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:

Day 16: East London to Plettenberg Bay

So they didn't lie, we actually saw a whale spouting up water off in the distance while I ate my Wheaties this morning.

After breakfast, we hit to road for Plettenberg Bay.  Plettenberg Bay is on the Garden Route.  We haven't done the section of road between Port Elizabeth and Plettenberg Bay in the sunlight before today, so it was nice to get to do that.  We also made a stop in PE to pay Jacques and Keran a little visit.  The second round match that we have tickets for is in PE  on Saturday, but we have to be in Cape Town Saturday night to pick up Joey and Mom so we won't be able to attend.  Fortunately we have some new SA friends in PE that we thought might be able to enjoy the game, so we stopped by Jacques' home to drop off the tickets.  After some drinks and a quick update on our travels, we hit the road for Plettenberg Bay.

The video doesn't do the day enough justice:

Day 15: Durban to East London

Mom and my brother Mighty Joe Young get into Cape Town on Saturday night, so we have three days to get down there.  Today we left Durban and headed to East London.  First we picked up the next set of match tickets for the quarterfinal in Jo'burg and semifinal in Cape Town.  It ended up working out perfectly as we will be in Jo'burg the day before the match as we will be getting back from our safari at that time.  Also, we fly out of Cape Town on the 8th, so we will spend our last couple of days in Cape Town including the semifinal on the 6th.  I can't wait for these big games!

Today our drive took us through Mthatha, the place where Nelson Mandela grew up.  We were actually driving through at the time of the USA game so we found a TV in a local shopping mall and enjoyed the last second heroics of Landon Donovan.  USA finishing first in the group means that if they reach the QF and SF we will be at the game!  I think they have a good chance against Ghana but I don't want to jinx them.  We also were driving through the part of the coast called the "Wild Coast."

We arrived at the White House Bed and Breakfast in Gonubie, just east of East London.  This place is wild.  It seems like an old beach side mansion that was turned into a B&B.  It actually has a helipad like the real White House in DC.  Word on the street is you can watch whales and dolphins from the breakfast room.  It is dark now, we shall see if this is true in the morning!  Check out the video of our day:

Day 14: Nigeria vs. South Korea, Durban Stadium

Today we got an early start as we needed to get to Durban for the South Korea vs. Nigeria match.  Our drive from Mkuze to Durban took us through Zulu nation in the KwaZulu-natal province.

Picture of Zulu Hut near our hotel in Mkuze

We got to Durban around 2pm and checked into our B&B.  After that we headed to a local mall to meet up with my friend Pete who I played soccer with growing up.  He is in SA for the world cup with two of his buddies from Drexel.  We had a great meal at a Greek restaurant while we watched Bafana, Bafana play France.  We all wanted SA to win by five goals so they would advance, and they actually had many chances but they came up a little too short.  But wow - France is shameful to watch right now, especially with all that talent.

After the game we all headed to the beautiful Durban stadium for the Nigeria vs. Korea match.

The game was quite entertaining and ended in a 2 - 2 draw which allowed Korea to advance in second place out of group B.  Less words, more video:

Day 13: Kruger National Park!

Today we woke up at 4am for a morning game drive.  We got to the Paul Kruger Gate around 4:45am and hopped into a open safari vehicle to begin our hunt.  Daaaaaaamn was it freeeeeeezing.  I was not prepared for the permafrost that developed on my face between 5am and 7am before the sun came up.  On top of that, whenever we saw an animal all you could see were the eyes glimmering back at you in the spotlight.  If I remember correctly, yellow eyes are all the antelope, and red eyes are the big cats (lions, leopards, etc) no red eyes though but it still was a great experience!

