Dive Zanzibar Safari

We did all of our safaris in Zanzibar under the sea - diving (Vince) and snorkeling (me.) We didn't have an underwater camera with us but quite frankly, after two weeks on safari in Tanzania where we produced more than 8500 photographs collectively, we were done taking pictures anyway!

Among the creatures we saw were green sea turtles, moray eels, scorpion fish, lion fish, large groupers, octopuses, lobsters, rays, manta rays and dolphins.

Giraffes with Jill!

Welcome to South Africa, Jill!

When I asked my niece Jill which animal she most wanted to see when she arrived in South Africa, she said "the giraffe." Giraffes are easy. They are plentiful in SA and they do not have any natural predators to speak of. Even the lion will not take on the giraffe's potential fatal kick in most circumstances. 

Jill on horseback with a giraffe in the Waterberg

Giraffes @ Ant's Nest

And we saw giraffes almost immediately as we set out on our first horseback safari at Ant's Nest. A tower of giraffes - that's what a group of giraffes is called! - even came out to say goodbye to Jill on the last ride before we left.

Jill rode an elephant at the Elephant Sanctuary!

Even though we saw plenty of her requested giraffe, I still wanted Jill to see as many other African animals as possible, both in the wild and in sanctuaries. And we did. We saw rhinos, zebras, warthogs, vervet monkeys, baboons, blesbok, waterbuck, impala, gemsbok, eland, sable, nyala, wildebeest, lilac-breasted rollers and yellow hornbills in the Waterberg; lemurs at the Monkey Sanctuary and African ellies at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hartbeespoort; dassies on Table Mountain and more dassies along with plenty of penguins at the Boulders penguin colony in Simonstown; common and bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales, dusky sharks, sardines, and loggerhead turtles in the Indian Ocean off Port St. John, as well as cape cormorants, subarctic skuas, cape gannets, southern giant petrols, and albatrosses in the sky overhead. We even saw the very rare cape parrots in Port St. Johns. Good spotting, Jill!

Walking with lions!

At Ukutula we walked with lions and interacted with baby cheetahs, (Asian) tigers, hyenas, lion cubs and orphaned caracals. And we saw crocodiles basking on the riverbank.

Giraffes @ Ukutula

We saw more impala, nyala and wildebeest on our lion walk at Ukutula and their resident giraffes even came out to say hello to Jill too!

HRC with Lou & Serge

Of course I couldn't let Jill leave without seeing South Africa's finest dachshunds, Lou & Serge. We had dinner with them at the HRC and Jill had their pictures taken with Nelson Mandela's statue in Mandela Square.

HBD Nelson & Jill!

Sardines for Father's Day

It took me three years but I finally got Vince to dive the Sardine Run! 

Theoretically, the Sardine Run happens in South Africa every June and July when the sardines migrate from Antarctica. They swim along the southern coast of the Indian Ocean along the Wild Coast to Durban through a trough where the continental shelf steeply drops off into the deep ocean.

I say "theoretically" because during some years, the sardines are a no-show. Apparently the sea temperature needs to drop below 21 °C because sardines prefer water temps between 14-20 °C. If not, the sardines do not run. 2013 and 2014 were dismal, but the sardines started running this year by mid-June in KZN. By all accounts, 2015 is gearing up to be a great year for the Sardine Run!

surrounded by dolphins

I have to admit I had never heard of the Sardine Run before Vince mentioned it to me three years ago. I am not a scuba diver and really have no interest in meeting a shark face to face underwater without a cage to protect me.

But the Sardine Run happens to coincide with something I do care about - the return of the Humpback Whale to the Wild Coast - and I was told there would be a good chance to see whales from out on the boat.

And we would definitely also be able to see dolphins since they are the key to making a sardine "bait ball."

This is the way it works. Once dolphins find a large school of sardines, they circle around part of the school, cutting off a large number from the rest of the school. They create a whirl pool around the sequestered sardines who spin around and around in circles until they form a tightly packed ball of bait. Then the crafty dolphins feed on the captive sardines. This phenomenon does not go unnoticed by others however. Out of the sky come gannets and cormorants who dive deep into the bait ball and eat their fill as well. Then there are the whales and the sharks who come in for some sardines too.

Humpback whales, like sharks, are feeding opportunists. If the dolphins take the trouble to make a bait ball of sardines, the whales are more than happy to join in and take advantage of a free meal served up by their friends.

circling dolphins

Jill watching the diving gannets

Vince getting ready to go overboard.

there he goes!

