Ek Het South Africa Bya Lief

After the pandemic, the countries had started welcoming tourist, as things were returning to normal. We were eagerly waiting for an international trip. We prepared our itinerary for first country and started checking for dates for visa. But disappointed to know that, tourist visa was not being issued. Now it was time to prepare for next itinerary and started checking for visa dates. We were disappointed again as there was a large queue for visa and we had to wait for no less than 6 months. Now we started to check for countries which were welcoming Indian tourist or countries where we could get visa on arrival. When the list was ready, most of the places were either visited or the countries which we did not want to travel to. Finally, we arrived at a decision. The decision which changed our perspective for good. SOUTH AFRICA!!! Yes, you read it correct. When we discussed about the travel plan with close family & friends, I saw faces frowning. Even I was not so sure myself. But after the trip, South Africa has earned a place in my heart after Sri Lanka & Scotland where I would love to go again.

This is the trip which saw a new version of myself. I started talking & discussing with people I am meeting for first time. Another change was that, I started trying out new dishes reading the menu in detail and discussing with people at restaurant which suited my tummy (I am not a hard-core carnivore). During all my previous travels, Dileep used to converse with people on behalf of me whether it be regarding my food or my doubt regarding the places we visit. I would share my concern to him and he would speak to people. The explanation that I gave to myself was that, I was not able to follow the foreign accent.

On the day of arrival at O R Tambo International airport, Johannesburg, after clearing the immigration formalities, we met our driver who was supposed to pick us from airport & drop at Johannesburg hotel. Its on our way out that Dileep realised, we needed a local sim for our entire travel. He asked me to wait aside and went on to different telecom counters to get a best deal. Its then Mr. Christmas started conversing with me. After initial 1-2 minutes of hesitation, even I started to talk to him with ease. He shared that he was very much embarrassed to deal with people because of his name. He was born on December 25’th and so his parents named him Christmas 😉. We were so engrossed in our conversation that I did not realise Dileep was back with the sim. He was smiling and to know the reason, I had to wait till we reached back home. He also noticed the change in me and was very happy for that. This change was evident in the entire trip and I realised only when Dileep mentioned it on returning home after our trip.

Day 1        

Our stay at Johannesburg was very close to Airport. We reached hotel in no time around 3.30 PM. We got fresh & took a small nap and went out for dinner around 6.00 PM. The day was at leisure.

Day 2                          Johannesburg - > Kruger Gate                        430 Kms, 5 hr 09 min

After breakfast, we geared up for a long drive. Our destination was Kruger National Park. Our chauffeur came around 9.00 AM. He seemed to be a reserved person. We tried a lot talking to him, but ended up getting answers as short as 2 words. So ended up in conversations between me & Dileep whenever we both were awake. The roads were smooth and the drive was scenic. We also witnessed the changes in the terrain from green fields to dry yellow fields. Occasionally we came across coal mines as well. We stopped at Alzu Petroport N4 for lunch & fuelling. There are few eat outs like Nandos, Mugg & Bean etc for filling up your tummy. Also, you can sit & enjoy your coffee or waffle watching Buffalo, Rhino, Elands, Ostriches etc walking mere feet away. This is a trailer for your experience at Kruger National Park.

After another couple of hours of drive through dry areas, again we started to see greeneries. Seeing Avocado farms, Macadamia Farms etc was a first-time experience for us even though we have consumed both earlier. The banana trees & avocado plants were all bearing fruits and hence, were covered with nets to prevent attacks from birds & other insects. There were export factories alongside these farms of Macadamia as well. Apart from coconut trees, we saw almost all plant kingdom from Kerala. 

We reached at Kruger Gate Hotel around 4.00 PM. The gate was just 250 meters apart from the place we stayed. The hotel itself gave a forest feeling. Our hotel was situated on the banks of the river Sabie and hotel staff informed us that at times, we can spot wild animals drinking water or playing in the river. We happened to see two fawns, when I moved our room curtains aside. The mother deer accompanied them a little while later. I was watching them at regular intervals expecting some predator attack.  

Day 3                                                    Kruger National Park

The day which we waited for!!! THE SAFARI DAY.

The Kruger National Park is approximately 350 km long & 60 km wide, covering two million hectares and is one of the biggest nature conservation areas in the world. There are 11 entrance gates, 18 shops & over 3000 km of roads.

