On the Ground in Africa-1

Greetings from Africa!

So much for our great plans of writing every day even if we had to use Bush Telegraph. Our last hotel assured us they had internet access, but we found out that we needed to provide our own computer. Doh!

After a gruelling and brutal 27 hour trip we landed in Johannesburg. We stayed at Aloe Ridge hotel, on the northern edge of Jo'burg. It's a beautiful, well-tended, and quiet place, sloping into the African countryside- the perfect spot to adjust to time differences and recover from jetlag. We're beginning to realize that there might be a few other differences we'll have to adjust to, as well:

What immediately strikes us is the quality of the light: a gentle pale Vermeer white that reminds us of the light in Tuscany. Our first full day there, it was 28 C, a lovely temperature for us, but cool for here since it's early spring. Locals walk around in quilted jackets and wool touques.

A few experiences stand out from our first 2 days on the ground:

o Having breakfast on our first day, we saw 2 black flashes streaking past the pool. They were baboons (or Gabes, as they're called here) out for their daily run. Later, we saw one of them by the main entrance, waiting paitiently for a waiter, who feeds him every day. At almost the same time a herd (gaggle? squadron?) of 5 zebras stopped for a drink at the pool and stood for a while under the thatched umrellas for shade.

o That evening we had a fabulous haute cuisine meal with a delighful S.A. wine at a "Astronomy and Gastronomy" presentation in the hotel's Conservatory restaurant. The owner, Alex Richter, has a 1.5 ton telescope, the 2nd largest amateur telescope in the world, in a library adjoining the restaurant. He clearly runs Aloe Ridge to finance his passions in animals and astronomy. Throughout the meal, guests watched a light show based on Hubbel telescope photographs, and between courses were invited to look through the telescope, as Richard is doing in this photo. Fabulous!

o The next day we had a private daylight tour of Jo'burg, a city of 11 million people, and despite its rough reputation, is modern and urbane.

o Yesterday, we left for Kruger National Park. Now we're at Umlani Lodge. Check it out on our link. What a fabulous place! We've already been on 2 game runs and seen 4 of the Big 5. More later.........