The sun arrives at Hilltop camp in Hluhluwe Safari Park and 15 or so adult monkeys decorate the trees above us. The more youthful maintain a station closer to the ground, testing us. Vervet monkeys will warm up to you enough to get at your food. I can only monitor the monkey business over a cup of tea while packing gear.
Our plan is to make another run through the park in hopes of stumbling over some Elephants before exiting the park. Loaded up, we descend a spiny ridge with an immense vista on both sides. The Toyota Hilux hangs on to its gears around each switchback. Near the bottom, Elephant evidence is everywhere. Snapped trees litter the road with enough fresh dung to fill the truck. A half a day disappears while we spot a litany of other creatures, but no Ele’s. A schedule demands that we meet the rest of the wedding party at Rhino River Lodge, a private game safari park a little further north.
We exit the park, traveling north onto a series of dirt tracks on a landscape that finally flattens out on the backside of Hluhluwe and in the lowveld of Zululand. After entering Rhino Safari Park and a 15 minute bumpy ride, a well concealed lodge pops out of the brush unexpectedly as two warthog’s barrel across the lodge courtyard. Female Nyala graze as we drop our gear at our quarters and attend lunch with family and friends in the open air- underneath a thatched roof, lodge-pole structure. The next night and day take up some of the pre wedding events with more game drives followed by stunning meals at the lodge and an evening campfire under the southern hemisphere’s canopy of stars. Spending time, gathered with family and friends in this extraordinary place is truly a special experience.
The time arrives to raise the safari tents and head southbound for a wedding. We decide to utilize the Hluhluwe Game Parks road system by transitioning through it. With four vehicles in tow, a group is spotted standing at the edge of a hillside, cameras in hand, clearly focused on something below. We pull along side parked vehicles with nobody following the “stay in your vehicle” rule, it becomes apparent what they have spotted; Elephants. Not just a couple or a few. We watch them in the dry river bed wandering back and forth with a swagger. My count is 18. Little ones tug on the tail of a parent or explore on its own, remaining relatively close to the safety of the herd.
Elephants in the wild captivate like no other creature. Twenty minutes pass before we trek on. I could have sat on the side of that road all day long.
Elephants are flat out mesmerizing.
Driving south into a black night, back to the Dolphin coast, dark landscape filters by with the odd village lit up against a hillside. This is Zulu country. It is hard to suppress nagging questions of two cultures still at such extreme odds, questions we in the States are historically familiar with, white settlers and a native population. In the darkness you can visualize a country full of poverty and politically self-tortured. In the light of day you would be blind not to notice the oppressive razor wire that inhabitants hide behind. It is easy to discount it as just remnants of former Apartheid rule only to understand it is a product of post Apartheid. Possibly this is just paranoia with violent crime rates here soaring but unfortunately everyone has a story, a first hand account of a bad things.
The pre wedding build up now over, the family’s gather at the Collisheen Estate in Ballito for the exchange of vows. Collisheen is a farming manor squat in the middle of sugar cane fields. A nearby airfield keeps the gentlemen entertained as a World War I era Tiger Moth skims the field and ladies stroll the grounds in sharp dress with endless champagne. The entire affair wanders into a different era itself as the reception catwalks into an enormous tent, all Africa and England under canvas.
After a few more days of sun, sand and amazing African cuisine, it is time to Say goodbye to all and move on to the next segment of the trip. Bidding farewell to my family has always had an ache. Like tearing off a bandage, the quicker the better, a public place helps as well. Visiting a group that has a life halfway across the world is not
“Over the hills to grandmother’s house we go”.
Even with the internet, physical distance is still physical distance. Gateway, the largest mall in Africa, just outside Durban provides suitable cover for the English way, “we shall be together a gain’s” are exchanged with a few “God willings” followed by the somber walk…. One look over the shoulder, a gentle wave and that’s it.
Cape Town
After a drop at Durban airport and a 2 and half hour flight, we are on the approach to the southern most city of Cape Town. “The Mother City” as it is referred too has a style uniquely its own. Dug into the ramparts of Table Mountain on three sides, it is where the Atlantic batters its western face. There is nothing like this setting. Like a sentinel guarding the city, Table Mountain monitors the sunrise and sunset where two oceans meet. Indian and the Atlantic oceans collide within sight, south at the Cape of Good Hope. This is the bottom of the African continent and known as the Western Cape.
Staying near the Victoria and Alfred waterfront as a centralized location is a good choice.
The city is accessible from all directions and caters to the foreign visitor. The harbor itself, centered on Table Bay is large with ocean going traffic coming and going from all directions. Cape Town is a product of Dutch colonialism. In the 1600’s Dutch traders established a port here for a trading stop with the East Indies. The city maintains a Dutch feel with its architecture while it also identifies heavy with British history. The main language here is English but only amongst a mixture of native tongues. Afrikaans is spoken by the white settlers throughout South Africa and is a combination of Dutch and German.
