Cape Town and Cape Peninsula

I was fortunate as I get to organize my own trip and travel with the group.

Two years ago, we have a total of 10 people travelling to South Africa, and we went to Cape Town, and the Cape Peninsula. We actually stayed at Hout Bay, which was lovely and it was easy for us to proceed for the cruise to see the seal colony. Thereafter, we flew to Johannesburg, and stayed at three different National Parks and game reserve.

Kruger is the largest and most popular of the South Africa, and needless to say, it was included in our itinerary. We went to Imfolozi-Hluluwe National Park, which is the oldest in South Africa and last of all, we went to Pakamisa Private Game Reserve.

We all had wonderful times at the three parks, driven in the open top vehicle for our game drive- trying to spot the different wildlife - rhinoceros, cheetah, lions, Buffaloes, zebra, impala, elephants, and many other birds, as our ranger guides went around hunting for them. As it was winter, it gets dark early. We went for both the sunrise and sunset safari, and the sunset in the African bush was mesmerizing, when the whole horizon was painted in fiery red or orange.

The stay at Pakamisa was memorable as the lodge is located right on a hill top. At night, I could see millions of stars right above me, just outside my room, which is named zebra. The Milky Way and the Southern Cross were both so distinct to me, with easy identification. 

We missed out on one of the main highlights - Shark Cage diving at Gansbai, as there was heavy rain for that week when we arrived in Hermanus, and thus all shark cage diving activity was cancelled for the entire week. 

Below - I am providing some information on Cape Town and Cape Peninsula, and the text was taken from the Wikipedia site. 

Cape Town (Afrikaans: Kaapstad [ˈkɑːpstɐt]; Xhosa: Ikapa) is a coastal city in South Africa. It is the second most populous urban area in South Africa, after Johannesburg.^[7] It is also the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape.

As the seat of the National Parliament it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The city is famous for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, as well as for such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. As of 2014, it is the 10th most populous city in Africa and home to 64% of the Western Cape's population. It is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates^[9] to South Africa. The city was named the World Design Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by both the American New York Times and the British Daily Telegraph.^[12]

Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was first developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India, and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck's arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa.

Cape Peninsula

The Cape Peninsula (Afrikaans: Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally rocky peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. On the northern end is Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town, South Africa. The peninsula is 52 km long from Mouille point in the north to Cape Point in the south.

The Peninsula has been an island on and off for the past 5 million years, as sea levels fell and rose with the ice age and interglacial global warming cycles of, particularly, the Pleistocene. The last time that the Peninsula was an island was about 6000 years ago. Soon afterwards it was joined to the mainland by the emergence from the sea of the sandy area now known as the Cape Flats. The towns and villages of the Cape Peninsula and Cape Flats now form part of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality.

The Cape of Good Hope is sometimes given as the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Thus the west coast of the Peninsula is invariably referred to as the "Atlantic Coast", but the eastern side is known as the "False Bay Coast". It is at Cape Point (or the Cape of Good Hope) that the ocean to the south is often said to be divided into the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Indian Ocean to the east. However, according to the International Hydrographic Organization agreement that defines the ocean boundaries, the meeting point is at Cape Agulhas, about 200 km (120 mi) to the southeast.

Similarly, Cape Point is not the fixed "meeting point" of the cold Benguela Current, running northwards along the west coast of Africa, and the warm Agulhas Current, running south from the equator along the east coast of Africa. In fact the south flowing Agulhas Current swings away from the African coastline between about East London and Port Elizabeth, from where it follows the edge of the Continental shelfroughly as far as the southern tip of the Agulhas Bank, 250 km (155 miles) south of Cape Agulhas. From there it is retroflexed (turned sharply round) in an easterly direction by the South Atlantic, South Indian and Southern Ocean currents, known as the "West Wind Drift", which flow eastwards round Antarctica. The Benguela Current, on the other hand, is an upwelling current which brings cold, mineral-rich water from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to the surface along the west coast of Southern Africa. Having reached the surface it flows northwards as a result of the prevailing wind and Coriolis forces. The Benguela Current, therefore, effectively starts at Cape Point, and flows northwards from there, although further out to sea it is joined by surface water that has crossed the South Atlantic from South America as part of the South Atlantic Gyre. Thus the Benguela and Agulhas currents do not strictly "meet" anywhere, although eddies from the Agulhas current do from time to time round the Cape to join the Benguela Current.

