JW African Safari Book

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Jennifer & Warren: African HoneymoonJune 2011



Although visiting Africa on our Honeymoon wasimmediately on our shortlist of itineraries, we hadto juggle around some other options -- such as anaround-the-world trip, an Antarctica trek, and “pot-luck” via Four Seasons Hotel availability.

In the end, a mixture of time, cost, time-of-year (i.e.,winter in the Southern Hemisphere), and our desireto do something different and adventurous pointedus to Africa.

We haven’t regretted this decision for a singleminute.



Forward

PHOTOGRAPHER’S NOTE

Shooting on safari is, in a word,

“Frustrating”. There are several factors

that contribute to this. For one, safari’s

tend to start at dawn and right before

dusk. While there is perfect light during

much of this time, it is often fleeting right

when you need it. Second, you will

almost always be in some sort of vehicle

that is bouncing around -- moving (and

not stopping) at the wrong times, and

very often positioning you at exactly the

wrong point or angle (with various

obstructions always being plentiful).

And, of course, most of your subjects are

moving and won’t pose.

The African Bush and Delta is, in a word,

“Amazing”. At almost every turn, I had

the most incredible picture setting in my

mind. Unfortunately, I didn’t come close

to doing them justice and captured only a

tiny fraction. Most times, I didn’t even

get those right. But the most amazing

shots are definitely out there!

Images were captured on three devices -- a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, a Lumix DMC-ZS10, and an

iPhone 4. Most low-light pictures were taken with the Lumix LX-5, and all zoom shots (past 3x) were

taken with the Lumix ZS10. The Lumix ZS10 is equipped with a GPS unit and allowed us to create the

map depicting where the images were captured. The iPhone 4 was used for panorama shots.

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Our ItineraryFrankfurt, Germany

: Explore the “Rheingau” valley along the Rhein River

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

: Visit one of the “Seven Wonders of the Natural World”

Chobe River, Botswana and Namibia

: Stay on the banks of the Chobe River

: Cruise the Chobe River and watch indigenous river life

: Ground safari in Chobe National Park

: Visit local Namibian Village

Okavango Delta, Botswana

: Camp in the heart of Botswana

: Morning and Evening Safaris in the Delta

: Meet semi-habituated elephants

Cape Town, South Africa

: Stay on the historic waterfront and visit top restaurants

: Tour the Winelands region and Franschhoek

: Tour post-apartheid Cape Town

: Cage dive with white sharks

: Ascend Table Mountain and hike the top

: Visit a colony of african penguins

: Visit the Cape of Good Hope

Manyeleti Reserve, Mpumalanga Province of South Africa

: Morning and Evening Safaris

: Track and hunt big game animals (with a camera)

: Watch the sunrise and sunset along the plains

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Frankfurt was actually an“accidental destination”. Whenwe were pricing out tickets, it sohappened the most inexpensive

route was through Frankfurt. I’dhoped we’d find a connectingflight through a nice tropicalresort destination, or maybethrough Dubai, but Frankfurtturned out to be the leastexpensive option.

The good news was that theticket was cheaper; the bad newswas that there was a 10-hour

layover on the way out and a 4-hour layover on the way back.

Since I had never been inGermany, we decided we’d take aguided day tour through theRheingau Valley.

Wet met with our guide, Percy,and started our journey throughthe home of Riesling wines at theKloster Eberbach monastery. Wethen went on to the wine villageof Rüdesheim (where I finally gotto enjoy some local wurst).

From Rüdesheim we hopped on acommuter boat to leisurely cruise

up the Rhein River. We passedby numerous villages which were

made up of: one street (of housesand commerce), one castleoverlooking the street, and acresof surrounding vineyards. We

later found the real reason forthese villages was for localbarons to set up taxation pointsfor boats that needed to pass.

On our return trip, we foundourselves a little delayed withonly a couple hours to spare, butwe made our way out of theairport to try and figure out thelocal metro. Our goal was to get

to the “old town” in Frankfurt andhave a quick breakfast at one of

the outdoor cafes. Although wefailed on our first attempt tonavigagte the metro (with melooking for a destination called

“Erwachsene Einzel” and Jennifertelling me I was actually reading“Adult Single Fare” off thetickets), we eventually hit thestreet and found a taxi.

On the way back to the airport,almost out of Euros, we had nochoice but to try the metro again.This time we were successful!

