TravelStream™ news feed for member coopertrooper on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/coopertrooper en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:32:59 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1229210640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1229210640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1229210640/tpod.html Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:32:59 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

We drove our Citi Golf along a stunning coastal road, it was blue sky above, green sea and waves breaking on our left, sandy beaches, mountains covered in Green shrubs running up on our right, all the perfect seaside cliches came true as the mighty table mountain started to rise up from a dot in the distance to become the sun blocking behemoth it is.Once inside our final destination it was the customary two laps of lostness around the city's one way system, the usual map reading argument, involving a lengthy breakdown of each others past map reading triumphs and failures, "you were the one who took it to the wrong side of Beunos Aires that time..." a drive over to the hostel and after three months of camping in Africa we manage to persuade the broken tent poles to stay up another night in the hostel garden.  Our first impression of Cape Town was it should be nick named the windy city, the wind gusted up to 60 kph and whipped around the hostel walls attempting to flatten our tent. At nigh the wind was noisy enough to wear ear plugs and the tent wall kept going in for a suffocate the face manouver. In the evening we drove up to the top of a smaller mountain known as the lions head to marvel at the sunset over the city.   On our first full day in Cape Town we woke up to a beautiful clear sky and in Cape Town if you're a tourist, that means go up Table Mountain, however the wind was still gusting strong enough to stop you dead in your tracks and so the cable car up table mountain was closed. We decided to wait for another day. Instead we went shopping through all the markets and shops selling every imaginable African ceremonial mask, hunting spear, women with something on head painting, wooden animal carving and bead necklaces. Everything we had seen on our journey through Africa available all under one roof, an African R Us.  The next morning started calm and cloudless, so we packed a big bottle of water, a steak pie and a banana and set off to climb table mountain. The walk up is about two hours and well worth the effort, to see the view behind slowly expand into a giant panoramic view of the city is amazing, beside we're backpackers and didn't want to cough up the 100 rand for the cable car up. On the top of the table we followed the signs and information boards around reading about the history and geography of the area. The entire city is laid out around the mountain and in the distance is the Cape of Good Hope where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. For a lot of money you could ab-sail down part of the mountain which would have been cool but we were more interested in finding an ice-cream and having a sit down. The next day we picked a team cooper tour to Cape Point. Out of Cape town and towards to the Cape point national park, the road passes a number of sea side towns including Simon's Town, where the Jackass penguins hang out, they bray like donkeys, but I think for legal reasons they now just called African penguins. Soon we were into the Cape Point Nature Reserve, looking a lot like Dartmoor, bushy open plain which according to the information centre is one of the richest eco-systems in the world. A guide told us that there are 30% more plants just on the tiny Cape Point peninsula than in all of Great Britain. I don't think so. Then it was off to Cape Point where you walk up to the lighthouse and can try to spot the colour of the sea changing where the two oceans meet. We found the sign proclaiming we were now at the most south-westerly point in Africa. Cape Agulahas is the most southerly point but the Cape of Good Hope gets all the fame and glory because its where the warm current from the Indian Ocean meets the cold current from the Atlantic.  The next day we picked to be our final beach day and drove around table mountain to the four beaches at Clifton. The Lonely planet guide has an interesting description on the four beaches, there is a similar system to the one in Rio, where each beach attracts a certain stereotype. Beach 1 is for the young, narcissistic and supermodels, Beach 2 if you bat for the other team and Beach 3 & 4 for family's. Kat and I jumped down into beach 1. No visit to Cape town a week before Christmas would be proper without a customary Christmas carol singalong. Especially when you discover a South African Christmas carol concert is held in the warm evening sun, in a botanical gardens, with a views of table mountain on your left, the city in the distance, you are encouraged to bring a pick-nic and some wine, and you get a free candle. We ticked off a visit to the Cape town fort and to the District six museum, a very emotive