African Game Park- by Emily

 

Early in the morning we left Richards bay in our rental car. Our destination: Zululand game parks and African animals where we would go in search of the big five. 

The phrase Big Five Game was coined by big game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Subsequently the term was adopted by Safari tour operators for marketing purposes. The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. The collection consists of the lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. The members of the Big Five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size.

    

Isimangaliso Wetland Park, the first park we were going to visit, is situated on the southeastern part of the African coast line, in St Lucia. The warm waters are home to many species of fish and aquatic animals and it keeps the park comfortably warm. The dunes that mark the beach are the huge nesting grounds of the leatherback turtle. The grasslands are dotted with waterholes, rivers, and the world’s deepest peat swamp. Lake St Lucia houses thousands of fish and crocodiles, but it is the hippos that do the most for the ecosystem. They make masses of droppings that fertilize the water making an important fish and prawn nursery ground. The last part of the park is what I think of when I think of Africa, the Savannah, which is the typical Big Five ecosystem.

 After a long drive we arrived at Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park where we drove on a bumpy road. Mom was very busy shifting the standard car and dodging potholes. We saw numerous Nyala and bushbuck through the bushes and we got a few glimpses of the shy red duiker. I liked the Nyala best with their stripes, dots, and horns.

 

We saw three warthogs, and they were humorous characters! When they ran their slender pencil thin tails went straight up! 

 

A couple of big, awkward water buffalo watched us moving by in the car. They were the first of the big five that we saw. 

 

We saw a herd of zebra drinking at a waterhole along with a mama and her baby. I always thought of zebra being just black and white, but there was a little brown mixed in with the white on some of them.

 

After that, mom and dad went in a ferry down the St. Lucia Estuary to see a bloat of hippos. They saw plenty of hippos as well as one Nile crocodile while I stayed at our hotel room, for I was a bit sick. I found it interesting to hear that the mangroves sense the tide going out and drop their seeds. During the short time the tide’s out, the seed sprout roots and are anchored by the time the tide comes back in. 

 

They reached the St. Lucia Wetlands Reserve in time for the 2-hour estuary boat tour.  As they waited for the boat to leave they watched yellow weaver birds building their unique round nests.

The guide brought the shallow draft barge very close to the feeding hippopotamus and was familiar enough with the families as to be able to recognize individuals and explain their behavior.  A “yawn” is actually meant to be a sign of aggression and is used when the animal feels threatened.  These animals don’t actually swim but, rather, walk along the river floor and bob to the surface for air.  While they may appear ponderous and slow, they can easily outrun a human so, if you find yourself being chased by an enraged hippopotamus, you must climb the nearest tree and wait for it to go away.

That was the end of day one and mom and dad came back to the hotel room which was like Shangri-La compared to the one in Ankarana Park.

The next day we traveled through Imfolozi (pronounced oom-fa-low-zee) game reserve. This reserve is situated north of Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is situated in the southern section of the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park. The Hluhluwe Game Park (pronounced shu-shlu-wee) has been connected with the iMfolozi Game Park. This KwaZulu-Natal park is the oldest game reserve in South Africa. It was established in 1895. Today, the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park is world renowned for its White Rhino conservation. We drove through the park by ourselves, partially on smooth paved roads, partially on reasonable dirt roads.

Herds of impala lifted their horns to greet us, and wildebeest cantered on the hills. 

The second of the big five turned out to be a white rhino leisurely chewing his grass. I still don’t know what defines a white rhino from a black except for its wrinkles. 

The third of the big five nearly scared us out of our wits when he appeared on the road. It was an elephant. He was twice as big as our car with huge tusks and he was leisurely crossing the road to get the leaves on the other side. When he got in trunk range he didn’t bother to move his rear, but stood half in, half out of the road grabbing leaves in his nose and shoveling them in by the bucketful. We cautiously edged past him, coming within six feet of his tail. That was our closest encounter with an elephant. We also saw two hyenas that walked by our car. 

Just when we were starting to think we wouldn’t see any more animals, a spotted one on stilts walked across the road. It was a giraffe.

One of nature’s most pretty mistakes must be the kudu. I wonder how he can keep his head up with those magnificent curly horns on his head. They are twice as high as his head! I think he was the prettiest antelope we saw with his horns, stripes, and the dainty way he walks.

We saw a lot of birds too. We saw an African fish eagle many times, looking over the land like he owned it. 

