Last evening’s game drive was pretty lame. We saw a few of the same animals we had seen before, and in pretty much the same locations.
(Photos will be added when we have sufficient internet bandwidth.)
One comical thing is the herd of impalas, that greeted us on arrival and has been hanging out in the field adjacent to the air strip, had moved over to graze virtually under the wings of the parked aircraft. It looked like a highly congested security line at the airport!
The group enjoyed a “sundowner” drink served from the tailgate, But the sun had pretty much set already by the time we stopped in a clearing in the bush, and the view of the horizon was obscured by trees.
So on the way back we were chatting away, not paying much attention to what was going on outside the truck, when our tour leader “shushed” us and whispered, “there’s a leopard in the road!”
Sure enough, a young male leopard was trotting along the road, moving in the same direction as our vehicles. He appeared to be on a mission — like he had somewhere to go.
Totally unphased by the truck headlights and the driver’s searchlight, the leopard kept trotting along. Occasionally he would glance over his shoulder at us, but he continued on for perhaps as much as 500 meters.
Eventually he turned and walked into the bush, but not like he was running away from us. Just like, “OK, this is my turn.”
Only about 15 to 20% of tourists actually get to see a leopard on one of these trips, so we felt very fortunate.
In the evening, one of these African staff of this camp offered a “dark sky” experience and most of the group went out to get a lesson on the southern sky and some of the constellations we can’t see in the northern hemisphere. He’s just a hobbyist, but he was quite knowledgeable.
This morning’s game drive took a different route than the last two. We saw buffalo, as well as our first elephant in this location (but he looked just like the elephants in Zimbabwe, surprisingly enough). There were some rare birds, and there was some zebra scat, but no zebra was seen.
Without a doubt, the leopard sighting was the most exciting thing of the last 24 hours.
As we were landing, we got a glimpse of Victoria Falls from the air. We’ll return here near the end of the trip to see the Falls up close, on the ground.
We had one stop at a very primitive roadside area. The people were extremely friendly, and our new best friend “Clive” volunteered to take us on a tour of the place that included the butcher shop, the sports bar, grocery store (where we met his father and uncle, above) and the porridge restaurant. Porridge is a stew of beef or goat, often mixed with or served on top of mashed boabob fruit (think sour mashed potatoes). We declined the taste test, especially since we had just seen the butcher shop where the meat probably had come from.
Our route took us through a series of huge open-pit coal mines that are disrupting thousands of acres of countryside. These are being operated by Chinese and Russian companies that bypass environmental regulations by bribing the inspectors. Bribes are common here for nearly everything. We are told that a U.S. 5 dollar bill can get a person out of almost any traffic ticket or hassle with a border guard.
The mines extend right up to the border of the national park. But the elephants don’t read the signs, so we passed a small family of elephants grazing in the midst of the mines.
These roads made the highway I described earlier look like an interstate. Imagine the worst-maintained rural gravel road in Iowa.
Nevertheless, our game drive driver, Garry, has very sharp eyes, and we were able to see impalas (larger deer), hydrax (rodent-like creatures), cliff springers (small deer), and warthogs, as well as many species of birds.
At a lake, we observed hippos and crocodiles
On the way back to camp for lunch, a large bull elephant greeted us just outside the camp, and he was kind enough to pose politely for our photos before moving on.
Unfortunately, Good Friday is a major holiday here and all of the museums and historical sites were closed. Nevertheless, we got to see Mandela Square, and to get a very good look at the sharp contrast between the “haves” and the “have nots” here.
A high wall kept us from seeing Mandela’s house, but we could read some of the hundreds of messages written on rocks that people have left outside.
Soweto (the SOuthWEstern TOwnship) is famous as the locus of the fight for racial equality in this country. We were surprised to learn of contrasts even here, where there are modern new homes next to squatter slums.
We were also a little shocked to see goats feeding on garbage and the sidewalk restaurants serving “gentlemen’s menus,” which are parts of a cow one generally would hesitate to eat.
We also got a glimpse of Desmond Tutu’s modest home (somewhat obscured by foliage), and some outdoor monuments to the anti-apartheid struggle. But the tour ended early due to the many closures. Just as well, as we join the OAT group and head to the airport very early tomorrow for our flight to Zimbabwe.
We attended church on Sunday, February 8, then went to a casual brunch with friends, and then made our way to the airport for our afternoon flight, arriving in Palm Springs about dusk. A rental car “upgrade” is not always a good thing. The midsize sedan we reserved was not available, so we were stuck with a too big SUV. It got us to our motel in Palm Desert — not a fancy place, but comfortable enough.
Monday morning we were up early — two hour time change — so after breakfast at the motel, we headed to Indian Canyons. The tribe charges senior citizens like us a $7 entry fee, and we got our money’s worth by hiking a couple different trails. After driving right in on our morning arrival, on the way out we were surprised to see a long line of cars, eager to pay their entry fee and lined up for over a block to get in.
A lunch hour stop at a recommended restaurant refreshed us with cold beer. Then we made our way to the Palm Springs Visitors Center to get the low-down on locations and events. We had purchased tickets online for the late afternoon “Ride and Dine” at the Palm Springs Arial Tramway. The ride was fun, there was more hiking at the top of the mountain, and the meal was better than we anticipated. The ride down after dark gave us a panoramic view of the city lights.
Tuesday was spent primarily in “old” Palm Springs. The city became popular with the rich and famous in the 1950s and -60s, and is filled with examples of “mid-century modern” architecture. These include the Twin Palms neighborhood, the “Ship of the Desert,” and a home supposedly occupied by Marilyn Monroe where she secretly “entertained” John F. Kennedy. The downtown area also features a number of historically registered buildings, now all filled with trendy shops.
The art museum is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but we visited the outdoor sculpture garden there (including a massive Marilyn Monroe statue), as well as another sculpture garden a half hour away in Palm Desert, nearer our hotel. We also wasted a great deal of time trying to find a brew pub. There aren’t any here!
Wednesday was devoted to visiting Joshua Tree National Park, It was an hour’s drive and a climbs to 4,000+ feet elevation. The visitors centers (there are four of them, and we visited two) are the worst we’ve seen in any national park. Maybe consolidate to just one good one? But we had some nice hikes, and at the first one, “Hidden Valley,” it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Things got more crowded mid-day.
