April 30 Beer tasting!

Deb: I am down for the count today. The second time since travelling in Africa. This time, however, is not as bad as when I got ill at Emily Moon in Plettenberg Bay. I haven’t been myself for a couple of days and the hike yesterday took a lot out of me. Joe and the boys are taking great care of me bringing me medication, water, and tea. After putting me to bed the boys left for the afternoon – not sure where they went but I know that they’ll report back with their adventure.

After resting for a few hours, I got up and went to the food store next door. I was surprised to see the headline ‘Swine Flu Hits South Africa’. It reminds me of the time that my friend, Brenda Hunt, and I (we were in our twenties) went out after a day teaching for some mussels and black bean sauce – this was a tradition with us. I got home a hour later, with my belly full of plump mussels, and there was a message from my dad (who takes incredible care of us). “Deb, I know how much you like mussels. I just heard on the news that all mussels have been recalled due to possible food-poisoning.” I immediately called the hospital and they advised me to go to the closest emergency if I had any untoward symptoms. I then settled in with Deb Kehoe, my room-mate, to wait. Luckily the ones that I had eaten were not contaminated. In the meantime I called dad and thanked him for the heads up. I told him not to worry and that I would stay away from mussels for a long time – he had no idea how true that was!! Anyways, I think I’m ill due to the local water. It hasn’t affected Joe nor the boys, thankfully. Although I am drinking bottled water after my last illness, I am eating plenty of salads, fruit, etc. that could be giving me some problems.

Tanya, our hotel manager, arranged to have medication picked up for me in a nearby town (everywhere we have gone in South Africa we have been treated so well!). I am hoping so much to be up and back on my feet tomorrow – a big day on our trip that we have been looking forward to for quite some time. My wonderful, crazy, incredible, adventurous, childhood friend, Brenda, and her sister Diane are flying in to meet us at Montusi Mountain Lodge in the northern Drakensburg. We can’t wait!!! Brenda is ‘Auntie Brenda’ to the boys and they adore her. She has been so good to them over the years!! Brenda and Diane will be travelling with us for our remaining three weeks in Africa – Montusi, Hippo Hollow, Kapama River Lodge, St. Lucia, a few days in Swaziland, and then to Johannesburg. Afterwards they will be staying with Kyrt and RJ, who were our exceptional hosts in Capetown.

It is going to be so great to have Brenda and Diane with us. Brenda has a ‘joie de vivre’ like no other. I’ve travelled with her before and have laughed non-stop. Our hiking trip to Newfoundland together was a hoot. Travelling with Brenda ensures that you are going to meet the locals… and get into some fun situations. I’ll never forget going to the harbour with her. She had an long conversation with some of the local fishermen and arranged for a tour on their boat. I couldn’t understand a word of what the men were saying but Brenda and the weathered sailors babbled on and on. When I told her that I couldn’t make out a word she laughed and said, “I couldn’t either!!!”

One day driving up the coast of Newfoundland we spotted a turn-off for a museum about indigenous peoples. As it was only twenty kilometers, we drove off and visited it. On the way back down from St. Anthony’s, we spotted yet another open-air museum. “Let’s go see it!” Brenda enthusiastically suggested. Off we went down the road chatting and laughing away only to learn that we had just driven a half-hour off the highway to the exact same place that we had seen before!!! An hour later we were back where we started and were collapsed in fits of giggles about our sheer stupidity.

That trip we hiked for days through moose poop and ‘moose poop’ has been a running joke with us since the trip. I couldn’t believe it when I saw an advertisement shortly before Christmas last year for ‘moose poop’ keyrings that a colleagues father makes (despite only having one arm). He dries out the moose poop and shellacs it several times before mounting it on a ring. Needless to say, that is what Brendan got for her Christmas present from me last year. Brenda and I retire at the same time and, God willing, we hope to have more crazy outdoor adventures together in the years to come.

Joe: While Deb rested, the boys played football in the park until Ryan got badly tackled by a light post! We headed back to the hotel where once again they took care of us with some ice for his head and knee. Must have been 2 light posts ;) After, we went hiking in the hills around the town and emerged just in time for some thundershowers. Wouldn’t you know our luck – we emerged from the hills across from a sweets shop (the boys had a budget of ZAR12 each) and a local brewery offering free tastings. I never got the name of the brewery but Zelma, the barkeep, quickly had me to work helping with the “heavy” kegs that needed changing. Delicious beer ;) Then we went off for lunch and at another very friendly and accommodating place! Afterwards, the boys went to the park for a pickup game with locals of mini-rugby. That game ended when a couple of overzealous players banged heads on a tackle. Luckily it wasn’t our boys! Then back to check on Deb. (And thanks to the office for getting hold of me to let me know that the position that I was occupying back home before heading out on our around-the-world adventure was going up for competition – although interested, the timing isn’t right for me). Another great day in paradise.

