Holy canoli, today is the last day! And it’s a big day!

We’re still in Nambiti when we wake up. Becca decides to skip the morning game drive, which wasn’t such a bad idea except that she missed a pretty rad elephant fight! Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet morning. Post drive, Brett napped a bit before we headed to Johannesville.

It was a long drive, but didn’t feel so bad now that we’d mastered the art of upside-down driving.   Approaching the city, traffic started to get a little weird, but just city-weird, not bad.  We went to the Apartheid museum, but only had two hours or so to spend there; you really do need the three+ they recommend.  Afterwards, we returned the car, met with Becca’s cousins for dinner and hanging out, and then took an Uber to the airport!  And that, my friends, is the ballgame.

Another Safari day.  Not much to report, except that we made substantial progress on the giant bottle of sherry in our room, and Brett won the second game of Scrabble (FINALLY Becca says.   Her hair is still gross.)

Here are some of the animals we have seen so far:

• 4 lion cubs. (And six other lions.)
• Baby hippo (and like 5 or 6 adults.)
• Serval cat
• Tons of giraffes, two of whom were fighting!
• Albino antelope.
• Baby zebras and wildebeests.
• Rhino family
• Black rhino!
• Kudu
• Impala
• Jackal
• Bush Pig
• waterbuck
• Southern Red Bishop (that’s the one from yesterday)
• That bird with the long black tail
• Rhino peeing (yesterday)
• Rabbits
• Grasshoppers
• Lizards
• Red Harts-beast
• Other bords.
• Warthog with two babies.
• Probably some others.
• Lions.

And here are some videos.  Do you like a lion licking its paws?

Maybe you prefer two lions walking down the path?

Here are hippos frolicking, according to the title of the video.

Can’t get enough of the hippos in their frolick?  You’ll love HipposFrolick2.mp4

Safari Day 2!

4:30 AM wake-up call.  Safari waits for no man.   It’s dark at that time, but by quarter to 5 it’s already kinda dusky.  Well, dawny, I guess I should say.   We got to the lodge for coffee and a quick snack before heading out in our truck.  today we saw some lion cubs that all the guides had been looking for, but ours had a hunch that paid off.  We tried to get some photos, but they didn’t really work out.  But still!  We saw lion cubs that were maybe two months old and that most of the others at the reserve hadn’t seen yet!  Great!  Their birth had raised the total number of lions on the reserve to 16.  (FWIW, there are also 32 elephants, about a hundred giraffe, and a cheetah.  There are 40 species in total, but we’re not sure if that includes birds, cause..  birds.)

After the drive, we napped as well as we could, though one of us proved a more astute napper than the other.  Also, the water in our shower seemed to have given Becca a bad rash, which caused nap-damaging itching,  Damn.  It also made our hair look. ..  flat.  And knotty.  After spending the day goofing off and playing Scrabble, it was time for the afternoon drive, from 4-7, with a beer break in the middle!  Fun!

Our guide, Promise, was from KwaZulu Natal, but by the ocean, so not exactly local, but more local than us.  His town apparently has a hippo problem, which is terrible for them, but still kinda awesome.  He really knew what’s what out there- every question he got he answered super thoroughly.   Becca was particularly enchanted by what he called the “follow-me” signs that animals have on them, by which we mean bold markings..  under their tail, let’s call it.  He suggested it was to help the young follow the old through the bush in situations where following is pretty crucial.

He also said zebras always look fat cause their gut bacteria produces so much gas.  Seems reasonable!  He also mentioned that wildebeests and zebras made good buddies because zebras could see well and wildebeests could hear well, so between the two of them, they kept each othe rsafe.  We did super often see them together, so that’s good.  The wildebeests sell out the zebras when they have young, choosing to spend time with impalas, allowing the brown wildebeest babies to blend in better.  Interesting!