After the sun came up it was amazing...we saw all sorts of animals.  Elephants, Buffalo, Giraffe, Rhinos, Hippos, and many kinds of antelope.  When the guided drive ended around 8:30am, my dad and I hopped into our car and headed into the park on our own.  We slowly made our way south through the park on paved and dirt roads.  The park closed at 5:30pm and we exited the Southernmost Malelane Gate just in time.  I would love to spend more time in Kruger.  You NEED to watch this video of all the animals that welcomed us to their home:

At this point we had been going since 4am and I was BEAT.  GPop is a champ though.  He somehow trooped it 473 km to Mkuze while I "rested my eyes."  Unfortunately, our rental car insurance was not valid in Swaziland so we had to drive around the country but we still got pretty close to the border:

Anyways, Mkuze is in KwaZulu-natal.  Basically we are in Zulu Nation.  The place we are staying tonight is called Ghost Mountain Inn.  It has a eerie history.  I read this legend just before I went to bed and had one of the strangest experiences I have ever in the middle of the night (I have to tell you about it in person - I still do not believe in ghosts but...I just have to explain to you in person...):

Looking east from Mkuze two very pronounced features rise out of the Ubombo range, on the left Gaza and on the right Tshaneni. At irregular intervals over the years, strange lights and flickering fires are seen among the fissures and cliffs of the summit. Weird noises and strange calls are also heard.

A section of the Ndwandwe tribe, headed by the Gaza family, had their home beneath this mountain until they were conquered by Shaka in 1819 and the head of the family, Soshongane, fled with his followers into Mozambique, where he founded the Shangaan tribe.

From early times it had become customary to bury the bodies of Chiefs on Ghost Mountain. High on its slopes there is a taboo cave, used as a tomb by generations of the Gaza family. Soshongane and his descendants, although they lived many miles away in Mozambique, were carried back to the Ghost Mountain when they died.

Their bodies, mummified and wrapped in the black bull skins, had to be transported by bearers who travelled by night and hid during the day to avoid detection by the Zulus. After the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, when the British tried to rule Zululand by dividing it into 13 separate states, each with its own ruler, there was a period of chaotic rivalry, feuding and fighting.

The two principal rivals were Prince Dinuzulu, the son of the deposed Zulu King Cetshwayo, and his Usuthu warriors, and Zibhebhu, head of the powerful Mandlakazi section of the Zulu nation.

In a series of bloody fights, Zibhebhu gained the upper hand. Dinuzulu, in desperation, enlisted 600 Boers and Germans, led by Louis Botha (later General Louis Botha, who was also to become the first Prime Minister of The Union of South Africa), who were promised rewards of farms for their help. In June 1884 Dinuzulu's army of Zulus and Europeans invaded Zibhebhu's territory.

Zibhebhu was a resolute leader and his Mandlakazi section was considered to be made up of the finest warriors, but he had little chance against the opposition, although he also had a handful of white supporters, including the famous frontiersman, Johan Colenbrander.

Zibhebhu made a fighting retreat to the Mkuze River Pass through the Lebombo, and on the 5th of June, in this rugged gorge beneath Ghost Mountain, there was a vicious struggle known as the Battle of Tshaneni.

The Mandlakazi fought stubbornly but heavy rifle fire from Dinuzulu's army mowed them down and they broke and fled into the dense forest country of Tongaland. The battlefield was littered with thousands of bodies, and of this the late Col. Reitz makes mention in his book "Trekking On", where he claims that in the early 1920's when he journeyed through, skeletons were still strewn about on the slopes of the Ghost Mountain.

Denys Reitz was made Minister of Lands in 1922 and journeyed up through Zululand to establish the position of a new harbour. His opinion was that Richards Bay would not be suitable but Kosi Bay would be ideal. On this trip he went on a Hippo hunt with, as his book 'Commando' states, "…the mad Rutherfoord brothers…" This trip is documented in a series of photographs hanging in the Inn.

Peter Rutherfoord, the grandson of Richard Hubert, who escorted Denys Reitz on the Hippo hunt, is the present owner of the Ghost Mountain Inn. 

source: http://www.ghostmountaininn.co.za/zululand_legends.htm

Tomorrow we meet again my friends,
Max

Day 12: Happy Father's Day and Drakensburg Escarpment Beauty!

