Day 6

Day 6

Early start this morning, leaving Cape Town for Mpulanga. (Nelspruit Airport,Kruger)

 Hotel St Georges has been super. Only criticism is that the bar was soulless, rather like the Marie Celeste. The hotel is almost empty as autumn appraches.  Funnily enough though all the bar staff were Liverpool FC supporters,& so, much fun was had at Bill’s expense.:)

Hire care returned, and checked in smoothly for 2 hrs flight. Arrived at Mpulanga just after midday, and collected another hire car, for drive to Sanbonanni near Hazyview. Our home for the next week. Easy drive to the resort, although quite slow at times through dense smoke patches owing to veldt fires along the route. Strangely they were ignored by the locals even though they were burning quite close to residential areas. Later discovered that as werenow entering the "dry" season, the fires were being lit deliberately to burn off excessive summer grass growth before the drought set in, and more uncontrollable fires occurred.

On arrival at Sanbonanni we were subject to strict entry inspection to the resort by armed guards. Wondered what we were coming too?

Reception was lovely, complimentary cold drink, and then shown to our chalet. It’s delightful. Two bedrooms, each with separate bathrooms. Enormous lounge/diner and full kitchen, plus and big outside “Braii” pronounced Bry, = barbeque. Our enormous rear window overlooks a small stream which in due course flows into the river, home to both Hippos and Crocs. Warning signs advise “ NO BATHING!” Not bl**dy likely I assure you.  The front of the property is a short grassy area, and grazing glossy ibis are abundant, together with several other lovely birds I have yet to identify. I  did spot a lovely woodland kingfisher though- a beauty.

We unpacked quickly, and then headed back to Hazyview town to stock up on food essentials. Can’t say any of us was impressed with it, and so we just grabbed the essentials and quickly returned to the resort.

We were all quite weary after the early start and decided to eat at the resort restaurant which was very busy because of a visiting convention. The regular menu was suspended, and we all had the three course buffet for 150R each approx  £13. It was lovely. First course was a fairly regular salad. Main course was a selection of barbeques meats, steak, chicken, and sausages, plus mashed potatoes, sweet potato, rice, and pap. aka crap – a foul connection of mashed maize-yuk.

Desert was fresh fruit salad, ice cream, hot custard, and several different sponge type cakes. Very good value for money. After a couple of beers, we found Dutch courage to walk back to our chalet, only ¼ of a mile over lit paths; but scary non the less, and patrolled by armed guards, as both the hippos and crocs are inclined to wander after dark-eeek.

An early night all round was had, although the outside noises took a little getting use to.

Another enjoyable day. Wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Day 5

Brrrrr. Cloudy & dull this morning, such a shame after yesterday. Anyway I am off to the harbour for an eco cruise run by the Two Oceans Aquarium aboard their fabulous catamaran. Hoping to see some sunfish, more jackass penguins, dolphins, and even an early Southern Right Whale. Bill & Bryony are off to Robben Island at 1pm, I opted for this cruise instead, as I did Robben Island last time, and loved it. I didnt want to return and jeopodise my previous memories.

Cruise was v good, although we didnt see any sunfish, there were lots of jellyfish, their staple diet, lots of dolphins and a few penguins, a couple of Gannets, oyster catchers, and hundreds of Cape Comorants.
Returned to shore absolutely frozen, so feasted upon a large bowl of homemade pumpkin soup, and fresh baked bread-almost worth getting cold for.:)
Spent afternoon packing for early departure to Kruger tomorrow. Then back to the harbour tonight for final meal in Cape Town. What to choose? No contest, ostrich again, and my last Don Pedro too. Who knows I may have to share the Amarula with the Elephants in the Kruger tomorrow.

"Don Pedro's" are made by mixing Amaraula with cream & ice cream. Amarula is made from the fruit of the Marula tree, and The marula fruit is also eaten by various animals in Southern Africa. In the movie Animals Are Beautiful People by Jamie Uys, released in 1974, some scenes portray elephants, warthogs and monkeys becoming intoxicated from eating fermented marula fruit

