Week 2 in SA: Catching up with Family and Friends

We’ve had a lovely time catching up with family and friends over the last week, commuting between our boat in Richard’s Bay, and Salt Rock on the Kwa Zulu Natal North Coast, about an hour and a half south of Richard’s Bay, where our dear friends Vicky and Haydn have made their 2nd home available to us, as they are currently living in Johannesburg.

My mom and dad made the drive to Salt Rock last Sunday, and we had a lovely day catching up with them. It was the first time we’d seen them since they visited us in the States in October 2015, so there was lots of catching up to do! We ended up going to a lovely place called “The Litchi Orchard” for lunch, where we had yummy toasted sandwiches and milkshakes!! We definitely have to start watching our weight, with all the “comfort” food eating that we are doing!

Enjoying lunch with my parents

Such beautiful flower arrangements, along with a fresh grapefruit!

On Wednesday we headed back to Richard’s Bay to meet up with some people who came to measure our boat for new sails. South Africa is a good place to get new sails, but we have not yet decided whether or not we will purchase a new set. It is a big expense, and we can make it back with the sails we have, but it is the most economical place to get new sails, which will need to be replaced at some point, so it’s a decision we will have to make.

We also enjoyed spending some time with the other cruisers at ZYC (Zululand Yacht Club), and the kids had fun playing with the kids in the marina. By Friday afternoon, we headed back to Salt Rock so we would be close to Durban for the following day’s travels.

On Saturday morning, October 21, we drove to the Point Yacht Club, Dave’s former yacht club. He had been invited to sail in a race that day, the Jonsson Cup, and his old sailing friends had organized a Laser for him! Thanks, Campbell Alexander for providing Dave with the Laser, and letting him use your brand new sail!! Despite some problems with the course (the storm that I had reported on earlier had moved some harbor marks), the race was run and Dave had a ball racing again, and while he had not been on a Laser in about 20 years, he finished second by only a few seconds!

Durban harbor with some of the upturned pontoons that were destroyed in the storm

Dave's home away from home when we lived here:  Point Yacht Club

Taking the Laser down to the water's edge to launch

Gaby and Ben learn the art of launching a Laser.  Dave is in the background

And off he goes...it's like riding a bike!

Some action shots:  thanks to Sophie Thompson for most of them:  my apologies if I've used some and have not credited the photographer!

 

A great shot of the close finish with Durban skyline in the background

Barely back in the country and he makes the newspaper!!  Thanks to my dad for the shot above, and Gary Harmon for sending us the one below!

While Dave was racing, I took the opportunity to go and see my folks again, and we visited them at their new home, a beautiful little cottage at the Altersheim Port Natal in New Germany, a retirement village attached to the German Lutheran Church where Dave and I were married! This gave me the opportunity to show the kids where we were married, and also where I went to pre-school! The playground I played on as a 3 and 4 year old is still there (with just a few more playthings on it!). We were also able to see a memorial plaque in remembrance of my aunt, Anna-Marie Martinick ("Tante Ami", my mom's sister). She had lived at the same retirement village, and we had visited her here on our last trip in 2012, and both kids clearly and fondly remembered her. She passed away in 2014 at the age of 93. The wall of remembrance is in a little garden next to the church and the plaque commemorates both my aunt and my uncle who died many years ago, in 1978. 

My mom's collection of cacti and plants fascinate the kids

The cottages are in a beautiful setting

The Wedekind family crest (my maiden name) hangs in my dad's study

My old playground!

The entrance to the church where Dave and I were married

Walking in the Garden of Rememberance

In remembrance of my uncle and aunt

We also had the chance to finally meet Gisela and Martin Tscheuschner, friends of my parents who loyally follow us on the blog. I’m so sorry I didn’t think to get a picture of us all together, but it was lovely to finally meet the faces behind the friendly emails we often received from them along our travels!

The kids and I headed back to the Yacht Club and found Dave at the bar, enjoying the odd beer with many of his old sailing friends. It was great to see some of them again…Chris and Joy Sutton, Campbell Alexander, Rowen Clark, Miles White and even Wayne (sailor/fellow graduate of Dave) and many more. Thanks for the enjoyable evening!

Selfie at PYC!  Dave, Campbell, Miles, Joy and Chris

On Sunday morning we drove to Hillcrest, where we spent a few hours visiting Helen and Colin Murdoch, and their daughter Gillian, old family friends of the Hibberds. It is Colin Murdoch whom we have to thank for introducing David to sailing, and for teaching him to sail when he was just a young kid! Helen and Colin, it was lovely to see you both again! Thank you for the coffee, cake and catch up! 

