tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166130252024-03-08T00:47:06.873+01:00Our time in BerlinOur family moved from Sydney,Australia to Berlin, Germany in January 2005 for a 4 year contract, which we extended until September 2010. Here are our adventures of our time in Berlin, as well as day to day things that happen!Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.comBlogger711125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-69972749900102229732010-11-03T01:15:00.000+01:002018-02-20T07:27:25.249+01:00Back to Oz, back to SchoolThe kids have been out of school since mid July, so after nearly 4 months, it was time to get them back into school. Due to the difference in school years between hemispheres, the kids will be in school for 6 weeks, and then have another 7 weeks of Summer holidays. You can imagine neither boy is complaining too much about that! They think it is pretty awesome that in 6 months they will have had 6 weeks of school.<br />
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We found a school near the serviced apartment we are staying in until our furniture arrives and we have a house to move into (in an area we hope to live in), and enrolled the kids to start the day after Melbourne Cup Day. The principal suggested starting on Wednesday, as many of the kids would not be at school on the Monday.<br />
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First day of school went really well for both of them. Nicole is just so grateful for blue uniforms, rather than the yellow that is so difficult to keep clean!<br />
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As we move into the next part of our journey, this is the final post in this blog. We have been extremely privileged to be able to go on this 6 year journey. We feel unbelievably lucky that we have been able to travel so much.<br />
As the kids get ready to enter their secondary school years, we hope these experiences will shape them to be well rounded students, and as always remember the expat experience they were able to have.<br />
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December 2004, our final days in our home in Sydney</div>
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30th September 2010, our final day in Berlin, Germany</div>
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Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-22420562458293008622010-10-25T06:50:00.000+02:002018-02-20T07:07:42.323+01:00Mauritius Day 9, and our last day of this adventure.The day started off having to pack our bags, and get ourselves ready for our flight back to Australia.<br />
There was an area where our bags could be left, and after having some more beach/pool time, we could shower and freshen up before we headed off to the airport.<br />
This morning, kids club offered water skiing on boards, Cameron wasn't keen, but Alexander wanted to try.<br />
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We spent the rest of the morning at the beach.</div>
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After lunch, we spent our last few hours relaxing, and then were picked up at 3.45pm to head to the airport, for our next adventures in Australia.</div>
<br />Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-1653952019693167572010-10-24T06:38:00.000+02:002018-02-20T06:50:14.505+01:00Mauritius Day 8Another lazy day of alternating from the beach to the pool. The kids had fun on the beach paddle boats, and small sailboats just off the shore. They played with the kids from kids club, so we didn't see them much at all!<br />
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<br />Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-60045927612886906692010-10-23T06:36:00.000+02:002018-02-20T06:37:03.190+01:00Mauritius Day 7No more scuba diving for Phil. To avoid decompression sickness, you need to have at least 12 hours between your last scuba dive and your next flight.<br />
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This morning we had a wake up call booked for 5.45 am, which was a huge shock for all of us, after enjoying many days of sleep ins.<br />
We caught a shuttle bus down to Black River (1 hour 15 minutes drive) for the day to swim with the dolphins.<br />
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We got on a boat, and headed out to search for some dolphins. We found pods of spinners and bottle-nose dolphins and we were able to swim with them for quite awhile. They were very happy for us to be near them, and seemed not to be afraid of aggressive.<br />
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The photo below shows just how close the dolphins got to us, the fin right near Phil's head.</div>
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After our swim and snorkel we got back in to the boat and headed to L'lle aus Benitiers, (a small island off the coast of Mauritius. We had a wonderful lunch, and then spent the afternoon swimming, wandering around the lagoon and the kids spent their time making another sand castle empire.<br />
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It was a brilliant day, and we headed back to the hotel for an early dinner, and an early night</div>
<br />Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-69848958711827612102010-10-22T04:38:00.000+02:002018-02-20T04:39:37.059+01:00Mauritius, Day 5 & 6Totally getting the hang of alternating time at beach and then beside the pool. Whilst Phil goes off to scuba dive in the morning, Nicole finds a beach lounge to read and the kids go off with their new found friends at kids club.<br />
Phil's dive on day 6 was to the Lost Anchor, (30 metres deep). I think if the scuba diving becomes a common hobby for Phil, he is going to invest in an underwater camera. The site is a huge anchor, which has incredible coral and sea fans all over it. There were lots of different fish to be seen, stone fish, scorpion fish, porcupine fish, pelagic fish and globe fish.<br />
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Hardly any photos to be taken, we have hardly moved.<br />
<br />Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-80099469917970764492010-10-20T04:24:00.000+02:002018-02-20T04:24:56.473+01:00Mauritius Day 4<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Phil had an early dive this morning to Holt Rock 25m, water temperature 24
degrees. Perfect!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Phil loved this dive, the area has massive blocks of granite boulders covered in coral. The marine life was fantastic, trigger fish, parrotfish, clownfish, snapper, squirrel fish and moray eels. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The kids met up with Amy, Jessica and Brooke from kids club and spent the day playing on the beach and at the pool.</span></div>
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Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-25731423057312233572010-10-19T04:13:00.000+02:002018-02-20T04:14:13.439+01:00Mauritius Day 3<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Phil had his first
dive at Mauritius at Emily Wreck. He really enjoyed the experience. The wreck is about 25 meters deep, and the barge, Emily was sunk here in 1981. There were lots of surgeon fish, red crabs, moray eels and spangled emperor fish to see. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The kids took themselves off to kids club, met some other children on holidays. They got on a boat, and went over to another beach for a play and swim. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We met back by the pool f<span style="font-family: inherit;">or lunch at </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Le Frangipanier </span></span>restaurant, and the afternoon was spent beside the pool reading.</div>
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We got back to our hotel room to find this on our bed, and it seemed such a shame to have to disturb it.<br />
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<br />Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-42838948391734526142010-10-18T03:54:00.000+02:002018-02-20T03:54:52.677+01:00Mauritius Day 2We moved to a different part of the beach today, and spent a lot of time in the rock pools, looking for crabs, starfish and other marine creatures. Today we remembered lunch, and dined at the Navigator. We sat outside and had a great view of the ocean.<br />
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An early dinner, and plenty of serious competitive games of UNO whilst listening </div>
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to a local band provided by the hotel for entertainment.</div>
Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-67985514178461741112010-10-17T03:39:00.000+02:002018-02-20T03:40:06.697+01:00Mauritius Day 1<div style="text-align: center;">
With a 2 hour time forward time difference, we woke up at a reasonable time and decided to have a relaxing day at the beach. The kids spent time making sandcastles and entire villages as they often do when given an entire beach to create. We were so relaxed, we totally forgot about lunch, and missed the buffet. Instead we had pancakes at afternoon tea time instead. </div>
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Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-90444996529687423482010-10-15T03:01:00.000+02:002018-02-20T03:20:48.140+01:00Johannesburg to Mauritius<br />
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An early start to the day, with the habit of early starts for safari drives, Cameron was awake and ready to go at 5.20am!</div>
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Peter took us to his friend, Warren's home, to see his amazing aviaries. Warren has an incredible property, and is a huge bird enthusiast. the kids were super impressed by the birds.</div>
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These owlets were a huge favourite, so fluffy!</div>
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Sadly today was our last day on the continent of Africa, we will certainly be back. We had the most amazing time, and we have been won over by South Africa!</div>
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We drove the hire car back to the airport, checked in and waited for our next flight, Maurtius, for some rest time on the beach. </div>
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The flight was non eventful and we had a 1 hour 15 minute shuttle bus trip up North to our hotel, </div>
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Le Canonnier, checked in, and went straight to bed.</div>
<br />Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-17254271951546272322010-10-15T02:01:00.000+02:002018-02-20T03:00:58.670+01:00Safari Day 8: Exeter River Lodge, and drive back to Johannesburg<div style="text-align: center;">
Our final Safari drive on our trip.</div>
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We saw lots of the same animals, the highlight was seeing a dazzle of zebras and actually hearing them communicate. We were shocked, we had never heard zebras calling out before, and certainly was not expecting the noise that came out of their mouths.</div>
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We also saw Impala, Guinea Fowl, slender mongoose, blue horn wax bill, hooded vultures, emerald spotten wood doves, buffalo, red bill oxpecker, dragonflies, cape glossy starling, greenback heron, wildebeast, brown snake eagle, red horn bi<span style="font-family: inherit;">ll, bearded woodpecker, kudu, fork tail drongo, vervet monkeys pied kingfisher, battalier, African jacana, orange breasted <span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">bushshrike </span>, whitebakc vultures, European bee eater, red breasted swallows, bush buck, nyala, little bee eater and duiker.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After lunch we said goodbye to our wonderful hosts at Exeter, and drove back to Johannesburg to stay with Mary and Peter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We had the 12 kilometers to drive back to the Sabi Sands gates, and Nicole was nervous about driving in the "normal car", knowing those 4 lions were right at the gate with their buffalo. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doors were locked, and windows were tightly wound up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However we had nothing to worry about, less than 48 hours since the lions had killed the buffalo, they had eaten as much as they could from the buffalo carcass, and the next animals on the food chain were having a turn.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We had a brilliant evening a delicious Braai (Afrikaans for barbeque), and the kids were fascinated with Peter's incredible telescope which gave us brilliant detail of the moon</span></div>
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Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-4596285487694618492010-10-14T05:46:00.246+02:002012-02-01T04:31:18.165+01:00Safari Day 7. Exeter River Lodge<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p>Another early morning start, and when we arrived at the main lodge, the rangers and trackers were excited to tell us that overnight the lions has tracked down a buffalo and managed to bring it down about 12 km away from the lodge, not far from the main entrance of Sabi Sands.</o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p>Everyone was keen to get going to ensure that we would be able to see the lions with their kill.</o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p>Before we left the lodge, Cameron spotted this Foam Nest Frog sitting on a log.</o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyZhGqiJlPb-a_TZy0K9XlvyKnbmO_MgfGoVB1XdVPFWMAS_j6HZAX0oouyT7hzAuxI2ITPPuwPvGSeeiiloUI95dJ69eEi9ZVCZEsGHHLuKX4ahmGCypcnD6yuGQSimZJURvfQ/s1600/IMG_9879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyZhGqiJlPb-a_TZy0K9XlvyKnbmO_MgfGoVB1XdVPFWMAS_j6HZAX0oouyT7hzAuxI2ITPPuwPvGSeeiiloUI95dJ69eEi9ZVCZEsGHHLuKX4ahmGCypcnD6yuGQSimZJURvfQ/s320/IMG_9879.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>After a photo of the frog, we got into the jeep and made our way towards the lions. Right near the main gate of Sabi Sands, and conveniently right beside the track, the lions lay near the buffalo they brought down the night before.</o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJssZWN2cZwVvLKF_Cb-kJrmBjUbrP4Net0qMX6UYcVobireelqN6cZAhxawq-YG8dCAt7RPJKSASBEXaATwhWQaKsvhnZlcnMp60ZlPsPO1zxsNHQ1J1K4IPoeRnqu3y1wNVCQ/s1600/IMG_9701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJssZWN2cZwVvLKF_Cb-kJrmBjUbrP4Net0qMX6UYcVobireelqN6cZAhxawq-YG8dCAt7RPJKSASBEXaATwhWQaKsvhnZlcnMp60ZlPsPO1zxsNHQ1J1K4IPoeRnqu3y1wNVCQ/s320/IMG_9701.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Their tummies were bulging, and when this lion did the big rollover move, he groaned....imagine how you feel after stuffing yourself for Christmas Dinner, I am sure the lions felt the same way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXzm1thSQg_Nld1rAskDtGqbFzxmTUt_-w_pBBOssmvGraBc3VyVwkn5A4f5sNXrM3I-HgPiqPBoJHvB6tFUxUwCtmkw7DfxxWyfdCKcfqmEVHnCnrR9EGlk3YvdPsMbwH7x92Q/s1600/IMG_9705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXzm1thSQg_Nld1rAskDtGqbFzxmTUt_-w_pBBOssmvGraBc3VyVwkn5A4f5sNXrM3I-HgPiqPBoJHvB6tFUxUwCtmkw7DfxxWyfdCKcfqmEVHnCnrR9EGlk3YvdPsMbwH7x92Q/s320/IMG_9705.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> One lion remains on guard to ensure no one tries to steal their kill.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1PQ7zEwFkfnJlzqUFQla1SqzEQXENdMJpum5l1UE2LPiX_i2l4ebWw9jSqCk9AaZ_mSNYxgnu7A38kGakeJARzb7E-I7WjnzcxkQFU-wd43pC0z1ZDtXdmKB7bdCqw2hX2_5sg/s1600/IMG_9723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1PQ7zEwFkfnJlzqUFQla1SqzEQXENdMJpum5l1UE2LPiX_i2l4ebWw9jSqCk9AaZ_mSNYxgnu7A38kGakeJARzb7E-I7WjnzcxkQFU-wd43pC0z1ZDtXdmKB7bdCqw2hX2_5sg/s320/IMG_9723.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5ygaHWlOsVuYpMj5_bgtPlcQhoaQy1vhlrOiuaGFARn_lpFYGSe8eADOMuS9l-tgpsjOPZ1J7A1eDaSLta7AXjKhWUrFV0TyLZaB8ozZuw4NlSrOGLl93Gse0XrACSo_t7QsOA/s1600/IMG_9728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5ygaHWlOsVuYpMj5_bgtPlcQhoaQy1vhlrOiuaGFARn_lpFYGSe8eADOMuS9l-tgpsjOPZ1J7A1eDaSLta7AXjKhWUrFV0TyLZaB8ozZuw4NlSrOGLl93Gse0XrACSo_t7QsOA/s320/IMG_9728.JPG" width="241" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The hooded vultures and white back vultures sit in a tree waiting patiently for their turn at the buffalo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-rd9q95SnzicAPH3PKXiiWzBbJLkMZltImRxOXVcgRP0NR0xkx4zs9Cjp0im2sl2rUgfasiHa80BDWwUNFKMUJjHzEwalBjs-S7n1q9S6cDR7cvBHIHROFtkrxatEFDKqYY5_w/s1600/IMG_9712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-rd9q95SnzicAPH3PKXiiWzBbJLkMZltImRxOXVcgRP0NR0xkx4zs9Cjp0im2sl2rUgfasiHa80BDWwUNFKMUJjHzEwalBjs-S7n1q9S6cDR7cvBHIHROFtkrxatEFDKqYY5_w/s320/IMG_9712.JPG" width="257" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>We also saw</o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>Buffalo (living)</o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wY_7dbbwIhRXy7kiNyXVgiCsTzDgybJ7ZwdDehB_S5mWcXMn9XPSIZ-GHeYGPqvihQXDrP4pt_pP1LLwtDWk41Q_k5U6K923SQiFZpJoDA5NmDcr9-8soRGcsBfRSD5ocDu3xA/s1600/IMG_9514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wY_7dbbwIhRXy7kiNyXVgiCsTzDgybJ7ZwdDehB_S5mWcXMn9XPSIZ-GHeYGPqvihQXDrP4pt_pP1LLwtDWk41Q_k5U6K923SQiFZpJoDA5NmDcr9-8soRGcsBfRSD5ocDu3xA/s320/IMG_9514.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAPDhO8O6EfFDaBG-adVal2XAa-koX3CWJ4j2l449oUUnWYCw9z7PWmBtVyTUHPFLBPyHHChPMHmOwYXA2cz_DpsKacV4KcHB2TphQ5pGrC0y0OttR21F92Mxu3FGHYIYhBMkZw/s1600/IMG_9519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAPDhO8O6EfFDaBG-adVal2XAa-koX3CWJ4j2l449oUUnWYCw9z7PWmBtVyTUHPFLBPyHHChPMHmOwYXA2cz_DpsKacV4KcHB2TphQ5pGrC0y0OttR21F92Mxu3FGHYIYhBMkZw/s320/IMG_9519.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXotvnh3O2m2u5DKVFq5jVQwZp7pKXEcuTikFq28KTu2IR37uMHBbR021yvBEk0bkOD6RkPOJjIec8ByHeiVfABNecfvzKBi0pC8fN2WagJTYra2yEueLCi6gT6l1KYwXMoQLPQ/s1600/IMG_9522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXotvnh3O2m2u5DKVFq5jVQwZp7pKXEcuTikFq28KTu2IR37uMHBbR021yvBEk0bkOD6RkPOJjIec8ByHeiVfABNecfvzKBi0pC8fN2WagJTYra2yEueLCi6gT6l1KYwXMoQLPQ/s320/IMG_9522.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Loved these red bellied oxpeckers who sit on the large mammals and eat any ticks or parasites on them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhg1WF7faYRkBOX0w06lohh7y6Mf0KU6cuXGMDcySddbtfRaeepAnLjMCuT21Q9bwVWo-BQ6rBZWRrnNlBe1pL-amZJClY70Q9JHNDTq_Rim_XGdyYRayzeGV9ikmRzlT9gTHwMg/s1600/IMG_9827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhg1WF7faYRkBOX0w06lohh7y6Mf0KU6cuXGMDcySddbtfRaeepAnLjMCuT21Q9bwVWo-BQ6rBZWRrnNlBe1pL-amZJClY70Q9JHNDTq_Rim_XGdyYRayzeGV9ikmRzlT9gTHwMg/s320/IMG_9827.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>Leopard (Phil's favourite)</o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKtILCMx9VT74v7StVVX2BJaR3clNCTG1k-hvyvFVkZ21lnnVRaYQmV_-Xem3txbD89JaHztXFufpdUvI0oYEMCfexZyzKIPNmZlwrenBf9BNRIcxjPahqzQivwQKmoJyQ8A0RQ/s1600/IMG_9446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKtILCMx9VT74v7StVVX2BJaR3clNCTG1k-hvyvFVkZ21lnnVRaYQmV_-Xem3txbD89JaHztXFufpdUvI0oYEMCfexZyzKIPNmZlwrenBf9BNRIcxjPahqzQivwQKmoJyQ8A0RQ/s320/IMG_9446.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNGBDMPDHxM4qmjEYF8TxJb94UgOyRgFH18ofoN78KGyLXd4so_m_sCiZ_4gwPBkcHS4LOmehK7pQZu3c6XWPjjBnLpa8XwV3c9px_esLfQ2hih5ueFSV-ALMe2p3m-c-cbW-tA/s1600/IMG_9452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNGBDMPDHxM4qmjEYF8TxJb94UgOyRgFH18ofoN78KGyLXd4so_m_sCiZ_4gwPBkcHS4LOmehK7pQZu3c6XWPjjBnLpa8XwV3c9px_esLfQ2hih5ueFSV-ALMe2p3m-c-cbW-tA/s320/IMG_9452.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnDkmZBzwpKJPfullpy2xyYUeXFNfAJxWLQVG_bv6Sr3WFl48WXbeGh5s7mckZP8jJmHFkxozvwX4EdGyhmNbtN-C2XrOsL9qypNd-rZ0tEj4WTeYbYofOneKMqHAIrjSSz1AKQ/s1600/IMG_9477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnDkmZBzwpKJPfullpy2xyYUeXFNfAJxWLQVG_bv6Sr3WFl48WXbeGh5s7mckZP8jJmHFkxozvwX4EdGyhmNbtN-C2XrOsL9qypNd-rZ0tEj4WTeYbYofOneKMqHAIrjSSz1AKQ/s320/IMG_9477.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6eShRJYFvWjHu6KeRnUpk4h7da07AWGpX1sstplPRmG0EcfkQ5mkz9EHS6bIKzBoV3T_zN5AUkJo3xKXy7Mh-kBTQkhgeCs3-FXVRlSUl-qK7BvF1_B9oW27o9VIgD6awlADxw/s1600/IMG_9774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6eShRJYFvWjHu6KeRnUpk4h7da07AWGpX1sstplPRmG0EcfkQ5mkz9EHS6bIKzBoV3T_zN5AUkJo3xKXy7Mh-kBTQkhgeCs3-FXVRlSUl-qK7BvF1_B9oW27o9VIgD6awlADxw/s320/IMG_9774.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_J-p6iYaZllgd9wKPG6uYInxjbVLJsYO7NzE3OYVcVAFk-Gv15HESkivCgDgNUtpE2Hy7_s96qkL62n4ujX_GRMw3rf-U87s7Xdt7lZAHhhk0TPHUwnT1gWe-zqA1peQ1KIeYQ/s1600/DSC03627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_J-p6iYaZllgd9wKPG6uYInxjbVLJsYO7NzE3OYVcVAFk-Gv15HESkivCgDgNUtpE2Hy7_s96qkL62n4ujX_GRMw3rf-U87s7Xdt7lZAHhhk0TPHUwnT1gWe-zqA1peQ1KIeYQ/s320/DSC03627.JPG" width="304" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>Cheetah.</o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>This is also the area that was hit by the electrical storm that we viewed from Bongani a few nights earlier. Some of the trees were still smouldering a bit.</o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9P9suhaTbmuObp7WKuzVlG_mgfHJO0iWX_z5wE5aT7fChBiDnn7Ytj7oGNiOejiUsFc1Sf8d_1czV1_OmG_hpX_P8q2ZlzvewoosGJlv3Un17cvTjdsdr6eKu8REIzmryPp0LxA/s1600/DSC03569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9P9suhaTbmuObp7WKuzVlG_mgfHJO0iWX_z5wE5aT7fChBiDnn7Ytj7oGNiOejiUsFc1Sf8d_1czV1_OmG_hpX_P8q2ZlzvewoosGJlv3Un17cvTjdsdr6eKu8REIzmryPp0LxA/s320/DSC03569.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5IPQhaKdUp6fsenzOVeJvZ64EqTDFE9wda-7OCREEhvPjmAx4oOiHu2Fi5g27xO-AZjvDE3236st7nk53-B2x0Osk6k-jmATn5F6rQrgrYpPvi_FttkiRQ21EWHnBiPSFSzBrxA/s1600/IMG_9538.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5IPQhaKdUp6fsenzOVeJvZ64EqTDFE9wda-7OCREEhvPjmAx4oOiHu2Fi5g27xO-AZjvDE3236st7nk53-B2x0Osk6k-jmATn5F6rQrgrYpPvi_FttkiRQ21EWHnBiPSFSzBrxA/s320/IMG_9538.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUDe0vDR4WwuZLqOu30arwGcokWTzqvCxtlw_TI5uPNlTPCWCIN_h3hsk2l0QuC5Frv0lP096zJCJuFWOvsy2JzIMXpGdExXHtsCDT9vQyOa9bfliSWNaYQOslahSTk45TMCmvg/s1600/IMG_9598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUDe0vDR4WwuZLqOu30arwGcokWTzqvCxtlw_TI5uPNlTPCWCIN_h3hsk2l0QuC5Frv0lP096zJCJuFWOvsy2JzIMXpGdExXHtsCDT9vQyOa9bfliSWNaYQOslahSTk45TMCmvg/s320/IMG_9598.JPG" width="212" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>Hippos (well the top part of hippos)</o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJG6h557VI5IhUgxgeFA-LEp7g6IUWgJb_yARFf1_no964cxSay9XN2P27bUgcPhEztEyXdM9d9zEXPVqt0WEF0w7A2JKtz8cwj4OYCQisOCHuMmF9zlZtiRFI38g0k_lkVW-c7A/s1600/IMG_9637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJG6h557VI5IhUgxgeFA-LEp7g6IUWgJb_yARFf1_no964cxSay9XN2P27bUgcPhEztEyXdM9d9zEXPVqt0WEF0w7A2JKtz8cwj4OYCQisOCHuMmF9zlZtiRFI38g0k_lkVW-c7A/s320/IMG_9637.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>Dwarf Mongoose</o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3uA4T1ieC9iHZUfpt-gKRlDzW3QYcqvxzAbvfojn6W2UR1YxmAXtJhAdcNZHSDqzURFZblCG6Q0FbbQm-fnLMUeP6WQI0ZWe8pfnqwpWFxqLOpvcGiYUQz-MRi-t44M5kN4hOA/s1600/dwarf+mongoose.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3uA4T1ieC9iHZUfpt-gKRlDzW3QYcqvxzAbvfojn6W2UR1YxmAXtJhAdcNZHSDqzURFZblCG6Q0FbbQm-fnLMUeP6WQI0ZWe8pfnqwpWFxqLOpvcGiYUQz-MRi-t44M5kN4hOA/s320/dwarf+mongoose.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><div style="text-align: center;">African Funnel Web Spider</div><div style="text-align: center;">Kudu</div><div style="text-align: center;">Bushbuck</div><div style="text-align: center;">Nyala</div><div style="text-align: center;">Impala</div></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>There was a huge amount of different birdlife this morning.</o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Swainson's Francolin<br />
Natal Spurfowl</div><div style="text-align: center;">Helmeted Guineafowl<br />
Cape Turtle Dove<br />
Grey Go-away-bird<br />
Fiery Necked Nightjar<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Brown-hooded Kingfisher</div><div style="text-align: center;">Giant Kingfisher</div>African Hoopoe<br />
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGpwCSwKXljs2y-OEfbWrE5fESHOTw5iNatFEfpFSAvqkLGqbLgPSZ1Zn2avS0Zph9agpt4Yt2aAkOz3Rf0kQ2g_oU29lgPmuD54LgOK-xoRR17ZamyrQtj30ar2_hZ1RQp22iUg/s1600/yellowbill.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGpwCSwKXljs2y-OEfbWrE5fESHOTw5iNatFEfpFSAvqkLGqbLgPSZ1Zn2avS0Zph9agpt4Yt2aAkOz3Rf0kQ2g_oU29lgPmuD54LgOK-xoRR17ZamyrQtj30ar2_hZ1RQp22iUg/s320/yellowbill.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghktZiL6TN6372zgr7TgR1a5y6IzMGNxwD9G0-gg4Bui5fkTieKcpjMR4cGcNqL2VvhgR8eriVquWvOr1N0zsIgM_EC28eCSxNL1B_TRWsK3gw9k2aoaBv6NRYYThyoy8rM95evQ/s1600/yellowbill+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghktZiL6TN6372zgr7TgR1a5y6IzMGNxwD9G0-gg4Bui5fkTieKcpjMR4cGcNqL2VvhgR8eriVquWvOr1N0zsIgM_EC28eCSxNL1B_TRWsK3gw9k2aoaBv6NRYYThyoy8rM95evQ/s320/yellowbill+1.JPG" width="289" /></a></div>Bearded Woodpecker<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdtarnDrJq9_XKMzlTfOaGv6-gcDySmEHCRwx-rpmETxok2jddH213jcMAhaZfHCWfOn3WgxJs_Cp_Bzzj0sNLUEecPMU1L-bpDaUJAaklgeVyWSnzIm2ivpNf1j2svjxVrCtLQ/s1600/bearded+woodpecker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdtarnDrJq9_XKMzlTfOaGv6-gcDySmEHCRwx-rpmETxok2jddH213jcMAhaZfHCWfOn3WgxJs_Cp_Bzzj0sNLUEecPMU1L-bpDaUJAaklgeVyWSnzIm2ivpNf1j2svjxVrCtLQ/s320/bearded+woodpecker.JPG" width="309" /></a></div>African Grey Hornbill<br />
Chin-spot Batis<br />
Brubru<br />
Black-crowned Tchagra<br />
Blue Waxbill</div><div style="text-align: center;">Goliath Heron<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemAE_L5Dmw3JaG1vSk0Woa5J7nWos3Ibcq3aeOUuyp6R_tgQ6xTBUEg6kvFumGzM0wbQSKLCtHsNlx4AYrz2Zy7YgmkNSN_0Fx_g2GPhk5bFfmaQ9qO4Slm-_9znNV8L-P7BR2g/s1600/goliath+heron.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemAE_L5Dmw3JaG1vSk0Woa5J7nWos3Ibcq3aeOUuyp6R_tgQ6xTBUEg6kvFumGzM0wbQSKLCtHsNlx4AYrz2Zy7YgmkNSN_0Fx_g2GPhk5bFfmaQ9qO4Slm-_9znNV8L-P7BR2g/s320/goliath+heron.JPG" width="311" /></a></div>Hadeda Ibis<br />
Egyptian Geese<br />
Hooded Vulture<br />
Tawny Eagle<br />
Bateleur<br />
African Fish Eagle<br />
Brown Snake-Eagle<br />
Black Crake<br />
Emerald Spotted Dove<br />
Tawny-flanked Prinia<br />
Black-headed Eastern Oriole<br />
African White-backed Vulture<br />
African Jacana<br />
African Green Pigeon</div><div style="text-align: center;">Southern Black Flycatcher<br />
<br />
It was a fantastic morning drive.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">We got back to the lodge for breakfast and didn't stop talking between us about all the amazing animals we had seen this morning. It was the first time we had seen a leopard and a cheetah in the wild, and the birdlife was incredible.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Lunchtime was eventful in more ways than one.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">A terrific lunch set up on the balcony of the main lodge, where we were able to watch the elephants beside the river. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMSTSsi8WohcqkybcuwuaoO4gDKzn7xzH8jE_j7BMPS2mtwBIuIqdJOTYFBN0yty22BU73apFDZDgfhX24vTvy5JAEDrfNcP04u_NQuGWTr4gzxVQKvzuIO2c0MHXHLTEbhw6WA/s1600/IMG_9409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMSTSsi8WohcqkybcuwuaoO4gDKzn7xzH8jE_j7BMPS2mtwBIuIqdJOTYFBN0yty22BU73apFDZDgfhX24vTvy5JAEDrfNcP04u_NQuGWTr4gzxVQKvzuIO2c0MHXHLTEbhw6WA/s320/IMG_9409.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0JJdfks4s4ULaFEMgh7T4oSz57c6lLk0Rb-Jzy5JZi6HrWnjRLYNLcO_11aK6uXdQ1gYBHjVSjV9dt0cPGd8Bb-gS7dN_ysEDlGpKlxp_qdo8hQGPQxLjmbRfLvxRW5f-mTJCKQ/s1600/IMG_9669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0JJdfks4s4ULaFEMgh7T4oSz57c6lLk0Rb-Jzy5JZi6HrWnjRLYNLcO_11aK6uXdQ1gYBHjVSjV9dt0cPGd8Bb-gS7dN_ysEDlGpKlxp_qdo8hQGPQxLjmbRfLvxRW5f-mTJCKQ/s320/IMG_9669.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The highlight for Cameron was watching Ronny and the other staff armed with slingshots, trying to scare the monkeys from coming down the trees and stealing lunch for the guests. They never tried to hit the monkeys, just frighten them enough that got them to move away. Ronny taught Cameron how to use the slingshot, and he had a great time firing small stones into the distance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDCNygkj7UXlFYveX7cjz3AeccSB8mdmArU2dFxQZUSko3p1DvYvEEhVhrAiovZWTWiPa4pl_W9Midl0iJskvwmTGEabJMaeeTfkE2qZlERRYvnm-c-d4GkpxoOBdp9y2pC0OIrQ/s1600/DSC03480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDCNygkj7UXlFYveX7cjz3AeccSB8mdmArU2dFxQZUSko3p1DvYvEEhVhrAiovZWTWiPa4pl_W9Midl0iJskvwmTGEabJMaeeTfkE2qZlERRYvnm-c-d4GkpxoOBdp9y2pC0OIrQ/s320/DSC03480.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Then just after lunch finished, a monkey sitting in the tree right above Nicole decided it was time for a toilet break and did it right there. All of a sudden Nicole was covered in monkey poo down her shirt and all over her arm. The kids thought it was hilarious, and the staff couldn't be more apologetic, but Nicole just laughed it off after the shock of it, and went back to the room to change into another shirt and wash her arms.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">As soon as Nicole got back to the room, she watched in amazement as 3 elephants came up to the front and the sides of her room. She was "stuck" in her room until the elephants decided to clear off. That was OK, Nicole just sat near the window and watched the elephants strip the leaves off the trees.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qIRpMZVy-lYeZtIGMGWwCdq-byG2M1jw1vVo4O8Uj_1UR1wpzcBjIrzan3OXP8xqCOBjso71lLmMds4bmHJDJRh5B_htenIybucR7Utzs48ytbuQ7xrI5BYQLBHlZFtk7QOuKg/s1600/IMG_4201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qIRpMZVy-lYeZtIGMGWwCdq-byG2M1jw1vVo4O8Uj_1UR1wpzcBjIrzan3OXP8xqCOBjso71lLmMds4bmHJDJRh5B_htenIybucR7Utzs48ytbuQ7xrI5BYQLBHlZFtk7QOuKg/s320/IMG_4201.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSar_qxZZWI3sR836QLSx0w9cjKt6H2JymL-RYJX4F-LM2Ckwgxt11u2CkkRDZECXL99vPfummLe6zPWbJ_34QzizBDQN9-U0nY-jSMjEiIxKtg8JoRfZ28tzBFgHuakEXnBLWw/s1600/IMG_4202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSar_qxZZWI3sR836QLSx0w9cjKt6H2JymL-RYJX4F-LM2Ckwgxt11u2CkkRDZECXL99vPfummLe6zPWbJ_34QzizBDQN9-U0nY-jSMjEiIxKtg8JoRfZ28tzBFgHuakEXnBLWw/s320/IMG_4202.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Eventually the elephants wandered off, and a security guard came down to the room to escort Nicole back to the main lodge, just incase the elephants decided to come back.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Afternoon Drive</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">This afternoon we saw</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Kudu</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Warthog</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Tree Squirrel</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Impala</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVH55coPGNJmKOJfFHOrjx3c2ZQeIbS0OVoz_3N6bw2PDJGbCQv3QU9EaErXwKIexShQzz7NqpBPWBGflfBH647Hiz2dRfTrmq7FUOQpNDNltUPisu9rAtG05cBFgy8c-6S3RKug/s1600/impala+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVH55coPGNJmKOJfFHOrjx3c2ZQeIbS0OVoz_3N6bw2PDJGbCQv3QU9EaErXwKIexShQzz7NqpBPWBGflfBH647Hiz2dRfTrmq7FUOQpNDNltUPisu9rAtG05cBFgy8c-6S3RKug/s320/impala+(2).JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Giraffe</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Steenbok</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Rhino</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFzRo2saMbtv16S6OsXMUrRnUa9F09_M9J2n858zcrTr-9_i8W2l3RV5G0uCE2LEHTsFYcUyKegFsE8fyvxwUu_nm4RyKmqQZgEye_E9OeXgaIEE9k1UahZzF-mKeRxFWeiTlow/s1600/IMG_9751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFzRo2saMbtv16S6OsXMUrRnUa9F09_M9J2n858zcrTr-9_i8W2l3RV5G0uCE2LEHTsFYcUyKegFsE8fyvxwUu_nm4RyKmqQZgEye_E9OeXgaIEE9k1UahZzF-mKeRxFWeiTlow/s320/IMG_9751.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Leopard, and we smelt before we saw the kudu in the tree that he had caught earlier.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSayDkcvMct_7eIi3PPF03uyZkYZOpl7c1JSFfrk4nPnmLuCah1CzL1ekQUSWQR0xgO3QwVg3aTh8dpACixz0zLK3BlMf6PhzAXMc3Mjpv71k62oOcMQPS77G83-OTFgJYc075Dw/s1600/IMG_9787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSayDkcvMct_7eIi3PPF03uyZkYZOpl7c1JSFfrk4nPnmLuCah1CzL1ekQUSWQR0xgO3QwVg3aTh8dpACixz0zLK3BlMf6PhzAXMc3Mjpv71k62oOcMQPS77G83-OTFgJYc075Dw/s320/IMG_9787.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> (not a great photo, as it was getting dark)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwVAge6TyH3QOkwdxAs-EPxLdRnfKWXsCnEh0vHdropSYX2P0VtXsGCTF9yxsRbiM1_0zdEUsZmN6whTVfbVYGqpkhpUOzoyMmP0u0cIkzQVySVDeHdBs03Lml_ZeuKGI7ZUreIw/s1600/IMG_4238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwVAge6TyH3QOkwdxAs-EPxLdRnfKWXsCnEh0vHdropSYX2P0VtXsGCTF9yxsRbiM1_0zdEUsZmN6whTVfbVYGqpkhpUOzoyMmP0u0cIkzQVySVDeHdBs03Lml_ZeuKGI7ZUreIw/s320/IMG_4238.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Elephant</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Hyena</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80ePY2aAAhRdAg_6PKF0QEXQBddZrnHadF9Xw-I8zgOhpIk2j_DmwgO1a4TJytb83sBlyX2N6kojIZG0VfbGcCGYd5xfWPGiQlR_7dp9tJl1YCIy8FBzxFQ5XGx_3j01Xy_p0dw/s1600/IMG_9821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80ePY2aAAhRdAg_6PKF0QEXQBddZrnHadF9Xw-I8zgOhpIk2j_DmwgO1a4TJytb83sBlyX2N6kojIZG0VfbGcCGYd5xfWPGiQlR_7dp9tJl1YCIy8FBzxFQ5XGx_3j01Xy_p0dw/s320/IMG_9821.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Birdlife</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Francolin</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Fork-ttailed Drongo</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Grey Go-away Bird</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Red-billed Oxpecker</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Lilac-breasted Roller</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">African Green Pigeons</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">We also learnt the word "coprophage" which is something that eats poo. I think it is the boys favourite new word! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">On the way to dinner we looked in on the gift shop at the lodge. On a shopping bag was this quote</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">"I am where I have been"</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">It's a great quote that we all can relate to!</div>Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-81214678305923065982010-10-13T05:45:00.145+02:002012-01-23T06:01:27.586+01:00Leaving Bongani , arriving at Exeter<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was with great sadness that we left Bongani this morning. We have had some fantastic experiences while we were there, and we hope that one day we will be able to come back again. If ever you decide to go on safari, Bongani is a fantastic place to encounter the most amazing wildlife.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We thank Steve and Aaron for our incredible wildlife encounters, and wealth of knowledge that they passed on to us.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWtQ755gnscoh8auOKvsGn7RuT0Wk0h-O2-KWrAv4b8s_vkZ4r7E_z5jdb9KV9NWLzAvrEbAh_-QDambfrAGKyA63nsD0J63st6dYOXPdpyYuPdQ3ViqDFqpERv9xIRQRnLsbn-A/s1600/IMG_3992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWtQ755gnscoh8auOKvsGn7RuT0Wk0h-O2-KWrAv4b8s_vkZ4r7E_z5jdb9KV9NWLzAvrEbAh_-QDambfrAGKyA63nsD0J63st6dYOXPdpyYuPdQ3ViqDFqpERv9xIRQRnLsbn-A/s320/IMG_3992.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEKxnKQkCJOICplQcJ3wbi4jxhbaVW4v9BuuvGsm_LetDR0vmocnrASPgUMsBCDc1gvr_FiYu9KNU2aGZcA2rGBTrtEIpnRDZUxNgOozebc7jaWNCxE4RjTaiOT8_x2H1Z_z-2A/s1600/IMG_8971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEKxnKQkCJOICplQcJ3wbi4jxhbaVW4v9BuuvGsm_LetDR0vmocnrASPgUMsBCDc1gvr_FiYu9KNU2aGZcA2rGBTrtEIpnRDZUxNgOozebc7jaWNCxE4RjTaiOT8_x2H1Z_z-2A/s320/IMG_8971.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We said our goodbyes and headed north to our next stop. Along the way we stopped at Hazyview for petrol and a leg stretch. We wanted to get some money out of a cash machine, but the machine at the petrol station was broken, and the guy repairing the machine couldn't tell us if it would be ready in 5 minutes or an hour. <br />
<br />
Outside also filling up their car were a couple of policemen. So we thought we would ask them if they knew where the closet cash machine was. The police were fantastic, and said we will take you there, just follow us. So we got in the car, and followed them into town to the closest cash machine. While we were getting cash out, they waited for us, and then got us to follow them to the main road again so we could continue to Sabi Sands. They gave us a wave and we continued on our way! We were thrilled and so grateful for their assistance!<br />
<br />
A fairly uneventful drive north to Sabi Sands, and we got a laugh from the hippo signs on the road, as we are more used to kangaroo, koala and wombat signs. I would hate to think of the damage to the car if you hit a hippo on the road.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We got to the edge of the Sabi Sands entrance, signed in, and had a 12km drive to Exeter River Lodge. We were in the game park. Don't get out of the car, keep your windows up if you encounter lions. Nicole was petrified, and not comfortable at all on the 12km journey to the camp.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwVGJuikoxxEV_8422JSklD7Rfz2DukJVskUJctGRHgFGyLBw6Rao3Y_iwBKAR4sPMeglCnXi-iixuWlu2pLrJnuFgZa388TQK_Ou8PloWpH7A4qgUvDGunfhyphenhyphenlD23qOJIv3WFA/s1600/IMG_9896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwVGJuikoxxEV_8422JSklD7Rfz2DukJVskUJctGRHgFGyLBw6Rao3Y_iwBKAR4sPMeglCnXi-iixuWlu2pLrJnuFgZa388TQK_Ou8PloWpH7A4qgUvDGunfhyphenhyphenlD23qOJIv3WFA/s320/IMG_9896.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> We got to <a href="http://www.andbeyondafrica.com/luxury_safari/south_africa/sabi_sand_game_reserve/and_beyond_exeter_river/accommodation/and_beyond_exeter_river_lodge">Exeter River Lodge</a>, and encountered these gorgeous warthogs along the path!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgil1Qh6PwVglx4zz2_4-d2Vi7fR4r-5En0AGKMoR6wrIw9oHz2mSqzX93XrTq9XiB1vTRjVCS5lEDtKvuk2CN2sUbwwnGWUIEuTXlbWs5zAK5NPqd0r_wT1H1JfuJaXw2W1fCWkg/s1600/DSC03475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgil1Qh6PwVglx4zz2_4-d2Vi7fR4r-5En0AGKMoR6wrIw9oHz2mSqzX93XrTq9XiB1vTRjVCS5lEDtKvuk2CN2sUbwwnGWUIEuTXlbWs5zAK5NPqd0r_wT1H1JfuJaXw2W1fCWkg/s320/DSC03475.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> We had 2 rooms booked. Phil and Alexander were in one, and Nicole and Cameron were in the other one. There was no way Nicole was comfortable with the kids being in a room by themselves and us not being able to get to them in the middle of the night (we needed a security guard to escort us in the evenings - especially with the local leopard who likes to drink from the dip pools on the balconies).<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The rooms were stunning. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The foyer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj453HyUg_e5ANX4YgBoPsmgn-giENQztw0pEjhvvVyPuQj_uZConL1m-IgmAugAGsbq-aPIeWbPzWPTJr_m1RsdlNRoHj0EzZIkimTwzSETGK_dgRCObeizI1cdlJi0w8e1ULtrA/s1600/IMG_4194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj453HyUg_e5ANX4YgBoPsmgn-giENQztw0pEjhvvVyPuQj_uZConL1m-IgmAugAGsbq-aPIeWbPzWPTJr_m1RsdlNRoHj0EzZIkimTwzSETGK_dgRCObeizI1cdlJi0w8e1ULtrA/s320/IMG_4194.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Lounge area</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoOsOV9YhY1CeEv5z-9LyrraRoqRd772FcCvSrC6wpr28QYESR4DrybeoN0eTnuFl0owwroKcqGfEvPru308I4ZgUehK2c8v_wBd1SykoH6hHDrciDDB1PMKIZoZVT0bEgTbX2A/s1600/IMG_4193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoOsOV9YhY1CeEv5z-9LyrraRoqRd772FcCvSrC6wpr28QYESR4DrybeoN0eTnuFl0owwroKcqGfEvPru308I4ZgUehK2c8v_wBd1SykoH6hHDrciDDB1PMKIZoZVT0bEgTbX2A/s320/IMG_4193.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Beds, with bathroom in the distance</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTpr8lLcVLEgTqKfFwuz4x3faRzWphzQZiVCBgx0NamzQHZh11RqRGC1tpD4iHrgoKgG8wsL9eZhJ79YIez4Ba6yY4uyQphw5vJp1cF2NQ0_hFs0DLYTVirwX6F6e9boQa4E6Pg/s1600/IMG_4190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTpr8lLcVLEgTqKfFwuz4x3faRzWphzQZiVCBgx0NamzQHZh11RqRGC1tpD4iHrgoKgG8wsL9eZhJ79YIez4Ba6yY4uyQphw5vJp1cF2NQ0_hFs0DLYTVirwX6F6e9boQa4E6Pg/s320/IMG_4190.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> View from the bed, dip pool, and just below the dip pool is the grassy area just before the river.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvd5QhJCafRuankK6slr5M-28qUzhE1lOhlGoeZd0gtgrg_hbafcfkugRqBN-tfMtgBK9sZG8PnUb5j4u0SaaMWP92nTe01KaNNnL0FSToPRRtmMsHfl21SWOJu7uR4lqpvXOtQ/s1600/IMG_4196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvd5QhJCafRuankK6slr5M-28qUzhE1lOhlGoeZd0gtgrg_hbafcfkugRqBN-tfMtgBK9sZG8PnUb5j4u0SaaMWP92nTe01KaNNnL0FSToPRRtmMsHfl21SWOJu7uR4lqpvXOtQ/s320/IMG_4196.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Bathroom, with big windows to view while you shower</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFs02LfUSSQkg-1i7Ib4vFjMsu8nafizOvEaGR8x46vxOPxJG9N0vEYSb_t4knH1g6JFtF3KsqkXirabJyvQXhERJxfNv_G_3i5vbMBOS2ptAGGqv70N7w9PWZxC219_A_KKwJnA/s1600/IMG_4191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFs02LfUSSQkg-1i7Ib4vFjMsu8nafizOvEaGR8x46vxOPxJG9N0vEYSb_t4knH1g6JFtF3KsqkXirabJyvQXhERJxfNv_G_3i5vbMBOS2ptAGGqv70N7w9PWZxC219_A_KKwJnA/s320/IMG_4191.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Bath, and the view of the outdoor shower. Phil tried it out and said it was fantastic, Nicole was still freaking out about the local leopard, and was happy to bath inside.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLn2xNxl3cHlHkoIdp0MckhglL4v1ATULXInHSla_EwQesLxr1BHCYnI48_-AXK8mpLguCU6jHXJFizswSm_T9EvphhetGQ-tIN9wzVI0xLRRAl5mw0draQe4L7lWLIawg9PHaZw/s1600/IMG_4192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLn2xNxl3cHlHkoIdp0MckhglL4v1ATULXInHSla_EwQesLxr1BHCYnI48_-AXK8mpLguCU6jHXJFizswSm_T9EvphhetGQ-tIN9wzVI0xLRRAl5mw0draQe4L7lWLIawg9PHaZw/s320/IMG_4192.JPG" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In the lounge room were these amazing animal guide books. The kids were thrilled with them, and took them while we were out on game drives to see which animals they could tick off. Cameron loved seeing all the different type of birds.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosuQRyfezTjK5vUeLW6ylBkJT8Oj6xCCx0Z2B37S-dErgB6m6Btfrx8n_6NEUj1n_sEv26Lu3ZwAXuGXZKx7vbvF-g-FlCADX0vzml2aRiGBTctxZpIy9ZWeED3KNKVjqIeFOTA/s1600/IMG_6095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosuQRyfezTjK5vUeLW6ylBkJT8Oj6xCCx0Z2B37S-dErgB6m6Btfrx8n_6NEUj1n_sEv26Lu3ZwAXuGXZKx7vbvF-g-FlCADX0vzml2aRiGBTctxZpIy9ZWeED3KNKVjqIeFOTA/s320/IMG_6095.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We settled in to our rooms and then met back at the main lodge to meet Ronny, our "butler" for our visit. Ronny was fantastic, a charming, sincere and funny man who looked after us. He proudly showed us photos of his adorable children, they live in one of the local villages close by. Ronny made the kids his "famous pink" non alcoholic cocktail, which quickly became the kids favourite drink in South Africa!<br />
<br />
The main lodge is open, they have some issues with the local monkeys which we experienced the following day, so they have to be careful with food and drink. The monkeys show no fear and are happy to walk right up to the tables to grab a piece of fruit or a drink. The boys thought they were hilarious! (much happier with the monkeys than the baboons!)<br />
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After a quick bite to eat for afternoon tea, we met our driver Craig and our tracker, Martin who would look after us for the few days we were at Exeter. Craig wanted us to make it a quick snack, as 4 lions had been spotted not too far away, and he wanted to show us the lions before they took off again. We didn't need too much encouragement, so we skulled the drinks, put on the mosquito repellent and we were on the jeep fairly quickly. We were pretty excited, but also cautious as those 2 lions in the boma at Bongani had given us a real scare when they let out a tiny roar....and we were ok with that as they were behind a fence...this was totally different!<br />
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Exeter sits on about 10,000 hectares of land, so lots of room, our tracker, Martin was great, along with being in radio contact with other safari vehicles who were also on the lookout for animals.<br />
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So, we found the 4 lions fairly quickly and we followed them for awhile. The kids complained that Nicole was squeezing them so tightly. Those lions were hungry! They were thin and you could see their ribcages. They were following a scent of something, and then were on the move. Nicole hoped the lions wouldn't see the kids as a tasty snack before the main event!<br />
Not easy to take photos, but we got this one, you can see those ribs!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7YFcBF_-g3lS3iITtEHBMlK4QZYiTBNnXhqjwOWE19sPld5aKUzDIB8vE3RbxMyaxERn77Yq6XgbLv2xJAY2vF-hlR_LkCnSU1jt-p1qk1ZO-OhDBfUbWHTj0izaMYqUHm-HDQ/s1600/DSC03488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7YFcBF_-g3lS3iITtEHBMlK4QZYiTBNnXhqjwOWE19sPld5aKUzDIB8vE3RbxMyaxERn77Yq6XgbLv2xJAY2vF-hlR_LkCnSU1jt-p1qk1ZO-OhDBfUbWHTj0izaMYqUHm-HDQ/s320/DSC03488.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After following the lions for a few kilometres we left them alone to find other animals. Cameron was really hoping to see a live attack, but Nicole was quite sure he would find it distressing. Thankfully we left before they caught up with whatever they were tracking.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We also saw</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Elephants</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2EHBWA_oK-f1qohaMepa-dgsdOeRzWp6VJxvesry-JUHhXSC9k5vlmvfuJ7_-gu4lw8j39HiGgeeFJvcd8x0LROnFWJks_ulHJZmewtw6mwdVPXLVR2_SniOdFsuAx8xhYAIIJA/s1600/IMG_9687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2EHBWA_oK-f1qohaMepa-dgsdOeRzWp6VJxvesry-JUHhXSC9k5vlmvfuJ7_-gu4lw8j39HiGgeeFJvcd8x0LROnFWJks_ulHJZmewtw6mwdVPXLVR2_SniOdFsuAx8xhYAIIJA/s320/IMG_9687.JPG" width="304" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu40Bjf1uwOUb_a1vk-yCLM4ZjlJsni0IJ1nW5Q5g1BTIiMW1MW7YdZGN2nnBu0BiP_8fh9zfe1AxlB7JPUke0cAfdqVkehp5narGTUzlIhL3ADnt0AACRWTvPt9lNChOuo_nDVw/s1600/IMG_9811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu40Bjf1uwOUb_a1vk-yCLM4ZjlJsni0IJ1nW5Q5g1BTIiMW1MW7YdZGN2nnBu0BiP_8fh9zfe1AxlB7JPUke0cAfdqVkehp5narGTUzlIhL3ADnt0AACRWTvPt9lNChOuo_nDVw/s320/IMG_9811.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bushbuck</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWj2EfkQRywYBvNCYHLpkDuTkr7waSTN5A3f36r_bDFc8YEBl38FfMB_V8Obna4xpj4tAaNLMfGxjsoZcGjZ4FyLGayyjFalssPWs6UxMD4nZlvmMulNcui7Dgc_Y1glw-rN6_w/s1600/DSC03583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWj2EfkQRywYBvNCYHLpkDuTkr7waSTN5A3f36r_bDFc8YEBl38FfMB_V8Obna4xpj4tAaNLMfGxjsoZcGjZ4FyLGayyjFalssPWs6UxMD4nZlvmMulNcui7Dgc_Y1glw-rN6_w/s320/DSC03583.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Slender Mongoose</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nyala</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Impala</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Waterbuck</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Chameleon</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Scrub Hare</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">White tail Mongoose</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Duiker</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Birdlife</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Greater Blue Starling</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Grey Go-Away-Bird</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Crested Francolin</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Natal Francolin</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Swainson's Francolin</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Magpie (Longtail) Shrike</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arrow-marked Babbler</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Saddlebill Stork</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Southern Yellow Billed Hornbill</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Red-billed Hornbill</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Fish Eagle</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Fork-tailed Drongo</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">Fiery-necked Nightjar</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">Back at the lodge, Ronny was waiting for us with an amazing dinner on the balcony of the main lodge. We managed to see the local leopard wandering beside the river, then we were safely ecorted back to our rooms for a good night sleep.<br />
