The 3-time World Series champion and 10-time All-Star is having one of the best years for a retiring player, helping clinch the American League East.

David Ortiz standing in the on deck circle.

I went to a late season game against the Tampa Bay Rays.  This is the closest I’ve ever sat at a game!  My seat was behind home plate looking down the first base line.

Thanks Papi!!! Now lets get another World Series!

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Love the wood textures here!

I found the stacked wood after crawling in a little nook inside the barn.

I noticed this one while driving.  I went back the next day as the storm clouds rolled in.

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I went on one of the coldest days of the year but was able to stand in the lodge to keep warm.  After going through security there’s a small hallway where you wait for the elevator.  After a short wait I was on my way up 500 feet to the observation level.

East: US Capitol

The National Mall is currently under maintenance  but it’s still a great view towards the Capitol.  The buildings on the left with the red tops house the US Treasury Department.

Here’s a closer view with the Supreme Court behind to the left and the Library of Congress to the right.

US Capitol from the Washington Monument facing east.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Museum from the Washington Monument.

West: Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is one of my favorite memorials!

Tip: Same-day tickets are on a first come first serve basis at the back window of Washington Monument Lodge.  You can also reserve tickets in advance online for a small service fee and shipping costs.  The tour wasn’t crowded when I went but during spring and summer months tickets go quickly.

South: Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson Memorial from the Washington Monument facing south.

North: White House

Quick facts:

• The Washington Monument was designed by Robert Mills to honor George Washington.
• The construction was done in two phases: one private (1848-1854) and one private (1876-1884).  At the time of its completion it was the tallest building in the world at 555, 5 1/8 inches.  It’s still the world’s tallest obelisk and world’s tallest stone structure.
• The difference in shading of the marble about 150 feet up shows the different phases of construction.
• The original construction elevator was steam powered and could lift up to six tons of stone.  It was replaced by an electric elevator in 1901.
• The Monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885 will over 800 people in attendance.
• It has 898 steps and 50 landings to the top.  Various city, state, foreign countries, civic organizations, and individuals contributed 194 memorial stones inserted in the east and west interior walls.  The tour stops to view a couple on the way down.

Sources: Washington Monument history & culture, Wikipedia

Lobby floor of the Washington Monument

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I was nervous since this was my first time in an open cockpit plane, but I’m so glad to have had this experience!!  It was better than riding a roller coaster.

Have you ever taken an open cockpit flight?  Let me know your experience in the comments.  Here’s a quick video I shot during the flight.

My pilot got me as close as possible to the balloons so I could get great shots.

It was about a 10 minute ride at 3,000 feet with an amazing view!

Steven Glintz, one of the other photographers at the meet up, was kind enough to snap this photo of me as I was taking a photo of my pilot in the mirror after I landed.

My first open cockpit flight in a BT17 Stearman at the Flying Circus Balloon Festival in Bealeton, VA. (Photo by Steven Glintz.)

(Featured photo by Steven Glintz)

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Have you taken a hot air balloon ride?  Let me know your experience in the comments.

Hot air balloon in the early stages on being filled at the Flying Circus Balloon Festival

Hot air balloon being filled at the Flying Circus Balloon Festival

view from 1940s Stearman flight at the Flying Circus Balloon Festival

Pro Tip: Bring cash if you want to take a balloon ride and haven’t booked in advance.  Most of the pilots are independent contracts and only accept cash.

view from my 1940s Stearman flight at the Flying Circus Balloon Festival

Three hot air balloons in flight at the Flying Circus Balloon Festival

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In the previous installment I posted some shots of the Big Five. Here are my favorite shots from Kruger.  If you ever have the chance to visit be sure to buy a park map and animal identification book available in the visitor’s center.  It’s a great resource and has a check list for all the animals you see.

Impala

Magpie shrike

Wildebeest

Hippopotamus

Lilac-breasted roller

Southern ground hornbill

Spotted hyena

Southern yellow-billed hornbill

Common duiker

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Next up… Part 7: Johannesburg, Soweto & Final Thoughts

To follow along with my South African travels use the tag Renel In South Africa 2014.

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Kruger National Park, named after Paul Kruger, is one of Africa’s largest game reserves covering over 7,500 square miles.  The park’s origin began in 1898 as the Sabi Game Reserve, which was initially created to control hunting.  In 1926 the Sabi Game Reserve and neighboring Shingwedzi Game Reserve were combined to create Kruger National Park.  A year later it was opened to the general public.

