Monkeyland - Part One

For about 6 months before we left for South Africa, DD was terrified of the "M" word.  Yup, you got it, we couldn't even say the word monkey without her starting to freak out.  This was not a good thing just before moving to Africa.  We decided she needed to be desensitized.  So we took her to the Monkeyland website and showed her all the cute pictures of the wee little monkey babies.  It worked like a charm.   

With our psychiatric intervention complete we were able to visit Monkeyland, which is a really cool place.  It's the world's first multi-species free roaming primate sanctuary.  It is set in a forest where monkeys and lemurs who have been pets or raised and used for circuses, movies or zoos, all over the world, are brought.  The have 3 quarantine areas where new residents are housed in large cages containing trees among the free monkeys.  They are quarantined for health reasons, but also because most of them have never had the opportunity to learn to climb trees or how to be monkeys.

The park itself is surrounded by a 14 foot high fence that only one of the monkey species can climb high enough to get out of, though I can't remember which one at the moment. 

We were just waiting for the tour to start when one enterprising little squirrel monkey snuck in the cafe door past an unsuspecting visitor and ran straight for the sugar packets on the table.  He was pretty ingenious about it.  He started by getting close and playing peek a boo on top of the table umbrella, keeping a keen eye on the door as all of us visitors ooooh'd and ahhhhh'd.  The second the door was opened by someone distracted by what we were all looking at, he blew through the door, grabbed the packet and was shooed back out by the server.  

Here's the sugar addict with his prize.

Next we met Brad. 

Brad is a Black Lemur.  Brad was enjoying a lazy morning in the sun, when the guide told us that he was born in Canada.  His mate had died a few years back and he was the only one of his kind in the park. 

A lonely Brad, obviously, felt an immediate kinship with his fellow Canadians because as the group moved off Brad joined his Canadian peeps at the back of the pack for a walk.  That's his tail just to the right of DD#2's legs.

He stayed with us for 100m or so before he melted into the forest.  

The largest population in the park belongs to the Brown Capucian monkey.  Unbelievably cute, which is why so many of them are bought as pets and used in ads and movies.  We were told that the brothers and sister's carry infant siblings on their backs and take care of them while mom goes out to flirt with all the big daddy type capucian's.  That's why they are the most abundant in the park.  We got some time to get really close to a group of them.  It was amazing to see how expressive they could be.

This is curious.

This is, back off lady you are waaaaay to close to my sister.

You can't tell from the picture, but this was not a full grown monkey.  This was a juvenile taking care of a younger sibling.  The infant was about 5-6" long.  The eyes were still closed, but somehow those fingers grabbed hold of the older ones fur and it shifted it's weight instinctively with every step or movement that was made under it.  I was amazed by it.   I have a ton of photos of it.

It was never more clear than when I was watching that little group of siblings and cousins that there is some  connection between us and them. 

It wasn't just that I'd had that same, back off lady, expression on my own face a time or two.  

It wasn't this shot of one, nursing a bleeding wound on another. 

It was this one, of big cousin giving a tender puckery kiss to new baby cousin while big brother mopes because his baby sister is getting all the attention and he's been left behind at the kids table, again. 

If that isn't a typical extended Canadian family dinner then I'm a monkey's uncle.

Next Post - Monkeyland - Part 2 - Zabu and friends







Tanikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre - Meerkats and Marabou's

The last part of our time at Tanikwa was self guided.  We were led to the meerkat enclosure and bird pond.

Now, I had caught glimpses of Meerkat Manor on the television back home every so often.  I have recollections of them standing up on their hind legs, very still, watching for predators.  These Meerkats were not still at all.  They were little, and they were fast!  It was really hard to get a good photo of them because they kept chasing our feet as we walked past.  I have lots of blurry shots, not so many clear ones.  One thing DS #1 commented on was how perfectly their feet were designed for digging.  He figured the long, strong, curved claws could move a lot of dirt quickly.

DD just thought they were "soooooooooooo cute".

Just beside the meerkats were Marabou Storks.  The marabou is the largest in the stork family and it shares the distinction of having the largest wing span of any land dwelling bird with the Andean Condor.   It is a carrion feeder much like vultures and for that reason has a bald (mostly) head.  The soft downy feathers have been used for hats. 

The Blue Crane is the national bird of South Africa.  Commercial forests and civilization have been encroaching on it's natural habitat for decades and they are now endangered and their habitat severely restricted.  (That's just a shadow accross the beak.  It's not really darker)

Tanikwa has several Blue Cranes and as they are part of the conservation and breeding program their wings are clipped to prevent flying.  As we were walking through the cat exhibit earlier in morning the guide pointed to, what he thought was a hawk eagle, until we heard the distinctive Blue Crane call and the Tanikwa cranes answered it.  Our guide was shocked that it was flying so high.  He had never actually seen one that high in flight before.

