Safari Videos: Part 1

After much procrastinating, I finally decided to have a look through our videos from South Africa. Videoing is one of those things that I always think is a good idea but would much prefer if someone else did it. That's why Bee usually ends up with the job and the following videos are his. I will inevitably choose a camera over a video cam.  

I know videos have the advantages of sound and unfolding action that effectively help re-live the experience.  However, there's something about photos that I find so much more intriguing and mysterious. They invite you to wonder about what it would've been like because it doesn't quite tell you everything.  I'm sure there are loads of people who can do amazing videos. Sadly, I currently have very little skill and practice in this area - which partially explains my preference for the camera.

Blogger didn't help the video cam cause much as uploading a video was far from straightforward. I was so tempted to do cussing voice overs while I prepared these videos (Fok die kak? Fok die kak. Fok die kak!).  So here goes.

The Second Leopard

We were feeling pretty chuffed after having spotted the leopard on the tree on our first day.  Apparently, it's not uncommon for people to go on safari and not see any leopards at all. The safari gods must have been smiling at us because we did see another one on our second day. The sun had already set and we found her only 200 yards from a tented camp. Lucky for them she had just fed and was cleaning her gorgeous black paws.

Honey Badger

We couldn't believe Solly's keen eyes as we were driving along one day.  Jaben stopped the jeep and we were all directed to watch the bushes. Out came these cute little things. Well, they may look cute and have a funny trot but they are listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most fearless creature in the world.  These tiny things will go for crocodiles, pythons, venomous adders, cobras, jackals and of course, honey and bees. They have powerful jaws and sharp teeth that can crush a tortoise's shell. The skin's very thick and rubbery and can protect them from spears and bites. They're also very intelligent and are one of the few animals known to have used tools for their benefit. How cool is that?  Maybe the Springboks should consider changing their name.

More videos and Afrikaans swearing to come.

Safari Withdrawal

I keep getting these urges to pack my bags and move to Africa. Maybe if I keep staring at this leopard's mesmeric eyes... I'd wake up and be there.

Cape Town, Safari Withdrawal & Other Tidbits

This is my 5th post on our recent South African adventure last August. I can't believe we were there only 9 weeks ago. It feels like forever and yesterday all at the same time.  

Cape Town was our final destination before heading back to Sydney and we were pretty weary by this stage of our trip, old farts that we are.  It took me a bit of time to adjust to being back in a city after being immersed in Kruger. A bad case of safari withdrawal I suppose. Quite protracted actually as it's still ongoing. Can anyone give me a cure? My workmates have even offered to dress up as animals so I can track them around the office. 

On a serious note though, I'm planning to return to Africa and do some wildlife conservation volunteering in 2015. We were talking about this over dinner with our friends S & C tonight and they want to come along. I'd love to go next year but we have some family events happening that we need to prioritise. So, if anyone reading this blog can make some recommendations for reputable organisations for wildlife conservation volunteering in Africa I would be so grateful. I just want to make sure we go somewhere that's doing the right thing by the animals and the cause.

We had the lovely Julie Clarke from Cape Splendour Tours take us on a private tour of this beautiful city of Cape Town.  Julie was very professional, knowledgeable and juggled the needs of my family skillfully. Julie has been so helpful even after our trip and has given me some leads on conservation volunteering. Thanks Julie!

Cape Town is so picturesque I figured I can let the photos do the talking.

Hotel room view from the V & A Waterfront Hotel

Waterfront, Cape Town

Groot Constantia

Mountain views from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Hout Bay

Fishing boats at Hout Bay

Still Hout Bay and ridiculously beautiful

What can I say? Just bloody gorgeous.

I tried to get to know some of the locals.

Geese rugby gone wrong. Is that a Springbok move? Habana's off and running!

Pregnant owl at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

My mom loves this shot of me with this squirrel. 

The bloody things were too quick for me.

Ah, gotcha! You want to meet my cats?

This fella here was more my speed.

I also gathered some interesting tidbits about SA:

• That brilliant movie released in 2009 called "District 9" was inspired by actual events in South Africa during the apartheid regime. The backdrop of the movie is about a population of sick and destitute extraterrestrial aliens (derogatorily called "prawns") who are confined to a government camp outside of Johannesburg called District 9 and the government's attempts to relocate them.  The movie title alludes to District 6, the name of a former residential area in Cape Town. It was declared a "whites only" area by the government in 1966 and over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed and relocated.

• The world's first heart transplant was performed by Dr Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town in 1967.

• South Africa ranks 3rd in the world in supplying safe, drinkable tap water.

• South Africa is the only country in the world to voluntarily abandon its nuclear weapons program.

• Soweto in Johannesburg has the only street in the world to house 2 Nobel Peace prize winners - Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

• South Africa has the cheapest electricity in the world and supplies two-thirds of Africa's electricity.

