I’m doing this because there are thousands of pictures to be sorted out, and I suspect the audience here is not that interested in lots of animal pics that were obviously more impressive close up and in person. Detail TR links included in this post as they are added.
June 8-10, Johannesburg
We had a guide Malcolm from Ekala Tours, highly recommended in Johannesburg for 2 days and one in Pretoria. In Johannesburg we went to the Apartheid Museum and the nearby closed gold mine in Gold Reef City. Malcolm also drove us into Soweto to the sites of the 1976 student uprisings and several other historical sites related to the struggle against apartheid. There is not as much optimism in South Africa as on my last visit 22 years ago. Mandela’s successors have not done well and everyone complains of corruption, not so different from many African countries. Botswana is the conspicuous exception to this generalization and now has the highest per capita GDP in Africa aside from a couple of small countries with oil wealth.
A Pretoria tour day includes the Voortrekker Monument and the house of the last Boer President Paul Kruger. Malcolm will give you a good grounding in the history from both Boer and African perspectives.
June 11-13, Victoria Falls
We did the Angel Pool excursion upon arrival at the Avani hotel in Livingstone. On June 12 we did the white water rafting on the lower Zambezi and a sunset walk on the Zambia side of the falls. On June 13 we walked across the border for the longer walk facing 75% of the falls on the Zimbabwe side.
June 14-18, Okavango Delta, Botswana
We visited two of the private camps, Lebala and Splash. Almost all of Botswana’s safari tourism is at these boutique camps served only by small charter aircraft. Liz got her lion fix many times but strong efforts to find leopard and cheetah were not successful. A highlight at the end was a 15 minute chase of critically endangered African wild dogs.
June 18-19, Chobe National Park, Botswana
In general public safari parks can be more challenging to find game due to traffic, including private do-it-yourselfers being restricted to staying on the roads. Chobe is an exception to that rule, as the late afternoon safaris are on boats along the river among Africa’s highest concentration of elephants. There is plenty of other wildlife including exotic birds, If you’re going to Victoria Falls, Chobe is only about 90 minutes by car transfer and highly recommended as a great value if you don’t want to pay up for the private camps.
June 19-20, Windhoek, Namibia
In Africa most international travel is via Johannesburg. We avoided this by getting a vehicle transfer to Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi Strip, where we could get a domestic Namibia flight to Windhoek. We had a half day city tour before joining the Travel Masters Namibia tour.
June 20-30
Travel Masters is the company with whom we did the 2016 scuba and eclipse trip in Indonesia. Itinerary below which lured Liz to sign us up at $14K per person:
DAILY ITINERARY
Namibia is soul-stirring. Here on the southwest edge of Africa, burnt-orange dunes rise a thousand feet high against a cobalt sky. Inside are diamonds, tucked into the mountains of sand by waves and wind. The coastal desert is washed by the relentless ocean, while inland, the sun bakes the plains into a cracked puzzle of dried mud, pocked with enough grass and thornbush to sustain desert rhinoceros and other rare species uniquely adapted to survive in these daunting environs. There is water here, too, although its presence is subtle. At times, life is sustained merely by remnants of fog that drift in from the sea. In the stark Etosha salt pan, waterholes attract game pursued by feline predators. Springbok, oryx, kudu and dik-dik run to elude them in a great and ancient desert dance.
DAY 1: WINDHOEK
Arrive Windhoek anytime today.
Days 2 & 3: SOSSUSVLEI
At a time to be advised locally, you will be collected from your hotel and transferred by road to the airport for
Your charter flight to Sossusvlei and Kwessi Dunes.
Private Charter flight to Sossusvlei (times to be advised locally).
In the midst of rolling plains and craggy mountains, you’ll find Kwessi Dunes, boasting 12 comfortable, air-conditioned chalets all with canvas walls and thatched roofs. Each bedroom also has an en suite bathroom with both indoor and outdoor showers, a shaded, outdoor veranda and a separate ‘star gazer’ room, completely open to the sky, and the perfect spot from which to watch the celestial theater show above. The view from the lodge is spectacular, and the glass windows and doors at the main area look out onto the undulating sand that only ends when it meets the mountains, far in the distance. Inside, there’s a well-stocked bar, library area and several seating and dining areas. When the sun rises in the morning, head to the camp fire for a morning coffee or tea, while in the heat of the day, the swimming pool is the only place tobe.
