Our Travel Blog

I wasn’t going to fight the internet and do a blog today but this guy, seen on an evening safari drive, changed my mind!

Mrs Rhino and her 2 day old baby!!

NOTE

Due to the lack of WiFi I am mixing the days into one entry here and hopefully can get the whole lot out in one shot. This particular entry will not be too well edited as it has taken a while to put it together

An early start this morning, only because they stopped serving breakfast at 08:00, what do they think we are…… tourists???

We headed straight into Durban, no real reason other than it was there, as you should know we are not city lovers. The main motorway that we were on ran straight into the city centre and the continuing road ran straight to the beach. Durban is fairly unique in the cities we have visited in that there are beaches right downtown and stretching for many kilometers.

Below are some sand sculptures

After our brief city stop we headed north along the coast to Umdloti where the guide books suggest we will be able to see many dolphins, I believe the author of the guide book was unable to tell a dolphin from a container ship, as there were plenty of those waiting to enter port!! We stopped there for a coffee, but still not a dolphin to be seen.

Typical of housing along the route

We headed further north to Dilinza Forest where there was a boardwalk set up in the tree canopy. Again, nature eluded us as it appears that all the birds were having a siesta! However, we got a good walk for our daily exercise.

As we walked underneath the tree shown above, it was just like walking in a rain shower. At first I thought the tree had someway of shedding excess moisture, a solution I could live with. However, further questioning led to the truth, it is a rare occurrence where a spitting bug ingests too much sap and has to er……… get rid of it!

These multi trunked trees are Natal Milk Plums

What is it?

After a chicken curry pie from the local Spar store we headed off to our destination for the next 3 nights, Hluhluwe. Phonetic pronunciation attempts to be sent as a comment…. No need to be shy!

The drive was through picturesque rolling hills and we arrived after about 3 hours. Unfortunately, the driver, the navigator, the map and the GPS could not determine where we had to head to for the final 30kms. We finally found a gateway to the park where it should not have been and after a lot of discussion we were allowed in! Not the warmest of welcomes but what we saw within a few minutes of entering made up for it!

Accommodation in the distance

We finally made it to the lodge where we were checked in, again not with out difficulty as it appeared we had a number of reservations, one for 3 nights and one for 2 nights plus one night!!! Finally, we got to out room which was great with fantastic views right across the open spaces. Next problem occurred about an hour later, after we unpacked, Lyn went to close a window as the wind was very strong and blowing the curtains all over the place. Window closed fine but the wind continued……. Window had no glass. Lyn went back to reception who apologised profusely and gave her a new room. New room was fine, except for the view, it consisted only of trees about 10ft away.  My turn to visit reception, most of you know how diplomatic I can be in these situations (!!), but I behaved really well and walked out with the key for our third chalet. The view from here was infinitely better than the second offering and about half as good as the first. It was also a stand alone 2 bedroom full catering chalet about twice the size than the one we had paid for, I just feel (slightly) sorry for the people who had been upgraded to this chalet and were given our second choice instead.

All the above took a couple of hours to sort out, after all this is Africa! Evening meal is included in the deal so we headed off for food, then back for an early night as we had to be up by 0430 (yes half past four) the next morning.

Next morning we fell out of bed at the appointed hour, got ready and presented ourselves at the pickup point. All went smoothly with the bureaucracy except for one elder English couple who forgot to bring their ticket (they could easily have passed, in looks and voice, for Lord and Lady someone or other). When the  guide asked (tongue in cheek) why they had forgot the ticket the husband answered in loud, perfect Etonian English “because we’re bloody stupid!” They got on the truck with no further problems!

Below is a series of pictures from the trip.

SunRISE not Sunset!!

Learning to Fight

Morning Coffee

White Rhino are quite prolific here, but they ask us not to publicize the numbers seen on social media due to poaching concerns.

Vulture

Our guide had a “feeling” as to where we may find lion. There was a herd of water buffalo, with one elder standing guard away from the herd.

Water Buffalo Tick Removal Service

Sure enough the guides experience paid off and in the distance in the shadow of a clump of trees were 2 female and 1 male lion. Our first view!

