My parents and Ben recently came to visit me here
in South Africa! Josh was not able to come due to conflict with work as he is
working on a ship right now in the Great Lakes (he is going on a trip overseas
when he graduates with my Dad, so it's not too much of a heart break). I
had been in Cape Town the whole week after we had gotten back from our camping
trip because Lindsay and I (the only two left from our group of friends) wanted
to explore the city and its offerings some more before she left. My family
was to arrive on the evening of Saturday the 6th of July around 10PM.
They were just going to meet me at the hotel, the Cape Grace (in Cape
Town on the Waterfront), as it was very late but I surprised them at the
airport. I got there an unnecessary hour and a half early because I was
so anxious to see them that I didn't know what to do. I had a taxi drop
me off at the airport and found the driver that was holding the "CARPENTER
X3" sign up by the arrivals. After he gave me the sign to hold, I
waited for them some more. When I finally saw them coming, I basically
ran up to the doors where they were emerging, wayyyy past the line that we were
supposed to stay behind. I was balling my eyes out because I was so happy
to see them, my Dad was tearing up, my Mom was rolling her eyes at us, and Ben
was laughing at the whole ridiculous looking situation.
CAPE TOWN ADVENTURES
We stayed in Cape Town for a total of 5 nights, 4
days. The Cape Grace hotel is right on the Waterfront but far enough away
from all of the hustle and bustle of Cape Town that it was a very peaceful
stay. Benny and I shared a room and my parents had their own room.
Both of us had balconies overlooking the harbor, Signal Hill, Table
Mountain, and Lion's Head. Now of course, knowing Cape Town's crappy
weather in the winter, these sights were not visible most of the time, but when
we could see them the view was breathtaking. The first day there we just
walked around the Waterfront. I showed them the mall (even though it looks
like any other typical overcrowded mall), Ben, my Dad, and I went on the ferris
wheel to look at the sights around us, and we took a mini "harbor
tour" in a "boat". This 30-minute tour only cost R60 a
person (or $6). The information our guide told us about the big ships in
the harbor was very interesting, but the boat itself was interesting as well
(in a different way). There were about 30 cafeteria like chairs put on
this boat as an after thought. The waters were very, very choppy this
particular day. As we were driving out towards the break wall, the waves
were getting huge. The captain cut the engine while our guide was talking
and we were rocking and rolling. We were surprised he got the engine
started again and that we weren't capsized or swept out to sea. I think I
literally kissed the land when we got off of the boat. After relaxing in
the hotel, we had a delicious dinner at the award winning Signal Restaurant.
This is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Cape Town and it
was a wonderful culinary experience.
 |
| A part of the view from our room. |
 |
| 16,690 Kilometers away from San Francisco, Dad's new home. |
 |
| On the rickety little boat. |
The next day in Cape Town, we had a tour set up for
us of the Cape Peninsula area. Our tour guide John, a man who knew his
facts well, greeted us that morning. After an early morning stroll in
Kirstenbosch Gardens, we made our way down to Boulders Beach to see the African
Penguins. I think Ben was very amused by the penguins judging on the
amount of pictures I now have of them on my camera that he took. From
there we then drove down to the Cape of Good Hope and the "Most South-Western
Point of the African Continent". We ate at a delicious restaurant
there called "Two-Oceans" (even though the Indian and Atlantic Oceans
don't meet here- they meet about 150 km east of here) and gorged on sushi,
fish, and gnocchi. We made our way around the rest of the Peninsula back
up to Cape Town, stopping along the way to take in the gorgeous scenery.
We had dinner at the 'Steakhouse of the Year', Belthazar. They
served us melt in your mouth steak after the boys sipped down some slippery
oysters.
 |
| Dad, Ben and me at Kirstenbosch Gardens. |
 |
| Penguins at Boulder Beach |
 |
| The most South-Western point of the African Continent. |
 |
| Feeding Ostriches! |
 |
| Beautiful scenery. |
 |
| The crazy roads we drove on- right on the coast and the cliffs. |
On Tuesday morning, we boarded the Robben Island
ferry to take us to the famous Robben Island. Robben Island was used from
the 17th-20th centuries as a place of "banishment, isolation, and
imprisonment". Today, there are daily tours of the island with
guides giving us the rich history of the island. When touring the actual
prison, an ex-political prisoner from the island gives you a tour.
