Iceberg Alley

25 May 2017

We are entering the area they call Iceberg Alley, having departed Halifax some twenty hours ago and traveling due east. The North Atlantic is rather calm, but cold and windy; the days of shorts and tees are well behind us and we’ll not see them again on this cruise. We’ll be at sea another three days; soon we shall head due north towards Greenland and the western tip of Iceland. No icebergs yet, but we are told that the next forty-eight hours will be prime spotting time. Having visited the Titanic Museum in Halifax I hope we need binoculars to see any bergs.

We are halfway into our trip and it has been grand. Leaving New York was a treat as usual since I’ll never stop being moved and impressed with the Statue of Liberty. We spent the time en route to Newport getting more familiar with the ship, the Crystal Symphony. It is a larger ship than we are used to and it is completely filled with a wide variety of travelers from lots of countries. There is a certain elegance to this ship, little touches which makes it seem like a true luxury liner. The public bathrooms are always immaculate and have actual fluffy hand towels instead of paper, as well as fragrant French hand soap and hand cream. Lots of highly polished wood and gleaming brass trim give the ship an old world charm. 

This being an all-inclusive cruise, the bars - and there are seven of them - always seem to have a cheerful gaggle of cruisers, mostly sipping Champagne in the late morning and early afternoon and switching to all manner of mixed drinks in the evening. Sitting at the bar is a lesson in mixology and the young bartenders are really pros.  They work as a team and sometimes it appears that one of them has four hands, since they assist one another in churning out the drinks.  It is lively and friendly with lots of bar chatter as guests settle in and get to know one another and the crew.

Thus far the meals have been excellent and served in a flawless continental manner. We have opted, as we always do, for a table for two at eight pm and they always have it ready for us. We have been on some cruises where the food was prepared way in advance of service, but not here, or at least we don’t notice. It always comes piping hot and the courses are well-paced.  Best of all, for Cindy, they have a magnificent selection of mostly French cheeses that are rotated daily and served at room temperature with the proper garnishes. The wine steward is attentive and anticipates our needs even though having known us for only a few days. The wine selection is extensive and changes daily, although you can always ask for whatever you want. We have not been disappointed.

Newport required a tender to get ashore which was okay with me since we got to see all the sailboats in the harbor, and there were lots of them on Sunday given that the weather was just perfect. As the home to the America’s Cup for so many years, there are lots of really large ocean-going sailboats as well as those designed for quieter waters. Walking around Newport was fun since it was still early spring there with lots of flowers and budding trees. The town was jumping since it was the last day of their Oyster Festival, so there were lots of sights, sounds and smells associated with this grand fête. After a nice two-hour walk it was time to head back to the ship for lunch. We were all seated in the tender ready to head to the ship but going nowhere fast. I could hear the transmission slip every time they tried to engage reverse and finally we were told to exit the tender and get into another one for the ride back to the ship. Of course with anything mechanical there can be problems, but remember these tenders are also our LIFE BOATS!!

The evening en route to Boston they served fresh oysters in the dining room; not sure if they picked them up in Newport, but they were delicious, especially with the crisp Pouilly Fumé that was on offer. After dinner, as we do every night, we hit the dance floor and worked off the day’s calories that weren’t burned on our long walks. Cruising is dancing to us, which is why we cruise so often. If there were a decent dance venue in Charles Town, we would save thousands of dollars.  Boston was wet and cold but we only had a short walk from the pier to Legal Seafood where we met my sister Cathy and her husband Frank for a lovely long lunch and a chance to catch up. It was then back to the ship to prepare for the first Formal Night.

One of the things we have noticed over our years of cruising is that formal nights are becoming a thing of the past. Perhaps it is the changing lifestyle, perhaps just a question of packing, but you don’t see many men in tuxedos anymore.  The women for the most part dress to the nines; the men, perhaps to the fours. Only Cunard still enforces formal wear on formal nights but even then, the formal nights are fewer and fewer. Dinner reflects the formal night theme and the dishes are a bit more elaborate with the choices more varied, and the wines are higher-end pours. Formal nights to us are a lovely way to pass a delightful evening. 

The next morning we were in Bar Harbor Maine and very excited to go ashore since Cindy had never been in Maine and we are hoping to make 2017 the year that we have finally visited all fifty states. This is the quintessential New England fishing village replete with everything you think about fishing villages:  large dock areas, lobster processing facilities, grand hotels and restaurants perched on the cliffs overlooking the harbor.  The town is built around a village green with a church at one end and a bandshell in the middle. Some of the cutesy shops had names that were a play on Bar Harbor. The lingerie shop was Bra Harbor and the pet store was Bark Harbor; well you get the point. There is a scenic walkway along the cliffs and lots of historical markers, all in all a lovely spot and we are happy to have seen it before the summer crowds. 

Our last port of call in North America was Halifax which is a glorious maritime city, steeped in history and charm. We walked along the refurbished dock area - filled with shops, farmers’ markets, craft markets, and seafood restaurants - to the Halifax Maritime Museum. This spot is huge with lots of ships and models of ships that have made Halifax famous. The two most striking exhibits are the tributes to the Titanic and the great explosion of 1917.  The brave sailors of Halifax were charged with recovering the bodies of those who lost their lives on the Titanic. Those 650+ that were rescued were taken to New York and the dead (360+) were recovered and brought back to Halifax where they were processed and buried.  Halifax is justifiably proud of the extraordinary feats accomplished by the seamen, and those on land charged with the respectful burial of those who died.

Only five years after the ordeal with the Titanic, an ordnance vessel filled with munitions to be transported to Europe for the war lost control in the harbor, slammed into a pier loaded with coal and exploded.  In a matter of moments there were nearly 2,000 killed, 10,000 wounded and many missing.  The explosion destroyed all of the buildings in a 1.5 mile square area, and the resultant fires destroyed most of the buildings for miles along the harbor. Rescue teams came from as far as Europe and from all of the neighboring cities and provinces and also from Massachusetts.  Quite an exhibit and I must say, I didn’t know anything about it before yesterday.  Cindy only knew about it from a novel she had read several years ago; we Americans don’t learn much Canadian history in school!

Best to all, Cindy and William

New York, New York

20 May 2017

We'll be departing today from New York City on a two week cruise up the New England coast and on to Iceland. We decided to come to New York a few days early to do a few things that we have been wanting to do for years. Of course, being The Embees, the weather has been just awful, the hottest days of May in years.  Each day thus far has been in the 90's with humidity and wind. You wouldn't think there were enough trees in NYC to have pollen all over the place, but there must be since our eyes have been weepy, itchy and red. None of this has hampered our enthusiasm or delight in getting reacquainted with this grand city. 

We stayed at a Hyatt on West 36th just up from 6th Avenue - a short walk from Macy's on Herald Square, Penn Station and the Empire State Building - so now you have your bearings. After checking in we immediately walked over to the High Line, a 1.45 mile stretch of elevated walkways reclaimed from an old stretch of train tracks. It is a really beautiful walk, even in 90 degree weather, and it is filled with art, flowers and tons of people. Can't imagine what it is like trying to walk it in summer with all the tourists, but for us, it was a special treat and very much enjoyed especially after having been cooped up in planes and limos for hours.  It really shouldn't take as long to get to NYC from DC, but living in West Virginia we have few options.

After a pleasant few hours walking the High Line, we repaired to an Irish pub next to our hotel. It was dark and cool and had great beers on tap which we needed to replenish our fluid levels. Very pleasant staff, all from Ireland, and we decided to make this our go-to spot for drinks before and after dinners, which we did but only for that night, too many other options in NYC. Dinner on our first night was at a French-Moroccan restaurant which had really lovely food and great service. We finally collapsed at about midnight after a lovely first half day.

Yesterday was spent using the subway system to get to a few places we have wanted to visit. I don't want to suggest that I've been out of touch with the subway system of New York, but there were strange looks when I asked where to purchase the subway tokens! I think the last time I used the subway you could still cast your vote for Miss Rheingold and Miss Subway, things that haven't been around since the sixties.  