museum about the re-location of a city centre district in the 60's where black, coloured and immigrant dock workers lived. The government in power decided to evict and demolish the district as it was prime city center real estate forcing everyone to the city outskirts and into shanty town / townships. Our final night in Cape town was spent eating a Thai meal in the flashy and new harbour side development. We sat at our table facing Table mountain and talked about the end of all the freedom we have been lucky to experience. We still had the next morning free before our flight and drove out to one of the amazing cliff top views along Chapmans peak for a bit of lunch before heading over to the airport and the flight home.We are writing a final review of the trip with some interesting facts about it all, so come back later.Cooper OutLove Dan & Kat
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228724460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228724460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228724460/tpod.html Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:23:05 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa

Stellenbosch is beautiful university town that looks like Clifton village, all street side cafes, chai lattes and shops selling expensive souvenirs. We had come to explore the area and spend a second day on the CooperTrooper wine tour. After learning which wines we liked in Robertson, and what to look out for when you buy wine so you don't end up with a bottle of vinegar, we spent a fantastic day trying a lot and buying a little wine. Our giant odyssey of world circumnavigation is all coming so quickly to an end, we are off to Cape town for a week, our final stop before we wave goodbye to a wonderful life of total freedom and say hello to the Christmas credit crunch.  Cooper OutLove Dan & Kat
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228555020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228555020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228555020/tpod.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:41:58 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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Robertson, Western Cape, South Africa

It was wine all round on the longest wine route in the world, Route 62. A jolly long road with more vineyards than you can shake a stick at. We can report back that South Africans do like growing wine and it tastes very good. If you have never been on a vineyard before and had a tour or a wine tasting experience then its well worth it. We toured around six stunningly beautiful vineyards in one day and spent some time at each with the owners while they proudly explained the long process of producing a good bottle of wine. They are keen to let you taste the wine and when they produce twelve types, it can take hours. Sometimes the staff would be too busy with other customer and so they came up to us with six different bottles of wine and asked "Would you mind if we just left us with the bottles to taste at your own time"? "Not at all" we happily replied. Cooper Out Love Dan & Kat
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228403400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228403400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228403400/tpod.html Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:15:22 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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Oudtshoorn, Western Cape, South Africa

If you're an ostrich looking for work then you've come to the right place. Oudtshoorn, home of "those big weird birds" said Kat. The original Boers farmed then on a huge scale and they still do for meat and as tourist attractions. Giant billboards around the town advertise ostrich as lean mean healthy red meat. We tried to eat one giant ostrich egg in the morning but failed, one egg is the equivalent of 24 hen eggs, one big protein punch for breakfast, it bunged us up for a few days after. We spent a couple of days in Oudtshoorn, driving over the Schwarzberg pass, an engineering marvel in the year 1884. Visited Swellendam and the old prison which was dull and browsed the shops that sell painted ostrich eggs, ostrich meat and feather dusters, apparently their feathers makes an amazing feather duster. Ostriched out after two days we left for route 64.Cooper OutLove Dan & Kat
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228123440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228123440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1228123440/tpod.html Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:09:16 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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Jeffreys Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa

After TerraPi we traveled to Port Elizabeth for a couple of days, then went to the airport and collected something very exciting. A hire car! A VW Citi Golf. This beast of burden will be our magic carpet driving anywhere and everywhere we want, apart from the townships, before we have to hand it back at Cape Town airport and fly back to ye olde England just before Christmas. Car hire in SA is cheap, only eight pounds a day and petrol is only 45p a litre.Our first stop is a famous stretch of South African coastline known as the Garden Route, beautiful beaches and scenery. The first town is Jeffereys bay, or J-Bay, home of one of the most famous surf breaks in the world. We pitched our tent at a hostel perched on top of a huge sand dune and someone shouted "Whales". Out at sea we spotted a whale tail splashing down and high plumes of spray coming from the others. Cruising past was a group of Southern right whale's, a common sighting in the Western cape area this time of the year.  The next morning we walked along the beach to find out how all of the six surf spots were firing. As its summer time the surf was small and a bit rubbish, only the surf schools were splashing around in the white water. Supertubes was no where close to the size I've seen it in countless DVDs but you could see how the reef break would be worth coming back for in July when the Billabong pro comes to town.  We walked through town to the Billabong factory outlet store and picked up bags of cheap summer wear. Just what we need heading back to the wintry UK, ha.At the hostel we talked to Cas who is Xhosa, he pointed out the white areas, the coloured areas and the black township - where he lives. As a young boy he saw his mother being beaten up by a white policeman because his uncle was a 'freedom fighter' but his mother had raised him to forgive the white people and this is what he says he tries to do. He says he's happiest living in the shanty town townships and wouldn't want to live in the white or coloured area. He believes coloureds have no culture and don't really belong anywhere, that they drift between the black South Africans and the white South Africans. Our next stop is Plettenburg bay, another awesome bay with houses and shops perched around the hillside overlooking the bay. We rent mountain bikes and head off into the Outenigua park following a trail through pine forests, waterfalls and part of the coast. Kat manages several great impressions of Eve on long way down as she slips over on the loose gravel. Plettenburg bay gets followed with Wilderness bay, then Nysna bay, Victoria bay and finally Mossell bay, all similar stunning bays. At Mossell we find some really cool natural pools that giant waves break over the rocks while you dive and swim in the water. After five days we reach the end of garden route and head North to Route 62, the longest wine route in the world.Cooper OutLove Dan & Kat 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1227361860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1227361860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1227361860/tpod.html Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:59:36 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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TerraPi, South Africa

Monday morning unexpectedly turns up and the second week of our wwoofing experience kicks off with more varnishing and some roof paneling work at the op center. The tables and chairs are all made with recycled wood from old pallets that needed to be sanded and then painted with three separate coats of varnish to withstand outside weather. Its not the most fun work but its great to be outside in the sun and the beautiful scenery chatting to the other people who work at TerraPi. Environmental projects tend to attract some interesting characters. It takes a certain person to wave goodbye to the global rat race and work on an ecologically sound rural farm. Kat and I had some wonderful conversations with the staff about; The coming Armageddon (2012 but luckily after the London Olympics because I was looking forward to going), When world war three will start (apparently in a couple of weeks), The evil of crosswords (think about it during your day), The negative effects of photographs (should they be banned?) and the history of South Africa which would make a fascinating and mammoth television series. After work on Monday Kat and Danny were complaining of stomach cramps and feeling sick so they retire to the house to lie down while outside Brett starts cooking the evening braai (BBQ). Brett, one of the staff had been out in the afternoon working along the borders of the farm helping the neighbouring farmer burning some of the bush land. He was also checking the recent leopard trap which hadn't caught a leopard but a wild boar. The boar turned into a carrier bag of pork chops and Brett cooked for everyone out on the deck while we drank cold beers and watched the sun go down. Kat and Danny were joined by another woofer Matt who was being sick in the bush and complaining of stomach cramps and during the night Max and I felt sick. The rumour mill ran a riot on where it came from but we all settled on the fact it was some form of gastric flu. Tuesday morning was a morgue in the woofer camp but Harry arrived with some medicine and a bag of fresh fish to cheer us up. By the Thursday we were back at work and Kat had gone to work in the organic gardens with Anna another recently arrived woofer from the US. Arno suggested we stay a night in one of the Teepee's and so that night, Kat, me, Max and Anna went with Arno down to one of TerraPi's luxury teepee's.  