Safari

It is 10:30 am and I've been up five hours, yesterday afternoon and this morning I have been on two safaris, at least three hours long.  Saw mother lion and three teenaged cubs almost as big as she is, then for about a half hour saw two groups of elephants, adults teenagers and babies.  Got really good pictures of them for you Marcia.  Today saw cheetas, two brothers, who were raise as cubs with people, one is wearing a collar, they are repeatedly exposed to people like us, when we walked to within about 15 feet of them ( they were habituated to people, and are periodically reexposed to people so as to reimprint on their minds that we are not possible food) so they just ignored is, and stretched out and  occasional groomed themselves.  Besides we knew that they had just eaten a small antelope the remains of which was laying a few feet beside them so had their belly's full, and were no danger to us.  Mid safari this morning a great excitement on the radio system in the expanded jeep, and off we went this way and that, with more jabbering in one of the S. African languages, and more excited turns, up this way and that, and finally it w.as a pack of wild dogs squabbling over

after dark spotlighted lion last night

another type of antelope, they were tugging and pulling at the carcus, each trying to be sure they each got a little more than their fair share.  All of a sudden off they ran, one with the anytelope's head in it's mouth.  The guides then explained what all the jabbering on the radio was about, we were given a rare treat to view the wild dogs.  A little smaller, and thinner than German shepards, but with huge upright ears and brown, tan, black and white sleek coats of hair.  Wild killing machines were how the guides described them.  Thee times this morning we saw close up various groups and individuals of  giraffes, one male, three or so females, and a bunch of teeenagers, most very close to, or on the roads.  Very nonchalant, ignoring us.  one just looked at us and seemed to wonder what we were doing on his road.  After we got back to the resort, during breakfast, a wart hog visited us, tusks and all, just off the front driveway, and I got good pictures of him. Also from a distance saw the head of a hippo,  a croc, some large almost horse sized type of antelope.  Enjoying the safaris.  Another at 4 PM today.  Took the pictures with my camera, can't operate the tablet fast enough, and in daylight you can't see the screen with reflections, so those pics will have to wait to be blogged.

Moditlo Lodgr

Never got to go up to Table Mountain, yesterday it was very windy, cold, misty inbetween rain.  Saw Bishop Tutu's church, SA museum, Parliament gardens, I ached all over, so when hotel offered one third off I could hear Brian saying, get the massage, don't be so cheep!  Same with Robbin Island, too windy to go.  Left Cape Town at 7am flew to Kruger National Park ( jungle).  It is warm, a little humid, but have felt worse at home.  Folks from Holland are really feeling the heat.  Gotta go and spray my self off with deet, and smear Sun tan oil on to be ready for first safari.  Haven't seen or felt a mosquito yet.

Yesterday I blogged, but the wifi hiccupped, and everything I wrote disappeared, so let's see what I remember.  Had a whole day tour on Wednesday to Cape of Good Hope, and sites off the main road on the way south.  I always imagined that Cape Town water front was the Cape itself, but no from Cape Town it is about eighty miles to the bottom of the continent with mountains inbetween.  Most of the way we traveled on the Atlantic shore road.  Beautiful, breathtaking, many areas the road is cliff side or along the shore.  Go around a mountain bend in the road and a bay opens up before you, cliffs, beaches, homes and palaces.  One bay had about 15 miles of sand in a huge curve, after the beach there was a vast wetland ringed by the houses up the slopes about a third of the way up.  So beautiful!  S. Africa is keeping some of the land as nature preserves, and here was one of many examples I saw of this environmental protection, the houses were in a wide band not too low on the wetland nor too high so the unspoiled mountain greenery wasn't covered by a housing development.  Rounding another bend in the road, and the road went a little higher up cliff side, and suddenly on the ocean side of the road were a very long string of small parking lots.  No these were roof tops with driveways unto them from the road on which we were driving, and below each "parking lot" were apartment buildings with the floors going down to the beach.  Maybe five or six apartments under each parking lot, running down the cliff which were adjacent to and below the roadway.  Another bay was the home to a fishing village, where on the quay were fifty tents, awnings and tarps on the ground, each offering tourist klitsh ( depending on the beholder junk or treasured keepsack).  In the water, just were they should be were a half dozen motor launches offering rides out to a clumping of rocks, or island carpeted with seals.  The waters in the harbor were placid, but beyond the breakwater, the boat bounced around hills and valleys of water, which the tourist looked out at eye level, or occasionally up a little to see the creast of the hill of water.  Once behind the island, the seals were but twenty feet away from the boat, and the seas churned beyond the perifery of the rocks...  but we had to return to the safety of the harbor thru the watery termoil.  The last few miles north of the Cape of Good Hope were low slung hills of brush, bushes, reeds and a dusty pink flower that grew helter skelter between the brush which the wild ostriches seem to prefer.  The males are the expected black and white plumage, while the females have a muddy brown, with slight accents of black and white feathers.  I saw perhaps ten to fifteen of the birds.  The road approaching the Cape is just above sea level with rocks and boulders individually or in piles just off shore between the road and the oceans causing breakers churn and crash ashore, the cold Atlantic and the warmer  Indian Oceans waters meet and mix at the Cape and crash ashore.  Inland of the Cape is a higher bluff with a light house on it, looking down on the Cape itself.  On the way back to Cape town we cut across from the Indian Ocean shore thru a pretty valley with mountains surrounding the valley to the Atlantic shore..  Here the two Oceans were about two or three miles apart with the snaking-winding valley having constant winds from the east or the west.  The last surprise was a visit to a jackass penguin rookery.  And these birds lived up to their namesake, they bray just like a donkey, but the youngsters coo to vocalize.  The guide and I discussed going to Table Mountain just behind Cape Town, but it was misty and you couldn't see the mountain top.  So I decided to wait until Thursday to see it, so I took advantage of the hotel shuttle to the waterfront, and had an assorted wild life dinner. One was crockedile, and springbok, and a buffalo, couldn't taste the difference between them, or regular beef, except one was very chewy.

