This time it’s Africa!!
Day 1
After a really long work day, I rushed towards home, Archu was waiting with dahi puri for quick snack before we run to airport. I was already excited for the trip and dahi puri gave a welcoming feel. We stuffed ourselves the best we could and left home to fly to Cape Town. We reached airport pretty much on time and every minute I got, I was trying to catch up with some more work through BB. I knew this will not be appreciated by Archu but she was too excited dreaming about SA to even ask me to stop working (or may be she gave up on me, who knows?). The flight was full of couples and families with kids. Cape town is also a popular honeymoon destination. Since this was a night flight we could see the view from plane only in the morning when we were reaching Cape Town.
Plane was flying along the west coast of Africa and we could see the West African border. What was really startling was the phenomenon we witnessed on the base, large deserted area with sand merging into the vast ocean with no population in sight. We also got amazing views of mountains and oceans near Cape town. Managed to land safely and there we were all set we our backpacks on, Archu was wearing her favorite hat that reminded us of our wonderful vacation in Hawaii. Temperature was almost perfect. We collected our baggage very quick, well, quickest I have seen anywhere internationally!
Day 2
We got out of the airport, picked our car - Chevrolet Aveo ‘Automatic’ (yes we managed to find one) and drove to the Amber Lodge, the best hostel we've ever stated in...So neat, clean, resourceful and cozy like home and pretty much affordable. There was a hammock in the balcony with the amazing view of the Table Mountain and Lion's Head, it was gorgeous. The manager/owner was very helpful and the perfect guide. We would definitely recommend this stay to everyone. We headed to the Table Mountain contemplating whether to go hiking or take the cable car. And ended up choosing the former option, it was a tough call but very good one in retrospect. We started from the parking lot next to Plettklip gorge trail and knew that it was going to be strenuous hike as it was going to be up the mountain. We were warned by many that there are stairs all the way and very steep path on the top. It took us about 2.5 hours to reach at the top passing sunny, shady, heightened, rocky and slippery trail. The views at each point were rewarding and culminated at the top where you can see views both side of the mountains, one side is cape town and bay while the other side is vast ocean. We enjoyed the view, fed ourselves, took some pictures and got in line to take the cable car down. I couldn't believe that first cable car was opened in 1929. The modern cable car is rotating to give a 360 degree view. We came down and realized we have about 15 minutes walk to the car park where we started our hike. Flat 15 minutes walk on paved road was very easy compared to the strenuous and steep hike, it is all relative. We got back to the hostel, and headed out for dinner at Rafikis which was around the corner from the lodge. The restaurant was little louder for our comfort and non-smoking room surrounded by many smoking rooms that made it worse. But on the positive side, people were nice and the food was very good. Good place to smoke, drink and party though. We went to sleep immediately after coming back to lodge, exhausted that we were. 
Day 3 We woke up at 6:30 to get ready to be picked up by Bazbus for the daylong Cape Peninsula tour, squeezing in the top touristy places around Cape Town in one day. Roger, our tour guide picked up few passengers and headed towards the South of Peninsula. He gave us a quick tour of the city including the FIFA World Cup Stadium built for 2010 World Cup. It was strange to find out that they are planing to demolish the stadium as they can't find a good use of it anymore. Anyway, that wasn’t our concern really. We left the city and passed through beautiful coastline and mountains towards sea point. Our first stop was Hout Bay from where we took a ferry to the Seal Island which was amazing as we saw thousands of seals calling a small island as their home, playing in water around the island and lazing on the top of each other. Although it was very sunny, the weather was chilly at this time of the year with ocean winds making it worse. When we came back on the shore, we saw a local guy with a huge pet seal with him ready to lure tourists to take pictures and touch/feed the seal. There was a guy who fed the seal a fish from his mouth. I fed it with my hands as I am a vegetarian and intend to continue to be one. We both took pictures cuddling with huge seal and paid 20 Rands to the guy. We also enjoyed some local street music by a group of musicians. We continued our journey through scenic route towards Boulders beach to see the African Penguins. But due to the Two Oceans Marathon, some roads were closed and we had to wait 1.5 hours on the way. We decided to jump of the Bazbus and cheer the runners instead before we could continue our journey. The Marathoners had choice between half marathon, full marathon and ultra marathon of 51 kms. I remembered my Marathon run in DC and was telling Archu about the experience. It does help to see so many people cheering for you to make it easier for you to make it through. Roger offered us some cookies and drinks while we waited for the roads to clear up. We finally reached Boulders beach which is a protected sanctuary for African penguins. These are very small penguins compared to the Emperor penguins found in Antarctic but have the same characteristic walk. We were pleasantly surprised observing them in the open on the beach. |
