Travelling Tuesday: Amakhala Game Reserve

Sep 21, 2010 | South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays

Happy Tuesday! I’m just happy it’s one day closer to Friday! The Bear and I are surviving, with colds and sore throats… we’re really looking forward to seeing Hero Hubs Friday night! In yesterday’s biggest adventure the banana bread the Bear helped me create over-baked in the oven while I was hugging the potty for a moment in the bathroom. {I THOUGHT nausea was leaving me…but she seems to like me too much!} Between heaves I was praying the Bear wasn’t up to any dangerous mischief in my absence. When I returned to the kitchen, he was working his way through a bag of potato chips, safe and sound!

Another slice of the adventure we had with my Mom was at a game reserve near Port Elizabeth called Amakhala. We stayed in the Woodbury Lodge section of the reserve and were blessed with a great stay, good food and some awesome sightings. Except that I think something we had for lunch on the way there didn’t agree with my Mom and she was sick in bed most of our second day at the reserve…bummer! She still enjoyed a great game drive on the first day and another really good one (with the Bear in tow) on our last morning there.

Wanna see a few shots?

We spotted this big fella from Mr. Potato Head on our way to the lodge!

And we saw him again on the first game drive an hour later. He’s a teenager.

Can you see the wee monkey?

We stopped for sundowners in a lovely spot with views in every direction.

And the awesome folks at Amakhala organised a shorter, slightly later morning drive just for us so that the Bear could come along! It was an awesome unexpected gift (perhaps especially for the Bear, instead of hanging out with a babysitter at the lodge — although they were great, too!)

And he once again spotted his…zuh-zuhs!! (He is carefully listening to the ranger talking about the animals…impressive, huh?)

Further down the trail, the game ranger noticed a springbok, behaving a bit unusually — she seemed very nervous and was far away from the rest of her pals.

Then Hero Hubs spotted this little one, just beside the trail! Turns out she was trying to divert our attention away from her newborn, fresh-out-da-box baby! Probably less than 24 hours old!

That was a really special sighting! I really wanted to give this baby a blankie!

Amakhala means “many aloes” and there was one spot on the drive where we saw loads. This particular species produces these lovely red flowers!

Apparently the elephants like to knock the tops off some of the bigger aloes to eat the roots inside, so Amakhala has a lot fewer aloes than it used to…

Here’s a family photo not far from the lodge!

You know, there are just so many more trails to explore, and photos to share, I think we’re going to have to continue Amakhala next week! Will you be able to stand the anticipation for 160 something hours?? 😉

Hope your week is off to a great start! Let me know if you’re keen to link up this Travellin’ Tuesday! Happy trails!

xCC

Travelling Tuesday: Kenton-on-Sea, SA

Sep 14, 2010 | South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays

Happy Tuesday, ladies and gents! How’s your day going? You don’t have to answer that, but I would love it if you did. 🙂 Among the many adventures we enjoyed while G.C. (my Mama) was visiting, one special moment was just a hop, skip and a jump down the road from Port Alfred, where we stayed in a holiday home with Hero Hub’s folks for a few days. {It was really special to have so many grandparents around at once!}

The hop, skip and jump took us to Kenton-on-Sea, a beautiful beachy spot with lovely and unique rock formations that are just awe-inspiring. You feel like you could hang out there with a camera all day and just try to capture it. But ya couldn’t.

We took some shots for you anyway — want to see?

Care to guess what happened above? The Bear headed straight for the first tide pool that presented itself, and splickety-sploshed right in. He spent the rest of the adventure in soggy socks and sandals, but he didn’t seem to mind. Did you see the waves crashing against the rocks behind us?

Sigh. I <3 my Mama. What do you think this rock looks like?

I know the Bear looks uncertain, but he’s really having a good time…

Was that too much people and not enough rock?

We think he might have an Explorer Spirit…we don’t know where he got it from.

And last, but most favourite, HH’s Dad says this is the Kenton-on-Sea bus stop!

Well, I hope that was a 16 photo escape for your Tuesday-viewing pleasure! Don’t go back and count, I’m not good with numbers. 🙂

May the road rise to meet you wherever this Tuesday takes you next!

xCC

Do you have a Travelling Tuesday post you’re keen to share? Well then you’ve made this pregger about as happy as a Krispy Kreme donut! Whether you want to share shots from your summer vacation or last year’s road trip, we’d love to see ’em! Just use the direct link to your Travelling Tuesday post (not your home page) and link back here somewhere in your post!

Travelling Tuesday: The Penguins at Betty’s Bay

Sep 7, 2010 | South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays

You know about the penguins that got lost at sea one day and ended up settling in South Africa right? Well, I don’t think that’s the real story, but you might know the African penguin by its former, and slightly unfortunate name, the Jackass Penguin. These adorable little fellas inherited the aforementioned moniker because of their slightly donkey-like braying call, but since the South American penguins make similar sounds, the distinguishment of African penguin became a necessity. Phew.

