Table Mountain and Cape Town in all its glory.

After being in the bush for 13 days it was a little bit of a shock rolling into Cape Town. As we left Cape Town International Airport and headed towards the city, we drove by Shanty Town. The slums of Tijuana pale in comparison. Shanty Town was massive and dense. And every hovel had a satellite dish.  It was a stunning site to see. A few miles later we were in a modern downtown.

The Cape Town metro area population is almost 5 million. As a point of comparison San Diego County is 3.2 million. The ethnic and racial composition is 42.4% coloured (the former official term for people of mixed race), 38.6% black, 15.7% white, 1.4% Asian or Indian, 1.9% other. I wonder how the other folks feel about being other?

There were all kinds of warnings about crime, most of the advice is common sense. We always stayed in a group and didn’t venture out of the hotel property at night.

According to the internets, the area is a playground for the ultra wealthy. We were definitely left with the sense of the striking difference between the have a lots and the have nots.

Shanty Town, the best picture I could take while we were driving down the freeway.

The view from the fourth floor lounge of The Oynx Hotel, where we stayed.

Our first full day, the entire team put on tourist hats and went to Boulders then a couple of wineries.

Not all species of penguins live in cold weather.

Strange birds

Nest sitting

Penguins can sleep while standing up

The view from Delaire Graff Wine Estate.

Here’s something we’ve never done, we ate at the same restaurant three nights in a row. In our hotel was the Yu restaurant. It had absolutely fabulous sushi, and what a bargain! The dollar goes far in South Africa. It was less than half the cost of what we would’ve paid in the U.S.

Finally! A day to get some exercise. On Saturday the group split up. The seven guys went to the Cape Town Pride parade. We tackled Table Mountain with the Noltes.

Being tourists and having an Uber driver that didn’t really speak English, we had him drop us off where we saw a lot of other folks parked and getting ready to hike. There are many routes to the top of Table Mountain. The one we planned on taking, Platteklip Gorge, was a mile or more up the road. We thought of it as a warm up. The cloud shrouded view added to our excitement.

There are hikes, then there are hikes. The hike to the top of Table Mountain via Platteklip Gorge was one we’ll never forget. Short but steep!

The beginning…

Steep!

Semi-flat before the last steep push to the top.

The gorge, ten minutes from the top. It was windy, chilly, wet, and the rocks were slippery. Did I mention it was steep?

Red Crassula

Nolte and Greg at one of the many viewpoints waiting for a brief clearing.

Just when we were about to give up, we caught a quick glimpse of this spectacular view.

Once we were at the top the question was, how would we get down? Platteklip Gorge, being wet and slippery was too precarious. The wind was howling so we decided to wait it out in the restaurant with the hope it would clear.  One slight problem, the restaurant was closed, and so were all the other buildings, including the gondola house. We had a predicament on our hands. Then out of nowhere an employee showed up and said, “The last gondola car is heading down now.”

Marianne bought our tickets and we followed the path to the gondola. Silly me. I was thinking it would just be us and maybe a couple of other people. Wrong! It was packed like a can of sardines. I had a hard time seeing how we would even fit. Breathe and stay calm I kept repeating to myself. The anxiety got worse because we just sat there. The gondola conductor kept staring at his instruments. He grabbed the phone, told all of us to quiet down, and had a conversation with someone. Finally after more time passed, it became apparent we were over the 5,200 kilograms limit. He announced all employees not carrying money to get off the gondola.

Sardines

Down we go!

As if Table Mountain wasn’t enough excitement, we decided to also do Lion’s Head.

The gift shop lady called Lion’s Head a beginner hike and it was, until it became only wide enough for one person and we hit the first of four very steep ladders bolted right against the cliff’s face. It was a cluster f*ck of people. Amelia managed the first ladder (seen here), but couldn’t deal with the crowds for the next set, so we turned around.

The Noltes motored to the top!

Heading down the Lion’s Head trail offered a great view of the still cloud shrouded Table Mountain.

Our last day (of course it was blue skies and not a cloud to be seen) we used the Hop On Hop Off bus and toured the coastline.

A relaxing seaside lunch at La Perla Restaurant in Sea Point.

Amelia and Marianne in the center of the photo.

The beaches and entire coastline were perhaps the most beautiful we’ve ever seen.

Amelia in the chilly Atlantic at Boulders and Camps Bay beach.

