Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Drakensberg mountains


A trip to the Drakensberg mountains was one more pending travel from my previous trip to South Africa. And this time, we finally made it:). Drakensberg is a hilly region South East of Johannesburg, near Lesotho and is quite a popular mountain region close to Johannesburg. Our weekend trip there was quite relaxing and uneventful, where we walked on a couple of small trails and drove around the hills, taking in the green environs and relaxed aspect of South African life:).


The drive to Drakensberg is about 4-5 hours from Joburg, covering a distance of about 400 kms, depending on which part of the Berg you are going to. We left quite early in the morning to beat the traffic and reach there with enough free time for the weekend. The traffic while going wasn't much, so that was good. There were loads of service stops (garages as they are called) on the way and we stopped at one for a quick meal.

We drove across 4 different SA states - Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State and KwaZulu Natal - to reach Drakensberg. But I must say, this was one of the most boring drives I have done in South Africa! It was like driving through bare lands where not much is grown, its all yellow, there are no changes in the landscape and all you can see are flat lands till where the eyes can see. And it was also very hot that day, which doesn't help on a long drive! We were just very bored and tired on this whole drive.

There wasn't much habitation on the way, except a couple of small villages but with very few people. Harrismith, Ladysmith and Winterton were the bigger towns on the way, but they were more townships that towns. It appears that these were places where the blacks who worked on the farms lived. And then you again see the divide between the rich and the poor of South Africa. All these villages had small temporary houses with tin roofs. And clearly was inhabited by the not-so-rich of the country. There were also lots of people hitchhiking on the way. That made me wonder, who if anyone offers a lift to people in SA? Especially given all the concerns about safety that we hear about the country all the time. My guess would be - very few.

Though thankfully, the landscape did change suddenly when we started climbing some of the hills, in the last half an hour of the drive. Out of nowhere came hills and lakes and greenery. And then it was a different world! The road was good all the way till Winderton and after that, there were a lot of nice farmlands and farm estates on both sides of the road.

Lake in the Berg area
We drove towards the Drakensberg Sun/Champagne Sports resort and were staying in a B&B - Cathkin Cottage - in a gated estate next to it called the Cathkin estate. This area is located right at the edge of the Bergs. We were so tired after the long travel that we just crashed for two hours as the sun was very strong and we were not feeling up to any activity at that time. We finally got out around 3 pm, when the sun felt lighter and spent time at a couple of places nearby - the Dragons Peak, the Champagne Valley and then the Sun.

Dragons Peak Park
The whole place was all about beautiful green hills everywhere you see and the road was laced with resorts for all budgets. Our first stop - the Dragons Peak Mountain Resort - had a trailer and camping location with a picnic area right in the middle. There was a lake in the middle for kids to boat and adults to fish in, and a nice little cafe for snacking. And all around was just lots of greenery - it would have been a nice place to stay if we had more appetite for camping ;-). There was also a nice little school called Drakensberg Boys Choir School right next to the resort, which my guess is would be a whites-only school.

View of Champagne Valley
After a quick stop there, we kept on driving inside the Bergs. On the way, we stopped at a couple of local artisans selling bamboo handicraft products which were pretty. The view from this drive of the entire valley and the cottages dotting the landscape next to the lakes was very refreshing. As we drove on and crossed a couple of resorts, we reached the end - the Champagne Valley park. This was again a picturesque camping ground, plus a nice place to stop, take pictures and relax.

By this time, it had got dark and we started driving back. And suddenly out of nowhere came a storm and it started raining very heavily. We had just reached the local supermarket by that time, which was a line of about 10 stores selling necessary wares, with a restaurant, a super market and couple of handicraft stores. We bought a giraffe leather purse from there which I am sure was a rip-off but the saleswoman was so convincing that I don't think we stood a chance;-). We also tried eating in the local cafe but because of the rain, the power had gone off and they were wrapping up already at 530 pm!!

Outside the Sun at night
Anyways we went to the Sun Drakensberg for dinner, as that was the only option open in the storm. And what a wonderful hotel that was! We spent some time admiring the views outside, which still looked pretty in the rain. And we ate at the buffet there - thankfully it had some quasi-Indian options available which worked for us. We had a quick dinner at 7 pm itself and drove back in the storm to our B&B. Thankfully, there was electricity in our B&B so we were not left in the dark. We did stay up a bit, but I think in places like this so close to nature, staying up late feels unnatural, so we also slept off quite soon as it looked like the whole area was fast asleep by then!

