We're back from our trip to South Africa. The term "best trip ever" has come up a few times - see our pictures. The trip I took there alone ten years ago was what I used to call my best trip ever, so clearly I think it's a pretty amazing place. This was Marjorie's first trip to the continent.

Cape Town: I'd been here before, so I got to show Marjorie around, at least to the extent I could remember. Still one of the most beautiful cities in the world. See the photos. Highlights were Table Mountain (though Marjorie was bummed that there weren't any hyraxes this time!), climbing Lion's Head, Camps Bay, Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach, Rondevlei nature preserve...

Stellenbosch: We stayed in this wine region town for a few nights, which was nice. Highlight was petting the cheetah at Spier winery. I tried to recreate a great experience I had there at the De Akker pub ten years ago but of course you can never go back.

Kruger National Park: What an amazing place. We stayed two nights at the Pretoriuskop camp and two nights at Lower Sabi. In both camps we were in little huts without heat or toilets but we were fine. We did a lot of driving around on our own, but also did a morning safari, a night safari, and a walking(!) tour. We wrote down our sightings, and came up with 32 different mammal species (including most of the big ones), plus scores of birds and a few reptiles. I'll post our list in a separate blog.

The walking tour started a short ways from camp, so they drove us there, starting at 5:30 am, before the sunrise. They told us that this trip was about walking, so we wouldn't stop on the drive unless there was something really extraordinary. Almost immediately after we left camp we heard a big angry lion roar, just up the road! So we tore off, and came across some hyenas patrolling around. Apparently the kill was just behind the trees - we never saw it, despite the best efforts of our guide shining his "sport light" out into the darkness. It was really, really exciting - we hung out for ten or fifteen minutes to watch the action. Apparently hyenas can eventually outnumber lions and chase them off the kill, but our guide told us that if there's a big male lion there, the hyenas will hold back, which is what they did. Eventually a female lion also came out and chased them off. Our guide radioed to another tour group, who eventually showed as we were leaving.

As we drove on, the sun came up, and as we rounded a turn, there ahead of us were another three lions. We watched them for a bit, then rode off to get ahead of them in the direction they were traveling, down a different road, so we got to watch them pass again. Turns out these wasn't terribly far at all from where our walking safari was to start! So we were definitely looking over our shoulders much of the time. Our guides, Irving and Marrrrta, not surprisingly, toted guns, and we weren't allowed to talk while we walked. It was fascinating to watch how they tracked, using wind direction and bird calls. Our only encounter with a big animal was with a buffalo, which was still pretty intense - he spotted us and snorted, and we weren't sure if he was going to charge or not. Eventually he moved along.

Driving: I'm a lot more used to driving on the left side of the road than on my last visit, so driving was a breeze. In fact, we both think the driving is better there than here in Australia.

Safety: From past experience I knew not to stay in the city centers; beyond that, everything was fine and lovely, and we had no problems whatsoever.

Cost: It may cost a bit to get there, but you make up that cost a bit just because things are relatively cheap, thanks to the exchange rate. On our last night in Kruger, we had fancy drinks at the bar in our camp - you'd think with them having you as a captive, and being on safari, that they'd jack up the prices, but they were only around US$3/AU$4.

Wild animals: I had heard people say that it's different seeing these animals in the wild than in the zoo, but I was skeptical. But it really is, and I've come up with a list of reasons why:

Unpredictability - you never know what sort of animal is going to pop out of the trees or cross the road in front of you.

Danger - no moats or electric fences here. We followed the advice about keeping our windows closed.

Animal behavior - you see all sorts of different behaviors that don't happen in zoos, especially concerning the four F's (feeding, fighting, fleeing, and mating :-).

Animal interactions - again, without fences separating them, you get all sorts of interactions you would otherwise never see.

Smell - nothing is sanitized, so there's a lot more poo. But it's an earthy smell. Also, the smell at the kill we came across was unforgettable, once the animals intestines are opened up. Marjorie described it as a mixture of "[poop] and fear" :-)

Soccer: South Africa is gearing up for the World Cup, of course, and had the Confederations Cup going on as a warm up while we were there. Lots of t-shirts and memorabilia on sale. I only watched the USA play Brazil on TV. But there's such a great spirit there that I think the World Cup will be fantastic.