Archana can really entertain one by imitating the cute penguin walk (bug her next time you meet). Now we were headed towards the southwestern point of Africa i.e Cape of Good Hope / Cape Point. But before that we stopped
at the Cape Point national park, we did 5 km biking in the park overlooking the scenery. The weather was very
sunny and pleasant. Saw bunch of Ostriches on both sides of the road. There are a lot of Ostriches in South Africa
and they are farmed heavily for their meat and to a lesser extent for their eggs, feathers and skin. Latter is used for
clothing, bags, shoes etc. Ostrich meat is considered healthy with relatively higher protein to fat ratio. You will read
more about it in the following day’s section. We had a light lunch at the tourist office and looked at the some
skeleton parts displayed at the office of southern right whale. The teeth itself were longer than our height. And
these whales are considerably smaller than blue whales. Unfortunately we did not see any whales on our trip as
they come to SA coast in winter while right now it is just the beginning of winter in SA. Post lunch we drove to the
Cape Point and had a choice to hike to Cape of Good Hope or hike up to Cape Point for the view from the top. We
decided to go to cape point and then bus took us to Cape of Good Hope. We took the funicular to Cape Point as
we were very tired and enjoyed fantastic views of the ocean and mountains at the top. I encouraged Archana to go
beyond the fence at the top and take picture on a big rock next to the cliff lying down. I would mention that this was
dangerous, no wonder it was beyond the fence This was the most South Western point of continental Africa,
southern most is Cape Aghulus which is not as easy to get to as Cape point and most people get satisfied with
cape point. We came down to the base and took the bus to the Cape of Good Hope where we met other
passengers who skipped Cape Point and hiked to Cape of Good Hope. The place again was fantastic with violent
waves fighting against the rocks and eroding and shaping them for millions of years. We took a picture at Cape of
Good Hope albeit with the board not in English as there was a line to take picture with English board and our bus
was getting late. I think we saw best of both and made a right choice to go to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope
both. We tuned back towards Cape Town with BazBus. The drive was 1.5 to 2 hours and we were very tired. We
still enjoyed beautiful views on our way back including the cloud cover on table mountains known locally as Table
Cloth. There was one more thing that we wanted to see in Cape town before we leave towards our first stop away
from Cape Town next day morning and that was V&A water front, Cape Town's version of San Francisco
fisherman wharf or any waterside city's waterfront commercial development. We drove to the waterfront after
reaching out lodge and walked around beautiful waterfront with local band playing very interesting music with
soothing beats. We sat, enjoyed music and the romantic moment, walked around the huge shopping mall to find a
place to eat dinner. We ended up eating at an Indian restaurant called Jewel of India after browsing through
Seafood, Steak, Pizzas and Burgers. The food was very good and seating was outside facing the waterfront and
festivities. They also offered blankets as it was little chilly. We headed back to the lodge and slept as we had to
start driving at 5 in the morning to reach Gansbaai for Shark Diving. We were initially supposed to reach at 8 am
for 9 am launch but were emailed in the morning that we will have to get there by 7 for 8 am launch as the weather
was getting worse by the hour. Before sleeping we thanked the owner of the Lodge, Steven, for all the help in
guiding us through the town and being a fantastic host. Amber tree lodge is by far the best hostel we stayed in. We
ensured that we write the review there.
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| Cape of Good Hope |
Day 3
One of the girls in our room had run Two-Oceans Marathon the day before and we were feeling bad to disturb her
and the others early next morning. There were bunk beds in our room, made of tree trunk. Quite neat and
interesting, of course it called for a snap and we took off for the Great White Shark Adventure. Weather was not so
good that day for the adventure, ocean water was very choppy, it was pouring already and winds were speeding at
their best. However we were glad that our trip was still on. We were running bit late but still reached quite on time.
Everyone else on the trip was ready with their rain suits on as provided by he tour guide. We quickly got ours and ran towards the boat. The name of the boat was ‘Nemo’. This time we were smart enough to take the ginger pills but I think it worked only for me. Archana started feeling motion sick as soon as we paused for the Great Whites.
