Smith Travels

One last day

smithtravel — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 14:49:00 GMT

We headed to Ermelo, a halfway spot for going to the airport on Thursday. We are both getting a little road weary. Our BNB had a broken pipe but to the owners credit he found us another place with a good restaurant and a room. Not very accessible but at this point we don't care. We just need space to do the requisite last packing.

Our last day was meandering a bit plus a short 9 holes of golf at a local course, Denise as cart driver. Nice to be outside before traveling. We figure out that from the time we leave our room until we have a bed again will be about 32 hours. It will be good to be home.

Birthdays and Giraffes

smithtravel — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 04:19:00 GMT

On Tuesday we do a 4 hour drive to the Ithala Game Reserve. Denise wanted to wake on her birthday the next day to the sounds of animals. This Government reserve was incredible. Very different than our last safari location. Built into a hill, these were chalets with kitchens and living rooms etc. I even had bars in the bathrom . We were met right away by Monkeys and lots of bird sounds. Dinner was in the lodge after a beautiful sunset. The thing was how few people there were there. The dining room would hold over 100, but there were 7 of us there. Great service!

The next morning we woke at 5:30 am, the main bummer part of a safari drive that leaves at 6am. We met our driver and turned out we were the only ones this morning. Happy Birthday! We saw some beautiful birds and our friends giraffes, zebras, Kudu, Impala, wildebeest and more. Back at the lodge for breakfast, the staff made a special muffin for me and presented it to me with sparkling wine and a lively rendition of Happy Birthday. John knows how to make a birthday special!

Packed up one more time for our trip to Ermelo preparing for our last full day here.

St Lucia and Hippos

smithtravel — Mon, 9 Mar 2015 02:09:00 GMT

We cruised on down the coast to the St Lucia Wetlands resereve. Known for their hippo population and birds. We ended up in two different BNBs as it was a busy time, but both were lovely. We had some good dinners and met interesting people, like the couple from London on holiday. We talked holidays, a bit about business, politics and some choreography too.

The second day was special as we started with a visit to a childcare center, Siyabonga Crèche. A good friend helps her daughter support this and other child development programs in South Africa. They do incredible work and invited us to stop by and meet the Director, Teachers and nearly 60 kids they support each day. The 3 year olds were very interested in Denise's wheelchair. They loved it when John taught them the Hokey Pokey as a way to help them practice English. With the 4 year olds he played a color game. There is one other room for 2 and under. We had a wonderful visit and learned so much more about South Africa and the amazing work of this group.

Back to town for a short break and then off to a cruise of the salt water lake with over 800 hippos who were more than happy to observe us also.

The next day we did a bit of shopping before heading to the Ithala Game Reserve up north. We are starting our trip back towards Johannesberg.

Durban pass through

smithtravel — Sat, 7 Mar 2015 17:00:00 GMT

We explored a few more places in Drakensburg, buying some weavings of the area. We had a long conversation with the owner of a rug weaving shop. Incredible rugs being made by local women. He wanted to engage in a discussion of his impressions of US citizens (some don't know where South Africa is) to sharing his thoughts on challenges still being experienced in South Africa after apartied. A wonderful sharing.

We drive down the highway to Durban, with the goal of passing through and going up the coast. Amazing how quickly the terrain changes as we approach the coast. The sun is out. We head to the beachfront promenade in Durban. A great play spot for the town on a Saturday afternoon. Bikes, skateboards, Indian Ocean swimmers. We see the high rises in the background and lots of people at play. A beautiful aquarium, or so we are told, is the main attraction along with beach restaurants. We do a nice walk and then have dinner overlooking the beachfront. We strike up a long conversation with the owner as he felt self conscious of the lack of access. Fun conversation.

We we head out to find a spot north of town and land at the Salt Rock Resort for the end of the night. Beautiful moon rise over the beach, sound of crashing waves, nice way to end the day.

On the road again

smithtravel — Fri, 6 Mar 2015 20:03:00 GMT

We left our group on Wednesday at the Johannesberg airport. Rented our car and braved the roads to our B and B in the south of Joberg (as the locals call it). Just a few wrong turns, Denise working at navigation and John driving on what feels like the wrong side of the road, we found our place for the night. Our host was wonderful about helping us order a pizza while we spent the evening switching gears, re packing our bags for 8 days in a car. We slept incredibly well...both very tired. Ready the next morning for our trek south.

