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I am in South Africa “working” for Renedian Adventures, and scouting our Garden Route Tour hotels and route so I can speak intelligently about the tour at the upcomiong trade shows. So I started out from Cape Town, and my first stop was a farm stall. Big business down here, with fruits & veggies, but also souvenirs, knick-knacks, pre-prepared food, and the must-try boutique root beer. I’m crazy about root beer and had to try it!   They were nice enough to tell me what I could expect in terms of recreation going up the pass: A beautiful day for a drive… The view from up top: View from the other direction: Twisting even further to see more of thisRead More →

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So far my experience with elephants has only been on Okambara (Namibia), where there is a small herd of 9 elephants. Generally on Okambara we monitor the elephants from no less than 150 meters (unless they come closer to us). And there is at least on badly behaved elephant (a juvenile testing his testosterone, er, boundaries). So it was really a delight to get up close and personal to the elephants at Knysna (mentioned in my last blog post). Two days later I went to Addo National Elephant Park, where they have vast herds of free roaming elephants. The park was established in 1920, so these elephants (unlike those at Okambara who are young enough to remember being darted, transported,Read More →

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In: Africa, South Africa
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So far my experience with elephants has only been on Okambara (Namibia), where there is a small herd of 9 elephants. Generally on Okambara we monitor them from no less than 150 meters (unless they come closer to us). And there is at least on badly behaved elephant (a juvenile testing his testosterone, er, boundaries). So we are always observing from very far away and usually through binoculars, with one eye on our escape route! It was really a delight to get up close and personal with the elephants at Knysna Elephant Park. (pronounced nighs-na) At Knysna they have a really nice facility with a small herd of rescued elephants. They train them to line up behind a railing whenRead More →

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In: Africa, South Africa
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As I previously mentioned, I just returned from South Africa. I went to Cape Town and visited Bev over the weekend, and then I drove the Garden Route. What is the Garden Route? It’s a drive from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth mostly along the coast, filled with drop-dead gorgeous landscapes and amazing opportunities to see animals. It was a gorgeous drive as well as being an interesting way to see the Eastern and Western Capes…unfortunately I only had 4 days. I should have planned 40! Here are some shots from along the way (no comments about my driving in a cage, please! I did not have motorcycle gear with me!)                  Read More →

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In: Africa, South Africa
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Well, I am back in Namibia preparing for the next group (they arrive today/tonight) and the next expedition officially starts tomorrow. For now, I am at Casa Piccolo in Windhoek having just finished a MOUND of shopping (I HATE Shopping!) for base camp, and now I am catching up on paperwork.  I’d say there are worse places to get caught up…     Look for a few posts about traveling in South Africa shortly!!!Read More →

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In: Africa, South Africa
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Just spent a great weekend in Cape Town visiting my friend Beverly and her lovely family. Bev and I met on the Camino in 2006 and have continually said good-bye to each other assuming we’d never see each other again (heck, we live on different continent and in different hemispheres after all!) but we keep bumping into each other.  Just goes to show you what a small (and wonderful!) world it is. This week I’m off to explore the Garden Route!Read More →