April 29 Clarens & Golden Gate National Park

Clarens is fantastic. With just 450 laid-back artistic (maybe hippyish) residents, double that in transient workers and add thousands of tourists, it is proving to be fun and offering excellent cuisine.

We went for a hike in the Golden Gate National Park in search of the Mushroom Rock (not hard to find as you can see it from anywhere in the universe, it is so immense) and the immense “Echo” gorge. It was formed from exposed limestone from ancient riverbeds more than 200-million years old (they know this because of the dinosaur prints in the exposed sedimentary rocks) that existed 200 million to 180 million years ago. This predates man by a couple of hundred million years – but there is evidence of them, too. In nearby Lesotho, there are the dinosaur prints and cave paintings of early homo sapiens. We haven’t visited there yet!

Brendan:Yesterday we had so much fun. We went on a hike called Echo Ravine. I bet you know why it’s called that. The whole hike we were yelling random things and waitng to hear the echo. I bet that the people at the bottom would think that we were some sort of crazy people. At the the top inside the gorge there was a water fall and we took of our shirts and went under it. Even though it was cold we went in for about 4-5 minutes.

We got down to the car we had a couple of sandwiches and we were off for an other adventure. When we went to the adventure center we were thinking about abseiling. Abseiling is when you repell down the mountain from really high up.After a while we made up our minds that we would go dune-buggying. For saftey reasons the adults had to drive us across the the road so that we don’t crash the buggy. After that the kids got to drive. Even though my dad was helping me drive I was still scared that I would drive off of the road and crash into some barbed-wire. (Joe: The kids drove the very demanding off-road course without incident – they were amazing). In the evening, the boys learned how to play backgammon! Ryan in particular has taken to it with a gambler’s zeal, quickly mastering the “doubling cube’. Brendan has really taken to playing cribbage and has planted his 121 peg more than once. We are all waiting to see a 29. We did see a 24-pointer!

Deb: It was so much fun to see the boys driving. They were just thrilled! What Brendan didn’t mention was that during his first couple of minutes at the wheel (we were in a cow pasture) he drove over some fresh dung and showered Joe who was on that side of the buggy. Joe took it all in stride!

Joe is proving to be an amazing traveller. He surprises me at every turn. His curiosity, especially about the way things work, keeps us all enthralled. He gives the boys long lessons on geology, star formations, mechanics, factory production, etc. – things that I had know idea that he was interested in. He is a natural teacher and loves engaging the boys in learning about their world.

Another surprise. I thought I was social while on ‘the road’, but Joe beats me hands down! He is forever engaging in long chats with locals and travellers alike. He can talk endlessly and is relishing getting to know so many diverse, wonderful people on our travels.

Joe has also been wonderful when the going gets tough (e.g. not knowing why we were being stopped in Egypt by the police and not being able to communicate, rolling with the punches when things don’t go as planned, finding accommodation when our reservation didn’t pan out, etc., nursing me back to health when I’m sick).

The boys have been wonderful. They, too, are curious, social, and up for just about anything. And though they bicker from time to time, they are getting along well and are enjoying each other’s company. They can’t believe their luck re: getting out of school for three months and are appreciating this opportunity greatly. South Africa for the last month has been ‘easy’ travel for them. They will experience more culture shock, no doubt, when we get to Asia (our first stop being India).

After India we will be spending five days in Singapore and then will be off to Thailand and Malaysia for a month. Our plan is then to spend a month in Vietnam and Cambodia before spending a week in Beijing. We are also hoping to fly over to Taiwan at the end of our trip to see our good friends Anita and James Kirk (they have just moved there from Texas). This would be our last stop before flying from Beijing to Toronto, and then onto Ottawa for August 15th. We haven’t made any firm plans for Asia, however, because we’re not sure how it will go with feeding Brendan. So far it hasn’t been too difficult but we’ll have to check out how well the hospitals in Asia will be able to deal with an anaphylactic emergency if need be. We’ll start out as planned but if we feel that feeding Brendan is too risky, we have a back-up plan to possibly head to Australia and New Zealand. We’ll see how it goes!