We headed for our hotel in Winterton, 4 hours south in the Drakensburg Mountain area. As we left the city, we drove through lots of farm country, wide open spaces, very different than we had seen before. Slowly the terrain changed and we started to see the beautiful mountain ranges. We arrived late afternoon to find our hotel and discover that most things close at 4 pm. We explore a little, and find a lovely Portugese restaurant for dinner. It's warm ( we found our 80 degrees) so we sit outside on the porch. Within minutes we are treated to a display of lightening AND a beautiful sunset over the mountains. Good food, great company and an unique dinner show from nature.

The next morning we headed out for a day of exploring the Drakensburg National Park. First, Cathedral Peak area and learning about the unique history of their cave paintings by the San's people. An incredible find in these mountains and history of this group that lives in this region. Then we headed for the north end where we found one wheelchair accessible hike! We finally got our hike in. Most hikes we could not attempt.

On our way home we were treated to another incredible lightening show in the mountain range complete with a downpour. Fortunately we were headed back to town for dinner and regroup for our trip towards Durban tomorrow.

The next chapter...safari!

smithtravel — Sun, 1 Mar 2015 06:52:00 GMT

The safari trip was so incredible we can't even start to tell all. We arrived Sunday afternoon to be picked up by Doctor (his name) and driven to Kapama Southern Camp. It was a very luxurious resort surrounded by acres of a private preserve. We were met with cool towels because of the heat and the first of many incredible meals. After a brief rest, our two guides took us out on the first of 6, 3 to 4 hour drives looking for animals. Our safari buddies were Greg and Vivian from San Diego, who became fast friends and playmates.

After the drive, we went back for a late dinner. They would wake us between 4:45 and 5 am, we'd have tea and coffee before our morning 3 hour drive that started at 6am. Back for breakfast, some time for other activities, lunch, short break and afternoon tea before the evening drive. We did this schedule for three days. To say we were weary at the end was an understatement! But what an experience!

We ended the time seeing all of the Big 5, elephant, buffalo, lion, rhino except for the leopard. Incredible nature moments...a male lion with his warthog kill protecting it from his two females and their 6 Cubs. Young rhinos play fighting together. Scenes of groups of animals like giraffes, zebra and Impalas all eating together. We followed three young male lions for nearly an hour as they stalked a buffalo, only to fail to succeed. We saw a mother giraffe protect her baby that was less than a day old. We were so close to a family of nearly 10 elephants we could have touched them. And those are just some highlights.

We have put just a few of the hundreds of pictures from these great 4 days in the gallery. We left our new friends at the Johannesburg airport looking forward to sharing photos and future comminications.

Internet access continues to be intermittent so we'll do our next entry when we can. Next stop, Drakensburg Mountains south of Johannesburg.

Penguins of South Africa

smithtravel — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 20:54:00 GMT

Penguins in warm weather seems almost as strange as driving on the left side of the road. Spent this day heading south to the Cape of Good Hope, with stops for many bicycles, runners and like minded tourist exploring. We finished our stay here with a sparkling wine and view of the sunset and cribbage in the Leopard Bar. Sunday, off to our safari. Cheers.

A true highlight...wine and food!

smithtravel — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 22:28:00 GMT

Friday night was our Jean Daneel Winemakers dinner at the 12 Apostle hotel. What an elegant evening. I won't list all of the food and wine here, but it was a wonderful 3 1/2 hour dining experience. It was actually 5 courses and 5 different wines. Presentation of each course was a work of art. John, shy guy that he is, had a wonderful conversation with the winemaker about his corks and production. Our favorite Sommelier Richard kept coming by with more tastes and thoughts for us about the offerings. A long day but definitely a highlight of the trip! We slept very well that evening.

