Oh, the Places We'll Go

While we were in the St. Lucia area with Ted’s parents, we had the opportunity to visit The Emdoneni Cat Rehabilitation Centre to see some big (and not-so-big) cats up close. Animals end up there for a variety of reasons – some were orphaned at a young age and would not have survived alone in the wild, some were injured, some were born in captivity, etc. The ultimate goal is that the (capable) cats will be treated and released, but there are a few that won’t because after being raised in captivity they just couldn’t hold their own in the wild.

We got to meet several different kinds of cats – many which are very difficult to spot in the wild. Our guide was the cats’ care-taker and he knew everything about where they had come from, how long they had been there, if they would ever be released, etc. He also knew the animals’ personalities which allowed us to enter their cages and even pet some.

African Wild Cat

Caracal (Lynx)

Caracal (Lynx)

Serval

The highlight of the day was definitely the cheetahs. Raised by our guide from a very young age, the two male cheetahs that we got to “meet” were very comfortable with visitors. Though our safety had been guaranteed, I have to admit that I was still a little nervous to be voluntarily walking towards two large, male cheetahs with the end goal of petting them.

Ted and his mom, however, had no such qualms. While Rob and I were content to pet the things and take their photos, Ted and Sarah happily sat down and allowed the cats to sit and purr on their laps, petting their rough coats while being licked by their even rougher tongues. Ted compared the licking to running sandpaper over his skin – it’s no wonder cheetahs are able to keep their coats so clean just by licking!

Petting Cheetahs

Getting licked by Cheetahs

However, the cats weren’t all fun and games. Within minutes of leaving the cheetah pen, both Sarahs had intense allergic reactions. Sarah (Ted’s mom) broke out in a rash all over her arms from where the cheetahs had been licking her. Though she is allergic to regular house cats, she had never experienced the intense physical reaction that she did from the cheetahs and it lasted for several days. I too am allergic to cats and was quite miserable with traditional allergy symptoms from itchy eyes and throat to sneezing and congestion, but mine only stuck around for a couple hours.

So, for future reference, we can vouch without a doubt that if you are allergic to house cats, that same allergy also applies to cheetahs!

Petting cheetahs.  You know, a regular day in Africa.

Petting Cheetahs

Petting Cheetahs

Swaziland is a teeny, tiny little country in Southern Africa that most people have never heard of – look on a map and you’ll see that it is nearly encompassed by South Africa. They have a much-loved King (with many wives), their own currency, and a lot of national pride. We didn’t get to experience much of what Swaziland has to offer but we did spend a night there and enjoyed the beautiful green hilly scenery from the car on our shortcut through the country to get from the Kruger Park area to South Africa’s Elephant Coast.

Swaziland's green rolling hills

Swaziland from the car

Spanning the northeastern seaboard, the Elephant Coast is a popular vacation destination for JoBurg folks looking to escape the big city. St. Lucia is the main hub around these parts and thanks to its location on the Indian Ocean (rather than the Atlantic), the water temperature is much more inviting for swimming than we’d experienced at the other beaches in South Africa.

Elephant Coast

Elephant Coast

One of our favorite days with Martens was a bush-to-beach-to bush experience. At the iSimangaliso Wetland National Park, you have the opportunity to self-drive your car through an incredibly beautiful and world-renowned wetland landscape, where you see everything from kudu, to zebra, to rhino, to hippos – only to end up on an amazing strip of white sand beach where you can swim, surf, and snorkel. We picnicked along the beach and then took turns swimming in the beautiful blue water and snorkeling along the small reef near shore. When we’d had enough sunshine for the day, we piled back in the car to look for more animals as we headed towards town.

Kudu

Picnic on the beach

Cape Vidal

Bush to Beach to Bush

I can’t imagine there are too many places in the world where you can see a rhino in the morning, eat lunch with monkeys in the trees overlooking the beach, swim with fish, and then spot dozens of zebra and warthogs on your way home. What a day!

Family photo

Wanting the Martens to have all their animal questions answered, we spent a few nights just outside  Kruger Park in the Thornybush Game Reserve at Kwa Mbili Lodge.  The owners were a South African man and his American wife who had both worked for IBM for years in California before deciding to do something different.  Very different.  They are now raising their two young daughters in the bush and hosting visitors from all over the world at their lovely property.

We had an amazing few days at Kwa Mbili, with several different incredible guides.  Our first, AK, was a South African version of the Crocodile Hunter.  He’d been a guide for decades and it was what he was born to do.  He loves the bush and the bush loves him.  At one point we got out of the Land Cruiser and pursued a rhino on foot before it got away from us!  That was a first!

AK and a tortoise

Our second guide was a man named Ocean.  Though a man of few words, he showed us all the animals.  Ted’s mom was bound and determined to see a lion and Ted and I were crossing our fingers that it would happen.  Within 10 minutes on our drive with Ocean, we rounded a corner to see a gigantic male lion within 10 feet of the road.  Needless to say, Sarah (Ted’s mom) was thrilled as were we all.  Ocean also almost got us run over by an aggressive charging male elephant.  Luckily we were able to reverse fast enough to avoid his pursuit!

King of the bush

This guy was enormous

Ocean delivers the animals

However, our most memorable animal sitings occurred with Kwa Mbili’s owner, Neil, as our guide.  With loads of help from our mighty tracker (a local man experienced in finding and deciphering animal tracks), we were able to see a cheetah (our first!) with his kill.  In fact, the baby impala was still alive when we came upon them.  It was amazing how close the animal allowed us to get to him and how intricate and beautiful the spots are on his body.