The “Big Five”

The “Big Five” is a term originally used by hunters to refer to the five most difficult animals to hunt in Africa. The members of the Big Five are the lion, leopard, African elephant, rhinoceros, and African buffalo.  All except the buffalo are on the protected species list.

We went on two day safaris and got to see all of the Big Five on the second day before lunch! Our guide said at the time of our tour in May he had only two or three other tours that saw all five of the animals.  Seeing the Big Five made the whole trip for me!  I later bought a Kruger sticker for my laptop and a Big Five wooden sculpture to commemorate my trip.

Leopard

I was looking forward to seeing leopards the most because they are elusive and extremely well camouflaged. There’s believed to be about a 1,000 leopards in the park.
This one was just chilling in the tree with not a care in the world. It repositioned a couple times but never came out of the tree.

Lion

We saw this group of lions on both days lying in a dry riverbed. Much like the leopard, the lions were just sitting around being lazy (typically cat). It was difficult getting a clear shot because there were trees covering most of the road.

Rhinoceros

This was the only decent shot I was able to get.

Elephant

The elephants were easily my favorite to photograph. They usually came close enough to the roads to get some really nice photos.

Buffalo

I love their horns!

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Next up… Part 6: Kruger National Park favorite animals!!!

To follow along with my South African travels use the tag Renel In South Africa 2014.

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We spent last night in Johannesburg at the Malikana Guest House, which is about 10 minutes away from OR Tambo Airport.  We left the guest house with a packed breakfast early in the morning to avoid the Johannesburg traffic.  I plan to do a separate post on my time in Johannesburg so stay tuned.

Panorama Route

The Panorama Route from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park winds it’s way through the Drakensburg mountains in the Mpumalanga province (part of the Highveld) down to the Lowveld.  There’s a 5,900 feet difference from the Highveld down to Kruger in the Lowveld.  The main draws on the route include God’s Window, Bourkes Luck Potholes, and the Blyde River Canyon.  In addition to these attractions we made stops in Lydenburg and Pilgram’s Rest.

Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve

The Blyde River Canyon is located in the Drakensberg escarpment region and one of the world’s largest canyons.  Blyde means “glad” or “happy” or Dutch.  It’s also considered the largest “green” canyon because of its’ tropical foliage.  There has been at least 1,000 plant species recorded with the varied plant life is influenced by extreme climate, a range of altitudes, and various soil conditions.

God’s Window

God’s Window is a popular lookout point at the southern end of the Nature Reserve offering panoramic views of the Lowveld.  The world veld comes from the Afrikaans word for “field,” and is a generic term used to define certain wide open rural spaces in Southern Africa.

I was using my 24-70mm lens, but I wish I had a wider lens better suited for landscapes.  I ended up getting better photos on my iPhone using the pano feature. I have no clue what these flowers are called but they are beautiful.  If you know the name let me know in the comments.

Bourke’s Luck Potholes

This area was after a local miner named Tom Bourke, who prospected for gold here.  The potholes formed as a result of a thousand years of swirling eddies of water where the Treur River  (river of sorrow) meets the Blyde River (river of joy) which over time has caused water erosion.

Three Rondavels

The Three Rondavels, once known as the Three Sisters, are three rounded mountain tops with slightly pointed tops similar to the traditional African homes made with local materials.  The mountains were formed as erosion wore away the soft underlying stone, leaving exposed slate and quartzite.  Very beautiful!

Who gon’ check me boo?!  There were a couple others more daring who stood up on the rocks but I stayed close to the sign.  

After we finished the Panorama Route we continued towards to our lodge in the Greater Kruger where we would spend two nights.

Shalati Adventure Lodge

The Shalati Bush Camp is located on over a hundred acres of the Mnisi Tribal Land, at the gate of the Manyeleti Game Reserve, which borders Kruger National Park.  There are no fences between Manyeleti and Kruger, and has free roaming animals all the way from Mozambique.  I didn’t see any animals near the lodge when I was there.

We stayed in rooms called chalets.  During our stay we always left before sunrise and arrived after sunset so I never got to fully appreciate the during daylight hours until the morning we left.  It’s pretty basic accommodations– bed and bathroom.  Honestly I was so tired from our game rides that both days that it didn’t even bother me.

chalet house at Shalati Adventure Lodge

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Next up… Part 5: The Big 5 at Kruger National Park!!!