Today we looked through God's Window.  Check out the video as my words cannot do the least bit of justice to all the beautiful geographic sites we visited today:

Before we went out to enjoy mother nature, dad played a lovely fiddle montage for a small audience at the B&B.  Ima, the owner of the B&B who requested the music, has already arranged a small concert for the fiddlin' GPop in Graskop the next time we are in town.

I hope you checked out the video because this place is amazing.  I can now "officially," depending on your definition of "canyon," say I have been to the 1st and 3rd largest canyon in the world after seeing Blyde River Canyon today!  (Thats what Wikipedia says, and wiki is basically the ruler of the world, so no arguments from me.)

After a day of amazing sights we made our way to Kruger.  We got to the gate around 4pm to find out that ALL accomodations were booked inside the park.  Instead, we stayed at a bush lodge 15 minutes from the park gate.  Sabie River Bush Lodge actually borders Kruger Park directly.  From the dining area you can look right into the park.

I must get to bed now as I have to wake up tomorrow at 4am for a morning game drive!

Hasta manana,
Max

Day 11: Joburg to Graskop

Today we left Joburg and arrived in Graskop, Mpumalanga.  Before leaving Joburg, Margarett, the owner of the B&B we stayed at, left us with some words of wisdom for our visit to Kruger National Park.  Check out the video to see her advice:

Anyways, Graskop is a quaint little town on the edge of the Highveld.  Check out what www.graskop.co.za/ has to say:

"Graskop is a small forestry town perched on the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment, centrally situated in the Panorama tourist region of Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Graskop is only a few minutes drive from a number of scenic wonders such as God's Window, Bourke's Luck Potholes and the world renown Blyde River Canyon and Three Rondawels, as well as spectacular waterfalls such as Lisbon Falls, Berlyn Falls and Mac Mac Falls.
The historic mining town of Pilgrim's Rest as well as the quaint forestry town of Sabie are a mere ½ hour's drive away, with the Lowveld and the Kruger National Park less than an hours drive to the east.Graskop, at an altitude of 1,400 m above sea level, has a temperate climate with a high rainfall and is often misty in the summer months.  Graskop is a popular tourist destination and is renown for it's pancake bars and curio shops."

On the menu for tomorrow are the scenic wonders of God's Window, Blyde River Canyon, Three Rondawels and Lisbon Falls.  The video for tomorrow is sure to be epic so please check back!   We plan to get to Kruger tomorrow afternoon!  See you there!

PS: There is also amazing food here.  We ate at a Portuguese/Mozambique restaurant called Canimambo.  It was simply tantalizing.  Pics of our meals are in the video.  One of the owners of the B&B we are staying at tonight, Autumn's Breath, also made dad promise to play the fiddle for her tomorrow.  Looking forward to that show...and its Father's Day tomorrow!  Happy Father's Day to GPop, Gilly, and all the other amazing fathers out there!


Tootles,
Max

Day 10: USA vs Slovenia

USA vs. Slovenia...

By now you know about the exciting USA comeback scoring two goals in the second half.  You also should know about the phantom foul that negated the third game winning goal...watch all the emotion captured in the video, check it out:

The game took place in the historic Ellis Park Stadium.  If you have seen the movie Invictus then you know what I am talking about.  It is the site of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final that the Springboks (South Africa) won against many odds.

On the shuttle to the stadium, G-Pop and I sat next to some more awesome South Africans from outside of Durban:

We met Naz, Emo, Fez, and two more of their friends pictured above.  We ended up exchanging numbers and I hope to stop by and pay them a visit on our way back south after the quarterfinal match we are seeing in July.  Emo, on the right, is a High School Principal and welcomed us to stop by for a tour of their hometown and even spend the night at their home.  Naz graciously gave me his South African Vuvu (check it out in the pic of me and my pops after the game)!  South Africans are so friendly and hospitable.  We also met another great South African athlete.  Fez, in yellow, was shipped off to FC Sao Paulo, Brazil to play soccer several years ago.  He shared stories of playing with/against Brazilian superstars such as Kaka, Luis Fabiano and Roberto Carlos.

