As it turns out, this game lodge (in the absolute middle of nowhere) had great internet. Go figure.
Right now, it has been almost a week since the day I am about to write about. I am sitting in the main lodge at Tintswalo Game Lodges, watching a small herd of elephants drink water less than 30 feet from me. I have stopped writing this at least five times to go out and take their photos, but I have sooooo much to cover before you will see those. Let’s finish up our Zambezi Queen story.
Pre-Dawn Solo Birdwatching
This was our last full day on the Zambezi Queen and they had scheduled another optional birdwatching tour at 6:30 am. When they had done this on our first morning, there had been about eight of us who went out on the boat with Gibson.
I had promised myself to do every game/birdwatch cruise they offered us so I was up and ready to go. Sadly, no one else was. When Gibson came to get everyone and found just me waiting, I told him it was OK if he didn’t want to go out. That I would just stay on the Queen and process photos. He told me, “If I don’t take you I will be stuck either cleaning or assisting with breakfast. I would much rather be on the river in my boat. I will take you someplace that we don’t usually go but it is the best place to see birds.” How could I pass that up? So I got in the boat and off we went. I have to say that this morning cruise with Gibson was absolutely (so far with three days to go) one of the true highlights of the cruise for me.
We started out going in an entirely different direction than we had on all the other game cruises. We went towards the rapids that led to Victoria Falls. As we approached them, I could see thousands of nesting birds silhouetted by the rising sun. We stayed right in that area for more than an hour, with me getting to shoot any bird I wanted to my heart’s content. He would ask how I wanted the boat positioned so I could get the best shot and the best light. What a guy!!!
We also saw a couple of crocodiles and hippos. On the way back to breakfast (which was totally up to me), we stopped alongside a herd of Cape buffalo and I got my favorite animal photo up to that point. I am not much of a bird photographer, and if you are, these may disappoint you, but they make me happy. Plus I got another great African sunrise. Here are the pics from that morning trip with my new best photo friend, Gibson. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
My attempt at shooting the African moon as it set. I never have luck with moon shots but this one is pretty good.
Now the start of my day with Gibson, sunrise.
And all those trees are full of bird’s nests.
And soon the sky is full of birds.
And the sun comes up enough that you can clearly see the nests.
And they are everywhere.
A yellow billed stork
Waiting for a fly by. And there it is.
More sunrise nests
And more.
And More.
And still more. They are just so amazing. I am hoping you are looking at these full screen, with your monitor set to its brightest setting.
But more nests catch my eye in a new light.
Every photo seems different as the light changes.
Depending on where I look, it’s amazing.
I see a Yellow-billed stork flying by.
Quick action shot.
Not my camera skill on this shot but Gibson’s boat driving.
The Yellow-billed storks are gorgeous.
And I keep finding them in new places.
As we return for breakfast, I see two fishermen that Gibson tells me are checking their nets that they have left there overnight.
Then we say this guy. He as beyond majestic.
Especially when you see him in this shot.
And we returned to a comic Bernard pretending to pull in our boat.
Visiting the locals
After breakfast, everyone boarded the smaller boats to return to Namibia, heading towards a small village just east of the border station. Our guide for the morning was Tecklar, a young, single woman who lived there. She shared that the village, which had just under 40 residents, including men, women, and children, was relatively new. Tecklar had recently become a part of the community, and she had to apply to the village elder, the regional chief of the tribe, and finally the government to be allowed to move in.
Editor’s note:At this point I welcome any of my fellow travelers to correct me on any facts, as it has been over a week since our visit, and my memory might be a bit hazy.
While we were in the village we were shown the lodgings, new well and solor system, the gardens and finally the village gathering place where almost the entire village sang and danced for us. It was a an awesome visit. They even had a small bazaar set up where they sold things they had made. We came home with a hand-painted bowl and a carved wooden giraffe. So here are my photos from the visit. Hopefully you got a chance to watch the video above of the village entertaining us. You know the drill. Don’t forget to click the photos to make them bigger.
This is our guide Tecklar
On the way to the village (and every time we went to the Namibia border) we passed this small store and bar. Sometimes (like this morning,) no one was there. Other times it would be packed.
Tecklar tells us about how they build their homes and how long she had to wait for permission to join the village.
