Author: Colin Spain

The Official Blogger for Grey Nomads Travel and Cruise and GR8L1F YouTube: @colinspain1078

130809 Johannesburg to Thorneybush Reserve

The Plan

Fly to Johannesburg. Board your coach for your journey to the Thorneybush Game Reserve, which is home of the ‘Big Five’ and a variety of other African Wildlife species.  Included this evening dine at the lodge whilst enjoying the views of  the surrounding African bushveld.  FB L HD

Some Information

Situated on a plateau at an altitude of 1,800m, Johannesburg is Southern Africa’s commercial and economic metropolis, and the focal point of what is certainly the largest urban conglomeration in Africa.  Yet, by the standards of European cities, Johannesburg is barely out of its infancy, found on an otherwise unremarkable tract of grassland in 1886, when a George Harrison found a hug nugget of gold and triggered off a rush that attracted thousands of hopeful prospectors.

How the day turned out

Today started with things NOT starting.  We load into the bus at 5:30am to be transferred to the airport for our flight to Johannesburg, and the bus refuses to start.  I think the driver is a ‘touch’ embarrassed, but we do make it to the airport early enough to catch our flight.  On our arrival at Johannesburg, the stairs will not ‘park’ properly beside the aircraft; and it is raining, so another set is located for us to use.  We wait for ‘an age’ in the baggage collection hall for the bags to ‘come around’ and the carousel refuses to move.  We must have jinxed everything in the one-day.  This has meant that our whole day is peppered with delays.

We travel 500km in a MegaCoach towards Thorneybush, a private game reserve in the well know Krueger Wildlife Park region.  Lunch is taken in a little town at Rose Cottage.  We pass down from a high elevation through gorges, towards the east coast.  There is a short 15-minute section on gravel road to the reserve entrance about an hour later than expected.

Here, our wildlife adventure begins.  5 or 6 open four-wheel-drive vehicles are ready to take us on a safari en route to the accommodation lodge.  We don’t all travel together and so some spot a giraffe, others a deer with a ‘white toilet seat’ mark on its butt (water buck). Nightfall is approaching and so is a ‘whiz-bang’ African electrical storm with sheers of lightening exploding even before our eyes.  Just as full darkness comes, we all get to view three lions lazing after devouring a ‘kill’.  When lions get a meal, they tend to absolutely gorge themselves to a state where they cannot move and so a rest is take until they can gorge some more.  And then the rain starts.  Our driver gets confused with all the trails around and we head down the track only to do a U-turn in order to get us to the Lodge; thoroughly soaked.

After instructions on ‘behavior in wildlife locations, we are escorted to our separate villas in the bush.  Wow!  Livingstone never had anything like this.  The plush villa is very comfortable and roomy with a ‘wildlife view to kill’.  We need to be accompanied by an escort, as wildlife is free to roam around the accommodation reserve – and we don’t want to use our travel insurance claim forms.

Senior Moment/s

Ladies who hang handbags on toilet rolls should be thankful that the person to follow them into the cubicle is known to them.

Wildlife Game Reserves often have ‘different’ facilities and arriving in the dark can have its problems until the morning when those problems are de-mistified.  From the bathrooms, one looks out onto an area where animals frequent – there are NO curtains.  One person (unnamed, of course) thought it best to turn off the bathroom lights was a good idea in case the animals could see her in the shower.

Suitcases out a 4:45am
The view from the men’s room at a service centre
The rugged escarpment
4WDs lined up to start our Safari
Anne Darlene Ken and Leo
The guy on the front is looking for fresh animal tracks
This guy sat on a toilet with powder on the seat
Vultures
Hard to focus in the dull evening light
Great shot Darlene
Sleeping after a big meal
Great accommodation at Thorneybush

130808 Cape Town

The Plan

Today is your included discovery of the south-westerly point in Africa, Cape Peninsula.  Enjoy an included lunch in a local restaurant before continuing to Boulder Beach, home to the protected land-based colony of African penguins.

Some Information

With its diverse habitats, ranging from rocky mountain tops to beaches and open sea, the Cape of Good Hope is home to at least 250 species of birds.  “Bush birds” tend to be rather scarce because of the coarse, scrubby nature of fynbos vegetation.  When flowering, however, proteas and ericas attract sunbirds, sugarbirds and other species in search of nectar.  Large animals are rare in the Cape of Good Hope, but there are some herds of Zebra, Eland and a variety of other antelope.  Baboons run wild in the region too.

