Here are some of the creatures we captured on film yesterday. It was a tiring job!
Sunday, 8 April 2007
Family Visit 4
St Lucia
I've already done an entry on St Lucia when I came here in January. It's still a tourist spot much as I described before (check out http://carolineinsa.blogspot.com (my old blog) and go to the January entries if you missed it)
After an incredibly muggy start, yesterday we were plagued with heavy downpours, although I managed to avoid getting wet. L,R and Dad were out for a stroll when the worst came down, it was kind of like someone turning on a power shower and then turning it off again...
I spent most of yesterday struggling to fight off a migraine (holiday detoxing from work maybe?) but am much better today after much sleep.
After the rain passed we drove up through Greater St Lucia Wetlands Game Reserve to Cape Vidal, although it was a much different picture to when I went in the Summer, this time the tide was high, the beach was covered in debris and the waves were vicious, probably a throwback to the recent storms and waves that pounded the coastline. We are becoming experts on the various antelope, although the park was strangely devoid of buffalo and wildebeest yesterday. The highlight was seeing a hippo in the middle of a stretch of swampy grassland...
I've already done an entry on St Lucia when I came here in January. It's still a tourist spot much as I described before (check out http://carolineinsa.blogspot.com (my old blog) and go to the January entries if you missed it)
After an incredibly muggy start, yesterday we were plagued with heavy downpours, although I managed to avoid getting wet. L,R and Dad were out for a stroll when the worst came down, it was kind of like someone turning on a power shower and then turning it off again...
I spent most of yesterday struggling to fight off a migraine (holiday detoxing from work maybe?) but am much better today after much sleep.
After the rain passed we drove up through Greater St Lucia Wetlands Game Reserve to Cape Vidal, although it was a much different picture to when I went in the Summer, this time the tide was high, the beach was covered in debris and the waves were vicious, probably a throwback to the recent storms and waves that pounded the coastline. We are becoming experts on the various antelope, although the park was strangely devoid of buffalo and wildebeest yesterday. The highlight was seeing a hippo in the middle of a stretch of swampy grassland...
Friday, 6 April 2007
Family Visit 3
I'm writing this from our balcony in St Lucia, overlooking the estuary. We arrived here this afternoon to be greeted by our 'monkey welcoming party' in the gardens below. As we admired the view, the sound of someone running upstairs awakened us to the fact that we were on the top floor and we were very bemused to see a medium-sized monkey leap from above our heads onto a nearby tree... Communal monkey count is now up to 6... I guess afore-mentioned critter could easily leap onto our balcony and into our residence so I imagine not much will be left lying around here for the next few days.
Yesterday we spent some final time with the kids for the moment, it was so hot that they were making the most of the swimming pool, but L&R declined the opportunity to join them. The water in our pool is fairly murky, need I say more?
2 great restaurant recommendations: for Lunch - 'The Pot and Kettle' at Botha's Hill, fantastic views of the Valley of 1000 Hills and extremely colourful salads; for dinner- 'La Strada' in Hillcrest, the best and most authentic Italian Restaurant I've been to this side of Perugia.
Yesterday we spent some final time with the kids for the moment, it was so hot that they were making the most of the swimming pool, but L&R declined the opportunity to join them. The water in our pool is fairly murky, need I say more?
2 great restaurant recommendations: for Lunch - 'The Pot and Kettle' at Botha's Hill, fantastic views of the Valley of 1000 Hills and extremely colourful salads; for dinner- 'La Strada' in Hillcrest, the best and most authentic Italian Restaurant I've been to this side of Perugia.
Tala Photos
Finally!Photos on my blog of some of the animals from Tala, courtesy of Rob's amazing camera...
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Family visit 2
Wednesday
I tried to attach some animal photos from Tala yesterday, plus a collage of photos from today when L&R brought face paints, balloons and 'matching pairs' games for the kids. It was a popular choice and the kids loved it. They didn't bother with the brushes that came with the face paints, who needs that when fingers will do!
One group of children are currently being very profitably engaged in digging and planting a vegetable garden, it's certainly keeping some of our more lively boys occupied... They still haven't learnt about waiting for fruit to ripen though, several were 'scrumpying' mini guavas and passionfruit from various trees around. Potential sore tummies for at least 10 kids tonight!
L has been getting stuck in with the kids, and coming up with all sorts of plans to organise different things here. One did wander off with her sunglasses, but was later discovered with them on her head! The kids are making the most of offers of games and cuddles. R has been videoing and photographing, Mum and Dad have been getting stuck in too, as the kids here throw themselves onto anyone who comes near and expect to be played with or cuddled. That's fine, except when there's watercolour face paint around to smear everywhere! Dad seems very popular with the little crechies (maybe there's a father Christmas link in their brains somewhere!!)
And our first monkey too... Well, for R and myself as we drove down to Mophela, we spotted at least 2 monkeys at the side of the road, moving too quickly for a camera lens. Everyone else had to believe us, although when they are out scampering about, it won't be long before one or two cross our path again. Africa is full of the unexpected...
I tried to attach some animal photos from Tala yesterday, plus a collage of photos from today when L&R brought face paints, balloons and 'matching pairs' games for the kids. It was a popular choice and the kids loved it. They didn't bother with the brushes that came with the face paints, who needs that when fingers will do!
One group of children are currently being very profitably engaged in digging and planting a vegetable garden, it's certainly keeping some of our more lively boys occupied... They still haven't learnt about waiting for fruit to ripen though, several were 'scrumpying' mini guavas and passionfruit from various trees around. Potential sore tummies for at least 10 kids tonight!
L has been getting stuck in with the kids, and coming up with all sorts of plans to organise different things here. One did wander off with her sunglasses, but was later discovered with them on her head! The kids are making the most of offers of games and cuddles. R has been videoing and photographing, Mum and Dad have been getting stuck in too, as the kids here throw themselves onto anyone who comes near and expect to be played with or cuddled. That's fine, except when there's watercolour face paint around to smear everywhere! Dad seems very popular with the little crechies (maybe there's a father Christmas link in their brains somewhere!!)
And our first monkey too... Well, for R and myself as we drove down to Mophela, we spotted at least 2 monkeys at the side of the road, moving too quickly for a camera lens. Everyone else had to believe us, although when they are out scampering about, it won't be long before one or two cross our path again. Africa is full of the unexpected...
Tuesday, 3 April 2007
Family Visit 1
The Great Horn-Webber South Africa Experience 2007
Part 1
My blog is temporarily going to become almost a daily journal of what’s been happening with the family as they visit me here. The main aim is to keep the rest of the family in the UK informed so that they feel part of the adventure, Hello to you J,B(+1),G and G&G! If you support me here, you’re kind of part of the family too, so I hope you enjoy the stories as well…
Sunday
Mum and Dad arrived from an overnight flight from the UK. After a cold and wet week here last week (which I thankfully missed having been in milder Gauteng!), the hot weather was back with a vengeance and it was quite a shock to the system for them to step off a plane into blazing hot sunshine and mid 30s temperatures.
They are staying in Hillcrest in a very nice Guest House with 2 beautiful dogs, one of which is called Loopy! After a quick change into some cooler clothes, we headed for my house and they had a brief tour of the site before it got dark. All the kids were in dinner so it wasn’t easy to talk to them.
Good restaurant for dinner – Butcher Boys – think it’s a chain, at least in KZN. Nice place, but everything is cooked fresh so it’s a little bit of a wait for food. Dad had Kudu steak, quite tasty. He has been banned from shouting out ‘I’ve eaten you!’ as we go round Game Reserves.
Monday
Picked up hire car and L&R from airport. Felt like paparazzi as we took photos of plane landing, them walking from plane to terminal, emerging from arrivals hall etc… Just before they came out, a guy in orange robes (can’t remember the religion, Buddhist maybe?) came through arrivals and was greeted by similarly dressed men who placed a garland of flowers around his neck. It was too late for me to assemble a similar garland of biltong (dried meat loved by South Africans worldwide) to place around L’s neck…
As I showed them all around site later on, the kids were a bit more interactive. One little boy told my Dad he looked like Father Christmas (because of his beard!), and another little treasure told my Mum that she had hair ‘like a Gogo’ (because her hair is blonde?!)
