Even More Getting Out

To Jane

Because you asked about the blog

As I reread it, which I have many times I see it brings back for me trip details but it definitely does not paint an accurate picture of events as they unfolded. 

It was both traumatic and scary. At the time it was really hard to get a grip on what was going on. It has also been difficult to hear hostility towards travellers (ourselves included) on how we (as in travellers) were the problem. People are not themselves these days. It seems everyone is stressed. In BC we are advised to be kind. I think this has helped.

The travel industry in 2019 was huge. Flights were in and out all the time. Massive websites offered mountains of travel advice. Travel was big business. Many who we talked to on other trips recommended South Africa as a destination. Travel agents and tour packages were everywhere. We were really proud of the way we organized our own travel experience. We researched for a year and ended up with a cobbled together blend of bookings we made ourselves. At the end of our 5 week trip, based on advice from friends we tacked on a final 7 day tour package. The final piece was to see on an excursion to Botswana and onto Zambia before we flew home. We had a tourist agent, a tour operator and we registered with the Canadian government. All this we thought would help ensure things went smoothly. We were careful.

As we were preparing to leave we watched as news of deaths in Wuhan, China were being reported. Someone had managed to get pictures to the press of dead bodies piling up. Upsetting as this was in January, it was still far away. The WHO was not yet in front of the press issuing cautions. Indeed covid never did appear in South Africa until we had left. The day we departed Canada the first case of Covid 19 was reported in Canada. At the time several flights from China were still coming into Canada each day. 

As travellers in South Africa we were not watching world events unfold. News channels focused on Trump, bad weather, economic reports etc. We wanted to close our ears to this. South Africa has severe water, electricity, crime and race issues. Immediate concerns for our safety occupied our focus. Crime in the big cities in South Africa was rampant. We were on high alert for the ever present dangers. At the end of our tour of “civilized” South Africa we went into the bush. We both felt much safer amidst baboons, elephants and lions etc.. In the bush we had no tv, and mostly no internet (and therefore no news) for days on end.

We had no idea in the bush a pandemic was about to be declared. We left Kruger National Park and flew to Johannesburg. From there we were to take the next part of our trip, the tacked on tour. We were starting to get cryptic messages from our son and daughter urging us to come home. They were insistent. That day Trump announced only Americans could fly from Europe into the US. This was a stunning turn of events. We could see this would have major impact on all world travel. We phoned the Canadian Embassy in South Africa and asked them what we should do. They told us to carry on with our trip. We had tickets home 7 days hence with British Airways through Heathrow, London. By now all non American European travellers wanting to get to North America had to come through London. What’s more Trump could just as easily slam the door shut on London. (In fact he did this a short while later). We tried that night to rebook our flight to return a week sooner. British Airways was overwhelmed with phone calls and web traffic. We could not reach them by phone or internet. The staff at the airport could not help us. We could not change our tickets to get home sooner. Uneasily we decided to carry on with our trip. My gut told me to go home. My son phoned us in our hotel and pleaded with us to get home. We proceeded with our trip and flew into the bush in Botswana. We were worried sick. Our time there was weighed down with world events and worry. At the end of our second day we decided to try and get home. Suddenly the possibility of getting stuck in South Africa was real. We flew back to Johannesburg airport. Things were changing quickly. Finding help was not easy. No one could reach British Airways. Even the gate agents couldn’t get through to their head office. We watched helplessly as a flight left South Africa for London that had room on it. We tried to reach our travel agent and tour operator. We finally got through but they would not help us. They told us to go back to Botswana and carry on with the trip. They also told us that demand for our tickets to North America had gone up and we would have to send them a lot of money to hold the tickets we already had. To us it felt like extortion. We decided to try to find another way home. The ocean separating the America’s from the rest of the world started to look impenetrable. We wandered the airport seeking help. Nothing. We had dinner in the Johannesburg airport hotel that just days earlier had been filled. We sat virtually alone. That night in our airport hotel room we googled for help. A suggestion appeared. It was to fly to Dubai on Emirates airline the next night, then onto Seattle and finally to Vancouver Canada. We hit the buy button. Nothing. We were stunned. We didn’t know what to do. We started to search again. Suddenly at 3 am confirmation came through we were on the Emirates flights. I started to cry. My stomach stopped hurting for the first time in days. We got up and started printing flight confirmations. We were to fly out the next night. Our son and daughter were elated. Now how to spend the next 15 hours in an airport without getting exposed. We decided to book and stay in our hotel room until it was time to leave. Getting into our seat on the flight was a huge relief. The flight was completely booked. Relief on the entire flight was palpable. We exchanged brief stories on how lucky we all felt. Still concerned we might be exposed to the flu we wore masks on the flight used our hand sanitizer every time we touched something and tried to keep our distance from everyone. We were in the air for 30 hours. When we arrived in Vancouver our son and daughter each driving one car pulled up. Our son got out of our car and jumped in with our daughter. Keeping large distance from them we got into our car and drove home. They had stocked us up on food. Quarantined for 14 days felt like a nothing. Every time I lay in my bed I was and still am overjoyed to be back in Canada. I am just so happy to be here.

More on getting out

The last pic we took in Africa was of a puff adder snake. It is one of the most feared and dangerous snakes in Africa. It was not 30 feet from us when spotted. The bushmen on safari shared how they listen to the birds and other animals to find lions and snakes etc.. Having made the decision to get out we did not join the safari that morning. We stayed back to try to make exit arrangements.  Now the managers at this camp were the best. I knew if I asked for something they would deliver (if it was possible). Being African, in the travel industry with tentacles that reached out to agents across Africa, they could get things done. We asked them to get ahold of British Airways and help us get out sooner. As we awaited word on what could be done the serving staff listened to birds warning of the approaching snake. Keeping a safe distance we got a good pic. That morning the cheerful managers came back tense and silent. Something was wrong. They told us they would keep on trying as we worked our way back to Johannesburg.

In Johannesburg we discovered nothing had happened with our booking. Now it was hard to imagine that things could go so wrong so quickly. As I presented our case to the British Airways gate agent I opened a can of worms by saying our government was telling us to get out. Suddenly language became very important. Were they “telling”, “advising”, “ordering”.... because each phrase I found out meant something entirely different. Who knew? Advising meant that the insurance companies would not have to pony up for trip cancellation. After all if we chose to get out that was our choice. Come On!!! A global pandemic and we are talking about protecting insurance companies! I was not surprised. This was not my first rodeo. You see from so far away and when you are not plugged in to what is going on it is really hard to figure it all out. I eavesdropped on breakfast conversations. People were trying to make sense of it. With NO straight talk this was very difficult. In fact most conversations at breakfast ended with “Yeah, it was just an advisory”. 

