Day 291 May 23 2015 Margate South Africa

the big race

after the flush

David smiling and Evy screaming

going round and round in the bowl

enjoying her ribs at the water park

Day 291  May 23 2015  Margate  South Africa

We spent the day at Wild Waves Water Park near about 35 km from Margate.  It was a fantastic day with no lines.  They have a slide called the tube.  The attendant opens the tube up and you stand on a platform.  He locks you inside and a countdown begins; when it gets to zero the floor drops out and you fall down the slide.  It takes about 7 seconds to get to the bottom once the floor opens, it was great.  They had 6 big slides and a lazy river.  The lazy river turned out to be the most dangerous.  I was getting into a double tube to go in the river and when I sat down the tube flipped and I smashed my head on the concrete on the bottom of the river.  It was very shallow so the water did not help me slow down before my head hit.  Isabel was just big enough to go on all the rides all though one time down the tube was enough for her.

Day 290 May 22 2015 Margate South Africa

hippos invade the town at night of St. Lucia every night

getting ready to spray his sister

so this is where goats milk comes from

part of the coast in Margate

anyone for a moon light skinny dipping?

talent on the beach in Margate

Day 290  May 22 2015  Margate  South Africa

We drove from St. Lucia to Margate today with a stop at the cheese farm as the Kids wanted to milk the goats.  When it was David’s turn he sprayed Isabel with milk, I am pretty sure that was why he wanted to milk the goat in the first place.  The tour also included the cheese factory where the guide explained how to make cheese.  I told him he should start selling cheese curds in the shop and poutine in their restaurant.  He was going to look it up on the internet when we were leaving.  If cheese curds are popular around the St. Lucia area in a few years it will be because we told a South African cheese maker of glorious poutine.  When we got to the hotel the kids stayed and watched TV as they have been TV deprived.  Evy and I went for a walk to the beach.  Many of the beaches in South Africa have shark nets to protect the swimmers, I guess there must have been a fair number of shark attacks in the past. 

Day 289 May 21 2015 St. Lucia South Africa

if you get eaten or beaten it is your own problem

Makes you want to go swimming! Doesn't it?

the currents were extreme 

running for snacks

the supervisor and the construction crew hard at work

taking a rest after an marathon digging session 

Day 289  May 21 2015  St. Lucia  South Africa

We started the day at 7 am as there was a scheduled power outage for 8 to 10:30 am.  By 8 am we had our coffee ready and breakfast eaten.  We drove up the St. Lucia Estuary to Cape Vidal and saw a few animals on the way including a new species of monkey a blind snake and the highlight of the day female leopard with 2 cubs.  The sighting of the leopard cubs completes the baby 5 as we saw lion cubs, rhino, elephant and buffalo calves when we were in Kruger.  We were very fortunate to see the big 5 let alone the baby 5 on our trip to South Africa.  Once we got to Cape Vidal I went snorkeling by myself as it was way to rough for the kids to be safe.  The kids spent the day playing in the sand digging holes and trying to catch creatures in the tide pools.  Evy stuck her foot into the Indian Ocean and stated that it was as cold as Lake Huron; the kids and I all laughed at that.  I think that Evy has forgotten what cold weather and water is like.   On the way to the hotel David bought a stone rhino and Isabel bought a wood lion.  The carvings are the first souvenirs that we have purchase since leaving South America.  It was a wonderful day for the beach as the temperature was 28 deg c; however the high wind speed made it seem much cooler.

Day 288 May 20 2015 St. Lucia South Africa

Isabel and the happy hippo

some of the many hippos we saw in St. Lucia

sun going down over the hippos and the river

Isabel enjoying the river cruise

actually enjoying the river cruise

being entertained by a chicken at the cheese farm

Day 288  May 20 2015  St. Lucia  South Africa

We woke up shortly after 7 am and surfed the internet and enjoyed a coffee.  In the afternoon we went to a cheese farm where we had lunch.  It was one of the worst meals we have had on the trip and it left Evy and Me with indigestion.  At 3 pm we went on a 2 hour river cruise through the St. Lucia estuary.  We got some really good views of hippos and crocodiles.  David said that he was not impressed with the hippos and crocs as “after Kruger nothing compares”.  He told us that he would not take his kids to Kruger first as it wrecks the rest of the trip.  I do understand where he is coming from as Kruger is an amazing place.  

