A Brief but Fabulous Safari

Over the years that we lived in South Africa, Paul and I had been fortunate enough to visit the game reserves on many occasions but this didn't stop us from wanting more.  I don't think one can ever get enough of these experiences and, now that we're so close to some of those reserves, we just had to have that one last safari.  

Along with Tanya from Pedoja (her partner, Don, was too busy supervising boat work), we took a three day trip up to St Lucia and Hluhluwe/Imfolosi game reserves just north of Richard's Bay.  

A 9-month old Cheetah

Firstly, we booked to visit the Emdoneni Animal Care & Rehabilitation Centre, a fabulous project whereby Africa's endangered cats receive care if, for a variety of reasons, they are unable to survive on their own and any offspring are nurtured until they can be released back into the wild.  We learned about the African wild cat, ancestors of our domestic cats but threatened with extinction due to impure  breeding.  We saw beautiful specimens of caracal whose status is considered of concern; the serval, considered threatened and finally, the cheetah which is extremely vulnerable and considered endangered.  It was a thrill to see that there is such a caring project in existence, to learn about these magnificent creatures and even get to pat one.  Definitely worth the visit.

Serval

Caracal

  

Next, we went in a boat onto the St Lucia Estuary to search for hippos and found plenty.  Again, a thoroughly enjoyable and educational experience.  Our tour guide was a fountain of knowledge on all things 'hippo' and, as it was the evening trip, we were able to take our sundowners with us to doubly enjoy the excursion.

Elegant creatures

The following morning, we rose before the crack of dawn to arrive at the gates of Imfolosi at opening time so we could have the entire day available to us.  When we were living in Durban many, many years ago, Imfolosi and Hluhluwe were two separate reserves but joined by a corridor that allowed the animals free access between the two, however, humans had no such privilege.  They have now been combined into one much larger park which makes for a much better reserve in every respect. 

White rhino

These two parks are famous for their rhino, in fact, they state that 'every single southern white rhino population in the world has its genetic origins in Hluhluwe/Infolozi Park'.  One of their biggest problems is the constant threat of the poachers in this part of the world and there are massive programs continually being put into place to try to counteract this threat.  We did manage to see two black rhino which are now extremely rare due to poaching.  At one stage, the population of the white rhino was down to a mere 20 animals but they have since thrived under the protection of the Parks board to such an extent that it has allowed translocation to other reserves.  Poaching, however, is still a very serious problem; we heard that two had been killed within the park very recently.  

We saw a total of 26 white and 2 black rhino; a very good tally indeed.  In addition, we were thrilled with the number of giraffes we encountered as well as kudu, nyala, wildebeest, hundreds of Impala, lots of buffalo, zebra, a few warthogs, birds galore but only one solitary elephant.  All in all, a great day.

We considered going back again the following day but after sitting in a car driving along the dirt roads for over 14 hours, we felt satisfied with our one outing besides, we had to get the car back to Richard's Bay by mid afternoon which would have meant that another trip into the reserve would have been a bit rushed.  Instead, we had a more relaxed start to the day then visited a local cheese farm which was also very interesting.  We even tried our hand at milking a goat.









PHOTO ALBUM:

The fruit and craft  market on the way up to St. Lucia

  

African Wild Cat

Serval

The magnificent Cheetah

We got right up close to two big males

And the thrill of stroking one while he purred

Weaver and nest waiting to attract a mate

Get a load of those teeth!

Braai area at the lodge

Curious zebras

View across the reserve southwards

Male impala

Impala mom and baby

I think they were only playing

Male Kudu

Beautifully ugly warthog

Blue Wildebeest

Dung beetle taking home his 'prize'

A lofty outlook

Not sure we correctly identified this as a Steppe Buzzard

A severely injured rhino

Such grace

The hippos wander the town of St Lucia at night

Goat's milk cheese in the making

Seasons wishes to all

 

Our incredible journey is nearing the end.....a sad thought indeed.  As we sit here anchored in South African waters again, we can look back on many unbelievable adventures, places, people, phenomenal friends and outstanding memories.

This collage of photos cannot possibly do justice to the year but does include some old friends remet along with a few who were so very helpful and supportive in the tougher times.

2016 proved to be a year of some major ups and downs.  I lost my 94-year old Mom in March followed by more than our fair share of severe mishaps which almost finished things prematurely, placing us in a few situations where we honestly thought, "this is it, we can no longer carry on".  But miracles do happen and, most of all, there were those friends who were there to give that essential boost and moral support which got us back on our feet again.

