Seeing the "Big Five" (and more) on the Safari at Kruger

I was the trip leader for the safari that I went on with 30 students from the ship and five "Life Long Learners" ( as our retired passengers are called).  It was great!  Kruger is a National Park in S. Africa that is 300X100 miles and is considered the best in this part of the continent.  The "big five" on safari are: [1] Lions, [2] Leopards, [3] Elephants, [4] Rhinos, and [5] Water Buffalos.  It is considered a successful safari if you get to see all five.  Many other groups went out from our ship to safaris in other places, but only our group had the opportunity to see all five (see the photos below).  As a bonus, we also saw wildebeasts, hyenas, giraffes, impalas, hippos, eagles, owls, wild boars, zebras, springboks, kudus, baboons, and monkeys.  The only animal that I really wanted to see that we did not was the cheetah.  I guess they were just too fast for us those days we spent in the bush.  

We stayed in the Sabi River Run Resort there which added to the experience.  I have included one shot of the area and the golf course that surrounded the resort.  The rolling hills around Kruger reminded me of Tuscany in Italy.  The fed us like hungry bears and treated us like gold there, which definitely added to the experience.  The guide that Semester at Sea had hired for us,  Graham Johannson from Capetown, was the best of the voyage so far! 

Amazing Capetown!!

Ok, so judging Rio as my new favorite global city only lasted a few weeks..........until our arrival in Capetown!  The port reminds me quite a bit of San Francisco, beautiful port-side shops, bars, and restaurants, but the surrounding mountains and peaks in Capetown's port are far more impressive.  The awesome sight of Table Mountain and Lion's Head encircled most of the time by swirls of clouds is a site like no other.  I really liked this place.  It was cool and comfortable, quiet, yet bustling with activity.

The hop-on, hop-off bus tour takes you to an entirely different part of the city on the other side of those hilly peaks to a variety of small beach-side villages with their own set of unique spots to relax and take it all in.   I didn't want to leave!  I only had two days here since my safari to Kruger National Park took up three of our five days here in port.  Everyone loved this place and vowed to return. 

Besides getting to buy some cool African arts and crafts for my house (and a few Christmas gifts for those back home) there, I got to visit my favorite fast-food restaurant of all time, a South African chain called "Nando's Chicken".  It serves Portugese Peri-Peri flame grilled chicken like no other!  I had first encountered Nando's during my stays in London in the mid-1990s, and always make a pilgrimage there on my visits to Canada as well.  I can only hope they will one day come to America.  At least I was able to buy some of their famous hot sauce at the place where I had the best lunch of my voyage!!  Nando's rocks!

Leaving Ghana and Headed for Cape Town

Spending five days in Ghana was quite an experience!  I had to keep telling myself, "Hey I'm in Africa".  I guess some things were as I imagined them and some were not.  I witnessed lots of poverty, but I also saw beautiful beaches.  With the official language of Ghana being English, navigating all the places to go was much easier, although the accents were vastly different and sometimes difficult to understand.  The way they spoke reminded me of Jamaica.  The folks here are very religious, both Christian and Muslim, with most every other business having a religious-oriented name:  The convenience stores, beauty shops, even the local bars (one, called the "Jesus Spot").

The vendors were pushy, but friendly, and once they asked your name they never forgot it.  Even seeing you several days later on the street, they would call out "Mr. Tood, my man, how are you"?  Before they knew your name, most called me "Papa" (as a sign of respect, of course:) for someone older than they.  It was a bit disconcerting at first, but great fun in the end.  I bargained hard, and bought bracelets, African masks, a few works of art (batic), and some local chocolate (as Ghana is one of the world's largest producers).

As you might expect it was hot and humid here, so hikes were interesting, but often quickly tiring.  Not to mention the fact that you needed to be slathered with a layer of high-protection sunscreen, then a layer of Deep Woods Off everywhere you went.  We went to the largest city, the capital of Ghana, Accra for two days then, day trips to the the market in Takoradi, the rainforest, and canoed to a water village.  The latter was my favorite experience and the pics will show you why.  The children in the village were loads of fun and loved having us visit.  We took them gifts of pens, paper, and coloring books and donated money to help them improve the small one-room school there in the village of 500 people.

First Day in Africa

Oh Oh, Hey Hey, we are in Africa!  I can't believe I am actually here!  Another dream fulfilled.

We sailed across the Atlantic for the past 9 days, taking the same route (in reverse direction) that was taken by the slave ships in centuries past, transporting slaves to South America.   We docked in Takoradi on the West coast of Africa this morning and will be here for five days.  I will go exploring the small town here today, then leave for an overnight trip to the capital city of Accra tomorrow.  I also have day trips each day, including a visit to the Nuzelo Water Village and an all day hike in the Ankasa National Park.  I hope my supply of bug spray holds out as they have warned that all those mosquito-based diseases exist here.

I can look off the dock and see all the merchants below selling the large bongo drums and other ethnic arts and crafts.  Much to their dismay, the students have been warned not to buy any drum sets since they will not be allowed to bring them onboard the ship.  It seems the animal skins used to make them are not legal since taking any live plants or (recently) live animals is forbidden.  I told them to ship a pair home if they want a pair that badly!  I will post Africa pics soon!!