View from the Sun
The next morning, we were there for half a day and again had a leisurely day. This trip turned out to be a lot more about taking in the fresh air and greenery rather than doing a lot of activities. We walked around a bit around our B&B and estate. There were loads of monkeys and baboons around which were a bit scary. And then we went to the Sun again. We walked to the lake and around to the canopy tour hill. There were a couple of trails around too but we were not in the mood as the sun was already out. So after a couple of hours enjoying the outdoors, we were ready to call it a day and come back to Joburg.

Even though we did not do much, there are loads of activities here for an active weekend - quad-biking, ziplining, wildlife tours, eagle watching, fishing, boating, trekking and so on. Maybe in the next trip, it would be good to try them out. Also Lesotho is about a 2 hour drive from here. I have heard, its a pretty rural country and very different in its culture from South Africa. Would be good to visit it sometime.

Anyways our drive back was quite different. Felt a lot more alive and we noticed a lot more things that the way in. We first stopped at a handicraft shop close by, making and selling leather rugs. And the guy was selling Brazilian leather bags, which were smarter, lighter and cheaper than the one we had just bought:).

We noticed a lot more lakes and water bodies on the way back, even though it was the same road. And so the drive back felt prettier and greener, also because it was less hot that day and the recent rains had made it all fresher. We noticed lots of cows, some sheep and donkeys on farms on both sides which somehow were all hibernating when we were going in ;-). There was also a LOT more traffic while coming back which wasn't fun.

And as we drove, there was suddenly a downpour of summer rain accompanied with a lot of dust in the air. To the point, that at one place, I reduced to driving at 20 kmph as I could not see anything in front of me! But the rain and the clouds did give us many beautiful views as we drove back. Also, the first view of Joburg from afar was amazing - a line of high rises skyline up on a hill, with menacing clouds behind it. I wish I had taken a photo of that, it was quite a view to remember!

All in all, the weekend out to Drakensberg was nothing spectacular, but a very relaxing weekend out. It felt almost like we were in Europe - it felt so much safer and relaxed. Lot of people were just walking around which is not as common in Johannesburg. It definitely would be more fun if it was for a longer period. I think we spent a lot more time in the car, than in the mountains. It would be nice to spend some time trekking and experiencing all the activities around.

Accommodation

Cathkin Cottage
Cathkin Cottage B&B was very nice; small, cute and comfortable. It was very well maintained and had a very nice feeling of living there. It was next to a group of holiday homes which were manned 24 hours with lot of security controls. It felt a bit weird, but I am guessing that's usual for this part of the world? In front of the B&B, we had a garden with panoramic views of the peaks in front. There were also a couple of cute living rooms where you could relax. These were left open for residents to use whenever. And there was a small pool right outside for tanning:) which we did not use much. The hosts were also very helpful and knowledgeable about the places around. I would recommend staying here to anyone visiting. Makes for a great experience!

Map





Thursday, November 24, 2016

A surreal weekend in Victoria Falls


Victoria Falls has always been famous for its huge waterfall on the Zambezi river but now a string of many other activities have come up around the Falls which can keep you occupied for a lot longer. During my stay in South Africa, I visited the Victoria Falls area on a weekend from Johannesburg. The first evening, I explored the Zambezi river  on a boat safari. And the next morning, I made a trip to the Devils Pool and walked around the Falls area. Other than that, I just walked around a bit taking in the feel of being in Zambia. After the trip, I realised though that you definitely need a couple of days to explore Victoria Falls fully; though even in my day there, I totally loved the place.


Sunset on the Zambezi
My trip to Victoria Falls was over a weekend, but the flights were such that it turned to be just about 24 hours. And even though it was short, I don't know why, I felt it was one of my most wholesome and surreal travels ever. I wanted to write about my experience immediately, to be able to put to paper my feelings most accurately. I clearly didn't do that, but will try to remember as much as I can to be able to explain why I felt so.

The first reason of course was that this was the easiest and quickest planning I have done for a trip to another country! I booked a reasonably priced and well rated B&B on booking.com, a quick flight ticket on British Airways (apparently BA flies locally within South Africa too, so Avios points helped), applied for the Zambia visa online and that was it, I was done.

