Our plan for the day was to drive along the Panorama Route in South Africa. Our first stop was Graskop where we saw this gorgeous waterfall!!Believe it or not, but some people are amazingly crazy! The woman in this photo was hooked into a harness and them jumped out from that platform in a zip line!! I could not believe that she did it!!There were some great singers and dancers on our path at our second stop, Bourke’s Luck Potholes. Gold was found in these “potholes.”It was fun looking at the gorgeous scenery!!The “potholes” are these section of rock where the water has carved out shapes in the rocks.Africa is a beautiful land!!I really enjoyed the sound and sights of the waterfalls!!This is one of the pedestrian bridges we needed to walk across to get a nice view of the waterfalls.These students were having fun and asked me to take their photo!I think this was my favorite waterfall at Bourke’s Luck Potholes!I love all the colors and shapes that are everywhere in South Africa!For lunch, we stopped and ate at a beautiful resort! After our meal, we walked outside by the pool and were greeted by gorgeous clouds breaking up and giving us a glimpse of the greenery that surrounded us! We simple stood and watch the clouds move slowly through the area!I seem to stumble upon beautiful flowers growing around us!Our last stop of the day was to go to Pilgrim’s Rest and learn about how gold was discovered there and the enormous impact gold had on South Africa’s economy!Macadamia nuts are grown in the area and this guy was doing his best to get us to buy some of this products. Rather than carry his box of nuts, it balanced it and carried it on the top of his head!This pretty flowers were enjoying the gentle rain and greeted us as we walked through Pilgrim’s Rest!!
One of the most amazing experiences is traveling in Africa on an elegant train system!! Rovos Rail is wonderful and amazing!! We had a pause before lunch and we were told that we were running 2 hours behind. The host stated that it was great and wonderful for “African time.” They provide unlimited alcohol and focus on superb service!This is the station were we started our journey in Pretoria.This wonderful woman greeted us with a glass of South African champagne when we arrived in the station!Sandwiches were readily available in the railway station. There was no extra charge to enjoy the food!These treats were wonderful! I especially enjoyed the fruit!!I have always loved bird of paradise and this healthy plant was growing right next to the train tracks!The train conductor invited me inside the engine compartment. His name is Jonas and he loved showing me around.This is an absolutely wonderful family I met in the train station. They are “locals” in Pretoria and have ridden the train several times. It was fantastic to talk with them.These are the porters and they did a great job delivering all of our luggage to our rooms. It was fun talking with them!This is a mosaic on the patio of the train station. I am not in Kansas any more.These folks were playing beautiful background music as we waited for the train to be ready.It is easy to understand why Rovos Rail considers themselves to be the Pride of Africa! It is a top flight organization!!This gentleman is truly an amazing success story. Before we boarded the train, he described how he built the train from nothing. Financially, it was a challenge to build it from scratch!He buys old railway cars, since they are less expensive. He then guts them and rebuilds them into amazing train cars.All the wood in the train cars are handcrafted! Here his workers are building new toilet seats for their next train car project!The owner described the precision involved in buying new axels and train wheels needed for the refurbished train cars.These wheels with the gears are made for the engine cars.Some of the engines are diesel, some are steam, and some are electric. This is a steam engine that is being refurbished.This is my room. The width of the room is the length of the bed. It is quite cozy and comfortable. It is a warm day and the air conditioning in the room works great!This is the head section of my bed. It is nice and comfortable!This is my bathroom with the shower behind the glass doors!The sink is similar to that seen in a motorhome, except the water is always hot and their is continuous water pressure.This is the inside of my shower. It has more room than most RVs.The last train car has an observation deck and this is the view from where we just traveled. The train uses “small gauge” tracks.There are several bars on the train. For high tea, I asked for a gin and tonic to stay in the British tradition!This is one of the lounge cars The owner described that they are designed for talking and drinking. It is prohibited to bring your cell phone, laptop, or tablet to these areas. They are supposed to be technology free to encourage discussion among everyone.This is the outside of my room. This is one of the dining cars. They are incredibly elegant. You simple sit down wherever you want.Lunch was a four course meal, matched with two South African wines and a liqueur. This is the second diner car. I picked to eat here because I thought the woodwork was especially beautiful. I was joined at my table by a family medicine physician from Wisconsin. We thoroughly enjoyed the food and wine!This was our original course, a fancy beet salad!The main course was a fantastic chicken dish!!The cheese course was wonderful!This wonderful gentleman served and told us about each wine. He was very fun to talk with!The dessert course was matched to this South African limoncello. I think it would rival the very best limoncello from Italy. I loved it!!The final course was this unbelievably dessert!! I do not think I have ever had such an elaborate lunch!! We still have high tea and dinner to go today. For dinner, it is a requirement to dress up. I must wear a button-down shirt and tie. I am looking forward to this entire trip. It is amazing that I will spend 11 nights on this train as we travel to a total of 4 countries!
