chopstick goes for a sail
10-20-2017
, 05:19 AM
pig4bill - left the chromebook in USA#1 due to UI unhappiness, took super heavy T420 thinkpad instead. No ragrits.
BdC - gotta save the bandwidth for animal photos!
Currently in Durban, South Africa. Flew into Jburg, got the hire car, then headed over to Kruger at the Punda Maria gate, which is effectively the northenmost gate. Spent the next week slowly camping my way down through the various sites in the park, eventually making my way out at the Crocodile Bridge location.
Kruger is enormous, and the way that it works is that you drive in, and you can go to various fenced camps:
to spend the night, but otherwise you're just meandering around in your car the entire time looking at wild animals. I stayed in a different camp each night, and in my tent every night except one when all the tent sites were booked - had a little bungalow for that one which was a nice break from sleeping in a loltent:
Tiny car handled the roads pretty well, though I definitely was pushing the boundaries of what it could do many times. The main roads are paved, but there are lots of unpaved side roads, and that's where the interesting stuff often is.
Saw infinite animals, some up close and personal.
At the first camp, Punda Maria, they have a blind onsite next to the perimeter fence that overlooks a water hole. I hung out there for a couple of hours and was happy to see an elephant troop show up almost immediately:
most of the animals that I saw were driving around. Here are some photos that I deliberately included the side view mirror or part of the door frame in order to show just how close you get:
I'm fine with not having a real camera along, but it would have been nice for this one. That's a massive croc in the center behind the bush carrying an impala in its mouth. It made it most of the way to the water when another croc showed up and they jointly ripped the impala apart and ate it. Was pretty amazing.
Speaking of impala:
there are something like 250k+ impala in Kruger according to a guide I chatted with. They were all over the place, saw hundreds and hundreds of them. Note the elephants in the background and there's also a warthog in there if you look closely.
The zebras were mostly in the southern part of the park:
and they had zero fear.
Saw cheetahs twice:
and loved how they swished their tails side to side as the trotted along.
Baboons were pretty much everywhere:
and constantly mooning everyone.
Elephants were also everywhere:
and also had zero fear. I guess if I were the size of an elephant I wouldn't be afraid of much, either.
The giraffes could be a little skittish:
but would chill if you immediately turned the engine off and sat there quietly.
Some of these guys:
were not happy when I entered their area and my car started getting pelted with monkey poop.
The warthogs were also kinda skittish, but if you pulled ahead of where they were headed and shut the engine off, they'd walk right up alongside:
My favorite photo was one just after dawn. I had stopped the car at an impala traffic jam. A bunch of impala were just standing there in the road not moving, so I started filming them, when all of a sudden a lioness casually walked out of the bush onto the road. The impala instantly scattered, but I managed to get this sick photo:
that less than brilliant impala also took off a second later, and the lioness just kept strolling down the road, right past my car:
so close I could have almost reached out and touched her. Managed to get a sick 30 second video of her walking toward, along, and past the car. That last photo is a screen capture from the video.
After Kruger, I headed down into Swaziland, then back into South Africa at St Lucia, and drove down the coast to where I am now in Durban. Next up is heading inland today to the Drakenburg Mountains and climbing a chain ladder up to the "ceiling of Africa" at the top of Tugela falls, which is either the highest or second highest falls in the world depending on who you believe.
There are lots of youtube vids of that climb:
am excite.
After that, it's into Lesotho at one of the northern border crossings, then out thru probably Qacha's Nek border post in the south, back to the coastline and on to Cape Town along the coast.
BdC - gotta save the bandwidth for animal photos!
Currently in Durban, South Africa. Flew into Jburg, got the hire car, then headed over to Kruger at the Punda Maria gate, which is effectively the northenmost gate. Spent the next week slowly camping my way down through the various sites in the park, eventually making my way out at the Crocodile Bridge location.
Kruger is enormous, and the way that it works is that you drive in, and you can go to various fenced camps:
to spend the night, but otherwise you're just meandering around in your car the entire time looking at wild animals. I stayed in a different camp each night, and in my tent every night except one when all the tent sites were booked - had a little bungalow for that one which was a nice break from sleeping in a loltent:
Tiny car handled the roads pretty well, though I definitely was pushing the boundaries of what it could do many times. The main roads are paved, but there are lots of unpaved side roads, and that's where the interesting stuff often is.
Saw infinite animals, some up close and personal.