April 28 Protea Hotel Clarens

After another round of tennis, went to another artsy town, Clarens – a couple of hours by toll road and another couple through the Golden Gate National Park (with incredible limestone cliffs and mountainous terrain). With the perfect weather, it was a pleasure to drive. In town we found it to be quaint and modern and the brand new hotel, Protea, is terrific. Although the rooms are small, they are modern and nicely equipped. The boys particularly like the satellite link for the Champions league (Chelsea, ManU, Barcelona, etc.). We went to another hotel, Mont D’Or for dinner – amazing! We learned that Brad Pitt stayed there while doing humanitarian work in Lesotho. Hard to believe that we’re in Africa!

April 27 Midlands Meander & Nottingham Road

Beautiful, sunny day! Ryan and I played a set of tennis (the court is in the middle of a cow pasture) and then Joe and Brendan took each other on. The view from the court was amazing! We also played on the trampoline. Brendan did a front flip and a back fllip – quite a monkey.

When Vital learned about my life-long dream to milk a cow, he asked his cow-herder to try to make it happen. This is the story – my mother, Nora Burke, was raised on a farm and often told stories about milking the cows. Mom died when I was seventeen and ever since then I had a desire to experience what milking a cow was like. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to make this happen and it has become a family challenge. We’ve stopped at farms and requested that they help us out. Most often they tell us that the cows are now milked by machines. Several times, however, they have said yes. When it actually goes to happen there’s always something that happens (cow runs off, milk-hand not available, not the right timing, etc.). Today, I was assured, it was finally going to happen. Sure enough, however, Daisy had broken down one on the fences and had escaped. We ended our tennis game to go with Vinias, a local Zulu cow-hand from Lesotho, to lead her back. We romped through the pastures and ended up covered from head to toe with burrs. Vinias finally found Daisy and shepherded her into the pasture with the rest of the herd. We followed him into the pasture and quickly learned that we were surrounded by not only a pile of cows but also a whole whack of bulls. That lent some real excitement suddenly and we all cowered behind Vinias. He got Daisy in sight but explained in his broken English that trying to milk her would be suicide as she had just calved and extremely aggressive. Instead, we watched as her little one suckled on her – a beautiful spectacle for four city-dwellers! Vinias was quite amused at how enthralled we were – as well as how fearful we were to be amongst the bulls! We all dove behind him when one of the bulls turned suddenly.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the gentle hills and warm-hearted people in the area by doing the Midlands Meander. Our first stop was ‘Decandence’ a co-operative wherein African woman do art with beads. Stunning.

Our next stop was Swissland Cheese for some goat cheese-tasting. The boys learned how cheese was made – a revelation to them. Ryan really got into the tasting. We bought a silky fois gras and cheese for lunch and joined a South African family from Pretoria for our picnic. The boys went and fed the goats and romped around the farm while we spent a lovely hour chatting. A terrific stop!

At one of our stops the boys did some archery with toy crossbows – they loved it!

Our last stop was Stables Winery for some wine-tasting. When we got there the boys went off to toss the football. Joe and I saw one of the sommeliers pouring some Fanta Grape into a wine glass and we asked him to play a trick on the boys. He called them over and told them that he had some ‘children’s alcohol-free’ wine. He had them going by showing them how to swish the wine, where to hold the glass, and how to go about tasting it. The boys tasted the wine. Brendan said it tasted like ‘a popsicle’ and Ryan said it tasted like sparkling grape juice. When they found out that it was plain old Fanta we all had a great laugh.

We lucked in again! At the wine-tasting there was one other couple and we joined them for an hour. Although the wine was downright horrible (Stellenbosch is the place to drink wine in SA), the company was exceptional and we had lots of laughs. A perfect way to end the day! While driving into the lane-way of our B & B we saw a monkey scampering throught the trees above – and low and behold, it was the kind with the bright blue testicles!! It was so exciting (and humorous, I might add) to see one in the wild.

Upon our return Averil made us a beautiful supper of butternut soup, delicious bread, and a beef filet with pepper-corn sauce. Vital and Averil joined us and we spent the night talking about South African politics – yet another enlightening conversation! Sadly we are meeting a lot of people who feel that SA willl not thrive in the near future: economically, socially, or politically. Many natives who we have met are in the process of emigrating to Europe or the States. It will be most interesting to see history unfold. We stumbled back to our rooms and delved into our books until sleep overtook us. We feel so extremely fortunate to have this time together as a family!!