 

We saw a water thick knee and a woolly necked stork, but the African hoopoe and the white-fronted bee-eater were the most beautiful.  We stopped the car to watch a dung beetle roll its prize across the road and found an enormous land snail sliming his way along.

 

   

And that about sums it up. I can only think of one more thing to say; the animals were everywhere and I had an exciting time.

Emily (and Dad)

Passage from Madagascar to South Africa

We left Madagascar from Baly Bay, just north of Cap Saint Andre, on October 13 and arrived in South Africa at Richards Bay on October 20. We had several anchoring spots on the Mozambique coast researched and plotted since most boats are not lucky enough to get a weather window long enough to make the entire trip non-stop. The planned passage covered 1113 miles in seven days. Here are more details about our planning and experiences:

Planning the Mozambique Channel Crossing

Cyclones became a slight threat in northern Madagascar in November. South Africa was warming in the southern hemisphere Spring season and temperatures there were becoming more suitable for us. Some cruising boats made the crossing a month or two earlier and they encountered chilly air and somewhat stormy conditions. Jimmy Cornell's "World Cruising Routes" says the best time to go down this channel is October-November. Some South African cruisers also recommended leaving in November. We decided to leave Madagascar early before any chance for a cyclone.

The Agulhas Current is famous for its strength and for the tremendous waves which can be produced by winds blowing from the south against it. This current becomes important south of Madagascar's latitude, near the end of the passage to South Africa. Directly west of Madagascar a fairly weak current of 1-2 knots runs northward along the Madagascar side of the channel while the Mozambique Current of 1-3 knots runs southward near the African coast. Large ships apparently take advantage of these currents by traveling north on the Madagascar side and south on the African side. 

Some cruisers chose to work slowly down the Madagascar coast against the current as far south as Tulear but there were few secure anchorages south of Cap Saint Andre and we did not see any advantage in that route. We felt the best course was to sail west from Cap Saint Andre until we passed north of Juan de Nova Island where we hoped to enjoy the south-flowing Mozambique Current and then ride that down towards South Africa.

Typical winds along the Madagascar west coast were easterly in the mornings, westerly in the afternoons and seldom strong. This made for delightful coastal motoring in almost flat water. This wind pattern extended out into the Mozambique Channel and affected boats trying to sail the rhumb line from Cap Saint Andre to Richards Bay. The combination of light and variable breezes plus a slight northerly current resulted in very slow progress for some of those sailing boats. The two sailboats that left with us had very slow going and were forced to stop in Mozambique and wait.  We had a forecast of several days of light northerly winds when we started across the channel and we enjoyed flat water for the first 4 or 5 days towards Africa. Tropical latitudes usually do not have strong winds (excepting squalls and cyclones) so we had no worries about winds in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel. Below the Tropic of Capricorn the winds were often stronger. Low and high pressure systems constantly moving from west to east across southern Africa seemed to spawn fronts which swept up the channel about once per week. Most important to avoid were strong southerly winds blowing against the strong Agulhas Current.

Weather Forecasts

We seldom bothered with weather forecasts while cruising along Madagascar's northwest coast. Winds there were almost always light, usually blew from the land in the morning and towards the land in the afternoon, and waves were never large. When we needed forecasts for the crossing to South Africa we obtained GRIB files through Airmail and listened to SSB nets hosted by volunteers in South Africa. The passage from Cap Saint Andre to Richards Bay was over 1000 nautical miles. Extended weather forecasts for a week or more in the future were not accurate enough to insure good weather for the last part of the passage, the part where wind strength and direction was most critical for cruising boats. The best we could do was leave with what appeared to be a good "weather window" and be prepared to duck into emergency anchorages in Mozambique if the forecast changed.

The most-used SSB weather net was "Peri-Peri" on 8101 khz at 07:00 and 17:00 South African time (GMT + 2). The net controllers used BuoyWeather to get forecasts for the locations of calling boats. Another valuable net was the South African Maritime Mobile Net hosted by Graeme on 14316 khz at 8:30 and 13:30 South African time but we never heard him with our lousy radio.  We seldom called but often listened and found the Peri-Peri net very useful. We were very grateful to the dedicated South African volunteers who made sure weather information was available to cruising boats every day.

Madagascar to Africa

We raised anchor in Baly Bay and left Madagascar at 3AM the morning of October 13. Lovina and Daemon were going to wait for first light and be 3 hours behind us. The wind was a light, as usual, and we headed out into deep water before turning west. Along the coast we were bid a final farewell.