The village garden.
Strange how there was no running water or indoor plumbing, but there were satellite dishes.
A typical home.
The local well.
Guavas.
Time for dancing
And singing
And more singing
And more dancing.
This gave me a great chance to do some people pictures.
Some of our group joined the dancing.
The drummers were excellent.
This little guy spent most of the performance under his mom’s feet.
One of the drummers.
The costumes were beautiful.
So were the faces.
So much of the African spirit.
This guy had it too.
He was so photogenic
I loved shooting him. He just draws the lens.
So did this woman.
And the guys.
They passed around grains they use in cooking.
Kathleen enjoyed the show.
Bernard (our cruise director) has a twin brother ? who plays the drums.
They look amazingly alike.
And just so you can hear the music, here’s a short video.
Afternoon Game Cruise
After a quick bite for lunch, we were off on our last game cruise of our voyage. Kathleen decided to stay and pack, so I was off with a few of the others and Gibson. He finds us the best stuff. I need to add that Kathleen did not miss much by staying on the Zambezi Queen. While she packed, the Queen sailed up and down the river, and they saw as many animals as we did. Maybe they weren’t close, but they were definitely close enough. I will put some of her iPhone photos up later so you can see what I mean.
Instead of going into detail in text about what we saw on this last game cruise, I will just let my photos do the talking. Enjoy. Captions identify but you have to change into slide show mode to see them.
I loved the way this elephant was perfectly framed by this arch.
Momma and baby hippo
A family of giraffes
So often these are alone, it was great to see them together.
I loved these two.
This may be the cover of my Africa book.
Or this one.
Part of Fish Eagle triptych
An African Fish Eagle grabs prey from the shore.
And flies away with it.
This tree just said Africa.
The same place we had seen hundreds of other animals on different days and times…
Was now totally filled with elephants
And a lone giraffe.
And this little guy and his mom.
A new village being built.
See the large mound behind the woman carrying water? That’s a termite mound.
The local bus.
Some guys waiting for a taxi.
Gibson took a wide-berth around these guys.
That covers the day. It was back to the Queen for a final night dinner that featured some of the incredible crew members singing and dancing for us afterward. More tomorrow.We just got back from a game drive, it’s freezing, we ate dinner and are going to bed because we go out again tomorrow morning at 6:00 pm.
Africa is f**king exhausting.  —Kathleen Bellomo
This is our guide Sam. That’s his jeep we rode around in all day.
Just so you know, this post details our third day on Queen, but we barely got on before dinner on day one, so I am counting yesterday as Day 1 and today as Day 2.
Day two is all about Chobe National Park in Botswana, where we would spend the day in the back of a jeep (on decent seats) being bounced all over the place while seeing some amazing animals, then stopping for a nice picnic lunch before heading back to the Zambezi Queen for dinner.
Our day started like any other day leaving the Queen to go someplace. Even though we could see the park in Botswana from the Zambezi Queen, we had to go up river, get out of the boats, walk up the half mile to the border crossing, check out of Namibia, then get back in the boats, head back down river, pass the Queen to the Botswana border crossing where we waited in line again to check in to Botswana. From there, we were picked up by our guides. Kathleen had decided to stay aboard today, so I was on my own with just my camera. And five of us got really lucky and got Sam as our driver. That’s him in the photo—a truly great guy.
He picked us up at the border crossing, and we headed about three miles down the highway to the entrance to Chobe National Park. We stopped to use the facilities (which were easily the most disgusting of the trip—go before you leave the Queen or there is a fairly clean restroom behind the border station coming into Botswana. Just ask for directions.) and then it was on into the park.
Chobe is renowned for having the highest concentration of elephants in Africa, and we quickly discovered this when we found ourselves in the middle of a herd, with one of the elephants coming right up to our jeep. That got a bit scary, but he backed off and went around us. I think that was as close as I got to a wild animal on the entire trip (so far). Maybe six feet away. He did not have a happy look on his face. But I think you should judge for yourself. So here’s the first batch of pictures (all the way up to lunch) from the park. Enjoy. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
This is the big guy who came right up to our jeep.
I did not zoom my camera.
He just kept coming.
And then another one started coming towards us.
She didn’t look very happy either.
But she finally moved on.
We sat in the middle of that herd for quite a few minutes,..
