Travels in South Africa
2016
The following is my account
of my trip to South Africa in 2016. I kept a travel journal and this
appears below, with photographs.
16 August 2016 Tuesday
Anne picked me up at 1 pm, took photos, and then drove me to the
Bluegrass Airport. It rained very heavily a couple of times on our way
there. I checked in at the Delta counter, got my boarding passes, and
went through security. For some reason I got an expedited pass. Maybe
it's my age. I got to my gate by 1:30. I have two hours to wait unless
my flight is delayed by thunderstorms.
I started my journal and
adjusted my pack straps. I'm using my 44-year old red back pack. The
old leather straps broke last year while I was in Korea. I took my pack
to the Last Genuine Leather Company last month and Wayne and others
repaired the pack. They did an excellent job and put some nice
heavy-duty leather straps on it, plus they sewed up some other problem
areas. I'm also taking an old field camera bag. I have no checked
luggage, everything is carry on.
I'll be gone five or six weeks to Africa. I'm attending the
International Geological Congress in Cape Town. I'm especially excited to attend a
week-and-a-half field trip through the Karoo Basin in southern South
Africa. After the field trip, I will be attending the
Congress conferences for a week in Cape Town.
After the conference, I'll fly to Johannesburg where I'll start an
Intrepid Travels tour of Kruger Game Park for about a week. After the
game park I'll take an overnight flight to Cairo where I will join
another Intrepid tour through Ancient Egyptian sites for two weeks.
After that, I will fly home via Paris.
My flight from Lexington
was half-an-hour late. We took off about 4:10 to Detroit. I had a small
pack of pretzels and a ginger ale (my first meal of the day). Of course
we were late arriving in Detroit. Upon landing I hurried to another
terminal and got to my gate just as they started boarding.
The
6:22 pm flight to Amsterdam is completely full. After we proceeded for
awhile, I was served an exquisite vegetarian lasagna and bun. It paired
nicely with the cabernet blend. I watched Zoolander 2. Mind
you, I had not seen the original Zoolander.
I did not embarrass myself by laughing out loud. This is an overnight
flight.
17 August 2016 Wednesday
I then watched Keanu
and started Hail
Caesar, but didn't get very far till I just turned it off.
They turned the lights back on over Ireland. The attendants served
yogurt, a bun,
slice of cheese and drinks.
We
landed at Amsterdam about 7 or 7:30 am and I made my way to the next
terminal and gate by 8:00. My flight won't board for another hour or
so. I'm only about half way to Cape Town.
We loaded onto the
plane and once again, it was completely full. This is a KLM flight with
Dutch crew. This is a 10.5-hour flight, more than the other two put
together. I won't get to Cape Town airport till late tonight.
I
was tired when I began the flight. The movies I watched and meals I was
served was all in a haze. I didn't watch any movie straight through and
only ate one item in each meal. I was just not hungry. The two people
sitting next to me were an older Italian couple that didn't speak much
to me. I drifted in and out of sleep.
We landed in Cape Town
about nine or
so and it was dark (it is their winter and days are short). Passport
control was easy and
I didn't have to stop at baggage claim. I got an airport taxi to my
hotel, Harbour Bridge Hotel (their website).
The fare was 270 Rand plus tip. I had
purchased Rands in the U.S. so I had them on hand.
I checked
into the hotel by 10 and was shown my very nice room. I took some
photos. I wrote in my journal, took my pills, and brushed my teeth. I
was in bed by 11 pm.
18 August 2016 Thursday
I slept well through the night. I was awake by seven and got up at
7:30. I did my usual morning ablutions and took a shower.
There
is a dense fog outside. I went to breakfast at 8 in the hotel breakfast
room. Breakfast is included. I had coffee, scrambled eggs,
bacon, a
small sausage, croissant, mixed fruit including passion fruit, and a
mixture of granola and seeds plus milk.
Today is a buffer day.
I built it into my plans in case I missed some of my flights. Luckily,
I arrived on schedule last night, so today is a free day. I'll go
walkabout in Cape Town.
The weather is clear, sunny, and very
mild, about 68-70 degrees F, with a breeze. I walked downtown through a
lot of semi-pedestrian streets. There were lots and lots of stands
selling souvenirs, colorful African dresses, scarves, beads, masks,
etc. In one block, all of the tables had very
nicely-prepared food. I looked for a Nelson Mandela T-shirt, but
haven't found one I like in my size yet. I did walk to the Harley shop
and bought a Cape Town T-shirt.
- The Westin
Hotel at the Conference
Center, another view
- tree
on Long Street, closer view
- Harley Davidson
shop, inside the
shop
- Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus),
pedestrian street,
another view, handcraft street, shirts and beads, food street, another view, yet another, monument on food
street, fruit and
vegetables, church
and Table Mountain,
street view, plaza with stands, another view, fruit, comical statue, Table Mountain with
table cloth (clouds), another view,
video of clouds
over Table Mountain
Around one pm, I stopped at a
coffee shop and had a latte and then ordered spicy chicken wings and
chips (french fries), all for 49 Rand. I sat outside and watched
passersby. I was the only person in a short sleeve and I was fine. Most
people were wearing jackets (holdover from winter, I guess).
I
then decided to explore the Victoria and Albert waterfront (Wikipedia entry).
This is a very trendy, upscale
locale with nice hotels, restaurants, pubs, rides, boat tours, ferris
wheel, musicians, etc. And the views of Table Mountain (Wikipedia entry)
in the
background were magnificent. I stopped at a brew pub in hopes of
having a house-brewed beer. However, what they call a brew pub is not
the same as what we call it. They had no house beer. They had four or
five "local" beers. I ordered the Black Label lager. When they brought
it, it was a Carling Black Label (Wikipedia entry)
which we used to have in the States. I guess
they have a local bottling plant here.
- map
board, Table Mountain
from the waterfront area, map
of waterfront, frame
for Table Mountain, another
view, video of Table
Mountain, video of clouds,
shops at
waterfront, pedestrian
bridge, video
near bridge, storefront with animal
statues, another
frame for Table
Mountain, racinng row
boat, sign
for Nobel Square,
ferris wheel,
children's train,
marimba band,
video,
another band,
video,
brew pub bathroom,
- Egyptian geese
(Alopochen aegyptiacus),
another view,
After the beer, I walked
back to my hotel. I put in quite a few (actually many) miles today and
I loved it. I got back to the hotel by five, a little bit sore. I
filled out my journal while memory was still fresh. I took a shower and
then typed out my journal. I'll post them after dinner.
I went
to the hotel restaurant at 6:30 and ordered the fish of the day and a
glass of red wine (I know, I know, but I like red wine). My top choices
were fish or lamb curry and I asked the waitress what she would pick
and she said, the fish.
While waiting I watched these unusual
machines on stilts that drive around the harbour, picking up containers
and hoisting them between the stilt legs. The machine then drives
around the wharf yard depositing the containers elsewhere. The driver
sits in a little cab near the top of the contraption.
If I had
been more energetic I would have walked back to the trendy wharf area
to a seafood restaurant. I'll do that during the conference.
The
fish arrived. It was hake and it was baked, no rhyme intended. It was
not fishy at all and I added lots of black pepper, lemon, and some kind
of white sauce. It was served with steamed vegetables and some potato
wedges. It was actually very nice.
My meal came to 210 Rand. I
paid and then went to my room. I start my field trip tomorrow so I must
pre-pack tonight. I turned on the TV and guess what? No Donald Trump
here? Not one mention.
I sent out my e-mail posts up to the
present. I packed and did my evening ablutions (if you don't know by
now, ask me). I was in bed by ten. Tomorrow is an early and full day.
19 August 2016 Friday
I
slept well for the first two hours, but was wide awake for the rest of
the night. I got up about seven. I brushed my teeth and made some
coffee. I finished packing and checked out. I walked a short distance
to
the Cape Town International Conference Center and met up with the
others on the field trip. There are twenty or so participants from all
over the world, from China to Trinidad. There were three or four that I
had met before on other international conferences.
As we were
leaving, I asked about the geology of Table Mountain. Bruce Rubidge,
one of two leaders, said that the lower one third was Proterozoic
granite and upper two-thirds (the cliffs) were a series of Ordovician
sandstones of the Cape Supergroup. The uppermost bed had Ordovician
glacial tillites.
The fieldtrip guidebook is Smith, R.
and Rubidge, B, 2016, Karoo
Transect: One hundred million years of evolving terrestrial ecosystems
in the main Karoo Basin, XXXV International Geological
Congress, Field Trip Guide, Pre4, 19-27 August 2016, 74 p.
There is a heavy regional fog and we drove through vineyards and steep
mountain ranges. The mountain scenery is magnificent.
- vineyards,
mountain and
clouds, more mountains,
mountains,
nice roadcut, sandstone mountain
with orange lichen, jagged
mountain, another view,
sandstone mountains,
close-up, jagged mountains, more
sandstone, vineyard, mountain and clouds, mountain and vineyard,
valley,
flood-plain vineyards,
clouds and
mountains, roadcut,
purple flowers,
roadcut,
- Laingsburg,
(Wikipedia entry),
Laingsburg 1981-flood museum,
After
1.5 hours we stopped for a coffee and I got to meet more of my fellow
travelers. We are split into two groups and two vans. The driver in my
van is Michael. I had a large latte and talked to a couple from Durham
University, two Chinese professors (one at Melbourne and the other in
China), a paleoseismoloist from Israel, and Roger Smith, the other
leader of our group.
As we drove northeastward, I noticed the presence of sheep. I saw one
Vervet monkey on a roadcut at one point.
Around
noon we stopped at a gully or wash and had a very nice picnic. It
included a meat and veggie wrap and, biltong (dried meat), toasted
bread, cheese, apple juice, etc. This was our only geologic Stop 1 Witbergs River
section (the
Dwyke Diamictites) for the day.
Instead of following the guidebook precisely, we
started at the Dwyke (lower part of the section) and worked our way
upward. I photographed lots of Pennsylvanian and Permian diamictites
with dropstones from the ancient glaciers to the north and to the south
as far as Antarctica (Cambrian archaecyathids in limestone dropstones).
We also saw old ash falls that have been dated and the source was
either South America or the Falkland Island Bank (which would have been
adjacent then). We also saw a eurypterid trackway.
