Phalaborwa - Kruger National Park

It was only a short flight on that little plane from Jo'burg to Phalaborwa.  I think there might have been 24 seats on the plane, and we had to put carry ons with our luggage since there were no overhead bins.  Even though it was less than an hour in the air, we got snack and beverage service.  I chose tomato-flavored potato chips for my snack.  It was like eating crunchy ketchup, but really not that bad.

Isn't this the cutest airport ever?

We were met at the airport by our new guide, Heinrich, and driven the short distance to Sefapane Lodge near the gate to Kruger National Park.  Crystal was my roommate for this stay, and we got to stay in the Hippo rondavel.  It was wonderful!

 

Those are fresh flowers on our beds.

The plan was to do a little stargazing before dinner, but it was cold, and not too many people were that interested, so it didn't last long.  It was very exciting, however, to identify the Southern Cross for the first time!  I tried to take a photo worth sharing, but all mine turned out pretty dark, so I found this one online.

One of the few constellations I remember from college astronomy is Orion.  It was visible as well, but upside down from what it looks like at home.

Everybody had been really looking forward to this part of the trip.  Kruger National Park is THE place to go for wildlife.  Phalaborwa is in Limpopo Province, is the only town that borders Kruger, and is known as the true gateway to the park.  You pretty much enter right in the middle of the park.  Phalaborwa means "better than the South" (named after Sotho tribes that migrated north).  We were all sooooo excited about our game drive the next morning that nobody complained about the early hour or the cold...much.  We started at 5:30 with breakfast and blankets to go. 

The first animal sighting for me was this white bunny just after we entered the gate.  Not exactly what I was expecting, but it made me happy anyway.  It moved really fast right as I took the picture, thus the white blur.

African Sunrise.  I think I might frame this one.

We spent all day Monday and much of Tuesday morning on game drives, and saw lots of animals.  I easily took 1,000 photos just in that time, but here are some of the highlights.

We stopped to have lunch at Letaba Rest Camp.  There are a number of animals at the watering holes in the background, but they are hard to see.

We had some time to visit the displays in Letaba Elephant Hall. 

A weaver's nest.

Impala are easily identifiable by the "M" on the backside.

We stopped each morning to have our breakfast packs at the Masorini Archeological Site.

Watering tanks for elephants.

Kudus.

You have to look carefully to see this monkey.  I'm not sure what kind it is.

Those bumps in the water are hippos.

Baby hyenas.

Cape buffalo.

Apparently, baboons don't like water.  We watched this troop sit on the side for quite a while before one brave baboon ventured across, and then a few more.  They went as fast as they could.....

 ....and leapt as high as they could to avoid the water.

 Sunset on Day 1 at Kruger.

 Our vehicle was stopped on the road by a couple of rangers who told us some lions had been spotted nearby with a fresh kill.  We came across several lionesses right at the side of the road. 

 Lionesses do the majority of the hunting. This buffalo was probably one of the herd we saw yesterday.

 Pumba?



Mauropeng - The Cradle of Humankind

We were up at O'Dark-thirty again to catch an early flight back to Johannesburg.  Once there, we split into two groups.  Half of us were staying in Jo'burg, and the others were flying on to Phalaborwa.  The flights to Phalaborwa are small planes, and we wouldn't all fit on one.  Yikes!  So...my group got to tour Mauropeng - The Cradle of Humankind first, with Pumla back as our guide. It was supposed to only be about a 30-minute drive, but there was road construction and lots of traffic, so it took twice as long, but we finally got there.

Mauropeng means “returning to the place of origin” in Setswana, an indigenous language.  About 1,000 hominid fossils have been discovered there, some more than three million years old (Australopithecus), and that's something I'm still trying to wrap my brain around.  (Mary - this is where I got your first rock!)

Mauropeng Visitor Centre

 

 

After lunch and a little souvenir shopping, we headed back to the airport.  My jaw dropped when I saw our plane.  I'd never been on a plane this small before, but I put on a brave face, took a deep breath, got on, and survived to tell the tale.

Last Day in Cape Town

Saturday was our last day in Cape Town, and we had a free day until dinner. Kathy and I teamed up with Sharon and MaryLynne and their partner teacher, Naomi.  Naomi and her son picked us up at our guesthouse and drove us wherever we wanted to go all day.  Sharon wanted to visit the University of Cape Town bookstore to get a sweatshirt, so that's where we started.  As we parked the car and got out, we were approached by a man in the parking lot who we paid R5 to keep an eye on the car.  Naomi told us that this was another way of creating jobs for people.  They earned a little money, and drivers felt a little more secure leaving their cars. 

We found a shop that had University shirts on this street near campus.

We headed back toward town to visit a jewelry store and a local crafts store, then moved on to the waterfront for lunch, sightseeing, and more souvenirs. 

Nobel Square, V&A Waterfront

Bronze statues represent South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates: 

Albert Lithuli (1960), Desmond Tutu (1984), FW de Klerk (1993), and Nelson Mandela (1993)

At first I thought this 12-meter tall statue was made from Legos, but he was crafted from 4200 Coke crates.

Naomi was in the crowd the day Nelson Mandela made his first public appearance on this balcony after his release from prison.

Our last dinner in Cape Town was really exciting!  It was about a 30-minute drive to Moyo-Stellenbosch, and we didn't know what to expect until we got there.  It was quite an experience with outdoor dining under a Moroccan-style tent, face painting, and traditional African entertainment and food.  The temperature dropped quite a bit while we were there, but you could get blankets brought to you.  It was a great way to end our time in Cape Town!