Stormy weather

We arrived at the lovely beachside town of Wilderness. The winds and
surf are wild indeed. As a consequence, there is no electricity.

This means no Wi-Fi, no CPAP, no iPhone recharge. I'll queue up posts
as long as the battery holds up, and transmit when I'm re-powered.

Storms River Gorge

Pulling up in our two huge tour busses, we did the 20 minute lunch drill:

1. Park bus, hustle the "slows" to clear the aisle.

2. Observe the masses heading to the toilets, divert to the fast food stand.

3. Select the hero instead of a burger--the long thin bun geometry eats faster than the round burger bun.

4. Eat the sandwich at the counter with water #1, leaving the "small chips" (French fries) for eating on the move.

5. Proceed to the view point (near the tallest bungee-jumping bridge on earth), while steadily eating chips.

6. Marvel at the splendor of God's creation, while steadily eating chips.

7. Snap photo while steadily eating chips.

8. Proceed to toilets, tuck bag of chips under chin, be glad that not a woman.

9. Proceed to convenience store, select dessert snacks, observe computerized cash register freezing up.

10. Abort purchase as staff begins developing a hand-writing and calculator based system while time runs out. Enjoy final chip.

11. Proceed in expedited fashion to the bus, happy to not be the last.

The storm from the western cape

The sun shone in Pt. Elizabeth as we boarded the bus for George. As we
proceeded west, the cold front and accompanying rain squall rolled
over us. If we're lucky, we'll slip through the front on the bus, and
have good weather from George onward.

We attend the Congregationalist church in Port Elizabeth

The photo is the small chapel in which we dressed and prepared for
church.

St. Marks Congregational Church ( www.stmarks.org.za ) is an enormous
community of 1,000 families. Their vast sanctuary was filled with
adults. Small children filed in to sit in the aisles during our first
two songs. Meanwhile, some 150 or so teenagers had their own service
in a nearby room.

We sang a variety of pieces, ending with a rousing version of "When
the Saints Go Marching In." As we sang, we were mindful of the news
that hurricane Gustav is projected to re-destroy New Orleans. We
requested prayers.

After worship, we enjoyed tea with the congregation, in a very very
Victorian-looking hall. Tea was somewhat truncated by the need to doff
and pack our choir robes, then hop onto the bus for the four hour ride
to George. We will rehearse and then perform with a men's choir there.
I don't suspect that the men's choir in George is like the average
(=gay) "men's chorus" in the U.S., but, you never know...

Photo: The Indian Ocean port of Port Elizabeth

Photo: Port Elizabeth: Helpful directions

Katie, adding a fresh, youthful aspect to the tour.

Her voice is really sweet, too. By the way, my iPhone doesn't have
image editing capabilities. She really looks like this. Not all the
time, of course...

We arrive in Port Elizabeth

It is warm and sunny in PE, the "friendly city," also the windiest in
SA.

The Indian Ocean influences the climate, warm and mild. Meanwhile, my
relatives in Cape Town report that the worst late winter storm in
years is underway. The forecast for here is that the Atlantic storm
will push in, lowering temperatures sharply and making things all
Seattle-like.

Veldt fires outside of Johannesburg

As we flew out of Joburg, several large grass fires were visible through the dusty haze. The veldt (praire) burns frequently, either naturally or by human cause (cigarettes mostly). The fire renews the tall grass, usually around now, at the end of the dry tropical winter. The spring rains (due soon) will turn the dry yellow and the blackened parts a lush green.

All safely aboard for Pt. Elizabeth

With all the hilarious trepidations that accompany a group of our size
and demographics, we seem to all be aboard.

Animals on the game drives

We saw (among other things):

Lions
Zebras (live and lion-killed)
Giraffes
Gnus (wildebeest)
Impala
Hippos
Wart hogs
Rhinos (both white and black)
Springbok
Stienbok
Other various antelopes
Termite mounds
Weaverbird nests
Elephants
Various birds
Blue vervet monkeys
Really scary-looking hornets

I got many photos on my freestanding camera, which has a zoom lens and
better image control than my iPhone camera. I'll post those after I'm
home, and able to offload them to my computer.

Arriving at the braai

It was a nice outdoor buffet dinner, with open fires. Fortunately,
there were no acoustic guitars, and no endless renditions of "Kumbaya."

Photo: Hippos!

Photo: Rhinos!

Photo: Zebras!

Photo: Euphorbia tree

The native peoples used to catch fish by tossing the poisonous sap
into small ponds. A few hours after sap deployment, the dead fish were
easily collected. Sounds yummy, no?

Photo: Our game drive drivers

Photo; Debi and Randy at Bakgatala

Photo: Sue at Bakgatala

Our "game drive" vehicles

We fit into three.