Credit - Wikipedia (Cape Town & Cape Peninsula)

November will still be a lovely time to visit South Africa but December will be busy with the local tourists.

January to March is the summer time but it is enjoying 23degree on average, thus a very good time to be spent in South Africa. 

We have the following trips for 2017

26May - 09Jun 2017 Botswana Camping Safari (Okavango Delta, Chobe, Victoria Falls)

05Jul-21Jul Kilimanjaro Trek & Migration Safari

11Jul-21Jul Migration Safari

To go for your next game safari, contact me - inspiritjourneys@gmail.com

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Kruger National Park

Kruger Park is South Africa's most exciting African safari destination. Steeped in legend and history, the iconic Kruger National Park in South Africa is waiting for you to explore its vast landscapes and spectacular African wildlife. The Game Safari must be one of the most memorable activities and things that you must do in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

The word 'safari' has its roots in Arabic - and Arab traders were some of the first outsiders to journey into this continent. Caravans replaced jeeps in these early expeditions, as treacherous new trade routes transported goods - and slaves - between Africa and Asia throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

The first 'safari' took place in 1836, when William Cornwallis Harris set out to observe wildlife in its natural surroundings - rather than simply shooting it, as he did on most of his expeditions. Shortly after, the word 'safari' was introduced into English by the explorer Sir Richard Burton.

 Why Kruger National Park This is considered the king of safari parks. And it is on most Africa Bucket Lists. Fantastic for self-drive safaris, it's the Big Five for beginners. One of Africa's oldest, largest and most diverse national parks, Kruger has over 500 bird species and more mammals than any other park on the continent. Its luxury lodges, top-end safaris and campsites mean that Kruger is really open to all. Whether you are going for an adventure, an experience or even for your honeymoon trip, this has to be on the top of your list.

And I like to share some of the photographs that I had taken while on a safari with my group of friends in June 2014.

It is better to stay in the Kruger National Park itself, as you are much in the heart of the whole area. At that time that we went last June, it was actually winter time, but in the day, it was still very comfortable. We had two game viewing sessions each day.

In a typical day, we were awaken at 5 30am. We had some biscuits and tea or coffee, before we set off in one of those open-topped vehicle that you saw in the picture. It is better to have about up to five people in one vehicle. We were given ponchos to cover ourselves. It was pitch dark, and our knowledgeable guide cum driver would negotiate and find his way round on the road built within the national parks. It was very cold in the morning with a few degrees, and we were all wrapped up in our jacket, and covered with the ponchos. Soon, we could see the sky brightening up, with a tinge of soft orange glow across the horizon. 

We were driven around to hunt for the animals, and we saw impalas, elephants, giraffes, zebras, and lions. The Big Five refers to the lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhinoceros. At close to about nine in the morning, we would have a short break to take our breakfast, with sandwiches, and biscuits. Then, we continued with our game drive.

When it started to get hot, we were driven back to our lodge. Then, it was lunch time. Free at leisure till about four pm. Then, we would go for our sunset safari.
Now, it would be the reverse. We left our lodge in the bright daylight, and continued on until the sunset. Wow, the sunrise and sunsets are really beautiful here in the Kruger National Parks. Bright orange hues right across the whole horizon this time.

We even had our biscuits and champagne in the wild. But we needed to be very careful, as I heard of tales about some other travellers, being cautioned and then had to make their way back to the vehicle due to the big cats approaching their way..

Then, by the time, we were back in the lodge, we could wash up, and get ready for our dinner. The following day would repeat itself with the similar timing.

On our trip, we had the chance to see the cheetah from afar, but didnt manage to see any of the leopards which are high elusive animals. They are nocturnal creatures, and thus spend most of their time resting in the day, and hunt in the night. That makes it difficult to locate and see them.

Interested to make a trip to South Africa? 
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