These excited guys created our group with enthusiastic dancing and singing.We started our day by going to the Apartheid Museum. We spent four hours going through the exhibits and learned a great deal about different people groups, the development of history of Apartheid, and how the country worked through a series of very complicated and sensitive issues. It is an excellent museum and I enjoyed learning about the history.Our group was randomly divided into whites and non-whites and we went through different entrances. I was placed into the non-whites group. All kinds of laws were created to keep the two groups apart within the society.Nelson Mandela had a massive impact in working through the apartheid system.This was a very interesting sculpture. If you stood in one spot, you could see Mandela’s profile image, but it you moves slightly to the right or left, you could only see random pieces of metal.No photographs were allowed within the Apartheid Museum, but we could photograph displays on the outside. Desmond Tutu was prominently involved in working against the apartheid system.In the afternoon, we went to the Soweto district of Johannesburg and enjoyed seeing many of the crafts for sale. We also learned about important history of the struggle against apartheid that occurred in Soweto.At one point, Nelson Mandela lived in a house in the Soweto district.I loved the bright clothing that was for sale!I was drawn to the rich orange colors!!I really liked this necklace!This was an embroidered image on a t-shirt. It was my favorite!!I enjoyed seeing all the drawings of African animals!The wildlife in Africa is unique, wild, and powerful! It was fascinating to see all the artwork that was created!
John and I had a wonderful trip to ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway!! The tramway base (Valley Station) is at elevation 2,643 feet and the tram quickly rises to 8,516 feet. This photo was taken at the top of the mountain and we had beautiful views all around the area.The terrain is quite rugged and the tram glides “smoothly” above the rocks.I was surprised at the large size of the tram and how many people fit inside. It was interesting to be within the tram as the floor of the tram slowly circled around as it moved along the cables. You could not hold onto the inside edge within the tram because the sides kept moving. It was fun to ride. One guy next to us was quite nervous with the swaying of the tram as it moved along the route. It was quite full and can hold 80 people!!This photo was taken within the tram as we looked back to the station where we started. I has able to hang my camera out the window to get a clear view!This bird greeted us at the top of the ride. He was especially loud as he watched everyone!!We had a beautiful view of Palm Springs from the top of the mountain!!In he middle of the photo are the wind farms seen in the distance.We had a beautiful view of the clouds moving into the mountains. It was spectacular to watch the expansion of the clouds rapidly shifting as they enveloped the trees!!As seen from the outside, the tram swings at quite an angle as it moves up the cables. While inside, it was fun to ride in it!!This is the original tram car that was used in Palm Springs!!
John and I went on a great hike on the Badlands trail near Indio! Sections were rigorous, but all the rock formations were quite interesting!The rock formations were fascinating and it was a gorgeous day for a hike!!Every direction held unique rock structures as we walked along the trail!!We discovered quite a few arches in among the rocks!!Some of these formations made me think about Zion National Park!!John and I had fun walking along the narrow paths. We had to be cautious to not slip on the uneven slopes on the trail!!We saw so many strange rocks. Here, the rock appeared to be “dripping” down the hill!!This “stairway to heaven” sign was posted by someone to highlight a steep cascade of steps and rocks up a hill!!I enjoyed seeing so many odd rocks!!I liked this arch we noticed in the midst of these small caves!!We saw these people ahead of us on the trail and knew we needed to climb up the hill and then would walk along a narrow ridge!!Once we got to the top of the hill we had quite a ways to walk along a fairly narrow ridge!!Looking back it was interesting to see such rugged rock formations with Indio in the distance!!I am glad it was not windy as we walked along the ridge!!These hikers with walking sticks had a great view from the trail to see Indio down below!!This friendly lady was walking along the ridge we just passed. She provided a great perspective!I loved seeing the softness of the gorgeous clouds along with the roughness of the rock formations!!It was fun to walk along such a fun trail and see so many beautiful scenes!! It was a great hike, but I was tired after we finished the hike!!
Valparaiso is a fun city in Chile!! It is the largest port for the country, so it is quite important for commerce. Yet, there is a large “artsy” feel in the city. These steps are painted with the phrase in English “We are not hippies, we are happies.” This clearly summarizes the unique culture of Valparaiso.As we drove from Santiago to Valparaiso, we stopped at a winery for wine tasting!! Chile is world-famous for their superb wines. As we drove, our guide noted that one valley was known for growing grapes for white wines, while the next valley we drove through was warmer and they grew grapes for red wines in that area. I love Chilean wine!!In Valparaiso, we rode up this cable car to get a nice view of the city!!The importance of the port is clearly seen with the number of cranes and ships in the sea.Unique English spelling!Chile, and especially Valparaiso, is quite colorful!!This old building with unique architecture is being refurbished.A beautiful theme of Valparaiso is the art seen everywhere! Murals are unique, creative, colorful, and often tell a story. I loved looking at them!!The shapes and colors are amazing!! These artists are very talented!!I especially liked this mural because it was so lively and colorful!!Every theme imaginable was painted in the murals!!This home is sort of pie shaped!! On this end, the house is quite narrow. A person inside could almost touch both walls at the same time! However, the home widens significantly on the other end of the house. It is 3 stories, so it is actually a large home.This panther seemed to be a favorite of our group!!This yellow building used to be a British finishing school. It has been remodeled and now has rooms available for rent. I should also mention all the wires strung all over Valparaiso. We were told that all the wires are not live. If electricity is needed, the simply hang a new wire. They never bother to trace and remove the old wires. It is odd to see so many wires running between buildings.I liked the colors of this raven!!The building in the distance is a Lutheran church. Although there is a strong Catholic heritage in Chile, this church was built because many foreign workers in the port city wanted access to another church too.This seems to be a typical street in Valparaiso. The streets are often narrow one-lane roads, with modern cars, and murals all along the buildings! It is a very eclectic and arty community.I loved these beautiful sunflowers!!For lunch, we were invited to eat at the home of a family in Valparaiso!! This is the spectacular view of the city and harbor from their balcony!! What a beautiful view!!After lunch, our hosts fixed us an alcoholic dessert that tasted wonderful!! The hosts called it an “earthquake” because after drinking a dessert, you could find yourself wobbly on your legs as if you were in an earthquake!!
This is our group photo as we arrived in Rapa Nui!! No one knew each other before the trip, but it was a wonderful group of people that enjoyed discovering new countries and cultures together. Some were experiences travelers, while for others this was their first international tour. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with each person. We created many spectacular memories together!!
We went to the location of the birdman competition on Rapa Nui and first saw this amazing crater. The water in the creator is a little higher than the Pacific Ocean that can be seen in the distance. This photo is a composite of 3 wide-angle photos (handheld) that I then combined to see the whole crater.I liked photo as it emphasizes the section where the crater collapsed and makes the Pacific Ocean visible from the edge of the crater. We walked along the trail for about half of the crater.This photo shows birdman island as seen from the edge of the crater. There is a competition to swim from the crater over to birdman island and search for a bird egg. The distance is large as seen by the size of the boat next to the small rock between the crater and birdman island.This photo shows the width of the crater as seen through the opening in the craters edge.I liked this plant that was growing near the edge of the crater.
We had a wonderful time going to a Polynesian restaurant and show!! The music and dancers were fantastic!! John kept receiving decibel warnings because the music and singing were loud at times! I was especially fun because we had seats right on the first row!!The band was fantastic!! I loved the drums!!
This was a fantastic day to see Moai!! We went to about 4 different sites to see a range of Moai. I liked the personality of this guy.We started our tour today by visiting this Moai site. All the Moai here were knocked down face-first indicating that someone lost a fight and the victors knocked down the other group’s Moai face-first to humiliate the losing group.The support structure (Ahu) for these Moai were not interconnected as we saw by the Incas in Peru. The thought is that these were built by Polynesians and never by the Incas because the structure is so different.Although knocked-down, this guy was clearly seen.This is a top-not that used to be on top of a Moai.Although there has been quite a bit of erosion, this guys face is clearly seen.We next drove to another site and this statue is of a famous king on the island.As we learned about the Moai, it was beautiful to watch the Pacific ocean waves burst on the lava rock!!This next site also showed the three Moai had been knocked down face-first.Although substantial erosion has occurred, you can still clearly see this guys face and arms.Although face-down, it was still amazing to see how large and heavy this huge statues were. All kinds of theories have been proposed for how they were moved from the quarry to the edge of the ocean.I loved to watch the Pacific waves crash on the lava rock!!This guy seemed comfortable with his view of the ocean!I absolutely love these flowers!! They are a bright red-orange and seem to grow everywhere on Easter Island!!I love seeing all the bright colors all over Easter Island!!We moved to another location and you can see this Moai had his neck broken. It is noted that it is face-up, so maybe it fell over from erosion rather than someone pushing it over.We next drove to the quarry site and saw many, many Moai!!The rock in the background is where these Moai were carved to create these statues!!This guys face is very clear despite extensive erosion over the years!!It was amazing to see so many statues in one area!!I liked the personality of this guy!!This guy was impressive to me!!This guy is leaning over so far, it makes me wonder how much longer it will remain upright?I was amazed how many Moai were found near the quarry!!There were statues in every direction!!This is the largest Moai found on Easter Island. It was never finished. It still has a keel along its back since the carving was not totally finished.This Moai was still be carved.This statue is unique because he is kneeling. It is the only Moai found on the island where he is kneeling.I could not comprehend how a people had carved so many statues!!This guy seem somber to me.These Moai almost seemed to be talking to each other!!I was impressed with the craftsmanship!!We moved to another location on the island and saw this statue. For a period of time, this statue was moved to Japan and put on display there!!Changing the angle a bit, you can see 15 Moai lined up along the ocean right behind this same guy!!Within the string of Moai, this guy was the tallest.A crane was used in more recent times to move all these Moai together!!It was a massive undertaking to move these statues that were so heavy!!Within this row of Moai, this is the guy that I liked the most!!Near the Moai was the mountain with storm clouds moving in!!I simply love all the colors of hibiscus!!The colors of flowers is spectacular!!After learning about Moai, we went to the beach!!We close the day on Easter Island with a beautiful sunset seen under the storm clouds!!
Fiesta on Wheels 