Kwessi Dunes is located deep in Namibia’s striking NamibRand Nature Reserve, a vast desert wilderness of more than 494,000 acres. The dunes are home to a variety of wildlife that has adapted in many fascinating ways in order to survive. For example, find the gemsbok, or oryx, with their white bellies that reflect the heat of the sand and their sophisticated vascular system that cools the blood around the brain. Spot the bat-eared fox, whose ears help to amplify the sound of their predators approaching. You may also see springbok, kudu and steenbok as well as Burchell’s zebra, black-backed jackal, aardwolves and Africa wild cats.
Hot Air Balloon Safari: At sunrise, in the world’s oldest desert, witness a spectacular hot air balloon inflation, and set out on the flight of a lifetime. Soar with the winds for an hour, over the oceans of sand and mountains, endless vistas of shadows and lights. At landing, you come back to earth with an “Out Of Africa” style Champagne breakfast set up in the middle of nowhere. Your pilot will present you with a flight certificate before you take a leisurely nature drive back to the pick-up point. It is an experience like no other.
Please note that this is a shared activity. Children should be at least 4 feet tall to be allowed to do the activity.
Sossusvlei Excursion: Depart camp early in the morning, heading west into the Namib-Naukluft National
Park. Drive through a sea of rust-orange sand dunes, perfectly shaped by the wind into sharp peaks creating unique shadows in the morning sunlight. One of the highlights of your excursion will be Big Daddy, the highest sand dune in the Sossusvlei area, reaching over 1000-1200 feet most days. You have the option of climbing up the ridge of this impressive formation as far as you'd like, and you can depart down either side at any time. To the right of the main ridge of Big Daddy sits Dead Vlei (meaning "dead marsh" in Afrikaans) at the bottom of the dune. This massive clay pan was once an oasis, now dry, and is dotted with the remains of acacia camel thorn trees that are thought to have died 600-700 years ago and are now scorched black by the sun. The desiccated pan floor is a cracked white clay, creating an austere and surreal landscape to explore. Another stop you can make is at Dune 45, nearly 300 feet tall and comprised of five million year-old sands. Because Sossusvlei is inside a national park and quite a popular site, you will see other tourists and vehicles here, but the experience of seeing these features up close is unique and worthwhile.
Overnights Kwessi Dunes in 7 Rooms (full board basis—all meals included)
DAYS 4 & 5: KAOKOLAND
At a time to be advised locally, you will be transferred to the airstrip for your charter flight to Hoanib Valley Camp.
Private Charter flight to Damaraland (times to be advised locally).
Flight times are subject to change.
In a country jam-packed with vast, spectacularly beautiful landscapes, Kaokoland may just be the most incredible of them all. Deep in northwestern Namibia, the area is a melee of towering mountains, sand dunes, and huge expanses of desert, scattered with unique wildlife and nomadic Himba settlements. It’s also one of Namibia’s most remote and wild environments, and one that not many will get the chance to discover in a lifetime.
A joint venture between the local communities and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, the world’s only Africa-wide giraffe conservation organisation, Hoanib Valley Camp is an elegant, intimate affair that immerses you into the wilds of the desert. The six rooms blend seamlessly with the environment, offering a simple aesthetic that matches the rugged landscape down to a tee. Days are spent tracking endangered rhino, desert-adapted elephant, and of course desert-adapted giraffe, before retiring to your private veranda to marvel at the magnitude of your surroundings.
Game drive through the network of dry sand riverbeds and discover desert-adapted lion, elephant and giraffe, and track endangered black rhino. Visit the Giraffe Conservation Foundation field-base and learn about the cutting-edge giraffe research being conducted here. Spend time with local Herero and Himba people and learn a little of their fascinating way of life in such a harsh climate. Embark on a guided nature walk and uncover the smaller flora and fauna of the desert.
Overnights Hoanib Valley Camp in 7 Rooms (full board basis—all meals included)
DAYS 6 & 7: SKELETON COAST
At a time to be advised locally, you will transfer by road to Shipwreck Lodge.
Uniquely designed around the enigmatic shipwrecks that line Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, there’s nowhere on the continent quite like Shipwreck Lodge. In fact, there’s nowhere on the continent quite like the Skeleton Coast. It’s a raw, rugged and impossibly remote slice of African wilderness, where towering dunes and wind-swept plains roll as far as the eye can see, buffeted by the icy Atlantic seas.
