R62 to Klein Brak and the Cango Caves

It was early as we started on the N1 highway out of Cape Town. Just the other side of the Huguenot Tunnel, which is nearly 4 kms long, we emerged to sunrise and a rather hazy morning however the Du Toitskloof mountains could still be seen towering above us on both sides.

On the N1 highway towards Worcester

Next up was breakfast on the side of the road near Barrydale with the backdrop of the famous Cape Fold Mountains (see photo below) that separate the temperate coastal region of the Garden Route from the

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Our Cape Town Peninsula Tour

With the South Easter wind still howling it wasn’t really beach weather but the skies were clear and so we grabbed the cameras to head out on a tour of the Peninsula. Leaving from Llandudno, we were going to travel anti-clockwise and pick up lunch at either Cape Point or Simon’s Town before heading back around Table Mountain.

a map of the Cape Peninsula

Just over the hill was the village of Hout Bay and out the other side the road winds its way up to the start of the dramatic Chapman’s Peak Drive, arguably one of the most

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Back in Cape Town with a to do list

First things first I wanted to get my camera to Orms, the place for all things photographic in Cape Town. Trying my camera one last time before heading into town I was amazed when I flicked the ON switch and the screen came to life asking me to set the date and time. After setting these I took a few photos, tried some of the other settings. Everything seemed fine, and relief washed over me feeling I had avoided a no doubt costly repair fee. I don’t know what the problem was or why it suddenly started working again. Maybe the dry air on the plane at 37000 feet, maybe it just needed to rest for 3 days either way it seems fine now.

Second on the list was contacting Qatar Airways to claim compensation for our luggage that they had lost but subsequently found and delivered to my parents at 11 o’clock one night while we were away in Victoria Falls. Lacking faith in online claim forms we decided to go to their offices and confront them face-to-face. Wanting to use the element of surprise we didn’t phone ahead and just arrived, tirade prepared, only to be told

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The Put Foot Rally 2011

I have been known to spontaneously embark on crazy adventures like jumping out of an airplane at 9000 feet and sailing 14000 kilometres across the Atlantic Ocean. The other day I came across this event: The Put Foot Rally 2011. Unfortunately I’m all the way over here in China otherwise I would definitely consider doing this but if you’re interested check it out.

What is the Put Foot Rally 2011?  Is it a race? No.  Is it a test of survival and endurance? Maybe.  Is it an epic African Adventure with challenges around every corner, a chance to taste different cultures, traditions and languages, and the most incredible opportunity to experience Africa in its purest and wildest form?  ABSOLUTELY!!

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Day 4 – trying to get back from Zambia

Our last day in Victoria Falls, rather last morning. After a leisurely breakfast we wandered up the road, in light rain, to pick up some last-minute curios before heading back to the hotel where our airport transfer bus was waiting. It was mid-morning and our flight was scheduled for just after lunch at 1:30pm. Crossing over the bridge it was our last chance to see the falls on our left and the Zambezi River gorge to our right.

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We got to the airport, checked-in despite the systems being down and read our books to pass the two hours till our flight. Being such a small airport you can see the whole apron from the waiting lounge and at 1:00pm there were 1time and SAA planes parked outside but no sign of our British Airways plane. There had been no announcements so I went back to the Check-in desk to find out if

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Day 3 – We were surrounded by elephants

The first thing I did was try my Canon 550D but alas it would still not turn on. Oh well, what could I do. At least we sill had a point and click between us. We had a quick breakfast before getting collected by our tour bus where we met the Australians that were on tour with us and started the 1 hour journey to the Kazungula border post between Zimbabwe and Botswana. This was going to be our sixth country in just five days. It wasn’t long before we had our first sighting of an elephant right next to the road.

The elephant we were lucky to see just off the main road

As you can see the bush was lush and green. This elephant we only spotted because we saw it crossing the road but once in the bush again it disappeared almost instantly in the dense vegetation. I started to worry if we had picked the worst time of year to go on a safari given how difficult it would be to see the animals. Once we were in Botswana and specifically the Chobe National Park my worries were put to rest as we saw

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Day 2 – Getting wet at The Victoria Falls & walking with lions

In the distance you could hear a low rumble. We sat outside on the verandah at Ilala Lodge as we ate our include breakfast buffet of fresh fruit, yoghurt and cereals as well as an a la carte menu looking across to the mist rising up from the Falls less than a kilometre away.

Welcome to the Victoria Falls, "The smoke that thunders"

According to the Victoria Falls guide, “They are not the widest waterfall or the highest waterfall but with all dimensions taken into account, including almost the largest flow rate, they are considered to be the biggest curtain of falling water in the world,”  and we were just about to see them but first

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Day 1 – Getting to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

I say getting to because our route wasn’t very direct; and that was before the travel issues started. We arrived at Cape Town airport at the domestic terminal and searched the departures board to determine which counter 1time was operating at for us to check our luggage in. After locating our flight on the board I scanned across to reveal that the flight status was “delayed to 12:00″. A five-hour delay that meant that we would only be taking off 30 minutes after the scheduled takeoff of our connecting flight in Johannesburg. Could this really be happening?