It was a great day and we hoped that perhaps the following morning we would hear if the lions caught up with whatever they were following.</div></span>Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-30201093346115888112010-10-12T04:00:00.098+02:002012-01-16T07:18:27.742+01:00Safari Day 5. Bongani Mountain Lodge<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Morning Drive.<br />
Up at the usual time, the storm had cooled the air down and it was back to a comfortable temperature again. Armed with enough mosquito repellant to cover a small army (we were on guard when it came to malaria), we head off again with Steve and Aaron.<br />
<br />
It was just the 4 of us today, and Steve asks us as we drive off "What do you want to see today?"<br />
"Zebras and Wildebeest, we haven't seen any yet" says Nicole. Aaron looks at Steve and laughs, we are not sure what that means. So Aaron just says "We will see what we can do", and off we drive.<br />
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2 days before Cameron had borrowed Steve's mammal and bird guide books, which he read front to back during the day. The guides were fantastic, photos of male and female of each species, footprints, poo samples and heaps of information about each animal.<br />
<br />
We were stunned when we were driving and Cameron said, "There's a Klipspringer". We hadn't seen one before, and he spotted it before Steven and Aaron. Steve asked "How did you know that Cameron, that's the first one we have seen?" He replied "I read it in your book"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJdlSCDiF-xzC6CUGMF_1S0V2JwJF0edtHgUTMthzuCckU2pfAIc1pNM5cOk9W1AB2UNMWRg5jNW0LsGYZyAmn0WbpQXniUYC_aOXxpF3-F_60W_77rlBmr2UAMwZ4dKmVtfutQ/s1600/IMG_9742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJdlSCDiF-xzC6CUGMF_1S0V2JwJF0edtHgUTMthzuCckU2pfAIc1pNM5cOk9W1AB2UNMWRg5jNW0LsGYZyAmn0WbpQXniUYC_aOXxpF3-F_60W_77rlBmr2UAMwZ4dKmVtfutQ/s320/IMG_9742.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We also saw:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tree Squirrels</div><div style="text-align: center;">Kudu</div><div style="text-align: center;">Impala</div><div style="text-align: center;">Nyala</div><div style="text-align: center;">Giraffe</div><div style="text-align: center;">Daeka</div><div style="text-align: center;">White Rhino</div><div style="text-align: center;">and we found some Zebra. The zebra were a bit skitterish, but they made the most amazing noise. We had never heard a zebra before....they are all so quiet at the zoo!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDLIWIavRs-bDpk7I6OfwMmDbpBhX5mNUwIga9sjSXxavzpDJuJmhfMq6bl4Xf6Slnd7woMsFcVgXqNEMETVx7kJWFbQdrLDi8lixwIUGCAw6n6Q-hv976j70XiRTxDj4dtZGyA/s1600/IMG_9390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDLIWIavRs-bDpk7I6OfwMmDbpBhX5mNUwIga9sjSXxavzpDJuJmhfMq6bl4Xf6Slnd7woMsFcVgXqNEMETVx7kJWFbQdrLDi8lixwIUGCAw6n6Q-hv976j70XiRTxDj4dtZGyA/s320/IMG_9390.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Birdlife</div><div style="text-align: center;">Purple Crested Turaco</div><div style="text-align: center;">Southern Bobo</div><div style="text-align: center;">Red Bull Oxpecker</div><div style="text-align: center;">Blue Wax Bullbird</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">We enjoyed the mid morning breaks, when we found a peaceful spot and had a drink and something to eat. The kids enjoyed listening to Aaron tell stories about different insects, grasses and other stories, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcdq1uf-ZL5KEtJu5mlpVtSmTZd9PvIPbBYWtG0rIm27tomwDAbw8D92tI9LtxXvyvPSMrcf2j0BDMQMTZc5rGp707ylmuBUltmQz3PDJU1A0a9Lw7LhhLZgQbQ1YUpXOXVqnBYA/s1600/IMG_4002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcdq1uf-ZL5KEtJu5mlpVtSmTZd9PvIPbBYWtG0rIm27tomwDAbw8D92tI9LtxXvyvPSMrcf2j0BDMQMTZc5rGp707ylmuBUltmQz3PDJU1A0a9Lw7LhhLZgQbQ1YUpXOXVqnBYA/s320/IMG_4002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uxlX4XOg1eI-bNI-G_ZFuXXKDb8iQvybtNqgGKpBAHykngzJec9oTrzvYD6FVPy2z01fUlLaRJKxSd6lz7KQPBQ1XOe1U3S2mixdHKpKxljVxq2Mv1SKYJAJU_-XbYB54t9SLw/s1600/IMG_3999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uxlX4XOg1eI-bNI-G_ZFuXXKDb8iQvybtNqgGKpBAHykngzJec9oTrzvYD6FVPy2z01fUlLaRJKxSd6lz7KQPBQ1XOe1U3S2mixdHKpKxljVxq2Mv1SKYJAJU_-XbYB54t9SLw/s320/IMG_3999.JPG" width="248" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">and also climbing on the rocks...but not too far away.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGg3YwxhpguaeqY_lQyVotNAmXhTwfb_igBwxxfbnBhSxr_0gH_mDNg431lYKYZDU4bf0zrLruGCNBnwZ2DKOrk1d-4Yjmu93oDZn6ou3WB6XmFB7fjKSHsbhB29u9SvEg_5dQcw/s1600/IMG_4001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGg3YwxhpguaeqY_lQyVotNAmXhTwfb_igBwxxfbnBhSxr_0gH_mDNg431lYKYZDU4bf0zrLruGCNBnwZ2DKOrk1d-4Yjmu93oDZn6ou3WB6XmFB7fjKSHsbhB29u9SvEg_5dQcw/s320/IMG_4001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCLXYpjUPDx32-aor507WQK3H5YqT9c74Qs-Sf602silKx0s8AP-cljw6beOKiULP2oDwdvRt3Trmt9BID9zLNdkWHsSosk8obcFKdm8aoqDu_BaDmNwvu1w_Xt4Bs4r2o5iYnQ/s1600/IMG_3995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCLXYpjUPDx32-aor507WQK3H5YqT9c74Qs-Sf602silKx0s8AP-cljw6beOKiULP2oDwdvRt3Trmt9BID9zLNdkWHsSosk8obcFKdm8aoqDu_BaDmNwvu1w_Xt4Bs4r2o5iYnQ/s320/IMG_3995.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rYfajuEwOl6cSI6BDr11eIfsM6mVPdtyVoOPzBNhlWFUNYGoY_bS3U8U-AluvZAZ1VNt2H3JtYcaHBMRr_3gMd3bL6eG3Tokg2T-Vs7qyOes9VMuiz6nu08-y1x-45M9tGJveQ/s1600/IMG_3998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rYfajuEwOl6cSI6BDr11eIfsM6mVPdtyVoOPzBNhlWFUNYGoY_bS3U8U-AluvZAZ1VNt2H3JtYcaHBMRr_3gMd3bL6eG3Tokg2T-Vs7qyOes9VMuiz6nu08-y1x-45M9tGJveQ/s320/IMG_3998.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Afternoon Drive.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Our last drive at Bongani, we leave for Exeter in the morning.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We saw</div><div style="text-align: center;">Rhino</div><div style="text-align: center;">Giraffe</div><div style="text-align: center;">Duiker</div><div style="text-align: center;">Lions in the Boma. </div><div style="text-align: center;">We hope that when the lions are let out of the boma that they stay around Bongani.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Steve said that the last lions they brought in from Kenya ran straight over to Kruger after they let them out of the boma, and never saw them again. That was an expensive purchase. There is a female lion at Bongani (although we never saw her), and the rangers have seen her at the Boma, so they are hoping once the brother are let out of the boma, they will form a pride with the female and stay around.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Birdlife</div><div style="text-align: center;">Brown Snake Eagle</div><div style="text-align: center;">Cape Glossy Starling</div><div style="text-align: center;">Blue Wax Bill</div><div style="text-align: center;">Turtledove</div><div style="text-align: center;">Woodpecker</div><div style="text-align: center;">African Hoopoe</div><div style="text-align: center;">African Cuckoo</div><div style="text-align: center;">Mouse Bird</div><div style="text-align: center;">Fiery Necked Nightjar</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">the kids loved sitting in the jeep while we drive around, love being off the tracks, and love it when Aaron has to get out of the truck to get us through the bush.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLLLugoJXIieuAG6Jw927_67Bd4GEOktuBKGgrw41plK8tjoqHATaYBzYp0p88SNBb6qQsZPtfE2IZql5-lKmJgHvcr0ZUEDp3UL92mQ51ZIWLsP2OVSMrQUd9-nvmH2GIIgLK-Q/s1600/DSC03412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLLLugoJXIieuAG6Jw927_67Bd4GEOktuBKGgrw41plK8tjoqHATaYBzYp0p88SNBb6qQsZPtfE2IZql5-lKmJgHvcr0ZUEDp3UL92mQ51ZIWLsP2OVSMrQUd9-nvmH2GIIgLK-Q/s320/DSC03412.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The boys wished they could sit in Aaron's seat while we trek around the bush. </div><div style="text-align: center;">They enjoyed sitting in the seat when we had a break though!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_S9cSkHTRJcL51GNGxIhuaKYeg0SX-BiPaNteD8qcfv_ZXiZg1G65FL9RJdMjdrveHYgAr-Xxe75HYg_zG39P6hRlVASxmLW0y2zY_v2Qp2nmfmHAlsMEYXqIt7DnKw1_-6n8Q/s1600/IMG_9362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_S9cSkHTRJcL51GNGxIhuaKYeg0SX-BiPaNteD8qcfv_ZXiZg1G65FL9RJdMjdrveHYgAr-Xxe75HYg_zG39P6hRlVASxmLW0y2zY_v2Qp2nmfmHAlsMEYXqIt7DnKw1_-6n8Q/s320/IMG_9362.JPG" width="264" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwHqYha6SAvTKhKbZFHMYFTaCNO4SSMPrKYFB38IEqlgA07xMxN-kz2IvT7CP2Axqqr8aCxTn6huQLtTP5cZ8zsZNJTC1QBeCGg5XoPmKF7yUwB-tbBassDhxZwk4nHmx43ajQA/s1600/IMG_9364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwHqYha6SAvTKhKbZFHMYFTaCNO4SSMPrKYFB38IEqlgA07xMxN-kz2IvT7CP2Axqqr8aCxTn6huQLtTP5cZ8zsZNJTC1QBeCGg5XoPmKF7yUwB-tbBassDhxZwk4nHmx43ajQA/s320/IMG_9364.JPG" width="291" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNOyIAqf19SO6ZniaYFf2xXtxhVfC59_-xmxmw6fHwQgDKtszwx_C3Pfnvmel0IErAkt31SLU6xD4BFq00bTDHIX8JyrI1aO4q8Wrxra6jWvcBEpF7aX6zW7SvYD_tQNAJvFalg/s1600/IMG_4160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNOyIAqf19SO6ZniaYFf2xXtxhVfC59_-xmxmw6fHwQgDKtszwx_C3Pfnvmel0IErAkt31SLU6xD4BFq00bTDHIX8JyrI1aO4q8Wrxra6jWvcBEpF7aX6zW7SvYD_tQNAJvFalg/s320/IMG_4160.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We have had such an amazing time at Bongani, and would recommend it to anyone wanting to do a safari type holiday! <br />
Thank you to everyone there who made our trip so fantastic, especially Steve and Aaron!</div></div>Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-48159974625941387432010-10-11T03:58:00.098+02:002012-01-16T04:49:14.468+01:00Safari Day 4. Bongani Mountain Lodge<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Day 11, Monday, Bongani<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Monday was a hot day – it was 42 degrees by 9am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were out at 6am as usual, but most of the animals must have known that a really hot day was on the way and the sightings were fewer than normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were preparing to stop for our morning coffee, we saw the elephants on the hill heading for the dam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We drove down to the wateringhole to have our morning coffee (with this weather, cool drinks as well).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We rested in a hide and hoped that the elephants would make their way down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, they were cautious, and waited for us to leave before coming down to drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, the hide had a back-track<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and we parked up on the road and very quietly crept back down to the hide, (Steven with rifle in hand).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As we settled back in, 20 elephants made their way to the wateringhole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First a massive bull, and shortly thereafter the rest of the herd made their way down to swim, drink and wallow, including a crop of young elephants. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watching them drink, bathe, have dust baths and play was fantastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is amazing how quiet they can be, and how their low belly rumbles travel through the bush.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfR9w717ZyXIw94XfsLP5iso6rtk8lg8fn0QTMbeGAnkxjPUSMWT40wVoZZhGsOaEB5pu63VgPeHHqktl0ZXMGp12ZiOkIoGQXVzGG8bZYlQHltWWSa7HvYzByk7XALvdcKhJoqQ/s1600/IMG_9242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfR9w717ZyXIw94XfsLP5iso6rtk8lg8fn0QTMbeGAnkxjPUSMWT40wVoZZhGsOaEB5pu63VgPeHHqktl0ZXMGp12ZiOkIoGQXVzGG8bZYlQHltWWSa7HvYzByk7XALvdcKhJoqQ/s320/IMG_9242.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_BSmnFAQj0auqCk9ArWhX73PQLxiO229ecLY4wlZaOhF7hH8VgQLtVPbEKT0GewvYzbiQPZXQ9qZOIeVfjkjjL2SPLAQJRdrv7dz-ka1_Rc2xHkk8XRhOTK7IlAnPo0rfzPmuw/s1600/IMG_9266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_BSmnFAQj0auqCk9ArWhX73PQLxiO229ecLY4wlZaOhF7hH8VgQLtVPbEKT0GewvYzbiQPZXQ9qZOIeVfjkjjL2SPLAQJRdrv7dz-ka1_Rc2xHkk8XRhOTK7IlAnPo0rfzPmuw/s320/IMG_9266.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the funny things was watching the very young calves getting used to having a trunk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed like they had little idea how to use it, and it just flopped around on the front of them, getting in the way.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5b2t-OG4O1PvwoVIAjLQ2GIUtA4GYw-PLJdiamILI49Vf6eCjp2bCH8Qe51JUAF0me9GjxPygz6XHGD0lewiUnsKdD1UCMBl_ux8LrylAhKjqxiqbvksYvjWcCgdca9QRBNQ9w/s1600/IMG_9250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5b2t-OG4O1PvwoVIAjLQ2GIUtA4GYw-PLJdiamILI49Vf6eCjp2bCH8Qe51JUAF0me9GjxPygz6XHGD0lewiUnsKdD1UCMBl_ux8LrylAhKjqxiqbvksYvjWcCgdca9QRBNQ9w/s320/IMG_9250.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One little fella had at least a bit of an idea, and he used his trunk as a snorkel as he swam in the waterhole!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point, five youngsters stood next to each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of them leaned on his neighbours, and they all fell over like dominoes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTpQhiV239KnJQAHrpoTQ6vy5kHbVdFHL_bzqvVr_D4Mi5QFJa8MDee-CJu6GxbmrzNBxOvzi71iwmauKQ3hN41zW3FakdT42HewwRKkkU4NSKdAEuwrxmITY1pW4YPiqTcUaaQ/s1600/IMG_9264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTpQhiV239KnJQAHrpoTQ6vy5kHbVdFHL_bzqvVr_D4Mi5QFJa8MDee-CJu6GxbmrzNBxOvzi71iwmauKQ3hN41zW3FakdT42HewwRKkkU4NSKdAEuwrxmITY1pW4YPiqTcUaaQ/s320/IMG_9264.JPG" width="287" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxuO7fIhVMGCCLSI4DcbU1dviwoXigZcbS9g1H_nV1jzZdt3xKQ3EHdkxtyXL2U1tLOEsdCsrO-NJO-RHFU8Et0i-yXpOOjMmNBJPRmgS9pFy2r_aGYnTPaB0FBEqT8U2qYOXVg/s1600/IMG_9291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxuO7fIhVMGCCLSI4DcbU1dviwoXigZcbS9g1H_nV1jzZdt3xKQ3EHdkxtyXL2U1tLOEsdCsrO-NJO-RHFU8Et0i-yXpOOjMmNBJPRmgS9pFy2r_aGYnTPaB0FBEqT8U2qYOXVg/s320/IMG_9291.JPG" width="223" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHeLODTbSZsaf0Q2sYKiHwA41WQXVUarquAcvEv02igbfWvEbBUSGjtLF5JOqFjUVLIJyUa_Wp5O5GK_GUl7WWMoql8akOIJIKulxFQGXfpj6ZiKGfgBmFPJjvbUyEedS2qU5gTg/s1600/IMG_9294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHeLODTbSZsaf0Q2sYKiHwA41WQXVUarquAcvEv02igbfWvEbBUSGjtLF5JOqFjUVLIJyUa_Wp5O5GK_GUl7WWMoql8akOIJIKulxFQGXfpj6ZiKGfgBmFPJjvbUyEedS2qU5gTg/s320/IMG_9294.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whilst all of this bathing, drinking and dusting was going on, the matriarch stood watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point, when Steve whispered some information about some of the behaviours we were watching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of a sudden the elephants charged up the hill, before turning and staring at us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bull walked back down to the waterhole, and we could feel him watching us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slowly, the others came back down to the water, but the bull never took his eyes off us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a fellow I would like to cross!</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/HL1kdkEfowc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoywWnCdVNZ8VmTKjen-kBVeXd74YKv3s6qOeO1H1lc-csJ0VsbkjUjAUQjwECdaYgO9DKmRichRWLjxpK7HMZKBJ5S6cs5w8bmspWyWaohdmdQHE_AWzRn7d3_se4N27-e7sGAA/s1600/IMG_9245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoywWnCdVNZ8VmTKjen-kBVeXd74YKv3s6qOeO1H1lc-csJ0VsbkjUjAUQjwECdaYgO9DKmRichRWLjxpK7HMZKBJ5S6cs5w8bmspWyWaohdmdQHE_AWzRn7d3_se4N27-e7sGAA/s320/IMG_9245.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After about 45 minutes, the elephants took their leave and strolled up the valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only then could we leave the hide safely, and head back to the truck and make our way back to the lodge for a very late breakfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sighting was a real highlight.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLK6Ianfx2kaRqkfLLOVmMczjY76XHi5LQpcB3e1d6PJUnxgZjRlD1XW_Ar1Ed4mA2644LpnBYR-U0LCNHFX1TgJW0c84tv10qQ6ZbOnt2pcMiWYNihPDdnNT22qSOi_f-1fdFEA/s1600/IMG_9187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLK6Ianfx2kaRqkfLLOVmMczjY76XHi5LQpcB3e1d6PJUnxgZjRlD1XW_Ar1Ed4mA2644LpnBYR-U0LCNHFX1TgJW0c84tv10qQ6ZbOnt2pcMiWYNihPDdnNT22qSOi_f-1fdFEA/s320/IMG_9187.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Other animals we saw on the morning drive.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Baboons</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nyala</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kudu</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Giraffe</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">White Rhinos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tree Squirrels</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Impala</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Buffalo</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Leoparg Gecko</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Giant Plated Lizard</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Common Flat Lizard</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Birdlife</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Purple Creasted Turaco</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Swallows</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">White Helmut Shrews</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fork Tail Drongo</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Red Bull Oxpeckers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">European Beeeater</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Black-headed Eastern Oriole</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Frankiln</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jameson's Fire Finch</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Blue Wax Bulls</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Honey Guard</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We got back to the lodge, and Peter and his family had to depart back to Johannesburg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a real pleasure being here with them, and we were sure we were going to miss them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had another few days here, before we were leaving for Exeter River Lodge, which is in the Sabi Sands region of the Kruger National Park.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was quiet after Peter and his family left, and we settled back in to the viewing deck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was incredibly hot (we were praying that Peter’s air conditioner would work – we later heard that about an hour into their journey, the air conditioner turned itself back on and worked the rest of the way home!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the deck we could see the wateringhole – today the Rhino herd were in residence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They moved in, and simply lay in the waterhole all day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other animals approached, the rhino charged them until they were left alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were a bit like us – sitting in the shade, by the pool, waiting for the heat to go out of the day.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Afternoon Drive.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We got ready for the afternoon game drive, and made our way to the main lodge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was quite a commotion – the vervet monkeys had broken into the bar and were stealing sachets of sugar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they swung into the broken kitchen window (broken by the baboons, who hate frosted glass because they cant see in, so they just break it) they scared the cooks, who ran out screaming!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKc8qATtA5rfoSLhVz5IW5EtExaAhl3LzdEbepKq5YJGodChz0Jjcjuje38FBKHZ7K1QYeUdG0VQqoi2pl6MXJtPKGR4oaUeL-3CPTzbAjldXbl5KAt9AMcwJbLfmbZ9KvP5ilDQ/s1600/DSC03434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKc8qATtA5rfoSLhVz5IW5EtExaAhl3LzdEbepKq5YJGodChz0Jjcjuje38FBKHZ7K1QYeUdG0VQqoi2pl6MXJtPKGR4oaUeL-3CPTzbAjldXbl5KAt9AMcwJbLfmbZ9KvP5ilDQ/s320/DSC03434.JPG" width="307" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They have this statue of a cheetah to help deter the monkeys from getting inside. Sometimes it works, other times they ignore it!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4j7A9qkikyEBmjTn9DSrcftI931t1qOI_jBcrqKBooqZdI3fS-Tbzdt_9ycHSOq5SaUVxJRfIafiCjZoEy775pnWP2Za90oGRr8tihPIysxcx5eobdrV-SdZeqelDk8qa2IGaQw/s1600/DSC03442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4j7A9qkikyEBmjTn9DSrcftI931t1qOI_jBcrqKBooqZdI3fS-Tbzdt_9ycHSOq5SaUVxJRfIafiCjZoEy775pnWP2Za90oGRr8tihPIysxcx5eobdrV-SdZeqelDk8qa2IGaQw/s320/DSC03442.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The boys thought this was hilarious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly thereafter, a big baboon appeared to assert his territorial rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rangers explained that the baboons and the vervets don’t get on well, and from the deck we saw a group of vervets fight the baboon whilst the rest of the troupe made their escape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boys were not so excited any more – it was a bit frightening (he was a very big baboon!)</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpTepDI_YhexX5xOdRvxPrxsPic9KBuBoEoJOUK9IGqWEjdMMZsDxUocHhZY5Ud5uK3LGvtEcjyHV3EH8XInvB6rPIyu7q4kLOiSr8v0SLEFLVAgYHigWtjLbhnl8BoJXGdYuhA/s1600/IMG_9046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpTepDI_YhexX5xOdRvxPrxsPic9KBuBoEoJOUK9IGqWEjdMMZsDxUocHhZY5Ud5uK3LGvtEcjyHV3EH8XInvB6rPIyu7q4kLOiSr8v0SLEFLVAgYHigWtjLbhnl8BoJXGdYuhA/s320/IMG_9046.JPG" width="258" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We loaded up for the game drive and headed out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had an excellent drive, and as we returned the skies were heavy and the lightning was ripping across the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no rain, but the skies and the lightning at the end of such a hot day suggested a big storm was on the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the ‘rainy season’ was supposed to start, we thought we were going to be in for a big storm that night.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We saw</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Giraffe</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2sEKQYZaDmv32nhqudCZdNFhb2VpBnL3Rj-0k3ldNhxT64IvOPDss9L7hGE4RzuVx9xmRMPAqXrLseMgnaTAB5kQ_hVm-vg_vd6vfnFNKhunO7CoRFjc8_zyjxCD4MyfpMIasQ/s1600/IMG_8987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2sEKQYZaDmv32nhqudCZdNFhb2VpBnL3Rj-0k3ldNhxT64IvOPDss9L7hGE4RzuVx9xmRMPAqXrLseMgnaTAB5kQ_hVm-vg_vd6vfnFNKhunO7CoRFjc8_zyjxCD4MyfpMIasQ/s320/IMG_8987.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> This giraffe ran across the road in front of us. not a great photo, but was an incredible sight!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdmMTIS1duo4af_Lu19EXRGGGFi7jVS8vvY9xEoxHS07x3wEsb39CM_oJBt6uNdlPhybHRj6GkL1KyrDOwUShuLczEPY-xwxn8iMO_4jb8ruxSWUhEoCvxMZiabX1XQHr3uSClQ/s1600/IMG_9379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdmMTIS1duo4af_Lu19EXRGGGFi7jVS8vvY9xEoxHS07x3wEsb39CM_oJBt6uNdlPhybHRj6GkL1KyrDOwUShuLczEPY-xwxn8iMO_4jb8ruxSWUhEoCvxMZiabX1XQHr3uSClQ/s320/IMG_9379.JPG" width="299" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nyala</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kudu</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Impala</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Klipspringer<br />