They are carpeted inside with a central stone circle as a fireplace. Around the sides are proper bed mattress's and cooking equipment in one corner (ha ha). We lit a fire and made tea while Arno played us songs from his new album. The wind outside carried the screeching of the baboons in the nearby hills. Defiantly an awesome experience to sleep comfortably around a fire, protected from the elements yet still only 2mm of material away from them.Our time at TerraPi sadly came to an end on the Sunday when we got a lift back to town. It had been a fantastic experience, even though we only spent a day or two in their organic gardens, the people on the farm had been very welcoming and hospitable and we had experienced something we wouldn't forget.Cooper OutLove Dan & Kat
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226939280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226939280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226939280/tpod.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:50:59 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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Baviaanskloof mega nature reserve, South Africa

<img height="420" src="http://images.travelpod.com/users/coopertrooper/rtw-2006.1226939280.high-times.jpg" alt="High times"> Kat had the more 'entertaining' experience on our weekend kayaking trip so to help her reach some closure on the terrifying events, and to try and stop the nightmares, she has written up what 'the best weekend we've had in a long time' was like. &nbsp; Our kayaking trip began on a beautiful sandy beach along a quiet strip of the Kouga river, deep inside a protected wilderness park called the Baviaanskloof mega nature reserve where expensive permits were required just to step inside and luckily for us Harry had special privilages to get in. The Baviaanskloof mega nature reserve is a wilderness area that has been protected since the beginning of South Africa. Only the indigenous bushmen who roamed this continent thousands of years ago have been here. We are very privilaged to get in, and for free.We put kit into dry bags and tied them onto the back of the kayak. Wetsuits, helmets and lifejackets on and Harry gave us&nbsp;a safety briefing. Once in the water we had a kayaking lesson, this involved him watching us use the current to paddle round some tall grass in the middle of the river and turn into an eddy, a section of calm water....."Right! Yup! Great! Let's go!" We all headed off downstream like ducklings after their mother. The first rapid can soon be heard, a heavy torrent of water like a waterfall roars at you in the distance, we filed into a single line all hoping we were going to be first into the white watery madenss. The rapid wasn't very fast but trees, bushes and shrubs sat scattered in our path way like booby traps just waiting to snag us. Harry leaves us in an eddy and goes forward to check out the rapid. His instructions for this one were "avoid the large branches and trees caught in the water, you don't want to be caught under a tree." Handy tip because I had thought about&nbsp;aiming for a big oak. <img height="620" src="http://images.travelpod.com/users/coopertrooper/rtw-2006.1226939280.the-section-of-river-.jpg" alt="The section of river"> The first casualty of the day was Max who ended up between a tree and his kayak, not a nice place to be. We're all following Harry when Danny gets caught on some branches and ends up facing the wrong way, I hit him and then also suddenly appear to be facing the quickly approaching traffic. Harry shouts, "get out of the hole!" so I'm paddling my way thought a rapid backwards as Shirley, Richard and Max plow on towards me. The next part follows the domino effect, Shirley hits Danny, Richard hits Shirley and Max at the back capsizes over a tree. I right myself and see Dan up ahead stuck on some tall reeds and decided to take the alternative path which finally leads me to calm waters. Once we've all recovered and are back together we enjoy some calm waters, and with the current we can all sit back and let the river carry us along. Lying back and gazing up at the gorge on either side of us is jaw dropping, it's amazing to think that nothing has disturbed nature from this place in thousands of centuries. The calm is disrupted, up ahead we can hear a rumbling of water and Harry goes on ahead to check it out. We are all eager to hear the instructions since all of us are beginners on rapids. Harry informs us that this is the most difficult part of the two day trip, watch out for the large boulders on the left, try to stick right, paddle hard and keep yourself pointing forward. Nothing like going in at the deep end. Again we set off duckling style. There are a few stops in this rapid and after the first I am going way too fast, I see a rock the size of a hippo and paddle left which makes my kayak turn parallel with so called on coming hippo. I know whats coming but I don't know what to expect. My kayak hits the rock and then stops at such an angle that I can still sitting in the thing but also have no-way of&nbsp;paddling. The saying "stuck between a rock and a hard place springs to mind......not a time to joke however, as I decide to bail and am totally shocked and bewildered. The kayak lands on my head but I push and quickly surface, the power of the water is insane and gives you with a feeling of complete loss of control over anything.