With Colin and Helen Murdoch.  Ben, Dave, Gillian and I are at the back;  Gaby took the photo!

And then it was on to lunch with Dave’s family…the South African Smiths (as opposed to the Australian Smiths we spent Christmas with!). This was a 16 person gathering consisting of: Dave’s uncle, Eric Smith (his mom’s brother), his aunt Colleen, his 2 cousins, Mandy (and her husband Brad and 3 kids) and Rowen (and his wife Lauren and 3 kids), and the 4 of us! It turns out that Mandy's second daughter, Tiel, was not only the same age as Ben, but was in fact born on the same day/year as him….April 29th, 2004….what a small world!! 

All 16 of us! (and Chloe, the Lab)

We had a lovely lunch at Mandy and Brad’s house (with the most stunning garden!), and then walked over to Colleen and Eric’s for coffee and cake (did I mention we have to watch our weight?!). The kids had an absolutely wonderful time playing with their cousins they had never met: swimming in the pool, jumping on the trampoline, and zipping down the “Foofy Slide” (zip line)! We later also went for a walk through “Camelot”, the estate where Eric and Colleen live, where the kids got dizzy rolling down slopes between the greens on the golf course! They also have a replica of an old English castle, complete with stocks and all!

The "Grown Ups":  Rowen, Lauren, Eric, Gudrun, Kayla, Mandy, Brad, Colleen and Dave

What a beautiful setting!  The kids jump on the trampoline

From left to right:  Roarke, Austin, Kenan, Kira, Kayla, Tiel, Gaby and Ben

Walking around the golf course at Camelot

Am I in South Africa or England?!

The kids roll down the slope as Dave videos it on his phone

Fun, Fun, Fun!

This is Dave on the blog for this last little chapter…..On a side note, Eric mentioned to us at lunch some history about the Tampa Bay area that he had recently read in an old National Geographic magazine that was quite fascinating, and detailed the early discovery / settlement of Florida in the year 1513. When we got back to their house he ended up giving me the old National Geographic magazine dated March 1988! It turns out this magazine belonged to my Grandfather, Gerald Smith, so it was really a special gift, and one I will always treasure as I don’t really have much from my Gran/Grandpa. In addition, Ben’s middle name is Gerald, named after my Grandfather, so thank you Eric for giving us this gift…we will read it and treasure it, and now have something on our boat, to take back to the USA with us that is very special and dear to me.

National Geographic: Vol 173, No. 3.  March 1988

The article on Florida's History that caught Eric's attention

We've had two additional visits with old friends where we were once again remiss in taking photos!  On Monday evening (last night), we were invited to dinner at the home of one of Dave's oldest childhood friends,  Andrew de Vlieg.  We had the honor of meeting his lovely wife Ana and their two teenage children Luke and Louisa, as well as Ana's mom, who kept us entertained at the dinner table!  Ana is a very talented artist, and I had first seen her work back in Australia, when I saw a sketch of Lyn Savage's dog Silas, and I commented how well the artist had captured his little personality!  Turns out it was Ana who had sketched Silas when they had visited mutual friends, Clynton and Lisa Wade-Lehman a few years ago in Australia.  Small world!!  Ana was so kind and showed us her art studio and took the time to chat to Gaby, encouraging her to make a book of drawings of her travels around the world in addition to her written journal.  Thank you, Andrew and Ana for a truly lovely evening.  You were such gracious hosts, and the kids LOVED playing with all your animals...dogs and cats alike!

And last, but not least, to round off the week of visits, a lovely night out tonight with Gary and Jenny Harmon at "Eat Local" in Ballito.  We couldn't actually remember when we had last all seen each other...perhaps as long at 30 years ago!  Thank you both for making the drive out here and meeting up with us, it was really great to catch up!

Tomorrow we are off to the Midlands and will be taking in some farm visits!  We will be seeing old friends John and Heidi Watt at their farm, and then on to Vicky and Haydn's farm for the weekend.  The weather forecast calls for some cold weather...a novelty for us water babies!  We'll report back soon on how that all turns out, and how we survive the other end of the temperature gauge!  Until then, this is Cool Runnings signing off!

PS:  Check out "Kid's Cabin" for an update from Gaby

Mkuze Falls Game Reserve

We've been busy since arriving in SA!  Not only have we caught up with our dear friends Vicky and Haydn, finally seen my mom and dad, and weathered a huge storm, we've also managed to fit in a quick trip to Mkuze Falls Game Reserve!  And what a treat it was!

