SOUTH AFRICA - ASTA DESTINATION EXPO - 8-12 March 2009
The business lounge in New York for South African Airways guests was nothing fancy but good...they had little snacks of pita, houmous and olives and a warm soup. The flight left in the evening so it was a long wait but we kept busy on the computer, read and had a light snack.
South African Airways finally took off and we had 8 hours of flying before we reached Senegal for a fuel stop. Of course, we could not leave the aircraft but it did not take long before we took off again for Johannesburg. A very comfortable flight, with excellent service on board and we kept busy watching movies and playing rummy! In between I checked my flight map on the video and saw that we would be landing again in 1.5 hours....that sounded mysterious - just then the captain announced that we had an emergency on board with a guest who had had a heart attack and we were heading for Accra in Ghana where she would be expedited to a hospital to get treatment. She was a travel agent from Milwaukee who was joining us for the exposition to be held in Sun City, S. Africa. We were all very shattered with the news that we had a sick guest on board. The captain desperately wanted to get the patient on the ground as soon as possible. As he was making the approach to land in Accra, he noticed the tail of a Kenya Airways aircraft still on the runway and so he aborted the landing and made a second approach. So while we looked out of the window and saw little children playing soccer in their back yard, we were climbing again and the aircraft made a very quick turn and lande. Everyone looked at each other and wondered what was going on! We were all in shock but Thank God, minutes later we were on the ground! The ambulance arrived and a lot was happening in the back of the aircraft and then the captain came and told us that the lady did not make it. She passed away before they got her to the hospital. After a couple of hours of replenishing the aircraft with various things, we took off for Johannesburg. We were at least four hours behind schedule but things went smoothly until we got to the Airport Grand Hotel shuttle who drove us to the hotel . Immediate check in, clean and comfortable room, great buffet breakfast and overall a great hotel with good service. We wanted to go to the bank that was right across from the hotel but Reception advised us not to go alone as it was not safe to cross the road! Hotel staff would be available to escort us across!
The next morning, our tour operator was there to pick us up and drive us to Krueger National Park. We stopped at Nelspruit for lunch in a small restaurant and headed for the park entering from the south side in the Mpumalanga area. Just as we entered the park, we saw a snake cross the street and then immediately a lot of giraffes, rhinos, hippos and lots of monkeys and birds. Our guide Karl Ritter from Wild Journeys was very knowledgeable and had lots of stories for us regarding the park and nature.
Kruger Park stretches 350km from the Limpopo river in the north to the Sabie river in the south across two provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga and is 2m hectares, the size of Wales.
After the first day of safari, we checked in at our lodge There are various categories of lodges and the best in the area is called Legends. They only have 9 exclusive rooms with a jacuzi on the deck and runs approximately $600 per night. Children are allowed and under 12 pay 50%.
Karl suggested that we start off at 5am the next day and drive into the central part of the park. We met at 4.30am to have coffee and drove off as planned. Today we saw a leopard and we still had to see a lion to cover the "Big Five'.
Mpumalanga means 'Place of the rising sun' with Nelspruit in the east. We spent three days in KNP and we entered the park from the south. Nelspruit, the provincial capital, is an important stop en route to the park.
When we returned to Johannesburg, ASTA had arranged a coach for all the delegates and we headed for Sun City. The drive was about 2.5 hours and we checked in at the Lost Palace Hotel. It is a beautiful 5 star hotel with very high class restaurants offering buffet breakfasts with variety of fruits and imported cheese and you get welcomed by a glass of champagne with the piano player entertaining you for breakfast.
The seminar took place at the convention centre and there were events every evening arranged by ASTA. The first evening, we went to a 'Shebeen'. They say, you have not experienced South Africa until you have been to a Shebeen. It was organized in the garden with wooden tables and benches, drinks being offered at the bar and going around the tables. There were different types of goodies going around and it was quite interesting.
The next morning I decided to go with Siggi to explore the grounds of the Lost Palace. It is a palace alright with the cave leading to the swimming pool on one side and to the valley of the waves on the other side. Steps lead you to the valley of the waves which is a man made white sand beach near a swimming pool. You will see gigantic elephant figures as you enter from the entertainment centre. Long walking possibilities and golf course nearby. The different variety of birds that on sees is incredible and there are monkeys everywhere putting on a show for the guests.