Frankfurt

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The encompassing community around the Kloster Eberbach monastery

The three tombstones depicted here (as well as the many throughout the monastery) are still marking bodies buried below

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Cruising the Rhein River from Rüdesheim to St. Goarshausen5



Upper-Left Photo: The mythical Loreleyfelsen. Before motors, so many boats ran aground here due to high winds and strong currents that shipmen began making up stories of a vengeful enchantress whose beauty and song made men powerless, and then bewitched them into crashing. Sounded plausible to me.6



Images from the Kloster Eberbach Monastery. The winemaking is still active, but the 11th century equipment was just for show.Upper Photo: The monastery’s (long defunct) dormitory 7



Yes, the hot dog was invented in Frankfurt (hence “frankfurter”), and their wurst is the best. But the Germans also give the French some strong competition in baking a damn fine croissant. Also, at seven in the morning the cafes and bakery stands were putting out their fresh pretzels. We never saw that in France!8



We stayed in some completelyunique settings. We went fromdrinking purified river water andhaving no electricity at times to

huddling with hot water bottleswhile raging winds blew throughour pitch dark cabin at night. Wealso lounged on our terraceoverlooking a marina while beingoverlooked by a famous flat-topped mountain, and had hightea while one of the SevenNatural Wonders of the Worldthundered in the distance andcreated an amazing naturalspectacle.

We slept in the middle of natureon an untamed river, wewitnessed dawn overtake the

African Bush many hours from

any other civilized outpost, andwe met the sunset watchingnocturnal animals emerge whiletoasting with gin and tonics(more accurately, Jennifer had redwine).

We experienced so many aweinspiring moments and wereconstantly impressed by how ouraccommodations were able toprovide so much with so little.

Before we left home, Jennifer saidshe would feel guilty having apool in a place where people feltthe effects of intense drought.

To our surprise, we found “green”lodges and camps that purifiedwater from the rivers, streams,and natural wells. Unfortunately,even though the high andabundant waters used made usfeel less guilty, it was still a bittoo cold to jump in.

Something else that surprised uswas the modern technology.Even in our most remote

accommodations, we always hadaccess to an Internet connection.

Apparently, we were never too faraway to get a weak satellite

signal.

We were also very appreciative toall our hosts as everywhere wewent, we received a surprisehoneymoon experience. We weretouched by the sheer amount ofeffort that was put into some ofour surprises. At one stop, wereceived a new gift every night.“Free” booze was never in shortsupply either.

Lodges, Camps, Hotels, and Houseboat

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Victoria Falls Hotel

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In 1904, a bridge was constructed to link Zambia with Zimbabwe, and an Edwardian-style hotel was built to overlook the bridge and the Victoria Falls. This hotel was aptly dubbed the Victoria Falls Hotel. It offers the quintessential British-African experience and was the gateway to our African adventure. 11



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Jennifer admiring the carcasses of animals we would likely soon be seeing.

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The falls were a 15-minute walk from the hotel and the gorge (Lower-Left Photo) was a 5-minute walk. Zimbabwe was the poorest country we visited (with a GDP per capita of about $461 per year). Their Prime Minister Mugabe, was actual ly voted out of office in the last election, but he chose to stay. He caused hyper-inflation by printing un-backed currency (they had a $100 trillion dollar bill). Lack of any industry ensured we were always accompanied by friendly locals hoping to sell their handicrafts or receive a tip. We were out of cash early.

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High Tea on the Terrace at the Victoria Falls Hotel

This picture is shot from Zimbabwe -- across the rainbow bridge is Zambia

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Zambezi Queen

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Although we weren’t able to walk around much on board, and mosquitos ruled the night, one of our most extraordinary experiences was going to bed while listening to river life along the Chobe River through our screen doors. We heard a symphony of frogs, crickets, hippos, buffalos, and many things unidentified. 17



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We were treated to a dinner on the banks of the Chobe River (in the middle of nowhere), complete with buffet meal, sizzling plates, and entertainment. Wewondered how they did it since there was no electricity. The local people appeared out of the darkness into the fire light and irradiated their own genuine warmth. 19



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Sanctuary Baines Camp

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After our 1.5 hour light-aircraft flight landed on a dirt clearing in the middle of the bush, we were taken to a swamp boat for a 1.5 hour ride

through the delta on the way to the camp. Without any wind, the tranquil water mirrored the sky overhead like a giant sheet of glass23



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Right-Upper Photo: By night we were not allowed to traverse the wooden walkways alone, but by day we felt like we were in a treehouse.Left-Lower Photo: The mosquito net around the bed would have allowed us to sleep outside under the stars, but it was too damn cold.Right-Lower Photo: The plunge pool was like an oasis of luxury in the remote delta...but was also too cold.