It was a rare treat according to the guide, so we spent as long as we could watching and listening.

Next post - Monkeyland. - Part One





Tanikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre - The Cats

Our first stop of the weekend was Tanikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre.  Tanikwa has a wild cat sanctuary and a number of native birds and meerkats.  They also have a rehabilitation Centre that accepts any injured, abandoned or displaced wild animals from along The Garden Route.  Animals are treated, cared for and when ready, returned to the wild. 

They have numerous up close and personal interactive experiences, like a sunset walk with the cheetah's.  The only problem was that there was a height restriction of 1.5m.  We were told, on arrival, that though the cats were used to humans they are still wild cats and anything smaller than 1.5m could be seen as prey.  So, since none of the kids met the requirement,  we did the only "experience" available to us, The Wild Cat Experience.  It was a 1 hour guided tour around the facility to see indigenous wild cats and other endangered wildlife. 

We were introduced to the Centre through a video that explained how natural habitats were being effected by construction and commercial forestry.  How animals were being hunted for parts and the carcasses left to rot.  How farmers were shooting (and killing) endangered wild cats for attacking livestock.  A couple of the photos were graphic, but true, and the picture of the dead rhino with no horn was as disturbing as it was meant to be.  There was a greater message of hope however, that this generation could and was making a difference through education and conservation.  Their tag line is "we are the last generation who can make a difference". 

Wild cats go for the kill by biting the neck to sever the jugular vein.  There was a display of safety collars both plastic and metal that could be fitted around the necks of livestock to protect them and our guide told us of educational awareness programs to educate farmers that killing endangered wild cats was not necessary.  There was also a poster pleading that travellers not purchase porcupine jewelry. It has become commonplace for porcupines to be killed for all of their quills rather than the past practice of picking up quills that had already been shed in an effort to feed the demand for porcupine jewelry.  Because of this change in practice the porcupine is a threatened species here.

After the video we were instructed to take off anything dangly that might be mistaken for a toy by the cats. Our sunglasses had to be removed too, as the cats do not like it when the cannot see the eyes of what has entered their enclosure.  We were also warned not to look directly at any of the cats as it would been interpreted as a challenge.

With all of our gear stored, our first stop was the African wild cat.  We entered the enclosure with the guide and were told that the children should stay close to the grown ups in order to look like one large animal instead of several smaller ones.  Now, African wild cats are quite small,  in line with a really big house cat in Canada.  Why they are endangered is that they have been mating with common house cats and creating feral cats.  The actual pure gene pool of the wild cat has become very small thus endangering the survival of the species.

Here is an African wild cat.  Being nocturnal it was happily sleeping when we visited.

Next was the leopard.  His enclosure is not accessible for close up interaction.  It's wasn't hard to understand why, when we saw the size of the claw marks on the trees that he loves to climb.  We were told that this is the expression he gets when he is sizing up a little DD for a meal. 

The thing that struck me the most about the leopard was the size of his paws.  They were huge in comparison to his body.  It wasn't hard to imagine how big the claws would be if you looked at the paws and calculated about how far back a retracted claw would go.  Truly bone chilling stuff.

Next we met the Caracal.  What a beautiful creature.  He was really "friendly" with us.  You know how a house cat will come up and rub itself against your legs,  well that's just what this little boy was doing.  He was pushing his way in between us and rubbing our legs.  The guide told us that they do this to mark their territory and try to cull the smaller members of the group away by getting in between us.  DS #2 kept trying to reach down and pet the "nice kitty".  Thankfully dh and I were instructed to hold the children's hands, so it wasn't an issue.  The guide kept moving the cat away so that we could walk without tripping over him.  He was a beautiful and sleek cat reminding me of a small cougar or mountain lion, except for the ears.  It was hard to take a good photo given that he was so "friendly", but here it is.



Next was the Serval.  Sometimes they are mistaken for a young cheetah or leopard.  They are sleek and build for speed and jumping, like cheetah's, but eat small rodents not larger animals.

We were then escorted into the cheetah enclosure. They were still juveniles and fully grown, but not fully filled out.  Park policy is to have a second guide to locate them and assess their mood while our guide stayed with us.  We were lucky that they were in a good mood.  As we approached the female was very alert.  When we stopped walking closer she started to purr.   It was by far the most memorable part of the experience at Tanikwa to hear the deep throaty purr of this gorgeous creature.  In the end she was relaxed enough to groom herself a little in our presence.

The male was much more alert and wary than the female, you can tell from his look. 

The guide told us that leopards and cheetah's were often confused with each other because of their spotted coats. After seeing them up close, it is easy to see that the big paws, wide head and thick stocky muscled body of the leopard is built for jumping, climbing and pulling carcasses up into trees to eat.  Cheetah's are really quite dainty in comparison.  Thin, tall, small paws, and build for speed on the ground. 