During the more trying times, dear Calypso suffered a few set backs but regardless, she continued to prove just how solid she is.  At the time that we purchased her, we were a couple of totally inexperienced rookies which makes us marvel at our luck in choosing her.  How did we manage to get that so right?!

We still have about another 1000nm to cover before closing the complete circle but we aren't rushing it.  How does one suddenly end such a lifestyle?  No, we'll take it slowly to make the most of the little time we have left.

Sadly, we will be saying farewell to so many of our cruising friends but life will bring on new adventures and challenges; we still have so much to look forward to as we plan the next stage of our lives.

For all those who entered our lives while out there, we will miss you terribly but you gave us memories to keep forever and nothing can take those away.  As you carry on towards your own home ports, we wish you fair winds; stay safe and, who knows, we may just meet up again somewhere, somehow.

To all our friends, landlubbers and cruisers alike, we wish you everything of the best for a great Christmas season and especially for the forthcoming year.

Happy 2017 to you all

Love from Paul and Maureen aboard Calypso 

Richards Bay, South Africa

What a strange feeling being back in the land we had left twelve years ago; seeing old familiar shops and products I haven't seen during all that time, hearing Afrikaans and Zulu again, experiencing a traditional South African 'braai' and just generally feeling "we're back home" but with a difference.

It's still early days but our first impressions are ones of shock at how prices have increased.  It's a big mistake to try to compare prices as we remember them so we're having to rather convert them to US dollars to put things into perspective.  In that way, we can see that many things are cheaper here but not significantly so any more.  

So far, we're very impressed with the level of service received wherever we go compared to what we remember.  SA was not known for friendly outgoing service when compared to most western countries and I know some friends who passed through a year ago were not overly enamoured, but we have found everyone incredibly accommodating and cheerful - with the exception of the surly immigration lady (but hey, it was a Monday, maybe she hadn't quite got going yet!).  Perhaps this was always the case in Richard's Bay, who knows, but we're very pleasantly surprised. 

There is nowhere to anchor out so we've pulled into the Zululand Yacht Club which has a great atmosphere and facilities.  It has a swimming pool, laundry room, a pub and small restaurant that puts on a fabulous braai every Friday night.  They light the fires for us to use every Monday when the bar is closed so we can do our own thing. Their food and beer/wine is much cheaper than elsewhere too.  I'd forgotten that South Africans were such big meat eaters - I watched in amazement as huge dinnerplate sized steaks were delivered or the rack of ribs which flopped over the edges of the plate.  Even an order of chicken was half a chicken!  No wonder there are so many obese people around these parts. We were more moderate: we had ostrich medallions, a normal sized portion.

One of the first things we wanted to do was sort out our drivers licenses and credit cards.  So far so good as I was able to, fairly easily, get a temporary license despite my card having expired some seven years ago.  I had feared that I may have to take the test all over again.  Paul had a slight hurdle with his but that it's not going to be a major problem.  We've also been able to order new credit cards, something that had become a serious issue with us over the past few years as our bank refused to send new ones out of the country.

While here, we want to visit a couple of the nearby game reserves.  Most of the cruisers have been on safaris and come back with enthusiasm at their sightings so we must do so as well as its unlikely we'll ever have the opportunity again.

Meanwhile, Paul continues on with various boat jobs; they are never ending.  We've had to take the plunge with regards to our mainsail; we ordered a new one as the old tissue-thin one would never have got us safely back to Cape Town.   Let's just hope it will add some value to dear Calypso when it comes time to sell.

Sunny South Africa?  Nope, not at the moment.  Its unseasonably cool, very blustery and the water temperature is damned cold!  Today is positively horrible but thank goodness, three boats left Inhaka and got here safely just before a huge blow.  There are still a few remaining behind as they didn't think they could make it.   These are all boats that left Madagascar at the same time as us too.  We continue to cross our fingers and hold thumbs for them.

We made it!

 

Enjoying a celebratory drink (or three)

 

One o'clock this afternoon, we pulled up to the international jetty in Richard's Bay after an incredibly fast run once we actually found wind and wow, a current which one friend likened to a runaway southbound train on steroids.  

We clocked up a speed of 15.4 knots over the ground; an impossible speed on a hull which is rated for only 7 knots.  Huge waves followed us in but........we're here and that's the important thing - here in one piece too.

Exhausted as we may be, we're now sitting in a pub celebrating with a glass of beer and a wine, something of which we've been deprived for far too long.  We ran out of tinned food and any form of fresh food so today's special at the local pub, grilled hamburger and chips, went down more than extremely well indeed.

Now to catch up on some desperately needed sleep.

