Road Trip to the West Coast (of South Africa)

Some of the photos I am taking are hard to see without clicking on them to enlarge them. Zoom lens did not work this whole trip.



This is a hotel at the mouth of a river and the Atlantic Ocean on the West Coast of South Africa. As I indicated, we drove from coast to coast and top to bottom. This was just a "find a place and stop for the night".



A fishing boat that goes out on the Atlantic every morning.



Mr. Wonderful carrying the luggage.



The room.

We ate at this restaurant. Mr. Wonderful wanted to try some local fish...Dole or Sole or something like that. It was good.



This is NOT what I ate. This is a fish drying rack for a local delicacy. Not for me.

There's alot more to come. Animals...scenery...I'm trying to (drag) I mean ENTEND the posts so my Peeps can have a sense of my adventure.

I love ya! Thanks for reading.

Trees, Shrubs and Stuff

This photo is for Queen B and The Princess. It actually is not the best specimen but by the time I thought to take a picture it was the closest one.

The city put up a "fake tree" that is, a tall pole with fake branches, so it would blend in the the environment. The only problem is the fake tree is at least 20 feet taller than any tree in the whole town.

This tree is exactly like the fake one, although this particular one is on the shorter side. It just amused me. Okay. I continue on.

Has anyone wondered why I am taking shots from inside the car? There are signs on the side of the road that used to say "High Crime Area. Don't stop your car". In getting ready for the World Cup, the changed the signs to "High Car Wreck Area", as to not to scare the visitors.

There are many carjackings in towns (at stoplights) and on long stretches of highway. Unless Mr. Wonderful was assured of the area, I snapped from the car.
If we did have to stop at a gas station or potty stop, one of us always had to stay with the car.


Just a teaser with the elephant. I was actually just showing another tree!

Bad photo of a palm tree.






Mr. Wonderful drove about 4 hours to show me this one tree. I have always seen pictures of a Baobab Tree but I was really wanting to see a living one. This tree is about 125 years old and there was really no way to get the whole thing in one shot. It is massive.

I know, I know. BORING. But just one more. Driving down the road we saw a sign that said "Big Tree". I couldn't imagine one larger than the Baobab so we pulled off to check it out.


This is the national flower of South Africa. Isn't it beautiful!

More to come. Thanks for reading.

More Cape Town Trivia

We stayed in Cape Town for a couple of days. I don't have alot of photos to show you because I just hate to carry a camera with me always. I was frustrated because my zoom wouldn't work, plus I just like to experience in the moment.



A street shot.

We went downtown to see the Houses of Parliament and the glorious park across the street. I saw my first and only squirrel there! We have squirrels in abundance here, but baboons are much more plentiful in South Africa.

They are on the side of the road, at roadside parks and scenic stops. They love to mess with you and snatch purses or any snacks you might leave unattended. I really wanted a baboon or monkey encounter, as I had been led to believe I would see them everywhere. Nope. Nada. Zilch.

The shots I did get are very hard to see.

Another thing that was a little unusual for me. Many Europeans traveling (and there are MANY) rent rooms from people and stay in homes instead of motels or hotels.

We stayed in a house with a family that rented 5 bedrooms to tourists, each with a private bath.

The bedroom. No airconditioning.





Burgular bars outside our back windows. Hmmm.



The front gate of our guesthouse with the killer watchdogs. Everyone has guard dogs.


The house across the street had a Great Dane.



The other end of the driveway. Space is a premium.



Second floor patio. Notice how close all the houses are.



The very small "yard".



Sorry about the pooper scooper, but I wanted to give you a view of the swimming pool.



A view from the house at sunset looking out toward the Atlantic/Indian Ocean combo.
The water is very cold here and the beach is not good for swimming. But, it is still beautiful.

Just on the horizon you see a thin stretch of land that is Robbin Island. This is
the jail location of Nelson Mandela during part of his 27 years in prison.

A Lion, Plus On The Road To Cape Town

I promised my Peeps a lion, and here he is. Isn't he magnificent? And very dangerous. More about animals later.

Now we are coming into Cape Town, which may be the most beautiful city on earth.



We are coming down the side of a mountain, snapping shots as we go.






The water was just so calm and so blue.



If you enlarge the previous photo, you can see part of the city at the base of those hills.



I know I'm obsessing, but it is just so pretty.



Okay, enough water pictures for today. More stuff tomorrow!

Traveling the Coast of South Africa

We did not get to spend much time at this beautiful locale. When we go back, I want to spend a few days here.



Such a beautiful view!



Mr. Wonderful.



The name of this resort sound like "Tiki-Karma" to me, but my husband says my pronunciation isn't even close.





Are you tired of the ocean? Maybe tomorrow I'll show you a lion or something.

Love ya!

More Trivia and Photos From the Road

Random shots and info. We drove 3500 miles in the three weeks we were there.

I didn't want to miss a thing. I saw the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and where they meet in Cape Town.

The pure beauty and vastness of the land...there are just no words to describe.

I have always heard that the water goes down the drain the opposite direction below the Equator. That was the first thing I checked. It's true. Also, there are hot and cold handles on the sinks and they are opposite of where we have it. That is, hot is on the right and cold on the left.

They call restrooms, toilets. Sometimes you have to pay. I didn't. Ugh.

Everything is Metric.

We were there in March and it was the end of Summer-beginning Fall.


This was my favorite road-side stop.


This is a typical "One Stop" in a rural area.


Yay! The Coke truck arrived just in time.


In my part of the world, most towns of any size have a Sonic. In South Africa it is Kentucy Fried Chicken. For some reason this was so funny to me.


I had no idea what this roadsign says. Still don't. It is such a good thing I was not driving...I might have ended up in Botswana.

There are 11 official languages in South Africa. Afrikaans, English and Zulu being the most prominent. The others may or may not change day to day depending on the way the wind blows.



I was a little scared taking this photo. That vendor does not look friendly. Mr. Wonderful stopped on the roadside to get fresh fruit.




That's all for today, Peeps. Thanks for reading and your comments and questions.
I have to stop now. My brain is full.

Some Answers To Your Question (s)

Someone or two actually asked me a question!!! I am so excited.

So, I'm going to stick some general information about our trip in this post.

First, this is a typical African Cow. I put this in for Queen B and The Princess since they love cows now. The cows just graze on the side of the road because people have stolen the fencing materials that keep them confined. That material is usually sold to someone else, or used on someone's house. I'm not judging. Just reporting.

On the Devil Monkey. I did not provoke it. I smiled at it and did not have beer to offer the little sot. I do not produce good monkey karma.

About the food. There are some wonderful grocery stores that are similar to Publix in many towns. Smaller towns have small town grocery stores. Tiny places have a general store/post office/gas pump.

There are many great restaurants with every kind of food you can imagine (except Mexican). We were "camping" so much we chose to do our own food because Mr. Wonderful wanted to do it (he grew up that way) and there is a grill at most every
place we stayed.

We went to the grocery store everyday because they make fresh bread all through the day EVERYDAY and the fresh fruit is abundant. The potatoes are similar to the gold
buttery tasting ones you can get here, but they are a different variety and so clean and good. The meat...lets just say I ate lots of things and they always had chicken.

This is the typical taxi service that runs to the communities that have no transportation. You never ever ever want to ride in one of these. Find a yellow taxi. I kid you not, we saw 23 people unload from one of these. They had little kids stuffed under the rows of bench seats and people in laps of other people. No air conditioning in these. They never signal. They pull off or on the road on a whim. Gotta watch carefully!

My photos are refusing to upload so I'll stop for now. More later!

Thanks for reading.