South Africa Trip

Thursday, December 11 - Kayamandi Township

2008-12-21T08:41:00.000-08:00

I know this is out of order, but I wanted to upload these while I have time in Joburg. I'll add text later.

Mama Esme

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

2008-12-21T08:40:00.001-08:00

Once again, we all over slept. On the itinerary for today was Cape Point. We start off down the Chapman's Peak road (the scenic route) but soon find out it is closed due to rock slide. We turn around an take to other route.

After arriving at Cape Point, we decide to eat brunch at the Two Oceans restaurant before walking out to the point. As we eat our brunch, a couple birds fly up and walk along the fence we are sitting next to for the view of the ocean. Gareth and Liza feed them a couple French fries.

Moments later, SLAM! One bird that was keeping its distance body slams Rey's plate, grabs a French fry, and flies off. This startles all of us. I take a quick photo of Rey's plate and then one of Liza who was startled the most and who is now laughing. That's when we all notice the Liza's fries are covered with ketchup. She had been pouring some on her plate when the bird body slammed Rey's plate. She was so startled she poured almost half of the bottle on her plate. We were onto the birds now. One of them would distract us while the other would perform a smash and grab. I would have liked to see one of them do that to Liza's plate. They would have been covered in ketchup. It also would probably cover us all in ketchup too.

After we recovered for the smash and grab, we walked up to the point lookout. As we leave the lookout to walk out to the point I hear an old lady say to the other people she's with "Oh good, we're high."

Roger: Friend or Photographer?

As we walked out to the point, the wind was blowing quite hard and Liza struggled to put on her jacket. I, walking behind her, instantly started taking pictures, laughing the whole time. After a number of pictures, I finally assist her. What a gentleman I am.

The wind lead to some great hair styles for Liza.

From there, we head to Simon's Town in False Bay were we stop to see the African Penguins.

Our last stop is Polana in Kulk Bay for dinner.

We return home to the smell of paint thinner. The owners are having some painting done, and they must have stored the paint and thinner in the garage.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

2008-12-21T08:36:00.001-08:00

Once again, we get a late start on the day. Our plan was to drive to a couple wineries for wine tasting, dinner at the Spier, and petting the cheetahs (or "chetting the peetahs" as Rey mistakenly called it the night before). Our first stop was the Goats Do Roam winery and tasted eight different wines and sampled a few pieces of cheese. We liked a couple of the wines and ended up ordering several bottles to have shipped home. They did have a distributor in California that could ship the wines to us directly. Unfortunately, the distributor did not carry the Riesling, so I purchased two bottles there and decided I'd figure out how I'd get them home later.

Afterwards, we drove to the Spier restaurant, which was quite unique. It was an out door restaurant with dining areas built in the trees. It was a buffet style, but the authentic South African food was good. At the time, it was one of those meals I was concerned about after reading all of the health warnings before the trip. But we all survived without any side effects.

The last stop was the cheetah petting. We had the chose between petting the adult or younger cheetahs. We all agreed on the younger cheetahs. Before they let us in, they fed the cheetahs. I joked to myself, is that good or bad idea? Was it a good idea good making them full so they wouldn't eat us? Or was it a bad idea, wet their appetite; a starter before the main course. Seeing as we all walked out of there with all our limbs, I concluded it was good idea.

We were giving specific instructions on what to do and what not to do. We could only approach them from the back, and could only lightly pet their back and sides. I was surprised how easily they purred. They also have very little smell. This is natural for them, as it helps them hunting. When asked who wanted to pet Elroy, I could not pass up on the opportunity to pet Elroy and make him purr. And I didn't have to feed him beer! (Okay, that's an inside joke. I have a good friend named LeRoy whose nickname is Elroy.) About 5 minutes after petting Elroy, I discovered I was allergic to him. (Sorry LeRoy.) I know I'm allergic to some cats, and now I know I'm allergic to cheetahs as well.

After petting the cheetahs, we walk through the bird exhibit, where rescued birds are displayed.

Monday, December 8, 2008

2008-12-21T08:35:00.000-08:00

Exhausted from the traveling and the lack of sleep, we decide this will be our first rest day and sleep in. We end up having a late brunch (AKA lunch) with Gareth at the Sandbar.

It was another windy evening. I ventured out to take some night photos.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

2008-12-21T08:33:00.001-08:00

This was the first day that we finally got to sleep in a little bit. Around 10 am, Gareth and Bonita stop by and we drive out to Franschhoek for "The Magic of Bubbles" cap Classis and Champagne Festival. As we leave town, we point out that this is where we lost the hub cap the day before. As we drive by, we see it on the side of the rode. We pull over and Rey jumps out to retrieve it. Me, camera in hand, can't pass up the photo op. I love my new Canon digital camera. It doesn't take as goof of pictures as my Nikon DSLR, but it's portable and I have no excuse not to take more pics.

We stay at the festival for a couple hours, sampling the different Champagnes and hiding for the heat of the sun. My favorite had to been my own Champagne. It was popular too. Well, of course it's not mine, but with the name Pol Roger, it became "mine." Liza and I decide to order a case and have it shipped to the States. While there, Rey and Liza talk to the people from The Kusasa Project about volunteering. Unfortunately, school is out for holiday, so we would not be able to volunteer for a day.

While talking to the gentleman from The Kusasa Project, I observe one of them constantly telling the young volunteer staff "Small and white, small and while." I'm thinking to myself, what an odd thing to say. Then I remember how I thought Point and Silly was odd, as was Table Monson and the parking gods, so I observe the guy for a while and finally figure out that he's telling them to "Smile and wave." Eish, will I ever get use to this accent?

On the way home, we take the scenic route. It took a little longer, but it was well worth it.

Once we got back to Cape Town, we stopped by the Waterfront Mall to pick up an internet modem from Vodafone and some other shopping. We thought we could rent one for each of us, but found out we had to buy them and prepay for data transfer. Rey, Liza, and I agree to buy only one and to share it while we are in South Africa.

We drive over to the Radisson for Cocktails, which where the weakest drinks we have had so far this trip.

After we finish our cocktail, we drive back to the Waterfront Mall for dinner at the Baia. I would highly recommend the Baia. Everything we ordered was excellent, and the desserts had to be the best we had the entire trip. Even better is the price. We had dinner for five people including starters, seafood, desserts, and two bottle of wine for only $250. I admit, when it came to food, we were completely spoiled the whole trip.

One of the many conversations we had that day involved food and restaurants. Gareth asked "Do you have KFC in the states?" Rey asked "Do you know what KFC stands for?" I looked at Gareth and I could tell by his grim that he did and he had just cracked a joke. Of course, I found it rather funny.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

2008-12-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

This trip has been incredible experience. When we arrived last night, it was quite dark and very windy. We were not prepared for the spectacular view that waited. I awoke around 7:30 am, open the drapes in my bedroom, and stood there for several minutes taking in the view.

Liza was also up and we went out in the back and took in the view in the warm, calm, sunny morning. Liza pointed over to Lions Head Mountain and told me that it was the mountain we were climbing with Bonita’s friends. Having some rock climbing experience, I looked at the mountain and thought to myself, I don’t think that is climbable without climbing gear. Knowing Liza’s difficulty understanding the accents, I thought for sure she misunderstood. I told her I doubted that was the mountain we were going to hike.

I was wrong. We meet Bonita’s friends German, Franc, and Mornié at the base for the hill and proceeded up the trail. The hike started out quite easy, but got more a little more challenging as we neared the top. It was a quite easy climb overall. There were a couple narrow spots in the trail, and two spots that required using a chain as a climbing rope and foot holds. Liza went before Rey and myself. She climbed the section without any problem and with a little coaching from coach Rey who was below her with me. I stood there looking up at her thinking that I should position myself to try to catch her in case she slips. Then, I looked down at the ledge that Rey and I were standing on. I positioned myself below Liza and my mind rapidly processed multiple scenarios for catching her in case she did slip. I convinced myself she wouldn’t and luckily she reached the next ledge as my mind still searched for a solution.

I found the chain a little slick and contemplated resorting to real climbing techniques, but decided not to try switching since I was half way up the short section. The most difficult part of the climb for me was these two sections. Not because it was challenging, but because the shorts I was wearing weren’t suited for climbing and restricted my range of motion. That, and my volleyball abused knees, which screamed at me every time I pushed from one foot hold to the next. I told them to be shut up and ignored them.

We made it to the top in about 45 minutes, and were rewarded to the view and a bottle of Champaign, which German had carried in his back pack. What a wonderful welcoming to Cape Town, lekker view, weather, and people. We relaxed, shot photos, and soaked in the sun for about 30 minutes before heading back down.

After the hike, we followed Franc, and Mornié down the windy road to the Sandbar, a restaurant across the street from the beach in Camps Bay, where we were meeting up with Gareth and Bonita for brunch. On the drive down, Rey, who was adjusting to driving on the left hand side of the road in a rental car with a manual transmission, cut one of the left hand corners a little too close, hitting the curb. I looked out the window and see the hub cap flying off onto the shoulder. I didn’t laugh or rub it in (at that time). I just stated as a matter of fact “We lost a hub cap.” Rey thought I was kidding at first. It was a narrow road, and we were following those guys to the Sandbar, so we keep on going.

After brunch, we invited everyone over to the house to see the view, relax in the sun, and have a few drinks. A few other friends of theirs also stopped by. As I relaxed in the sun, I recalled that people at the safari telling us how different Joburg and Cape Town is from Kruger, which is understandable. I did miss the sounds of all the birds, frog, and insects. A few people even warned that the residence of Cape Town were very cliquish. So far, everyone I had met in Cape Town has been very nice and welcoming.

Being Rey’s 40th birthday, Rey, Liza, Gareth, Bonita, and I have dinner at the Showroom, which is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Cape Town. It reminded me of a most San Francisco restaurants. The décor was clean, simple, and modern. The food was good, but not exceptional. The plates were more decorative than tasty. At the time, I thought the food was good. I am currently on our flight out of South Africa (Joburg to Dakar). In retrospect, we ate at so many excellent restaurants and had more fresh seafood (and cocktails) than I had imagined before our trip. As Liza mentioned a couple times, she did not anticipate that Cape Town would have such incredible fresh seafood. I have to admit my own ignorance on this. Considering it is on the coast, it does make complete sense. (Duh!) If you ever travel to Cape Town, I would recommend many of the other restaurants and pass on the Showroom.

Being Rey’s birthday, I volunteered to drive. I was looking forward to the experience. I had never driven on the left hand side before. It wasn’t that difficult. The tough part is trying to gauge the distant on the left hand side of the car. As long as you focus on driving on the left hand side while making turns, it’s not that difficult. What I found funny was that without thinking, at first, I always tried to shift with my right hand. Your hand and mind soon realize, there’s no stick shift there. It’s the door. The stick shift is on the left hand side.

After dinner, to celebrate Rey’s 40th birthday, Bonita and Gareth take us to The Bronx, and local gay bar. At the door, after paying cover, we are greeted with a shoot. I was thinking to myself, I like this bar already. (Later, we learn that Gareth or Bonita ordered the shots.) When I saw the size of the shot glasses, I was no longer shocked or impressed by the fact that a group of ten people finished 150 shots in one night. These shot glasses are the size of a thimble, and filled to the brim with a sweet liquor. They tasted okay. The only problem was they were filled to the rim, and being very sweet, our hands were very sticky afterwards.

South Africa Fact

When making a toast, when you click your drink glass with another person, you must make eye contact with that person. Otherwise, it is seven years of bad sex. Rey, Liza, and I had sure that we made solid eye contact the rest of the trip. Towards the end of the trip, Rey and Liza started making fun of me for raising my eye brows and opening my eyes too wide during the toast. I wasn’t taking any chances. Seven years is a long time.

We hung out at the Bronx for a while, ordering several shots and trying to dance. The Bronx was typical of many gay bars. It had a variety of people and music. I don’t know. After awhile, they all look alike no matter what city you go to. There are exceptions. Especially if when it comes to clubs verses bars. The Bronx reminded me of any bar in any town.

It was my turn to buy, so I asked Gareth for a recommendation. He offered a recommendation, which I heard as Point and Silly. I thought, “Point and Silly,” what a silly name. So I repeated the name to him, which both Rey and Gareth got a good laugh out of. Rey translated it for me. It was Potency. I turn to the bar and ask the bar tender for a round of Potency’s. The bar tender said “What?” I paused, and being slightly bussed and a wise-ass, said “Point and Silly’s.” The bar tender nodded and grabbed a bottle, and held it up to confirm it was correct. Gareth nodded to the bar tender, who then started pouring the shots. I laughed to myself since Liza wasn’t near by to share it with. I couldn’t understand Gareth saying Potency, and the bartender couldn’t understand me saying Potency. But as soon as I repeated what I heard, Point and Silly, the bartender knew exactly what I wanted.

We leave the Bronx, and Bonita gives us quick directions. Take a right at the main street, follow it up over the hill, and turn left on Fulkaar Dr, where we are staying. We have Gareth’s Garmin in the rental car, so we aren’t too worried about finding our way back. That was mistake number one. We drive away and turn right on the main street as Bonita recommended. Rey is in control of the Garmin, which starts giving nonsensical directions. All I hear is “Turn Left. Turn Left. Turn Left.” But we know we are supposed to stay on this main road all the way over the hill. At one point, it says “You have reached your destination”, followed by “Turn left.” Rey tells the FLiB to shut up as he tries to figure out what’s going on with the (I won’t quote him exactly, but her nickname is now FLiB. “L” stands for Lame. Liza and I added the “I” to create her nickname.) We get to an intersection, where it appears that we have to turn left or right to stay on the main road. Straight ahead does not look like the main road. With FLiB still saying “Turn Left”, “you have reached your destination,” and at one point showing us on top of Table Mountain, I do the exact opposite. I turn right. Mistake number two. A right turn points down the wrong way down a one way and with traffic heading towards us from the left and head on, the only choice is a sharp right, which is basically making a U turn. (This is where the birthday boy claims to have had a near death experience.) Now we are heading in the opposite direction, back the way we came. FLiB, in the meantime, is still saying “Turn Left” and “You have reached your destination.” We all agree we need to get back on that main road heading up the hill. I turn left onto a side street to try to get back to the main street. Mistake number three. We are now on a side street in a less than desirable neighbor in an unfamiliar city. We quickly get back on the same road we were on, but still heading back down town. Rey calls Bonita, our friend host and tour guide for help. We make two right turns and head back up the road we were on the first time, and this time proceed straight up the hill. On the correct path, and heading down the hill into Camps Bay along the twisty road along the coast, FLiB says turn right. Rey says “Roger, don’t listen to her!” I laugh and tell him I won’t. A left turn would take us over the cliff towards the Atlantic Ocean. We make it home safe and sound, and add the experience to our adventure. However, Rey still claims he nearly lost his life. I think he’s out voted 2 to 1. Read Liza’s blog for her version of the story.

Joberg

2008-12-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

We made it to Joberg as we prepare to leave South Africa. We fly out around 7:30pm tomorrow evening with a stop in Dakar and Atlanta. From Atlanta, Rey and Liza will fly to LAX. I will fly to Salt Lake City and then San Jose. During the flight home, I hope to catch up on my journals. In the meantime, I have been trying to upload more pictures of our trip. Scroll down to see the newly uploaded pictures.

Lost in Translation

2008-12-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

Lost in Translation: That is how I feel most of this trip. LOL. Actually, I am gaining a lot of humor out of it. :-)

I know, I'm a week behind in me journal. Tomorrow is a rest day. I also found out how to check our internet usage. We purchased 10GB of data transfer. We've used only about 0.5 GB. That means I can start uploading pictures. In the meantime, here are some new words or phrases we have learned.

Ag man!: Oh man!

Aikona!: No way!

Baie dankie (sounds a lot like "Buy a donkey"): Thank you

Bottle shop: Liquor story

Cherry: Girlfriend

Choccochino: Mocha

Clamping zone: Tow zone

Cozzie: Swinsuit

Doff: Stupid

Eish: Interjection. Has many meanings depending on how it is used. For example: Eish, it has been a long day. Or, put it at the end of most any sentence.

Howzit?: How are you?

Izzit?: Really?

Joburg: Johannesburg

Jolling: Having fun

Just Now: In Joburg – Right now. In Cape Town – Some time soon. Some where between the next 5 minutes and the next 5 days. For example: I’ll do that just now. Or, I'll update my blog just now.

Mozzie: Mosquito

My bru: My brother

My China: My mate

Now now: Very soon.

On holiday: On vacation or holiday. For example: How long are you here on holiday?

Lekker: Great or Awesome. For example: This trip has been lekker!

Pardon you: Excuse me

Robot: Traffic light. For example: Turn right at the robot.

Sammie: Sandwich

Stikent: In Excess

Takkies: Sneakers

Take Away: Take out, To Go, or doggy bag

Yebo: Yes

Friday, December 5, 2008

2008-12-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

It is now 7am Friday, December 5 and I have been up since about 2:30 am photographing the thunder storm we had during the night. It has been a number of years since I have enjoyed a good thunder storm. They would occur frequently in the late summer Montana summers. As a kid, I always enjoyed watching and listen to them. But I am getting ahead of myself. I am behind in my journal, and this is the first chance I have had to sit down and try to catch up. I really wanted to write every day while every thing was fresh in my mind. I did take some notes on my Treo, so hopefully that will help me recall all we have experienced so far.

During the night, an incredible thunder storm blew in. Around 2 am in the morning, Rey calls, says he is trying to take some photographs the storm but none of them are turning out. He asks if I can try taking some photos. I’m thinking to myself, it’s about 2 am in the morning, are you crazy? Now that I am awake, I see just how powerful the storm really is. Excited, I hang up the phone, jump out of bed and throw on enough layers to protect me from the rain, grab my camera gear and umbrella, and starting shooting pictures.

The storm has now past. I am wide awake, and decide to take this chance to write in my journal in the sala. I grab my laptop, open a bottle of the complimentary wine, and started typing away.

Near the sala, there is an interesting bird’s nest that Liza and I had noticed the day before. It looks like a partial sea shell because of its spiral design. A bright yellow bird is now flying in and out of the nest, so I decide to try to photograph the bird. Unfortunately, the bird is too quick. I make several attempts, but cannot capture the bird in the photo. I do not see the bird after it leaves the nest, as it flies into the surrounding brush. I begin to notice that the nest begins to bounce a certain way tight before the bird exits the nest. I zoom out and make several more attempts at photographing the yellow bird. At least, I capture the bird in the photo with the nest. However, it is a yellow blur since it is flying too fast. With the low light, even though I am using a tripod, I can’t use a fast enough shutter speed to capture the bird. I decide to return to my journal and wait for more light as the sun will be rising soon.

About a half hour later, I look up from my laptop and see that the bird is hanging from the bottom of the nest. A quickly, yet quietly, return to my camera and shoot several photos. The yellow bird, which later I am told is a Weaver, is hangs there for several minutes before flying away, back into the brush.

It’s now about 9:15 am and we still need to pack, eat breakfast, and check out before our ride to the airport. I wake up Liza and tell her we should start getting ready. She says okay, and falls back to sleep. The phone rings. It’s the manager asking if we plan to eat breakfast before we leave. I can tell by his voice that this is more of a reminder than an inquiry. I tell him we will be eating and we will be there soon. I get off the phone and wake Liza up again. We call Rey, scramble to pack, and get ready. At 9:40 am, the phone rings again. This time Liza answers.

Breakfast

Ride to Nelspruit Airport

Once out of the park, the driver asks if he can call his boss to get the address and wants to drop us off on the middle of the bridge to look at the hippo in the Elephant River while he makes the phone call. I was a little uncomfortable about letting the driver drop us off on the middle of the bridge by himself with our entire luggage while he drives to the other side. Rey says that we can go and he’ll stay in the car. He asks the driver if it is okay that he stays in the car. The driver agrees, so Rey and I decide it should be okay.

We get to the Nelspruit airport and check in. We only have to wait about 30 minutes for our flight. They announce they will start boarding for the flight and a line starts to form. We look at each other and comment that there are more than 25 people in that line, the capacity of the small plane we had on the flight to Nelspruit. We look around out the window and see a larger jet plane. Liza is excited, hoping that is our plane. She is relieved once we see we are boarding that plane, a British Airways 146.

Johannesburg Airport: Part 2

We arrive back to the Johannesburg airport, claim our luggage, and return to the domestic check in. This time, we are on 1Time airlines. None of us understand the meaning of the name of the airlines. What company would name itself 1Time airlines? 1Time, as in you will fly with us once and never fly with us again? Our flights never return from our destination? Our pilots have only flown one time? Eish!

We get to the domestic check in, and I begin to wonder if I’ll have to pay extra for over weight luggage. I get to the counter lady and she informs me that I am over the limit with one bag. Now, the limit is 20 kg per check in item instead of per person, so I will only have to pay for the extra 5.5 kg for my larger bag. Liza is over the limit as well, weighing in at 30 kg. I’m thinking to myself, here we go again. But this time, Rey interrupts saying that we can’t check in yet since our flight is over two hours away. The counter lady says “Oh, you’re on the 6:30 flight?” I tell her I am. She says “Oh, I thought you were on this flight. You can’t check in yet.” I felt like asking her “what flight were you going to put me on?” Instead, I just shake my head, grab my passport and over weight luggage and we go look for some place to sit to wait for about two hours. There is no seating in the Johannesburg airport. We find an empty space in the corner of the airport, pull out our laptops, and start “blogging.”

4:30 pm finally arrives and we return to the 1 Time air lines check in counter. I’m curious to find out what the luggage weight limit will be this time. This time, since we are international travelers, we are exempt from the rule. I don’t complain or argue, but wonder to myself, what happened to the 24 hour rule? Now I am happy we couldn’t check in early. It saved us money and the hassle.

We get through the security check point, find our gate, and amazingly find some seats near by.

Liza and I decide to venture off in search of coffee while Rey watches our gear. Rey wants a soy milk mocha, and if they don’t have soy milk, he wanted a coffee with a lot of sugar. I was thinking to myself, this is the Johannesburg airport, the airport from hell. They don’t even have seats; they’re not going to have soy milk. This isn’t a Starbucks or Peet’s coffee. I tell him okay, half out of the adventure to see if they have soy milk. We find the Vida e Caffé coffee shop and trouble starts brewing from the beginning. I have been up since about 2 am, and haven’t had much sleep the whole trip. Liza is in a silly mode, too, so we are in rare form. I start off by ordering my mocha, which the guy enters into the register. I then ask if they have soy milk. Of course, the answer is no, so I order a large coffee. I here him say to one of the other guys “and a coffee for here.” I tell him they are to go. He said, “Oh, they’re for take away?” I say they are. I don’t remember him asking me if these were for here or “take away.” (Take Away: South African for To Go or Take Out). After paying for the drinks, we step over to the counter to pick up the coffees. The guy who is giving us the coffees says something to us, with a heavy accent. I don’t understand what he asked, so I say I’m sorry and handed him my receipt. He repeats the question and I still didn’t understand what he was asking. It sounded like he was asking “How do you technique.” That, or he was asking for a tip, because he pulled the coffee towards him and was starting to get annoyed or upset. I was thinking to myself, they want a tip for poring coffee too? I feel like I’m in the Little Britain sketch, asking the guy “Come again? Come again? Come again?”

Agitated, he says “milk, milk.” Which Liza hears as “meat, meat.” I finally figure out he was asking “How do you take it?” I tell him “lots of sugar.” Liza and I grab a quite a few bags of sugar to make sure we have enough for Rey, and Liza grabs what is suppose to be a wooden stirrer for Rey’s coffee. We walk back to join Rey, and we start laughing about how we couldn’t understand what the guy was asking us. Liza’s telling me she thought he was asking if we wanted meat with the coffee. I tell her I thought he was asking “how’s your technique?” By this time we are laughing so hard tears are coming out of my eyes, at the same time the coffee is burning my fingers. I have to set it down to let my fingers cool off and Liza touches the coffee cup and makes some comment about the coffee cup sleeve, which make s me laugh even harder. We finally make it back to Rey who is looking at us like we are crazy (which we probably are). He asks what we’re laughing about, but both of us are laughing so hard we cannot tell the story. I hand Rey his coffee, which he instantly sets down because it is so hot. We tell him our versions of what we heard. I think it is one of those “you had to be there” moments.

While we wait to board, we see a number of people running, luggage in hand, from one gate to the next. The gate we are at keeps calling out names and announcing it’s the final boarding call. Rey notices this and says something like, “you know, they announced their final boarding for the last ten minutes?” Later, we see a lady who had been sitting near us when we first arrived, walking with an employee of the airport crying and talking to the employee. She was saying something about waiting and they didn’t saying any thing. They didn’t announce any thing. She obviously had missed her flight and was extremely upset by it. We wondered if she was suppose to be flight that just left from our gate.

We finally board the plane and take off on 1Time airlines. Lisa and I have our laptops out and are “blogging” and giggling the whole flight. We still haven’t recovered from our coffee incident. Rey tells us we look like journalists. I said I feel like I’m with National Geographic (my dream job). Liza says she was thinking more along the lines of Sex and the City. I ask Rey what his blog style would be. He replies: Ernest Hemingway. After contemplating it for a few minutes, I change mine to a cross between National Geographic and National Lampoon. Hmm, Geographic Lampoon?

During the flight, Liza mentions that I had seen her at her best: sleeping and snoring. I remind her that she heard the lions roar at the first safari dinner; my stomach growling very loudly. We both start laughing very hard, again. Rey, amazingly, didn’t hear my stomach growl, so he didn’t know what we were talking about. It was difficult to explain as we were both laughing too hard.

Cape Town

We arrive in Cape Town at about 9 pm tired and silly. We get to the baggage claim and a couple places of luggage come, one of them is mine. We wait for another 10-15 minute. No luggage. Liza thinks that they had to call an ambulance for the poor guy who had to unload her bag. Finally, the rest of our luggage arrives.

We walk over to the Imperial rental car desk. Rey signs the paper work and we are escorted to the rental car. It is a four door VW Polo, which is similar to the VW Jetta in the US. We look at the vehicle and wonder how we are going to fit four people with over weight luggage into this car. The attendant manages the squeeze Liza’s monster bag, my large bag, and both of Rey’s bags into the trunk. We put my small suit case on the back seat dividing the rear seat into two separate areas. This is probably a good thing to keep these two tired children (Roger and Liza) who will be sitting back there. Liza and I wait in the car while Rey goes to meet Gareth, who is supposed to arrive at the airport around 9:30pm. They show up with Gareth’s friend from Cape Town, Bonita, who also drove. Luckily, Gareth’s luggage is in Bonita’s car. We follow Bonita to the house in Camps Bay in Cape Town.

As we drove to the rental house in Camps Bay, Gareth is mentioning points of interests as we drive by. The only problem is that it is late and dark, and we cannot see any thing. He informs us that the Atlantic Ocean is on our right. Liza asks “is that all that black area, where there’s no light? This strikes me as very funny. But then, I’ve been up since 2 am and just survived the Johannesburg airport, for the second time. Gareth also points out that Cape Town is famous for the table monson. Liza asked “the what? Gareth repeats “the Tower Monson.” Liza turns to me and mouths “do you understand?” I shook my head and mouth “no.” We both start laughing but try to suppress it, but the sound of the other person laughing makes us laugh even harder. I haven’t had that happen since I was a kid, we both were trying as hard as we could to not laugh.

We finally regain our composure. Later on the drive, Gareth mentions tower monson again, and Liza asks him “What is it? How do you spell it?” Rey says “Mountain! She’s having trouble with your accent.” Liza and I totally lose it. For the second time in one day, I’m laughing so hard I have tears coming out of my eyes.

We finally arrive at the rental house. The house is a fortress, with a steel garage door and electrified fence, just like safari. As we are trying to find the front door and discussing dinner planes, someone driving by asks if we need help with something. Rey says that we were looking for number 19, and they continue on. I could tell the person asked the question to see if we belonged there. Rey rings the door bell an older lady with a very heavy accent. She escorts us down stairs and the first thing she wants to show us is how to set the alarm. She try’s to give us a demo of the alarm system. Both Rey and I try to pay attention, but I felt like quoting Little Britain again and saying; “Can’t understand a word she said.” She is having problems with the alarm system and yells upstairs to her husband. He walks down and try’s to try to figure out the alarm. Both heavy accent and start speaking another language (I think). Later Liza and I both were wondering if they were speaking another language or English. They finally figure it out, tell us if we leave to make sure to turn on the alarm, and they walk upstairs. Moments later, their alarm goes off. I think they inadvertently turned on their alarm during the demo.

The first night is very windy. Bonita drives us down a local place called Dizzy for dinner. Cape Town has, and most of South Africa, have parking guards (or attendants). They stand by the side of the road and in parking lots helping people find parking and making sure no one breaks into the cars. The have no power or authority to do any thing, but at least they are their, and they expect a tip. A couple days later, Liza asks Gareth why they are called parking gods. With their accent, it sounds like parking gods. So for the rest of the vacation, they are called the parking gods.

Earlier that night, Gareth had recommended the Tower Monson (Mountain) hike and mentioned it to Bonita. She tells us that she has some friends that are hiking Lions Head in the morning. She makes a phone call and tells her friend that she has friends that are “aching for a hike." I love that phrase. You don’t hear people use the word “ache” that way any more. Usually, it’s “aching from” not “aching for.”

Bonita mentions that recently ten of them drank 150 shots after completing a triathlon. I’m impressed that ten people can drink 150 shots. That’s 15 shots per person. I ask Bonita what was the time span they drank the 150 shots. She answers by telling me about the triathlon. It dawn on me that to her, I have an accent too, and by her reaction and answer, she was probably thinking “Didn’t understand a word he said”.

While we are having drinks at the Dizzy, I hear a lady or more than one lady screaming, drawing the attention of some people, but not everyone’s. It reminds me of Meerkat Manor or a Discover Channel program the way people “prairie dog” (stand up and look) to the sound of one of them being attacked. Shortly later, police show up, but I cannot see what is going on.

Later that night, the bouncer throws someone out. They get in an argument. The bouncer keeps telling the guy to leave. The person he is escorting out keeps saying something about what happened to you, as in not being one of us any more. (Both the bouncer and the guy being thrown out are black. A couple days later, I learn the South American definition of black and colored. I’ll define those later.) A few minutes later, I see a police van and about 6-8 police man wrestling with the man. They throw him in the back of the van. One officer grabs the top part of the door and what appears to be kicking the guy in the van. As the van drives off, I can see it is rocking a little bit. Not sure if the guy is trying to break out or if someone is in there with him. The whole time, people at the bar/restaurant are not fazed by either incident. I later mentioned it to Rey and Liza, but neither of them heard or saw any of it. This is not a very good first impression of Cape Town: the fortresses for homes, the need for parking gods, the screaming woman, and the black man getting kicked in the police van.

As I type this up, I realize just how long the day has been. I have been up for probably 24 hours. I started out photographing a thunderstorm in Kruger, and ended in Cape Town having drinks and witnessing (I’ll be careful here) racial tension(?). I’ll expand on this later. As I type this up, it is five days after it occurred, so I have more prospective on what I say.it?” Rey says “Mountain! She’s having trouble with your accent.” Liza and I totally lose it. For the second time in one day, I’m laughing so hard I have tears coming out of my eyes.

We finally arrive at the rental house. The house is a fortress, with a steel garage door and electrified fence, just like safari. As we are trying to find the front door and discussing dinner planes, someone driving by asks if we need help with something. Rey says that we were looking for number 19, and they continue on. I could tell the person asked the question to see if we belonged there. Rey rings the door bell an older lady with a very heavy accent. She escorts us down stairs and the first thing she wants to show us is how to set the alarm. She try’s to give us a demo of the alarm system. Both Rey and I try to pay attention, but I felt like quoting Little Britain again and saying; “Can’t understand a word she said.” She is having problems with the alarm system and yells upstairs to her husband. He walks down and try’s to try to figure out the alarm. Both heavy accent and start speaking another language (I think). Later Liza and I both were wondering if they were speaking another language or English. They finally figure it out, tell us if we leave to make sure to turn on the alarm, and they walk upstairs. Moments later, their alarm goes off. I think they inadvertently turned on their alarm during the demo.

The first night is very windy. Bonita drives us down a local place called Dizzy for dinner. Cape Town has, and most of South Africa, have parking guards (or attendants). They stand by the side of the road and in parking lots helping people find parking and making sure no one breaks into the cars. The have no power or authority to do any thing, but at least they are their, and they expect a tip. A couple days later, Liza asks Gareth why they are called parking gods. With their accent, it sounds like parking gods. So for the rest of the vacation, they are called the parking gods.

Earlier that night, Gareth had recommended the Tower Monson (Mountain) hike and mentioned it to Bonita. She tells us that she has some friends that are hiking Lions Head in the morning. She makes a phone call and tells her friend that she has friends that are “aching for a hike." I love that phrase. You don’t hear people use the word “ache” that way any more. Usually, it’s “aching from” not “aching for.”

Bonita mentions that recently ten of them drank 150 shots after completing a triathlon. I’m impressed that ten people can drink 150 shots. That’s 15 shots per person. I ask Bonita what was the time span they drank the 150 shots. She answers by telling me about the triathlon. It dawn on me that to her, I have an accent too, and by her reaction and answer, she was probably thinking “Didn’t understand a word he said”.

While we are having drinks at the Dizzy, I hear a lady or more than one lady screaming, drawing the attention of some people, but not everyone’s. It reminds me of Merkat Manor or a Discover Channel program the way people “prairie dog” (stand up and look) to the sound of one of them being attacked. Shortly later, police show up, but I cannot see what is going on.

Later that night, the bouncer throws someone out. They get in an argument. The bouncer keeps telling the guy to leave. The person he is escorting out keeps saying something about what happened to you, as in not being one of us any more. (Both the bouncer and the guy being thrown out are black. A couple days later, I learn the South American definition of black and colored. I’ll define those later.) A few minutes later, I see a police van and about 6-8 police man wrestling with the man. They throw him in the back of the van. One officer grabs the top part of the door and what appears to be kicking the guy in the van. As the van drives off, I can see it is rocking a little bit. Not sure if the guy is trying to break out or if someone is in there with him. The whole time, people at the bar/restaurant are not fazed by either incident. I later mentioned it to Rey and Liza, but neither of them heard or saw any of it. This is not a very good first impression of Cape Town: the fortresses for homes, the need for parking gods, the screaming woman, and the black man getting kicked in the police van.

As I type this up, I realize just how long the day has been. I have been up for probably 24 hours. I started out photographing a thunderstorm in Kruger, and ended in Cape Town having drinks and witnessing (I’lll be careful here) racial tension(?). I’ll expand on this later. As I type this up, it is five days after it occurred, so I have more prospective on what I say.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

2008-12-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

I’ll keep the safari portions of the blog brief and try to provide mostly photos instead of words, because I would not be able to do this place justice using words. I’ll let the photos tell the story.

Morning Safari

We received our wake up call at 4:30 am, breakfast by 5 am, and off on our morning driving safari at 5:30 am. Before leaving for the safari, this Malacite Kingfisher flew into one of the windows of the building. The ranger picked up the bird, inspected it, and handed it to Rey. The bird eventually flew away.

This photo shows our group minus JV, our ranger guide (behind the camera), and the safari vehicle.

Breakfast

Walking Safari

Lunch

Evening Safari

During the evening safari, Rey spotted a wild dog JV was extremely excited about this. They are very rare. We spot and wait for what seems like more then 30 minutes. We can see three to four dogs, all lying and barely visible. I begin to wonder why we are just sitting here. Soon, the dogs start to move. Two of the dog approach us but hide behind two separate bushes. We wait a little longer. Suddenly, we see more dogs and three pups, all heading towards us. Some of the adult dogs come close to the vehicle. As we watch, JV had radioed one of the other vehicles, which arrives to see the dogs.

Sunset

We leave and head to our destination, the top of a hill, in time for a drink, snack, and watch the sun set.

During the drive back, JV pulls out a large spot light and randomly shines it down the road, all the sides of the road, and in the top of the trees. I assume he is looking for lions and leopards. After driving for a while, he stops, backs ups a few feet, and asks Liza to shine it at one spot in the tree. JV gets out of the truck, walks over to the tree, and returns with a chameleon. We are all amazed that he was able to spot it in the tree as we drove by. After letting each of us hold, more accurately, letting it climb on all of us, JV returns the chameleon to the tree. As he walks away from the tree, we can barely see the chameleon, and are all still amazed how he was able to spot it while driving.

Dinner

Night

Liza's Blog

2008-12-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Liza finally created her blog.

lizainsouthafrica2008.blogspot.com

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

2008-12-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

This leg of the flight was one a Boeing 777-300, which was nice in the sense that each seat had its own monitor and multiple On Demand movie choices. I watched Wall E and Ghost Town. The only problem was the seats were too close to each other. There was little leg room and it is very difficult to work on the laptop. With my elbows by my sides and hands near my chest, I feel like I’m a T-Rex trying to type. Fortunately, the flight wasn’t full and there was an empty seat next to me so I did have plenty of elbow room.

Rey and Liza were a couple rows in front of me, so I didn’t get a chance to visit with them.

The guy seating in the aisle seat wasn’t very friendly. Both times I need to use the restroom; he seemed rather annoyed that he had to get his butt out of the chair so I could use the restroom. I felt like saying “just get over it.”

The flight itself was tame. No funny characters to comment on. I realized it was probably because there weren’t many Americans on board. Ray from Mississippi may have been annoying, but entertaining. I can only wonder what the rest people on board our flight thought about these three annoying Americans.

Johannesburg Airport

I take back what I said about the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. It has just been upgraded to a three star airport.

We arrive in at the Johannesburg airport around 10:40am. As we enter the terminal, we are greeted with the scent similar to paint thinner, dust falling from the ceiling, and no AC. It appears that the terminal is in the middle of being remodeled, however, I see no one doing any work. We stand in line for a while to get through customers. As I start getting warm, I try to keep my distance from everyone since it has now been almost 48 hours since I last bathed or changed cloths. I’m sure by now I am quite ripe. I imagine the snooty man sitting next to me looking over at this smelly, unshaven, obnoxious American in khaki cargo pants and hiking boots asleep and snoring away on the plane. I doubt he will on line and blogged about it to his friends and family, so I will do it for him. After getting through customs, we get our luggage and proceed to the domestic departures to catch our flight to Kruger national park. We are greeted by aggressive porters who help carry our luggage to the check in counter. Once at the counter, the lady informs me that my check in luggage is over the 20 kg limit and must pay extra. She says each passenger is allowed only 20 kg total for check in luggage. One bag is 25 kg, but she says she’ll let that one go. The smaller bag is 13 kg and I must go to a different counter to pay. I inform Liza and Rey about this, and head over to the other counter with my porter, who the whole way is telling me “No, this is not right. You are connecting from international, so there is no weight limit. I’m going to ask for the supervisor. This is no right. She must be new.” And so on. We arrive at the other counter and hand the gentleman the slip of paper which the lady in the check in counter wrote the total weights and excess weight on it. The porter and I explain the situation. He examines the piece of paper and saw the lady did not fill it out correctly, so he can’t do anything. We only have a couple hours lay over in Johannesburg, and at this point I’m willing to pay a small fee to check in this bag so that I can make my flight to Kruger. I’ve paid enough already and come this far, I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity and inconvenience Rey and Liza. The man behind the counter tells me he can’t collect any fee because she did not fill out the form correctly. She put the excess weight on the back. Plus, total weight minus the allowed weight does not equal the excess weight, and I have to go back to have her fill it out correctly. I’m starting to get more than a little annoyed. So the porter and I head back to the check in counter. Concerned about the time and being frustrated, I’m walking very fast. The poor porter who is carrying my bag and still ranting “This is not right... I’m going to talk to the supervisor….” can barely keep up with me. We get back to the counter and cut the line and go directly back to the original women and told they would not let me pay since she filled it in correctly. She’s took offense to that, and the fact that the porter is telling she is wrong. As she starts to explain the policy, I interrupt her and ask the counter lady sitting next to her if she can listen and confirm if the information is correct. She said she was listening. This annoyed my check in lady even more. She explains the policy again as I ask question and ask to reweigh both bags so I know the amounts myself. During the discussion, the counter lady on the other side (the lady who checked in Rey), who was now listening too steps in. She asked if I just arrived from Paris. I said I did. She turns to the girl and says, they are connecting from an international flight, there are no restrictions. This lady must be the supervisor or her senior, because the girl checking me in sat quietly, with her lips pierced and motionless as the other lady said this. The older lady apologized and explained that these are small plane and they are very concerned about the weight they have to carry. I was just happy it ordeal was over. I smiled and told her I understood. As the girl completed the check in process she was talking with the old lady about the policy and said one of the other supervisor had her do that just the other day. The older lady said as long as they arrive from an international flight within 24 hours, they are no restrictions.

After completing the check in, the girl apologizes and I smiled back at her said thank you. I was just happy to make my connecting flight and not have to pay extra. If she was new, I understand people do make mistakes. And since she was nice after being corrected and did apologize, I was over it. I knew I had to tip my porter any way, but I felt the poor guy did deserve it, having to run back in forth with me, carrying my luggage, and trying to explain to both of the counter people that they were wrong.

Flight to Nelspruit

Our flight to Nelspruit airport outside of the Krugar national park was on a small Jetstream 41, a 26 seat prop plane. Nelspruit is just to the right of Johannesburg on the map.

When Liza saw the size of the plane she was not very happy. She started telling us about her past experiences with turbulence on small planes. Before we boarded the plane it started to rain. As we taxied down the run way for our take off, it started to rain even harder. Liza was not very excited about this. I, on the other hand, was looking forward to the turbulence. I told her that and she thinks I’m crazy. We did have a little turbulence as we took off, but once we climbed higher, the flight was a lot smoother.

Ride to Kruger

We arrive at the Nelspruit airport and meet Tim our driver to the Jock Safari lodge. On the drive to lodge, we see quite a few local people waking along side of the highway, a number of them hitchhiking, or waiting at bus stops. Walking appears to be the only means of transportation available to a lot of the local people.

This is the first time I have experienced driving on the left side of the road; the correct side, according to Tim. I also notice that the drivers of the vehicles are much more considerate and harmonious then any other country I’ve been in. The slower vehicles and trucks on the highway frequently drive on the shoulder of the road, allowing faster vehicles to pass. Sometimes drive three or four vehicles wide on a two lane highway. I know this sounds dangerous and scary, but from my observations, it is common practice and they have it do so perfectly synchronized using their horns and head light/tail light signals to each other.

Tim informs us that the rocks in this area are some of the oldest on the planet. They have been dated as old as 3-5 billion years old.

Once in Kruger national park as we are still heading to the lodge and not even on one of our safari rides, we see all sorts of wildlife, including crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, and kudu to name a few. I’ll post all my pics once I return home. I will post some of the better shots soon in a separate post. As of Dec. 8, I have already shot almost 1300 pictures on this trip.

We arrive at the Jock Safari lodge and wait for the staff to open the sturdy, well protected gate. The place is enclosed by a heavy duty fence which is electrified along the top. It reminds me of Jurassic Park. After a completing our check in and a glass of Champagne, the host gives us a tour of the lodge and our cabins. We arrived a little late and decide to pass on the night safari. We agree to wait for the next evening. The first item on my agenda is a shave, shore, and a change of clothes. It is now 6:30 pm on Wednesday, 53 hours since my last shower.

I immediately fall in love with the outdoor shower.

This is the view from the shower.

As I shower, I hear Liza, who is inside the cabin soaking in the tub her scream “Look at the elephants!” From the shower, I see a herd of elephants walking by. I quickly dry off, throw on some shorts, grab my camera, and start taking pictures. Liza calls Rey who is in the next cabin.

Drinks are at 8 pm and dinner is served at 8:30 pm. We head over to the bar where we meet JV the ranger who will be our guide during our stay, and Larry and Morla, a retired couple from Ireland. They will be in our group for the safari drives. Around 10 pm we head back to our cabins, since our wakeup call will be at 4:30 am. I am more than happy that we are calling it an early night. I am in need of a good nights sleep in a real bed.

Update

2008-12-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

Paris was interesting, and I’m glad I made the effort to get out and see it. However, it was not nearly as entertaining as the rest of the trip, after meeting up with Rey and Liza, and venturing down to South Africa.

This is Rey, the birthday boy. I first met Coach Rey in 1994 right after I moved to San Jose at the Benton gym where we use to play volleyball every Sunday afternoons. I took a couple of the volleyball classes he and Matt W taught, which considerably improved my volleyball skills. Not only was he my coach, but also became a very good friend. Now that he lives in Los Angeles, I don’t get to see him as often as I would like. I could not pass up on the opportunity to travel to South Africa with him for his 40th birthday.

This is Liza. When you see Liza’s photos, you will notice she takes most of her pictures this way. I met Liza for the first time in the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. We fell in love, eloped, and traveled to the Jock Safari Lodge for our honeymoon. Well, not really, but that was one of the possible answers we joked about as the guests and staff at the lodge wondered who in our group was married to who. There have been a number of times this trip I have laughed so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes. One time, something stuck both of as funny at an inappropriate time. We tried not to laugh, but the more we tried to stop, the harder it was to stop laughing. That hasn’t happened to me since I was a kid with my younger brother.

We have been without internet connection for over a week. We are determined to document our adventures and post them on our blogs. It has become one of the running jokes of this trip; blogging. “I have to blog today. I have to blog today.” Every chance we get, we’re on our laptops typing up our journals while the events are fresh in our minds, even at the expense of sleep. Last night, for example, I was determined to finish an entry in my journal but was having a hard time staying awake. I fell asleep momentarily, and woke up to find several rows of a single letter filling my screen because my hands were still on the key board. Of course I deleted all of the letters and went to sleep. Today I mentioned that to Liza and she laughed and said “Oh, you should have left those in your blog.” I laughed and said “Yeah, I should have, and type: Oops, I feel asleep blogging.” Then, she had the nerve to tell the story tonight at dinner and everyone had a good laugh at my expense. (Thank you, Liza. Buy a donkey!) I’ll explain that one later, after I find out how to spell it correctly.

One only have one USB modem and limited data transfer, so we will share internet access and wait to post most of our pictures after we arrive home. We will, however, continue to blog. Rey is a head of Liza and I, so he may be able to post his journal to date. Liza and I are catching up.

Okay, it's 3:15 am here in Cape Town. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Time to get some sleep.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008: Part 2 – Paris

2008-12-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

The Paris Charles de Gaulle airport is the largest, most user unfriendly airport I’ve ever experienced. It took me nearly an hour to figure out how to get out of the airport and how to arrange transportation the sites I wanted to see. I felt like I was in a Las Vegas casino looking for an exit. They didn’t want me to leave. At first, it was a little intimidating, since I do not speak the language, nor could find out how to get to the city. I contemplated just staying in the airport until Rey and Liza arrive. It was not like the US airports. I didn’t even see a restaurant in the airport. I decided that I had traveled all this way and booked that early flight with the intent of exploring Paris and not the Paris airport.

I finally found were I could buy a bus pass to the Arc of Triumph. The gentleman selling the tickets told me I could take the Metro to the Eiffel Tower or other sites. The bus ride took about an hour and a half due to the commute traffic.

While on the bus, an older gentleman sat down next to me and asked me a question in French. I asked him if he spoke English. He said he did and asked me what day it was. This struck my as a little odd; a local asking a tourist what day it was. I told him it was Tuesday December 2. He informed me that he had just arrived from India and hadn’t slept in 36 hours. I laughed and told him that I just arrived from California and hadn’t slept in about 24 hours. We chatted for a while making small talk about India, the US, and Paris. He really warmed up to me when I asked in people in France were as happy as the people in the US that Bush was no longer president. He gave me a lot of advice of places to visit in Paris and some of the old castles if I ever make it back with more time for site seeing.

He was use to work for Exxon but now was retired. He traveled a lot while working for Exxon, and was now living part of every year in India, France, and the US to keep his green card current. He was back to visit his mother, who wasn’t doing well and leaved in a small town outside of Paris (don’t ask me the name of the city because I won’t remember). Towards the end of our bus ride together he shared with me his motto: “No wife, no kids, no money, no worries.” He got off of the bus one stop before mine, and we said good bye and wished each other luck.

My stop was at the Arc of Triumph, the last stop for that bus route. It was quite cold out. Luckily, I had a sweater, fleece pull over, a shell, hat, and gloves along with me. I walked around the Arc along with a few other tourists and took a few photos.

Next, I took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. After I get off at the stop and am searching for the exit, an older couple that also looked lost walk up to me. The man starts asking me a question in French. I tell him I don’t speak French, but do speak English. They smile, nod, and search for someone else to help them. As they walk away, I start to wonder if people there really think that I am a local, or do I just have an approachable look. I sure look like a tourist carrying my back pack and carrying a camera.

There were actually two Metro stops for the Eiffel Tower. Taking the advice of the guy on the bus, I get off at the Palais de Chaillot for the view, and walk the rest of the way down to the tower, which is only a couple blocks.

Once there, I decided not to stand in the cold in the long line to go up the tower. Instead, I walked around looking for ways to take non-touristy photos of the tower. I was surprised to see guards armed with machine guns patrolling the area. I saw two groups, each consisting of three people.

Around noon, I decided to grab some lunch. Up the hill from the tower and across the street from the Palais de Chaillot were a few small restaurants. After looking at the menus, I chose the Café Kléber. The waiter greets me and naturally starts speaking French to me. I tell him I don’t speak French and asks if he speaks English. He says he does and asks me a question that I don’t quite make out. I ask him to repeat it. He repeats the question and I still don’t understand what he is asking. He repeats it a third time, a bit agitated. This time I realize he is asking me if I’m eating alone. More than a little embarrassed, I said yes, just one. I order lunch and a glass of red wine. After traveling for nearly 24 hours straight with no sleep, it felt good to sit, eat, and relax in the warmth of the café. So much so, that I ordered a pitcher of the red wine, and later a chocolate mousse and an espresso, and struggle with communicating with the waiter. The steak fillet was good, but the best part of the meal was the chocolate mousse. It was thicker than most mousses I’ve had. I wanted to take picture of the food, but I didn’t want to standout even more as a tourist as I was seated next to five French business man eating lunch (sorry Levon). Instead, I tried sneaking some candid photos of them. (Actually, I did get a picture of the food, but not the dessert.)

After about an hour of eating and relaxing, I ventured out walking around the area taking photos until the sun started to set leaving little light for taking photos.

By this time, I am starting to get a little tired, cold, and in need of a rest stop. I walk into a coffee shop on one of the corners on Kléber Avenue and sit at one of the tables next to a window. As I peel off the layers of clothing, the waitress approaches. Before she can speak, I ask her very politely and apologetically if she speaks English. She smiles and says she does, and I order a double espresso. I am starting to regret not spending more time trying to learn the language. I think the waiter at the Kléber Café may have been less rude if I had tried to speak French or could understand his English.