In the afternoon, Siggi and I went to the Trade Show. Every winery had lots of good stuff for us to taste and delicious cheese to go with it. After the trade show, all the delegates were invited to a game trip to Pilanesberg. We met outside the convention centre where jeeps lined the street with the guide and driver. Pilanesberg is right next to the Sun City and it was an amazing afternoon with a lot of animals in the park.
After the safari, we went to a BOMA and show after dinner. This is another very interesting event where you sit under an enormous tent with wooden tables and benches. Lots of food and drinks are being served and an amazing African band and a variety show with great music follows the dinner.
The Gala dinner was hosted by Turkish Airlines and Turkish Tourism Bureau at the Convention Centre. The entertainment centre is also in this complex and is full of restaurants, bars, casinos and shops etc. You need at least a couple of hours to visit the entertainment centre and one of the exits takes you right to the Cascades Hotel which is also a very beautiful hotel. It is not as expensive as the Lost Palace.
We took a bus to explore the town but there is not much to see except a shopping mall where you can buy things at the super market, liquer store and other smalll local clothes shops etc.
We left for Cape Town on March 12. An early transfer after breakfast was arranged by Dragonfly to take us to the airport. SAA is always full on these short domestic flights. We were on an airbus which is pretty big and even business was full. The cabin crew is friendly and efficient. In business, the breakfast is adequate but it is a short flight.
A driver was waiting for us at the airport to take us to the Commodore Hotel.
Cape Town lies on a small peninsula at the southern tip of Africa which juts into the Atlantic Ocean, it’s South Africa’s premier tourist destination and 4th largest urban centre. Enriched by Dutch, British and Cape Malay influences, the cosmopolitan atmosphere is a unique blend of cultures. Cradled at the foot of its most famous landmark Table Mountain Cape Town is bounded by Devil’s Peak to the east and Lion’s Head to the west. Table Bay harbour and the Victoria & Albert Waterfront separate the city centre from the Atlantic Ocean.
Born in Kenya and having experienced East Africa, I was so surprised by the sophisticated atmosphere of Cape Town. There is such a vibrant night life and the cosmopolitan flavour of clubs, restaurants and bars just give the city a very unique feel. The open air markets and informal stalls with African ornaments are also very interesting. The city has Victorian architechture and the buildings are well preserved from the early Cape Dutch period and 19th century. Heritage Square on the corner of Shortmarket and Buitengracht Streets, the Blue Lodge and No. 203 on Long Street are interesting landmarks.
Cape Town’s successful waterfront project was named after the son of Queen Victoria. In 1860, a young Prince Alfred initiated the construction of the first breakwater in stormy Table Bay by toppling a load of rocks that had been excavated from the sea floor into the water. The Alfred Basin, which was subsequently created, successfully protected visiting ships from the powerful gales howling around the cape in winter that had previously caused an alarming number of vessels to flounder.
The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, or V&A, is a shopper’s haven, offering designer boutiques and others selling quirky hand-painted clothing, health and beauty products, home wares, and specialty gifts. There are also over 40 ethnically diverse food outlets. Most eating places have harbour views and alfresco dining on the wharfs, and waterside platforms are extremely popular. Many bars and bistros offer live music, with excellent jazz at the Green Dolphin. Excursions of all kinds start at the Waterfront, from boat tours around the harbour and to Robben Island.
We had pre-booked all our tours and the driver was there to pick us up the next day and we headed off to see the city and some attractions. We drove through downtown area, then to the Malay quarters where one sees a lot of mosques now. It used to belong to the Dutch but when they left, the Moslems moved into this area. Next stop Company Park and a visit to the museum was quite informative.
Before going up to the mountain, we went to Clifton Beach where we had to pick some other guests joining our tour. This area is good for tourists who want a beach vacation. It had similarity to the French Riviera in Juin les Pins, with restaurants, cafes, hotels much cheaper than downtown and lots of atmosphere.
Perfect weather to take the cable car to climb to the Table Mountain. No line ups and everything went smoothly. The spectacular view of the city from above is breathtaking and a cool beer and sandwich while you watch the beauty below is just undescribable. Once you have been on the Table Mountain you come down with a new free soul!
The next day was solely set aside to visit the wineries and what another fine day for this tour.
STELLENBOSCH and Franschoek Valley. Stellenbosch is the second oldest and best preserved town in South Africa. It is also known as Eikestad - the town of Oaks. Paarl is the pearl of the cape and Franschoek is the beautiful valley with wine estates.
