Tenikwa day 2

 In the morning we had breakfast next to the cheetahs. They had already had breakfast and they flopped themselves down and scratched their backs on the ground, just like our familiar house cats - and their purring, so loud! It was nice to be serenaded. 

After breakfast we went to say hello to the two meerkats that they currently have (they were kidnapped as babies and raised in a house, and when they were no longer cute and easy to handle, well....) Ok they were exceedingly cute and I really wanted to rub their bellies. 

Nearby the Centre there was a place called Birds of Eden which is a unique single-dome free-flight bird sanctuary (the World’s largest at 2.3 hectares and 55 m high). It provides a home to over 1,500 birds from over a 120 species. The sanctuary is a haven for birds previously caged or kept as pets, allowing them to live freely in a vast, natural habitat.  The day was heating up so this was the perfect place to go to stay cool. 

I know that I've said it a lot so far and I am sure that I will continue to say it. WOW. This was amazing. The place is HUGE! So many different types of birds - I was in heaven.  

At one point there was a Leadbeater cockatoo (pink cockatoo) who was stalking a gent. After snickering at that, I turned to take a photo of a fabulous blue Macaw parrot,  only to feel a tugging at my hat shortly thereafter. "Has someone got me?" I asked. There were smiles all round. Yep, Cocky was being a cocky.

We spent a few of hours there just wandering around looking at all the birds. A magical space. 

When we were pulling out of the parking lot - there was a family of baboons hanging around! I love this country!

We made it back to Tenikwa for feeding time so we got to enjoy the experience again. Just magical. 

Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre

 The directions given to us to get to Tenikwa said, "you'll think you're going the wrong way, but you're not." As we were driving down yet another pothole festooned street, next to a temporary settlement we began to wonder if we were going the wrong way. But as per the instructions, we persisted and were rewarded by a big sign with a big cat.

We arrived just before 4 and the keepers were just about to go feed the lions!

The Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre focuses on helping injured or otherwise vulnerable animals with a goal to release them back into the wild if they can. The animals they have there (that are seen by people) are not able to be released, such as the leopard that had a broken spine and although he can now walk, there is no way he could survive in the wild.

The guide brought us first to visit some of the other animals - like the cheetah sisters, the aforementioned leopard, a caracal, servals and some others. They were all absolutely gorgeous and I wanted to cuddle them all (not advised or permitted!) We finished with the lions. Along the way we watched the guide feed every one - chicken all round - they all get fed once a day except for the cheetahs whose metabolism is so fast. The lions as big as they are eat very little.

When we got back to our rooms and for the rest of the evening we could hear them roaring - awesome!

 

Tsitsikamma National Park

We left St Francis Bay a bit sad that we couldn't stay any longer, but we were now off to a Wildlife Centre! How exciting! 

We were told that along the way was a National Park that was not to be missed - Tsitsikamma, so naturally we stopped to check it out. It has 80 km of beautiful coastline to explore - we could have stayed here a week and not explored all the wonderful trails it had. 

 

  

Since we only had a couple of hours to spare we did the trail that lead to the suspension bridges. There were so many beautiful vistas along the way, and the day was sunny and not too warm. A truly beautiful place.

There was a trail that lead to the top of a point, but it was getting too late for us to continue as we were told to arrive at our next destination before 4pm for a "surprise". So, we turned around and walked back via a different path.

This park is truly spectacular and I wish we could have stayed longer. 

 

 

 

 

St Francis Bay

Our guest house was beautiful. Very coastal decor (of course) and a pool out in the front - waaaaaay to cold to swim in! Due to the mix up with the car rental we arrived quite late in the day so we were told that we could visit the canals after we did our shopping at the local supermarket and get back before dark. (I don't like driving at night)

The canals are man-made and the area is pretty and quaint with beautiful homes. Here we saw our first Cape Weaver nests dangling like decorations from a tree by the water and we caught the golden light of the setting sun. Truly lovely. 

 

 

 

We went back to the guest house to eat some dinner and then had a quick stroll around the block before night fell. The houses around here are massive and quite reasonably priced considering the location. 

I was already in bed and ready to sleep when Dominique said, "Nope, nope, nope, Nora I am NOT sleeping in that bed!" When I looked up she was on the other side of the room pointing at the top of her bed. I looked over and saw a small Huntsman spider, probably just a young one, hanging out on the wall behind her bed. He was just there to look out for her...this is what I told her anyway. She would have none of that and insisted I put it outside. Fine. 

It took some moving of the bed, and the removal of a second Huntsman that I found after moving said bed, but we were finally spider free - at least that we could see. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to capture his photo for posterity. He really wasn't that big. To me. 

The next morning we were told that breakfast was served at a local restaurant called the Rambling Rose. We arrived about 40 min before they opened and the wonderfully animated Abby suggested we walk along the coast which was just a few blocks away. So on we went. Spectacular! We walked for over an hour and we were starving when we got back, and the food did not disappoint. Delicious! 

Sadly, we had to leave that morning to get to our next destination. 

 

 

 

Holy Road Travels

 

Our flight the next morning was the 9:20 to Gqeberha (previously known as Port Elizabeth, and pronounced <tongue click>berra) so we had time for a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, where we swiped some orange juice so we could finish the bottle of champagne in the guise of mimosas.