Indigenous African leaders Muslim leaders from the East Indies, Dutch and
British soldiers and civilians, and anti-apartheid activists, including
Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe were all imprisoned on this island. After
driving around on the island and learning about the $8 wedding special every
year on Valentine's Day at the church, we went to the prison and saw the cells
and learned about the living conditions the men had to endure. For dinner
that night, we met Lindsay as she was still in Cape Town. We went to a
Tapas restaurant on Long Street and enjoyed it very much. Well, Ben
didn't like it very much. He loved the food; he just doesn't like the idea
of having to share everything with everyone else. He wanted his own
plates. He actually ordered room service when we got back to the room
after dinner and had a second dinner all to himself. While the rest of us enjoyed dessert and wine at the
restaurant, Benny went home early.
I walked down with him to the street so I could get a legitimate taxi
for him. There are many sketchy
taxis in the Cape Town area, so I looked for a taxi with a giant name of the
company on the side, a sign of a real taxi. Once I got him into it (even though he would have been
capable as he is quite tall these days and old enough) I left and went back
into the restaurant thinking he would get home with no issues. When we got back later on, I learned
from Ben that there was not only another customer in the car, but the driver
made a drug deal while he had both of them in the car. From Ben’s perspective the driver was
getting the drugs for the other passenger. Needless to say, I was outraged as this is my baby brother
and this is what I didn’t want to happen!
 |
| Benny and I on Robben Island. |
 |
| Mom and Dad by the gorgeous view of Table Mountain. |
 |
| Listening to the former prisoner of Robben Island speak. |
We met Lindsay at the bottom of Table Mountain
Wednesday morning to go to the top on the cable car. After taking
numerous pictures on the top of one of the World's new 7 Wonders of Nature, Ben
repelled down the mountain. He went about halfway down and had to climb
the rest of the way back up, and that hike isn't easy. There was no
breeze at all that day and it was hot, so he smelled nice and ripe after the
climb. After going back down in the cable car, we made our way to Long
Street again for an Ethiopian lunch at Timbuktu. Lindsay and I love this
place. It is the one place in the world that I know it is okay to eat couscous
with your hands. My Mother loved it, but Ben and my Dad weren't too into
the Ethiopian food. After bargaining in the market for a crocodile purse for
me and stone animals for Benny, we headed back to the hotel for a rest before
dinner at the Waterfront. Lindsay met us again for dinner at a pub and we
had burgers, ribs, and fish. We then went for some late night shopping at
the mall before it closed. I had to say my goodbyes to Lindsay that night
as we were headed off to Hermanus in the morning and she was leaving South
Africa in a couple of days. I had been with her non-stop basically for
the past five weeks so it was hard to say that goodbye, as we had gotten so
close.
 |
| Lindsay and me on Table Mountain. |
 |
| Enjoying the flat mountain top. |
 |
| Ben repelling off of the mountain. |
 |
| On top of Table Mountain |
HERMANUS ADVENTURES
After a gorgeous scenic drive to Hermanus, we were
greeted at the Birkenhead House, right on the cliffs leading down to the
ocean. This place was AMAZING and we were really spoiled here with
amazing service. Ben had his own room upstairs with an amazing view of
the ocean. I had my own room with a beautiful claw-foot tub. And my
parent's bathroom was to die for. When we got there, there were flowers
scattered all over all of our rooms. They were also in the bathroom.
When I went to the bathroom for the first time in my room, I discovered
that there were flowers inside the toilet too. After having a wonderful lunch
on the back patio overlooking the water, we went down the beach. The
water was super cold, so there was no swimming. My Mom, Dad, and I then
had lovely massages. After another delicious meal, we retired to
bed early as my Dad, Benny, and I had an early morning pickup for shark-cage
diving!
 |
| My lovely room |
 |
| The toilets had flowers too! |
 |
| Enjoying a wonderful lunch while taking in the view. |
We were picked up at 7AM to drive to Gansbaai for
some quality time with Great White Sharks. After a short briefing on
safety out with the sharks, we got into some lifejackets and super-cute
oversized orange plastic jackets and boarded the boat. The sea was once
again really choppy and angry. After a 20 minute boat ride, we made it to
our spot close to the famous Seal Island (often seen on Shark Week and known as
the McDonald's drive thru for Great Whites). We were handed wet suits
and booties and our family happened to be some of the first to be suited up, so
we got in the water first. Anyone who knows me knows that I am terrified
of the ocean. This pushed me to my limits. The water was cold, the
sharks were scary, I kept getting water in my mask, and the salt water tasted
bad because I have a habit of not closing my mouth when I go under for a reason
unbeknownst to me. The sharks would run into the cage and scared the pee
out of me, literally. Overall, our group was in the water for about half
an hour and saw 22 sharks total with the longest one being 16 feet, or 5
meters. Apparently seeing 22 different sharks is basically unheard of, so
I think we were pretty lucky. After three more groups went after us, we
drove by the local Micky D's (Seal Island) to look at the 50,000- 60,000 seals
that take residency on this island. The smell was atrocious. A much
needed nap was taken after lunch at the Birkin Head House and then once again,
another delicious dinner.