She was feeling very uneasy and the stinking water made it worse. We changed into our wet suits and were ready to dive in. Meanwhile few people were already in the cage. Even though a shark visited us when we anchored, it vanished by the time divers got into the cage. 5 divers were waiting inside the chilled water of Atlantic for 20 minutes with no sightings of shark. Divers started coming out of the water frustrated and our guides consoled as that it is nature and we had to be patient. Indeed after 15-20 minutes we saw a shark circling our boat getting attracted by blood in the tuna chum that was being thrown in the water around the boat. All the previous divers
were rushed to the cage now for the reward. The shark was very playful and was attacking the fish head that the
guide had tied to the rope. And the rope was very close to the cage. Two more people went inside after two came
out. One of them felt claustrophobic and other didn't like the smell of water with the taste of blood from dead fish. It
was my turn next and Archu had already decided that she was not going in; she could barely stand the stink and
the headache it caused. But she did get a lot of shots of shark jumping on the bait, while I could hardly see only
the big fins inside. To my disappointment we were asked to come out of the water as next batch of people had to
get in. Since the sharks were not found in abundance that day, guides wanted to make sure everyone gets the
glimpse of the giant. While the other people were diving, I asked the dive master if I could go in again and he
said ‘maybe’. While I was talking to him, he was also throwing a wooden fish shaped block in the ocean to attract
the sharks. He got distracted by my question and shark took a good grip on the wooden fish and refused to leave it
and bit it off from the rope it was tied to. Whooooaaaa!! After some time two people came out and I got a chance to
go back in. This time I got very good views with shark's jaws trying to bite the bait offered and the best part was the
view when the Great White was trying to dig it’s snoot inside our cage in full agony. (We were not surprised,
naturally it was frustrated.) Of course it cannot open it's mouth as the cage gaps are very small. One of us touched
the shark and it rested there for 10 seconds or so. We finally came out of water satisfied and headed back to the
shore in very choppy water again. This ride back to the shore was very unusual and most adventurous I ever
witnessed. Water was so choppy that except the captain, we all were tense wondering if we will reach back alive.
The waves made us bounce in the boat, irrespective of the grip of your hands on the rods. And there was no way
one could attempt stand properly for a second without holding. We somehow managed to have a light meal on the
boat when we were nearing the shore. We watched our DVD in the White shark adventures offices and decided
not to buy the DVD as it didn't really capture anything specific to us or the sharks. I took a shower in their office as
the salt water and the fish blood in the water was making me feel gross.
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| Archu Ready to Dive - But unfortunately got sea sick before the dive |
The people in their offices were very nice
and also offered meal to everyone. We headed towards Oudtshoorn as it was a long 5 hours drive. Archana
braced herself as she dreaded motion sickness and she was already uneasy from the boat ride. We passed by a
lot of sceni especially the Outanga pass just before we reached Oudtshoorn. We went to the Backpackers
Paradise hostel to find that they never received notification from hostelworld about our reservation. They offered us
a single room for two of us but we didn't really like the state of the room and started looking for an alternate
accommodation. Managers were more than helpful to call other places around accommodation. The owner even
offered his own house in the end with a separate room and services. We didn't want to do that but he said
adamantly ‘You have only two options – stay at my place or pay no money for the stay in the small room that was
available’ and therefore we chose to stay at the single room without any charges. We headed to the Swiss bistro
nearby for the dinner and the highlight was the grenadine fruit shake. We also had pizza and veggie burger none
of it was very good, frankly. Anyway, we had a very good night sleep.
Day 4
We woke up early and headed towards Cango Caves to take their 1.5 hours of adventure tour of the cave. We
were greeted by our guide at the entry of this cave where supposedly early settlers used to live but they never
ventured inside the cave. We passed through huge chambers of the caves with breathtaking formations of
stalagmites and stalactites. There were also flow based formations made by water depositing calcium carbonate
on the wall. We were told that only 20% of the formations are still active as the area was a tropical region when
then formations were made but now is an arid region. We were going to start the adventure part of the tour now.
First one was ‘Lumbago Alley’ in which we had to bend atleast 90 degrees to get through a narrow and short
passage. We then went though the ‘Love Alley’ which was supposed to squeeze you from all sides and it was so
narrow in width that we had to walk sideways. We then went to the coffin which was a small circular opening
through which we had go up. We then continued into devil's chimney which was most challenging of all. We had to
go up through a very narrow hole where you start sideways climb up and come out at the top through a small
opening that could barely fit in our head and body. This was the most claustrophobic one can get, anything more
can only cause death. Not exaggerating, this is honestly not meant for people who have 8-figure body, not
because it is difficult, it’s impossible. We completed the loop by going through something called ‘Post box’ because
we literally had to crawl like a snake in this space which was half the size one needs to crawl on knees and then
slide down like a letter through a small opening into a bigger room of cave. All of these were very rewarding
experiences. We went through small gaps and lanes we never thought we could even fit in. We finished our tour,
coming back to the main chambers of the caves which felt extremely spacious after passing through those small
alleys. We headed towards the next destination which was an Ostrich farm called ‘The Cango Ostrich Farms’. We
had the tour of the farm, took hugs from ostriches, saw huge ostrich eggs and stood on them without causing any
harm of course, saw baby ostriches hatching in the artificial incubation chambers, fed the ostriches while getting
shoulder massages from their necks and of course saw people riding on the ostriches. I was out of the weight limit
of 75 kgs for ostrich ride and Archana was way within the limit but didn't want Ostriches to have to go through the
pain of bearing any load, she kept on saying, ‘This is so unfair’. The way ostriches were handled for rides was little
inhuman. They put a mask on their face and bring them in front of us and some one sits on them after raising and
holding their big wings up. Rider sat and crossed his or her legs around bird's belly. I was not that considerate and
decided to just take the picture sitting on the bird for a few seconds. I don’t think Archana quite appreciated, but it
wasn’t that bad so I wasn’t feeling guilty. We continued to our last destination in Oudtshoorn, Cango wildlife ranch.