Victoria Falls, from the Zim side
Victoria Falls are located right on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The border runs midway through the Falls and because of that provides a great source of employment and income to the people on both sides. It is well suited for tourism from either side too. There is a town on both sides of the border, run purely for the Falls tourists - Livingstone in Zambia and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe - and you can fly to and stay in either of these places. Also, the way the Falls are split between the two countries, you can do some activities only from the Zambia side (e.g., Devils Pool), but see the whole Falls only from the Zimbabwe side. So most people visiting the Falls apply for both Zim and Zam visas. I applied only for one though, the Zim side, and stayed the whole time in Livingstone.

FYI - the two sides of the river are called Zim and Zam:). And if you go back a bit further, you will also run into the Namibia and Botswana sides of the river..



Applying for the Zambia visa online was one of the simplest visas I have ever got. All you need to do it upload a couple of basic documents online, and voila! You get the visa emailed back to you within a day! Though I had to face a different issue at the airport later.

Because of tourists coming to both the Zim and Zam side, the visa structure there is unusual. There are 3 types of visa options available:
$20 - Day tripper
$50 - Single entry
$80 - Multiple entry

I thought this was quite convenient for tourists but this structure makes it more profitable for the Zam government. I had applied for the day tripper visa for $20 (as it said its valid for up to 24 hours), but turns out its valid for up to 24 hours in one single day! So if you enter Zam one day and go back the next, you need to buy the higher Single or Multiple entry visa. So at immigration, I had to pay $50 instead of $20. Thankfully they still let me in, and did not ask me to fly back to Joburg!

View of Zambia, from the top
While landing, the whole area appeared dry and yellow,  with dried out shrubs everywhere. It actually felt parched and dry from the top. We even saw the Zambezi river from the flight, it didn't look as huge as it actually is. Looks like it spreads out a lot more just before the Falls. The airport as expected was small but surprisingly posh and well maintained for such a small airport.There are only about 4-5 flights which fly to this airport, all of which come between 12-1 pm and then leave between 1-2 pm.
Another view from the top
The airport was pretty fancy for one which opens for only a few hours and is shut down for the rest of the day😊. Of course, during this time, it was crazy busy. There were very long queues at immigration, and that is a typical woe at this airport. Also I noticed, there were only whites in the flight and the immigration line, which I found very surprising, or maybe more upsetting than surprising.

Once crossing the immigration line, as I said before, the whole weekend was surreal. It just flew by like an idyllic river. The weather was very warm, actually it was really hot. And right from outside the airport, the air started feeling lazy and idyllic.

I took out some local currency from the ATM at the airport. Its called Zambian Kwacha and 1 USD is about 10 Kwachas. Everyone accepts USD here, so might be a good idea to carry some dollars with you. In fact, all prices are quoted in round USD figures. Once out, I took one of the local taxis (the blue coloured ones are the official and safes ones) to my B&B in Livingstone. There is almost a standard rate for all taxis in Victoria Falls - USD 10 or 100 Kwachas - to get anywhere. From airport to Livingstone, airport to Falls, Falls to Livingstone etc..

I was staying at Gloria's B&B in Livingstone and the cab ride was less than 10 mins. Driving through Livingstone, it did not feel like a town at all. It looked like just a random distribution of a couple of one storey houses with huge empty spaces in between. Its difficult to imagine it was the British capital of the country once!

The B&B owner, Gloria booked the evening safari for me with Livingstones Adventures. The way she was talking to them, it looked like everyone around knew everyone. The safari organisers picked us from the B&B and went to their centre. Everywhere, all you have to say is that you are from Gloria's B&B and they know you😊.

River safari boat
There were two options here - to go for the sunset cruise which is in a huge multi-level boat and then a 2 hour river safari, which is in a smaller group of about 10 or so people. I had signed up for the Zambezi river safari (USD 95) and so we left in this small little boat to explore the river. There were two guides with us on the boat, one was motoring the boat and the second was telling us about the river and the animals around. They also had snacks and drinks on the boat - the cold water was definitely very welcome then😊.

Zambezi river safari
The earlier part of the safari was a bit hot and sunny. So had to avoid looking too much in the direction of the sun. The guides first took us upstream around some of the islands in the middle of the river, to spot some animals. It wasn't much of a wildlife safari honestly, more for enjoying the river and its mood, though we did spot a few animals too.