The first winery in this area was Zevenwacht where we tried lots of different wines. Then we headed to La Couronne where we tried more wines and had lunch on the terrace. We visited the last winery on our tour which was the Seidelberg wine estate. As we entered the winery, we saw a beautiful old red brick building. Great atmosphere inside with big barrels of wine everywhere. Lots of tourists outside in the gardens drinking wine and enjoying the sunny weather.
Our last stop was in the city of Paarl where we spent an hour exploring after which we met the driver to return to Cape Town.
CAPE PENINSULA trip was on the itinerary for the next day.
The highlight was to visit the mythical meeting place of two great oceans of the Pacific and the Atlantic. On our way to the Peninsula, we stopped at Chapmans Peak. We drove along winding victorian arc coastline, where sheer cliffs drop to the swirling sea below. Today, we had one more winery to visit. Groot Constatia Wine Estate is just beautiful and they have some delicious wines for tasting. At Boulders, we saw the Penguin colony and then we had lunch at the most popular restaurant in Hout Bay and Mariners Wharf.
TOWNSHIP AND ROBBEN ISLAND
Our first stop was at the District Six Museum. District Six was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Originally established as a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants, District Six was a vibrant centre with close links to the city and the port. By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the history of removals and marginalisation had begun.
The first to be 'resettled' were black South Africans, forcibly displaced from the District in 1901. As the more prosperous moved away to the suburbs, the area became the neglected ward of Cape Town.
The District Six Museum, established in December 1994, works with the memories of these experiences and with the history of forced removals more generally.In 1989 the District Six Museum Foundation was established, and in 1994 the District Six Museum came into being. It serves as a remembrance to the events of the apartheid era as well as the culture and history of the area before the removals. The ground floor is covered by a large street map of District Six, with handwritten notes from former residents indicating where their homes had been; other features of the museum include street signs from the old district, displays of the histories and lives of District Six families, and historical explanations of the life of the District and its destruction. In addition to its function as a museum it also serves as a memorial to a decimated community, and a meeting place and community center for Cape Town residents who identify with its history.
Across the bay from Cape Town, the once grim island was the prison of the former president Nelson Mandela and his ANC comrades. We took a ferry across to the island and when you step off it for the first time, you know you’ve arrived at a place of significance. Walking the halls of the prison, peering into the cells, visiting the quarries where the prisoners had to work and listening to the stories of ex political prisoners is hugely educational, deeply depressing and wonderfully uplifting – all at the same time.
From the 17th to the 20th centuries, Robben Island served as a place of banishment, isolation and imprisonment. Today it is a World Heritage Site and museum, a poignant reminder to the newly democratic South Africa of the price paid for freedom. Robben Island is an island in Table Bay, some 7 km off the coast of Cape Town. The name is Dutch for 'Seal Island'. The island is composed of Precambrian metamorphic rocks. Here Nelson Mandela and former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe along with many other political prisonsers spent decades imprisoned during the apartheid era.
There are guided tours from the moment one arrives and then guests can explore the island before they take the ferry back. The guide takes you into the cell number 5 where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life, they take you to the lime quarry where he performed hard labour, how he was segregated by race, with black prisoners receiving the least rations. Mandela describes how, as a D-group which was the lowest classification, he was allowed one visitor and one letter every six months.
We took a tour to the courtyard where Mandela would spend time in the fresh air and write. He also hid a lot of his work near a shrub in the courtyard.His many letters he wrote to Winnie, the love of his life , offer a glimpse of the painful guilt Mandela felt for the wife and family he always had to put second to his political cause.
We came back from Robben Island full of vibrant energy of hope for this world and salute Dr Mandela for his untiring work towards freedom and justice. He is a symbol of reconcilation and hope.
Our last day in Cape Town was free of tours. We just strolled around the VA Waterfront. We had lunch and then watched the film 'Slumdog Millionaire'. We had dinner at Den Ankr, a Belgian restaurant on the waterfront. That whole night, Table Mountain was on fire and we saw the red flames moving sidewards and up the mountain. Helicopters started with their efforts to extinguish this massive red flame which was spreading very fast.
As we drove to the airport for our return flight to Johannesburg and then on to New York, I felt very sad to leave. There is so much more to see and do in this beautiful part of the world and I know that I will come back again. At that time, I will include my birth town Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam in the itinerary where I spent my early childhood and teenage years.
If you have any questions, email me at info@travelwithexperience.com and I will be happy to assist you!
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