The ranch is little bit more than a zoo and mostly houses rescued animals in trouble. The guide gave us a tour of
the place with some interesting facts about vultures, birds, bats, lemurs, white tigers, lions, flamingoes, puma,
tortoise, crocodiles, ostrich, emmu, kangaroo, mongoose, porcupines, free flying birds in enclosure and collection
of snakes including the King Cobra. Archana took a very interesting movie of King Cobra capturing all it’s sharp
moves. We were also given option to get close to big cats, tiger and white lion in a separate ticket as these cats
were hand reared by the guides in the ranch and were not going harm us. We didn't see a point in doing that and
escaped. The ranch visit was overall very interesting and was more personal than a zoo. We headed for the night
to Mossel bay which is a beautiful coastal town. We bad booked the point village hotel but to our surprise
booking.com had not sent our confirmation to the hotel. Fortunately the hotel people sent us to a very good coast-
facing hotel ‘The Point hotel’ and they agreed to offer us a similar rate for a very good room. The room had a
balcony and proximate views of the ocean. The whole hotel was built on the rocks next to the ocean. We spent a
lot of time just enjoying the ocean from our balcony, and the rest by the soothing music by the waves. The ocean
waves were thrashing against the rocks in front of us and made thundering sounds. We had an amazing curry in
the hotel's seaside restaurant made from vegetables and fruits and lots of turmeric. The view of Light house was
very nice. We fell asleep so quickly, courtesy those cozy and comfortable beds.
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| Awesome Room with Lovely Wife and Ocean Playing Loud Music :) |
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| Cango Caves - How did she get in? |
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| Yes she had to pass through that hole |
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| I haven't seen her this happy Hugging me ;) |
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| yes that is Ostrich... |
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| Breathtaking Picture of King Cobra by Photographer Archu Purohit |
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| The Swartberg Pass |
Day 5
Woke up in the morning and started walking the St. Blaze trail which fortunately was starting just in front of the
hotel on the cliff. It is a beautiful trail starting with St. blaze cave where early settlers used to live thousand of years
ago. We continued on the trail taking in the beautiful views of the ocean from the trail on the cliff. We got a call
back from one of the sand boarding tour guides whom we tried calling earlier. They offered us to go with them in
the morning as some other people had called off the trip. We decided to trace back the trail instead of completing
as we had seen very good views already. Also the weather was quickly deteriorating and the trail could have
possibly become unpleasant and dangerous in high winds and rain. But for the same reason we ended up not
doing sandboarding also as the sand dunes where we went in 4 by 4 were very tall and unprotected by anything
else. But the experience of going with the guide on his 4 by 4 on unpaved road was fun and climbing one of the
sand dunes so close to the ocean and taking pictures was amazing. The guide was kind enough to let us decide if
we want to do sand-boarding in the cold and rainy weather for 2-3 hours after standing on top of the dunes and
feeling the extremely cold windy weather. The company operating the tour was Billeon. We came back to Mossel
bay for the lunch at Delfino's, nice restaurant near the coast. We went back to hotel, saw the amazing views from
the balcony again and started driving towards our next destination Monkey-land sanctuary very close to our next
lodge in Nature's valley. Monkey-land was in this place called The Crags, outskirts of Plettensburg area. The place
was built with primates (monkeys, apes and lemurs). All these primates were rescued and were unwanted in their
previous homes, as pets or as circus animals. Most of them had never lived in the wild and therefore Monkey-land
provides a safe sanctuary for them. Our guide, Sergen, was very patient and explained to us the characteristics of
every specie and behavioral dynamics between them. We saw bug apes, different kind of monkeys and cute little
ring tailed lemurs from Madagascar. We found out that apes are recognized by their absence of tails compared to
monkeys; and apes are in general bigger. We were the last guest our guide had and he saw us outside the
sanctuary and locked the place. He asked us if we could drop him off the main road and we happily agreed. We in
fact insisted on dropping him off at his place in the nearby village only 5 minutes drive away which he usually
walks to. I could slightly relieve my guilt of not giving rides to poor people on the street and highways in a fear of
unsafe incidents that is frequent. We headed towards Nature's Valley. We had booked a lodge called Wild Spirit
Lodge in the wilderness of Nature's valley, absolutely in the middle of nowhere. The common area of the lodge had
a open section overlooking the valley and pristine forest as far as we could see. The owner of the place was an
English man who bought these land very cheap probably in fifties. There were people from everywhere - Germany
Sweden, Slovenia, France, etc. We requested for the dinner and were pleasantly surprised at the amazing
vegetable curry they made for us. We still remember the taste of the juicy salad with raisins. We chatted with few
people for some time and later went to sleep in our room in the middle of nature. We were told that there was no
need to lock out rooms :)
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| Breakfast overlooking the Nature's Valley |
Day 6