The camp is built to match the remarkable scenery of the Skeleton Coast, and each of the 10 rooms have been constructed to resemble the shipwrecks that line the beach. There are eight twin or double rooms, and two family tents, all en suite and solar-powered. Well, apart from the wood burning stove but on the chilly evenings and mornings, it’s most definitely a welcome addition! In the center of camp, you’ll find an uniquely designed lounge and restaurant with a wide, wraparound deck and uninterrupted views across the sand, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
But there’s much more to the area than simple isolation. Stay at Shipwreck Lodge, and game drive among the desert-dwelling elephant, lion and kudu, or discover the enchanting desert flora; sit atop the roaring dunes as the sun sinks below the horizon, or visit at the Suiderkus and Karimona shipwrecks or marvel at the geologically-remarkable Clay Castles. Really, there’s nowhere like it on earth.
Overnights Shipwreck Lodge in 7 Rooms (full board basis—all meals included)
DAYS 8–10: ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
At a time to be advised locally, you will be transferred to the airstrip for your charter flight to Etosha National Park, where you will be met and transferred to Safarihoek Lodge.
Private Charter flight to Etosha National Park (times to be advised locally).
Flight times are subject to change.
The vistas at Safarihoek have to be some of the best. Raised high above the savanna on wooden platforms, each of the 11 chalets look out over the ambling zebra and romping elephant on the plains below. Take a seat on your private deck and watch wild Africa wander by, or escape the heat inside; the view is just as spectacular wherever you choose to sit. Under the thatch roofs of the chalets, you’ll find large double or twin beds, and a small writing desk, minibar and coffee station. All bathrooms have air conditioning and are ensuite with indoor showers. In the center of camp, you’ll find a large lounge area, wine cellar, dining area, and a small curio shop all under thatch. There’s also a cozy outdoor seating area complete with roaring fire, and a perfect spot for keeping an eye on passing four-legged creatures. Drinks are served from the outdoor bar and can also be taken to the swimming pool, a cooling space with the same infinite views of the plainsbelow.
The impressive 148,000 acres of classic Etosha landscape around Safarihoek Lodge is dominated by vast, flat savanna interspersed with thickets of mopane woodland, riverine forest, and scattered salt pans. The dolomite hills offer cover for elusive mountain zebra, kudu and lion, and the numerous waterholes attract large numbers of game and their feathered counterparts. The reserve is also home to numerous species of antelope including sable and black-faced impala, as well as giraffe and other plains game. In winter, aardvark and elephant sightings are not infrequent. The Etosha area is rated one of the best places on the continent to view rhino, and Etosha Heights is home to both white and black rhino. A morning spent tracking their footprints through the dust before eventually coming nose-to-horn with one of the endangered beasts is a memory not to be forgotten. Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in the Etosha Heights Private Reserve, get a different perspective on a night game drive, spend a morning or afternoon in the unique, double-tiered photography hide and enjoy bush meals and picnics.
Overnights Safarihoek Lodge (full board basis—all meals included)
DAY 11: DEPARTURE
At a time to be advised locally, you will have transfer to the airstrip for your charter flight to Windhoek to connect with your onward departing flight.
Private Charter flight to Windhoek (times to be advised locally).
July 1-7, Cape Town and Western Cape
We did not have cooperative weather much of this week. Table Mountain was under cloud July 1-2 and it poured rain all day July 3. On July 1 we took the boat out to Robben Island, where in-prison walking tours are still conducted by former inmates, not sure how much longer that will be possible as they age out.
July 2 we drove out to Paarl Rock and then to Cheetah Outreach, a rehab center as we did not see cheetah in the wild.
July 3 in the rain we drove to Mossel Bay, stopping at an ostrich farm on the way.
July 4 was a boat tour to look for great white sharks. South Africa used to be a slam dunk for the cage diving, but great whites are not the apex predator. Orcas have discovered great white livers as a delicacy so the great whites are not as abundant after numerous incidents in recent years.
July 5-6 had better weather. On July 5 we drove the scenic southern coast to Cape Agulhas, Hermanus and the penguin colony at Betty’s Bay. On July 6 we went up the Table Mountain tram in the morning, then drove down to a short hike at the Cape of Hood Hope, finishing at the Cecil Rhodes monument in the Table Mountain foothills.
As in 2002 Cape Town remains the bargain foodie destination of the world. We had three major multicourse extravagant dinners, two of them at prices well less than half what you might pay elsewhere. South African wine is also a great value and we are bringing home 3 of the wines we sampled on those tasting menu dinners, those in the $25 range.
I’ve already posted the final adventures of July 7-10, Moolsmanhoek horseback safari and Afriski.
