BootsnAll Travel Network



On the road again, again…

April 4th, 2006

Back on our porch… with our wine…, this time at Armagh Country Lodge in the Tsitsikamma. Tonight we have bathrobes and face masks on, so we are glad there is no one to witness except a fat ugly spider (at least he is outside), some frogs, and Thandie, our resident dog.

Our day started bak at Kragga Kamma when we woke up on our hard beds, glanced around for spiders, and then enjoyed breakfast on our porch. We then packed up, drove through the reserve back to Bush Cafe and had our first close up cheetah encounter. For only a few rand, the 3 of us got to meet Dhuma face to face – a retired celebrity cheetah – who is living out his days at the game park.

On our way out, we also encountered a warthog family, a mother and 4 piglets. I was very excited to add to my warthog portfolio, but I think Jaimi felt otherwise, for as I climbed into the car she remarked, “Great! We took all of 3 photos of us with the cheetah, but we have 80 of the warthogs.”

Once I was finally able to pull myself away from the warthogs (oh by the way, I will be bringing home a piglet) we began our roadtrip to the Tsitsikamma, a national park region a couple hundred km west of PE. Tsitsikamma means “land of many waters” and the lush vegetation is evidence of it! The freeway proved to be a breeze: well maintained, uncrowded, and considerate drivers. However a slight over-abndance of traffic signs in my opinion. We had quite a time trying to decipher what “curve in road – tree – truck” meant, among other interesting pictorial signs. And I was amazed when Jaimi hit the brakes going down a hill due to a slow truck up ahead, just as I glanced over and saw a sign with a car hitting a truck going down a hill “how did they know?” But at least there was no chance of getting lost – there were 4 signs pointing out the turnoff into town; it was just a bit of a riddle determining exactly which sign was actually placed where the road was, so we would end up on it rather than turning into the bush! Overall the drive went by quickly and Kevin was very good in the backseat except for a brief period during which he took to poking me in the back of the neck with a stick.

Arriving at the Armagh, we had an entire list of potential things to do in mind: drive back 5 km to photograph the 2 cops in folding chairs with a multi-colored sun umbrella and radar gun, check out the Storms River bridge up close (is that the one we might bungy from?), but in the end the expansion of the campaign-against-white-legs won out: we hit the pool.

Later in the afternoon we trekked into the bustling metropolis of Storms’ River (4 dirt roads, 1 paved road, and miscellaneous footpaths) where we arranged our activities for tomorrow morning – but no hints, you’ll hear about it if we survive! Jill was impressed by Bacchus Cafe, and upon mentioning it, we both went into latte withdrawal symptoms. So we went there, and found that cafe does not necessary mean cafe; we were greeted with a full menu and a choice of filtered coffee – normal or decaf. Bummer! But Kevin got his daily portion of ice cream and shortly thereafter we found the one and only internet connection available in town. Guess we’ll be regulars there (well, here) for the next couple of days.

Thandie was happy to see us upon our return to the Lodge, and we were happy to get into the shower (I was a little less happy to have Kevin in playing in the sink during my shower – as if you anyway get constant water pressure and temperature in Africa!). Our evening was spent at an African dinner buffet at the B&B’s restaurant, before retiring onto our porch.

Oh yes!! And I do believe lent is over, so I have big plans to celebrate! Correct me if I have miscounted the 40 days… Actually, don’t!

P.S. We will have a Best Blogger award, so Tracy you are well in the lead!!!

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A day in the bush

April 3rd, 2006

Well, we survived the first night with the spiders. However, Jaimi woke up with a sore throat, so we assume the worst. 🙁 On a brighter note, we had perfect game drive weather and enjoyed many fantastic animal sightings. We were all thrilled, though it’s hard to tell if Kevin was more enchanted by the game or by the open Landrover. Or, it could have been the binoculars: even though he had no clue how to focus them, he wouldn’t surrender them for more than 5 seconds during the entire 2 hour drive!

Fitting that he had binoculars attached to his face, considering he volunteered himself as guide #2 – gamely telling Jill at full volume when she picked the wrong road, explaining to us that there is a girl and boy rhino out in the field, and if we tried to pipe in with some bit of animal information, shortly stating “I *know* that already.”

