Archive for South Africa
This Time It’s The Giraffes and The Hippo!
Posted by: | CommentsThe day was bright and the sky was so blue with almost no clouds in sight. Although the sky was clear, I was beginning to feel slightly unsure about this safari trip.
Now I know that this may sound contradictory to my earlier post referring on how happy I was for this safari adventure but it wasn’t exactly that….I was happy but not totally happy… let me explain…
Imagine this, when you sit at the front of a safari trailer which is next to the ranger and with no roof above the head fully exposed in a 45 degrees prickling heat, Whoa, I can tell you – it’s like being locked up in the sauna! I am certain that any sign of happiness or joy would soon dwindle. 
I could see my skin burning up but I had no one to blame. It was me who decided to sit at the front so I could take clear videos and snap lots of photographs. Oh well, what could you do, eh?
Anyway, looking back, it wasn’t so bad after all. The animals were really cool in the wild and somehow it had a calming effect on me , So in the end, I did enjoy it, although I had to invest in lots of sun protection lotion..Just joking
Our ranger decided that we should take a rest for a wee while under a tree and it was during this moment that I had to take the opportunity to ask my new friend from Norway to snap a picture of myself (Yes, I am vain, I know )
I then felt a sudden urge to go to the mens room. Gosh, where in the world in a wildlife safari could you find a toilet!!…how could anyone find any? Darn….
Anyway, I had no choice but to leave on foot away from the group (with permission, that was ) and
do the business. I then saw a big old dried up tree with a huge bark and I decided to do it there. I must tell ya that I was totally relieved once done. Imagine if I did encounter a big snake or Tarantula looking spiders, or even a big momma lion..eeeewww God forbid
We were already ready to continue once I got back to the group. This time we’re going to see the giraffes. Yippeee.. I love GIRAFFES
And so we went…..but we got lost en-route. Apparently, our ranger lost sight with the other ranger who we were following from behind. I didn’t panic. She had her walkie talkie with her so as long as she had the walkie talkie then I’m all cool. But hold on a minute, shouldn’t she know every nook and cranny of this place anyway!!
We found the other group in the end and I managed to film more video particularly the bumpy ride we had to endure. Watch it..
Finally, we found the giraffes. It’s my first time seeing them in the wild. Our friendly ranger told us a ton of stories about them.
The giraffes here are slightly shorter than in Kenya. Apparently, giraffes in Kenya can go as high as 6 metres. Watch the next video to find out..
and another. This time with the zebras – close up
Next to the giraffes were these rhinos hidden in the bushes, lazing about and doing nothing There were two of them and one of them stood up when one of the giraffes came close to their territory. Go watch the next video and you get to know why humans kill the rhinos for stupid reasons and why it is such an endangered species…
African Zebras, Springbok and Oryx Roaming In The Wild (Part 3)
Posted by: | CommentsWe were driven deeper into the game reserve and it wasn’t long before we encountered the African zebras. I had always thought deep in the conscious thoughts of my mind that these zebras were bigger creatures similar to the horses but to the dismay of many (well maybe it was just me ), the zebras here looked like the size of a dopey donkey except just a touch bigger
Anyway, as they say size does not matter . In this case, the zebras looked very cool indeed and almost overwhelmingly calming to watch. Our safari guide was doing her usual thing telling us about the wonderful stories on the behaviour of this amazing God given animals…
Be sure to not come real close to the zebras so you will not be kicked to high heavens ..Here’s why..
I also managed to snap this photo of the zebras grazing away with an expansive mountaineous background. I think it’s beautiful.
