augrabies falls, 3-day hike (northern cape, south africa, april 2015)

As the final activity on our final trip in southern Africa (for now), we decided to explore the Northern Cape and a fairly remote park called Augrabies Falls. We were super impressed with how well-run and popular this park is, and were really happy we decided to do a three-day hike along the Orange River and the canyon that runs through the park. 

The hike was beautiful (also hot), through desert landscape for the first day, then down into the river canyon on the second day, and back out and over the desert again on the third day. We saw klipspringer (small deer), two giant jet-black snakes, each about 5-6 feet long (we think they were Cape Cobras), a monitor lizard, the tracks of a clawless otter, and some beautiful birds. 

The river itself and the waterfalls were also stunning. 

Sunset at camp the night before we head out.

Starting things off well! About an hour in to the hike, we got to detour to this beautiful spot on the canyon. Hundreds of swallows were flying back and forth across the water eating insects. It was an incredibly peaceful place (until you looked down!)

Hiking across a ravine with a deep hole.

We also got treated to a visit from a vervet monkey family! They galloped and played around us for 5-10 minutes. Very cute.

fish river canyon & ais ais hotsprings (namibia, april 2015)

After a few nights in the Richtersveld, we were ready to head further north into the Namibian side of the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld border park. We'd been camping along the Orange River and now it was time to cross it. 

When we arrived at Ai Ais, we were a little dismayed to find that there were no cold swimming pools. It was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the only pool to be found was a hot spring that had to be about 95 degrees. Refreshing. 

After a couple of sleepless nights in still, humid heat, we were ready to see the Fish River Canyon and get outta dodge. Luckily the Canyon did not disappoint. It is the second-largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and we were both impressed. 

Crossing the mighty Orange River on this barge! 

Jim loves a boat!

Jennifer at camp. Too hot for anything but our swimmies. That rain did not make it to us, but the rainbow was pretty.

Jim at camp one morning. No rain fly on this tent - we were desperate for a breeze.

Despite the definite "parking lot" vibe, Ai Ais did grow on us.

Off for a trek! The five-day hike through the Fish River Canyon ends here - we walked a bit of the end of the trail to see what we could see. 

A beautiful kingfisher!

THE CANYON

the richtersveld (northern cape, south africa, march 2015)

This is the beginning of a 10 day trip into the Northern part of South Africa.  This is the place where Afrikaners fled to when Britain decreed that all slaves would become free people in 1830.  The Afrikaners refer to this mass-movement as the Great Migration.  Essentially thousands of black slaves carried Dutch settlers' stuff out into a narrowly hospitable climate (to be generous).

Our adventure was quiet at first as we needed to travel 950 km to our first campsite.  The final 48 km took longer than the first 250 km to put the remoteness of our exploration in perspective.

The single best event of the trip occurred when setting up camp after driving for 12 hours with the final 2.5 hours being the 48 km through a rugged two-track.  Needless to say we were tired, cranky, and hungry.  Accomplishing tasks such as putting up a tent, starting a fire, and preparing food in this sort of atmosphere is something that Jennifer and I do way too much on vacation.   Needless to say the situation was rife for disaster.

As Jennifer and I were trying to set up the tent we realized there was a layer of rock that would prevent our spikes from reaching far enough into the ground.  Considering the brisk wind that was blowing this meant we would likely lose our tent unless we found a new location.  So, I explored for a more suitable spot and found a good one (in my opinion, but not Jennifer's) about 10 meters away.  While I was searching for a new spot and sticking my spike into the ground, Jennifer was holding onto the tent to keep it from blowing away.

After finding my spot I thought it best to stand still while Jennifer carry the tent over--bad mistake.  Fatefully, the wind picked up and pulled the tent out of Jennifer's hands as she started to move towards the less-than-ideal new spot.  As the tent carried a few feet into the air, it moved just outside of Jennifer's grasp and began to tumble towards the rock field that ran next to the river (tent location and river indicated in pictures below).  The boulders that occupied the area within 50 meters or so of the river were large, sometimes sharp, and essentially not navigable at fast speeds.  

