With our bodies readjusted to our new time zone, we flew to Hazyview, a small town outside the gate to Kruger NP. That was the beginning of a 5 day private tour of the wildlife-filled National Park. Our group of 7 experienced a sunset safari and three 5 am sunrise safaris that lasted until the late afternoons on 2 of the days. Our excellent Kurt Safari guide, Sammy, was a treat to be with and he had no trouble finding the Big 5 for us (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Cape Buffalo) and we saw them all multiple times. Zebra, giraffe, impala, warthog, hyena and more, were common sightings every day. We were even fortunate to come across a large pack (22) of wild dogs which are difficult to find. We spent another day driving along the scenic Panorama Route, with stops at God's Window (views), Lisbon Falls, Blyde River Canyon and Burke's Potholes (water formed basins). All were impressive but it was just a sideshow to the amazing wildlife encounters that we experienced within Kruger NP. A highlight was an early morning discovery of a pride of lions (7) resting on the road, creating a traffic blockade. It was our second visit to the park and it never gets tired because we discover new memories. This time, being a late December visit, we saw many more newborn babies.
Our group then flew to Cape Town at the southern end of the country for our final stop together. We rented another beautiful suburban home for a week, this time with a pool in the backyard, as we attempted to calm down the pace a little. Day trips with our van rental included visits to the V & A waterfront, Robben Island (Nelson Mandela's prison time), Table Mountain (the young ones hiked up like we did last time), and a drive down to the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape trip included a stop at Boulder Beach (Simon's Town) to walk along the boardwalk to where the African penguins are active in a protected area. That encounter was popular enough to earn a return visit. We were back home each day in good time and everyone took their turn being master chef for dinner, so we ate well.
Sadly, the time has come for us to part ways again, with the younger ones returning home to restart their work commitments. Being able to spend both Christmas and New Year's together was special and we all have more wonderful memories to add to our cache. Once we saw them off we moved on to the nearby wine region town of Stellenbosch to spend a couple of days before venturing off to a new African country.
The Apartheid Museum in Soweto, Johannesburg. Both entrances are available to everyone today but each displayed the discrepancies between skin colour, with stairs on the right and a ramp on the left. While progress has been made (slowly), it was still sad to see the condition of the township residences that a local walked us through.
Our group, minus our Swiss photographer, ready to enter the Sterkfontein Caves at the Cradle of Humankind. We didn't find any new ancient remains but we did discover some very narrow and shallow passageways, so the hard hats came in handy.
An African termite nest. Our first night safari guide took the second picture, looking down inside the nest.
On our first sunrise safari we came across the wildlife in harmony, a scene that was repeated frequently with all kinds of species, providing the lions were not close at hand.
The Bourke's Luck Potholes, where mother nature had created some remarkable scenes. The Panorama Route drive, between Kruger NP and Joburg, was worth a repeat performance from our 2013 trip.
On another sunrise safari we encountered a pride of lions blocking the roadway. Once we all had some good pictures our guide turned the jeep around to take another road through the national park.
The lion detour led us to a sighting of this rhino, feeding on the grasses.
Later, that same day, we observed a leopard stalking his prey. We waited 5 minutes for some action but only saw the continued stare. Later, on the radio, our guide heard that same leopard had captured a baby impala.
On our final safari day we came across some guinea fowls close to the dirt roadway. There were numerous colourful bird species within the park.
A warthog family, grazing. Warthogs are members of Africa's "Ugly Five", along with the hyena, wildebeest, vulture and marabou stork, all of which we were blessed (?) to observe.
On our drive down to the Cape of Good of Good Hope, during our Cape Town stay, we came back to the parking lot to find a baboon sitting on top of a nearby car. Did he do it for the view?
On our drive back from the Cape we stopped at Boulder Beach in Simon's Town, were there was a protected area for the resident African penguins. I took this picture from the boardwalk, avoiding a long line-up to get a much closer view. Others in our party waited for a quieter time to get up close and even came back early the next day for a second viewing. We got spoiled in Antarctica where the penguins sometimes walked between your legs while you were trying to take their picture.
