South Africa

Clutching a park permit and driving down a dirt track, we’re not really sure what to expect, either of what we might see, or of our accommodation. Helen is concentrating on dodging the pot-holes in the road, I’m staring intently out of the window looking for wildlife. To our delight we’re taken by surprise as to our right a giraffe has appeared, then two more, and we watch in awe for a few minutes before slowly proceeding. Elated at our first wildlife sighting, we continue along the track wondering what else is in store for our three days here. We find out sooner than expected, turning a corner and coming to an abrupt halt as a large grey mass looms just metres ahead – a white rhino is in the track. We’re stunned, thrilled, then scared; our rental car is small and we feel quite exposed. We hover nervously watching this beautiful beast, not knowing quite what to do aside from keeping a respectful distance. Seconds later he retreats into the scrub. We’re still and quiet for a while, then a rush of excitement mixed with relief hits and we’re ecstatic – our bags are not even unpacked and we’re already onto the big 5. And I have a medley of songs from the Lion King going round my head, which continues for three days.

So this was our introduction to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, a 960 square Km game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, and the oldest national park in the whole of Africa. It is now home to a huge variety of wildlife and a real conservation success story in the re-establishment of the while rhino population – our initial encounter was happily one of many to be had over the following few days. This did include again getting a bit too close for comfort but without the shell of a car for protection -we took a guided walk through the bush, following various animal trails (mostly rhino) and found ourselves getting close enough for our guide to gesticulate wildly and make a hasty retreat in the other direction - we only came so close as there was very little wind, normally the rhino would have sensed us coming but we managed to catch her having a snooze, until we moved to a safer distance upwind of her, and on getting a whiff of human she trampled off into the bush.

Hyena spotted on a night drive

But this is only the last few days; my South Africa escapades began two and half weeks ago in Cape Town. Here I spent a week, the first few days staying with Hannah, a good friend from university days now living in Sea Point. Then my friend Helen flew out to join me for the rest of my time in South Africa. I loved Cape Town, mainly for what it’s possible to do in a day from the city – highlights were exploring the cape peninsula which included visiting the Boulder’s Beach penguin colony on the way to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, climbing Table Mountain on a route beginning and ending in the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, and of course visiting the winelands for some wine tasting.

From Cape Town we headed east into the Karoo via Route 62, an inland alternative to the Garden Route. The drive was stunning – incredible landscapes, dramatic mountain passes, and the occasional ostrich. We stayed at a friendly little farm in Montagu and enjoyed a beautiful but hot day of hiking in the mountains followed by a relaxing visit to some hot springs to recover from the day’s exertion. 

Spotted on our walk from Montagu

Onwards from Montagu, past lots of fruit farms, we re-joined the Garden Route and the next stop was Sedgefield where we stayed in a lovely hostel right by the golden sand of Myoli Beach. It would have been easy to spend a few days there, but time was pressing and it was then on to Storms River for 2 nights. Storms River is an outdoor lover’s/adrenaline junkie’s dream, with loads of activities on offer and beautiful surroundings to enjoy while you bungee/zipline/mountain bike/kayak or whatever takes your fancy. We opted for a 26km bike ride from Storms River Village where we were staying, to the cliffs overlooking Storms River and the adjacent coastline. I’m sure Helen’s patience was tested as I shuddered slowly down the rocky tracks (I will blame my overly cautious approach on extremely dodgy bike breaks) then huffed and puffed up the slopes, but it was great to be out in the fresh air, and even better to get back and treat myself to a large piece of cake. We had a more sedate afternoon exploring Storms River mouth, strolling across the impressive suspension bridge and sitting in the sun with an ice cream. Did you know there is such a thing as a biscotti Magnum? It’s good.

Myoli Beach, Sedgefield

Storms River

Our next couple of nights after leaving Storms River were planned around breaking up the journey to Imfolozi, stopping in Grahamstown and Port St Johns. Although driving for hours, the changes in landscape and settlements have been interesting, along with a steady deterioration in road quality and steady increase in number of animals wondering onto the highway. One more stop and a quick swim in the sea, at Warner Beach just south of Durban, and it was the final few hours on the road to get to the park.