As I take a sip of my espresso, I notice that I have a small cut on one of my knuckles. I use a napkin as I dig a bandage and sterile wipe out of my back pack. (I’m sure glad I packed a small first aid kit in my back pack.) While digging through my back pack, I see the glass on the wall is broken and has a sharp edge. I must have cut myself on it while digging something out of my back pack earlier. Trying not to draw attention to myself, I try to quickly and inconspicuously clean and bandage the cut. After I bandage the cut, I finish my espresso and prepare to leave. I now notice that there are a couple small blood stains on my pant leg, and I won’t be able to change until we get to the safari. I was thinking to myself, oh great; this could look bad going through security at the airport. I only in Paris from a few hours, I leave the airport and return with a bleeding hand and blood on pants. Luckily, it was only a small cut and it stopped bleeding quickly.

I decide to walk back to the Arc of Triumph as the sun started.

From there, I took the bus back to the airport and found Rey and Liza just finishing their massages in a spa near the departure gate. I didn’t have any problems or get questioned about blood spots on my pants. However, Rey did notice it and asked. Oh well, what can one do. I felt like making up some dramatic story about what happened to me in Paris, such as being attacked by an angry waiter for not understanding his English, but I don’t.

We have a few hours before our flight to South Africa, so we grab a snack, and connect to the internet to check email and up blogs.

Our flight left at 11:15 pm, and my lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me. I feel asleep while we were taxing to the run way. Some how I managed to wakeup around mid night just in time for dinner (which was one of the better in flight meals I’ve ever had). After finishing the dinner, I fell right to sleep again and didn’t wake up for another six hours.

Connected in Cape Town

2008-12-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Cape Town on December 5. We finally have internet access. Please stand by as we post our daily journals. We have a lot great stories and photos to share. Just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know we are alive and well, and having a great time.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

2008-12-02T09:56:00.001-08:00

I arrived at the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport at 6 am Paris time without getting any sleep on the plane. I took a bus to the Arc of Triumph, which took about an hour an a half due to traffic. From there, I took the Metro to the Eiffle Tower and walked around taking photos. Luckily I brought a hat, gloves, a sweater, fleece jacket, and wind breaker because it was COLD! I had lunch and a pitcher of wine at a small cafe, before heading back to the airport to meet up with Rey and Liza.

We are currently waiting for our flight and blogging. I'll provide more details, humor, and pics of my day day in Parus later, since I only have 20% left on my battery. I at least wanted to post my journal from my flight.

Here's one pic in the meantime.

The funnier pictures I took with my DSLR. This laptop doesn't have a built in reader for those cards, so I'll have to upload those in South Africa.

Monday, December 1, 2008

2008-12-02T09:26:00.001-08:00

3:30 am arrives too quickly when you are too excited about the pending adventure and when your mind is still processing its To Do and packing lists, seeing if there was anything it missed. I finally fell asleep between 10:30 and 11:00 pm.

San Jose to Atlanta

I arrived at the airport around 5 am and the flight departs at 6:30am. Luckily the lines weren’t too long and the flight left on time. The first leg of the trip was a flight from San Jose to Atlanta, which was about a four and a half hour flight. The plane consisted of one center aisle and three seats in one row on each side of the aisle. I normally choose a window seat so I can watch the scenery. I chose an aisle seat since it is a short flight (relatively speaking), and since I’m traveling to Paris and South Africa, looking at mid West from 20-30,000 feet didn’t sound that appealing. I’ve seen my share of wheat fields and prairies. Okay, I’ve never seen corn fields, but from that altitude, I’m sure it looks the same. (I’m being a little silly. I know it’s not all prairies and corn fields between San Jose and Atlanta).

The in flight movie was Mamma Mia, which I hadn’t seen. As I watched it, I wondered who casted Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, and why. Both are good actors (well, Meryl at least), but for a musical?

A couple times during the flight, someone aboard the plane felt comfortable enough to share some nasty fumes with the rest of us. After one of the events, as I visually inspected the immediate vicinity, I spotted what I suspected was the source of the odors. The gentleman across the aisle from me, I’m guessing in his late 40’s, somewhat on the large size, wearing hiking boots, dark brown khakis, an old blue wool sweater, shaggy graying hair, three or four days growth of beard, listening to his IPod, which he wore around his neck, was fast asleep and snoring away. While looking at him, I noticed the lady sitting next to the window in his row was looking at him too, with the same look on her face that I’m sure I was wearing. The lady and I made eye contact. In that brief moment, in silence, we can to a unanimous decision; Guilty! We both went back to watching the movie.

Mind you, I don’t make fun of or criticize other people. I’m simply giving an accurate description to complete the mental picture since I don’t dare sneak a real photo. Since I’ll be traveling for nearly three days straight without a wardrobe change or a shower, and expecting rain and possibly snow in Paris, and 80’s in Johannesburg, I’m dressed similarly to that man with the gas leak, and dressed in layers. However, I do have brand new REI boots, Tommy Hilfiger khaki cargo pants (sorry, I opted for comfort and function over fashion), and a dark blue form fitting Puma shirt. It’s tighter than I’d normally wear in mixed company, but it was suppose to be the under layer for mixed weather.

I feel sorry for however has to seat next to me on the flight to Johannesburg, since it will have been a while since I last bathed. It will probably be my friend Rey, LOL.

The stewardess, walking down the aisle carrying a trash bag looks at me and said “Trash!” I felt like retorting wise-assed comment, but instead I bit my tongue, put my “trash” in the bag, and said “Thank you.”

For the most part, the short flight was uneventful. The rest of the people on the flight didn’t draw my attention, until we started our approach to Atlanta. The gentleman sitting next to me, (I’m guessing early 30’s and Middle Eastern decent), who had been reading a Financial text book the entire flight, didn’t catch my attention until I caught him admiring his perfectly manicured nails in the reading light. Instead of having his palms faced towards him and his fingers curved towards his palm, his palms where faced away from him. Busted!

Atlanta to Paris

This is a full flight. This leg is on a Boeing 767-300, which consists of two aisles. The window sides have two seats. The middle, three seats per row. This time I chose a window seat. So far, all my flights are in coach. I inquired about upgrade for this flight, but the flight is full.

I took us a while to pull away from the gate as people played musically chairs. The flight crew was trying to find seats so that a father and his baby could sit next to each other, and asked the people in the middle aisle if an of them would be willing to change seats. One of the ladies in the aisle in front of me said “No, not a baby!” One of the stewardesses looked at her and said “How selfish.”

So they seated the father and baby in the in the center aisle in their row. A few minutes later, the father and baby ended switching seats with and older Middle Eastern woman and teenage girl. Shortly after that, one guy in his early 50’s from “Mississippi” who had been flirting with the two women sitting in front of me started trying to convince an older Middle Eastern woman to change seats with him. She was refusing since she just changed seats with the father and baby. He was trying to sweet talk her into change seats and offered to buy her a drink along with the other two women he had been flirting with. I thought to myself, this is going to be a long flight. Luckily, a stewardess walks up and told him to take his seat so that we can leave. He explain to the stewardess that he was trying to talk “this sweet lady” into changing seats with him, “just three rows away” so he could sit near his friends. She calmly but firmly said “We cannot take off until you take your seat. I don’t get paid until we take off, and when I don’t get paid, I get cranky.” He said “Okay, I don’t want you to make you cranky” and returned to his seat.

The in flight movie is Fred Clause, which, well, doesn’t deserve any comment. I’m only listening to the movie as a noise filter. ;-)

Last night I found out from Rey that Expedia changed flight to Paris. Now they will be arriving around 2 pm Paris time. Our flight to Johannesburg doesn’t leave until 11:15 pm, so they will have a long lay over, but Rey didn’t feel it was long enough to try to do any sit seeing. I’ll talk to the Delta desk when I arrive in Paris to make sure I can leave and do some site seeing. I don’t see why I can’t as long as I have my passport, boarding pass, and my carry on back pack. I’ll meet up with them at the gate. I’ll return to the airport early enough to get through security, hopefully connect to the internet, and meet up with them. To bad our cell phones won’t work in Paris so we can contact each other.

Dinner time: chicken or pasta. Hmm, chicken? I haven’t decided yet. Shutting down for now.

I’m back, and so is Ray from Mississippi ready to buy his lady friends their drinks. The movie is already over, so I scramble looking for my MP3 player to filter out good ol’ Ray. “Where are you ladies from?”

“Texas,” one of them answers. Where’s my MP3 player? Here it is. Luckily I didn’t find it right away, other wise I may have missed “the question.”

“Do you have a wife?”

“Yes, I do.”

LOL, music on.

In case the suspense was killing you, I had the chicken. It was nothing to get up in the middle of the night and write home about, even though it is 1:20 am Paris time. My first reaction to the meal: “Where’s the chicken?” As in the old commercial: “Where’s the beef?” I imagined the lady sitting next to me saying “Why don’t you look under the over cook broccoli?” (Sorry Levon, I didn’t take a pix of this meal.)

