Cathy's Trip to Africa - 2017

Itinerary

August 28 – October 10, 2017

August 28 – Leave Atlanta 3pm (Delta Flight #70, through Amsterdam)
August 29 – Arrive 8pm (Delta Flight #9349) JRO, Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania
August 30 & 31 – Moshi, Tanzania; Join Friendship Force group

 

September 1 – Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro

September 2 – Tarangire National Park

September 3 – Lake Manyara National Park via Great Rift Valley

September 4 & 5 – Serengeti National Park, Leakey archaeological site, & hot air balloon ride (weather permitting)

September 6 & 7 – Ngorongoro Crater, including Masai village; Return to Moshi

 

September 8 & 9 – Drive to Iringa via Morogoro

Five night home stay with local residents in Iringa (September 9-13)

September 14 & 15 – Ruaha National Park

September 16 & 17 – Return to Moshi via Morogora

September 18 – 4am flight to Nairobi, Kenya airport with connections to Victoria Falls

 

 

September 18 & 19 – Victoria Falls, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia, including tour of the falls.

September 20, 21 & 22 – Safari at the Shinde Camp in Botswana’s Okavango Delta

September 23, 24, & 25 – Safari at the Tau Pan Camp in Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve

September 26 & 27 – Gaborone, Botswana (setting for the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books)

September 28 to October 8 – Cape Town, South Africa

Airbnb in Simon's Town

 

African Penguins on Boulders Beach

 

9 nights with rental car at Simon’s Town/Boulders Beach airbnb to see penguins, Cape of Good Hope, Table Mountain, local sites.

Spend last 2 nights at airbnb in downtown Cape Town at Victoria & Albert Waterfront, including boat ride to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned).

October 9 – Leave Cape Town, South Africa CPL 11pm (Delta Flight 9436 through Amsterdam)

October 10, 2017 – Arrive Atlanta 4:45 pm (Delta Flight 75)



Last two days in Sydney

I hate to think of leaving Australia tomorrow. With my last two days in Sydney, here are some of the things I did:

- Walked the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The next day I climbed the 200 stairs inside one of the pylons that anchor the bridge, and was rewarded with spectacular views from the top. I opted not to pay an additional $288 for bragging rights to walk the very top of the bridge . . . although I did see others doing it.

Sydney Harbour Bridge with pylon on left

View of Sydney from on top of pylon

Birds-eye view of Sydney Opera House

- Found my way through the labyrinth of streets and stairways that make up downtown Sydney. At times I felt I was in the middle of an M.C. Escher lithograph.

- Took the ferry to the Taronga Zoo and saw several animals that I hadn't seen previously: crocodile, platypus, tree kangaroo, and Tasmanian Devil.

- Took a different ferry to Manly Beach, a charming seaside community with shops and restaurants, in addition to a lovely beach.

Kangaroo Kebob (at least the shrimp kebob was good)

- Tasted kangaroo meat in the form of a kebob. I didn't particularly like it, but at least I can say I tried it.

- Toured the Hyde Park Barracks Museum and saw how British convicts lived when they were brought to Australia to work in the early to mid 1800s.

Convict barracks from the 1800s

- Toured the Australian Museum especially for its exhibit of Aboriginal people and an exhibit about dinosaur fossils found in Australia.

Tomorrow I fly back to the U.S.  This has been an excellent trip!

Blue Mountains National Park outside Sydney

I spent the day with a delightful group of fellow travelers, led by Don, our knowledgeable and affable host.

Don, Arthur, Sherida, Jennifer, Jackie, Denay, Gary, and Cathy

This excursion was to the Blue Mountains National Park, another World Heritage Area, located an hour west of Sydney. The blue haze, and the reason for the name, is caused by eucalyptus trees.

Blue haze caused by eucalyptus

Scenic overlook

Legendary "Three Sisters" rock formation*

Scenic overlooks, a lovely walk in the woods, a tasty lunch, and perfect weather added to the enjoyment.

A pleasant walk in the woods

On the way, we stopped at a wildlife park and saw native Australian animals, some of which I hadn't seen before, including a wombat and a close-up view of an echidna (aka spiny anteater), which resembles a hedgehog but is really an egg-laying mammal.

Wombat

Echidna, which I had seen briefly in the wild previously

On the way back we spent time at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden.







AEA Tours website: www.aealuxury.com.au

* An Aboriginal legend about three sisters turned to stone

The Sydney Opera House and more

Today I took a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour of the beautiful Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Opera House

It took 15 years to build (1958 to 1973) and went over-budget ($102 million vs $18.4 million budget), but the results were worth it. After a dispute between the original architect Jorn Utzon and the government, Utzon went home to Denmark, never to return. Regardless, his shell design -- some say sails --gave Sydney one of the world's most recognizable buildings and worldwide acclaim. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

View of Sydney Harbour Bridge from my hotel room

Other items of note from the last few days:

- Had a spectacular view of the full moon from my hotel room. My hotel is immediately beside the Sydney Harbour Bridge and within sight of the Opera House. How cool is that?