Lions (in the Boma)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rhino. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cameron took this photo, even though it is not right in focus, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I love that the Rhino is just on the edge of the frame</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31bLVJ7fFxLdq8FZoeSRYXf7djHNE8RQSD5IKYlwjd2ID3GRhyphenhyphenjO2SxS0gzj-1eKCEfB7r9z8kei6BjoGc_569CHFrwVhBrwCLVc3onjpvJDyhpxmrQwPlhgAWMAXsA3GLX2IOg/s1600/IMG_4121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31bLVJ7fFxLdq8FZoeSRYXf7djHNE8RQSD5IKYlwjd2ID3GRhyphenhyphenjO2SxS0gzj-1eKCEfB7r9z8kei6BjoGc_569CHFrwVhBrwCLVc3onjpvJDyhpxmrQwPlhgAWMAXsA3GLX2IOg/s320/IMG_4121.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Boam Slang Snake</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Daeka</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Scrub Hare</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">and that Chameleon again, (I am sure Aaron planted it there each night!)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Birdlife</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">White Faced Owl<br />
Cape Turtle Dove</span><br />
Red Bull Oxpeckers</div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We ate our dinner on the terrace, and right at the end of our meal the large raindrops started to fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They drove us under cover, but only lasted for a few minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an impressive storm, but without any real relief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> We would see when we got to Exeter the effect that this storm had elsewhere in the Kruger National Park.</span></span>Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-40423931924925255552010-10-10T03:55:00.097+02:002012-01-09T02:16:55.635+01:00Safari Day 3. Bongani Mountain Lodge<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Up again, bright and early, those 6am wake up calls are unpleasant, but the reason for them is so worthwhile!</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lots of things to see this morning.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mammals</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nyala (this one is a male)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGQ8o9IzxheNXMFjvQfODk1KOnioUSjP0nBBOquOnN5rnjV0TnDOh7BbWrUq37GtqGPubV3laxPzK8Oo9Zs3asz9CdCQKWiU98UOE0XNAQLHMM_N9SpgyUdGwQ-ZkN5EglgbnFTA/s1600/IMG_8997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGQ8o9IzxheNXMFjvQfODk1KOnioUSjP0nBBOquOnN5rnjV0TnDOh7BbWrUq37GtqGPubV3laxPzK8Oo9Zs3asz9CdCQKWiU98UOE0XNAQLHMM_N9SpgyUdGwQ-ZkN5EglgbnFTA/s320/IMG_8997.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center">Impala</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZU_jDx9BvKcnrRBJEmPFezuZdxslkJLYxI0u9nfyhzZ8TRK_MiamolJBRgz9njWY74SuOsJwddaNtnwW0ctIxNapoNs3-W6b6YepGOB0LJIXNIToAD2nF9Zl_WPu9HyMr5GzGrA/s1600/IMG_9181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZU_jDx9BvKcnrRBJEmPFezuZdxslkJLYxI0u9nfyhzZ8TRK_MiamolJBRgz9njWY74SuOsJwddaNtnwW0ctIxNapoNs3-W6b6YepGOB0LJIXNIToAD2nF9Zl_WPu9HyMr5GzGrA/s320/IMG_9181.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Giraffe (look how adorable the baby one is)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnzM074F6SSMXmIXBB-ImHXcBgzNFHz7OuOHTOZpE7k0gmNJee8Y6DgrYj7rxcVF6t8TkXVJfE7qzCHM0QoWsqDvPKxp9NNodiNOeBLl3gxvi2X6KXyq2geyC5UnDQSQYmthQDw/s1600/IMG_9345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnzM074F6SSMXmIXBB-ImHXcBgzNFHz7OuOHTOZpE7k0gmNJee8Y6DgrYj7rxcVF6t8TkXVJfE7qzCHM0QoWsqDvPKxp9NNodiNOeBLl3gxvi2X6KXyq2geyC5UnDQSQYmthQDw/s320/IMG_9345.JPG" width="304" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Zebra Millipede</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8O09W8PvE7C0-Fpjfz2f5dag9lv1vXCgQKrpi4M5_dIAi-MfUsRSo3VuJoR8K4hqVW7OWEkRKtE_eW3EC_BO_pUw2jsWrX2k1djuVBR4_vkStw1f1HomUwB2jydwZBa1EjAhgA/s1600/IMG_4008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8O09W8PvE7C0-Fpjfz2f5dag9lv1vXCgQKrpi4M5_dIAi-MfUsRSo3VuJoR8K4hqVW7OWEkRKtE_eW3EC_BO_pUw2jsWrX2k1djuVBR4_vkStw1f1HomUwB2jydwZBa1EjAhgA/s320/IMG_4008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Common Flat Lizard (I don't think he is common at all)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcAe2AxeWD5hwc7Sa0aQx7wDchlKP0Y907uzYfuClJ9r6QBJMA3GJy6NaTMY-B1ddBSHhTUU7VwgNM-dR_sheJgzzHjmHlAMfxTm6xCM2pRYLrsifGLQReKueaiatUE1qgvTPEg/s1600/IMG_9122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcAe2AxeWD5hwc7Sa0aQx7wDchlKP0Y907uzYfuClJ9r6QBJMA3GJy6NaTMY-B1ddBSHhTUU7VwgNM-dR_sheJgzzHjmHlAMfxTm6xCM2pRYLrsifGLQReKueaiatUE1qgvTPEg/s320/IMG_9122.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We also saw (but a bit far for reasonable photos)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kudu</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lions (in the boma)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rhino</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Giant Plated Lizard</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The birdlife is amazing, and it's great to see the big animals, but also just as great to see the variety of birds as we travelled around. The kids became really great at bird spotting and identification, although they were tricky to photograph, so here is a list.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Birds:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Purple Crested Turaco</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Goshawk</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sunbirds</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Franklin</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hawk Tail Drongo</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Blue Bill Wax Horn</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">White Bellied Sunbird</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wahlberg's Eagle</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kingfisher</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Red Headed Weaver</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dazzle Blue Tail</span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the Sunday morning drive, Nelson’s Chick Mobile was back in the garage, the students had packed up and moved on to Johannesburg to catch their flight, and the lodge was very quiet again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a hot day, about mid-thirties, and we all moved to the viewing deck and pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By pulling all of the large shade umbrellas into position, we could settle into the shade, have a swim, and enjoy a few drinks and lunch looking out over the valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a really pleasant afternoon, and we saw giraffe and lots of buck in the valley below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBOiRA6DhPaG6H2hidlK-jWhsRNXZdW36z5rrjCVFT0UEURNOu-wU6zDcx-kHz0Q7REhtovwVPU0Y7DKs2la_BiyG_eO9cCfxQqSm4GQ1vEslF5oZswREBFymyanOIRadY8jWlg/s1600/IMG_9171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBOiRA6DhPaG6H2hidlK-jWhsRNXZdW36z5rrjCVFT0UEURNOu-wU6zDcx-kHz0Q7REhtovwVPU0Y7DKs2la_BiyG_eO9cCfxQqSm4GQ1vEslF5oZswREBFymyanOIRadY8jWlg/s320/IMG_9171.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQK4KK9rJYWw4N7OixuWEDO7SweBxQBh4-zB0gSNn7loyeb8Uecj5DVZNogDVfWMvMozoVlftVdJ4E0K28hYVm8KGEh3TTID_GNOeysJXblzELZw-anl2SLaN5kNOhlwMPSCtdQ/s1600/IMG_9308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQK4KK9rJYWw4N7OixuWEDO7SweBxQBh4-zB0gSNn7loyeb8Uecj5DVZNogDVfWMvMozoVlftVdJ4E0K28hYVm8KGEh3TTID_GNOeysJXblzELZw-anl2SLaN5kNOhlwMPSCtdQ/s320/IMG_9308.JPG" width="264" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">By late afternoon we had all drifted off for ‘nana-naps’ and were thinking about preparing for the evening game drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phil spotted some elephants, and called the others back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A massive herd appeared and moved down the valley to the watering hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was surprising how fast they covered the distance, even though they seemed to be only strolling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We watched them at play from up on the cliff and suspect they were oblivious to our presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a lovely sighting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The surprising thing was how quickly they ‘melt’ back into the bush after they left the waterhole.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwkHx29EWQooYCjNCO3agjKuGleZ5k7tAO4v93rKhkxc3lJNoiKxqkl8hhN3s8bgnLVHNPRKFarj2cx85ZCMzMyMeTxEABCsr0_wfKxSM-t-OhZ3Epan_RkToDMa1EIlV9M7qvw/s1600/IMG_9132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwkHx29EWQooYCjNCO3agjKuGleZ5k7tAO4v93rKhkxc3lJNoiKxqkl8hhN3s8bgnLVHNPRKFarj2cx85ZCMzMyMeTxEABCsr0_wfKxSM-t-OhZ3Epan_RkToDMa1EIlV9M7qvw/s320/IMG_9132.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Evening game drive:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had not seen any of the cats – except for the two lions acclimatising to their new surrounding in the boma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We headed on our drive to the other side of the park, in the hope of seeing Leopard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure lots of leopards saw us, but we didn’t see any of them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our stop this evening was just spectacular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Watching Steven prepare his gun just in case (note we were in leopard territory), made Nicole feel somewhat anxious.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9N0kM86wxMrqEs3cPAxLa-raa08dBD5B_Xn4lH0YFyID7aVEGzZppe32yf95MJBc4i6RyoeFWMU4qiE2Vtx075fDc_UkxlNbzfz_jR9yATDPyA_Ymo6GZAUC9uZ57TlhoaTVQGQ/s1600/IMG_4051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9N0kM86wxMrqEs3cPAxLa-raa08dBD5B_Xn4lH0YFyID7aVEGzZppe32yf95MJBc4i6RyoeFWMU4qiE2Vtx075fDc_UkxlNbzfz_jR9yATDPyA_Ymo6GZAUC9uZ57TlhoaTVQGQ/s320/IMG_4051.JPG" width="291" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We climbed up onto a lock ledge and had a magnificent view over the valley, and had a few drinks, some snacks, and watched the sunset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was glorious, peaceful and a real highlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR8VwvfNyPOce_q0c-mEdKipfDWwXLkIY2KWj1Pfae1wrBHj8a8NM8n8gZStMj4AtYsTOLp-TOiUYZwJj-09tBjKpKKF_EncFkwjCjPnVNDB1fh6kYAoRD-SJ1etNdzbLz2_vaQ/s1600/IMG_4056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR8VwvfNyPOce_q0c-mEdKipfDWwXLkIY2KWj1Pfae1wrBHj8a8NM8n8gZStMj4AtYsTOLp-TOiUYZwJj-09tBjKpKKF_EncFkwjCjPnVNDB1fh6kYAoRD-SJ1etNdzbLz2_vaQ/s320/IMG_4056.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UYjOvZRZ7vmrG4Jv6mCjl-XkKjcsyc8ZOr31oEYs7jhKzrAyXziVic0qoahcoJhhCKHFq12gokjG6Mw3QR5EWEPxoP2wCCLWRWZ4y-WY6gUbIFxbBTqpyoOeidODgUUe9JF4aQ/s320/IMG_4052.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0myi1n8fca_7cRb32hBZFfUEQVw7vASONqM_tc2iE_4b1sIER75SSMBkvs2fIDbmeV7A1pe_ybL1kqWhQpR_62OwYR_9lGMnyPm585NWeW4qMyvW_UlpDV4O_ADHB0y-TIDSuQ/s1600/IMG_4060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0myi1n8fca_7cRb32hBZFfUEQVw7vASONqM_tc2iE_4b1sIER75SSMBkvs2fIDbmeV7A1pe_ybL1kqWhQpR_62OwYR_9lGMnyPm585NWeW4qMyvW_UlpDV4O_ADHB0y-TIDSuQ/s320/IMG_4060.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySxckSDQ75HV4jxUOZ1lgLKoSIVwjjivxRyokAcknzmvZeNy9-49GiPseDcF4Zm4qDbYveObwwRiv3KEo6jDLoa_iEIQ2vXYr4iD1jSLTByZ6vAOl4xk2CwtI8DpaScfIwLjXJQ/s1600/IMG_4065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySxckSDQ75HV4jxUOZ1lgLKoSIVwjjivxRyokAcknzmvZeNy9-49GiPseDcF4Zm4qDbYveObwwRiv3KEo6jDLoa_iEIQ2vXYr4iD1jSLTByZ6vAOl4xk2CwtI8DpaScfIwLjXJQ/s320/IMG_4065.JPG" width="273" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFgvtShg8Tj61Ia4luMaJGcrqonZ9PZT8785XfZWAX1VEd3lx2mkAsPfSkQ1VNEo6SQgiMHW93Otsd3XB2HHSyPLOGe5nxJw_fNY__crBWq4bdpVAW9CCEHElipfXSP7qWbVl-A/s1600/IMG_9194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFgvtShg8Tj61Ia4luMaJGcrqonZ9PZT8785XfZWAX1VEd3lx2mkAsPfSkQ1VNEo6SQgiMHW93Otsd3XB2HHSyPLOGe5nxJw_fNY__crBWq4bdpVAW9CCEHElipfXSP7qWbVl-A/s320/IMG_9194.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46IVZvJf4qTy-ZkbVbrAAEig0nUGPP_zCq5py00451tFdpYa4cYS9nynvIIo1Tyk_qPC9REAQN-D7826Kb1RW0EqcgswLbE2LzB4c6hC_xuUWlAj9-0mrDQSrW1g4RTAjJZLtkA/s1600/IMG_9197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46IVZvJf4qTy-ZkbVbrAAEig0nUGPP_zCq5py00451tFdpYa4cYS9nynvIIo1Tyk_qPC9REAQN-D7826Kb1RW0EqcgswLbE2LzB4c6hC_xuUWlAj9-0mrDQSrW1g4RTAjJZLtkA/s320/IMG_9197.JPG" width="215" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmp6bjVdYYDuAZ494aXQv8ypUSsCQ60graLBXE9hk0lUg-steOVQhNeMdevjxFrkSzh3guF35rrSvdftejDhSzJgyJyD-xNChN_Olj4aW7uQ7BAhJRKCCVk3OCjp2ZKLNmAVbsQ/s1600/IMG_9200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmp6bjVdYYDuAZ494aXQv8ypUSsCQ60graLBXE9hk0lUg-steOVQhNeMdevjxFrkSzh3guF35rrSvdftejDhSzJgyJyD-xNChN_Olj4aW7uQ7BAhJRKCCVk3OCjp2ZKLNmAVbsQ/s320/IMG_9200.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Both Aaron and Steven were fantastic showing the kids (and adults) </div><div style="text-align: center;">interesting information about the bush.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFi1dWLFxbx4SBPYdPw4qED_tMkMeT-FeJBLT6hS7TS6OeDYeBSq7BlpK6c1aPjQGFbo0LV_QMn2xty5dluIB8qGI88ilRXI8TxtDoNGvSmAyJn32LGXFsVSde-5jWTAiQBcztyw/s1600/IMG_9203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFi1dWLFxbx4SBPYdPw4qED_tMkMeT-FeJBLT6hS7TS6OeDYeBSq7BlpK6c1aPjQGFbo0LV_QMn2xty5dluIB8qGI88ilRXI8TxtDoNGvSmAyJn32LGXFsVSde-5jWTAiQBcztyw/s320/IMG_9203.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What did we see tonight?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Baboons</div><div style="text-align: center;">Nyala</div><div style="text-align: center;">Impala</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRE2IGyLjcBPP1Dlob_cTY6nrqd2z_8aopeE-OU39NNEpz5_DVLXMwkCW5ukzyA0A8ArVPEg3JFSX5qRc0ST-FCY2z9jialSn122LGxWtDr3DNvIjFWDSgmra1eqyX39g3Nlv6Bg/s1600/IMG_9043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRE2IGyLjcBPP1Dlob_cTY6nrqd2z_8aopeE-OU39NNEpz5_DVLXMwkCW5ukzyA0A8ArVPEg3JFSX5qRc0ST-FCY2z9jialSn122LGxWtDr3DNvIjFWDSgmra1eqyX39g3Nlv6Bg/s320/IMG_9043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Giraffe</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnWUPLExrdEAI0uQA4KNQGVWOXMMXNxWbnyJ49hOjcm7Pk3XVJT5G_i8lPt7nKDyqx1s7FQCdhkjAFa-T4SXIO_ZzhlhvZFSNk3jipwHh5fbxHbXVKhtwVD18rfan7mJ_hqgBmw/s1600/IMG_9230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnWUPLExrdEAI0uQA4KNQGVWOXMMXNxWbnyJ49hOjcm7Pk3XVJT5G_i8lPt7nKDyqx1s7FQCdhkjAFa-T4SXIO_ZzhlhvZFSNk3jipwHh5fbxHbXVKhtwVD18rfan7mJ_hqgBmw/s320/IMG_9230.JPG" width="201" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Other animals we saw, but a bit far to take photos were.<br />
Kudu</div><div style="text-align: center;">Duiker (although how Aaron spotted these on the edge of a large rock in a distance amazes us)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Wildebeest</div><div style="text-align: center;">Bush Baby (Galago)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Community Spider Webs</div><div style="text-align: center;">White Tail Mongoose</div><div style="text-align: center;">Chamelion</div><div style="text-align: center;">Buffalo</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Birdlife</div><div style="text-align: center;">Red Bull Oxpecker</div><div style="text-align: center;">Franklin<br />
Fiery Neck Nightjar</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After the game drive, we arrived back to find our dinner to be served outside in a boma (enclosure) under the stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a delicious barbeque, and one other guest had arrived on her own (and had a ‘table for one’ set up on the other side of the boma). </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We asked her to join us, and had the fortune of meeting Marika, who would then be a part of our group for the rest of her time at Bongani.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-50784349975099142402010-10-09T09:25:00.099+02:002012-01-06T03:54:58.099+01:00Safari Day 2. Bongani Mountain LodgeOur wake-up call came through at 5.15am. We were dressed, drowned in Mosquito repellent and up to the main lodge for 5:45, where we had a lovely hot chocolate or cup of coffee and some biscuits before heading off on the morning game drive at 6am.<br />
Mary decided to sleep in. Having had a house in the bush (and lots of amazing stories to go along with this), she was happy to ‘miss’ this early drive in favour of 3 hours more sleep.<br />
<br />
As would occur each drive, we would cruise around and spot a great number of different species of animals, birds and plants.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">6am drive</div><div style="text-align: center;">Animals we saw included.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">White Rhino (a crash of Rhino's)</div><div style="text-align: center;">It takes 3-5 years for horn to grow. There has been a huge problem with poaching of the White Rhino. On the black market a Rhino Horn can sell for 145,000. <a href="http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2010/07/04/two-more-rhinos-butchered-as-south-africas-world-cup-murders-continue/">There was a huge story in the media earlier this year where a large poaching ring involving rangers and professionals</a>. Bongani have decided to dehorn their White Rhinos in the hope this will deter the poachers to kill the entire animal just for its horn. <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5OVLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0IsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=980,2828057&dq=poaching+rhino+horns+rangers+helicopter+pilots&hl=en">Here is an old news article that explains it a bit more. </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAa6z4EpkIn1JtXX_c8zhD1IydAXnAsu6lNTjY34xF6p0XTrDsgivvvHNrP7SyttZndB0CTHuE1AiID4HCGClYJsJYKVqsjSd8PHn2LPcNKif-Kvnk8s4Fbn3HnbWZ-sy3ZO2q1A/s1600/IMG_9084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAa6z4EpkIn1JtXX_c8zhD1IydAXnAsu6lNTjY34xF6p0XTrDsgivvvHNrP7SyttZndB0CTHuE1AiID4HCGClYJsJYKVqsjSd8PHn2LPcNKif-Kvnk8s4Fbn3HnbWZ-sy3ZO2q1A/s320/IMG_9084.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoC2FFWSSbXfgcVBjEaSp4c92Vcx87xtGaOTh_2UtyuOMX34jp0h7MtTrs2Ot0FTUWCOWHqt5VlxgQEzgQMXN6-RCnCoXdhbRzLIbt5t1IWZZeBg21VjpF-7XMvPE82iUDcNGHg/s1600/IMG_9088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoC2FFWSSbXfgcVBjEaSp4c92Vcx87xtGaOTh_2UtyuOMX34jp0h7MtTrs2Ot0FTUWCOWHqt5VlxgQEzgQMXN6-RCnCoXdhbRzLIbt5t1IWZZeBg21VjpF-7XMvPE82iUDcNGHg/s320/IMG_9088.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tree Squirrel (a dray of squirrels)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6-jhcP-gLJ0eXtDdnVTmPyszkCuX4RIaU_3Lm7pWzSSGo_cXxg4zNfwjtvFZ_pRmHWuMhnjz4Dy1FMG9qw8EuaUc3mVEkD1FpZMuBbut0n8G6t_rzdUcQcUKVNNGwJb2acUmpw/s1600/IMG_4164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6-jhcP-gLJ0eXtDdnVTmPyszkCuX4RIaU_3Lm7pWzSSGo_cXxg4zNfwjtvFZ_pRmHWuMhnjz4Dy1FMG9qw8EuaUc3mVEkD1FpZMuBbut0n8G6t_rzdUcQcUKVNNGwJb2acUmpw/s320/IMG_4164.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nyala</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5QYJp5byil3rsWpBy3OkthoHIPJTpOmH24iWxOk00kHCEiXgqPFXy0CnaG9oq33T13W08HMH8p6TgrQifK8i4mqwjane5pXkjtrlNAOVFmGJ1n-37nD6FaDJXQLsKtnA88QZHA/s1600/IMG_9630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5QYJp5byil3rsWpBy3OkthoHIPJTpOmH24iWxOk00kHCEiXgqPFXy0CnaG9oq33T13W08HMH8p6TgrQifK8i4mqwjane5pXkjtrlNAOVFmGJ1n-37nD6FaDJXQLsKtnA88QZHA/s320/IMG_9630.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center">Impala <br />
Cameron took this photo...even though it's blurry, <br />
I think it's a great shot. They are quick when they run!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-x9IR0580Spp56vbscUZCAjkmBM9QGGzx45l_zlulxCXEbLBoFMbze2G50oJL2LxspdY9vxv4KSRsLjXzUzNZ3LCb4BPKt1uo3NFTsXznukKEjUnjlnFoNdcAEgiIlq-WeUPyQ/s1600/DSC03384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-x9IR0580Spp56vbscUZCAjkmBM9QGGzx45l_zlulxCXEbLBoFMbze2G50oJL2LxspdY9vxv4KSRsLjXzUzNZ3LCb4BPKt1uo3NFTsXznukKEjUnjlnFoNdcAEgiIlq-WeUPyQ/s320/DSC03384.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Marula Tree - Nicole's new favourite tree. </div><div style="text-align: center;">It flavours Amarula liquer, traditional beer, jams and jellies. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The fruit ½ ripens on the tree, then falls off and finishes ripening on the ground.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSJnDdgf1Ye1MaUEY0qg3yknSnGsAj5Nod4ETElMRdwbK-rVyQlv0QYuh4fLdlFNqC9DGg6DxzY12XKjOTWD1vIbiBa4jSI4D3zPllDzLmu5HhweKbu5KHVmwEGSiMfBsmdj4mg/s1600/IMG_9012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSJnDdgf1Ye1MaUEY0qg3yknSnGsAj5Nod4ETElMRdwbK-rVyQlv0QYuh4fLdlFNqC9DGg6DxzY12XKjOTWD1vIbiBa4jSI4D3zPllDzLmu5HhweKbu5KHVmwEGSiMfBsmdj4mg/s320/IMG_9012.JPG" width="273" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Other animals we saw but were not close enough to get a photo were:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Baboons</div><div style="text-align: center;">Blue Wax Bills (birds)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Kingfishers (birds)<br />
