Day 21: I'm on a Safari!

Day two in the bush at Thakadu River Lodge in Madikwe Game Reserve.  So now we are 4 out of 5 in our big 5 count (lion, elephant, rhino, elephant, but no leopard).  There are so many other animals and brids here as well.  The video tells a better story, check it out!

Picture of our tents

G-Pop reading up on the animals we are tracking

See you tomorrow!  Make sure to share these videos and posts with your friends and family!  Let me know what you think in the comments!

Day 20: Cape Town to Thakadu River Lodge

Today we flew from Cape Town to Jo'burg on South African Airlines.  We then caught a single propeller plane from Jo'burg to Madikwe Game Reserve in the North West Province on the border with Botswana.  I thought I would be nervous landing on a dirt runway in the middle of the bush but I took it like a champ and so did my family.

Anyways, we are staying three nights at Thakadu River Lodge.  The accomodations are pretty luxurious tents.  Other than the fact that it is freezing at night, you wouldn't know you were in a tent.  The food here is awesome and we eat about five times a day.  The best part is the morning and afternoon 3+ hour game drives.  They have the big five here (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo) here so hopefully by day three we will get them all checked off.  Today we took care of rhino and buffalo but we are sure to see much more tomorrow.  Other good news is that they have a TV to watch all the WC matches while we are here in the bush!  Check out the video to enjoy our flights and to check a little Thakadu out:

Oh yea, on our way from the airstrip to the river lodge we ran into this in the road:

If you were wondering, Thakadu means Aardvark in Tstwana (Setswana), the local language here.  The history of the resort is pretty cool.  The lodge is actually run and owned by the local village:

The Batlokwa Boo Kgosi Traditional Community of Molatedi Village originated from a place inside the current Madikwe Game Reserve known as Tshwene-Tshwene around 1886. The arrival of white settlers in the area and their demands for taxes prompted the community to move to an area outside the control of the settlers. At the time of the move from their ancestral home around Tshwene-Tshwene, they were led by Sebolao, (Rangwaneakgosi - meaning ‘paternal uncle’) the paternal uncle of Mloloe, who was still a youngster. The name Molatedi came about as a result of this community promising their brother, Gaberone that they would follow him from their ancestral home around Tshwene-Tshwene into Botswana. However they decided to move to the eastern side of the Marico River and settled in what is now the Molatedi Village in 1886, and where they have resided ever since. Gaborone moved to the present site of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.

Mholoe ultimately took over the reigns of traditional leadership from his paternal uncle, and in turn passed the reigns of leadership to his eldest son, Tlhageng. By the time Tlhageng came of age he was already recognised by the government of the time as the kgosi or traditional leader. During the term of Kgosi Tlhageng there was little infra-structural development embarked upon by the community or by local government. Kgosi Tlhageng was succeeded by his eldest son Mokgatle Stephen Matlapeng (affectionately known as Topoti and the father of the current Kgosi) in 1968. During his term as Kgosi he established Tlhageng Primary School, the Local Clinic and the Traditional Administration Offices. He passed away in 1983 after an unsuccessful brain tumor operation at Garankuwa Hospital. He was succeeded by his younger brother Leserwa Kagiso John Matlapeng, who acted for a period of sixteen years for the present Kgosi Bafshoe Frans Mogalenyana Matlapeng, who was officially inaugurated on the 1st May 1999.

Numerous programs covering skills development, empowerment and training have started during the reign of Kgosi Bafshoe Frans Mogalenyana Matlapeng. The involvement of various institutions and organizations including Mafisa Consulting facilitated in unpacking and structuring the business opportunity for community development in Madikwe Game Reserve as offered by North-West Parks & Tourism Board. The concept and idea of a community lodge was presented and Sebolao Development Trust was formed as a legal entity representing the community of Molatedi. The Trust is made up of members of the community. The trust has also engaged the services of Potchefstroom University to assist with the training of trustees regarding their roles and responsibilities. The Nature Workshop provided the expertise regarding the design, development and on-going operational input for Thakadu River Camp.