By midnight we were about 30 miles directly north of Cap Saint Andre and had already landed a 1 meter long Spanish mackerel and had enough fish for our passage.  

Alternator Troubles

Unfortunately, a gremlin returned with our main engine 200 amp alternator and once the batteries were full, the alternator output started pulsing.  I have a meter on my main electrical panel that shows the alternator output and I could watch it swing back and forth from 100 amps to 0 amps.  I suspected that it was a failure of the “sensing” wire between the alternator and the batteries but had no desire to spend extended time in the 130 degree engine room.  We also carry a complete spare alternator, but changing that underway was similarly not desirable.

Although this condition was worrying, it was not critical since the batteries were remaining fully charged.  The main concern was that these large current fluctuations were creating a lot of interference in my SSB radio and I could barely hear any boats or weather nets more than about 200 miles away.  Since my generator starting battery is completely separated from the house and engine batteries, I ran some temporary wires from the radio to the generator battery but saw no noticeable improvement.  Ultimately, we were unable to get any weather GRIBs or send in position reports during this passage. We figured that we could still talk to other cruising boats and would be able to hear the African nets as we neared Mozambique.

Over the first two days we made steady progress and were able to speak daily on the SSB with Lovina and Daemon. We still had not found the helpful Mozambique Current, but we also had no adverse current and we kept on moving.  We were visited by leaping dolphins and humpback whales and we fell into passagemaking mode.  Emily even did a regular watch after dinner until 9PM to shorten Kim’s normal watch.

Lovina and Daemon could not find good wind so they headed more westward and we slowly drifted apart and after 4 days we could not hear them anymore.  We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and continued southwest looking for helpful current. Two boats, Mojombo and Cats Paw, had left two days before us and as we caught up to them, we started communicating with them on the SSB.  They had good radios and verbally relayed weather reports, and we all decided to push non-stop to Richards Bay.  We passed our safe anchorages on the Mozambique coast and still had not found the Agulhas Current 60 miles off the coast.

Dirty Fuel

We had taken on almost twenty 55 gallon drums of fuel in Madagascar over our stay there and even though we had filtered it all, Tom noticed the vacuum gage on the primary engine filter steadily rising (indicating the engine working harder to suck through the dirty filter).  We do have two filters installed and simply changing two valves, we switched over to a clean filter and all was well for a few hours.  This secondary filter housing, however, must have a small air leak and we were getting air into the fuel that would cause the engine speed to surge as the air moved through the engine.  Tom managed to remove the old dirty filter, install a new one with the engine running in the 130 degree engine room in record time.  Unfortunately, enough air got into the fuel line and the main engine died.  The seas were relatively calm still, so Tom managed to re-prime the main engine and get her running again quickly.  He still carries a burn on his priming finger from the hot metal pumping handle on the engine-mounted priming lever!

Finally just south of Caldiera Island and only 20 miles from the coast, we started to fly.  Most of the next 2 days we had more than two knots of current and had speeds over ground of 7, 8 and 9 knots.  Emily had fun watching our boat speed go past 10 knots as we surfed down some of the steeper following seas.

As we got closer to Richards Bay, the seas got bumpier and more confused although not too big.  The last 20 miles were really bumpy as we had 25 knots of wind on the nose. We snuck ahead of both Mojombo and Cats Paw even though they had left 2 days ahead of us.  

Before entering Richards Bay it was necessary to call Harbor Control on VHF channel 12 (or 16) and ask permission to enter. They controlled movement of large ships in and out of this port. We were told it was the largest coal exporting port in the world, also exported large amounts of aluminum, chrome and wood chips and accounted for over half of all South African shipping. On October 20^th at 11AM, we motored to the International Dock area of the small craft harbor guided by friends on Erica who heard us on the VHF and guided us in.  We did not have long to wait for official clearance. Immigration and Customs officials arrived later that day to quickly clear us into South Africa with three-month visas. It was very nice to deal with professional officials who charged no fees and asked for no "gifts." We then moved into the Tuzi Gazi marina to take care of business, enjoy good Internet and telephone services, and begin our visit in Africa.

We had some outboard motor parts and a new mileage flag from the Nordhavn folks waiting for us at the marina.  Monkeys scampering across the docks gave us a hint that we are not in New England any more…

Tom

Madagascar – Month Two

Our second month in Madagascar was even better than our first.  We had most of the broken boat bits fixed and we could re-visit the best spots in the Nosy Be area.   