I welcome comments and requests for priority of detail reports with pictures.
June 8-10, Johannesburg
We had a guide Malcolm from Ekala Tours, highly recommended in Johannesburg for 2 days and one in Pretoria. In Johannesburg we went to the Apartheid Museum and the nearby closed gold mine in Gold Reef City. Malcolm also drove us into Soweto to the sites of the 1976 student uprisings and several other historical sites related to the struggle against apartheid. There is not as much optimism in South Africa as on my last visit 22 years ago. Mandela’s successors have not done well and everyone complains of corruption, not so different from many African countries. Botswana is the conspicuous exception to this generalization and now has the highest per capita GDP in Africa aside from a couple of small countries with oil wealth.
A Pretoria tour day includes the Voortrekker Monument and the house of the last Boer President Paul Kruger. Malcolm will give you a good grounding in the history from both Boer and African perspectives.
June 11-13, Victoria Falls
We did the Angel Pool excursion upon arrival at the Avani hotel in Livingstone. On June 12 we did the white water rafting on the lower Zambezi and a sunset walk on the Zambia side of the falls. On June 13 we walked across the border for the longer walk facing 75% of the falls on the Zimbabwe side.
June 14-18, Okavango Delta, Botswana
We visited two of the private camps, Lebala and Splash. Almost all of Botswana’s safari tourism is at these boutique camps served only by small charter aircraft. Liz got her lion fix many times but strong efforts to find leopard and cheetah were not successful. A highlight at the end was a 15 minute chase of critically endangered African wild dogs.
June 18-19, Chobe National Park, Botswana
In general public safari parks can be more challenging to find game due to traffic, including private do-it-yourselfers being restricted to staying on the roads. Chobe is an exception to that rule, as the late afternoon safaris are on boats along the river among Africa’s highest concentration of elephants. There is plenty of other wildlife including exotic birds, If you’re going to Victoria Falls, Chobe is only about 90 minutes by car transfer and highly recommended as a great value if you don’t want to pay up for the private camps.
June 19-20, Windhoek, Namibia
In Africa most international travel is via Johannesburg. We avoided this by getting a vehicle transfer to Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi Strip, where we could get a domestic Namibia flight to Windhoek. We had a half day city tour before joining the Travel Masters Namibia tour.
June 20-30
Travel Masters is the company with whom we did the 2016 scuba and eclipse trip in Indonesia. Itinerary below which lured Liz to sign us up at $14K per person:
DAILY ITINERARY
Namibia is soul-stirring. Here on the southwest edge of Africa, burnt-orange dunes rise a thousand feet high against a cobalt sky. Inside are diamonds, tucked into the mountains of sand by waves and wind. The coastal desert is washed by the relentless ocean, while inland, the sun bakes the plains into a cracked puzzle of dried mud, pocked with enough grass and thornbush to sustain desert rhinoceros and other rare species uniquely adapted to survive in these daunting environs. There is water here, too, although its presence is subtle. At times, life is sustained merely by remnants of fog that drift in from the sea. In the stark Etosha salt pan, waterholes attract game pursued by feline predators. Springbok, oryx, kudu and dik-dik run to elude them in a great and ancient desert dance.
DAY 1: WINDHOEK
Arrive Windhoek anytime today.
Days 2 & 3: SOSSUSVLEI
At a time to be advised locally, you will be collected from your hotel and transferred by road to the airport for
Your charter flight to Sossusvlei and Kwessi Dunes.
Private Charter flight to Sossusvlei (times to be advised locally).
In the midst of rolling plains and craggy mountains, you’ll find Kwessi Dunes, boasting 12 comfortable, air-conditioned chalets all with canvas walls and thatched roofs. Each bedroom also has an en suite bathroom with both indoor and outdoor showers, a shaded, outdoor veranda and a separate ‘star gazer’ room, completely open to the sky, and the perfect spot from which to watch the celestial theater show above. The view from the lodge is spectacular, and the glass windows and doors at the main area look out onto the undulating sand that only ends when it meets the mountains, far in the distance. Inside, there’s a well-stocked bar, library area and several seating and dining areas. When the sun rises in the morning, head to the camp fire for a morning coffee or tea, while in the heat of the day, the swimming pool is the only place tobe.