Where I got lots of great closeups.
Of all parts of an elephant.
And then this guy showed up. YIKES!
These banded mongooses (yes, I checked and that is the plural of mongoose).
Did you know that hippos have pink skin? And the gray is a sunburn—Yikes!
Giraffes
Lots of them.
Bunches
And friendly.
This guy was released after years working as the Toys R Us mascot.
Chobe chickens
Baboons
Salad bar for the impalas
And now we have LIONS!
We came around the corner and there was an entire pride under a tree. No male that we could see.
And more elephants.
Since we were on land this time, we got to see the other side of the elephant.
A black faced impala
According to Google, this is a lilac crested roller
This one as well.
This is a southern, red-billed hornbill. You might remember him from his role as Zazu in The Lion King.
Another lilac-breasted roller
Punba! The only warthogs we saw all day. Akuna Matata!
Cape Buffalo skeleton
Out in the bush. This pic just says Africa to me.
Lunchtime
AmaWaterways has been great with arrangements on this entire trip. The biggest reason for this is the amazing Delia. For today, she had completely organized a picnic lunch in the middle of a national park where thousands of wild animals surrounded us. And there was even a restroom…with about the same level of disgusting as the one at the entrance to the park, but not quite as bad. I finished my lunch while others were still eating, and my yearbook mode kicked in, so I started taking candid photos of my fellow travelers. I have some fans of my people shots (hi Kay), so here they are if you are interested. Otherwis,e scroll on down for more animals.
Our picnic site
And some people photos
My new friend AJ taking a bite of banana while one of my favorite people on the trip, Lorraine, looks on.
I think she wanted that banana ?
One of the “two Marinas” with us on our trip. Marina 2 (above) was traveling with her Mom, (Marina 1) from Puerto Rico. Marina 1 is a retired teacher, Marina 2 an art teacher. She very much reminded us of our niece Cassie.
James from Langley, BC
The two Marinas
Sometimes I just can’t remember their names. This gentleman was traveling in a group of four from Indiana
This is his wife.
James watches Nancy from California/Tennessee finish her lunch.
Another person whose name escapes me right now.
You know how some people are just FUN? This is Betty from Tampa and she is a hoot!
After lunch, more jeep riding
Once lunch was over, it was back in the jeep with Sam and off to see more animals. I will let you follow along with the photos.
This is a greater kudu. If the Impalas are the size of our deer then greater kudus are the size of an elk with really cool antlers.
And more giraffes
Lots more. We were really close.
And more elephants.
So many elephants
And as many elephants as there were, there were ALWAYS more impalas.
Cute elephants too.
Not so close this time.
Another greater kudu
Looking back at the park.
This greater kudu really captured my attention.
He just kept posing for me.
That was about it for animals. Just some final notes to let you know where we are now and what’s coming in posts.
Today is Monday, July 14. It is our full day in Johannesburg. The photos on this page were taken on Wednesday the 9th. In the interim we had one more day on the Zambezi Queen and then we transitioned to Victoria Falls for two nights. I have a lot more videos, but uploading them takes a while and uses up a lot of bandwidth.
Stop the presses! We are just back from our visit to the Soweto Township. What a kick in the teeth. In the USA, I always feel guilty for being a white male, now I feel bad for being a white, male, financially successful, American. More about that in a few days. Suffice it to say, today’s trip was beyond eye-opening.
Of course, no post from Africa should be without either a sunrise or a sunset. Enjoy!
I was a child among the lions. Now I want to be one of those lions.  —Charles Oliveira
We spent four incredible days and five wonderful nights on the Zambezi Queen. It was so far beyond what I expected that I can’t even begin to tell you. Our first day offered three possible game cruises. When I say “game cruises,” it means we got into a smaller boat that held 7-10 people plus the driver and set out to explore the river and its tributaries close up. Unlike the rest of the time, when the Zambezi Queen herself would float up and down the Chobe River. You will be amazed at what we could see just looking out the window of our stateroom.
Early Morning Bird Watching…and MORE!
