Traveling to South Africa meant more to me than scenery—which was breathtaking— and animals in the wild. I had to understand how a society could create and live under apartheid and how, once it came to its senses, life had changed for everyone. Clearly the typical African tour—one of game parks —was not enough for me. I sought advice and got some from Ido Heruty (idotours@gmail.com), the man chiefly responsible for My Amazing Trip to Israel. He suggested contacting Avi Shafir, who created our itinerary, attended to every detail, and guided us through the northern part of our trip. The opportunity to share this all with my sister was the icing on the cake. Susan and I got to spend more time together than we have since high school and it was great!
Let me start by saying that everyday was magic. During my travels I never remember ending so may days saying, “yet another wonderful day.’ My compliments to South African airlines because even our 24 hour, five meal odyssey went well. So, we arrived and woke to a gorgeous day. After a huge breakfast and a cable car ride, we felt as if we were on the top of the world, though we were almost at the bottom of the globe. Every view was breathtaking. This is just one from Table Mountain.
Kirstenbosch Gardens might have felt mundane after Table Mountain but the setting was dramatic, the flora gorgeous, the layout brilliant (and the gift shop delightfully full of shopping opportunities for Rosalinda).
We finished the day touring the city until finally, exhausted and hungry, we headed to the waterfront mall (across from our hotel) to take care of Rosalind’s luggage problems and to have a lovely dinner. The next morning we had an exhilarating boat ride to Seal Island, then a scenic drive to Cape Point during which we spotted ostrich, kudo and baboons (in heat) on the road. At the summit, we had spectacular views of the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the point where both oceans meet. It was heady stuff.
We left the peninsula, heading for a coastal restaurant and wound up lunching with baboons. Their drop in and snatch routine got a room full of people to their feet and slightly hysterical, as they watched all sizes of baboons scout for bread baskets, run, return, glare at the bread, run, return for the snatch, and scurry away before anyone could react to their losses. Unfazed Susan, took about a dozen pictures. After lunch we went from slightly terrorizing baboons to a delightfully sanguine penguin colony. Susan said, “They are so cute.’ and they were.
How can I explain how gorgeous our day in wine country was? Great photos could not do it justice. The towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek were well established and very, very classy. In fact, we had to pull ourselves away from the shops to go for a fabulous luncheon and our second wine tasting of the day at the Boschendal Estate (neither Susan nor I remember how to spell it, only that it was WONDERFUL). Had we known how fabulous the environment, the food, and the ambience were, we might have skipped breakfast and the shopping altogether . . . well, maybe not Rosalinda.
After leaving Capetown for good, we headed along the coast to Hermanus to do some whale watching. Lucky us, we arrived on the weekend of the annual whale watching festival. While the music played and the whales swam back and forth in the harbor, I got to thinking that we were watching a whale dance because it seemed that as the music got louder and peppier, the whales turned to the shore where all the sound was coming from. I know, it was not a whale dance, but . . .
The energy, the music, the people, the tents, the color, and our sumptuous rooms that opened onto the seascape combined to make our day at Hermanus simply fantastic. Even the rain couldn't rain on our parade. The ten minute downpour turned into magic. When it stopped, we went out to sip our wine (compliments of the Marine Hotel) on our veranda. Almost as soon as we sat, a rainbow emerged from the black clouds . . .a COMPLETE rainbow . . . so close, so complete, that one frame could not capture it all.
We had checked out and were on the road taking in the scenery when Tony got a call from his office. It seems that our own Rosalinda left her things in safe keeping and they were still there, in her room safe. What followed was a quick trip back, lots of ribbing and a long, gorgeous drive with stops along the way, the most interesting of which was the Ostrich Farm. Look at the picture. Try to imagine the sound and then you will know why I almost wet my pants trying to catch this shot.
In the evening, Liz, Carole and Barbara caught up with us in Oudtshoorn and we celebrated over drinks before going for a wonderful dinner. I got adventurous and had the ostrich steak, which was delicious. In the morning, we were at the Cango Caves. Then we wound our way in Tony's VW van over the spectacular Swartberg Pass.
Every mile from there to Knysna was gorgeous. By now Susan, Rosalinda and I had been gone eight days with each of them wonderful. We were beginning to think it couldn’t continue but it did. We loved the Park Manor (classy, gorgeous rooms) and the boat trip to the Featherbed Nature Reserve. We loved the views on top, the walk down, the sumptuous lunch on site, the boat ride back, and I loved going with Susan, Liz, Carole and Barbara to photograph their adventure with the elephants. Here is my brave sister, Susan. (And her elephant was just a baby).
