Travels with Kris

I didn't have much I really wanted to do here, but sometimes the narration on the Red Sightseers Bus can provide some color to a city I'm in.  I'll be honest, I didn't really enjoy it.  I probably should have done more research on the areas we were going to see and made more of a plan.  But I was tired and really just wanted to listen to the narration.  What I did learn was the Jo'Burg has some seriously scary neighborhoods, there is an enormous amount of street art here, they have a ginormous mall and up in the hills the upper class has beautiful houses.  I stopped off at the mall (mostly because I knew they'd have diet coke and safety pins and I needed both) and I stopped off at Zoo Lake Park where I walked around the lake and took pictures of birds.  I also switched buses on Constitution Hill and I expect if I'd research before then, I may have enjoyed some of the things this had to offer.  Also made a quick stop at the Gold Reef Casino and Hotel, t...

This entire area is known as the Cradle of Humankind.  The visitors center is basically a childrens museum, gift shop and snack bar.  Its really well done.  Interactive displays, multimedia and even a little Disney type ride so we could experience a little bit of the big bang (and possibly get a skull fracture - it has some design issues).  It was a very nice exhibit.  Even better was an art exhibit on the property called "The Long March to Freedom".  It started out as 100 life size bronze statues but there are more in production.  The info outside the exhibit said it was 500 statues, but on line said it started as 100 and has grown to 400.  I don't know how many were there, but there were a lot and it was impressive.  The statues are of influential people that helped fight for freedom in Africa.  Nelson and Winnie Mandela lead the group but hundreds follow behind in chronological order.  Many of the people were imprisoned or m...

This part of Africa is very popular with  paleo-anthropologists due to the large amount of hominin fossils located in this area.  The caves were discovered when the Italians were dynamiting, looking for diamonds and they found this big limestone cave instead.  Diamonds were discovered but limestone had its own value.  The limestone was mined until they started finding lots of fossilized bones.  It has since been turned into World Heritage Site and its protected.  Its also an active dig site.  Two of the most famous finds were nicknamed "Mrs Ples" a nearly complete skeleton of an adult female (or possibly juvenile male - there is much debate), and "Little Foot" a nearly complete skeleton.  Both are listed as species Australopithecus.  This is still an active dig sight and over 500 hominins have been discovered here.

On Sept 4, I took at Uber to the train station and boarded a train from Cape Town to Jo’Burg. The original trip was estimated at a 26 hour journey, leaving at 10am and arriving the following morning around 12:30pm. Around 10:30am I started panicking as there was no one else in my car and we were still parked with no obvious clue that we would be moving soon. So I started going car by car until I found a nice woman in another room that confirmed for me that we were on the right train and it was probably just late...also many more people get on at the Bellville location. Ok, that made me feel better, but it was still weird watching the minutes pass and the train just sitting there. Finally around 11am, we pulled out of the station, went down the track about half a mile and stopped again. Sometimes this train just stops. There are scheduled stops, about a dozen between CT and Jo’Burg, but sometimes it stops and I’m not sure why. Last night a train rep came to our cabin and told u...

Day 4 We had tried to arrange a tour to go to the Cape of Good Hope but they were all booked by the time we tried to book it. So I rented a car and roommate #1 did the driving. Roommate #2 decided to hang out and get more settled and make decisions for the rest of the week since me and roomate #1 was leaving the following day and she wanted to get her things organized and booked before they sell out. The drive from Cape Town to Cape of Good Hope is beautiful and its a good thing I wasn’t driving since I was too busy looking at all the pretty. There are a handful of adorable quaint villages along the coast line that made me want to explore more fully, but we didn’t have time. First stop was Bolder Beach, a subsection of Table Mountain National Park. It is a breeding area for the African Penguins. A few years back, there was a major oil spill in this area and wiped out a lot of the penguins. They are now endangered and South Africa is taking seriuos their responsibility to ke...

Day 3 I have two new roommates and we are all independant for the next few days. One of the roommates will be joining my tour group for the Garden Tour add on and then joining another safari at the end of that one. The second roommate has never stayed in a hostel before and is taking a year to independant travel through Africa. Both young and in good shape and no one has knee issues...but they were very tolerant of me. We were through the options and made a plan for the next couple of days. We decided to do the hop on hop off bus that starts at the waterfront and add on some attractions it connects too. There were 3 loops of the bus and dozens of places you could visit, but if you don’t get an early start you won’t be able to see much. It also has and audio tour that you listen to while it’s driving around and the audio tour alone is with the price of the bus. We did two of the three lops and we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, explored the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, exp...

Day 2 took us down to the water front for our Robben Island tour. It was cold and rainy and windy. Worst day ever for a boat ride. The four of our group made it through by the skin of our teeth without being sick. 45 minutes against the current and wind to get to the island. It was horrible. But once all the boats docked on the island, it ran like a well oiled machine. Everyone down to the buses and we take a boat tour of the island. We see the village where the workers of the prison lived, the maximum security prison (from the outside), they lime quarry where the prisoners worked and destroyed their health, the churches, the school, the lighthouse etc....At the end of the bus tour, we are dropped off in front of the maximum security ward and we get a 45 minutes talk from a previous inmate, see Nelson Mandelas cell, the yard where recreation was etc. The history and stories were very eye opening. Robben Island is known mostly for being a prison for political prisoners, but i...