- tree-lined wash,
Acacia thorns,
lunch box,
diamictite boulder,
Gazania flower
(Gazania lichtensteinii),
another yellow
flower (Gazania
sp.), trees along
the wash, purple
flower (Pigface, Delosperma
sp.), the wash,
purple
flowers, yellow
Buttonweed (Cotula
barbata?), different yellow
flower (Pigface), yellow
flowers, purple
flowers (Pigface), large dropstone,
orange
flower (Gazania),
outcrop
of diamictites,
another view,
yet another,
different colors
of dropstones, larger dropstones,
more dropstones,
dropstone with texture,
boulder-size
dropstone, speckled
dropstone, another boulder-size,
white
dropstone, rounded
dropstone, white
dropstone, unknown purple
flower, our group,
another view, layered dropstone, very large dropstone, purple flower,
dropstone mass
(frozen?), vertically
dipping diamictite beds, cross-section
of diamictite beds, walking
along the wash, Karoo
Violet (Aptosimum
indivisum), pale
yellow flower, more diamictites,
- shale with pencil
weathering, closer
view, orchid?,
orange buds, box-work iron oxide
cementation, another
view, view from
hill, another
view, more weathered
iron oxide cementation, shaly
outcrop, outcrop with Matjiesfontein
chert marker
bed, marker
bed, our group, pale yellow flower, white marker bed, shale beds,
intraformational folding of Collingham turbidite
beds, closer
view, bedding-plane exposure,
another view,
steep
outcrop, another
view, sole marks
(tool marks, etc.) under turbidite beds, more sole marks, yet more marks, succulent
plant,
On our way
back we stopped at an outcrop of turbidites that were equivalent to the
ones at our Stop One (the upper part). It included a subaqueous
turbidite channels.
We drove a short distance to the small
town Matjesfontein
(Wikipedia entry)
and entered a very charming old-style hotel, Lord
Milner Hotel. This town is everything old style. After I dumped my
luggage in my room, I joined the others in the next door bar and had a
Windhoek lager.
- Lord Milner
Hotel, another view,
my room, another view, yet another, bathroom, another view, balcony view, another bedroom view, lobby, office desk, hallway, lobby table, another lobby view, view from hotel, hotel
courtyard, sign, the Lairds Arms bar, inside the bar, another view,
At six thirty a large man came into the bar
blowing a bugle and said that it was time to take the world's shortest
tour, ten minutes. We entered an old London double-decker bus and we
had a very funny tour of the little town. Then we toured the old Milner
House. After the tour, we were all led back to the bar, and the same
man played the piano and sang Louie Armstrong songs. He was a very
talented man.
At 7:30, we went to the hotel restaurant. I
ordered rare ostrich salad, springbok antelope for entre, and Malva
pudding (Wikipedia entry)
for dessert. I had Springfield cabernet to drink. It was all
very good and we had great conversations.
I went back to my room by ten, did my evening ablutions, and filled out
my journal. I went to bed at 10:20.
20 August 2016 Saturday
I
got up at seven. I slept a little better last night but was still a
little wakeful. I brushed my teeth and got ready for the day. It is a
beautiful morning.
I went down to breakfast at 7:20 and had
omelet with mushroom, bacon, and tomatoes. And a lot of coffee. I also
had cold cuts, croissants, and cheese.
We loaded onto the
buses and headed out. We stay in Fraserburg tonight. The landscape is
nothing but hills, no trees, and mostly knee-high bushes, this is the
"Succulent Karoo."
We made our first stop, Stop
2 Base of Verlatenkloof Pass (the Beaufort-Ecca contact),
at 9:20. We
looked across the valley at coarsening upward subaqueous packages.
While there, we heard a troupe of baboons barking. We are at the foot
of
the Great Escarpment, and heading uphill and up section.
We skipped Stop 3 Top
of Verlatenkloof Pass,
but we passed it and saw the fluvial channels and pedogenic overbank
deposits at the top of the pass.
Stop
4 Sutherland Astronomical Observatory is the South
African Astronomical Observatory (their website, Wikipedia entry).
We saw a Springbok on
the way. We had a tour of the big 11-meter telescope on this mountain.
This hill is held up (capped) by Early Jurassic dolerite sills (red
caps). I took photos of fresh dolerite and the red weathered dolerite
boulders. I also took photos of a Cretaceous carbonatite volcano plug
in the distance.
- volcanic
plug?, observatories
from a distance, observatory sign,
waiting for
tour, carbonatite
body, shrubby
vegetation, yellow-flowered
shrub, another
view, yet another,
purple-flowered
bush, white-flowered
bush, another
view,
- museum model
of telescope, large gorgonopsian
skull, therapsid
skull and spine, dinosaur
skull, Roger
talking about exhibits, another view,
- one of many observatories,
orange
flower, compound mirror,
- red-weathered dolerite,
another observatory,
telescope, upper part, lower part, sign for telescope, overall view, series of
observatories,
- remotely-controled robotic
observatories, volcanic
plug, dolerite, another view,
weathered dolerite
boulders,
We had our picnic lunch on the observatory
grounds. I had ham and cheese sandwich with excellent local bread and I
had a hard-boiled egg. All the other things, I gave away. I had lots of
interesting discussions including one with Christian Kammerer about
Permian tetrapods.
We boarded the buses at 1:30 and headed to Stop 5, and Fraserburg.
So
far on this trip I've seen (including Cape Town) Springboks, baboons,
Vervet monkeys, vultures, fish eagles, reddish-brown backed hawks, Pied
Crows, geese, ducks, coots or sori, Red Winged Starlings, variety of
pigeons and doves, weaver birds (active nests), and many other
unidentified birds.
On the way, on the bumpy gravel road, I
saw a group of 8-10 hyraxes and a Duiker antelope. We stopped at
Stop 5 Gansfontein
Trackway Surface (Emergence,
dessication, and colonisation sequence of a mid-Permian crevasse-splay
sandstone) at low light to better see the
features of the three-dimensionally preserved bedding surfaces. There
were lots
of ancient ripple marks, rill and runsel marks, insect larvae tracks,
arthropod tracks like horseshoe crab (Kouphichnium,
Wikipedia entry),
fish-fin marks (Undichna,
Wikipedia entry),
and large tetrapod trackways,
probably from large dinocephalians. Everyone loved this locality and we
all took lots of photos.
- trackway
site, sign for
site, close-up, another view, first
trackway exposure,
footprint impressions,
mudcracks, another view, Roger pointing out
impression, fractured crust
at footprint, variety of bedforms,
closer view,
large-tetrapod trackway,
another view,
closer view, ripple marks, more ripple marks, trackway, ripple marks, footprints, runoff channel, another view, yet another, paleo-strandline features
from ancient ponded water, mudcracks,
runoff channel, insect track, another, insect trackway, fish-fin marks (Undichna), arthropod trackway, insect tracks, runoff channel, Undichna,
arthropod
trackway, another,
strandline
features, footprints,
footprint, ripple fan, ripple marks, footprint, footprint, insect tracks, more insect tracks, more, insect tracks, tops of vertical
tubes, footprint,
two
footprints, footprint
trackway, rill
marks, trackway,
modern water-level
similar to ancient water level, ripples,
strand-line
features, insect
tracks, tetrapod
trackway, Undichna, insect track, horse-shoe crab-type
track,
Then we headed back to Fraserburg
(Wikipedia entry).
The town is small so we had to divide into three or four different
groups and stay in different B & B's and guest houses. I stayed
in
the last one, a half-mile from the others. I took a much needed shower
and shampooed with hand soap.
It was time to walk to the
restaurant for our group's dinner. It was already dark. We headed out
and Megan from Australia joined us. We got to the restaurant and many
of the others (who were staying at that hotel) were already there. We
got our various wines and beers and had most interesting discussions
till it was dinner time. I sat next to Roger Smith, one of the leaders,
and Yi Zhang, a professor from China. I ordered grilled lamb chops,
Greek salad, and red wine. The lamb chops were more like large steaks
and there were three of them. And they were really grilled. They were
excellent. This is a sheep-growing area. I also had steamed vegetables.
For dessert, I once again had Malva pudding with some kind of sweet
cream sauce. It was all excellent.
Roger gave a sideshow
presentation about the tetrapods that we would be looking for in the
next few days. It was a very interesting talk.
We caught an
early ride back to our particular B&B and I was in my room by
10.
The temperature is about 40 degrees F outside and getting colder.
I filled out my journal and did my evening ablutions by 10:30, going to
bed ten minutes later.
21 August 2016, Sunday
I
got up at 6:45 and brushed my teeth. I went outside to wait for the
others. There is frost on the ground but it did not seem that cold. It
is late winter here and the trees have not leafed out yet. We are in
the Karoo, and there are not normally any trees anyway, but in the
communities, there are plenty of trees. Water is an issue here and
gardens have to be irrigated. Sheep are grazed in the veldt and water
for them often comes from water wells. There are also a few dams to
collect water from rain in the rainy season.
At 7:15 we went
to breakfast at our B&B. We had scrambled eggs, bacon, mutton
meatballs with sautéed onions, toast, and coffee.
After breakfast I loaded my gear onto the bus and we drove to pick the
others up.
On
our way to Stop 6, one of the trailers had a blowout, so everyone got
on one bus to our stop, which was nearby. The drivers will repair the
tire and trailer.
Stop 6 Oukloof
Pass-Wilgeboschkloof, (Teekloof
Fm {Hoedemaker Member} floodplain facies and Diictodon taphonomy study
site)
is a Permian tetrapod
locality. We walked up a wash and then climbed a small hill. We spent
the rest of the morning here, all of us looking for the famous Permian
therapsids (Wikipedia entry).
Everyone found something good. I found the back of a skull
of Diictodon
(Wikipedia entry).
There were a number of entire skulls found of several
different genera. It was a pleasant but very windy day.
- outcrop hill,
dolerite caprock?,
nodule with skull,
another view, outcrop, outcrop hill, another view, purple flower, someone
found something,
bottom of
skull, top of
skull, orchid?,
shale and paleosol outcrop,
another view,
outcrop
capped by sill, skull
part, pelvic material?,
purple
flower, part of
skull, nodule with skeletal
material, jaw
line, cache of
skeletal material, video
pan of Oukloof Pass tetrapod locality,
We
made our way back to the buses, the tire had been repaired. We had our
bagged lunch which had been prepared by the restaurant where we had
dinner last night. There were large ham and cheese sandwiches, biltong
(dried meat), home-made raisins, banana, two mandarins, orange juice,
bottled water, and Kit Kat bars. I ate one sandwich, the fruit, water,
biltong, and raisins, and gave the rest away. We were back on the bus
by 1:30, heading to our next stop.