Our favorites were: cheetah, giraffe, warthogs (Jill anyway). We’ll add separately a viewing list so you can keep track with us – still no dik-diks, though (Marianne). And we’re still working on how to upload some photos. I have to say, at this rate it’s been hard enough just finding an internet connection (especially one that works). We are, after all, in Africa! 🙂

We concluded the day with our first foray into the world of braai – traditional African barbecue over a wood fire. Great fun – at least for Jill, who made the salad and laughed at Jaimi sputtering in the smoke during attempt 4 to keep the fire alive! Kevin was a great help, scouring the camp for sticks to use as kindling (with the one exception that we might have heard a black-backed Jackal nosing around, so maybe we shouldn’t have let him go under the barricade fence…). Fortunately, the meat was edible (come on Jill – it was GOOD!) And we had another good dinner and killed another bottle of wine.

The spider’s seemed to have made themselves scarce, so we got a better night’s rest, save the not entirely comfy cabin beds. (But I’ll take hard beds, no spiders any day!!) And…despite the afternoon scare of wild jungle fever on Jaimi’s part, that seems to be gone for good now, as well.

Wildlife: 0
Intrepid travellers: 1

So far, so good…

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Officially on Safari

April 3rd, 2006

kragga-kamma-cabin-nyala_com.JPGharry_com.JPG

 Tonight we are settled into our log cabin atop a hill at Kragga Kamma Game
Reserve. After a busy day of packing up at Africa Beach B&B, short PE
city tour, and a grocery shopping expedition, we were glad to finally find
and make ourselves home here at Kragga Kamma. Our stress from the hectic day
and all the driving quickly turned to excitement when we were greeted by 4
giraffe serving as a welcoming committee, 2 each on either side of the road..
As we drove through the group, we stopped to take some pictures, and it was
amazing to see how tall they were so close up. It required some major
acrobatics on this photographer’s part to get the 5 meter tall animal in the
viewfinder, when only about 1 meter away – I only ended up with a head and
partial neck shot.
Our excitement grew as we passed a few warthogs on the windy, bumpy road up
to our cabin and when we saw our quaint home nestled among the tress above a
meadow full of impala (but barricaded on 3 sides against the rhino). Our
delight barely even dwindled when Kevin and I spotted a very large (that is,
fist-sized) spider while our guide was showing us around the cabin.
Fortunately, the guide swept the intruder out the door as she bid us
farewell, and we were once again happy as can be…
….for about two minutes.
That’s when we found another spider. Feeling rather bold after watching our
guide deal with the first spider, I got out the broom and tried to chase the
spider away. That’s when we saw another spider. Aaaand another spider…
Amidst Kevin and my shrieking, Jaimi called out from the bathroom: “should I
stay in here, then?”
Feeling rather outnumbered, I abandoned my attempts to chase the spiders out
and the 3 of us re-convened in the main area to consider our options. After
settling on the tactic of “we leave them alone, hopefully they leave us
alone” (realizing we had little other recourse), we went about our unpacking
and dinner preparations.
(continued now by Jaimi…) We ate out on the front porch – very pleasant –
and had the added enjoyment of dinner entertainment. Every time Jill walked
inside and scanned the walls and ceiling, she had a moment of stunned
motionlessness before continuing on her errand. The crowning moment came
when Jill suggested she wash the dishes while I clean away leftovers. Task
#2 dutifully accomplished, I walked into the cabin to hear, “I just can’t be
in here [the kitchen corner]. Harry is too close, Lucy’s diappeared, and
someone new is hanging down between the wall and cabinet. I just can’t do
it.”
So, after reassuring Kevin that there was nothing to be afraid of, we were
able to put him to bed and now we are sitting out on the porch, of course,
where we feel much safer despite our guide’s dire warnings not to venture
more than 2 meters from the cabin. In an attempt to get through the evening
and prepare ourselves for sleep, we’ve started our 2nd bottle of wine. But
be sure we will go to bed tonight with clothespins on our lips. (adds Jill)
Speaking of which, Jaimi just got back after checking on Kevin and says ”
it’s really hot in there…and his mouth was open!”
P.S. we’ve been out here discussing and maybe you can help settle
the debate: candy and chocolate coated biscuit bites…candy or biscuit?

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And on computer #2…

March 31st, 2006

Jaimi is right now adding our post from yesterday on computer #1(we had to compose it on paper over wine last night since we did not have a computer), so I thought I would come over and add a posting from today!