To be honest, I have not heard of an animal named SpringBok so when our guide started yapping about SpringBoks,…I was like WHAT!! Apparently, it’s some kind of an antelope which you’ll see in the next video below. It’s a big ugly to my liking
But if you really can’t be asked watching the video the here is the photo of the Springbok..eerrrr at a distance..which means that if you want to see it up close then you have no choice but to watch the video above
Springboks In The Wild
We then went to see the Oryxes and again, I was like what!! Never heard of such a name…. Apparently, it is one of the most beautiful animal in the planet and I think Qatar Airways has adopted the Oryx as the logo on all their planes….so I guess, it must be true and our lovely safari guide wasn’t lying to us all, afterall
Honestly, I couldnt care less if they were beautiful or not. For me, they are all beautiful and they are God’s creation and we all must cherish them and care for them for generations to come. It’s sad to see that even the Oryx are slowly diminishing from Planet Earth..
If you don’t know what the Oryx is all about or wondered how they look like, then click play below and watch all the glorious details on the Oryx. They’ve got some nice of horns and ooh yeah, try and spot the one horned Oryx!! In other words, you gotta watch the whole lot to spot it
The Safari Continues…Wild Cheetahs and Lions (Part 2)
Posted by: | CommentsIt took us approximately 2 and half hours to reach the safari game reserve. This place is very very big. It’s a huge game reserve with all sorts of wild animals in it that when you dare to venture inside on your own, you might end up losing yourself in there for a couple of days before being rescued
We got there to a nice welcome. We were escorted to a tent where we were given cool juices to drink. There’s a swimming pool here as well, which I thought was cool. I ended up talking with my English tour mates talking about the usual crap
I then decide to leave the group for a wee bit for a quiet stroll around the ‘Welcome area’ and suddenly, out of nowhere, I found this parrot perched on this made up branch. The bird was super huge and so beautiful with colourful feather and everything. I didn’t dare come close to it because you never know that the bird might poke you real bad like a hawk
Here’s the picture of the parrot… This parrot must be really moody because he didn’t speak a word. Not even a hello
Found at the Game Reserve
and here’s the view from the back. He’s beautiful…
It wasn’t long after that when we were called to group up again to commence our safari trip. There were a number of those open top safari trailers lined up at the safari house. I decided to sit next to the safari ranger because I get a better peripheral view and better video for you lot too .
It was getting hotter by the minute and the sun was blazing above our heads but I just couldn’t care less. This was my first time in a safari park and I get to see all those animals. It’s exciting and supercool so sod the heat
Here’s a picture of how hot and dry this place is. You could probably fry an egg within minutes of exposure…
Here’s the video as we were entering the safari game reserve…(A bumpy ride indeedy)
The first wild animal that we saw was the cheetah a.k.a the speedy cat . We were lucky because the ranger a.k.a safari tour guide was extremely friendly and loves telling us great stories about the animals. I’ve never seen real cheetahs in front of my very eyes before so this was a big plus plus. The video below shows you the cheetahs as well as explanations on their fertility and how we started naming them. It was fun. You gotta watch it
Shortly after seeing the cheetahs, we were brought to see the big scary lions. Unfortunately when we arrived, there was no roaring business. They were to relax to even be asked to do anything active . Anyway, we were told some gruesome true stories about how these lions were brought here. Seriously, you must watch the video below. There were cages and all. It’s sad 
. Leave your comment below and let me know what you think….
Hey, It’s SAFARI Day!
Posted by: | CommentsThis morning I woke up to a new special day. A day I know would stick like glue in my travel history book . Yes, today was the day that I would venture out for the first time and go to a real safari. No more National Geographic Channel. No more Discovery Channel. No more flipping TV documentaries. This time it was for flippin’ real
I waited for the tour man to arrive at the hotel lobby. It wasn’t a long wait before he finally arrived looking for me. We introduced each other and to my pleasant surprise, he’s actually a Brit! The guy works in South Africa as a tour guide every summer and he loves every minute of it. Man, I don’t blame him. This place is paradise…
He led me to the tour bus parked just outside. I jumped in and found out that there were already plenty of people inside . I introduced myself to everyone and I found out that the majority of my tour mates were British and the rest was this lovely family from Norway. Now for your information, the bus was not like a big humungous coach but more like a van, so we were sitting in the van just like one of those typical close knit family. Hehehehehe..
