Around the World Again

Cape Town, South Africa – April 4, 2018

What a great tour today! I knew I wanted to see animals in South Africa but did not want to spend $5000+ to do an overland, multi-day tour. Instead I signed up for the Aquila Game Reserve excursion through my travel agency (just like HAL’s excursion only cheaper).

We had to drive 2.5 hours to get to the reserve. We passed many vineyards along the way as well as some “squatter camps” as our guide, Carol, called them. She said some who live there are migrant workers. She also mentioned that someone has been arrested for starting the fires on Table Mountain yesterday. Along the way she talked about the education. Children take English, Afrikaans, and a native tribal language at school. The average unemployment rate in the country is just over 25% although in some areas it is as high as 80%.

When we arrived at Aquila there was a welcome drink and then we headed out into the reserve with Raymond our driver/guide. He told us a great deal about the animals and the plants that grow there.

Some facts I learned (although a couple I knew from trivia)…

· Hippos kill the most humans in Africa (mosquitoes are second)

· Elephants can run 35 km/hour and never stop growing

· The stripes on a zebra are unique just like human fingerprints

· White rhinos are the most endangered animals in Africa

· The horn on a male rhino is short and thick while the female has a long thin one

· The night vision of a lion is 6x better than that of a human

· Springboks can run 80 km/hour and the male’s horns form a heart

· A giraffe’s tongue is purple

· Elands are the largest antelope in Africa

· Every turn on an eland’s horn represents three years of life

· Only male ostriches have a pink color on their legs

We were able to see four of the “Big Five” of Africa (we did not see a leopard). The animals we saw were hippos, elephants, water buffalo, zebras, rhinos, lions, springboks, giraffes, blue wildebeest, white tailed wildebeest, oryx, elands, baboons, and ostriches. Amazing!

There was a short stop for another glass of wine and, after 2 hours and 45 minutes, we came back to the hotel and had a delicious lunch. There was also some time for shopping in the store although I did not buy anything.

Quite a few of us snoozed on the way back to the ship. We arrived about 7 pm. I had a really lousy steak and fries for dinner in the Lido. I should have had room service again.

At 9:30 there was a local show with lots of singing and dancing.

Thursday is our last day in Cape Town.

On the road…