Battaliers (birds)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Kudu (photo in previous posting)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>After the morning drive, we relaxed back at the lodge. We had a fantastic viewing deck just down from our room (a set of stairs led down to a deck and a pool, which sat on top of a great rock ledge which dropped about 200 metres to the valley below. This became one of our favourite places to rest up between drives. The boys loved the freezing pool, and from the deck we had a great view that allowed us to see animals as they moved around the valley. We often saw giraffe (they seemed to travel in threes), and over the days many other great animal sightings. The first day was a bit grey and cold, so the boys were in and out of the pool very quickly.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIuPv0-0W15xk2ZG3kb-zjVbkaFP7Ak_xmp5ZxVoC76JqP0rk50_xLrhjZbHdzClCSG0aTqS6XfyoR6UBlpw4D-VIYQjQxA32a9saghPkTHkFg_TB4MRPIYK8fXKsFQIztNPh-Q/s1600/IMG_9076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIuPv0-0W15xk2ZG3kb-zjVbkaFP7Ak_xmp5ZxVoC76JqP0rk50_xLrhjZbHdzClCSG0aTqS6XfyoR6UBlpw4D-VIYQjQxA32a9saghPkTHkFg_TB4MRPIYK8fXKsFQIztNPh-Q/s320/IMG_9076.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center">It's a fairly steep drop off from the pool decking, but allows for fantastic views.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3wCQ-1RvX-W6wY-OXNNYb2DqZp_5-VLoifMBgJntOsmDKdJ1DzGQH543lE-obJ9Y7AzGTEr-qeTfPrivRobhp3e4fA9_ID9GdXGZds_qDv9wljy-XyneGZE_m8B9Y0P1JViLRg/s1600/IMG_9068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3wCQ-1RvX-W6wY-OXNNYb2DqZp_5-VLoifMBgJntOsmDKdJ1DzGQH543lE-obJ9Y7AzGTEr-qeTfPrivRobhp3e4fA9_ID9GdXGZds_qDv9wljy-XyneGZE_m8B9Y0P1JViLRg/s320/IMG_9068.JPG" width="208" /></a></div><div align="center">A group of 3 giraffes was a regular sighting from the deck.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6Xrriw14HajCJIK9yIgyu7YInLHmkbvhXsndiKNPZDpL1y4qJjCCHciZVk7a1GKDpeqkBo_L_M0ewtPYuV4Q1HkEQxvscSYlWDcWz5O1aK5n5itoWI8hsnh8cQEO_mhZFZTFFA/s1600/IMG_9077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6Xrriw14HajCJIK9yIgyu7YInLHmkbvhXsndiKNPZDpL1y4qJjCCHciZVk7a1GKDpeqkBo_L_M0ewtPYuV4Q1HkEQxvscSYlWDcWz5O1aK5n5itoWI8hsnh8cQEO_mhZFZTFFA/s320/IMG_9077.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Cameron roamed around and put together a collection of sticks, leaves, pods and flowers from most of the species of plants and trees growing around the lodge.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBpRNAyjzV4uQwoHNgY-zfaYnLlid3K26ciRRt6WDb6E5pcwT9v-V1wn9CS3QPbTaEpDzOnAcG6KGINFrTDHCx1p1i-mIz0Wj0CURAvbAc6MDiPCP5mPZTfLOHknGB96Bo6YZ4A/s1600/DSC03458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBpRNAyjzV4uQwoHNgY-zfaYnLlid3K26ciRRt6WDb6E5pcwT9v-V1wn9CS3QPbTaEpDzOnAcG6KGINFrTDHCx1p1i-mIz0Wj0CURAvbAc6MDiPCP5mPZTfLOHknGB96Bo6YZ4A/s320/DSC03458.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Lunch was served in the main lodge – and then it was back to relaxing before the evening drive. During the afternoon the very quiet camp became loud and vibrant, as about 30 University students arrived to spend a night at the lodge. They had been doing a ‘leadership challenge’ at one of the local communities, where one of the game rangers lived. As a special reward for all their hard work (talking to them, they did heaps of great things including tree planting, working in the crèche and pre-school, and other projects around town). Nelson (one of the rangers) organised for them to spend the night in the lodge as a ‘reward’, and they had a great time.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Afternoon drive</div><br />
On the afternoon drive, we were slowly making our way around with our ranger Steve and tracker, Aaron. As we broke into a clearing, we could see Nelson’s truck. It was very quickly referred to as ‘Nelson’s Chick Mobile’ – he was busy driving around, telling jokes to a truck full of young female uni students, seeing an animal every now and again. They were actually really fortunate, and we had some great sightings that evening. With the noise they were making, it was lucky the animals hadn’t cleared off long before they arrived – either that or they hadn’t heard Nelson’s jokes!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">We saw our first elephants tonight...they were incredible. </div><div style="text-align: center;">(herd of elephants)</div><div style="text-align: center;">They are so quiet as they move. Elephants have 100,000 muscles in their trunk, the baby elephants have little control over their trunks when they are born, so cute to watch them. Once it was dark, we watched a herd of 14-15 elephants at a watering hole, it was amazing to watch. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VmVWa2B_rYJcGBqZ4FZivlyccCIXEj3GNw16C6O8CcvUEIrTqj8qGzi-lDr6QLzT-UDlPayYSPMUJ1c15wxOXdQiCCBhRZClWImeB2DVrZem-VmQqTJOK-bONOcd4Cl4zodRtw/s1600/IMG_9115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VmVWa2B_rYJcGBqZ4FZivlyccCIXEj3GNw16C6O8CcvUEIrTqj8qGzi-lDr6QLzT-UDlPayYSPMUJ1c15wxOXdQiCCBhRZClWImeB2DVrZem-VmQqTJOK-bONOcd4Cl4zodRtw/s320/IMG_9115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A crash a rhinos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijKRz55cYxSj4mLR_BnCfUR224uB6GaXFx9q-Ipmn5x98EwQQrGdTqPvx_gl7q6XzAUSHaMLU51oQkHEaoAty0p3ZpJRErqdnbOmYbCDiLtUeERBbPTwgQ4b1BKXemgSFcOtbbqw/s1600/IMG_9006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijKRz55cYxSj4mLR_BnCfUR224uB6GaXFx9q-Ipmn5x98EwQQrGdTqPvx_gl7q6XzAUSHaMLU51oQkHEaoAty0p3ZpJRErqdnbOmYbCDiLtUeERBbPTwgQ4b1BKXemgSFcOtbbqw/s320/IMG_9006.JPG" width="230" /></a></div>Cameleon. (how Aaron spotted this on the tree, in the dark while driving 30 kilometres an hour is beyond our comprehension, we thought perhaps it was a fake one that he had planted earlier!)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SNDQV9XzhN829DoLQYr6j7gJY8w1VXrlOR8_jCPqnBySsd8HpG74wo0eYDD1B-BQDx0DWjN6RQEF7VA2Mq_kZs0VaT52UFEVHxEQkeHl6ifcQPAdmWwfxv5NkKkcdIr6OsyC5w/s1600/IMG_4188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SNDQV9XzhN829DoLQYr6j7gJY8w1VXrlOR8_jCPqnBySsd8HpG74wo0eYDD1B-BQDx0DWjN6RQEF7VA2Mq_kZs0VaT52UFEVHxEQkeHl6ifcQPAdmWwfxv5NkKkcdIr6OsyC5w/s320/IMG_4188.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center">We also saw</div><div style="text-align: center;">Fork Tail Drongo (birds)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Crested Turaco (birds)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Giraffe</div><div style="text-align: center;">Bees</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Spotted Eagle Owl</div><div style="text-align: center;">Fiery Neck Nightjar (birds)</div>Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-83812678894087442062010-10-08T13:55:00.020+02:002012-01-06T03:42:52.909+01:00Safari Day 1. Johannesburg to BonganiAfter breakfast, Phil caught the shuttle bus back to the airport to pick up the hire car. With the new roadworks near the airport, the navi had no hope in sorting it out. Phil had 4 goes of trying to get onto the right ramp – he was no more than 8 minutes away from the hotel at any time, however it took him 45 minutes to get back to the hotel. <br />
<br />
Peter, Mary, Jenny and Patrick arrived in their car shortly after. We were driving in ‘convoy’ up to <a href="http://www.bonganimountainlodge.co.za/">Bongani Mountain Lodge</a>, a lodge in a private game reserve on the south western corner of the Kruger National Park. It was an easy journey, on two lane highways most of the way. Once we got past the massive roadworks that stretched for about 100 km out of Pretoria, we were able to sit on the speed limit and cruise. The weather was hot, and we were comfortable with the air conditioner on.<br />
We stopped for a break at Milly's Roadhouse, which sits near the top of the escarpment. From Johannesburg, which sits at 1600m above sea level, it felt like we had progressively climbed as we drove the three hours to Milly's. We were planning to go into the restaurant, but Peter checked his watch and realised if we had any more than a quick stop, we would miss the afternoon game drive. We quickly went into the shop and grabbed sandwiches, drinks and snacks. Peter and everyone in his car also grabbed heaps of ice, because their air conditioner had broken down shortly after leaving Johannesburg.<br />
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The speed and urgency lifted a little, and we dropped down the escarpment and through lots of orange groves. We saw our first road sign warning of hippos, and we knew that we were definitely in the right place! The roads were now single lane, with a wide shoulder. The ‘protocol’ is to drive on the shoulder, and people overtake at will, regardless of what is coming the other way (they will get over, I suppose!). You then flash your hazards for two flashes to say thanks to the car that pulled onto the shoulder for you.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-ZQA6RQT1rSrIG0zVe5B7BH1BBMK_qzmYOHpO3QzYTgVCdyfgAg5_dccST0rx3PfzsmfERJR9rXeymC7XlWAVVWU1SPdkboklCCbfEGsH8hUPvJM0sBaYRJ1tK43MyK_hArsoA/s1600/DSC03473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-ZQA6RQT1rSrIG0zVe5B7BH1BBMK_qzmYOHpO3QzYTgVCdyfgAg5_dccST0rx3PfzsmfERJR9rXeymC7XlWAVVWU1SPdkboklCCbfEGsH8hUPvJM0sBaYRJ1tK43MyK_hArsoA/s320/DSC03473.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We turned off the highway and drove about 30 minutes up winding dirt tracks. Apart from a sign at the turn-off, there was no indication that we were on the right road. Finally we reached a gate in a very big, electric fence, with a guard. We signed in (which really means sign away your rights if we are eaten by a big animal). We parked the cars, and all of our luggage was transferred to jeeps, and we travelled another 30 minutes up tracks to the lodge. We crested the ridge and before us, built on the edge of the great rock cliff, was the lodge. Arriving at the lodge, in the bush, was really relaxing – it really felt that you were a million miles from anywhere.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0eV6nnNqLMYC4QYnZEWn-7Ea9lIFXzQY4P36nFcQ6wTxrA7QeH9uqvy99K3jMWzHCMlXGzrNcTHwPNt9nPQc-8DKvAkwI4XphCOcnWnx6CGBvodcfsIJ_8g8rnko2ECOBuskRPg/s1600/IMG_9387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0eV6nnNqLMYC4QYnZEWn-7Ea9lIFXzQY4P36nFcQ6wTxrA7QeH9uqvy99K3jMWzHCMlXGzrNcTHwPNt9nPQc-8DKvAkwI4XphCOcnWnx6CGBvodcfsIJ_8g8rnko2ECOBuskRPg/s320/IMG_9387.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>We checked in at the main lodge, and our bags were taken down to our bungalows. The bungalows only have beds for 2, so we had adjoining rooms, which were just above the viewing deck. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8MtwHBwuEgdB9z-OONmQnxzviANTPP2l3wgw4Est-09elJ8aaa3nDq58e84Vctdwwj0Bf___W1QJ73KkpetxLTP3EiTDbJvwojh6mEXRh4RALje8MBaK3XcuQFJ0YmX7La6e_g/s1600/IMG_4167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8MtwHBwuEgdB9z-OONmQnxzviANTPP2l3wgw4Est-09elJ8aaa3nDq58e84Vctdwwj0Bf___W1QJ73KkpetxLTP3EiTDbJvwojh6mEXRh4RALje8MBaK3XcuQFJ0YmX7La6e_g/s320/IMG_4167.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>On the lawns out the front of our rooms was a nice mixture of elephant, buffalo, buck and baboon poo – demonstrating that the lack of fences around the lodge allowed all the animals to pass amongst the bungalows as they pleased. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9vcyzdSg_A1bw1iWSigKgRHCfNGmU8OLWk1azVenJCJCFQ71JYKTd_PlSh2zjkm24_8zPSfx_ZVIiq7eJarnCdXIWsPAgoVshnGoTAJdXrT_47uoPp0kZF9nt9wpupBB7U2FrA/s1600/DSC03440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9vcyzdSg_A1bw1iWSigKgRHCfNGmU8OLWk1azVenJCJCFQ71JYKTd_PlSh2zjkm24_8zPSfx_ZVIiq7eJarnCdXIWsPAgoVshnGoTAJdXrT_47uoPp0kZF9nt9wpupBB7U2FrA/s320/DSC03440.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRhFRWuSBPmYw6eELYFak5thkZQmDSFCv7fbaJwWPTZKUYXrGnLrZpoo4w53_eSEIQMAV0ouOzbvEwbYEcpjjnQkMNXESvKAEWUb7QObF_pgo-gOAejDreRZOnp1eiXMOQa3GgA/s1600/DSC03447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRhFRWuSBPmYw6eELYFak5thkZQmDSFCv7fbaJwWPTZKUYXrGnLrZpoo4w53_eSEIQMAV0ouOzbvEwbYEcpjjnQkMNXESvKAEWUb7QObF_pgo-gOAejDreRZOnp1eiXMOQa3GgA/s320/DSC03447.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
From the main lodge we saw some small buck on the lawns – we would later learn that they were Impala and Nyala. We also saw some baboons – a massive male nonchalantly sauntered down the path. Cameron was shocked by the size of this baboon – way bigger than him – and he decided that baboons were NOT his favourite animal. When he heard the story that baboons were only scared of male humans (not females or kids) Cameron decided to stick very close to Phil on any walk (Nicole, Mary and Jenny were not too keen on them either, expecially after Jenny told a story how she had been surrounded by baboons one time).<br />
We settled in, and prepared for our first game drive (with gallons of mosquito repellent – for the malaria mosquitoes we never saw). We met at the lodge for a coffee and met our ranger – Steve, and our Tracker, Aaron. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiG1woFLNT6ZRoU41G8OFj0TPx05gwpsCSiT94IzIx3pN4yWZGtiwy0bEEUzsOZXyZUTDENN1duuvzYiM6NLCWfwy1yZZuy3rW_TaUCkODlpxsVW_Bys2mYtg-IYS2EQ2O-S9XGQ/s1600/IMG_3992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiG1woFLNT6ZRoU41G8OFj0TPx05gwpsCSiT94IzIx3pN4yWZGtiwy0bEEUzsOZXyZUTDENN1duuvzYiM6NLCWfwy1yZZuy3rW_TaUCkODlpxsVW_Bys2mYtg-IYS2EQ2O-S9XGQ/s320/IMG_3992.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We walked up to the trucks – large open four wheel drive jeeps with a seat right on the front for the tracker, and 3 bench seats set behind the driver, quite elevated for a better view. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGEcvIqtqoih-APW6d46NauebFFpX5Gk1QALoUwTqylkDFThm7IPJdatmf_8nNQOOLTZeKD_SBBfXYg71Lx4DWCRTAYv_rND7Q576V1xToBoNgVMZ0BZmjszN63XQ1HGL8-7W1w/s1600/DSC03349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGEcvIqtqoih-APW6d46NauebFFpX5Gk1QALoUwTqylkDFThm7IPJdatmf_8nNQOOLTZeKD_SBBfXYg71Lx4DWCRTAYv_rND7Q576V1xToBoNgVMZ0BZmjszN63XQ1HGL8-7W1w/s320/DSC03349.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The rules are simple – no matter what happens, don’t stand up or get out, unless instructed. Whilst the ‘profile’ of the jeep is maintained, animals will not trouble the vehicle. Standing up breaks the silhouette, and getting out separates you from the truck.<br />
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The other ‘rule’ was to watch out for overhanging branches – some of the thorns were up to five centimetres long, incredibly sharp and tough as nails. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO3kukhEAqaqS4GC2Lzlz2W4nGn6AEW_KOx5MfX2F_dQmjNEGyvDp3Tf6TfqY_cbmRqqpTpOoAijKyjqwVJwdi91gV8Ebl-XDTGdIpcb3eRQXgwSkQV4san9o0HPqV1wLXdmdJUw/s1600/DSC03418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO3kukhEAqaqS4GC2Lzlz2W4nGn6AEW_KOx5MfX2F_dQmjNEGyvDp3Tf6TfqY_cbmRqqpTpOoAijKyjqwVJwdi91gV8Ebl-XDTGdIpcb3eRQXgwSkQV4san9o0HPqV1wLXdmdJUw/s320/DSC03418.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The afternoon game drive – our first – was lovely. We learned very fast how experienced Peter, Mary, Jenny and Pat were at field spotting and identification. Their love of the bush and its animals and plants was infectious, and the boys rapidly became ‘junior experts’. Peter’s love of birds really rubbed off on Cameron.<br />
We spotted lots of plants and animals, and the boys asked great questions. Very soon Steve and Aaron got the idea of what they were in for over the next 6 days – highly interested tourists looking at the bush as a whole, not just at the big animals. With Peter as an expert in the back, and Steve as the expert in the front, and Aaron able to spot tracks and animals with amazing speed, each game drive was a massive learning experience for all of us. Steve and Aaron were great with us, sharing lots of facts and our sense of humour. Peter brought enough pairs of binoculars for us all, so we were able to look at things closely and really had an amazing time on every game drive. If you ever go on a safari holiday...a pair of binoculars is essential!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4qecZx5EMFgb6E143MbSevfBDHiuVzxPpcDu5bI3gPsxWZ4FZCfWFIMUfSovjNnCjc1uvy7EFeH6t_t8yLe7DwZiq2j2B_CXPjj1lIsFuyI8XoR9D8NYnA8BeQ2Hb1y1cS-8lQ/s1600/DSC03415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4qecZx5EMFgb6E143MbSevfBDHiuVzxPpcDu5bI3gPsxWZ4FZCfWFIMUfSovjNnCjc1uvy7EFeH6t_t8yLe7DwZiq2j2B_CXPjj1lIsFuyI8XoR9D8NYnA8BeQ2Hb1y1cS-8lQ/s320/DSC03415.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Half way through each game drive, we would stop at sunset and have a drink and some snacks, our favourite biltong, before the evening part of the drive where the spotlights were turned on to sea the ‘creatures of the night’. The late afternoon was great to see daytime animals, and the spotlight let us see the nocturnal animals as they started their evening activities.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiDEBqrPGDeA8wzKf-hpbfKUQb9UcdYQHHdbMeHd7UD99VkzJ359wqb5HTZjq7LEfEjiZST2zm3wSh-6uICwl33cQFeBGVM0LZbJR4xbN5-cO1__iSEeWY5dI3x8Ey2xpnpDftiQ/s1600/IMG_9039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiDEBqrPGDeA8wzKf-hpbfKUQb9UcdYQHHdbMeHd7UD99VkzJ359wqb5HTZjq7LEfEjiZST2zm3wSh-6uICwl33cQFeBGVM0LZbJR4xbN5-cO1__iSEeWY5dI3x8Ey2xpnpDftiQ/s320/IMG_9039.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This break in the trip was great for the boys, who were able to duck behing a tree and relieve themselves after the bumpy tracks and off the beaten tracks. Not so lucky for us girls! Steve reassured us that every bush was a lavender bush, but Nicole didn't trust him on that one. After the first day, Nicole learnt not to have a drink before we set off. But our stop in the afternoon was where we were introduced to <a href="http://www.amarula.com/">Amarula.</a> YUM!! This was the perfect drink for break in the African bush! Nicole and Phil grew accustomed to this drink very quickly! :) <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Just for our reference, I am adding the collective noun to each animal, </div><div style="text-align: center;">because we had fun tryingto remember them all.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">The animals we saw on the first drive were:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Giraffe </strong><br />
(a tower of giraffes, but we much preferred to refer to them as a kalidescope of giraffes, it seemed more appropriate..thanks Jenny!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQ-oUkZ78qaUxHOUrZDF3fiziSff0krA7gkujN7rDrgo1tVokE-0yAymc1zc6pYm5l6IjBq9FopC-qy-S0C9s5SmWwG34P9E6l-7uKe_TtNtqNGJuTYpXjjT-pTnkB7FvrqGTvQ/s1600/IMG_9235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQ-oUkZ78qaUxHOUrZDF3fiziSff0krA7gkujN7rDrgo1tVokE-0yAymc1zc6pYm5l6IjBq9FopC-qy-S0C9s5SmWwG34P9E6l-7uKe_TtNtqNGJuTYpXjjT-pTnkB7FvrqGTvQ/s320/IMG_9235.JPG" width="251" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Kudu</strong><br />
(herd of Kudu)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwb2VLxw9GReDmUZutU6uwA2iFUXtJiJKEQtgqHSy2pjdgdrbzE5bjWdTt4ie7J1GgcyjtYj5jDaecNfODK-gMTsYYU3XBLrwqheTTiO2Dt0SdMT4-pGLPT560jGMjbMJSG8TeQ/s1600/IMG_8997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwb2VLxw9GReDmUZutU6uwA2iFUXtJiJKEQtgqHSy2pjdgdrbzE5bjWdTt4ie7J1GgcyjtYj5jDaecNfODK-gMTsYYU3XBLrwqheTTiO2Dt0SdMT4-pGLPT560jGMjbMJSG8TeQ/s320/IMG_8997.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Nyala</strong><br />
(a cluster of Nyala)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTBOblH-5S6niRY9GRFJ0E_0ygMIsTWHrteOQkGftmuEO4YFETGkO8n_yfz8TwWGiVgr8jvwdCcmHydFKtvP3cZm5GeqE1b-HeJinNyOvV3EAdMbuhzIDblfympp9ypQqYsFPJOw/s1600/IMG_9042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTBOblH-5S6niRY9GRFJ0E_0ygMIsTWHrteOQkGftmuEO4YFETGkO8n_yfz8TwWGiVgr8jvwdCcmHydFKtvP3cZm5GeqE1b-HeJinNyOvV3EAdMbuhzIDblfympp9ypQqYsFPJOw/s320/IMG_9042.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Dwarf Mongoose</strong><br />
(a business of dwarf mongoose)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5lwRMNPF-BXXicWjrZirMUxc2z3wod0GRGIQwKS8MybsYZGM3z-0QSd9yDhni5bnzhvcuhBseRT07mJ47IdgL42KRA6E7zfKy26-K4zLVowWK6PbfgA5yhZB7w2lXYVGcCNKmWg/s1600/IMG_8992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5lwRMNPF-BXXicWjrZirMUxc2z3wod0GRGIQwKS8MybsYZGM3z-0QSd9yDhni5bnzhvcuhBseRT07mJ47IdgL42KRA6E7zfKy26-K4zLVowWK6PbfgA5yhZB7w2lXYVGcCNKmWg/s320/IMG_8992.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Impala</strong><br />
(a herd of Impala)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjB7cPzyrpod36-ZPXOIb9YinSjF9u7yUKuMJKiN-JvJlPtGC0AAsUG7dUHWj6E7k5cbC7QXdyqXWqd6bu0QQL4WLKzwfoqdPebgjmPCUAP_l_15ONMAcZ5cBn3qFY4cixSF1Y-w/s1600/IMG_9108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjB7cPzyrpod36-ZPXOIb9YinSjF9u7yUKuMJKiN-JvJlPtGC0AAsUG7dUHWj6E7k5cbC7QXdyqXWqd6bu0QQL4WLKzwfoqdPebgjmPCUAP_l_15ONMAcZ5cBn3qFY4cixSF1Y-w/s320/IMG_9108.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Scrub Hare</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(a drove of Hares)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgm__qTaBwZaEh_DhR_l_624DEa1uRwWmKb9FCi5qBRz2Q1QYTndOZ7msipXzT936sRtWuR0Th11Sp23uLA24l145A7WmCBt_vmcAobpLH9KK16uXyMVh7akxDDAjgfzummrXYg/s1600/DSC03397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgm__qTaBwZaEh_DhR_l_624DEa1uRwWmKb9FCi5qBRz2Q1QYTndOZ7msipXzT936sRtWuR0Th11Sp23uLA24l145A7WmCBt_vmcAobpLH9KK16uXyMVh7akxDDAjgfzummrXYg/s320/DSC03397.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dung Beetle</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(an army of beetles, although a S**Tload of Dung Beetles seemed more appropriate)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKvVBbdhkqsNc5vKoWBel9M8sQsYoAuticOH37xYzG8aWfEUccACYJHBuEcC3yJAI72k4QVcif8A8SZaH1F4a9LRR2bQ94urRRzKOwoECHGWpcYYSxI14CKN3D93LNxv11-wziw/s1600/DSC03398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKvVBbdhkqsNc5vKoWBel9M8sQsYoAuticOH37xYzG8aWfEUccACYJHBuEcC3yJAI72k4QVcif8A8SZaH1F4a9LRR2bQ94urRRzKOwoECHGWpcYYSxI14CKN3D93LNxv11-wziw/s320/DSC03398.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Other animals that we saw (but the light or distance wasn't right for a photo)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Lions ( in the Boma) (pride)<br />
Genet (peter's favourite) (gang?)<br />
Francolin (bird)<br />
Red Bill Oxpecker (bird)</div>Not ‘truly’ in the wild, but in a holding pen, about the size of a rugby field (called a ‘boma’) were two beautiful golden lions from Kenya. There was a lone female in the park, and these two were brought in to form a pride. The lone female, known as ‘Mufasi’ (simply means ‘female’) is apparently very big and very scary. We didn’t manage to see her on our visit, but we were always on the lookout... the lions in the boma were in quarantine for about 3 months, to get used to the surroundings before they were let out of the boma into the park. We visited the boma a few times just on dusk. The first afternoon game drive the lions were both near the fence. We were quite close, and they looked quite scary. In the split second that Aaron turned off the spotlight, and Steve turned on the headlights of the jeep. One of the lions let out an almighty roar which scared all of us, and made us all jump. Steve told us that was only a warning, not even a half of a roar....that was enough for Nicole to almost wet herself (remembering she had a couple of drinks before she had started the afternoon drive), she declared the baboons and lions were her least favourite animals! After hearing the small roar, Nicole was happy not to see Mufasi in the wild.<br />
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We also had a great view of the stars, and Peter, with his interest in astromony, gave us a jeep-side lesson. We saw Jupiter and its moons through our binoculars, and saw the Southern Cross and the Scorpio constellation. There was some light from the neighboring townships on the horizon, but this didn’t interfere with the brilliant star-show, including a beautiful shooting star.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">After the drive, we arrived back to a lovely dinner and a bottle of wine, whereafter we were escorted from the main lodge to our bungalows(with no fences, any animals including lions and leopards could be strolling through the camp). We were not allowed to walk back to our bungalows without an experienced guard to take us, just in case.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"> With a 5am wakeup call booked, early nights were definitely on the menu.</div>Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-81847069408087764752010-10-07T09:33:00.002+02:002011-04-07T14:39:42.708+02:00Johannesburg, Soweto Tour, Nelson Mandela Square and new friends.We had booked tickets to do a Soweto tour, which was recommended by our friends Peter and Mary. I think before we started our trip across Johannesburg, Nicole was a bit ‘nervous’ because of all of the stories she had heard. Phil had been to Johannesburg many times before, and knew the difference between the ‘stories’ and reality, however, this was the first time that he had his family with him.<br />