So out come the snakes. Our agent tried to get us to pay again for a flight that from here I can see will never get off the ground. He wanted us to stick to our March 20th date. We are still bitter. Getting to North America was the trick. With flights from all Europe cancelled we needed a different entry point. We needed a point on the globe that had not been banned. Dubai 😀. I had always wanted to see it and we had a great view of it as we flew in. We could see all these cruise ships tied up, and all the mega ships of various royalty. We joined the Emirates Skyward Club sitting in our hotel room in Johannesburg 😀. It was free, entitles us to loads of spam, and puts us into their system for bookings. We were upgraded to biz class for our first booking. Of course by far, best of all, it got us to North America. Dubai’s airport was a glittering tower. Like Singapore it is very beautiful. Plus it was WAY cheaper than British Airways.

Getting to North America, I wanted to kiss the ground. YVR was shocking. There were 6 security agents to every 3 passengers coming through. Hosts of machines (looked like 100) stood empty. Ropes were still set up to control the lineups that no longer existed. No one was there. Every official we met knew we had been to hell to get there that day. They nodded to say everyone had the same story. Or at least the same ending, huge relief.

We did not get tested coming through YVR (or through Seattle). I don’t know how it would work if symptoms presented between Dubai and Seattle. I mean the US wouldn’t want us and Canada says we can’t come in. We are into day 1 of the quarantine. 

If anyone wants to leave cookies on our doorstep, just come up, leave them and ring.😀

So happy to be in Canada. I just want to stay here from now on.

Hitting the ground running in Dubai

After a pleasant 8 hour flight from Johannesburg, we had to hustle once landed to make our Seattle connection. The airport here is absolutely massive; as is Emirates airline. The number of their planes on the ground was incredible including 8 or 10 of those very large Airbus A380’s. Think how many must be airborne at any particular moment.

We wore too many clothes so were getting warm when we hit the health screening- yikes! - thermal imaging cattle chute. No escape but we got through to hear the gate agent utter the 6 sweetest words the harried traveler will ever hear: “You’ve been upgraded to business class.”

And that’s where I sit right now as I write this. Our route takes us almost directly over the North Pole then down over B.C. to Seattle. Will try to post now using their wifi. We so look forward to getting home!

Trouble

Took a 6 seater bush plane out of the glamping camp. We then booked a flight to Johannesburg airport (now a comparative ghost town). In theory we were to fly from Johannesburg to London and on to YVR. We wanted to leave 5 days early. Long story short, even though we paid for biz class on British Airways they couldn’t help us. Our travel agent told us to fly to Zambia (on our own) then come back to Johannesburg and then get our flight to London and then YVR.  This same agent also asked us for a lot more money because demand for our tickets had gone up. British Airways told us they could do nothing. So we were tired and frustrated. You see no one can reach British Airways right now. Their website and phones are overwhelmed. People are angry at the gate. Last night a flight left for London with room and they would not let us on. Flights from London to Canada are being sold at highly inflated prices, because it is the only way right now all of Europe can get into North America. 

Well we took matters into our own hands. At 3 am after working our fingers on our tablets, we got confirmation we are on a flight from Johannesburg to Dubai, then on to Seattle, then finally into YVR.  We leave tonight. We feel very lucky we were able to make this happen. It will be a super long 30 hour journey, but we do not overnight anywhere. 

Doug: Although the routing home will see us cross 14 time zones versus the original plan’s 10, I am actually feeling quite good about it. Total transit time is about the same 30 hours and we should be home 6:30 pm Monday. In addition, we go nowhere near the hot zone of Europe. We leave in another 11 hours so let’s see if I’m still feeling this way, say, 36 hours from now! 

Interesting to see that travel insurance companies now waffling on trip interruption claims due to the virus. We’re with Manulife - the Darth Vader of insurers. Insurance is generally very useful unless you actually are in need of it.

Going to cut the trip short

This morning we saw that the Canadian Government is advising everyone to go home from wherever they are. We are going to try to do this today. We don’t know what to expect. We are flying out of the bush in an hour.

Arrival in Okavango Delta

Yesterday, we took small Embraer jet from Johannesburg to a very small airport in Maun, Botswana. We then took an even smaller 12 seater prop plane to the airstrip that serves this 12 tent lodge in the Okavango delta. After 30 minute jeep ride, we arrived at the camp and enjoyed boisterous singing by the 15 or so staff to greet us. Camp is about 1/2 full with 7 ladies from Maine on a gals tour and a pleasant couple from Hamburg (who are our companions on safari vehicle).

After quick orientation, we hit the road looking for wildlife. Being an inland delta (floodplain), terrain is very flat - largely grasslands at this time of year with groves of trees scattered throughout. Grasslands are punctuated by many phallic-like termite mounds. 

Most of these mounds are 1-3m in height while some can top 4m in my estimation. Grass can be quite thick in spots (1m high) and this can make wildlife hard to spot. That said, we had a good outing yesterday afternoon. 

We were also treated to a dramatic thunderstorm which we don't often get at home.

Like the last place, vehicle is a modified Toyota Land Cruiser that will bulldoze through anything. 

That's our guide Comic driving sporting his lucky hat. Note hyena just beyond the hat. Birgit and Hans Peter from Hamburg up front. 

That's it for now and I'll close this post by thanking my golf buddy Art for suggesting that we visit this beautiful and unique area.

Why I am going grey

The previous 24 hours in Johannesburg were for sure the most stressful of the trip. This included fleeing from the accommodation we had booked through a desperate section of the city with maybe 10 minutes to spare before daylight disappeared. We were quite rattled. We booked into a hotel at the airport, clicked on our Wifi and discovered Trump had banned non Americans from flying into the US for 30 days. Tired and rattled we couldn’t figure out what to do. We were worried about getting stuck (in Johannesburg), and getting sick. One option we seriously considered was ending the trip and going home. We knew Europeans could still get out through Heathrow, so we reasoned it would be overrun with travellers. This makes it the definition of a hot zone. We enquired about switching tickets but found we could easily get out of South Africa. We could not so easily get out of London. If we just stuck to our original booking, we would fly through the hot zone. We land in London and then take off for Vancouver. The option we chose was to go to Botswana and carry on with the trip. We are now on in a remote tented camp on the Okavango Delta. It is hot here and far away from people. To get here we took a small plane from Johannesburg to Maun. Now came the surprise. To get to the camp we had to get into a bush plane and fly to a tiny landing strip. I am glad I didn’t know this was coming until I crawled into this inky winky plane. One more surprise. They took our temperatures as we arrived in Botswana. We came in the midday heat and I could barely stand it. We were both normal, but I couldn’t help wonder what would have happened had we had a fever.