How things turned out

We leave an hour earlier than yesterday for our coach trip to the Cape of Good Hope in the Table Mountain National Park.  Driving along rugged coastline even more spectacular than the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, we are told we may also see whales very close to the coastline.  We are reasonably early and the sun is still rising but some clear photos can be shot along this fabulous coastline and on towards the end of land from Cape Town.

On entering the Table Mountain National Park, it is noticeable that vegetation is very low and wild animals cannot hide in any bush.  We capture some photos of Eland and an ostrich lazily walking along the road.  Situated at the junction of two of earth’s most contrasting water masses – the cold Benguela current on the West Coast and the warm Agulhas current on the East Coast, the Cape of Good Hope is popularly perceived as the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, although there is no line.

We make our way up the eastern side of the region towards a snug little cafe for a delightful lunch.  Most had fish.  It was interesting the way the fish was served as you can see in the photo; a long skewer hanging over the plate with ‘chunks’ of fish to be drawn down onto the plate.  Many folk had trouble consuming the amount of fish on the skewer.

Just north of our lunch break and nestled in a sheltered cove between Simon’s Town and Cape Point, Boulders has become world famous for its thriving colony of African Penguins.  Although set in the midst of a residential area, it is one of the few sites where this endangered bird can be observed at close range, wandering freely in a protected natural environment. In thirty years, the colony has grown from 2 breeding pairs to about 2,200 in recent years.

We zig-zag across the peninsular headed towards Cape Town arriving at Radisson Blu around 3:50pm, time enough to get back to the shops for some and for some to pack ready for our 4:00am get up and depart by 5:00am in the morning for our early flight to Johannesburg and on to Thorney Bush Reserve.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I would have a paragraph of the tour to Robben Island.  Anne has kindly written a paragraph.

“Nine members of our group boarded the ferry for the historical tour of Robben Island.  On arrival we climbed onto a crowded bus to travel around the 5 square kilometre island that was the home to violent criminals, political prisoners and lepers until it was closed in 1991, the same time that apartheid finished.

“The tour guides shared their excellent knowledge of the history of the Island and included many of the acts of racial discrimination that occurred, e.g. The political prisoners were treated the worst, especially if they were black.  While all other political prisoners (white, Asian and coloured) were able to wear long pants, long sleeved shirts and warm jackets, the blacks only ever had short pants and short sleeved shirts, even through freezing winter weather.  Of course, Nelson Mandela’s place of work (the lime quarry) and his cell and terrible living conditions were a highlight (?) of the tour.

“Quite amazingly, there are still about 160 inhabitants of the Island, including three of the prison guards and past political prisoners who lead the tour of the prison.  As the political prisoner who guided our tour said, there is no point in seeking revenge, we achieved our goals of a democracy and are now friendly.

“Our return journey by ferry was filled with screams of excitement/fear as the catamaran was pounded with waves and rose and fell into the deep swells of the sea.  Of course, Kath was right up the front revelling in it.”

Thanks Anne.

Senior Moment/s

All good on this front – nothing to report!!!

Early Sunrise
Conical Hilltop
Town of Haut
The rugged coastline
Eland grazing
At Cape Point
Wild Baboon taking up a good site.
Ostrich
The Yarra Travel Junction Group at The Cape of Good Hope
Notice the fish skewer
African Penguin
A view of the eastern part of Cape Town

130807 Cape Town

The Plan

This morning enjoy your included city tour of Cape Town.  Take a cable car to the top of Table Mountain for outstanding views.  Enjoy your included Free Choice Activity

Some Information

Cape Town is surrounded by attractive and fashionable beaches and is one of the most enticing cities in the world.  It was founded in 1652 by Jan Van Riebeek to provide a port where the ships of the Dutch East India Company could take on supplies on their voyage east.  At the foot of the legendary Table Mountain, with ocean waves breaking on its shores, Cape Town’s old colonial houses rub shoulders with dissying skyscrapers.

The top of Table Mountain is reached by cable car in seven minutes, but 2 hours by walking.  The summit is 1,087 meters and presents a fabulous panorama of the Cape region.

How things turned out

After another great breakfast, thanks Scenic, we do a couple of hours riding around Cape Town in a bus. The weather is still ‘inclement’ but we get through even though some folk have left their rain weather gear back at their room.  The bus takes us up Signal Hill for photos of the city looking down – it must be a beautiful sight when the skies are blue.  We have to walk to where the bus has moved to and get caught in a rain shower, so cameras are put away and great photos get missed from our photo catalogue.