&nbsp; I swim towards the calmer water feeling like a whale in my helmet, life jacket, wet suit and splash jacket. Heaving myself to the edge and onto a rock I sit and watch Richard closely miss repeating what I just encountered. <img height="130" src="http://images.travelpod.com/users/coopertrooper/rtw-2006.1226939280.getting-ready-to-start.jpg" alt="Getting ready to start"> <img height="130" src="http://images.travelpod.com/users/coopertrooper/rtw-2006.1226939280.early-morning-sun.jpg" alt="Early morning sun"> <img height="130" src="http://images.travelpod.com/users/coopertrooper/rtw-2006.1226939280.action-pose.jpg" alt="Action pose"> Harry checks I'm OK and beckons for me to walk down the bank towards him, only problem is I have so much adrenaline racing around that my legs I don't do what my brain asks. I see Dan on the other side, safe, warm and worried watching my kayak tumble down the remaining rapid. I've never felt such adrenaline before, not even sky diving or bungee jumping. To feel the power of the river on your body is a frightening sensation and one in which you feel incredibly vulnerable. Arno helps me back into my kayak as Shirley falls out also, I feel like a kid in a fork lift truck with a paddle in my hands being told to steer clear. We break for lunch on a pristine patch of white sand and watch as baboons call to each other and clamber up the gorge. Harry and his brother Arno are leading us together on this trip and take this moment to tell us that Arno hasn't ever kayaked this part of the river before and Harry last did so in January, since then he tells us the worst storm in twenty years may have changed the rivers course and we are here to check it out. We make our way through some more rapids in the gorge, "granny rapids", which I actually really enjoy. But up ahead lies another big one to mark the end of the gorge. Harry tells us there is a big rock at the end of this one so its best if we go right and try to avoid it. The second time I fall out Dan is watching, safe and sound again on the bank, apparently I hit a rock, All I remember is guzzling a lot of water and thinking "there's a big rock at the end, avoid it!" I'm spluttering and I see Harry in his kayak "SWIM!" so I do and my knees hit a rock underwater, I know I'm going to be purple later. I'm clinging to the rock but it's surrounded by rapids I'm being pummeled around the rock from all directions....."SWIM!" .....So I do and this time I cling to a rock in calm waters and heave myself out of this crazy place. The last rapid of the day is a shoot, a rapid which swiftly goes downhill and spits you out at the end. Its great fun this time as we all make it through in our kayaks and this time I watch from the calm waters at the bottom as Dan comes shooting out at the end in his kayak - a natural duckling. Dan just wants me to point out that he was only person on the whole trip not to fall out, not even once. A beautiful sandy bank greets us and we all pull up to our camp spot for the night. The spot is totally untouched, perfect, fine white sand, a gentle part of the&nbsp;river surrounded by towering cliffs of orange, red, yellow, cream and white. We are incredibly lucky to be here, not just because I feel like I've survived some close calls today, but also because this wilderness area is not seen by many. We light a fire, cook dinner and all sleep out under the stars which are incredible without artificial light and pollution. The next morning starts well with a medium paced rapid full of trees and shrubs&nbsp;which somehow we all avoid and we stay upright all the way through. Today involves less rapids and more longer pools of still water, so a bit more relaxing and lots more lying back, gazing upwards, with the occasional splash of a paddle to waddle along.The best moments are really quiet ones where we all sit bobbing on theriver gazing and listening , mouths agape as we stare at this sight,the wilderness. Along part of the river the rock formations are in the shape of a sideward letter 's' millions of years of plate techtonics in one direction, and then another.&nbsp;Another tree filled rapid approaches. Harry asks us to go slowly but stay close together and follow his path. This expereince is some of the best parts of the trip. Normally your guide would know the river and all its twists and turns that need to be avoided. But Harry is not familiar with the river and this makes the rapids much more exciting.