While traveling, I saw a
herd of Kudu antelope, wildebeest, Hindsbok, zebras, ostriches, and
several smaller antelope. We are driving next to the game fence of the
Karoo National Park. There are lions, leopards, elephants, etc., but I
don't expect to see any of them on our drive.
At Stop 7 Putfontein (Fluvio-lacustrine palaeosurfaces
and pre-mammalian tetrapod fossils)
we
walked a short distance to see several exposures of bedding planes
showing all sorts of ripple marks, ladderback ripples, double-crested
ripples and truncated ripples. We took a lot of side-lit photos. We
then walked to a mudstone exposure where lots of therapsids have been
found. I also took photos of these.
- succulent plant,
another view,
yellow and purple flowers,
purple
flowers, yellow
flower, white
flower, dolerite
sill, looking
at ripple bed,
another view,
various
orientations, ladder-back
ripples, closer
view, another ripple
bed, Night Phlox
(or Southern Lilac Drumsticks, Zaluzianskya
villosa), another
view, yellow and white
flower, group
discussion, multi-crested
ripples, ladder-back
ripples, another
view, truncated
ripples, Karoo Violet,
more violets,
thorny purple
flower, purple
phlox, various
orientations, ripple bar,
another view,
yet another, another ripple bar, purple flower, closer view, large
ripple surface, ladder-back ripples, group discussion, ripple surface, shale bed, dolerite cobbles, bottom of skull, top of skull, another view, another skull, another view, yet another, orchid?, mudstone bed,
We then walked back to the buses
and headed to Beaufort
West and the Lemoenfontein Game Lodge (their website).
When
we got to the Game Lodge, it was almost dark. They do not have single
rooms for all of us so we have to share. My roommate is a very nice
Israeli fellow. However, the beds are together, as in one queen-size
bed. We tried to separate them but only managed to get them one-foot
apart. This is not my favorite arrangement, but I will have to adapt.
- sunset,
lodge porch, view from porch area, another view, sorting out rooms in
the lounge, our room,
pulled apart, bathroom, shower, bedroom, our own porch, entranceway,
We
went to the bar/lounge fireplace room and we all had several beers.
Then we went to the dining room and had a very nice buffet dinner. I
believe I had beef and mutton but some of it could have been wild game.
There was also cauliflower-broccoli casserole, carrots, green beans,
potatoes, salad, and a small quiche. I had the house red wine for
drink. For dessert there was an orange muffin with citrus zest and ice
cream.
After dinner, it started raining steadily and the wind is
blowing as well. I did my evening ablutions and pills, and then filled
out my journal. My roommate went to the office to make calls back home.
I went to bed before ten.
22 August 2016, Monday
I
slept fairly well and my roommate did not snore. I expected to see snow
on the ground, but I guess it was not that cold. I got up at 7:15 and
took my shower and brushed my teeth. I dressed and went up to the lodge
in hopes of coffee. I took some photos.
After breakfast, we
loaded onto the buses by 9:00. The temperature is just above freezing.
We are at the town of Beaufort
West (Wikipedia entry),
the hometown of Christiaan
Barnhard (Wikipedia entry)
who preformed the world's first heart transplant. I remember
when this happened.
We are traveling along a very straight
and flat road for most of this morning. It is in arid landscape with
mostly short scrub and no trees. There are occasional stands of
spineless prickly pear cactus, which are not native. There are also
short conical termite mounds here and there, some with aardvark holes
in them. One can easily locate homesteads by the presence of trees and
wind-driven water pumps.
We made a pit stop at our hotel Drostdy Hotel, in Graaff-Reinet
(Wikipedia entry),
and then headed for our field stop.
We
stopped at an old farmstead, had bagged lunch, and then walked to Stop 8 Doornplaats (Cistecephalus AZ stratotype).
We saw lots
of
sedimentary, pedogenic, and biogenic structures including therapsid
burrows and skeletal material. We also saw contact metamorphism between
a Jurassic dolerite dike and sandstones and mudstones. It was quite
cold and windy. We also saw meerkat mounds, but no meerkats.
- old farmhouse,
bagged lunch,
- introduced Agave,
dolerite dike, outcrop with contact metamorphism, heat-bleached
minerals,
- mudstone
with tetrapod burrows, fresh-water bivalve
bed, closer
view, canebreak,
skeletal
material, leg
bone, vertebral column
and ribs, closer
view, skull, another skull, another view, skeletal material, nodule with skeletal
material, burrow,
another burrow,
skeletal material,
long burrow, outcrop along creek
bed, another
view, burrow, skeletal material, outcrop, burrows and mudcracks,
closer view, skeletal material, more material, skull, another skull, another view, burrows, ribs and vertebra,
We
walked back to our buses and headed to our next stop, Stop 9 Valley of Desolation
(Jurassic dolerite sills
and Great Karoo scenery). We
entered the Valley of
Desolation within Camdeboo
National Park (Wikipedia entry)
and saw ostrich,
eland, springbok, Kudu, hartebeest, etc. The rocks at the overlook are
dolerite caprocks.
- Springbok,
sign for
park, another sign,
large Eland, another,
side view, looking back, view from mountain, Graaff-Reinet, view from overlook, knob, view from overlook, similar view, video pan of
view, another
view, yet
another, group
photo, plant
with seven leaves,
yellow
flower, Ecca
diagram, Beaufort
diagram, Clarens
diagram, therapsid,
another one, yet another, dolerite emplacement, dissection, rectangular drainage, erosion, desertification, jointing, view of overlook, town again, male ostrich, another view, female, male, closer view, variety of antelope
(Eland, Springbok, Blesbok), close
view, moving
away,
- Dutch Reform
Church at Graaff-Reinet,
We arrived at our
hotel, Drostdy Hotel (their website)
around six. I went to my room and was amazed. I
have a fireplace, living room with animal skin rugs. Everything is very
plush. Not what a geologist would expect out in the country. I took a
shower and got ready for dinner. I am also hoping that they have good
WiFi here.
- entrance
to my room, pool
area, walkway,
my bedroom, another view, my sitting room, another view, view of bedroom, bathroom, another view, yet another, sinks, shower,
At seven I walked over to the main building with
several of the Chinese. They remember two of my daughters from both the
Beijing congress in 2006 and the Perth congress some years later. I
remember all four of the Chinese participants including the fifth
Chinese-Australian member. One, Zhang Yi, gave me a very nice book on
his fern art. I need to get him to sign it. Some of my Chinese language
is coming back to me.
We went to the bar and I had a large
glass of local Protea cabernet. We soon were seated at the dining room
and we had a set menu. Of course we were all talking a great deal. We
had a chicken liver pate for starters, then I had the chicken dish with
steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes, and garlic pita-like toasted
bread. We had a nice panicot for dessert.
I was back in my
room by nine. I brushed my teeth, took my pills, and filled out my
journal. They say we have WiFi, but it is complicated to sign in, I was
not able. I am very tired from the active and very cold day, so I will
go to bed.
23 August 2016, Tuesday
I
woke up about 6:30 and got up a little before seven. I brushed my
teeth, got dressed, and joined the others for breakfast. I had the
"Full Karoo" which included, in my case, two over medium eggs, bacon,
lamb sausage, mushrooms, tomato, potato fries, toast, and coffee.
After
breakfast, I loaded my pack onto the trailer and filled out my journal
on the bus. Today is clear, blue skies, and cold, and there is a breeze.
Stop
10 Wellwood (The
Rubidge Fossil Collection) was a short distance from
Graaff-Reinet. It is Bruce
Rubidge's
family sheep farm and goes back to 1848 when his family started it. His
brother operates the farm. Bruce's father and grandfather started
collecting tetrapod fossils (almost all are therapsids) in the farm
area and opened
up a private museum here
at Wellwood.
We went through the amazing collection and I took lots of
photographs, mostly through the glass display cases. Then we met the
family in the farmhouse and they offered us tea and
cookies. They are a very charming family.
[Please note that the photographs
below are titled by their old labels and that those names are most
likely no longer valid. Also note that the specimen
numbers show up on most of the labels.] [Additional note: Therapsida
(Wikipedia entry)
are mammal-like reptiles, and,
as a clade, include mammals. The ones here are mammal-like Therapsids
and are not mammals.]
- farm parking
area, museum
building, mastiff-size Boerboel (Wikipedia entry)
watchdog,
- main
room of museum,
side showcases, close-up, Smilesaurus maccabei,
another view,
Broomicephalus laticeps,
another view,
Gorgonorhinus minor,
Aelurognathus minor,
Pardocephalus wallacei,
another view,
something
cadlei, Dicynodon trigonocephalus,
Aulacocephalodon peavoti,
Aulacocephalodon rubidgei,
Aulacocephalodon cadlei,
Pareiasaurus rubidgei,
another view,
Pareiasaurus sp.,
another
view, pareiasaur
graphic, Pareiasaurus serridens,
Rhinesuchus sp.,
another view,
Anthodon sp.,
Nanoparia luckhoffi,
Dicynodontia,
Dinanomodon gigas,
beaked skull,
skull with
large apses, row of beaked
skulls, Pelanomodon wesselsi,
row of skulls, Aulacephalodon sp.,
Dicynodon wellwoodensis,
Dicynodon allani and
Oudenodon
sp., Dicynodon brachyrhynchus,
therapsid skeleton,
large skull,
display of smaller skulls,
Protacmon ruebsameni,
smaller skulls,
Dicynodon macrodon,
Leavachia duvenhagei,
Moschorhynchus
something, more
skulls, skull,
Scaloposuchus
something, flat skull,
Owenetta rubidgei,
Youngopsis rubidgei,
Dinogorgon oudebergensis,
Tigricephalus kingwilli,
Proterosuchus sp.,
Broomisaurus rubidgei,
Cyniscops longiceps,
Cyniscops longiceps,
tusked skull,
Rubidgea laticeps,
Smilesaurus ferox,
Rubidgea atrox,
Dinogorgon rubidgei,
another view,
small skeleton, Clelandina rubidgei,
Christian
explaining skull, our group,
Whaitsia platyceps,
Cistecephalus microrhinus,
Cistecephalus platyfrons,
Notosollasia laticeps,
Hofmeyeria atavus,
Tetracynodon tenuis,
- back side of
main house, entrance to old
museum, sign
for old museum, tea and
cakes, trophy rams,
more rams, nice living room, another view,
We then boarded the
bus and hit the road again. We stopped at the top of a pass and had our
bag lunch. I had two wraps with cheese, sauce and maybe some meat. I
also had a yellow apple, a peanut energy bar, and some Earl Grey tea. I
also looked at the Katberg sandstone roadcut at our lunch stop.