Next Post - Tanikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre - Meerkats and Marabou's



B & B in The Crags

So when we looked at the website for the B&B I loved the line "Canadian styled log chapel".  I mean I just had to see thier interpretation of Canadian Style.  Here it is.

Now, I can't speak for other B&B's in South Africa, but this one sure was different than I was used to.  The one's I've experienced in Canada are usually a home that has been converted in some way and everyone has a bedroom, sometimes shares a communal bathroom and has breakfast in a communal kitchen.  Not so on our weekend away.  There was a "host" family who had a home on the property and they welcomed us and invited us into the garden, and the kids into the house but that was all.

We had a seperate cottage with 2 rooms joined in the back by a bathroom and a self catering kitchen (equipped to cook you're own meals), beside it.  Due to a "blown geyser"(I'm still not entirely what a geyser is, but oh well) the kids carpet had gotten wet and was still drying out when we got there.  The place was booked full the second night so they couldn't put us anywhere else.  It was livable and we really didn't spend much time there with all the activities we did.

The roofs were thatch, (which proved to be waterproof on our second night there) and the walls were painted brick.  It was very quaint.

No need for the mosquito net in the winter.

We managed our own dinner, but breakfast was served in the little kitchen.  Bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, juice, coffee and boerwoers.   Boerewors are Boer (Farmer) Wor (Sausage) in Afrikans.  They are a beef sausage, and in my experience very lean.  Dh loves them, me, I prefer a maple and brown sugar pork sausage for breakfast (Mmmmmmmm).  I haven't found those here yet.

The property had multiple little cottages all over the place some for 2 people, some for more and one small block with several rooms on the first floor and a honeymoon suite up above.

The property was gorgeous.  A huge duck pond and lots of space for the kids to run around.  We had the place to ourselves the first night and the owners 3 year old had a blast playing with our kids.  The owner said there didn't tend to be too many kids through the winter.  The property was fully fenced and the duck pond too due to the age of the owners son, so the kids could safely play without mommy and daddy on top of them the whole time and we had some breathing room too.

The bar was fantastic asthetically.



Overall, a very enjoyable stay and a very new experience for a B&B.

Next post - Tanikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre



The Garden Route

After having reached some semblance of normalcy at home in PE we decided it was time to venture out and see some other sights in this new country of ours. 

The Garden Route is the area between Hiedelberg in the Western Cape and Storms River in the Eastern Cape.  We decided to stop just East of Plettenberg Bay in an area known as The Crags.

This weekend of adventure will be multiple postings to cover the various sights that we saw.

First the trip itself.  The trip is roughly 200km from PE.  The highway is in great condition (recently fixed up by the looks of it) with only one toll booth, but the strange thing about it is the 3 lanes.  Here's how they work.  Most of the time the N2  is 3 lanes.  Sometimes there are 2 lanes West, one East.  Some times it's 2 East, one West.  Then there are times when it's 1 1/2 each way.  Yes, 1 1/2.  

The shoulders are clearly marked with yellow lines and the white line down the centre marks East and West bound traffic.   When there are 2 lanes you always drive in the left most lane, the right lane is only for passing.  So, what happens if you only have 1 lane? Well that's where the 1 1/2 comes in .  The shoulders are paved to allow someone to drive 1/2 on the shoulder, 1/2 in the lane.  This indicates to vehicles behind that they should pass.  Really slow trucks for example, drive with the centre of their vehicle on the yellow line so other vehicles can pass safely.  What really surprised me was that everyone, almost without fail flashed their hazard lights in a, "thank you for giving way" gesture to the slower car now behind them.

In Canada I used to give the wave to say thanks for letting me merge or whatever, but I'd never used the hazard lights except in inclement weather.  I kind of like the hazard light thing.  I'm glad dh was driving and knew what he was doing as I haven't done any highway driving yet, and wouldn't have had a clue.

The second thing that surprised me was the mountains.  Now, I knew that PE was hilly, but these really are mountains.  Not like the alps, but mountains none the less.  Those of you from Southern Ontario will appreciate the twinge of homesickness I got when I found out the B&B was overlooking Formosa Peak. 

Formosa Peak, South Africa

The third thing that surprised me was the pine trees.  As I mentioned the trip is about 200 km.  About 80 km in dh said "hey look a Christmas tree farm".  Of course we all looked out the window and sure enough little pine trees as far as the eye could see, similar to the farm not to far from us back home.  The thing is, it didn't stop.  Obviously, this was a commercial plantation, because there were pine trees of various sizes in large plots for the next 40 km.  We saw a mill and then they continued for another 60 km or so.  Out of our 200 km trip almost 100 km was a tree plantation.  There was the odd dairy farm breaking up the lines of trees, and some indigenous forest, but there were a whole lot of pine trees.  So there you have it, according to South Africa Online, South Africa has one of the largest cultivated forestry resources in the world. Production from these plantations was 16,7 million m3, valued at almost R2,6 billion in 2000.