Next morning we woke up at leisure and had a wonderful breakfast and tea at the lodge overlooking the nature
valley on a wooden bench made out of wooden log. This one was probably worth those big grands that people
flaunt to spend at the fancy restaurants. Anyway, we wanted to fix the memory card for our camera as we had ran
out of memory and we had a lot of days to go especially, Kruger. We drove to the Plettenberg which is the nearest
big city and bought some supplies including 4 GB of memory card which should see us through rest of the days in
SA. We then went to the Salt river mouth in the Nature's valley where salt river meets the ocean. We asked at the
shop located near the beginning of the salt river mouth hiking trail about the tides as it is not safe to cross the
mouth at high tide. Basically the hiking trail was next to the beach reaching it's maximum beauty where salt river
meets the ocean forming a huge delta through the rocky patches constantly battered by ocean waves. It was tricky
at few places to cross as we had to wait for the waves to recede and cross the path before they are back flooding
the path. The trail was a loop and just before we started our journey back on the loop we saw some very strange
and soft tiny limb shaped things with orange interior on our way on the beach. It really freaked us out as it was
looking like limbs cut in tiny parts and we were just afraid of unknown. We didn't really see anyone around and
Archana even picked up a big wooden log in case there is some danger / need to defend. Sounds funny now, but
that time we felt like we’re on a battle to get out of this lonely part of the beach. There was a ‘South African
National Park’ sign on the beach saying entering these areas was at our own risk and they were not responsible
for any harm, which added to our fear. It was a long walk on the lonely beach, with not a single human at our
distant sight. Our wild imagination made us fear of some old tribal group who were possibly cannibals. Indeed, we
felt relieved as we saw a few people sitting on the beach around the corner. We felt that we’re safe and not bound
to be attacked. We continued on the trail but there was one more thing on both of our minds and that was my
booking of world's highest bungy jump at the Bloukrans bridge in an hour from then. We had long debates about
why I think I should do it and on the contrary why it is a not so good idea according to Archana. We quietly finished
our trail and came back to the shop. We also asked the shopkeeper about the weird thing we saw on the beach
and she got really concerned. But she finally concluded that it was a sea tree called red bites and the orange color
we saw inside were red worms living inside the tree. Fisherman cut those when they are out fishing and throw
them in the beach. Freaky!!
Now it was time to drive to the bungy place and we were both very quiet. I was in a very big dilemma to whether do
bungy as it would make Archana very upset. Finally I decided to cancel my jump and started driving towards the
world's largest free flying aviary called birds of Eden. It is under the same management as Monkeyland and follows
the same concept of bringing in the rescued birds. The place is huge and is covered with huge wire mess to
prevent them from flying away but high enough for them to be able to fly freely. We saw amazing variety of birds
from all over the world, all shape sizes colors and sounds. We also saw them being fed fruits of all kinds and birds
coexisted and ate a lot of fruits but wasting a lot of them also like small kids. We felt very happy and satisfied
before leaving the sanctuary. Our next stop was Stormsriver mouth where we had booked a hostel called Dijembe
backpackers. The place was very funky and very laid-back. We had our own room and the bathroom. The room
was very rustic and old-looking but apparently it was intentional design. People at the lodge were very nice. We
settled our stuff and headed out to have dinner. It was a very small village and limited restaurant options. We went
to a restaurant called ‘Rafters’ at the Armagh lodge and spa. It seemed like an upscale place. When we asked to
be seated inside as it was cold, we were told that it was fully reserved for the guests at the lodge. We took a seat
outside and ordered two main courses from vegetarian section. One was lentil based curry and other one chick
peas based with salad and side of boiled peas. Food was fantastic and resembled a lot like Dahl and chhole
masala in Indian cuisine. In fact the Dahl was part of the name of the lentil dish. Feeling satisfied we crashed for
the day.
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| Archu with her Popat :) |
Unfortunately the incident about bungy jumping discussion was still on our minds and the thought bothered us the
whole night. For me it was regret of not doing it and for Archana it was the guilt of not letting me do it. I knew I had
to do it even if it meant making Archana temporarily upset as all will be well once I am done and safe.
Day 7
I told her
early in the morning about my wish to still do it and she reluctantly agreed to keep me happy. We drove to the
Bloukrans bridge, site to world's highest bungy jump and waited there until the office opened at 9. We could feel
the quiet tension between us which we knew would remain until the jump is over. I signed up for the jump and
there was a huge crowd of people waiting to jump. I took a chance and asked Archana to join me at the bridge to
cheer me and she agreed to make me happy and be there for me. I got into harness and headed towards the
centre of the bridge from the side of the bridge. We had not realized that the way to go there was an adventure
itself. We had to walk on small metallic trail under the bride hanging at above the deep gorge with the perforated
bottom where you can see how high you are at your feet or should I say that the whole world was under my feet.