So, after finishing our bottle of wine last night, we climbed into bed, and before Jaimi could ask me if I had locked the door, I was asleep (of course).  This morning we woke up just in time to make it for breakfast (Kevin did not – he slept for about 14 hours straight, and he’s the one that DID sleep on the plane.)  Jaimi and I went over for a lovely breakfast, save a pair of other hotel guests who started out friendly enough, but became rather annoying with the course of our meal (we realized this after we agreed to have dinner with them tonight; don’t worry, though, we agreed right after breakfast that we would probably get stuck out and about somewhere and not make it home in time to meet them.)  So with that plan in mine, we were able to fill in some details with the help of our very nice and friendly hotel owner who gave us a few beach and dining suggestions, and a pretty good map to help us on our way.

 So, with 2 bags full of supplies, we headed out for a day hiking along the coast and playing at the beach.  It was a great success with rocks to climb on, beautiful remote coastline and beaches, a little wildlife (beautiful butterflies, maybe African penguins, and a big turtle on the side of the trail.)  Unfortunatley, about 2 hours down the coast, we realized with all of the supplies we brought (and let me tell you, that backpack was heavy!) we did not manage to bring a crumb of food or drop of water!  Very smart!!  But we carried on without despair, hopeful we would be rescued by Dieter’s Wurst Wagon at our destination beach, reputed to have bad curry wurst but plenty to drink.  I guess the wurst wasn’t selling, though, and Dieter had to pack it up back to Germany, because he wasn’t there!  Fortunatley, our haggard appearance and pathetic pleas got us a couple of cups of water at a private beach party nearby.

Rehydrated, we spent a couple of hours in the surf and sand (and i really mean sand; we didn’t have any beach towels either.)  But had a great time and are well on our way to improving the white leg condition.  Finally, hunger pains and a little bit of haze compelled us to head back up the trail.  Singing “The Ants Go Marching” and “5 Little Monkeys” enabled little legs to pick up the pace on the way back.  At the car, we changed clothes and drove to our next stop for dinner, Barnacles, on the Beach…cheap drinks, great food, and another pleasant evening…

Okay, running out of internet minutes, and we must get back to hotel, where we will hopefully not run into aforementioned hotel guests/supposed dinner companions..  Wish us luck. 

 

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…and we still haven’t seen any animals yet!

March 31st, 2006

Le Bonheur is the name of the pleasant South African cab – and we are enjoying it on the terrasse outside our room, 5 meters from the pool. Yes, we have arrived!

The official start: a 3:30pm glass of Prosecco while throwing together the final packing (no wonder I forgot my lens cleaner). Taxi waiting at 4, as the sistas downed the final Prosecco while juggling 7 pieces of luggage out the door and down 3 flights of stairs.  Luggage-juggling became our favorite pasttime: house, into taxi, out of the taxi, entry and exit into first s-bahn…at which point, Jill helped throw 4 pieces out the door as Jaimi & Kevin disembarked. We all waved and shouted “see you in Africa!” as the doors closed and we went our respective routings.  20 hours later, we resumed luggage juggling at PE baggage claim where we re-united; J & J looking much worse for the wear, Kevin bouncing off the luggage carousels, having utilized his & 2 other peoples’ seats to get a good nights’ sleep.  Jill, on the other hand, was too thrilled to have ready on-demand movie access to seriously consider sleeping – despite having 3 seats to use!  The 4 movies, though, were apparently quite good.

The 22 hour trip culminated in an adventurous left-hand driving escapade: comprising left-hand stick shift, “wrong” side of the road, 18 traffic circles, radio blaring reggae (we are, after all, on vacation!), Jill proclaiming “I don’t think I can navigate from this side”, and Jaimi driving-while-sight-seeing while Kevin carried on a constant Mantra of either “we should live here; all 3 of us” or “They really drive on the wrong side of the road here!”.

BUT – we are here!  Made ourselves right at home, laying claim to the courtyard pool area all afternoon.  “south africa Kevin” stopped by to visit, little Kevin set up his own pool maintenance service (being enraptured with the hose floating around – I’m sure they appreciated the free labor), and Jill immediately started consulting on the house dog’s diarrhea situation.

After some R&R, we strolled from our hotel down to the beach and to the boardwalk shops and restaurants.  At one point, we were passed by a truck full of young locals (and I do mean full – the back was packed with at least 20 of them!), all catcalling in our direction.  We made a big effort to nonchalantly carry on our way without noticing, when Kevin stops in his tracks, does a full arm point at the truck, and proclaims loudly, “Look, Mama, Africans!!!”