All the Zulus here are very eager and pleased to meet my family. It’s quite amusing watching them. I keep being accosted by people who’ve heard that my family are around but have not been introduced yet. Tomorrow could be a busy day…
Tuesday
Time is flying by already… Today I took the family for a visit to the local Spar shopping centre to get a couple of things. It’s a centre full of black Africans and is lively, loud and a real experience… Then I drove them to visit a couple of the preschools, through the valleys of KwaXimba and Swayimane. L and R took some footage on video camera which will be made into a DVD at some point soon, we watched it this evening, I think the comedy parts might not make it through, but there were several. We encountered all the traditional sights of driving through the valley – crazy combi driving, large cows and goats blocking the road, everyone waving as we passed; but sadly no monkeys were out today. It was a bit weird for me driving so slowly through the valley, normally I’m on a mission to get somewhere and don’t stop to admire the views. We couldn’t stop for long, but we did get some good views of the amazing valleys.
After lunch in Pietermaritzberg, we headed to Tala Game Reserve. After a comment yesterday from Dad that all he’d seen in the way of wildlife so far was dogs, cats, Sunday the sheep, my rooster and Tubbles (special cat), I decided it might be fun to do a ‘trial run’ around a smaller game reserve, in preparation for the big ones up near St Lucia at the weekend.
And we weren’t disappointed. Arriving just after 4pm it was cooler and time for the animals to come out. My car isn’t suitable for driving down near the water, so we had to admire hippos from a distance, but with our plethora of binoculars and long lens cameras, it wasn’t a problem. A little farther along the way I stopped to point out what turned out to be a rather boring bird in a tree to the right, but immediately on our left there were 2 warthogs having a set-to. Having pushed each other around, and then pushed dirt at each other, they both turned around and peacefully started munching the grass. Must have been males…
I commented that to make a good day we just needed to glimpse Warthogs, Giraffe and Rhino (no predators (lions, cheetahs, leopards) or ‘tramplers’ (elephants) allowed in Tala, it’s a peaceful reserve), and shortly afterwards we came across 6 giraffe right next to the road having a snack of some trees. 4 adult and 2 young. They were outstanding and to be so close to them was incredible. Giraffes are so docile that that wasn’t a problem, but we were eager not to scare them. They are such amazing creatures, so graceful and yet each seems to have an expressive face as they stare straight at you taking picture after picture of them chewing away at some leaves. I wonder if God was chuckling as he designed them. Did He know how much pleasure and amazement these beautiful creatures would bring to the inhabitants of an (almost clean) White Toyota Camry on a sunny Autumn afternoon in 2007?
Two down, only the Rhinos to go. Cleverly, I thought to ask a ranger where the rhinos were hiding and we headed down that way. We nearly lost the track by following another guided tour but spotted our horn-ed friends over on another hill. In the process of getting close to 4 chunky rhinos, we pootled past herds of zebra, wildebeest, Eland, buffalo and several other deer, not to mention several Ostriches and Herons. But the light was fading fast and so the cameras had to be put away and all too soon it was time to go. But for a first attempt at Game viewing, it was excellent and everyone is happy to have been able to get so close…
Highlight of the day: Without a doubt, the giraffe experience. Until you’ve been up close to one of them, you can’t appreciate how amazing these magnificent creatures are, and our car was surrounded by them! Awesome!
All of the pictures are on cameras requiring a special device to get them onto my computer, so they will follow tomorrow. Friends back home had better book out several days for the post-holiday photos on return from here, something tells me that there are going to be a lot!
Part 1
My blog is temporarily going to become almost a daily journal of what’s been happening with the family as they visit me here. The main aim is to keep the rest of the family in the UK informed so that they feel part of the adventure, Hello to you J,B(+1),G and G&G! If you support me here, you’re kind of part of the family too, so I hope you enjoy the stories as well…
Sunday
Mum and Dad arrived from an overnight flight from the UK. After a cold and wet week here last week (which I thankfully missed having been in milder Gauteng!), the hot weather was back with a vengeance and it was quite a shock to the system for them to step off a plane into blazing hot sunshine and mid 30s temperatures.
They are staying in Hillcrest in a very nice Guest House with 2 beautiful dogs, one of which is called Loopy! After a quick change into some cooler clothes, we headed for my house and they had a brief tour of the site before it got dark. All the kids were in dinner so it wasn’t easy to talk to them.
Good restaurant for dinner – Butcher Boys – think it’s a chain, at least in KZN. Nice place, but everything is cooked fresh so it’s a little bit of a wait for food. Dad had Kudu steak, quite tasty. He has been banned from shouting out ‘I’ve eaten you!’ as we go round Game Reserves.