That freaked out Archana but I was very proud that she went through it for me as she looked very scared. All the
jumpers were tagged with numbers and their weights. I was jumper 6 but was called at number 3. They played
loud music to inspire the jumpers and everyone was pumped with adrenaline. They tied a pad and a rope to my
two legs and attached it to my harness. I could see that the rope was very thick. Since my legs were tied they
dragged me to the edge of the bridge where I could see 216 m down. There was only count of 3 remaining now, I
had my hands open to fly, and I was flying before I know it. The feeling was ecstatic and there was absolutely no
thought on my mind, just wind gushing through my hair and feeling of euphoria. I suddenly got a slight jerk and
before I know I was on a tight rope swinging upside down at a height of 20 to 30 meters. It was very quiet and I
was whistling and calling names and was looking for someone to tell how the feeling was. After enjoying few
moments of solitude, a guy dropped down with a rope and tied me to his rope and I was lying for a change until we
reached up. I saw Archana and felt very happy and expressed every single second to her. She was very happy to
see me happy and safe. There was live feed of the jump at the deck and she had seen me jumping. I am very glad
for she let me do it despite all the fears she had. She must love me a lot to let me take the lead here and feel
happy for something that is purely maniac thing to do according to her. Now it was time to continue back on the
scary metallic trail and it was worse this time for Archana. I am sorry to mention that she cried with fear most of the
way. I could see the question mark on her face ‘Is this all worth it?’. I was feeling guilty but I had not anticipated it
will be this bad for her. We finally reached on the other side on the land and both of us felt very relieved. It took a
while for her to be fine and talk to me properly. We eventually laughed about it but it took some time to reach that
stage. We bought a Tshirt, video of the fall and a sample bungy cord as souvenirs. We went back to the Dijembe
lodge to checkout and there was a feeling of relief for both of us and our interaction was back to normal. We went
to the Storms river mouth which is about 8 kms from stormsrivier village where our lodge was. Stormsriver mouth
was very similar to Salt river mouth in nature's valley but this one was more commercial and Storms river was
meeting the ocean. The place was absolutely fantastic and we started with the brunch in the restaurant
overlooking the ocean meeting the river. We then headed towards the trail towards the suspension bridges on the
ocean-river delta. The scenery on the trail was beautiful and ocean was very violent. But the climax of the beauty
was at the suspension bridge where three were three connected suspension bridges hanging on top of the
absolutely gorgeous meeting points of river and ocean. The waves were hitting the rocky shores very hard and we
could feel the water on the bridge which was at-least 15-20 feet high. There were accommodation available at the
sight offered by the SanParks people best of which was called Oceannettes overlooking the ocean and very similar
to our Point Hotel in Mossel Bay. We took a ton of pictures of ourselves on the bridge, splashing waves, etc.. The
bridge reminded Archana of the metallic trail towards the bungy site that morning but here she had a vested
interest in the sites around and saw value in walking on the vibrating bridge distracted by the scenery. We came
back on the trail feeling awesome and taking picture of the some small wildlife in the rocks back to the parking lot.
We started our long drive towards Port Elizabeth (PE)to catch our flight to Jo'Burg for safari in Kruger National
park. The drive took about 2 hours and we had to skip the plan to do Zip lining over beautiful waterfalls in the
StormsRivier area due to time constraints. We told ourselves that we will do zip lines in the next nature destination
wherever we go to. The drive was smooth and we did laugh over our tension between us for the Bungy Jumping.
We returned the rental car, checked us in and started dreaming about Kruger National Park while we wait for our
flight. PE is a relatively small airport but very well connected. To our surprise they did allow us to take some water
through the security at the airport. Our flight to Jo'burg took about 2 hours and we were very tired. It was small
regional jet belonging to South African Airways Express, low cost domestic arm of South African Airways, and we
were given light snack for meal which is unusual for us as low cost airlines in EU and USA charge for even water
now a days. We called up our hostel, Purple Palms when we reached Jo'Burg and asked for transportation. They
sent someone they knew to pick us up from the airport. It was not a taxi but someone local with his personal car
picking people up and helping people at the the lodge with transportation to and from the airport and other
attractions. We were little skeptical in the car and Archana had emergency number ready tone dialed in the phone
but the fear was very irrational as the person was sent by a respected lodge and he came with his wife to pick us
up. It was about 16 kms from the airport and we paid 160 rands, which hopefully was not more than normal. The
lodge was very nice and clean we had our own rooms with the shared bathroom. We were only little hungry and
therefore decided to make the quick Maggie noodles that we have been carrying with us from home. Maggie is a
favorite household noodles in India. We slept tight that night a had to be up for the pick up by Outlook Safari
company who was going to take us to the Kruger next day.