Stop 11 Lootsberg Pass Permo-Triassic
Boundary Sequence ( High-
to low-sinuosity transition and the "Mother of all Mass Extinctions")
was
the same series of roadcuts going up a mountain pass. We started by
walking up a creek till we got to the road. [Note: this stop includes the
Permo-Triassic boundary which was the world's greatest extinction
event, The Great Dying (Wikipedia entry).]
- roadcuts,
roadcuts at
top of hill, dolerite,
orchid? (Eriospermum?), exposures along the
creek, another
view, dolerite dike,
another view,
group
discussion, Aloe sp.,
Permo-Triassic
boundary, closer view of crevasse
splay deposit at boundary, escape
burrow?, more
escape structures, mud cracks,
burrow, escape structures, diagonal burrow, another one, another burrow (all the same
bed), escape
burrows, tops of
escape structures, succulent
plant, paleosols,
another view,
Roger and the
outcrop, finely-rippled bed, walking the outcrop, skeletal material,
intraformational conglomerate,
view from
outcrop, another
view, video pan
of view, roadcut,
We
made two short stops, the first, Stop
12 Burgersdorp Formation (Short roadside stop to view
stratigraphic continuity), to look at a hill with some
exposures,
and then Stop 13 Giant
?Cruziana (Burgersdorp
Formation burrows, crevasse splays, overbank floodbasin
deposits, and meandering-channel sandbody),
at a trace fossil locality possibly made by burrowing
vertebrates.
- Stop 12
pit stop,
paper about
Permo-Triassic boundary by Roger,
- pyramidal
hill,
- termite mounds,
another mound,
hill capped by dolerite
sill,
- Stop 13:
tetrapod burrowing
traces, another
view, closer view,
closer, red Cancer Bush (Sutherlandia frutescens),
- dolerite bodies,
community
cluster, closer
view, another
view,
We drove to our hotel, Umtali Country Inn (their website)
in Aliwal
North (Wikipedia entry).
I was in my room by 5:30. I filled out my journal and then took
a shower.
I went to the reception building and joined some of
the others in the bar. I had a Windhoek beer, a Namibian beer made in
South Africa. It's really the best beer around for a major beer. We
then went to the dining room. I had lamb chops, baked potato, sweet
potato, spinach, chicken wings, and finished with another Malva pudding
and ice cream. I couldn't eat everything.
I went back to my
room, did my evening ablutions. I was very tired from the cold fresh
air and long days, so I went to bed by 8:30.
24 August 2016, Wednesday
I
slept very well and I had the heat turned off. I woke up at six and got
up at six thirty. I brushed my teeth and dressed. It is a little below
freezing.
I went to breakfast and had two over-easy eggs, wide
bacon, toast, and coffee. Roger told me that the conference people
called him and that my hotel reservation in Cape Town that I already
paid for has
been canceled for the conference. The hotel overbooked.
They are trying to find another room for me. So now, I do not know
where I'm staying for the conference.
Apparently, one-third of
the people on this trip are sick from some sort of stomach ailment. The
leaders are going to the pharmacy in Aliwal North to get lots of
immodium for whomever
is sick. I am OK so far.
We made our first stop, Stop
14 Bamboesberg Member of Molteno Formation (Road cutting showing the
geometry
and architectural elements of bedload-dominated channels)
to
look at several sandstones of the Molteno Formation (Triassic). There
were extrabasinal quartz pebbles in the lag gravels of these sands,
which is the first occurrence we've seen of these.
As we
headed to our next stop, we have entered the level of dinosaur-bearing
strata. Stop
15 Wolverhoek Pass (Overview
of the stratigraphy of the Molteno, Elliot, and Clarens Formations, as
well as channel and floodplain sediments of the Upper Elliot),
we stopped for coffee, and an overview-lookout. The
Lower Elliot is
Late Triassic and the Upper Elliot is Early Jurassic, and both have
dinosaurs in addition to therapsids and crocodiles. There is snow on
top of some of the mountains on the way to the next stop.
We
stopped at a roadcut Stop
16 Elliot-Clarens contact (Road cut showing the nature of
the Elliot-Clarens contact) to look at the Clarens
Sandstone and the
underlying Elliot Formation. There was a troupe of baboons barking,
first at
us, and then at a black eagle flying overhead.
- Elliot-Clarens contact,
channel sandstone,
Bruce at contact,
sandstone in
Elliot, view at outcrop, canyon, baboon, another, walking up outcrop, bones in siltstone,
At Stop 17 Drakensburg
volcanics (Road
side stop, showing interbedded Drakenssburg basaltic lavas and
fluvially generated sandstones),
we
saw intertrapean sandstones, transported ashfall between an
amygdaloidal basalt below (traprock), all Jurassic. These are part of
the Drakensburg basalts.
- view at upper
part of outcrop, another
view, outcrop
with basalt and volcanoclastic deposit, outcrop, amygdaloidal basalt, another view, yet another, volcanoclastic bed, another view, closer view, sandstone, sandstone?,
- daisy-like flower,
another view,
red flower,
white flowers, another view, outcrop across valley,
When headed to our next stop, we saw snow-capped mountains.
- snow-capped
mountains, another
view, small community,
another
view,
- old locomotive,
another view,
stone church,
- outcrops
along the way, rounded
rock, another outcrop,
At Stop 18 Barkly Pass
Upper Elliot Continuous Section (Semi arid floodplain facies
showing meandering streams, crevasse splays with trace fossils, wadis,
sheet floods, playas, aeolian dunes, and mass flow),
we stopped at the top of
the Clarens sandstone and had lunch on a paleodune. After lunch, we
were driven to the base of the outcrop at the level of the Lower
Elliot. We walked up the section looking at red floodplain sediments
including floodplain silts, ephemeral floodplain siltstone flood
deposits, white sandy flood deposits, loessite, etc., overlain by lower
Clarens wadi sandstones with channels and finally aeolian dunes.
- lunch-stop
outcrop, aeolian dune-forms,
view from
lunch stop, packed lunch,
lunch on dune-form,
another
view,
- view
from lower part of stop, another
view, walking up
the section, another
view, view from
outcrop, video pan
of view, unknown bed-form,
trace
fossils, view
from outcrop, dolerite dike
and contact metamorphism, closer
view, loessite,
funnel-shaped burrow,
video pan
of view,
view from
outcrop, loessite,
outcrop, discussion, sandstone beds,
white-spiked Slugwort
(Hebenstretia dura),
sandstone
bar, large dolerite dike,
Clarens trough crossbeds,
another view,
Elliot-Clarens contact,
Clarens
sandstone, de-watering
structure, another
one, yet another,
still another,
more obvious
one, trough crossbed,
another view,
troughs and
de-watering structures, de-watering
structure?, conchostracan
(branchiopod) bed, closer
view, stromatolites?,
more, another view, yet more, another,
- dipping beds
or dune-forms,
We
then headed to our hotel, Mountain
Shadows Hotel (their website)
near Elliot.
We received a nice
glass of sherry in the reception area. I went to my room, took a
shower, and then filled out my journal.
- hotel sign,
thatched buildiing,
view from
hotel, lobby, Cape Buffalo, large head,
- my room,
another view,
yet another,
side bedroom, storage, bathroom, another view,
I then met the others
in the bar. It was an interesting bar with fireplace and lots of
mounted antelope heads. I had a Windhoek Lager. Then the dining room
opened and we all went in. Another fire was in the fireplace there too.
It is pretty cold here, we are about six thousand foot elevation here.
We
had buffet and I had cream of mushroom soup, potato, cooked carrots,
minced green beans, rice, gravy, lamb, and chicken. I still had my beer
for drink.
I was back in my room by nine. I brushed my teeth
and took my pills. I filled out my journal and went to bed in a pretty
cold room.
25 August 2016 Thursday
I
slept very well. I woke up at six, but got up about 6:40. I brushed my
teeth, dressed, and went to breakfast. I had coffee, brown toast,
scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and tomato.
At eight we loaded onto the buses and I filled out my journal and got
ready for the day.
Along
our drive we stopped several times for photos. A couple were of the
Molteno formation with the Indwe sandstone on top and five Boersburg
sandstones below.
- view
along the way, another
view, yet
another, still
another, distant plateau,
- Molteno and
Indwe, Aloe ferox
(plant with orange flower spikes), some more, still more, cattle, closer view, several Boersburg sandstones
mid-section, ladies
going to church, community,
another view,
At Stop 19 Nonensi's Nek
(Type section of the
Burgersdorp Formation), and Stop 20 Fort Brown (Ecca-Beaufort contact)
we walked up
the section. An amphibian skull and a cynognathian skull, amongst other
bones, were found. We examined several layers of floodplain crevasse
splays and paleosols. A vertisol, near the top, illustrated fluctuation
of groundwater levels.
- series of roadcuts
at our stop, another
view, view from
roadcut, studying
outcrop, boney material,
view from
outcrop, skeletal
material, Aloe sp.,
another, vertisol, closer view
(fluctuating groundwater), pedogenic
slickensides, multiple paleosols
(and distal crevasse splays and loessite),
We drove through Queenstown and a few
kilometers past, and stopped at a roadside picnic area for lunch. I had
a scrambled egg sandwich and a scrambled egg-cheese sandwich. I also
had a couple of slim-jim type of homemade sausages (Biltong), apricot
leather,
apple, and water.
This afternoon we have a long drive to our
next stop. I saw a Springbok, and a lot of ostriches at one point. Aloe
plants are native here and they grow wild everywhere. There are several
varieties that I have seen. One grows to about two meters in height on
a
rough sort of trunk and has up to four or five bright orange flower
spikes. I do not have a good photo yet. The similar looking agave is
also everywhere, but they are very tough and spiky, and also are not
native. After a few kilometers I saw a ridge lined with large
electrical generating windmills, perhaps forty or more. As windy as it
is everywhere here, I would think there is more potential for these.
We
arrived at the Kuzuko Lodge (their website)
in the Addo Elephant
National Park (official website,
Wikipedia entry)
at twilight. This
is a very luxurious lodge, I couldn't believe my room. I took lots of
photos.
