South Africa Photo Gallery by oksana

South Africa

Well, vacation is over and we are home after two weeks in South Africa. Our biological clock is still ticking on Cape Town time and it's very difficult to keep my eyes open in the middle of bright sunny hot afternoon. So, I'll try to daydream.

Our plans were: 14 days in South and East Cape, rental car, safari, wineries, sea kayaking, hiking and whatever else we could fit into these 230 hours of African vacation. Have done all of the above plus pretty bad flu that I got on the second day of our trip and got over with on the day before last. Oh, well, it didn't stop us from doing stuff.

We landed in Cape Town at 10 AM, rented a car and drove to our hotel which was right at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and which used to be old prison. To tell you the truth the quality of accommodation didn't change much since those days. But the good thing was that it was really close to all the bars and restaurants at the Waterfront and we didn't have to drive at night at all. After checking into our "prison" we went for a walk and a lunch, that gradually turned into dinner.

About SA food and drink industry - it's cheap and plentiful! Somebody who says that US has the biggest restaurant food portions in the world has never been to SA! They are HUGE! And cheap, well, most of it anyway. And wine! It's good and REALLY CHEAP! I mean 3-5 dollars for a bottle of very good wine in a restaurant. Unfortunately, there is lots of fried food on a menu and the most common were, of course, fish and chips. Or freedom fries. There are lots of them and they all very nasty soggy oily yaky ones. Also, there is quite a lot of wild game meat to try. We liked Kudu (big antelope) the best - BBQ (braai in Afrikaans) or smoked, just like Parma ham but very lean.

Anyway, back to our trip. First day was very nice, warm and sunny - somewhere around 18C. We decided that we'll go kayaking next day and fell asleep about 8 PM. Jetlag took it's tall and we were awake at 5 AM next morning. After couple of hours we went for breakfast at the "prison" restaurant and learned that they really tried to keep the image intact and served buffet breakfast in dinky cafeteria with aluminum trays. Oh, I forgot to say that nowadays this prison actually serves as a graduate school of Cape Town University, so we were staying at its dorms and eating in its cafeteria. To our disappointment the second day in Cape Town was rainy and cold, so we decided that it'll be perfect for a road trip and went to the Cape of Good Hope. It's a beautiful ride from Cape Town down the peninsula through little seaside towns, vineyards and mountains. On the way to the Cape of Good Hope we stopped at Simpson's Town at a big colony of endangered Jackass Penguins. Although, if I'd have a name like that I'd try to extinct as well. :) We were lucky because those birds' eggs recently hatched and the colony was full of funny fuzzy fat baby-penguins. It was really amusing to see some of the parenting techniques those birds were showing. We thought that they are just as close related to some humans as monkeys.

Cape of Good Hope is pretty impressive - wind swiped high desert, corroded lime rocks and big surf around them. We went for a short hike to the most southern peak of it and made a little tower of rocks to mark this achievement. On the way there we saw couple of wild ostriches that were grazing around cactuses. Good thing they decided not to check us out or we might have been in big trouble because they are very big and very stupid - very dangerous combination. Also we saw lots of Rock Hinx (Dassies) - it's some kind of a big hamster the size of a small piglet that lives in a rocks and eat thorns. And I mean - thorns! We saw them to casually bite off and chew branches of small cactus-like plants as they had mouth made of steel. But they very cute and supposedly are related to elephants.

Next day was sunny and warm, but very windy so there was big surf and again we couldn't go kayaking around Cape Town. Instead we went hiking up the Table Mountain although it wasn't exactly our choice either. We just happened to be there when cable car was under repairs. So we took off on one of the trails and spent 3 hours on a hike - round trip to the top and back. Great views from up there and well deserved too. Table Mountain is a very impressive site. Out of our "prison cell" of the hotel we could see the whole mountain and it was absolutely stunning, especially at the sunrise and sunset. Local legend says that some dude went up there and met a stranger who dared him to a smoking contest. They smoked and they smoked and they smoked and that dude won. Stranger puffed up in the thick smoke and disappeared because it was The Devil taking the dude with him. Since then top of the Table Mountain is almost always is covered by layer of clouds that come out of Devils Peak. But if you are a scientific kind of person then I have another explanation for you. Table Mountain sits on the peninsula and moist water always rises up the back of the mountain because of strong wind patterns. And it's really amazing! We spend a long time just watching this cloud slowly stream from the top of mountain and melting away under the Sun's rays. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

After leaving Cape Town we went to Paarl - wine country about hour and half away. Very different scenery indeed. It reminded us Napa Valley in California but with bigger and more rugged mountains. We stayed in small B&B that had it's own little vineyard. Very pretty, white wall, thatched roof, nice and quiet. Dropped our bags and went out for the taste of local wine. And here is another example of abundance and cheapness of local wines - you get all you can taste wine for US $1. Well... after second winery we decided that it's time to go home. We stopped by local grocery store, bought some smoked Kudu meat, local olives, local feta cheese, local bread and had a wonderful candle light feast under the foreign and bright stars on a patio of our manor.