Here we all are, all gussied up for our canopy tour which was to take place above the Yellowwood trees in the Tsitsikamma Nature Reserve. And yes, in case you were wondering, some of us were in a deep panic. It didn't stop us from laughing a lot, though!
Today we parted sadly with Tony Shuman, our Jewish Archie Bunker sounding South African guide who lead us through the southern part of the tour and kept us laughing most of the way. We flew to Johannesburg, spent the night near the airport, then flew to Zimbabwe and were in the stately Victoria Falls Hotel with more than enough time to make it to our sundown cruise on the upper Zambezi River.
Victoria Falls unfolded slowly. I looked for the dramatically long cascades of water one finds at Niagara Falls. When I didn’t see them, I was not impressed. But when we kept walking and finding more falls and more and more, I finally realized why the Victoria Falls is one of the wonders of the world. No one picture covers it, but here is one that shares some of the drama - and this is during the dry season.
Before leaving for Zimbabwe, we were told to be careful, that the people were needy and that we might not be safe. Life is not good for the people of Zimbabwe but they were gracious and friendly and respectful when they asked that we try to think of things we might trade with them. An extra pen was almost worth gold. Their school kids had no pens and pencils and no way to write. In fact, even the salesman had no way to write up a receipt. Pens were dear! But crafts were everywhere.
After two days, we were driven from Zimbabwe to its border with Botswana. We changed cars and drivers and within fifteen minutes of driving to get to Chobe National Park, were amazed to be passing a sauntering giraffe who gracefully emerged from the trees and stood looking above us as we flew by her in the jeep. We hadn’t even entered the game park and had already seen one big beautiful animal! I can still picture that giraffe appearing out of no where, when least expected, and I still marvel at the naturalness and thrill of it all. By the way, it happened so fast that I never caught the actual picture. I cheated, stealing this one from another sighting to make my point.
Our two days in Chobe Game Lodge included tons of good food and drink, and viewings of an enormous number of elephants in families, in herds or just crossing in front of us.
It was time to return to South Africa. In our two days at Chobe, we saw plenty of wild life, some at not much more than an arm's length away. It was exhilarating, all of it, the open vehicle, the carefree wild life, and the scope and variety of animals. Seeing it with my sister, Susan and friends, having great weather, food and loving the Chobe environment was incredibly special. It felt too soon to be leaving Chobe but it was time to meet Avi and to learn that which had alluded us so far -an in depth presentation of South African history and politics. It was time for the second half of our tour.
We flew back to Jo-burg first class after a hairy morning. Carole’s luggage was left at the lodge, something she hadn’t discovered until we crossed the border back into Zimbabwe. Fortunately, with help, her luggage made our flight out. The same was not possible for Rosalind’s camera. She left it on a shelf in the Land Rover and didn't realize it until the following day. The camera and all the pictures have not been seen by any of us since.
I consider the city of Jo-burg the route of the crime of aparteid, maybe incorrectly, but this mural depicts the first of the crimes. Some think it a response to a cultural misunderstanding. It would take too long to explain here. The murale is one of many in Pretoria's Transvaal Museum.
In truth, Johannesburg is a trendy city with a bad reputation for crime, though we didn't feel threatened at all. My reference to crime has more to do with the mines (gold and diamond) which created the need for labor and for enticing so many black men to town. The industrialization of Jo-burg was not good for the blacks. Left alone, they might have been happier farming their lands, tending their kraals, being with their families and living in dignity. Certainly, they would have modernized in a way that suited their culture. But the Afrikaner needed the black man's muscle and numbers, so they invited his labor and profitted from it while leaving him to live in substandard conditions, away from loved ones and under rules that were inhumane. Then the Afrikaners, getting richer and becoming a growing minority, wanted protection and got it by creating Apartheid. Watching old newsclips espousing the separate ‘but equal’ credo and listening to the 'good' man explain it, a man who sounded almost godly was amazing. Clearly, Afrikaners rationalized their rules of law to the hilt. The speaker, with his soft, congenial voice, provided great PR for the "entitled" mind without sounding threatening, yet the results were horrible. To hear people speak of men who think of blacks as non-human as being "good men" now simply boggles the mind. The two simply do not equate with me. Thank goodness the South Africans are graduating from that kind of thinking!
Pretoria was the place to learn about the trek north, the wars and politics, and thanks to Avi, we did. The Transvaal Museum displays helped him start with the settlement trends, the migration of the whites from the coast to the north and the migration of the blacks from the north to the south. We learned about the meeting of the two cultures, and the eventual laws aimed at keeping them apart. We saw the settlements. We saw adjustments. We also saw evidence of a turnaround. And though, as Tony complained, things don’t run as smoothly as before, we all felt that there was hope for South Africa. True, we didn’t love Jo-burg, or Soweto, or Pretoria, but we had to be there to learn and learn we did. We also ate well, shopped a lot, saw a few wonderful museums and buildings as well as a wonderful musical dance performance, UMOJA.
After three nights in the city, we were ready to set out for the country and once again, we were awed by landscape that was spectacular. See what I mean?
Our place on Misty Mountain was on an overlook and located well. Still, Avi drove for hours that we might see all he had planned for us and a little more-an additional day on Safari inside Kruger Park. When it rained a bit, he worried that it might spoil our day, but we saw plenty, the highlight of which was this pack of wild dogs. Avi was amazed. He hadn’t seen them in 5 years.
Somehow, we fit in more shopping, more gorgeous passes, more picturesque towns, and finally, we were at Inyati, a luxurious facility on a private game reserve alongside Kruger Park. The place was fabulous! The drives were exciting but different from the drives at Chobe. Yes, we had the same open vehicle, but this time, the vehicle would pull in close to the animals, never more than two vehicles at a time, sit quietly, and then the driver would realign it so we could view them from another angle. Strangely, the animals didn't seem to give a hoot. Anyway, the first night, as the sun was coming down, we spotted a leopard. He was gorgeous and reminded me so of my friend’s cat, I just wished I could touch him. Then he moved and looked so lethal that I was glued to my seat and humbled.
I was not humbled enough to stop taking pictures of him that night or the next morning when he was next to his kill,
We saw so much and I have so many great shots, but this is one of my favorites. It makes clear how important a tracker is. At Inyati we had both a tracker and a ranger. The tracker sat over the fender and directed our vehicle to go to places that none of us could spot. Here, our vehicle had pulled all the way up to this high grass and sat. It took us several long seconds to realize why.
We were not really ready to leave Inyati. We were not ready to accept that our trip was nearing an end. We had seen so many animals, close up and personal. Don't these zebras look as if they have socks on?
We saw giraffe, rhinos, elephants, lion cubs, five lazy male lions exerting only as much energy as it took them to yawn, buffalo, impalas, waterbucks-gosh, I could go on and on. It was spectacular. Everything about Inyati was just wonderful!
We had more to see and more to do, so Avi led us out when it was time. We kept our eyes open all the way out, looking for more sightings and watching all the way to the road to Swaziland. Meanwhile, Avi explained that we were seeing prehistoric stone, the original crust of the earth. After passing those ancient canyons, then all the pineapple farms, then the cattle farms, we entered tribal farmland. There, he explained about life on the compound . . . he called it a Kraal . . . about the place of each of the wives, the children and how they all lived together. He talked about Shaka and the Zulu. We were entering the poorest part of the south of Africa, Swaziland, and seeing something new altogether. To do it we passed spectacular scenery at 60 mph and went through another border.
We stayed at the Royal Swazi Hotel and Casino (you had to see the golf course), had a visit to a craft complex, a wonderful museum, a candle factory, a food market, a herbal pharmacy, and then drove back into South Africa to spend our next to last night. Nothing could get better but it was still WONDERFUL. We were heading to Hluhluwe to spend the night and see another game reserve in the morning.
Before breakfast we were driving uphill, spotting lots of different wild life up close even though we were restricted to driving on the road and were in a closed van. We were on the way to breakfast to a restaurant on the peak. Gosh, was it spectacular!
Our trip to Shakaland took a few more hours. Why rush out of a game reserve? Shakaland is a deluxe hotel that was designed to model a Zulu compound and Kraal (A Kraal is where the family animals are kept). Families live and work in Shakaland. They dress in costume and re-enact Zulu life. Here's Susan, in her favorite hat, loving our hut and loving Shakaland in general.
It was a deluxe place yet we had a two hour power outage with no generator to take up the slack. We'd heard about roving power outages, but hadn’t experienced them personally. Yes, the TV went off, and the lights went out a couple of times, but the blackouts lasted just minutes. This one was hours and it was getting very dark. Finally the candles arrived but before we could light them the lights came back on.
Power is a big problem for developing economies. South Africa doesn't have enough. I can only imagine how tough it will be in a year or two, with the speed of South Africa's growing economy and the strain that the economy will put on demand. Unfortunately for South Africa, the power supply will take years to catch up to its needs.
We left Shakaland for our drive through the countryside. As soon as we could, we cut along the coast and took the coastal route all the way to Durban. In Durban, we stopped for the last bit of shopping on the street, put our feet in the Indian Ocean, drove through more and headed to the airport to begin our odyssey home.
I left Durban with a big smile and huge expectations. I think that South Africa can and will overcome the distaste left by apartheid and that the South Africans will, all of them, live together as one people and do it well. I now think of South Africa as the United States of Africa. Frankly, I envy their beginnings.