Cheetah with a fresh kill

Resting after a big feast

And a top highlight for sure was on our last game drive at the lodge.  After our sundowners and on the way back to the lodge, we came across a leopard in our headlights.  He was literally walking across the road and we couldn’t have had better timing – 5 seconds earlier and it would have still been in the bush and 5 seconds later he would have disappeared in the other direction.  We stopped in awe and he proceeded to walk by us within feet of the car.  I don’t think any of us were breathing at that point.  It was a totally incredible sighting and the perfect way to wrap up our time in the bush.

A bit close for comfort?

As the Graces were in mid-air back to Ann Arbor, Ted and I were once again at the Johannesburg International Airport (visits 4 and 5 of 10) to welcome our second round of parental visitors.  Similar to the Graces, it was the Martens’ first time to Africa and we so appreciate them coming so far to be with us.  Rob, Sarah (Ted’s mom is also named Sarah!), Ted and I have traveled together several times before, so we knew we were in for a good time.

We spent our first couple of nights in the Drakensburg Escarpment, in an amazing hilltop accommodation that Ted and I had identified while previously driving through the area during my parents visit.  Though none of us have been there, we imagine that the surrounding landscape was similar to the Irish countryside – lots of green, rolling hills.  We spent a whole day driving a scenic loop through the region taking in waterfalls, rock formations and exploring caves.

Could be Ireland?

Drakensburg Escarpment

Blythe River Canyon

Sarahs

We then ventured into the Kruger Park for a couple days of self-driving safari.  As Michiganders may spend vacation time on a lake Up North every year, many South Africans make an annual trip to the Kruger Park.  You stay in the park, you drive around looking for animals all day (drinking beer optional) and you BBQ in the evenings.  We channeled our inner South African and did exactly that.  Though Ted and I knew a little bit from our previous safaris, we were by no means a wealth of information, so we opted to do a ranger-guided night drive.  It was totally worth it as we finally saw our first rhino!  Ted and I had been on safari for a total of 18 days (between Botswana and South Africa) so it was long overdue.  Those things are ridiculously intimidating and very pre-historic looking.  The good news is, we had many more rhino spottings still in store for us!

Self-drive safari treats

Self-drive safari treats

Rhinos!

Hyena

After a week in Cape Town we headed to the eastern side of the country to see some big animals.  We spent a few nights at the Pondoro Lodge in part of the greater Kruger National Park.  Pondoro is an incredible spot and my parents were treated with quite an array of beasts.  Highlights included a pride of 9 lions lying together under a tree; a gigantic elephant saying hello while crossing the road; and dozens of hippos chilling in the river.  We enjoyed our nightly sundowners; Lar dug sitting shotgun with the safari guide and we all loved the amazing dinners including ostrich filet (which tastes like steak, not chicken) and impala pie!

HELLO!

Larry in shotgun

Sundowners in the bush

Giraffe

We had an incredible couple of weeks with Sal and Lar and we can’t thank them enough for making it all the way over to South Africa, and spoiling us to boot!

South Africa is a well-known wine-producing region of the world.  Stellenbosch is the unofficial capital of the wine region here, and is less than an hour from Cape Town in a beautiful mountainous valley.

Stellenbosch Vistas

Stellenbosch Vistas

Unbeknownst to me, Sal and Lar had never been wine-tasting before (Ted and I had been on a few tasting excursions in both Argentina and New Zealand).  Each wine region has their own approach, but here in South Africa the norm was to show up at a winery, pay a small fee and get the opportunity to taste 4-6 different types of wine.  We were warmed up pretty quickly when our first stop served us 6 wines before 11am!

Morning tasting!

I was hoping to get Sal and Lar on a cellar tour so that they could hear about how the wine is made and how they store it, bottle it, etc. but after 3 attempts, we realized that we should have made appointments.  Apparently, many of the workers were busy in the cellars due to it being harvest season and couldn’t be bothered to give a tour at a moment’s notice.  The nerve!  We think they should take notes from the Argentines, who will show you around any time of day.

Anyway, we had a beautiful day driving around and exploring all the amazing properties.  After our strong start with the wine-tasting in the morning, I was reminded that my folks aren’t really winos and were just as happy to stop into a winery and have a look around – they didn’t feel the need to do the tastings!  That is not something I inherited from them.

Tastings!

Stellenbosch

Never seen a warning like this before:

Beyond the excitement of Table Mountain, we did a lot of other activities that were not-so-life-threatening. One highlight was driving along the coast and to the Cape of Good Hope, a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean south of the city. We’d stop when we felt like it to check out a cool beach or watch the fishermen bring in their catch. African wildlife viewing began here – we saw the adorable African penguins at Boulders Beach, as well as ostrich, antelope and zebras on the Cape Peninsula.

Muizenberg Beach, False Bay

Cape Peninsula

Cape Point

Lots of penguins!

We spent a morning at Robben Island which is where Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisoner for 27 years. The tours are led by former political prisoners of Robben Island which made the experience so much more authentic, and it was a stark reminder of how recently apartheid ended (1991!).

Mandela's cell, Robben Island

Robben Island

Ferry back from Robben Island

And no good trip would be complete without excellent eating. One of our favorite meals was the hilariously named Cod Father restaurant. It was highly recommended by our lodge and it was certainly a unique eating experience. There are no menus at the Cod Father – you waiter simply brings you to the display cases and shows you exactly what fresh catches the restaurant has available. As a group of four, we got an amazing assortment of different things – from crawfish (like lobster) to butterfish to prawns. It all came steaming hot to the table with overshadowed sides of fries and vegetables. We all supped to sufficiency and finished every single thing put in front of us. In honor of our memorable meal, Lar now has a Cod Father hat to add to his amazingly expansive collection that I imagine I’ll see him wearing while BBQing up north this summer.

Cod Father dinner choices

Massive seafood feast!

Cape Town Panorama from Table Mountain.  Amazing…