Luckily, I was able to wash it down with a complimentary bottle of Redwood Creek California Chardonnay 1890. Wait, that can’t be right. Where are my reading glasses? Oh, Established 1890. It’s a 2006. It’s okay. Think I’ll look for a case in Cape Town and have it shipped home. Just kidding! (For those of you who don’t know me well, I have a very dry sarcastic sense of humor.)

“Watch your arms and legs. Watch your arms and legs. Watch your arms and legs.” The stewardess repeats as she pushes a cart up the aisle. Why? What are my legs and arms going to do? I have to see this. Sounds exciting. Still waiting…

Ok, yes I get bored quickly and I’m easily amused. These are going to be long flights. Think anyone would mind if I did laps round the plane to burn some energy, like our father use to make us do as kids at rest stops or gas stations on long road trips? I hated doing them, but hey, it worked. I’d probably do the same to my kids.

I wonder what they put in the food. Half of the plane is now lined up for the rest rooms. I feel fine. They must have had the pasta. Wish I had a copy of the DVD Airplane 1980! I love that show. “I’m not kidding. And stop calling me Shirley.”

They’re starting another movie. Wait, I think its Mamma Mia, again. Nevermind.

It should try to get some sleep. After all, it is 1:35 pm Paris time. Wow, only five more hours until we land, and I only have 15% battery left. I should rest.

What, turbulence coming up? Cool, this sounds fun. :) I love turbulence. Maybe I’ll stay awake after all.

It’s now 3:45 am Paris time, and I cannot sleep considering it is 6:45 pm San Jose time. I’ll sleep from Paris to Johannesburg, I hope.

The turbulence didn’t amount to much, unfortunately.

I decided to try to download new music to my MP3 player instead, and write more for my blog. I hadn’t installed the software for my MP3 yet on the laptop, and it looks like it doesn’t support Vista. I’ll have to search for a new driver once I get internet access.

It’s now 8:05 pm San Jose time, 5:05 am Paris time and they are starting to serve breakfast. Not sure what adventure is in store with this meal. More complimentary wine perhaps? Well, the bag it is in is warm. A croissant (LOL), and a banana and OJ.

I now see city lights out the window. Wow, a lot of lights. We’re no longer over the Atlantic Ocean. I wonder where we are. It looks like we’re starting our decent. I guess that’s enough of my miscellaneous ramblings for now. This will probably be the longest entry of the trip since I’m traveling solo at the moment and killing time on the plane. I’ll try to post this as soon as I can in Paris since it may be at least a week until I can post a new entry. Unless I make time after exploring Paris (if I can) and before I board for Johannesburg.

The lights I saw must have been London. According to the in flight monitor, we flew over England near London on the approach to Paris.

Final quote for the flight from one of the ladies in front of me to the other lady: “Did you enjoy your drink from Mr. Mississippi?”

The Night Before Departure

2008-11-30T19:11:00.000-08:00

I'm all packed and ready to go. My flight leaves at 6:20 am, so I will be up early. This may be my last post until I get internet access in either the Atlanta airport or in Paris. The next chance for internet access will be when we get to the rental house in Cape Town around Dec. 6.

Last Minute Shopping

2008-11-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

I must battle the Black Friday Christmas shoppers to pick up some last minute items.

Insect repellent with 33 - 55% DEET.
Permethrin Clothing Spray (insect repellent).
Small back pack for carry on.
Boots for safari, exploring, and the rain/snow forecast for Paris.

I want to bring the laptop and camera(s) with me on the plane, but I don't want too much stuff since I'll have to carry it with me site seeing in Paris. But with the rain/snow forecast for Paris and mid 80's in Johannesburg, this should prove to be a packing challenge; what to check in, what to carry on. Good thing I like challenges.

Rey's Blog

2008-11-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to Rey's blog for anyone who's interested. I cut and pasted some of the itinerary from his blog.

40insouthafrica.blogspot.com

Requested Souvenirs

2008-11-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

Levon: A slice of BBQ Zebra with a side of hoof.

Stan: Two sets of elephant tusks.

Erik: "Bring me back Nelson Mandela, but try and wash off that 'old people' smell first, if ya know what I mean."

Timmie: Snow for Tahoe

Itinerary

2008-11-25T12:24:00.000-08:00

Monday December 1
6:30 am: Fly from San Jose to Paris (lay over in Atlanta, Georgia).

Tuesday December 2
6:15 am: Arrive in Paris.

I plan to do some site seeing in Paris since I have a 16 hour lay over. The current forecast calls for rain or snow. I'll try to take photos regardless.

Rey and Liza arrive in the Paris Charles de Galle airport around 5:30 pm. I'll meet them in the airport some time before 9 pm.

11:15 pm: Fly from Paris to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Wednesday December 3
10:40 am: Arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa.
1:10 - 2:05 pm: Fly to Nelspruit Kruger Airport.
Upon arrival: Transfer to Jock Safari Main Camp. About an hours drive.
That evening: night safari.

Thursday December 4

Early morning safari.

Afternoon safari.

Friday December 5
10:30 am: Transfer to Nelspruit Kruger Airport. About an hours drive.
1:35 - 2:30 pm: Fly to Johannesburg.
6:30 - 8:40 pm: Fly to Cape Town.
Meet up with Gareth, Rey's South African friend.
Pick up rental car and drive to Camps Bay.
About 11 pm: Arrive at 3 bedroom villa in Camps Bay (19 Fiskaal Road, Camps Bay).

Saturday December 6
Rey's 40th birthday.
We should have internet access in Cape Town and will post pictures, update blog entries, and check email.
Dinner at one of the best restaurants in South Africa, The Showroom.

Sunday December 7

No plans. We'll probably hang by the pool and explore our immediate surroundings. I'll try a traveler's workout program. I'm sure I'll be having withdrawals by this time. There aren't any 24 Hour Fitness centers in South Africa. (I looked.)

Monday December 8

Tentative plans: Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

Tuesday December 9

No plans. We might go shopping, hiking, etc.

Wednesday December 10

Tentative plans: Kayaking on the ocean to see the penguins in Simon's Town.

Thursday December 11

Drive the Garden Route and go wine tasting. South African wine has become internationally recognized in the past few years. This international contingent must determine that for our ourselves. Wine tastings require full pours, correct?

Friday December 12

Gareth returns to Johannesburg, while we recover from all the wine the day before. We may do this by eating, exploring, and more shopping. (and more wine?)

December 13 - 14

No plans yet. We do need to go volunteer at a township for at least a day, and do more hiking, eating, and exploring. I'll have to try some of the local beers as well.

Monday December 15
12:20 - 2:20 pm: Fly from Cape Town to Johannesburg.

We might meet up with Gareth and get a tour of the city and have dinner.

Stay at a 4-star hotel (why not?) Protea Hotel Balalaika
20 Maude Street, Sandown, Sandton, Johannesburg +27 11 3225000

Tuesday December 16
7:20 pm: Fly from Johannesburg to Dakar.

Wednesday December 17
1:45 am: Arrive in Dakar.
3:25 - 8:30 am: Fly to Atlanta, Georgia.
10:46 am - 1:05 pm: Fly to Salt Lake City.
3:00 - 4:02 pm: Fly to San Jose.

Thursday December 18
8:00 am: Back to work and the real world.

Preparation

2008-11-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

Our trip to South Africa is rapidly approaching, and still so much to do. I wanted to set up a blog site to upload a daily journal and pictures of the trip to share with friends and family.

I fly out of San Jose the morning of December 1 and arrive in Paris at 6:30am on Tuesday. I will meet up with Rey and Liza later that day in the Paris de Gaulle airport for our flight to Johannesburg. That flight does not leave until 11:15pm, so I plan to do some site seeing in Paris. I hope to see at least the Musee d'Orsay (since the Louvre is closed on Tuesday's) and the Eiffel Tower. I am still looking into tours and other options.

We will arrive in Johannesburg at 10:40 am on Wednesday December 3, and catch another flight followed by a shuttle to the Jock Safari Lodge in Kruger National Park. Upon arriving, we set out on a night safari. Early the next morning, we will go on another safari. I hope that we won't be too jet lagged. With the excitement of the trip, I don't think it will be a problem, at least for me.

On Friday, December 5, we leave the park and head for Cape Town, where we will stay most of our trip. We should have internet access and laptops, so we hope to post daily journals and pictures.

On Monday December 15, we fly back to Johannesburg. On Tuesday December 16, we leave South Africa, returning home in the afternoon on Wednesday, December 17, and back to work on Thursday, December 18.

I will post more as I prepare for the trip, and once in Cape Town, internet access permitting.