Day 287 May 19 2015 St. Lucia South Africa

grilling pork chops

a forced candle light supper due to rolling blackouts

seeing who can keep their nose on the ice the longest!  Isabel won!

Day 287  May 19 2015  St. Lucia  South Africa

We drove 4 ½ hours to reach St. Lucia. We followed the national route N2. It was surprising to find so many narrow or unpaved roads as part of the main highway system of the country. There were stenches of 4 lane nicely paved roads and all of the sudden the pavement ended and the road became a dirt lane sometimes with a person waiving flag as indication of the road construction. There is an energy shortage in the country so the hotel gave us a schedule for the blackout times during our stay. It was a good thing one of us paid attention to the blackout times because I took the kids to the pool and forgot all about it. By the time we were back Sam had prepared a great bbq candlelight family dinner. 

Day 286 May 18 2015 Ermelo South Africa

You have to be a close family in this hotel! There is no door on the bathroom!!

doing homework in Ermelo South Africa

Day 286  May 18 2015  Ermelo  South Africa

We left the hotel relatively early and stopped at a nearby Wimpy’s to use the wi-fi. The kids were happy to order a second breakfast as we all have enjoyed the food at this chain. We did not have a clear idea of where we were going or how far we wanted to drive so it took us some time to research, plan and book the hotel for the night. Once we decided on the route and booked a hotel we were on our way. Within 10 minutes driving out of town we passed a slow moving truck at the start of a small hill. The markings the on road where small passing lines surrounded by 2 continuous lines. We promptly discovered this is not a passing line marking, the information came with an expensive price tag: 750 ZAR “donation or you can call it a bribe” to the traffic police that was waiting at the top of the hill and pull us over. We considered this the best option as the official way would had cost us between 1500 to 3000 ZAR and force us to go back to town to take care of the fine. After this little incident we are making sure of the markings on the road before either of us attempt to pass a slow moving vehicle.

When we check-in at the hotel the receptionist inform us he could not find our booking and the room shown on my copy of the booking was in their second hotel in a separate building at the other side of town. Instead of giving us the address he asked us to wait for someone to come and guide us to the place. The ad on the booking stated a family room with kitchen and a separate entrance. When we arrived at the “hotel” we were shown to a nice room at the end of the hall: no separate entrance, no separate kitchen and no bathroom door. The manager offered to adjust the price and reimburse our credit card. Only time will tell if it comes thru.   

Day 285 May 17 2015 Komatipoort South Africa

waiting for the sunrise drive to start

we got up too early for this!

this guy was getting ready to take out the SUV

just another rhino

"the last supper" in Kruger

a chameleon crossing the road

Day 285  May 17 2015  Komatipoort  South Africa

We made the mistake of taking the 3 hour sunrise drive this morning.  We had to be at the meeting point at 4:45 am.  We did not see very many animals the ones we did see were far away.  We got back to the camp at 8 am and we ate breakfast and packed up.  We left the camp at 10 am and drove towards the Crocodile Bridges gate.  On the way we saw the expected giraffes, rhino, impala, elephant, wildebeest, zebra, hippos, crocodiles and buffalo.  We also saw a dung beetle rolling his ball of dung across the road and a lion dragging a freshly killed impala.  One of the elephants that we saw started walking towards the car then stopped and shook his head and started to swing his foot a bit.  He then blew his trunk onto the ground causing a cloud of dust to rise.  I immediately backed up a 100 feet but the elephant still looked like he was getting ready to charge.  I backed up another 100 feet and he eventually went back to the tree that he had been eating.  Getting stared down by an elephant that is substantially larger than the vehicle is defiantly a reason to be concerned.   We checked into the hotel shortly after 1 pm then went looking for a restaurant.  We could find nothing open in the town we were in so we decided to drive the 50 km to the Berg-en-dal rest camp to eat at the camp restaurant.  On the way to the camp we saw zebra, elephant, giraffe and wildebeest as well as a chameleon crossing the road.  After supper we took the gravel road towards the gate and got really close to a few rhino, giraffe and an elephant.  We also spotted a grey rhebok which was another animal that we had not yet seen.  We are done visiting Kruger and it has been an amazing experience and enjoyed by everyone.    We were expecting to be planning our next few days at the hotel but the internet does not work.  We know we are heading toward the St. Lucia estuary but do not have a clue what is available for accommodation or what there is to see around the area.  I guess we will be looking for a restaurant or coffee shop that has internet access tomorrow.