Kwessi Dunes is located deep in Namibia’s striking NamibRand Nature Reserve, a vast desert wilderness of more than 494,000 acres. The dunes are home to a variety of wildlife that has adapted in many fascinating ways in order to survive. For example, find the gemsbok, or oryx, with their white bellies that reflect the heat of the sand and their sophisticated vascular system that cools the blood around the brain. Spot the bat-eared fox, whose ears help to amplify the sound of their predators approaching. You may also see springbok, kudu and steenbok as well as Burchell’s zebra, black-backed jackal, aardwolves and Africa wild cats.
Hot Air Balloon Safari: At sunrise, in the world’s oldest desert, witness a spectacular hot air balloon inflation, and set out on the flight of a lifetime. Soar with the winds for an hour, over the oceans of sand and mountains, endless vistas of shadows and lights. At landing, you come back to earth with an “Out Of Africa” style Champagne breakfast set up in the middle of nowhere. Your pilot will present you with a flight certificate before you take a leisurely nature drive back to the pick-up point. It is an experience like no other.
Please note that this is a shared activity. Children should be at least 4 feet tall to be allowed to do the activity.
Sossusvlei Excursion: Depart camp early in the morning, heading west into the Namib-Naukluft National
Park. Drive through a sea of rust-orange sand dunes, perfectly shaped by the wind into sharp peaks creating unique shadows in the morning sunlight. One of the highlights of your excursion will be Big Daddy, the highest sand dune in the Sossusvlei area, reaching over 1000-1200 feet most days. You have the option of climbing up the ridge of this impressive formation as far as you'd like, and you can depart down either side at any time. To the right of the main ridge of Big Daddy sits Dead Vlei (meaning "dead marsh" in Afrikaans) at the bottom of the dune. This massive clay pan was once an oasis, now dry, and is dotted with the remains of acacia camel thorn trees that are thought to have died 600-700 years ago and are now scorched black by the sun. The desiccated pan floor is a cracked white clay, creating an austere and surreal landscape to explore. Another stop you can make is at Dune 45, nearly 300 feet tall and comprised of five million year-old sands. Because Sossusvlei is inside a national park and quite a popular site, you will see other tourists and vehicles here, but the experience of seeing these features up close is unique and worthwhile.
Overnights Kwessi Dunes in 7 Rooms (full board basis—all meals included)
DAYS 4 & 5: KAOKOLAND
At a time to be advised locally, you will be transferred to the airstrip for your charter flight to Hoanib Valley Camp.
Private Charter flight to Damaraland (times to be advised locally).
Flight times are subject to change.
In a country jam-packed with vast, spectacularly beautiful landscapes, Kaokoland may just be the most incredible of them all. Deep in northwestern Namibia, the area is a melee of towering mountains, sand dunes, and huge expanses of desert, scattered with unique wildlife and nomadic Himba settlements. It’s also one of Namibia’s most remote and wild environments, and one that not many will get the chance to discover in a lifetime.
A joint venture between the local communities and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, the world’s only Africa-wide giraffe conservation organisation, Hoanib Valley Camp is an elegant, intimate affair that immerses you into the wilds of the desert. The six rooms blend seamlessly with the environment, offering a simple aesthetic that matches the rugged landscape down to a tee. Days are spent tracking endangered rhino, desert-adapted elephant, and of course desert-adapted giraffe, before retiring to your private veranda to marvel at the magnitude of your surroundings.
Game drive through the network of dry sand riverbeds and discover desert-adapted lion, elephant and giraffe, and track endangered black rhino. Visit the Giraffe Conservation Foundation field-base and learn about the cutting-edge giraffe research being conducted here. Spend time with local Herero and Himba people and learn a little of their fascinating way of life in such a harsh climate. Embark on a guided nature walk and uncover the smaller flora and fauna of the desert.
Overnights Hoanib Valley Camp in 7 Rooms (full board basis—all meals included)
DAYS 6 & 7: SKELETON COAST
At a time to be advised locally, you will transfer by road to Shipwreck Lodge.
Uniquely designed around the enigmatic shipwrecks that line Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, there’s nowhere on the continent quite like Shipwreck Lodge. In fact, there’s nowhere on the continent quite like the Skeleton Coast. It’s a raw, rugged and impossibly remote slice of African wilderness, where towering dunes and wind-swept plains roll as far as the eye can see, buffeted by the icy Atlantic seas.