The first game cruise offered on the first day was a 6:30 AM bird watching cruise with my (now) good buddy, Gibson, at the helm. About six of the 28-person group showed up, and off we went. I am not much of a bird watcher. But this turned into so much more. Not everyone was willing to get up and go that early, but I had resolved to take every single small boat trip they would offer me in the four days we were there. And was I ever glad we did. I am going to shut up now and let you see the photos from this early-morning bird watching expedition. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Every single sunrise we saw in Africa was this color.
It was truly amazing.
Suns up. Time to find more birds and wildlife to shoot.
This is an African Fish Eagle (distant relative of the American Bald Eagle) being dive bombed by a pied kingfisher to keep her away from her nest.
It was almost funny. The eagle finally flew away.
Google says this is a Black Stork
This one too.
Another Pied Kingfisher
A yellow-billed stork
More of the same.
Our first hippo
They are about as big as a car.
Heron, I am pretty sure.
And another yellow-billed stork.
Living side by side with one of the most dangerous animals.
Even helping to get the bugs off the hippo.
Truly Amazing!
Northern Lapwings
They nest in the ground to protect their eggs and young.
They are beautiful when they fly
And when you see them all spread out above their nests like this.
A Black Skimmer
Still skimming
And here too.
He is skimming all over the place.
And my camera was following him.
Everywhere he went.
Cape Buffalo–the most dangerous animal out on the Chobe.
The guides hate them because they can be very erratic.
This is a group of photographers traveling with a company called Pangolin. Check out those lenses. There’s probably $100K of glass on that little boat.
Another African Fish Eagle posing for us.
Baboons!
We have baboons. These guys were eating the remains of something dead.
Two Egyptian geese.
So many baboons, so little time.
These are called Helmeted Guinea Fowl by Google but Chobe Chickens by everyone who lives there. You can eat them, even though the look like armadillos.
The Egyptian Goose that got away.
The African Sea Eagle he got away from.
An African Darter in the midst of some geese and cormorants.
Elephants…in a line
On their way someplace.
Who knows where.
Time for breakfast on the Zambezi Queen.
10:00 AM Game Cruise
After breakfast, pretty much everyone piled into one of the three small tour boats and took off up or down the Chobe River alongside Chobe National Park in Botswana and the shores of Namibia. We were not allowed to get too close to the park itself, but we could stop the boats just off the park for photos. And I took a BUNCH! And here we go again.
These are Impalas
But the locals call them McDonalds
Because they are speedy but at the bottom of the food chain.
I want to say we saw more than 20K, in our four days there.
I later learned that if you look at their butts as they are running away from you, you can see the Golden Aches in brown fur.
Perfect symmetry with two wire-tailed swallows
The biggest, gruffest Cape Buffalo of the day.
Looking over his herd.
Lots of birds
And more hippos
Still more.
And an Impala in full running mode.
And full drinking mode. They are very skittish when near the water as crocodiles may pull them in.
So many of them.
Speak of BIG crocodiles.
They are on every bank.
Along with hippos
By the score
More wire-tailed swallows.
They are very photogenic.
And BIG crocodiles.
Really big crocks.
Afternoon Game Cruise
The 10:00 game cruise took about three hours, so we were back on board at 1:00, had lunch and rested or just watched the river go by. Because it was the dry season, a whole bunch of animals had come down to the river. But that didn’t stop me from joining Gibson on the 3:00 PM game cruise. Kathleen decided to stay on board and watch out the window of our stateroom (she saw hippos, elephants and Cape Buffalo). I just got closer to them than she did. Here’s my pics from the afternoon game cruise. By now you know the drill.
As soon as we left the Queen we saw this guy.
Rolling around in the mud…
…on the island between Namibia and Botswana.
He looked like he was having such a good time.
I just had to keep shooting.
It was worth it.
Along comes a big one.
And an elephant parade.
These two greeted each other like long, lost lovers,
See how close they are to the boat we are in.
The just kept moving on.
While we had stopped to watch those elephants, the Zambezi Queen had caught up to us so Kathleen could see these same guys outside our stateroom window..
We moved on and found some other elephants, this time with babies.
Who were adorable
We had been by this spot on the river three times that day. The first time no elephants…
Just baboons.
The second time no elephants, just Impalas.
The third time, Elephant Bay (what this area is called) was full of elephants.
This guy was so cute.
He covered himself with dust to get bugs off of his back.
Moms were very protective
No other animals were around.