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Jennifer with our guide, July, preparing for our sundowner cocktails in the bush. July was surprisingly knowledgable not only about the wildlife and

fauna, but also about everything from Botswana economics to Southern Africa politics26



Right-Upper Photo: Driving throught the delta sometimes in 4.5 feet of water. The bed would flood and we’d have to hold our legs up until it emptied

Left-Lower Photo: Jennifer lounging by the warm fire preparing for evening cocktails and conversation with other guests before dinner 27



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Cape Grace

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Upper-Left Photo: Whiskey tasting -- Jennifer impressed our whiskey expert with her observations and keen sense of taste (no joke!); Lower-Left Photo: CapeTown’s version of the London Eye; Right-Photo: Wine tasting at Delheim (one of several wine tastings that we happened into) 33



Upper-Left Photo: Alfred & Victoria (“A&V”) Waterfront with Coca Cola Man sitting in front of table mountainMiddle-Left Photo: South Africa’s four nobel peace prize winners; Right-Photo: Jennifer imitating Coca Cola Man 35



Tintswalo Lodge

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Excursions

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Namibian

Village

On one morning, we were able

to visit a local Namibian Village.

It was truly an eye-opening

experience. We were invited to

see all aspects of the town from

the fire where they cooked their

fish to the slab of stone that

covered their bath water hole.The village was sparse, but the

people were among the most

hospitable and inviting that we’d

ever met. Our donations may

have been one factor.

And of course, in the end the

town came out to dance and

Jennifer was in the thick of

things. All the women took a

shine to Jennifer and It

reinforced my notion that

Jennifer was at the time, the

most beloved Korean person in

Southern Africa.

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Jennifer’s favorite baobab tree at the entrance to the village44



The kids were unsupervised while playing with dirt and the occasional cool looking rock, yet were the most well behaved we’d ever seen. The mature actions and reactions of these kids would put most of America’s youth to shame (I feel so old for thinking that...but it’s true!). 45



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Cape Town

Winelands

We spent a day exploring the

Winelands region in the Boland

mountains of Cape Town. We

visited the Delheim winery, took a

tour of their facilities, and sat down

to sample some of their finest

batches. We bought a bottle of their

most expensive red wine (Jennifer

chose it) and paid about $30 for it.

Good wine was cheap in Cape

Town.

The highlight of our day was a stop

in Franschhoek where we

overlooked a vast fertile valley and

had lunch at a small farm restaurant

aptly named “La Petite Ferme”. Thefood was delicious and the view was

among the most picturesque and

peaceful we’d ever seen.

We also took some time to walk

through the village and visited an

artist corner where we bought a

local painting made of silverleaf.

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Victoria Falls -- the worlds largest falls as measured in a combination of height and width. The falls has over 2,000,000 sqaure feet of surface area, making it the largest “sheet” of water on Earth. 51



Cape Point

Touring through the NoordhoekValley to Cape Peninsula allowed

us to see the natural side of Cape

Town. Not only did we visit the

Cape of Good Hope (the

Southwest-most point of Africa we

all learned about in school), but we

also saw the most amazing ocean

and geologic scenery of our trip.

We started on Table Mountain

where we were able to get a vantage

point over all we’d see that day. We

could have hiked up and around the

park all day, but we were on a tight

schedule.

Our scenic drive took us past someawe-inspiring vistas, beaches, and

mountain passes. We went by our

departure point for Seal Island (and

our Great White Shark encounter)

and past the home of African

Penguins. It was nice to see some

animals that couldn’t easily kill us.

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On top of Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town to Cape Point

<-- That’s Jennifer perched over Cape Town in her safari hat

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The southern tip of the Cape of Good Hope -- it doesn’t get much lower than this in Africa!55



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One of the most interesting partsof our journey was the journeyitself. We flew in several lightaircraft including one where wesat in the only two passenger

seats. On light aircraft we flewfrom as low as a few hundred feetoff the ground to about 7,000feet. We found out the hard waywhere the bumpy air was.

In the beginning of each flight, wewould be nervous with eachsudden movement and drop theplane would make, but at the endwe would be grooving in synch

with the wind induced

turbulence. It wasn’t too bad.The dirt runways in the middle ofthe bush made for some verysurprisingly soft landings.

Because we were taking suchsmall aircraft, we were forced tocarry only a small duffle bag each.While this made us dress aboutthe same every day, it also madeus take advantage of our camps’laundry service -- which wouldwash, iron, fold, and wrap ourgarments with a bow.