First stop was the World Trade Center Memorial. The Cortland subway stop is really quite beautiful with a soaring white Oculus and just huge. Walking through this area truly is inspiring and sets the tone for the two Memorials that sit in the park outside the subway stop. There is a museum, which we did not want to visit, so we focused our attention on the two large square fountains that have the names of each of the people who died when the two towers came down.  A white rose is placed in the engraved name on their birthday and just looking at these two memorials we could see several of these roses, a stark reminder of what really happened on 9/11.  (Note from Cindy:  As we gazed sadly at all the names, Wm said, “It’s amazing what a handful of stupids from Saudi could do.”)

After an hour at the memorial we headed back to the subway and uptown to Grand Central Station. I never tire of walking around this magnificent building but this time I was on a mission to show Cindy the Campbell Apartment, which is one of the classist old-time bars in all of New York. It is a little tricky to find, but oh how very worth the effort.  It is small with an old oak bar with perhaps twenty stools and perhaps twenty tables for dining.  It was only about noon and we were hot and sweaty and not looking very elegant so I just walked Cindy to the entrance and we looked at the almost empty room for awhile, promising ourselves that we would come back (but not on this trip).

As we exited Grand Central on Vanderbilt Avenue near 42nd Street, we started to hear all manner of sirens and horns, and saw a sea of flashing lights heading towards us. This parade of police, fire, bomb squad and ambulances went on for twenty minutes and we knew that something big had happened but didn't know what until we stopped for lunch and they had a big TV on explaining that some drunk had plowed through pedestrians killing one and injuring 20 before crashing into a light at Times Square. Obviously, at the beginning of the event no one knew if it was an act of terrorism or just a lone nut job so they responded as if it were terrorism, thus explaining the huge reaction. This being New York, Times Square is now up and running as usual and filled with tourists. 

Speaking of tourists, we did march ourselves over to Rockefeller Center to see Seated Ballerina, a 45-foot Mylar inflatable by Jeff Koons, which is perched in the middle of 30 Rock overlooking the area that is used for outdoor dining in the summer and ice skating in winter. It really was fun to just hang out and look at the ballerina and see all of the people gathered in front of NBC studios hoping to get their faces on The Today Show.

That night we walked and walked and walked, more or less in circles, trying to find a restaurant to our liking.  In some cases the prices were just plain too high, but in most cases the determining factor was the noise.  My goodness, NYC bars have always been on the noisy side but the Millennials love noise and the levels are astounding.  We stopped for a drink and couldn’t hear ourselves think, although we did our best to chat with a German man seated next to us and bought him a beer before we left.  We finally found a lovely and quiet Cuban restaurant called Havana that delighted us - “old world” charm and service, fine linens, a wonderful waiter and delicious food.  We’ll go back if we’re ever in the area again!

Best wishes, Cindy and William

Out of Africa

Forty days on the road in Spain, Qatar and South Africa and we are ready for our 24-hour-plus trip home. It is Monday night here and we'll catch the 8:30 pm to Doha and connect for the long ride home arriving as the polls close. It is my fervent hope that by midnight they will know that Hillary won and we'll never hear from Trump again.  While we tried to avoid as much of this nonsense as possible, it was simply too horrible to ignore.  In all of the cities we have visited when someone found out we were from the USA, politics was all they could talk about.  Every single person who spoke to us about the election could not understand that out of a population of 350 million, these are the best two people that we could muster.  Everyone is terrified that Trump could win since they all know it would be an international disaster. I'll block all of this and try to watch a few good movies on the planes to forget it all.

There are two types of taxis in South African cities, metered and private. The metered are for those with money and the privates are a response to many people needing to get around and not enough public transportation. It works like this: someone with money buys a few vans, hires drivers to run them all day and most of the night, and they have very specific routes. There is nothing written on them but everyone seems to know how they work. As you are walking towards your destination, you hold up your hand and display a certain number of fingers indicating where you want to go. The driver, and they are all wild and crazy, then honks his horn, you turn around and get in and off you go. Very ingenious and I'm told quite cheap. 