Just this big bunch of elephants.
An adult giving himself a dust bath.
It’s cool to photograph.
Or a family portrant
Or these two kids…
Who were having the time of their lives.
Time to see some birds.
This is a malachite kingfisher and is maybe the most beautiful bird I have ever seen.
A water-thick knee. At least that’s what Google says.
And our first giraffe.
Did you know this was how they drank?
I didn’t.
It’s an interesting way.
Two trees on the veldt.
This is what our safari boats looked like. There were three of them on the Zambezi Queen.
Another hungry and huge croc.
A very big elephant headed our way.
And I still have not seen and African sunrise or sunset I haven’t been thrilled with.
See what I mean.
Those three shot are all within about 5 minutes. When the sun comes or or goes down, it happens fast.
God bless Africa, Guard her people, Guide her leaders, And give her peace. —Trevor Huddleston
Here’s the Cape Town group. We would meet up with eight others when we boarded the Zambezi Queen in Namibia. You can see Kathleen and I on the right. And yes, I can pretty much tell you who everyone is. Well, everyone I like ?.
As I write this, I am sitting in our stateroom on the Zambezi Queen riverboat. Today has been exhausting. We have been in four countries, and I can see a fifth one outside our window. But more about that later. Today is about yesterday, or actually four days ago. Does that make sense? (Editor’s note: It has now been four days since I wrote this, and the internet has been so slow that I have not been able to finish it. I have so much more to show you, so please stand by.)
On Sunday, the plan was to tour the South African Winelands, and if the clouds finally cleared, we would take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain. Visiting the Winelands is, of course, all about the wine. So, today, Delia passed the baton to Gen, who is a true wine expert, having worked in both the travel and wine industries for several years.
Gen entertained and educated us as we drove from Cape Town to Stellenbosch. I wish I could remember all I heard, but I know I had a great time listening. She (as well as Delia) were very open about life in South Africa and about their own lives. We truly appreciated their frankness about a country they clearly loved, but not a racist system that is still in effect here.
We arrived in Stellenbosch and got out to both do a little shopping and to walk around the downtown. As you can see, I took a few photos as well. Then it was back in the “luxury motor coach” to head to our first winery, Longridge. We tasted six wines (at 10:00 am) from a Chenin Blanc (this is South Africa’s premier white) to a Pinotage (South Africa’s premier red) as well as a sweet dessert wine. All were excellent, although we have grown to love Pinotage.
We spent about 90 minutes at that winery before heading to another one, Lievland. There, we not only tasted their wines but also enjoyed a full lunch in their amazing restaurant. We stayed for at least two hours, having a great feast and another opportunity for all of us to learn a little more about each other.
So, here are my photos of our wine tours. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
A really fun sculpture in Stellenbosch
Loved this tiny sculpture on the front of a building
An entire store dedicated to one of our favorite drinks.
The entrance to Stellenbosch University
And a very dramatic church just as it started raining and I had to run for the “luxury motor coach”
Our amazing guide Gen. I have never known anyone that knew so much about wine. Even my buddies Steve and Bill.
If you look closely through this hole, you can see Table Mountain. Or not. It was covered in clouds at this point.
Our hostess at the first winery.
Pinotage
One of the things we loved at the first winery we went to was that they were training the servers to also…
…become carpenters. The ceiling in the previous room was all wine barrel staves as is this chair…
…and this table.
Another shot of Gen doing what she does best. Talking about wine.
The menu for lunch
After lunch, we were back on our “luxury motor coach” for the return trip to Cape Town. Throughout the day, we could see Table Mountain in the distance. The only major thing we hadn’t done since arriving was to take the cable car to the top. We kept watching it, but we were often disappointed because it was covered in clouds. Delia and Gen told us it wasn’t worth going up if the whole mountain was shrouded in fog, since the main attraction is taking photos of the city from above.
All day long, our hopes sank as it looked like the weather wouldn’t clear up. It hadn’t cleared since we arrived in the city. Delia said they would take us to the lower cable car station, as the view there was pretty good. But, surprisingly, as we drove through the city, the clouds disappeared, and we were able to go up! I’m sure you can see what an incredible experience this was from my photos, so I’ll let you look at them. They do have captions but you have to click on them and run the slide show to see them. Some are just views from the top.Â
The view from the bottom.