Last night nature treated us to a huge electrical storm. It came up as we were in this little Jeep looking for wildlife. Now golfers know that lightening is attracted to moving objects on a flat surface. This is like a golf course except it is a very rough ride. You are out in the open, riding around in a little cart and an easy pick off for the fork lightening coming down everywhere. The good news is I am still writing this blog.

Self imposed quarantine

Doug and I have decided to self quarantine ourselves upon returning for 14 days. We both feel fine now but would be sick if we brought home the Coronavirus and spread it through the lower mainland.

Kruger Park Experiences

(Have not had wifi service for last 6 days. Below written 4 days ago.)

We’ve had a great few days in Kruger with many wildlife sightings. Over the top, really. As mentioned in previous post, driving here is very easy. We (and everyone else) cruises along at 30 – 45 kph as this is what you need to do in order to spot anything. Everyone’s quite friendly and will often wave as they pass going opposite way. Many slow down as you approach and offer tips on what they’ve seen and we do our best to reciprocate. Atmosphere here (people-wise) is so unlike the experience outside the park with zero concerns for personal safety. Many Germans here as well as South Africans. All seem to have a deep reverence for the nature we are experiencing. With one exception, perhaps. We saw a guy at breakfast one day wearing tee shirt reading “Born, raised and protected by God, guns and guts”. I decided not to engage.

Speaking of tee shirts, we were sitting on our unit’s patio one day and I noticed one guy 2 huts down was doing some hand laundry and had hung a few tees over the fence to dry. One of them had a Canucks logo on it so I went over to check it out. Turns out our 2 immediate neighbors are from Vancouver – friends traveling together. One couple had immigrated to Canada about 25 years ago. The fellow told me that he and his wife simply couldn’t take the stress and fear of living in South Africa and were able to come to Canada. Like me, he’s profoundly grateful to be a Canadian. In so many words, he said upon arrival, he sought out PTSD treatment in an effort to put his previous life behind him. That said, they have a great deal of affection for the land and its people as evidenced by their regular visits.

Our unit in this 2nd camp is very much like the first: very basic with traditional round hut style and thatched roof. The view of the Olifants River from our patio is to die for.

Drove up to a nearby viewpoint the other day to see spectacular countryside. Although I certainly won’t call it a highlight of the trip, couldn’t resist taking a picture of this monkey with very colorful male junk (may have to expand picture to see).

Excitement on the professionally guided trip

Today we were driving around for what seemed like ages. We came around a corner and there was this large bull elephant in musk. Now he was mad. He was peeing through an enormous 5th leg (quoting the guide). He wanted us out of his way. We could pretty much reach out and touch him. He decided to charge us. The guide stood our ground. Now I know the guide is experienced and good but there are degrees of trust. At this moment with my limited knowledge I would have picked flight instead of fight. Controlled panic was my reaction. The guide told us later that had we attempted to flee the elephant would have followed us for 2 km at whatever speed our little Jeep could go. The elephant didn’t give up when we stood our ground. He circled us and made charging attempts several times. The guide waited for the elephant to charge us from the side. He then stepped on the gas and we scooted out of the way. The guide explained later that if an elephant is over the top enraged and thinks he can squish the vehicle he will lift his trunk high, yell, flap his ears and come at us. The guide said he thought the elephant saw our Jeep as a bit big to squish so the charging he was doing was more of a “fake charge”. He was flapping his ears, and pointed his big tusks to ram us as he came running at us. 

The next highlight was we watched a pack of wild dogs attack and kill an impala. The impala is killed by the alpha male and alpha female. The pack forms a ring around the bush area to prevent the impala from escaping. They give certain calls to signal stages of the attack. We saw the impala leaping and the alpha female and male chasing. We then heard a call and the guide said this was the sound the alpha female makes once she has killed the impala. She will swallow the impala and fill her stomach with it. She then returns to the pack and regurgitates the contents. The pack knows this call. They could not contain their excitement at the knowledge of the arrival of their next meal.

Probably one of the most haunting sites we saw was the body of a large impala hanging in the tree. The head was not visible and the abdomen had been eaten. The skin was holding the body together so you could easily see it had been quite a large impala. Now the day before we had seen a leopard in a tree  eating an impala with a hyena waiting below the tree for the bones.

Arrival at the fancy camp

This is different (to put it mildly).

The tent is gorgeous. We have our own bathroom. An outside shower. The tent is on the river bank. The cooing birds are chirping away in the background. We were greeted by beautifully dressed attendants. Needless to say with 6 weeks travel and only carry on luggage I am WAY underdressed. Of course the food is much better than in Kruger. The guides are also far more engaged. Doug told our guide he wanted to see wild dog. There are only 120 in Kruger, a very large park. Well our guide can imitate animal sounds. He made the call of an impala in final death throes and lo and behold wild dog arrived, and a big pack of them along with some hyena. We then followed the pack on its hunt for an impala for breakfast. The dogs made their kill and blood was visible on their necks. The safari ritual includes drinks and snacks, so dog kill be damned we stopped for tea. Chasing the dogs through tall grass at speeds was both scary and fun. At one point we came over an embankment and it was so steep I suspected we were in trouble. 

With two safaris a day there is a lot of downtime. It is too hot midday to do much. Most people here are millennials pining to escape their daily intense working rituals. We are pining for exercise. We eat, are driven around on safari, sit and sleep. 

 Baboons live outside our tents. They do not want us walking alone down the paths. Last night the baboons were screaming terrorizing sounds. A nearby lion chimed in at one point. It was disconcerting. We were told not to leave our locked rooms at night ( the same as in Capetown and Port Elizabeth). At least here it would be wild animals attacking. 

Elephants, giraffe, zebras, impalas, monkeys, are in abundance here. We see them a lot. The big 5 are less common but we do see them.

