Jennifer & Warren: African Honeymoon

June 2011

Although visiting Africa on our Honeymoon was immediately on our shortlist of itineraries, we had to juggle around some other options -- such as an around-the-world trip, an Antarctica trek, and potluck via Four Seasons Hotel availability. In the end, a mixture of time, cost, time-of-year (i.e., winter in the Southern Hemisphere), and our desire to do something different and adventurous pointed us to Africa. We havent regretted this decision for a single minute.

Forward
PHOTOGRAPHERS NOTE Shooting on safari is, in a word, Frustrating. There are several factors that contribute to this. For one, safaris tend to start at dawn and right before dusk. While there is perfect light during much of this time, it is often eeting right when you need it. Second, you will almost always be in some sort of vehicle that is bouncing around -- moving (and not stopping) at the wrong times, and very often positioning you at exactly the wrong point or angle (with various obstructions always being plentiful). And, of course, most of your subjects are moving and wont pose. The African Bush and Delta is, in a word, Amazing. At almost every turn, I had the most incredible picture setting in my mind. Unfortunately, I didnt come close Images were captured on three devices -- a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, a Lumix DMC-ZS10, and an iPhone 4. Most low-light pictures were taken with the Lumix LX-5, and all zoom shots (past 3x) were taken with the Lumix ZS10. The Lumix ZS10 is equipped with a GPS unit and allowed us to create the map depicting where the images were captured. The iPhone 4 was used for panorama shots. to doing them justice and captured only a tiny fraction. Most times, I didnt even get those right. But the most amazing shots are denitely out there!

Our Itinerary
Frankfurt, Germany : Explore the Rheingau valley along the Rhein River Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe : Visit one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World Chobe River, Botswana and Namibia : Stay on the banks of the Chobe River : Cruise the Chobe River and watch indigenous river life : Ground safari in Chobe National Park : Visit local Namibian Village Okavango Delta, Botswana : Camp in the heart of Botswana : Morning and Evening Safaris in the Delta : Meet semi-habituated elephants Cape Town, South Africa : Stay on the historic waterfront and visit top restaurants : Tour the Winelands region and Franschhoek : Tour post-apartheid Cape Town : Cage dive with white sharks : Ascend Table Mountain and hike the top : Visit a colony of african penguins : Visit the Cape of Good Hope Manyeleti Reserve, Mpumalanga Province of South Africa : Morning and Evening Safaris : Track and hunt big game animals (with a camera) : Watch the sunrise and sunset along the plains
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Frankfurt
Frankfurt was actually an accidental destination. When we were pricing out tickets, it so happened the most inexpensive route was through Frankfurt. Id hoped wed nd a connecting ight through a nice tropical resort destination, or maybe through Dubai, but Frankfurt turned out to be the least expensive option. The good news was that the ticket was cheaper; the bad news was that there was a 10-hour layover on the way out and a 4hour layover on the way back. Since I had never been in Germany, we decided wed take a guided day tour through the Rheingau Valley. Wet met with our guide, Percy, and started our journey through the home of Riesling wines at the Kloster Eberbach monastery. We then went on to the wine village of Rdesheim (where I nally got to enjoy some local wurst). From Rdesheim we hopped on a commuter boat to leisurely cruise up the Rhein River. We passed by numerous villages which were made up of: one street (of houses and commerce), one castle overlooking the street, and acres of surrounding vineyards. We later found the real reason for these villages was for local barons to set up taxation points for boats that needed to pass. On our return trip, we found ourselves a little delayed with only a couple hours to spare, but we made our way out of the airport to try and gure out the local metro. Our goal was to get to the old town in Frankfurt and have a quick breakfast at one of the outdoor cafes. Although we failed on our rst attempt to navigagte the metro (with me looking for a destination called Erwachsene Einzel and Jennifer telling me I was actually reading Adult Single Fare off the tickets), we eventually hit the street and found a taxi. On the way back to the airport, almost out of Euros, we had no choice but to try the metro again. This time we were successful!

The three tombstones depicted here (as well as the many throughout the monastery) are still marking bodies buried below

The encompassing community around the Kloster Eberbach monastery

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Cruising the Rhein River from Rdesheim to St. Goarshausen

Upper-Left Photo: The mythical Loreleyfelsen. Before motors, so many boats ran aground here due to high winds and strong currents that shipmen began making up stories of a vengeful enchantress whose beauty and song made men powerless, and then bewitched them into crashing. Sounded plausible to me.

