#12) #TBT - Memories of South Africa

So as I'm sure you've noticed I've been kind of lax on updating this blog in a timely fashion - I know you all love reading my updates and seeing my pictures most of all. So I've put together a #ThrowBackThursday for my time in South Africa since I had so many pictures and memories that I didn't have the time to post. (I know it's not technically Thursday but when you're on the road like I am it hardly matters what day it actually is - I can make each day whatever I want it to be!) It's been almost four months since I left South Africa but the experiences that I had there and the beauty of the landscape is burned into my memories forever. I hope you enjoy this throwback as much as I enjoyed crafting and reminiscing over it!

Addo Elephant Park near Port Elizabeth, South Africa - the landscape itself is stunning and the animals are even better! Although I had already gone on safari in Zimbabwe I wanted to go again because I had only seen three of the Big Five and the terrain was completely different than Hwange National Park. Addo Elephant Park is unique among South African National Parks because it also extends out into the ocean to include a marine reserve for the aquatic life.

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

Some Red Hartebeest grazing in the grass.

A grazing zebra.

Some antelope dashing across the road behind our van. I tried to identify what kind they were, but the internet has failed me.

The Flightless Dung Beetle - a highly endangered species and the most important animal in the park. They feed on the dung of elephants who live in the park and are integral to maintaining the biome that keeps the elephant population healthy.

Another Flightless Dung Beetle that I found walking around in the rest area that we stopped at to stretch our legs. When driving through the park you must be very cautious not to run them over with your vehicle and they ALWAYS have the right of way.

The Cape Buffalo - one of the Big Five! Although it appears to just be an over-sized cow, these can cause some serious damage with their horns - especially when they are threatened or already wounded themselves.

A Caracal roaming through the bush - an extremely rare sight because they are mostly nocturnal and very reclusive. 

A Warthog giving us some side-eye.

More Warthogs - the reason for the difference in color is the different color mud/dirt that they roll around in to protect themselves from the intense African sun. 

A Meerkat perched on a small tree to watch out for predators. It was really interesting to watch them run around the ground and go in and out of their burrows.

This crazy skinny bird - I have no idea what species it is but I liked it anyway.

A Tortoise - oh the irony!

Sooo ... somewhere in this picture is a lion, but now that I haven't looked at the picture for a few months I forget exactly where it is. I think that the male lion is laying down just to the right of center on the crest of the hill - you can just barely see a tan-colored hide peeking through the bushes at the top. On a safari (unlike a zoo) it's mostly just luck if you see certain animals or not - but hey a lion is a lion, right?

We had no trouble finding these guys though! The place is called Addo Elephant Park after all...

These massive creatures never cease to amaze me - here you can see the male elephant's fifth leg. 

This elephant was outfitted with a tracker on it's head - you can see the dome-shaped device on it's head and the strap around it's neck. The tracker didn't seem to bother the elephant in the slightest really and it helped the park rangers keep tabs on the health of the herds in the park. Each elephant in the park has a name and can be recognized by the various marks and notches in the shape of their ears.

A baby elephant! This one was in the same little herd as the elephant with the tracking device on it's head. 

Group picture after the safari! Our guide was the guy on the bottom left and he was really knowledgeable about the area and the animals. As an added bonus we enjoyed talking politics together because he was the leader of the local chapter of the African National Congress (ANC) which was the political party of Nelson Mandela and a major force in the struggle against Apartheid. 

After Port Elizabeth I continued along the Garden Route and found myself in the town of Stormsriver where (surprise!) the Storms River empties out into the Indian Ocean. The area is within the Tsitsikamma National Park - a coastal reserve with gorgeous forests and great hiking trails right on the coast.

More shots of the forest - I went on maybe 3 or 4 separate hikes within a couple days. This area is famous for the "Otter Trail" which is a 5 day hike up the coast where you can see the Cape Clawless Otter - but you need special permission from the park officials to hike the trail and it is often booked up months in advance. The day after I took this picture we started to walk the first part of the trail which is open to everyone - but it is right along the coastal rocks and the waves from the ocean where the most violent I had ever seen and we thought it wise to turn back since we didn't know how high the tide would get.

Various wildflowers and foliage growing in the forest.

A wild cockroach appears! I have never seen so many cockroaches in my life as I have in Africa/

A millipede crawling along the hiking trail - there were lots of these guys in the forest too.

A forest mushroom pooled with rain water. 

More mushrooms - but these ones are fun colors!

But the forest wasn't all bugs and fungus - there were also some beautiful and interestingly-shaped wildflowers.