Monday
Picked up hire car and L&R from airport. Felt like paparazzi as we took photos of plane landing, them walking from plane to terminal, emerging from arrivals hall etc… Just before they came out, a guy in orange robes (can’t remember the religion, Buddhist maybe?) came through arrivals and was greeted by similarly dressed men who placed a garland of flowers around his neck. It was too late for me to assemble a similar garland of biltong (dried meat loved by South Africans worldwide) to place around L’s neck…
As I showed them all around site later on, the kids were a bit more interactive. One little boy told my Dad he looked like Father Christmas (because of his beard!), and another little treasure told my Mum that she had hair ‘like a Gogo’ (because her hair is blonde?!)
All the Zulus here are very eager and pleased to meet my family. It’s quite amusing watching them. I keep being accosted by people who’ve heard that my family are around but have not been introduced yet. Tomorrow could be a busy day…
Tuesday
Time is flying by already… Today I took the family for a visit to the local Spar shopping centre to get a couple of things. It’s a centre full of black Africans and is lively, loud and a real experience… Then I drove them to visit a couple of the preschools, through the valleys of KwaXimba and Swayimane. L and R took some footage on video camera which will be made into a DVD at some point soon, we watched it this evening, I think the comedy parts might not make it through, but there were several. We encountered all the traditional sights of driving through the valley – crazy combi driving, large cows and goats blocking the road, everyone waving as we passed; but sadly no monkeys were out today. It was a bit weird for me driving so slowly through the valley, normally I’m on a mission to get somewhere and don’t stop to admire the views. We couldn’t stop for long, but we did get some good views of the amazing valleys.
After lunch in Pietermaritzberg, we headed to Tala Game Reserve. After a comment yesterday from Dad that all he’d seen in the way of wildlife so far was dogs, cats, Sunday the sheep, my rooster and Tubbles (special cat), I decided it might be fun to do a ‘trial run’ around a smaller game reserve, in preparation for the big ones up near St Lucia at the weekend.
And we weren’t disappointed. Arriving just after 4pm it was cooler and time for the animals to come out. My car isn’t suitable for driving down near the water, so we had to admire hippos from a distance, but with our plethora of binoculars and long lens cameras, it wasn’t a problem. A little farther along the way I stopped to point out what turned out to be a rather boring bird in a tree to the right, but immediately on our left there were 2 warthogs having a set-to. Having pushed each other around, and then pushed dirt at each other, they both turned around and peacefully started munching the grass. Must have been males…
I commented that to make a good day we just needed to glimpse Warthogs, Giraffe and Rhino (no predators (lions, cheetahs, leopards) or ‘tramplers’ (elephants) allowed in Tala, it’s a peaceful reserve), and shortly afterwards we came across 6 giraffe right next to the road having a snack of some trees. 4 adult and 2 young. They were outstanding and to be so close to them was incredible. Giraffes are so docile that that wasn’t a problem, but we were eager not to scare them. They are such amazing creatures, so graceful and yet each seems to have an expressive face as they stare straight at you taking picture after picture of them chewing away at some leaves. I wonder if God was chuckling as he designed them. Did He know how much pleasure and amazement these beautiful creatures would bring to the inhabitants of an (almost clean) White Toyota Camry on a sunny Autumn afternoon in 2007?
Two down, only the Rhinos to go. Cleverly, I thought to ask a ranger where the rhinos were hiding and we headed down that way. We nearly lost the track by following another guided tour but spotted our horn-ed friends over on another hill. In the process of getting close to 4 chunky rhinos, we pootled past herds of zebra, wildebeest, Eland, buffalo and several other deer, not to mention several Ostriches and Herons. But the light was fading fast and so the cameras had to be put away and all too soon it was time to go. But for a first attempt at Game viewing, it was excellent and everyone is happy to have been able to get so close…
Highlight of the day: Without a doubt, the giraffe experience. Until you’ve been up close to one of them, you can’t appreciate how amazing these magnificent creatures are, and our car was surrounded by them! Awesome!
All of the pictures are on cameras requiring a special device to get them onto my computer, so they will follow tomorrow. Friends back home had better book out several days for the post-holiday photos on return from here, something tells me that there are going to be a lot!
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