Vacation – Page 3 – wee little lovelys

Southeast Gauteng Trip – Part 4 of 4 (Sterkfontein Caves)

October 3, 2013

In 1992, my family & I spent Christmas in Texas and New Mexico. During that trip we visited the Carlsbad caverns in New Mexico. The caves were gigantic and amazing to wander around in! Ever since that family trip I’ve loved exploring caves. Perhaps this early exposure led me to be a geologist in some sort of way…

The last destination on our long weekend trip was to the highly anticipated Sterkfontein Caves. They’re world-acclaimed as many fossils have been discovered in them. First discovered in 1896 by an Italian miner, they endured 40 years of mining activity before scientists started more serious archeological excavations in 1936.

We left Maropeng in the morning and made our way through vast farmlands to Sterkfontein. The visitor centre was very nice yet sadly the first thing you see is their gift store. This is not such a welcome sight when you have kids. Claire had a hard time with us saying no to a new stuffy so we bartered a purchase in trade for no-fuss during our hour long underground tour. Yes, sometimes you have to erm, ‘cave’ if you want to get things done as a parent.

I figured we would walk into the side of a mountain to get started but no, we entered by way of the earth down a very long & steep staircase, ducking at times to proceed. In fact, the entrance isn’t visible at a distance as it blends into the grassland so well. It was intriguing and the kids were amazing on the tour. I thought for sure they would be scared as it was dark and we had to crawl through few a few sections, but no. It was a hot day and the caves were a cool 18C which was soothing for us heat sensitive Canadians. After our unique tour through the dolomitic limestone depths we climbed out of the earth, squinting much of the walk back to the visitor centre.

After buying the promised stuffed animals (a giraffe and a hippo) we made our way back to our cooked car. Onwards back to Johannesburg.

We had a great little trip that provided us with plenty of memories and photos. Perhaps one of the kids will find future inspiration as I did with my geo work.

Southeast Gauteng Trip – Part 3 of 4 (Maropeng – Cradle of Humankind)

October 1, 2013

With a drive time of one hour, our next destination of Maropeng was a breeze. The Cradle of Humankind was located right beside the boutique hotel we booked which was convenient. Upon arrival we noticed the turmoil of a large concert area being set up. Turns out it was a free concert the following day in honour of Heritage Day in South Africa. Sidestepping the descending swarms of people, we quickly made plans to get our visit to the Maropeng exhibition completed on this arrival day rather than fighting any chaotic crowd the next day.

Maropeng was very pretty and the surrounding grassy fields reminded us of the Canadian prairies during summertime. As I enjoyed the breeze and the kids slept with car doors open, Jimmy the Sherpa graciously unloaded our parked car. As it turns out, the hotel was pretty fancy and not really set up for kids as they had touted. They did provide an extra mattress that fit on the floor though and the kids enjoyed jumping from our generous bed to it.

The Maropeng exhibition wasn’t quite as scientific as we thought and rather it was set as part theme park/ part exhibition. We started our visit with a boat ride through air, water, fire, and earth (very fun for the kids!) then we walked through the exhibition centre which introduces major themes, such as evolution, the formation of fossils, extinction, DNA, and the birth of the Earth and the Cradle of Humankind.

We walked outside the centre in the warm sun and found a playground which was taken over by African teenagers. They performed a bunch of dances which were fun to watch. Rhys liked the dancing but thought they were too loud 😉 After tiring ourselves out we headed back to the hotel for a drink on the patio while the kids put their feet in the freezing cold pool. The view was fantastic!

After a nice bath for the kids and further fun jumping off the bed, it was time for slumber. All in all it was a nice visit to Maropeng. The next morning we planned to visit the Sterkfontein Caves then onwards to home….

Rhys is a HUGE fan of dinosaurs!:

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Southeast Gauteng Trip – Part 2 of 4 (Harties Cableway)

September 29, 2013

Offering panoramic views from the top of the Magaliesberg Mountains, Harties Cableway was our next destination. Thankfully, the somewhat overcast weather burned-off lending us hope and excitement for the views to come.

After a nail-biting ascent (Deanna) we reached the top of the mountain. We walked around finding a pizza joint -always a favourite (Jimmy) and a well placed playground got some mileage (Claire & Rhys). It’s safe to say that the playground may own the best view of any playground anywhere!

Having spent an hour at the peak running amuck, getting sun baked and snapping photos we felt spent. We then made our descent to start our drive to the more educational Southeast region of Gauteng Province.