Day 4 Table Mountain

Awoke to a glorious sunny morning without a cloud in the sky. After a leisurely breakfast it was straight up to Table Moutain. What a difference to Sunday, we parked within a 100 mtrs of the cable car office.
The capsule of the cable car up the moutain revolves and so it enables you to have the benefit of the full 360 degrees of panoramic views as you ascend. At a height of 1.085mtrs it is not an especially high mountain; but because of its position it dominates the whole of the Cape Penininsular. The views from the mountain top are stunning, enabling you to see, and realise how isolated and frightening it must have been for those incarsarated on Robben Island out in the bay.
We spent several hours walking around the summit, enjoying the diversity of the flora & fauna atop the mountain. There were "Dassies" by the dozen (Rock Hyrax), snoozing on the rocks and soaking up the sun, totally oblivious to the many visitors around them. After a little retail therapy and liquid refreshement, we returned to the ground and headed off the the waterfront for some lunch. We had planned to visit Robben Island in the afternoon, but the trips were fully booked, and so, we purchased tickets for the trip at 1pm tomorrow.

A leisurely lunch at one of the waterfront bars was followed by more retail therapy in the V&A mallls.
It's a good job that there is a weight restriction on our baggage or Bryony would have bought up half the shops, & Bill would have bought the rest.

All in all another lovely day, looking forward to tomorrow :)

Great White Sharks aka "Tommy Sharks" in S. Africa

The reason that Great White Sharks are called "Tommy Sharks" in S.Africa stems from the terrible tragedy of HMS Birkenhead in 1852

HMS Birkenhead, also referred to as HM Troopship Birkenhead or steam frigate Birkenhead,^[3] was one of the first iron-hulled ships built for the Royal Navy.^[4] She was designed as a frigate, but was converted to a troopship before being commissioned.^[1]
On 26 February 1852, while transporting troops to Algoa Bay, she was wrecked at Danger Point near Gansbaai on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. There were not enough serviceable lifeboats for all the passengers, and the soldiers famously stood firm, thereby allowing the women and children to board the boats safely. Only 193 of the 643 people on board survived, and the soldiers' chivalry gave rise to the "women and children first" protocol when abandoning ship, while the "Birkenhead drill" of Rudyard Kipling's poem came to describe courage in face of hopeless circumstances

Many of the soldiers were killed by the Great Whites that frequent these waters hence the name "Tommy" Sharks

Day 3 Shark Dive (eek!)

Today has been one of the most wonderful days of my life!!

It has been within my top ten most memorable events, and I have loved every minute of it from 5.30 am when it started, until now at almost 10pm when I am finally giving way to all the adrenaline that I have pumped.

 Bryony & I were collected from our hotel at 6.30 am  for a 2hour drive to Gansbaii. The base for most of the White shark trips from the Western Cape. On our arrival at “Shark Diving Unlimited” base, we hungrily devoured our awaiting cooked brekkie; before collecting our waterproofs & boarding the good boat “Barracuda” the vessel upon which we were to travel to “Shark Alley”.  A 15 minute high speed burst across the bay delivered us our appointed date with Mother Nature’s deadliest creature. By now, I was beginning to doubt my sanity in thinking that this was something I wanted to do & it wasn’t something I was forced to do.

Both Bry and I watched with awe & trepidation as our 1^st  Great White, or as they are know locally as “Tommy Sharks” More about that later)  came into view. He was just a little chap just apporox 2.4 mtrs, but he still had as many teeth as his bigger brothers. We then donned our wetsuits (easier said than done on a moving boat J ) and soon it was our turn to enter the cage. Mmmmmm , 2^nd,3^rd & many more thoughts occurring now.

 “Down” shouts the skipper, and we let go of the overhead bars & descend to view the beast directly in front of us chomping on the baited line. “Up” shouts the skipper and we quickly ascend again to await the approach of the next beastie. Time and again we repeat this procedure, and quickly the fear and trepidation of our intial entry disappears, and is replaced by greedy anticipation of the impending visit of the next magnificent creature. In total we see 5 different beasts, our time in the cage flies by in the blink of an eye, and we are hauled out to allow our fellow passengers another turn.

 A second sessions is then offered, and I reluctantly have to decline because of difficulties with my **** knee. Bryony is back in as quick as a flash for more. (Surprise surprise (NOT) This time I am kept busy taking photographs from above. Finally time up is called, and just as the final baited line is thrown the biggest beastie of all cruises past, nibbling on the line, before getting a little tooooooo close to the cage, and putting his snout through the cage right next to Bry, I think he was attempting a “(Sharkie French Kiss!) and as Bry surfaced she exclaimed “Oh S***t”)  Probably an understatement I think. JJ

We then commenced our return to shore; the adrenalin high was unbelievable and continues even now as I type this.