Animal confrontations

We watched two male baboons have a terrible fight. The screeching was large and  they were going at it. There was an alpha male high in a tree watching the entire thing. Now he was huge. 

We saw impala challenging each other.

We a wildebeast bravely confront a leopard

We watched that without a car the animals would label us enemy and scatter (or attack) once our distance was roughly 250 yards)

We saw a male baboon terrorize a female within his family 

We saw a den of hyena. Apparently the mother will bring live animals to the den so that young hyenas can learn to kill. The hyenas in the den were weeks old.

We saw two male elephants play fight in front of us

We were told to back off by a female elephant twice

We watched a super large elephant charge a couple in a small car

Mar 7 on safari

We drove ourselves today. Tonight we go on a night drive. The stars are incredible. We did get some good sights but not nearly as many as on other outings. Doug is getting sick of driving. Today’s highlight was a troop of roughly 15 elephants. They were quite a distance from us and they had 3 babies in the group. One was so tiny she had to be just a day old. We watched as they scrambled down a bank and crossed a shallow river. The baby had to be pushed across as she was not above the level of the water. Sitting on our deck we have 10 hippos grazing in the valley below. The kudos are fighting. We also stopped on a bridge. In the distance we watched a large group of elephants scramble up a steep embankment. They are so huge and the bank was so steep I did not think they would make it. The fellow beside us pointed out a very large croc in this same ravine. Doug also thought he saw a man fishing on a rock in the river. Now this is not done. You are not allowed out of your car. They say the animals would target you right away. I had my binoculars and looked and saw an enormous bird, the size of a person on this rock.Doug took a pic. Tomorrow we start our hand held portion of the trip. 

Mar 6 on safari

Today we went on an early morning tour. I awoke at 2:45 am (had trouble sleeping after that). We were not seeing much when suddenly the guide came across a leopard on the road. Now leopard spotting are rare. Cars out were stopping to snap a pic. The leopard took off and our guide deftly gave chase. Regular visitors were not allowed down this dirt road but he was a guide. We chased the leopard for a good 20 minutes. Our guide said she looked hungry and was no doubt looking for food. The leopard wasn’t running but walking fairly quickly. She would often turn and look at us. She at first started marking her territory. She was showing us we were in her area. She was behaving like a cat. At one point I saw a large wildebeast in the distance. He stood frozen as the leopard and our group moved forward. The leopard was sizing her up. In an act of defiance the wildebeast moved towards the leopard. She was clearly standing her ground. The cat passed her by. Eventually she left the dirt road and crossed into tall grass. She had spotted something and we left. We also saw a pretty turtle. We passed a large herd of giraffe and saw a 1 day old giraffe. It’s umbilical cord was still hanging from it. It looked strong. We saw crocodiles for the first time and water buffaloes, and some very beautiful big birds. Some were large with big beaks and brightly coloured.  We got very close to young hyenas. After the morning drive we went on the morning walk. Because we were walking it was far more dangerous. Like our last bush walk the animals are instinctively afraid of people. They identify us as predators and will behave aggressively, and certainly will never let us near. For this reason each guide has his own gun and we were warned about the dangers. On this walk we saw a 3 week old hippo. She was at the river with her mother. She was already huge. We tracked the hippos down by following the gigantic footprints they leave in the mud. We saw more crocs by the rivers edge. We also tried to feed a cricket to a very large poisonous spider. The cricket froze and the spider suspected a trap so nothing happened. We also pulled over and watched as a male baboon terrorized a female who was clinging to her very tiny baby. She screamed blue murder and for moment we could all see he was selecting another target. The problem was it was us. She was one swing away from landing in the open car. The driver quickly pulled away.

On safari mar 5

Yesterday we drove from skuzuki to oliphant. An amazing trip. Certainly a highlight was 2 very large herds of elephants crossing in front of us. In one case we stopped and waited as the entire herd went about 10 m in front of our car. There were many mothers with babies. They put themselves between us and the babies. The last mother stood in front of us as her baby crossed and waved her trunk at us as if to say stay back. Now I was worried she would charge us. In the second instance we came across a herd of possibly 70 elephants. They were more or less together. I pointed them out and thought we were possibly going to far to see them as we rounded a corner. But behind the corner were a large number of mothers and babies stopped right beside the road. I thought we could just sit a while and watch and then noticed they were heading towards the road. One by one they started to cross then I saw from lower down the valley the biggest elephant I have ever seen. He was massive and he was mad and charging. I had no idea what he was so angry at and then saw a little car go shoot backwards out of the bush. It was no doubt a dirt road and clearly the people were taking pictures unaware that the troop would move toward them (and us).He was so rattled they drove off. The herd continued as did the massive big elephant (but not before he threatened us too). We stayed still. We also had great viewing of lions in a den. As we approached it was clear we had to wait to see the lions. It was very slow but eventually it was our turn. We took our time and moved past but had to do a u turn to get back in the right direction. Now there was a huge traffic jam. We had to wait to get through. Suddenly I spotted two lions heading out of the den. They crossed the road right in front of our car. They came over to us even though a large number had been waiting some time to see them. We had perfect picture position. Other sites included Ostrich, many giraffes, more elephants, plus zebras and kudos. We arrived at Oliphant rest area. Our unit has a beautiful view. We are perched over the river, the unit is comfortable and amenities are good.

Very exciting Kruger 1st day

We had 3 outings our first day and saw a ton of animals. I was unaware of how lucky we were. We first got up at 4 am for an early morning guided tour. In the afternoon we drove ourselves around and at 4 pm we went out for a 2 hr bush walk. 

