Kirkman's Kamp

(Retrospective post)

We participated in four safaris during our stay and managed to sight most of the animal species that occupy the region. A selection of our sightings.

Wildebeest

Tortoise

Leopard cub up a tree

Giraffes

Giraffe and Zebras

Zebras

Lion

Giraffes

Elephants

More elephants

Buffalo

Lionesses

Leopard

Rhino

Sunset

Kirkman's Kamp

(Retrospective post)

We three days and two nights at Kirkman's Kamp Game Reserve and Lodge.

The hotel/motel style accommodation was very pleasant. It certainly was not 'roughing it'.

The Bedroom

The back verandah

The common areas; lounges, bars and dining

Guests' lounge

Afternoon tea ahead of a twilight safari

Skukuza Airport, Kruger National Park

(Retrospective post)

Arrivals Hall

Transport to our Game Reserve

Checkin counters

Departures Lounge

The Monkey Reserve, Plettenberg Bay

(Retrospective post)

Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape

(Retrospective post)

Indian Ocean

(Retrospective post)

Our first sight of the Indian Ocean at Wilderness, Western Cape

Cango Caves

(Retrospective post)

The Meerkats at Oudtshoorn

(Retrospective post)

Our overnight stop was at Oudtshoorn. There were two scenic options here; the Meerkats or the Elephants. Both were early morning activities and I took the Meerkats. There was no guarantee of a sighting which was dependent on whether the morning would be fine and warm. If not, the Meerkats might not leave their burrows.

Luckily the weather was favourable and gradually these funny looking animals emerged from their burrows. It is a fairly static display given that they spend what seemed to me an inordinate amount of time to satisfy themselves there were no dangerous predators about. For all of the 75 minutes we observed them they were on guard. Eventually they would start on their day's activities which seems to be engaged in burrowing work but we had to move on before they felt sufficiently safe to let their guard down.

Our viewing vehicles

Off to the burrows

Meerkats on guard

More Meerkats on guard

And for something different, Hippos submerged in the nearby lake.

The Mandela Statue

(Retrospective post)

A mandatory stop outside the Victor Verster Prison to capture photos of and with a statue of Nelson Mandela. Victor Verster was the last prison placement for Mandela and the statue depicts how he was dressed and appeared, fist raised, when finally he was released after 27 years of imprisonment. This was not us in the photograph but a group who had arrived at the spot before us. I think they were members of an Australian orchestra (but this may be wrong).

Stellenbosch

(Retrospective post)

We weren't supposed to visit Stellenbosch, a name familiar even to me, a non-drinker, as a noted wine region of South Africa. However when our bus arrived at a mountain tunnel headed for something called the Garden Route we were diverted because of a lighting failure which authorities deemed to dangerous for buses to manage. Instead of a sprint through the tunnel, our bus crawled up and then down a very winding mountain pass stuck between heavy industrial vehicles diverted for the same reasons.

As a consequence we passed through Stellenbosch where we made the quickest of comfort stops. It is a pretty university town which deserves better photos than what I snapped whilst toilet queuing.

The mountain pass route did provide us with some spectacular views of countryside although the winding trip made it difficult to capture those views well. This photo is the best of a poor bunch.