Day 9: The stars were aligned for Argentina!

From left to right: Carlos Tevez, Park Ji-Sung, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona - (Hence the title of the blog entry, clever ay?)

We just got home from one of the most offensive matches of the tournament.  Five goals in one game.  It was pretty amazing.  On top of that, we got to witness Lionel Messi, FIFA World Footballer of the Year work his magic.  Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg is a beautiful looking stadium, not your normal concrete eyesore:

Argentina fans, at least colors, outnumbered Koreans it seemed at least 5-1 in the stadium.  You wouldn't have known that from our seats as we were in a group of Korean fans.  During the Korean National anthem my dad was actually underneath one of their gigantic flags:

Our seats were only 11 rows from the pitch!

First photo taken by a Korean Fan:

Second photo taken by a Korean fan:

The Korean who took our picture made sure we showed them some love.

Can anyone translate this for me? 

Anyways, the game was a blast!  Check out the video, you'll understand what I mean.  I got all the Argentina goals on video:

After the game we picked up D'Arcy Maine, who grew up in our neighborhood in the West End of Hartford, and we headed to Newtown, Joburg for dinner. D'Arcy is in Joburg working for ESPN.  See some of here previous pieces for ESPN.  From the stories and insights into her sports-writing career, I discovered that she eats lunch with Tommy Smith and is bff with Arsen Wenger.

We got to a large fan park with huge screens just as the Mexico - France game got underway.  However, it was so cold, there were barely 100 people there.  Police outnumbered people literally 15 to 1.  It was pretty surreal.  I mean you hear that Joburg has some dodgy areas, but SA def went all out to make peeps feel safe.  At one point, we asked a police woman where a specific restaurant/street was.  She gave us instructions about 100 meters away and around the corner.  We asked if we could park at the fan park and walk over.  She bluntly said: "You probably shouldn't.  People may take advantage of you.  You only want to walk around in Joburg at night if you are following a policeman 10 meters away."  We actually found it more amusing than scary - at least, we didn't share our anxiety with each other.  I mean, come on, the three of us are seasoned gringos from Hartford...we know how to fend for ourselves...right?  You hear stories of car jackings and such, but you can't live your life in a hole.  My dad puts it best: "You can't do anything if it is your time.  If your number is called - and someone approaches your car with an M-16, just give them what they want and get the F*** out of there!" However, I have some additional words of wisdom that my father could have used in Barcelona a couple years ago - "all you CAN do is make sure you don't advertise your wallet's location in a high-traffic pickpocketer area and everything will be okay!"  Unfortunately there are bad people all over the world.  But all the good far outweighs the bad.  So if the opportunity presents itself, get out and travel!

Enough preaching - we grabbed dinner and watched the end of the game.  My dad ordered Mopane Worms.  These worms are a very important protein source for many southern Africans.  I tried some.  They are actually very tasty.  The texture is surprisingly very crunchy.  They took the taste of the sauce they were in.  I described them as a crunchy soy curd - hey I ain't no food critic....yet.  I would definitely order it again, especially after we read in our guide book that it is one of Hilary Clinton's favorite dished.  D'Arcy and I enjoyed some good ole' South African Fillet to supplement the worms.  

The result of the game, Mexico winning 2-0, does not look good for Bafana, Bafana's hopes of getting to the second round.  Thats unfortunate cause SA would be WILD if they advance.  Still we need to keep the faith!  And damn, originally, I did not give enough credit to Ireland's plead to get to SA.  However, the more I watch France, the more I think Ireland deserves it- at least the Irish would have taken better advantage of the opportunity to play here.

Well, we made it in and out alive.  The most sketchy behavior we witnessed was someone offering us a joint after we left the restaurant.  The same guy then directed us along the path to the parking lot.  Even the drug dealers are kind and courteous here...I love it...

Something for all my lady readers:

Christiano Ronaldo Nike advertisement in downtown Joburg.  

Yea, its bigger than Lebron's in Cleveland.  Be jealous King James!