On our first light aircraft flight, we

were late to the airport. A little

guy in a vest ran over to us in theparking lot as if he knew us. Hetold us we were late and hegrabbed our bags. He helped usthrough “security” and then took

our bags right to the plane. Toour surprise, he then loaded ourbags, opened the door for us(inviting me to sit up front), andthen jumped in the pilot’s seat.Fortunately it turned out that ourpilot, Ziggy, knew what he wasdoing.

If I’d had my way, not only wouldwe have flown in one of the

world’s smallest light aircraft, but

we would also have flown in theworld’s largest commercialaircraft. We were supposed totake an Airbus A380 (a two levelplane holding 521 passengers,

with a bar area on the upperdeck), but unfortunately, as soonas I stepped on board (afterexcitedly snapping somepictures of the loading area), Iimmediately realized that we werenot on an A380. There had beenan equipment change. Too bad--for Jennifer-- she had to listento me complain for the nextseveral hours.

Planes, Airports, and Immigration

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Upper Photo: Jennifer fresh off the plane and ready for safari Lower-Middle Photo: Some of our points of immigration were shacks along the river 63



Johannesburg Airport. Jennifer is greeted by modern South Africa’s first

President and 1993 Nobel Peace Prize recipient

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The phrase “Big-5 Game”

originated as a hunting term.

Foreign hunters would use the

phrase to describe the five mostdangerous animals to hunt. These

animals were therefore among the

most prized to encounter (and

shoot).

Today, the phrase is freely used

by tourists on safari and the

animals on the list are the

benchmark to measure a

successful outing. The concept is

the same, but of course, the

shooting is done with a camera.

The “Big-5” consist of AfricanElephants, Cape Buffalo, leopard,

lion, and rhinoceros.

Did we see all the “Big-5”?

We sure did! Although it took until

our very last safari to get a good

look at some lions and rhinoceros.

We’d caught some quick, hazy

evening and nighttime glimpses,

but it wasn’t until the morning we

were leaving when we got to go on

a safari where it was just the two of

us with the guides. Because therewere no other guests, we were

able to spend the time doing one

of the most extraordinary activities

of our trip -- tracking lions. We

heard some lions through the night

and then followed fresh paw prints

in and around the bush. Many

times, it looked like we might have

lost them in the heavier brush. In

the end, it took us a couple hours

to finally find them...but it was so

worth it!

In these shots, we share some of our experiences; where we were

literally surrounded at times, where

we were able to happen upon a

lone leopard hopelessly trying to

stalk buffalo, and where we met a

trio of semi-habituated elephants

that lived in the wild, but let us up

real close.

The “Big-5”

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Five tons of African Elephant 66



Clockwise: Cape Buffalo, Leopard, White Rhino, Sleepy Lion67



Spending the morning tracking a pride of lions . . .. . . and finding them!68



A pride of lion tracked and found. The spotter sitting on the seat on the hood appararently is a man without fear. The driver tried to make us feel better

by telling us that in the event of an attack, the spotter will be eaten first, giving us time to run... 69



We meandered into a herd of Cape Buffalos -- with

no real desire or inclination to move for us.

Our guide called this couple

“honeymooning buffalo”

This guy gave us a look that said “step out of the

vehicle and then we’ll see how tough you are” 72



Although buffalo are some of the toughest land animals on the planet, lone bulls are still vulnerable. The buffalo in the left-middle photo survived a lion attack, but lost a horn -- sadly, his days are numbered. The buffalo in the left-upper photo was not so lucky. 73



Semi-habituated African Bush Elephants, “Jabu”, “Thembi”, and “Morula” gave us a very up-close encounter with the largest land animal on Earth

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An elephant’s teeth look like large Fig Newtons. Typically, an African Bush Elephant lives into it’s 60’s -- where a common cause of death is starvation after theelephant loses its teeth. These guys let us hold and handle their trunks...they felt and sounded like very big, empty, heavy, rough garden hoses. 75



Jabu and Morula each have a vocabulary of over seventy words. They are highly intelligent and can follow even a soft-spoken command. Of course, they were still driven by eating and mating --and knew no one could make them do anything they didn’t want-- but they seemed to enjoy messing around with us.76



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Upper-Left and Upper-Right Photos: Morula demonstrated how an elephant lies down to sleep. Amusingly, even while pretending to sleep, she wasconstantly eating everything her trunk could find. An African Bush Elephant eats between 300-500 pounds of foliage every day. 79



Upper Photo: White Rhino about to use his exclusive bathroomLower-Left Photo: Leopard dreaming about hunting one of the hundred buffalo around him; Lower-Right Photo: Sleepy Lion tired from hunting all night 80



In the African bush, nothing goes

to waste. In the “Circle of Life”,when an animal is killed by apredator, everything is consumedin order. For example, when a liontakes down a kill, they will eatfirst. Then hyena will descendand eat the bones. Vultures and

jackals will follow the hyena andpick at whatever they can still find.Finally, beetles and other insectswill finish off any last traces.