On our ride down the Mozambique coast, we were in touch with Dave's sister, Kim via our iridium satellite email.  She asked if there was anything she could do for us in preparation for our arrival in South Africa.  Since internet is always such an issue, we asked her if she could do some research on game parks, to see where we could go and do some game viewing!  The beauty of Richard's Bay is that it is very conveniently located to the northern Kwa Zulu Natal game parks, and we wanted to utilize our stop there to do a trip to one of them.  Long story short, Kim managed to secure us a last-minute deal of the century at Mkuze Falls Game Reserve, a private game park, about 150km or a 2 1/2 hour drive from Richard's Bay.  We have never been to a private game park before, so we were very excited about going!

Our journey didn't start off all that well.  We were about 30 minutes away from the Lodge, driving along when we hit a rather deep pothole, and immediately we could feel it:  we had a puncture!  We pulled over to the side of the road and changed the tire.  The impact of hitting the pothole was so severe, we bent the rim!  Not a great start, especially when, upon hiring the car, Dave had declined the insurance that covered windscreen damage and punctures!!

UGH...puncture

It was a rather subdued bunch of Hibberds that arrived at the Lodge, but soon our spirits were lifted.  We had arrived at a 5 Star lodge!  We were not used to this!  We were met by the staff and they whisked away our car and our luggage.  We were shown to the outdoor patio where we were served lunch.  It was all inclusive:  3 5-star meals a day, game drives and sundowners on the game drives! What a difference to all day sailing and night watches!  After finishing lunch, we had time to freshen up, and then meet back in the Lounge area for "High Tea" at 3:00pm and our first game drive at 3:30pm.  There were 6 other guests at the lodge, and they went in one game viewing vehicle, and we were alone in our own vehicle, with a spotter/tracker and driver.

Delicious lunch... 

Beautiful setting

Our game viewing vehicle

No sooner were we out the gates of the lodge, than the spotter pointed in a direction and said "Cheetah"!  What?!  I couldn't actually see them at first, they were so disguised in the long grass, but before long, we saw 2 beautiful cheetahs walking through the grass and out into the open.  We followed them until they climbed a little koppie (hill) and settled down.  I have never seen cheetah in the wild before and they are just beautiful!!

Gabs with the 2 disguised cheetahs in the grass behind her

One of the cheetahs walking across the road

Perched on top of the hill

Beautiful cats

After leaving the cheetahs, we drove for a little while longer.  Our driver and spotter kept looking at the ground and they told us they saw lion footprints.  We drove along and came around a corner, and there he was...a lone male lion!  He was walking in the road, and then stopped.  Something had caught his attention.  He stopped, then sat down.  We could do nothing but wait and admire him.  Then we saw what he was looking at:  there was a herd of zebra a little way in the bush, but they got spooked and galloped away.  He might have been a lazy lion or not a very hungry lion, because he didn't chase them, but wondered off into the bush and disappeared in a matter of minutes!

Lion tracks

We found who they belong to!

The game drive was 3 hours long, and we saw many buck and warthog after the cheetahs and lion, but it's hard to beat those sightings!  As the sun was going down, we stopped and our spotter pulled out a table, whipped out a tablecloth, and set it up with drinks and snacks.  Dave and I enjoyed a glass of red wine while the sun was setting and enjoyed some biltong along with it.  A lone buffalo was not too far away, curiously watching us.  Man, it's a tough life!!

African Sunset

5 star service!

Sundowners

After returning to the lodge in the dark, we had dinner and collapsed into bed! The kids had their own chalet, and we had one next door, which was actually a suite.  We had a kitchen and a living area, and all the chalets had a beautiful outdoor shower and a private little pool!  It was absolutely beautiful!  Each unit also had a patio that overlooked the bush, and the Mkuze Falls with a dam below.  It has been designed and built in such a way that you feel you are the only ones there.  You can't see any of the other units from your patio, so you feel completely private.

Our luxurious accommodation

Bathroom

Outdoor shower!

Private pool

From the other angle

Ben said we didn't have to go on game drives, you could just walk around our "house" and see all the buck! (mounted to the walls!!)

The following morning, we got a 5:00am wake up call, to get us ready for our 5:30am game drive.  It was freezing cold and we bundled up as we set out.  We immediately saw giraffe near the lodge and I had jokingly told our driver that I'd put in an order for elephants that day.  He obviously took me seriously, because they set out to find them, and boy, did we find them!  We drove completely off road to get close to a herd of elephants that were munching away.  There were babies who were so cute!  We watched and followed the elephants for hours.  Before coming back to the lodge, we stopped for coffee and hot chocolate.