The day started early as we had to reach the gate at 5.30 AM. The perfect time to spot wild animals after their long dark night of hunting. 

 Unlike other national parks which we have visited, the roads were fully tarred with smooth finish. There was an option for self-drive also, but that was restricted only to tarred roads. The range vehicles were the ones which were allowed to step out from tarred roads and moved to paved/unpaved roads. The park provides us with a detail map so that it helps in self-driving without any troubles. Also, there are picnic area & restaurants so that people can take a break during the game drive and do not have to bother about carrying the packed meals even if it is a full day safari. A self-driven game drive has been added to our bucket list during our next trip to South Africa.

Our ranger Andrews was very friendly. He shared so many information regarding each species and started showing us birds. Since the sun was just rising & light was in scarce, we were not able to capture them in our camera. He asked during our light conversation whether we were interested in birds to which we denied. Nevertheless, we were interested in only big species. He also told us that not to keep high hopes to spot Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Black Rhinoceros, African Bush Elephant, and African Buffalo) in a single day of safari, but he will try his best.

We were welcomed by a Southern Ground Hornbill. After a short drive, we saw a giant leopard sitting on the middle of the road licking its paws. We were so lucky that, it sat there for a quite a good amount of time and there were no other vehicles other than ours. By then Sun had also come up. And that was just a beginning of our day.

The list includes Giraffes, Elephants, Spotted Hyena, Red-billed Oxpecker, Marabou Stork, Crocodile, Blacksmith Lapwing, Yellow-billed Stork, African Spoonbill, Saddle-billed Stork, Bronze-winged Courser, White Stork, Black-headed Heron, Chacma Baboons, Zebras, Impala, Bushpig, White Rhinoceros, Waterbuck, African Buffalo, Nyala, Greater Kudu.   

The Hippos were busy in waters. Along with the big 5, we were lucky enough to spot the endangered African Wild Dog, which were very rarely seen nowadays.

Our Safari was coming to the end and we were a bit sad as we could not spot any lion. Even Andrews mentioned that and said, lets take a chance once to that part of the park, where we had already been through in the morning. That is when we saw the king of the forest, taking a nap under a tree. Our happiness knew no bounds. Andrews parked the car, so that we could take enough pictures. We were so engrossed in taking pictures when suddenly another head was raising from behind the tree. There was a lioness taking rest hiding in the grass just behind the tree. The lioness raised her head just to check on us – THIRD WHEEL.

We were so happy and Andrew commented that we were damn lucky to spot big 5 in a single safari & the wild dog being the bonus.

It was time to return and we were so happy that, we promised to come back to Kruger once again. It was very hard to sleep that night even though we were exhausted as we were elated of morning sightings.

Note : Andrew shared that Winters are best time to visit Kruger, because you get to visit all the species. The reserve would be dry then unlike summers which are fully green.

Day 4                                        Kruger -> Johannesburg                   430 Kms, 5 hr 09 min

After breakfast, we checked out and proceeded to Johannesburg. Again, we had the same implicit chauffeur for our ride back to Johannesburg.  The city was a bit far from the place of our stay and we had no interest in exploring the city, even though we had a long day at leisure.

Day 5                                       Johannesburg -> George                                      1 hr 55 min

The garden route is famous for its spectacular landscape which is spread between Mossel Bay and ends in Storms River in the east. Since this was not self-drive tour, we flew from Johannesburg to George. I was excited as well as a bit scared. The flight was very small and it had 18 (2 +1) seats including the airhostess. I was flying on such a small flight for the very first time. It was bumpier & the turbulence was very much felt especially during the landing & take off. I got a window seat and so got engrossed in view outside. Another feature of small flights is that they cannot fly high which I came to know after this flight.

I noticed there were green patches on the ground occasionally which were in midst of the fields which were cultivated fully. What surprised me was they were in circular or semi-circular shape. Normally the croplands would be in rectangular or square shapes. The reason behind is centre pivot irrigation.

George is a quiet city located between the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and the beautiful Outeniqua mountains. Mr.Bryan Bredell from Brenton Blue Tours, was waiting outside to receive us. Unlike Johannesburg & Cape Town, George is like a retirement home for many. It took hardly 10 minutes from George Airport to the place of stay. Since the day was at leisure, we explored the property for a while & took rest.