These flowers came in all different colors.

Storms River - the water was really cold and it is that dark brown color from all the tannin in the surrounding vegetation. The day after this hike I went kayaking up the mouth of the river - the ocean was especially violent but once you got up river it was calm and serene. We even saw dolphins swimming and jumping in the rough waters outside the mouth of the river. I wish I had pictures from that day but I decided to bring the camera because it would be an expensive mistake if it got wet.

After Stormsriver I continued along the Garden Route to Knysna (pronounced NYES-NA). The town is situated in a little bay which is protected from the ocean currents by two giant rock formations called the Heads. This is a shot looking out towards the ocean with the Western Head visible. 

A lizard crawling on a rock near the Heads.

At the base of the heads there are loads of little tidal pools and rock formations to climb over and explore.

Some mussels living on the rocks + the shadow of my head.

A small snail making his way over a rock above one of the tidal pools.

Not really sure what these things are but they are definitely alive - they had these little fins that came out of their "shells" that I presume is used to sift through the water for food particles. 

Not really sure what this is either but it is definitely alive - I think it's like a marine plant.

In Knysna I tried "kloofing"' (AKA canyoning) for the first time - I spent the day swimming up a small river and free-climbing on the rocks before jumping into some of the deeper sections of the river. Again I didn't take my camera because it was a pretty wet sport. That evening I went to the nearby beach with some friend from the hostel to enjoy a beer and watch the sunset.

The beach was huge and especially striking against the backdrop of the local mountains in the distance.

A jellyfish which had died and washed up on shore. We touched the top of it since the stinging part is underneath the "head" - it was a little harder than I expected but still squishy.

A dead Bluebottle "jellyfish" (also known as the Portuguese man-of-war) being eaten by an army of snails on the beach. I put jellyish in quotations because Wikipedia tells me it's not technically a jellyfish despite their appearance. I was told that these little guys pack a powerful sting regardless and when the winds are coming from a certain direction it is best not to swim in the Indian Ocean because the surface will be full of these creatures. I'll take their word for it.

The sunset over the Indian Ocean - absolutely breathtaking!

The view of the bay in Hermanus - my last stop along the Garden Route before Cape Town. Hermanus is most famous for the ability to see whales surfacing and breachcing directly from shore.

There was a nice walking trail along the entirety of the waterfront which was perfect taking in the scenery and to be on the lookout for whales. 

A lizard I encountered which was sunning itself along the waterfront.

I also came across a turtle on the side of the walking path - when I passed by he tried to stay motionless but I saw him regardless. Silly turtle.

The shore here also had lots of tidal pools with sea anemone and other cool creatures. 

Starfish!

Some sort of shore-dwelling bird perched atop the rocks.

At first glance this may look like just a shot of the ocean, but look closer....there is a little rock dassie sunning itself on the side of the cliff.

Here is a rock dassie close up - it's sort of like an over-sized guinea pig. It actually runs/scampers pretty quickly and they are fun to watch. According to a sign I read their closest living relative is actually the African elephant.  

After I walked for a bit along the shore I stopped at a little cafe to sit outside for some lunch. This little birdie kept flitting around the table looking for little crumbs so I snapped a picture.

The bay of Hermanus at dusk - someone told me once that dawn and dusk are the best times to see whales but I can't actually verify that because I saw them during midday too.

Ahoy, it's a whale! Do you see the little spray of mist directly to the left of the lighthouse jutting out into the water? Definitely a whale. 

Unfortunately it was really difficult to get a good picture of the whales because they only surface for such a short period of time and my pictures kept turning out blurry. This black spot in the water is also a whale.

The last good picture of the whale that I have - it's the black spot just above the white sea foam floating in the water.

After Hermanus it was off to the "Mother City" - Cape Town! (This is the view of the city bowl from atop Lion's Head - one of three hiking peaks surrounding the city - but more on that later)

I arrived on a Saturday (if I remember correctly) and there was an awesome market day going on at the Oranjezicht City Farm. It was great to walk through the rows of produce and enjoy the amazing weather. While in Cape Town I was able to reunite with Bob who I met in Turkey and we had a great time exploring the city together for a few days.

More shots of the Urban Farm - plus the stunning backdrop of Devil's Peak (on the left) and Table Mountain (on the right).

"The future is organic"

On market day they set up all these stalls and invite local restaurants, farms and other sundry shops. They seemed to have everything there and all the food I tried was so delicious. That's Bob walking down the center with his blue camera bag - it's practically attached to his body.