Nearly but not quite....

The next gap was too brief to make it the 280nm to Richard's Bay so, despite not wishing it, we could only make it to Inhaca Island just outside the port of Maputo.

We rose early to catch the high tide across the sand bar which proved to be a very unpleasant excursion especially for Chantey.  They took on three huge waves in a row which blew out the windows of their spray dodger, broke their canvas canopy and threw poor Karen across the cockpit.  It was really quite a ride.  We both just went back to the point with the lighthouse to sit it out until the weather calmed sufficiently to move on.  By late afternoon, we decided to give it a go as we needed to get to the next anchorage before the next big blow which we did manage in time.   

As predicted, all hell broke loose that night and the entire following day in which we discovered that Inhaca really wasn't a very protected anchorage at all.  However, fortunately, the holding was very good.  In the 24 hours that we rode it out, Chantey broke three snubbers and we broke one.  The snubbers are lines attached to the anchor chain which take the shock of heavy jerks which, in turn, protect the windlass from damage.  Paul came so close to losing a finger while trying to sort it out as the chain ripped through his hands.  We placed it in a splint fearing it may be broken but it was just badly bruised.  Phew.

The next morning, conditions had improved so we upped anchor to get across this sand bar on a high tide.  Chantey's anchor got stuck so we returned to stand by but Will donned his scuba equipment and managed to free themselves and this sand bar caused us no grief.

The next blow was predicted for Monday morning and we felt that was sufficient to get us into Richard's Bay.  Not so as after the first hour, the wind died completely and we had nowhere near enough fuel to motor for hours and still leave us with a safety margin for emergencies.  After trying every tactic in the book, we eventually gave up and simply drifted and, as Murphy would have it, we drifted in exactly the wrong direction!  By mid Sunday afternoon, a bit of wind arrived allowing us to get underway again but we'd lost a lot of ground.  We prepared Calypso for heavy conditions by hauling out the storm and trisails and prayed for the best.

Still stuck

We've been here almost a week now and despite high hopes of getting a three day window to move on down to Richard's Bay, it hasn't happened.  Today is positively nasty; the winds are from the SSW (the worst direction) at around 20-25 knots with horrible blustery rains intermittently.  It looks as though we may have a chance tomorrow afternoon but......well, let's just hold thumbs as provisions are beginning to be a bit of an issue.

I can still make bread but we're worried about propane now.  We had Chantey over for dinner last night and we finished off the very last of the wine and whiskey so things are certainly getting desperate.  No vegetables, no fruit and next to nothing in the pantry as far as tinned foods go.   For a few more days to come, it looks as though we're in for fish and rice, and rice and fish with side orders of fish, and for dessert, yup, fish.  I think I may just be put off fish for a while after this.

Paul's used the time fruitfully with a variety of boat projects bringing back the reminder of that old adage that cruising is just fixing one's boat in exotic ports.  We haven't even been off the boat other than to visit Chantey; they did a wonderful pizza the other night but are also running low on food.

We heard that Zorana has made it safely down to Richard's Bay but that it was a pretty rough and wet trip.  Radio communication has been fairly abysmal so we aren't aware of where most of the fleet is, whether they're hiding out in Inhaca or have managed to get into Richard's Bay.  However, we could hear that a couple of the boats are still up in Bazaruto where the weather is a bit better.

We'll wait for the morning report on the synoptic charts to decide if it's a go or not.  We can't get out of here except on higher tides as there's a sand bar across the entrance; so we sit.  We're prepared to put up with some SE winds but SW? no, they can prove a tad frightening and extremely uncomfortable.

We've reached the Mozambique coast

We've had either no winds or perfect winds to date so no complaints other than a few days of negative currents.  I must say, this route has got to be one of the most complicated we've experienced and all because of the currents.  

It all looks simple enough; leave the western Madagascar coast and head southwest across to South Africa, yes?  Umm, no!  One has to plan the crossing to avoid the reverse currents so the first thing to do is get an up-to-date reading of what's happening which sounds promising but don't expect them to do what the weather gurus say they should be doing; they just don't play ball that often.

Of all the boats leaving at a similar time, a few chose to try the Madagascar coastal route south and we and quite a few others have chosen to head west, find some currents, then start moving southwards.  Only time will tell once we all get together in a pub to discuss who made the right or wrong decision.  One of the yachts has no engine and the lack a of wind and adverse currents took him miles northwards out of his way but we hear now that things have radically improved and he's making his way to Bazaruto further up the Mozambique coast.