Images from the Kloster Eberbach Monastery. The winemaking is still active, but the 11th century equipment was just for show. Upper Photo: The monasterys (long defunct) dormitory

Yes, the hot dog was invented in Frankfurt (hence frankfurter), and their wurst is the best. But the Germans also give the French some strong competition in baking a damn ne croissant. Also, at seven in the morning the cafes and bakery stands were putting out their fresh pretzels. We never saw that in France!

Lodges, Camps, Hotels, and Houseboat

We stayed in some completely unique settings. We went from drinking puried river water and having no electricity at times to huddling with hot water bottles while raging winds blew through our pitch dark cabin at night. We also lounged on our terrace overlooking a marina while being overlooked by a famous attopped mountain, and had high tea while one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World thundered in the distance and created an amazing natural spectacle. We slept in the middle of nature on an untamed river, we witnessed dawn overtake the African Bush many hours from any other civilized outpost, and we met the sunset watching nocturnal animals emerge while toasting with gin and tonics (more accurately, Jennifer had red wine). We experienced so many awe inspiring moments and were constantly impressed by how our accommodations were able to provide so much with so little. Before we left home, Jennifer said she would feel guilty having a pool in a place where people felt the effects of intense drought. To our surprise, we found green lodges and camps that puried water from the rivers, streams, and natural wells. Unfortunately, even though the high and abundant waters used made us feel less guilty, it was still a bit too cold to jump in. Something else that surprised us was the modern technology. Even in our most remote accommodations, we always had access to an Internet connection. Apparently, we were never too far away to get a weak satellite signal. We were also very appreciative to all our hosts as everywhere we went, we received a surprise honeymoon experience. We were touched by the sheer amount of effort that was put into some of our surprises. At one stop, we received a new gift every night. Free booze was never in short supply either.
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Victoria Falls Hotel

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In 1904, a bridge was constructed to link Zambia with Zimbabwe, and an Edwardian-style hotel was built to overlook the bridge and the Victoria Falls. This hotel was aptly dubbed the Victoria Falls Hotel. It offers the quintessential British-African experience and was the gateway to our African adventure.

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Jennifer admiring the carcasses of animals we would likely soon be seeing.

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The falls were a 15-minute walk from the hotel and the gorge (Lower-Left Photo) was a 5-minute walk. Zimbabwe was the poorest country we visited (with a GDP per capita of about $461 per year). Their Prime Minister Mugabe, was actually voted out of ofce in the last election, but he chose to stay. He caused hyper-ination by printing un-backed currency (they had a $100 trillion dollar bill). Lack of any industry ensured we were always accompanied by friendly locals hoping to sell their handicrafts or receive a tip. We were out of cash early.

High Tea on the Terrace at the Victoria Falls Hotel

This picture is shot from Zimbabwe -- across the rainbow bridge is Zambia
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Zambezi Queen
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Although we werent able to walk around much on board, and mosquitos ruled the night, one of our most extraordinary experiences was going to bed while listening to river life along the Chobe River through our screen doors. We heard a symphony of frogs, crickets, hippos, buffalos, and many things unidentied.

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We were treated to a dinner on the banks of the Chobe River (in the middle of nowhere), complete with buffet meal, sizzling plates, and entertainment. We wondered how they did it since there was no electricity. The local people appeared out of the darkness into the re light and irradiated their own genuine warmth.

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Sanctuary Baines Camp

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After our 1.5 hour light-aircraft ight landed on a dirt clearing in the middle of the bush, we were taken to a swamp boat for a 1.5 hour ride through the delta on the way to the camp. Without any wind, the tranquil water mirrored the sky overhead like a giant sheet of glass

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Right-Upper Photo: By night we were not allowed to traverse the wooden walkways alone, but by day we felt like we were in a treehouse. Left-Lower Photo: The mosquito net around the bed would have allowed us to sleep outside under the stars, but it was too damn cold. Right-Lower Photo: The plunge pool was like an oasis of luxury in the remote delta...but was also too cold.