Table Mountain itself is easily accessed by an Ariel tramway which is unique as it is the only one in the world that rotates 360 degrees on its way to the top and bottom. The view is worth the price of admission as I doubt there is another like it. Hiking to the top on specified trails offers another way up with a small fee. Once on top of the table, an entire day could be spent on walking trails and with views straight to nowhere but Antarctica, you can literally see the curvature of the earth.
The Weather on top of Table Mountain can be unpredictable and the tramway will shut down when winds reach the cut off point. The top can also be obscured in what’s known as the table cloth, when south-easters blow in cloud cover.
An open topped double-decker bus gives a fabulous tour of the city bowl and all sides of the mountain including the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens with 2 square miles of celebrated South African flora. The bus hugs the cliff face on the Atlantic wall around Camps Bay, Clifton, and Bantry Bay while making its way back to the waterfront.
Once more whales loom out of the water, this time Southern Rights, the Rights portion meaning at one time they were the right whale to hunt.
The African sun here will do its damage if you are not prepared for it; it hangs high up and will wither you without protection.
Homeward Bound
As the end of the trip draws near its hard not to reflect while still in country knowing soon you will be re-adjusting to the life you call home. Needing to catch a flight from Cape Town back up to Johannesburg earlier then usual, I dread the long wait at Jo-berg airport for the evening Delta 777 back to the States. Bridget and I decide stay at the airport terminal for the day for no other reason then security. It is no struggle to understand that hanging around a place like Johannesburg with out a dedicated plan is a bad idea. A trip that comes off better then expected is always a bonus when travelling abroad and at this point there is no need to push it. Jo-Berg with all its sincerity can be a very dangerous place even in the middle of the day.
There is the unfortunate side of South Africa and Africa in general, it is no place to go misguided or haphazardly. Being aware is the rule. With a surface sheen, billons pumped into the economy after the 2010 Soccer World cup, flags plastered on every post, it is sadly undermined with race related tension that may take generations to wash away. The mistrust is deeply rooted. All sides must tire someday and carry on with the cause of fairness and peaceful justice amongst its citizens. All said, none of mans inhumanity to himself on the continent would prevent me from exploring any part Africa again, for somewhere in its soul lies what it truly is; Magnificent.
For to be free is to not merely cast off ones own chains…but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. --- Nelson Mandela.
Our plan is to make another run through the park in hopes of stumbling over some Elephants before exiting the park. Loaded up, we descend a spiny ridge with an immense vista on both sides. The Toyota Hilux hangs on to its gears around each switchback. Near the bottom, Elephant evidence is everywhere. Snapped trees litter the road with enough fresh dung to fill the truck. A half a day disappears while we spot a litany of other creatures, but no Ele’s. A schedule demands that we meet the rest of the wedding party at Rhino River Lodge, a private game safari park a little further north.
We exit the park, traveling north onto a series of dirt tracks on a landscape that finally flattens out on the backside of Hluhluwe and in the lowveld of Zululand. After entering Rhino Safari Park and a 15 minute bumpy ride, a well concealed lodge pops out of the brush unexpectedly as two warthog’s barrel across the lodge courtyard. Female Nyala graze as we drop our gear at our quarters and attend lunch with family and friends in the open air- underneath a thatched roof, lodge-pole structure. The next night and day take up some of the pre wedding events with more game drives followed by stunning meals at the lodge and an evening campfire under the southern hemisphere’s canopy of stars. Spending time, gathered with family and friends in this extraordinary place is truly a special experience.
The time arrives to raise the safari tents and head southbound for a wedding. We decide to utilize the Hluhluwe Game Parks road system by transitioning through it. With four vehicles in tow, a group is spotted standing at the edge of a hillside, cameras in hand, clearly focused on something below. We pull along side parked vehicles with nobody following the “stay in your vehicle” rule, it becomes apparent what they have spotted; Elephants. Not just a couple or a few. We watch them in the dry river bed wandering back and forth with a swagger. My count is 18. Little ones tug on the tail of a parent or explore on its own, remaining relatively close to the safety of the herd.
Elephants in the wild captivate like no other creature. Twenty minutes pass before we trek on. I could have sat on the side of that road all day long.
Elephants are flat out mesmerizing.
Driving south into a black night, back to the Dolphin coast, dark landscape filters by with the odd village lit up against a hillside. This is Zulu country. It is hard to suppress nagging questions of two cultures still at such extreme odds, questions we in the States are historically familiar with, white settlers and a native population. In the darkness you can visualize a country full of poverty and politically self-tortured. In the light of day you would be blind not to notice the oppressive razor wire that inhabitants hide behind. It is easy to discount it as just remnants of former Apartheid rule only to understand it is a product of post Apartheid. Possibly this is just paranoia with violent crime rates here soaring but unfortunately everyone has a story, a first hand account of a bad things.