Finally the end of the tour. We pulled in very early...too early to check into the hostel. So I (along with a few of my tour mates) worked to book our tickets for the Robben Island Tour (which tends to fill up easily). Half our group got into the 9am tour, and the rest of us got into the 11am tour. But then nearly everyone had left for lunch so I wandered around to try to find something good. Found a pizza place and walked in to find 4 other tour mates in there. It was a nice lunch and by the time we got back, we could check in and get settled. This hostel is probably one of the best I’ve ever stayed in. It was super clean, beautifully decorated, had original art on the walls, decent wifi, free breakfast, a bar/restaurant in the evening, a pool and an activities planner. Part of the building is private rooms and part of the building is dorm rooms. For only $15 a night, it was a great deal. We had our final meal today at a restaurant about 3 blocks away . Another restaraunt...

We stayed here for two days, where we got to make our own schedules and own activities and eat what and where we wanted. I think I’m way too much of a control freak to do another safari...but I may try one again. I’ll just pay a lot more attention to the pace and the amount of time being spent in transition. We had two days were with weak (but functional) internet, lots of power outlets and hot showers I had a couple of meals at the Tiger’s Milk Bar and Grill and spent a lot of time on the computer. The temp dropped significantly at this location as we are getting farther south and it rained a bit. But the bed was wonderful and the wood burning stove on the porch was wonderful and the hot showers were wonderful. Made my first calls back to the states from this lodging (The Stumble Inn) because the wifi was strong enough to pull it off. Talked to Gil and talked to Mom. I was a little sad leaving here...I slept better here than I had in a while.

Border crossing today and although time consuming it went smoothly. Got to our next campground “Highlands” just before 5pm. Passed through some beautiful scenery and grape fields. Hopefully got some decent photos from the moving bus. I set up my tent under a tree that had a bunch of beatiful yellow birds and their hanging nests. I was able to get some fairly decent photos before I lost the light. We had a wine tasting here and that went as expected. We all got drunk, then had to go back downstairs to cook and clean in the dark. I don’t think the people that design these trips think everything through. Or maybe I’m just too old to keep up. I get drunk, I want a nap...not to play Martha Stewart. The good news was....this was my last night in a TENT!!!! Dorm rooms from this point forward!

We had a really short drive today and got to the next campground early. Set up our tents in the daylight (hooray). The only activity offered here was a canoe ride and I wasn’t all that interested. I wasnted to do a little laundry and get some things organized and just relax. But two members of my group really wanted to go and they needed to find more people, so I agreed to go. It was a very beautiful river and I took a million photos. Was able to get some birds I hadn’t previously got and some great shots of the river and canyon. Its probably the last excursion I’ll do with the group and it was a good one to end things off with.

From Dune 45 we drove like a bat out of hell in order to make Fish River Canyon before sunset. We made it with about an hour to spare. We walked along the edge and those of us that have been to the Grand Canyon made comparisons. Fish River Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world so it was very impressive ( I have since googled that and it is probably not #2 on the list, but its a pretty big canyon and on the list of largest canyons, even if its not #2). Finally rolled into our campground around 8pm. Because of the lateness of the hour, our guide arranged for us to have dinner at the campground restaurant. We placed our order and then went back to get our tents set up. It was a nice break. I don’t mind helping cook or clean up but I’m really tired of doing it in the dark way past my bedtime. We eat after 8pm way too many times on this trip. Part of it is because we’ve had some hard days to make up for time but sometimes they are just long days. Eating after 8pm just ...

Up early and on the road. We still have another day to make up for due to the Namibian Border debacle, and this was a day that we did it. We drove hard and fast to our next stop, skipping lunch along the way. Pulled into our campsite and before we even put up our tents, we had to make a decision about an activity. The Namib-Naukluft National Park with the dead trees, we could go see them right now or we would miss them. The park has a famous area called Sossusvlei, a weird salt flat smack dab in the middle of red and sandy dunes. In this salt flat are the skeletal remains of trees long dead. This desert is so dry that dead trees don’t decompose. The trees are called Dead Vlei and are over 1000 years old. I opted to go because where else do you get to see 1,000 year old dead trees? So we drive 45 minutes out to the parking lot, where we transfer to a 4x4 and drive an additional 5k to hike to the trees. The hike was probably only a km or less, but over super sandy dunes tha...

Got to sleep in a little for this one...didn’t pick us up until 8:30am and the drive was just outside of town in the National Park dunes. The dunes look vacant, and you’d never think the place is brimming with life. Most of it is hiding just under the surface. We had combined 3 tour groups into one, that way one guide could talk with us and the other two could look for critters in the dirt. The desert life is always hiding. The situation worked out well...the winds were low in the morning so the guides could see the tracks. If the winds are high, it covers the thin layer of tracks the critters leave. The sand is always moving, and the dunes move 6-9 meters per year towards the town of Swakopmund. In roughly 150 years, the town will be completely buried. Our guides were able to find us two sidewinder snakes, a lizard, gecko, chameleon, and a beetle. They call them Africas little 5 - because the little creatures in Africa also have an important part of the echo syste...

Picked up at 8am bright and early for about an hour drive north to the marina. There are lots of different cruises going out in the morning, so we wait our turn in line. Only one dock so each company has to take turns. We have our safety discussion and a sumary of the mornings events and then we all find a place on the boat to park our butts so we can hopefully get great photos. We head out into the bay among other fishing boats and cruise boats and booze cruises. Speaking of booze cruises, cups of sherry are passed out within 15 minutes we are on the water. I assume it helps prevent motion sickness...or maybe Namibians just assume all tourists are drunks, not sure. We are maybe 100 meters out when we get an unexpected surprise: humpback whale! I got some photos but nothing really good. Its hard to estimate where they are coming back up once they are spotted the first time and even if you get a shot its generally just of a dorsal fin or fluke or more often than not: the bi...