The wife and I had a remarkable trip to South Africa: A 4 day safari in Kruger (We saw the big 5 plus many more), 4 days touring the wine coutry (Franshhoek) and the Garden Route (Knysna and Plettenberg Bay) and we finished off in Cape Town for 4 days (including Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai).

What a beautiful country with a bad reputation. Some of the friendliest people we had ever met, and we never felt threatened or unsafe (We even took a township tour). The only negative things we heard was about the poor conditions in Johannesburg. Many people from Zimbabwe have migrated there illegally causing a rise in unemployment and crime. We only spent one day there so I couldn't really assess the situation.

The people in SA are really trying to promote their country and gear up for the World Soccer Championship. I hope the World Cup of Soccer in 2010 will show the world what a gem this place is.

Anyway, I had to get back on the bike this morning after 3 weeks. Ugh. Noodle-legs.

3 weeks off an noodle legs????? With everything you seemed to do, I am surprised it was a problem for you. Sounds like you had a great time.

Pics?

Welcome home!

http://content.pyzam.com/funnypics/animals/fun12.jpg

Welcome back brother. Sound like you had a great time.

Oh yes, photos are mandatory :) .

Sounds as if you had a great time, but welcome back!

East Hill

I was in SA in 1997, beautiful Country. I spent time in Johannesburg and Cape Town and met many nice people.

Here are a few quick photos. There are far too many to share right now.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2416/2176974199_01db094a04_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2376/2177765206_b7e43a6eb9_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2221/2176974105_60dac3fcdf_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2037/2176974041_026c878a9b_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2177765042_196411e581_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2396/2176973925_2505241078_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2083/2176973861_61856a3d2c_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2167/2177764896_b471c7f9a0_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2138/2176973753_30d86c81e1_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2096/2177764786_a403c39f56_m.jpg

You took those? They look like they were lifted from postcards - great shots!

Oh man, I've been waiting for these pics since you posted your plans to go there. I'm glad you had a great time.

I agree with what you said about a beautiful country with a bad reputation. I think that's true of most of Africa. The majority of the people are so nice and generous, even though many of them have so little. It's the governments that are screwed up in most cases. That's why it's so sad that so many people have to suffer because of the greed and corruption of a few people.

Anyways, I can't wait to see some more pics. Those ones you posted are awesome. How close were you to that lion? Did you have mega zoom, or were you really that close? I would have a hard time not petting it. That's my favorite of the bunch.

How close were you to that lion?

About 20 feet.

Thanks for the comments. I took all of the photos with my father-in-laws Canon.

http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp43235%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A35988%3A35nu0mrj
http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp43237%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A35988%3A3%3Cnu0mrj
http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp43235%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A35992447nu0mrj
http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp43235%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A3599244%3Cnu0mrj
http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp43236%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A35989899nu0mrj
http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp43235%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A35992466nu0mrj
http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp43242%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A359898%3B4nu0mrj
http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp4323%3A%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A359898%3A%3Bnu0mrj
http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp4323%3A%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A35992476nu0mrj

http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp43239%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A35989925nu0mrj

I reiterate ;)
http://content.pyzam.com/funnypics/animals/fun12.jpg


http://images.photos.walmart.com/232323232%7Ffp4323%3A%3Enu%3D3239%3E797%3E8%3A4%3EWSNRCG%3D3232%3A359898%3A%3Bnu0mrj

I reiterate ;)
http://content.pyzam.com/funnypics/animals/fun12.jpg

Uh, hate to tramp on your joke, but that's a leopard, the lion was the picture above..... BTW the caption has a grammatical error, there should be a comma after Christ, and why do these things always have to use Jesus Christ's name as a profanity????

Blast, I snagged the wrong link ;)

You know what I meant though ;)

Uh, hate to tramp on your joke, but that's a leopard, the lion was the picture above..... BTW the caption has a grammatical error, there should be a comma after Christ, and why do these things always have to use Jesus Christ's name as a profanity????

+ infinity

There are few things I hate more. It's one of those 10 commandments that kind of gets swept under the rug.