March 5th, 2010

My Journey to South Africa - Day One

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As many of you know, I recently returned from an exciting journey to South Africa.  I was accompanied by my friends and business associates, Kevin Sharkey and Susan Magrino.  The flight aboard South African Airways, was very long - fifteen plus hours - but very comfortable.  Kevin, Susan, and I are seasoned travelers and we like to use the time in the air to get a lot of work done.  Kevin peruses magazines for inspiration.  Susan, who is in public relations, takes the time to catch up on her hundreds of emails.  However, she was surprised to discover that the airline did not allow people to work on their Blackberry devices during the long flight - only on full-sized computers, which she did not bring along.  We still don't understand that restriction, especially since one can turn off all wireless connections by going into the wireless setting on the Blackberry.  Consequently, Susan was not able read her emails and they were kept, instead, in the queue until we landed.  Perhaps the airline will rethink this restriction.  With that said, we did get plenty of rest, anticipating an active and exciting adventure ahead.  Please enjoy these photos from day one in South Africa and expect more to follow.

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1 Getting organized on the plane - I really try to get a lot of work done on such long flights, but also try to sleep a full six or seven hours, so I am not totally wrecked by the time I reach my destination.

2 This is the South African Airways logo.

3 A view of one of my two carry ons - I use a 'wheelie' for cosmetics and electronics, and a hand bag for paper work, Blackberry, iPhone, cell phone, warm wraps, socks and important travel documents.

4 Kevin used the long flight - direct to Johannesburg - to read all of his favorite magazines and cull 'idea' pages from them. He brings about twenty magazines ranging from fashion, design, decorating, and style titles.

5 Here is Susan preparing for takeoff, disappointed that she was unable to use her Blackberry on the flight.

6 South African Airways offers good service and nice wines in Business Class. There are also reclining beds for the long trip.

7 I actually do not drink alcoholic beverages on flights - Kevin and Susan do - instead, I drink lots and lots of water.

8 I brought freshly made fried chicken (Emeril's recipe) on the plane - we really enjoyed it!

9 Here I am ready for the flight. I always try to wear very comfortable and warm clothes on such a long trip and I always carry a big, warm scarf to wrap myself in.

10 As we were approaching Johannesburg International Airport, I got a great view of Soccer City Stadium, the new world cup stadium - all ready for the upcoming world cup matches.

11 Johannesburg airport is a very big and modern terminal. It's a 'hub' for travel around South Africa and elsewhere in that continent.

12 The modern architecture really impressed us, including this glass-walled elevator.

13 These very pleasant ladies of South African Airways greeted us upon arrival and helped guide us to the waiting cars. We brought too much luggage, but we were trying to anticipate the weather, and the difference in city and safari life. By the way, the luggage here is for the three of us!

14 We had to take a small plane to Kruger National Park and all the bags had to be scanned and weighed. We were within requirements.

15 These are our bags awaiting to be loaded onto the small prop plane that would take us on the two-hour voyage to the park.

16 The airlines is called Federal Air. They have a very pleasant waiting area and a charming shop and restaurant.

17 here I am with Ravi Naidoo, founder of Design Indaba, as we get ready to depart for Singita.

18 The vastness of Kruger National Park - 6.2,000,000 acres was mind boggling.

19 Here we are landing in Kruger on a grass strip.

20 Disembarking the plane - The weather was glorious - sunny, 80-degrees, and blue skies. We were met by our guide, Marlon du Toit, for our safari.

21 Kevin started photographing as soon as we landed. One of his jobs is to get good photos of me.

22 The plain was lovely, green, and lush. We had goosebumps thinking of all the animals we would see.

23 Lo and behold - elephants right on the runway!

24 After the long journey, we were so pleased to arrive at Lebombo Lodge in the Singita Reserve. This is a photo of my balcony overlooking the Sweni River that runs through the lodge property.

25 A better view of the river - the big spot you see in the center of the river is a hippo head. Singita has nine camps on four different properties in Africa. There are two lodges next to one another in the part of Kruger National Park where we stayed.

26 After about 23 hours of travel, I was happy to draw a hot bath - I used lots of relaxing bath salts, too.

27 Ravi Naidoo, our host at Design Indaba and Kevin, toasting our arrival at Singita. Ravi had to fly right back to Capetown to get on with preparations for the week-long conference on design for better living.

28 Our sommelier, Chris Ford, was very astute in his knowledge of South African wines.

29 At high tea we were served these delicate tarts filled with corn, green onions, and tomato.

30 The mini burgers were very popular.

31 The fruit salads were also great - star fruit (carambola), kiwi, mango, strawberries, and plums.

32 This vacherin was also a masterpiece - the meringue stayed dry even in the damp air of the park, where it had rained every night for five days, turning the brown jungle and plains into a green paradise.

33 These small pâte à choux puffs, filled with passion fruit cream, were unbelievably delicious - as were the pink iced miniature cupcakes.

34 My favorite dessert was fresh watermelon with watermelon sorbet.

35 This is the greeting letter to all safari goers at Singita.

36 Another serious letter of indemnity

37 There are a lot of disclaimers.

38 Zebras and wildebeests!

39 No two zebras are alike - the zebras in the park are Burchell's Zebras.

40 Hundreds of thousands of impala live in the parks.

41 The boardwalk that led to our various lodges - there are no fences in the parks so everyone is encouraged to always walk with an escort, even in daylight.

42 The river below the lodge is teeming with wildlife. We saw pods of hippos, herds of elephants, and many crocodiles.

43 As we approached the river, the hippos emerged from the cool water, one by one.

44 Kevin's room was two cabins from mine and he was closest to the river with the best view. He was also closest to the wildlife, some of which visited him regularly - monkeys, and elephants - we were warned to keep our doors and windows locked.

45 From the bedroom looking into the living room

46 A curtain of seed beads - very rustic and African

47 The beds were very, very comfortable and the linens fabulous!

48 All the objects were beautiful.

49 Sisal rugs - all real fibers - very few artificial materials were used in the lodges.

50 I loved all of the furnishings and there were lots of appropriate books to read.

51 Each bath area has a dish of bath salts for relaxing hot baths after the game drives.

52 A stack of fresh white towels

53 The balconies are cantilevered from the bedroom areas - I liked to rest there between game drives.

54 Another view of the river, which was very full because of the frequent, unseasonal rains. TO BE CONTINUED......

Posted on March 5th, 2010 in Friends, Photo Gallery, Travel | Permalink |

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