If you’re planning to be in the Cape Town area, you can take a gander at these sweet little creatures at Boulder’s Beach in Simonstown. We were really excited about my Mom seeing the penguins, but we decided to stop off and visit them at the lesser-known a’ganderin’ point in Betty’s Bay. (Which is on the lovely coastal route from Gordon’s Bay heading toward Hermanus, which is where we were planning to stop for lunch on the way to Knysna.)

You can pay to get up close and personal with the little fellas after traipsing along the boardwalk for a wee way, but since there were plenty hanging out before the entrance to the park, we decided to say a quick hello and then head on down the road. Pregnant lady must have lunch on time.

Would you like a quick gander too? Well, I thought you’d never ask.

Mr. penguin seemed to be saying go left, but the arrow said turn right…

A couple of dassies were around to say hello when we arrived. They seem so friendly! Remember me telling you about seeing them in Hermanus?

G.C. taught second grade for many-a-year, and taught many-a-second-grader about the jackass penguin. And many-a-second-grader did giggle. She commented that she never thought she’d see them in person!

They’re so pretty!

But they did occasionally seem a little shy…

Apparently their camouflage is a good protection for them — predators looking up at them from under the water will see white, but predators looking down at them from above the water will see black, and in both cases that will make it more difficult to see them. When they try to hide in the bushes though…

Honestly, they are just awkwardly delightful. Watching them waddle is great. It is hard to watch them without a smile.

The Bear was very keen to help Dad get some penguin footage, in case you were wondering. He was most intrigued and we had to keep a hand on his sleeve to make sure he didn’t get beaked!

And, if you’d like a little orientation, Betty’s Bay is a lovely little town not far past Pringle Bay, if you’re headed up the coast away from Cape Town.

Not a bad spot to be a penguin, hey? They don’t seem like jackasses to me.

Happy Tuesday!

xCC

Travelling Tuesday: Knysna, South Africa

Aug 31, 2010 | South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays

Happy Tuesday, guys and gals! We are back on the part of the map that says Gordon’s Bay, and I’m hoping  a momentary gush of bandwidth will carry this Travelling Tuesday to its intended URL destination — our internet’s not doing so well today. The travels with my Mama in tow did not disappoint when it came to photo opps! She left Sunday and I cried like a baby. And the next morning the Imagination Movers were singing an “I Love My Mom” song which the Bear seemed to enjoy. I however, since we were in someone else’s holiday home, resisted the urge to throw something at the TV.

Anywho, Knysna. The first syllable rhymes with “eye” and the second rhymes with “duh”. Knysna was the first stop on GC’s African Road Trip adventure (not including Gordon’s Bay and the other adventures around Cape Town). We had a beautiful and sunny couple of days there. But illustrations are better than explanations!

Knysna sits on a lovely estuary, often incorrectly referred to as a lagoon. But lagoon sounds more romantic and exotic doesn’t it? The lagoon estuary has a narrow exit way which flows into the Indian Ocean between two lovely cliff rock faces called the Knysna Heads. There’s an eastern head, a western head, and plenty of nice places to stop if you need to hit the head.

Look, here’s one now! The Eastern Head to be more specific…

And another one! The western one, methinks. Those black spots are birds…I think cormorants.

We took a boat trip along the lagoon estuary and enjoyed venturing out towards the heads. After around 49 vessels sank trying to enter through these narrow straits, they decided to close the port. Probably a wise decision. Care for some more illustrations? (Not of sinking vessels, mind you…)

For some reason the Bear thought we were aboard the poop deck…

Or else the bumpy ride we experienced in the rough waters near the heads scared him poopless.

See, there’s not much space there…

I’d been on this lag estuary twice before this and it had never been calm enough to get this close. I didn’t know there were caves and paths past the big rocks!

I thought about dunking our camera in the water to see if I could catch a shot of the unique Knysna Seahorse, but I was afraid HH might not appreciate that effort. BTW, did you know that male seahorses carry the babies and give birth?

Our comfy accommodation was on the Knysna waterfront where we enjoyed nice restaurants and touristy shops, along with a pretty view from our place…

And we went for a wee walk along the eastern head and enjoyed sundowners at a little restaurant with a gorgeous view. Hero Hubs and GC enjoyed Long Island Iced Tea. This Mama enjoyed a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri instead. The Bear enjoyed it too.

All in all, Knysna is a wonderful stop along the garden route. G.C. enjoyed her oysters, the Bear enjoyed a boat ride, HH and I enjoyed not working for a few days…who could ask for anything more?

Hope your Tuesday has been a good one! And that you enjoy the moment wherever your journey takes you next!

xCC