• The South African grasslands have approximately 30 species per square kilometre- that's greater than the biodiversity of rain forests.

Worth visiting, ja?

Skydiving: Flying High

For as long as I can remember, I've always dreamed of flying. Whenever I went on an airplane plane as a kid, I'd gaze out of the window and fancy myself flying across the fleecy layer of clouds below. It would be so unimaginably quiet as I glide towards the glowing sun and if I was really careful I might manage to settle into an oversized cloud sofa or walk barefoot on what would feel like a floor of marshmallows. Actually, I still imagine all this when I look out of an airplane window. The only difference now is I'm effortlessly sipping a cool glass of prosecco as I streak across the clouds.

(source: http://www.scargosun.com/06.2012/exhausted-and-something-that-freaks-me-out/)

I also have a lot of flying dreams. I'd fly around my university quadrangle. I'd fly inside houses. Those dreams are amazing to wake up from. For the first few hours, my body still remembers that feeling of weightlessness and fluid motion. It feels like swimming only you don't have worry about your breathing and it doesn't tire you out.

I'm not sure how I developed this aspiration. Maybe Christopher Reeves as Superman did it when he flew Lois Lane across Metropolis in her diaphanous blue dress. Or maybe it was those microseconds of weightlessness while riding Magic Mountain. That's another fetish of mine - super fast roller coasters in the dark!

So you can imagine why skydiving would seem like a logical choice- to get a taste for flying anyway.  In April 2010, we decided to go tandem skydiving with a group of friends. We headed down to Wollongong which is about an hour and a half drive south of Sydney. 

We went with a company called Skydive The Beach Sydney.  We were told to wear loose casual clothing, similar to what you'd wear while exercising. Only closed toe footwear and of course no thongs, sandals, high heels or hiking boots.

We arrived at around 11 am and checked in at the front desk where we got weighed and signed a health and indemnity declaration form. You have to pay a surcharge if you weigh over 95 kg and subject to an assessment if you are over 110 kg. The weight limit is due to a number of reasons. The harness can sometimes not be fitted properly or safely if you are over the weight limit. A bigger person would need a larger parachute. A larger passenger would often have to jump with a smaller tandem instructor making their job difficult and risk of injury greater. 

After doing all that, we sat on the grass near the beach to wait for our group's turn to receive our harness and briefing. There were about 4 groups ahead of us and we'd see the same tandem skydive instructors coming and going. By the time I met my tandem master Tony, he had already done 10 skydives for the day. 

During our briefing, we put on our jump pants and were fitted with our harness. We were taught to cross our arms over our chest just as when we're about jump out of the plane and to spread them out to the sides when indicated by our instructor. As you would expect, some people in our group were getting quite nervous by this stage. Why wouldn't you? You're only throwing yourself out of a flying plane at 15,000 feet! Why wasn't my fight-or-flight response being activated? I blame Pavlovian conditioning - flying:superman; flying:marshmallow floor; flying:blissful weightlessness.

We couldn't bring our own cameras with us so we got a photo and dvd package. Tony had a wrist-mounted camera to capture my experience from briefing to landing. After our briefing, we took a 25-minute bus ride to Albion Park airport where our little plane was waiting for us.

We watched everything below us get smaller and smaller.

The view from the plane was spectacular. I couldn't have asked for better weather or a better outlook.

Each of our tandem masters strapped themselves behind us when we got on the plane. After about 25 minutes of climbing towards the sky, it was time to start jumping out like the SAS. Well, sort of.

And out I went!

Diving into thin air felt absolutely amazing!

The sound of 60 seconds of exhilarating freefall was deafening. Pretty much like the sound you hear when airplane doors get opened in movies.

I'm flying!

Nothing can beat this feeling!

Tony activated our parachute after those sweet but short 60 seconds. 

He taught me how to steer the parachute and we soared over the breathtaking views for about 5 minutes.

But before you know it, it was time to land. This was the part I felt nervous about. I have a friend who broke his ankle while landing. I also imagined that the impact of hitting the ground might be really hard. 

The photos end here because Tony had to focus on the most crucial part of the skydive- landing us safely. We swooped down onto the grassy area next to the beach with our parachute billowing behind us. I was asked to bend my legs in front of my body just as we're about to land. Tony landed us with such skill that I barely felt the impact. In fact by the time I put my feet on the ground, it felt like I was walking on marshmallows because it was such a gentle landing.

After Tony detached my harness from him, he kept videoing to capture what I had to say afterwards. I felt fantastic and wanted to do it all over again. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as getting off a slippery slide and then running to line up for another turn. So we headed to the closest pub instead and celebrated our mind-blowing experience. I was buzzing for the rest of the weekend- from excitement and the satisfaction of realising a dream. 

Skydiving: highly recommended!