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Nicole’s anxiety levels dropped as soon as we got into the the tour minivan. The tourguide and driver, Thulasizwe was a local who still lives in Soweto. He aspires to save up enough money to be able to buy a house in the affluent suburb of Soweto called, Diepkloof, and by a BMW. BMW stands for "Be My Wife". If you have a BMW, you can find a girl to marry easier!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf14nP_WULr73OnY17Fbgt8RgIKpPGljg74hkS5zeJzMhwgDI8zeRXzkWiIyg8CN1ME-k2ivPeLubsGPDr9NMKGPH9Lv9KfgFFgSeE8rsfGpUy4onNgzwR7qhCWBnShCEpOrQV/s1600/DSC03308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf14nP_WULr73OnY17Fbgt8RgIKpPGljg74hkS5zeJzMhwgDI8zeRXzkWiIyg8CN1ME-k2ivPeLubsGPDr9NMKGPH9Lv9KfgFFgSeE8rsfGpUy4onNgzwR7qhCWBnShCEpOrQV/s320/DSC03308.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Our first stop was at the Soccer City Stadium or FNB Stadium in Soweto, used for the 2010 World Cup. What a great stadium, and the colours really suited the environment. The design of the stadium is inspired by the shape of a fruit called the calabash (a type of gourd), which when hollowed out is a common African pot. The stadium can hold around 85,000 people.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6z3Qi9ZbdhdphbfR6rd8ZCQsF6BBnoceTKaFX82eTgX-w6cslSe3Px6Uzg569JmWIkNz6wSlcwTWuM0Z3zSNuEt9Dn8Tk6SzhoW6eaNJ4Qc7PEqwxggO1kdamSmmfPqsEhVsp/s1600/DSC03303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6z3Qi9ZbdhdphbfR6rd8ZCQsF6BBnoceTKaFX82eTgX-w6cslSe3Px6Uzg569JmWIkNz6wSlcwTWuM0Z3zSNuEt9Dn8Tk6SzhoW6eaNJ4Qc7PEqwxggO1kdamSmmfPqsEhVsp/s320/DSC03303.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdoHU23JlqMDYEmPDIcbzSDoYTLH_EQVDzKIlRZYxv_xEHBQAZi4x6uH4lguMo4OGoQibuga-5f7NuwtPa1zhOXvZuYz4lD4CPeMu8NrSbYTzm2qRValSSlR-W3xeN62WLl4Ju/s1600/IMG_3987+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdoHU23JlqMDYEmPDIcbzSDoYTLH_EQVDzKIlRZYxv_xEHBQAZi4x6uH4lguMo4OGoQibuga-5f7NuwtPa1zhOXvZuYz4lD4CPeMu8NrSbYTzm2qRValSSlR-W3xeN62WLl4Ju/s320/IMG_3987+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Soweto's first foundations began around 1886, when African workers were brought into Johannesburg to work in the goldmines. The African workers were housed here. In 1904 African and Indian people were removed from the city of Johannesburg to live in townships southwest of Johannesburg.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The current population of Soweto is approx 1.3 million people. There are 11 official languages spoken in Soweto, the most spoken are Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Venda, and Tsonga.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The problems that Soweto face are poor housing, overcrowding, high unemployment. Shacks made of corrugated iron sheets, and anything else that can be found can be seen for miles. In some of the poorest areas there is a central tap that bring their buckets to fill, and port-a-loos are lined up in rows which are emptied 2-3 times a week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Soweto has a huge amount of history attached to it in regards to the apartheid. Vilakazi Street, in Orlando West in Soweto is the most famous street in South Africa. It is the only street in the world to have housed two Nobel Prize winners – former President Nelson Mandela, 1993 and Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu, 1984.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Desmond Mpilo Tutu's home</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n-SgswJSn3yGaaX6xgvuK6OGdPJLaa9RvgUPG7Ei9DxEUrHh5K59vMGArf_Szxt1-qM3L6awVrYFlwnu4aGYJuJqA2xy_vuC4Z64IIyS-g70zqkKX3rMojcdmSqXaDtJHtxF/s1600/DSC03322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n-SgswJSn3yGaaX6xgvuK6OGdPJLaa9RvgUPG7Ei9DxEUrHh5K59vMGArf_Szxt1-qM3L6awVrYFlwnu4aGYJuJqA2xy_vuC4Z64IIyS-g70zqkKX3rMojcdmSqXaDtJHtxF/s320/DSC03322.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Nelson Mandela's home is now a museum.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfP83HDIYr_h0KVy8GhRSONz0gMbbzfS_oAh2nOfzx2brxn-sZ2WkrkVq-CAiWkXGapMJ84v7AxBZ1FfPq-bET6mvCGp6x3I-aieioX3s2jVaZ8smsrJvUlnRX4Zn98nE5dxG/s1600/IMG_3978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfP83HDIYr_h0KVy8GhRSONz0gMbbzfS_oAh2nOfzx2brxn-sZ2WkrkVq-CAiWkXGapMJ84v7AxBZ1FfPq-bET6mvCGp6x3I-aieioX3s2jVaZ8smsrJvUlnRX4Zn98nE5dxG/s320/IMG_3978.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Winnie Mandela's home.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGD91trGHcqc3QkS2Q7Oo7sVb3MXIAE3s5CZg2Xsijcd5yRyeLyafslAIz9M_DVFdTA__GDQsMOb3xBEqqXIwk81pU8Dt78vZ1GvSdNzbizyUj1mjvuMsy6Vhi5jRmS1Lqq_7/s1600/IMG_3976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGD91trGHcqc3QkS2Q7Oo7sVb3MXIAE3s5CZg2Xsijcd5yRyeLyafslAIz9M_DVFdTA__GDQsMOb3xBEqqXIwk81pU8Dt78vZ1GvSdNzbizyUj1mjvuMsy6Vhi5jRmS1Lqq_7/s320/IMG_3976.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The South African Government has developed a Housing Policy to try and assist the growing population with this policy. It's a huge undertaking but we really hope it works.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr129S4SS-CrbodwPNDDfazIuQZZvpxzJW0tPKhiZDxn-Q1fAbJSK2WRxWLtkk0RO4gfZm1JM4S-yu3zpqMHXWjh-ENYoZbRfp5yv-xyYZv4eoG9bLeHZ5J14tZF8eeD3vM9Hx/s1600/IMG_3979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr129S4SS-CrbodwPNDDfazIuQZZvpxzJW0tPKhiZDxn-Q1fAbJSK2WRxWLtkk0RO4gfZm1JM4S-yu3zpqMHXWjh-ENYoZbRfp5yv-xyYZv4eoG9bLeHZ5J14tZF8eeD3vM9Hx/s320/IMG_3979.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Not a great photo, but you can click on it to enlarge to see the new housing that is being constructed in Soweto. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzmvYH2ebJVRxk82GIn63E_rkfjIM-roo8hFdppuzLTnrKUUlbjC-YIhiWkfrjTj9u08cWQjFRuKD0Kj0tyzkdToegaEM-tkz9l0XMMFWzOiu3b3vgAj6cF4nUGx0zdtNXf8X/s1600/IMG_3984.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="79" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzmvYH2ebJVRxk82GIn63E_rkfjIM-roo8hFdppuzLTnrKUUlbjC-YIhiWkfrjTj9u08cWQjFRuKD0Kj0tyzkdToegaEM-tkz9l0XMMFWzOiu3b3vgAj6cF4nUGx0zdtNXf8X/s320/IMG_3984.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>It's very basic, but it would be better to live in one of these, than having a family living in these.(These home are the original homes of the African workers bought in to work in the goldmines in 1885, and are still being used by families)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEmr0AkFH6OhyphenhyphensGvr2HFVfmKVLIJsij1_3yVlqLVFrjH0U5GqDpShOBm8cB6ZeXhRzY92FJpGfhFha4eohjItMortHFlf7su-EL8f8SSQpueI44wQJI0NnKMbfUTPPFHJs10j/s1600/DSC03309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEmr0AkFH6OhyphenhyphensGvr2HFVfmKVLIJsij1_3yVlqLVFrjH0U5GqDpShOBm8cB6ZeXhRzY92FJpGfhFha4eohjItMortHFlf7su-EL8f8SSQpueI44wQJI0NnKMbfUTPPFHJs10j/s320/DSC03309.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>These are the homes in Kliptown, the poorest district in Soweto, made from corrugated iron and whatever else can be found.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxAVytKspPR50R96xX7HJT19BU4q5b4hSrl7M2Nb5m0axfI8s5xqLoBu8c47bBgtyq_Tf3Mb1vgwjEjb17xs9EwpUsSaiTS5JzN0NHtNN-NGoNwORhcKRoOvsUbwOoUFlghM3x/s1600/IMG_3965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxAVytKspPR50R96xX7HJT19BU4q5b4hSrl7M2Nb5m0axfI8s5xqLoBu8c47bBgtyq_Tf3Mb1vgwjEjb17xs9EwpUsSaiTS5JzN0NHtNN-NGoNwORhcKRoOvsUbwOoUFlghM3x/s320/IMG_3965.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">We visited Kliptown and the Freedom Charter Monument.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On 26 June 1955, over 3 000 representatives of resistance groups met at Kliptown to draw up the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter was an alternative alternative vision to the policies of the then current rules of apartheid.</div>The full text of the <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?include=docs/misc/1955/charter.html">Freedom Charter can be found at this link.</a> A really interesting insightful read!<br />
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June 16th 1976, is now known as the Soweto Uprising. Students led protests to oppose the introduction of Affrikaans as the main langauge to be taught in schools. They left their school and intended to walk to Orland Stadium. It is estimated over 20,000 students took part in the protests. The police had closed off one of the main roads that the students intended to walk down, so they changed their route. A shot was fired from a policeman, and then panic surged through the crowd. Hector Pieterson was the first student to be shot. He was 13 years old. It is estimated that over 500 people were killed in the week following. We spent some time in the <a href="http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=51&catid=38&id=248&lang=en&view=article&limitstart=1&limit=1">Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial</a> A moving and heartbreaking museum which explained the Soweto Uprising.<br />
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Outside was a memorial to Hector, and Thulasizwe pointed out Hector's sister who was standing close by.<br />
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</div>We visited the Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Soweto's largest Catholic Church. It played a significant part in the Soweto Uprising on June 16th 1976,where students took shelter in the church. The police burst into the church after throwing teargas through the windows and fired bullets. No-one was killed, but the church still shows the marks of the incident with bullet holes in the ceiling, windows, the marble altar and the statue of Jesus Christ.<br />
It is a very simple church, but so overwhelming to hear the stories of hardship and sacrifice that the people of Soweto have gone through in their struggle for equal rights.<br />
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Our tour of Soweto was amazing. It was a huge eyeopener to see how some people are still living. It's a must visit to Johannesburg for anyone!!!<br />
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Following the tour, we asked to be dropped back at Sandton, at Nelson Mandela Square. This is a very upmarket suburb in Johannesburg, and the Square is a massive shopping mall. Standing in the square is an enormous bronze of Nelson Mandela. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-GddyFJZT8eLHhfYiD8NE65kiXzXLQ4eZ7wDBFTOWerk5EPZWVtmdmMgP7s2CzRJDG06V2y_j3UIO3By8jwjr3hAQMgSsCUdJbwvRyWyC0XUE1VYuWS9r5WfliYOAH2elHOnZyg/s1600/IMG_3988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-GddyFJZT8eLHhfYiD8NE65kiXzXLQ4eZ7wDBFTOWerk5EPZWVtmdmMgP7s2CzRJDG06V2y_j3UIO3By8jwjr3hAQMgSsCUdJbwvRyWyC0XUE1VYuWS9r5WfliYOAH2elHOnZyg/s320/IMG_3988.JPG" width="204" /></a></div>Following a quick cafe lunch, we called Mary and arranged to meet her by the statue. In the mean time, Nicole booked in for an emergency manicure/pedicure (after smashing her toe against the end of the bed, she felt a bit frivilous after what she had seen during the day) whilst Phil and the boys ‘windowshopped’ in the bookstore and the Apple shop.<br />
Mary was right on time and we had a nice cup of coffee before heading back to their lovely <a href="http://www.st-andrews.co.za/">B&B, St Andrews Gardens</a>. After a look at the great set-up they have established there, we sat outside and enjoyed the evening with a beer and a glass of wine. The boys met Kahiso, who was the son of the housekeeper. They all had a great time playing pool.<br />
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Peter and Mary’s daughter, Jenny, dropped in to say hi with her boyfriend Patrick. Phil had met them both about a year ago, when we all travelled up to Stellenbosch and Jenny and Pat were working at Ernie Els winery whilst they were studying. They had some business meetings that evening, and unfortunately couldn’t join us for dinner.<br />
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Nicholas, Peter and Mary’s son, also popped in to visit. He bought with him his pet bearded dragon, named Icarus.<br />
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For Nicole, it was love at first sight! Icarus was very cute, and the kids set off into the garden with Nicholas to find worms or moths for him to eat. He enjoyed his special treats, and the boys were fascinated watching him eat.<br />
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It was then time for us to eat, so we went to the <a href="http://www.thebutchershop.co.za/">Butcher Shop</a>, a wonderful restaurant back at the Square. After we were seated, Peter arrived after a busy day at work. We had a lovely meal together, catching up and then Peter dropped us back at our hotel. It was a lovely, busy day, and the family had the opportunity to see the full spread of Johannesburg, from the top suburb of Sandton, to the shanties of Soweto. A fantastic day all round, and a huge eyeopener, one that we will never forget!Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-90555998929048166202010-10-06T08:21:00.001+02:002011-04-07T09:15:53.618+02:00Day 6. Cape TownOur last day in Capetown dawned fine and warm. After spending time getting our bags packed, we headed back to our favourite breakfast cafe (the boys ‘persistent request’..), <a href="http://www.buzzcafe.co.za/">Buzz</a>. The boys loved the smoothies they have on the menu – who could go past ‘Milo Monkey’ or ‘Mango Mojo’ – the boys selections. Breakfast was a treat....delicious bacon and eggs, and omlettes, french toast...all sorts of yummy things!<br />
Following breakfast, we headed down to the<a href="http://www.aquarium.co.za/"> Two Oceans Aquarium</a>. The aquarium was brilliantly laid out and the underlying conservation messages were presented in a really clear and responsible way.<br />
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The boys loved the microscope station – they were able to have a look at a whole lot of different seas creatures like corals, anemones, crabs and plankton. The staff members running the station really engaged the kids and they had a great time.<br />
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We saw the feeding of the penguins, which live inside and spend the day outside. The keeper leads them down each morning and leads them back up at night. We saw the Jackass Penguins that we had seen at Betty’s Bay, as well as some penguins from Antarctica.<br />
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We were fortunate to be there during the twice weekly feeding of the big fish tank. As the diver hand-fed all the fish, another staff member provided interesting and informative commentary. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The conservation messages encouraged us to consider what fish we were being served or buying, and that <a href="http://www.wwfsassi.co.za/?m=1">SASSI </a><br />
have a green/yellow/red traffic light system relating to how endangered the fish are. The boys picked up small reference cards – great for them to get the message, but from then on Cameron would ask “What is the fish of the day” in every restaurant – even when he had no intention of ordering fish, and he would check his card. He waould also check the menu to make sure there were no red fish on the menu! All the food for the fish is supplied from the local I&J factory and processing plant. <br />
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We moved onto the shark tank – Cameron noticed that all the sharks were female. He found the commentator from the fish feeding session and asked him about it. The staff member was a bit shocked that a 10 year old had sexed his shark population, then told him that they had problems with some of the males, so they now only have females. (<a href="http://berlinowens.blogspot.com/2010/08/barcelona-aquarium.html">Barcelona Aquarium is responsible for Cameron's knowledge of shark genetalia</a>)<br />
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We had lunch in the cafe, Fish and Chips, of course! We can tell you that the fish they sell in the Fish and Chips is on the Green list, checked by Cameron) and then headed back up to the apartment, to check out of the apartment, and get our transfer to the airport for our Johannesburg flight. <br />
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When we arrived in Johannesburg, we transferred to our hotel near the airport and settled in for the evening.Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-85386663160775377202010-10-05T03:23:00.139+02:002011-04-07T08:17:49.513+02:00Cape Town. Day 5. Stellenbosch/Franschhoek.Early the next morning we were again collected in a mini-van, this time by Pieter, to head up into the world-famous wine districts around Stellenbosch. Compared to the previous day, the weather was warm, sunny and still – a perfect day for getting out into the countryside (also great weather for looking at whales and penguins, but you can’t have it all!) <br />
Our first stop was a Spier winery – and not for the wines. Spiers has a renowned collection of birds of prey at <a href="http://www.eagle-encounters.co.za/index.php">Eagle Encounters</a>, as well as the <a href="http://www.cheetah.co.za/">Cheetah Outreach.</a> 2 amazing programs that are doing their best to look after the wildlife.<br />
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We first went into Eagle Encounters and were the only people there. The boys loved the birds, and got to pet a couple of very friendly barn owls. The centre tries to rehabilitate injured and mistreated birds.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">When they are rehabilitating the Peregrine Falcons they often use masks to cover their eyes so they do not get stressed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TCSGZwlaSp_uYOfbskhf3bm_TGRcuKfQesaxUJrqGf3igrafkIpNMjUXNx46XOQykfE0B5phsg_lFSpMw-5qVaL7lLy1BgWWYAixA82HcYaGM1NDv2Nbs11ZrSNZo-hZPKn5/s1600/DSC03145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TCSGZwlaSp_uYOfbskhf3bm_TGRcuKfQesaxUJrqGf3igrafkIpNMjUXNx46XOQykfE0B5phsg_lFSpMw-5qVaL7lLy1BgWWYAixA82HcYaGM1NDv2Nbs11ZrSNZo-hZPKn5/s320/DSC03145.JPG" width="245" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The barn owls were so soft, and the boys bothe freaked out at how they can turn their heads 180 degrees.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LIiELr76Ug8JK_Bqknuh-s9otV_WTLXGB_B2zSG8dKyXUwDwIi-i31guJj3dpuiCdTRycHYEMndAs-Kr0-0lywdtuYXqN0vBxbaqkNkWNk2PbRKDvpQh6yMA-81lg9KTlHlq/s1600/DSC03151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LIiELr76Ug8JK_Bqknuh-s9otV_WTLXGB_B2zSG8dKyXUwDwIi-i31guJj3dpuiCdTRycHYEMndAs-Kr0-0lywdtuYXqN0vBxbaqkNkWNk2PbRKDvpQh6yMA-81lg9KTlHlq/s320/DSC03151.JPG" width="262" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Could you ever imagine getting a baby owl, rolling it in packing tape and using it as a football?? </div><div style="text-align: center;">We saw this little fellow on the road to recovery. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1ULrVkc2-vtPDyArzcFYdRQpTrs6tMnN-buInFaotU2tmZVB7fnHsd12ywDFAmTM_UUBauAJvLeYzk7y1CCJUZHotwuA501zG5_j2reQNiG5M0U2YJEdqs9SxIfL-4t3UsCk/s1600/DSC03157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1ULrVkc2-vtPDyArzcFYdRQpTrs6tMnN-buInFaotU2tmZVB7fnHsd12ywDFAmTM_UUBauAJvLeYzk7y1CCJUZHotwuA501zG5_j2reQNiG5M0U2YJEdqs9SxIfL-4t3UsCk/s320/DSC03157.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> Barn Owl</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlyXgkwNMPlC1Aduz-G1tV4u38OmuT722jYQu8Tsuiw0mj91RDHJo2Us4XmrYuDfw0i6-FbgUDvdArRqHI10cabYNpI2ttj0BdWb0VA8EcEDyS5hIfvwJ3desdU7vtVYevRDFs/s1600/IMG_8899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlyXgkwNMPlC1Aduz-G1tV4u38OmuT722jYQu8Tsuiw0mj91RDHJo2Us4XmrYuDfw0i6-FbgUDvdArRqHI10cabYNpI2ttj0BdWb0VA8EcEDyS5hIfvwJ3desdU7vtVYevRDFs/s320/IMG_8899.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Tawny Eagle</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAGm0BQv8nr8FwWltnTAhrwLnxvbvh4qQZUN6SG_XugYAP3cFp757hWSm7fOxC57vFkTdyK6rQIohSJi8J6zA62gaD95glZqUdTOvXeSU4uG23_kku1VJWwDo_VvVJOBzwpLSS/s1600/IMG_8901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAGm0BQv8nr8FwWltnTAhrwLnxvbvh4qQZUN6SG_XugYAP3cFp757hWSm7fOxC57vFkTdyK6rQIohSJi8J6zA62gaD95glZqUdTOvXeSU4uG23_kku1VJWwDo_VvVJOBzwpLSS/s320/IMG_8901.JPG" width="254" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Black Eagle</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNCIGRTCFXOCCkOmtXU4gEEjlWK9sAqiOgSzEvY757tVBwwMU7U1-y26wW67FTP3Tzl0vZbqKBuqkWeb-LUTTqc7yybPwsxu7b-MBozqKK-fQ7uXCmd0RUT27C51EbJqvIWpk/s1600/IMG_8902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNCIGRTCFXOCCkOmtXU4gEEjlWK9sAqiOgSzEvY757tVBwwMU7U1-y26wW67FTP3Tzl0vZbqKBuqkWeb-LUTTqc7yybPwsxu7b-MBozqKK-fQ7uXCmd0RUT27C51EbJqvIWpk/s320/IMG_8902.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Tawny Eagle, ready to rip the flesh from your fingers!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDzxd9Za-Hl_5IyQK13C4L5jZD6DnY98rlQ3wq34TYMngw1hEvbiseyjrXiw50hzGk-VlM2I_ZlSUX23DWJRA-IbDqfEszZaV-WcRoRUXCksVhnB_yxQw8CWPMfcDgWcWccWm/s1600/IMG_8906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDzxd9Za-Hl_5IyQK13C4L5jZD6DnY98rlQ3wq34TYMngw1hEvbiseyjrXiw50hzGk-VlM2I_ZlSUX23DWJRA-IbDqfEszZaV-WcRoRUXCksVhnB_yxQw8CWPMfcDgWcWccWm/s320/IMG_8906.JPG" width="220" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>The eagles, falcons and hawks were beautiful - Cameron’s favourite was the Peregrine Falcon, the world’s fastest animal which can dive nearly 300 kms per hour.<br />
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We then went on the tour through the Cheetah Outreach facility to see the cheetahs. They were all in large enclosures, and it was not all that easy to get a good look at all of them – until a young boy about 5 years of age wandered off between the enclosures and aroused the natural instincts of the cheetahs! They were all up, at the fencelines and very interested in this small moving potential snack! Needless to say, the volunteers were quick to ask his parents to keep Junior a fraction closer to them, and not the cheetahs. <br />
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Cheetahs are extremely elegant, but are incredibly ‘brittle’. If they get injured, they cannot run and therefore can’t hunt. They are extremely risk averse in the wild, and will be scared off a kill very quickly by other predators to ensure they avoid injury. <br />
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They have been known to bring down a small kill to distract their ‘followers’, before killing for themselves. They hunt by tripping using their dew claws (the smaller claws you may have seen further up the ‘wrist’ of your typical tabby) and then crushing the wind-pipe. They are very selective, and don’t bring down animals much bigger than themselves.<br />
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Therefore, sheep are highly attractive (slow, easily scared and a bit dopey) for Cheetah, and farmers are known to trap. Shoot and poison the Cheetahs near their farms. This only encourages other predators to move in, which is not helpful to anyone.<br />