Wine, food and Cheetahs

smithtravel — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 19:16:00 GMT

Thursday is a tour day. We have to set an alarm...but someone else is driving. Our small group of 8 drives to the area of Hermanus, about 2 hours from Cape Town. Beautiful country and going into the abundant wine area. Our first stop Bouchard Findlayson Winery. They are in harvest season so John goes to scope the operation. Beautiful tasting room and we try 6 wines on our list and the pourer shares two others with us. Interesting how their 2014 harvest has been In the bottle for a year already. Big area for whites and reds like Pinot Noir. We have also been introduced to a new varietal, Pinotage. Lovely!

Second stop is wandering the streets of the sea town Hermanus. We are seeing some very nice African baskets and carvings, but not in a souvenir mood yet. Fun to look. Our driver Craig takes us to the Harbor Rock restaurant. Nice views of the harbor and a great lunch of steak or yellowfin Tuna. Nice group with us. 4 youthful lawyers from Pittsburgh traveling together. Also we have a honeymoon couple (our age) from San Diego, but Vivian grew up in South Africa, so she has lots of great info.

Final stop is a cheetah sanctuary. Not set up well for the wheelchair, but neat to see the cats. Part of the group did a "petting session" then got their photos. The cheetahs seemed to be fascinated with the wheelchair and wandered the fence where ever Denise rolled. The staff said they are always looking for toys. Nice long day, but we're not done yet!

Exploration

smithtravel — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 07:50:00 GMT

Thursday we woke after sleeping all night, yeah! An incredible breakfast buffet on a sunny morning. Then off for a 12 minute helicopter ride over the city, and the rest of the day to explore. We went to the V&A Waterfront, then the red bus hop on and off for the rest of the day. We went up to the beautiful Table Mountain, then hopped off to explore the Seapoint area. Found a lovely bistro La Boehme for tapas and Sangria. Wonderful first meal around town. Back to the hotel for a nightcap in the Leopard Bar and some local music. Not a bad first day and jet lag is doing ok.

Cape Town!

smithtravel — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 07:33:00 GMT

We left New York (1 degree), and did our 15 hour flight to Johannesburg. Love those international flights. Free meals, beverages, liquor and movies. After 3 movies and two TV show, plus two meals and a bit of wine, we landed in Joburg, as a local called it. We were challenged in getting to our next flight as they had areas offering assistance for persons with disabilities. John and I generally do very fine on our own, but we got messed up because we didn't have an airport employee with us every step of the way. Goodness. We just made our connection to Cape Town, but we now know better. Landed, connected with our driver and off to our hotel, the 12 Apostles. BEAUTIFUL . We were met with a glass of bubbly and lots of comfort and support. We overlook the ocean, the sun is shining 80 degrees or so. So nice to finally be here. First evening we had dinner with Lindsey Reynolds, the daughter of our friend Helen. A beautiful and wonderful evening of food, sunsets and South African wines. Lindsey has lived here for while and had some great information as well as incredible company. Good start. Now for a solid nights sleep.

Chilly New York

smithtravel — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 07:21:00 GMT

On Sunday, we flew cross country to be met, and given room and board at Mindy and Bill's. Beautiful house in Happauge. Met their main co-resident, Thor. He liked us, but definitely NOT the wheelchair. A very loving pup. Mindy cooked Sunday night, Bill off to his police shft that night. Monday we wake up to single didget temps. Denise hunkers down reading most of the day, it's vacation after all. John and Mindy off to the gym and visit to Smithtown, Johns favorite. Monday dinner is a wonderful Italian meal at one of their local favorites. Bills mother joined us too. Home to do a final pack for our next leg to South Africa.

Hitting the road

smithtravel — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 07:11:00 GMT

We headed to Portland Saturday evening for a quick overnight. Up at 3:30am to catch our 5:20 am flight to New York via Phoenix. This segment will be cake compared to the 15 hour flight to Johannesburg. Travel went well despite predictions of storms. We were met by our niece Mindy in New York. They were having a warmth spurt of 31degrees, yahoo.

Getting Ready

smithtravel — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 12:34:00 GMT

We are in the final prep for our trip leaving in just a few days. Time to pacck and get ready for our first leg, a couple of days in New York with Mindy and Bill. A great start to our adventure!

Photos: Africa

smithtravel — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 12:23:00 GMT

Photos from our South Africa trip