I unfortunately had a test and a few mandatory classes at the start of their time in Cape Town, so they drove to Cape Point the first full day while I was taking an exam in Jameson Hall. The parents really brought bad weather with them, as they were here for two of the three truly rainy days I’ve experienced since my arrival over two months ago. We squeezed in some other activities, including a walk up to Rhodes Memorial and a soaked trek back. Taking my dad’s brilliant route down we wound up perplexed and drenched in a fenced in field. After weaseling our way out of that predicament, we spent some time at the V & A waterfront and were obliged to visit the Royal Cape Yacht Club, which houses a massive amount of boats! It was certainly different than Buffalo’s yacht club, but we had a nice time.
Saturday we went to Old Biscuit Mill for delicious food and a little shopping. We very diplomatically split up on our ascents of Table Mountain, with Kevin joining my mom on the cable car and my dad and me hiking to the top. I think everyone wound up pleased with this arrangement, although I did hear a couple ‘are we there yet?’ comments from my climbing-loving father. The hike is not too long in distance, but is quite steep!
Dad pondering the meaning of life, or perhaps catching his breath
Sunday we checked out Companys Gardens, did some haggling at Green Market Square, and fit in a concert at Kirstenbosch.
The band, Hot Water, put on a fun show, even inviting a big group to dance on stage
The parents at Kirstenbosh
Monday morning we made our way to the train station to board the Rovos Rail, an old school train with the goals of both taking passengers back in time and prioritizing the importance of the journey. It was quite classy even from the start, as we made a grand entrance a half an hour late, greeted by a violinist playing in the lounge as we were provided drinks. After boarding the train, we were given a little tour of our rooms, during which the train began to chug along. We explored some on the train and had our first meal. Now, each meal on this train was extravagant, with three to four courses and a matching drink, all of which were incredible. I took this massive quantity of food presented to me as a personal challenge, in which I think I succeeded, while my stomach may not agree. We stopped late afternoon at sleepy Matjiesfontein, once a rest stop for train travelers, now more similar to a town transformed into a museum.
Yes, this is the lower half of a mannequin sitting on a Victorian toilet. No, I have no idea why this would be in a museum.
The next day we made it to Kimberly to see the suitably named “Big Hole,” the largest hand-dug hole in the world, made by prospectors in search of diamonds.
Look, it's a big hole!
We toured the mine and a diamond museum. Outside, there was a genuine fake town, with a fake bar, shoe store, funeral home…
Looking out the window of the train always promised a wonderful view, but one of the neatest sights was Kamfers Dam, a breeding site of lesser flamingo. As we drove by we saw flocks of more flamingos than I can count.
To give you an idea, this picture is zoomed in to about 1/20th of the total flock
Tuesday night we were treated to another fabulous meal, after which my mom and I got in a few card games before being lulled to sleep by the train.
Hot couple at dinner
Wednesday we finally arrived in Pretoria.
Rovos steam engine
Ostrich wants a ride on the train. Or perhaps is upset that there is ostrich on the menu.
We made our way to Johannesburg and relaxed for the evening. Thursday we packed our day with tours, beginning with the Sterkfontein Caves, home of several important fossil finds including “Little Foot,” an over 3 million year old, nearly complete Australopithecus skeleton. Next we ventured to Maropeng (a Setswana word meaning ‘returning to the place of origin’), which is a somewhat over the top museum. We began by boarding a boat that led through the stages of the earth’s formation, with some very hot and cold areas, fog machines, snow, rain etc. The museum itself was interesting, with information on the archeological finds in the area, a history of human advances including the use of tools and fire, as well as a look at humans’ consumption today and the sustainability of this.
Maropeng
On to the next museum, we went to the Apartheid museum. While I thought I had a good foundation of knowledge, I was still quite overwhelmed by the museum. There is so much information to take in and a separate large exhibit exclusively on Nelson Mandela. While I worried that I missed various features of the museum, I know I learned a lot more from my time there.
Friday we made our way to the airport, flying to Hoedspruit, where we made our way to our lodge, Gomo Gomo. I was amazed upon arrival by how beautiful the place is. There is a large area where you can sit and enjoy the sun or shade and look out onto this:
Gomo Gomo
There were often animals around the watering hole, including elephants and warthogs. At four we had lunch and our first game drive. The first drive was the most incredible: we saw all of the big five! We began with the most elusive of the big five, the leopard. I thought that the guide, Danie, was just crazy, talking about how they were ‘tracking’ the leopard, but we actually managed to follow prints in the area and spotted the leopard. We watched it for a while, hoping it might go to work on the impala it was intently staring down, but alas, no carnage.
Leopard (the guides named her Cleo)
After that we tried tracking lion. While unsuccessful, we managed to see elephant and an enormous herd of buffalo. A call on the guide’s walkie-talkie generated a mad dash to see a lioness with her cubs. On the way there we spotted a rhino just beside us, rounding out our big five quest all in the first trip. Expectations were thus set quite high, and while they were not quite met each day, we saw plenty of other animals in the following days, including giraffe (a mother was milking a baby giraffe and it was so funny to see the baby bending its long neck down to reach), baboons, vervet monkeys right outside my hut, a hippo, and hyena, among others.
I got to hold this chameleon!
We saw a ton of elephants, including this guy munching away
Each day we woke up at an early five AM, consumed copious amounts of coffee, and went for our first ride from about six to nine. We then ate breakfast, could go on a walk with the guides, and relaxed. After lunch we embarked for the second ride of the day, from four to about seven thirty. Dinner took place outside, with everyone arranged in a circle around a big fire. One night as we chatted after dinner, one of the guides got a call that there was a pride of lions out by one of the paved roads. We quickly jumped into the Land Rovers, wrapped up in blankets. It was especially exciting to see a white lion, since there are supposedly only four in all of Kruger!
White lioness
We got to see two male lions walking down the middle of the road that night as well, apparently the road radiates some of the heat from the day’s sun. One of the coolest things about Kruger was the night sky. On our night rides we got to see the stars for the last hour or so of the drive and I could view more stars than I ever remember seeing in my life. It was neat to see some that we are unable to view from home, including the Southern Cross. Leaving on Monday morning was a bummer, but seeing a massive group of baboons descend from a tree beside us on our final drive left everything on a good note. Back to the airport, I parted ways with my parents in Joburg and we made our ways to our respective homes.
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