After the Saturday Market we went to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens on the other side of Devil's Mountain (On the right). The gardens were immense and had lots of unique areas and displays to explore more about plant life. One of my favorites was the fragrant plants section where they encouraged you to touch and smell all the plants - whether it was good or bad. Another really interesting one was the medicinal plant garden where they explained the various uses for all the plants.

A guinea fowl moving in on someone's weekend picnic. I was equally as amused by the guinea fowl as the conversation the group of South Africans were having about Americans - let's just say that it didn't put us in the best light.

This tree was enormous - I can't even imagine how old it must be! The gardens had tons of these ancient trees and locals and tourists alike were shading themselves under their massive branches.

An Egyptian Goose splashing around a statue of an otter - if only it were real then this would be an awesome shot.

Splish-splash in the bath.

Can you tell I really liked taking pictures of this Egyptian Goose? I thought is was just so beautiful and it hung around this pond without the slightest regard for what us humans were doing.

Sashay away.

Not only were the plants beautiful but the backdrop was just stunning - being from Michigan I am not accustomed to seeing mountains and these ones are just spectacular. 

This one was called the fairy tree and it certainly looks like something out of a fairytale. 

The flowers and the trees were all so colorful and there was interesting artwork scattered throughout the gardens.

That afternoon after the gardens Bob and I decided to do exactly what we did last time we were together - climb to the highest point before sunset and take in the scenery. Thankfully Cape Town is surrounded by magnificent peaks where we can do just that! Here is me on top of Lion's Head with the 12 Apostles in the background.

Looking out over Cape Town. (That's Robben Island on the right - but more on that later)

AHHHHH! A GIANT BEETLE IS ATTACKING THE CITY!

The 12 Apostles at sunset - simply gorgeous.

The City Bowl at sunset - I couldn't believe all the colors.

The view of Cape Town from the bay.

Bob and I decided to take a trip to the Robben Island Museum for the day to learn more about Apartheid and to see the place where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of his 27 year imprisonment.

This is the rock quarry where the political prisoners were forced to toil crushing rocks for hours each day in the heat of the African sun. Initially the rock was used to construct some buildings on the island but eventually they had no use for the rocks themselves - but the prisoners were made to continue slaving away. The small pile of rocks in the middle of the photograph next to the sign was started by Nelson Mandela upon his first visit back to the island after his release - now every time a  political prisoner returns to the island they add a rock to the pile.

The rows of doors on the right and left housed the guard dogs that were kept on the island, but the center unit was were they kept Robert Sobukwe in solitary confinement. Most people associate the anti-apartheid struggle with Nelson Mandela, but there were so many more political activists who were a part of the struggle and are also important to remember. (It's sort of like how we in the United States we sometimes only associate the Civil Rights Movement only with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - a dangerous practice since it erases a lot of the historical and personal narratives from the struggle.) At any rate - Robert Sobukwe was kept in solitary confinement because he was thought to be the most dangerous of the political prisoners kept on the island. He was the founder of the Pan African Congress (PAC) which different politically from the ANC (Nelson Mandela's organization-turned-political party) and was arrested in 1960 and convicted for incitement for leading protests against repressive apartheid laws.

A gun turret installed during WWII which was meant to serve in the defense of Cape Town - it never saw any action. As you can see from the "frame" of the last few pictures we were carted around on a large tour bus to see the major sites on the island - this wasn't exactly my favorite part since I despise huge group tours, but since it is the only way to see the island I relented.

Thankfully after the bus tour the rest was on foot - this is the main building where all the political prisoners were housed which was separate from the criminal inmates. This part of the tour was directed by a former political prisoner who was able to share his story and experiences with us while imprisoned on Robben Island - I thought this was especially impactful and it was so much more moving to hear history through someone who lived it.

The small courtyard where the political prisoners were allowed their congregate during free time - which wasn't very much each day. While Nelson Mandela was in prison he began to right his book - The Long Road to Freedom - but it was confiscated multiple times. Thankfully there were multiple copies circulated around and one of them was hidden in this courtyard.

One of the cell blocks for the political prisoners.

This was Nelson Mandela's Cell - a humbling experience to say the least.

The day after Robben Island Bob and I decided to climb again - but this time it would be Table Mountain for sunrise. Everyone climbs or takes the cable car to see sunset but we figured we'd be the only ones up there for sunrise. So we took our flashlights and started climbing around 3am - we made our way up for nearly two hours just in time to see the sunrise!