&nbsp; All is going well until Matt hits Yvette and Yvette trys to avoid me and hits a tree. Danny tries to stop and help by reaching for a branch above his head, he stops but his kayak conitunes and he's left swinging. Dan, Matt and I stop in the first calm waters about half a km away and wait for Harry and Arno to sort us out once again. The only way we know something has happened is that upturned kayaks and padles will start to drift down the river which we rescue.&nbsp; We continue onwards admiring some more jaw dropping sights and sounds until up ahead wecan hear a rather loud rumble. Harry goes on again and reports back that we need to go fast through this one, stay in the middle and then go left. Only thing is Harry can only see the top section of this one, he doesn't tell us so but we soon find out. Harry, Matt and Dan go on and I follow Danny. I see Dan take a line through that I decide tofollow, although the part I didn't see was Dan doing a 360 degree turn between 2 rocks and then correcting himself. I am going really fast when I see a huge rock in my way and a big hole after it. I have no time to correct myself so I shoot over the rock and crash into the hole, finding my self once again between a rock and indeed a very hardplace. I see Yvette racing towards me and I have no option but to bail out yet again. I tumble around like rags in a washing machine and I open my eyes and see water, gasping for air finally I swim for the edge where Dan helps me out of theconstantly gushing water.Sitting on the banks we survey the scene, this rapid is a beast. Two huge rocks lie in line on a blind corner and have created 2 big steps in quick succession, I got stuck on the first and then tumbled down the second. But after these rocks the rapidcontinues to rush towards a huge boulder sticking out of the cliff where the water gushes into the rock face and creates a whirlpool in it's wake. Three kayaks lie face down in this whirlpool, luckily the three passengers are shaken but safe. It takes Harry and Arno an hour to rescue our kayaks, during which both of them fall out as well. A wave of relief comes over me as Harry says that that was the last big rapid and I settle in for some enjoyable long pools and granny rapids. We pass some picture postcard banks of white sand and wobble over shallow rocky pools, an african fish eagle sors between the gorge and finally we pull up at our arrival spot where we meet our pick uptransport. Arno and Harry grin from ear to ear, Harry tells me how much relief he nows feels that we're all safe and dry and all I can do is nod very enthusiastically. We all enjoy a beer and some delicisous ginger cake -&nbsp; beer and cake has never tasted so good.Cooper OutLove Dan &amp; Kat
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226606520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226606520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226606520/tpod.html Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:19:31 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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TerraPi, South Africa

From Nelspruit we take a bus to one of the most dangerous cities in the world, Johannesburg, famous in the 1990's for crime, crime and crime. Trying to shape up their image I read the local government have enlisted the help of former New York mayor, 'zero tolerance policy',&nbsp;Rudolph Giuliani to help bring down the crime rate. The eyes of the world will turn to&nbsp;Johannesburg soon&nbsp;as they host&nbsp;the opening and closing matches of the 2010 world cup.&nbsp;We were only on a bus transfer, so we didn't get to experience any of&nbsp;Jo'burg as 30 minutes after arriving and two Wimpy burgers later we were going&nbsp;South bound, with our final overnight bus trip. It felt good. Arriving on the South coast in Port Elizabeth the next morning we took a taxi to a&nbsp;hostel and&nbsp;met Monique the hostel owner.&nbsp;She is&nbsp;our first experience of the complicated racial issues in South African that simmer just below the surface. Monique was very friendly and gave us plenty of information about the local area, she finishes up her chat by angrily mentioning "and don't go into that area because those little black bastards will steal everything you've got" She looked at us with a face that said don't you agree with me? We went out to find a cafe and the owner who greeted us checked if we were South African. "No South Africans allowed in here" We were not sure if he was joking but he said he had a private function and sent us off to another cafe with the positive words "its ok, they accept blacks and whites". Apartheid, not&nbsp;totally finished in everyone's mind yet. The next morning we traveled over to the next town, Humansdorp where a couple from TerraPi had driven down to meet us. "Are you woofers" they asked. "Yes, we are woofers". "How long have you come to woof?". "We want to woof for two weeks". No, not a strange dog cult, but an acronym, World Wide&nbsp;Opportunities on&nbsp;Organic Farms. Its an&nbsp;international movement that&nbsp;helps people share more sustainable ways of living. You volunteer your time in return for&nbsp;free food and accommodation. Great for cash-strapped backpackers who need to save&nbsp;some money and have an interest in organic and ecologically sound living. We&nbsp;had been&nbsp;in contact with TerraPi and arranged&nbsp;to spend&nbsp;the next two weeks of our time in South Africa as willing volunteers on&nbsp;the 10,000 hectares of land known as TerraPi.