We met up again with Peter and Ulla aboard Lovina.  They had researched an inland trip to see more of Madagascar’s wildlife and we discussed logistics.  Since it involved multiple crowded cab rides, water taxis, arduous hiking and sleeping without power or running water, we knew that we had to go!

 I agreed to set our oversize anchor in Crater Bay and have Lovina tied alongside while they took the first trip to the park. I watched over the 50 tons of boat hanging on my single 120lb anchor while Peter and Ulla braved their trip to the park.  Once they figured out all of the logistical details, we would follow their footsteps and journey to the park while they watched the two rafted boats.  Since I am writing this now, somehow we survived and that trip demanded a separate blog post.

We saw more lemurs at Nosy Komba, bought more souvenirs at the gift shops and enjoyed some more SCUBA diving.  One particularly productive spearfishing session resulted in 5 fish for the dinner table and freezer.  

Emily got back into homeschool starting her 7^th grade work and she got some kid-time in with a Australian boat, Mojumbo that is home for Zeke (12) and Nina(10).  They are also headed towards Richards Bay and we expect to stay near enough for play dates along the journey.

We met several cruising boats including Daemon and Cats Paw 4 that were also heading to South Africa and it was nice to finally be on the right timetable. We all shared planning notes and those ahead of us are already sending back reports, tips and advice from Africa.  We stocked up with local rum and vanilla beans (2.2lbs for about $20), checked out of the country and started moving south along the western coast.

Returning to old spots like Russian Bay was made more enjoyable by meeting villagers that fondly remembered us.  Pollin paddled out with his wife to greet us even before we had our anchor down and deliver 10 mud crabs while ignoring the other boats in the harbor. 

Just south of Russian Bay, we spent a few days in Honey River.  We were led on a 4 hour hike by the school teacher, Daniel, and saw several villages in the hills and some nice views.   

We made the mistake of going at low tide, so we had several places in the river where we had to drag or lift the dingys across the shallow water.  For the last 100 meters, we left the dingys and waded through 18” deep, very sticky mud that sucked the shoes off our feet.  We had brought a lot of old clothes that were well received as we gave them out. 

 

And Emily made lots of Origami.

 

On our way back, we gave a local boat a tow back to the village that saved them two hours of paddling against the tide and wind. 

We bought honey for about $2.50 for 1 ½ liter bottles and traded for mud crabs that were delicious.  We also gave Daniel some school supplies and a soccer ball since we had heard that the library had burned down several months ago.  Mojumbo caught up with us there and Emily enjoyed a few more play days.

We did an overnight passage directly to Moramba bay bypassing some rolly anchorages that the other boats were going to day-trip to.  Moramba Bay is very protected and lined with ancient baobab trees and few villages.  We went with Lovina to Sacred Island in the center of the bay and saw a 1500 year old baobab tree with an erotic protuberance.  The Malagasy consider it sacred and several offerings could be seen at its base.  We saw hawks, eagles, parrots and white and brown “Zoomafoo” lemurs and plain brown lemurs.  We hiked around, had a beach barbeque and Emily once again played with the Mojombo Kids.

We had been carrying an inflatable canoe that were given by the crew of Mojo to give away since New Zealand and finally managed to give it to a poor family near our anchorage.  They had 3 children and were all smiles as they paddled away.  I even buckled one of the smaller kids into and old lifejacket even though they probably learned to swim before learning to walk.  We watched them carry their new possession carefully up the beach to a sheltered spot and cover it from the sun.

We made another overnight passage to Baly bay and anchored as far south as the depths would allow.  We found a nice area of about 20 foot depth, but it was a mile from a village to the west and 2 miles from the main village to the east.  The steering on our big dingy had died (frozen with rust) just after our return from Mayotte, so we were using our small “back-up” dingy with oars.  We did not re-commission our little back-up 2 hp outboard and were bumming rides when needed from our cruising friends or rowing.  We even had two longer oars carved for our small dingy (that cost $12 per oar) that work really well to replace the short aluminum oars.  In any event, we only got to shore here by the graces of Lovina and the other boats.  It was just as well since it was quite windy here and we got stopped by some of the local police looking to pad their pockets since we had already checked out in Nosy Be.  It worked out OK since our passports were all back on the boat and we were on our last provisioning trip before leaving for South Africa.

We have really enjoyed our time here in Madagascar, seeing the unique wildlife and interacting with the Malagassy people.  We have pondered whether it was the extended time we had invested here or simply the friendliness of the locals and have not yet decided.  We are in agreement, however, that we will not soon forget this country, its people or the unique wildlife.

Tom