A wonderful ‘symbiotic’ solution has been found –a breed of dog called the <a href="http://www.cheetah.co.za/an_description.html">Turkish Anatolian shepherd</a> bonds with the sheep herd, and will bark loudly and scare away predatory cats. They are not likely to follow and attack the cats, but will defend the sheep vigorously. The Cheetah program has started breeding and supplying these dogs to farmers (with the first years expenses fully paid) and the results are astounding – flock losses on some farms have dropped from over 30% to under 2%, and most are without a single loss for the entire year. They are massive dogs, and the program seems to be a success – the cheetahs are not killed, and the farmers don’t lose their stock. A win-win foreveryone. We didn't get a good photo of the dog, but please follow the above link to see a picture of the Turkish Anotolian shepherd and read more about the great work the Cheetah Outreach program are doing.<br />
We found out that there were a number of cubs at an off-site facility. For an ‘appropriate’ donation to the program, it was possible to go and visit them. We couldn’t resist such an opportunity, and we booked in for the afternoon. This massively changed our plans for the day, as it meant we had to stay in the Stellenbosch area and not travel up to Franscheok, where Phil had planned to take Nicole and the boys to the fabulous Ruebens Restaurant. We thought a hand-on visit to the cheetah cubs was well worth the change of plans.<br />
After Spiers, it was on to the wine tasting! The first ‘farm’ (they are called wine farms here, and not wineries!) that we visited was <a href="http://www.middelvlei.co.za/">Middelvlei Wine Estate</a>. Excellent wines for Nicole and Phil, and a petting zoo for the kids (as well as the farm dogs, who were very friendly. Alexander and Cameron were wondering what these turtles were up to????<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLjXSYYD6aN_JHcBfDgtpJqQUZgvlynjEBPwmxmTBwchbHpQM_j2TrQmd8VvWOuLvpSgQfztUXOoLdJ5IMtzEx4M2raQaX3cZW3J0tIxX3gpZb6sAZD7ljOAADXfQJm5Tiixe/s1600/DSC03192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLjXSYYD6aN_JHcBfDgtpJqQUZgvlynjEBPwmxmTBwchbHpQM_j2TrQmd8VvWOuLvpSgQfztUXOoLdJ5IMtzEx4M2raQaX3cZW3J0tIxX3gpZb6sAZD7ljOAADXfQJm5Tiixe/s320/DSC03192.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
They especially liked seeing the Wallaby (he was quick), and a few rugby jokes (about Wallabies bashing up Springboks) were shared with the locals, much to Phil and Nicole’s amusement!<br />
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We then travelled into the town of Stellenbosch and had a look around, including in the oldest shop in the town, Oom Samie se Winkel (Uncle Sam's shop). It has the most ecclectic things you could imagine. Nicole would have bought quite a few things, if she knew they would not be confiscated at customs on the way into Australia, she was most disappointed to leave with nothing!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2pl0qS4l2hIqUK-2ghva0sYTNhA3jvCaxcaHSlhnk8HQU3dR7xX9Co4_svsZ7G4xYd-xnfOBEbderkY887gI6Q645S24LOFQZ98rsZSCVR4maYI3qqV2aVYOyFXyqeVfzbYqz/s1600/IMG_8912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2pl0qS4l2hIqUK-2ghva0sYTNhA3jvCaxcaHSlhnk8HQU3dR7xX9Co4_svsZ7G4xYd-xnfOBEbderkY887gI6Q645S24LOFQZ98rsZSCVR4maYI3qqV2aVYOyFXyqeVfzbYqz/s320/IMG_8912.JPG" width="224" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilt9hkRyN6CKFpt9fpz9309pQo01X3Jhuny0lwrYGFKt1q9vbvkfL4ByWDVEWtp8TevYiXP7xwg0mqSIuE-PqRWpH_nV3PIJxNiIHVscuSEs9SJ7IUCFZUssav_qm7YH27nFsR/s1600/IMG_8914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilt9hkRyN6CKFpt9fpz9309pQo01X3Jhuny0lwrYGFKt1q9vbvkfL4ByWDVEWtp8TevYiXP7xwg0mqSIuE-PqRWpH_nV3PIJxNiIHVscuSEs9SJ7IUCFZUssav_qm7YH27nFsR/s320/IMG_8914.JPG" width="258" /></a></div><br />
Pieter was from the area, and his local knowledge of the town made it an interesting tour. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Next stop was the wine farm <a href="http://www.muratie.co.za/">Muratie Wine Estate</a>, which had a lovely cellar with 30 year old cob-webs just to add to the ambience! There is a lot of<a href="http://www.muratie.co.za/index.php?id=41"> history about the founding family</a>, including how the wine estate owner, Laurens Campher fell in love with a slave girl, Ansela van de Caab. Laurens would walk 40 kms each way to see her on her day off – taking a couple of days each way to get there! Still as a slave girl they had 3 children together, Cornelius, Jacoba and Agenetjie. Ansela was emancipated in 1699 and Laurens brought her and the children back to Muratie where they were married. They made the farm a success and she ran it after Laurens died.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_zk-v3HhEcafu_JFHx80omilbYzaYy-6v5hIfS5-jYEFCb8Zkt1h-sKUfYCWT6IRcOO4v8Ohp3hQ_u8ybAcL9_71dR3Rkm4CPDnI9m5wlkMm41QX1P8RfdCBXCNjBLs-zLEN/s1600/IMG_8916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_zk-v3HhEcafu_JFHx80omilbYzaYy-6v5hIfS5-jYEFCb8Zkt1h-sKUfYCWT6IRcOO4v8Ohp3hQ_u8ybAcL9_71dR3Rkm4CPDnI9m5wlkMm41QX1P8RfdCBXCNjBLs-zLEN/s320/IMG_8916.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We had soup and a meat and cheese platter in the courtyard for lunch, with an excellent glass of their wine. As we were finishing one of the workers offered to take the boys on a bit of a walk down to see the farms’ ostrich and donkey. We finished off the last of the lunch and picked the boys up on our way out. They had a great time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3z9FifSjV-0T58H5JMOMrapu3QSUfGe98Lhc2HZueQpG7ENoKbnwGQCA2qBhMf6NiDOblHEg8PVXHoDhIeljpt9839MMcYtGzWKV7ii6Rl4osSvlAIyUkLM8b9TwVWspCLAUo/s1600/IMG_8918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3z9FifSjV-0T58H5JMOMrapu3QSUfGe98Lhc2HZueQpG7ENoKbnwGQCA2qBhMf6NiDOblHEg8PVXHoDhIeljpt9839MMcYtGzWKV7ii6Rl4osSvlAIyUkLM8b9TwVWspCLAUo/s320/IMG_8918.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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The theme continued – more animals than wine – but I suppose when you go wine tasting with kids, that this is bound to happen, not that we minded!<br />
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Our next stop was the cheetah cubs – there were nine cubs in a compound set on a farm away from Spiers winery. We disinfected our hands and shoes, and were instructed on the process for meeting the cubs – we would enter their compound, and would sit on some cushions set on the grass in one of the corners. The cubs could freely approach us as they liked. We also had the main handler, 2 volunteers (who were so in love with these cubs that I couldn’t imagine the tears when their 4 and 8 week stints came to an end!) and Dave from Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo (who was here to monitor two of the cubs, Michael and Lewis. In November, Michael and Lewis will be shipped to Australia) on hand, who were happy to answer all of our questions.<br />
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It didn’t take long for a few of the cubs to come ambling over. The main one was Michael (heading to Australia with his brother Lewis) – who is known as being very gregarious and sometimes a bit cheeky. Cameron ended up being nibbled by Michael, and for the rest of the trip was happy to point out where he had been licked, scratched and bitten by a cheetah. Michael also spend a bit of time chewing on Phil's shoe laces.<br />
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Several of the other cheetahs came over for a scratch, but the rest just kept doing what they were doing (playing, wrestling, watching the gardener outside the enclosure with interest, tracking the Turkish Anatolian shepherd puppies from thebreeding program with serious interest...)<br />
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They were captivating and gorgeous. We spent about ¾ of an hour with the cubs, and I think it was a highlight for all of us.<br />
We washed our hands and said our (sad) goodbyes, and headed up the road for an icecream at the local Mooiberge Strawberry Farm. This place is a local landmark, and Pieter recalled happy times of stopping here in his childhood. It has a serious collection of scarecrows (if you can call them that) which really brighten up the farm.<br />
After our icecream we headed to our last Vineyard for the day, the <a href="http://www.hiddenvalley.co.za/">Hidden Valley Vineyard</a>. Again, Pieter had made an excellent choice and we enjoyed the selection, sitting on the terrace in the sunshine.<br />
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<div align="center">Even the local lizard enjoys the view!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsonPxTyNw1nNVTnokkNIgG9PT0BzLJyO-M-OYwMQA5demV5NkA5yjWTIVnCuEVDRbXUxgPT-68AaO2-LLI4Z6Gxjh27b6WtzoVEKCP2r2CCc_tDbZECebWJwvNLcZT_wmiuLQ/s1600/DSC03216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsonPxTyNw1nNVTnokkNIgG9PT0BzLJyO-M-OYwMQA5demV5NkA5yjWTIVnCuEVDRbXUxgPT-68AaO2-LLI4Z6Gxjh27b6WtzoVEKCP2r2CCc_tDbZECebWJwvNLcZT_wmiuLQ/s320/DSC03216.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Some of the local wines</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPw8nfaeOKnkfwzE9GbQEPKFTWNVEghPgxGWpEeHlk1NLkQbGct9ZC2D32TUZrONmd_WWA7iA5uIuXPhKK_U_-epiDXGVitoPwCa4Q_RFPak7Cnksj7_KB1BII9HU1pLcEYBpG/s1600/DSC03231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPw8nfaeOKnkfwzE9GbQEPKFTWNVEghPgxGWpEeHlk1NLkQbGct9ZC2D32TUZrONmd_WWA7iA5uIuXPhKK_U_-epiDXGVitoPwCa4Q_RFPak7Cnksj7_KB1BII9HU1pLcEYBpG/s320/DSC03231.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> A perfect place to do some wine tasting after a long day of touring!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZKd4KITy8Mn-6_h8LomgIBIwAcsCFIndL-KPrAtoLYg5LqSyRZ_gcHIWh5FaNwpYeflaTACfbQi-J6cYYmhFPsPzemIz3ghAbs0WU5mRa_JX66aOcyop2Gz8Tk4T62jTI3rY/s1600/IMG_3944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZKd4KITy8Mn-6_h8LomgIBIwAcsCFIndL-KPrAtoLYg5LqSyRZ_gcHIWh5FaNwpYeflaTACfbQi-J6cYYmhFPsPzemIz3ghAbs0WU5mRa_JX66aOcyop2Gz8Tk4T62jTI3rY/s320/IMG_3944.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> View from the balcony</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgMqKjxw2S_2g_dr3Tcuj6soxp96g5Ro9phAfZifdjyVUyv2FJFnGGuuawKEHH2_3Av3nWHxMBntDQMikh_y5CC0rHf_I8jTwZsRAMn2yTEzgxXk7hkKYKY2kIwrYbPxFndbw/s1600/IMG_8952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgMqKjxw2S_2g_dr3Tcuj6soxp96g5Ro9phAfZifdjyVUyv2FJFnGGuuawKEHH2_3Av3nWHxMBntDQMikh_y5CC0rHf_I8jTwZsRAMn2yTEzgxXk7hkKYKY2kIwrYbPxFndbw/s320/IMG_8952.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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We then cruised for home, driving back in to Capetown and to our apartment. It was a fun day out, with Pieter really getting into the spirit of our trip. We laughed most of the way, with lots of fun stories and jokes shared by all. It was a great day out, and the two tours were a great way to see a little more around Capetown.Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-74951805375177428842010-10-04T02:37:00.040+02:002011-02-17T03:21:22.086+01:00Cape Town. Day 4. Hermanus and Betty's BayAn early start and a quick breakfast in the apartment before being picked up for the first tour of Cape Town with Tish, from <a href="http://www.chantitours.com/">Chanti Tours and Charters</a>. We were picked up in a minibus, and we headed down to Hermanus – where the whales come in during October to calve. We drove past the Helderberg and Skapenberg Mountain Range through the farmlands, and even saw a troupe of Chacma baboons along the highway. We were advised not to stop near any babboons, they can do a lot of damage to a car, and they have enormous teeth. Unfortunately due to the spread of urban areas, they are losing their habitat and are finding easy ways to find food....through people's windows, doors and cars. See <a href="http://www.baboonmatters.org.za/home_page.html">Baboon Matters</a> for the Baboon side of the story. <br />
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The weather was cold, wet and very windy, but wasn't going to stop us having a great day!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMrF7uHq15ACSmgfYZrZThqLu-dQiGz-qrUmyFdAELmja80Gr8GekIRFSPKX_L8F7AKJ4MkZ-936ulc82pK5a7TGKWO6Mxa0YK6lgpykNx8mM83s4BYXsLeIpcFRJJK6TVLTN/s1600/IMG_8851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMrF7uHq15ACSmgfYZrZThqLu-dQiGz-qrUmyFdAELmja80Gr8GekIRFSPKX_L8F7AKJ4MkZ-936ulc82pK5a7TGKWO6Mxa0YK6lgpykNx8mM83s4BYXsLeIpcFRJJK6TVLTN/s320/IMG_8851.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We reached Hermanus, and straight away we could see whales in the bay. In fact, there were a few only about 30 metres off the cliffs. We sat and watched them for a while before moving along the cliff-top path for a better view of the whales further out. At the point where the water deepens, about 30 whales were frolicking. There were lot of whales doing fin and tail slaps, and the boys were really excited as several of them breached and crashed back into the water.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDiW-QSgb2_XiibSKd636gLFs11jTWHxtBWWZ6dpjZkZY0tHBPMf9cw2iRkLgxUAjLIu2o-2OVP9PQVirYgvGaDhO5rZU40JMsz3n80VfeaSAgHfmWlwhWO9yI0XjqkTUSSZpl/s1600/IMG_8844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDiW-QSgb2_XiibSKd636gLFs11jTWHxtBWWZ6dpjZkZY0tHBPMf9cw2iRkLgxUAjLIu2o-2OVP9PQVirYgvGaDhO5rZU40JMsz3n80VfeaSAgHfmWlwhWO9yI0XjqkTUSSZpl/s320/IMG_8844.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> It was tricky to get photos of them, as they jumped up so suddenly, and then were back into the water again before the camera could focus, so we got a lot of photos of the splash afterwards. In the end we decided to put the camera away, and just enjoy watching them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWu4Zlnw5R2Hpjtcq3X3KCIrTvUtLxNSv3hsu0qJuo4tQo_pt1dqo-9WaWs7S7RHCM8sE7d3OHaYCWqZV1Vq0R0yuUtskLaeNk8DP-mlhTIgdBZPD6Opz2FHXgRzUmd7zP3Y9/s1600/IMG_8839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWu4Zlnw5R2Hpjtcq3X3KCIrTvUtLxNSv3hsu0qJuo4tQo_pt1dqo-9WaWs7S7RHCM8sE7d3OHaYCWqZV1Vq0R0yuUtskLaeNk8DP-mlhTIgdBZPD6Opz2FHXgRzUmd7zP3Y9/s320/IMG_8839.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The Whales were the Southern Right Whale.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWxGuIL7UQWpBMk87IDByFIzuRUABlkq9gNUsUE7Tqqdmwxoovr30Ep0XJmiGOWNZL2S9SSkSzv291Cs7l1HH_OUOCIVQSNJafb1TGkkzhw3AaUP4iDEMR_iAAQTo-Qie-N_D/s1600/IMG_8850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWxGuIL7UQWpBMk87IDByFIzuRUABlkq9gNUsUE7Tqqdmwxoovr30Ep0XJmiGOWNZL2S9SSkSzv291Cs7l1HH_OUOCIVQSNJafb1TGkkzhw3AaUP4iDEMR_iAAQTo-Qie-N_D/s320/IMG_8850.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We saw some Dassie's along the shoreline.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tGpFOJ2D61h0FUJBEyzpbXywAtAXA6Kz2qQN4Qa9vq-Mmz9fagBN2Y0Z9iIr7nNQFwJ1Ai4ZPDUic9kbq12p6IhQPY4flbqXHIei3J-Mo7WytrMiviZmxOYfsrgv-oAEVZSj/s1600/IMG_8834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tGpFOJ2D61h0FUJBEyzpbXywAtAXA6Kz2qQN4Qa9vq-Mmz9fagBN2Y0Z9iIr7nNQFwJ1Ai4ZPDUic9kbq12p6IhQPY4flbqXHIei3J-Mo7WytrMiviZmxOYfsrgv-oAEVZSj/s320/IMG_8834.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We were getting really cold with the strong breeze, so we grabbed some take-away hot chocolates and got back into the minivan to head to Betty’s Beach, where there is an African Penguin colony. These penguins used to be called Jackass Penguins, because their call is similar to a donkey braying. A boardwalk has been built along the coastline so it is possible to see penguins on the rocks by the water, and also in their burrows/nests in the hill. These penguins are nearly extinct because of hunting, environmental damage, and also because their poo (technical term, guano) was scraped off the rocks and used for fertiliser. This caused the penguins real problems, because they form their nests by burrowing into the guano deposits.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj63SnJ8MWSul_j8IhStaRmgURUWBzoirhQp2iJEW2fY8RknYBiRnBDKc30_rw8qvby5nC2oy5oKER-fAOPaJbXUBzBPc55oVJchBasIEHH7n2fJELblDTS3FqTJE75AVTW9Cn/s1600/IMG_8860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj63SnJ8MWSul_j8IhStaRmgURUWBzoirhQp2iJEW2fY8RknYBiRnBDKc30_rw8qvby5nC2oy5oKER-fAOPaJbXUBzBPc55oVJchBasIEHH7n2fJELblDTS3FqTJE75AVTW9Cn/s320/IMG_8860.JPG" width="242" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vPVGD-2I2_RRyuyXxEbBok04SZNPkbL4ysDhMHbCV4_OqzIlQ48tBm6oXs4kawR7lGPv290Nd_Fzngozn5S6OEfzgXzvHC9ADMRNfAUzav-BOLc1b2-Q9Z3PJEHqZxDk5or9/s1600/IMG_8866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vPVGD-2I2_RRyuyXxEbBok04SZNPkbL4ysDhMHbCV4_OqzIlQ48tBm6oXs4kawR7lGPv290Nd_Fzngozn5S6OEfzgXzvHC9ADMRNfAUzav-BOLc1b2-Q9Z3PJEHqZxDk5or9/s320/IMG_8866.JPG" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW13ajz7sp1haQVAIdB1-gE8dsg4ev1c2sdHs6C0z5EsZDDoxvOorw5vNvT8GfC7j8EGv2U9qRVBkFXpPcwjr-1B7Wi3zLd4OHGwJlsbJxl1n-Uh_-jrNLsQdY00hhqdNLmvP3/s1600/IMG_8872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW13ajz7sp1haQVAIdB1-gE8dsg4ev1c2sdHs6C0z5EsZDDoxvOorw5vNvT8GfC7j8EGv2U9qRVBkFXpPcwjr-1B7Wi3zLd4OHGwJlsbJxl1n-Uh_-jrNLsQdY00hhqdNLmvP3/s320/IMG_8872.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>One thing about penguins – they stink! We stayed and enjoyed the antics of the penguins until we were driven back to the minibus by the cold and the spray. We drove along the coastal road of False Bay and stopped for a leg stretch on the beach at Mnandi Beach. The boys enjoyed the opportunity to run and play for a while.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFDMEMFcvvdp7lC-PM6OICQEb8Cb9vgKTB6JBWT8rBECzaP70iUPexKVoLpC8R4uYcdbQ-MYPMMfDQEgI6G7tb6l8BM8nDn51c0cu3n-5GcO0ZOHrjaY29ugpXCpJLaKFR5Dn/s1600/IMG_3890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFDMEMFcvvdp7lC-PM6OICQEb8Cb9vgKTB6JBWT8rBECzaP70iUPexKVoLpC8R4uYcdbQ-MYPMMfDQEgI6G7tb6l8BM8nDn51c0cu3n-5GcO0ZOHrjaY29ugpXCpJLaKFR5Dn/s320/IMG_3890.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> We put them in their bathers and told them not to go in past their ankles (just a paddle!) Even reminding them that this was the home of the Great White Shark, they came back to the van drenched! Lucky we had towels. Alexander’s t-shirt was soaked through, so he had to spend the rest of the day just in his fleece. <br />
We continued onto Kalk Bay, where we had lunch at the <a href="http://www.harbourhouse.co.za/">Harbour House</a>. A lovely restaurant and we were able to watch the seals swimming in the surf through the windows. As we left, some locals were feeding squid to some seals in the harbour – <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD97TMnHtwSQCpF_gWJtf9tJKJUX2_idvZm3Ii8m3hLLd5PKBl6PJ7czQl0tXVC0Nn8mgXimn4pJM4-N67D8VRt42CdaaE_YeTWFOzSLHUtw1fduA2A5wuQGCB_PpV_M-6rii-/s1600/IMG_8893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD97TMnHtwSQCpF_gWJtf9tJKJUX2_idvZm3Ii8m3hLLd5PKBl6PJ7czQl0tXVC0Nn8mgXimn4pJM4-N67D8VRt42CdaaE_YeTWFOzSLHUtw1fduA2A5wuQGCB_PpV_M-6rii-/s320/IMG_8893.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
One of the seals was massive – probably the biggest seal I have ever seen. He obviously has this ‘squid for the tourists’ thing down pat!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNOoTa2MkS_2Ea-ejJzt_mnlfzG0eV53bnG6_hWMRKAlBajvBwN0XjZXxyqpPuwcurFIr2QTpkiM8DlSDumz_V8M2a6ss7u-JiKfTHB1M49QpKZx01MR6lq1BiOiz7Qzo-jFB/s1600/IMG_8883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNOoTa2MkS_2Ea-ejJzt_mnlfzG0eV53bnG6_hWMRKAlBajvBwN0XjZXxyqpPuwcurFIr2QTpkiM8DlSDumz_V8M2a6ss7u-JiKfTHB1M49QpKZx01MR6lq1BiOiz7Qzo-jFB/s320/IMG_8883.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> A quick walk around the harbour to see some of the boats, and below is a South African Snoek Fish drying out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WqHculbk5WDT8Wh3uGD4tShNrDmeY9sZrWZrq2VUs1InJIrv2n1eLa55scCSSHH1aKwP8Tn19CwSAndRTeLTM24izIqXjlhFpc9vO8YvYbgvkf5prXSouDCO0x4tjVqbeEpP/s1600/IMG_8884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WqHculbk5WDT8Wh3uGD4tShNrDmeY9sZrWZrq2VUs1InJIrv2n1eLa55scCSSHH1aKwP8Tn19CwSAndRTeLTM24izIqXjlhFpc9vO8YvYbgvkf5prXSouDCO0x4tjVqbeEpP/s320/IMG_8884.JPG" width="281" /></a></div><br />
We finished our day driving back to the apartment for a grand total of 312kms. We had a fantastic day with Tish, who provided lots of interesting information, and hope she enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed spending the day with her.Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-91728906300772482002010-10-03T01:43:00.000+02:002011-02-17T02:21:05.522+01:00Cape Town. Day 3. Table Mountain.Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny – the perfect weather to head up to the top of <a href="http://tablemountain.net/">Table Mountain</a>. The locals told us not to plan a specific day to go up via the cable car but instead ‘if you wake up and it is clear, go for it!’. We booked a taxi and went to our favourite breakfast cafe – <a href="http://www.buzzcafe.co.za/">Buzz Cafe</a>, just down the hill from our apartment. The Cafe has a fun vibe and a ‘monkey’ theme, which we all enjoyed. We had a leisurely, delicious breakfast and then our taxi arrived to take us to the base station of Table Mountain.<br />
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Table Mountain sits at the back of Cape Town City and the Waterfront – it creates a bowl at its feet in which the city was built. The city has passed laws limiting how far up the mountain development can occur, and a clear ‘line’ of development can be seen – Except for three ugly towers which are built right on the development line, but are over 10 storeys tall. Everything above this line is National Park.<br />