We are at the airport now, third world experience until after immigration, and then it is like any large airport in the world with shops, restaurants, duty free and lounges. We got here early since it was supposed to rain and we knew the traffic would be horrible after four. It did rain during the trip but our Uber driver knew shortcuts, don't they all, and took us up a big hill that had huge mansions and grounds, absolutely lovely - and then we passed China Town. Our driver was none too happy with the Chinese since they drive the price up and the values down on everything they touch. We had to wait an hour before we could check in and the huge hall was dark, dank and did not smell of fresh rain on grass. We are finally settled into the Qatar Lounge and have another three hours before takeoff.

The trip was filled with highlights, meeting new people many of whom could become friends, traveling to lovely destinations - some with cherished memories, others bittersweet - and those in South Africa wildly delicious. Despite all the packing and unpacking, bus, subway, train and plane trips, in and out of taxis, Ubers and shuttles, we are still laughing at each other's jokes and toasting our good fortune. Home will be fun - back to a routine a delight, and being in my own kitchen, heaven. Come by for dinner some time!  Go Vote!  Cindy and Wm

Johannesburg

Johannesburg was created 130 years ago by three guys all named George who found gold by digging pits - and the downtown still remains a pit!  We were lulled into a false sense of admiration for this city since our taxi driver took the back roads from the airport due to heavy traffic. We passed lovely homes on shaded streets and all of them had guards, high fences or walls, and lots of barbed wire on the tops. All of the private schools looked grand but were also fortresses. Our hotel is in the middle of a wealthy area called Rosebank: four malls, four hotels and many, many corporate headquarters that used to be in downtown Johannesburg.

On Saturday we took the Gautrain subway from our hotel area to Park Train Station where we were to get on the hop-on hop-off bus. The subway is marvelous - clean, well maintained and well guarded. However, coming out of the subway and into the area surrounding the station was eye popping as it is in most train stations worldwide. People selling everything, people just standing around, others directing traffic and hoping for tips if they guide you to a parking place. It appears that you cross the street here as you do in Hanoi, just walk with purpose and hope people drive around you.  Really chaotic!

We got onto our bus and got seats on the upper deck but under cover since we had had enough sun for one trip. Things got off to a rocky start when a woman from Spain seated behind us tried to close our window. I opened it again and said this will stay open and she tried to give us lip about going to the back of the bus where it wasn't covered if we wanted air. I just ignored her and the window stayed open. (A third of the way into the trip she was fanning herself feverishly.)

About ten minutes after the bus tour began Cindy and I were looking at each other and saying, what have we gotten into?  The downtown area is, to be polite, blighted. There is litter everywhere, people sitting on the sidewalk selling old clothes and shoes, boarded-up buildings, uncontrolled traffic - and all the while we are hearing through our earbuds about how vibrant the downtown has become.  All of the major banks, insurance companies and investment houses have moved their  headquarters to Rosebank, and with the new buildings came the majority of the workers.  So places that looked like they might have been nice apartments or condos are now filled with squatters or boarded shut. It appears that the townships have moved a lot of folks to downtown Joburg, and this is a grey and lackluster downtown. At one point in the commentary we were told that this was a horrible place for a major city. It is too high (6000 ft), it has no water source so all of the water has to be pumped in from great distances, it has no port or seaside or river and thus it is completely out of touch except by train or air.

After about an hour of navigating around the downtown we headed out to see the mining area which is simply slag heaps and red dirt that blows into the downtown on windy days. Next came some neighborhood that they said was due to be developed. I think they meant overdue. All of a sudden, out of all this rubbish and filth came the big Gold Reef City casino development, with an amusement park, a huge casino, cinemas, and hotel. What a contrast.  We stopped at the Apartheid Museum, which is a lovely building, but the lines to get in were just too long for our mood. We also went past the WITS University Campus which is really beautiful and sits on a hill as a beacon of learning.