April 26 Are we in Canada?

We happened on Penny Lane B&B after another 3-hour drive (with hail and a huge storm - with a terrifying display of lightening in the hills). We were so relieved to arrive and get settled in. Although they have just had 50 guests just leave and it is everything they can do to deal with the 8 new guests. Vital and Averil, our hosts, are are lovely. We spent the evening chatting with them as well as another South African family. Vital, who has lived in France and Canada, really helped put South African history in perspective. His story-telling ability is superb and he captivated us all with tales of early colonialism.

April 25 Beautiful Drakensberg

Today’s drive was one of the most beautiful ever! The scenery of the Drakensburg is breath-taking. Looks a bit like the Cotwolds but the scale is much greater and the colours are different that anything that we’ve ever seen. We were so looking forward to staying at a lodge called ‘Granny Mouse Country House’, apparently one of the nicest in SA. The restaurant is one of SA’s best and this was sure to be one of the highlights of the trip. We were booked in for three nights with dinner – we were going to spluge! We couldn’t wait!!

After driving for eight hours we called to say that we would be arriving late. We were so surprised and disappointed to hear that the lodge had never heard of us and was completely full! We even had a prepaid voucher from our travel agent but they insisted that the reservation was never made. As it was dark we booked into a self-catering place and headed to the local Spur for dinner. Whoo-hoo! I said that sometimes things that happen like this are blessing in disguise. Maybe we weren’t meant to continue driving for that extra two hours after dark. So we had a drink and talked about an alternate plan.

April 24 Surfing

We went to Nahoun beach today with their 1000 year old dunes on a wonderfully warm and sunny day. The boys signed up for sandboading and after their lessons, they were flying (and wiping out) just like on snowboards. The boards are about the same dimensions and style as their snow cousins but the waxing (floorwax) and bindings onto their barefeet (velcro ankle loops) are different. Afterwards, the boys were exhausted. What better time to get into their surfing lessons! Into their rented wetsuits they went and from the dune into the surf they went. After a ground-based lesson on technique, paddling and safety – off they went with their instructor. A few moments later they were surfing! We couldn’t believe it! The photos and video don’t do them justice. They both remarked that the easy part was the surfing. The hard part was the crashing! And then taking off for their boards! Seems that novice surfers ar safer without their boards attached by ankle strap!
After the beach and lunch, the weather quickly turned to rain, so we souht refuge at a local mall where the boys bought a mini rugby ball (to replace the 2 mini soccer balls and mid-size football lost so far on our tavels!) and went to see a movie: 17 Again. Later we went to dinner at the local Spur (ribs and wings – again) and the manager was so enamoured with Canadians as guests, we left with a commemorative sombrero! Wow – only in Africa!

April 24 Quarry Lodge

A nice relaxing start to the day at the Quarry Lodge. Hot breakfast, newspaper, nothing on the agenda. Terrific. One article in the newspaper was telling of Africa:

Daily Dispatch, 24 April: CAPE TOWN Traffic officials discovered 25 schoolchildren crammed into a 1986 Toyota Cressida station wagon they stopped in a routine check in Khayelitsha this week, the traffic services division said yeasterday. The driver was charged for overloading the vehicle by 10 passengers, and for not having a driver’s licence.

I think we saw this overlaoded vehicle on the highway – it passed us! It looked to be the norm where the children would otherwise have to walk.
Brendan said that maybe the teacher didn’t show up on the day of the plane outing - and the kids improvised, deciding to go on the schooltrip themselves – drawing straws to see who drove!

April 23 East London

We were a bit alarmed as we drove into East London through the industrial park after industrial park off R72. Cultural mixing pot. Hmm.
As it turns out, our hotel, The Quarry Lodge is in an excellent location, near shopping, dinners and the beach AND cultural diversity.
After shopping a bit in the afternoon (mostly for books as we have been reading prolifically – I have finished 6 myself and for a new football as somehow our CFL mini-ball burst!) we went to experience some of the culture. We wemt to see ABBA at the Guild Theatre! Welcome to Africa. It was fantastic. Sorry about the blurry picture but the place was hopping!

April 22 - 43 Flying School

The Big Pineapple plantation
OK, its hokie. A lot of South Africa reminds me of trvelling when I was a kid with my parents (in the 60s and 70s) and stopping at these roadside attractions. At the pineapple plantation, they had built the world’s biggest pineapple to serve as the gift shop and farm lookout. Fortunately, it was closed for the election!