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Jennifer with our guide, July, preparing for our sundowner cocktails in the bush. July was surprisingly knowledgable not only about the wildlife and fauna, but also about everything from Botswana economics to Southern Africa politics

Right-Upper Photo: Driving throught the delta sometimes in 4.5 feet of water. The bed would ood and wed have to hold our legs up until it emptied Left-Lower Photo: Jennifer lounging by the warm re preparing for evening cocktails and conversation with other guests before dinner

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Cape Grace
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Upper-Left Photo: Whiskey tasting -- Jennifer impressed our whiskey expert with her observations and keen sense of taste (no joke!); Lower-Left Photo: Cape Towns version of the London Eye; Right-Photo: Wine tasting at Delheim (one of several wine tastings that we happened into)

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Upper Photo: The Warrior Pose #1 Lower-Left Photo: Violet Breasted Roller Bird; Lower-Right Photo: Baby Baboons

Upper-Left Photo: Alfred & Victoria (A&V) Waterfront with Coca Cola Man sitting in front of table mountain Middle-Left Photo: South Africas four nobel peace prize winners; Right-Photo: Jennifer imitating Coca Cola Man

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Tintswalo Lodge
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Excursions

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Namibian Village
On one morning, we were able to visit a local Namibian Village. It was truly an eye-opening experience. We were invited to see all aspects of the town from the re where they cooked their sh to the slab of stone that covered their bath water hole. The village was sparse, but the people were among the most hospitable and inviting that wed ever met. Our donations may have been one factor. And of course, in the end the town came out to dance and Jennifer was in the thick of things. All the women took a shine to Jennifer and It reinforced my notion that Jennifer was at the time, the most beloved Korean person in Southern Africa.

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Jennifers favorite baobab tree at the entrance to the village

The kids were unsupervised while playing with dirt and the occasional cool looking rock, yet were the most well behaved wed ever seen. The mature actions and reactions of these kids would put most of Americas youth to shame (I feel so old for thinking that...but its true!).

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Cape Town Winelands

We spent a day exploring the Winelands region in the Boland mountains of Cape Town. We visited the Delheim winery, took a tour of their facilities, and sat down to sample some of their nest batches. We bought a bottle of their most expensive red wine (Jennifer chose it) and paid about $30 for it. Good wine was cheap in Cape Town. The highlight of our day was a stop in Franschhoek where we overlooked a vast fertile valley and had lunch at a small farm restaurant aptly named La Petite Ferme. The food was delicious and the view was among the most picturesque and peaceful wed ever seen. We also took some time to walk through the village and visited an artist corner where we bought a local painting made of silverleaf.
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Victoria Falls -- the worlds largest falls as measured in a combination of height and width. The falls has over 2,000,000 sqaure feet of surface area, making it the largest sheet of water on Earth.

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Cape Point
Touring through the Noordhoek Valley to Cape Peninsula allowed us to see the natural side of Cape Town. Not only did we visit the Cape of Good Hope (the Southwest-most point of Africa we all learned about in school), but we also saw the most amazing ocean and geologic scenery of our trip. We started on Table Mountain where we were able to get a vantage point over all wed see that day. We could have hiked up and around the park all day, but we were on a tight schedule. Our scenic drive took us past some awe-inspiring vistas, beaches, and mountain passes. We went by our departure point for Seal Island (and our Great White Shark encounter) and past the home of African Penguins. It was nice to see some animals that couldnt easily kill us.

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<-- Thats Jennifer perched over Cape Town in her safari hat

On top of Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town to Cape Point

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The southern tip of the Cape of Good Hope -- it doesnt get much lower than this in Africa!

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Planes, Airports, and Immigration

