Dave and Debra

We hadn’t ever toured South Africa and thought February weather in Stamford was a good reason to take the plunge. Much to my surprise, Debra proposed we include a Safari (most of you know how afraid she is of dogs – actually most any animal)!

We also spent time in Capetown, toured the Cape of Good Hope peninsula, the wine country, and Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were kept during Apartheid). Finally, we spent a relaxing few days at a boutique hotel in the southern coastal town of Hermanus. We went down there because we were scheduled to go into cages to see sharks, but that got cancelled because of weather. But glad we went there, it’s stunning coastline.

The whole trip was spectacular. I’d heard great things about the area, but didn’t expect such beauty.

Here’s an 8 minute video of some of our stops, but the Safari is on the next post.

And some of our better photos (click to enlarge and see slideshow)

Table mountain, Capetown

Clocktower, Capetown

Wine country

Camps Bay

Cape of Good Hope

Long Beach

Robben Island

Hermanus

For the Safari we flew a little charter plane up to Sabi Sands, a private game reserve in northeastern S.Africa. Only 3 nights, but over 20 hours of “touring” in a very comfortable, custom-modified Land Rover. For some reason, I had the image of a large, fenced-in park with a fixed number of animals wandering: Jurassic Park-like. But Kruger National Park (our game reserve was directly adjoining) is bigger than Connecticut. And these animals are wandering across the area at will. Most of the animals just eat grass and leaves, but the lions, cheetahs, and leopards are carnivores always looking for their next meal. Watching that dynamic makes it a bit more than a trip to the zoo.

Anyhow, I made a 20 minute “highlight reel” of our best sightings, and some funny moments. The audio’s not great, so best seen on a computer in a quiet area or with earphones.

Enjoy!