Day 7
Our guide Helke arrived at the lodge before time at 6:50 in the morning and we were under the impression that he
would arrive between 7:00 and 7:30 am. Fortunately, we were almost ready and were more than happy to start
driving earlier. Helke was very nice and took a very good care of us and had a very patient and easy going
personality. We shared our travel stories and didn't even realize when the 5 hours passed by on our way to Kruger.
He was native to South Africa but also spent part of his childhood in Swaziland. We stopped once for a break and
reached Kruger at around 1ish. After entering the Kruger we already started seeing wildlife, most abundant of
which is Impalas, staple diet for predators in the park. We also saw Kudus, Guniea fowls and some birds. We
arrived at the Skukuza Camp in Kruger where we were going to stay for next couple of days. We freshened up and
had some light lunch at the shop at the camp before our first game drive at 3:30pm. The camp site was very well
developed with variety of options from campsites which we had picked to Luxury Bungalows. Kruger was hot in the
afternoon and we were very excited about our first game drive. There was another outlook guide Robin that took
us on the afternoon game drive along with two other Japanese couples from Washington DC. We had a good start
already in the morning but suddenly realized that everyone including us were more excited to see big cats- lions,
Leopards, Cheetahs than Impalas, Elephants, Buffalos birds etc. Although, we did enjoy thoroughly seeing all birds
and animals in the wild. We saw different type of eagles, stokes, more elephants, more Guinea fowls, and some
giraffes and rhino way far away. Our guide Robin saw the Rhino with naked eyes which we had hard time looking
with the binoculars. And we refused to check Rhinos off our list of Big Fives to see. We had stopped at a hill in the
Kruger which was one of the very few places where you are allowed to get out of your car outside the camp area.
It was a very interesting Safari experience where we learned how patient people at National Geographic and
Discovery Channel will be to bring us amazing footage of animals when we were staring continuously on both
sides of the road in the bushes to find some animal once in a while that also either standing or eating. We finished
our game drive after watching sunset and were at our camp site before 6 as no private vehicles are allowed to be
in the park after 6 pm. Only National Park people were allowed who can take you out on sunset or night game
drives. We had couple of hours where our Chef Jonathan would present his delicacies. We walked around the
park, went to the shop nearby which had everything possible available for sell. The facilities in general on park
were on par with any other national park in the developed nation like America. We were vey hungry and ready to
eat when our delicious dinner, vegetables and bean stew with couscous was served. The dish was based on
Moroccan Tagine without meat. The food was absolutely delicious and Kudos to the Chef. We ate a lot and just
went to sleep after dinner even though it was only 9 pm. We had to wake up early for the early morning drive as
the animals are more active in the morning.
We slept tight in our lovely tent and did hear a lot of animal voices in the night between 2 and 4 am. Fortunately or
unfortunately we didn't know what animals were making those voices. Not that we didn’t sleep enough though.
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| World's Highest Bungy Jumping Bridge |
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| Suspension Bridge over Storms River Mouth - Amazing Experience |
Day 8
Day started very early. We were up by 5am and quickly got ready to meet the tour guide over tea/coffee followed
by the sunrise game drive. Weather was great, bit chilly but our excitement did not allow us to think wee bit about
it. We were hoping to see the big fives, ofcourse it is difficult to spot all on the same day but expectations see no
limits.. We started with the so called dangerous baboons which did not seem so harmful to us as we waited right
next to them (in the car ofcourse). There were a couple of blue (velvet) monkeys around as well. They are called
blue for their distinct appearance with blue colored testicals. Our guide mentioned that the blue color reflected in
the bellybutton of the female blue monkeys. We saw the Impalas, Kudus, zebras and elephants in lots. We also
saw few hippos bathing and being playful in the river. Archana suddenly uttered that she desperately wants to see
a giraffe, a rhino, a lion (not just the lioness), and ofcourse the wild cat. And to our surprise we spotted a giraffe in
next 15 mins. It was quite far but so tall and huge that we had a clear view even from a distance. It is the tallest
mammal living on land as everyone would know. We have seen giraffe earlier but this one was very unique.
