Vicki Pearson & Fred Nash

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Fred and I are from southern Utah, USA.
We are taking this trip to South Africa in February 2011.
We will be visiting the areas of Kruger Nat'l Park, Pilanesberg and Fred's family for the first 2 weeks. The last 2 weeks, we will visit the coastal areas of St. Lucia and Wetlands north of Durban, then on to Port Elizabeth and follow the Garden Route to Cape Town.



Travel Blog Posts


Cape Town

Published: March 3rd 2011Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town
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vickiut
March 2nd 2011

This will be my final blog entry....thanks for all your comments. We drove to Cape Town and went to Table Mountain. We took the cableway (aerial tram) up to the top of Table Mountain which is famous for its views of Cape Town and surrounding bay areas. It was a little foggy in places but we still got some pretty good photos. Afterwards, we drove to the Waterfront and ended up staying there for the rest of the day. It is a harbor for commercial use and where passenger ships come to dock and there are many African merchants and restaurants to check out. There was also some good local entertainment to listen to. We also went to an interesting aquarium there which showed the Indian Ocean species and the Atlantic Ocean species. Cape Town has ... read more



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February 28th 2011

We're staying at a B & B in Kommetjie Just outside of Cape town for 4 nights. On the way here we stopped at a beautiful beach at Betty's Bay and came across a colony of African Penguins. The Southern coast of Africa is just amazing with high cliffs to the sea and beautiful white beaches in between rocky outcrops. We went to Cape Point National Park which includes the Cape Of Good Hope for a whole day where some of the cliffs are about 700 ft. high down to the sea. We went on a couple of hikes in the area and saw Baboon, Eland, Bontebok, Ostrich and many birds. One of the hikes was to the area of a few ship wrecks. Our last three days in South Africa we are spending our time ... read more



Cape Agulhas

Published: March 1st 2011Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Agulhas
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vickiut
February 27th 2011

We stayed in Cape Agulhas for one night at a B & B. Cape Agulhas is the Southernmost point of Africa and is where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet. We went to a harbor at a small fishing village called Struisbaai and saw a giant stingray from the pier (See pic). This area is very quiet and small and not commercialized. We are headed for Kommetjie and Cape Town next. ... read more



Wilderness - Garden Route

Published: February 27th 2011Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Wilderness
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vickiut
February 25th 2011

We stayed in a B & B for 3 nights that is owned by friends of Jane in the small coastal town of Wilderness. It overlooks a marsh and a lake. We went on a hike in the nearby mountains and walked a few miles on a beautiful quiet beach a few km away. Cape Agulhas is coming up next............ read more



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vickiut
February 23rd 2011

St. Lucia is a small town on a wetland estuary on the coast of the Indian Ocean. We stayed at a lodge for 3 nights surrounded by a tropical jungle environment. We didn't dare leave our door open too long or we could have some unwelcome visitors in our room.....lizards, insects, monkeys etc. It was actually a great place! The mosquitoes here are very quiet and small and they don't buzz around but while I was sitting outside posting my blog I must have been bitten many times because when I got up in the morning my legs were covered with bites. We went on a boat trip on the nearby river which runs into the ocean. We saw several hippos and a few crocodiles and many different birds such as cranes, storks, herons and fish ... read more



Pilanesberg-Tented Camp

Published: November 25th 2010Africa » South Africa » North West » Rustenburg
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vickiut
February 18th 2011

We met Jane, Eric, Karen (Jane’s daughter) and Karens son, Gianni at Pilanesberg Game Reserve. We spent 2 nights there. Jane and Eric had a tented camp set up for us. They are permanent canvas tents with wood front and doors. They used to be all canvas but the baboons kept tearing the doors open. We had Impala, mongoose, baboons, guinea fowl and Yellow hornbills around our tent a lot. Jane is an H.O. (Honorary officer) at this reserve. She drove us around different places in the park. We saw white rhino and an elephant herd with babies, also giraffes and zebras. We were happy about the rhino picture because we never got a good picture of rhino in Kruger. Note: 2 days before we arrived at Pilanesberg a bull elephant rolled a car with a ... read more



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February 16th 2011

We spent three nights in a round thatched hut (rondawel) in North central part of Kruger Park. The temperature averaged around 85 deg. Here are just a few pics out of about 300 that we took in Kruger. We loved the Giraffes and Elephants the most. We spent hours driving our own car on the dirt roads looking for animals. You cannot get out of your car at anytime except at the rest camps. They are far apart. It’s fun not knowing what is around the next corner. We encountered a bull elephant in 2 separate incidents on the road right in front of us. We thought it best to give them the right of way. We also saw 2 lioness lying in the grass apparently after a meal because we could smell a really rank ... read more



Harrismith - Family Farm

Published: February 23rd 2011Africa » South Africa » Free State
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vickiut
February 11th 2011

Dawn and Sam have a very large cattle and sheep farm ( 4500 acres) in the Free State Province (about 4 hrs. S.E. of Joburg). Beautiful countryside with mountains and valleys and 6 ft high green African grass and Bluegum trees everywhere. Very remote area with the nearest town of Harrismith 40 miles away on rough dirt roads. They have 4 dogs, 1 timberwolf who thinks he's a dog , 6 cats , one of them is half African black footed wildcat, African Grey Parrot (named Fred), cattle, several horses, sheep, chickens, rabbits, 6 emus, geese. I may have left some others out .Ha Ha! Sam and Dawn also have several Zulu workers and their families who live on their farm in their own housing. They also have a full time Domestic (maid) named Maria. This ... read more



Johannesburg/Sandton

Published: February 23rd 2011Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg
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vickiut
February 8th 2011

We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 8th of Feb. after a 16 hr. flight from Atlanta! Fred's sister Jane picked us up from the airport. It has been 26 yrs. since they've seen each other. Jane drove us around the suburbs of Johannesburg where Fred used to live. We didn't drive into downtown Joburg because it is unsafe and has deteriorated. It was very interesting seeing the different population groups and cultures around the city. It has a lot of atmosphere. The suburbs have hilly terrain with many tropical plants. The land in South Africa is very green. We stayed at Jane and Eric's house for the first three nights during which we also visited Fred's brother Nic and his wife Delia and family. Jane and Nic both have lovely homes with beautiful yards ... read more






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