I brought snorkeling gear with me on the boat, but I wasn't sure if  I could actually go into the water if there were confirmed sharks swimming around. And in fact, Vince saw two sharks just swimming around the boat almost as soon as he entered the water. He said one actually circled back to get a better look at him before heading out to catch some sardines instead. No thanks!

I didn't need to snorkel like Jill to see the sardines anyway. The sardines were visible from above the water swimming around and under the boat. Besides I didn't come for the sardines; I came for the whales and dolphins. And I could see so many of both from the safety and security of the boat! They were putting on quite a show too. The whales were peduncle slapping the water with their tails and pec slapping with their fins, rolling on their backs like a puppy dog and clapping their fins together like a seal, breaching, lunging and spy hopping. And we saw a ridiculous number of common and bottlenose dolphins all swimming around and under the boat. We even saw a couple of loggerhead turtles!

humpback peduncle slap

I didn't take many photos of the Sardine Run though for a couple of reasons. First of all, Vince was busy with the GoPro and took hours and hours of footage of the sardines and sharks below the surface as well as the dozens of frolicking whales and dolphin pods all swimming around us in the boat. I had only brought my little Canon on the Zodiac and not my 35mm Nikon. (I didn't have a waterproof casing for it.)

Secondly, we were so lucky to have a world famous underwater photographer on board. I gave him precedence and a wide berth in our little Zodiac. (Between the diving equipment and the people, we were packed in like sardines!) No matter how good my photos might have been had I elbowed in for a better vantage point, they would never have been as good as his. I sure hope he got a photo of a dolphin breaching too!

Photo by Greg Lecoeur

photo by Offshore Africa

photo by Greg Lecoeur

photo by Offshore Africa

Vince surely earned his Sardine Run tee shirt

For his next adventure, Vince wants to dive with the fur seals and sevengill sharks off of Simonstown in the Western Cape. He can do that in July when I am safely back in the United States for the month. Have fun honey!

All in all, it was a great Father's Day. And as a result, we now have a new Father's Day tradition. From now on, Vince will remember and celebrate his Father's Day Sardine Run by eating a sardine sandwich for all his future Father's Day lunches.

Happy Father's Day, Vince!

Happy World Turtle Day!

Happy Turtle Tuesday!

Leopard Tortoise in KZN

The conservation organization Turtle Survival Alliance has declared Tuesdays "Turtle Tuesdays." Okay. I'm a Turtle!

Happy Turtle Tuesday!

The Other Cape

Raging fires across the top of the Cape Peninsula curtailed our plans to visit the Cape of Good Hope and the Boulders African Penguin colony in Simonstown. And an unrelated fire at the Cape Point forced the authorities to close access to the park completely for an afternoon.

Okay we can take a hint! No Cape of Good Hope visit for us. Luckily we had an even better alternative. Cape Agulhas, the southern most point in Africa. A little further to drive than Good Hope, Cape Agulhas is about two hours due east from Cape Town.

dipping a toe in the Indian Ocean

Besides being further south than Good Hope which is only the most southwestern point in Africa, Cape Agulhas is also recognized as being the dividing line between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

the lighthouse at Cape Agulhas

It has a working weathervane.

And we still were able to see African Penguins in the wild. Close to Cape Agulhas is Betty's Bay with another African Penguin colony, the Stony Point penguin reserve.

Along with many other sea birds and seals, we had a rare sighting of one of the African Penguin's most feared predators. The Cape Clawless Otter.

We also saw this cute Speckled Padloper tortoise.

The Greatest Meal on Earth

Tandoori Chicken. On the braai.

Getaway magazine (March 2014) called it "The Greatest Meal on Earth" and they gave an easy recipe for it.

So we made it in our camp at Bhanga Nek before a night trek to see the nesting sea turtles on the beach.

I don't know about "the greatest" but it was pretty darn good!

Turtles covering up their nest

The loggerheads and leatherbacks do this slightly differently.

The loggerhead has fin-like wing arms and legs and she uses them both in a "snow angel" move to flip sand back onto its nest. First the front flippers.

Then they climb up on top of their nest and use their back flippers for the final cover.

The leatherback uses its very powerful deep sea front flippers in the same way as the loggerhead.

But the leatherback uses its hind legs to "pat" the sand over the nest.

This sea turtle is built for swimming in the open water.