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Africa

October - November 2019
A 54-day adventure by Sharon and Grant Macauley Read more
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  • TravelerAfrica

    Driving North from Cape Town

    March 30, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Long drive today. Passed through various vegetation types, lots of golden wheat field on rolling hills, up and over a couple of mountain passes, millions of orange trees and hundreds of acres of vineyards. Light rain fell which would have been very welcome on the thirsty rolling hills. We stayed overnight at Okiep, a former copper mining town. The mine has been closed 50 years and they have a 75% unemployment rate but no crime in this town of 10,000 which is very impressive. We saw the old mine shaft built by the English as well as the cooling tower. It was the first operating copper mine in the world, built over 150 years ago. Grant and Tommy enjoyed a bottle of Stellenboch wine which they raved about.Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 1

    And we're off!

    October 1, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    After months of planning, we have our bags packed, house cleaned and garden fixed for fall. Ready for our African Adventure!

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 3

    Cape Town, Day 1

    October 3, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We left our house at 4:45 AM, on Tuesday, we didn’t arrive in Cape Town at our hotel until 11 PM on Wednesday! We went through Toronto and Amsterdam...long, long trip. Today was sunny and warm, but not hot. We had a good breakfast that came with our hotel and then walked downtown and to the V and A (Victoria and Albert) Waterfront. We enjoyed all the new sights, lots of shops selling African goods, people and scenery. We were back at the hotel by 6 PM; it’s important not to be out and about after dark due to the crime caused by wandering young males, due to the high unemployment rate (over 20%) and drug use. South Africa has the second highest abuse against women in the world (rape and murder). We did not feel unsafe at any time though.Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 4

    Cape Town, Day 2

    October 4, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Another great day in Cape town! Yesterday we were really just getting oriented, but today we had a busy, interesting day. Sharon had trouble getting to sleep for hours last night (jet lag) but the half sleeping pill that Grant took did the trick and he slept like a log most of the night. First, we went and got the zipper on Grant’s backpack fixed since it broke on the trip over. Then we walked downtown through Company’s Garden, a kilometre strip of pedestrian road with garden, lawns, museums and government buildings on either side. We went to the South African Natural History and then to the Slave Lodge, which was the place that slaves were held, housed and from where they were sold like a piece of property. It was very informative and well done, giving us a great understanding of the extent of the injustices that people of colour endured. We then went to two free walking tours that were paid for by donation. Both were outstanding! One was on Apartheid, which was in South Africa from 1948 to 1994, a forced segregation of whites and other skin tones. There was so much information, stories and history, but also present day problems in Cape town and South Africa. The other walking tour was about other historical aspects of the city, but of course the racial issues and tensions continued to be a focal point which infiltrated all topics from poverty, employment, violence against women, education, emigration, politics, etc. It was a very interesting and educational day.Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 5

    Cape Town, Day 3

    October 5, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Another full day! We planned on going up to Table Mountain since it was a beautiful, sunny, clear day without clouds or wind...HOWEVER...when we got half way up the mountain with our UBER driver, it became apparent that half of the tourists in Cape town had the same plan. So we abandoned that and got the driver to take us to the District Six Museum. This was the area of Cape Town that during apartheid was cleared of all Blacks and people of Colour, as they were forcibly moved to other areas of town that were only for their ‘race’. The history was told with many photos, stories and displays, and the lady who talked to us, told us of her own mother’s evacuation against her will which killed her two days later, of a broken heart. We then Ubered to the hospital where Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart transplant and heard the story in a private tour which was extremely interesting and well done. We then went to an Art Gallery which came highly recommended to us, and although the building where it was displayed was amazing, the art was hard for us to appreciate. We also went to a Diamond Museum, run by the Shimanski Company where we had a 45 minute private tour that taught us about diamond mining, history, grading and cutting which was very informative. There was a singing and dance group performing in the square which we also enjoyed. All in all a busy and interesting day!Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 6

    Cape town, Day 4

    October 6, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    After packing up, we moved to the hotel where our tour starts. We enjoyed walking around the waterfront in the afternoon and evening and met up with our group: David, our tour guide, Pietrus our driver and Tommy, the other guest who is from Boulder, Colorado. Our bus is very luxurious and has one seat that can recline on each side of the aisle with room for 11 guests and 1 guide. So with only 3 of us guests it is like a private tour. Each seat has a lockable storage container beside it with a plug for electronic devices. At the back there is a large refrigeration chest to store water and food. Luxury all the way!Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 7

    Driving North from Cape Town

    October 7, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    It was a big driving day today from Cape Town to the north of the country. We passed golden wheat fields, millions of orange trees, mountain passes and it even rained a bit which would have been soaked up quickly by the thirsty soil. We stayed in Okiep, a town of 10,000. It had the world’s first copper mine, built by the British 150 years ago. The mine was then operated by Americans who closed it nearly 50 years ago and the result has been 75% unemployment rate but no crime which is very admirable. We had a tour of the remaining structures. The venting tower is in remarkable condition. Grant and Tommy enjoyed some excellent Stellenbausch wine. The bathroom floor was very slippery when wet and Grant slipped, so now his left knee was swollen and sore for a few days.Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 8

    Into Namibia

    October 8, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    After driving for an hour, we crossed the clean, well maintained and efficient border into Namibia. The name means “vast and empty” which we certainly were going to find out over the next week the true definition of those words! Lots of driving again today but it was broken up by a canoe paddle down the Orange River. We saw lots of birds and gorgeous scenery and stopped at a city with very, very small reed huts. The adults work at the vineyards along the Orange River, Namibia on the near side of the river and on the far side it is South Africa. We gave the kids two soccer balls, coloured pens and balloons and they sang a couple of songs for us. We stayed at a beautiful lodge, with vehicle decorations of old cars, trucks, tractors and much attention to detail in in rooms as well. We drove out to Fish Canyon which is the second largest canyon in the world. The sunset and rock formations were beautiful, although Tommy didn’t come with us because he was sick. On the drive back to the Lodge we saw some Oryx and then Sharon saw one at the Lodge.Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 9

    Namibia

    October 9, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Sharon had a very rough night. It must have been the same flu that Tommy had; not much sleep and violently coming out both ends. Yuk! By morning she felt a tiny bit better and slept quite a bit on the bus. We got to our Lodge about 1:30 and did some laundry and relaxed for the rest of the day but really, there was nothing to do at this German run lodge and the food quality was somewhat lacking.Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 10

    Travel Day to Zebra Lodge

    October 10, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We saw a lot of Oryx today as we travelled about 3 hours today to Zebra Lodge which is in the middle of nowhere and I do mean nowhere. They have a 50 metre well with a pump run with solar energy and a watering hole that the wild animals frequent at night. Because we were leaving at 5am the next morning we didn’t stay up to see them though. Sharon felt much better today and was able to eat a small breakfast and dinner without repercussions! At 4pm we went on a 7km walk with a guide from the Lodge along the Ridge Trail where we learned how to identify zebra footprints, and zebra, oryx and fox scat. The accommodations all seem to have pools but the water is pretty chilly, no doubt from the cool desert nights. The Zebra Lodge is extremely beautiful with rock work and wood ceilings and art that is local, some made with porcupine quills. The meals are good and huge! It was a farm until the early 1990s and has such attention to detail in its reformation. There are extensive gardens, some flowering, lots of succulents and friendly staff, who seem to work 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off when they are able to travel the 2 hour drive home to their families.Read more

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