Peeping hippos
We saw many groups of hippos lazily floating around in the water. Their heads were bobbing up and down all the time. They are supposedly the most dangerous animals around - who would have thought, given how cute and chubby they look😊. And then we saw a crocodile nesting its young on the side of the river.

Orange birds
We spotted a couple of colourful birds on the sides as well as a warthog on the river bank. Both sides of the river are national parks (Mosi-o-Tunya and Zambezi park) and we could see people doing wildlife safaris on both sides.


Sunset on the Zambezi
After an hour on the boat, we stopped at one of the many islands (apparently lazily floating around) on the river. I asked for its name but no one cared😀. We ate some snacks (chicken wings, sliced vegetables and samosas), enjoyed the sunset and then were driven back to the adventure center.

Going back was interesting as it had got a bit cooler by then, and I sat on top of the boat. Also going back we were going upstream and there were loads of small rapids on the way. It was quite exhilarating and scary at the same time to go back this way. The views of the sunset on the river were magnificent. Its funny, that sometimes such a simple thing as a boat ride can be so memorable and relaxing because of the picturesque vistas.

Back at my B&B, I crashed soon after as I was feeling unwell too. Somehow the warm sun had improved my cold during the day, but it had come back by the end of day and I was exhausted. There was a power cut at night which happens every night - it felt different as I haven't been in one for ages!! There was still power in my room as they use solar power to run everything when the power cut is on. Though that meant that the AC could not work, still it wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was then that I suddenly felt that you don't need much to live a happy and peaceful life. People around here are living a lazy paced life. And their life is beautiful. Why do we stay in such complicated places and lives then?

Anyways, with these thoughts I woke up early in the morning, when I had go and find a place for myself on the Devils Pool tour. The Devils Pool is a small pool, right on the edge of Victoria Falls just when it falls hundreds of metres below. It is also know as the ultimate infinity pool. Because of the natural river erosion, this pool was formed naturally, providing a safe place to swim right on the edge. Its still dangerous to go there during the high water season, but it is relatively safe in the dry season. It is still a bit scary though, as if you look down, you don't see much but water falling all the way down.

The Devil's Pool was my main reason to come to Victoria Falls! I had heard about it years ago and wanted to experience it myself. Till a couple of years ago, anyone could just walk to the Pool with a guide. But nowadays only one particular adventure company is allowed to take a limited number of people to the Livingstone island and the Devil's Pool. There are only a few tours in the day and as would be expected, they are booked early on. So when I tried finding a place, I was told that there wasn't any.

But I did not want to give up still. So I decided to turn up at the Royal Livingstone Hotel in the morning at 530 am where the tour leaves from. Earlier they were a bit unsure whether I would get a place or not. But thankfully someone had cancelled at the last minute, so I (and another stowaway like me) got a space in the group. We were a small group, of about 10 or so tourists. And surprisingly, most from the US. Looks like Victoria Falls is quite famous on the other side of the pond😉.

Edge of the falls
The guides first take you to the Livingstone island in a boat, then you walk across a bit on the top of the Falls, then you swim across a part of the river, carefully avoiding the current, and then you walk a bit to get to the Devil's Pool. The Livingstone island is located right at the edge of the Falls and was the first place from where Captain Livingstone had viewed the Falls. To be honest, you don't even realise how dangerous all this is till you look over the edge and realise, that a few cms away, is a sheer fall.

Devils Pool
We then jumped into the Devil's Pool, holding onto the rocks for dear life and got onto the edge to peer down. It felt like any other pool when you are just swimming around. It is only when you peer down do you realise what a stupid and risky thing you are doing!!

It was quite scary, though I think the way it is run by the adventure company now, the whole experience has been devoid of some of its excitement. It is definitely a lot safer this way, as it almost feels like an assembly line. But the fear and excitement I would have expected is no more there. You go there in a 10 mins boat ride, swim a bit, the guide takes a couple of typical photos on the edge and you are done. While sitting on the edge, I tried to at least get a photo of me without the lifeguard but it turned out you can't anymore. The lifeguard who accompanies the group needs to be in each and every photo taken there to prove that they are following all safeguards😊. Hilarious! But it also means I don't have any great pics from the Pool without the lifeguard in it 😞.

