Africa Safari Blog

Once a year Franschhoek (near Cape Town) hosts the annual cheese and wine festival on one of the magnificent wine farms, this year it was on the Bien Donne farm. Tickets are sold months in advance and advertising peaks weeks before the event. Basically you buy a ticket and get to walk around eating as much cheese as you want and drinking as much wine as you can handle… as well as some other yummy treats! My boyfriend and I took advantage of all the tasters and for those of you that missed it – don’t worry, I am sure we ate more then enough for you!!!
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Seven Chicks and one lonely guy, Jan (our guide for the weekend), left the office all excited and ready to go on an adventure….and what an adventure it was. Not having driven on the N7 for quite some time, it was beautiful to see the country-side again. After a couple of hours driving and some well deserved drinks we needed an urgent pit stop, which came just in time for Miriam, who at that stage already had tears in her eyes…if you know what I mean!
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Following on from the previous blog:

Before I arrived at Planet Baobab I was wondering: “Why the name?” And after just a short while I realized that there really were so many huge Baobab trees in the area and that it really is the “Baobab Capital of the World”! With the average age of the trees amongst us being 4000 years, the walk into the Baobab capitol and the use of the medicinal plants, explained to us by our local guide, proved to be very educational. But not before enjoying the coolest and most welcoming pool in the Kalahari! A sunset drink to end of the walk was a “must” and as you can see, the sunset was awesome!
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I was thrilled to be offered the opportunity to travel on our Botswana Classic Scheduled Safari from the 12th to the 17th of March 2009 – and just as thrilled to be able to “drag” my partner, Antonie along. Herewith my blog on the trip:

We flew from Cape Town via Johannesburg on an early flight on the 10th and then connected with BA to Livingstone. I am afraid Livingstone airport is not much to write about so I won’t mention much. I was happy to be a South African because the queue for the foreigners was awfully long with only one Customs official to attend to them. $50 got you a Visa – pretty steep! We were warmly greeted by Jan who looks after the Jenman Safaris Livingstone office – and he kindly drove us around to all the hotels in the area so that I could “inspect” them.
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Its pirate past is but one golden nugget on this island teeming with treasures, writes Fred de Vries.

Source: Sunday Times, 5th April 2009, Author: Fred de Vries

So that’s where they are, buried on a humid swampy, sickly green Malagasy hill: the pirates and corsairs of St Mary’s, who terrorized the Indian Ocean in the last 17th and early 18th centuries. The tombs are overgrown and covered in black fungus. And as if to further emphasise the authenticity, some of the stones have been decorated with the ominous skull and crossbones.

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So, we crossed the border and stayed at Shoestrings hostel in Victoria Falls …nice place though pretty empty (we’re in the rainy season remember so not a top tourist time). First things first: Money changing!.There are 2 options: No.1 the official way ~ change 1 US dollar for 30,000 Zim dollars. Or no.2 black-market ~ change 1 US dollar for 2,000,000 (yes, MILLION) Zim dollars! …we opted for no.2 So with money changed, its time for some sightseeing: The view of the Falls from the Zim side is fabulous! You get a ‘frontal’ view of the Falls and can walk along the length of them (though from the other side of the gorge).Incredible sight right the way along. And we got to see a rainbow from Danger Point too…which was nice. Downside is you get absolutely sodden! Again though: a sight not to be missed if you ever get here (the choice is yours as to whether you want to see the falls in full flow or fairly quiet).
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Tourists have been scared off as foreign officials panic.

Source: Sunday Times, April 5th 2009 – Paul Ash

Following the recent coup in Madagascar, a number of countries have issued official notices warning their citizens not to travel to the island. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office notes, “There has been political unrest in Madagascar since January 2009. There have been violent incidents and looting in Antananarivo and regional centres across the country, resulting in a number of deaths.”
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After a busy day’s counting general Game, we got a fleeting view of another leopard after Stuart spotted fresh tracks at a koppie: he got out to follow the tracks whilst I drove the Landcruiser with students around the other side to see what we could see…as I drove, the leopard crossed the track and disappeared into the bush….shame was, I was the only person not to see it as I was concentrating on driving!

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