The Origin of The Queen’s Diamond (Sunday 04Nov12)

Today we got up late and relaxed a bit before heading to the town of Cullinan. This is home to the Petra mine where the Queens diamond originated from. The Cullinan Diamond, which now forms part of the British crown jewels, weighed 3106 carats and was discovered in 1905. We had a look round the little trinket shops for a bit and had a tour around the oldest house in the town. It was built for the foreman of the diamond mine who turned out to be Scottish. There were loads of bikers out with Harleys and most of the restaurants were fully booked. We stopped at the bar next to the railway line for a drink which was very cool because the trains still stopped there and meals were served on shovels.

After the trip to Cullinan we headed for the Menlyn shopping mall to prose around the shops and then stopped at a lovely restaurant for lunch called Boabab where I found the cocktail list and had another couple of Pina Colada's. It was really lovely too sit above the street and watch the world go buy. I have also invested in a dongle and MTN Internet bundle for my travels.

After lunch we took Emilene’s rabbits to the park which is in front of the Union Buildings in Pretoria. That was a beautiful place and we got there in time to watch the sun go down. I took so many pictures of the sunset it was so beautiful with the buildings and everything in the skyline. There were a lot of people that had come to watch it, couples and families were sitting on blankets or taking an evening stroll. It was a perfect setting. It will be a lasting memory of Pretoria. I really want to have a picnic in the park on Thursday for my last day here.

The Jacaranda tree.

 

 

The Union Buildings and Park

 

Hadeda Ibis.

 James Barry Munnick Hertzog.

These pictures are taken from the other side of the hill, above the park.

 

 

 

The Lion Park & Afternoon Drinks (03Nov12)

Today I woke up in a very peaceful, happy state with the sun shining. Emilene has kindly given up her bed for me so I had a really good night’s sleep. Waking up, I could hear a tiny amount of traffic and Kate moving around quietly in the kitchen which was a comforting feeling.  Emilene made us some coffee and we had rusks (South African style biscuits) for breakfast while we made a fuss of the rabbits and I had a bath for the first time in over six weeks. Kate then made us some fruit salad which was really yummy, but naughty because she put ice cream with it and it was only eleven o'clock in the morning.

We left the flat and headed for The Lion Park. The morning sunshine showed off the purple of the jacaranda trees and we took a detour around Johannesburg and past the Investec office in Sandton. The building is huge and looks really impressive. In fairness all the corporate and residential buildings around Sandton looked pretty amazing.

The Lion Park was a big disappointment. The enclosures were far too small and by the time we had finished it felt like a pure money making scheme. The “Cub World Experience” where you were supposed to be able to play and hold the cubs turned out to be a two minute photo shot as we had no time to play with the cubs. We were also told that all eleven cubs had been rejected by their mothers. Something both Emilene and I struggled to believe. Anyway, we have some good photo's.

After The Lion Park we headed to Moyo, a bar/restaurant set in Zoo Lake. It was a lovely themed place, very relaxing and had sofa’s and tables dotted around. While we waited for Vina and Bongiwe to meet us we had our faces painted with flowers by a lady called Faith. I have only met Vina once when she came over the Investec London office. Bongiwe has left Investec now but she is such a bubbly person, just like I remember. It was so lovely to see them both. After a bit of food, a couple of drinks and lots of girlie talk we headed home. On the way home I turned back to look out of the car window. The Johannesburg skyline was so impressive all lit up in the night.

Driving past the Investec building.

 

The Lion Park

Baby Zebra in the Antelope enclosure.

More Impala.

These are what we went to see.

They have White Lion's too.

 

 

I think this little cub was my favourite.

This is the celebrity Lion.

Wild Dog,

Cheetah.

Baby Zebra.

Ostrich.

This is us with the Lion Cubs.

Bad photo of me, but the cubs are okay.

Emilene and the cubs.

So cute!

 

Moyo Zoo Lake

Emilene looking as pretty as ever.

Need to sort my hair out!

This little girl wanted her picture taken. She was very sweet.

 

The lovely Vina, Emilene and Bongiwe.

Vina, Me and Bongiwe.