One of the most interesting parts of our journey was the journey itself. We ew in several light aircraft including one where we sat in the only two passenger seats. On light aircraft we ew from as low as a few hundred feet off the ground to about 7,000 feet. We found out the hard way where the bumpy air was. In the beginning of each ight, we would be nervous with each sudden movement and drop the plane would make, but at the end we would be grooving in synch with the wind induced turbulence. It wasnt too bad. The dirt runways in the middle of the bush made for some very surprisingly soft landings. Because we were taking such small aircraft, we were forced to carry only a small dufe bag each. While this made us dress about the same every day, it also made us take advantage of our camps laundry service -- which would wash, iron, fold, and wrap our garments with a bow. On our rst light aircraft ight, we were late to the airport. A little guy in a vest ran over to us in the parking lot as if he knew us. He told us we were late and he grabbed our bags. He helped us through security and then took our bags right to the plane. To our surprise, he then loaded our bags, opened the door for us (inviting me to sit up front), and then jumped in the pilots seat. Fortunately it turned out that our pilot, Ziggy, knew what he was doing. If Id had my way, not only would we have own in one of the worlds smallest light aircraft, but we would also have own in the worlds largest commercial aircraft. We were supposed to take an Airbus A380 (a two level plane holding 521 passengers, with a bar area on the upper deck), but unfortunately, as soon as I stepped on board (after excitedly snapping some pictures of the loading area), I immediately realized that we were not on an A380. There had been an equipment change. Too bad --for Jennifer-- she had to listen to me complain for the next several hours.
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Upper Photo: Jennifer fresh off the plane and ready for safari Lower-Middle Photo: Some of our points of immigration were shacks along the river

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Johannesburg Airport. Jennifer is greeted by modern South Africas rst President and 1993 Nobel Peace Prize recipient
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The Big-5
The phrase Big-5 Game originated as a hunting term. Foreign hunters would use the phrase to describe the ve most dangerous animals to hunt. These animals were therefore among the most prized to encounter (and shoot). Today, the phrase is freely used by tourists on safari and the animals on the list are the benchmark to measure a successful outing. The concept is the same, but of course, the shooting is done with a camera. The Big-5 consist of African Elephants, Cape Buffalo, leopard, lion, and rhinoceros. Did we see all the Big-5? We sure did! Although it took until our very last safari to get a good look at some lions and rhinoceros. Wed caught some quick, hazy evening and nighttime glimpses, but it wasnt until the morning we were leaving when we got to go on a safari where it was just the two of us with the guides. Because there were no other guests, we were able to spend the time doing one of the most extraordinary activities of our trip -- tracking lions. We heard some lions through the night and then followed fresh paw prints in and around the bush. Many times, it looked like we might have lost them in the heavier brush. In the end, it took us a couple hours to nally nd them...but it was so worth it! In these shots, we share some of our experiences; where we were literally surrounded at times, where we were able to happen upon a lone leopard hopelessly trying to stalk buffalo, and where we met a trio of semi-habituated elephants that lived in the wild, but let us up real close.

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Five tons of African Elephant

Clockwise: Cape Buffalo, Leopard, White Rhino, Sleepy Lion

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Spending the morning tracking a pride of lions . . .

. . . and nding them!

A pride of lion tracked and found. The spotter sitting on the seat on the hood appararently is a man without fear. The driver tried to make us feel better by telling us that in the event of an attack, the spotter will be eaten rst, giving us time to run...

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Our guide called this couple honeymooning buffalo

This guy gave us a look that said step out of the vehicle and then well see how tough you are

We meandered into a herd of Cape Buffalos -- with no real desire or inclination to move for us.

Although buffalo are some of the toughest land animals on the planet, lone bulls are still vulnerable. The buffalo in the left-middle photo survived a lion attack, but lost a horn -- sadly, his days are numbered. The buffalo in the left-upper photo was not so lucky.

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Semi-habituated African Bush Elephants, Jabu, Thembi, and Morula gave us a very up-close encounter with the largest land animal on Earth
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An elephants teeth look like large Fig Newtons. Typically, an African Bush Elephant lives into its 60s -- where a common cause of death is starvation after the elephant loses its teeth. These guys let us hold and handle their trunks...they felt and sounded like very big, empty, heavy, rough garden hoses.

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Jabu and Morula each have a vocabulary of over seventy words. They are highly intelligent and can follow even a soft-spoken command. Of course, they were still driven by eating and mating --and knew no one could make them do anything they didnt want-- but they seemed to enjoy messing around with us.

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Upper-Left and Upper-Right Photos: Morula demonstrated how an elephant lies down to sleep. Amusingly, even while pretending to sleep, she was constantly eating everything her trunk could nd. An African Bush Elephant eats between 300-500 pounds of foliage every day.