Being on Table Mountain at sunrise while surround by wispy clouds was probably one of the most surreal and breathtaking experiences of my life - everything was good and beautiful in the world in that moment.

The city bowl at sunrise - the peak on the left there is Lion's Head. Unfortunately this is one of the last pictures I was able to get that morning because my camera fell off the little stone wall you can see in the bottom left of this picture and hit the ground on it's side. It wasn't a very large drop - but it was big enough to break the internal mechanisms of my lens which put my camera out of commission for the rest of the morning. And you know what - I wasn't even mad about it because everything was so beautiful in the world.

After the camera fiasco it was off to the mall to find a camera repair shop - unfortunately Sony camera products were not selling well in South Africa and so they decided to move out of the market and it was going to be difficult to find a repair shop. What we did find out however was that the damage was only to the lens and not the camera itself so the solution was as simple as buying new lens. Luckily the shop had a compatible brand for my camera. Even though I shelled out a pretty penny for it, I guess it was really a blessing in disguise because the new lens has much more functionality than the old one. This is a shot of Bob I took in the mall with my new lens.

Unfortunately Bob had to go back to work South Sudan and we split up again - but it was an awesome reunion! After Bob left some friends from the hostel and I decided to go see Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope - the most south-western point on the African continent. (Not to be confused with the most southern point, Cape Agulhas, which I was unfortunately unable to make it to). As you can see the drive down there along the cost was gorgeous.

Obligatory sign picture - from left to right that's David (Germany), Lea (Switzerland), and Ella (UK).

Cape Point - with the shark infested waters crashing against the rocks below. There are many dangerous currents and swells here which have lead to the demise of many ships throughout the centuries that these waters have been sailed. (Again I apologize for the quality of some of the upcoming pictures - there was dust on the sensor which I didn't notice until later. I would edit it out but I don't have photoshop on my tablet unfortunately.)

Looking up towards the Old Cape Point Lighthouse - this one was built first to help guide ships at night from crashing into the dangerous rocks, but unfortunately it was built in a terrible location. Foggy conditions in the area tended to prevail at high altitudes which obscured the visibility of the light house and the angle at which incoming ships would see the light was confusing sailors to the point where they would still crash into the rocks.

This is the New Cape Point Lighthouse - it's location is much better for safe maritime navigation.

Another obligatory sign picture! Notice how the sign on the left is in English but the sign on the right is in Afrikaans. The wind was blowing really hard while we were there so we didn't stay for very long.

The wind was really good for one thing though - windsurfing! These guys were really good at it and it looked like a lot of fun - new bucket list item perhaps?

The waters off the coast were just such amazingly blue colors.

After seeing the cape we looped back up to visit Simon's Town - the home of a large colony of African penguins! Here they all are sunning themselves on the rocks. Unsurprisingly they are an endangered species as a result of human activity in the area.

I imagine this penguin to be crowing - but like, what sound does a penguin actually make? The world may never know.

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away

There was an area where you could swim near the penguins but it was pretty expensive to enter so I just stayed near the fringes where I could stumble upon the random penguin or two - these little guys were near the parking lot.

They began grooming each other and it was really adorable.

This is how I spend my Thanksgiving - on a wine tasting tour of the wineries near Stellenbosch! Copious amounts of wine is an acceptable substitute for turkey, right?

The scenery and the wines were simply amazing.

I took this picture because I wanted to remember this wine in particular, but also because I was demonstrating to another woman on the tour some basic camera lessons so she could get more out of the camera she had brought with her.

In addition to tasting we were given a tour of the wineries to see how it is distilled - I for the life of me can't remember any of it but these big vats were pretty cool.

Some oak barrels used to ferment the wine into the final product. I remember our guide telling us that all the barrels are imported because the type of wood used can't be grown in South Africa despite repeated attempts by Dutch colonists.

I'd kill to have a wine cellar that looked like this.

The next day I took a free walking tour of the brightly colored area known as Bo Kaap, which means "upper cape". This area is historically known as the center of the Cape Malay culture in Cape Town. The Cape Malay people are descendants from slaves that the Dutch brought to South Africa from their colony in Indonesia and are historically Islamic. 

I loved this shot for some reason - I think it's the retro colors.

There are a number of myths that exist as to why the houses are painted such bright colors but I can't for the life of me remember what they are - either way it's a beautiful and quirky little area to explore. I liked the colorfulness of the houses juxtaposed against the looming grey clouds covering Table Mountain and Devil's Peak.

That does it for all my pictures from South Africa! Off to the next great world adventure!