As we left Paarl our way was to the South-East toward the Garden Route and our final destination - the Shamwary Game Reserve. South Africa is a very diverse country - on the way to Garden Route we-ve passed California, Kansas, Montana and Texas. The more we travel, the more similarities we find in different countries. It's like meeting an old friend somewhere cross half of the Globe.

On the way to Shamwari Park and safari we stopped at the small seaside town of Knysna. It was pretty, mellow and not much to say about. Oh yes, I have something to say - their oysters are extremely expensive (not only there, everywhere in SA) - about a dollar and a half each. Crazy. But we went on a little river-kayaking trip there that was nice. Not very eventful but nice. Just like Knysna that's pronounced Nais-na.

Anyway, lets talk about safari. To put it short - IT WAS GREAT! But I won't stop here and will tell you more about it. Much more. May be even more than you want to know.

We've stayed at the lodge in the middle of the park. Lodge was surrounded by electrical wire but nobody ever closed the gate. Anyway, we were warned not to wonder off outside of the perimeter, because.. Well, there are lions. And cheetahs. And rhinos. And elephants. Need I continue?.. :)

Lodge was great. And drives on an open Landrover were great. And food was great and wine was excellent. And weather was perfect - chilly and sunny, just like the Indian Summer. On the first two rides we were the only passengers in our truck, plus ranger. And we were the only guests at the whole lodge as well! Spooky but still nice. Next day three more people came in - mother and son from Texas and man from England. Mother and son's family just bought a huge stretch of beach close to Port Elisabeth and were thinking about adding couple hundred extra acres to that plot. You can imagine what people were had to share our Landrover and lodge with.

There are supposedly Big Five live at that reserve - Rhinos, Cheetahs, Lions, Elephants and Hippos. We saw all of them except Hippos - they were not interested in looking at the tourists at this particular time. :) The most impressive I my oppinion was The Big "Who's the boss" Show that huge giraffe bull threw for us. Just imagine - we came close to giraffe herd and sat there in our little open Landrover truck whatching the animals and taking pictures. That bull saw us and immidiately went toward us from far away bushes. He came so close that I could have touched him without getting up from my seat and started pacing back and forth on one side of the car, the one that was toward the sun so he could see us clearly and we were blinded. Well, we would have been blinded if we were another giraffe, but sunglasses do miracles. It was really surreal - huge wild animal, very strongly smelling of... I don't even know what, but something really wild , stomping the ground within an arm length. WOW! Our heads were hardly even reacning his knee! Too bad everybody chickend out when I asked them to get out of the car and take a picture of me in front of him, so I don't have any hard evidence.

Next thrill we got out of the lions pride. There are two prides in Shamwary Park. We saw one of them - adult lioness, four one-year old cubs and two two-year old cubs. Even one-year old kittens are quite large and lion-like. Two-year olds look almost like adults, with just a little bit of spots left here and there and male didn't have full grown mane yet. But size and behaviour - of a full blown Lion. Anyway, first we found four cubs alone, snoozing under the sun. They didn't care much about our presence and kept yawing into our faces to show what they think of all of that safari idea. But after that we ran into the whole family while adult lioness was teaching kids how to chase a wild pig. Cubs were guufing around but were still learning something. And here we are, in the middle of the chase in our open Landrover. Two-year old lioness got very interested in our truck's tires and started running after them with happy look in her eyes. I'm sure my hubby saw it much better as it was happening at his side of the car. All that separated us from this big and powerfull kitten was the lack of her interest in those tires when our car stopped.

We really wanted to see some elephants but couldn't find them for a long time and then on our way back to the lodge we ran into the big herd of them. What a luck! Ranger told us that lots of time they just go into the surrounding mountains and can't be seen for days at the time. There were lots of newborn babies in that herd and they are the funniest things to watch! They try really hard to imitate their mothers, but just can't do it very well and it's sooooooo cute! One of them decided to show us how big and powerful he is and ran toward Landrover with ears spread and trunk swinging, making loud squeaking noises. Oh, sooooooo scary!

They other Big were White Rhinos. Actually the very first two we saw just driving in our car from the gate of that park to our lodge. As bad is the sight of there animals is but when we stopped to take a look at them one of the bulls got nervous and started showing it. We decided not to piss this living tank of an animal and took off. The next time we saw rhinos they didn't care about our presence at all because we were in the familiar vehicle. Also we were lucky to get a glimpse of a large White Rhino cow with a little calf. She very quickly pushed him away from the car and led him into the thicket. Didn't see any Black Rhinos, they are supposedly very shy and that's why we saw only their poop. But lots of it, if it was any consolation.