The morning tour had the highest payoff. We first saw a large hyena right in our camp. It was about the same size as me and I was shocked. It was ugly. Next we came upon the first of many giraffe sightings. In some cases the giraffes were alone, in other cases they were in groups with up to 7 giraffes. We watched as the giraffe rubbed their necks on the trees, almost taking the tree down. We saw many many elephants. The most shocking one happened when we were touring without a guide. We came over a hill and there on the road, blocking it off were 10 elephants. Needless to say we could drive no further. The group surrounded the babies in the center. One matriarch took a firm position staring at us. She was guarding the family. We sat still and after a time the group moved into the bush. You asked Michael if in the one pic we really so close to a big thing with tusks. In fact we were. The elephant was so close to our open aired tour vehicle, the guide thought he was going to reach in or charge. It was scary. I saw one elephant gently feeding a younger one. On the bush walk we learned that all the animals fear people but none make the connection to people in a vehicle. They see the vehicle as a different thing and fear of it has not been passed down. That meant that without the protection of a vehicle you risk being charged by an elephant or other big animal. You do not get close. In the vehicle the animals are 1 or 2 meters from the car. On the bush walk we got to within 75 meters of a huge elephant. The guides said no closer. They were each armed with a rifle. They said if the animals charged they would have 12 seconds to shoot to kill or we would be mowed down. We also saw 4 large white rhino on the bush walk. The guide spotted the rhino and talked about them for a while. The male was gigantic. After we all saw the rhino the guide started walking closer to them. We were not allowed to talk but I wanted to alert the guides to how close we were getting. We stopped 75 meters from the group of rhino. We also saw a rare mother and calf black rhino. We had 4 lion sightings. In two of them we were very close. In fact we were so close one ( of 7 in the group) of the big cats started closing his eyes with me, and I closed mine back (the same way we all do with witty) .It was magical. We spent about 10 minutes with these lions. Now lions when they are full lie back and relax but when they get hungry, they stalk. We watched a group of 3 lions stalk and terrorize a large group of impala. The impala reproduce like rabbits and are the meat for many animals. So many stories to share, but I will just mention other animals sighted. We have seen large troops of monkeys and baboons, wart hog and hippos. Other than this we have seen huge African bees, a big beautiful turtle, a poisonous big spider, and a dung beetle the size of a golf ball. We have lots of pics but can’t really post here.

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Arrival in Kruger Park

We arrived in Kruger Park 2 days ago by small jet landing at the small Skukuza airport that's right inside this very large park. Europcar car hire guy was waiting for us so we picked up the vehicle and were soon on our way.

The terrain here is undulating - a mix of bush and more open grasslands with some dramatic rock outcroppings. We head 150 km north tomorrow so could look quite different there.

As for driving, it's VERY easy here in the park. Roads are a mix of paved, gravel and dirt; the latter being seriously washboarded in places.

A wide variety of accommodation types here ranging from tented camping through to private luxury lodges. The national parks service (SANParks) operates the more basic options and this is where we currently are in one of their bungalows styled on traditional round hut with thatched roof.

Many options for wildlife viewing too ranging from self-drive through private guide. Yesterday we did SANParks safari vehicle (15 or so passengers), bush walk with 2 rifle toting rangers and 5 of us being escorted as well as self-drive. You can't leave your vehicle except at designated pit stops. We hit a wildlife bonanza yesterday with many sightings. The bush walk was especially good. I remarked to Nancy that, although I'm not a religious person at all, the experience felt quite spiritual as one reflects on the majesty of nature. 

This guy literally at the shoulder of the road. 

Today has not been as good but we do another SANParks vehicle tour this aft. Nancy's post will provide more details so I will not repeat here. There was only one comical moment that I'll mention. On the tour vehicle and of all things, I found myself wondering how much Instagram has contributed to the lowering of I.Q. levels around the world. She (of the 30-something couple seated opposite) wore 3/4 length dress, designer boots with stylish cape and hat. He busied himself taking photos of her smiling, pouting, trying mightily to look pensive, etc. with giraffe, elephant, lion in the background. Totally sacrilegious. I wish now we had begun mocking them but didn't think of it at the time. It would have been fun.

Anyhow I'll close this out for now.

Heading into deepest darkest Africa

By dark I mean no or spotty internet. OMG
We will connect again March 20. We may be able to receive emails in a couple of spots.
We left Plettenberg Bay this morning and drove to an amazing bird sanctuary. Certainly a highly memorable visit. We were there for 2 hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. After this we drove through strong winds to arrive in Port Elizabeth. We fly tomorrow into Kruger Park and have 6 more days of do it yourself. We will be on 2 different safaris. We have signed up with guides. After this we put ourselves in the hands of a tour operator.. We will have everything done for us (we understand). There will be 3 more days in Kruger with this full meal deal and then off to Botswana. After Botswana we fly to Victoria Falls and after that we start the trek home.
Now with any luck by the time we get home, Canada will be operating again. Rail blockades will have disappeared. Harry and Meghan will be footing their own security bill (which BTW) has been the one subject that everyone seems to hold a very strong opinion on. 😁
Stay Safe
Nancy

I’m an old white guy

It’s our last full day in “Plett” as the locals call Plettenberg Bay. We’ve had 4 nights at this place which was supposed to be, on paper at least, the nicest one on the Garden Route that we’ve been traveling on since Cape Town. The room itself is quite nice with view of Bitou River from deck.

Food is quite good too but there’s a vibe here that is very different from other places. Everyone’s pleasant but cool. The manager is the only one who will try to strike a conversation but I find it’s quite superficial. Seems like he wants it to end even before it’s started. Other places have bent over backward to be warm and welcoming; enquiring about where we’re from, travel plans, any arrangements they can make. Over the top, really. This place wins the “most easily forgotten “ award.

Although not a golfing trip, we thought we’d have 2 or 3 games and our last was yesterday. We actually managed a few good hits but the most striking thing to me was my whiteness. Both at the golf course and here at the lodge, all patrons are white and, like me, generally older. All clerks, waiters, caddies, ground crew, etc are black and, I’m telling you, it feels really strange. Even in Vietnam where ancestry is quite different from mine, I did not really think about this at all. Here, it’s constantly in your face.

Today’s hiking trip at Robberg Nature Reserve was a bust as Nancy has described although very beautiful area.

We bailed and headed a few km east to another National Park to enjoy a pretty well deserted and magnificent beach with huge breakers rolling in.

Vancouver City Council Take Note

Today we went to Robberg Nature Reserve in Plettenberg Bay. Think of a loaf of bread. The park sits on top of the loaf and tiny paths are carved into the sides going around and down. At the base is the ocean. The pathways are made of rocks largely , so in parts you scramble up and down. All paths force you to cling to the loaf. One step off and well..... Now I have vertigo so this may as well have been a morning bungee jumping for the total terror I endured! At the peak of this loaf you could look down and see beautiful shores with no people at all on them. How perfect. Clearly a housing community backed onto the shores. In other words these are private ocean front properties. So how do the houses prevent  the great unwashed from treading on their preserve? They erect electrified fences with cameras. The signs promise an armed response to trespassers. I bet Vancouver City didn’t think of this for keeping unwanted off ocean shores.😁

It is hard to see but at the top of this fence is electrical wiring. Now Dad told me his story of how angry their driver got when he saw blacks in the ocean. He was here 25 years ago.