The pre wedding build up now over, the family’s gather at the Collisheen Estate in Ballito for the exchange of vows. Collisheen is a farming manor squat in the middle of sugar cane fields. A nearby airfield keeps the gentlemen entertained as a World War I era Tiger Moth skims the field and ladies stroll the grounds in sharp dress with endless champagne. The entire affair wanders into a different era itself as the reception catwalks into an enormous tent, all Africa and England under canvas.
After a few more days of sun, sand and amazing African cuisine, it is time to Say goodbye to all and move on to the next segment of the trip. Bidding farewell to my family has always had an ache. Like tearing off a bandage, the quicker the better, a public place helps as well. Visiting a group that has a life halfway across the world is not
“Over the hills to grandmother’s house we go”.
Even with the internet, physical distance is still physical distance. Gateway, the largest mall in Africa, just outside Durban provides suitable cover for the English way, “we shall be together a gain’s” are exchanged with a few “God willings” followed by the somber walk…. One look over the shoulder, a gentle wave and that’s it.
Cape Town
After a drop at Durban airport and a 2 and half hour flight, we are on the approach to the southern most city of Cape Town. “The Mother City” as it is referred too has a style uniquely its own. Dug into the ramparts of Table Mountain on three sides, it is where the Atlantic batters its western face. There is nothing like this setting. Like a sentinel guarding the city, Table Mountain monitors the sunrise and sunset where two oceans meet. Indian and the Atlantic oceans collide within sight, south at the Cape of Good Hope. This is the bottom of the African continent and known as the Western Cape.
Staying near the Victoria and Alfred waterfront as a centralized location is a good choice.
The city is accessible from all directions and caters to the foreign visitor. The harbor itself, centered on Table Bay is large with ocean going traffic coming and going from all directions. Cape Town is a product of Dutch colonialism. In the 1600’s Dutch traders established a port here for a trading stop with the East Indies. The city maintains a Dutch feel with its architecture while it also identifies heavy with British history. The main language here is English but only amongst a mixture of native tongues. Afrikaans is spoken by the white settlers throughout South Africa and is a combination of Dutch and German.
Table Mountain itself is easily accessed by an Ariel tramway which is unique as it is the only one in the world that rotates 360 degrees on its way to the top and bottom. The view is worth the price of admission as I doubt there is another like it. Hiking to the top on specified trails offers another way up with a small fee. Once on top of the table, an entire day could be spent on walking trails and with views straight to nowhere but Antarctica, you can literally see the curvature of the earth.
The Weather on top of Table Mountain can be unpredictable and the tramway will shut down when winds reach the cut off point. The top can also be obscured in what’s known as the table cloth, when south-easters blow in cloud cover.
An open topped double-decker bus gives a fabulous tour of the city bowl and all sides of the mountain including the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens with 2 square miles of celebrated South African flora. The bus hugs the cliff face on the Atlantic wall around Camps Bay, Clifton, and Bantry Bay while making its way back to the waterfront.
Once more whales loom out of the water, this time Southern Rights, the Rights portion meaning at one time they were the right whale to hunt.
The African sun here will do its damage if you are not prepared for it; it hangs high up and will wither you without protection.
Homeward Bound
As the end of the trip draws near its hard not to reflect while still in country knowing soon you will be re-adjusting to the life you call home. Needing to catch a flight from Cape Town back up to Johannesburg earlier then usual, I dread the long wait at Jo-berg airport for the evening Delta 777 back to the States. Bridget and I decide stay at the airport terminal for the day for no other reason then security. It is no struggle to understand that hanging around a place like Johannesburg with out a dedicated plan is a bad idea. A trip that comes off better then expected is always a bonus when travelling abroad and at this point there is no need to push it. Jo-Berg with all its sincerity can be a very dangerous place even in the middle of the day.
There is the unfortunate side of South Africa and Africa in general, it is no place to go misguided or haphazardly. Being aware is the rule. With a surface sheen, billons pumped into the economy after the 2010 Soccer World cup, flags plastered on every post, it is sadly undermined with race related tension that may take generations to wash away. The mistrust is deeply rooted. All sides must tire someday and carry on with the cause of fairness and peaceful justice amongst its citizens. All said, none of mans inhumanity to himself on the continent would prevent me from exploring any part Africa again, for somewhere in its soul lies what it truly is; Magnificent.
For to be free is to not merely cast off ones own chains…but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. --- Nelson Mandela.
Looks cool (Hans Stoll, email sent)
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