Beautiful morning giraffe

Elephant!

And off they go!

After breakfast, we had some time off, before lunch was served at 1:00pm!  I sat on the patio and watched a croc that was lazying in the shallows of the water of the dam below the lodge.  We had heard that a few days previously, a buck had come for a drink, and the croc took it!  I guess he was still hungry from that meal as he just wallowed in the water.  We could also see a lone giraffe across the way, having a nibble at the leaves on top of the trees that only he, with his long neck, could get to!

We skipped "High Tea" at 3:00pm, because we were still so full from lunch!  But we were ready and rearing to go for our 3:30pm game drive!  We saw lots of Giraffe, Zebra, Nyala, Kudu and Impala, and a few Elephants in the distance.  Coming around a corner, we bumped into a whole herd of Buffalo.  Then, on our drive back toward to the lodge, we slowed down to view a male Nyala in the road in front of us, when Gaby spotted a Rhino in the bushes!  Well done, Gaby!  The rhino made its way next to us, and then crossed over the road in front of us, and then just as quickly disappeared into the bushes!  We were very lucky to see it.  Our driver then took us back to a waterhole.  I thought we would be having our sundowners here, but when the spotter jumped off his perch in the front of the vehicle, and hopped into the car, I thought..."Lion!" (as this is what he had done the last time we saw lions).  He joked with us, and just said, "No lion, I'm just tired", so I was a bit disappointed.  But he was kidding, because there, just having his late afternoon nap, was a big male lion!

Male Buffalo

So elegant

Rhino walking off

One last look to check us out

Lazy Lion

I just wanted to ruffle his mane!!

Dinner?!  Something caught his attention

A roar or a yawn?!

We watched him yawn and stretch and eventually he got up and started stalking something!  Just like the big cat that he is, he stealthily crept up on his prey, some buck that we couldn't see.  And the next thing we saw him dash away!  And then we saw him come back out of the bush, empty handed.  I guess he wouldn't be having any dinner that night.  I felt bad for the lion, but also happy that some unsuspecting buck survived another day!!  We followed him for a while as he walked along the road, and eventually disappeared into the bush.  I asked our guide about male lions hunting, because I was always under the impression that the lioness did the hunting, but he said that the lions are quite capable of hunting, they are just lazy, and if there is a lioness around to do the hunting, he will rather just lazy about and be served, being the King of the Jungle that he is!  Since this lion was a solitary male, he had to "do his own cooking", the guide told us!

Impala

Another beautiful African sunset

We enjoyed some more sundowners and made our way back to the lodge for another splendid dinner!  We were not used to eating so much food!  The dinner menu consisted of 5 courses!!  A salad, a soup, a main, a dessert, and then cheese and biscuits and coffee if you wished.  We normally just have a bowl of soup for dinner, so this was way too much for us!  We never made it to the cheese and biscuits!

On Friday morning we once again awoke at 5:00am for our 5:30am game drive.  We headed off in the cold morning, and soon saw our two cheetahs again, lying in the long grass, still sleeping in (clever cheetahs)!  Our guides tried very hard to find us a leopard, driving to the far reaches of the reserve, but we unfortunately did not manage to spot one.  They are very shy animals and are not often spotted.  We did see a mom giraffe with her baby that we were told was only 4 - 5 days old!!  We enjoyed our last game drive and hot cup of coffee in bush and at about 9:00am.  After a nice, hot breakfast, we sadly packed our bags and got ready to leave.   Our car was returned to us, all clean and washed and we reluctantly packed it up and headed back.

Early morning cheetah spotting

More Zebra

Male Nyala

Mom and her 4 day old baby!

Two drone shots we took of the lodge:  our unit is the middle (larger!) one; the kids were right next door, on the right and below is the waterfall area our lodge looked on to ;)

A spectacular African sunset on our last evening game drive. You can see the tracker/spotter perched on the front of the Landcruiser, while Gaby and Ben capture the moment on their phones.....and I am sure will remember for ever!

Thank you, Kim (Dave's sister) for finding us this deal of a century and thank you to Lizette at Mkuze Falls Game Reserve for the 5 Star treatment!  Kim had spoken to Lizette at the lodge and told them about our round the world sailing trip, and together they came up with this great deal.  We, as a cruising family, could never have afforded such a luxurious stay under normal circumstances, so our deepest thanks to all who made it happen! It certainly was a fantastic start to our South African leg of this around the world journey we are on, and very much appreciated ;)