Travels with Pat

     Many stairs were involved in today’s exploration of the Minhia and Gwechang Forts on either side of the river to keep the British at bay from Royal Burmah.  I stayed on board our ship and read The Piano Tuner, concerning a man who travelled from London to Burma to tune a piano in the jungle.
     Later in the afternoon we moored at Magwe where everyone got in a bicycle side cart to tour the local marketplace and eventually reach the Myat-thalon Pagoda.  But first Daniel climbed up the uneven dirt bank, instructed the crew on making steps and borrowed a bike to “scout” the route.  I happily waved goodbye to them.

     Some of our all Australian group and Kathy went on a morning excursion by horse cart in Thayet Myo, a colonial town under British rule dating from 1852.  In addition to seeing the colonial homes, they also went to the golf links to hit a few balls.
    During our afternoon cruise to Lat Pan I noticed large clusters of papyrus, corn fields, thatched roof villages with laundry flapping on lines which was washed in the muddy Irrawaddy and many gilded Stupas – at least one per village.
    Daniel showed us the components of a traditional Buddhist shrine, demonstrated wearing a longyi (long loose garment worn by men and women), applied thanaka to a crew member’s face and assisted the head chef in making a Burmese Ginger salad which my daughter, Paula, is planning to replicate for me and some friends.

     On our bus drive for 179 miles from Yangon (Rangoon) to Pyay (Prome), we travelled on a 2 lane “highway” with canals, many pedestrians, bikes and motorcycles on each side, several traffic jams and frequent thatched roof toll booths. After we stopped to have our bus blessed, Daniel told us highlights of each small village: a WWII cemetery, famous for rice and limes, home of the spirit whistler, has a home for aged poor, has Buddha with spectacles and another has a replica of Buddha’s toe.
     Some of my observations:  the bus driver used his horn frequently, mini buses have riders on top and hanging onto the back in addition to passengers squished inside(similar to India), many rice fields (like Chico area), corrugated iron roofs on buildings and thatched roofs on smaller homes plus  MANY gold painted Stupas (built for merit) which contain relics.  In fact, Daniel said that at the end of our river trip we would be “Templed out and “stupa-fied.”
     At our embarkation point, a crew member was on my right side holding an umbrella while I held Kathy’s hand as we walked down concrete steps and over rough beach terrain to our river vessel, the Katha Pandaw for our Irrawaddy Expedition.  Everyone except me had to remove their shoes on board.  Since our air conditioned cabin was on the Main Deck, I had to climb stairs to the Upper Deck where the dining area was open air seating.

     Temples and stupas, longyi clad men and women, and laughing children bathing in the river formed a mosaic as my daughter, Kathy and I traveled with 30 Australians round trip on the Pandaw river cruiser while the muddy Irrawaddy snaked its way through central Myanmar.
     Happy, helpful crew members anticipated our every desire in addition to our excellent, enthusiastic guide, Daniel, who provided a lot of knowledge – historically and about current day practices.

     Had a spectacular day of game viewing from 5:20 AM to 5:30 PM with a stop for breakfast at the Tree Rest in Skukuza camp where 2 hippos were keeping cool in the river below us. 
     Our first sighting when we left camp in the dark was a pack of hyenas with the alpha female as the leader; then we saw wildebeasts (gnus) running around with leaping impalas; a family of warthogs; southern giraffes eating acacia leaves; African elephants with “continent-shaped” ears flapping them to keep cool; a herd of kudus and zebras(a small herd = dazzle); an excellent observation of a pride of lions resting under a tree;  several more rhinos and a final view of a Rock Jumper Klipspringer(an antelope with gripping feet to jump on rocks).

     From the porch of our rondavel (a round thatched guesthouse) in Kruger National Park (as big as Massachusetts) we watched grazing impalas and several troops of baboons who methodically tipped over the garbage cans.
     On our afternoon game drive, Elvis, our driver, spotted some waterbucks, a Kudu bull, cow and calf, 8 hippos popping their eyes above water, a wide variety of birds and 2 lactating lionesses surveying the countryside from a kopje (large stone outcropping).
     The biggest thrill for me was seeing a 2 1/2 ton white rhino smack in the center of a dirt road who just looked at us.
     Elvis pointed out a miwden (rhino dung heap) completely made of grasses.  A lot of rhinos = a crash.
    

     Since we were in South Africa, we chose to have dinner at Hombaze,located near our hotel in Johannesburg, specialized in African cuisine and had the motto: “Eat Healthy – Live Longer.”
     We started with a snack basket of samosas (hot), chicken nuggets, french fries and gizzards(tough).  Tried a popular West African dish of oxtail and grilled lamb with Jollof Rice(like Spanish rice) with a side dish of yam pottage.                                                                                  Kathy said that the long skinny thing in the dish was some kind of meat, so I popped it in my mouth and remarked how spicy HOT it was.  Then I blew my nose since my eyes were watering.  When the waitress said it was a chile pepper, Kathy thought it was extremely funny.  Actually we both laughed.  I couldn’t drink enough water and had to “peel” off the top layer of my tongue in the morning.

     Our guide told us that there are 400 wineries in the Wellington Valley .  We saw many bush vines which grew close to the ground and produced red/black grapes. “The more sun, the more sugar.”
     We stopped at the Seidelburg Winery for a guided tour where  we tasted 5 varieties before proceeding to Fransch hoek (French corner) where a monument stood honoring the French Huguenots who started winemaking in this region before the French in Bordeaux.
     Drove on to Dieu Donne (God Given) Vineyards for more wine tasting before arriving at Stellenbosch which was full of Cape Dutch architecture dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
     All that wine in the middle of the day definitely made me sleepy.

     Cape Point National Park covers 7 1/2 thousand acres with 2 1/2 thousand plant varieties – mostly close to the ground and small leaves because of the harsh climate.
     South Africa has more animal species than North and South America combined.  We saw a tortoise,several troops of baboons, 3 eland (antelope with twisted horns), ostriches and many Indian starlings as we walked to have our photo taken at the Cape of Good Hope.
     At Boulder’s Beach we overlooked a penguin colony where mothers were feeding their babies; some penguins stood on the shore with their wings held out to capture the warmth; other penguins were lying on the dunes with their beaks open hyperventilating; and we witnessed a Kelp Gull flying off with a penguin egg.

     Our day trip of the S. African peninsula followed the route of the Cape Argus bike ride – one of the largest in the world with 35,000 participants in a 100 mile loop.  Our driver, Donnie, an Africaner, was a veritable font of knowledge with a different version of S. African history than I had ever read about: “S. African history is divided into 5 periods – 1) Before the white man; 2) Dutch for 150 years; 3) British for 150 years; 4) Apartheid; 5) Democracy. The Dutch didn’t force any black people inland because there were only the Hottentots(yellow people).”
     We saw Robbins Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated; took a Seal Island cruise to see hundreds of Cape fur seals and Black Cormorants lounging on the rocks by Sentinel Point; and learned that S. Africa’s largest exports are cars and military arms to the U.S.