The Garden Route : Monkeys, Birds, big Cats and a lot of fun

We left the wild coast to go to the Garden Route. Our first stop was a true dream for Romain because he did the biggest bungee jumping from a bridge (216m). A lot of sensations and nice souvenirs. I just walked on the bridge (yes, I already jumped in Austria (192m) and… that’s enough if you know what I mean ;-) )

and then we installed our tent in Plettenberg, or « Plett » for those in the know !!! Plett is a nice town on the beach which looks like a French town on the beach. Our program for the next few days: walking on the beach, visit of a reserve for abandoned monkeys, meeting with colourful birds, tour with big cats and hiking on a peninsula to see the seals….

In “Monkeyland” we learnt a lot of things (hopefully they are all correct…I let you check it out ;-) )

- Monkeys from South America are different from African monkeys because they use their tail as a 5th hand.
- The velvet monkeys are nicknamed the blue because males have blue “nuts” (see by yourself) and when they are young, they are gay and after they become kings of “self satisfaction” ;-)

- The scream of Howler monkeys can be heard up to 7 km far away and the female has got lighter hair than males.

- The gibbons do not have tail because they “walk” as human. They are very in trees and can jump from branch to branch with a speed of 40km/h.

- Capuchin monkeys are the most intelligent monkeys. (we speak about monkey not about gorillas). They use branches to cut fruits and nuts.

- The « Squirrel monkeys » are characterized by their small size and their red colour.

- The black and white lemurs are the biggest lemurs on Earth. Their tail can be up to 60 cm long.

- The maki lemurs have a black and white stripped tail. They love sunbathing ;-)

At Birds of Eden we did not get a guide so we don’t know anything about the birds we saw…. But we had a great time with all these colourful birds !!

After we visited Jukani : It’s a reserve for big cats. At the beginning we disagreed to visit a place where animals are in cage but we changed our minds: first it’s like a zoo in Europe but here the cage are pretty big and second: all animals here are endangered or already extinguished, so it’s really important to be aware of what is happening and what we can do to protect them… Our guided tour was  great; we learnt a lot of information…And of course I cannot refrain to share it with you!!!

- The biggest difference between lions and tigers is the fact that tigers are « unsocial ». They have a territory and patrol on it, but on each territory it can only has one male and one female. The male never stays with the female. When it’s breeding time, the female let hormones on grass. When the male smells it, he meet the female and *BING BING BANG BANG*… He never takes care of the baby. The young tigers become the worst enemy of the male (because of that territory story…). Lions are different, they are overprotecting. They take care of all females of the clan and of the babies. In exchange they ask females to hunt for them. Lions don’t have a territory so they can spend 22 hours per day sleeping instead of patrolling. Females never leave the clan but males have to leave because it’s always one lion with up to 15 lionesses. That’s why lions fight each other and have a lifespan of 6 years (females have a lifespan of 25 years). In her life, a lioness has several males… but not at the same time J. And do you know why a lion has a mane? Because he is so overprotecting with females that he produces a lot of testosterone… And testosterone makes his mane grow….
- Another difference between lions and tigers is the fact that tigers do their business in water. Lions stay on ground ;-)
- Siberian tigers are the biggest cats still existing. Grown up they can measure up to 5 meters long. They are unfortunately facing extinction because Chinese people are killing them; they think tigers have medicinal powers… There are only 250 siberian tigers left but for a specie to survive (and renew the genetic code) there are to be at least 2500 individuals…  If hunting doesn’t stop, in one and an half year, all Siberian tigers will be dead.

- That’s what happened with the white tigers. White tigers are not albinos, they have a recessive gen. The last wild white tiger was killed in 1958. Today the only specimens left are born in zoo but are all consanguineous. For all new birth, 75% of the babies are already dead, the others are disabled or blind… Do we have to continue reproduction or shall we stop these painful births and make the white tiger disappears???

- The same issue exists with white lions. Because they are rare they are killed by riche poachers and used as trophy. If we don’t find any solution to stop this “business” all white lions will die soon. (sooner as we think)
- Leopards are the most unpredictable cats ever. It’s the only cat which is not in circus because they are so dangerous. They are good in “hiding art” and jump on their prey from the ground to grab the neck. As they don’t like to share, they take their prey in trees. With their nails they can carry up to 3 times their body weight…
- Jaguars are different from leopards because they have a black line on their back (Leopards have only « spots”. Their head has a « square » shape because they attack their prey from the top and break cranes. Their jaw is strong enough to break a crocodiles’ head.