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To get to the top of Table Mountain, it is possible to hike (quite arduous, apparently!) or, as we did, go to the cable car station and catch the cars to the top. After lots of experience in gondolas on the ski slopes of Europe, we were surprised by how steep the trip was. The gondola freely rotates as you travel up so you get fantastic views.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2VE6ZKGh80lQwCuGqttPC3uevldU6lnqZPHuwUJYm3wS1SaZJJfGCLXZbebFM_eT_32SiKDIPYpLvMoB_e0aSxTsNWRfhVsuMMt0j9h5mReHGCn3ywfoG2d99IWSDicVH3Nl/s1600/IMG_3841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2VE6ZKGh80lQwCuGqttPC3uevldU6lnqZPHuwUJYm3wS1SaZJJfGCLXZbebFM_eT_32SiKDIPYpLvMoB_e0aSxTsNWRfhVsuMMt0j9h5mReHGCn3ywfoG2d99IWSDicVH3Nl/s320/IMG_3841.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyOg8dnAbgmB0UuoYwUPSih7nn5mIT9LaMxSoa3Pz3z4-g00nZMalNUh1k-GQBHdD0P-SIe3JLDOWxKeUlpxL7dXCQIRH9FNqmkFHcOVcJ4SHKInFUlB6IxNPn1hCqIlChtiw/s1600/IMG_3847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyOg8dnAbgmB0UuoYwUPSih7nn5mIT9LaMxSoa3Pz3z4-g00nZMalNUh1k-GQBHdD0P-SIe3JLDOWxKeUlpxL7dXCQIRH9FNqmkFHcOVcJ4SHKInFUlB6IxNPn1hCqIlChtiw/s320/IMG_3847.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwms98DpQuVXcoxdkJBXdTUcF-0TCxMavMw2qrahJUFmkA1xzvn3FrnM_4-3dBf_eSvlpMUjJnf3utavFWm_2Us2vUZcOdnZMFaKDl2E2FK-NlkwrYJCO2Cm9EdHtBJGYoO7u/s1600/IMG_3848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwms98DpQuVXcoxdkJBXdTUcF-0TCxMavMw2qrahJUFmkA1xzvn3FrnM_4-3dBf_eSvlpMUjJnf3utavFWm_2Us2vUZcOdnZMFaKDl2E2FK-NlkwrYJCO2Cm9EdHtBJGYoO7u/s320/IMG_3848.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Lion's Head mountain, a part of the Table Mountain National Park.</div>At the top, it is surprising how flat the top of the mountain is. There are simple walking tracks giving you views to Cape Town, to the beaches to the West of Cape Town and down towards Cape Point). Phil doesn’t mind heights, but he is not so happy with unprotected edges! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJiHcF8y3cpRjbhar1uhC7sZapC23Ou58LTE07iI_ssQgG2vQqXP9ge5xrs70hcDPH-ArY8SPn0k7koB_4UC49hb-V8yw4UEQj9m3pooxs9J0_rUTekyQiZnP1ZC3f96bIWg3A/s1600/IMG_3870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJiHcF8y3cpRjbhar1uhC7sZapC23Ou58LTE07iI_ssQgG2vQqXP9ge5xrs70hcDPH-ArY8SPn0k7koB_4UC49hb-V8yw4UEQj9m3pooxs9J0_rUTekyQiZnP1ZC3f96bIWg3A/s320/IMG_3870.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcxAKAXtam1GhX1SA4MFlemi7GO1xoxFi6kDoaUms8hvk3HdSDtGuSSxHZWGANCs5et6h1MKZxVuY22BqBLR-JqGlfjjuq9pqY9O845AwtgyU2xI6-6IqR3fvq1-LikXLQI6F/s1600/IMG_8755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcxAKAXtam1GhX1SA4MFlemi7GO1xoxFi6kDoaUms8hvk3HdSDtGuSSxHZWGANCs5et6h1MKZxVuY22BqBLR-JqGlfjjuq9pqY9O845AwtgyU2xI6-6IqR3fvq1-LikXLQI6F/s320/IMG_8755.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The views were fantastic, and we were fortunate to see many Dassies, which are <a href="http://www.outtoafrica.nl/animals/enghyrax.html?zenden=2&subsoort_id=4&bestemming_id=1">Rock Hyraxes</a> (the closest relative to the elephant!) They were relaxing on the rocks, eating plants and (to Cameron’s amusement) pooing regularly. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGR4txBZKi0GXeFDQTAxXM6zkbYxE1SoSq8UvWy8BGG7xF7Np9kxFyl6hMqForiqafirnQI4b_nNaXb3tQX13_AeW_BSxZt5XPPC3gZ4s6Qw2h8Ar539iVzKafmNNSRwWJMTD/s1600/IMG_8803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGR4txBZKi0GXeFDQTAxXM6zkbYxE1SoSq8UvWy8BGG7xF7Np9kxFyl6hMqForiqafirnQI4b_nNaXb3tQX13_AeW_BSxZt5XPPC3gZ4s6Qw2h8Ar539iVzKafmNNSRwWJMTD/s320/IMG_8803.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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We had a lovely walk along some of the tracks, and then retired to the cafe for a coffee.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUupPYN4NCT-pUevPAU-Ekkd01fdJZSHORJhFiFFHHIN81ldUbLTWOnW5DsaTToUJQ72gMBvC0sdAEKRCfiNzSvzrYzQbQPZRpO5VuC1Bdk4_HvZtp02RHfjU4ykWEyweOBPe/s1600/IMG_8779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUupPYN4NCT-pUevPAU-Ekkd01fdJZSHORJhFiFFHHIN81ldUbLTWOnW5DsaTToUJQ72gMBvC0sdAEKRCfiNzSvzrYzQbQPZRpO5VuC1Bdk4_HvZtp02RHfjU4ykWEyweOBPe/s320/IMG_8779.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> A long way from both homes!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1gZ54vqPKNdvnJXNeQDCTyIn975I_f3IkWugcceo4t1vk2bwPFWniOKWVV-JhOrUgS8iRPQgQZ7h1rtoLNxeiWLiHO_KRubvrbO7rGjjo8zxwp-V8bepbvW_A66d6qNyre_26/s1600/IMG_8780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1gZ54vqPKNdvnJXNeQDCTyIn975I_f3IkWugcceo4t1vk2bwPFWniOKWVV-JhOrUgS8iRPQgQZ7h1rtoLNxeiWLiHO_KRubvrbO7rGjjo8zxwp-V8bepbvW_A66d6qNyre_26/s320/IMG_8780.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Whilst we were sitting there, the other thing that makes Table Mountain famous occurred – the ‘tablecloth’ rolled in. The tablecloth is fog/cloud that forms when the moist air off the ocean is forced up the side of table mountain, and as it reaches the top it rapidly cools and condenses to become cloud. It blows across the top and seems to flow over the other side. Whilst we were in the cafe, we were reduced to a total white-out. It was a good thing that we had already done our sightseeing. We had to wait a little while until the cable car opened again before we could head back down the mountain.<br />
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We made our way down in the cable-car again, very quickly dropping below the tablecloth and back into lovely sunshine. We reached the bottom station and decided to walk back down into town, to our apartment. It was all downhill, and it was a nice few kilometres in the sunshine. We arrived back at the apartment, had our lunch, and took the kids to the pool.<br />
The pool was colder than it looked, and the boys were in and out very quickly. However, they were happy to play by the pool (with rocks, stones and whatever else they could find). Nicole and Phil kicked back with some coffee and a great selection of South African books from <a href="http://www.derwenthouse.co.za/">Derwent House</a>.<br />
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We again had dinner at DaVinci’s. After our first visit, Phil decided to have something a bit smaller – a steak was a good choice! The boys enjoyed drawing on the tablecloths (butcher paper) and Cameron drew a picture of a Shark ‘beating up’ a seal pup. A very funny picture, which he asked that the restaurant stick up at the counter with their other customer drawings – which they did!Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-27488770304316776892010-10-02T06:07:00.031+02:002011-02-17T01:26:30.043+01:00Cape Town. Day 2. Helicopter Ride over the Cape of Good Hope.The boys and Phil had decided that they would love to try a helicopter ride – and whilst we were at the Waterfront we would check out the prices for the following day. Whilst we were negotiating at <a href="http://www.kapstadt.de/helikopt/">Sport Helicopters</a>, they suggested a ‘sunset flight’ that very evening. There was a bit of breeze, but it was a lovely evening and we decided to go for it and have an hour flight down to Cape Point and back that evening.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZZVfdt-CHpEFHwZIV0eW0RIWuAZes8-Vry7RQoodKEfRB1h3p0xTILmJXL-k6EfEiaiMqiFcFeEOdn3LRrNA-T2n58H-bnyrTCfKm5Yb7TA8AZ7hN0djz7eWA9UjogBmkvTY/s1600/IMG_3826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZZVfdt-CHpEFHwZIV0eW0RIWuAZes8-Vry7RQoodKEfRB1h3p0xTILmJXL-k6EfEiaiMqiFcFeEOdn3LRrNA-T2n58H-bnyrTCfKm5Yb7TA8AZ7hN0djz7eWA9UjogBmkvTY/s320/IMG_3826.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
It was an exhilarating experience – and the views were spectacular. We hugged the coast all the way down to Cape Point (The Cape of Good Hope), and back up via False Bay. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpD3peFUcbOGs7-USKvAEgApJQ4692fr5IRwCUiylK0_FTcZ9Mcmcxy6mL6ogp7AwST439Uem5L4MIbkSc9NBFxLi5wEY5jnXBMVjOWoWcCMuk5Fd5C1sdC_NN5XnZYkCt2RlR/s1600/IMG_3827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpD3peFUcbOGs7-USKvAEgApJQ4692fr5IRwCUiylK0_FTcZ9Mcmcxy6mL6ogp7AwST439Uem5L4MIbkSc9NBFxLi5wEY5jnXBMVjOWoWcCMuk5Fd5C1sdC_NN5XnZYkCt2RlR/s320/IMG_3827.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The V & A Waterfront.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUBdCqeKL2SavMabJcvZornnVOEuLn_MCRbXDr1uKbj9eapu-Do470wpXf-yIc3tFj2r-lF3xTMqBvdevKf5KCzBtuJzgdIo2idBm1r2My6KuBh1b8SHk579Wb2lUxPoMP1A_/s1600/IMG_3828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUBdCqeKL2SavMabJcvZornnVOEuLn_MCRbXDr1uKbj9eapu-Do470wpXf-yIc3tFj2r-lF3xTMqBvdevKf5KCzBtuJzgdIo2idBm1r2My6KuBh1b8SHk579Wb2lUxPoMP1A_/s320/IMG_3828.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Table Mountain with a drifting layer of cloud over the top</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgPv1qI7xYKE367ExNX_dTspVBelBDK1UqU9AjTp9h5At_TBsCSptcLULSBfESs5gbdrELdpoMxNxeCmECVZWWRQ2HAR8TC60YdRqBsWcHBxpkvt1O46zOtuQnZF1ZM0-C4f7/s1600/IMG_3830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgPv1qI7xYKE367ExNX_dTspVBelBDK1UqU9AjTp9h5At_TBsCSptcLULSBfESs5gbdrELdpoMxNxeCmECVZWWRQ2HAR8TC60YdRqBsWcHBxpkvt1O46zOtuQnZF1ZM0-C4f7/s320/IMG_3830.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The Green Point Stadium (used for the FIFA World Cup 2010)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy35KeNftMFfmbKQb1jSbfwonX4q9YIdDEJSjmvVM1eaVkE7FTUFD1PJjOQiZxfZRbTgUv0g6szX6T43K8PmBfCxdwAOXvFHw6REIG_QLpLUK3Tt3B-ARx94bjochta0j815S8/s1600/IMG_8732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy35KeNftMFfmbKQb1jSbfwonX4q9YIdDEJSjmvVM1eaVkE7FTUFD1PJjOQiZxfZRbTgUv0g6szX6T43K8PmBfCxdwAOXvFHw6REIG_QLpLUK3Tt3B-ARx94bjochta0j815S8/s320/IMG_8732.JPG" width="220" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The Cape of Good Hope</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxURsFy9iVrYsEAYMy2oNkcYLQ-WBFGUCYFPNbAVE0p1rMCINSy1PM-A4SEVsGwXbjax_zsphigH6KTZodreXRtnCnAtRxE7QUusMD0jAeqGMTU9IJghd4lhtWi45GK2yiSk88/s1600/IMG_8735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxURsFy9iVrYsEAYMy2oNkcYLQ-WBFGUCYFPNbAVE0p1rMCINSy1PM-A4SEVsGwXbjax_zsphigH6KTZodreXRtnCnAtRxE7QUusMD0jAeqGMTU9IJghd4lhtWi45GK2yiSk88/s320/IMG_8735.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Cape Point right at the tip with the lighthouse on the edge</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTNNN4yiSeA3snOzJG7a2KJySW164m4uufwVmqOQh-0et29OiM3VewU7aniogPuLIR8t46YSWAJAUXOl__ujDI8fr_mAS_kMGZdh6U6Erd08qjuhVX-EmJO52gLjIQJBpMsr3/s1600/IMG_8746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTNNN4yiSeA3snOzJG7a2KJySW164m4uufwVmqOQh-0et29OiM3VewU7aniogPuLIR8t46YSWAJAUXOl__ujDI8fr_mAS_kMGZdh6U6Erd08qjuhVX-EmJO52gLjIQJBpMsr3/s320/IMG_8746.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> False Bay</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhci9t5nXFmXkXJMdm0E87N7z4J02nLJnwjCfHdxQQBRS3UyAKteQtN5tG0htbKTX9122fX34BVRQOKDtwP_sCwo_lagzsn_UTnolwySRf1qTi1Mzn-Q-dPVVF72HTG2E22GGj2/s1600/IMG_8748.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhci9t5nXFmXkXJMdm0E87N7z4J02nLJnwjCfHdxQQBRS3UyAKteQtN5tG0htbKTX9122fX34BVRQOKDtwP_sCwo_lagzsn_UTnolwySRf1qTi1Mzn-Q-dPVVF72HTG2E22GGj2/s320/IMG_8748.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center">A gorgeous sunset as we flew back towards Cape Town.</div><br />
The boys and Nicole were not so keen on the hard banking figure of 8 turns that our pilot used to give us a better look at Cape Point, and Cameron had to make use of the air-sick bag due to the wind and turbulence not far from final landing (I think this convinced our pilot to speed up his return to base...). However, it was really worth it, both for us to have a first helicopter ride and to see the magnificent scenery.<br />
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After settling our tummies with a rest back at the apartment, we went out to a recommended local Italian restaurant called <a href="http://www.davincis.co.za/">Da Vinci’s on Kloof.</a> Delicious and fun – although the big spare ribs stopped Phil (he was heard to grumble that he thought he ate a whole pig!)Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16613025.post-16338663583911915952010-10-02T03:38:00.000+02:002011-02-16T06:05:42.298+01:00Cape Town. Day 2. Robben Island Tour.As advised by many people, we booked our tour to <a href="http://www.robben-island.org.za/">Robben Island</a> well in advance. We are lucky that we did – the boat that they normally use was broken, and they had to call in other, smaller boats to ferry groups to the Island. We were delayed about 45 minutes, and the boat trip took an extra half an hour each way. <br />
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We had an interesting lesson in the difference in ‘personal space’ on the way out to Robben Island. We grabbed a nice spot on the rear deck with a table and a bench seat either side. We sat the 4 of us there for the start of our trip. Within about 15 minutes, after Cameron had gotten up to go exploring, a family descended and squeezed onto the table with us. Every time you gave an inch to create a bit of personal space, the family slid along and filled it and another member joined the table! In the end we had us, plus 5 extras on the benches and the table! Nicole took it all with good grace and ended up having a chat to the lady she was literally rubbing shoulders with (in fact, she had her arm around Nicole most of the journey!) <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAZCYq2MekF_hTQfzBeMgDD_ogYCH-i2zTchIEXRgB4-fV6dQQkebna1xm5fHc9M4DwEWTcsy9JRzPIUUi5fRVjuzoNnY9zLZSush2d05ZT0agkH8Y1ibaQuIzB5HUlWETRSN/s1600/IMG_8667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAZCYq2MekF_hTQfzBeMgDD_ogYCH-i2zTchIEXRgB4-fV6dQQkebna1xm5fHc9M4DwEWTcsy9JRzPIUUi5fRVjuzoNnY9zLZSush2d05ZT0agkH8Y1ibaQuIzB5HUlWETRSN/s320/IMG_8667.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_E15Ve1c5JUropfH6o8iwx7e4ZTUiWHLz77Gn2IQgDIrUDkd40vDQmVVtrbkocubhmIhyqeHut8_1toSDJqjlpEKHJkhawJrPHu6SOEhmfJiIjO3c_ounVjw3ZzQViabSTALq/s1600/IMG_8668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_E15Ve1c5JUropfH6o8iwx7e4ZTUiWHLz77Gn2IQgDIrUDkd40vDQmVVtrbkocubhmIhyqeHut8_1toSDJqjlpEKHJkhawJrPHu6SOEhmfJiIjO3c_ounVjw3ZzQViabSTALq/s320/IMG_8668.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfRR4W8rJa3rTSOieNaGTC5Q8R4pNJA8LWWC_cbQW7AqlHQMCU9RX92fxchB2w-3Tc15C-mD4szNJoNoHZbkR6B3jEmQdEZtWYZdbP2CJcNEa15nY2LnkwVrdG1ahj-u72Wlb/s1600/IMG_8671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfRR4W8rJa3rTSOieNaGTC5Q8R4pNJA8LWWC_cbQW7AqlHQMCU9RX92fxchB2w-3Tc15C-mD4szNJoNoHZbkR6B3jEmQdEZtWYZdbP2CJcNEa15nY2LnkwVrdG1ahj-u72Wlb/s320/IMG_8671.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">View from the boat towards Cape Town, on the botton left hand corner is the Green Point Stadium used for the FIFA World Cup 2010.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Robben Island is 11 kilmetres from Cape Town. Robben Island was first used in the 1650's by the Dutch and throughout it's history it has mainly been used as a prison. <a href="http://www.robben-island.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33&Itemid=62">See this link for the chronological order of what Robben Island has been used for...interesting reading!</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAP_Vj4N5ltddycHP9IwpWhdvjwFKAJKNQxqY8oxIpd5JAbZHFRoN3NgUTTCLbyLbrHYvC6EF6EWwBy79-O8l6wKR9i6C0RaYTWWL9s0gEvG1KUimoAUKft4H_686GHLE1Dexb/s1600/IMG_3815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAP_Vj4N5ltddycHP9IwpWhdvjwFKAJKNQxqY8oxIpd5JAbZHFRoN3NgUTTCLbyLbrHYvC6EF6EWwBy79-O8l6wKR9i6C0RaYTWWL9s0gEvG1KUimoAUKft4H_686GHLE1Dexb/s320/IMG_3815.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We were met by a bus when we arrived at Robben Island and were taken on a tour to see the main sites of the Island before visiting the Maximum Security Prison. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKZ1DpVt7Ohtd_6UyIQEfyP2LB1K30kFGDEaFcdYzWgCYTE-g0Xn2fzP0fclOzSnRIrUlLfG-9StYA020aoTxjq1dSRQ37-Kkk0NIMB2j32AZisVCqGSzrETnAFM2M1AU4OAQ/s1600/IMG_8681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKZ1DpVt7Ohtd_6UyIQEfyP2LB1K30kFGDEaFcdYzWgCYTE-g0Xn2fzP0fclOzSnRIrUlLfG-9StYA020aoTxjq1dSRQ37-Kkk0NIMB2j32AZisVCqGSzrETnAFM2M1AU4OAQ/s320/IMG_8681.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Before getting on the tour bus.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqIhTmysw4cjjV2qs7e1TrOo8eHNnwLqfJMZN5tPc8u0r9-KZ6a3rQJvj7X3p0jC8v6yOKz_1ttEdsTEMjigK4jEouS6XhVQ8vhJcP2rrkSajoyX5s2uqbJKuK2fUkTXrMKOv/s1600/IMG_3791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqIhTmysw4cjjV2qs7e1TrOo8eHNnwLqfJMZN5tPc8u0r9-KZ6a3rQJvj7X3p0jC8v6yOKz_1ttEdsTEMjigK4jEouS6XhVQ8vhJcP2rrkSajoyX5s2uqbJKuK2fUkTXrMKOv/s320/IMG_3791.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Between 1846-1931, Robben Island was used as a hospital for mental patients, chronically ill and lepers.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vb5OCeBFayQyDv-zjMH72ixlRBiX09erFmHegm-Rllbfu7GmiX_BVuiq5EdOP61j4xurkudUELPdECoWzf1TiBjR1kw3ZYaYWpxkpgK_hpjnD9IsfKdBvgWpadPZqiwKSmZW/s1600/IMG_3792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vb5OCeBFayQyDv-zjMH72ixlRBiX09erFmHegm-Rllbfu7GmiX_BVuiq5EdOP61j4xurkudUELPdECoWzf1TiBjR1kw3ZYaYWpxkpgK_hpjnD9IsfKdBvgWpadPZqiwKSmZW/s320/IMG_3792.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Limestone Quarries. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Prisoners were sent to the limestone quarries to remove the limestone (by hand). Many prisoners who were exposed to limedust had severe health problems. Nelson Mandela's tear ducts were damaged after years of limedust exposure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NJQdIG3kZ3huF_f5__yEqci9ou1QORCTyEBH3iD9w4og4sgJjC3MrB2H5i0iE2xiDD3Z5aGBGqXaPHCEfuAQS76Q2c0h-PiH57CphqnDWZVSNbfQznGrxn1cTT4H1_I1udgs/s1600/IMG_3803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NJQdIG3kZ3huF_f5__yEqci9ou1QORCTyEBH3iD9w4og4sgJjC3MrB2H5i0iE2xiDD3Z5aGBGqXaPHCEfuAQS76Q2c0h-PiH57CphqnDWZVSNbfQznGrxn1cTT4H1_I1udgs/s320/IMG_3803.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> It was 11 kilometres from Robben Island to the coast of Cape Town. The stretch of water was icy cold, often large waves, and rumour was it was full of sharks. Very few prisoners attempted to escape.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hsP-6I-QP0DUkW8FFjVeltiBJHabdj8LFTXqZ3Hk3nkg07F7KdrSOO3qBNVrd7O4JqAP0eTlLj8zCfPsaGrRuCa1VyPOdSYGrMCWEeAZi-VFFJXmkmD1mY9kqCq4Xakcb41V/s1600/IMG_8678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hsP-6I-QP0DUkW8FFjVeltiBJHabdj8LFTXqZ3Hk3nkg07F7KdrSOO3qBNVrd7O4JqAP0eTlLj8zCfPsaGrRuCa1VyPOdSYGrMCWEeAZi-VFFJXmkmD1mY9kqCq4Xakcb41V/s320/IMG_8678.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyEOROPLuF93NHigLa_s8vSwPWbSs0kikTjAa_FhmRQgS8JuGd07v0x5GAA2QuugmF9nUrf1g7YaY3gv7UG4QjRtisqUILpT0kjUM4tKH-ryOQoKLTVLUtt0Vq4BR9fCDJSPY/s1600/IMG_3795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyEOROPLuF93NHigLa_s8vSwPWbSs0kikTjAa_FhmRQgS8JuGd07v0x5GAA2QuugmF9nUrf1g7YaY3gv7UG4QjRtisqUILpT0kjUM4tKH-ryOQoKLTVLUtt0Vq4BR9fCDJSPY/s320/IMG_3795.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The yellow house where Robert Sobukwe spent over 6 years in solitary confinement.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The building behind housed the guard dogs. 1 kennel for each dog, the dog's kennels were larger than the prisoner's cells in the maximum security prison.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYS0jZr42-s7vIJgniJBP-sLFgYUjTURv8PGoa-Nw7zZovHvhI34H4KOaQkODFI5bTaxsLdqT7Fu_9YXo0beKORSmjCYHgb0rnJxBbBciMLcf2oi-6pwwJcYjMXSeuH51C3n7/s1600/IMG_8682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYS0jZr42-s7vIJgniJBP-sLFgYUjTURv8PGoa-Nw7zZovHvhI34H4KOaQkODFI5bTaxsLdqT7Fu_9YXo0beKORSmjCYHgb0rnJxBbBciMLcf2oi-6pwwJcYjMXSeuH51C3n7/s320/IMG_8682.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> One of the guard towers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLvqDpl0hexC7uDvFYtio04QcKFR6vre6iwtTHMduc3I2tS0aXg4-DnqT9xqyZsHZBjtACBjKZ7TTf-U26U55F71VMJWV9sGHqOkm8pw_SL-m5l-sktmoXkFqzF0Et2hGpehyphenhyphen/s1600/IMG_3805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLvqDpl0hexC7uDvFYtio04QcKFR6vre6iwtTHMduc3I2tS0aXg4-DnqT9xqyZsHZBjtACBjKZ7TTf-U26U55F71VMJWV9sGHqOkm8pw_SL-m5l-sktmoXkFqzF0Et2hGpehyphenhyphen/s320/IMG_3805.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Maximum Security was fenced with 2 rows of barbed wire fences, with guard dogs in the middle section.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>We left the bus and met one of the former political prisoners, who took us through the prison. <br />
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We first visited Section F, which usually housed 50-60 prisoners. These prisoners were "common criminals". Bunk beds were introduced in the late 1970's, until then, everyone slept on the floor on mats. The lights were on 24 hours a day, and no glass in the windows. Prisoners were constantly covered in lice and other creepy crawlies throughout the night.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4Kj_SCG3MYaqlozXc3QFisUiSm43x1LQONbWiDRDWnAC_SSng2yRFFOAVtig8fUVhabZ1yfmRlowwqB6QjouXTV0YACdBGJ5S7sK6999-w81Z8COc-2pqDKC29YoehyphenhyphenhX0Ub/s1600/IMG_3807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4Kj_SCG3MYaqlozXc3QFisUiSm43x1LQONbWiDRDWnAC_SSng2yRFFOAVtig8fUVhabZ1yfmRlowwqB6QjouXTV0YACdBGJ5S7sK6999-w81Z8COc-2pqDKC29YoehyphenhyphenhX0Ub/s320/IMG_3807.JPG" width="268" /></a></div>We were shown the average diet offered to the prisoners, with ‘coloureds’ getting more rations than blacks, and no fruit or vegetables for anyone.<br />
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We moved through other cells and yards and eventually saw the high level maximum security section, Section B, which housed the political prisoners. The cells in Section B consisted of solitary confinement cells for the political leaders and prisoner. The most popular of these, of course, was cell 7, which housed Prisoner 466/64, Nelson Mandela. Interestingly, each of these cells was smaller than the pens used for each of the guard dogs used at the prison. It was here that Nelson Mandela spent the majority of his incarceration, (18 years of his 27 years of imprisonment) before being moved to the mainland for the last few years of his sentence at Pollsmoor Prison.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR2OzfkuDYgK3NlBJFUE_Qj_zVbohBO_pTgJzK4zJL0JPHIiSGfBoM15QDBfW8J7CfCwcoQiUc8edAzrLyoVX_HLQJmrlI9PHoGzgkpxe4XodjIecuM4uNG_Q5mn1fJJUbGwHB/s1600/IMG_3809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR2OzfkuDYgK3NlBJFUE_Qj_zVbohBO_pTgJzK4zJL0JPHIiSGfBoM15QDBfW8J7CfCwcoQiUc8edAzrLyoVX_HLQJmrlI9PHoGzgkpxe4XodjIecuM4uNG_Q5mn1fJJUbGwHB/s320/IMG_3809.JPG" width="249" /></a></div><br />
It was an interesting experience to see the harsh setting, to hear the first hand stories, and to imagine the effects that it would have on those held here. It is also impressive to reflect on the courage and determination of those held here to continue their struggle for what they believed in.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGZT5wRco0zoBS99X4ASMptRflxKYj5CMU3ROC-TT7tNvE0LEGqK6ze4zkY1h4my7bcz6tToYV6-NHG-1x3e7c7XY4uZsKZruM4wOW84kcp-yQiVegpr6xIRBEWfRKDCv0dJVn/s1600/IMG_8684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGZT5wRco0zoBS99X4ASMptRflxKYj5CMU3ROC-TT7tNvE0LEGqK6ze4zkY1h4my7bcz6tToYV6-NHG-1x3e7c7XY4uZsKZruM4wOW84kcp-yQiVegpr6xIRBEWfRKDCv0dJVn/s320/IMG_8684.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>One of the guys on our tour asked our tour guide how he felt about working here at the musuem, and reliving this part of his life every day. He said that if someone would offer him another job he would take it, but he has no formal education and no skills that could be used. <br />
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The visit was not long enough, and we wanted to learn more. Nicole bought a book called Robben Island, by Charlene Smith to read later on.<br />
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We travelled back (by slow boat) and arrived back at the V&A Waterfront late in the afternoon. <br />
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At the Waterfront, we saw some seals who were sunbathing.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTG4TGZPq-_wj4pTPtk5Fg47nd26tQeDpaDNxZNAghIvpW0h2egV8zBtUGT5O7a5c0IGnspBZUPD7jjqZI864-g3RJARKNUaDWsFzalAdpbkA0DnrRYfyRDfXZ_wYtvQs3naWd/s1600/IMG_8690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTG4TGZPq-_wj4pTPtk5Fg47nd26tQeDpaDNxZNAghIvpW0h2egV8zBtUGT5O7a5c0IGnspBZUPD7jjqZI864-g3RJARKNUaDWsFzalAdpbkA0DnrRYfyRDfXZ_wYtvQs3naWd/s320/IMG_8690.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmuu8m8vtCgZhRi-95gGIJmgWbuOMGy6oxNi9_UIoGyq5Z7UpYYmbKGSMkU3YNGKo1kBtIRF1KPtz2zlNfwzTSnJN1epHkZcc5ZfsIjKg9nlirwQ_EOaucxxl-HX4W0Lie1lv/s1600/IMG_8693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmuu8m8vtCgZhRi-95gGIJmgWbuOMGy6oxNi9_UIoGyq5Z7UpYYmbKGSMkU3YNGKo1kBtIRF1KPtz2zlNfwzTSnJN1epHkZcc5ZfsIjKg9nlirwQ_EOaucxxl-HX4W0Lie1lv/s320/IMG_8693.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjImqEeWzBkPqfDA5SYaUfcVwSS0iz-8FJzsg1HsIakC_kvGepvDB6kjiZeJqlOyxuntIN6cuaoiQUOSnvktoQ5Z5EeL9bpWTN55YgF96H6c1IJeSwKpg0BTteZoRxR8tvzwE4/s1600/IMG_8707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjImqEeWzBkPqfDA5SYaUfcVwSS0iz-8FJzsg1HsIakC_kvGepvDB6kjiZeJqlOyxuntIN6cuaoiQUOSnvktoQ5Z5EeL9bpWTN55YgF96H6c1IJeSwKpg0BTteZoRxR8tvzwE4/s320/IMG_8707.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> This area has a gate open where seals can jump up and sunbath, protected from the boats in the harbour.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YmJlXMkk0fu9eafuGuqcw_A4Q5mx309M1T7L9wVsfKnOaRmXN1yQ9I9KRBMaB-m4QXY736cZiYdysgCHIiVBRDbP8_PAArQRJ0RXMkc1Tar5hZ3cXF537ZgB1_JA9sLqqou-/s1600/IMG_8702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YmJlXMkk0fu9eafuGuqcw_A4Q5mx309M1T7L9wVsfKnOaRmXN1yQ9I9KRBMaB-m4QXY736cZiYdysgCHIiVBRDbP8_PAArQRJ0RXMkc1Tar5hZ3cXF537ZgB1_JA9sLqqou-/s320/IMG_8702.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Nicole & Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692621339129463584noreply@blogger.com0