Arrived about 11am in Capetown, South Africa, showered, my email had my Indian visa, hotel business desk printed it off for me.  Now I can enter India.  Applied for this visa couple months before I left on this trip.  The India government processes visa's a month before the traveler arrives in India, not before.  Which for my arrival on May 17th means they processed it beginning April 17th, but I left home on March 20th, so we arranged for email delivery, not regular postage.  I was worried that it would work, but those are the rules, but not too worry, it worked as promised!!!  About two pm I went out on the town, love Capetown!!!  More later, need a good nite's sleep, since this the first time a real bed is available since I got up Saturday morning, flew to Santiago arriving about 10:30 pm, stayed in airport Sat nite, had to be at airport by 4 am Sunday, flew to Buneos Aires Sunday early, then to London in Sunday afternoon, arriving there about 6 am Monday morning, had 15.5 hour layover so went to British Museum during the day, then at 9:30 pm flew to Capetown arriving after 10 am Tuesday--today, so after s busy day, it's beddy bye for me, thank goodness in a real bed, not an airline seat.  Nite!

Capetown, South Africa is beautiful!  See for yourself!

Street entertainment

Boardwalks

Night time beauty

Harbor in foreground, Table Mountain in the background

Restaurants, good food, great views.

15 minutes later I'm at gate 34 the end of the hallway.  This flight to Capetown has about six different airline flight numbers from six different airlines, my flight BA 059, an American #, and four more airlines whose two letter codes before their flight numbers I don't recognize.  All a part of the One World system.  This the system I'm using on my round the world flights for the grand total of $7,100, plus tax, which gets me around the world, then of course add in all of my major and minor tours, including their associated flights, which take off and return from the One World cities.  We're boarding.

Finally have time to blog, AND have a hotspot at the same time, in about ten days this has not been true... Woopie!!!   So I'm at Heathrow Airport, waiting for my flight's gate to post, so am having a decaf mocha and an hour to spend on catching everyone up.  I actually got an email off to my family at a cafe near the British Museum late this afternoon, so I'm cooking with gas.  Last I did a detailed post I was in Santiago,  then I finally got to the Falkland Islands on April 16th, was met at the airport by Loraigne (sorry if the spelling is wrong) , and she transported me to Darwin House in the exact middle of East Falkland Islanfd on the narrow land bridge between the north and south parts of that East island.  I never got to West Falkland Island, but was assured the land scape between the East and West Islands was very similar, but the West has more mountantous areas.  The southern part of East Falkland Island just beyond the narrow land bridge is the flatest part of the country, it once was one huge sheep ranch.  Stanley the capital is at the North East part of the island, and Mount Pleasant the British military base also serves as the international airport, Stanley has a local airport and the island government owns and provides the intra island air service from that city airport.  Anyway my first two days were spent at Darwin House, a resort bread & breakfast which is superb in every detail, the hosts Loraigne and Alan are really great hosts, and tour guides, and their food and service top notch.  Alan spent my second day showing me the war sites of the Argentian invasion in 1982.  Here and there there are fenced off mine fields which have not been cleared of the plastic land mines, being plastic makes them harder to detect because metal detectors don't register and indicate the mines locations.  The British government is clearing out the mine fields from Stanley outwards--mainly.  There still are Beach mine fields in several locations near Stanley, and the penquins walk right over them, but because they don't weigh a 100 pounds they aren't heavy enough to detonate the mines, lucky penquins.  I had another full days tour from Tony Smith, who is the prime expert on the war, and can sure show one all the scenic bests while on tour.   A side benefit is the thrill ride the tourist gets enroute to the war venues.  It is better than a roller coaster ride at Adventureland.  Over bogs, ruts, up mountains, skirting rocks, and thru fence gates necessary to keep the sheep in their various pastures, most hundreds if not thousands of acres each.  I volunteered to open each gate, and Alan or Tony drove thru, and I closed it, and hopped back into the range rover's, bet close to 100% of the vehicles are 4 wheel drive.  The island museum is fantastic, spent six or more hours in there.  Very well done!  Now after all the bragging, the balance must be told, it is super expensive for everything, nothing is free, not even wifi at the expensive B&B's or hotels, restaurants, anyplace...  But since everything comes from Britain, Scandinavia (the prefab quality housing), South America-- but not Argentina--the war has many lingering effects, especially Argentina refusing to allow any additional flights over it's air space, but the one per week agreed upon by the treaty after the war.  --  more to blog, but gotta get to my gate for my Capetown flight in an hour.  See ya later.