Zulu Nyala is small by game reserve standards, a mere 4,500 acres. The small size makes it easy to spot the animals. However, after a few days of driving the same roads we started seeing the same animals. The reserve is also too small to sustain lions. There is one cheetah, but we did not get to see her. But all that said, it’s a beautiful property.

We stayed six nights at the Zulu Nyala Heritage Lodge. It has immaculately landscaped grounds and a very attentive staff. It was the slow time of the year and it wasn’t crowded at all. The only strange thing was you were locked in the compound. We could not walk off the property. They wouldn’t even allow us go a few feet on the other side of the gate. They no doubt have their reasons, but it became a running joke on the trip.

There were two game drives a day, early morning and late afternoon. They also offered off-site excursions. We went to St. Lucia for a river boat ride, the Indian Ocean, and a delicious lunch.  We also visited Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa and Bayete Zulu Game Reserve to see the famous Rambo and Rachael.

Brace yourself for a lot of photos and some videos!

When we saw the first zebras at Tembe we were excited, after a few days here we saw so many of them we barely blinked an eye and just drove by without stopping. Isn’t that how life is?

Cape Buffalo

Tall, graceful, beautiful and Amelia’s favorite.

White rhinos video. Another plus of a smaller reserve is it’s easier to protect the animals from poachers. Zulu Nyala hasn’t had the need the shave the rhino horns.

We saw these three often it was easy to identify them because one was missing a tusk.

Video of the one tusk gal eating

Wildebeest

Reflections

Lilac Breasted Roller and a curious Burchell’s Coucal

Herd of impalas

Yellow Fever Trees

Video of the rain from our room

Our table in the dining room, watching a Zulu dance performance.

Excursion to St. Lucia

St. Lucia estuary

A nice two hour boat ride on St Lucia river. The water was too high to spot crocodiles, but we did see Hippos!

St. Lucia Main Beach. No way can you pass up a chance to get in the Indian Ocean even with a shorebreak and fierce waves.

St. Lucia Main Beach dunes

The hippos stay in the river during the day and roam the streets of St Lucia at night. Many a drunk have left the bars and bumped into one. It’s such a fright they have to change their underwear.

Epauletted Fruit Bat hanging out in a strip mall.

Excursion to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Impala greeting us at the entrance to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

We waited and waited for this lion to move. He would stand up, look around then lay back down in the grass. Eventually we gave up and continued searching for more animals.

Red-billed Oxpeckers on the zebras eating ticks.

The warthogs were fun to watch roll in the mud then rub against the cement wall.

A youngster

Rhinos with shaved horns

Vervet Monkey, notice the robin egg blue body part? Amelia wouldn’t let me get more descriptive. 😁

Chacma baboons terrorizing the Hill Top restaurant at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

Dung beetle

Excursion to Rambo and Rachael

It was amazing being in the presence of these giants. They are in their early 40s and quite comfortable around people in this controlled environment.

This was crazy!

We got to feel Rambo’s ears and then feed him. The guide insisted we touch his tongue! When we pulled our hand out it was slobbery.

Video of us feeding Rachael.

Left to right: Dennis, Amelia, Marianne, Nolte, myself, Monte, and Oscar.

Many thanks to Oscar, Rob, Ray and Marianne for the fabulous pictures we poached off of google photos!

Another great place the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund set up for us to visit. Most tourists never get a chance to see it.

It’s so enjoyable to be around people that are passionate about their work. Karen, Blake, and the team at Zululand Rhino Orphanage  are doing a wonderful job caring for these intelligent, sensitive, and emotional animals.  Rhinos are social creatures that bond with each other and not necessarily a sibling. The handlers can tell who have bonded and when it’s time, usually two or three of them will be released together.

They are orphaned because poachers are killing the rhinos to harvest their horns. Poaching is a huge problem. It’s a lucrative market because there is a wide spread belief in Asia, and particularly China, that the ground up horns are an aphrodisiac and have curative powers for all kinds of ailments, including curing cancer. It’s all a complete myth, none of it is true, yet it’s been embedded in their culture for centuries therefore it’s hard to convince them otherwise. The horn is made up of keratin, same substance in human hair and nails.

To save the rhino  population many parks and reserves are now darting the rhinos and shaving down their horns. This has to be done every 12 to 18 months. It is sad to see the rhinos without their big horns, but it’s better than seeing them dead.

They are currently being fed four times a day. The two dry erase boards show their ages, weights, how much milk and pellets they get plus meds and supplements.

Nice udders on the milk bottles.

Good video of the team feeding white rhinos.