During the first night when we finally got over the continental shelf, there was an entire night of bad lightening and thunder storms which is always a bit of a concern when you're out there with a big stick poking skywards.  Even on the second night as we followed the coastline southwest at a distance, we were aware of a lot to of lightening over the land however, leaving the western-most cape behind, we were well clear by then.

We had several days of little to no wind so were forced to use a fair amount of our precious diesel.  To make matters worse, we should have been doing a reasonable speed but 2 knots of negative current, occasional reaching as much as 3 knots, meant we were not achieving very much overall.  This didn't last for more than a couple of days when we finally found some good positive currents to take us across the channel and the decent winds added to a very pleasant and speedy sail.

One hiccough we experienced was being hailed by a couple of ships performing a seismology survey.  We were asked to stay 8nm clear of their stern and 3nm at the front and sides which, unfortunately, meant a major diversion that took the entire night to complete before they gave us permission to get back on course due to their sweeping patterns.  The diversion took us into negative currents again so, all in all, we lost a good proportion of a day's progress.  Life is never boring on the open sea.

The weather each day has been fabulous but as we near the South African coast which is famous for its frightening southwest storms, we are watching the weather carefully.  For this reason, we are now holded up at Linga Linga near Inhambane as there was a nasty blow predicted before we could safely get to Maputo.  We, along with Karen and Will on Chantey, have decided to sit it out here and then try to make it all the way to Richard's Bay in one hop.  A three day window should be sufficient if we can get it.  Meanwhile, this is a lovely, well protected spot so we can just chill out for a few days while trying to glean the news via BBC on the HF radio of what madness is going on in the USA today.

381 miles to go and on our very last bottle of wine!  Heaven help us.

Day One leaving Madagascar

The first morning out and we've already caught three fish!  The first was a 5kg Spanish mackerel which we'll try to smoke.  This was followed by a wahoo about 10kg.  We decided that this was enough, our freezer can't handle much more so, just as Paul was pulling in the lines, we caught another!  Again, a wahoo and this was twice the weight of the other.  Enough already!  And here I was worrying that we wouldn't have enough food for the passage.

We set out fairly early to no wind, zero, nada, ziltch.  A bit came up by mid morning but, as is always the case, it was right on the nose.  By lunchtime it had veered slightly so we could actually sail at a nice pace but just a tad low for our preferred route.  Never mind, we made the most of it.

Chantey and Flour Girl also caught three fish each but poor Zorana is out there with nothing.

We ended the day having covered 130nm with some rain and nasty thunder storms in the night for a short spell.  Apart from that, we're happy with the wind and wave conditions as well as with our progress to date.

1160 nm to go.

On route to Inhacca

Calypso and Chantey are on route to Inhacca, Mozambique. We're going to wait out the strong wind forecast in Richards Bay. All well on board.

Waiting for weather in Mozambique

Calypso and Chantey are still anchored at Linga Linga, Inhambane, Mozambique. We're waiting for weather to sail directly to Richards Bay. All well on board.

position

Calypso's position today is 19 36S 037 44E all is well onboard

The time has come the walrus said..........

Unbelievably, we are on our way back to the African continent after 12 years! 

We are leaving, along with three other boats, at first light tomorrow morning to make the 1300 nautical mile journey to Richard's Bay on the Kwa-Zulu Natal coast.  If all goes well, we'll go directly there but if things go a bit awry with a southwest wind heading our way, we may have to take refuge somewhere along the Mozambique coastline.  This particular trip is notorious for its incredible currents and counter currents as well as weather fronts coming up from the south just waiting to give you a nasty smack.  At the moment, there is very little wind which may necessitate some motor sailing but that, at least, is preferable to some of the stuff we endured crossing the Indian Ocean recently.

We no longer have the means to send email or blog updates en route except through some accommodating friends who I may ask to just send a short message a couple of times giving our position and the conditions.  Otherwise, as soon as we get to Richard's Bay, I will be back on email and can update then.

Our last dinner in Madagascar was a five-star feast.  We indulged ourselves with two fresh crabs and several dozen fresh prawns sitting on our back "veranda" sipping a glass of wine,.  We're almost out of wine now but this meal demanded a little celebration.  Not too shabby.

Cheers and we'll next be writing from Africa!

Moramba Bay

The first village we found

14°58.414S and 47°20.489E

Moramba Bay, a large shallowish and protected bay with some beautiful anchorages.  The region is extremely dry and is home to many, and I mean MANY, baobab trees.  We'd seen baobabs in South Africa but, in comparison, they are few and far between.  Here, these gnarled "upside-down" trees are abundant.  We took one hike into the woods to the baobab 'forest' where there are some enormous and old specimens.  There are also many of the black and white sifaka lemurs here, bouncing around the trees nearby.  Although they have many similarities to the monkey, their movements are quite different and the distances that they can jump from branch to branch are staggering. 