 

 

 

Home Comforts (Friday 02Nov12)

So today I packed my case and said my goodbyes at UmPhafa and headed for Emilene’s. The only hiccup on the way was when I realised the fuel gauge was telling me I was on empty so I had to pull off of the N3 and follow the sat nav to the nearest petrol station. I was headed for a tiny little farming community called Cornelia and I past the “petrol station” because I couldn't see anything there and then had to do a big circle back round praying to god that I wouldn’t break down in the middle of nowhere. It turns out the “petrol station” was two pumps next to the only convenience store in the town hidden behind a couple of outbuildings. The people there were really nice and friendly which calmed me down ready for the last leg of my drive. I re-set my sat nav and headed back to the N3 which had been a really straight motorway with nothing but open space as far as the eye could see from Harrismith, with just the odd toll booth along the way. It was an amazing feeling when the Johannesburg sky line came into view and I started to see civilisation all around me. More cars on the motorway, lots of houses either side of the road, and big tall buildings in the distance. It really did feel nice to be back in the hustle and bustle again. When I got to the industrial area going round Johannesburg to Pretoria I even enjoyed the four lanes and the stopping and starting of the rush hour traffic. Something I would usually curse about back home. I could also recognise some of the company names on the front of buildings, MAN, Johnson and Johnson, L’Oreal, Vodacom, MTN, Nokia, Siemens, BMW, and many more.

I managed to fill up the tank and get back to Avis before it closed at six. I had the happiest petrol pump attendant ever. They have changed quite a few road names, costing millions, much to the annoyance of the local people, so I was really grateful to Emilene for giving me the old name for Francis Baard Street, Shoeman Street, as I would never have made it otherwise. It does seem such a waste of money when there are other things the govenment could spend the money on. As I pulled in front of Avis so to did Emilene. It fantastic to finally meet her in person after all the years we had talked on the phone and via VC at work.

The flat that Emilene shares with her Mum, Kate, is so lovely. It’s cosy and has lots of little trinkets and beautiful things like the tree branch that hangs from the corner of the ceiling with Christmas baubles hanging from it, the decorated elephants, the candles and cushions. Emilene’s head board is decorated with rose lights. They have lots of wonderful dark wood and throws around the flat too. The bathroom has lovely natural stones and pretty wire art on the walls. Best of all Emilene has two rabbits, one of them I have dubbed Stuart Little as he is pure white with blue eyes and he is absolutely adorable.

While Emilene and I chatted and made a fuss of the rabbits Kate made a wonderful dinner of roast chicken with a vegetable stir-fry of green beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon and sesame seeds. It was amazing. They both speak Africans so I am hoping that I will pick up some words and phrases while I am here. For example Geluk is happiness.

Emilene's bed with the rose rights on. So pretty.

 

My Last Day at UmPhafa (Thursday 01Nov12)

So today was my last day at UmPhafa. I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone here. Rachel and Liam, Carolynne, Michael, Vukani and Fiona. I have met some amazing people and have done some amazing things.

My last day was spent hiking round Leopards Gorge to look at the footage from all the camera traps we had set up. It was nice to do this one last time. Well done to Liam's mates who pulled themselves out of bed with a hangover to do it too. Hats off!

It's amazing how protective I have become of this place. On our way to pick up the last camera trap on the other end of the reserve we pulled over as two guys seemed to be checking out the place from the side of the N3. I immediately thought of poachers and all of us were ready to back Liam up as he got out of the truck to find out what these guys were up to. Apparently, they were just looking for the school, then when we saw them again a bit further up the road after checking for snares they said they were collecting their cattle. We were taking pictures of the number plate, them, and we were all glaring at them. My concern was that we had already found loads of leopard tracks and were on our way to the storm drain he uses under the N3 to move from property to property. Sure enough when we got there we found tracks that were no more than a few days old. Unfortunately the camera hadn't picked anything up much to everyones disappointment. But it was still so exciting. He is a big leopard too. I want to name him Shadow as his prints are often found, but he manages to avoid getting caught on camera all the time.

Tonight was a few drinks up at Liam and Rachel's with their friends and Nish after my very last night drive. It's sad to go, but it is time to move on and see other places and meet other people. Tomorrow, a new chapter begins.

Camera Trap Pictures

 



Caracal

Duiker

 

I'm a bit gutted as the films of the Kudu were taking too long to up load but there were some fab ones of them climbing underneath the fence onto the reserve.

 

My Day Photo's

 

The Views from the top of the reserve.

You can just make out Colenso from here.

The first of many leopard prints.

 

The Night Drive

One Giraffe

One Reedbuck.

Zebra on the rye field.