Other highlights of the day were the anti-poaching dudes who drive around on dirtbikes carrying rifles to protect the animals.  Which is obviously the best job ever.  I asked the dude if I could take his picture, cause he’s such a badass.  He agreed, and here he is:

So there are rhinos on the property…  We saw at least 4, but no idea how many more there are.  If we see them, we’re not supposed to share photos of them that day, cause apparently the poachers scan social media looking for rhinos so they can get them more easily.  The reserves shave off their horns to make them less attractive to the poachers, but it also makes them more vulnerable to other animals.  Still, even the nub they leave on them could fetch $65k.  (Rhino horns are like fingers nails; they grow back.  Every few months, they have to capture, sedate, and re-file the horns.  Pardon my cursing, but Gosh Darn poachers and the idiots who think ground up rhino horn is a good thing to eat.)

Anyhow, despite the fraught situation rhinos find themselves in, they still get on with their lives, being rhinos, marking their territory, etc.

Anything else to add today? How about a couple videos!

And here’s one of a rhino walking around while our guide talks about the scent of different animals urine.

adventuourse stretch that ushers us into the arctic zone of Kili.  We continue the trek on the South Circuit path through the Karanga Valley. We camp tonight at Karanga Camp." data-title="Day 5" data-big="" />

This morning we had to leave the mountains and head to Nambiti Game reserve.  We’d discovered the night before that there was Sa rock art on the property, but we were so exhausted that we couldnt bring ourselves to wake up early again for more hiking.  We regretted it, but we also slept in, so let’s call it a wash.

After a leisurely breakfast (including baked beans, a la Anglais) and cleaning up, we headed out to the Springbok Lodge.  But first!  We stopped at the Winterton museum.  Teeny tiny but actually pretty good.  There was also a lot of info and pictures of the San art, which kinda made up for not going to see it IRL.  A lot of uh..  let’s call it memorabilia from in the day, including this rad milk chiller/chicken nursery:

That’s a milk chiller on the left and an egg warmer on the right.

There was information about Zulu culture and replica houses, plus tons of info about the years and years of conflicts in the area.  Becca read every single panel about the rock art, while Brett took pictures of “an old Boer with a beard” according to Becca.   (It was Paul Kruger, kinda the biggest individual deal in 19th century South Africa.)

Then, Nambiti!  Turns out it was a hardcore, fancy resort!  We knew it was the most expensive place we were staying, but we figured they gotta make a whole electric fence and whatnot, so it’s gonna be pricey.  But not just pricey, fancy!  They drop off your bags in your room for you ad have set meal times and you place your order beforehand, etc.  Feeling very bougie, I believe is the correct term.  A little uncomfortable, really, but so it goes.

Our welcome party! A hippo!

Our room was awesome- a tent with a giant bed and an outdoor shower and a great porch  with a 180-degree view of the reserve in front of us.  Whe we first were able to spot some furry something or other while sitting down we got so pumped!

After lunch, we went out on our first game drive- 6 people in a big Toyota Landcruiser-type thing, but giant and open.  It started really strong- we saw cape buffalo, a giraffe, and got within 20 feet or so of a lion, not to mention dozens of wildebeest, zebras, impalas, and kudus.  We even got a happy hour out in the bush, but South African beer was still gross.  Good egg rolls, though!

Returning to the lodge, we found the electricity was out for the entire dining room, but it was awesome cause they  lit the whole thing with legit oil lamps.  Very safari.

Big amazing day!  Waterfall city!  Oh, that sounds like a level from a Mario Brothers game.  I wonder…

But who cares, right?  We started by walking down towards Sterkspruit Falls, and along the way Becca saw our first wild baboon that *wasn’t* rummaging through garbage.  There were also a bunch of horses, which are techically fauna, we suppose, but, you know, horses.  FWIW, they don’t shoe the horses there.

Seriously!!! I mean, I ran a filter, but come on!!! Somebody owns that!

After the falls, we went through the Hiyakatha Forest Loop to Nandi Falls, because we’d totally fallen for the Falls!  !!!  And I took a cool picture of it, but some other folks walked up in the middle of.  Hope they don’t mind!