The journey to the safari park was indeed a scenic one. We passed through the expansive wine region via the uphill hilly windy roads. Seriously, it was really breathtaking and amazingly gorgeous. The only thing that bugged me was the road!
It was so narrow and to top it off, we were driven next to this cliff…with a big sheer vertical drop all the way to bottom. And I was sitting on the left side of the van with full view of the drop. I mean you can imagine if you’re sufferring from excessive vertigo like me, you’d probably experience an instant heart pounding experience with your mind running wild imagining horrid things ….
Now as I am an NLP enthusiast, I had managed to calm myself a little although I must admit I did wanted to pee in my pants…hahahaha no I’m only joking
Below is a short video of the wine region of Cape Town. I think it’s quite close to Klein Karoo (Wherever that is )
The scenery changed from leafy trees to a more barren land after about 1 and half hours into the journey. It was quite strange to see the landscape changed dramatically as we were travelling to the game reserve. The weather was heating up and you could not see many trees around. Completely dry and empty.
You’ll see what I mean when you watch this next video…
It took us an approximately 2 hours and half to reach the game reserve. This place is huge and it is all gated. Interesting…
Anyway, I’ll update the rest of my travel journal in the next post.
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town (Final Part)
Posted by: | CommentsWe finally reached Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Joey and I was completely knackered when we reached here. The whole day trip had taken its toll on us.
Anyway, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens are quite beautiful. Its very much like Kew Gardens back in London. We decided not Also, there was a concert with some band playing in the park... but again, we couldn't be asked to do anything So, to lighten things up, here are two photos for you... and here is a photo of me (looking awfully tired) I think if we were vibrant, happy and energy filled, I was pretty sure that we would have walked around the park. Why? Well because its got some great rare flower species and fabulous gardens to see which, I was sure that we could have enjoyed it big time. But as I’d mentioned, we were already tired when we got here so we just lazed about under the wonderful heat of the sun. Finally, I got back to the hotel round about 7 ish PM and to my surprise one of our tour members were staying at the same hotel as me. Both of us were famished so we decided to have dinner together. It was an interesting chat over dinner. Victoria is from the States and she told me loads of fantastic stories about her life and career but the most significant thing that I could remember about her was her unique character. She was literally barking mad! I mean I thought I was mad but she’s definitely on another level. LOL… Hope she’s not reading this. Hehehehee OK, I’m off to the South African Safari tomorrow. Now, this should be interesting…
Cute African Penguins at Simon’s Town, South Africa (Part 8)
Posted by: | CommentsSimon’s Town is a nice scenic fishing village and people get to swim in this part of South Africa.
Why?
Well, because the sea here is warmer compared to the sea on the other side of the country so when you do get here, you’ll see a ton of people having jolly good time swimming in the sea.
But as for me, even if you paid me any money, I wouldn’t even dare to swim in these seas. I mean think about it, they’ve got that ‘shark nets’ that’s clearly visible from the horizon of the beach. This is so that our friend, Mr JAWS can’t get through…
Eeeeuwww the thought of shark nets are enough to make me quiver and you can call me all you want but I ain’t swimming here.. LOL
Also, our tour guide told us a true sad story about Simon’s Town where there was this old lady who was swimming by the beach and suddenly she was dragged to the deeper seas of the ocean and eaten by the Great White shark. Her body was never found. This apparently happened just a couple of years ago and I feel very sorry for her family. I couldn’t imagine what they had to go through
But if you’re still looking for more horrid shark tales you can hear from the locals here. All you need to do is ask….
Look, I’m sure it is safe to swim here but I aint taking any chances. Admiring the gorgeous views were fine by me
OK ok enough of this morbid story, let’s continue with the the rest of my Cape tour.
To cut the story short, we reached the African penguins viewing area here at Simon’s Town. The tickets for this trip was optional so we had to pay for it ourselves. I didn’t bother. It was cheap anyway. Most importantly, I get to see cutesey mutesey penguins waddling about. I mean who can so no to that eh..