Moving on further we observed a car waiting at a certain distance from the dam. We could see they were looking
at something but we couldn't figure out. On asking them we realized there were two lionesses and two cubs near
the dam. What a sight that was! We grabbed the binoculars and discussed it every single movement. Just
beautiful. We waited there for a while and then decided to move further to see another miracle. A lot of vehicles
were waiting around and we thought of giving them a fair chance. We paused to admire the beauty of the Thorny
Eagle that was graciously resting on a branch eying for prospective preys. Marshall Eagle once again gave us an
opportunity to admire it's flight. Fortunately we also managed to spot a lazy crocodile at the river bank. It never
bothered to open it's eyes (not that we were expecting). It was already around 10 am by then and we had to go
back to our campsite for breakfast. Overall it was a rewarding morning game drive. We came back to the site and
had a healthy and filling break fast of sautéed vegetables, toast and butter and cereals & milk. Now we had free
time until 4:30 when we go for the sunset drive. We slept for sometime, did the morning things and got ready. We
were not very hungry after he late heavy brunch and therefore decided have two packs of Maggie made at the
kitchen tent. We love having maggie when we are traveling. We went to the shop again to walk around and
explore. Jonathan picked us up at the shop at around 4 and dropped us off a the place where we will be picked up
for the sunset drive. It was already raining and our sunset drive guide was decreasing our expectation to see
anything spectacular on the game drive. It was two bus full of tourists each 20 seater. We started our sunset drive
in the right sunlight and were soon reward with a very beautiful sunset in the park. It was the view we have
generally seen in the national geographic programs. We saw some zebras and giraffes at the beginning of our
drive but Giraffes were little too far for satisfaction. We also saw a big herd of breeding elephants with babies in
both before and after the sunset with spotlights. At one point our guide mentioned he saw a leopard andthen
paused and said tortoise, basically it was a tortoise with the back spotted like a leopard. Created a false alarm for
everyone but the tortoise was beautiful. The best sighing was after the sunset of that of a big pride of lions up on
top of a big rocky mountain. It was little bit far but still very good view using the spotlights. Lot is eyes were signing
as lions are nocturnal animals and can see very well in the night. Lions do most of their hunting in the night and
are believed to sleep or relax for 20 hours in a day. We saw some movement but mostly they were sitting and
relaxing. I was one of the two volunteer holding the flash light on the right side. For most part of the post sunset
drive it was raining heavily. And it was took determination to still want to see the animals. It was a open vehicle
with curtains on the side to prevent rain coming in but not immune to window seas getting wet. We also some
shunning eyes once in a while at the distance but can't figure out what it is and of course it was it wad gone soon.
We also saw a janett cat crossing the road during the last part of our drive. Overall sunset drive was a very
different experience especially after the sunset and needed a lot of patience to find animals and enjoy it. We were
bought back after three hours o drive back to the camp and Helke was ready to pick us up to take us to the
camping site and the dinner was ready. Jonathan had prepared delicious tomato onion mushroom stew with rice
and salad for us. We were accompanied by two Finnish couples in their 60's. Very knowledgeable and seemed to
belong to a higher class. We went back to our sweet little tent and were off to sleep.
Day 9 – Last day in South Africa
We rose to the last day in Kruger, up by 04:30 and ready with the packed bags in an hour. As the previous day we
gathered for coffee and dispersed for the mini game safari before we leave for the airport in Jo'burg. Kylie was our
guide that day. We managed to see Hyena, Buffalo, Vulture and a close up of giraffe in the beggining itself. It was
drizzling so much that reminded the similar scene in the movie 'Jurassic Park'. Kylie also spotted a Battlion eagle,
a beautiful bird with red beak and claws however not as powerful as the other eagles. We were so desperate
to see one of the big ones and our wishes came true. We saw two male lions walking on the road marking their
territory. We were literally as close as a meter away from the jungle kings. This sight was unbelievably incredible.
They had big hairy heads called Mane, bright yellow eyes and a walk like they owned the whole of Kruger. While
myself and Archu were clicking snaps they really looked back into our eyes, we almost heard the untold "dare to
step out of your car, you silly audiences". Scary but safe move. No matter what, lions would love to flaunt their
superiority undoubtedly. They marked their territories by sprinkling biological water on the plants. no wonder why
a zillion vehicles gathered in no time to get thrilled and not to mention about the digital cameras. That brought us
to end of our game safari. We were very easy about not getting to see the leopard or a close view of rhino, not that
we had any option either. We then drove out of Kruger towards the airport. Kylie recommended us to stop near the
Lisbon waterfall that was on our way. Very beautiful part of nature I must say..
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| Male Lion Marking his territory around our vehicle |
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| Heyna in Kruger |
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| Herd of Elephant in Kruger Safari |
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| Home Sweet Home in Kruger |
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| Candle (electric) light dinner in the campsite in Kruger |
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| Any closer would be suicidal :) |
Now we're waiting at the airport. As we reached few hours before time, we decided to collate our incredible
experience and excitement into words to share with our friends and family, and also reminiscence our memories.
Below is the list of animals and birds we saw in Kruger. We should be boarding our flight soon. I can imagine that we will be in London while we discuss our wonderful SA trip and get excited about our next trip to the beautiful land
of Swiss!!
Impala
Zebra
Kudu
Elephants with babies
Marshall eagle
Guinea fowls
Maribu stokes
Lion and lioness
Baboons
Hippos and baby
Thorny eagle
Crocodile
Giraffe
Waterhog
Louries
Janett cats
Battlia eagles
Two male lions
Hyenas
Bush babies
White rhino
Buffalo
Vulture
Leopard tortoise