For the afternoon, some have chosen to take a boat ride out to Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner during apartheid (a report of that visit will come in another day’s post), while the rest of us took a small bus tour to the ‘wine farms’ as they are called here.

We visit just two wine farms.  The top money earner for South Africa is tourism and the second earner for South Africa is wine.  So wine farms are very big here.  There are many foreign owners of the farms who are non-resident.  The wine making industry has a law that no additives, like coffee, can be added to the wine.  There is also a problem that France is declaring world copyright on many of the terms used in the industry to declare the type of wine in a bottle and so different terminologies are emerging in the industry outside France.

Although the skies are grey, we are able to see rolling hills where the many wine farms are spread out.  In the restaurant/testing area of the second farm are many, many awards on the wall.  The current one they are proud of is the best wine for South Africa 2013 awarded by South African Airways.

I guess you have all heard about the fire at Nairobi International Airport.  We are to fly in there in 9 days time so things may be interesting for us.  A friend of ours arrived at the height of the fire and was kept on the aircraft for a few hours prior to having a stamp put in their passport and a search for their baggage on the ground.  It has been said that terrorism is not involved even tho it is the 15th anniversary of the bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

Senior Moment/s

The best senior moment is when one of you made a comment and mucked up the spelling and grammar, and then to ‘fix’ it, blamed her ‘senier’ problem for the error.

Hearing is often a problem for seniors.  Instead of hearing cellar, she heard we would be ‘salad’ tasting.

The local pine trees.
Originally created to look like a ladies traditional hat.
Stadium now know as the ‘bed-pan’
To the right is Table Mountain – covered with cloud.
Lunch
Wine Farm
Small lake at a winery
Each silver container holds around 5,000 litres
Each cask weights around 360kg
The prized wine
Tasting wine with local cheeses
Darlene & Leo – grandchildren requested we post this photo.

130806 Cape Town

The Plan

Welcome to the cosmopolitan city of Cape Town. On arrival at Cape Town airport you will be met and transferred to your luxury hotel.  Tonight, meet your Tour Director for a welcome briefing.  Three night stay:  Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront

Some Information

The Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa.  The country is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometers of coastline and has a population is 50,590,000.  11 official languages are used with many speaking more than two.  English is the common language used in public and commercial life, however Afrikaans is commonly used among the white and colored peoples.  About 80% of the South African population is of black African ancestry.  The capital of South Africa is Pretoria which is less than an hour by road from Johannesburg.

How the day turned out.

Today has been a ‘rest’ day before our meeting with our Tour Director this evening where we meet up with the folk that are not in our group but doing all or parts of the same tour as us.  The weather is ‘sh…y’ although it cleared up enough for us to walk back to the hotel from the nearby shopping centre on waterfront.

We woke soon after 3:00am local time and went to breakfast soon after 7:00am.  In all the breakfasts we have enjoyed over the past tours, this has to have had the biggest variety of all.  And because you are never sure when/if the next meal is to be ‘on-time’, you tend to enjoy a portion of each food on offer.  (Oh no!!!)

At 10:00am, we catch the shuttle across to the Waterfront precinct for some ‘retail’ therapy and to see how the locals venture out.  Some of us have mobile phone questions to be satisfied – some still have those questions to be settled.  We find a souvenir shop early on and it gets attention from both our eyes and our wallets.  The handcrafts are just different to what we have seen on previous tours; some very tribal and some are of the type that would take lots of patience and time.  There is a statute of Nelson Mandela at the entrance, covered with beaded handcrafted material and just a magnificent piece of work. Much of the artefacts are very colourful and eye catching.  The dolls are so well done and Verley has her eye on a life size one standing near Nelson Mandela.

Further on, we find a Handcrafts Market and it is great to see that none of the tags say ‘Made in China’.  Traditional Drums are around $100 each, but it is too early in the tour to cart around a large item. There is a vendor selling wood inlay work which looked like they were paintings; so intricate and delicate.  Of course, there is a abundance of handcrafted jewellery.

After a ‘take-away’ lunch in the food court we wander around the rest of the waterfront area and notice an enormous crane, in the marina.  There are many vendors plying for our attention to take a cruise around the bay region – but the weather is not too good for tourists to enjoy.  We find carved rhinoceros just the right size to take pictures of ‘adults being children’.