At the first camp, Punda Maria, they have a blind onsite next to the perimeter fence that overlooks a water hole. I hung out there for a couple of hours and was happy to see an elephant troop show up almost immediately:
most of the animals that I saw were driving around. Here are some photos that I deliberately included the side view mirror or part of the door frame in order to show just how close you get:
I'm fine with not having a real camera along, but it would have been nice for this one. That's a massive croc in the center behind the bush carrying an impala in its mouth. It made it most of the way to the water when another croc showed up and they jointly ripped the impala apart and ate it. Was pretty amazing.
Speaking of impala:
there are something like 250k+ impala in Kruger according to a guide I chatted with. They were all over the place, saw hundreds and hundreds of them. Note the elephants in the background and there's also a warthog in there if you look closely.
The zebras were mostly in the southern part of the park:
and they had zero fear.
Saw cheetahs twice:
and loved how they swished their tails side to side as the trotted along.
Baboons were pretty much everywhere:
and constantly mooning everyone.
Elephants were also everywhere:
and also had zero fear. I guess if I were the size of an elephant I wouldn't be afraid of much, either.
The giraffes could be a little skittish:
but would chill if you immediately turned the engine off and sat there quietly.
Some of these guys:
were not happy when I entered their area and my car started getting pelted with monkey poop.
The warthogs were also kinda skittish, but if you pulled ahead of where they were headed and shut the engine off, they'd walk right up alongside:
My favorite photo was one just after dawn. I had stopped the car at an impala traffic jam. A bunch of impala were just standing there in the road not moving, so I started filming them, when all of a sudden a lioness casually walked out of the bush onto the road. The impala instantly scattered, but I managed to get this sick photo:
that less than brilliant impala also took off a second later, and the lioness just kept strolling down the road, right past my car:
so close I could have almost reached out and touched her. Managed to get a sick 30 second video of her walking toward, along, and past the car. That last photo is a screen capture from the video.
After Kruger, I headed down into Swaziland, then back into South Africa at St Lucia, and drove down the coast to where I am now in Durban. Next up is heading inland today to the Drakenburg Mountains and climbing a chain ladder up to the "ceiling of Africa" at the top of Tugela falls, which is either the highest or second highest falls in the world depending on who you believe.
There are lots of youtube vids of that climb:
am excite.
After that, it's into Lesotho at one of the northern border crossings, then out thru probably Qacha's Nek border post in the south, back to the coastline and on to Cape Town along the coast.
10-20-2017
, 02:37 PM
Wow, you wouldn't think they could afford cars on their low salaries.
How could you not take a real camera? Were you that weight conscious?
You'll upload it to your youtube channel at some point?
Quote:
I'm fine with not having a real camera along, but it would have been nice for this one. That's a massive croc in the center behind the bush carrying an impala in its mouth. It made it most of the way to the water when another croc showed up and they jointly ripped the impala apart and ate it. Was pretty amazing.
Quote:
My favorite photo was one just after dawn. I had stopped the car at an impala traffic jam. A bunch of impala were just standing there in the road not moving, so I started filming them, when all of a sudden a lioness casually walked out of the bush onto the road. The impala instantly scattered, but I managed to get this sick photo:
that less than brilliant impala also took off a second later, and the lioness just kept strolling down the road, right past my car:
so close I could have almost reached out and touched her. Managed to get a sick 30 second video of her walking toward, along, and past the car. That last photo is a screen capture from the video.
that less than brilliant impala also took off a second later, and the lioness just kept strolling down the road, right past my car:
so close I could have almost reached out and touched her. Managed to get a sick 30 second video of her walking toward, along, and past the car. That last photo is a screen capture from the video.
10-21-2017
, 01:55 AM
Amazing. 
11-02-2017
, 12:05 PM
Made it up to the Drakensberg without issue, and did the 14km Tugela Falls hike including up the chain ladders to the top of the falls. There was infinite fog both on the drive up:
as well as once reaching the top, and while it parted a little now and then at the top, I don't have any post-worthy photos. Lots available online tho.
The chain ladders weren't that bad. A little unnerving if you have a heights issue. The fact that they were up against a cliff face meant that even being made out of heavy chain they would still sway somewhat when the wind kicked up. A few people used safety ropes while transiting them, but I'm not that smart.
