Ntafufu.

Our travels to the deepest, darkest parts of South Africa began at 3:45 in the morning on Wednesday the 20th. We were officially on the road by 4:15am. Jimmy, Pippa, and I travelled in the Nissan X-trail. Jackie and Mooks travelled in the Izuzu buckie (truck), leading the way. The air was cold, yet the sky was clear and a beautiful day followed as the sun began to break on the horizon. We moseyed on south through the Drakensberg mountain range and experienced South African townships in their various forms. A few kilometers before Port St. John's, we exited onto a dirt road that led us down to the Ntafufu river. Here we had planned to meet Sollie, the care take of Toucan Tango Cottage and the deliverer of the hidden oasis that would be home for the next days. By the time we had packed everything on the small boat, including ourselves, and ventured down river two kilometers to a dock within clear sight of breaking ocean waves, the sun had begun its decent on this group of weary travelers.

Thursday was our first official day in paradise. The sun shined bright and the air warmed as the noon hour neared. We headed to South rocks to grab our feel for the place and settle into our surroundings. Mooks took a fishing pole to try his hand at fishing before the real games began the following day. Jimmy and I relaxed on the beach, dabbled our feet in the chilly winter waters, and awed at the absolute pure beauty that enveloped our senses.


The next day, Guy, Pippa's son, headed down to spend his birthday weekend with us. We rose early and headed into Port St. John's to pick up a few remaining supplies and then waited at the Seaview store where Guy would leave his car for the next few days. Upon his arrival, we packed up and headed back to camp to enjoy a fresh crayfish lunch. Now the crew was complete and the real fishing adventures were to begin. The guys prepared the fishing rods, we packed up the snake bite kit (refreshments), grabbed the master fisher (Sollie) and headed to Ntafufu beach for an afternoon/evening escapade. As we fumbled our way through the lush tropical forest, on a path well worn, smiles were contagious and happiness inevitable. We approached the dunes and began to see the waves clapping against the shoreline. A wave of breathlessness washed over me and I couldn't help but laugh. Sollies dogs followed us out, playing and running in the dunes. A euphoric air seeped from the over all sight of the happy dogs, the magnificent isolated beach surrounded by majestic hills, and a group of people over joyed by each others company. Jimmy, Guy, Mooks, Jackie, and Sol prepared their bait and went straight to fishing from the surf. I laid out my beach towel and basked in the beauty of the moment. At no other point in my life have I experienced nature in this form, surrounded only by people that I know and trust. The feelings intensified as the sun began to set and a barrage of colors swept over the hills. The scene was so stimulating that it almost felt fake. For a split moment, I almost felt like The Truman Show, as if it were all a stage, a theatrical event. That thought quickly passed and I continued to glow in the momentousness of the experience. Darkness quickly arrived. Out in these parts of Africa, dark really is dark. No lights means no lights. No lights means no sight. What a great day it was.

Saturday was Guy's birthday. The Freer tradition of pots and pans occurred followed by a delicious breakfast and present opening. Then, the fishing gear was gathered, snake bite kit prepared, snacks/lunch collected and we headed to the north rocks for a leisurely day of fishing, laying, and overall enjoyment of nature. At the start of the day, the ocean was calm and the sun was warm in contrast to the cool breeze. After lunch, the wind began to pick up and the sun had no warming power any longer. Unfortunately, it became too uncomfortable, so we packed up and headed back.
The next day was much of the same: fishing and lounging. It was Guy's last day and the last day we would experience beautiful weather down at the Ntafufu camp. That afternoon, a thunderstorm rolled in, pitched a tent, and settled down for the next several days. Luckily, we were to leave on Tuesday. We hoped and prayed there would be a break in the rain (which there hadn't been since it started Sunday night) long enough for us to return up river with all of our belongings and head back to Joburg. Tuesday morning started out rain free the first few hours of day break, but as we neared time to load the boat the drizzle reared its ugly face one last time. We said our goodbyes and made a miserable trip upriver, against a current strong and heavy with the rains of the previous days. Although it had been raining on the coast, it had snowed inland causing both routes back to Joburg to be closed. We headed to San Lameer, Pippa and Mooks' friends vacation home, for the night. Jimmy and I missed our flight to Port Elizabeth booked for Wednesday morning and had to quickly rework a new plan. We no longer would get to experience the garden route. With everyone's help, we settled with a flight to Capetown on Friday morning and focused on returning to Joburg in the mean time. Wednesday, we packed up after we woke and hit the road. We returned about 8:30pm last night, very thankful to be back at our home away from home.