We finally got back to the starting point and missed our subway train by two minutes so we walked though the train station for about twenty minutes. The train station is a sprawling place with tons of trains coming in and out, most to the townships and a few long rail lines to faraway places like Cape Town.  It was now about four and it was obvious that many people had come in from the townships and spent the day shopping and were now heading home. There were huge bags of stuff on top of women's heads, there were porters pushing their carts filled with all manner of items, and there was even a refrigerator still in its packing crate.  I really wanted to wait to see how that was going to get onto the train, but it was time to head back to our hotel and we did not want to miss the Gautrain.

I think that if we had not been to Cape Town first I would not have all these negative impressions of the downtown area of Joburg, but when you see how a place like Cape Town can be run with no garbage on the streets, folks obeying traffic lights (in Cape Town they call traffic lights robots), and grand avenues that are sprinkled with parks and fountains, you just know that Joburg could do better.

That brings me to my last point: people. Until we arrived in Joburg our most intense and pleasant experience has been interacting with the people of South Africa.  They have been uniformly friendly, courteous, smiling and genuinely happy to have you in their city or lodge or hotel. The people of Cape Town especially are so proud of their city and they love it when you ask them questions or tell them how beautiful the city is. Everyone was willing to go out of their way to show you around or help you with a problem. When you ate in a restaurant no fewer than three people would come over to you and ask how your day is going.  Pride of place is what is missing in Joburg. You do not get many smiles, no hellos, and certainly no reliable information. There is a famous Sunday Market in Rosebank where everyone comes to get good food, local crafts, etc. I was on my morning walk and thought I would see them setting up in the park but there was nothing. I asked  a security guard where it was and he didn't know what I was talking about. Five queries later to shop owners and other guards, nothing.  Perhaps it is a language issue - they do not do as well with English here as they do in other parts of South Africa, despite it being one of the two languages they must learn - but I think it is more than language.  It is just a lack of caring about their jobs or neighborhood or city.  It is very sad, and a sad way to end a trip that has been filled with such color, sweet smiles and caring people. (I did finally find the market on the top floor of a parking garage, and it was fabulous!)

Conclusions to follow. Cindy and Wm

Our last day of the safari was in many ways the very best. We went on another Bush Walk but this time it was just the two of us and our guide Joe.  We headed to a watering hole and pulled the Land Rover into a grove of trees and headed out on foot. Within five minutes we stopped a giraffe, legs splayed as he drank from the river.  He spotted us right away, gave us a look-over and headed away at a gallop. We then came upon a huge bull elephant as he was drinking. He didn't seem to notice us for a while so we just stood there only twenty yards from this behemoth as he drank, sprayed himself and just seemed to be enjoying his morning bath. He finally acknowledged our presence and nonchalantly started to cross the river, dropping depth charges of dung as he walked. It was really a wonderful experience to be that close, and being on foot gave us a much better perspective as to his size.

For the next hour or so we wandered along the edge of the river and Joe talked to us about the birds, their nests, insects and their nests, and all the river animals that make their homes nearby. There were large animals including three hippos who were humping above the water line so we could finally see more than their ears, and three crocodiles basking in the sun. There were several fish eagles circling and dozens of birds of all sizes building nests, some communal nests weighing as much as two hundred pounds and housing fifty or sixty mating pairs. We spotted a dung beetle pushing his ball of dung across the sand looking for a spot to bury it and invite a mate to lay eggs in the ball. It was all just fascinating.

During out last hour of the walk we spotted a female warthog with her three kids across the river, and in the same field there were several impala, steinbok, kudu and water bucks. There was a very large water monitor, a lizard, lounging on a rock by the river totally undisturbed by our cameras clicks. On the ride back to the lodge we saw large white birds that we think were Snowy Ibis and smaller birds such as orioles and a European Roller, a multicolored bird about the size of a dove.  We were also treated to the repetitive chirping of a crested barbit - a yellow bird that resembles a woodpecker - punctuated by the beautiful call of an oriole over and over again.  Cindy even "videoed" it for the sound.  All in all, a perfect walk.