On the other side of the ravine, we could see tourists walking on the Zam edge to get a view of the Falls. From the Pool though, you could only see the water going down. Nothing about what happened when it reached down. (By the way, I recently saw the same location shown in Human Planet - the Rivers episode. Apparently, locals come and fish here on the edge of the Falls regularly)

Sun deck at Royal Livingstone
After the dip and swim, we had a bit to eat on the island - some local delicacies made by the organisers, and then we were done. Once back on shore, I spent some time at The Royal Livingstone hotel. I would rate this as the best place to stay around here if you don't mind splurging a bit. It is located right next to the Falls and has a nice sun deck on the river to just laze around and look at the lazy hippos floating by in the Zambezi.

Zebra outside the hotel
And this whole area is very green too, unlike the rest of the places around which were yellow and dry everywhere. The Hotel has a big compound and they have zebras, giraffes and impalas walking around. I had even spotted a giraffe and zebra grazing away on the grounds.




Walk to Avani
Most of the activities take only cash payments, and I had finished my cash with the Devils Pool tour (USD 98). So I thought I would walk across to the neighbouring Avani hotel, a less luxurious cousin to the Royal Livingstone. The walk was through their grounds where alas I did not see any more wildlife. There was a Barclays ATM in Avani where there was a long queue of about 10 people and the bank employees were trying their best to make it work. It didn't and so after 30 mins I decided to just go back to my B&B. Its been quite some time since I have felt so frustrated not being able to get cash. Am guessing in India, that's the feeling that must be going through everyone's mind? (Random fact: I also noticed they have Airtel services in Zambia, Go Bharti?)

I called for a taxi (again 10 USD) to go back to the B&B and a woman in very stylish clothes came to pick me up. I was almost sure she wasn't for me or would charge a heavy price for dropping me - her car was so good and she seemed well educated too. Wonder if there are not many employment opportunities in this part of the world or if taxi driving is a lucrative business😉. Once back at the B&B, I relaxed a bit in the pool and then was ready to go to the airport. Alan dropped me back to the airport after a stop in the city where we finally found a working ATM. I also saw lot of run down English buildings in the city, remnants of a different era gone by?

Even though there are only 4-5 flights coming in to Livingstone daily, everyone is suggested to be in the airport at least 2 hours before. I wasn't sure if that was being overcautious, but looks like not. The airport by this time was going crazy and the queue was 1 hour long. I did figure out though, that since mine was the last one of those flights, I should have come just 1 hour before and it would have been fine. Since I came 2 hours earlier than my flight, I had got in with the whole crowd and so it took 1 hour for me to get through the queues.

Since I had a lot of time, I looked around the small airport to buy something local. There were 5-6 shops selling handicrafts, and I found an African print shirt which I liked. However, it turned out to be Made in China. That put me off so much that I decided not to buy anything! The flight back was uneventful, and within two hours I was back to the hustle bustle of the multi-million people city of Johannesburg. And this is how this weekend faded away...

The Falls from the Zim side
The whole trip felt so short and wholesome; convenient and lazy. Its difficult to explain the feeling. One thing I should mention though is there are loads of activities to do there which I didn't.



List of activities
Here is a list which I found at one of the travel agents - kayaking, game drives, helicopter and microlite rides, elephant and horse ride, bungee jumping, fishing and so on! And then you can walk along the edge of the waterfall if you enter through the Victoria Falls park on the Zam side (you have to stop much before the Devil's Pool though!) or just cross over to Zim side to get a good view of the whole Falls. Apparently, you cannot see the bottom of the falls during the high water season, but at this time, you could. Anyways so many more things to do, I wish I come back here again, with more time to be more lazy😜.

Accommodation

The Avani and Royal Livingstone would definitely be the best (and most luxurious) places to stay among the options here.

Gloria's B&B
My stay in Gloria's B&B, though not comparable, was good too. Gloria's is a single floor small convenient house, with its own pool and a couple of rooms at the back for guests, with gardens all around. It felt almost like staying with a family. Gloria ran the B&B, while Alan did the running around. And they had a couple of more people helping them run the place. They offer a complimentary pick up and drop off from airport also.

Gloria and Alan were very friendly and welcoming, and helped with all the bookings and answering all my questions. It was very interesting to talk to them too, as Alan was from UK and had now settled in Livingstone.

