Saturday night
Our Zulu Nyala game ranger, Allen, insisted we do a night drive to spot nocturnal animals. Our goal was leopard, hyenas, bush babies (a nocturnal monkey) and a variety of other animals. While not a complete bust, we didn’t get the sightings we hoped for. A brief glimpse of a leopard, some up close viewings of rhino and lots of grazing impala and Nyala are all we got. Interesting but it just wasn’t a good night. We’ll have another night drive opportunity at Chobe National Park in Botswana.


Sunday
We traveled to Hluehluwe Game Reserve. On the way we stopped in at the Zulu Nyala Heritage lodge (sister lodge to our lodge) and had a chance meeting with the owner of Zulu Nyala, Trevor Shaw. A Johannesburg resident, who gained his wealth from diamond mining and assembled the initial land for Zulu Nyala in 1981 with a stated his purpose was preservation of wildlife and employment of people. He’s doing a good job of both.

On the way to Hluhluwe Reserve, we viewed several small communities, including the town of Hluhluwe. Lots of people and cattle are walking the roads. Some of the interesting sights are the home compounds. Many with a main house (small) and two or three smaller homes and a kitchen separated from all the homes. The Zulu men are permitted to have multiple wives and will assign the main wife to the larger home and the others to the smaller homes (apparently it works for them).

We also saw some of the Zionist Zulu (described by our guide, not sure that is the right name), which apparently is the fastest growing religion in the Zulu nation. Based on what I understand,it is has some Baptist roots, focuses more on the old testament, has a "main man" they follow (Shemee) and pays a lot of attention to the “Christian healing arts”. The dress for the women was distinct with white and blue and we saw several on the roads.
The Hluhluwe Game Reserve combined with the Imfolozi Reserve is a national park covering 96,000 acres and is home to a large variety of animals, birds and other wildlife. The area, differing from the Zulu Nyala area has mountains and more water. The animals are plentiful but harder to see and photograph because the area is so large. The trip was worth it but the ride home in the dark in an open canopied truck with no seatbelts, dodging people, cars and cattle was cold and long.






Monday
We made a team decision to cut our stay at Zulu Nyala one night short and stay in Richards Bay to catch an early morning flight on Tuesday to Cape Town via Johannesburg (which seems to be the Atlanta of South Africa for air traffic).
Overall, our stay at Zulu Nyala was very good. The accommodations were basic, the food was edible, our fellow guests were friendly, our guide was knowledgeable, professional and had a great sense of humor and the photo opportunities were fantastic.
During the past few days, we have had an opportunity to see more of the countryside, learn a little about the Zulu people, read some of the South African newspapers and get some perspective from our guide on the state of the state of South Africa. South Africa appears to be a country at a crossroads. It can be the best of Africa or it can take some bumps down the heap. Since apartheid ended over a decade ago the country has made some big leaps in integration of it’s diverse population. But they are not there yet. Big unemployment (getting bigger with the international downturn), high crime rates, increasing drug use and large numbers in poverty creates a soup of explosive social issues. President Zuma, heading the ANC (the ruling party) has over 20 wives (which certainly is different) and is presiding over an increasingly rambunctious political setting. South Africa has looming health issues, now being rated as the 3rd most obese nation in the world (US #1 and UK#2). Education is a combination of public and user financed with students (their families) paying some of the costs and is under attack for pushing students through the grades without requiring them to learn (sounds familiar). All said, with this base of opinion and fact we should find our time in Cape Town later in the week both interesting an educational.
In Richards Bay, we stayed in a hotel on the waterfront (Protea). Very nice accommodations, reasonable price, wonderful views and good restaurants a few steps away. A short walk to the beach on the Indian Ocean was made to allow us to wade in the water and add one more ocean to the “been there, done it” list.


Tuesday
Rich and Jean headed back to the USA and Mary, Rod, Ted and Julie took an early morning flight to Johannesburg to catch a connector to Cape Town. The planes were full but they do serve meals, something we have lost in the USA. Airport security is similar but not as rigorous. You do get to keep your shoes on (nice).
Arriving in Cape Town we were met by a driver with a small car (way too small for four) to take us to Bushman’s Kloof outside Clanwilliam, S.A. The little car was quickly replaced with a van to make the 160 mile trek. We passed through some beautiful farming countryside. Lot’s of wheat, grapes for wineries, cattle and sheep. It was raining hard for most of the way and the vistas we could see were spectacular.


Now for the good stuff. Bushman’s Kloof is a place I hope you can visit. If you stay two days, as we are doing, it will only require a small loan. Any more time, would require refinancing of the home. That being said, it is a spectacular place to stay. Travel and Leisure magazine rated it as the best hotel in the world in 2009. It has only 16 rooms, a staff of 135 and grounds and property that few could equal. Met by the manager and our nature guide when we rolled into the drive, the service has been tops in everything. A spa is available (which we did not use) and meal menus give a wide array of good healthy meals (which we did not use) plus meals that could make you fat (which we did use).






We became familiar with rooibos tea, loaded with antioxidants and served hot, as iced tea or as an icy sherbert. The views from our cottage and hundreds of chirping birds were nice to wake up to. Our guide Jacco (pronounced “Ya- ko) is the head guide, well trained and knowledgeable and soon returning to his family farm to raise grapes. The animal viewing was very good with many different species too numerous to list (mostly because we didn’t take good notes). We did get our first good exercise in with a 2 mile hike over terrain that would remind you of Arizona. The highlight of the day was seeing the Bushman petrographs on the rock walls. Bushman’s Kloof has some of the most noted petrographs in South Africa. These early forms of art are dated back 3000 years and are impressive.






Overall, the luxury of Bushmans Kloof was a good change from our economy photo safari in Zulu Nyala. We would not want to miss either but they are different. Tomorrow, after another drive to see more petrographs, we make the long drive back to Capetown where we will be hanging our hat for 4 nights. It should be interesting.
Dick
2010-09-22
Maine lobstuh has to take a back seat to your safari!
I'm anticipating your next adventures.
Sam and Jane Wyche
2010-09-22
Thanks for letting us share the trip, at a very good price to us, and thanks for avoiding the "wish you were here" comment. We do wish we could be.........
Stay safe and have a little fun for us........sam and jane
William Paiva
2010-09-23
Thanks Rod...I feel like I am there with you side by side.
Barbara Jeffries
2010-09-23
What a good way to share your experiences. Thanks
James Hardin
2010-09-23
Thanks for taking the time to relate your rewarding experience. I chuckled at the night ride comment, where you didn't see many animals. There would be many I would hope NOT to see. Maybe I should just stick around safe old Kentucky, with the bears and copperheads.
Bushman's Kloof is very interesting.
Dave
2010-09-23
Great pics. Either you're catching every waking moment or Africa is full activity and beautiful scenes. If the prior, I imagine Mom must be annoyed with the camera.
Barbara and Hugh Reynolds
2010-09-23
Wow, what a trip! We are thoroughly enjoying your descriptions and the pictures are great, too.
Safe travels....Barb and Hugh
Kim
2010-09-23
Some of your photos are truly works of art. The one of the bird weaving her nest is great, as are all of the animal shots....and the people photos are too, of course....just not as rare to see as the animals in the wild :-) Thanks for sharing!
Katy Neill
2010-09-24
Great pictures and tales, Rod. I'm having a great time touring with you!
Katy
Bob V
2010-09-26
Sounds like lots of new experiences. My question is, "What exotic animals will you import to the Farm?" I hear leopards like wild pig.
Mike Land
2010-10-01
I could mow for my food and live in a tent.