To follow along with my South African travels use the tag Renel In South Africa 2014.

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Day 1

We left Cape Town around 10am for what would end up being a 30 hour ride on the Shosholoza Meyl to Johannesburg.  “Shosholoza” is the name of a Ndebele folk song that originated in Zimbabwe but was popularized in South Africa.  “Meyl” is a word that is related to a South African word for “long distance train.”  (Click here to see a lyric video with the English translation.)

I was in the 4-person sleeper with two other ladies from my tour.  Our cabin was the biggest out of the group so it ended up being the hangout room.  The other two cabins were two-person sleepers.  The cabin was actually bigger than I thought it would be but still a little claustrophobic such a long journey.  The sleeping cars are considered tourist class cost about 620 Rand (USD $59) for a one-way ticket from Cape Town to Johannesburg.  That price is about half of what it would cost to fly.  There’s a economy class with only seats on the other side of the dining car.

We spent most of our time in the dining car where Gary gave Lightroom tutorials.  Unfortunately we couldn’t bring our camera bags in the dining car.  A nice elderly couple in one of the neighboring cabins agreed to let us leave our bags in their cabin for safe keeping.  They were Mormons from Fish Hoek traveling to the Johannesburg temple for a mission.

The cheese and tomato sandwich with tea was yummy!

Me and Krissy in the dining car on the Shosholoza Meyl

Savanna Dry cider is South Africa’s first cider to be packaged in a bottle and was really good.  This was my drink of choice when I didn’t drink a soda.  Seconds after I took this photo the bottle came crashing down from the window’s ledge and splashed all over Krissy’s laptop.  Oops!

View of the train as it rounds a curve:

By 5pm we were bored so we all gathered around the windows to take photos of the sun setting.  This was the only photo I liked from that set.

This photo makes me laugh. The kids in the small towns where comfortable enough to run towards the train and ask for snacks  as it slowed coming into the station, but didn’t want their faces to be photographed.

About an hour after our sunset shoot we went back to the dining car for dinner.  I opted for the sirloin steak and chips (fries) with a small salad.  You’ll notice the mac & cheese in the background.  I saw it on the menu, but I can’t eat just anyone’s mac & cheese, lol.  South Africa’s signature tomato sauce (ketchup) is All Gold.  It was tasty but a little too sweet for me.

A few people ordered the cheesecake for desert.  I’m not sure what it was made of, but it definitely shouldn’t have been called cheesecake.   It was frozen then got spongy when it melted.  I’m glad I passed on that because it didn’t look appetizing at all.  Only one person even attempted to finish it.

While we were still at dinner we pulled into the Beaufort West station where the Blue Train was also parked.  It travels between Cape Town to Pretoria, and is one of the most luxurious train journeys in the world.  It costs 13,015-26,40 Rand (USD $12,09-$2,34) for a one-way ticket depending on the season and level of accommodations.  The price includes all meals, high tea, and drinks.  The Blue Train features butler service, an observation car, lounges, private bathrooms, and fine dining. We saw the patrons dressed to the nines in the dining car.

A group of obnoxious guys on our train started banging on the windows and grunting at the Blue Train.  Our guide joked that they had been drinking “karate water,” which is slang for when people get drunk and think they can fight anyone.  Later on one of the guys sent his number to our table on a napkin, but didn’t even have the decency to use a clean one.  The dirty napkin looked like it had residue from the fake cheesecake on it.  Yuck!

I headed back to our cabin around 8:30pm to set up my sleeping bag and turn it for the night. I stayed up a little bit reading Robin Roberts’ latest book Everybody’s Got Something, which I highly recommend.  Eventually I fell asleep to the sway of the train chugging down the tracks.

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Table Mountain

We started our morning in Cape Town by heading up to Table Mountain. Table Mountain received its’ name because it’s a level plateau, which is approximately 2 miles side to side.

The sky was overcast for most of the morning, but we decided to take a chance. We were hopeful because on the road up to the mountain everything looked clear. However once we parked and got in line the ticket office said there was little to no visibility from the top. As you can see from the photos the clouds were heavy and swooped in within the short time it took us to park.

After a quick stop at a local camera shop we continued on our way towards Cape Point.

Muizenberg Beach

Muizenberg is a beach-side suburb of Cape Town also known as the birthplace of South African surfing. The shark spotting program is an early warning initiative in place where spotters on the mountain relay info for the surfers.