 |
| Getting prepared for shark cage diving while holding random seaweed. |
 |
| In the cage! Pre-Katie-Freak-Out. |
 |
| One of the many sharks. |
 |
| A part of seal-island. |
 |
| Post-Shark cage diving. |
FRANSCHHOEK ADVENTURES
We then were transferred to Franschhoek the next day,
taking the scenic route. We stopped at several wineries along the way looking at the
wild cats at Vredenheim, tasting the wonderful reds at Jordan Wine Estates,
stopping at L'Ormarins Estate Winery to look at the 320 classic cars that the
owner has a passion for, and finally tasting the wine there with the ultimate
wine tasting experience. We stopped in Stellenbosch along the way to
check out my flat and so I could re-pack clothes that are actually practical
for a safari (our next stop). I gave my family a very quick tour of
Stellenbosch and we ate at a loved pizza place there. Once we got into
Franschhoek we finally made our way to our next hotel, Le Quartier Francais. We
had to dodge lots of people on the way to the hotel as the town had a
celebration the weekend we were there for Bastille Day. Every place we
went and all of the people we saw were celebrating this day and were either
French or were pretending to be French. We naturally being a German
family were the pretenders. At dinner that night, we saw an abnormal
about of people that had enjoyed themselves a little too much on the wonderful
wines Franschhoek has to offer and it was quite comical.
 |
| A monument in Franshhoek |
As the Bastille day festivities were still taking
place on Sunday, the shops were actually open in town and there were several
good deals. Benny once again used his amazing bargaining skills (I'm not
kidding- you should see this kid in action) and got a jade elephant and hand-carved
wooden lion from the market. I got a straw purse that is so tough that
the guy who sold it to me said "It's bullet proof- take it to
Afghanistan". I don't think I'm going to try it. My Mother
purchased lovely berets of blue and red for my Father and herself to wear.
My Dad being my Dad, it didn't last long and it ended up on my head
except for the occasional picture where he wore it again. We ate at a
famous pancake house for lunch that my Mom called "the IHOP of
Franschhoek". It was nothing like IHOP. The pancakes were
stuffed with amazing goodies and were absolutely wonderful. I never knew
such amazing dishes existed. After some more shopping, we retired to our
rooms for some naps poolside before dinner. We ate at a place called
Rueben's, as it was highly recommended by everyone and every magazine in
existence. Ben and I had wonderful fillets and my parents both had
Springbok (antelope).
 |
| Ben enjoying real hot chocolate at the IHOP of Franschhoek. |
 |
| Me pretending to be French. |
 |
| Mom and Dad pretending to be French (funny seeing as Mom is 100% German). |
SABI SANDS ADVENTURES
We had an early morning flight to Johannesburg so we could then connect
to Hoedspruit airport, about an hour and a half away from Sabi Sand Private
Game Reserve. Sabi Sand is a
private game reserve in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa and covers an
area of 60,000-65,000 ha. It is
near the Kruger Gate and shares a common 50 km unfenced boundary with the
Kruger National Park to the East.
This Game Reserve is the oldest of all the private reserve in South
Africa. Sabi Sands has several
lodges in numerous price budgets across the land. Now most people will ask why we went here versus the famous
Kruger Park for our safaris. One
of the biggest differences in Sabi Sands versus Kruger is that in Sabi Sands,
the rangers are allowed driving off the tracks for the Big 5 (elephants,
rhinos, lions, leopards, and buffalo) as well as wild dogs and cheetahs (endangered animals). Kruger rangers are not allowed to drive
off of the roads at all. If the
animals were barely visible from the road, we would drive through the bush to
go to the animals. There can also
only be 3 safari vehicles at one specific “hot spot” at one time. In Kruger, there are no limits to the
amounts of cars there. Overall, I
think that Sabi Sands is better for viewing the animals in their natural
habitat. We stayed at Chitwa Chitwa Lodge
and it was gorgeous. Our hut was
called the Chitwa House and it is their exclusive villa that sleeps 4 people in
two en-suite bedrooms. Our porch
had a private pool, lounging beds, and backed up to the largest perennial lake
in Sabi Sands. This lake was full
of hippos at all times of the day.
