Blogs from South Africa, Africa - page 19

“I don’t know “is how I reply to people with conspiracy theories about the coronavirus. This avoids going down their rabbit hole- Rupert Wolfe-Murray Day 11 of the lockdown in South Africa and Covid-19 continues its rampaging and catastrophic tornado across the globe. There is simply no way of stopping this virus in its tracks at this point in time and the only current effective defence mechanism is to try and slow the rate of spread amongst humans. Keep apart and stay at home. In the midst of the worst crisis to face mankind since the arrival of the HIV virus, there are a number of surreptitious theories starting to bubble to the surface. How did this virus originate? Why did it originate in China? Why has it not been that prevalent in neighbouring countries in ... read more

‘Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity” – Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur, a Frenchman, was born in 1822. He was a biologist, microbiologist and chemist renowned for his discoveries of vaccination and pasteurisation. His work and discoveries saved the lives of countless millions at the time and continue to do so to this day. What would he deduce of the Covid-19 pandemic in these modern times? Fortunately for mankind, we have a brace of brilliant people of the calibre of Pasteur working frantically to discover a vaccine and cure for this modern-day virus. Unfortunately, the indications are that a vaccine will not be developed before 2021 due to the extensive trials which precede the development and approval of any new vaccine. There is ... read more

Since September 2019, we not only have one home in the Seychelles....but South Africa is still our home too! I have to admit, I love the golf, diving, wine, food and especially the people and friends in South Africa. So any time we can, it's on to SA! This time, I'm three weeks in South Africa, but as Tanya is working, she can only join me for a week of fun on our side. I started in Shelly Beach before flying to Cape Town. So it's first to golf, this time two new courses for me, I name Mowbray Golf course as well as Stellenbosch golf course. I can now claim having play all the coastal courses South Africa has to offer on the latest Golf Digest Top 100 South Africa courses! Happy golfer! There is ... read more

We took off at 8:30am this morning in an 8-seater Quest Kodiak, a new plane manufactured in Idaho. We had a 30 minute flight to Hoedspruit Airport where we are awaiting our next flight to Joburg (Johannesburg). Its a very small rural airport and the waiting room is filling up as our flight time nears. Kevin is air dropping photos to me for this blog and twice now, he’s airdropped to someone else in the waiting room, not me. They don’t seem to mind. We are boarding soon. Until our next stop.... read more

Today is our last full day on safari as we head to the airport at 8:30am tomorrow morning. Kevin plans to go out tomorrow for a short time but I’d rather rest up a bit and pack for our 36 hour six flight trip back to San Diego. Today we were one of the last vehicles to leave the lodge and all of the others before us headed in one direction. Gary didn’t want to follow the crowds, if you want to really call them crowds as only about 30 people have access to the reserve we explore every day. The public have to stay on the paved roads and cannot get out of their windshielded cars. We, on the other hand, go down dirt roads, go off road and sometimes get out of our open ... read more