Nambiti, => Golden Gate Highlands Nat'l Park => Clarens => Maseru

Sunrise at Nambiti

The final morning game drive.  Kel hears that the single cheetah of the reserve has been spotted.  The lions killed his mother and sister. This is the nature of the animal hierarchy. 

We join the others to gaze at this magnificent survivor, hiding in the bushes between two quarries. 

We pack up, with just a bit of time for taking a bath in the super-cool tub with bath salts and then…

We return to Maseru via Golden Gate Highlands National Park, with its spectacular rock formations.

Annette imagines these to be the inspiration for the monument in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” as they jut out of the valley in mesas of multicolors, crisply cut and dramatic.  

We arrive at the town of Clarens, which is a bit “dear” in the same way as Sausalito or Carmel, with tourist shops and quaint shops, but the charm still works.  The Clarens Brewing Company offers craft beers, ford and free wifi.  We enjoy a tasting of their offering and make our selection. We snack on Sausage and Cheese platters.

After a bit of shopping nearby, Steph stocks up on coffee beans to go at Highland Coffee Roastery.

Arrive fairly late to Maseru and pick up grilled Portuguese style chicken from Gallito’s - the franchise outlet owned by Steph’s friend Paolo. We roll back to Steph’s flat to eat and it turns out to be a bit spicier than hoped!! 😳

Nambiti Hills - safari

4:30am wake up call!  You must be kidding.  Oh no, we are not.  We pile into our Land Cruisers and leave at 5am with Kingsley at the wheel and Kel riding shotgun… literally.  Well, actually it is rifles that the guys load up at the beginning of each ride and have at the ready in their camouflage jackets.  

The sun is up.  The bush is waking up.  Stephanie had good foresight to sleep in.  It is not a productive drive — lots of driving, and plenty of small antelope species, birds, zebras and other game, but no biggies. Kel and Kingsley head out on foot at one point because they’re hoping to track the cheetah who had made a kill there recently, but no luck.

Breakfast after our return is a classic Chef’s breakfast (English / Irish breakfast with the works).  Paul is opting for tea these days — feeling colonial, perhaps?  There’s time in the afternoon between drives for relaxation and, mmmm, massages: in room with a luxurious nap to follow. NuNu, our massage therapist relaxes and then pounds the flesh, leaving it invigorated.  Around 11:00AM, Paul gets the back and neck special in the hopes that the stiff back that appeared the morning after the LETOFE festival (slumped leaning on the banner backstop for too long??) will be relieved.  Yes, this helps.  Annette opts for the full body version.  Paul hangs at the pool with the couple from Finland and Aada, the little girl who’s like a mini-Stephanie — circa 5 years old.

Afternoon game drive with Kel:  Our group is the first to spot the…Lioness!  ‘Phants – 4 in this small herd: a huge bull, two females and a baby. 

Lion brothers. 

Hippos frolicking in the dammed lake.

Afternoon high tea again, followed by another delicious dinner, this time with Stephanie joining.  Then off to another early evening to bed.

Maseru to Nambiti Hills Game Lodge in South Africa

Wi-Fi disappears in the morning, cutting off some of the ability to stay connected to the business stuff back in the States, which is just as well. We need to get an early start for our 5 and a half hour drive to our safari destination.  We get out at around 7:15AM and encounter the rather bizarre border crossing ritual from Lesotho to SA.  

One might think that it would be a rather casual border, but no.  First; park, get out, get passports stamped to leave Lesotho.  Next, drive a hundred meters to park again and wait in line to get passports stamped to enter South Africa.  Meanwhile we watch hundreds of people on foot returning to Lesotho carry enormous amounts of baggage in Adidas sports bags, baskets on their heads, huge satchels and just about anything else that can be carried.  Having been dropped by busses or taxi vans on one side of the border they walk through the gauntlet to then catch public transport of one sort or another on the other side.

We head to the dingy Free State town of Ladybrand, where Steph takes us to the mini-oasis of Living Life, a restaurant-spa-retreat.  It’s only 8:30AM by now, so it’s early for their usual brunch crowd but we order to-go breakfast.  We sit in their garden while the food is being prepared, then hit the road with a bacon, ham, cheese and onion omelette (fabulous) and a breakfast focaccia with egg & ham, which proves much harder to eat on the road than the omelette.

We drive to the Nambiti Game Reserve. Once past the main gate, we are greeted by Kel, who will deliver us to Nambiti Hills Private Game Lodge. We are welcomed by the entire staff of the resort. 

At the main entrance to the lodge, a table with three cool towels and a shot of chilled, tart lemonade.  Our first game drive will be at 4pm, preceded by high tea at 3:30pm. We are shown to our room and it is stunning.  The photos do a much better job of describing our living quarters than words ever could. We indulge in short cat naps.

High tea is served on the veranda with sweeping views of the game reserve.  Tiny pizzas, and pancakes topped with smoked salmon, creme fraiche and caviar are on display.  Along with a chocolate cake.  We order tea and coffee. 