The room I stayed in was very clean and convenient. It had everything you need, plus an AC which you really need! At night though the power goes off, and they use solar power for a couple of hours. Though the AC does not work on solar power and it gets a bit warm inside. The pool outside was quite average though, it was just a place you could sit in the water, not really a pool for swimming. The rooms were so laid-back and simple, I could not help feeling why do we ever need all the flashy decor of regular hotels?

Tips for travel

- If you have time, plan to visit the Falls for at least 4-5 days. There are loads of varied activities to do in such a convenient way
- Stay at Royal Livingston or Avani if you have money to splurge
- Book Devils Pool tour in advance as it always sells out
- If you have, carry USD with you, as its convenient and everyone takes cash. Also, all these activities are quite expensive so carry enough cash
- The whole area felt very safe and relaxed, so don't worry about safety much. Its all cool:)



Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Weekend of relaxing in Sun City


My first weekend in South Africa was spent in the resort town of Sun City with a wildlife safari added to it in the neighbouring Pilanesberg Game Reserve. It was a nice relaxing weekend, involving chilling in the pool, exploring the Sun City activities, enjoying the spa plus an early morning safari to give it the 'nature' touch. It wasn't anything extraordinary but a fun and convenient weekend getaway close to Johannesburg, definitely a great option if you have a weekend free when you don't want to stretch yourself too much.


I had heard about Sun City even during my last trip to SA in 2013, but hadn't managed to go there then. But this time it finally happened😃. What helped a lot was that it was an easy trip to plan - all you need to do is book the hotel and there is nothing else left to do. There are enough activities to do once you are there, that you do not need to worry about pre-booking or researching anything beforehand.

We left for Sun City lazily around 10 am, and were there within two hours. The drive was mostly on a highway, with only the last 30 or so kms requiring you to get off the main highway. We crossed Pretoria in the beginning and there were no other towns or cities on the way. It was overall quite a boring drive, with nothing interesting to see on the sides.

Most of the area was bare, or just full of vegetation in all hues of yellow (given the ongoing drought in South Africa). Also, unlike some other parts of Africa I have driven in (Kenya and Tanzania), there is no likelihood of spotting wild animals in South Africa anymore. I was almost expecting to see a few zebras and giraffes roaming around freely but saw nothing at all.

I was impressed with the whole transport infrastructure though. Everywhere we encountered good quality well maintained roads, perfect signage and an enjoyable driving experience. It did not feel like I was in Africa (or at least like the perception we all have of Africa!). Also another amazing thing I had never experienced till now was that on single lane roads, the cars ahead of you would always give way when they saw a fast approaching car from behind. The drivers do it themselves, without you honking the horn, even when you are far. It was such a weird thing for me to see, given I have mostly driven in India. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I got to drive like this!

Along the highway, there wasn't much habitation around. Except just outside Johannesburg, where we passed a couple of not-so-rich neighbourhoods and it struck me again what a mirage of development, the cities of South Africa are. Also, once we got off the highway, for the last 30 kms or so, we did see some settlements or townships on the road which made us aware again, that South Africa is a country of many poor, even if the cities and the infrastructure do not portray that truth. All these settlements had lots of small huts close to each other, all covered with tin sheets. And seeing the quality of these accommodation, one can clearly sense that this is where all the poor (and always black) people would be staying. Later I realised, a lot of the workers in Sun City also stay in these townships near the Resort.

And then you reach Sun City, a different world altogether. Sun City is a completely artificially built resort town located in a beautiful green valley, with its own lake and other amenities. It is literally a city by itself - with its own entrance gate, local metro and bus system, and so on. There are many different entertainment and residential options here to keep people entertained for long.

Palace of the Lost City
There are 4 main hotels in the City - Palace of the Lost City (built in the form of a palace), Cascades Hotel, Sun City Hotel & Casino (the first of the Sun hotels), and The Cabanas (in order of decreasing luxuriousness). Other than these four, there are a couple of residential complexes called Cabanas Club and Vacation Club, where locals have bought holiday homes. All these hotels are purely for relaxation and entertainment. And there is a feeling of luxury and opulence, which is difficult to describe - its all in the air when you enter them. They all have the typical shopping options, spas, golf courses, casinos, restaurants and pool complexes to keep guests busy and entertained, as well as other physical activities like a walk in the bird aviary in the Cascades hotel, tropical forest walk, zip lining, water activities in the local lake (Water World) and so on.