Now we’ve left the rhinos, lions, elephants and buffalo behind and we’re in Durban where we’re leaving the car, having a curry (or a bunny chow), and catching the bus up to the Drakensburg for a few days in the mountains, which will be our last few days in South Africa. 3 wonderful weeks have gone so quickly and there is still so much more to do and see here - another country I definitely hope to return to one day!

Boulders Beach, Western Cape

Part Two Begins

Soon after arriving, I realised 10 days in Sri Lanka was definitely not long enough, and only a few days in I made a vow to myself to return one day to explore more of this beautiful island. But the time I did have available for this trip was well spent and extremely enjoyable. It was also rather different to my recent travelling experiences - this time was travelling with my sister, brother-in-law and my 21 month-old niece Rose, who came out to join me in Negombo on the west coast, a couple of days after I arrived.

Temple in Colombo

On a boat trip near Negombo lagoon

From Negombo we went inland to explore some of the Cultural Triangle area, basing ourselves near Sigiriya for a couple of days to visit the spectacular ancient citadel perched on top of a huge rock (formed from a volcanic plug in case anyone’s interested), and also go to Dambulla where there are fascinating Buddhist cave temples. It was at our guest house in Sigiriya that we met Manju, who would be another travelling companion for the next week, in the form of our driver and guide.

Dambulla Cave Temples

The next stop was Kandy in the Hill Country. Besides the usual, but well worthwhile, touristy trail activity of visiting Pinewalla Elephant Orphanage (a big hit with Rose more for the apparently amusing abundance of elephant poo, as opposed to large numbers of pachyderms), we were treated to dinner at the house of Manju’s parents, who live in Kandy. It was incredibly kind of Manju and his family to invite us into their home and feed us a superb meal of string hoppers (Manju had picked up on one of our conversations in the car that we had wanted to eat more of them and put in the request to his mum!), and a wonderful insight for us into a Sri Lankan home and family life.

From Kandy we made the long journey through the hills to Ella, its length mainly due to the windiness of the roads rather than large distances. During the day we, got some incredible views, stopped off at a tea factory, and saw more tea growing than even I will ever drink in my lifetime. We stopped on the way in Nuwara Eliya, interesting to Marnie and me for a family connection as our great grandfather used to be a teacher there. However my neglect of the necessary research in advance meant we didn't trace the school, but enjoyed seeing the town nonetheless.

We decided to visit Ella to have a relaxing couple of days enjoying the hills, the tea plantations and eat good food, and it didn't disappoint. In the morning we walked from our guest house up Little Adam’s Peak – a much smaller undertaking than its bigger brother of a peak, but a lovely walk with the reward of fantastic 360 degree views from the top of mountains, forest and tea. 

On the way back we detoured to see a green tea factory, where we got an interesting tour, and then a bonus of bumping into the director of the factory and learning a lot about the company and Sri Lankan tea production as he sat and chatted with us over a brew. We then walked a short distance to a hotel on a neighbouring tea plantation, where we had a delicious lunch and sampled some wonderful tea from their estate. I had a cup of Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Fanning’s Special (don’t think I’ll be able to get that particular variety in Sainsbury’s).

Drinking tea surrounded by tea

More culinary delights followed in the evening, where we had a huge meal of Sri Lankan curries including a local speciality of garlic curry, using whole garlic cloves. Delicious. The next morning was an early start to begin a very, very long journey, the first leg of which was a train ride from Ella to Colombo so I could get to the airport to catch an evening flight. This meant I had to say goodbye to Marnie, Peter and Rose who still had another week to enjoy the island. I’ve been so fortunate not only to be on this journey, but to have my closest family members visiting me at different points – first my parents in Kerala, and then my sister and family in Sri Lanka. Seeing the people I love most in the world when I have been so far away from home has been very special and has made my trip all the more unforgettable.
From Colombo airport I got the first of three flights to get me to Cape Town. The first flight to Mumbai was quite dramatic, involving a passenger being escorted off by the police before we could disembark, after he had drunkenly assaulted a cabin crew member mid-flight and spent a large part of the journey shouting. Thankfully the next two flights were more relaxing and got me to my destination without any problems, for my South African adventure to begin...