Diving in Mozambique

My second sea dive trip was to Ponta D'Oura (Point of Gold) in Mozambique just on the other side of the South African border. Overall, I liked my Sodwana trip better but I had a good time venturing into Mozambique.

Hluhluwe Game Reserve

A hundred bucks to anyone who can pronounce the name correctly the first time. My hope was to see a black rhino and a leopard. No go for either. But, we did have an elephant in must charge after our game vehicle and also a rhino walk pretty aggressively toward us as well. Hluhluwe is the oldest game park in South Africa. Awesome bushveld. The drive from the Northern Berg through KZN was really lush and pretty. A couple of goats and cows on the way, but no major mishaps. We stayed in rondavals with shared kitchens and ablutions. Was skeptical regarding the shared bathrooms but they turned out to be really nice! Would recommend this route to anyone looking for a good value.

Royal Natal National Park- The Northern Berg

The Northern Drakensberg is a mere 3 1/2 hours drive from Joburg. What a sight of God's beautiful creation. We were also treated to a massive rain storm which resulted in a power outage AND snow in the mountains. (Most people in South Africa have never experienced snow.) Hiked Tugela Gorge and then up Sentinel Peak to the top of Tugela Falls the following day, up the (infamous) chain ladders, and got lost trying to find the top of the second highest waterfall in the world- Fun times.

Sterkfontein Caves

These caves are part of the Cradle of Humankind about an hour outside of Joburg. Brian and I went to visit to check them out. Supposedly, people were looking for lime for use in the gold mining industry when they happened across some ape-man fossils over 3 million years old. Excavations still continue today in these caves to uncover the skeleton of "Little Foot". The tour was ok. We didn't really see any fossils but did see a lot of limestone stalagmite and stalactites. The one shown is said to be in the shape of an African elephant...

Work Hard, Play Hard

It's been a while since my last post. Aside from trying to make some work deadlines, the second part of April was filled with friend and family visits. Mom and Dad and Brian came to visit me and see some of this beautiful country. So, I took some more time off to travel around South Africa! Although I only saw Mom and Dad for a couple days while they were in Joburg, we had a couple of lovely dinners and also had drinks at the Westcliff Hotel. Brian and I traveled throughout KwaZulu-Natal to the Northern Drakensberg, Hluhluwe Game Reserve, and then to Mozambique to go diving. Good times. Thanks for visiting me! It was a great treat.

A busy weekend in Joburg

I finally had the chance to get around to some of the local neighborhoods again to try some restaurants and check out the views.  Had brunch at a quaint cafe called Cafe Nice on 4th Ave in Parkhurst with Bronwyn and friends on Saturday.  Then ventured with Heather (fellow North American visiting SA for 3 months) to Melville to check out a Vietnamese/Thai place for dinner called Soi.  I must agree that the food IS as good as reported.  Heather and I also checked out the view of Johannesburg from Kyalami Castle and the Westcliff Hotel.  Both were amazing; we were able to really get an overview of how lush Joburg is especially as the green leaves are going through the Fall color change.  Here are some pictures of the view from the Westcliff Hotel as the sun set.  They also had the most amazing pool there.  So, after continuously hearing about how Joburg is so dangerous and there isn't much to do here, it was nice to see a pretty side of this city.

 

The Garden Route and Cape Town with Judy!

Judy came to visit me for just over a week and we spent the time driving down the Garden Route starting from Port Elizabeth and then down to Cape Town.  Despite a couple days of rain, a bit of sickness, and a lot of flea bites, we had a GREAT time!  Here are some pictures of the trip starting with a canopy tour through the Tsitsikamma indigenous forest, to hiking to a waterfall on the Otter Trail, to oysters in Knysna, and finishing with the beauty of Hermanus and Cape Town.  Enjoy!  We did.