Something for uncle Bob aka Bop.

I heard Maradona saying: "Bop, wanna grab a Cerveza Quilmes after the game?"

Everyone gets lucky sometimes - referring to the Lakers.

Tomorrow - USA versus Slovenia!

I CANNOT WAIT!

"Viva USA"

Keep in touch!

Max

Day 8: Diamonds are forever! Kimberley, Northern Cape

Today we went to the Big Hole right smack in the middle of downtown Kimberley.  The Big Hole is supposedly the largest/deepest man dug whole in the world! They were digging so much because the Big Hole is the site of the discovery of diamonds in a volcanic pipe.  The source of diamonds was previously known, hence the name: Kimberlite (a type of volcanic rock that sometimes contains diamonds.  The volcanic pipes that contain this type of rock and the possibility of diamonds are also named after Kimberley: Kimberlite Pipes.

Here we are on a map:

The hole has a surface of 42 acres and is 463 meters wide.  It was excavated to 240 meters at one point but later filled in.  It has been underground mined to a depth of 1,097 meters.  Here is a picture Gpop took:

The Big Hole is the location of an awesome museum/tourist spot with informational movies and displays as well as a full-scale mockup of what a the old mining town used to look like during the days of the big rush.

The discovery of diamonds in Kimberley in 1866 dictated the history of this town.  Read Wiki if your interested.  To sum it up: De Beers was founded here, Cecil Rhodes (Oxford's Rhodes Scholar ring a bell?) made his fortune here, and it became the Northern Cape Province capital.

Regardless, we had a great time and learned a lot.  After we finished exploring Kimberly, we made our way to Jo-burg.

Check out the video:

Day 7: SNOW DAY!

So...I'm in Africa...what image comes into mind when you think about the climate and the landscape?

Right, thats what I thought...hot...sun...dry...sand...desert...cactus maybe...small shrubs...

...yea we are wrong...today we woke up at Le Jardin Backpackin' to snow capped mountains!

Now Nita and Terrance, the owners of the hostel we slept at, tell me it practically never snows in town like it did last night...and by never they meant maybe once every three years...but yea it did...check out the video if you want more proof.  And I trust Nita and Terrance as both of them are amazing individuals.  In less than an hour Nita explained the history of the neighborhood and town.  She also shared tales of Terrance, her husband, running the local club/bar.  Terrance revisited is SA military past with us.  He even told us some top secret intel about SA former Nuclear program.  On top of it all, my dad says Terrance has the best accent that he has heard yet.  Here is a picture of the two:

Check out some of the shell casings and other SA military weaponry Terrance had laying around:

Anyways, the snow affected our plans for the day...just a little.  We were planning on going to Nieu-Bethesda to the Owl House.  The short story is a crazy widow lived there and filled the house and backyard with some "abstract" "visionary" "outsider" art.  And a lot of it is related to owls.  Seeing as Hartford High's mascot is the owl and my dad is an outside that like art (hahaha) it seemed like the perfect place.  So....after driving through road blocks and policemen telling us different mountain passes were closed, we drove 1+ hours in our tiny Nissan Tida on snow covered dirt roads to Nieu Bethesday...turns out, the staff closed it for the day as the backyard was covered with snow and there is a lot of artwork on the ground that could be tripped on.  After my dad made friends with a local musician who was playing a three string guitar for money...we realized someone forgot our backpack with passports and most importantly FIFA match tickets back in Graaff-Reinet...so we made the trek back to Nita who was faithfully guarding our valuables in hand for us.  With tickets in hand we were then ready to begin our drive to Kimberly in the Northern Cape.  The drive took us through more of the Great Karoo and through some awesome small towns on the 500km+ drive.

You must watch the video to see our snow adventure.  Oh, and I almost forgot.  Because snow is so rare, there were 10s-100s of people pulled over on the side of the road building snowman and having snow ball fights.  It was awesome to share the excitement of so many people playing in snow for the first time. This included busloads of middle school boys who were in Graaff-Reinet for a week-long Rugby tournament.  In the video you can see a bunch of them on the side of the road throwing snowballs!