Additional to these, there is the Maze and the Valley of Waves which are pretty popular. And of course, if you love nature, you can go for a safari to the neighbouring Pilanesberg Game Reserve. The focus of Sun City is to provide you a variety of activities to keep you entertained, and it does that pretty well.

View from Cascades Hotel
We stayed at the Cascades Hotel, which was a typical hotel with a panoramic view of the valley and lake behind. It was so pretty that you could sit there for hours, just admiring the greenery all around. We decided not to do that though😉. The first day, we focused on enjoying the activities in the resort and the second day was spent on safari. And I can't overstress the conveniences of the resort at all - it was so easy to book everything, and it was all within 10 mins walking from each other😃.

View from the Raj, Sun City
Once we checked into our hotel, after admiring the view, the next thing we did was go looking for food. There were many options nearby, but since I hadn't had Indian for quite some time, we went to an Indian Restaurant call Raj in the neighbouring Sun hotel. We had a yum heavy and lazy lunch in the shadow of red and white flowers. And the sun felt soooo good, we could have stayed there for hours. Also, discovering Raj was a boon for my stay in SA - it turned out to be a chain restaurant and I ate in 2 others during my stay there - in Sandton and then in Cape Town. And my parents also ate in the Raj in MonteCasino and Gold Reef City near Apartheid Museum, both in Johannesburg. So it very soon became our local hangout across the country 😃.

By this time, we were already in the idyllic mood of the resort, which continued for the rest of the day also. After lunch, we first went to the Maze. It was an artificial maze created for tourists to get lost and then figure the way out. And at the end of the Maze, you reach a pub with a view of the Maze from the top. It was a lot of effort to get through it in the heat (it was 30+ degrees), and it turned out to be not that great or tough an activity either. Definitely a miss.

Valley of Waves
After the Maze, we went to the Valley of Waves. The walk up was grand, with animals sculpted on both sides and a impressive walkway built all the way. And the activity looked like a fun thing to do too except there were just TOO many people! It looked like half the city was there, so we decided to give it a miss and just thought of going to the Cabanas pool as our Cascades Hotel pool was being renovated.

Even though it was a 10-15 mins walk to cabanas, it did not turn out to be as easy. We got onto the wrong bus and then another wrong one, so we got a free half an hour drive around the whole resort😃. We did realise though how huge the whole complex was, and spotted a couple of peacocks around the Vacation Club area.

First view of wildlife in Cabanas Pool
Anyways in the end, we reached the Cabanas pool and chilled there for some time. And then went for a walk in the "tropical forest walk" behind our Cascades hotel. We also saw some baboons randomly walking around the hotel but smartly stayed away from them. And then we reached the aviary which turned out be actually very good - there were loads of birds of different varieties kept inside, and you can walk in and see them up close. We were too late by then though, and just observed some of them from the outside.

Since we had to go for a safari early in the morning at 5 am, we called it a day soon after, had a quick buffet dinner at the Peninsula restaurant in Cascades and slept off early.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve
Pilanesberg is the neighbouring Game Reserve to Sun City. It shares its boundary with the resort and hence provides another convenient option for entertainment. You can easily drive your car and do a self-drive safari if you want. We however took the official morning safari, which runs for about 3 hours and the guide drives you in a huge open safari vehicle, helping you spot animals more easily. Booking the safari is also easy - you just need to turn up at the entertainment centre and they take care of the rest.

This Game Reserve is built around an old crater. And the whole area is quite hilly and yellow, with dried out vegetation everywhere. There are a couple of water bodies also but we did not see many animals near them.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve
Our safari started at 5am and we had a well informed guide who shared a lot of information with us about the animals and Pilanesberg. She started the day with a gem which I loved - "All big animals eat grass and are vegetarians except cats and dogs". I found it quite insightful and wondered why I had never thought of it till now😄.

Warthog
I would rate our safari as an ok one, nothing extraordinary but nothing boring either. We saw lots of rhinos, one lone elephant eating leaves, standing on top of a hill, a hippo out of water, a giraffe, two warthogs, few zebras, wildebeests, a couple of baboons, langurs, some kudus, many herds of impalas, two red hartebeests running away from us and a Tsessebe. Actually now it doesn't seem as less as I felt on the safari. I was so excited seeing the animals and observing them, it was if I was on a safari for the first time😃. And I learnt something more about all the animals too from our guide.