When an elephant eats a tree, it

will consume the fruit or any othervessel that contains the tree’sseed. As the elephant roams andmigrates, they disperse the seedsas their digestion completes (i.e.,when they drop their loads). Infact, the elephant’s digestiveprocess can even enhance thecapacity of some seeds togerminate. This strengthens thelineage of the tree.

Even though a day in the life of

most animals revolves aroundeating, sleeping, mating, andtrying not to die, we saw manyparallels to humans. Everythingfrom juvenile behavior tocompeting for females todefending one’s territory mirrorsus. We realized that animals andhumans have the same basicneeds, wants, and relativereactions to getting (or not

getting) them.

The point being that on safari, wewere witness to an ancient, vastecosystem. We found it veryhumbling to be in the face of afunctional, natural ecosystem thatgave us such an accurate windowinto ourselves.

Oh, and we also saw a lot of coolstuff too...

Critters and Landscape on Safari

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Dawn in the Mpumalanga bush82



Those aren’t stones in the water...it’s a pod of hippos83



Clockwise: Monitor Lizard, Giraffe, Impala with Vulture pal, Warthog84



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Jennifer’s favorite animal was the giraffe. She says they look “regal” when they walk.Lower-Right Photo: Suckling baby giraffe86



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Upper Photo: Spider webs in the delta. It seems that spiders are even more prolific in Africa...there is always a new web to pull off yourself...but more spiders mean fewer mosquitos. (It’s a fair trade). Lower-Middle Photo: Herd of Blue Wildebeest 88



Lower-Left Photo: Yellow Billed Horn Bill Bird silhouette; Lower-Middle Photo: African Fish Eagle; Lower-Right Photo: Vulture89



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We ventured out to the famous Seal Island where 60,000 seals stink up the place while being pursued by great white sharks. We had some encounters withwhite sharks, but the weather wasn’t ideal and the seas were choppy. We got some good visuals, but without an underwater camera, no good shots.

Upper-Left Photo: Ripped decoy when the shark bit it; Upper-RIght Photo: View of Seal Island through shark diving cage91



Upper-Left Photo: Biggest croc we saw (more than 4m long); Upper-Right Photo: A shamed hippo (one that just lost a fight and had to flee) -- this poor guy looked so ashamed he wouldn’t even look at us; Lower-Right Photo: A curious kudu92



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Upper Photo: A large herd of elephants drinking and bathingLower-Left Photo: Hyena sneering at us; Lower-Middle Photo: View from our Mokoro (traditional wooden fishing canoe); Lower-Right Photo: Male warthog94



Lower-Left Photo: Female ostrich; Lower-Right Photo: Male ostrich95



The Hippo in the Lower Photos is named “Stinky” by our safari guides. He is about 40-years old (Hippos generally live between 40 and 50 years), and wasunable to amble away from us too quickly, giving us some oppotunities for some nice photos.96



Upper-Left Photo: Violet Breasted Roller Bird; Upper-Right Photo: Two female vulturesLower-Left Photo: A pair of male vultures and a pair of female vultures; Lower-Right Photo: A male vulture and a female vulture about to take flight 97



1. Bird filled tree; 2. Jackal; 3. View from our deck at Baines Camp4. Cheetah; 5. Anteater or Hyena hole (active); 6. Caracal Cat

7. Bird nests; 8. Yellow Billed Horn Bill Bird; 9. Pair of bird silhouettes98



Jennifer was beloved by so many local villages and groups, possibly because she jumped in and started dancing at every chance she got. These imagesdepict Jennifer dancing with African dancers in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. 99



Our trip lasted 15-days, which is about half the lunar cycle. We started our journey with a waning crescent moon, hit the new moon (which means puredarkness and starlit sky), and eventually ended our journey with a full moon and a brightly lit nighttime sky. The sunsets weren’t bad either.100



© 2011 Photography by Warren Sheng

Our first artwork. Purchased in Franshhoek, it is apost-modern piece painted on silverleaf over canvas

Artist . Marie-Louise de Villiers Hamman



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