Oh yeah, check out this photo I took while we stopped off the side of the road to do some star gazing.  My mom's fancy camera has a lot more potential than I am capable of taking advantage of...but I'm pretty proud of my first attempt so please don't burst my bubble!    : p

Port Elizabeth straight to the Karoo!

I'm getting old.  It's 8pm and I'm calling it a night at Le Jardin Backpakin' in Graaff-Reinet.  I can't even stay away to watch "exciting" Italy play Paraguay tonight.  Well, even if I wasn't tired, I don't know if I could stay awake watching the Azzurri.

Enough about me, lets talk about South Africa...

The Karoo is an amazing place and only a drive from Port Elizabeth to Graaff-Reinet does it justice.  I have heard the springtime in this location is even better, but the beginning of the SA winter in the Karoo has left me in awe so I can only imagine.  And to top it off, upon arrival in Graaff-Reinet we took a trip to the Valley of Desolation National Park!  The view from the mountains up their explain Graaff-Reinet's nickname, the Jewel of the Karoo.  The Karoo is a semi-desert region of SA shown in this picture:

I can't describe the beauty of the Karoo with my underdevelopled vocabulary, so please just watch the movie from today!

We left Port Elizabeth this morning headed for Graaff-Reinet (273km):

Before we left Port Elizabeth this morning though, we had a wonderful chat with the owner of the guesthouse that we stayed the second two nights in PE.  Her name is Adrianne.  Turns out, every person we meet in SA is a world class athlete.  If you watch the video, you will see that in her backyard there is a diving board onto a trampoline.  Adrianne is a world class diving judge.  She judged the Olympic diving competitions in both Athens and Beijing.  Now I know the face behind the SA Flag in the diving scores!  After a brief tutorial in the extensive auditing and checks and balances in the life of a diving judge, we found out Adrianne did not attend the olympics alone.  Turns out her older daughter plays for SA for their national field hockey team.  Her brother Gavin, who now lives in Canada was also visiting while we were there.  Wish we had another night to have the drinks that he offered as he was very pleasant and funny.  Before we took off for Graaff-Reinet, our hosts gave us a try of Kudu Biltong, a South African Jerky.  Some of the best I have ever had!

Until manana!

Max

Lions and Elephants and Kudus, OH MY!

Sorry about the delays...internet is sometimes hard to come-by when your driving a several hundred km a day!

Regardless, Gpop and I finally got some time to catch up on some sleep.  We got to a late start this morning (really this morning means early afternoon today).  After some sweet dreams we headed out to Addo Elephant National Park, less than 100km outside of Port Elizabeth.  As we begin to drive again tomorrow, I should start discussing the regions of the country that we are in and their significance.  Addo, as is Port Elizabeth is in the Eastern Cape of South Africa which is broken up into several regions seen in the map:

When Addo Elephant National Park first opened in 1931, there were only 11 elephants left in the park area.  Now there are over 450 elephants in the park, however, we wouldn't have known that, as we only saw one from 2-3km away (check out the video).  I was thinking that they are probably all in Florida right now for SA's winter, as it is fairly chilly right now.

Another interesting fact, Addo National Park is home to the largest population of flightless dung beetles, however, again, we wouldn't have known that as we saw exactly zero dung beetles...but again, we weren't sifting through piles of elephant poop, so we may not have been looking hard enough.

I saw a bunch of animals for the first time ever, and many others for the first time in their natural habitat...

One of the most common sitings is the great Kudu, whose horns, I believe is the motivation of the infamous vuvuzela and a common source of Shofars! (I'm waiting for mighty Joe to arrive to team up and become Vuvuzela blowing super hooligans, as Gpop remains content sporting his vuvuplugs)

I could explain in words our first little self led safari, however, I believe this video can do a much better job...check out the amazing views and sweet animals that found us (as we had NO idea what we were doing) along our adventure:

Hasta Manana!

Max