Madhuri and Lokesh - TravelBlog

CONGO CAVES !

Congo caves are an underground wonderland! One of the greatest wonders of the world. The caves are well excavated and named into different chambers. From every nook and corner stalactites (hanging columns), stalagmites (which grow upward) are clearly visible. I can say with confidence that they can never be any such man made beauty - its makes us wonder how nature has so greatly presented these creative crystalline beauty of the dripstone formations. The different colours, textures and also the amazing shapes that the rocks have taken is breathtaking. The awesome caves are now a biggest tourist attraction.

We decided to do an adventurous tour in the caves - which meant that we would be crawling, kneeling, squeezing through those tiny holes for about 2 hours to explore the caves in detail. There was absolutely no feeling of regret by the end of the tour. Every minute was exciting and got more and more adventurous. In addition to being immensely beautiful, caves are a spectacular reminder of the massive physical and chemical processes. Though they are just the deposition of calcium bicarbonate, the arrangement is awesome and surely worth a visit.

KNYSNA

Knysna as everyone knows is a very well know tourist destinations. A place to relax and enjoy the holiday. We were lucky to stay with friends on golf course, a luxury palace like house with a spa right next door to get pampered at the end of the day. Knysna is known for its lagoon and the forests around the place - a green and great place. We took a day cruise to get a glimpse of Knysna - took a paddle boat with some traditional lunch to accompany the ride. The paddle cruise was built in South Africa - a modern and luxurious vessel with good food and music. Standing on the deck to watch the blue water meeting the lush forests and coastline was amazing - was another piece of natural beauty!!! Also, had time to spend our last few days in a very South African style - ate their food, lived with friends, went out dinning and played Golf!!

Lokesh and I thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in South Africa and would love to go back there to explore more and learn more. It's the people of South Africa who also contributed to our pleasant stay - I should say they are extremely kind and fun loving people. Especially our special friends.

Lots of love,
Madhuri (still thinking of South Africa!)

HEARD OF OSTRICH RIDING?????

Yes, sounds unusual but we got to do it. We went to the Oudtshoorn Ostrich farm which is located on the way to the Congo caves. Ostrich's are lovely birds, extremely huge. Their slender long necks, soft feathers, its skin and the eggs which are so strong that it can even take the weight of a human body. The ostrich leather is one of the finest forms of leather in the world and also the most expensive. Used to make garments, upholstery, shoes etc. the egg shells are used for decoration and the feathers are used to make dusters. But, Lokesh and I decided not to buy anything but to do an ostrich ride.

First, we fed the ostrich's and then went into the farms to do a ride. Ostrich being the largest and heaviest flightless bird are quite interesting. Their long legs help them sprint at the speed of 70 kms/hr effortlessly. Their kick is strong enough to even kill a lion!!!! That's how dangerous they can get. Ostrich's are specially curious and inquisitive about anything bright and shiny like jewelry, camera lens etc. Well, riding on them was just as thrilling or more than a roller coaster. Getting our balancing right is the trick and then its just fun!!!! All I can say is we loved it!

GAME RESERVE PARK - Game drives in fully open safari vehicles!!!!

It was time for us to spend a day in the game reserve park, South Africa, being rich in its wildlife, hundreds and thousands of wild animals including the mammals, reptiles, antelopes, fishes etc… We booked our stay for a day in a game reserve park on the way to knsyna. South Africa's rich natural heritage is well preserved in the form of parks and game resorts. We got to sleep in rest camps in chalets. The wild animals are not very easy to watch, but dependent on the weather, time (night/day), and also luck. So, we decided a do a few rides into the wild - spent the whole evening in the wild. Followed by a morning to afternoon session to see the animals that we missed during the evening and also did an afternoon one. Well, the more we saw, the more interesting it got.

We were lucky enough to see the Big five, which includes the Lion, Cheetah, Elephant, rhino and buffalo. The rides we took were absolutely amazing and thrilling. Got really close to most of the animals out in the wild. It was a great opportunity to explore the untamed animals, obviously with very experienced and responsible guide. It was an unforgettable experience for us to stay in the game reserve park. The kind of silence was totally different, with constant birds chirping, the branches swinging with the wind, the imaginary lion roar echoing through the valleys and what not. The sweet sour smell of the fruits in the wild, the smell of wet grass early in the morning.

As we drove along in the wild, we could see the rhino engrossed in their grazing, Giraffe's in groups, lions and cubs walking around majestically and also posing for pictures. Cheetah's - we went really close to them and they seemed very harmless. The buffaloes with a dangerous look and many antelopes including the springbok, kudu, Imphala, waterbuck etc.

Most amazing things that Lokesh and I dared to do are, carrying a python over our shoulders which weighed 43kgs - letting it creep all over us - I'm sure it sounds creepy and slimy but we enjoyed every bit of it. I also, held a baby crocodile in my hands which weighed about 15kgs and only 5 years old. They might look rough, but are nice too.

ROBBEN ISLAND :

It's an island one should personally experience and cannot be expressed in words (I mean it!). The island is only a few kilometers away from the waterfront; we took a ferry ride to get there. It's a simple flat little island by itself but the amount of history and emotional feelings it carries is immense.

In Dec 1999, the whole site was declared an UN world heritage site.It's a deeply atmospheric place with just the physical remains of what happened there for decades. It was "home" for Nelson Mandela, being imprisoned for 13 years. Previous "Robben islands prisoners" themselves took us around and were happy to answer all our questions. Every word they said was filled with emotions. Robben Island was used as prison during the white settlement. The most immoral and cruel acts took place deeply hurting and torturing the prisoners. The political prisoners, criminal prisoners and others had a pathetic lifestyle, where made to work in the quarries, tiny cells with buckets to use as toilet, insufficient clothes to wear, made to sleep on the floor, not all were lucky to continue with education. To worsen it more, racism played an important role. The black prisoners were treated more badly than the white prisoners. Well, it took number of strikes, arguments, debates and finally today the island is free of prisoners and has been converted into a museum. Today people from all over the world visit the place and hope there is never again another robben island. In two and a half hour bus tour within the island - we could see the place used during the island's stint as a leper colony, the prisons/cells, the offices, the quarry etc. Well, what remains now is a great part of the history and just walking around to listen to the silence is very moving. Most of the buildings date back to the Second World War. Under the apartheid system, the people of South Africa including the prisoners were segregated according to their skin color. The system was racist, a discriminatory and an unfair one. The people who survived this kind of torture from the prison has only made them stronger.