Prior to our evening meal, we have a meeting with our Tour Director, Di.  She flew in from Sydney to do two tours back-to-back.  She will be with us all through the tour.  However, South African law requires that only local South Africans can ‘tour guide’ in the country; we will be introduced to him in the morning.

Seniors Moment/s

Someone has left their diabetes testing strips at home.

Some people didn’t bring winter clothes – we are still in the southern hemisphere people.

People who attempt to walk through glass doors should ensure that they are opened before doing so – they are not ALL automatic.  One teacher now has a flattened nose.

A ‘grey day’s view across the bay.
Nelson Mandela in ‘beaded’ form
Intricate beaded work on Mandela
These are painted on large eggs.
Yet another coffee break.
Even Cape Town has a big ‘eye’
An enormous crane
My rhino.
Lyn and Earlene doing their ‘kids’ thing
The World Cup Soccer Stadium – the locals still live in the World Cup World
Di – our Tour Scenic Tour Director

130829 Johannesburg – Melbourne

The Plan

After breakfast bid farewell to your newfound friends before your transfer to Johnnesburg airport for your onward or homebound flight.  FB

How the day turned out

Today is quite a relaxed day to look at the many shops in the arcades around the hotel.  Shops can get boring for some, and they take up a spot in the piano room just ‘sitting’ and reminiscing about the past 3 weeks of total wonderment and enjoyment.  Our departure for the airport is 6:00pm and our flight out of Johannesburg is 10:05pm.  We have a layover in Perth of 4 hours before flying domestic to Melbourne.

There are so many highlights to this trip, from the time we arrived in South Africa until the moment we leave.  Each day when we were on safari, we had breathtaking moments.  The first night watching 3 lionesses so exhausted from eating, they kept falling over.  The next day, watching the cheetah devour the impala and the male lion waking up and giving us a roaring reception, were spine chilling.  The vibrations of the roars came through to the vehicles.  When the elephants crossed the river as one, I felt “we had witnessed a ‘sacred moment of awe’, always to be remembered.  Nature doing its own thing, guided by inbuilt wisdom and an attitude of care.”

Young and older giraffe were so graceful to watch.  Hippopotami were hard to get a full glimpse of, as they were often in watering holes but when they yawned, that was engulfing indeed.  Elephants coming toward you give you the feeling that you are being totally overpowered.  Once on the move, nothing can stop them. Seeing hyenas slink away, tell us that all types exist even in the animal kingdom.  Seeing two groups of four male lions in the first hour of one day, was spine tingling stuff too.

Although we did not see many gardens in our tour, the flowers were beautiful.  It is always hard to pick up birds in the bush, but those we stopped to photograph were exceptional.  We just wish that there were many more flamingos to view.  Their numbers were down due to high levels of salinity in the water.

There were many landscape vistas that will remain in our minds.  Great expanses with wild animals dotted across the plains.  The water flow over the Victoria Falls was down, but they still showed us the power there is in water.  Travelling from ‘The Ark’ to Lake Nakuru was hard work on the back and joints, but there was so much to see that did not resemble other parts of Kenya and Tanzania we had visited.

The hospitality in all countries was very well given and well received, although the check-in staff could learn how to speed up the process. There seemed to be an oversupply of waiters and waitresses ever willing to help.  The food was definitely oversupplied and some of us will wear it for a few more days before we get back to our daily regular exercise routine.  Our drivers were usually able to supply satisfactory answers to our questions and apart from one dangerous bit of passing another 4WD and a truck on a very dusty road, they drove hard but in the main, safely.

To make it all happen, Di, our Scenic Tours Director had everything all prepared and ready to go at each point within each day.  Thank you Di.

All in all, no one has given a negative view of the tour as a whole.  Yes, the roads were rough and long, but that is all forgotten now.  The animals and scenery were worth travelling so far to see, study and enjoy.  We “may not have been born in Africa, but Africa has been born in us.” (Di, our tour Director on the final dinner farewell night.)

Thank you Scenic Tours!

More Travellers Thoughts

Anne S – This trip was a dream come true. It was all about the animals and I never got tired of seeing them.  Highlights?  Elephants crossing the river, and experiences at Thorneybush – up close and personal with the animals.

Kath – Dream come true trip.  Highlights – Cheetahs feeding on kill.  Water crossing of the Elephants was breathtaking, even though one amorous elephant was trying to nearly drown its partner (must have been the juveniles up the back of the pack) .  The Crater was another high light, as well as when the lions were mating.