Lunch saw the arrival of a new lodge guest, a woman traveling by herself. All the tables are set for two and she looked rather lonely so we invited her to join us and she leaped at the opportunity. Her name is Peggy and she is originally from Liverpool but has been living in Geneva for fifty years (she just turned 75). She is a retired particle physicist and sharp as a tack and became our companion again for dinner and breakfast the next morning. I finally got to ask someone in the know what the 'god particle' is all about, and it turns out she worked at the Hadron Accelerator.  She did her level best and I think I understand half of it, but oh her enthusiasm for the topic was just lovely to observe.

And so it is over and it was a grand experience, one that I don't think I will do again, but one that I'm ever so happy to have had. I'm pleased that I didn't look like all the other men who had purchased cargo pants that could convert to shorts with matching khaki safari shirts that converted to short sleeves.  I'm happy that I didn't purchase bush shoes that matched the pants and a silly hat that flopped in the breeze when driving.  I'm sorry that I listened to the travel agent and my doctor and took malaria pills.  The incidence of malaria where we were is almost non-existent due to the drought. There is very little standing water for them to breed and I didn't get even a single mosquito bite.  I did get a spider bite but they don't carry malaria!

We are in Johannesburg for the next three nights before heading home via a transfer in Qatar. We'll have been on the road for thirty nine days and are growing weary of travel but looking forward to exploring this city.  Best to all, Cindy and Wm

Safari Day Two

I had set the alarm for 04:55 so as not to be awaken by a phone call at 05:00.  Cindy and I had laid out our clothes and in ten minutes we had brushed, flushed and dressed and were heading out of the door, careful to lock everything since we had been warned that baboons would come and clean out everything if we didn't. There was a rather tepid sense of cheer as we all had coffee or tea and muffins, and then it was time to mount up and be on with the morning drive.

It was a rather pleasant temperature due to the early morning and the overcast skies, so the ride was refreshing and gave us a chance to fully wake up. A night's sleep had done nothing to improve the driving skills of our guide and there were occasions when those of us at the back of the open Land Rover were almost knocked out of our seats, setting off a scramble to find the seat belts and securing them. We saw lots of giraffes, a few snake eagles, a dazzle of eight zebras, one pair of Egyptian Geese, a few steinbok, a resting hyena, several Cape Buffalo, and a Kamikaze bird, so named for his mating ritual of flying straight up in the air, doing a back flip and falling to the earth like a rocket before pulling out of the dive just before impact.  Not sure how impressed the female was, but it left me breathless.  We stopped for a coffee break and the hood of the Land Rover became a coffee wagon with biscuits, instant coffee and not quite hot tea.  The break however allowed us to stretch and it was ample to mark my territory behind a large ground termite mound.

After three hours of riding, spotting, and gaping at nature, we return to the lodge at 8:30 am for a full hot breakfast at the tables set under bamboo rods for shade and protection from rain. Since there was nothing scheduled again until lunch at 13:30, Cindy and I promptly retired to our tent for a two hour nap followed by a cold shower. I didn't really want a cold shower but that was the only temperature available. I thought it was due to the drought and the fact that they are so ecologically sensitive. Two showers later I found out that an electrical outage had blown the timer on the hot water heater and they fixed it immediately, much to my delight.

Lunch was a simple buffet with decent food and some fresh, if not ripe, fruit.  The food has been a disappointment due to the fact that we have had stellar experiences with food for the first two weeks in SA. This is a rather high end lodge and we had expected much better quality and variety, but we didn't come for the food and the experience has been spectacular.

As it turned out, that morning drive was to be the only one we would take during our time here. By the end of the afternoon drive we had seen all the animals we really came to see and a whole lot more that we didn't know about. We went on two more afternoon rides, but getting up at 5 am holds no excitement for either of us so we opted for two mid-morning walks in the bush with our guide Joe. These departed at 10 am - much more civil - and it gave us an opportunity to see the smaller aspects of the savanna. On the first walk there were eight guests and two guides, the latter armed and ready just in case.  The original plan was four guests but for some reason they combined our walk with the cheap lodge on the river, so we were eight.  Only four of us (the ones from our lodge) seemed to have any interest in the walk; the other two couples from the sister lodge seemed to be just checking a box. They were in their late twenties and asked not a single question of either of the guides.  At one point Joe picked up some impala pellets to show us how they digested their food.  He crushed a few in his hand and showed us the grasses and seeds. He then said that on weekends after a bit of booze he and his mates would have an impala pellet spitting contest, much as we do with watermelon seeds. He then took one in his mouth and spit it some distance. He picked up eight more and offered them to all of us to try and no one - except yours truly - accepted.  I popped one in my mouth and gave a good effort but didn't come close to his mark. I need practice shooting the shit!

Safari

By the time I was ten I had read all of the Tarzan books I could get my hands on. I would jump from my back steps onto the back of a huge lion and with one of my mother's table knives I would stab at the lion until I brought it down. I was always attacking lions or leopards or huge snakes, much to the anguish of my mother who finally banned me from using the knives to stab the dirt. I would pitch a tent using an old bed sheet and sleep outdoors imagining that the night noises were from cheetahs or hyenas or other wild African animals. And now, sixty years later, here I am sleeping in a tent and listening to the real sounds of these real animals.

My tent is a little more stylish that those of my youth. It is air conditioned, has running water, and the sheets are for slipping between at night as opposed to providing a bit of protection from the wilds of Connecticut. We arrived here at our safari lodge after a very early start to a long morning of travel, filled with delays.  When we got off the plane it was 103 degrees and I quickly shed my sport coat and looked around for our greeter who finally found us and herded us to the van. The ride to the lodge took about an hour - and very close to the road, which is in the Kruger National Park - we spotted giraffes, springboks, impalas (the animal not the car), Cape buffalo, warthogs - and in the distance a rather large elephant, making that the best ride ever from airport to hotel!

We arrived at about three, giving us an hour to unpack and get dressed for the first safari at four. We arrived at the reception area at the appointed time and were quickly packed into our Land Rover which is an amazing vehicle. It holds up to nine guests in a tiered seating arrangement allowing everyone wonderful views since it has no sides or top to interfere with the sights. Our guide, Joe, introduced himself and our tracker, Shaddy, who sits on a seat attached to the left front bumper. We were told the rules, which were common sense and minimal, and then we were off. In some respects it was like an amusement ride and Cindy and I, who were on the upper seats, had to hold on for dear life as Joe pushed the Land Rover though brush, into and out of dry riverbeds, over steep hills, all at speeds approaching the Concorde at takeoff.  

During our three-plus hours we must have seen fifteen different types of animal species, most of them viewed up close and personal. The list would bore you but it was truly amazing to actually be here in Africa and on a real safari. At sunset we pulled off the dirt track and the crew quickly arranged a bar on the hood of the vehicle and were offering cocktails, wine, beer and soft drinks along with some snacks of biltong (kudu jerky - a type of antelope), and mixed nuts.  Here we are in the middle of nowhere, it is getting dark, and we are stopped for Sundowners.  We arrived back at the lodge after dark and had to wait to be shown to our tents since we are not allowed to walk alone at night due to the fact that there are no fences or gates and all the animals have access to the grounds.  We had just enough time to clean up a bit before being brought back to the bar for drinks with our fellow travelers as well as Joe and Shaddy.  At about eight, we were escorted to a large sandpit with a huge fire going in the center and tables surrounding the fire pit. The tables were set with linen tablecloths and napkins, glasses for wine and water, and rather a lot of heavy silverware; not your typical BBQ. We were served a wonderful vegetable soup and then invited to make our way to the buffet where there were salads and starches, breads and rolls, and all manner of grilled beasts. We had a lovely time, ate and drank well and were nearing exhaustion.

As we were walked back to our tent at about ten, the last thing we were told was to expect a wake up call at five am and departure for the morning safari would be at 5:30am. Those were not the words I wanted to hear at that moment!    Best to all, Cindy and Wm