                         Blake and Karen feeding the one orphan that is blind.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of white rhinos is their square lips and mouth used for grazing. The black rhinos have a hooked upper lip for grasping leaves and branches from trees and bushes.

This photo puts a smile on my face and makes me chuckle.

Nice toes!

Not so nice flies.

On this video you can hear the noises they make.

Karen talks about their teething.

These two white rhinos are about to be released. They have had a successful upbringing.

The one black rhino they are caring for is in this pen. This was as close as we were allowed to get. So he wouldn’t be lonely they put a goat in the pen. The two get along great!

Wildlife Warriors is the name of their anti-poaching unit. There’s always a team patrolling.

Karen’s statement tattoo

Keep up the great work Zululand Rhino Orphanage!

This giant was walking down the road six feet away from us.

Tembe Elephant Park is 75,000 acres. The park’s location is very remote, lying deep in the sand forests and wetlands in northern Tongaland. It borders between KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique. It’s in a transition area between tropical and subtropical climate, that’s code for rainy and humid AF.

This was a “working” stop for the KACF group. We helped in the relocation of three two-year old male lion cubs. They were being sent to another nearby reserve, and that reserve was sending back one older lion as an effort to improve the gene pool. The new lion will most likely mate with the cubs’ mom. This wasn’t your run of the mill tourist excursion! We felt lucky and privileged to be a part of it.

Please watch all the videos!

One of the lion cubs was collared a while back so the group could be located. That’s Mikael on the roof of the truck radio-tracking the collar via telemetry.

Katherine in the background is a Regional Ecologist. Jen, the Veterinarian, is holding the tranquilizer gun and darts. Both gave us a safety talk and a general run down on what to expect.

The barbed needles are 1.5 inches long.

A male nyala was shot for bait. It was chained to the sign, so the lions wouldn’t drag it away. A wild animal distress recording was turned on to lure in the lions. We waited till well past dark, but couldn’t coax them to the bait. The best guess was they recently ate and weren’t interested. We kept the bait and used it again the next day.

We left at 6am the next morning. It was raining and Mikael knew the group had moved. We drove towards the way they were heading and set up. Jen needed to dart the three young lions and the lioness. Watch the video below.

The nyala bait was chained to a small tree. It was so thrilling watching them come toward us!

The four wandered around in front of us crisscrossing the road for quite a while. At one point it appeared that they were leaving, but they finally caught the scent of the bait and beelined to it. The video records two of them being darted. The second one lets out a little roar. It was interesting that the two lions didn’t take off after the other two got shot, stumbled around and collapsed.

Twenty minutes after they were darted, Jen went out to check on them. Hoods were put on to cover their eyes.

Leo had his 458 caliber rifle ready, just in case. Once they decided it was safe they allowed us to enter the area.

They were very professional and careful not to harm the lions. After extracting the dart, an antibiotic gel was placed on the site to prevent infection. 

Razor sharp claws, huge paws and big teeth and these lions aren’t even close to full grown.

Time was of the essence, the three cubs were loaded into the back of the trucks. Two in one bed, one in another.

Ready for transport

Jen is a badass and the two syringes at the back of her hat is a great look.

Soaking wet team photo with the lioness. She was staying at Tembe. After the picture Jen gave her a shot to reverse the tranquilizer that woke her up within 20 minutes.

The lioness waking up from her daze sporting the collar from her cub and no doubt wondering where her cubs were.

Drenched and heading back to home base.

After our “job” was done we spent the next two days going on game drives and seeing the beautiful country.

Rustic accommodations, this is the entire room. The showers and bathrooms were 40 yards away so there was a lot of urinating off the little porch at night.

Fun fact: Giraffes are not indigenous to South Africa. Tourists love them, tourists have money, so they are now established in South Africa.

A young herd of impalas, a wart hog, and a zebra in the background. These species are often seen together.

A termite mound. This is over 200 years old. The termites slowly build it using soil, termite saliva and dung. A queen termite can live up to 45 years!

Pronounced Zeh-bruh

Elephant print

Awesome elephant video!

Beautiful country

One of the big stretches of wetland

Wandering Jew flower, notice how the petals look like elephant ears.

The three cubs are now in a boma, a massive pen at their new reserve adjusting to the environs, soon they will be released. Tembe is still waiting for their new lion to be darted and transported for a hot release.