Val – Absolutely fantastic and everyone must do Africa especially Thorneybush.

Lorraine – Seeing the Big 5 was a major highlight

Anne H – Highlights Elephants crossing & the orphanage

Robyn & John – The Balloon Fight was the highlight as we saw the migration of the wildebeest.  Gave full appreciation of the environment.

P.S.  Between Lyn and myself, we came home with over 3000 still photographs and 8 and a quarter hours of video to edit.  If any of our followers wish to receive the finished DVD (hopefully within 3 months) please send us an email to video@ytj.com.au.  Any contributions will be given to the Olmalaika girls refuge in Maasai Mara, Kenya which was featured in the following post of a few days ago. http://yarratraveljunction.com/group-tours/2013-august-africa/130826-masai-mara-national-reserve/

Salutation and final words

Lyn and I would like to say to all our fellow travellers, “It was quite evident from your experiences that you all enjoyed this trip; some say, ‘The best so far’.  We are happy to have organised and shared this time with you and that the memories of this trip will stay with you as highlights in your life.  Nature is so wonderful and when we share it, we can feel so uplifted and renewed.  Thank you for putting up with the many ‘donkey trails’ we travelled.  They were ‘enduring’ but how can you see such wonder without putting up with discomfort, sometimes?  Recover well and share your experiences with your friends and relatives who could not come.  Thank you again!”  Lyn and Colin.

130828 Maasai Mara – Johannesburg

The Plan

This morning enjoy your Included Scenic Enrich exclusive farewell bush breakfast and game drive before boarding your Included flight back to Nairobi.  On arrival in Nairobi connect with your flight to Johannesburg.  On arrival in Johannesburg you ail be transfered to your luxurious hotel situated in the heart of Sandton’s shopping district.  HB

How the day turned out

What’s a bush breakfast in Kenya.  Before we could found out, we had to have our bags out at 7:30am for a 8:00am departure for, I guess, something that we all were not expecting.  We climbed the hill behind the Lodge in the 4WD expecting that we would have some sort of ‘box’ to eat out of.  Turning a bend, we got a view of what we were in for.  An outside breakfast looking out over the great Maasai Mara plains and National Park.  Who could top what Scenic Tours have done for us; silverware and all the cereals, fruit, and hot breakfast cooked on a BBQ.

The sunshine ‘made it’ very special.  We had a table for each 4WD group together with our drivers. It was buffet style but the surroundings made it.  Just such a magnificent view from a mountain top in a game park reserve with zebra and gazelle feeding close by.

It’s not a good idea to get too close to a zebra.  One of our group thought it was great to take a photo of a young zebra that was wandering around the resort back in Livingstone.  The young one’s mother came up from behind and gave Robyn a good biff from behind and Robyn ended up on her back.  Lucky she was wearing a scenic backpack to break her fall.

We spent a good 90 minutes for breakfast in such wonderful surrounds and a great way to end a fantastic visit to Africa.

The last 14km to the Keekorok airport is the last we see of bull dust, but we still get dust in our ears.  The airstrip is a dirt strip but can take the Dash 8, which we fly in, on to Wilson’s Airport, Nairobi.  At Wilson’s, we are met by our suitcases and given the opportunity to repack for the transfer to Nairobi International Airport for our flight to Johannesburg.  It is a bit of a long process as things haven’t been rebuilt since the recent fire which destroyed the main buildings.

On arrival into Johannesburg, we have a coach transfer into the city to the Michael Angelo Hotel – rated 5 star like all the other accommodation we have had on this Scenic Tours Grand African Safari Tour.

Senior Moments/s

Earlene was washing her hands in the bathroom when she noticed John washing his too.  Sorry John – wrong room. ( I bet he din’t use the urinal.)

The hotel laundry staff couldn’t find Lorraine’s lost bra.  She told the staff, while lifting her precious ones, that her boobs will miss them too.  They apologised profusely and didn’t charge her the laundry bill.

Thoughts on the venture

Lorraine.  Fantastic!!!!  Thorneybush was the best – could get very close to the animals.

Travellers thoughts

Leo – The Elephants crossing the stream in Chobe National Park were something hard to believe.

Ken – Seeing the animals in the zoo is one thing but in their natural habitat makes it all worthwhile.