Jennifer was wearing two-strap sandals, so she took off after the tent.  I was barefoot, but quickly decided that should the tent be faster than Jennifer I would be best served downstream if the tent managed to lodge itself in the river.  I took off downstream to cross the rock field in a different place where the river narrowed to a deep section next to a protruding and tall rock that I could use as a spotting location.  

As I was working my way, not so quickly, across the rocks I could hear Jennifer begin to move into histerics.  Some crying, some shouting, general exasperation.  I just remember shouting to be careful crossing the rocks as I didn't want her to get her ankle twisted or hurt herself in a mad fury to reach the tent.  

When I arrived at the river's edge I was in position to talk to Jennifer so I called up stream, "Did the tent go in the river?", then "Yes".  "Did it sink", then "Yes".  "Can you see it", then "No, it hit and sank and went away and now its gone, I can't see it!"

So, I waited for a brief moment on my rock, thinking that the tent may be deep in the water as the river looked like it could be 20+ feet deep in the section below my post.  However, in a few seconds I could see the ghostly shape of the tent under the water--mostly thanks to the orange pieces.  As it was 30 minutes past sunset and we were still discussing the likelihood of the river having crocodiles (forgot to ask at reception 2.5 hours before) it was quite a scary moment for me.  But, to lose the tent when it was clearly within grasp would have been inexcusable.  

Upon jumping into the fast-moving and deep current, I found that moving the tent was much like trying to pick up 500 pounds, or move a hot-air balloon around with a rope on a windy day.  It was essentially impossible to move and pulling itself deeper into the water with the current.  To solve this problem, I pulled myself under water with the tent and began taking it apart to reduce its drag.  A sheet underwater will produce very little drag, so holding my breath for a few seconds I packed the tent down and began to swim it towards the surface/shore.  Thankfully, I was able to get myself into a counter-current eddy that formed below my big rock outcropping and the current actually pushed me back up against the rocks.  Tent saved!  Adventure had!

The climate was so hot and dry that even without the sun the tent dried in a matter of minutes.  Following this episode we had lots of laughs and decided to keep heavy rocks in the tent at all times.

The rest of the trip was not as interesting, thank goodness, but we did have good fun exploring the desert wilderness.

The rolling, smooth hills are formed by gneiss intrusions--a form of granite that penetrated into the crust of the African and South American crustal plates as they separated ~130 million years ago.

This is not the dirt 2-track mentioned above--it is road through mining areas heading into the Richtersveld.

agra fort (agra, uttar pradesh, india)

Just before we went to see the Taj, shortly after arriving in Agra, we visited the Agra Fort.

Driving in to Agra, things just gradually became denser until you realized that you couldn’t see fields any longer, only shops. The roads were narrow, much narrower than Delhi, and the shops much smaller and less modern.

We drove over the river which separates the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort, and got our first glimpse of the Taj along with the sight of a few men bathing in the river, and a group of cows cooling off in the water. My classmate Karthik explained how dirty the water was. I could see bits of trash near the shoreline and could see that the water was nowhere near clear.

We visited Agra Fort, and I enjoyed seeing the palaces. Our tour guide pointed out brass roofs on the tops of white marble structures, and explained that they had been gold roofs, but the British came and took the gold and replaced it with brass. It was a good example of the sorts of pillaging that Karthik had been describing to me earlier in the day when I asked how he thought of the British. 

seventh wonder - taj mahal (agra, uttar pradesh, india)

I am recently returned from another MBA trip, this time to India. Before classes started, I had the chance to tour (briefly) two prime sight-seeing spots in northern India: Agra and Jaipur.

Figured I would start with photos of the prime attraction: the Taj Mahal. I got to see it in the late afternoon, and we hung around through sunset. Another one of those surreal life experiences that I have been lucky to have so many of this year.