&nbsp; What the farm is trying to achieve is best explained with the following text I pinched from their website: <i>Education empowers people. At TerraPi we understand that caring for the people who live on the land plays a vital role in the sustainable success of any conservation project. An empowered positive community will mean that the work at TerraPi will continue for generations. By exposing those who visit us to our work at TerraPi the potential for the spreading of this vitally important knowledge is endless. Within this beautiful landscape we hope to facilitate a greater environmental awareness and compassion for nature in our visitors and community. Even if this is simply in the form of sipping a cool drink, while truly appreciating the quiet serenity of a blazing sunset. We provide three month volunteer conservation&nbsp;programs, and educational conservation courses for schools, corporations and groups.&nbsp; We drive through rolling green hills covered in bush scrub and many wattle trees. Our first stop is the building site known as the op centre. We meet the team of four other woofing volunteers and ten people living and working on the farm. The op centre will be a conference room, restaurant, solar shower block, compost toilet and a meeting place for people staying in the soon-to-be ten giant teepee's that surround it. We visit the farm house where the owner Harry and his wife Saskia live. Harry is in charge of TerraPi and all of the project taking place. He is very passionate and enthusiastic on the subject of volunteers, calling us the voice of the farm to the outside world. He explains that normally woofers are working on the organic projects of the farm but as completion of the op center is a priority for a few weeks, we will be&nbsp;helping out&nbsp;on the building site. We pass the team of men clearing the damaging wattle trees. These alien trees are damaging the environment as they demand all the water available, drying streams up and killing any other species that grow in the area. There is a water&nbsp;shortage in this area and over the next two weeks we learn the&nbsp;wattle tree is a large reason people have to conserve water in an area that gets regular rainfall. Further&nbsp;up the road I spot a yellow cape cobra, about 2 meters in length. Its an incredibly poisonous snake,&nbsp;its venom will give you&nbsp;about 20 minutes till death. The snakes head&nbsp;rears up at the 4x4 we are in and its cape expands in true cobra style. Its a rare sight to see and we were lucky to be up so high in the vehicle, safe from its jaws. We arrive in the house we will be living in for the next&nbsp;two weeks. Its a beautiful farm house surrounded by soft hills, inside old beams cross the ceiling, wooden floor boards creak as we walk around. There is an eight bed dorm but luckily we get our own room. The living room has cable tv and a wifi link and the kitchen is stocked full of South African food, that is huge amounts of meat; sausages, chops, steaks &amp; chickens. We get our first afternoon off work and sit outside on the deck. Around us, along the hills herds of game graze past, springbok and kudoo. In the garden two giant ostriches stride around looking menacingly at anyone who comes close while they peck at the ground. Danny another woofer tells me he has ridden an ostrich. All we need to do is put a bag on its head to subdue it while you jump on, hold the wings and ride it like a bucking bronco, only its not only the largest bird on the planet but the fastest capable of reaching nearly 50 miles an hour. Wear a crash helmet. They are not the only wandering around the garden that you can ride on, large tortoise's pad up and down the hills. As its spring in S.A. we watched one tortoise following the other, head butting the one in front, trying to turn it over. It looked like a fight as they chased each other around the garden but someone told me it was a mating thing as they tried to flip each other over. I didn't get to see a tortoise flip another so I'll never find out. By the way it is fine for a small person to stand on the shell and get carried around. The next morning we walked over to the op centre and started work, varnishing chairs and tables made from reclaimed wood. By our 1'o'clock lunch stop the weather had changed for the worse and it was raining to hard to apply coats of varnish. With little other work to do all the woofers were sent home early. On Wednesday the rain hadn't stopped and we received the great news that work was canceled for the day, leaving us to hang out in the house. Thursday and Friday was back to varnishing tables and chairs again, on Friday afternoon Harry arrived on site and asked if we would be interested in going on a cool kayaking weekend away, kayaking into a wilderness park on Saturday, sleeping on a river beach for one night, and continuing till Sunday afternoon. He said he needed to check the general course and state of the river after some huge floods earlier in the year may have changed the rapids. We all said yes, or yah as they say here. Cooper Out to kayak some rapids. Love Dan &amp; Kat