Steve – Making new friends on a trip makes the whole event more worthwhile

Julie – My first balloon ride was fabulous.  I am not real good with heights but I never felt unsafe.  The view was well worth-while.

Earlene – Animals, animals and more animals, all doing their own thing, naturally, and I have video to prove it.

Darleen – The baby monkey I saw just after it was born, and the roar of the Lion on the 3rd day at Thorneybush.

130827 Masai Mara National Reserve 3

The Plan

Enjoy another day at Masai Mara National Reserve.  FB L D

How the day turned out

We have a long safari today as we hope we can see the migration of the wilderbeest.  Lunch will be out in the National Park amongst the wild animals.

We drive down to where the Lodge entrance road joins the main road and there in front of us, is a lioness wandering across.  Frantically, we grab cameras to shot and film but it is hard to get good photos of her.  She is off up the hill from where we came.

Within 15 minutes, we come across a group of 4 male lions resting near a small shrub and looking as though they had just had a meal.  Each of them keep looking in the same direction as if, “something is going to be moving soon and we must chase it.”  They let us photograph them, without putting out their hand for money, for 15-20 minutes.  Moving away, we find a zebra carcass a few 100 meters away – ah, left over lunch.

This park is very large with plains as far as you can see.  But there are many animals, somewhere.  Within another 30 minutes, we come across another 4 male lions walking along a stream bank.  Many 4WDs come to view these majestic beasts as they move.  They are very close to us and they fill the video monitor without it on full zoom.  We watch as they find a spot to take a drink before moving to a quiet spot out of view.

As I said earlier, our safari today is set on watching the migration.  This takes place down near the Tanzanian border.  We travel for a couple of hours through many large herds of wilderbeest making their way towards their new eating zone at the completion of their migration.  It is getting near mid-day.

Coming to a bridge across the Mara River, without looking in any direction, we can tell that this is one of the spots where the beasts come to cross the river, during their migration.  The stench from the bodies of the wilderbeest is over powering as vultures sit on the carcass of many animals that have not made it across to dry land.  In the main, they have broken a leg or two or just drowned while making the hazardous crossing. That’s the way nature cares for itself.  No, we are not going to see a crossing in full swing.  A pity but that’s the way things happen here – there is no timetable.

We drive further on and find a tree, out in the middle of nowhere, to have our prepared box lunch.  A fantastic African landscape is before us.

We have a long drive of an hour and a half, back to the Lodge for a free period before dinner at 7:30 tonight.

Yesterday, a group of 6 took an early morning hot-air balloon ride across the Maasai Mara and Steve has written about the ordeal for us.

“The day began at 5:00am as we set out from our Lodge.  15 minutes later, the group arrived at the balloon’s launch site, eager to get air born.

“A basket to hold 8 people was laying on its side and we were loaded aboard like 8 bottles of vintage wine ready for cellaring.  As the gas burners were ignited, a roar, not unlike a male lion, filled the morning air.  In a few moments of being dragged along the ground, we became air borne.

“When the roar of the gas burner stopped we were gliding silently over the plains at 8 knots and 80 meters above the ground.

“As we drifted over the plains, our height varied from as little as 2 meters to 150 meters, depending on the direction our pilot wished to take us.  On one low descent, our basket clipped the tip of tall grass.  A ground owl took off in shear panic.  We then climbed up to 300 meters to see the full expanse of the migrating wilderbeest and zebra.  On descending, we spotted 3 cheetahs strolling across the grasslands.

“Another burst of the gas burners took us on a steep climb near Lookout Hill for our last views of the mass herds on their endless travel around the grasslands of the Maasai Mara National Park.  The silent drift was only broken by noises of the migration, a truly wonderful and memorable one hour of life, sadly coming to an end as we descend for our landing and champagne breakfast that awaited us.  We resumed our position as vintage bottles of wine and hung on awaiting our inevitable return to reality – thump!”  Thanks, Steve – Great stuff.

We are sad tonight as we think that tomorrow is the start of our journey home, for we have had a great safari around 8 game parks starting in South Africa, and on to Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya.  “Ya gotta do Africa”.

130826 Masai Mara National Reserve 2

The Plan

Opportunity to take a 1 hour Hot Air Balloon flight over the Masai Mara (Own expense). Enjoy Included morning and afternoon game drives through the Masai Mara. Enjoy your Included Scenic FreeChoice activity. FB L D

Some Information

Despite their small number (about 650,000) the Maasai are the best known of the Kenyan tribes. Nomadic, warfaring herdsmen, of Nilotic origin, they made their mark in history by fiercely opposing British colonization. Today, they live in the south of Kenya, close to the Amboseli and Masai Mara parks.