- gate
for game farm, male ostrich,
Aloe striata,
closer view, another view, close-up, Aloe ferox?,
game-drive ride
to lodge, another view,
zebra at
dusk,
- individual lodge apartments,
lodge bar, dining room,
- my room,
another view,
yet another, my
lounge area, bathroom, bathrub, shower, toilet, colorful sink,
I took a shower and then joined the others in the main
building. I got a glass of red wine and then we all went to dinner. I
had a nice carrot soup, salmon starter, the Springbok dinner, and a
chocolate-vanilla mousse. It was all very good. I sat next to three
Chinese and they asked me about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. They
were all very interested about what I thought and who was likely to win
the elections. I told them my opinion, but that I could not predict the
elections.
After dinner I went to my room and tried many times
to log onto the WiFi and was never successful. I called the desk and
got no answer, so I was not able to contact my family.
I have
to get up very early tomorrow, so I went to bed as soon as possible. I
did my usual evening ablutions and went to bed by 9:45.
26 August 2016, Friday
I
woke up at five and got up at 5:30. I brushed my teeth and met the
others in the lodge. We had a quick coffee or tea and then set out on
game-drive vehicles at six. It was still dark, but the sky was
beginning to lighten.
We were gone for two hours on the
four-wheel drive vehicles. We saw a large group of elephants, a variety
of antelopes including Kudu, wildebeests, hartebeests, gemsboks and
springboks. We saw zebra, ibis, crows, bee-eaters, blue-winged
starlings and many others. In one area we saw two female lions and two
males, and a little further, a stockade for the famous male lion,
Sylvester (his Facebook page)
and another male.
- game-drive vehicle,
another view,
searching for
elephants, fresh elephant footprints,
one of the
vehicles, antelope,
elephant, video, another
video,
several
elephant, another,
video,
yet another
view, video,
another video,
yet another video,
closer view, browsing, another view, toddler elephant, browsing, video, another
video,
yet another video,
video,
another video,
video,
behind the
acacia,
- male and female ostriches
(Struthio camelus),
another view, tree torn and tossed
upside-down by elephant, zebra,
closer view,
another zebra,
another view, video, Red Hartebeest, closer view, another view,
- male lion,
closer view, video, another view, his brother (at fence for
females), closer
view, another view,
young females,
same females,
closer view, video, close-up, another view, yet another, both, another view, yet another, Sylvester, video, another
video,
- view
in vehicle, from
vehicle, another
view, Kudu,
After two hours we returned to the
lodge and had a nice breakfast. After breakfast we loaded onto our
buses. All the game drivers like my old-school red pack and commented
about it. The short aloe with flat and orange flowers is Aloe striata. The
tall one with spiked flowers is Aloe
ferox.
- lodge
entryways, lodge balcony,
- my breakfast,
my second plate,
our table,
- Robert's guide
(this one in Afrikaans),
- the rooms
(mine is one of these), speckled Aloe,
tree with purple
flowers, my room,
view from my
porch, another
view, roof,
- more Aloe,
On
the way out, in addition to the usual, we saw Blesboks, baboons, Vervet
monkeys, and many birds. The next time I come to this area, I will
bring the English version of Robert's Bird Guide of South Africa.
After a long
drive past Port Elizabeth
(Wikipedia entry)(starting
the Garden Route,
Wikipedia entry),
we stopped at Tsitsikamma
National Park (official website,
Wikipedia entry),
a
shoreline park. We first had lunch along the rocky shore with waves
crashing on the rocks. We then walked on a boardwalk to a small inlet
and walked on several swinging bridges. When we returned to the parking
area, we encountered a group of about six Hyraxes (this one is Procavia
capensis Wikipedia entry),
a diminutive
relative of the elephant and about the size of a ground hog.
- coastal dunes,
closer view,
evaporitic salt pans,
pink salt pans, another view, another view, pink water, pink
evaporite basin
(pink color is from red pigmentation in the green algae, Dunaliella salina
and the archaea Halobacteria
cutirubrum), beach
along the way, geologic
map, The Story of Earth and Life
by McCarthy and Rubidge (excellent book on general geology of southern
Africa), wind turbines,
closer view, another view, petrol plaza, another view, more cattle,
- shoreline
at the park, another
view, yet
another, closer
view, folded rocks
at park, another
view, concentration
of shell, true limpets,
two
gastropods, mussel,
star-shaped limpet,
small snail, limpet, turban shell, another view, worm shell, snail, mussel, abalone, another view, regular urchin, turban, another view, regular urchin with spines, another view, limpet, slipper shell (Crepidula sp.), other side, pounding surf, video, knobby snail, other side, large limpet, other side, small limpet, snail, other side,
steeply-dipping sandstone
bed, rough surf,
cliff and
shore, rough shore,
- sign
at shoreline boardwalk, our group,
small waterfall,
boardwalk, view, closer view, another view, steep shoreline, white
flowers,
white and yellow flowers,
Calla Lily
(Arum Lily, Zantedeschia),
another view,
swinging
bridges, swinging
bridge,
lilies and bridges,
video,
folded rocks,
incised Storms River,
bridge and
shoreline, quartz
vein, river
meets sea, another
view, rocky
coast, another
view, river cliffs,
swinging
bridge, outcrop,
rocky coast, looking back, bridges, elevated view of coast, white Fairy Iris (Dietes grandiflora),
boardwalk
steps, Milkwort
(Polygala
sp.), Hyrax,
closer view, video, two resting, video, another
video,
Cape Wagtail (Motacilla capensis),
pounding surf,
- river gorge,
another view,
yet another on other side,
We
returned to our buses and headed on our way. We had another long drive
till we got to the town of Wilderness
(Wikipedia entry)
and the Wilderness Hotel (their website).
I went
to my room and took a shower.
This is the last night of the
field trip and we have a special fish braai (grill) with
all sorts of
good food including foil-baked snook, grilled big prawns and small
prawns, curry seafood, rice, special braai bread (grilled onion and
tomato sandwich), and we had cole slaw. We were served cocktails as
well. We gave group gifts to the two leaders and to the two drivers.
After
that, I went to my room and was able to connect to wifi and the
internet for the first time in over a week. I sent out a quick e-mail
letting everyone know that I'm alright. I then brushed my teeth, took
my pills, and went to bed. Tomorrow is another early day.
27 August 2016, Saturday
I up at six and got up at six thirty. I brushed my teeth, got
dressed, and packed my red pack. I went down to breakfast at 6:45.
I
had two eggs over easy, bacon, mushrooms, potato wedges, ripe olives,
croissant, and coffee. After breakfast, I finished packing, and got
ready for the day. Today is a travel day and we will be heading back to
the conference center in Cape Town, but it will be a long drive.
We
stopped at a scenic overlook at Kaaimans River Pass and I took a few
photographs. Our route back to Cape Town is along the coast and is very
scenic. We saw lots of ostriches along ostrich farms, and many fields
of rapeseed (canola). I also saw two very large crane-like birds. In
the early afternoon, I saw a couple of Guinea Fowl.
- sign
for national road, sign
for pass, foggy
coast, waves at river mouth,
closer view, video,
railroad bridge,
local handcrafts,
another view,
close-up,
- coastal
range (Cape Fold Belt), town,
ostriches, coastal range, health-clinic train, another view, canola (rapeseed)
fields, another
view, yet another,
closer view,
I like this T-shirt
(brewery started by geologist), estuary
and bar, another
view,
We drove
along a whale-watching area, but there was a very heavy fog obscuring
our view. We drove past a lot of white Ordovician quartzites
(orthogquartzites, mature but poorly sorted sediments)(part of the Cape
Fold Belt) with fining
upward sequences of braided river deposits. At the top were Ordovician
glacial sediment with iceberg grooves disrupting the bedding (grounding
of icebergs). It was a beautiful route overlooking the cliffs and rough
surf below, but visibility was only a few tens of meters at the most.
We
stopped at Gordon's Bay
(Wikipedia entry)
for
lunch. The mist here was offshore a bit. This
is a Saturday and a warm day, and the beach was full of locals. For
lunch I had a nice caponata
(I was the only one who knew what it was because my family makes it),
olive tapenade, pesto butter, nice baguette, cold cuts, and a brownie.
I gave the brownie away. After lunch we all walked around the area. It
is very picturesque with mountains on one side and beach and bay on the
other.
We boarded the buses at 3:30 and headed to Cape Town.
The mountains are still Ordovician sandstones, and the rocks along the
bay are 700 ma Neoproterozoic low grade metasediments (Malmsburg Sh.?).
We were dropped off at the conference center about 4:30. I
wasn't sure where my new hotel was or that I even had reservations for
it. The last that I heard was that it was the Park Inn, Radisson (their
website).
It is
supposed to be more expensive than my original hotel, but I
get it
for the same price (I hope). I knew about where it was. I wandered
around four or five bocks till I saw a sign for Park Inn. I went to the
desk and, to my relief, was able to check-in. I got to my room by 5:15.
I filled out my journal, unpacked, and took a shower.
I walked
around a bit to examine my new surroundings. After awhile, I went to
the roof-top bar/lounge. I had a red wine and watched the people around
me.
I went to my room and watched some news for an hour or so.
There has been an earthquake in Italy. I did my evening ablutions, took
my pills and went to bed.
28 August 2016, Sunday
I
woke up at seven, got up, brushed my teeth, dressed, and made some
coffee. Today is an easy day. The only thing scheduled is registration
for the conference and the ice breaker in the evening. I heard that six
or seven thousand geologists are expected, which makes this the largest
geologic conference in the world.
I typed out a lot of my journal and managed to send out an e-mail
entry. The typing is pretty tedious on the small keyboard.
I
went to the conference center at nine when registration was supposed to
start. There was a large number of delegates standing in line to
register, but registration was not open due to computer problems. I met
some friends and had a coffee and snacks, but by eleven the computers
were still not working. I decided to amble around the downtown area
instead.
I walked around for a few hours. Most of the shops
were closed in the morning, but a few opened up in the afternoon. Many
do not open at all on Sunday. By two in the afternoon, I headed back to
the conference center and registration was open, and there were no
lines. Excellent. I registered and got my bag of conference literature.
I walked back to the hotel to type some more.
At about
five, I took a shower and went to the conference center again. The "Ice
Breaker" event in the exhibition hall opened about 5:45. I hung out
with some of my new friends. I then saw Margaret Fraser, and then Bob
Gastaldo and hung out with them for awhile. We had tickets for free
drinks, but there was a mob at all the drink tables. We eventually got
our drinks. I had red wine. Many food tables were set up as well. I had
some Indian-style pancake-like things, some coconut-curry chicken, plus
some other items. This was my dinner. I had a great time talking to Bob
and Margaret.