One thing that surprised me (in a good way!) was how many of the tourists were Indian. I asked one of my Indian classmates about it, and he said that there are different prices for Indian nationals. He explained that making a visit to the Taj Mahal is still a very expensive endeavor, and some of these families might be coming for the only time in their lives.

At popular tourist activities in South Africa and other African countries, to be honest, most of the people touring are white. I just heard something on the radio yesterday about a woman writing a letter of complaint to the City of Cape Town about prohibitive pricing on attractions like Robben Island and Table Mountain. Her argument was, simply stated, that she's never seen these amazing sights because they are too expensive, and now that she is getting older, she wishes she could go. I think she makes a fair point, especially for the Robben Island museum, which is something every South African should have the chance to see. A few parks in Rwanda had "national" and "foreign" pricing, as did the Genocide Museum, and it seemed to make a difference in the number of Rwandans we saw, especially at the museum in Kigali.

A brief history of the Taj: it was built between 1631 and 1648 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. He founded Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi), amassed a huge fortune, and built a lot of monuments. He built the Taj as a burial monument to his favorite wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, who died in 1631 giving birth to their 13th child. For that reason, it's interpreted as a site recognizing true love.

After he built the Taj, Shah Jehan went a little off his rocker, and was pushed out of power by his son and essentially imprisoned in his rooms in the palace at Agra Fort, across the river from the monument (he had wanted to build a black version of the Taj as a burial site for himself. Instead his son buried him in the Taj after he died). He got to look out at it every day.

I'll also post more photos from the other major sights we saw, including Agra Fort (where the Mughal Emperor who built the Taj Mahal lived), as well as Jaipur.

Walking up to the gate at the Taj Mahal. From here, you can't see any of the actual building. The small arched doorways on the right that line this big courtyard were used as hotel rooms until not long ago, for people who wanted to come and see the Taj.

Facing the gate - excitement builds!

Our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal.

This is probably my favorite picture - from much later in the evening as the sun was getting low. But it was too good to bury at the end of the blog post! Click through for more. 

Our tour guide was very excited about taking this photo for each of us! Had to do it.

wildflowers, spring 2014 (clanwilliam, south africa)

We were busy this "spring" and never got around to posting these photos from our wildflower-viewing weekend in September.

Every spring in the dry veld of the Western Cape (north and west of Cape Town), a really magical bloom of wildflowers takes place. The absolute best ones are supposedly about 7 hours away in Namaqualand; we didn't make it that far, but we did get to Clanwilliam this year and really enjoyed the weekend driving through fields and exclaiming over the colors.

We're heading back up this way next week for our last trip in southern Africa before we head back Stateside. As you can see from our lack of posting on the blog, this year has been busier than last with fewer weekend trips - we're not exactly tourists here any more! But we are looking forward to getting out for a few more long weekends and taking advantage of school holidays before we leave Cape Town permanently in June. (Tears are forming just thinking about it!)

Til then, enjoy a few sunny flowers now that it's turning to spring in the northern hemisphere!

weekend by the sea (betty's bay, south africa)

Jen is on school holidays!! Let's get out of town!

My MBA program has been a little restrictive on our weekend trips (to say the least). So with two free weekends this month before our last road trip in southern Africa at the end of the month, we had to take advantage!

We hit the road looking for some hiking and some swimming last weekend, and found both in Betty's Bay, near Hermanus. We also detoured west for another amazing lunch at Havercroft's in Stanford.

Jim prepares to snorkel this swimming hole, perched on the rock in the upper-left.

Taking after my husband.

Beautiful spot to stop. The black flag means shark danger is low - no sharks spotted. 

ringing out 2014 (shewula mountain camp)

Sunset on New Year's Eve from Shewula Mountain Camp. We could see nearly 100 miles across Swaziland.

No fireworks this year, but this nearly counted.