http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/beach-berg-and-bush/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from beach berg and bush en-us Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:55:49 +0000 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:55:49 +0000 Time for a photo update as life has been keeping us busy. Attached are some awsome photo's from a trip we did to Namibia and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier park which covers Namibia South Africa and Botswana. Being in the Khalahari KTP is dry technically its arid savannah with a lot of seasonal grasses. You'd expect a desert to be hot but as we were towards the end of winter July time the nights http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/blog-446844.html Few more photo's from the park and surrounds in Namibia. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/blog-446850.html Ulovane and Amakhala Game ReserveWork is work as they say but working for Ulovane has been unlike any work Irsquove done before no massive commute to the office just a 30 minute walk across the farm and the only rush hour traffic is game viewers all converging on a cheetah sighting. Working with Candice and Schalk has been awesome itrsquos great to be able to use our skills to help such com http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-420075.html As we are currently stranded in Namibia and have an ADSL line thanks Theresa. Its about time for a few updates. Its true getting married does change you for instance it made me forget all about writing this blog and gave Sandra something to nag me about. Itrsquos been exactly two months since the perfect wedding I have included a load of pictures so you can see the big day. Obviously the wedd http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/North-West/Zeerust/Madikwe-Game-Reserve/blog-419794.html Its been a while so no doubt an update is well overdue the last 6 weeks have been hectic studying for our Level 2 FAGSA exams and sorting out the next 6 months but more of that laterhellip..The last instalment left us in Mozambique after leaving Tofo we moved on to Limpopo Transfrontier Park which boarders Kruger NP once again its rugged going and a 4x4 is definitely needed. The Park has su http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-381690.html It was great to leave Maputo in a car that worked again I was spo happy that on the way out of town I made the mistake of smiling at a policewoman in the back of a truck which pulled up next to us. Lesson number 3 of African travel never smile at the police We were summarily pulled over and the conversation covered the following pointsbull Driving without shoes is illegal in Mozambique I http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Mozambique/Southern/Inhambane/blog-372993.html Welcome to Mozambique as usual my border shirt the Liverpool one did the trick by giving me something to bond with customs officers over. Football truly is a universal language. Entry to Mozambique was smooth despite a disorganised border post the SA side is pretty well laid out the Mozambique side well itrsquos a couple of sheds and lots of people standing about. The only exits from the b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Mozambique/Southern/Maputo/blog-363740.html Where is Bhanga Nek exactly Well itrsquos definitely not a easy place to find. Basically if you head north along the coast towards the Mozambique border there are a series of estuarine lakes which form part of the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park. Bhanga Nek is the spit of land which separates the sea from the lakes. Itrsquos a very out of the way place with access from Manguzi settlement dow http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/KwaZulu-Natal/iSimangaliso-Wetland-Park/blog-362962.html Leaving Lesotho we entered South Africa into the Free State the day paned out into a 12 hour drive on route we booked ourselves into a backpackers called African Sunsets its in the Valley of a 1000 hills just outside Durban. Basically the set up is an old coffee farm where the beans are harvested but then piled up and never processed according to Derek an old Zimbabwean who also lives on the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/KwaZulu-Natal/Durban/blog-362387.html Leaving Amakhala was difficult not least because we had to work out how to get everything back into the Land Rover. This task was made more difficult by a serious hangover induced by our final night party. I wonrsquot go into details but Chris fans should definitely get him checked for itches and scratches after he was taken in hand by an older lady. I think the scratches might have been sustai http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Lesotho/Maseru/blog-356671.html The last week was pretty hectic with mock assessments and getting ready for the final exams. Added to this four of us have started walking as lead rifle approaching dangerous game in order to build up enough approaches and confidence to attempt our Viewing Potentially Dangerous Animals on foot assessment. This is part of the Trails Guide and means you are qualified after the required level of a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-356142.html The Eastern Cape is renowned for weird weather and this week we got it all a tropical start to the week followed by 4 days of hard rain and cold conditions more like being back in the UK. It was miserable all the animals were hunkered down out of the rain and the problem here is that the set up is not geared for rain. The tent leaks the sides of our lodge leaked and letrsquos face it driving a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-345978.html No we havenrsquot been gored eaten or otherwise destroyed although Alex and Chris tried the best last Friday night but more of that later. Itrsquos just been sunny busy and generally hectic. We had a great week with the breeding herd of elephants who charged us twice once on Monday when we returned from canoeing to find them coming down to drink. Chris bumbled into the matriarch while he http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-344119.html Friday was possibly the best day yet we were asked to assist with the darting and capture of Damara and her two cubs. The objective of the exercise was to dart damara and move her into the boma for surgery to replace the transmitter which stopped working a couple of weeks ago and is essential for the monitoring programme undertaken by the conservation centre. The aim was also to take the cubs as http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-336646.html Last week I faced down a charging lion I shouldered my rifle shouted clear instructions to my guests to stand still dropped to one knee and fired a brain shot quickly followed by an insurance shot. Gladly the lion was just a picture on a sled pulled rapidly towards me from 30m away. Itrsquos all part of our assessment for Trails Guide rifle handling which is a requirement for being able to http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-334617.html Two weeks of waking at 5.30 and Irsquom still not used to it at least the daily commute only involves walking to the shower mind out for snakes and scorpions and then down to the main lodge. The resident bushbuck and its baby like to wait in ambush on the path which can be a bit disconcerting if you brave the walk to the toilet in the middle of the night. Rio swears she has a zebra stalking h http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-332351.html After rain rain more rain broken fuel pipes and water in the diesel it felt good to finally leaving Cape Town not to mention the rain. Our last week in Cape Town was fairly unmentionable we did get to use all the public transport from trains to buses to minibuses while the Land Rover was in getting fixed. The whales turned out to say good bye and last week on Saturday we left Cape Town next s http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Grahamstown/blog-329469.html This week was marked by poor weather and its cold so cold in fact that we can see snow on the mountains across the bay how weird is that So we spent most of the week preparing to leave the comfort of the Simonrsquos town flat I wonrsquot say its hard to leave but the rain and cold has delayed our departure until next Wednesday as Sandra doesnrsquot fancy leaving the warm comfy bed and ho http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Simon--s-Town/blog-324252.html Firstly thanks to everyone who sends us messages itrsquos great to keep a link with home and I particularly enjoy hearing about how bad the weather. This week we decided to test out the Land Rover on a longer run up to the West Coast National Park to see the wild flowers. Irsquove included a picture which pretty much sums up a Defender 110 TD5 let just say we are learning to drive patiently. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Simon--s-Town/blog-321435.html Today is the first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere so I thought the best way to start off the blog this week was to quote from todayrsquos paper ldquoHail downpours crashing waves snow plummeting temperatures and galeforce winds have for two days battered the metropole causing widespread disruption from power outages to floodingrdquo Cape Times September 1st 2008. hellip.wel http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Simon--s-Town/blog-319022.html