Today we fed orphaned elephants

We went to an elephant sanctuary today. We were given buckets of cut up fruit and vegetables to feed them. Their trunk works like a hand. It was well, weird. They fought a bit to get vegetables from me. I was to hold my hand flat while the elephant grabbed the piece of food out of my hand. While I had food they crowded round. Once the food was gone they couldn’t remember my name!

Shanty poverty

Beside every beautiful town and resort are shanty towns. It is extreme poverty. We have been warned to stay away. Apparently with the influx of Africans, there is also not enough food.

The shanty towns go on for as far as the eye can see in some places. The towns provide the cheap labor so they must be near the luxury accommodations. In Capetown children from these townships were out begging for food and learning the streets.

Surf’s Up!

We have to check out in a few hours’ time from this idyllic location on the Indian Ocean. For some stupid reason, I had imagined the Indian Ocean as a warm body of water - it ain’t! A few nut jobs actually go swimming- quite dangerous as there are warnings about strong undertow. We’ve both found it mesmerizing to simply sit here and watch the surf roll in. Our lack of ambition finally got to us yesterday, though, so we went for a hike in a National Park that’s just a few minutes drive away. The trail was quite gnarly versus what we are used to; many roots, rocks to trip on. A number of buff looking millennials blew by us geezers without breaking a sweat.

Seemed like we worked quite hard before arriving at the 1 km signpost! Had to cross the river at one point using their raft which definitely sapped our enthuse for continuing to a waterfall.

Beautiful bird songs but we couldn’t see one bird due to thick foliage.

Many German tourists here - about 60% according to the restaurant manager we spoke with last night. Most of the rest are Brits, then a mix of Aussies and Americans. Very few Canadians he says but perhaps Canadians are on tour buses which this area isn’t set up to serve as near as I can see.

The restaurant the night before wasn’t particularly busy at the time we went so we gabbed a bit with the waiter whose mastery of English was excellent. He told us he had come from Zimbabwe about 3 years ago for a one year gig in a marketing role for Unilever. Not sure exactly what happened after that but he’s not going back due to lack of meaningful employment opportunities and high inflation - about 300% according to the IMF. He said there was hope things would be different following the demise of the Mugabe regime but this hasn’t been the case. New president simply puts friends, family and other sycophants on the government payroll, apparently. (Sounds like America these days but I digress.) He struck me as a responsible person; far more so than many of his countrymen who populate the army of panhandlers in Cape Town.

Golf gods are making it up to me

Apology accepted!!

Okay so we have reached paradise. Who knew? It is summertime hot. We are right now parked on chaise lounges in shade right on the Indian Ocean. (We dipped our toes in.) The ocean breeze makes it totally comfortable. Our suite is right on the ocean and the whole unit looks out on this white sand beach. Think Tofino like or even better China beach.

Unlike Mexico where you pay to be on a premium lounge (which almost touches other premium lounges) there is no status thing attached to what lounger you are in.Next door to ours is the honeymoon suite. The honeymoon couple is currently on the beach beside us. Oh to be twenty again. Rats. The name of this place is Haus am strand if you want to google it. It is in a place called Wilderness.

The one thing that worries so many here is the beautiful rich country that has many more blacks living in horrible shanty squalor right next door. Unemployment is at 42%. Blacks from Nigeria are still coming in as are many from Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa. It is unnerving. Shanty communities are everywhere. There are those here who rage against economic unbalance. They are called the EFF and they represent a party that wants to throw whites out. They say Africa is for blacks. We truly have it good in Canada.

 Oh one other thing. Even a year ago when Doug and I went places and people asked us where we were from. We would  say Vancouver Canada and people would draw a blank look.  Now we say we are where Harry and Meghan moved to and everyone knows instantly.😁

On the road again!

We've had a very enjoyable 2 nights in Swellendam, a long established community of 15,000. Perhaps that should be Swelterdam as it's supposed to hit 40 degrees here tomorrow.

Anyhow, quite a few of the historic Cape Dutch style homes (200+ years old) have been converted to small restaurants and inns such as the 6 room/3 building property we are at.

And inside our space:

And patio:

A few zebra and springbok in a fenced backyard. 

This town is inland a bit so we head back to the coast and a bit cooler temps today.

Cape Town to Hermanus

We left Cape Town two mornings ago after a six night stay; probably 1-2 too many nights but there it is. That said, we very much enjoyed the hotel and connecting with Ursula the owner - a lively and positive spirit. She has seen a lot over her 70 years; the last 20 as a widow. Nancy asked about the circumstances of her husband’s passing and it was quite shocking to learn that he had shot himself. She said she didn’t feel guilt or remorse about anything she did or might have done to prevent this tragedy. She explained that he suffered hearing loss, felt isolated as a result and, in turn, had the black dog of depression as a constant companion. This scared the bejesus out of me so I will have hearing tested as soon as I get home.

The road to Hermanus was a good quality mostly 2 lane track. Road grade going over a pass was quite steep versus what we are used to. I can say that the driving is going better than expected. Back home, I’m used to looking at my lane from a certain perspective so here have to guard against a tendency to drift to the left in an effort to restore what I’m used to seeing. (Hope this makes sense.)

Have used offline Google maps thus far. Best to enter a specific destination versus simply putting in a town name. In the latter case, Google lady will bring you to the centre of town and then declare her work done. I was left driving around in circles in Stellenbosch.

Hermanus was once prominent as a fishing village but now more of a vacation spot, as I understand. Whale and shark watching, hiking and golf are the main activities. We managed a golf game yesterday and enjoyed the company of Gina and Michael, a couple that spends six months here and six at home in the U.K. Golf experience was very much like home although scenery here quite dramatic wedged as we are between mountains and sea. 30 or so Springbok frolic on the course so unusual sight. (Apparently they have to cull them periodically as no predators in the area.)

Gina has lived all her adult life in South Africa and their marriage is Michael’s second following the passing of his first wife. There’s a sizeable expat community of U.K. snow birds here and, like our snow birds, have to watch dates for tax reasons and to avoid being cut off by the National Health Service.  We had refreshments with them afterwards and I found Gina just a tad contemptuous of African servers. “They’re dumb as stumps.”, she offered although acknowledged blacks are very poorly served by the education system. They’ve been members at Hermanus Golf Club for some years so when a server addressed her as Gina a while back, he was suitably admonished. She was to be addressed as “Mam”, “Ms. Gina”, etc.