Jimmy channeling his inner Fabio:

Tired monkeys enroute to our next destination:

Jaci’s Tree Lodge- Madikwe Game Reserve

June 30, 2013

When most people think of Africa they think of the vast wildlife and the impressive safaris. It isn’t everyday that someone has the opportunity to experience African wildlife, so we budgeted on doing so. We decided to do a luxury safari rather than a self-drive type as we have never been on a real family vacation and it has been challenging living here in Africa with all my work rotations to Botswana etc. We deserved a well earned break. After searching for child friendly lodges we decided to do a safari in the Madikwe Game Reserve which is a 4 hour drive from Johannesburg and is located in the North West province of South Africa where it borders Botswana to the North. It is a malaria-free reserve so it makes it a great kid-friendly choice.

We found the perfect place, Jaci’s Tree Lodge. They gave a us a stellar deal for two nights as it is Winter in South Africa and not the high-season for them. The lodge was built into the trees which was very fun for the kids and Jimmy (it reminded him of the Ewok Village in Star Wars). The staff were great and attentive. They were so good to the kids. It did get cold in the evenings and the lodge was mostly open air so we stayed cozy with lots of layers and hot water bottles. The food was very yummy and very English with tea service and brunch rather than lunch. I suppose it reflects back to British Colonial times.

Day 1- Arrival:

We had a very slow start to our departure from Johannesburg- our vehicle battery was dead after we loaded in the luggage and the kids into their car seats. My companies CEO lent us his company SUV and we left it sitting in our parking garage for a month without starting it. Oops. That was frustrating for us but we managed to get going and after a long four hour drive we arrived in time for the first night safari drive. Seeing as Jimmy rarely has time to himself while we are here in South Africa I was happy for him to go solo on the first drive (as kids are not allowed on the 3 hour safari drives so I stayed back with the kids). He had enough time to unload the SUV and give us quick hugs and kisses. This left the kids & I plenty of time to wonder the trails and check out the lodge. We met Jimmy for a late dinner where he told us his stories from his drive and showed us the amazing photos he captured. We made plans for the next days early morning game drive which was to start at 6:30am. We all fell asleep that night to the sound of crickets, monkeys and other animals that lived around our tree house.

A Jackal takes a cautious drink:

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Day 2:

The safari guide woke us up the next morning with a light tap on our door. While the kids slept Jimmy was able to make it to the lodge to make some coffee and bring it back to the room for me and snacks for the kids before he departed on his morning safari drive. The amount of animals he saw during his drive was really great. They had a mid-way rest stop at some caves where they enjoyed coffee outside. We met for a late brunch which was so nice. They hosted us on the large patio that had stairs leading down to some trails. Brunch was a long affair so the kids were able to go down the steps and safely play while we sipped coffee- bliss! Our safari guide informed us that the kids jungle drive that we booked wasn’t necessary as we would be the only guests for the afternoon game drive so they would allow us to bring the kids along. Yay! Rather than a 45 minute kids jungle drive we would be able to experience a 3 hour drive with the kids. Lucky us! After brunch we visited the amenities at the lodge- a pool and a look-out over a water hole. We headed back to our room for an outside showers and a little nap before we had to depart on the game drive. The evening drive was great. We saw a herd of elephants!, zebras, lions, kudu, impala, giraffes, etc. The kids did wonderful even though the ride was very bumpy. Half-way through the drive we had a rest stop with drinks and snacks which recharged Claire & Rhys for the rest of the drive. On our way back to the lodge for dinner Rhys fell asleep in my arms. The had such a great day 🙂 Dinner was yummy yet again and our safari guide joined us this time so we were able to ask her plenty of questions. A perfect day.

C/W: Lilac-Breasted Roller, Crested Barbet, Red-billed Hornbill & Southern Carmine Bee-eater:

Claire asked us to take a photo of her here so she could ‘remember it forever’:

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Day 3- Departure:

On our last day at the lodge we woke up early again but this time with the kids in tow. We dressed in several layers as it is freezing in the early morning before the sun comes out. It was just our family again in the game drive vehicle as we drove to the southern portion of the park. Our mission was to find some Rhinos. Jimmy saw two on his first game drive but I have never seen one in the wild so I was excited. We didn’t see a lot of animals prior to our mid-drive break. It was so nice to get out of the safari vehicle and run around with the kids, have some coffee & hot cocoa. It re-energized us all and the sun was out so it started to warm up. Shortly after our break we located a Rhino! I was so excited. After watching it graze for a long time we headed back to the lodge. Claire & Rhys both fell asleep in our arms and Jimmy & I soaked up the sun and marveled at how great this trip was for our family. We had a nice brunch when we arrived back to the lodge and packed up our SUV for the long ride home.

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The trip was amazing and one we will never forget 🙂