- Cougars can jump up to 4 meters high following an 8 meters parabola.
- Caracals are small cats but they are very dangerous. The name means “black ears” in Arabic. They can attack night and day, from the ground or from a tree, which makes them to be great hunters. They have a small tail so that they can jump very high without breaking it when coming down. Farmers hate caracals because they usually kill all animals in the herd even if they only eat one of them… And they also unskin their prey…
- Hyenas are not appreciated by people but they are interesting animals. They have several records. First of all hyenas are neither cat nor dog. They are the first mammals of that type appearing on Earth when dinosaurs were alive. They have a jaw stronger than all other cats and they are not scavengers but great hunters. (98% of kill compare to 30% for lions and tigers). Only the wild dog has 100% kills because he is a great runner (up to 900km per day). Females hyenas have a fake penis that they can control by thinking. They are the only mammal females who produce testosterone. Hyenas are solitary and always fight each other. A new born doesn’t have an umbilical cord (that’s unique for mammals) and the young baby has open eyes and teeth … He is ready to fight!!!!

So, I think now you know as much as I do about cats… It’s time to protect them !!!
After all of these stories, we need physical activity… We hiked on Robberg Peninsula and we saw seals playing in water! Just wonderful ;-)

Then we drove to Oudtshoorn, the ostrich city. We couldn’t refrain to taste the ostrich meat and it’s really good ;-). We also visited a farm. Ostriches can live up to 50 years old. They have a brain smaller than their eyes (only 40 grams) Their neck has 90 vertebras.In the wild, an ostrich makes 16 eggs per year (in summer) but in a farm it can do up to 120 eggs. (farmers take eggs away, so the reflex of the ostrich is to make new eggs… and so on). The ostrich leather is the second most resistant leather after the kangaroo leather.  One ostrich egg is like 24 chicken eggs.

  We also visited a cave with beautiful stalagmites, stalactites and columns !

At last, but not least we saw beautiful landscapes…. And (not as usual) I don’t have any words to say….

The wild and colourful coast

With our small car we arrived (with a challenging drive) in Coffee bay on the wild coast. More than potholes on the road, we had to avoid dozens of animals “parked” in the middle of the road and a lot of mad pedestrians walking along the road… But what a scenic tour. The landscape looks like small mountains and everywhere you find very colourful houses : pink, yellow, green, orange, blue…. It is very pretty but if you don’t have a car you need to be really fit to walk there ;-) (and so we are….)

After we drove to Cintsa, another small town along the coast where we installed our tent. As we were there for Mandela Day, we gave 67 minutes of our time to an NGO called “African Angels” which has created a primary school for poor kids. Why 67 minutes? On the 18^th of July it’s Mandela’s Birthday and on that day South African people are pleased to give 67 minutes of their time to remember that Mandela gave 67 years of his life in fighting racial inequality.

At school we helped the youngest kids in their activities: drawings, painting, counting, reading… And of course we used the break to play. They showed us a new version of “I lost a letter” and we teached them “the master”. A lot of fun, a lots of smiles… All what we like ;-)

At last we moved to Jeffreys Bay, a town well known by surfers for its “supertubes”. And we were lucky to watch (in live) the finale of the Billabong Surf Contest which takes place in July each year. It’s very impressive to see pros in huge waves…but soon you’ll discover how good WE are ;-)

South Africa : or are we back to Europe??

After leaving Ponta Do Ouro in Mozambique and its sandy roads, we crossed the South African border on foot (without any issue) and we arrived on a “real” road ;-). Our first stop in that new country was Sodwana Bay, a national park well known for its diving sites… but we were not lucky that time… Anyway we kept going our travel and we hitch hiked to Durban (360km further south)… For our first hitch hiking we were very lucky: we first did few kilometres with a tractor (yes, you read it well, a tractor), then 2 cars dropped us at the national road. There we walked 4 kilometres with our bags, we saw a lot of cars passing without stopping, we heard a lot of klaxons and finally a driver took us directly to Durban for the last 320 km!!!

In Durban we had “a shock”; it doesn’t look like Africa but more like Europe : huge skyscrapers, big shopping malls, traffic signs…. Another country!!!
Regarding the temperature we were not lucky… it was very chilly…. But even cold we visited Durban, its beach front and uShaka Marine World, the biggest aquarium in East Africa. In addition of eating next to a shark, of having seen Nemo and Doris,

I could come near (and kiss) a dolphin!!! But let’s say I deserved it because I won the “dancing” contest among the audience.

After, we visited the football stadium built in for the 2010 worldcup but we couldn’t take the sky car because it was too windy… And we also didn’t spend enough time in Durban to taste an Indian curry (Durban is the city in the world which has the biggest Indian community (after India of course ;-)))

But in this modern and developed country it’s a pity (and its shocking) that the gap between whites and blacks is still so huge… Mandela started a great job but there is still a lot to do….

After these few days in town we went to Umkomaas (in Zulu it means “the playing baby whale”). Do you want to know why it is called “baby whale”? Let me tell you the story: The story says that the Zulu King saw a whale and its calf playing in the river mouth of Umkomaas and he was so happy to see it that he called the village “baby whale”… Yes it’s a legend, ie. a story seen by the wisest of a certain time who told the story to the next generations. But to live, a legend needs storytellers. Today I was your storyteller and tomorrow maybe, when you’ll go to South Africa, you’ll be the next storyteller…

We are not descendants from the Zulu king but we also saw whales playing and even dolphins, sharks, turtles… A fabulous diving week in a beautiful dive site (a fossilised sand dune). But when you’re out of the water it’s really cold, so after diving a good meal is necessary ;-)

Maputo and Ponta do Ouro: Our last few Mozambican days but a lot of nice surprises !!!