And the last but not the least was cheetah. And again we were really lucky - first, he just killed an antelope and ate as much as he could because then even lion can't get that meat. So he looked like barrel on legs - huge belly that gave him lots of discomfort and he had to toss and roll and turn all the time. And second - we got to see him right before the sunset so the light was just perfect! Well, at least for me.

There were also lots of different antelopes, zebras, birds, warthogs and jackals. But they were pretty small comparing the The Big Four.

So in all and all we had a great time at Shamwari Park. But for the next time we decided to go somewhere less plush and may be sleep in the tent and walk around the bush with one of the rangers. Might be more fun.

After safari we headed back to Cape Town but first stopped for a couple of days in the town of Plettenberg Bay. Now this was a town where we thought about possibility of buying a little villa. Very pretty and quite upscale - playground of the rich as guide book called it. Not like we are upscale but you know what I mean. The best part about our stay there was the very first afternoon of our arrival - we checked in into our B&B and went out to our balcony with couple glasses of wine. And almost dropped them. In the bay right in front of our house something really spectacular was happening - big humpback whale was hunting some kind of fish, surrounded from all sides by dolphins, sea lions and birds that were snatching fish on his wake. This whale was barraging the bay like a live submarine for almost two hours and we just sat there watching him and his entourage cleaning the bay out of fish. Next day was a somewhat active - we went sea kayaking around the bay and saw lots of sea lions that were swimming close to their colony.

Leaving Plettenberg behind we went back on N2 all the way to Cape Town. Well, actually not Cape Town but it's seaside suburb - Camps Bay. Very pretty little town between Table Mountain and the ocean. Our hotel was right on the beach and we went there for a stroll at the sunset. Beautiful colors and another wild life show - some surfer-seal was riding the waves along the beach better than some dudes do. Really cool! Next day we went to Hermanus and saw some more whales. But they were sleeping and not too interesting to watch.

And then the day came. The departure. Well, nothing interesting from there on - 13 hours on a plane, 5 movies to see, 4 meals to eat, biological clock and jetlag... And here I am, writing the story of our vacation...

The end.

Do not copy or distribute any images without permission. All rights reserved. If you are interested in any of these images, please, contact me by e-mail - oksanaphoto@gmail.com

Lion Cub 1, Shamwari Reserve	Lion Cub 2, Shamwari Reserve	Cheeta 1, Shamwari Reserve	Cheeta 2, Shamwari Reserve	Rino Bull, Shamwari Reserve
Rino Mother & Calf, Shamwari Reserve	Tompsons Gazelles, Shamwari Reserve	Giraffe Bull & Calf, Shamwari Reserve	Giraffe Bull & Calfs, Shamwari Reserve	Zebras, Shamwari Reserve
Baby Elefant 1, Shamwari Reserve	Baby Elefant 2, Shamwari Reserve	Baby Elefant 3, Shamwari Reserve	Aloe 1, Shamwari Reserve	Aloe 2, Shamwari Reserve
Aloe & Bird, Shamwari Reserve	Aloe & Thorns , Shamwari Reserve	Cape Town Bay 1	Cape Town Bay 2	Camps Bay
Table Mountain, Morning Cloud 1, Cape Town	Table Mountain, Morning Cloud 2, Cape Town	Table Mountain, Evening Cloud 1, Cape Town	Table Mountain, Evening Cloud 3 Cape TownTable cloud 7.jpg	Table Mountain, Evening Cloud 4, Cape Town
Table Mountain, Evening Cloud 5, Cape Town	Table Mountain 1, Cape Town	Table Mountain 2, Cape Town	Table Mountain & Protea, Cape Town	Lions Head Mountain, Cape Town
Cape of Good Hope	Dassie, Cape Hope	Dassies, Cape Hope	Sleeping Whale, Hermanus Bay	Oustrich, Cape Hope
Manor, Paarl	Rock 1, Paarl	Rock 2, Paarl	Window, Paarl	Jackass Penguin, Chick 1
Jackass Penguin, Chick 2	Jackass Penguin, Chick 3	Jackass Penguin, Chick 4	Wine

comment |

Guest		29-May-2019 17:45
Amazing Pictures. I sometimes forget that I live in this beautiful city and just how spoilt I am to have this on my doorstep everyday. Thanks for the gallery

blu		09-Jun-2010 05:52
You have some great shots here, congrats - if you like you might want to check my SA gallery athttp://www.pbase.com/uese/southafrica - Cheers. (V)

Guest		24-Jan-2006 12:02
I love South Africa! I like your gallery a lot. Beautiful colours, excellent work. Regards Sigita

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