Depending on what we see tomorrow they may or may not be a blog due to the contortions required to publish it!!

The daily medical bulletin, I woke up far more alive than dead today, so much so I enjoyed my Full English, AND could smell the diesel fumes for the first time in a week!

We left our B&B after a post breakfast walk in futile search of a geocache!

These flowers were hanging off the eaves-trough / gutters around the B&B identify please.

Today were taking a slow drive to the outskirts of Durban, which is on the Indian Ocean. Our only planned stop was at a Zulu village in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

Along the way we spotted a monkey posing for us so we just had to stop and get a photo!

We slipped into geocaching mode after a couple of hours, and came up to an interesting cache. It was at the site where a British Armoured Train was ambushed back in the second Boer War. The cache was at the grave-site of 4 British soldiers who were killed at the scene. Unfortunately the cache was on the far side of the double rail tracks, so when in Africa etc. I crossed the tracks…. didn’t feel right but. Found the cache, got a wave and a “toot” from a passing train driver, and fled back to the other side.

Back safely on the other side was another plaque to the same incident, this one commemorating the capture of (The) Winston Churchill who was a young journalist on the train!  the capture of (The) Winston Churchill who was a young journalist on the train!

Again we followed the back roads rather than the motorway to our next stop, even had to use the A/C at times as the temperature hovered around 30C.

Fortuitously we arrived at the village with a minute to spare before the tour began. The tour comprised explanations of Zulu culture, their dances and their houses.

Because I am; Lazy, over full, tired choose as necessary, below are the pictures only

The reason for the overfull feeling is that we’ve just returned from the local pub after consuming 1 pint of beer, 1 8oz glass of wine, 2 excellent main course and two deserts for $30 Cdn, probably $3 US by now!!

Last night I went to bed feeling the best I had for a week, that meant I should wake feeling great…. Wrong, this cough just loves me so much it won’t leave. It’s becoming just a little frustrating

Today we headed off from Robert and Mollies to the Drakensberg mountains about 350Kms SE. We planned to take the back roads rather than the motorway for a lot of the trip, a good decision.

The visibility was a little hazy, but the scenery was still pretty neat and into the bargain we saw some wildlife.

Zebra.Mother and Foal

Kudus

Springbuk

Drakensberg Mountains Below

The main objective to day was to pick up our hire car for our trip east next week. This was slightly more problematic than it should have been as credit card and drivers license were not sufficient, a passport was also required. This required a 20 minute trip back to the house and then back to the rental place. This was a little more traumatic than expected as the place closed at 13:00 and it was 12:10! Roberts driving, including an emergency braking to avoid a large dog while we were doing 130kmh, got us back in time! Lyn was quite happy with this turn of events as it gave her over an hour in a gigantic fabric and crafts store.

With car in possession we headed out for some lunch, then back home via a model aircraft airfield, unfortunately there was no flying there today.

Back home I did my usual crash for a while, but woke up feeling better than I have for sometime, so much so that we went for a walk around the neighbourhood.

The most notable thing here is that nearly all properties are surrounded by walls and electric fences, with numerous guard dogs inside.

Below are some views from the walk.

Who Can Identify the Bird…… We Can’t!

Some Art Work

The Plainer Part of Town

Robert has a plot of land with a large house and small bungalow in it. He and Mollie recently moved out of the large house as it was too big, and now live in the bungalow and rent out the other place. Below is the sign outside the main house.

The Main House

The fountain area at the main house was created by Robert and is his pride and joy!!

After sleeping about 18 hours yesterday I woke up feeling better, hopefully this is the beginning of the end.

Last evening while sitting on the balcony there was a thundering noise on the roof. There was a whole troupe of monkey’s crossing it.

After final braai I hit the sack for a solid 12-hours sleep.

This morning we headed out on our way back to Jo’Burg, we went via Pilgrims Rest to pick up Mollie’s order of beadie things and also a stop for breakfast.

While eating breakfast there was a lady going around sweeping up the Jacoranda petals.

We also found a tree we couldn’t identify, answers required please!

We then hit the Motorway and all of a sudden the sky’s ahead became pitch black, with plenty of lightning. The rains started, then the hail. The hail hitting the car was deafening, so we pulled off to let it pass. At one stage there was 2-3″ of hail on the road!