How the day turned out

A little later today for our wake-up call enabled us to sleep in a little, although I still woke at 5:00am. After a quick breakfast, we were off on the first safari in the Maasai Mara National Park. The wide-open spaces of this park means you have to travel quite a distance between animals to see some more.

Firstly, we came across another herd of elephants making their way to who knows where. Our guide shows that he is a very keen tracker and sights the shape of a lionesses head in some long grass. When we pick her up in our sights, it is just a triangular shape with small ears that you can see in the distance. Because the rules of the park is that no vehicle can go off track to get a closer view, we have to zoom in from a long way off. She is just sitting there contented with the surroundings she is in. We do not notice any other lions with her. Only two of our vehicles are fitted with CB radio and to get a message to our other vehicles, we use a vehicle from another tour operator to send a message to our ‘team’ about the sighting. This being the case, lots of other company vehicles hear of the sighting and turn up too – some breaking the rules and venturing very close to the lioness.

We must move on – surely there are more lions around. We notice a group of cars down near a stream in shrubbery. There is a BIG daddy with a lioness there. They are probably mating and that can take up to three days with many ‘xxx’ happenings. How tiring!

After viewing giraffe once again, we drive the long way round back to the Lodge for lunch. This afternoon, there is an African cooking class to be held and I have asked Darleen to add to the post for today.

“Several of the group took advantage of the cooking demonstration this afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised when we went down to the hotel veggie patch and found a beautifully set table and chairs with full white linen service under an umbrella with stoves and cooking apparatus ready for us. The head gardener showed us around his really well tended expansive garden with an amazing range of herbs and salad produce growing so well in really fertile soil on the side of a hill and down into the valley. We were then all given chefs aprons, hairnets and chef hats so that we really looked the part and then were invited to assist in cooking. The head chef had chosen three popular Kenyan dishes for us ….pan fried local fish in herbed creamy tomato sauce, wilted kale with tomato and onion and the favourite staple dish from maize meal and water called ‘ugali’. We all had a turn of stirring the cooking and then sat down to a picnic in the garden to eat the results! We had only just finished lunch but we made an effort to taste and enjoy! The chef and assistants joined us and informed us that it is custom to eat with your fingers so several brave persons tried that idea… Interesting! A round of applause and much thanks to the team, another interesting experience to add to the African Odyssey.” Thanks Darleen.

While the others were either at the cooking class or resting (sleeping), I found a driver to take me to Olmalaika Home. This is a home for girls who have run away from their village due to the custom of genital mutilation. Gwenyth from Warburton, had introduced me on Facebook to Kim DeWitt from USA. Kim is instrumental in getting the Home going. I was able to video through the Home so we can make a DVD to use as promotion back in Australia. The solar panels are on the way to be installed shortly – all the internal wiring is done. And the water bore hole is almost complete in readiness for the pump when it arrives. What a great project and a life changing moment for me!

The day finished with dinner under the stars around the pool. Tomorrow is a full day of safari as we make our way to the ‘Great Migration’ of the wildebeests.

130825 Lake Nakuru – Masai Mara National Reserve

The Plan

This morning continue to Masai Mara National Reserve. This afternoon enjoy an Included game drive through the Masai Mara. FB L D

Some Information

The Mara, as the Kenyans call it, is the most visited and perhaps the most beautiful of all the country’s game reserves. Covering an area of 1,510 sq km, it is part of the traditional Masai lands, and its edges are dotted with manyats, shepherds’ villages. It’s an integral part of the Serengeti ecosystem, divided in two by the vagaries of human geography. The wildlife is abundant all year round.

How the day turned out

It is great to start a day with a safari; the air is clean, the sun is shinning today, and the animals are out and about having breakfast. We come across many giraffe today, one group of 18 or so have been very interesting – many little ones keeping close to their mother’s side. We see many interesting birds but for me, we don’t spend long enough as you have to ‘wait’ for the birds to show off their activities.

The view from the top of the ridge which was used in the movie, “The Lion King”, and the waterfall, are welcome sights. We have a beautiful blue sky to make us even more happy and to give us great pictures, again.

