Leaving Amsterdam, we finally arrived in Cape Town,  South Africa for our two-week stay, our first journey to the Mother Land!  We stayed in a phenomenal apartment on the canal called the Village and Life Waterfront (www.waterfrontvillage.com) very close to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the location of the shops, restaurants and activities, like visiting Robben Island which was extremely moving and educational.  This luxurious gated community is safe, friendly, scenic and centrally located.  It’s the perfect location to get to so many places around Cape Town.  This apartment was one of the great uses of our Interval International time share.

We explored Groot Constantia, the oldest winery in South Africa (www.grootconstantia.co.za). The tour, estate and grounds and especially the wines, makes this a winery not to be missed.  Its also accessible on the Hop on/Hop Off bus, purple route.  Our most exceptional meal in Cape Town was at The Test Kitchen (www.thetestkitchen.co.za).  This Luke Dale Roberts extraordinary restaurant provides a dining experience in the “Dark Room” for appetizers and cocktails and then you enter “The Light Room” for dinner.  Reservations are hard to come by but certainly worth the experience.  That is a dinner imbedded in my heart and head until the day I die.  Cape Town is truly an exceptional place to visit.  We used the very reasonable Uber car service to get around and met an irresistible driver named Jude who knows the region well.  Truth Coffee Roasting, voted the World’s best coffee by the Daily Telegraph, has a reputation that is well deserved.  This place is unique and the coffee beyond comparison.

Cape Town was a fun, exciting and adventurous start to our maiden trip to the Mother Land.  After two weeks, it left us wanting to return!  I also think I adopted Jude, my first of three African sons I grew to love.

Our next adventure took us to the 68,000 acre Ongava Game Reserve (http://ongava.com) next to the Etosha National Park in Okaukuejo, Namibia.  Ongava is dedicated to the protection and conservation of rhinos – and they have lots of rhinos.  We were able to get out of the safari truck and walk towards the enormous rhinoceros on a few occasions.  Simply exhilarating.  This reserve had an enormous array of wild animals – from Lions and Rhinos to Zebras, Oryx and African Buffalo and everything in between. This is where we identified all of the Big 5 game, except the elusive Leopard. We stayed two nights in the luxury tent and two nights in the lodge.  Our final tent night a female lion greeted me outside our tent at 1:20 am with an incredibly loud roar!  Tequila John had bested Patrick at the bar that night so I was on my own.  The baboons (I later learned) shouted “RAYYYY-MOND” several times to warn the other baboons that a lion was in their midst, obviously named Raymond.  Sleep was not an option at this point, so I emailed my sisters in the USA of my last known location and the circumstances surrounding my impending fate.  Within 20 minutes the early morning show was over and I laid awake anticipating the next sound that could devour me.  Luckily, we were moving to the lodge in the morning and I was obsessively thankful.

Ongava had the most extensive safari animal sightings of the three safari camps we visited.  This is the place you would want to visit if you could only do one safari camp.

The most phenomenal safari experience at Ongava was encountering a pride of lions just after their kill and feast on an African Oryx (by the way, Oryx is delicious).  This time we stayed quietly and safely in the truck as the big cats cleaned the blood off their paws and lounged in the shade with bellies packed full of meat.

Our next stop was to Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe, the largest waterfall in the world.  We stayed at the wonderful Elephant Camp reserve (www.theelephanycamp.com) which is a teaching and conservation camp for elephants and the lovely cheetah named Sylvester.  We were able to feed the elephants, ride them and take photos with Sylvester after learning the ways of the cheetahs.  Yes, I was terrified of Sylvester, but was assured he was indeed trained.  This resort offered luxury air conditioned tents, spa services  (thank you so very much) and a tour of the local village.  It was by far the most educational part of our safari journey and the most relaxing as well.  The staff was truly exceptional and friendly, it’s a place everyone would enjoy.  We cruised the Zambezi River where we saw hippos, alligators, elephants and a myriad of birds.

Our final safari was in Botswana at the lovely Camp Kuzuma (www.campkuzuma.com).  We did early morning and sundowner safaris, two a day for our three day stay.  Botswana does not allow fencing of the animals so that they roam freely between. countries.  The watering hole at the camp’s center hosted a bevy of elephants daily.  We were not as lucky on animal sightings during the safari rides, although we did see a host of local birds and a team of anti-poaching militia.  They shoot to kill poachers on sight, no questions asked.  The high grass safari rides, especially at night, were a bit scary.  However, the birds called the red billed quelea, who swarm in the thousands in a methodic dance, captivated my attention at each swarm.  I had never seen anything like that.  The food at Camp Kuzuma was by far the best.  Chef Dandy Sekwababe shared his fresh baked bread recipe and served us the best fish dinner I have ever had.  We were greeted by the team after each sundowner safari with song and dance, wet towels and a loving welcome back home song.  I wanted to adopt Obie and bring him home.  The other guests became fast friends during this short stay.  It was a party every night, just before our armed escorts back to our tents to retire for the evening.  Tequila John has to have a wooden leg!

Our final stay in Africa was in Johannesburg for three nights at the incomparable The Residence (www.theresidenceportfolio.co.za).  This golden oasis had bedroom suites with ornate chandeliers, deep soaking bathing tubs, indoor and outdoor showers and a team that catered to our every need.  This is exactly what we needed after living through three safari camps and doing two safaris a day over the last 9 days.  We were now in the ideal lap of and my Grey Goose or Titos martini with blue cheese stuffed olives was possible.  We were in heaven.  I can’t say enough about the staff there.  They were kind, outgoing, engaging and helpful in planning our tours and shopping sprees (do not miss their gift shop, the selection and prices are unbelievable).  We toured the area and shopped while in Johannesburg, all while feeling very safe and comfortable.  If you ever have a stay in Joburg, do visit The Residence.  It is in the Houghton section, the area of Nelson Mandela’s last home.  The quality of the rooms and common areas of The Residence is only exceeded by the service they provide.  We will indeed return.

We parted ways with our dear friends and travel partners, the Krolls, and embarked on a journey further east of Madagascar to the Four Seasons on Mauritius Island where we celebrated our 21st anniversary over a ten-day stay.  More on that adventure coming up next……