Water’s Meeting Lookout. We went to hike here at Water’s Meeting Reserve. But due to the election holiday, there was no park supervision, but it was open. We decided not to do the hike. It was far from the beaten track and security entered our mind. The lookout was amazing – see photo.

We drove to an 1820s-founded community Bathurst. Its claim to fame is the original pub (and heritage hotel), the Pig and Whistle. Now add a liquor store and several local artists’ boutiques, a dozen or so street beggars and you have the picture, 200 years later.

43 Flying School
We had a tour of this amazing flying school on the old 43rd Air Squadron air force base. In 9-12 months, students go from novices to commercial tranport qualified pilots for just AR450,000! We had a fantastic instructor guide (Ryan) who took us through the whole process and invited us into the simulators and pipers. I am sure, the kids left the school intent on being pilots one day. We were thinking of Warren Fisher, our friend back home that is pursuing his dream of becoming an airline pilot.

In the South African election, it looks like a return of ANC to power, again without a constitutional 66% majority (although final results won’t be known for a week or so)

April 21 Port Alfred

Upon arriving in Port Alfred we headed to the beach. We were warned to stay on areas where there were lots of people as there had been several ‘incidents’ on the beach. In fact, the whole of Port Alfred feels dangerous. Homes are all ‘fortified’, have alarm systems, and guard dogs. Our bed and breakfast has a guard who stands guard from six in the evening until six in the morning.

The boys wanted to try sand-surfing but it had rained slightly and the dunes were not conducive for the activity. Hopefully, they’ll get a chance another time.

Discovering the Ocean Basket seafood was heavenly for sushi, calamari, hake, mussels and prawn. Fresh on the banks of the Kowie

April 20 A few more pics of the Schotia safari

Pics are self explanatory...

April 19 Schotia Game Reserve

Deb: After lunch we went to the ‘Reptile and Raptor Centre’ in Addo. Angie, a young herpatologist was our guide. We saw several different kinds of snakes, some over four meters long! The boys and Joe were so very brave – they touched the snakes and reptiles and had them draped over their shoulders. I was happy just to watch! We saw falcons, eagles, and owls along with a myriad of other kinds of birdlife. They also had two crocodiles. Angie was a born teacher so our hour was incredibly productive and enjoyable!

Our lion safari was a huge success! Everyone in the area recommended that we do a safari with Schotia Game Reserve. We drove a half an hour out of Addo and met up with the owners. Scott, an experienced ranger would be our guide. Jenny and Peter, the owners assured us that we would be in good hands – just a few weeks ago, in fact, they had been chosen to tour Princes William and Harry around the park!

Scott was, indeed, incredible. He entertained our group (a couple from Britian and one from Australia in addition to us) for the entire afternoon and evening with stories about his adventures in the park. The evening before he, the owners, and a group of twenty-year-olds slept out in the park near a watering hole. He hadn’t slept the whole evening. The group lay underneath some trees and had lions roaring around them just a few meters away – a little too adventurous for the Kuffner Family! Plus there were two crocodiles in the watering hole!. Scott, Jenny and Mike believe that if you simply observe quietly without making any sudden moves or provoking the animals that you are perfectly safe. All I could think about it what the parents of those twenty-year-olds would have had to say about this!

We spent from three until seven driving in the park. In addition to the animals that we saw in Addo we saw rhinos, giraffes, and monkeys and a dozen other African species (Ryan has a list). The giraffes were so very elegant and it was beautiful to see them in the wild.

Dinner was incredible. We all arrived at a safari lodge in the middle of the park and were treated to drinks around a huge boma (fire). We ate kudu, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and salad. Brendan’s meal was cooked especially for him and he dined exceptionally well (this along with the ‘emergency plan’ took a half an hour to sort out before doing the safari – Jenny and Peter were incredible!).

Before dinner we had caught up with the lion pride just in time for their pre-game nap of the dominant male (about 10 years old) and his 3 year-old son. As they were napping, we had gone for dinner. Afterwards we returned to the jeep to join the hunt (but first we went to check out the new mom and her cubs in the wilderness enclosure – a precaution to keep the cubs safe from other lions – you can see her intentiveness). When we caught up to the hunters (2 females and the dominant male) they were tracking a herd of wildebeast. With the lights dimmed, we waited for the action (we turned out the lights to avoid giving an advantage to the lions). A few minutes later, we could hear the stampede running for their lives. They must have all made it as when we turned on the lights, there were no animals – nor kills – in sight!

We finally feel like we are in Africa!