south africa vacation newsletter

HENRY FAMILY TRAVELS OF SOUTH AFRICA

K N Y N S A

We stayed at resort east of Cape Town, near the town of Knynsa. Where the are lots of interesting day trips from this location, on the ocean and the area is known for its oysters!

I did not realize it was a huge property and we would be unable walk between places. The first morning, I was eager to walk the kids from the barnyard over to the tennis courts (about ¾ mile); however was in-formed there were baboons and other wildlife in that area that they would not advise guests to do this - so we took the shuttle.

At the resort we enjoyed a variety of activities from tennis lessons for Bill, hiking, canoeing, horseback riding as well as playing on the beach. We played in the Indian Ocean, but the water was too rough to go very deep.

The surrounding area had lots to offer. We went to an animal park and ostrich farm on one day. The high-light was Morgan getting to ride the ostrich without saddle or lead line. William wanted to also but was too young.

Ok, I am not usually one to “publish” travelogues, but this trip was more unique and thought you might enjoy hearing about it.... if not...... sorry to have been a bother (you can close the file now).

T R I P

This year for our family vacation we choose to go to South Africa. We have met some very wonderful South African friends while living in Cheltenham and they gave us the confidence that the trip would be fun and safe. The reputation of South Africa is crime and disease – however we did not encounter either. This is a trip which has truly changed the way we think about another culture!

South Africa is not a third world country, but has a lot of poverty. There are many parts which are very first world and everywhere the water was safe to drink. Everyone we met were extremely open and friendly to all of us. We found the children were very well received everywhere we took them (more a statement about the culture than the behaviour of the children)

T R A V E L I N G

The thought of travelling 11+ hours on an airplane with 3 children (ages 4, 8 and 9) seemed a bit daunting task. Jet Leg and boredom are usually my biggest fears. We flew from London to Cape Town on a red-eye flight which was about 11 ½ hrs however we only changed 1 time zone. So we arrived having slept for about 7 hours and enjoyed a few movies. Since it was only 1 hr ahead, it wasn’t too bad.

Unfortunately my travel agent skills were lacking and I had booked our connection from Cape Town to take off before we had even landed (realized about 2 hrs before we left for the airport). We quickly had a car service sorted for us which proved to be a blessing; but meant a 6 hr drive once we arrived (rather than a 1 hr flight).

Seeing the lions, leopards, zebras etc up-close gave me and entirely new respect for nature. I am amazed by how close we could get to the animals and how little

attention they paid to us. - Bill I liked riding a horse because it was my first time and I got to ride by myself (a little bit). - William

We came across a lioness relaxing in the grass. As we stopped to watch her, she got up and went over to a nearby bush and pulled out a dead young impala. In our vehi-cle we followed her for over a mile as she walked thru the bush with the impala in her mouth. She took it back to 2 baby cubs. We were then able to watch the baby cubs feast on the dinner while the lioness sat nearby.

- Michelle

My favourite thing was riding an ostrich because in England we don’t get to that. - Morgan

The girls truly enjoyed the whole experience, but William has another definition of “Game Drive” which is to play your Nintendo DS while being driven around to animals. As the game drives lasted for 3-4 hours and we needed William to be quiet (frightened animals either fight or flight—we didn't want either) it seemed like a good fit.

R E A L W I L D A N I M A L S

We were able to several really memorable big animal experiences. I knew we were going to see animals, but didn’t realize we would be within 10 feet of wild lions, hyenas and leopards. We were also able to watch the animals for as long as we wanted (or they would allow). One evening we watched a pride of lions for about an hour.

F A V O U R I T E M E M O R I E S

D O M E S T I C A T E D W I L D A N I M A L S

We were able to have really memorable big animal encounters at several sanctuaries near Knynsa. We had the opportunity to walk with the elephants, pet baby cheetah and large cheetah. It was amazing to be that near these “wild” animal.?

The cats were in large outdoor pens which we entered, needless to say we were all a little nervous. As we entered some of the cats pens, we were told to pick up William as animals feel threatened by things at their eye level. We were allowed to take elephants for a walk while holding their trunk and learned the end of an elephants trunk is very slimy. I don’t think “health and safety” would have approved of these encounters.

O F F T O T H E G A M E L O D G E

We stayed at a private game lodge in the Kruger National Park which is located in the NorthEast corner of South Africa. To the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is Mozambique. The Kruger is about the same size as the state of New Jersey.

The game lodge was advertised as child friendly (which they were); however I was surprise to learn the parameter fence only kept out the elephants. So the children were never allowed to walk back the hut on their own and at night we had to be escorted. We didn’t have any problems with all the other wildlife, but it was not your typical hotel experience.

G A M E D R I V E

We took 2 game drives a day - early AM (6a) and PM (4p) for 3-4 hrs. It was a busy schedule, but the game drives provided us a chance to see animals like we have never seen before. We were driven around by a ranger and tracker in an open sided range rover. The mornings were cool and we watched the sun come up over the horizon. We would generally see a small grouping a single animal type. We saw many, many impala in large groups. While the leopard were always on their own.

My favourite thing was to go in the

pen with the baby cheetahs and

stroke them because they were

really cute. - Lauren

FAVORITE ANIMAL SHOTS

FAMILY SHOTS