Today, we have relaxed and took care of all that needed caring for. Tonight we will have our last dinner with Jax before she heads home to Dubai tomorrow and before we head to Capetown in the morning for the last leg of our South African adventures.

We survive the Kruger.

Back to civilization after three days of fantastic animal viewing. The list of animals we saw, especially the first day, seems endless.

Friday, we ended up with a later start than expected. Jackie got bumped off her flight and was delayed until 4:50pm. We finally hit the road at about 6:00pm. Jimmy and I had our first Steers burger, a South African burger joint. It was good, but it wasn't a Texas burger (or P Terry's). I must admit, though, the meat here is fantastic in comparison. What's better than a country filled with wild meat? With our bellies full, we drove as far as we could until we were tired. We stopped just past Nelspruit at a bed and breakfast lodge called Duma. We must have picked a good spot because it happened to be Afrikaans karaoke night. It was the happening spot for locals, clearly. We joined the fun for a limited time but had to head to bed early.

Saturday, we awoke before the sun and headed to Kruger. Once inside the park, on our way to our camp, Berg-en Dal, we made our first sighting: Rhinos! Throughout the first day, Jackie, who wonderfully volunteered to drive, drove at a top speed of 20km/h. We spotted almost all of the big five, including two leopard sightings in one day! After our exhausting adventure throughout the day, we made it back to camp by 5:30pm and then ventured on our night drive with a guide named Rasta. Feeling rather successful (and maybe a little too full of ourselves because of our luck), headed home to catch some Zzz's before our second early rise.

Sunday, we weren't as lucky, yet we still spotted quite a large amount of animals, mostly repeats from the day before. As Jackie would like to say, "We are spoiled: 'Just another rhino, just another Kudu.'" Our eyes were weary from their almost over use from the previous day and we zoomed along at a higher speed, seeking out lions to complete our big five sightings. We drove to a near by camp, Skukuza. We had to make a necessary visit to the doctor because Izzy had apparently caught a tummy bug or food poisoning from the food we had at the Afsaal rest stop the day before. Although she had to sleep the whole tour that day, Jackie, Jimmy, and I kept our eyes peeled. We were only able to add a few more animals to our list, such as: hippos, crocodiles, babboons and different kinds of buck. That night Jackie, Jimmy and I had a nice dinner at the camp restaurant. We three ordered the burger. This one was not as good as the one at steers. In fact, it tasted just like boerwors (a South African sausage). The night ended with a conversation with a man and his son that Jimmy initiated and then quickly wanted to end. Jacki and I were continuing to talk with him, as there seemed no appropriate time to end the conversation yet, and the initiator took it upon himself to become quite restless. He jumped up to pay our bill, walked around looking as if some one were telling him to leave, constantly motioning his desire to leave, and pretending that the area was already closed and that the wait staff was merely waiting on us. Eventually we left when Jimmy declared, "Yea, I think they are ready to close. They are just standing back, not really wanting to tell us to leave." But in reality, it was hardly 9:30pm and the area closed at 10:00pm. Poor Jimmy. He was so tired and knew not what he was getting himself into, when all he wanted to do was give the man some simple advice on where to view a particular animal.

Monday was much of the same. We drove outside the gate to quickly hop over to Crocodile Bridge camp area and to drive up to the Lower Sabie camp. In order to start here, we had to drive through a small town (the last town before Mozambique) named Komatipoort. Funny enough, Jimmy's dad used to get on to him when he was little, saying, "Jimmy, if you don't stop, we are going to drop you off in Komatipoort." Jimmy never knew this was a real place, or what it was, until now. So, Jimmy has finally been to Komatipoort and decided that it's not so bad. :) So, on with our day, we had one thing on our minds: lions. We found no lions, but plenty of hippos and crocs. That evening we had a braai for dinner with some traditional South African food to go along. The night ended early. Although it may not seem like it, searching for animals all day is quite exhausting.