A lot of the trail was in the indigenous forest, which looked like a fairyland, according to one of us.  Hanging moss, bright green moss cover, gnarled roots, vines everywhere.  We had started the day super early to beat the 100% chance of rain that was predicted, but luckily their meteorologists are about as reliable as ours.  (No offense to meteorologists, we know you have a very hard job and that you are right most of the time!)  By the time we got back from the hike, it was only lunch time.  So we ate and then set out again, cause no rain!

There’s no ugly photos of waterfalls.

This time we planned to do the Forest Loop, which was our host’s favorite trail and stayed entirely on his property.  He’d recommended it to us, but it looked so short, we’d been saving it for when we had less time.  That was a  mistake- it was by far the most stunning hike we’d been on while there.

We’d gone out wearing our bathing suits and water shose, which was fortunate.  Lots of fording streams- we kept going back and forth over the two streams on the property dozens of times.  There were waterfalls galore, even a few opportunities to hang out behind the waterfalls like in movies!  We kept hiking, waiting to find the perfect swimming spot, and eventually we did!  Pretty deep, pretty big, and pretty cold, but not so bad that it stopped us.  Three days in a row finding waterfall lagoons.  Pretty happy about that!  No photos of this part, since we were travelling light, but we spent a long time in the waterfall pool trying to commit it to memory.

By the time we were done, the hike took a lot longer than 45 minutes and we were beat, so we had a hot shower, had dinner, and played Scrabble.  Becca won the first game hands-down, but there’s still a lot of debate as to who won the second game, or if there even was a second game.  (FWIW, there was, and Brett won.)

Morning in the Drakensbergs!  Yahoo!  Today we slept in (kind of), had breakfast on our awesome patio, and hit the trail!

Our cabin was one of two on the property, along with the main house, more or less in the middle of 1 square kilometer of land in the..  gully, I guess, between two arms of the mountain.  There were two streams that trailed down through the land, and a handful of trails on the property that met up with trails from the adjacent state park.

That morning, we decided to walk from the Sphinx->Voerspeak-Blind Man’s Corner ->Kearnan’s Pass.  The first bits were very steep and it was super hot, but the rest of the day was smooth walkin’, with beautiful views of the Cathkin Ridge the entire time.  Stunning, really.  Our host in wilderness had referred to the Drakensbergs as God’s Country, and while I always imagined God’s country would be closer to the American Midwest, you understood what she meant.

The fauna was a little lacking, if we’re being critical– we mostly saw lizards which had become rather whatevs to us at this point, but the toad and butterflies were a nice change of pace.  Flowers, on the other hand, were beautiful and everywhere.  We missed an excellent waterfall/lunch spot cause we were getting hangry and stopped about 20 meters before it.  Always walk a little further!

After we got back, we cooked a decent dinner- soup and taters, and then played a 2005 British Commonwealth version of Trivial Pursuit, whose seemingly every question was about John Major’s mistress.  Brett proved himself to be the more Anglophillic of the two.

Travel day!  We woke up early at our little b&b, and our hostess had English breakfast served to us in our room, which had an amazing view!  Don’t believe me?  Check it out.

There was a curtain dividing our sleeping area from the breakfast area, and when we pulled it back, the whole spread was waiting for us.  Pretty fun!  No dolphins frolicking in the durf like we’d been hoping for, and I’m going to leave that last little type there cause it’s cute.  Post brekkie, we hit the road.

We returned the car, where they thankfully didn’t notice the dent in the food from the Karoo.  Whew!  As we turned in the car, Becca asked the gentleman from Avis where we could pick up the shuttle to the airport.  Which is a pretty good question to ask, but maybe a little silly when you’re literally 20 feet from the airport.  The Avis fellow was kind though and he treated it like it was a reasonable thing to ask.  The airport was small and quiet, but the little cafe had a fantastic muffin.  So that’s pretty cool.