Here's a look at some random on his way up:
and here's what it looks like when you get ready to head up yourself:
this is a shot of at the base of the ladders, that white dot out in the distance is the car park where you start hiking from:
and this gives a decent idea of what most of the trail was like:
the trail was fine for the most part, but there were some sections where you needed to get your scramble on.
The total time for the hike is about 5-6 hours depending on how long you stay at the top and how in shape you are. You definitely don't want to get stuck on the trail when it's dark, the only thing I saw resembling any kind of guard rail was some barbed wire at one point, and the terrain is steep enough that you're going to tumble for a while if you fall off the trail for most of it.
as well as once reaching the top, and while it parted a little now and then at the top, I don't have any post-worthy photos. Lots available online tho.
The chain ladders weren't that bad. A little unnerving if you have a heights issue. The fact that they were up against a cliff face meant that even being made out of heavy chain they would still sway somewhat when the wind kicked up. A few people used safety ropes while transiting them, but I'm not that smart.
Here's a look at some random on his way up:
and here's what it looks like when you get ready to head up yourself:
this is a shot of at the base of the ladders, that white dot out in the distance is the car park where you start hiking from:
and this gives a decent idea of what most of the trail was like:
the trail was fine for the most part, but there were some sections where you needed to get your scramble on.
The total time for the hike is about 5-6 hours depending on how long you stay at the top and how in shape you are. You definitely don't want to get stuck on the trail when it's dark, the only thing I saw resembling any kind of guard rail was some barbed wire at one point, and the terrain is steep enough that you're going to tumble for a while if you fall off the trail for most of it.
11-02-2017
, 12:37 PM
11-02-2017
, 03:58 PM
Just wrote a long post that got eaten right before I hit submit, so here's the short version of that.
Went to a farmhouse run by boeres (South African farmers) after the hike, had whiskey & biltong for dinner:
biltong is like a meatier beef jerky.
Then it was on to Lesotho, where lots of buildings look like this:
because Lesotho is a very poor country.
These function as both stores:
as well as housing:
this is another type of housing common up in the mountains:
usually in small villages:
where the shepherds live. Most of Lesotho's economy is built around agriculture and animal husbandry. There are tons of shepherds all over the place tending small flocks of cows and/or sheep. Didn't see many goats tho, which is odd considering how the entire country is basically nestled in the mountains:
Lesotho is called the Kingdom In The Sky, and its lowest point is the highest low point of any country. It's just all mountains, gorges, and mountain pasture. The capital Maseru was pretty small, and most of the towns I went thru were basically just small villages.
Lesotho is definitely a motorcyclist's paradise and I was sad to be in a car. It's all mountains, twisties, and ridiculous views.
After a couple of days of that, it was back into South Africa, where I immediately got stuck behind a school bus:
and somehow wound up in Vegas:
but eventually managed to make my way to the Oribi Gorge, which has a sweet suspension bridge:
that I caught hell on fb for crossing in flip flops:
but really, what does footwear matter at that point? There was a lot of fog filling up most of the gorge, and it was exhilarating to walk out onto the bridge without being able to see the other side.
Went to a farmhouse run by boeres (South African farmers) after the hike, had whiskey & biltong for dinner:
biltong is like a meatier beef jerky.
Then it was on to Lesotho, where lots of buildings look like this:
because Lesotho is a very poor country.
These function as both stores:
as well as housing:
this is another type of housing common up in the mountains:
usually in small villages:
where the shepherds live. Most of Lesotho's economy is built around agriculture and animal husbandry. There are tons of shepherds all over the place tending small flocks of cows and/or sheep. Didn't see many goats tho, which is odd considering how the entire country is basically nestled in the mountains:
Lesotho is called the Kingdom In The Sky, and its lowest point is the highest low point of any country. It's just all mountains, gorges, and mountain pasture. The capital Maseru was pretty small, and most of the towns I went thru were basically just small villages.
Lesotho is definitely a motorcyclist's paradise and I was sad to be in a car. It's all mountains, twisties, and ridiculous views.
After a couple of days of that, it was back into South Africa, where I immediately got stuck behind a school bus:
and somehow wound up in Vegas:
but eventually managed to make my way to the Oribi Gorge, which has a sweet suspension bridge:
that I caught hell on fb for crossing in flip flops:
but really, what does footwear matter at that point? There was a lot of fog filling up most of the gorge, and it was exhilarating to walk out onto the bridge without being able to see the other side.