This place reminded me of Phillips Island, in Melbourne, Australia but it is a bit smaller. Phillips Island is unbeatable because you get to see thousands of little penguins coming from sea and rushing away to their burrows to feed their even tinier little babies. Seriously, they were loads of them.
The Simon’s Towns African penguins are slightly bigger but they are still cute. Watch the video below and witness them yourself…
I think the pictures look cute too particularly this one below…he looked as if he’s marching away for a royal gala with his webbed feet. LOL
It was a hot day and I wonder how these cute penguins could survive the heat. To my knowledge, they only like cold climate. Weird. For your record, it was something like 30 odd degrees. Not sure in Fahrenheit though. I haven’t been taught with that measurement. Sorry
Here’s another penguin picture.
This next video is cute too. You’ll get to see the penguins swimming towards the beach and then waddles their way to the colony. Hehehe.. they’re so adorable.
Oh yeah, you also see the seagull flying above the penguins and you could see his shadow on the ground looking like a hawk that’s about to snatch the penguin away…. ooohh banish the thought…not good..
Anyway, here’s the video..
This is the picture of the African penguin colony…
..and this picture was taken while the penguins were lazily sun tanning themselves on one of those big rocks… How nice..
That was it. It was truly an amazing experience. It made my day
Our next trip is to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens….
Cape Point Is So Amazingly Beautiful! (Part 7)
Posted by: | CommentsWe ended our tour at the Cape of Good Hope and we headed straight to our next destination that was Cape Point.
It wasn’t that far from Cape of Good Hope so it took us less than 15 minutes to get there.
Most interestingly, we were warned by our tour guide that we needed to be careful with the wild baboons of Cape Point because they run and snatch food off you like a well trained pick pocket
I mean honestly, these baboons are huge and they’re so clever. I’ll explain in a minute…
But before that, let me show you this video because everything that was explained by the tour guide came true after all.. I mean look at this baboon sitting at the top of a van while he scratches his bum and having a vantage view looking for his next human victim. Looked very devious to me
I mean imagine if you’re the owner of the van and as you walk to your vehicle, you see a big baboon happily perched up on van… What would you do? Would you call the local ranger? Hahahahaha
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I had decided to be extremely cautious on these baboons because they can come up to you like from absolutely nowhere. They just know where to hide before the ‘attack’….
Anyway, Zoey and I were already famished and we decided to buy some food at the shop before we do any touristy things. We couldn’t go to the restaurant and have proper food as we only had limited time left to our day tour. We bought our sandwiches, paid for it and left the shop…..
At this point, they were a group of baboons who had already snatching food off the tourists and I immediately backed away and hid at the shop . The local security came over and shooed the baboons away.
Once the coast was clear, I ate my food as quickly as I could and bought our cable car ticket to the viewing point of Cape Point.
Here is the video for you of the ascending journey on the cable car. You gotta watch it because it’s just so beautiful…
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The first thing I saw was this gorgeous view. You can see the beach in the far horizon, the steep cliffs and the slight curvature of planet Earth…
and yes the baboons were there too. Of course, they couldn’t be left behind
Now, if you’re from London and you wonder how far it is exactly between Cape Point and London, then do allow me to show you the exact distance in kilometres. Here you go…
It is 9623 km exactly
Well, some of you may say, yeah big deal, Ambar. Ok ok, I understand but I’m sure you’ll love these pictures that I am about to show you (taken at by the viewing tower at Cape Point)..
This specific one below is my personal favourite. I think it calms the mind. Hahaha
and another one..
and finally, here is a picture of me with the tower behind me. (I was told it was used as a lighthouse yonks ago but not sure if it is still in use now).
We decided to walk down the steep steps down the hill rather than taking the cable car because we taught it would be a scenic one.
Indeed it was but I had problems with height and my knees got really weak instantly the minute when I started looking down..I’m like OMG…
Anyway, I did make it and I know I’m over exagerrating here but it was well worth the try. Highly recommended.