The cable car coming down to pick up us up.
They are round and they rotate so everyone gets to see everything.
Including some amazing views.
Of the city…
Our hotel in the middle of this shot…
Their stadium (big rugby match here the night before)
The rest of the mountain.
Lots of hyrax
They kept posing, I kept shooting.
Adorable but we hear they bite.
But come on. You have to take this photo.
More of the city…
And another incredible view.
Me being artsy at the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.
And the view from the side.
Come back tomorrow… or maybe later today. Our transition to the Zambezi Queen in Namibia was a journey I wouldn’t want to take again. Nothing bad, just too many border crossings.
Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy. —Benjamin Franklin
I think I finished yesterday’s post with a note about the weather, but something happened after I posted it that I want to mention before we start day two. We are on a tour with other people. Imagine that. Although we only have a five-day, four-night river cruise, this entire trip is part of an AmaWaterways tour. So, in the evening on our first full day, after we had checked into the Cape Grace Hotel and noted the weather, we had a very nice group meeting to hear from our tour coordinator, Delia, all about what would be happening in the coming 15 days. We also had the opportunity to meet 20 of our fellow travelers. The Zambezi Queen (our riverboat) accommodates 28 people, and eight others will be joining us for just the cruise. We won’t meet them until we arrive on board on Monday night.
We did have a great time meeting the group and have already made some good friends. It’s a fun group, mostly in our age range, and all American except for two Canadians from British Columbia. It’s funny how we always seem to end up with two Canadians on our trips. I will have more about some of them later on, as they are all really great folks.
Once finished with breakfast, we were off on our first excursion at 7:30. We were in a very nice “luxury motor coach” that was closer to an Airporter-type bus than a Greyhound bus. Since there were only 20 of us, there was lots of room. Our first stop was Boulders Beach, the home of the largest colony of African penguins in Africa. They used to be called Jackass Penguins because of the sound they make. When Delia told us this on the way down, we laughed, but she asked us to wait until we heard them before making a judgment on how they sounded. She was right. I should have done a video so you could hear the sound, but none of them would make the sound when they were visible (not in some bushes), so you’ll just have to take my word for it until you come down here yourself.
So here are the photos from Boulders Beach. If you are interested in knowing more about this colony of penguins, you have to see *Penguin Town* on Netflix. It’s an eight-part series of 30-minute shows narrated by Patton Oswalt, all about this colony of penguins. Don’t forget: if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE… don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
As the sign says
First one we saw. A mom building a nest.
And then it was penguins everywhere…
…all over.
A this finch that was singing such a sweet song, I had to take her picture.
I took more than 600 photos. Aren’t you glad I cut them down to this?
There is a story here.
Mom and young teenager…
who is almost as big as Mom.
You know how Mom’s can be, always pick, pick, pick ?
But doesn’t he look better now?
Up close and personal.
The actual Boulder Beach.
A large group in the water off the beach
A series of penguin antics going on below the boardwalk.
This poor guy looked like he was wanting attention and not getting it.
This one had found a hat that someone had dropped off the board walk. He was defending it from the others. It was HIS HAT!
Just another I liked.
And another closeup.
The lone penguin. Just sitting out on a big rock, all my himself.
Besides the penguins at Boulders Beach, I also took pictures of a few other things that I wanted to include. Here they are with all the usual warnings and such.
Boulders Beach is within a naval base and there are still some old cannons set up. I just was hoping these guys would not fire on us.
My one stab at black and white yesterday.
As you can see, the weather is improving. This rock out in the bay drew my eye.
And these are Rock Hyrax. They are about the size of a large groundhog and their DNA is closest to that of an elephant. Seriously.
As you can see from the photos, the weather has improved. Now it’s more like what we’re used to at home in the late spring and fall: rain at times, followed by beautiful blue skies. It stayed this way the rest of the day, and we are hoping for even better weather today with a little less rain and wind. One of the things we really want to do is take a cable car to the top of Table Mountain, but so far, the winds have not cooperated, and the cable car has been closed since we got here.
Speaking of things that are closed, on our first day here (before we joined the tour), I had planned to visit Robben Island, which is the site of the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for many years. Half our group was supposed to tour it today, while the rest of us would tour the Winelands. Sadly, Delia had to inform us that Robben Island has been closed for over a month and is not scheduled to reopen until the results of a corruption investigation are made public. So everyone will be going to the Winelands today.