On game drive #1, the game reserve welcoming committee greets us: giraffe, zebra, and impala.  Wildebeest. Kudu.  We stop for a mid-drive break, and Kingsley and Victoria offer champagne with a welcome toast.  G&Ts become our GoTo drink for the afternoon drive. Along with nuts and other snack items, they fire up a little camp stove and cook some cubes of meat which are serve with toothpicks.  We chat with our Land Cruiser mates Gary and Susan, a couple from Switzerland (though he’s an American originally from upstate NY).

We return to the lodge at around 7:30, allowing just a bit of time to “freshen up” (or mini nap as the case may be) before dinner outside on the deck overlooking the wilderness.  Steph is exhausted and really still recovering from the multiple weeks of sleep deprivation a quadruple whammy of Uganda proposal /travel /jet lag /partying upon return to Lesotho.  She opts to pass on dinner.  Annette & Paul have _________ for appetizers, duck breast and fillet strip for entree.  Dessert was chocolate mousse (in little balls between a thin, flakey sweet wafer of sorts — see Annette’s picture) and creme brûlée — perfect topping, but not as flavorful as hoped.

Then it’s off to bed to get as much sleep as possible before tomorrow’s morning game drive.

The LETOFE Festival and parking Tetris exit

Morning is slow, sleeping in until about 10:00AM and hanging out at Stephanie’s place.  Paul catches up on a few work related items, taking advantage of the Wi-Fi.  Steph makes an early run to the mechanic to get her brakes replaced in anticipation of our upcoming driving.  

We tuck into a leisurely breakfast of eggs, toast (from Steph’s hysterical toaster that makes zebra toast that’s either burned or untoasted, in stripes…well, really only three stripes – charred, untouched, charred), caramelized onions, and beans.  

Steph had also gotten us all tickets to the (10^th annual) Lesotho Tourism Festival (LETOFE), which supposedly starts at 2:00PM, but we were forewarned that it would likely get going much later given “African time” – which had been described by a friend as “making Hawaiian-time look like Wall Street”.  We drive out to Thaba Bosiu, where there is a cultural center at the base of the table like mountain where King Moshoeshoe, the founder of Lesotho, held off attacks from rival tribes in a key battle in Bosotho history.  We get there a bit after 4:00 and find a nice spot against a low banner fence which serves as a chair back for our lawn seats.  As we and they drink more, we get to know our nearby “new friends” – Pearl and ______.  

The first few hours are mostly sound checks and recorded music and the live bands don’t start until after 6:30, but there’s a great variety of artists – mostly from South Africa, but some from Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa.  Don’t know any of the bands, but hear some great tunes.  We take turns running for more drinks & food or bathroom breaks, and proceed to get pretty hammered as the evening goes on.  

Finally at around 11:30 or so, we decide to head home, and as we walk to the unpaved parking area we see an immense traffic jam on the 2 lane road headed to the festival of people just arriving – or waiting on parking and entrance.  Apparently it is now about to really get going, and run to the morning!  

When we get to Steph’s 4-Runner, it is totally parked in by any normal standards.  But given the prospect of waiting until 6:00AM for the owners of the blocking cars to return, Edward and Paul act as guides for the intrepid and skilled Stephanie who, despite major consumption, backs up the SUV and squeezes through a slalom of randomly parked cars in a hilly lot.  Amazing escape!  Then back to Maseru and off to sleep.

JNB (O.R.Tanbo Int'l) => MSU (Moshoeshoe Int'l)

 Upon arrival at Jo’burg, we seek out another lounge in which to kill our layover time of 4 hours.

We hit the jackpot of lounges.  Really comfortable chairs, more like recliners. Better food and a shower.  We fill up with several Captain Morgan and ginger beers, grilled vegetables, chicken stir fry, cheese & crackers and pate.  The shower is a Godsend -- so enjoyable that it doesn’t even feel weird to put the same clothes back on.  As we leave, we feel almost human again and ready to make the final hop to Maseru.

We take the shuttle bus out to the tarmac to board the SAA franchised AirLink small jet, and then sit there for a while.  When we board, it’s a pleasure to see that the plane is actually larger than the puddle jumpers that go between Washington DC and Binghamton, NY.  Barely over an hour in flight, and almost as much time to clear customs and wait for luggage.  We wave to Steph in the waiting area on the other side of the glass, but wait for a long time until our luggage shows up in a push cart at the bottom of a stack about 12 feet high.  At the top are several bicycle transport cases belonging to 3 Swiss couples who look on nervously, hoping that the bikes wouldn’t fall off.

Steph later admitted to Paul that she was worried that the interminable wait would be the source of aggravation, but exhaustion and resigned acceptance overruled any irritation — besides why wouldn’t Paul be super-chill about it anyway? 

