Karen and I got back last week from South Africa.  This was mostly a holiday but also in part a recce to see whether there is potential for a future guided photo tour.  South Africa is a land of contrasts and whilst clearly far more western in terms of infrastructure than, say, Kenya or Tanzania there is still plenty of disturbing evidence of poverty.    As a visitor I didn’t feel too uncomfortable given that tourism is a major source of employment.  It was still slightly disconcerting to realise that the smart, friendly, intelligent people who served us in hotels, restaurants etc in all likelihood lived in one of the infamous suburban townships that were on the outskirts of every conurbation.

For those with sufficient money to enjoy it, the country is stunning.  We went to Cape Town and then drove the Garden Route (via the wine region), continuing to Addo, just north of Port Elizabeth.  We’re not great city folk, though we enjoyed Cape Town.  The highlight for us in the cape was our two visits to Boulders Beach to photograph the African Penguins:

Cape of Good hope:

Franschoek, in the wine region:

A guided wine tour was great fun and a real eye opener as to the quality of South Africa wine.  The good stuff doesn’t make it to Majestic or the supermarkets!

Knysna forest, on the Garden Route.

Southern SA’s forests were almost logged to destruction, but the Knysna forest remains largely unspoilt.  Its now preserved as National Park though the hardwood is still selectively logged – something I thought a slightly odd concept.

Finally to Addo, which is the home of the Addo Elephant National Park.  This is a fenced reserve (as they all are in SA, including Kruger).  It has been a major conservation success story with the local elephants rescued from extinction.  They are a strange genetic mix – the females are almost all without tusks and the males all have small tusks.  Probably the result of selective hunting in the early 20th century. All these shots taken from the window of our VW Polo rental car

Kudu:

Leopard tortoise:

Lions were introduced to the park in 2003.  This guy had been badly beaten up in a territorial dispute the night before (hence the open wounds on his face):