Day 284 May 16 2015 Lower Sabie Rest Camp Kruger National Park South Africa

sunrise at Kruger

looking at more hippos 

the first lions we saw

at another view point near Lower Sabie

I can still carry him

If you get eaten it is your own fault

Day 284  May 16 2015  Lower Sabie Rest Camp  Kruger National Park  South Africa

We were out the gate at 6 am and went for a 2 hour ride.  It was nice to see the sun rise over Kruger.  We saw our first lions of the trip.  We came across a pride of 8 female lions and 2 cubs.  We have been very fortunate and have seen the “big 5” plus many other animals and birds.  On the drive in the morning we also saw 2 eagle owls, several rhinos, giraffe, buffalo, hippos, crocodiles, wart hogs, impalas and zebras.  We also saw another new animal, a slender mongoose. 

Day 283 May 15 2015 Lower Sabie Rest Camp Kruger National Park South Africa

checking out the crocodiles and hippos

looking for lions

a klipspringer

at a view point on the way to Lower Sabie

enjoying the break from being in the car

some of the first rhinos of the trip

Day 283  May 15 2015  Lower Sabie Rest Camp  Kruger National Park  South Africa

We drove from Satara to Lower Sabie taking mainly gravel roads.  The driving distance was about 150 km but it took from 10 am to 5:20 pm as we were driving slow most of the way.  The new animals of the day were white rhinos and klipspringer.  The female and male klipspringer took turns jumping onto a rock really close to the passenger window to pose for a picture.  We also saw a massive herd of buffalo, there had to be more than 500 of them.  We stopped at one of the best view points we have been to in Kruger.  It was overlooking the reservoir of the Orpen dam and we saw 2 baby hippos on the bank and many large hippos eating in the water.  There were also many crocodiles both on the bank and in the river.  There were also birds, elephant, buffalo and impala.  In the night the kids went swimming in the pool then we dropped large ants onto a nest of small ants and watched them attack and eat the large ones.  It was interesting to see how a tiny ant would grab the leg of the big ant and hold him until reinforcements came and overwhelmed the large ant eventually killing it.

Day 282 May 14 2015 Satara Rest Camp Kruger National Park South Africa

one of our lunch time visitors

a stop for lunch near Satara

just another giraffe

just another warthog

just another elephant

just another tourist

Day 282  May 14 2015  Satara Rest Camp  Kruger National Park  South Africa

The temperature reached 38 deg C today; we were very happy we had air conditioning in the car.  On the drive from Orpen to Satara we saw many elephants, giraffes, buffalo, zebra, impala and a troop of baboons.  When we stopped at a picnic spot we saw a few dwarf mongooses.   Once we reached Satara we signed up for another 3 hour sunset drive which left camp at 4:30 pm.  On the drive we very lucky and saw 2 cheetahs and a leopard while it was still daylight.  The first cheetah was fairly far away but the second one was only 20 meters away from us and sitting down watching.  The leopard crossed behind the truck did not seem in a rush to go anywhere so we got a good look at it as well.  Once we got the spot lights out we saw 2 civet cats, an african wild cat, 2 spotted hyena one of which was using a culvert for a den and was lying down at its mouth only a few feet from the truck.  We also saw giraffe, zebra, buffalo, blue wildebeest, warthog, waterbuck, elephant and a few other animals.  It was a great drive.