- Took tours of Sydney, one via bus and the other a walking tour. I have now seen the Royal Botanic Garden and Mrs Macquarie's Chair carved from stone, Bondi Beach, lots of bays, gardens and bridges, and purple jacaranda trees that are in bloom all over the city.

- Have been learning about the history of Australia and specifically Sydney. For instance, the convicts who were brought over to settle Australia were sometimes only guilty of stealing food to eat. They were sentenced to 7 or 14 years of hard labor, after which many stayed in Australia for the opportunities.

Bats in the trees in Cairns waiting for sundown

- Back in Cairns, I went to dinner with Cheryl and Gary from the Rainforest excursion. On the way to the restaurant we saw trees full of bats heading out for their nightly foraging. They were the Flying Fox variety of megabats (i.e. they don't use echolocation to navigate), and they filled the skies. An amazing sight.

Excursion to a Tropical Rainforest

Brett, naturalist guide

Ryan, Cheryl & Gary from Canada

I spent a full day in and around the Daintree River and its tropical rainforest north of Cairns. A wonderfully congenial group of 13 of us, led by Brett, our naturalist guide, learned about the World Heritage Tropical Rainforest.

Tomesh from Holland

Highlights of the day:

- a rare sighting of a female cassowary, a large flightless bird that is native to the rainforests of New Guinea and Australia. This bird is about the size of an emu but with brilliant blue, purple and red coloring.

Rare sighting of a Cassowary

- an equally rare sighting of 2 Boyd's forest dragon lizards. Both lizards were seen clinging to tree trunks.

- a river cruise on the Daintree River (no crocodile sightings, though)

Daintree Rainforest

- the chance to hand-feed several wallabies with slices of sweet potato

- steak cooked on the "barbie" (barbecue)

Feeding sweet potato to Wallabies

- a look at Cape Tribulation in Daintree National Park. Captain James Cook first landed in Australia in 1770 at Botany Bay and claimed the land for England. As he continued north from what is now Sydney along the coast toward Great Barrier Reef, his ship The Endeavor scraped a reef and he was forced to spend two months repairing the damage. Cape Tribulation was so named by Captain Cook because this is where all his troubles began.

Billy Tea Safaris

http://www.billytea.com.au/

A note about the weather: November is usually the beginning of the rainy season in the tropical rainforest, but not so far. We've had blue skies and hot, sunny days for all four days of my trip in the Cairns vicinity. Because of that, mosquitos and jellyfish have not been a problem, happy to say.

Aboriginal Culture Park

Friday's trip was to the Tjapukai (pronounced JAB-a-guy) Aboriginal Culture Park on the edge of the rainforest.

Tjapukai Aboriginal Culture Park

Our Indigenous guide introduced us to his group's customs including playing the didgeridoo, throwing a boomerang, and throwing a spear (the last two of which we each tried to do). He and his friends also performed dances that illustrated Dreamtime Stories (their understanding of the world). The music of the didgeridoo accompanied their stories.

Our wonderful Indigenous guide

Dreamtime Story dance

There was a demonstration of pit cooking, similar to a Hawaiian luau, with the cooked food included in our lunch buffet. One of the most impressive demonstrations (other than the boomerang) was rubbing two sticks together to make a fire. It took all of one minute to create a roaring fire in the fire pit. Amazing!

There are 500 different Indigenous nations in Australia, each with its own language and customs, and our guide was quick to point out that the Tjapukai is just one of those nations. There are approximately 700,000 Aboriginals in Australia today, representing 3% of the country's total population.

Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef

A wonderful day on Great Barrier Reef --- snorkeling and also underwater viewing of coral and fish from inside a semi-submersible submarine.

The tour bus drove the scenic Captain Cook Highway from Cairns to Port Douglas. There 300 of us boarded a fast catamaran for an hour's ride to Agincourt Reef on the outer edge of Great Barrier Reef.

Catamaran that took us to the reef

The tour company had constructed a permanent floating platform with covered seating, SCUBA and snorkeling areas, a separate platform for a helicopter, and all the comforts of home (including a full buffet lunch and morning and afternoon tea).

Semi-submersible for underwater viewing

I donned snorkel gear and a Lycra wet suit (to protect from the sun and jellyfish). My snorkeling partner was Brea, a recent high school graduate on holiday with her young grandmother, Kristen.