As you’ve seen, it’s been an eventful, long, strenuous day.  We’re now enjoying our last heady whiffs of Pakistani flower filling the courtyard, finishing off the final drops of cab, and heading in to bed.  Oh, and did we mention that it’s all of 8 pm?!  Good night! 🙂

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On the road (so to speak) again

March 29th, 2006

Today, we will pick up Kevin and head on our way to S. Africa!!  We have been slowly getting prepared for our trip, shopping yesterday (I got some new shoes, so thanks for sending back the ugly ones ; Jaimi especially says thanks), packing last night and this a.m., finishing up HP business (for Jaimi), doing our nails, planning our itinerary (we got a great schedule emailed from our S. African host; I’ll try to add it to the blog), and one sleepless night of bad travel dreams and missing my dogs. 

Not looking forward to more travel, but I am excited to see Kevin and to get our African adventure started!!  Now we just have to pick up some last minute supplies, pick up our third traveler, load our luggage, call a taxi, catch the s-bahn to Stuttgart Airport for the germans, to the train station for me, take a train back to Frankfurt Airport, and take respective overnight flights to Johannesberg…then to Port Elizabeth.  I am exhausted already.  Hopefully, the movies at least go better on this flight.

Well, miss you all!! 

PS- Anyone check on the cat, lately?

 

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At Work

March 27th, 2006

Well, here I am on vacation, and I’m sitting in an office. Talk about a good time. So far, a very untraditional type of vacation; 4 US airports, 4 airplanes, a train, 2 Ramada Inns (well that would be fun for Li’l M), and Hewlett Packard!! I did get to drive the BMW today! However, the thrill was slightly lessened by the fact that I couldn’t scoot my seat back and had to drive in short-legs position with my knees crammed into the dash and by the fact that I couldn’t figure out how to change the CD player from Schnoopy, a highly annoying german children’s CD that was blaring at a very high decibel while a made a 10 point turn out of Jaimi’s tiny garage parking space. I finally made it out, found the volume control (at least) and made it here where Jaimi was waiting with a “Where have you been” look.

Actually, it has been a very nice day. I got to sleep in until 8, read my book, had a nice German breakfast in Jaimi’s sunny apartment, and then met her for a workout at her gym: a very nice fitness center, except for the OPEN showers!(and you guys thought sharing a hotel room was bad.)  Now I am getting a chance to blog while she finishes up a meeting before we head off for the afternoon. I am also very happy to announce I am already fully recovered from my jet-lag! Yesterday, I was pretty tired and Jaimi had to pester me to stay awake at lunchtime, but I finally got a short nap while she went to her dance class. It may have been the end of me, except I had to wake up for dinner with the new boyfriend, who I had never met before. Jaimi may wish I had stayed in bed. We had a very nice evening and excellent dinner, but I think I may have scared off the boyfriend; we’ll see if he shows up for dinner, tonight.

Anyway, it is nice to be back in one of my hometowns. I hope all is well back home home, though. Remember not to do anything fun without me. And mom, please kiss all of my dogs for me! 🙂

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Sistas United (despite United!)

March 26th, 2006

Well, we are finally on the one and same continent and ready to finalize
the prep to head to Sista #3’s 3rd continent! Too bad the $200 plus
have long since entered the cash tills of various airports around the
world – but Kevin and I are thrilled with all the en-route trinkets
collected! 🙂
Oh – by the way – this is the long lost Sista #2. That is, Jaimi
speaking here. And I have to say that after reading all the logged
complaints I am considering a slight itinerary modification: Tracy, the
water buffalo expedition just might be in order! Had a great welcome
dinner for Jill last night at the trendiest restaurant in Stuttgart –
booked in Jill’s honor weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Too bad she
was in the plane instead of with us.
Now we’re touring my life today (current house already visited, office
tour also complete – we still have the gym and future house to go and
then the rumpled traveller can take a nap). Okay, maybe not the typical
tour hotspots, but still a step up from Dulles Int’l. Heading back to
tour now…
But one more thing – where the heck is my 200 bucks, Sista #1!?!
Sitting here in the office contemplating the stacks of photo paper, ….

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Stuck in Jersey

March 24th, 2006

Well, after a long day, I missed my last flight out of Newark!! Fortunately, I got a ticket for tomorrow, and since the airline guy liked my last name, I got a hotel voucher, even though they said they wouldn’t be giving them out!! Almost got in trouble with security when I tried to rummage through my suitcases and then leave them again. Now I just have a minute left online, I only had a dollar. Maybe I’ll go take a bath. Nothing like starting the vacation in Newark!!

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sista #2, where are you?

March 23rd, 2006

Sorry, still no post from the OTHER safari sista. But, I guess her travels don’t start for another week, yet. Still, would be nice to know if she is still coming… May be just me and the lemurs.

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