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Upper Photo: White Rhino about to use his exclusive bathroom Lower-Left Photo: Leopard dreaming about hunting one of the hundred buffalo around him; Lower-Right Photo: Sleepy Lion tired from hunting all night

Critters and Landscape on Safari

In the African bush, nothing goes to waste. In the Circle of Life, when an animal is killed by a predator, everything is consumed in order. For example, when a lion takes down a kill, they will eat rst. Then hyena will descend and eat the bones. Vultures and jackals will follow the hyena and pick at whatever they can still nd. Finally, beetles and other insects will nish off any last traces. When an elephant eats a tree, it will consume the fruit or any other vessel that contains the trees seed. As the elephant roams and migrates, they disperse the seeds as their digestion completes (i.e., when they drop their loads). In fact, the elephants digestive process can even enhance the capacity of some seeds to germinate. This strengthens the lineage of the tree. Even though a day in the life of most animals revolves around eating, sleeping, mating, and trying not to die, we saw many parallels to humans. Everything from juvenile behavior to competing for females to defending ones territory mirrors us. We realized that animals and humans have the same basic needs, wants, and relative reactions to getting (or not getting) them. The point being that on safari, we were witness to an ancient, vast ecosystem. We found it very humbling to be in the face of a functional, natural ecosystem that gave us such an accurate window into ourselves. Oh, and we also saw a lot of cool stuff too...
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Dawn in the Mpumalanga bush

Those arent stones in the water...its a pod of hippos

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Clockwise: Monitor Lizard, Giraffe, Impala with Vulture pal, Warthog

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Jennifers favorite animal was the giraffe. She says they look regal when they walk. Lower-Right Photo: Suckling baby giraffe

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Upper Photo: Spider webs in the delta. It seems that spiders are even more prolic in Africa...there is always a new web to pull off yourself...but more spiders mean fewer mosquitos. (Its a fair trade). Lower-Middle Photo: Herd of Blue Wildebeest

Lower-Left Photo: Yellow Billed Horn Bill Bird silhouette; Lower-Middle Photo: African Fish Eagle; Lower-Right Photo: Vulture

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We ventured out to the famous Seal Island where 60,000 seals stink up the place while being pursued by great white sharks. We had some encounters with white sharks, but the weather wasnt ideal and the seas were choppy. We got some good visuals, but without an underwater camera, no good shots. Upper-Left Photo: Ripped decoy when the shark bit it; Upper-RIght Photo: View of Seal Island through shark diving cage

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Upper-Left Photo: Biggest croc we saw (more than 4m long); Upper-Right Photo: A shamed hippo (one that just lost a ght and had to ee) -- this poor guy looked so ashamed he wouldnt even look at us; Lower-Right Photo: A curious kudu

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Upper Photo: A large herd of elephants drinking and bathing Lower-Left Photo: Hyena sneering at us; Lower-Middle Photo: View from our Mokoro (traditional wooden shing canoe); Lower-Right Photo: Male warthog

Lower-Left Photo: Female ostrich; Lower-Right Photo: Male ostrich

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The Hippo in the Lower Photos is named Stinky by our safari guides. He is about 40-years old (Hippos generally live between 40 and 50 years), and was unable to amble away from us too quickly, giving us some oppotunities for some nice photos.

Upper-Left Photo: Violet Breasted Roller Bird; Upper-Right Photo: Two female vultures Lower-Left Photo: A pair of male vultures and a pair of female vultures; Lower-Right Photo: A male vulture and a female vulture about to take ight

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1. Bird lled tree; 2. Jackal; 3. View from our deck at Baines Camp 4. Cheetah; 5. Anteater or Hyena hole (active); 6. Caracal Cat 7. Bird nests; 8. Yellow Billed Horn Bill Bird; 9. Pair of bird silhouettes

Jennifer was beloved by so many local villages and groups, possibly because she jumped in and started dancing at every chance she got. These images depict Jennifer dancing with African dancers in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

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Our trip lasted 15-days, which is about half the lunar cycle. We started our journey with a waning crescent moon, hit the new moon (which means pure darkness and starlit sky), and eventually ended our journey with a full moon and a brightly lit nighttime sky. The sunsets werent bad either.

Our rst artwork. Purchased in Franshhoek, it is a post-modern piece painted on silverleaf over canvas Artist . Marie-Louise de Villiers Hamman

2011 Photography by Warren Sheng

THE END