Brea and Kristen

The coral are really tiny organisms that attach themselves to the reef and become part of the living reef.  The colors were not all that vibrant, but the different types of coral were amazing --- a wide variety of shapes (that looked like antlers or brains, for example). Also lots of fish in all sizes and colors.

An excellent day all around!

Coral in all shapes and sizes

Snorkeling area off the platform

Arrived at Great Barrier Reef and Queensland

Arrived in Cairns, Queensland, Australia

It was a three hour flight from Melbourne to Cairns (pronounced CANS), which is a jumping off point for the Great Barrier Reef and day trips into the interior.

Cairns is much farther north and closer to the equator, so the temperatures suddenly went from 60s to 80s. The sun comes up at 6:30 am and it's dark by 6:30 pm, thus there is no use for Daylight Saving Time.

Tomorrow I spend the day at the Great Barrier Reef. May not have access to updating this blog for the next several days.

My Rental Car for Four Days

I turned in my rental car this evening after four days of driving on the left side of the road. My trusty GPS ("Navman") served me well, and I didn't have any major problems. The steering wheel on the right side of the car meant that I wasn't always sure how close I was to the left curb. As long as I remembered to keep to the left at the roundabouts, everything was fine.

Below is a sign you don't see every day.

An Afternoon with the Dingoes

I spent time today at the Dingo Sanctuary and Research Centre, a nonprofit organization run by Lynn and her dedicated volunteers and sponsors.

The sanctuary houses 40 purebred dingoes and conducts DNA and behavioral research on this often misunderstood native Australian animal frequently blamed for killing livestock and humans.

Though the dingo cannot be domesticated, these animals were remarkably tame and happily ate out of my hand.

They do not bark, but they can howl and make other almost-human vocalizations. I applaud this organization in its efforts to assure the survival of the dingo.

Their website is: www.dingodiscovery.net

Penguins and More on Phillip Island

I drove a rental car two hours south of Melbourne for three nights of penguin watching.

Cathy surrounded by penguins!

Phillip Island has a colony of 30,000 Little Blue Penguins who spend all day feeding on anchovies and small krill in the open waters and return to their burrows when the sun goes down. These Little Penguins are only 12 inches tall and vulnerable to large seabirds and all sorts of predators, so they rush the shore at dusk as a big group. There's safety in numbers. They are a hoot to watch as they waddle to safety as fast as they can.

And no, I didn't really get to touch any penguins! The photo above superimposes me into a stock photo of penguins. (Sorry . . . )

Girls watching the penguins from an undergound bunker

Little Blue Penguin

During the daylight hours I entertained myself with all sorts of island activities: hiking along magnificent coastline, seeing more koalas and wallabies (including a wallaby that hopped across the road in front of me), and touring a restored farm from the 1800's. The farm included a demonstration of sheep herding dogs and a sheep shearing demonstration, which I found interesting.

To see more pictures of the penguins go to: https://www.penguins.org.au/

A Busy Two Days of Sightseeing in Melbourne

This was my own version of an Australian "walkabout", aided by the free trams that criss-cross downtown Melbourne. One particular tram circles the downtown district providing tourist commentary. I am told that Melbourne has the world's largest network of trams. Even without the trams, Melbourne is wonderfully safe and pedestrian-friendly.

I enjoyed the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum (in what used to be the Customs House), and the Ian Potter Art Museum with its special exhibit of Indigenous Art.

Melbourne is a true melting pot with its diverse and multicultural population. Almost a quarter of Melbourne's 4.5 million population was born overseas. 180 countries are represented either as residents or university students: Greeks, Italians, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and every other Asian group imaginable, Indians, Turks, Eastern Europeans, and more.

Entrance to Chinatown

I ate Indonesian food last night and Persian food this evening. The Indigenous community in Melbourne (also known as Aborigines or First People) numbers 20,000, although I have not met any yet.

I will be sad to leave Melbourne tomorrow morning. It is a lovely city.

Koalas and Kangaroos in the wild

Spent a great day with a very knowledgeable tour guide (Cathy) and a lovely Canadian couple (Christine and Leopaul).

 

We went first to a state park where we saw lots of kangaroos in the wild, plus an amazing variety of birds and other wildlife, including an emu. We also saw wallabies, a smaller marsupial cousin to the kangaroo.

Kangaroos in the wild

Koala in the wild

At the second park we found a female koala high in a eucalyptus tree eating the leaves. Like other marsupials, koalas carry their babies in their pouch, but we couldn't tell if this one had a baby with her. I was surprised to learn that there are hundreds of varieties of eucalyptus trees, and that different koalas have their individual taste preferences.  Who knew?

Echidna Walkabout Tours website: https://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au