 

When we landed we were supposed to be met at the airport by a representative of the car rental company. But no one was there. mmm ok. We tried to call the rental company but the message said they were not open on Sundays. mmm ok. Finally, we rang the head office and they said they would get back to me once they got hold of the branch office. We eventually got it all sorted, but by the time we left Gqeberha, it was a few hours later than we had hoped.

Leaving the car rental lot was terrifying. Before leaving I had read up about carjackings and thugs swarming cars and what to do in case this or that catastrophe happens. I was worried every time I saw the lights turning red. 

But we were driving through a small town, on a Sunday and there was nothing going on. We made it to the highway without mishap. Driving on the highway was building up my confidence. Google maps was guiding me as easily here as it does back home, so when it told me to get off at the next exit, I complied. Dominique was using a different app as a comparison and she said that her app was saying we should continue on the highway. There was only a 7 min difference so we carried on - apparently we were on the "scenic" route. 

um. no.

When we booked this part of the journey the organiser said he needed to check that the roads were still good, before he finalised our journey. We questioned this at the time, but, driving along that "scenic" route, we now knew what he meant.

All over the world people complain about potholes, but I have never seen potholes like this. Not only were they deep, not only were they wide, they were everywhere! I felt like I was in a sad video game where you had to dodge potholes, driving on the shoulder or into oncoming cars just to avoid them,  slowing down to 20km/h to go through them when the other options weren't possible. We are in a Suzuki Swift, not a 4X4! Every once in a while there would be a sign that said "Beware Potholes" - no shit.

Finally we arrived at St Francis Bay, the calamari capital of the world (or so we were told). It is a quaint and quiet little coastal town with a part of the town has man-made canals, ostensibly so the rich folk can all have a place on the water and a place to moor their boats.

Beautiful.

   

 

 

 

Going to South Africa

I arrived in Johannesburg at 4:30pm on Saturday and it took forever to get through customs, after a long flight there is nothing worse. When I finally got to the baggage carousel, my bag was not there and there were no other bags coming through - remember when I said there was nothing worse than long custom lines? Yeah, naw this was worse. Great way to begin!

A young airport worker eventually passed by all of us still waiting for bags and told us that there was a pile of bags that were not on the belt, but just sitting there on the floor next to the belt. Why were they there? Who knows, but my bag was there and I could finally leave to join my friend Dominique who had been waiting for over an hour. 

Its been 6 years since I saw her, and it was so good to see her again after a year of planning this trip.

Since we were leaving on a flight to Qberha (Port Elizabeth) the next morning, we booked and stayed at the airport hotel. Dominique, ever thoughtful, had bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate our reunion and we got a little tipsy before we headed to the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat. I didn't last long though because I had slept very little on the flight and had been more or less awake for 21 hours. 

 

 

Amman and Good Byes

We arrived back in Amman in the late afternoon. Some of the group were leaving late that night and the rest of us at various times the next day. At our last supper, we decided to go to a night club - yes there are night clubs! None of us had "clubbing" outfits, except maybe Mel who continuously flouted the "dress modestly" rule, but we were assured by Ayman that it wouldn't matter.

It was very much like any night club you might find, bodies bouncing to the music, people having a good time, it was Friday night and the place was packed. The music wasn't really my scene, but it was great to cut loose and dance! No creepy guys, no unwanted attention. What fun!

The next day, Dominique and I, along with 3 others who weren't leaving until much later decided to see some of the sights of Amman. Fidarus, is a devout Muslim, and he asked if we would like to come with him to the King Abdullah I Mosque so he could make up for missing the service yesterday. We could visit while he prayed and then we could go to visit the Amman Citadel afterwards. We agreed so off we went. 

The King Abdullah 1 Mosque is MASSIVE. It was built in the 80s and it has a beautiful turquoise blue mosaic dome that can fit up to 3000 people!

As infidels we were allowed to enter some parts, but we females had to don a chador, which they had readily available for rent. It was a hot sunny day (big surprise) and the chador were made of polyester - unpleasant! But the mosque was totally worth the discomfort as it was absolutely beautiful. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, and we weren't allowed to into the main body of the mosque (the bit under the big dome), but we did visit the women's part and some of the other common areas. The mosaic work was lovely as was the stained glass.

When Fidarus was done, we were off to the Citadel!

Towering above the city, on a hill, is the Amman Citadel. This historic site comprises a 1700 meter wall that dates back to the Bronze Age, the iconic Temple of Hercules, and the Umayyad Palace. The Ammonites lived in this area during the Iron Age. The citadel dates back as far as the Bronze Age. It was during this period that it was fortified (around 1800 BCE). Since then the site has undergone many rebuilds and additional constructions during the Iron Age, Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad eras. As a result of the large number of constructions on this site, very little remains from the original Bronze Age citadel. We spent some hours wandering the ruins - the Temple of Hercules (160 AD), the Umayyad Palace (7th or 8th century AD), and the Jordan Archaeological Museum. We were all a bit over ruins by this point though and we were hungry. 

The BEST falafels!

We had heard it said that the BEST falafel place in Amman was just down the road from our hotel so we decided to go see for ourselves. It was a little place, with take away only. OMG. The rumours were true. Best falafels ever!

 After that it was time to say goodbye to Amman and our new found friends. Suan and Shann had gone in the morning and Dominique and I vowed to come visit them one day in Malaysia. Fidarus, who was from Singapore told us to look him up if ever we did make it to that part of the world. Maybe one day we will.