Easy flight to Durban, whose airport had a pharmacy and a grocery store, so we were able to pick up all we needed there.  Got another Ecosport, this time blue!  Fantastic!  The drive to the little place in the Drakensburgs was a few hours, and we stopped at the Nelson Mandela Capture site.  The exhibit was nice, though presented in a non-linear fashion that was a little hard to follow, but well worth it! The site is run by the same folks who run the Apartheid museum in Johannesburg.

After the museum, we got a tiny bit lost, but happened upon a weird, weird little tourist attraction.  Minigolf, a zipline, and a couple dozen tiny shops selling…  stuff.  But there was a wine store, and we needed wine, so it was perfect!  Oh there was also a tiny train running around the inside of the park area.  In case you wanted a tiny train ride.

The rode to the cabin was fine, but as we got closer, traffic got slower and slower due to the increasing prevalence of goats on the road, plus we’re tourists, so we had to stop or at least slow down to take photos of the goats in the road, as if they were remarkable.  (They were!)

The road up to the cabin wound through a state park, mostly cement tracks, with a couple bridges that were just logs with sheet metal across.  It wasn’t quite harrowing but it was in that genre.  We were greeted by the owners- a couple in their late 40s …  no early 50s?  Hard to say, especialy if you’re terrible at that.  The gentleman was originally British, a self-proclaimed ex-Charlie Champers (I think?) stockbroker who escaped to his mountain retreat with his Afrikaaner wife.  The property was almost entire self-sufficient, with its own water and solar electricity, but they must have had propane brought in, cause we didn’t see any cows on the property.  The guy was super passionate about “the Berg” and super knowledgeable about everything- even the DIY wildlife posters in our cabin.

Also! Two giant Great Danes, which were indeed Great, though likely not Danish.   They were the type that wished they could be lapdogs, and one in particular took a liking to Becca, or at least really wanted to eat her hat.   Becca was barely tall enough to stop her from getting it.  Maybe our next dog will be a GD… The cabin had a king size bed, a beautiful deck overlooking the valley we’d be exploring over the next few days, and a little set of stairs with one stair taller than the rest, which I tripped over nearly every time I was going down the stairs.

What should have been a relaxing morning was actually a little panicky because we were worried about running out of gas while going from one end of the park to the other.  Poor gas tank management led us to set alarms for like 7 so we could quickly dine, drive out of the park to a gas station, then check out of our room and make it to the kayaking trip by 9.

Everything went smoothly, we didn’t run out of gas, and our early rising gave us the opportunity to watch a family of otters leave the water and scurry back to their home in the rocks.  I went after them to try to get a photo (which was rude, in retrospect), causing them to drop their octopus brekkie.  But presumably the octopus was still waiting for them in the grass to retrieve after I left.

Otter breakfast. (It’s an octopus.)

After filling up with gas, we bought a gross breakfast from the camp store and ate it while watching the waves and the hyraxes going about their morning errands.  We got to the Kayak & Lilo place early because we were nervous about ocean kayaking, so of course it turned out that “Be there by 9” actually meant “We’ll show up around 9:15 and try to get the show on the road by 9:45 or 10, but NBD.”  So.  A fair amount of sitting around.

One dad in another kayaking family had an absurdly fancy camera, complete with a  fuzzy wind muffler for his microphone and tons of other accessories.  Not surprisingly, the dude filmed every aspect of the trip.  Nice enough folks though. Once the trip actually started, the ocean was too rough for the ocean kayaking portion of the trip, so we had to hike around to the suspension bridge and get in the water there.  Actual time spent kayaking was *maybe* ten minutes, which was a bummer, but then we got to get on the little industrial-strength air mattresses.

We paddled up the river to a nice swimming hole where Brett jumped off a cliff

Then he jumped again, and folks just kinda generally goofed around. The water was black black due to the tannins leached from the… something or other upstream. So said our guide..  Then we saw a bat cave!