Today we are back on the road and will stop tonight in Swellendam, another old Dutch community.

Gone With The Wind esque

Attached to this amazing bird rescue was this equally amazing winery property. It went on for acres and acres. They had beautiful gardens, art everywhere. It was Disney like. You could hop a segway to get around or a little golf cart. Or god forbid, you could use 2 legs. Wine and ice cream flowed everywhere. They had a spa and the staff said to me “yes maam”. Even the weather was perfect.
For a while Doug and I cursed that we chose Capetown over this perfect plantation estate. Hundreds of slaves used to work this property and clearly its wealth multiplied. We sipped lemonades under the shade of a several hundred year old tree. Eventually we drove to Hermanus (stay tuned).

Baboons have big teeth

So we arrived in the parking lot to march to the top of Cape Point and look what was strolling through. What I didn’t know was that she  was playing me. As I focused on her and her baby her partner had snuck up behind me. Now I had no food so he left but not before I exercised huge control to not start screaming.

I then watched the same play be made on another woman. At first he snuck up on her and then violently slapped her bag with food in it out of her hand. I managed to video what happened next.

Penguin working to impress wife

You can see sand flying up into penguin. That is her partner digging a hole for her.

She has to agree to the nest. He comes out, raises his wings asking how about this and she sticks her beak up into the air. He never complains. He returns to the hole and continues digging. The hole was actually getting quite deep.

Never complain, never explain.

Cape Town sights

We have been active over these last few days and managed a gondola ride to the top of Table Mountain which dominates the landscape here.

In the left centre, you may be able to make out Robben Island which has been used for several centuries for various purposes: leper colony, asylum and, most famously, as a prison. It was here that Mandela was incarcerated for 18 or so of his 27 years in prison. We visited it yesterday- about a 45 minute boat ride over choppy seas as quite windy that day. It was a bit tough to photograph his former cell, which, as you look at it from the hall has small window on the right and door on the left. The pic below shot through the window shows small bench and waste bucket.

And below is shot through the door showing same bench and bed roll (i.e. no actual bed).

Today we just stuck to the local Bo-Kaap neighbourhood which is quite colourful with its Cape Malay heritage. Malay people originally brought in by Dutch settlers to work as slaves as required on local farms, etc. apparently. Their foods are quite unique to the area as we found out in a walking tour and cooking class that we took today in a home just up the street. Nice also to connect with fellow travellers at the class: large multi generation family from Montana, British and German couples. Ian (one of the Americans) was encouraging with his experience with car hire. He’s only had a couple of harmless screw ups driving on the left. Wish me luck as we will leave soon to pick up our car!

Finally, I can report that our security situation has improved. While still quite vigilant, we now use Uber to go anywhere. Quite efficient and cheap.

You’ve Got To Read This

Doug and I are now competing for who gets the most reads. If you clicked on this post I now get a point. 😁

Today we joined a cooking class. The “interesting thing” is that both of us struggled to hear the teacher. Now Doug tells me I mumble but I have found myself straining to hear him. It is funny that neither he nor I really thought the problem lay at our ears. It was always the speaker talking softly. It is so embarrassing to be standing there and the whole class is waiting for you to respond and you haven’t a clue what the question was. We try to cover for each other. I am getting this dealt with as soon as we get home to Abbotsford. Doug is coming with me if I have to drag him by his ears.

I now can make samosas and a couple of other deep fried dishes! Taking my statins now.

Touristy Stuff

We are doing the touristy stuff now. We went to visit the prison on Robben Island that held Nelson Mandela. The island is a short distance off the Capetown coast. They had docents as tour guides. Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in this prison. The prison housed political prisoners of the apartheid government. Prior to this passing ships would drop off mutinous  sailors and societies sent lepers here to live out their days.

We spent several hours at the botanical gardens. We enjoyed seeing the variety of indigenous plants.

We went to the top of table mountain. I was unaware this mountain is considered one of the 7 wonders of the world. It is visible from a great distance so for centuries sailors would look for the mountain that signaled they had reached the cape.

The weather is warm and sunny. It is so odd to go from wet and cold to real summer. The warm ocean breezes and Ocean scenery has attracted considerable wealth. Leonardo DiCaprio has a home here as does Diana’s brother to name just a couple of the rich and famous.

We have taken a couple of days worth of hop on hop off buses that has really helped to get the lay of the land.

Tomorrow Doug has signed me up for a cooking lesson (as if I need that).Stay tuned....

Dorothy, You’re not in Kansas Anymore

There is a definite edge here, a hostility. People here say things have gotten so much worse over the past decade. One problem is hydro. I gather when the blacks took over the country they were in a hurry to get rid of whites in high paying jobs. The problem was they didn’t have the knowledge to run hydro. So the maintenance required on the equipment was never done. Now ten years later the equipment is not working and too expensive to replace. The government is addressing this problem with rolling blackouts. The previous night we were warned there would be a city blackout. As we lay in our bed in the night a large mob came marching down the street. They were really angry and we were quite scared. They were making a lot of noise. Our hotel here has a gate and a couple of guards. We had our imaginations. I could here a pop pop pop. I was trembling. The mob moved past our hotel but it took me a while to get back to sleep.

Crocodile tastes kinda like pork

We arrived in Cape Town yesterday after a long overnight flight to Johannesburg followed by a 2 hour flight here. Quite bagged, of course, and we do wonder if we can do a trip requiring this level of exertion in the future. Anyhow, best not to make any decisions when so tired!

The hotel is quite small (9 rooms) and run by 70 year old Ursula and her son Michel; both very warm and welcoming people. After a short walk, we had a nice chat - probably an hour and a half - with Ursula as she described her life in South Africa (she was 5 years old when family moved here) as well as giving us tips on what to do and how to be safe. Crime is a huge issue here and it’s been made worse by the more or less open border that S.A. has had with other African countries. Many homeless economic migrants from Nigeria, Ethiopia, etc. They all have to eat, of course, so robberies, mugging and much worse is the result. Very high murder rate here and can often involve children and infants. Interestingly, she said police were almost useless so one sees many private security guards all over the place. There’s one right outside the hotel that the neighbourhood has hired.

Unemployment and especially youth unemployment can approach 50%. Life expectancy is quite short - 62 years or so for men - as a result of AIDS and related conditions, tuberculosis,etc.