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226056260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226056260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/coopertrooper/rtw-2006/1226056260/tpod.html Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:15:31 -0500 Team Cooper attempt to circumnavigate the world

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Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park on the East of South Africa is a prime big 5 spotting safari destination teeming with deadly animals, brilliant!&nbsp;The park has been&nbsp;set up for you&nbsp;to drive your car past and just pop in for some wildlife viewing fun. So thats just what we did. We hired a car, booked two nights of camping accommodation in Lower Sabie camp and on Tuesday morning at 5am we were outside the entrance gates -&nbsp;think Jurassic park, high wire electric fences, giant gates complete with&nbsp;burning torches.&nbsp;&nbsp;Our camera's at&nbsp;the ready, the car windows&nbsp;wound down and the words 'yummy' have been written on our foreheads in a&nbsp;vain attempt&nbsp;to attract the animals over, (joking, about yummy. It was 'tasty'). Once in Kruger, you are free to roam around trying to pap (think paparazzi) the animals, taking photographs&nbsp;is all really&nbsp;just pot luck,&nbsp;you can&nbsp;stake out the watering holes for more luck&nbsp;on spotting animals but its good to just drive, a lot. Some of the roads&nbsp;have tarmac and most are gravel,&nbsp;the animal tracks often cross the roads and this is where you can get a chance to closely, sometimes really closely,&nbsp;watch the animals in their natural habitat.&nbsp; Its interesting as the&nbsp;animals&nbsp;can't distinguish&nbsp;the humans, they just&nbsp;see cars, which they have&nbsp;become adjusted to and now&nbsp;perceive as&nbsp;sort of slow moving, placid, not prone to&nbsp;sharp movement animals so most of the&nbsp;wildlife couldn't care&nbsp;less&nbsp;about the cars prowling along. Its great because you can pull up so close to the animals. We got so close&nbsp;to a lion I could have reached out and given it a stroke, although when it checks out your arm it would get a surprise and jump back. The photos we took tell most of the stories about what we saw, I've added stories to some of them. One evening we came across six giraffes eating together. Three of them starting dropping their heads and nuzzling each others hind legs. Two of them went off to the bushes, right next to our car and you didn't have to be a genius to work out there was going to be a possible baby giraffe making exercise here. 'She' got ready and buried her head in a tree eating some leaves, while 'he' also&nbsp;got ready. The scene was all set and we had a front row seat on this intimate giraffe moment, until that is the&nbsp;tour group parked behind us must have said something funny as they all howled with laughter. The&nbsp;poor old male giraffe didn't like the interruption and&nbsp;lost his&nbsp;mojo.After three days and 750km we left the park, promising to come back again.&nbsp;Cooper Out Love Dan &amp; Kat&nbsp;
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Maputo, Mozambique

From Tete it was a nasty12 hour minibus ride down to Beira, cramped tiny seats with little leg room, no storage space for bags so they&nbsp;go&nbsp;on the floor taking up leg room, seats that fold out into the gangway so no chance of standing in the aisle. At each town a&nbsp;bunch of carrots and onions emerges&nbsp;through the window and get&nbsp;wriggled in our faces, the number one&nbsp;sales tactic in Mozambique, smell before you buy.At&nbsp;Beira the minibus driver demands 100 mets (about 2 quid) for carrying my rucksack inside his minibus. I'm in no mood for&nbsp;another dose of corrupt drivers demanding extra cash and ask him if the locals&nbsp;have to pay the extra charge,&nbsp;he looks down and doesn't answer the question, I take this as a no and walk&nbsp;off. We find a nice hotel and at 9pm find out it is next&nbsp;to a nightclub that keeps us up till 3am when we have to get up and&nbsp;leave for our next bus to Maputo that leaves at 4am.&nbsp;We spend a couple of days in Maputo, which in our experience,&nbsp;as African&nbsp;cities go is quite modern, buildings are higher that three&nbsp;levels and the pavements are wider that a step. We shop, in the Sunday markets, buying those interesting wooden carvings that make you go, hmmm its cool but <i>where would it go in&nbsp;our house. As we don't have a house we quickly answer this question. We have a date with Kruger National park, a hire car,&nbsp;a tent and hopefully the Big 5 or maybe even the Super 7. So we take a bus over the border to&nbsp;the Rainbow Nation.Cooper OutLove Dan &amp;&nbsp;Kat&nbsp;
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