Southern Africa: Part 1
Our Southern Africa Safari on September 14 ~ 28, 2007 was a private tour of:
Cape Town
Rovos Rail from Cape Town to Pretoria
Mala Mala Private Game Reserve
Victoria Falls views from Zambia, Zimbabwe and by helicopter
Chief’s Island in the Moremi National Reserve in Botswana.
I designed this private tour and Micato Safaris professionally organized and executed it.
Cape Town is rich in history and character. The Dutch settled Cape Town in 1652. Then the French Huguenots and British took over the Cape some 140 years later. The French Huguenots were Protestants driven out of France by the Catholic king. Apartheid was eliminated in 1990 when FW de Klerk rescinded the ban on the African National Congress and other political parties. Nelson Mandela was released from prison and elected president four years later.
We were lucky to see two whales in False Bay on our way to a full day tour of the Cape Peninsula. On the eastern slope of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch is internationally acclaimed as one of the great botanical gardens of the world. Of course, South Africa is known for its wines. We enjoyed our private tour and wine tasting at this beautiful winery. We were dinner guests at the beautiful home overlooking Cape Town of Suzette and Peter James. An elegant dinner served by the James was enjoyed by all.
In the late morning on September 17th, we arrived at the spacious and nicely decorated Rovos Rail station in Cape Town where we sipped champagne and orange juice. Afterwards we were escorted to the train for a two-night journey to Pretoria. The Pride of Africa has elegant carriages built in the early 1900’s. The rebuilt coaches include suites, two dining cars, a lounge car and rear observation car. The train is pulled by a modern combination electric and diesel engine.
The first stop at Matjiesfontein was not far from Cape Town. The pronunciation of this town’s name doesn’t match its spelling. It is pronounced “My Keys Fontaine”. Oh well, it used to be a Victorian resort town. Now it is a charming train stop.
The second stop was at Kimberley. In 1866 when a massive 85 carat diamond was found by a farm boy, South Africa changed forever. Eight years later, 50,000 people from Europe were scouring the area for these precious stones. One of the promising diamond mining areas was on the De Beers farm. The family sold the farm which became the De Beers Mine, known as the Big Hole. Today the Big Hole is a museum.
In Pretoria, the train stopped and the modern engine was replaced by a refurbished old timer. We had turns climbing up into this antique engine and peering out of the window while blowing its horn. The antique engine pulled us for a few miles to the Pretoria station. We were taken from a Pretoria airport to Mala Mala by a charter on a two-hour flight.
Mala Mala is a private game reserve situated in the northeastern area of South Africa and shares a 12-mile border with Kruger National Park. Rattray’s on Mala Mala is a new upscale lodge on the Sand River. Its spacious air-conditioned main buildings and private lodges exude casual elegance and comfort for the discerning traveler.
I came to Southern Africa with hopes to see a leopard in the wild. I was fortunate to observe seven leopards during our safari game drives. I had the misconception that the Leopard spent most of its time in trees. That isn’t true. We found most of the Leopards relaxing in the brush near their kill. The powerful Leopards pull their kill up into trees to protect it from other predators such as lions and hyenas. Other large cats such as the Lion and Cheetah do not climb trees. For the record, Tigers are not found in Africa. Incidentally, there are no bears in Africa and other southern hemisphere continents.
One might easily confuse the Cheetah with the Leopard. In my opinion, the most striking and immediately noticeable characteristic of the Cheetah is its vertical black stripes from its eyes to its mouth. I refer to these stripes as tear paths. We actually observed two brother Cheetahs resting after giving up their unsuccessful hunt near sundown. The fastest animal in the world, the Cheetah has been clocked at speeds of about 68 miles per hour.
All cats are solitary animals except the lion. Lions live in a social group known as a pride, which includes the dominant male, other acceptable males, females and cubs. Male as well as female lions participate in the hunt for the pride.
We observed an elephant digging a hole in the sandy Sand River bottom to reach clean filtered water.
The white rhino is misnamed because its original name meant wide, which was misinterpreted.
Having seen the buffalo, we have now seen the Africa Big Five: buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant and rhino.
Since there was not a direct flight from Mala Mala to Victoria Falls, we flew to Johannesburg where we spent the night at a beautiful hotel. The Saxon is a five star hotel with six beautiful acres. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to enjoy its offering because we were off next morning to Livingstone, Zambia, for Victoria Falls.
The Victoria Falls is a waterfall of the Zambezi River situated between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Some say the falls are the largest waterfall in the world, as well as being among the most unusual in form. It also has the most diverse and easily-seen wildlife of any major waterfall site.
The Royal Livingstone Hotel on the Zambia shore has beautiful grounds and accommodations. Since the hotel is in a national reserve, wildlife was frequently seen on the manicured grounds of the hotel.
We stood on the Zambezi shore near a bronze plaque commemorating where David Livingstone first saw the falls. A 19th Century Scottish medical missionary and explorer, Livingstone was the first European to see the falls, to which he gave the English name in honor of his monarch, Queen Victoria. The falls were very spectacular even though this period was the dry season.
After securing a Zimbabwe visa at the border, we visited the Victoria Falls National Park on the Zimbabwe side. This park offers the best views of the falls.
At Lion Encounter in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, we caressed beautiful lion cubs and freely walked with them in their natural environment. Photos of Jeannette and me with the lions were not digitally created. They are real! We enjoyed the company of a pair of 17-month old male lions and a pair of 7-month old male lions. The lions are part of the program to reintroduce captive-bred lions into the wild. These lions are not pets. Not long ago, it is estimated that more than 250,000 lions roamed the African continent. Today it is estimated that the African lion population is only 20,000. Lion populations have decreased because of their loss of habitat, poaching and disease.
A video on my website gives you a better idea of our walk with the lions. Yes, don’t doubt your eyes; we are really caressing one of the 17-month old male cubs. Jeannette is looking at her arm because while she was petting one of the cats on its stomach, it decided to roll over to its side. In doing so, the cat’s rear claws accidentally scratched her. Although the scratches were superficial, one of the Lion Encounter staff was prepared and immediately wrapped her right arm. Since we are cat lovers, our experience with the large cats reminded us of our former house cats. Unlike dogs, man has not bred out the natural and wild tendencies of the house cat. All of a sudden the lions’ attention was directed to something in the bush. Their natural curiosity and stalking tendency took control of their actions. This was a very unique and enjoyable experience enjoyed by both of us.
Briefly, we visited a local village to get an idea how traditional people live. We were greeted by a young village interpreter and the village chief.
After crossing the Zambezi River into Botswana, we took a flight to Chief’s Island where Chief’s Camp is located. We were met by our camp ranger, Benson. Chief’s Camp is the more traditional semi-permanent tented safari camp. Since it is situated in a national reserve, its construction can be dissembled if the Botswana government wishes. Electricity provided by generators was available 24 hours per day.
Natural air conditioning was provided by the tented side screens and ceiling fan. Raised wooden floors isolated the tent from the ground. Normal bathroom facilities were present in each tent. Incidentally, we were not bothered by pesky bugs including mosquitoes throughout our southern Africa experience.
| Name |
Comment |
Date |
| Caroline |
Can't wait to go to Africa! |
Dec 31, 2008 |
| Tasi Stavropoulos |
Wonderful photos & beautifuly produced. The background music was just perfect! Grateful that you have shared your travels with me & my family. Undoubtably South Africa is a beautiful country. |
Nov 29, 2008 |
| kuno |
good |
Sep 17, 2008 |
| Melinda |
these are great |
Nov 28, 2007 |
| Kat |
is this picture real??? how did u get so close..... |
Nov 4, 2007 |