  Hot home made soup, home made bread, and home made scones awaited us on landing and were devoured with great haste and appreciation, before our 2 hour journey back to Cape Town. En route we made 3-4 stops at special viewing spots, attempting to spot returning Southern Right Whales which arrive here shortly to breed. 3 had been seen earlier the week; but not today. I think we had exhausted our share of good fortune for the day by then.

We returned to our hotel, and had a welcome hot shower & change of clothes before heading out for an amazing evening which I will report on tomorrow

Day 2. My BIG Day!!

So dawns the BIG 60!!

  Awoke to a pleasant sunny morning, after howling gales during the night.

 Table Mountain summit was surrounded by cloud, so we decided to head straight to the Stellenbosch. (S.Africa’s wine growing capital)  First stop was at Spiers Winery. Hoping it will be as good as last time we visited in 2007.

After giving Bill his first latte of the day, we started off at their Cheetah Outreach programme, which includes rescuing and rehabilitating cheetahs from all around S.A, together with a specialist breeding programme to retain the Pedigree King  Gene of Cheetahs who are almost extinct in the wild. The King Gene, is the gene that dictates the "spotting" pattern on the cheetahs skin, and by cross breeding, the pedigree King gene is becoming endangered. They also have breeding Anatolian hunting dogs. The Anatolian Shepherd Dog is a muscular, broad-headed flock guardian dog breed native to Anatolia (Turkey).  The Cheetah Outreach programme is also a educational scheme where children from the socially deprived townships are introduced to their native species and taught the importance of preservation and conservation. We then also visited their Bird of Prey centre, where we were able to see at close hand many of the impressive raptors that are native to this area. Surprised to see our own native Barn Owls quite abundant here.

 My favourites being the little Scops Owls & the impressive Black Vulture.

It was then time to allow Bryony a little wine tasting session. I emphasize little, as she was the designated driver from lunch time!  Her 5 samples of Spiers own varieties inc 3 reds & 2 whites, at the exhorbitant price of 30R equivalent to less than £2.50. Unfortunately none of the reds were to her taste; but a white blended special of Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon was rather nice J , and necessitated a purchase for consumption later!!.

An exploration of the local craft stalls was next on the agenda, although there were not as many as on our last trip, because many had closed down for their autumn and winter.

By now, it was 1.30pm so lunch time was upon us. As it was MY BIRTHDAY, I chose lunch at JC Roux’s. The home of S.A champagne J J J.  & their restaurant is lovely too. We headed straight for the restaurant< surprise surprise. I chose to have the Monkfish & Seafood Tortellini’s. Bry had a Smoked Trout& Seafood Salad, whilst Bill had grilled Monk fish & chips. Whilst awaiting our food I had my first glass of champagne of the day, as did Bill, poor Bry was now on the soda waterL.  Then chaos commenced, Bill’s meal was served, accompanied by 2 slices of toasted Panini, promptly shared by Bry & I. (Bill is gluten intolerant, for those who don’t know) Bry’s meal then arrived, and I nobly said “please start, don’t wait for me!)

Bill tucked in, and said “Oooh these are lovely- what are they?” and handed one to Bryony to try.  “Yes, they are Dad, they are Mum’s tortellini’s!”  So my birthday meal was shared between all of us Grrrrrrr. However a further “FREE” glass of champagne placated me.  It really was a lovely meal- what I finally got of it!!

After lunch, Bryony then drove us to “Strand” were we stayed on our last visit. It has a stunning beach, facing out to False Bay. Swimming is not advised though, as the tides are quite treacherous, and the waters are home to several species of shark, inc Gt. White & Mako, plus as we witnessed on our last visit Portuguese Man of War Jellyfish arec quite common too.

Then we headed on around the headland to Gordon’s Bay, and its stunning beaches, where it is possible to whale watch from July onwards. Then, the scenic but circuitous drive on through the mountains to Betty’s Bay before heading back to Cape Town via Sir John Lowry’s pass.  Back to Cape Town by 7pm and then shared a bottle of JC Roux’s finest champagne purchased at great expensive for 50R = £4 Unbelievable.  A fabulous end to a fabulous day. J

Tomorrow is an early start at 6.15am for the drive to Gansbaii, and then Dyer Island for our Gt White encounter. Got fingers crossed it finally happens! Also hope we have fingers to cross tomorrow night afterwards. JJJ

Today's Pics