Here was our last chance to distribute all the clothing we'd collected, both our own and a lot of the children's clothing we received from Sophie and Hervé in Mauritius.  The tiny villages around the shores here are extremely poor.  Paul and I climbed into our dinghy to go in search of these hidden homes working our way through thick mangroves and sand that would frizzle an egg to ash within seconds.  We had a wonderful morning visiting a total of four remote villages handing out these clothes, pencils and papers, bonbons for the children, soaps for the women, fish hooks for the men as well as very popular empty glass jars and odd kitchen paraphernalia.  Some of them had no more than half a dozen grass huts and, seemingly, no means of survival other than dried fish.  When we visited the fourth village, the straps on my flip-flops broke and, with the heat of the ground, there was no way I could go to the village.  No problem, Paul went in with some offerings and then brought the village to me.  He looked like the Pied Piper as he approached with all his followers.  

As we got to chatting (well, more like sign language really), we asked a couple of the chaps to bring us crabs which they duly delivered to our boat several hours later.  Six large crabs which we immediately boiled up but not before two of them took a very painful hold of Paul's fingers.  That evening, we sat on our "bumpkin" (veranda) at the stern where we could easily avoid the inevitable mess simply by tossing the shells etc overboard and washing it all down afterwards.  Oh how we love crab!

Shopping in Moramba?  Nope, no shops of any size or description.  For the first time in our travelling, we are seriously short of food.  However, all is not lost.  Every day, several dugouts, usually with women paddling out with several babies in tow, arrive at our boat wanting to trade a tomato (yes, usually a single little tomato), mangoes, papayas, limes, onions or the like, one or two at a time.  We've even been offered bok choy, a pineapple and duck eggs and, the pièce de résistance was a melon.   All in all, we've managed to get a reasonable supply of fresh goodies to keep the scurvy away.  After visiting the nearby villages and not seeing a single bit of evidence that they grow anything at all, this definitely came as a bit of a surprise.

Another surprise came in the form of an eco lodge, for want of any other name to call it.  It is just on the other side of the peninsula and is an effort by a lone French lady, Brigitte, who is building simple accommodation out of totally local materials.  She didn't speak any English so we weren't really sure what her plans for this project are but had to admire her endeavours in such a remote location.  Given several days notice, she would serve up a meal, so Zorana and ourselves booked for lunch a few days later. 

Considering that nothing seems to be grown here at all, she conjured up a three-course meal from 100% locally obtained ingredients.  She served snacks while we waited which included fresh coconut drinks, barbequed crab with spicy pickled lime rinds and escargot de mer (something like cockles).  The next course was grilled fish, crab, more escargot, coconut salad and a tiny green succulent type plant which was surprisingly tasty.  This was followed by more fish cooked up differently with coconut milk and the same little green things, brown rice and haricot beans.  Dessert was manioc cooked in coconut milk and honey.  All in all, it was a fabulous experience in a beautiful outdoor setting looking out over the white sandy beaches which, in turn, overlooked the turquoise sea dotted with a myriad of small rocky islands.  No complaints about our life right now!

Our days in Madagascar are numbered.  We haven't totally decided whether or not we'll carry on down to Mahajanga or not.  The advantage of doing so would be that we could get some food and extra fuel prior to making the notorious jump over the Mozambigue Channel;  the disadvantage being that we never did check in and would be concerned about getting approached by the authorities.  Although unlikely, we have heard that it has happened in the past. The thought of spending my remaining years in a Madagascar penitentiary leave a lot to be desired.

Update:  we definitely will NOT be visiting Mahajanga as we had word that the harbour master's chaps commandeered a local boat to visit a few of the yachts to check their papers.  Nope, not going there!  At this stage, it looks promising that we'll leave on Monday the 31st October.

  


PHOTO ALBUM: 

(Note:  I have tried for days to upload some photos but no go.  If and when we get somewhere with a better connection, I'll update this as I really want to include the baobab trees and lemurs we see here)

Baobabs silhouetted in the sunset

Mom, do I have to?!

Happy with the handouts but a bit wary of the camera

They loved the sweeties

A new dress

 

Paul, the "Pied Piper"

Who will these fit?

Trying on for size

What else do we have in here?

Gorgeous

This lovely lady rowed out from a distant village to trade a few welcome veggies