16 Aug Tying up loose ends after a week at home

The first 10 days of the trip were spent in Cape Town on my own. Van tours and the city sightseeing bus made getting around easy. These are a few extra pictures I wanted to include, but due to technical difficulties at the time, was unable to show until now. A few shots may be included already, but these are highlights and deserve duplication!

Brenwin House B&B Pool

Cape Town from Blouberg Beach

View of Cape Town
from Table Mountain

Yours truly on the Cape Penisula Tour

Marima Band at
V & A Waterfront
Cape Town

Lorraine & Jannie's home
Nelspruit  (NE corner of SA)

Lorraine and granddaughter Nina

My newest grandson Nicolas
holding his sister Nina

Cedar (L's daughter)
and her daughter Nina

Jannie and Nicolas

Nina helps Penelope
with domestic chores

These flowers bloom so prettily
because Lorraine and Jannie
talk nicely to them daily.

We had an unscheduled hike thru this boulder field to an amazing view of the valley below us. Then we treated ourselves to  banana-&-cream filled pancakes.  Three days later, I had an all day tour of the Panorama Route. There are lots of pix on the blog from that day, but this was such a highlight of my trip that it deserved to be mentioned again!

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK-2 overnights with 10 yr old spotters!


Nicolas and his friend, Waldo, proved to be our best spotters as Lorraine piloted the big Land Rover along the paved and dirt roads of Kruger. We did not see any leopards or cheetahs, but we saw plenty of other animals singly or in large groups. The elephants definitely have the right-of-
                                          way when crossing the highway!
                                          

I was most excited about seeing giraffes and zebras, and we saw plenty of them. It is amazing to see how well the striping of zebras camouflages them in "the bush". The camp we stayed in had simple rooms with twin beds, a fridge, and a small table with 2 chairs. Cooking was done in a separate circular building with 3 sets of double hotplates and a couple sinks. Boiling water for tea was provided by boiler above one sink. We took much more food than we needed, of course, but you can never tell what boys will eat. We did a lot of snacking in the car!

I made lots of pix of zebras and tried to take several close-ups of faces and was somewhat successful. Mostly, I settled for group shots.

Our room at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge was large and lovely with a deck over-
looking the watering hole where large herds of elephants, impalas, water buffaloes
gather in the evenings. The maid comes
to the room each evening to lower the
mosquito netting around the beds, and
they spray each room but still the pesky
bugs try their best to say "Gotcha"!  Above right pic is a group of men that sang in the dining room each evening-- beautiful a cappella harmony!
          
To me, the highlight of the Vic Falls trip was sharing a full day of new experiences with my "sister", beginning with our helicopter ride above the Falls (first copter ride for both of us), which was followed by a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pet and walk with lions!  As if that were not enough activity for the day, we also took the sunset cruise along the Zambezi River where we saw hippos and other wildlife along the shore. And how about that sunset!! Couldn't have been prettier!!!!         

The last activity of the day was an African dinner experience at a nearby restaurant-- this was included in our package. The food on the serving buffets included some unusual items, to say the least. But I did try Crocodile tail (tasty) and Lorraine tried to teach me how to eat lamb spareribs. There was also a musical program with drums, singing, and dancing, but I enjoyed it less than the a cappella group at our hotel.

Getting to walk along the edge of the mighty falls was a thrilling experience--and a damp one in spots, where the mist rose. But the most satisfying and thrilling part of my entire trip was the chance to reconnect with my friend. Spending time with her and being welcomed by her family was a dream come true for me. My only regret was that I was not able to meet Lorraine & Jannie's son, Morne, and his fiancee, Carien, and his 11 year old son, Bernard. They had flown to Laos the week before I arrived and will spend 3 years there. There was also no chance to meet Lorraine's mother, sister, one brother, and Bernard's Mom. I would like to have had time for everything, but I think we packed a lot into the 20 days we had together. 

THE HARDEST DAY OF THE TRIP

We spent one night in Joburg after the falls so that I could repack everything, and we could spend a little more time together before we both had to "return to grim reality". Saying GoodBye was extremely difficult and teary, but we rejoiced in the time we had spent becoming "sisters" again. 

We created enough memories to last a lifetime.

Thanks to those of you who shared in my adventure by reading my blog. This will be my final entry.