Phinda Forest Lodge

Hello again everyone.  After a few days of no internet we are finally back in Johannesburg for one night before venturing off to Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia for a few days.  We just spent the last couple of days at the Phinda (pronounced pin-da) Game Reserve.  We stayed in the Forest Lodge there which, as you may have guessed, is deep in the forest of the reserve.  There were several monkeys around and would keep trying to steal our food during meals.  They are so brazen, one of them actually came down from a tree and ran right across the top of our table, stealing food right of Brian's (Katie's brother) plate.  It of course caused a huge mess, knocking over all of our drinks on the table and knocking plates to the ground.  It was quite the rattling experience.  During our game drives we saw many more interesting animals.  Most notable of the sightings were two dominant Cheetah males as well as a female and her 3 month old cub.  This was a very rare sighting, especially to see the cub.  We also saw two female lions and two 1-2 year old cubs nearly take down an Impala.  It was quite a sight.  A couple pictures below of the Cheetah mom and cub and the two male Cheetahs.  We hope to have internet at the remainder of our hotels, but we won't know until we get there.  After the next few days at Victoria Falls we move on to the last part of our trip in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana for some more safaris, then return to Johannesburg to catch our marathon flight back to the States.

Londolozi Granite Camp

After a long day of travel from Cape Town to Johannesburg and then a brief flight to eastern South Africa, we finally arrived at Londolozi (pronounced lawn-doe-low-z) Game Reserve yesterday afternoon.  We are staying in the Granite Camp, which is a collection of very nice rooms overlooking a river teaming with wildlife.   After a late lunch we went on our first safari and it was incredible.  We headed out just before sun down and didn't get back until well into darkness.  We spotted giraffe, lions, impala, and cape buffalo.  The lions were especially incredible.  It was a pride of 12 lions.  At the time they were sleeping, but had obviously hunted not long before as we noted by their full looking bellies.  This morning, at 6am, we headed out on our morning safari.  Again we spotted many animals.  In addition to several more giraffe, we also spotted wild dogs, hippo, crocodile, zebra and a leopard.  The leopard was especially exciting as it is considered an extreme rarity to actually spot one.  The one we spotted was drinking from a small watering hole just steps from where we are staying.  I have posted a few pictures below from last night and today, including the leopard. 

Winelands & Cheetahs

Day 4 in Africa saw the family leaving Cape Town and heading to the South African Winelands in the Western Cape.  We did a wine tour at KWV.  It was a bit corporate but Katie asked many questions about international business and marketing with the lady who ran the tour.  Then we headed to the Cheetah reserve.  Jeremy and Katie both got to pet cheetah cubs named Peter and Pedro.  They were both very cute.  It was amazing that we actually got be up close and personal with these amazing animals.  Next we went to a wonderful wine tasting which inspired us to get many presents for people back home.  Then we went to the famous chocolate experience.  This consisted of us going to a chocolate factory, getting chocolate squeezed into our mouths, eating filling out of our hands, and making chocolate truffles.  I think we ate enough chocolate to last us a month since when we were inside making the chocolate we could eat any amount of chocolate we wanted.  We partook quite a bit.  Brian (Katie’s brother) ate so much chocolate that he felt like bursting afterwards.  He had a particularly good time.  In the evening we headed to La Residence in the Winelands where they greeted the ladies with bouquets of flowers and everyone got bottles of champagne.  This place is truly heaven on earth.  Our family was the only one staying at the whole hotel and they made us a private tasting dinner with wine pairings. 

Malay Cooking/Jazz Safari

On Day 3 in Africa, Katie and Penny did a Cape Malay cooking tour while the boys remained behind to relax and see the Aquarium.  The Malay region of Cape Town is where the people of Asian descent (mainly Malaysians and Indians) live.  The day started out with us going to the spice store and later to the butcher to learn about all of the different spice products.  Finally we ended up at a private home (where about 10 different family members and neighbors came in and out throughout our cooking and eating) .  We made homemade samosa, sauces, and chicken curry.  In the evening we went on a Cape Jazz Tour.  We started at Robbie Jansen’s house – famous saxophone player.  His wonderful son cooked a fantastic dinner and he shared his many stories about playing in South Africa during the apartheid years, meeting Mandela, and playing abroad with many famous jazz musicians.  Afterwards we headed out to a great jazz club in the Cape flats and enjoyed a jazz jam session.  Today was especially wonderful because we got to spend time with the “real” people of Cape Town.

Cape of Good Hope

On Day 2 in Africa, the whole family went to the Cape of Good Hope.  After enjoying the monument we drove to the lighthouse at the end of the cape and we hiked up a huge hill.  To our right was the Atlantic Ocean and to our left was the Indian Ocean.  Today, we also got to see African penguins.  We were excited to see baby penguins (brown and fuzzy), teenage penguins (blue), and adult penguins (black and white).  They were very cute and we enjoyed seeing them.  We had a wonderful lunch.  Later, back at the Cape Grace Hotel, we did a private whiskey tasting.  Jeremy discovered he loves whiskey.  Katie discovered she hates whiskey (a lot).

Meet Rocky

On Saturday night, we all went to the home of Liz and Eugene, a local South African couple, to have a home made dinner.  We dined on BBQ chicken, South African sausage and Ostrich.  I must say, Ostrich is my new favorite red meat.  It was very tender and very flavorful (thanks in large part to the lemon flavored marinade).  It was a great time and we got to meet a very special individual, Rocky the dog.  Rocky was very lively and knew a great number of tricks which we were all amused by.  Below is a picture of Rocky.

Also for those interested.....

Toliets do flush clockwise down here as opposed to counter clockwise back in the States in case you are wondering.