We made our way to the counter with desperate looks on our faces and told the check-in staff that we had a connecting flight in Johannesburg at 11:30am. She said they were trying to accommodate those passengers on other airliners and that we must follow her to the Kulula counter where we would be on standby.

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Airport official: “Excuse me sir, is this your bag?”

As we were waiting for our luggage at the carousel in O.R. Tambo International Arrivals terminal a security official is walking around with this cute beagle on a leash. Obviously a sniffer dogs of sorts, I wasn’t concerned being the upstanding citizen I am, but everyone has, at the back of their minds, that element of doubt. You frantically think back over the last 48 hours. Was you bag always in your possession, could someone have slipped something in along the way? What if?

The beagle that is cute unless it finds something in your luggage

The beagle was being led around the carousel, sniffing everyone’s hand luggage while they waited for their checked bags. I watched as it came around sniffed at Margaurita’s bag but he didn’t move on. He sniffed a bit more and then sat down, a prime example that could have been used in a beagle training video for future generations. The unlikely and dreaded moment arrived, could this be, ” Excuse me sir, is this your bag?”

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“The next available flight is tomorrow morning at 01:00am”

As we got into the terminal building at Doha, the airport staff directed us to a queue on the left hand side for “Fast Transfer” passengers which we had become. Instead of 1hr & 20mins we now had 10 mins to clear the security check and board our next flight. The only problem was there were 3 other flights also leaving at the same time as ours and every passenger in the terminal seemed to be on one of them. So the fast transfer queue, which was only allocated one X-ray machine wasn’t moving very fast.

Airport Security (image from the papermag.com)

 People were pushing in left and right. I protested but they simply replied that they had a plane to catch. Well so did I. Voicing my concerns to a nearby official I was told that they understood and we would all make our flights and not to worry as our flight status on the board changed to “Final Call” it was hard to relax. As we neared the front of the line I could actually see our Boarding Gate; it was number 6, the first gate as after you got through security so we wouldn’t have to go far. As I checked up on the departure board one last time before putting my bag through the X-ray machine the status had changed to ”Gate Closed.” We ran to the gate to see if we could still get on but the agent was unperturbed and told us we had to go to the transfers desk upstairs for further information. I was irate and as we rode the escalator to the second floor I began formulating my diatribe for the unfortunate member of staff behind the Transfers Desk.

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Qatar airways pilot: “…we apologise for any inconvenience…”

I last wrote from the departure lounge in Shanghai and what a journey it has been since then hence the lack of posts but rest assured I’ll give you all the details in the next few posts.  Below is the interior of Terminal 2 at Shanghai PuDong airport which looks fairly grand but the shops and eateries leave a lot to be desired.  

Departure lounge at Shanghai PuDong Airport – Terminal 2

After a minor boarding gate change and last-minute de-icing of the wings we were onboard. Push-back was on time at 00:30am followed by a fairly lengthy taxi to runway 35L turning left hand out with a great view of 

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Summer Holiday / African Adventure

There was a power cut at the school this morning so I couldn’t post this earlier but as I sit here at Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport with free Wi-Fi I’ll update you on the progress. First let me explain the title. Although it’s winter here in China, I’m calling this a summer holiday as we are heading back to Cape Town for 3 weeks while the school is on vacation. The African Adventure is because it’s Margaurita’s first time visiting Africa. Below is the flights we will be taking over the next 3 weeks as we visit South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls) and maybe even Botswana. As for the international legs, it’s my first time flying Qatar Airways which routes via Doha so I’ll let you know how that goes. So far so good, with online check-in we were able to skip a massive queue at the airport and now we are waiting to board QR889 (a boeing 777-300ER for those who care or are plane crazy like me) and tomorrow evening we should be in sunny, if windy, Cape Town. See you all soon.

Our flight plans over the next 3 weeks

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My new toy – Canon 550D

I have longed for many years to have one of those big fancy cameras. At first the cost was a factor and made my cost-benefit analysis lean towards the negative as I couldn’t justify how much I’d use it and whether I really needed it. Perhaps it was just procrastination as it took me 6 years before I even joined the digital camera owners club and even then it was a gift so I hadn’t had to purchase it. But now, I have been researching the options and living in the land of bargaining and cheap prices. Everything came together and I can now tick off another thing on my wish list - a Canon 550D.

Canon 550D with 18-55mm kit lens

It has the highest specs of an entry-level DSLR with an 18 megapixel sensor as well as 1080p Full HD video functionality and all this at 2/3 of the retail price back in South Africa.

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In the classroom

I realised that I haven’t spoken much about my new contract at Yinhe Experimental Primary School (I think I’m the experimental part). Well in brief I teach the lower grades 1 – 3 while Margaurita teaches the higher grades 4 – 6.  The age of most of the kids in Grade 1 is 7, in Grade 2 they are 8 and in Grade 3, nine years old.

I can't hear you.... (yah right, 40+ kids are as noisy as hell)

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The facts & figures review of 2010

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 4,400 times in 2010. That’s about 11 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 33 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 77 posts. There were 316 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 92mb. That’s about 6 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was September 17th with 144 views. The most popular post that day was Prediction for the 2010 SA Blog Awards.

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