Day 6

The tour started with a scenic drive through George & over the Outeniqua Mountains past Oudtshoorn to the Cango Caves. The Outeniqua Mountains is the one where the plane carrying the former South African Cricket team captain Hansie Cronje & two crew members, crashed into due to low visibility.

Mr.Bryan Bredell also shared so much stories relating to independence of South Africa, pre & post-independence time, and also promised to take us to another place as well, if we well behaved.

The other side of the mountain had tobacco & hops cultivation. Hops are the green cone-shaped flowers, or inflorescence, of the Humulus lupulus plant. They are a climbing perennial with a distinct jackpot for craft brewers. Hidden inside each cone are tiny yellow pods or glands called lupulin—the source of bitterness, aroma, and flavour in beer. The information regarding this plant called Hops was new to me and so was exciting. My grandfather was a tobacco merchant in my hometown but I have never seen tobacco in green. So that too added fire to my excitement.

This day was dedicated for two attractions.

Cango Caves - One of the world’s great natural wonders sculptured by nature through ages. The Cango caves are a series of dripstone caverns that open into vast halls of towering formations in the foothills of the Swartberg mountain range of South Africa.

They were formed over millions of years, as underground water seeped into limestone rock and gradually dissolved it. This created gaps in the rock, which became caves as the process continued. Eventually a large system of tunnels and chambers was created. Water with dissolved minerals then dripped into the empty spaces. The dripping minerals hardened to form stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites hang from the roof and stalagmites rise from the floor.

Safari Ostrich Farm – We got to know the different stages of development from incubation to adulthood of the heaviest flightless living bird on earth, Ostrich. We met & fed the ostriches and were taken through the farm on a tractor. Before boarding onto the tractor, the guide asked us to remove/hide all the shining objects as they might peck. She also said that, if in any case one wants to protect from Ostrich pecks, just wave your hands in front of ostrich eyes which will shoo them away. Ostriches are very protective about their eyes. Another interesting fact that we came to witness is the brain size. The brain of this giant bird is smaller than its own eyes. They do have excellent eyesight. The eye is about the size of the billiard ball whereas the brain is just the size of a pea.

During our chit chats, Dileep informed Mr.Bryan that I write blogs. From then onwards, he became so generous collecting pamphlets/brochures from places we visited, thinking it would help in my writing. He also taught us few sentences & words in Afrikaans.

Along with the Kenyan Red, Zimbabwe Blue, South African Ostriches & rare White Ostrich, we got to see the second biggest bird in the world, the Emu from Australia. During the Ostrich farm tour, we got to experience how heavy an ostrich egg is. An Ostrich egg omelette is equivalent to 24 hen egg omelettes. Towards the end of the tour, we visited the souvenir shop where you can buy things made of ostrich feather or plumes as they are called, are used to make decorative items & accessories, ostrich eggs which are used for art & paint works.

After the tour, it was time for lunch. The café was owned by the same ostrich farm. Here a gastronome would get a chance to savour Ostrich Steak or any other Ostrich dish & eggs. 

After lunch, we headed to Herolds Bay which nestles in a sheltered rocky cove, a popular destination for surfing, fishing & swimming. Another thing which we noticed is that the beaches had tidal pools. We saw similar tidal pools later on in beaches at V&A Waterfront, Cape of Good Hope National Park as well.

Day 7                                       George -> Cape Town                         429 Kms, 4 hr 30 min

This was a bit long day but still we enjoyed the drive. The road to Cape town was taking us through the Garden Route - a simple, scenic, ocean-hugging highway.

It was Mr.Bryan Bredell who drove us to Cape Town. When we shared our Kruger Experience, he told us to collect all fresh denominations of 200, 100, 50, 20 & 10 from the bank before our return trip to India. These denominations had the images of the Big 5 wildlife species.

Had this drive been during spring the drive would have been even more colourful due to the cultivation of various crops. We on our way got to witness the orchards of Apples, Olives, Corns, Citrus & Grapes.

We had stopped at Swellendam for a short break & refuelling. During our drive we noticed a grey shaded bird having lengthy feathers like a peahen and we asked Mr.Bryan for that. That is when we came to know its Blue Crane, the national bird of South Africa which has been listed as vulnerable by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

Before checking in at Cape town, we had a small deviation towards Neethlingshof Wine Estate. Neethlingshof lies in the very heart of the Cape’s Wineland. Along with the wine tasting, we had our late lunch.

After the wine tasting tour, we headed back to Cape Town & had to bid a goodbye to Mr.Bryan Bredell. He made our long journey into an interesting one with passing information. He also did not forget to take a quiz on Afrikaans which he taught us the previous day. He was surprised and admired about my memory when I passed his test.

After checking in & getting fresh, we headed towards Lions Head for a hike - a mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, between Table Mountain and Signal Hill. The view of Atlantic few hours before sunset & the cool breeze made the climb better even when the Sun was directly hitting on your face.

Note : It is not an easy trek for amateurs. But highly recommend to climb at least a part of it, to get the beautiful view of Cape Town on one side & Atlantic Ocean on the other.

Day 8

We were picked up from the hotel by Mr.Faizal. The day was dedicated for the city tour. We drove past Parliament buildings, City Hall & the slave lodge ending up walking around the Grand Parade Square. We then visited the Company Gardens, where we walked through the landscaped gardens listening to the history of the District Six - a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime. 

Then we came to know about the history of Bo-Kaap and its people as we move up the cobblestoned hills to the Malay Quarter and marvel at the ice cream colours of the quaint Bo-Kaap homes. The choice of colour is said to be attributed to the fact that while on lease, all the houses had to be white. When this rule was eventually lifted, and the slaves were allowed to buy the properties, all the houses were painted bright colours by their owners as an expression of their freedom. After a short photo session, we moved to diamond cutting factory.

Then we got to trace the moves of a professional diamond cutter, learnt about 4C’s of a diamond in detail and came to know about the history of gold & diamond in South Africa. We then drove past the V&A waterfront, Cape Town Stadium, Sea Point, Clifton & Camps Bay and then made our way to Table Mountain. We had to commute via aerial cableway to reach the top of the Table mountains & after spending an hour there, it was time to get down.

While we were traversing down by the cable car, we saw few people trekking through the steep Table Mountains as well. It looked scary though.

We went to V&A waterfront for shopping & a late lunch. After roaming for an hour there, we decided to climb Table Mountains again and spent the whole evening till sunset. The Sunset at the Table Mountains was enchanting.

Day 9

We started with cruising along Millionaires Paradise from Clifton to Camps Bay and on to Llandudno before an up close and personal Seal Island cruise. The Duiker Island is a Cape Fur Seal and bird sanctuary. This island is a home to Cape Cormorant, Bank Cormorant, Black Back Gull, Kelp Gull & Hartlaub Gull. It is illegal to go to this island. Most of the seals here are males waiting out their time until they reach the right breeding age which is between the age of 8 to 12 years depending on their size. Duiker Island is not a breeding colony because the sea can get very rough and the pups get swept off. Their eyes & nostrils close tightly when they dive and cannot breathe underwater. So they come up to surface to breathe.

The bay is surrounded by Chapman’s Peak. Chapman’s Peak Drive on the Atlantic Coast between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in the Cape Peninsula is one of the most spectacular marine drives in the world which is affectionately also known as “Chappies” and is a must for anyone who is passionate about the majestic scenery of Cape Town. Then we visited the Cape of Good Hope – the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula. It is also a part of Table Mountain National Park. The Cape of Good Hope is perceived as the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean whereas they meet at Cape Agulhas which falls on the Garden route.

We were lucky to spot the Bontebok antelopes which were saved from extinction about 200 years ago, even though vulnerable now too. Then we saw Mountain Zebra & few ostriches at Cape of Good Hope National Park. Since the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet at the Cape of Good Hope, these waters can be treacherous for ships. The currents cause dangerous waves which have led to shipwrecks. It is believed that the Flying Dutchman was lost in a severe storm here. It is now a ghost ship doomed to sail this route forever. If you see this ghost ship, it signals imminent disaster.

Then we moved to Simons town and then to the penguin colony at Boulders Beach after the lunch. The African penguins can be viewed in their natural habitat as a protected colony of theirs exist here. There are wooden walkways provided to walk so that we can enjoy without disturbing them as well. 

We reached the hotel around 6.30 PM and then got fresh after which we had our dinner. We slept early as we had our flight back home the next day.

As the title says I loved South Africa Very Much. 💓💓💓