I love that I learn something new about this country every day.

Next post - A B&B in The Crags.

Winter in Port Elizabeth

I know it is getting to be winter. The school sent out notification that winter uniforms are now required.  People are wearing scarves and I noticed that one of the mom's was wearing her shearling coat the other day at pick up time.  The owner of the gardening service that we hired to clean out the flower beds (that had been neglected for 3 years while the house was vacant) was wearing his long sleeved shirt and wool sweater and I'm not sure who brought the touque to Port Elizabeth, but they are wearing them too.  I'm told that swimming season is over and no one will be daring their pools until some time in November or December. 

Thing is, today, the forcast is for 21C and sunny.  Now, I will admit that shearling coat and scarf day was a meagre 17C, but still, this is winter (or late fall anyway) in Port Elizabeth. 

My kids are still bugging me every day to go swimming.  They have been since we got here.  Paul and I are wearing short sleeves and unless the windy city is living up to it's name we don't bother with jackets or sweaters, yet.  People here cannot comprehend what winter in Canada is like.  Wind chill of -30C is so far from thier reality and it's so strange that there are so many people who have never seen snow, when I've known it all my life.  I wonder what I will be like after we've been here for 2 or 4 years.  Will I be wearing a shearling coat at 17C.  Will my internal thermostat change over the time that we are here.  Only time will tell.  For now, we are those weird Canadians that don't feel the cold.

Next post - The Garden Route

The Easter Challenge

When I left Canada I figured we were arriving in South Africa so close to Easter that I'd better be prepared.   I really wasn't sure to what degree, if at all, South African's celebrated Easter so I packed the baskets and grass in the air shipment which was scheduled to arrive within 2 days of our arrival and I packed the egg dying kits in the suitcases to take with us. 

When we arrived, Easter items were all over the place. A good percentage of South Africa is Christian so Easter is celebrated here too.  

My first hurdle occurred the day after we arrived when I was told the air shipment would not be arriving within 2 days as I had been told in Canada, but instead possibly before Easter (8 days after arrival) if we got all the paperwork in immediately. 

No problem, we'd get started dying eggs instead.  That was easier said than done.  I love the fact that here in PE we don't need to search for free range eggs and pay higher prices like we did in Canada.  Essentially, all of the eggs here are free range and local.  The problem is they aren't white.  Every egg in every store was brown.

Now, eggs in Canada are stored in the refrigerator section.  Not so here in PE.  They are on shelves like non perishables.  So, just as I was about to give up, in what felt like the millionth grocery store, DS #2 noticed a display of white eggs, at the front of the store.  Terrific, I thought, they have white eggs just for dying right at the front of the store.  We bought a pack of 6 and brought them home.  The kids were all excited and so was I.  Well, I should have read the package in the store.  They looked like eggs.  They came in a plastic egg container.  They were stored like other eggs, they must be eggs.  Alas, no.  They were chocolate eggs in a white candy shell.  Not so good for water based dyes. 

I tried to find the wonderful stickers or shrink wrap that we used to use in Canada, to use on the brown eggs, but no such luck.  My markers and paints were in the sea shipment and I really didn't want to buy something that I knew full well was in a container on the way to PE.  So, no decorated eggs for Easter.

Then we found out that, no, the air shipment would not be arriving for Easter, all of the paperwork was not complete.  The shipment had not even left Canada.  So, no baskets or grass, or pots, or pans, or dishes for Easter.  This was the day before Good Friday.

Thankfully, here in PE all the shops are open on public holidays, for a few hours at least, usually from 9:00am to 2:00 pm.  The same hours as they are open on Sundays.  So, out went dh on Friday (or maybe it was Saturday),  let's just say the pickin's were pretty slim.  So, we had a low key Easter here.  I can't even recall what I cooked, but I know I did it in the one pot and one frying pan that the bosses wife so graciously loaned us from her kitchen.  So our first Easter in PE was a quiet affair. 

After Easter I tucked the egg dying kits away and when the air shipment arrived, the baskets and grass were put with them.  I had forgotten until the sea shipment arrived that I had packed the Polish easter eggs, and a few that the kids had decorated in previous years, though I remember debating if it was really necessary.  Maybe next year we'll take out the dying kits and dye the brown eggs anyway.

The moral of the story is, if you are moving to places unknown quadruple check with the moving company on both sides of the move as to how long it will take you to get your stuff.   I only double checked and just on the home side, not the destination side.  It would have changed a lot about how and what I had packed and when I let them take it out of my possession.


Next Post - Winter in Port Elizabeth