After all the activities of the previous couple of days, today was a rest day. We just hung around the resort chilling.

No photos.

Well the ()^^&%^% cough / cold seems to like me and has intensified, however it is more of an annoyance than anything else, my energy seems to be there which is just as well as we have been doing a fair bit of walking / hiking.

Today was another voyage of discovery, we headed out towards Pilgrims Rest but stopped to find a geocache on the way, we found the geocache and got two new converts in Robert and Mollie. We found two more geocaches through out the day, with Robert discovering one of them.

Pilgrims Rest was one of the first gold discoveries in S. Africa, in the last 100 years they have mined 500,000 ounces of gold. Many of the early gold mining towns were company old, but in Pilgrims Rest the miners owned their own properties. These properties remained pretty much as they had been 100 years ago and the local tourism authority have started to promote the town.

While we were there we watched one of the locals making beaded wire ornaments from small Christmas tree ornaments to 3ft tall giraffes. Mollie commissioned him to make key chains with her charities logo in it. Fifty key chains to be picked up in 48 hours for 6 Rand (50c Canadian) each!

General pictures of and within Pilgrims Rest are below.

Next stop was the Mac Mac falls, entrance here was the outrageous price of 50c Canadian! Pictures below.

A few Kms down the road were the Mac Mac pools, a series of small pools along the Mac Mac River where we went swimming and had lunch. (Un)fortunately no pictures of swimsuit clad tourists!

After lunch we took a circuitous route back to the resort over the Long Tom Pass up at 7100ft AMSL. Long Tom Pass got its name from the fact that it was the location of the last shell fired from the Long Tom Gun at the end of the 2^nd Boer War in 1902. For its time this was a large gun with a barrel of 7m and a range of 9kms.

Long Tom and some shots of the trip home follow.

For those wondering whereabouts we are, we are very close to the Kruger Game Park.

Today we headed out to see some of the local sites. As we left the resort we met a herd of zebra at the side of the road.

Before we left Robert was speaking to one of the neighbours about where we were heading, and he was given a short cut to save going all around the mountains. The road was in desperate need of maintenance, but we survived despite the cows refusing to move off one of the bridges. We also managed to see a troop of baboons off in the distance, but they were gone before I could get the camera out! Below are some views of the shortcut.

A quick plug for a volunteer organisation that Molly has started. I guess the name says it all?

Once back onto the paved road we headed for Bourke’s Luck Potholes, these potholes were a little different to the ones we had spent the last 30 minutes avoiding. They have been created over time by whirlpools in the water eating away at the rock. Again a few photos

Even found a Monkey

Next stop was the three Rondavals, a rock formation name for their resemblance to the round native thatched huts.

View Down the Gorge

Small Ant Hill

Lyn and Robert to add Scale Guess What Lyn Found?

Last stop was the Berlin Falls

On the way home we saw these remarkable acts of balance in one of the towns

Many thanks to Robert for driving and Molly for catering!!

This morning we were up at the crack of dawn, well 08:00 as we were heading off with Robert and Molly for 5 days at the Crystal Spring Resort, about 5 hours North East of Jo’burg. After an hour or so we stopped for breakfast, did I mention we liked the prices in this country, less than $18 Cdn including tip for a full breakfast for 4 people.

The scenery became more mountainous the further along we got. A coffee stop was required after a couple of hours where we finished up trying the delights of the local pastry shop. Thankfully calories work the opposite way in the Southern Hemisphere, the more you eat the more weight you shed!

We arrived at our destination at 16:00 just at the right time for check-in. We were greated in the parking lot by a group of monkeys, who unfortunately can present problems if they get into cars or accommodation as they love to trash them.

The resort is up in the mountains close to ………. nothing. There is a club-house, pool, small store and restaurant so we should be able to survive! The apartment was great with excellent views as well as a patio with a braai. The only thing missing is internet access. Actually it appears my phone has no access, Roberts does and as he has a 50Gb / month plan he has graciously let me use it as a hotspot.

The Apartment

The View

The Braai

Shortly we are off to the restaurant to celebrate our 41st Wedding Anniversary!