The camp is built to match the remarkable scenery of the Skeleton Coast, and each of the 10 rooms have been constructed to resemble the shipwrecks that line the beach. There are eight twin or double rooms, and two family tents, all en suite and solar-powered. Well, apart from the wood burning stove but on the chilly evenings and mornings, it’s most definitely a welcome addition! In the center of camp, you’ll find an uniquely designed lounge and restaurant with a wide, wraparound deck and uninterrupted views across the sand, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
But there’s much more to the area than simple isolation. Stay at Shipwreck Lodge, and game drive among the desert-dwelling elephant, lion and kudu, or discover the enchanting desert flora; sit atop the roaring dunes as the sun sinks below the horizon, or visit at the Suiderkus and Karimona shipwrecks or marvel at the geologically-remarkable Clay Castles. Really, there’s nowhere like it on earth.
Overnights Shipwreck Lodge in 7 Rooms (full board basis—all meals included)
DAYS 8–10: ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
At a time to be advised locally, you will be transferred to the airstrip for your charter flight to Etosha National Park, where you will be met and transferred to Safarihoek Lodge.
Private Charter flight to Etosha National Park (times to be advised locally).
Flight times are subject to change.
The vistas at Safarihoek have to be some of the best. Raised high above the savanna on wooden platforms, each of the 11 chalets look out over the ambling zebra and romping elephant on the plains below. Take a seat on your private deck and watch wild Africa wander by, or escape the heat inside; the view is just as spectacular wherever you choose to sit. Under the thatch roofs of the chalets, you’ll find large double or twin beds, and a small writing desk, minibar and coffee station. All bathrooms have air conditioning and are ensuite with indoor showers. In the center of camp, you’ll find a large lounge area, wine cellar, dining area, and a small curio shop all under thatch. There’s also a cozy outdoor seating area complete with roaring fire, and a perfect spot for keeping an eye on passing four-legged creatures. Drinks are served from the outdoor bar and can also be taken to the swimming pool, a cooling space with the same infinite views of the plainsbelow.
The impressive 148,000 acres of classic Etosha landscape around Safarihoek Lodge is dominated by vast, flat savanna interspersed with thickets of mopane woodland, riverine forest, and scattered salt pans. The dolomite hills offer cover for elusive mountain zebra, kudu and lion, and the numerous waterholes attract large numbers of game and their feathered counterparts. The reserve is also home to numerous species of antelope including sable and black-faced impala, as well as giraffe and other plains game. In winter, aardvark and elephant sightings are not infrequent. The Etosha area is rated one of the best places on the continent to view rhino, and Etosha Heights is home to both white and black rhino. A morning spent tracking their footprints through the dust before eventually coming nose-to-horn with one of the endangered beasts is a memory not to be forgotten. Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in the Etosha Heights Private Reserve, get a different perspective on a night game drive, spend a morning or afternoon in the unique, double-tiered photography hide and enjoy bush meals and picnics.
Overnights Safarihoek Lodge (full board basis—all meals included)
DAY 11: DEPARTURE
At a time to be advised locally, you will have transfer to the airstrip for your charter flight to Windhoek to connect with your onward departing flight.
Private Charter flight to Windhoek (times to be advised locally).
July 1-7, Cape Town and Western Cape
We did not have cooperative weather much of this week. Table Mountain was under cloud July 1-2 and it poured rain all day July 3. On July 1 we took the boat out to Robben Island, where in-prison walking tours are still conducted by former inmates, not sure how much longer that will be possible as they age out.
July 2 we drove out to Paarl Rock and then to Cheetah Outreach, a rehab center as we did not see cheetah in the wild.
July 3 in the rain we drove to Mossel Bay, stopping at an ostrich farm on the way.
July 4 was a boat tour to look for great white sharks. South Africa used to be a slam dunk for the cage diving, but great whites are not the apex predator. Orcas have discovered great white livers as a delicacy so the great whites are not as abundant after numerous incidents in recent years.
July 5-6 had better weather. On July 5 we drove the scenic southern coast to Cape Agulhas, Hermanus and the penguin colony at Betty’s Bay. On July 6 we went up the Table Mountain tram in the morning, then drove down to a short hike at the Cape of Hood Hope, finishing at the Cecil Rhodes monument in the Table Mountain foothills.
As in 2002 Cape Town remains the bargain foodie destination of the world. We had three major multicourse extravagant dinners, two of them at prices well less than half what you might pay elsewhere. South African wine is also a great value and we are bringing home 3 of the wines we sampled on those tasting menu dinners, those in the $25 range.
I’ve already posted the final adventures of July 7-10, Moolsmanhoek horseback safari and Afriski.
I welcome comments and requests for priority of detail reports with pictures.
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