Today, we woke up, packed up, and headed to Wimpy's. If Jackie is to have breakfast, she prefers Wimpy's breakfast. It was alright, similar to a fast food Ihop with less options and no pancakes. The drive back to Joburg was enjoyable, especially since it was daylight and we had the opportunity to view the beautiful landscape. The mountains were gorgeous. The many plantations and farms were bursting with oranges, bananas, papaya, and sugar cane. The closer to Joburg we got, the flatter the land and the more smog filled the sky. It was a nice getaway.

Now we've been back to Joburg and will not even spend 24 hours here before head off to another nature lover's paradise: the Wild Coast (their families camp at Ntafufu). We will be on the road by 4:00am and hopefully arriving there approximately 10 to 12 hours later. The next update will be on the 25th or 26th.


Cheers for now! :)

First Days of Our Adventure.

Greetings from the southern hemisphere.

Our trip to South Africa has been long expected and a joy to finally embark upon. Our flight over was as fine as a flight can be, although I am sure Jimmy feels otherwise. He stuck his foot in his mouth a quarter of the way into the flight. After he explained that he would not be that guy that leans his chair all the way back to the gentlemen behind him, he was unlucky enough to have the man in front of him recline to the chairs full capacity and then some. Seven hours later, a bitter Jimmy and confused Paula arrived at Heathrow airport, in London. Between our confusion over whether our luggage would be checked all the way through and the news of our delayed flight, Jimmy and I awkwardly made our way across the airport to a set of benches that became home for a good 10 hours. Luckily, we shared the seat with fellow delayed South African flight mates. Much conversation ensued and uncomfortable intermittent sleeping as well. Finally, we successfully load the plane to Johannesburg. This flight went over far smoother, as the man in front of Jimmy did not recline one inch.

Upon arrival in Joburg, Mike, Jimmy's uncle, was their to greet us and for us to follow him in our rental car. Unexpectedly, we received a manual vehicle. My heart was pounding when we took off from the Avis depot. It had been three years since I had driven a manual and the first time I had driven on the left side of the road. Scared out of our minds, we made it safely to Mike and Pippa's flat in the outskirts of Joburg. We rested and had a wonderful meal with Jimmy's aunt and uncle.

The next day, we sorted out our Kruger park reservation and called around in hope of returning our manual for an automatic. We decided to take it to the airport on Thursday, before we headed to Pretoria. In the mean time, Pippa so kindly took us out to lunch, to visit the World Cup Stadium (Pippa is directing the establishment of the hall of fame museum that is being built in the stadium) and to the Apartheid museum in Gold Reef City. We were unable to spend as much time as we would have liked at the museum, but we experienced enough to grasp the horrors of the situation. On our drive back, we became aware of the increasing tensions developed by workers on strike. Petrol was now not being delivered to the "garages" (gas stations). Pippa drove around looking for gas because she only had a quarter tank. Unsure of what to do, we headed back to the flat to regroup. After cleaning up, we decided there was not much we could do, so Pippa says, "So let us drive while we still have gas" and we headed to Hyde park to have a drink at the Island bar. On our way, we saw a garage that had cars filling up. We make a quick u-turn and struck gold. We celebrated with a delicious drink and a spectacular view of the city. Pippa then drove us to Chris and Guy's house (her sons, Jimmy's cousins), where we braaied (South African barbecue) and ended our wonderful day.

Today, Jimmy and I gathered our courage and followed Pippa's wonderful directions back to the airport (the only Avis with an automatic in Joburg) and exchanged our vehicles. We were so relieved to be driving an automatic car. We hopped on the R21 and drove straight to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, and visited the Union Buildings. It was a short, but necessary visit. What a spectacular building and garden. By about 1:00pm, we were headed home for a rest and a fantastic meal with the family. Pippa cooked a wonderful Indonesian meal for Jimmy, myself, Jeremy (her brother), Mike, Beverley (Jimmy's aunt, Mike and Billy's sister), Devon (Jimmy's new found cousin), and Chris. After many laughs and a rather delicious meal, we are now settling down for the evening and preparing for our next adventure - THE KRUGER!

Tomorrow, we start out early to return our rental car and pick up Jackie (Jimmy's cousin who is flying in from Dubai) from the airport with Isabella (her mother), who are both accompanying us throughout our time in the bush. The next two weeks will be filled with nature adventures and so my ability to correspond electronically will be severely limited, but attempts will be made to keep my new blog fresh and up-to-date.

For now, cheers from Johannesburg, South Africa!