Today the Molatedi Community is proud to own an asset in the form of a commercial lodge as an ecotourism product within the Madikwe Game Reserve.

Day 19: Cape Town and Mom and Joe in tha house!

As I said before, Mom and Joe are in the house!  I feel like a tour guide playing host to them as I've been here almost 3weeks and basically feel SA by now.  But there is so much we haven't seen yet...guess I need to come back to SA!

Today we planned on seeing the African penguins at Boulder National Park and then driving from the Cape of Good Hope along the coast back into Cape Town.  We got as far as the Penguins, when my mom ran into an old friend, Tony, who had moved back to SA years ago.  Turns out his wife, Nancy, lived in West Hartford for a while and her son, Jared, still lives in West Hartford and just happened to be visiting SA this month.  Anyways we chatted for hours, had lunch at a local restaurant while watching the England vs. Germany game (i have to say it was sweet watching England lose  : p ), then we headed over to their house where the so kindly allowed me and my dad to do some laundry.  We then went up Signal Hill to look down onto the city under the light of a full moon and then headed to a restaurant to watch the Argentina vs. Mexico match.

Penguins at Boulders National Park, photo credit: Mama

Cape Town under a Full Moon, photo credit: Mama

Anyways, just check out the movie, I need to get to bed...we are waking up at 5am tomorrow as we are catching a flight to go up to the North West province tomorrow on our way to Thakadu River Lodge at Madikwe Game Reserve...see you tomorrow...more animal videos on there way!

Day 18: Cape Town, Lion's Head Hike, USA - Ghana Game

Hello everyone...

So today was filled of joys and sorrows, I like ending on a high note so I will begin with the sorrows.  Well, actually it was only a singular major sorrow - USA lost to Ghana in their 2nd round match up in extra time.  It was a very disappointing game - the USA had many chances, however they could no finish.  Ghana prevailed in extra time.  So bad news that we won't get to see USA play in the quarterfinals in Jo'burg at Soccer City Stadium next week.  However, it will be pretty sweet to see Ghana play.  You don't know who is from Ghana and who is from all of the other African nations represented here in the World Cup.  Everyone, including all 48 million South Africans, is rallying behind the Black Stars of Ghana.  Africa is united as one.

Now for the joys...I hiked up Lion's head today...it was a tough climb but the view from the top is definitley worth it (see video for proof).  Even more joyful = Mama Bear and Mighty Joe Young (my mom and my brother joe) got into Cape Town tonight.  I was out watching the USA game while GPop picked them up from the airport...I got back from downtown Cape Town to see Joe gracefully snoring the night away in our hotel room.  Looking forward to continuing the South African journey with them as well!

Oh yea, Cape Town is definitely the second prettiest city I have ever been to.  Second only to Hartford of course!

Day 17: Plettenberg Bay to Cape Town

The hostel we stayed at last night in Keurboomstrand, just west of Plettenberg Bay, had amazing views of the beach from fourth floor wrap around deck.

After checking out the beach and the Indian Ocean across the street, we set sail on the Garden Route once again.  We stopped at Knysna for a great breakfast at East Head Cafe by the beautiful Knysna Heads.

After breakfast, we hit the road once again for Cape Town.

Once in Cape Town we met up with my friend Prab from Boston University and his buddy Hillard from his hometown of Providence.  After seeing Table Mountain and Lion's Head from the City Bowl - I can't wait to hike up them tomorrow.  We ate one of the best meals I've had in SA yet at Mama Africa on Long St.   Long St. is basically Cape Town's version of New Orlean's Bourbon St.  Prab is taking me there to watch the USA - Ghana game tomorrow night.  As for Mama Africa, when we are back here in two weeks, we are definitely coming back for another meal with Mom and Joe.  The Crocodile and Warthog were that good!  And on top of the great food, there was an awesome live marimba band.  My dad explains their lead singer with the singing and dancing ability of the king of pop, mixed with the gift of hitting some low operetta barytone notes....I'll take his word for it...you just watch the movie: