On Sunday we Uber to Cape Town International to board the FLYSAFAIR 737 for the 2 hour flight back to Joberg and an overnighter at the Airport Inn Bed and Breakfast. We have a long trip home ahead of us.  

Monday morning after a hearty breakfast provided by the Inn, we repack our carryons and head for Oliver Tambo International. It is early as our flight isn’t until 2:40.  By the time we arrive at our gate, it looks like a full flight and by the time we are roaring down the runway I realize that yes the plane IS full. Our first leg of 5.5 hours takes us to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. We are on Ethiopian Airlines and Addis is their hub. It is the largest airline in Africa with over 150 planes. Row after row of the brightly coloured planes sit in the bright lights of the tarmac. As there are so many flights in and out of Addis, there aren’t enough gates for the inbound flights so the planes park on the aprons and passengers offload onto buses for the short trip to the terminal. Vicki and I get separated coming off the plane. She gets on a bus and heads for the terminal before I am off the plane. When my bus gets to the terminal, I am deposited at a different entrance than Vicki so she misses me when I enter. We have a narrow window to make our connection so I start to panic. As an incoming passenger we have to clear security coming in as well as out. No Vicki at the incoming security so I make my way to the outbound security. No Vicki. “ Well”, I say to myself. “ I hope she’s at our gate. “ 

Making my way to outbound security, No Vicki. The panic meter inches upward. “She must have gone through “ I think. As I’m waiting my turn to go through the scanner I see her enter the lineup and all is right with the world again. We clear and proceed to the gate where the loading has begun. 

We are on a Boeing 787 for this leg. Fortunately we are only 3 rows back from the door so fairly good seats. We have a really long flight. 16 hours to Chicago broken by a 1 hour technical stop in Rome for fuel. New meaning to the words “long haul.”

We arrive in Chicago at 8:30 AM right on time. We have a 7 hour layover which turns into 8 hours soon after our arrival. Good ol’ AirCanada. Arriving in Vancouver 4.5 hours later we are met by Chelsea and whisked to Tswassessen Ferry.  2 hour ferry ride, to be met by Jami and then home. Milo happy to see us. He hasn’t forgotten us. 🐶

By the time our heads hit the pillow it is about 50 hours since we have been up with nothing but short naps throughout that period. It takes us 4 days to regain our equilibrium. 

So back to normal routines. I have reflected a lot on our trip and have only a few regrets. One is that we did not visit Durban and secondly we did not drive the Garden Route. My last regret is not Parasailing.
October 2024

Our last two days in Cape Town. Yesterday we got on the Big Red Hoho and headed south down the “Peninsula” towards Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, a journey of some 66 kms. We criss crossed back a forth across the Peninsula ( I guess to add some Distance and time to our day so we would feel like we got our money’s worth) until we reached the gates of the Cape Point portion of Table Mountain National Park. The countryside this far down the Peninsula is pretty bleak but beautiful in it’s own way. Rocky headlands, sparsely vegetated and stony hillsides with the occasional bright yellow pincushion protea bush to break the bleakness. Very windy. A popular destination for the day with lots of buses and tour vans in the parking lot. Many people hiking up the steep, paved pathway to the Cape Point Lighthouse for pics of themselves and the Cape Point sign. This is the furthest tip of the Peninsula. A few hundred yards to the right is the actual Cape of Good Hope as the Peninsula actually turns back north so the tip is slightly north of the Cape. Back on the bus for a round about 10 minute trip and we are at the parking lot for the Cape. Get in the lineup to get our pictures taken at the Cape sign. The party in front of you in the lineup gives you their phone and you snap their pic and give their phone back. Next is your turn to pass your phone back and clamour over the rocks to pose behind the sign. Retrieving your phone you move out of the way and the line continues. Everyone patiently awaits their turn. Very polite and democratic.

After a picnic lunch on the bus out of the wind we are on our way again. Next stop is Simon’s Town, home of the African Penguin colony. There is an extra charge to actually go into the compound and see the penguins up close. We were able to walk around the perimeter of the compound and get an up close look at the little critters. Apparently they are the smallest of the 18 penguin species standing about 18-20 inches high and are very speedy swimmers.
Approaching 4:30 we pile back on the bus for the journey home. By the time we alight from the bus it is 5:45. We have been on the bus since 9:30 this morning. We certainly feel as if we got our money’s worth.
Saturday is supposed to be warm and sunny with a high of 28. We had decided that today was going to be a beach day so we Ubered to Camps Bay for a day on the beach. We rented two loungers and an umbrella, lathered up with the SFP 50 lotion and set back to watch the volleyball and surfers. Unfortunately the wind soon picked up and the clouds rolled in. The volleyballers kept at it most of the day but we only saw two surfers. The water looks very inviting but brrrrrr it is cold. I’m sure it is colder than the West Coast. They claim the water on the Atlantic side of the Peninsula in Camps Bay is about 12-14 degrees Celsius. On the other side of the Peninsula on the False Bay side it is upwards of 25 degrees. Huge difference. We did manage to hangout until about 3:30 then dialing up my faithful Uber app we had a car within 2 minutes. As we jumped into the back seat the stereo was blasting. Johnny Cash “Ghost Riders in the Sky” then “A Boy Named Sue” were playing and we jumped right in. Good fun. I must say that Uber is a must when traveling in SA. Very inexpensive and very safe.
Earlier in the week, along the green space at the waterfront Promenade in Sea Point we enjoyed watching the tandem paragliders come in for a landing. They launch from atop Signal Hill, 350 meters up. I have been thinking about it all week so I decided as this was our last day here I was going to do it. As I thought about it today, Icarus came to mind. If you don’t know the Greek legend of Icarus, his father built him a set of wings out of bird’s feathers and bees wax, in order to escape the Labyrinth of Crete. His father warned him not to fly too close to the sun as the warmth of the sun would melt the bee’s wax and he would fall from the sky. Ignoring his father, he did just that and fell into the ocean and drowned. The conditions today were perfect for a safe flight. Cloudy skies and a slight breeze. I was introduced to my pilot Harry, told I had a “nice weight” and off we went to the top of Signal Hill. Unfortunately on the way up the guide received a phone call from the hill saying the wind had picked up, was now blowing higher than the max so we turned around and returned to the beach. No flying for me today. I did get my adrenalin rush though, just thinking about it.

So that is our Cape Town stay. Back to Joberg tomorrow and heading for home on Monday. We have 36 hours of travel time ahead of us. I’ll keep you posted. Love to all

How do you measure the value of a haircut? By the amount of hair taken off of course. If that is the case I got great value in Cape Town. Every time we walked by the little four chair barbershop next to our apartment, it was always busy so I thought they must be good at what they do. So I popped in for a trim Vicki says it looks great. I know my hat isn’t as tight anymore. I have sent a message to my barber at home to reschedule my next appointment. Normally I go about 5 weeks between trims. After today I won’t need to visit her until next June. 😂

Today was a bit of a laid back day. Nice late breakfast, almost brunch, at the Winchester Hotel down overlooking the promenade. Then a bus ride down to the waterfront to get our tickets for tomorrow’s excursion then a little shopping therapy at the V & A Waterfront. The V & A waterfront is also called the Foreshore. In 1938, work was started to reclaim this part of the city from the sea. The results added 230 hectares of usable land to the city’s Central Business District. Today the V & A Waterfront is the most popular tourist attraction in South Africa, ahead of Kruger National Park and the pride of Cape Town, Table Mountain. 24,000,000 tourists visit annually. I’m sure many of them were here today. Lots going on. Tour boats in and out of the basin. Musical buskers everywhere. Packed restaurants and shoppers. A shopper’s paradise. We resisted the allure. There is something to be said for the practically of carry on luggage when traveling. No room!

One of the great things about a Rotary Friendship Exchange is the opportunity to get immersed into the local community. As mentioned earlier South African is different enough to be slightly exotic but familiar enough to be comfortable. English is very widely spoken so it is easy to communicate with the locals. We are the ones with an accent. One Starbucks barista said “Look at me” when he couldn’t understand my order. This allowed him to read my lips. The language similarity also allowed me to tell the barber what I wanted in terms of my hair cut. A little bit was lost along the way as it is short but again Vicki says it looks great.
The day ends with a walk where we started this morning, on the Sea Point Promenade to watch the sun sink into the”western” Atlantic. Seems weird looking west at the Atlantic. Tomorrow we are off to Visit the Cape and a colony of Cape penguins. TTFN🙏🥰

Growing up I was taught and always believed that the Cape of Good Hope is the southernmost tip of Africa. I have been disabused all my life. It took until I reached my 73rd year and actually traveled here that I learn the truth. Cape Agulhas, located about 220 kms east southeast is actually the point where the waters of the Two Oceans , the Atlantic and the Indian, meet. Early Mariners sought refuge in the seemingly protected waters of Table Bay. That is until the winter months of the Southern Hemisphere, July, August and September when the south easterly gales blow. If the commentary on the tour bus is to be believed, there are about 2700 ship wrecks in these waters although another source suggested the number is actually 650 over the last 400 years.
Speaking of tour buses, Vicki and I have enjoyed the hospitality of the big red double decker buses known in over 100 cities around the world as the Hop On Hop Off City Tours, affectionately known as the HOHO. We have ridden these buses in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Sidney Australia, New York City to name a few. A great way to see a new place and meet interesting people. Cape Town is no exception.

After a flight from Joberg Monday morning we landed and Ubered to our home the next 6 nights, a great Airbnb apartment in Sea Point, one of southern suburbs of Cape Town. We are two blocks from the Sea Point Promenade which stretches from the Victoria and Alfred waterfront to Sea Point. We boarded the bus red bus and spent the day traveling throughout the city, from said V&A waterfront to the Central Business District, over the other side of Signal Hill and Lion’s Head. There are actually 3 routes for the HOHO here in Cape Town, one of which takes you up through wine country with stops at 3 different wineries. We alighted at Groot Constanta, the oldest winery in South Africa. With vines planted in 1685 it has been producing and exporting wines for kings and emperors and everyday folk ever since. We enjoyed a great lunch on the grounds of the old manor house which is now a museum with the nearby slave quarters serving as the restaurant and art gallery. After a glass of Pinotage enjoyed by Vicki we resumed the bus trip. Next we ventured into Hout Bay and Camps Bay further south along the coast. The former is a mixed residential area with tin shacks for the less fortunate population stretching up the hillsides, a large marina and dock ares at the water front and it’s very own Lichtenstein Castle perched high upon Rhodes Mtn overlooking the bay. Heading back closer to town, we pass through Camps Bay, a very upscale neighborhood of expensive apartments and homes nestled along the seashore. Beautiful setting. Sandy beaches and sparkling blue water on one side of the bus and trendy shops and restaurants on the other side. We stopped and got a cappuccino for Vicki and a chai tea for me and walked the beach, enjoying the suntanners and beach vollyballers.
Back on the bus we continued our journey and soon we’re back at the V & A waterfront. As it was now approaching 5:30 we boarded another bus for the sunset tour. This is a different route that takes you up to the top to Signal Hill, a landmass in the shadow of Table Mountain. Here along with 100’s of other tourists we watched as the sun sank in the western Atlantic. As the iconic south easterly wind was blowing we huddled in the enclosed part of the bus to stay warm. Now in full darkness we headed back to the V & A waterfront and then an Uber home.
Today we got on the bus again for the tour up Table Mountain. This iconic geological feature dominates the Cape Town skyline. At 1067 meters or almost 3500 feet, the summit is reached by a two car aerial tramway. This is third most popular tourist attraction in all of Africa and attracts about 1,000,000 visitors per year. I’m sure 100,000 of them were there today. It took us almost 2 hours just to reach the loading platforms. The trip up takes about 4 minutes and the car hold 62 people. While the car is in motion the floor turns so everyone gets a chance to see the view. And stunning it is. The city spreads out before us. We an see the beaches and turquoise waters of Camps Bay and Clippton Beach to the south Al the way through the industrial suburbs north to the Keoberg Nuclear power station. A few posts ago I mentioned that most of SA’s power is coal fired. This nuclear facility is the only one in all of Africa and produces 6.5% of SA’s power since the mid 80’s. There is a very informative walking trail where one can venture out across the top of the mountain. Be sure to stay on the path as it’s a long bumpy way down.
About 11 kms out in Table Bay is Robbens Island. In use since the Dutch East Indies traders set up camp here in the late 1400’s. Initially used as a farm to protect their sheep from local predators, it has seen time as a provisioning depot for passing trading ships and a post office. Since the late 17th century it has been used primarily as a penal colony. It’s modern history is notorious as it was the home for freedom fighters thought to be revolutionary by the apartheid regime. In fact, Nelson Mandela was incarcerated here for 18 of his 27 years in jail until 1982. Finally released in 1990, he went on the lead in African National Congreve is negotiations with the apartheid government and became it’s first democratically elected president in 1994.

So after a brief history lesson I will now take you back down the mountain. Off to the west we can see brightly coloured canopies of the tandem paragliders that use Signal Hill as their takeoff point. Yesterday as we waited to board our tour bus we watched as these masters of the sky came drifting in to land at the beach front. Very tempting I must say. More on that in a few days perhaps. We finish off the day with a cool tour around the Harbour, watching the seals lounging on the rocks.
The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is so named because Queen Victoria’s second son Alfred tipped the first load of stone to start construction of the breakwater that protects the Harbour. This was needed as up until that point the winter storms battered the bay. 1858 was a particularly brutal season with over 30 ships wrecked. In 1860 the first stone of the breakwater were placed Hence the name Victoria and Alfred, not Victoria and Albert as is so often the name given in honour of Queen Victoria and her husband Price Albert.
Now you know a little bit more about Cape Town. There is mor to come. We are here for three more days there back to Joberg on Sunday and leave for home on Monday. Stay tuned

No matter what you call it; Joberg, Jozi, eGoli, JNB or Johannesburg, it is known as the city of gold. Founded in 1886 as a dusty mining town when an outcropping of gold bearing rock was discovered on the “Witwatersrand” or white water ridge, The discovery was erroneously attributed to George Harrison, an Australian prosecutor, in an effort to reinforce Anglo/British claim to the area. According to now accepted history , gold on the Witwatersrand was discovered 2 years earlier by Jan Gerritse Bantjes. The government of the day fearing a massive influx of fortune seekers ordered him to keep quiet about it. 2 years later, said George Harrison made his discovery , the word got out and the rush was on. By the mid 1890’s the population had reached 100,000 and today the greater Johannesburg stretches from the Soweto township in the south to Pretoria in the north, a distance of 82 kilometers.
At one point in the early 20th century, SouthAfrica was responsible for 25% of the annual gold production in the entire world. The world’s deepest gold mine is about 50 kms from Joberg. At a maximum depth of 4, yes that’s FOUR kms, it takes one hour for the lift to reach bottom where the temperature at the seam face is a staggering 60 DEGREES CELSIUS. Talk about a sweat box.

Starting in the old Central Business District or CBD is the main north south line of the Gautrain rapid transit system. Pronounced “howtren” it is named after the province of Guateng of which Joberg is the Capital. It runs north past Pretoria to the community of Hatfield. It is truly a marvel of modern engineering. Manufactured by Bombardier, a Canadian company, it moves people about efficiently and safely.. it really works. With security guards on the platforms and in most cars we felt completely safe. At the station nearest our hotel we were either drop off by our hotel shuttle or used Uber which is very inexpensive here.

On Saturday we took the Gautrain to the Rosebank area and boarded the Hop on Hop off bus for a city tour. Rosebank is a modern new city area of expensive shops and business towers. One of our hosts works in this area for Standard Bank of South Africa. The bus tour took us past Wanderers Stadium, home of many SA cricket wins. Through the walled and gated community of Melrose Arch, past Nelson Mandela’s last house, now housing the Nelson Mandela Children’s Foundation. Next is the Houghten district, once home to the rich “Randlords”, beautiful old homes and imposing buildings of the private schools like St John’s School for boys and the Rodean School for Girls. Even though it was a Saturday morning, the school playing fields were alive with the sights and sounds of cricket and rugby games.

As the Captains of Industry and Commerce built their homes near their places of work, we were soon into the CBD. By 1896, a mere 10 years after of news of the discovery got out, there were over 100,000 people in Joberg. The CBD is or was home to the many mining, banking and industrial concerns that flourished in Johannesburg throughout the 20th century. The streets are narrow and the buildings tower over, sometimes blocking out the sky. In September 2000 the Joberg Stock Exchange relocated to the Sandton area. This was the death knell for the CBD as the prominent business center of South Africa. The once bustling streets and buildings are now largely deserted with broken glass in the windows. Once the businesses moved out the squatters moved in and gangsters began charging the squatters rent. To overcome this and preserve some value in their buildings, the owners came in and bricked up the lower floor entrances. The commentary on the tour bus suggests that a revival is underway but I saw little evidence of same.
The original mines on the Witwatersrand are nearby. There are many displays and exhibits of mining equipment and processes. You can still see the piles of mine tailings in the inner city. With the dramatic increase in the value of gold over the last 20 years and the developments in processing techniques, the old tailings are being reworked to extract minute quantities of gold. It is a dangerous occupation due to the presence of cyanide it the original processing of the ore.

An interesting development recently has the the influx of Chinese business interests. The Chinese are investing considerable amounts of money in resource extraction and infrastructure development. Highways, ports and a new airport at Stellenbosch. If the road you are on is smooth and free from potholes chances are it was built by and is maintained by the Chinese. The highways are choked with fleets of trucks carrying tons of minerals, especially coal. Almost all of SA’s power is from coal fired plants spread out over the country side, especially to the south west of Joberg. There is even a plant within the city limits.
Along with the Chinese comes a massive influx of Chinese consumer goods. To get these to the public there are giant malls and marts concentrated in one area of the city. On Sunday we visited one such place. If you are in need of retail therapy theses are the places to get your fix. The China Mall we visited has over 500 shops and stores. Everything from electronics, furniture, luggage, clothing, shoes, household goods to cell phone accessories, perfumes, and the like. The Chinese invasion has also extended to automobiles. Apparently there are over 20 makes of Chinese imports. Names such as Chery, Haval and GWM ( Great Wall Motors) are very common sights. One of our Rotary hosts drives a seven year old GWM SUV diesel. Over 300,000 kms, great shape and runs very well.

So to cap our visit to Johannesburg off we had to visit this very famous steakhouse, Trumps Griil. Highly recommended by Vicki’s brother Brad who enjoyed it’s sumptuous menu when he would fly into O R Tambo International Airport, we had to try it. Located in the upscale business and shopping district of Sandton we sat down and chowed down on thick juicy steaks. I had a 600 gram rump steak, about 1.5 “ thick. Vicki a more modest 250 gram strip loin. We managed to take our time and eat it all.
We rolled into and out of our Uber at our hotel. Up early this morning for the 2 hour flight to Cape Town. We are here for the next week. I look forward to sharing the experiences of our last few days in South Africa.

Leaving our Middelburg hosts behind we pile into the 16 passenger Toyota van belonging to the Middelburg Primary School for the 2 hour drive to Centurion, a suburb of Pretoria , which will be our stop for the next two days. Our driver just happens to be the principal of the school who has taken a day off to make this drive. He is not a Rotarian but a “ friend of Rotary “ and works with the Middelburg Rotary club on projects around the community.
I sat up front with Reiner and had a great discussion about his school. He has 1500 students, preschool to Gr 7 spread over 3 campuses. Even though it is a public school only about 5% of the school’s budget is provided by the government education department. The vast majority he raises through school fees, daycare programs and fund raisers. Very interesting chap. One of the most interesting aspects is his hiring and training of teachers. He says he doesn’t rely on teachers trained in university. They have no practical experience. He hires privately through job fairs, employment ads and referrals and trains them himself. While working as classroom aids over four years, they take correspondence education courses and at the end of 4 years he gives them jobs as fully trained teachers. He currently has 12 student teachers doing this and will hire 3 of them for next term and add 3 additional to replace them as trainees.
We arrive in Centurion just before noon , the meeting place being Irene Farm, a working farm in the heart of the city. Beautiful fields and barns. Lots of livestock. We enjoy an outdoor lunch then we meet up will our host for the next two nights Kim and Glen Geyser. Kim has her own business importing and distributing arts and crafts supplies. Vicki was in 7th heaven exploring her office and showroom. Glen is a retired South African Airlines pilot who now works for a private VIP charter company out of Britain. Some of their clients include The Rolling Stones, Guns and Roses and the Chelsea Football club. Soon he is off on a lengthy trip where 7 people have chartered the aircraft to to run 7 marathons on 7 continents. Some people just have too much money.
After getting settled in and changed we head out to a Rotary Club of Centurion dinner meeting at which we do our club presentations, exchange club banners and then eat and drink the night away.
The following day we are up and at it early and are off to a school project in an area of squatter camps. The students at this school are from families where the parents are undocumented illegal refugees from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Losoto and other poorer countries around South Africa. Even though the unemployment rate is high at around 25%, South Africa is still the economic powerhouse of Africa. In this area most of the employment is associated with the landfill site nearby where people toil as garbage pickers, sifting through the trash is search of cans, glass, paper and cardboard. As they are undocumented, their children cannot go to the government school so they come to Ditshego school ( means “laughter” in the local dialect) until their parents can get registered and documented.
They have about 50 Students full time plus an after school program and six orphans. They feed them daily with produce from their own garden. They have been gifted 2 “tunnels” which we would call greenhouses. They have ample water from a bore hole/ well so the tunnels are all irrigated. One of the Rotarians, a young lady who has a passion for viticulture, has plans to set up a “black soldier fly larva” farm to provide well composted soli for the gardens as well as insect feed for their chickens. This will enhance not only the soil of the garden thereby increasing the productivity of the garden but also the egg producing efficiency of the chickens. A great project to support. We passed the hat right then and there, raised 1200 Rand, ( about $ 100.00 CDN ) and presented the money to the young Rotarian who went out and immediately purchased the fly larva. Rotarians are people of action right.

Our next stop was the Freedom Park, a wonderful interpretive center showcasing the eight armed struggles of South Africa from the Anglo Boer War of 1902 ending with the struggle to end apartheid which occurred in 1994. The Park has a large outdoor space and a memorial wall with the names of South Africans and foreign combatants on the South African side during these conflicts. The other part of the Park is an indoor museum/interpretive center which uses”magic realism” to tell the story of South African history from the migration of Homo Sapiens out of Africa to today. Fascinating place. The center’s mandate is to “Liberate the African Voice” Not enough time to do it justice.
Today we spent the morning at a South African Curio show where we purchased incredible examples of South African souvenirs. For about 1.5 hours before we headed for th3 airport, our host Glen to us to a nearby South African Air Force museum. Very interesting aviation artifacts.

Soon it was time for our group to split up and go our own ways. Vicki and I are going to explore Johannesburg for a few days then fly down to Cape Town on Monday. Til then, thank you for allowing me to share our experiences. Tonight my muse is particularly insistent that I get everything out. I appreciate your patience as I have rambled on quite long enough. Dankie.
ps. Pretoria is known for it’s jacaranda trees and the city is awash in purple.

pss. We had an incredibly articulate guide for our trip through the Park. He made it a truly memorable experience.

Saying goodbye to the Kruger, we loaded the van for a 4 hour blast into Middelburg, our stopover for the next two nights. After arriving later than expected we joined the Middelburg Rotary Club for an evening of bar b qued hamburgers, fellowship and Rotary Club presentations which are a feature of Rotary Friendship Exchanges. Middelburg is a farming, mining and industrial city of approximately 100,000 people located about 3 hours north east of Johannesburg.

After a great evening of fellowship we joined our new BFFs Anton and Rhonda and tottled off to their place for a well deserved sleep.
I arose at 5:45 this morning for a brisk walk with Anton and his dogs around the neighborhood. The wind is cool and the skies are threatening rain. The rainy season is due to start any day now and they are desperately praying for rain. After a hearty breakfast we are off to visit a large primary school located at the nearby township. Thushanang Primary school is populated by 1500 children from the nearby township. The student body and staff are 100 % non-white. The students are well behaved and neatly dressed in their burgundy school uniforms. We were greeted by a group of students waving SA flags as we were trooped in and escorted to our places of honour for speeches and performances from the school choir, dance teams and the competitive robotics teams. The choir is especially entertaining, beautiful voices boys and girls harmonizing and dancing to the rhythms. Very moving. Apparently the school’s choirs regularly win province wide competitions. After touring some of the classrooms that are sorely in need of desks, tables and in particular science lab equipment we met in the principal’s office where a plea was made to please assist if we could with a project to supply the school with these much needed resources. So great is the need and so great is the potential of these eager children. I spoke with one very articulate Gr 7 girl. I asked if she had plans post high school. She replied “ I would like to be a doctor”.

it seems all we have been doing between visits to Rotary projects is eat. We left the school and made our way to the local Chamber of Commerce building for lunch. A long table was set and 30 of us sat down to a “meat meal”. Steaming platters of ribs, sausage, chicken wings, little Vienna sausage, meat balls and some very big French fries. Not a celery or carrot stick in sight.
We returned to our host’s for a post luncheon nap and a quick change then off to the district governor’s dinner with the District 9400 Governor Dr George Senasha. Brilliant man and very inspirational. We presented our club banners to Middelburg club president, had another great meal and pleasant fellowship and then off home for a nice sleep.
Tomorrow we are on the road again, not quite as early as in the past week. Next stop is the Rotary Club of Centurion, a suburb of Pretoria. Sad to think that our friendship exchange will come to an end in 3 more days.
LEARNING AND INNOVATION GO HAND IN HAND. THE ARROGANCE OF SUCCESS IS TO THINK THAT WHAT YOU DID YESTERDAY WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR TOMORROW…William G Pollard, American Physicist and Episcopalian Priest 1911-1989

Stretching 360 kms north to south and an average of 65 kms in width, the Kruger National Park covers over 19,000 sq kms of bush in northeastern South Africa on the border with Mozambique. Named after Paul Kruger, the first president of the South African Republic, it is home to over 140 species of mammals including the Big 5: lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and water buffalo. To see all of the big 5 is considered a rare treat. we saw three; lots of elephants, lots of water buffalo and one lonely leopard. Some of our group of 12 saw all 5.
The numbers are somewhat dated as the last census was completed in 2011 but the impala are the most numerous at about 152,000. We would pass them grazing along the roadways in groups of 30-50. They would look up at the car as we passed. They possess such an aura of innocence on their cute little faces then reality come crashing in when you realize that they might possibly be dinner for a lion, leopard, or hyena by the end of the day.

We did a “self-drive” tour for about 12 hours. We were up Saturday morning at 5 for a quick breakfast of coffee, tea and “rusk” which is a dry biscotti like biscuit. Out the gate of the Skakuza camp at 6 we just wandered the roadways with our eyes peeled for game. We saw great herds of elephants, 15-20 grazing in a group. Herds of zebra too numerous to count and graceful giraffes feeding on the higher branches. We saw hippos in the water holes, kudus with beautiful spiral horns, blue wildebeests and mean, ugly looking warthogs. Less plentiful were the nyalas and the not so common, common duikers.

The Kruger is a birder’s paradise. From beautiful iridescent blue Cape starlings and lilac breasted rollers to helmeted Guinea fowl to white backed vultures, Marabou storks, Southern ground hornbills and the red faced bateleur. So many varieties and so little time. You could spend days doing this.
On Sunday we had a much needed sleep-in til 7:00 AM. Laundry day, lunch on the restaurant deck overlooking the elephants eating and splashing in the river and some afternoon pool time. At 4:30 we queued up and boarded an open air safari bus with 20 other game gazers and headed off for a sunset/night game tour.
We saw many of the same creatures on this drive as we did during the day. We say a few lone hyenas loping along beside the road. At one point one of them came very close to the bus and passed right across our path. Giraffes walking down the middle of the road and a family of warthogs, a mother and 5 piglets crossed the road in front of us and moved off into the bush. One brave little fellow stopped to stare at us to make sure we weren’t following. Close to the end of our drive we spotted a beautiful leopard resting in the grass very near the roadway. We sat quietly for a few minutes but it was obviously nervous and kept moving in the thick grass. That was the highlight of the evening drive. Continuing across the river there were 4 giant egrets, their bright white plumage standing out starkly again the dark foliage of the trees at the river’s edge..

We return to our camp where the rest of our group are just finishing up dinner. They had saved a portion for us so we chow down on salads, sausage and lamb chops with a birthday cake for dessert. We sang old rock and roll songs then rocked and rolled over to our rondoval and into bed.
Our time in the Kruger has been much too short but we have a schedule to adhere to. Next stop is a two day visit with the Rotary Club of Middleburg, just about 150 kms northeast of Johannesburg. Until then,

We arose early again this morning for further explorations of the geological features of the Blyde River Canyon. Known as the Panorama Route, this drive presents stunning views of the Blyde River Canyon and the forested lands below. The canyon is the third largest on earth but does not compare in size to the Grand Canyon in the US. The canyon passes a feature of 3 hills that resemble 3 African round houses or “ rondavals”. When you see the picture you will understand why. We also visited the Pinnacle, a large rock pillar rising some 30 meters above the forest floor. Our third stop of the day was to the Bourke’s Luck Potholes. These depressions and holes in the canyon walls were created by the grinding of hard rocks against the softer stone of the river bed and have resulted in a variety of pools, channels and waterfalls. If you have visited the Sooke Potholes you will have some idea of the attraction although these on are much more impressive.

Much of our travel yesterday and today has been through very hilly countryside covered in timber plantations, orange groves and closer to the town of White River, macadamia trees. Oranges and macadamia nuts are a big export crop. South Africa is now the largest producer of macadamia nuts in the world. There are mile after mile and 1000’s of hectares of pine and eucalyptus plantations. The plantations are in various stages of reforestation. The pine in particular grows very fast. 15 years from planting to harvest. The pine is used for some furniture manufacturing but primarily for pulp. The eucalyptus being a hard wood is used structurally in the gold mines to support the tunnel roofs.
In the town of White River the hillsides are covered in fields of blueberry bushes grown under sun shades.
White River is our stop for the night and we arrive at the meeting point for a hook up with our White River Rotary club hosts . We were introduced to a lovely couple, Eric and Susie Howlands. They are about our age or a little older. Susie is the farmer of the family, cropping organic salad greens, macadamia nut and figs. They plant seedlings every week which are ready for harvest in 6 weeks so there is a continuous cycle of planting and harvesting 12 months of the year. Susie also manufactures pesto sauce using macadamia instead of pine nuts and mayonnaise under her own brand. She both retails and wholesales these products. Eric operates a company that supplies equipment and enzymes for the treatment of sewage waste. Eric is also president of the White River Rotary club. For a couple in their late 70’s they are incredible bundles of energy.

Last night we were hosted by the club for a braai, a South African bar b que. Great chunks a chicken and beef roast cooked on a charcoal fire, potluck salads, plenty of beer and wine and a birthday cake for dessert. All wrapped up and home in bed by 10:30, exhausted but happy.

This morning I beat the alarm set for 6:00 AM by 5 minutes. We enjoyed a light breakfast on the veranda overlooking the farm, birds chirping in the bright morning sun. Soon we were of to meet our fellow travelers, bid our hosts a hearty thank you and off we went.
Today’s destination is Skukuza in the heart of Kruger National Park. We arrived at the entrance gate at about 11:00 AM, filled out forms to record our names, paid our fees and in the gate we went. Skukuza is about 35 kms from the gate but it took us 3.5 hours to travel that distance. It is about 35 degrees Celsius under a bright sunny sky. According to Noel Coward “Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun” but here wildlife abounds. We hadn’t gone a kilometer from the entrance when there was an elephant. A little later on a giraffe and THREE little ones. We saw hundreds of impala standing wearily 20 feet from our car. Wildebeest and kudus were more rare but we did see them. And this was just on our drive in to our lodgings.
We have checked into the Skukuza Safari Lodge and we have been assigned our own rondaval for the next two nights. RONDAVALS are a traditional African round mud house with thatched roofs. Our unit is a round, cement walled cottage with a kitchen, nice bathroom and AIRCONDITIONING. As mentioned earlier it is warm here. So getting settled in we enjoyed a drink on the deck overlooking the river, watched a herd of elephants splashing across just up stream from us and watched the sun go down. This is what they call a “sundowner” We are up at 5:00 for a 6:00 AM departure for a day’s long safari drive. Lots of pictures and stories again tomorrow I’m sure. Goog night from the Kruger.🙏

I am getting behind on my blogging as we have been so busy doing fun things. Today we did a practice run for out trip to Kruger National Park which we will visit on Friday. We headed out this morning to visit a game farm about an hour south. Upon arrival we were greeted by a lemur who entertained us by leaping from car to car. Inside the reception building we met a 4 month old lion cub who was spread out on a sofa in front of the fireplace. We were gathered up by a young man with a baby ferret on a leash sitting on his shoulder chattering away to us. Our “guide” Maurice ran through the rules for us and then off we went for a walking tour of the farm. No cages but rather fenced enclosures, almost like pens. As this was about noon most of the animals were in huts or shelters but we did see African foxes, jackals, hyenas, tortoises, warthog, wild boor and a number of birds. The most impressive was the lion pair, male and female. They are the parents of the for month old cub we encountered in the restaurant. Unfortunately these animals are not in their natural environment but it was an opportunity to see them up close and learn about them in anticipation of of real safari on Friday. We made our way back to the reception/restaurant building for lunch and an opportunity to play with the lion cub. He is still on a bottle so one of our team was able to feed him.

Last night was our first “Rotary meeting” During a Rotary Friendship Exchange it is traditional to attend your host club’s weekly meeting, do a presentation featuring you club’s projects, give effusive thanks to the host club and exchange club banners with the host club president. As our team has Rotarians from 5 different clubs the presentations got a little long but it really was a very enjoyable evening. The Rotary Club of Vanderbiljpark is a small club but have an impressive list of worthwhile projects that make a significant impact on their community. One of the goals of a visit such as this is to identify opportunities to collaborate on projects in the local community. Often exchanges are with clubs that don’t necessarily have the financial resources to contribute; manpower and local knowledge combined with foreign dollars can do wonders. In fact, when we we visited a facility for severely challenged children last Saturday, I spoke with the director about their wish list and she identified possible ways in which we could have in an immediate way. I passed the hat amongst our team and raised $500 CDN to give to the director for the purchase of some needed kitchen equipment. Rotarians are doers.

We rose early this morning for a farewell to our new BFFs and our host for the last four nights, Esme and Desmond Young. Lovely people. Desmond was a Professor of Chemistry and Esme is a PhD in Chemistry now both retired. We joined the rest of our team for a 450 kms drive east towards Kruger National Park. Tonight we are in the town of Graskop, home of the famous Graskop Gorge, a geological feature that has created a deep canyon in the South African escarpment. It has been developed as a tourist attraction with a very nice restaurant, elevator ride to the bottom of the canyon, elevated boardwalk along the creek flowing through, zip line, giant swing and of course gift shop and local artisan market. After a walk through the lush vegetation we climbed into our van for a short ride to our accommodations for the night, the Autumn Breeze Guest house. Clean, very rustic and a very good restaurant. Our group feasted on alligator, ostrich, wildebeest kabobs. I had a nice curried lamb dish, Vicki enjoyed her trout accompanied by snail and the table shared a big five pizza, the big five being lion, leopard,rhino, elephant and African buffalo. Much wine was consumed by some, lots a laughs, sharing of expectations for Friday when we will have a chance to see the Big Five up close and personal in their natural habitat. Now to bed as we are on the road again early tomorrow. Good night all.