The black flag means the spotting conditions are poor. It was really cloudy, but that didn’t stop surfers from entering the water.

My favorite part was these cute and colorful beach houses on the beach.

Boulders Beach

Boulders Beach is a sheltered beach located in the Cape Peninsula between Simon’s Town and Cape Point. Bordered by indigenous bush and clear waters, it’s partially enclosed by 540 million year old granite boulders, from which the beach name originates. You can come within less than 10 feet of the endangered African penguins.

Boulders African penguin and pup

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is located at the junction of two of earth’s most contrasting water masses. On the west coast is the cold Benguela current and on the east coast is the warm Agulhas current. When following the western side of the African coastline from the equator, the Cape of Good Hope marks the point where ships begin to travel more eastward than southward.

The Cape of Good Hope is home to diverse habitats including over 250 species of birds, 1,100 species of indigenous plants, the chacma baboon, and the cape mountain zebra. On the ride into the park we saw baboon, zebras, and ostriches.  A couple people on the tour also visited Cape of Good Hope the day before but didn’t see as many animals so we were happy they were out and about.

There’s warnings all over the park to beware of the baboons.  The baboons are known to roam the beaches looking for food.  Our guide even had to warn a few people to keep their windows rolled up.

I like how the zebra blends into the scorched background.  Periodically the park purposely sets brush fires to prevent unexpected fires during the season.Just on the other side of the road is the normal vegetation you’ll find driving in.I learned the female ostrich is brown because she protects the nest during the day, and the male is black because he protects the nest at night.We arrived right in time to get individual photos because there was a big bus load of tourists right behind us.

Renel at Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Photo taken by Gary Ardnt of www.everything-everywhere.com.

Cape Point

Cape Point is a promontory at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula about 1.4 miles east and  a little north of Cape of Good Hope.  It is at the extreme southwestern tip of the African continent.  If you’re wondering, Cape Agulhus is the southernmost point of Africa, which is about 90 miles to the southeast of Cape of Good Hope.

We headed back up the road to ride the Flying Dutchman Funicular from the lower station up to the lighthouse.  It was still another 100 steps or so to the actual top.
After leaving the Cape of Good Hope area we stopped for lunch at Café Roux in the Cape Town suburb of Noordhoek.  We then continued on to Chapman’s Peak Drive.

Chapman’s Peak Drive

Chapman’s Peak Drive winds its’ way between Noordhoek and Hout Bay along the steep cliffs and ravines.  It’s named after John Chapman, the Captain’s mate of an English ship the Consent.  In 1915 construction began on the road, which hugs the near-vertical face of the mountain.  In 1919 the first portion of the road to the lockout was opened.

The road was closed in 1994 and 2000 after  landslide incidents caused injury and a death.  After the 2000 incident  government officials sought ways to make the road safer by instituting new rock fall measures.  In December 2003 the road was reopened to traffic.

Table Mountain redux

We made a second visit to Table Mountain in hopes of a clear view, but there was zero visibility at the top.  We decided to buy tickets anyway just to have the experience of going up in the cableway car.

This was the clearest we would get on the way up.

By the time we got up higher up this was the view.  So much for my picturesque views.  It was rainy at the top with no visibility so we spent about 20 minutes in the cafe drinking coffee.  Eventually the horn sounded for us to get off the mountain immediately due to high winds.

V&A Waterfront

We made a quick stop back at our hotel to drop a couple people off, and a few of us continued on to the V&A Waterfront.  The waterfront had a mini shopping area so we did a little grocery shopping for snacks for the train ride the next day.

view of Table Mountain from the V&A waterfront

– – –

Next up… Part 3: Shosholoza Meyl train

To follow along with my South African travels use the tag Renel In South Africa 2014.

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Last year I promised myself that I would make at least one big international trip a year. South Africa had been on my wish list since the 2010 World Cup and again when Nelson Mandela died in December 2013. Days later, travel photographer Gary Arndt of Everything-Everywhere.com announced his third annual travel photography tour would take place in South Africa in May. Gary is a G Adventures Wanderer in Residence, and I had been following his blog for a few years. I felt the universe was speaking to me!

Flying into Johannesburg, South Africa

I immediately begin to making plans to attend starting with my budget and the gear I would need. (I posted my gear and packing list on my tumblr page). From what I heard from friends and my own research I knew South Africa was a great place to make good on my promise for several reasons.

