We docked in Gqeberha, (Port Elizabeth), South Africa. It was a very difficult docking process however, because of the windy conditions. Our captain had to go back to sea until the wind died down and we could port safely. We were 2 1/2 hours late, which made it a nightmare for the Viking staff who had to reschedule all of the morning tours. They handled it efficiently and the passengers were all very patient, so it finally worked out. There was some concern that tours would be shortened, but we were lucky that ours wasn’t one of them!
Here’s what the Viking Daily had to say about Gqeberha:
Previously called Port Elizabeth, the city’s name was changed in 2021 to the Xhosa and Southern Khoe name for the Baakens River that flows through the city. Along with the surrounding towns and townships, Gqeberha forms part of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Its urban coastline is dotted with picturesque, Blue Flag beaches which are popular hotspots for locals and visitors alike. In addition, the city serves as a gateway to the Eastern Cape’s wildlife and great outdoors, including safari adventures to witness the “Big 5” game species.
Wow - lots of options of things to do in this city! Go to the beach, visit the city center, go on a safari, etc….. What shall we do?
Now, what does all of this have to do with my mother, one might ask? Well, we elected to honor my mom’s love for giraffes and visit the Bellevue Forest Reserve and we are so glad we did! This tour is one of the best ones we have gone on! We took a coach through the city towards the highway and spent about an hour drive to the reserve. This excursion was basically a safari “on foot”.
Once we arrived at Bellevue, we boarded an 11 passenger 4X4 vehicle and headed to the gated entrance of the savanna. We were looking for the giraffes and once we spotted them we got out of our 4X4 vehicle and walked with our guide towards them. We were lucky because we saw them right away! There were only 10 of us so it was an intimate way to really enjoy the wildlife. As they moved to different locations, so did we!
Here’s our group driving and walking in the savanna.
Mark enjoyed taking photos of the giraffe while the giraffe watched him back!
It took a little while for the giraffes to get used to our presence, but once they did, they allowed us to get up close to them - maybe 10 to 15 feet away! What beautiful and stately creatures they are! So tall and regal. No wonder my mother loved them! She wasn’t tall, but in my opinion was regal and beautiful! This experience was in your honor, Tillie Turner!
Our guide pointed out that this giraffe lost his ear. Not sure how, they just discovered it recently. It was cool that we were close enough to see.
This is one of my favorite photos! I love the look on the giraffe’s face.
We also followed around some zebras and antelopes. They were pretty skittish and ran away when we got too close to them.
After about an hour of walking with the giraffes, zebras and antelopes, we got back into our vehicle and trekked off-road to see some Cape Buffalo. There were LOTS of Cape Buffalo! They were calm and just stared at us. Our guide said that we couldn’t get out this time because the buffalo were quite mean.
After our two hour tour we headed to the Bellevue Lodge for lunch. We found out that this reserve did have all of the “Big 5” on site, but we weren’t able to see the rest of them because that part of Bellevue
was reserved for the overnight guests of the lodge.
Lunch was wonderful and so was the Lodge! It had nine or so guest rooms and offered spectacular views from their decks. Mark and I would definitely want to stay here for several days should we want to do a land visit to Africa.
Our lunch included small bites/finger foods and scrumptious cake! They also served some African wine.
These photos show the deck overlook enjoyed by guests of the Lodge.
I purchased some giraffe charm bracelets for my little granddaughters and they are printed with this sentiment “ALWAYS STAND TALL”. I love this advice for my grand-girls and now I also love giraffes just like my mom did!
Comments
Post a Comment