As terrible as the Apartheid regime was, she said at least they kept the lights on as rotating power outages are the norm. There’s one scheduled in about 20 minutes’ time. So, S.A. is a huge work in progress. Nevertheless, it was clear she loves the country and is hoping she will live out her days here. She will move to Europe if it gets worse.

We went to Marcos African Place for dinner which is one block from the hotel. Very lively with African band (3 xylophones, drums and singers) and very good food. I had their African platter featuring eland, springbok and crocodile. The latter tasted a bit like pork! Also, it looked like potato but not certain what it was as the server had, to my ear, very thick accent. Getting home to the hotel? Not so easy as Nancy described in her post. Ursula as well as restaurant staff said do not walk home on your own (one block!). And they were right as Nancy tells you.

Ursula offered the opinion that we’re quite spoiled in Canada and I have to agree with her. When I think about it, there are only a handful of countries that offer a good and safe situation; where most things work (e.g. democracy, the rule of law) and corruption is not a big problem. It’s my dumb luck that Canada is one of them.

Arrived in Capetown

We are staying in a highly rated trip advisor hotel. It is not a “bubble hotel” where everything is well the same as everywhere. Here we are definitely getting immersed into the culture here - the good and the bad.
The good - we went out to a local restaurant. It was valentines night and the little restaurant was really alive. There was a band and the whole restaurant was throwing itself into the night. They were all thrilled to be there and there was lots of singing about Africa. Doug ordered crocodile for dinner. I had cat ( kidding Teri- but Doug really had crocodile.
The bad - Getting home was as scary as it gets. The hotel owner told us Do Not Walk The Block And AHalf Home. You will not make it. Doug had forgotten his phone to get an Uber so we were stuck. I asked the restaurant lady to call us a cab. She did but it never came. The restaurant lady told us not to go out alone as it is so dangerous. Long time passes and finally one woman at the restaurant gets a security guy to escort us. Now he had a big chain that he clearly knew how to use. We leave the restaurant and round the corner. There are 2 “ugly” guys waiting in the shadows as predicted. One guy was obviously at the final stage of AIDS and one guy had a gun. As we walked past them they came up and started asking us for money. The security guy moved his chain out and right then two other security guys appeared. The ugly guys crossed the street but I was shaking.
Now this is all the local Color I need.

Life in a plane

Four hours into marathon flight. Baby is screaming blue murder and has been at it for sometime. Parents must be feeding her the same malaria meds Doug and I are on. Major side effects Doug and I are having a hell of a time getting in sleep. The old man ahead is coughing his lungs out. (Coronavirus anyone?...) Someone around me is gradually releasing gas. Absolute Peeeeeuuuuu! Oh yeah it is also 2:30 am. Anyone jealous yet? Doug has given up on sleep and is watching a movie. Should be crossing the equator soon. We get to Johannesburg then wait for a while then fly to Capetown. The only thing that makes it comparatively better is reading about the hell Stanley and Livingstone endured exploring Africa.

Sent from myMail for iOS

Leaving London

After a pleasant 2 night stay, we are feeling a bit more adjusted to time change. Hotel was a smaller one which we prefer, very quiet and right across the street from the British Museum. Apparently this is Europe's largest museum and we spent about an hour and a half there yesterday before getting "museumed out". Ancient civilizations is their bag and they only exhibit a small percentage of their massive collection. Lots of sculpture, artifacts and a fair number of mummies including this poor sod who expired roughly 5000 years ago.

Went to the upbeat musical Come From Away last night. Loads of fun and quite creative in telling the story of 38 planeloads of folks and the townspeople of Gander, Nfld coming together on 9/11. 

Inventive use of minimal props to simulate a Tim Hortons, inside a jumbo jet, air control tower, community centre, etc. Great music and energy from the cast. 

Back at the airport now waiting on flight to Cape Town (via Johannesburg).

First full day in London. We are tired. We toured the British History Museum today and are going to see the play Come From Away tonight. Trying to get into this time zone we awoke at 1:30 am Abbotsford time to start our day. We compounded body stress by also starting our malaria meds. Side effects from this pill are not especially pleasant.

Doug had the great idea of downloading Rick Steves tour guide for the museum. A museum tour can be deadly but Rick brought it to life and made it fun. The guides are free and he always does a great job.

We arrived today in London. Doug is soooooo organized. He had already downloaded my ticket to get on the Heathrow Express. I simply scanned it in and viola we were whizzing along from Heathrow to the Montague. It is a delightful old hotel. It is quite old, beautifully decorated with several small restaurants, a pub, a tea room and a large room to get all the hot chocolate you want.Doug gets full credit again as he found this place on trip advisor.  We are right across the street from the British Museum.
FYI we (as in I) are travelling with only carryon luggage. Now this meant that I layered for the flight. No one said boo as I went through security in 4 tops and several socks. If push had come to shove I would have put my hat on.

Hi. We are now at the airport. Our flight on British airways was leaving London to come here. It was struck by lightening and now needs a thorough review so we are delayed until just before 11 tonight. We are right now eating away in the British Airways lounge. I am reading Stanley and Livingstone. It is a very scary read. It is a real life Indiana Jones.

My first blog. We are getting packed now and we are quite excited. A big storm has hit the UK and our flight should be leaving Heathrow tonight. Hopefully there are no delays.
Here is a picture of the wildlife in Abbotsford.

Here she has spotted a chocolate cake. 

Pre-trip Reading

Hello!

Our journey starts in two weeks and we are definitely getting pumped! For this trip, our reading included:

 

Kinda remains to be seen how useful this travel guide proves to be. We certainly got some ideas from it but Tripadvisor.ca has also been an important info source as well as blog posts of others who have gone before us. Fodor's could be very useful once we hit the road.

Although this was written for the general reader, it never-the-less was way more detail than what I was seeking! Very comprehensive as it covers the time period from pre-recorded history (as best it's understood) through to the post-apartheid Zuma presidency. Among other things, it certainly helped me get a better appreciation for the African tribal dynamics at play. (Prior to reading and in my ignorance, I had viewed Africans as a homogeneous population and this certainly isn't the case.) 

Am only about 3/4's of the way through this very interesting and well-written book. There is a shorter section about 1/3 of the way in where a lot of names are introduced and I simply could not keep track of everybody. Other than that, very inspiring and engaging.