Day 1 & 2 - Flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam to Cape Town
This was our 16th Gate 1 tour!We departed ATL late afternoon on February 7th. The 8-hour flight to Amsterdam was great mainly because it was not full, and we each had our own row. We had a 5-hour layover in Amsterdam.
We walked around as much as possible.
The 11.5-hour flight to Cape Town was among our longest single segment ever, until we returned home. The bad part was this flight was full. The good parts were friendly flight attendants, lots of good food, wine and movies. After a while we were done with movies and reading, just ready to arrive in South Africa. We finally arrived in Cape Town 1130pm on the 8th and were at the hotel by 130am on the 9th. Long, long trip!!
Day 3 - Table Rock and Cape Town City Tour
The day started early with a 630am wake-up. Only 4 hours of sleep after a night of travelling, but we were energized for our 1st day in South Africa.
1st stop was Table Mountain National Park, one of the official new 7 Wonders of Nature. At about 3300 feet it has a magnificent view of the entire area, especially on a cloudless day like we had.
We rode the cable car to the top because our tour manager said we didn't have enough time to climb the trail. The cable car is closed about 25% of the time due to weather and maintenance issues but wasn't today! We had a great view of Cape Town area,
Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 19 years,
and the 12 apostles (peaks) with a view all the way to the Cape of Good Hope.
and dassies.
After that we went by a very colorful district with the smallest Muslim temple in Cape Town.
Then we passed by the Bridge to Nowhere that was built over 20 years ago, apparently, by mistake. It's used in a lot of movies though!
Can you believe there are still a lot of Woolworths stores here. In fact, there are lots of them and is like Walmart.
and Castle of Good Hope, which was built in 1666.
Police everywhere.
They have homeless encampments too.
From there we went to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront. 1st stop was the Diamond Museum. The sparkles on the rock are diamonds.
This face sculpture is in many places, Capetonian artist.
We continued on the Waterfront. Saw our 1st rhinos,
sea otters,
and a store with lots of large metal sculptures that can be ordered for home delivery.
Another picture of Table Mountain. Never enough of those.
Had a great lunch at Four Quad on the waterfront. From there we decided to walk back to the hotel via Beach Road and the Boardwalk with 2 other Gate 1 new friends, Cara and Carolyn. We saw a number of interesting sights on the 3- miles plus walk on the way back.
We thought these were birds but just kelp.
When we went into a dark store with no lights, we discovered that power is turned off for several hours a day on a rolling basis because there is not enough electricity. Everyone gets a turn at lights out regularly unless they have a generator.
End of the day and the view of the beach from our Marriott room.
Day 4 - Cape of Good Hope Peninsula Tour
Perfect day!!
Today we did a tour of the Cape of Good Hope, which is part of Table Mountain National Park. Our 1st stop of the day was at Hout Bay with a perfect view of the 12 apostles (peaks).
Then we viewed and drove through an open tunnel near Chapman's Peak that took many years to construct.
After that we passed an ostrich farm.
Shortly after entering the Cape of Good Hope Park area, we had a rare sighting of a mountain zebra (rare for that area). Our tour manager and driver had only seen a few in 23 years. Even they were taking pictures.
Almost immediately after we saw a herd of antelope. This particular variety is the largest in Africa.
Apparently, the Cape is a good place for wind surfing! To our right wind surfers
and to our left a flock of wild ostriches walking in single file. We were almost in the parking lot of the most southern point in Africa when we saw those.
Lots of people making cairns here.
Just to the left of the southernmost sign lots of birds and seals hanging out.
It was really windy at the lighthouse. Cathy thought she was going to blow away.
When it was time for lunch, we had been warned about the baboons stealing food. There was one hanging out when we exited the Funicular.
Sure, enough when we picked up our lunch, here comes the baboon. Cathy made a beeline for the bus. I was trying to take a picture with food in my hands. Alas, I almost got the perfect picture of a baboon in front of a statue of a baboon. Sigh!!
From there we went to Boulders Beach in Simon's Town where two penguins showed up in 1982. A year later there were 100. Now there is a colony of over 2000.
Our last stop of the day, as if we hadn't already done enough, but this is Gate 1, was Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which is back in Cape Town. It's a beautiful garden, but it's mid-summer and it's been very dry, so not many blooming flowers.
We had a choice of getting up at 3am and going on a Great White Shark Cage Diving trip or getting up at 8am and going on a South African wine tour. No matter how much I tried to convince Cathy sharks ... we ended up on the wine tour. Good thing, no sharks for them but lots of good wine for us.
We went to a Napa Valley like area just outside of Cape Town. The wine route runs through the scenic towns of Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch with tastings along the way.
Our 1st stop was Fairview Winery. We had 8 pours and a cheese serving for each flight. The pours were generous and the cheese excellent. The wines were very reasonably priced. We brought some home.
On the way out we walked by the goat tower.
From there we headed to Franschhoek. Along the way there was a troop of baboons on the side of the road.
Then we had a surprise stop at the Nelson Mandela statue, which is on the exact place he walked out of prison after 26 years as a political prisoner.