We head into Maseru, around the rolling hills from the airport and we definitely know we’re in a

“developing country” which Steph reminds Paul is the PC way to say “Third World.”  Corrugated shacks on the side of the road house small businesses selling a variety of food and other wares, and beyond, the buildings range from new and clean to pretty funky.  

We get to Steph’s place, in a beautiful, gated complex, meet Steph’s friend Edward and chat in the kitchen.  We’re also reunited with the inimitable kitty Rue and meet Rue’s pet, Bunny, a rabbit who she dragged into the house one day and keeps as a playmate.  Steph and Edward head off to join the tail end the Jpiego holiday party (described as beers in the parking lot), and we head off to a much needed nap.

By the time we are ready to eat, it’s getting late by Maseru standards for dining out.  Fortunately, Steph knows a place that might be open later — a restaurant that is operated as part of a private NGO Kick4Life:  Restaurant No. 7.  We dine al fresco on their patio and are the only other patrons except for a large party in the corner.  We savor a S.A. pinotage (Chocoholic), fish cake appetizer, filet and pork entrees, vanilla ice cream with honeycomb.  Yummy.  Love the outdoor patio furniture made of painted tires (tyres) and old shipping pallets.

Mid-trip. Heathrow Lounge and off to S.A.

It’s a pretty restless flight to for Paul, who only manages to get a few uncomfortable hours of sleep.  Annette, with the aid of pharmaceuticals, does better.  Paul turns to in-flight entertainment for relief and enjoys “Bad Neighbors” with Seth Rogan, Zak Efron and Rose Byrne (“predictable plot elements, but raunchy and funny – 3 stars”).  We arrive at Heathrow for a 6 hour layover between flights…ugh.  Paul is feeling particularly tired and fat.  Apparently his pants shrank 3 sizes inflight from San Francisco.  It’s almost pitch dark at 4:00PM, reminding us of the short days on the trip to Ireland last year.  December + northern latitude = really short daylight time.

We take the shuttle bus from Terminal 1 to Terminal 5 where there is a lounge at which we can use Annette’s Priority Pass (thank you Salesforce).  We bask in standard lounge comfort and snacks. —  peanuts, olives, cheese, beer, and a not too horrible soup.  Paul, who is able to sleep just about anywhere, does just that and regales the entire lounge audience with his snoring.  Several look at Annette, beseeching her to wake him to stop.  She shrugs.  Let him sleep. Finally he has to be woken up because the snoring and snorting grunts have become a public spectacle and the embarrassment is acute.  We catch the bus back to Terminal 1 and board leg #2 to Johannesburg.

We sit across the aisle from one another on Flight 57, which also gets off to a slightly late departure but promises on-time arrival with favorable winds.  Paul digs in for more TV – fabulously vulgar episodes of The Family Guy followed by The Maze Runner (“tries to be Hunger Games and fails – 2 stars”) and Annette actually gets through The 100 Foot Journey. Food’s a bit better on this leg – chicken and veggie curry which is surprisingly good.  Annette eats everything including the roll and sticky toffee pudding!  

Departure: heading across the globe

As agreed, Annette comes by SpeedPro to fetch Paul at 3:00PM (actually arriving a bit earlier), and with only a bit of panic, we are able to head back to Foster City by 3:10. Not too bad a start considering the madness of the previous couple of weeks with lease negotiations and year-end business wrap-up duties.

Our Uber driver (actually a Peninsula Cab Service guy moonlighting or playing both sides of the business model…whatever) arrives at 5:30 and we pull up at SFO’s International Terminal just a bit after 6:00PM, allowing Annette to fully relax ☺ since we’re on schedule with plenty of time.  Once passed TSA screening, we enjoy a couple of Haig Club tester sips at the DFS store, and pose Annette for photos in front of the point of sale display that SpeedPro had refaced about a month ago.

Since our plane is running a bit late, we proceed downstairs and establish camp at the Firewood Grill, where we enjoy a small pesto & chicken pizza, beer (Paul) and Manhattan (Annette), and Paul takes advantage of the airport Wi-Fi to log in and finish up a few bits of business…of course!

We board the British Airways 747 after a short stint in the waiting area, and settle in for a multi-day series of flights.  Hooray for in-flight entertainment: Paul gets all the way through “The 100 Foot Journey” in a single sitting (liked it…”predictable plot elements, but charming and sweet -- 3.5 stars”), but it will take Annette 3 more attempts on the next flight to finish it (“great movie for falling into a Xanax-induced coma – 3.5 stars”).  The dinner does not live up to the standards of the Michelin star restaurants portrayed in the movie…by a long shot!  Annette is really happy that we’d stopped for the small pizza before departure since the shepherd’s pie is inedible.  Paul somehow manages to choke his down, and polish off part of Annette’s too.

LESOTHO and SOUTH AFRICA – Dec 2014 – Jan 2015

After much anticipation, we're on the cusp on leaving to visit Stephanie in Africa! She has planned a full itinerary of activities and adventures and we can't wait. But we have a long, multi-leg flight ahead of us which will probably leave us zonked. We'll see...