Maputo is the capital of Mozambique. As all huge cities, it is polluted, it has a lot of traffic jams and it is not safe…(at least because of the policeman controlling you for some reason just because they try to get money from you) . But it was a mandatory stop to visit the French School of Maputo!!! And it was the last school day when we went in so we were pretty lucky!!! We didn't learnt new games (In a French school they learn French games)… But they loved playing Mingola and the Master, two new games for them!!!

After this fun, we went to Ponta do Ouro, the last beach before South Africa. It's only 120 km far away from Maputo but it takes 4,5 hours to get there by chapa!!! Why?? Because there is no road, just a sandy way… But we arrived in time to see the second half time of the France - Nigeria match ;-) !!!

And there, we met incredible people : We were installing our tent in the dark, and François, our neighbour invited us to drink a glass of wine. He is South African and is here for holidays with his daughter Iana and a friend of her Claudia. The next morning we joined them for breakfast and on the afternoon he drove us to Malongane where we tried a local drink: R&R (Rhum & Raspberries). For diner he cooked a barracuda fish on the grill!!! So great!!!

As Romain gave me his flue, we couldn't dive (it's a pity) but instead we rented a quad bike to drive on the sandy dunes !!! Fabulous!!! We met 4 other quad bikers and the offered us another local drink : the Springbocker : a shooter of Amarula and mint liquor !!!! Really good!!!

That is travelling : unplanned things happen, we meet new people, and we have a lot of fun !!!

Tofo and Vilanculos: Paradisiac beaches and a lot of discoveries

After these few days in Mozambique Island we had to fly to avoid the political conflicts in the center of the country. In fact, presidential elections will happen next October and that makes the country under pressure. The actual government (Frelimo) is widely criticised by the opposition (Renamo). The Renamo leader lives in the Gorongaza mountains and the only road crossing the country from North to South is in the middle of the conflicts area. The ones accuse the others to be responsible for the attacks (and vice versa) and nobody wants to cease fire! Firearms attacks are possible on that road… and even the military convoy installed on that part of the country is useless against attacks. It's very hard to know what the Renamo wants. One of their claims is to separate Mozambique in 2 parts: The North and the South…

It's also to notice that the country was always in war; because of several attacks, invasions and colonisation but also because of civil wars. Mozambique is independent since 25th June 1975 but the civil war ended only 20 years ago…. That's why people think a war can solve problems… Hopefully it will change… but for now on, and for our safety we decided to fly from Quelimane to Maputo and from there we took a bus to Tofo.

Tofo is a wonderful beach with a well preserved wild coast. No building disturb the landscape!!! And it's also a good diving site, so we couldn't resist and we are glad to tell you thatwe are the first "RAID Open Water" certified people in Mozambique. (Same as PADI but not well known). Now we can dive up to 20 meters on our own!!! And for our first dive (after the « school dives » we saw two green turtles. (Plus some anemone fishes, clown fishes, trumpet fishes, scorpion fishes…) We are just disappointed because we didn't spot any whale shark!... can't wait the next dive site!!

To continue our beach trip we went to Vilankulos, a town northern from Tofo. Vilankulos is well known for its Bazaruto archipelago but staying there is really expensive that's why we couldn't dive there. We just did a one day trip to the island for snorkelling and we could hike the sand dune of Bazaruto island!! So nice !

We also went to a local school with Faquir, a tour guide, who helped us to communicate with the kids (as they only speak Portuguese and a local dialect). When we came in, one class was without teacher so, after talking with the headmaster, we went together outside to play. They fisrt start with the local version of « I lost a letter":

Lencinho caio na mao nao
Lencinho caio na mao nao
Ovo podre ceira mal, ovo podre cheira mal

Then they played rope skipping (with two scarfs)
« Comeu minha manga e a manga tava doca » (They ate my mangos and my mangos are sweet). And anorther version : «  Aque nao passa ninguem vou passar »

They also played marbles. It's the first time, we see kids playing marbles. When it was time to leave, they sang for us. It's so lovely to share such a moments with kids who don't speak the same language than us!

One thing is very curious for us : every times we pass in front of a school, there are always pupils outside… Do they study sometimes ??? A local guy explained us that they are too many students (or the classrooms are too small) so they study in shift. During 2 hours it is the first shift, and then the second, etc etc… A Mozambican student sit in a classroom between 2 and 4 hours per day, and a French kid 7 hours…
We were also surprise by the noise in the school. Even with the teacher, kids are very loud… and they have a different way to learn : the teacher read loudly the lesson and the kids just repeat together. Do they really learn somethings??? This is another story… !!!