.jpg)
This Franschhoek area was settled by the French Huguenots. There is a church for and memorial to them.
That night we went to an African Taste Safari and Show. The food items were from many African countries. Our favorite was the ostrich. During and after the dinner there was a show where we learned to play the bongo drums,
Zach got face paint,
Day 6 - Travel to Limpopo Provence via Johannesburg and Evening Game Drive
We had a 330am wake-up with a 430am departure for the airport with a 7am flight arriving in Johannesburg at 9am followed by a 3-hour drive to the Mabula Game Lodge in Limpopo Province for three days of game drives.
One thing for sure, we were served way too much food here. After lunch we checked into our room. Very nice! Real thatched roof! Can't leave doors or windows open because monkeys will get into room.
There was a huge mid-afternoon rainstorm; it is the rainy season after all. It cleared up just in time for our 1st game drive. It did not disappoint!!! We saw so much wildlife we couldn't keep up with all of it. Look over here! Look over there!... The dirt trails were pretty rough at times.
Here is a sample of the 1st game drive. We don't know all the names, but it was amazing!
Warthog
Gazelle behind zebras
Two more game drives tomorrow. Have to get up at 5am for morning one.
Day 7 - Mabula Game Lodge Morning and Afternoon Game Drives
Up at 5am. Started game drive at 545am and the sun was already rising; it is summer though. Today we went looking primarily for lions. On the way to find them we saw more:
Wildebeest
Millipede
Weaver Birds
With our Ranger, Tion
It took a while to find the lions. There was a male and 4 females. They barely moved while we were there.
On the way back to the lodge we saw rhino. They were close to the road, a mother and baby.
Shortly after we returned to the Lodge the afternoon rain started, but it stopped a half hour before our afternoon game drive started. Right on time! Right before we left, we saw monkeys by the back porch of our room.
On that game drive we just wanted to see a crock and hippo. We saw them and so much more.
This afternoon we saw:
Helmeted Guinea Fowl
Day 8 - Morning Game Drive and Return to Johannesburg
Our last game drive at Mabula started at 545am, same as day before. We saw, among other animals, painted dogs and water buffalo for the 1st time. This morning we saw:
Antelope
Painted Dogs
We returned to Johannesburg in the afternoon. Tomorrow, Victoria Falls!
Day 9 - Fly to Victoria Falls
We flew to Victoria Falls at a reasonable time of day. However, it was one of those small regional jets and there was some bad weather around. It turned into a very bumpy ride and Cathy and some of the other passengers were gasping and holding on for dear life at times. Even our tour manager who had been on this flight many times had her Rosary out!
We stayed at the Pioneers Lodge. It sounds rustic but was far from it. Rooms were great! Beautifully landscaped.
It was the 1st time we ever had a mosquito net around our bed. Ironically, we didn't see any insects, yet alone, mosquitoes the entire trip and we are taking the Malaria pills.
In the afternoon, we went on a Zambezi River Cruise. Great time! We saw:
Birds
Crock
More birds
Much better cruise than what we were expecting!
We had dinner at the Lodge when we returned. It was really good. The best meal of the trip!
We had dinner at the Lodge when we returned. It was really good. The best meal of the trip!
Day 10 - Full Day in Victoria Falls
This morning we walked from the Lodge into the town of Victoria Falls. No sidewalks. Since traffic is the wrong way, we had to walk on the opposite side of the road than normal. Not what we are used to doing. Have to constantly look both ways before crossing streets.
The town is small. Mostly vendors selling stuff like any other tourist town. Lots of really nice hand carved items, large and small.
The Big Five; Elephant, Lion, Leopard (we never saw), Water Buffalo and Rhino. Don't know why the Hippo is not included.
We went to the Lookout Cafe for lunch. Great view of the gorge but can't see the falls from there.
Driftwood at the entrance to Cafe.
Quite the turn!
The Falls Bridge
Day 11 - Victoria Falls and Depart South Africa
This morning we did the walking tour of Victoria Falls. Magnificent! One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. We walked from the David Livingston Statue (Stanley and Livingston) to the bridge. 
There were 14 different viewing stations. We couldn't see anything from half of them because of the heavy mist. The wind was blowing the heavy mist right toward us. Basically, a rainstorm created by the Falls.
Rainy season. Lots of water. Hard to believe hardly any flow sometimes.
We had ponchos, but we were pretty soaked by the end of the kilometer plus walk. It's rainy season, so there's a lot of raging water coming over the falls. Apparently, the more water, the more mist. At viewing station 4, we could feel a significant warmer increase in temperature created by the Falls.
Day 12 - Return to ATL
The flight from Johannesburg to ATL was 16 hours and 45 minutes, one of the longest flights in the world. And we thought the flight from Amsterdam to Cape Town was long.
The flight was delayed 2.5 hours. They put our bags on the plane then took them off. When we loaded the plane all the passengers had to sit in the back of the plane for take-off and return to their regular seats once at cruising altitude. Never heard of such a thing.
Two days later our bags were delivered to our house.