Back to our day on Saturday. After we left Boulder Beach, we headed further south to the Cape of Good Hope (which is not the southernmost point of Africa, it is the most southwestern point). It was a beautiful drive, and on the way we got to see ostriches, baboons and one lonely eland. Here are my shots from the Cape, including some incredible views, a cool lighthouse and a few of the animals. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
An intersting rock formation in the Atlantic that I took from the bus.
Kathleen letting me climb the stairs to the lighthouse.
What a view! So worth the climb.
Just as I got there, this happened.
And it got better.
I love taking a photo of people having their pics taken. The subjects are two of our new friends, Diane and AJ.
The lighthouse and blue skies.
And some amazing scenery.
Here’s the eland.
And a male ostrich.
And baboons
And a female ostrich. I had to put this in or Delia (our tour guide) would NOT be happy.
After our stop at the Cape (where we also took the photo at the top of this page), we headed back towards Cape Town, but first we stopped for a huge and very filling lunch. There was so much food and it was so good, that we ended up cancelling our dinner reservations because we were stuffed. They had black sesame ice cream for dessert, served with a small cake and panna cotta. Very interesting…and delicious.
When we returned to the hotel (around 4:00), Kathleen was exhausted, so she took a nap, and I went out to take photos around the area. There is a huge shopping and tourist complex, and I thought it would be a great place for street photography; I was right. At least I think so. Hope you agree. You know the thing about looking at my pics on a phone that I mentioned before…stick with that ?. And click the first picture and go through them like a slideshow. That way, you can see my captions as well.
Just a quick landscape shot to set the scene.
This is group of women had just taken a selfie and they were just laughing their heads off about it.
A small band was playing. This guy was terrific.
This busker was performing in a large open area with a crowd around him.
He has an AMAZINGLY photogenic face.
Every shot I took of him was better than the one before.
What a delight.
His act is balancing things on his head or in his mouth.
He is damn good at it too.
And that brings us to the end of yesterday. I worked on photos, and Kathleen napped until we went downstairs to the hotel’s pub for a snack and a drink. However, as I mentioned, the weather did improve, as you can see in the photo below, which I took of our hotel (in the foreground) and Table Mountain behind it. More tomorrow.
Perhaps it was history that ordained that it be here, at the Cape of Good Hope, that we should lay the foundation stone of our new nation. For it was here at this Cape, over three centuries ago, that there began the fateful convergence of the peoples of Africa, Europe and Asia on these shores. —Nelson Mandela
I think I finished yesterday’s post with a note about the weather, but something happened after I posted it that I want to mention before we start day two. We are on a tour with other people. Imagine that. Although we only have a five-day, four-night river cruise, this entire trip is part of an AmaWaterways tour. So, in the evening on our first full day, after we had checked into the Cape Grace Hotel and noted the weather, we had a very nice group meeting to hear from our tour coordinator, Delia, all about what would be happening in the coming 15 days. We also had the opportunity to meet 20 of our fellow travelers. The Zambezi Queen (our riverboat) accommodates 28 people, and eight others will be joining us for just the cruise. We won’t meet them until we arrive on board on Monday night.
Once finished with breakfast, we were off on our first excursion at 7:30. We were in a very nice “luxury motor coach” that was closer to an Airporter-type bus than a Greyhound bus. Since there were only 20 of us, there was lots of room. Our first stop was Boulders Beach, the home of the largest colony of African penguins in Africa. They used to be called Jackass Penguins because of the sound they make. When Delia told us this on the way down, we laughed, but she asked us to wait until we heard them before making a judgment on how they sounded. She was right. I should have done a video so you could hear the sound, but none of them would make the sound when they were visible (not in some bushes), so you’ll just have to take my word for it until you come down here yourself.
After our stop at the Cape (where we also took the photo at the top of this page), we headed back towards Cape Town, but first we stopped for a huge and very filling lunch. There was so much food and it was so good, that we ended up cancelling our dinner reservations because we were stuffed. They had black sesame ice cream for dessert, served with a small cake and panna cotta. Very interesting…and delicious.