Baboons: We started our safari with seeing a group of baboons sitting on a dam wall. Apparently they sleep there everyday as its easier to jump into the water and run away from leopards if they attack the baboons when they are sleeping. It is interesting to see how man-made things can modify animal behaviour!!

Black rhino
Rhinos: We saw loads of rhinos in our 3 hours, at least 10-15 of them in about 6-7 spottings. To the point, that by the end, we even stopped stopping to observe them even!! (While in my last Africa trip to Kenya and Tanzania, we had spent 5 days of safaris, and not seen a single rhino).

Two white rhinos
Most of the rhinos we saw were white rhinos hanging out together in groups of twos, and only one black rhino walking around alone. Apparently you can distinguish black and white rhinos from afar as you will be able to see the black rhino's face as they eat leaves from the top of bushes. And white rhinos, eat grass from the ground and you rarely see their face. The rhinos can't see well at all, only their hearing is good. That is why when they get upset and try to run away from humans and predators, they end up running directly into them, as if charging at them. And also, sometimes the black rhinos end up chasing the white rhinos (or vice versa) even though they cannot mate with each other 😀. (You learn so much more about the animals every time you go on safaris)

Male rhinos generally stay solitary, while the mother and child stay together for a couple of years. Most of the rhinos we spotted in twos were a mother with her calf, except the first one who were of the same age. So it could have been that their mothers were poached, and they joined forces and started hanging out together. Apparently, one rhino is killed every 8 mins in the world. And if it continues like this, they will be finished within 8 years. The situation seems very critical now, and when I asked our guide how many rhinos there were in the park, she said they are not allowed to say that for the same reason.

Elephant: Our Big Five sighting in this safari was quite sad. Other than tons of rhinos, all we saw was one lone male elephant eating leaves from a tree up on a hill. It was a male who had left the herd and was roaming around alone. Apparently, elephants cannot climb mountains except in Pilanesberg where they have learnt to, for food and because it is 3 degrees warmer up the crater rather than inside! Ongoing and continuous animal evolution, eh?

Hippos in water
Hippo: We saw a Hippo outside water - he must have got out during the night to eat and was just now getting back into the water as the sun was about to come out soon and their sensitive skin gets spoilt in the sun😀 . Apparently hippos can walk underwater too.

A dazzle of zebra
Zebras: A group of Zebras is called dazzle - as they dazzle their predators who cannot make out the individual zebras when the herd runs together. This can confuse the zebras' predators when they try to hunt them.

Blue wildebeest
Blue Wildebeest: Wildebeests and zebras are the animals who are famous for their migration, but the wildebeests in Pilanesberg have stopped migrating as they can get enough food here even in the low season😃.



Tsessebe
Tsessebe: They are the fastest antelopes in the world and can run up to a speed of 80 kmph. Apparently none of the other predators can catch it, and only lions are able to hunt it.

Langurs on guard
Langurs: We saw a couple of Langurs sitting on top of a tree and keeping guard while their friends were eating on the ground. And then soon they would have swapped, the ones whose breakfast was done would get onto the top of trees to keep a watch around and the rest would eat.

At the end of the safari, we stopped at a water body where we saw nothing and then it was time to go back. We also saw some people take a balloon ride within the park. Am not sure if you see more animals that way, but who knows?

Balloon ride

After we were back from the safari, the sun was up again, and we did not have any energy left to do anything else. So we went into the spa and spent a couple of hours there, relaxing and getting all kinds of stuff done at rates half of what it is in London. We had yummy lunch again at the Raj and then it was time to drive back.

It took us the same two hours to drive back and the drive was non-eventful. We saw a couple of beautiful views of the sunset while driving back which made the drive more enjoyable than when we were driving there. And this was the start of my African travels😃.

I would rate Sun City as a must-do if you are in Joburg and not doing anything. Its definitely a great place to spend a weekend, if nothing else, then getting a lot of sun and Vitamin D😀.


Thursday, November 3, 2016

South African diaries


South Africa, I am back! And what a revisit it was. I even earlier was, and have now become an even bigger fan of SA. I recently spent six months in this beautiful and sunny country, had a mind-blowing experience, and would love to go back.

A crazy project ensured I did not get time to be regular on my blog, but a lot is in the works. Coming soon are the following articles on my time there:

I had spent a month in South Africa once before in 2013. Here are a couple of articles from that time till I am able to write more:)