Big trip for us! Amelia’s first time abroad, my second, and our first visit to the southern hemisphere. What a hectic start, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

South Africa was not in our plans or dreams, then six weeks ago our friends the Noltes called us. They know a guy that knows a guy that does this all the time. He had four openings for an upcoming trip. It would involve basically no planning on our part, the two week itinerary sounded amazing, and we could afford it. The old clock is ticking and we ain’t getting any younger, so we said yes.

The guy is Dave Johnson, Executive Director of Katie Adamson Conservation Fund. There are 11 people on the trip, and these are Dave’s words, not mine, “The four of you will be our token heteros.”

Yikes!

Tough start to the morning. Basically this meant we would miss our flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg. Atlanta was where the group was meeting so we could all be on the same flight. To shorten the story, after some stressful computer, WhatsApp and phone communications, we did 85-90 miles per hour up the 5 and 405 to LAX to catch the same flight the Noltes were on. The long odyssey to get to our first destination, Tembe Elephant Park, went like this:

• Frantic drive to LAX
• Longterm parking and shuttle stress
• Four hour flight to ATL
• Three hour layover in ATL
• 15 hour flight to Johannesburg, or as the cool kids call it, Joburg
• Spent the night in Joburg
• Next morning, 1 hour flight to Durban
• Then a six hour drive to Tembe Elephant Park

The start of the 15 hour flight.

In Joburg

The group taking the long trek through the airport.

Woolworths! I had no idea they were still alive. Both airports we were in had one.

Nolte in secondary, about to lose his wine opener.

Someone was smart enough to bring a little cloth mat so she could do yoga stretches anywhere.

Flying into Durban. All the green with roads in-between is sugar cane.

The King Shaka International Airport in Durban had some amazing tiled mosaics.

Marketing 101

Bathroom signage at King Shaka International Airport

We haven’t seen much yet, but we’ve seen enough to know the women here are beautiful. Their accents are just the icing on the cake. We flew a small Airlink Airlines jet to Durban. It had three flight attendants. One of them had a separate tag under her name that said, “In Charge”. I got such a kick out of it. Reminded me of the good old days when Dan Fouts used to wear a hat at practice with the initials M.F.I.C.

I had visions of finding Elon’s childhood home and pissing on it, but I didn’t have time and decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

Stay tuned the next post of Tembe Elephant Park is going to be amazing!

R.I.P. Eric Rheinhardt

Eric Rheinhardt passed away on Christmas Day. We all knew it was coming, but it still hits you hard to lose a good friend. Then came the devastating Los Angeles fires. We’ve been evacuated before because of fire. It’s not something you forget. What they are going through in LA is completely off the charts. We feel lucky we haven’t had a major fire in San Diego County since 2007. It also feels like we are walking around with survivor’s guilt, just a hundred or so miles up the road they are going through hell and we are  basking in beautiful weather.

Sometimes you just need the serenity of the desert. It’s also a great place to watch the full moon rise. So we went out to Agua Caliente for the umpteenth time. I’m pretty sure Amelia was the youngest person there. I’m looking at all the old timers that come out here midweek and think to myself, I don’t look like them, do I?

Site 86

Desert Lavender at the base of Rainbow Canyon.

Chuparosa. Last summer a flash flood came down through Rainbow Canyon. There must be a lot of underground water. The entire desert had hardly any flowers, but Rainbow Canyon was lush.

Up and then down the first dry waterfall. There’s numerous dry waterfalls on the hike. The first one is the most intimidating.

The other hike we did was Inner Pasture. We’ve done it before back in 2016. This time it seemed completely different.

Occasionally we saw an Ocotillo bloom.

Dawn

Morning glow on Whale Peak

Agua Caliente Spring Road

And now the First Came the Thunder story. There’s not a lot to do this time of the year at night in the desert. It gets dark early, it’s cold, and there’s no cell service at the campground. We found ourselves listening to a lot of music. We’ve been riding Chuck Prophet’s new album, Wake the Dead, really hard. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Chuck, he’s been kicking around for 40 years. Back in the 80s he was in the band Green on Red. We also share the same birth date, but he’s three years younger. When he was recovering from lymphoma he got into Cumbia music. He would drive out to Salinas to listen to the band ¿Qiensave? Then he started jamming with them, the result, the stellar album Wake the Dead. I personally have it as the best album of 2024. I really hope after decades this will be his break through. 

Buy this album! At the very least have your gadget stream it. 

I kid you not, we listened to this song at least fifty times while in the desert. It’s a near perfect song. All the different instruments, background voices, the lyrics, and Chuck’s emotional singing. I dare you to listen to it five times. If you’re not a fan after that I don’t know what to tell you.