The hippos came right up next to our villa in the night to feed so we
heard them all throughout the night.
There were also crocodiles in the water and animals of all sorts came to
the lake to drink water and play all day long. The lodge itself doesn’t have a fence around it keeping the
animals out, so when it is dark it is necessary to have an escort back to our
villa (or anywhere else). One
night we were walking back with our ranger and he suddenly stopped. He looked down and saw leopard
tracks. He said that there had been
a leopard on that path just about 5 minutes earlier. There was a group staying there from Ireland and they found
out that a couple of lions had followed them home one night, just steps behind.
 |
| Ben's and my room. |
 |
| Our porch overlooking the lake with hippos and crocs (with personal pool). |
 |
| Mom and Dad's room. |
The first day we got there, we went for a safari in the afternoon. We were totally spoiled and the
expectations were set every high for the rest of the safaris. We saw two lions mating in the first
three minutes of our safari. The
one male Lion got way too close to our 4X4 for comfort. It was very scary. We then saw Cape Buffalo, Zebras,
Giraffes, different species of Antelope, as well as two male leopards having a
stand off.
 |
| The first animal spotted on our safari stay. |
 |
| A little too close for comfort: no zoom and they got much closer. |
 |
| Waterbuck |
 |
| Nothing like an African sunset. |
 |
| First leopard spotted, many more to come. |
 |
| Zebras! |
 |
| Beautiful giraffe. |
For the next three days, we went on two safaris a day and ate
basically at every moment possible.
We had coffee and tea before the morning game drive, muffins during the
game drive, breakfast after the game drive, lunch after relaxation, snacks and
desserts after lunch, sundown drinks and snacks during evening safari, drinks
after the evening safari, and then dinner after that. That is all in one day. I think they try to fatten up all of the guests so they go
home looking like porkers.
 |
| Ben and I enjoying a break during a morning safari for some tea and hot chocolate. |
 |
| Mom and Dad enjoying coffee by a water hole. |
 |
| Before dinner the last night; we dressed in traditional African clothes (plus our normal clothing). |
 |
| Dad, Mom, and Hali (our ranger). |
 |
| Snacks during an evening safari. I am pictured here with our awesome ranger, Hali. |
 |
| The awesome dinner we had on our last night together. The lodge prepared a traditional braai. It was a beautiful setting. We enjoyed entertainment from the workers and local people during the main courses. |
During our stay here, we saw all of the Big 5, and numerous other
animals. Some highlights from the
trip were seeing a group of Lions eating a Zebra, a Leopard eating a baby Wart
Hog (the Leopard was in the tree with the Wart Hog and there were five Hyenas
waiting below for the scraps), being charged by an elephant in our 4X4, getting
too close to lions, a lion brushing next to our tracker in the front of the
4X4, almost flipping the 4X4 in a dry riverbed full of lions, and last but not
least trying to get the perfect sorority bio picture while wearing a Lilly
Pulitzer dress on a safari.
 |
| A minor road block. |
 |
| Zebras |
 |
| Rhino |
 |
| Mama hippo with her baby |
 |
| Mama hippo again with 13 birds on it. |
 |
| Following elephants |
 |
| Just before the elephant almost charged us. |
 |
| Leopard eating a baby Wart Hog |
 |
| Leopard eating a baby Wart Hog. |
 |
| Leopard eating a baby Wart Hog. |
 |
| Leopard |
 |
| Fish Eagle with dinner. |
 |
| Always a Chi Omega; sporting a Lilly dress in the middle of Africa on a safari. |
 |
| Lions in a dry river bed where we almost flipped our 4X4. |
 |
| Lioness enjoying Zebra. |
 |
| Monkey |
 |
| BUSH BABIES. THE CUTEST THING TO HAVE EVER LIVED. |
The last day of the safari trip was the day that I had to leave my
family. I left them at the airport
as I was going back to Cape Town and they were going back to Johannesburg to go
back to America. What was supposed
to be a short day of traveling for me was a long one as my plane had to make an
emergency landing due to mechanical error and we were greeted with fire trucks
on the runway. I am still in one piece though and made it back to Stellenbosch safe and sound!
 |
| The cute airport we flew in and out of for the safari trip. |
 |
| The only commercial flights each day. |
Love always,
kCl