After the event, I walked back to the hotel. I
watched a Denzel Washington movie on TV, and then did my evening
ablutions and went to bed.
29 August 2016, Monday
I
got up at 7:30 and brushed my teeth. I fixed some coffee and studied
the conference program to prepare for the day. Most of the talks start
in the early afternoon, so I typed a lot of my journal in the morning.
I walked till I found a nice little bakery. I had a large croissant
sandwich with bacon and scrambled eggs and a coffee.
I
did not eat lunch, but went straight to the talks. I attended several
different sessions, but my favorite was on the Permian-Triassic mass
extinction.
After the talks, I went to my room for awhile and
sent out an e-mail entry. I then walked up Long Street to a
restaurant/brew house called Tiger's Milk (their website).
Several of my friends
recommended it. When I got there, I saw several of my German friends
and I sat with them. I had a Triple-Bypass Burger and the house IPA
beer which was all very good. The burger was very messy but good.
Meanwhile, several of my other friends also came in. So, this is a real
geologists' bar, we so designated it.
After the burger, I walked back to my hotel. I typed out a journal
entry and sent it out as an e-mail.
I took a shower, did my other ablutions, took my pills, watched a
little news, and went to bed by ten.
30 August 2016, Tuesday
I got up at 7:30, brushed my teeth, and made some coffee. I also
studied today's program to see which talks I should attend.
I
walked to the conference center and saw lots of interesting talks. The
talks start at 8 am and last till 6 pm with a one-hour lunch break.
Lunch is free and is buffet style. There are a series of short geologic
movies in the evening.
There are lots of exhibition booths in
the exhibition area. There are agencies, countries, and companies
represented by booths, but also for all the countries vying for future
conferences. The next congress in 2020 will be in Delhi, India. That is
already settled, but for the 2024 meeting, Berlin, Germany, St.
Petersburg, Russia, Istanbul, Turkey and other countries are competing.
I have talked to all of them.
After the evening talks, I
looked for tomorrow's program, but learned that it was late from the
printer's. I'll have to wait for tomorrow to see which talks I'll
attend.
When I left the conference center, it was dark. I went
to my room and got rid of my conference accoutrement. Last night, I
remembered seeing an Ethiopian restaurant so I headed for it tonight. I
went in and sat at the usual low table. I ordered a chicken, a beef, a
fish, and a lentil dish, and I special ordered the tef-grain version of
injera
bread. You have to ask for tef. I had a Leopold 7 beer, the first of
that brand that I've tried. My meal was alright, but I could only eat
half of it. I've had better Ethiopian elsewhere.
After the
meal, I walked back to my room, filled out my journal, and checked
e-mails. I then brushed my teeth, took my pills, and went to bed. I'm
sorry that these conference entries are short. Once I head to
Johannesburg, they should pick up.
31 August 2016, Wednesday
I
got up at 7, brushed my teeth, and had some coffee. After a shower, I
went to the conference, talks start at 8. I went to the session on the
Ediacaran fauna (Cryogenic to Cambrian) (Wikipedia entry)
that lasted most of the day. There were many other interesting
sessions, but this is the one I stuck to.
I
asked at the conference how much the shuttle to the airport costs. I
then went to my hotel and asked how much it costs. The hotel bell
captain gave me a placard with the rates on it. It was over 300 Rand to
get to the airport. I told him that the conference center had a rate of
150 Rand. The Bell Captain became very angry with me, which I thought
was unusual because I was polite. I guess he had been receiving a
sizable kick-back. So, I went to the conference center, paid 150 Rand
for my shuttle on Friday and they will pick me up at my hotel.
After
the talks, it was dark. I walked to Tiger's Milk and had a nice
thin-crust pulled-pork pizza and a house pilsner. They were out of IPA.
After the pizza, I was pretty tired and stuffed. I walked back
to my hotel. I did my usual evening ablutions and took my pills. I
watched a spy movie and went to bed about 9:30.
1 September 2016,
Thursday
I got up at 7:30, brushed my teeth and took a shower. I fixed a cup of
instant coffee as well.
I
went to the talks and searched for today's program. Apparently, they
didn't print enough because they were all gone by the time I got there.
Half of the attendees were looking for programs. I was able to look at
monitors scattered around and went to a series of talks on Asian plate
tectonics. I should have given one of my talks here.
I took a
break from the mostly Chinese talks and went to the only (single) talk
on the Central Appalachian Basin Late Carboniferous deposition, it was
in a sedimentary basins session. The professor, a Brit from VPI, used
my Carboniferous model for the structure of his talk and cited my
publication. His work not only confirmed my model, but added value to
it with his study of detrital zircon provenance. I was pleasantly
surprised, and it made my day.
For lunch, I did not eat, but
scouted out where the conference dinner was to be held. It is about
one-half mile from my hotel, but it will be dark when I go.
At
7:45 I walked to the Zip Zap Circus, a very large tent set up for the
conference dinner. There were about eight or ten food counters set up
for different ethnic food styles from Cape Malay, and Indian to Boer,
to Afrikaans and South African. There were drink stations and lots of
stand up tables and some plush seats and couches. There was also a
great African band. I sat next to several Indian gentlemen in a side
tent. We were all
a little put out about the very long lines at each of the counters. I
talked about Indian geology. As it turns out the fellow I'm sitting
next to is the president of the next IGC. We had a very interesting
conversation about Indian geology. I also talked to another India
geologist about the Precambrian sandstones in Rajasthan and mentioned
the Ediacaran sandstone at the fort at Jodhpur. He excitedly mentioned
that he discovered and studied that sandstone. After an hour or so, the
lines decreased and I got in the shortest—Cape Malay. So I did get
something to eat. I left early and said goodbye to everyone. I leave
early tomorrow.
I walked back to my room, packed up everything, and threw away a lot of
unnecessary conference items.
I filled out my journal, brushed my teeth, and took my pills. I went to
bed by eleven.
2 September 2016, Friday
I
woke up at six and got up at seven. I had some instant coffee and
completed my packing. I took a shower, dressed, and filled out my
journal. I got a call at 8:30 that my driver had arrived, so I gathered
my things and checked out. I had no room charges.
The driver
was a nice fellow from Zimbabwe and we talked all the way to the
airport. At the airport, I went to a self-help kiosk and entered my
trip locator code. My boarding pass was printed out and I proceeded
through security and was at my gate by nine. My flight to Johannesburg
leaves at 11:15 and I board in about 1.5 hours.
When they
called for boarding, we got onto buses and were driven to the plane.
Once again it was completely filled and I was in a middle seat. Neither
person on either side of me was friendly and so I did not talk.
Mid-flight I was offered a drink and a ham sandwich on croissant.
Upon
landing, we were transferred to the gate by bus again. When I exited
the restricted area, there was a fellow holding a placard with my name
on it. He told me his name but I did not understand him. We drove for
about half an hour to my hotel in Johannesburg.
It is still winter here so it is the
arid season and sunny. The temperature seems to be about 80 degrees F.
I
checked into the Holiday Inn Sandton Rivonia Road (their website).
This Holiday Inn is
better than what we think of the ones in the U.S. I checked in and was
in my room by 2:30 pm. I filled out my journal and took photos of my
room.
- hotel entrance,
lobby, lobby staff, bar lounge, bar, dining room, my room, another view, yet another, another,
construction-area view
from my window,
I knew that the Harley Davidson shop was only about one
or two kilometers from my hotel. I knew how to get there so I set out
walking. Almost all of the sidewalks were under construction for
utilities I think, so I had to dart in and out of traffic while I made
my way there. It was actually quite an obstacle course and the traffic
didn't seem to observe pedestrians with much respect. But I got there.
I took several photos of the store and bought a Johannesburg t-shirt
there. However, my credit card was declined twice. I had another card
and had to use it for my purchase. I had registered my travels with the
bank, but apparently it didn't matter. It was very inconvenient for
Visa to do this to me.
I walked back along the same perilous path. I went to the hotel bar in
the lobby and had a local beer, Jack Black lager. I had my beer at the
roof lounge.
Because
it was too difficult to get around, I decided to just eat dinner at the
hotel. I ordered, for starters, chicken livers in a marinara-type sauce
with toast. I ordered the chef's special which was a lamb cutlet with
steamed vegetables and, in my case, french fries. I also ordered bread.
The unique wine here in South Africa is a grape varietal called
pinotage (Wikipedia entry).
I've had it throughout my trip and liked it, so I ordered a
glass with dinner. I don't believe I've heard of it anywhere else. The
lamb chops came and there were four of them, medium rare. I did not
have dessert. I was able to pay with my Am Ex card, fortunately.
I
was back in my room by 7:30. I have a very early day tomorrow. I filled
out my journal and repacked for my upcoming trip. I took a shower,
brushed my teeth, took my pills, and was in bed by 8:30, watched a
little news, and went to bed early.
3 September 2016,
Saturday
Well,
it was an interesting night. With the pipe noises in my room, I could
not sleep. I called down to the desk and the phone did not work, so I
went down to the desk in my bare feet (I did put clothes on). They gave
me a new room and so I carried my things to it. Someone had been in the
bed in my new room, so I went back down to the desk in my bare feet and
mentioned that. However, a bunch of Chinese came to the desk at the
same time, complaining about their rooms too. There must have been
twenty, but I beat them to the desk. I got another room which seemed to
be alright.
My alarm went off at five. I brushed my teeth and
went down to the lobby. Another fellow was waiting as well, Bob from
Adelaide. Sam, our driver arrived and Bob and I got on the bus. Later,
a lady from the Gold Coast of Australia also joined us. We then went to
another hotel and picked up two Italian ladies.
Sam told us
that we have a seven-hour drive ahead of us. The three of us from our
hotel had a box breakfast to take with us, but Sam said that we would
stop for breakfast in two hours.
We are going to at least two different lodges.
I
ate my breakfast as we drove and we made several comfort stops. As we
approached the Drakensberg
Mountains (Wikipedia entry),
I told the Australian fellow
about the Jurassic dolerites and basaltic lavas forming the caprock in
the Karoo Basin.
The Italian ladies asked me if I were a geologist and I said yes. They
were too. They had been to the same conference in Cape Town. I told
them I had been on a field trip in some of the same region. They asked
me to tell them about the geology of the region (the nature of the
Drakensberg Escarpment in the Karoo is different compared to this
region).
