We have been in South Africa for 2 weeks now, and really loving it! We have done a bit of exploring in between boat jobs and various yacht club BBQs and catching up with all the cruisers. Invariably we all compare notes on how our passage was and how much wind we saw and how many days it took (we took 9 days, very respectable). We were definitely one of the lucky ones as far as the passage from Reunion goes. We made it into Richards Bay harbour before some of the high winds started. On that same passage a few boats were damaged, some even towed into port and one very unfortunate boat hit a container 500 miles offshore and sank (the name of the boat was Wizard, a South African boat with 5 crew on board - all 5 were rescued by a passing freighter). So we count our blessings and thank our captain for getting us here safe and sound.
We are slowly getting ourselves into gear - getting cell phones and internet and arranging moorage in Cape Town. But it will still take us a couple of months to ease into work. Eitan is still with us en route to Cape Town, and we have a new crew (Mark) joining us next week in Durban and Cress's daughter Breanna coming for Christmas. And we still have about 900 miles to sail the rest of the way to Cape Town. The plan is to start that trip next week as a series of 1-3 day passages as we wait for good weather to get to each port. Next stop is Durban only 85 miles down the coast.
We have managed to rent a car for a day here and a day there to get out and see some of the game parks and African terrain. All wonderful - but this is where a few pictures are worth a thousand words!
Irena and Cress
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| Impala - we saw tons of these |
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African Elephant
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| Very elegant Giraffe |
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Zebras and Giraffe; up high.... down low
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| Hippo yawn |
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Lotsa hippa... or is that hippi???
Black Rhino
Hornbill
African Buffalo
Nyala
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| Can't recall his exact age.... but over 100 |
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| Zulu warrior dance |
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| Tiny Zulu dancers |
We have been in South Africa for 2 weeks now, and really loving it! We have done a bit of exploring in between boat jobs and various yacht club BBQs and catching up with all the cruisers. Invariably we all compare notes on how our passage was and how much wind we saw and how many days it took (we took 9 days, very respectable). We were definitely one of the lucky ones as far as the passage from Reunion goes. We made it into Richards Bay harbour before some of the high winds started. On that same passage a few boats were damaged, some even towed into port and one very unfortunate boat hit a container 500 miles offshore and sank (the name of the boat was Wizard, a South African boat with 5 crew on board - all 5 were rescued by a passing freighter). So we count our blessings and thank our captain for getting us here safe and sound.
Wow! Great pictures! They look like professional postcards taken from just steps away from the animals.
ReplyDeleteI especially liked the Zulu warrior dance, because it reminded me of a photo you took years ago in, I think, Fiji, of a similar Polynesian war dance.
The benefits of world travel!
Cress and Irena
ReplyDeleteWelcome to RSA. Those pics look like they were taken in Umfulozi...were they? They bring back some fond memories! Have you made any connections with our relatives yet (did you get our email)?
Lots of love, Gary and Lauren