruger. / Village on the road to Kruger Park.

Véhicule utilisé pour le safari. / Vehicle used for safari.

Hyène au repos. / Hyen at rest

Guépard / Cheetah

Harde de Zébre de Burchell / Burchell’s Zebra Harde

Lionne au repos / Lioness resting

Oiseaux sur le bord de l’étang. / Birds on the edge of the pond.

Aigle de Verreaux / Verreaux’s Eagle

Bucorve du Sud / Southern Bucorve

Calao à bec rouge / Red-billed hornbill

Zébre / Zebra

Léopard / Leopard

Éléphant / Elephant

Troupeau d’éléphants / Herd of elephants

Troupeau d’éléphants dans la forêt africaine. / Herd of elephants in the African forest.

Grand koudou / Great kudu

On est prêt pour le déjeuner au parc Kruger. / We are ready for lunch at Kruger Park.

Chien sauvage d’Afrique (Lycaons) / Wild dog of Africa (Lycaons)

Grand koudou / Great kudu

Singe Grivet / Monkey Grivet

Tortue terrestre / Terrestrial tortoise

Photo de la forêt africaine. / Photo of the African forest.

Canyon de la Rivière Blyde / Blyde River Canyon

Nous sommes dans la province du Mpumalanga à l’est du Transvaal. Troisième plus grand canyon du monde, c’est la quatrième attraction touristique du pays.

Dans ce reportage, nous allons voir deux secteurs de ce canyon. Les chaudrons de sorcière et le réservoir de la Blyde River.

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We are in Mpumalanga province east of the Transvaal. Third largest canyon in the world, it is the fourth largest tourist attraction in the country.

In this report, we will see two sectors of this canyon. The witch cauldrons and the reservoir of the Blyde River.

Paysage et maison le long de la route. / Landscape and house along the road.

Petit village le long de la route. / Small village along the road.

Vendeuse de légumes et fruits. / Saleswoman of vegetables and fruits in a parking lot.

Chaudrons de sorcière sculptés dans le lit de rivière. / Photo of witch cauldrons carved in the riverbed.

Chaudrons de sorcière sculptés dans le lit de rivière. / Photo of Bourke’s Luck Potholes carved in the riverbed.

Photo des chaudrons de sorcière sculptés dans le lit de rivière. / Photo of Bourke’s Luck Potholes carved in the riverbed.

Petit canyon de la rivière Blyde. À cet endroit, nous pouvons observer une multitude de ‘chaudrons de sorcière’. Très impressionnant. / Here we are at the little canyon of the Blyde River. At this place we can observe a multitude of “witch cauldrons”. Very impressive.

Chaudrons de sorcière sculptés dans le lit de rivière. / Bourke’s Luck Potholes carved in the riverbed.

Pont traversant la rivière Blyde. / Bridge crossing the Blyde River.

Notre groupe près de la rivière Blyde. / Group photo near the Blyde River.

Réservoir d’eau sur la rivière Blyde. Celui-ci sert à alimenter en eau les cultures de la région. / Water reservoir on the Blyde River. It is used to supply water to the crops of the region.

À droite vous pouvez voir les « Three Rondavels » qui rappellent des huttes africaines. / On the right you can see the “Three Rondavels”, reminiscent of African huts.

Safari à la Réserve privé de Karongwe / Safari at the Karongwe Private Reserve

Nous voilà près pour une autre excursion. Cette fois, nous avons droit à deux guides par véhicule. L’un est le conducteur et l’autre assis à gauche sur l’aile avant du 4 X 4 est le pointeur. De par son expérience, il dirige le conducteur au endroit les plus propices pour l’observation des animaux.

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Here we are for another excursion. This time, we are entitled to two guides per vehicle. One is the driver and the other sits left on the front wing of the 4X4 is the pointer. From his experience, he directs the driver to the most suitable place for the observation of animals.

Un Oued / A wadi

Zébres / Zebra

Grand Koudou femelle / Big Kudu female

Une termitière. Lorsqu’il y a des trous, cela signifie que la termitière n’est plus habitée. Toutefois, il faut faire attention, car il peut y avoir des serpents, scorpions, etc. / A termite nest. When there are holes, it means that the termite nest is no longer inhabited by termites. However, be careful because there may be snakes, scorpions, etc

Un oued / A wadi

Guépard / Cheetah

Guépard – Denise est surprise par son regard. / Cheetah – – Denise is surprised by her look.

Guépard / Cheetah

Une termitières / A termite mound

Pintade de Numidie

Girafe / Giraffe

Léopard / Leopard

Girafe / Giraffe

Buffle / Buffalo

Gnou à queue noir / Wildebeest with black tail

Gâteau de fête de ma conjointe. / Birthday cake of my spouse.

Dans le prochain reportage, nous allons visiter les villes de Prétoria — Johannesburg —Soweto ainsi que les Chûtes Victoria au Zimbabwe et le Parc National de Chobe au Botswana. In the next report, we will visit the cities of Pretoria—Johannesburg—Soweto as well as the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and the Chobe National Park in Botswana.

Bonjour, voici le troisième reportage de ma série sur l’Afrique du Sud. Bon visionnement. / Hello, here is the third report of my series in South Africa. Have a good time. Maintenant, nous quittons Le Cap pour nous diriger vers l’est. Le trajet sera principalement en autocar et en avion compte tenu de la distance à parcourir.

#Africa #Afrique #Afrique-du-sud #Eléphant #Girafe #Giraffe #Lion #Nature #Safari #South Africa #Tourisme #Tourists #travel #Voyage

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