April 5, Cape Town, South Africa

Wow...too much to cover! Today we spent the 3rd day in Cape Town driving with a guide to the Cape of Good Hope...beautiful drive! Fog was coming and going the whole time, but it was one of the most beautiful drives we've ever done. We even walked up to the lighthouse at the end, an accomplishment for me.

Two days ago we flew to Cape Town from our safari into the Kruger National Park area of South Africa. We left our ship in Maputo, Mozambique, one of the poorest countries we've visited...and were disappointed to see used clothing that had been donated by charities for the poor being SOLD to the poor by some middlemen who got it first...they are SO poor and apparently have a very corrupt government that doesn't help. Very sad. After about a 3 1/2 hour drive we arrived at our lodge in the park...actually we had passed the gates about 45 minutes before our lodge and began seeing animals from then on. We settled into our room, had lunch, and got prepared for our 4 PM game drive in our park vehicle...7 of us in a 3-row "jeep" kind of vehicle. I rode shotgun since it was a VERY high step to get into them. Without boring you completely, our days continued with game drives from 4-8 in the evenings and 5:30-8:30 ish in the mornings. The middle of the day was free for us to nap, read, visit, go over photos, and enjoy the wilds around us (we saw a giraffe from our back deck pruning some trees). Meals were very good...all buffet...9 AM breakfast, 1 PM lunch, 8 PM dinner. Monkeys were a problem with some of the meals, but they had a man stationed with a sling shot during most of them...that kept them at bay.

Our game drives were very successful...saw all the "Big 5"...including a leopard relaxing in a tree. My favorite things were observing behaviors you don't see in zoos or wild animal parks...favorite was a male elephant (who we had seen each day previously by himself) being happily greeted by his mate who came running to meet up with him and hold each other's trunks! Amazing. Also, young female lions just cuddling up to each other, grooming each other, and just lazing around like a pile of big cats do. We never seemed to bother the animals at all...even when they passed by us within feet of our vehicle. At night, once the sun set, the guides used spotlights to try to find animals, but only once did it really pay off when we saw some female lions on the hunt. The rest of the time we saw them during daylight. Animals seen: Cape Buffalo, White Rhino, Lion, Leopard, Elephant, (all the Big 5), then cheetah with 2 cubs (just walking down the road), a gazillion impalas, Kudu (plus we had their meat one night..delicious!), hyena, wart hogs, jackal, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, and heaven knows what i've forgotten. I'm hoping that photos can be posted sometime in the future in one of our last ports in Africa...it's taking awhile to get through them. All I can say, is that it really was quite an adventure. However, we also saw that doing it in a private lodge makes a difference...they have access to their own roads that go into the bush. Whenever we went out on the park roads, there were traffic jams with animals. Also, our vehicles took fewer people. Our accommodations were fine: a large BR with large Bath, including outdoor shower (fun!) and a dressing area and private deck. We had a long walk to our rooms along a raised walkway...sometimes the monkeys would be playing along the way. We had no mosquito problems at all. (We were on the shoulder season between wet and dry.).

Yesterday Archbishop Desmond Tutu came on board and received an honor, but we weren't able to see him (VERY crowded)...people said he didn't really speak, but seemed like he still had an active sense of humor.

It's still very foggy around the area, so I don't know what Sailaway is going to be like tonight...might be very nice...or not.

Another Sea Day tomorrow and then Wallis Bay, Namibia the following day...no plans at this time.
We are now, we feel, on the way home...just about 3 weeks remaining. What a trip it has been! Hopefully some photos to follow in a few days.

Sent from my iPad