- mountains
in the distance, sandstone
beds, cliffs, cliff, overhead cliff, dipping beds, another view, yet another, Kadishi waterfalls and
tufaceous deposits (in middle), another
view, green valley,
another view,
yet another,
popular recreational water park,
We descended
the Great Escarpment and traveled parallel to the base. Three of us
(the geologists) were dropped off at the Matumi Lodge (their website) in Hoedspruit
(Wikipedia entry)
by 12:30 and
shown our rooms. We are not to walk around at night because of snakes,
scorpions, spiders, hyenas, leopards, etc.
- gate
to game preserve (the lodge is within the preserve), another view, sign for Matumi Lodge,
entrance to
restaurant, dining
area, another
view, bar, another view, yet another,
- my room,
another view,
yet another
view, ceiling, bathroom, another view, shower, my room (on the
right),
- Impala
near gate of lodge, video,
swimming pool
area, closer
view, covered area
next to pool, restaurant-bar
building, pool
area, big fern,
yellow orchids, crocodile sculpture, succulent, closer view,
We had a lunch of
nice salad and very nice fried chicken strips in pancetta. Ricu, the
staff host, helped me to make an international phone call to resolve a
credit card problem I had. Hopefully, it is fixed.
We
were
picked up again by Sam and driven to a private game preserve.
We got
into a
vehicle driven by Isaiah. He drove us around a vast area and we saw all
sorts of animals including duikas, Kudus, wildebeest, zebras, Cape
Buffalo, rhinos, hippos, warthogs, elephants, and two female lions.
Because of the severe drought, hay had been scattered at certain
localities to keep the animals alive. At
sunset we stopped for drinks and snack in a hilltop clearance. On our
long way out, it was very dark. When we got to one of the prime
lion-hunting areas at a pond, the vehicle was stopped. However, Isaiah
could
not get it started again, the battery was too low. We could not reach
anyone by radio. As a last resort, Bob (the Aussie) and I got out to
try and push the vehicle down a slight slope in hopes of jump starting
it. It worked. Later, the driver told us that he was very worried about
our situation and had even started shaking.
- Endangered
Species Centre animal
shelter, sign,
another sign,
two cheetahs, close-up, video, another
video,
Impala Lily (Adenium multiflorum),
another view, Blue Crane (Grus paradisea),
- Game Preserve: warthogs,
close-up, zebras, another view, side view, zebra herd, zebra and Waterbuck, zebra herd, Cape Buffalo, video, hippos, closer view, video,
Helmeted Guinea Fowl
(Numida meleagris),
rhinos, closer view, video, resting
buffalo, closer view, close-up, Helmeted Guinea Fowl, video, another view, rhino close-up, video, buffalo
close-up, buffalo and
ox-peckers, Impala,
another view,
herd of
buffalo, elephant,
another view,
video,
buffalo,
another view,
yet another, warthog and termite
mound, two elephants,
elephants
coming out of brush, elephant
close-up, another
one, video,
rhinos, video,
sleeping rhino,
another view, elephants at water,
another view,
yet another, video, Blue Wildebeest behind
zebras, vehicle
near sunset, two female lions,
another view, closer view, female, another view, yet another view, close-up, another view, sunset, another view, moon and planet, closer view, another, hippos in headlights,
another
view, video
We rode back to
our lodges. We had salad with biltong, ostrich steak with sauce, potato
wedges, another salad and we had pinotage wine. One of the ladies had a
birthday and so we were presented with fudge brownies, one with a
candle in it.
After dinner, we went directly to our rooms. I
did my ablutions plus malaria pills, and then filled out my journal. I
was in bed by ten. Tomorrow is another very early and long day.
4 September 2016, Sunday
My
alarm went off about 4:50. I got up, took a shower, and brushed my
teeth. I dressed and got ready for the day. There was a wake-up knock
at my door a little after five.
About 5:30 a new vehicle
arrived with a new driver, Johann. He was familiar with out struggles
last night on our game drive. Apparently, all the game drivers heard
the story.
We loaded onto the new vehicle and headed to the
Orpen gate of Kruger
National Park (Wikipedia entry
for park), I'm guessing one hour away. We had
to enter two gates, an inner and an outer, and had to supply our
passport numbers. We also learned that there had been a great deal of
recent rhino poaching. We drove along the roads and stopped at an
overlook over a dry river wash. We had our bag breakfast there. I only
ate a cheese sandwich, but there were other items. I had a cup of
instant coffee. I took photos of several Yellow Billed Hornbills and
even fed one by hand. I also took photos of a Francolin, a
pheasant-like bird.
- sunrise,
another view,
sign at Orpen Gate, Blue Wildebeest, another view, Southern Ground Hornbill
(Bucorvus leadbeateri),
another view,
giraffe, video, close-up, closer, video, another view, another view, Batelur Eagle (Terathopius ecaudatus),
closer view, elephant in brush,
elephant approaching,
eagle, Waterbuck,
- landscape,
another view,
dry riverbed, elephants in distance,
Southern Yellow-billed
Hornbill (Tockus
leucomelas),
closer view,
on post, video, another
video,
close-up, Francolin, another view, another Francolin, closer view,
We drove around the park and saw abundant wildlife including
Steenbok, Gazelle, Impala, Waterbok, Kudu, Nyala, Wildebeest, Warthogs,
hippos, rhinos, elephants, crocodiles, fresh leopard prints, giraffes,
a female lion suckling a cub, etc. I also saw many birds including
flamingos, Wool-necked Stork, Hammerkop, White? Stork, guinea fowl,
many Francolins, many vultures, several eagles including Batelur, heard
a woodpecker, saw and heard many Go-Away Birds, saw several Southern
Ground Hornbills (very large), Yellow and also Red Billed Hornbills,
swallows including the Red Breasted, Magpie Shrikes, a Lilac Breasted
Roller, Pied Crow, Cape Wagtail, Blue Ear Starling, doves, Red Billed
Ox Pecker, Fork Tailed Drongos, and many other birds.
- giraffe,
video,
another view,
video,
closer view,
baboon video,
another video,
baboon, zebra, zebra herd, Steenbok, video, wildebeest, closer view, Red-crested Korhaan (Lophotis ruficrista),
video,
another video,
vultures, Egyptian Goose, Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), crocodiles,
- pit stop,
stalk-like
plant, fertile
shoot between stalks, a purple
aloe, white flower cluster,
miniature
aloe, cactus-like
plant with seed pod,
Impala Lily,
- Lilac-breasted
Roller (Coracias
caudatus), closer
view, another
view, impala at
water hole, another
view, Impala
with Ox-Pecker, more impala,
another view,
female lion with
cubs, Kudu and impala, video, another
video,
baby elephant
curious
about hippo, video,
another video,
another
view, video,
elephant
and impala, Kudu,
elephant, closer view, another view, large baobab tree, another view, impala, closer view, elephants, rubbing against tree,
mom and baby elephant,
waterhole, baby rolling in dirt,
two young bull
elephants, two dust devils,
close-up, video, dust devil, another view, closer view,
We ate
lunch at a tourist rest station. Most of us had pizza and I had a
carbonated water for drink. I bought a bird book (can you tell?). After
lunch, we continued our drive looking at animals. At
about three in the afternoon, we headed back to the lodge. We got there
about 4:15.
- one of the bird
books (I didn't buy this one), Yellow Fever Tree, another view, closer view, cat sculpture, Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus rufirostris),
- giraffe,
Wooly-necked Stork
(Ciconia episcopus),
closer view, closer view, fresh leopard tracks, another view, crocodile in tainted
water hole, closer
view, giraffes, another view, elephant, another elephant, giraffe
drinking video,
another video,
giraffe
drinking, Waterbuck,
close-up, another view, yet another, Kudu, warthogs, another view, yet another, warthog with Ox-Pecker (Buphagus erythrothynchus),
antelope, impala and Kudu?, buffalo and elephant, closer view, Francolin, another view, Vervet Monkey, closer view,
- Euphorbia
and other plants
at our lodge gate, another
view, building
with my room, termite
mound, Azalea,
red Azalea,
orange lily,
nice landscaping,
another view,
yet another,
rhinoceras sculpture,
cactus-like
plant, closer
view, office and conference building,
pool area,
crane sculpture
and cycad, landscaping,
another view,
elephant sculpture,
Kurrichane Thrush
(Turdus libonyana),
another view,
Collared Sunbird
(Hedydipna
collaris), Dark-capped
Bulbul (Pycnonotus
barbatus)
I took a shower and hand washed two shirts and a
pair of socks (I had also washed some clothes in Cape Town). I hung
them up to dry in my room.
I went to the dining room about
7:30 and had a Black Label beer and talked to Ricu and the owner's son.
When the Italian ladies came, we ordered a bottle of Shiraz for the
table and we had sweet chili chicken with couscous and mixed
vegetables. We had chocolate mousse for dessert. Tonight there are new
guests, a young couple from Germany and we talked a short while before
dinner. The young lady was from Berlin originally.
I was back
in my room by 9:30. I filled out my journal. I do not have an adapter
for the electrical outlets that they have at this lodge so I cannot
charge my computer.
I did my evening ablutions, took my pills
plus anti-malarials (I did kill a mosquito trying to bite me tonight).
Tomorrow is an early day, but not as early as the last two days.
5 September 2016, Monday
I
woke up at five, but got up at six-thirty. I brushed my teeth and
dressed. My washed clothes are almost dry, by the end of the day they
should be completely dry. I filled out my journal and then went for
coffee.
I took photos of the grounds while drinking my coffee.
Breakfast was served soon after and I had bacon, sausage, two eggs over
easy, toast, sautéed onions, roasted tomato, and coffee.
Around
eight our new driver/guide, Shoes, picked us up for a driving tour of
the escarpment. This tour was called the Panorama Route (Wikipedia entry)
of the Blyde River Canyon (Wikipedia entry).
Shoes was born
at Kruger and his parents worked there. He's an expert birder and
helped me throughout the day with my identifications.
We went
to several famous overlooks and saw the tufa (travertine) deposits at a
large waterfall (Kadishi Waterfalls). I saw a Rock Kestrel, a Marico
Sunbird, a Dark-Capped
Bulbul, Kurrichane Thrush, Red Winged Starling, a Black Headed Oriole,
a Yellow Billed Kite, and other birds.