After the swimming and goofing around, we paddled back to where we’d left the kayaks, then kayaked back to the suspension bridge and walked to camp We got snacks at the store, then after getting completely weird and conflicting information about where to park from 6 different park rangers, headed out on the Waterfall Trail.  One of our all-time favorite hikes.  Lots of rock-scrambling, with the ocean ever more than twenty feet away.  We almost turned around because we had a long drive ahead of us, but we’re so grateful we didn’t.  Not only was the waterfall gorgeous, but it emptied into a cool, dark lagoon.  We jumped in in our clothes (for modesty!  There were lots of folks around.)

We could have floated in the lagoon for ages, but time, as it does, kept slipping into the future or whatever, so we marched back to our car and drove to our little B&B in Port Elizabeth. Brett hiked in his underwear, cause he felt like it both made sense and would go unnoticed by anyone else. We’ll never know!  Pretty uneventful drive, but pretty.  Bret really thinks he saw a lion crossing the road, which would be super weird but not impossible.  Because it was in Africa.  Dinner was at a restaurant with the quality of food you can reliably expect to get at places with good views (Barncacles!  Not just for whales and old boats anymore!) The photo (last one in the gallery) makes it look like weird, dark sunset, but it’s actually a squid boat, shining bright lights to trick the squid. Seems kida like cheating, but so it goes.

Waking up early to blue skies and crashing waves, we cleaned up our room at the Pink Lodge and discussed our plans for the day.  Our itinerary called for snorkeling with seals, but among the many positive reviews, the one negative review (which included a femoral-artery biting seal!) really stuck with us.  But, after working up the courage, we went ahead and signed up for it, only to have them cancel because of rough seas.  Sightseeing boats weren’t going out either.

The water looked pretty calm to us, so we suspect everyone was either hungover or just didnt have enough spots filled to make it worthwhile.  We wet to Robbert Reserve instead to hike to the seals, taking the Witsand Route, named after, presumably the color and type of dirt on the beach.

We saw a bunch of seals from a distance, and more importantly, hyrax!  We kept expecting for a better view of the seals, so most attention was paid to the cute little hyracoids, aka dassies, aka shrewmice.  (They’re neither shrews nor mice, fwiw.)  We also saw a group of seals seemingly mobing an approaching whale of some sort, but even with our bioculars, we couldn’t quite tell what the situation was.

Seals around a white thing!

After hiking through some ~6′ high fynbos for awhile, the trail opened up to a steep, sandy path leading to a doubly-beached patch of beauty, where we got suited up and did some swimming/wading, plus plenty of just your regular splendor-marveling.

Beaches to the left of me, beaches to the right, here I am…

We made it back to our car and then drove to Plettenberg Bay, where we ate at a delicious vegan restaurant in a hotel.  The rest of the hotel (and town) seemed a little bit gross, but the Namaste Lifestyle Cafe  was super duper good, despite the corny name.  We had some trouble finding it- had to ultimately call the owner’s cell phone to get directions through the hotel lobby to find him, but it was worth the weirdness.

Best lunch of the trip, I think. PRobably.

After lunch, we got back into the car and headed east to Tsetsekamma National Park.  Holy smokes!  This place blew our minds.  The waves were huge and crashed over giant craggy rocks!  We loved our oceanette, which was basically a hotel room with a kitchen and a patio as close to the ocean as you could safely and dryly be.

After we got settled in, we went over to try to catch the camp store before it closed, although unsuccessfully.  The good news was that we found some of the most photogenic hyraxes you’ll ever see (both of which I’m going to feature because how could I not?)

Tiny tusks.

Come on!!!

We took a quick hike to the suspension bridge over Storms River as the sun set, which turned out to be a crucial move since it gets crowded and dumb in the middle of the day.  We got takeout from the park’s restaurant, which was good, though not quite as good as the wonderful service we got from our waiter and the manager  They let us get the whole meal to go (along with a bottle of wine) which we ate at our oceanettte, by cellphone- and star-light with a sound track of crashing waves and cursing wife. (Becca hit her head on the braai and then walked into the glass door, so that was something!)