• Budget wise, once you get there prices are affordable as the USD to rand was at least 1:9 when I went. I even found the airfare reasonable (under $1300 USD).
• South Africa is a multiethnic society with 11 recognized languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu. Most South Africans are multilingual often with English being the third or fourth language. I figured with English being prominent in the areas I was visiting the language gap would be minimal.
• Traveling in May meant that the climate would be their winter (May-July). A common misnomer is that Africa is hot all the time. South Africa’s average May temperature has 66°F highs and 48°F lows. That’s similar to the early spring weather in Maryland. And of course the temperatures vary depending on where you are in the country.
• And most importantly I WANTED TO VISIT THE MOTHERLAND! If I go nowhere else in my lifetime I was going to Africa.

View of Cape Town from entrance to Table Top Mountain, South Africa

Itinerary

The trip’s nine day planned itinerary was listed as follows:

Day 1 – Cape Town: arrive at any time
Day 2 – Cape Town: explore Cape Point with optional excursions; during the evening a local cultural exchange with dinner in a private home
Day 3 – Cape Town: enjoy a free morning before boarding an overnight train to Johannesburg
Day 4 – Johannesburg: visit Soweto township and a bicycle tour
Days 5-7 – Greater Kruger area/Kruger National Park: drive the Panorama Route into Kruger National Park; two full-day game drives in Kruger; on day 6 enjoy a traditional dance experience in Shalati
Day 8 – Greater Kruger/Johannesburg: in the morning visit the Planeterra-supported G Hope Africa preschool before departing for Johannesburg
Day 9 – Johannesburg: depart at any time

As you can see this is a packed itinerary, but there was still so much I didn’t get a chance to see. I wish I had more time in Cape Town prior to the start of the tour, but I had a prior commitment the same weekend I left for South Africa.

Traveling Alone & Expectations

The main question I was asked when I first told my family and friends that I was going was “Who are you going with?” My answer was “Me, myself, and I.”  Family expressed concern but I wasn’t fazed.  I had done my research on the company and bought travel insurance, which G Adventures required.  There are always risks to any travel or adventurous outings.  I even joked with my mom that I would try not to be eaten by a lion.  You take as much precaution as you can and live life to the fullest.

This was my first time doing a G Adventures tour, but doing an organized group tour made the choice much easier for me.  I don’t know that I would’ve done an international trip alone if it wasn’t a set itinerary.  I knew the common thread of the group would be photography, and G Adventures prides itself on small group tours around the world with an expert Chief Experience Officer (CEO) with you the entire trip.  The group was seven people, including three Americans, one Norwegian, one Dutch, one Canadian, and one South African (our CEO).  The only concern I had was having a roommate, which I haven’t had seen my sophomore year in college (a long time ago).  Fortunately for me one of the other ladies paid the single room supplement so that meant I also had my own room throughout the tour except for the overnight train at no extra cost to me.  All that being said, I’m happy to report we all got along really well and learned some new photo editing techniques from Gary.

OK, OK! This is a photo blog so I know you’re dying to see the photos right?! I’ll be doing a multipart series on my South African travels so be sure to check back to see them.

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Next up… Part 2: Cape Town & Cape Point

To follow along with my South African travels use the tag Renel In South Africa.  You can also use #RenelInSouthAfrica to search my Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr posts while I was on the trip.

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This sheltered penguin colony, located between Simon’s Town and Cape Point, was started in 1982 with just two breeding pairs.  The African penguin is listed in the Red Data Book as an endangered species.  They were previously called Jackass Penguin because of their donkey-like braying call.  Some South American penguins also produce the same sound so they were renamed African penguins.  According to the park’s brochure,

“Of the 1.5 million African penguin population estimated in 1910, only some 10% remained at the end of the 20th century.  The uncontrolled harvesting of penguin eggs (as a source of food), and guano scraping, nearly drove the species to extinction.”

African penguin at Boulders Beach colony, South Africa

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Here we are on our cruise.

And here we are 10 years ago at when I graduated from Howard University (HU, you know)!!

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The President’s podium in the Rose Garden.

White House fountain with the Washington Monument in the background.

The First Lady’s garden.

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I’m posting this photo because my mom is actually smiling.  She never smiles in photos, and in her own words “I take bad pictures.”  We’re with our main dining room waitress Jackielyn.

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