- driving up the Escarpment,
closer view, valley at base, Euphorbia, handicraft shop,
wooden chickens,
view from
shop, upper part
of escarpment, Kadishi
Waterfalls and large
tufa deposit in the middle, another
view, close-up, another view, dipping beds at
escarpment, another
view, boys at handicraft
shop, another
view, yet another
view, still another, cross-bedded
sandstone,
Most of the overlooks
seemed to be composed of sandstone and quartz-pebble conglomeratic
sandstones (cap rock is Archaean Black Reef quartzite and below the cap
rock is Wolberg Group sandstones and shales). We saw amazing canyons
and gorges and cliffs through the
dusty atmosphere. There were
obvious changes in direction of waterflow in the past. Early canyons
seemed to be etched by westerly flowing rivers, but then subsequent
stream piracy diverted the flow to the east, as seen by the really big
canyons. I also took photos of Proteas, Coral Trees (bright orange-red
flowers), and many other plants. We ate lunch at a pancake house in Graskop and
Shoes and I both had Chicken Livers Bowl in Peri Peri sauce (much
better than the one I had in Johannesburg).
- Blyde River
Canyon: stepped escarpment,
another view,
Rock Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), closer view,
a Protea, closer view, Blyde
River Canyon, another
view, the Three Rondavels,
closer view, video,
cross-bedded congomeratic
sandstone, flower clusters
and orange lichen (orange lichen is Xanthoria parientina
and leafy lichen is Lecanora
esculenta), sandstone,
conglomerate,
more
conglomerate, sandstone,
more sandstone, cross-bedding,
stromatolites,
interference ripples,
stromatolites,
mudcracks,
canyon video,
river in
canyon, another
view, dipping quartzite
beds, at the
overlook, another view, ladies at overlook, unconformity (view of
bottom-set, fore-set, and top-set beds in Wolkberg Gp), closer view, yellow flowers, handicraft stands, more stands, African Coral Tree (Erythrina caffra), close-up, another view, stands and Coral Tree, closer view of
tree,
- danger
sign, walkway,
hematite-cemented liesegang
bands,
off the path,
overlook, another view, view with Maria, canyon bottom, river, cliff-lined plateau, cross-bedding, lizard, closer view, sandstone
boulders, warning sign, cliff line, Coral Tree, closer view, even closer, another view, sign at handicraft stands,
- sign
for Bourke's Luck
Potholes, rippled
pavers, danger
sign, distant
view, bridge over pothole
canyon, closer
view, bridge, canyon, closer view, other direction, video,
looking down, upper river valley, video,
many falls, video, closer view, small pool, polished sheen, another view, better view, another, yet another, pothole, relaxing at pool, another view, yet another, pot holes, another view, closer view, flowing water, another view, danger signs, falls, closer view, looking down, bridge, cataracts, video, another
video,
potholes, another view, potholes, signs, canyon potholes, closer view, lower canyon, another view, upper canyon, potholes, pool, potholes, Maria at bridge, Treur sign, Blyde sign, rippled sandstone
pavers,
- chicken livers
and peri-peri sauce in Graskop,
- sign
for Pinnacle,
danger sign, Pinnacle, video, another view, yet another, beyond Pinnacle, top, cliff-lined plateau, conglomeratic
sandstone, white-flower
cluster on plateau, halite
casts in mudstone of the Archaen Oak Tree Fm., closer view, another view, yet another, and another, some more, another one, closer view, yet another, and another,
- sign
for God's Window,
another sign, overlook, another view,
on trail steps,
bouldery
trail, another
view, Maria and Simonetta,
Shoes, vegetation, boulders, strap-like leaves, upper overlook, a Protea?, closer view, another view, yet another, Aloe sp.,
another view,
yet another, upper overlook,
cliff-line vegetation,
- sunset
on the way back
We got back to the
lodge about 7:15. I took a shower and then joined the others at an
outdoor fire-pit area with a big roaring fire going. The Italian ladies
and I had gin and tonics and we soon had an Afrikaans braai (grill) of
lamb chops, Boer sausage (Boerewors), corn on the cob, potatoes, and a nice salad.
We had a pinotage to drink. Then an African group came out and danced
and sang as we sat around the fire (some were more into it than
others). They were part of the staff at the
lodge. For dessert, we were served the best Malva pudding I have had
while in South Africa.
We have an early schedule for tomorrow, so I filled out my journal, did
my evening ablutions, and went to bed by eleven.
6 September 2016, Tuesday
I
got up at 5:30, brushed my teeth, and got dressed. At 5:50 the Italian
ladies and I met our naturalist walking guide, Koos ("kwees"). We
walked up the road a bit and then he unlocked a gate and we hiked in a
preserve area. He said that because of the drought that most of the big
game will be out of the area and he thought we'd be safe. In more
dangerous areas, he carries a rifle. We saw lots of animal tracks and
poop including civet cat, mongoose, porcupine, African hunting dog,
hyena, leopard, giraffe, hippo, elephant, and antelope tracks ranging
from Duikas to Kudu. We saw a variety of birds including a tree full of
bulbuls, several Green Wood-Hoopoes, swallows, crows, starlings (not
like ours), and a group of Blue Waxbills. We also saw weaver bird
nests. I learned that the millipedes are poisonous to eat for most
animals except the civet cat, and we saw evidence in civet cat poop.
We
walked back to the lodge and had breakfast. I had a bowl of fruit
(oranges, pineapple, and strawberries), minced venison (Springbok?),
two eggs over easy and toast, plus lots of coffee. I caught up in my
journal. The two Italian ladies left on the bus after breakfast and I'm
the only guest for most of the day.
A little before ten, Ricu
drove me to an interesting compound of shops. He had some business to
do in town, so he dropped me off. He booked a massage for me at a salon
and spa. I had a very nice massage, and then went to a vintage car and
motorcycle museum. I took a number of photos. I then went to Anne's
Cotton Club Café that Ricu also recommended. I got a
coffee milkshake
and a goat cheese-sautéed onion-tomato tart (in a very flaky pastry).
It was very good. I talked to the owner, Anne, and she knew about the
thoroughbred industry in Kentucky. She asked me about what they did
with retired race horses and I told her that they were well taken care
of and mentioned the place, Old Friends (their website)
near Georgetown. Ricu came to sit with me after he had taken care of
his business, and we talked a great deal. After we finished our order,
we went back to the lodge. On the way back,, we saw a Marabou stork
flying overhead. We got back to the lodge by 1:30.
- sign
for vintage motorcycle
museum, another sign,
yet another (for
two-part museum), motorcycle
room, another
view, yet another,
Honda CG-125,
Honda 750, BSA, Honda 550 Cafe, Royal Enfield, BMW, picnic area,
- motorized bike
in car museum
(and motorcycles), motorcycle poster,
view of
museum, another
view, yet
another, and another,
still
another, Triumph Rocket
(2294 cc!), small BMW,
International
truck, coupe
dragster, V8,
Chevy and Ford pickups,
Sportster, V-Twin of some sort, BSA Golden Flash (646
cc) BSA Thunderbolt
(654 cc), red racer,
same with many carburetors,
Mercedes, another one, black coupe,
- iris,
menu at Anne's Cotton Club Cafe,
I took my
journal to a shaded table near the pool and filled it out. I moved into
the dining area when the insects got bad. I typed a lot of my journal
entries and sent them out as e-mails.
Dinner was served about
eight. The starter was a very artistic series of slices of roasted
eggplant, mozzarella, and tomatoes with balsamic vinegar. Very nice.
The main course was stuffed chicken breast (with nuts and sauce), rice
(with soy?), and a mushroom-zucchini dish. And all of that was very
good. They have a new chef Ursula and everything has been great.
Dessert was an apple dish with sauce and nuts, and that was also very
good. I had pinotage. I sat at the table with the staff with whom I had
gotten to know.
After a lot of conversation, I went to my room
by ten. I brushed my teeth, took my pills (including malarials), and
filled out my journal. My laptop is charging with an adapter that I
borrowed from the lodge. Tomorrow is a travel day.
7 September 2016,
Wednesday
I
got up at 6:30 and brushed my teeth, and dressed. I packed most of my
things. At seven, I went to the dining area. I had granola and toast
and coffee. Ursula, the chef, asked if I wanted a hot breakfast, but I
told her I didn't want a lot of food on my stomach on a travel day.
I settled my bill and bought a handmade Nelson Mandela-style shirt (not
a t-shirt).
I
took a shower and finished packing. While waiting for my bus, I saw
swallows, perhaps a swift, a Black-headed Oriole, a vulture, and
bulbuls.
Shadrack, the bus driver, picked me up a little after
8:30. There were three young Scot ladies already in the bus. One was
from Inverness and one from Glasgow. They attended university optometry
school together and had been working on the traveling health train
clinic (that I had seen earlier) to help the local people. I told them
that I had three daughters
about their ages and talked about them quite a bit.
While
driving I saw an African Hoopoe. Before I forget, the
yellow-colored tree (all the bark, roots, and stems are
yellow) is
the Yellow Fever Tree. I had seen it several places. It was so named
because people used to
think that Yellow Fever came from this type of tree.
We made
one stop at the Three Rondavels overlook (I had already been there a
couple of days ago) and I explained just a wee bit of the geology.
At
lunch time, on our journey to Johannesburg, we stopped to refuel. I got
a Wimpy's cheeseburger and fries. Closer to Johannesburg I saw a flock
of flamingos in a wetland and a magpie shrike.
I got to my
hotel, the Holiday Inn Sandton Rivonia Road, at 3:30 pm. This is the
same hotel I stayed at several days ago. I went to the desk and told
them I had a reservation. They asked for my passport. They said that
they couldn't find my reservation in their system and asked for my
confirmation documents. I showed them my Intrepid Travels voucher for
tonight, confirming that I had already paid for the room. They made
calls and still didn't know what to do. They were fully booked. They
asked me to wait in the lobby sitting area while they contacted
housekeeping to see if a room had been freed and cleaned. I had to sit
till 4:15 before I got a room. I will be mentioning my problems with
this hotel when I do my Intrepid evaluations.
I went down to the bar for a Castle draft which I took to my room. I
typed out my journal and sent out an e-mail.
I
went down to the dining room about 6:30. The Chef's Special was a
T-bone plus starch of your choice. I went in and ordered the Chef's
Special. However, there was also a very large buffet and most of the
guests were doing the buffet. The buffet was not advertised. The cooks
were busy restocking the buffet. After 45 minutes the waiter came by
and asked if I'd been served yet. When I said no, he said he'd check
into it. After 15 more minutes, nothing came, so I left and went to my
room. An hour wasted.
I watched a little television, did my ablutions, and went to bed.