Our lunch is taken at an orphanage which was set up by an Australian couple in 2004. They sold their house and came over to help orphans left by their parents who died from HIV aids. They are away at their daughter’s wedding in Australia but a Croatian volunteer is here to host us. The buildings have been built by Australian/American volunteer teams and the cost of operations are paid by subscribers and donors. We have a vegetarian lunch served to us by a very competent chef, after being shown around the campus. There are some nice flowers around too. Scenic Tours visit this orphanage with each group that comes to Lake Nakuru and are invited to bring gifts for the kids. One of our ladies, Anne, has knitted 120 bennies to give and Val has brought a heap of tennis balls, which we have had shared amongst our baggage.

We are told we have a long way to go this afternoon. We will be at our next stop in 4-5 hours. The words ‘bone shaker of a trip’ were not used but we soon found out. All have received a free 4 hour massage – thanks to the road, what a thriller. We are glad it has not been raining recently or we would be slipping all over the road and even getting stuck in the mud. However, the scenery has been really eye-opening. Green fields go on forever, We come across a huge flower farm in what looks like 100’s of igloos. Kenya is the second biggest exporter of flowers to the EU, which is quite amazing. There are lots of young children waving as we pass – there must have been 4,734 waves from lovely little faces. Leo has been counting the speed bumps and is up to 3467 – LOL!

Suddenly the vegetation is gone compared to the highlands and we know that the plains of the Maasai Mara are close by. Passing through a busy town is the point of change. And then we are on to a rough gravel road for more than 90 minutes. Our driver is not afraid of risks and we pass a few vehicles and trucks doing 80kph in almost blinding “bull dust”. The sun is sinking as we near the Maasai Mara National Reserve. (You may have noticed that sometimes Maasai is spelt with one ‘a’ and sometimes with two ‘a’s. The language of the Maasai is Maa. The colonials used to spell it with just one ‘a’ and that has been followed by many.)

We arrive at our accommodation and open the doors to get our luggage and it is covered in dust – white dust. The efficient staff brush it off before bringing it to our tented accommodation. We are living in luxury tents for the next 3 nights before flying on to Nairobi.

130402 Tarascon

A different arrangement each evening.
Scenic Emerald moored at Tarascon
Visit to an Olive processing plant and farm
Les Baux – the ‘new’ village
Les Baux
Gifts shops in Les Baux
All villages have a church
The village bell tower at Les Baux
Biscuit Shop
Outside Auditorium
Avignon by Night
Avignon by Night
The happy swish couple
Although our ship is docked at Tarascon, we are not given a tour through the town.  Perhaps it is not ready to take an influx of tourists as this port is new to berthing river cruise ships that are as long as this ship.

After breakfast, we board buses and take a short 30-minute ‘grab a bit of sleep’ trip to an olive farm.  It is down a narrow laneway but is said to be a very famous grove.  There are over 5,000 trees bearing olives, which have become the winner of worldwide competitions.  The old grandfather was not happy moving his processing plant into the world of automation, but had to agree that there was no effect on the quality of the olives his farm produced.  Now, as there are no sons, one of his two daughters runs the farm and processing plant.

From here, we take another short drive to the village of Les Baux. This village is in a spectacular position atop a rocky outcrop crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south.  After an interesting history of both feuds and the mining of bauxite, Les Baux is driven entirely by the tourist trade, relying on a reputation as one of the most picturesque villages in France.  Its population of 22 in the old village is a fraction of its peak population of over 4,000, and many of its buildings are picturesque ruins.  We are too early for demonstrations of huge catapults which are given every day as the demonstrations are only shown from later on in April through to September, the height of the tourist season.

We come back to the ship for a Scenic standard lunch.  The town of Arles is not far away and we are given free time in this busy town until 5pm.

The evening meal is a special Captain’s Dinner and the dress code has to change.  I get away with not wearing a tie but Lyn says I look smart anyway.  Our table is made up of 3 other couples born in China but living in Vancouver most of their lives.  They have done many trips together in the past and it was interesting that they were not aware that Scenic Tours is Australian.

Lyn has just reminded me that we had a little problem with the wardrobe hanging space.  We each had the same amount of space and hangers when we moved into the room.  I thought of some shirts that needed to hang.  When I looked for a spare hanger, there was none left in my cupboard.  I have used two and the 6 spares that I had are now in Lyn’s cupboard.

Our ship starts moving at 7:00pm for the short journey to Avignon through the first loch.  The lights of the town and the Popes Palace create a splendid photo.  We moor beside a number of other River Cruise ships.