Dear Nino.
I watched your South Africa Webinar yesterday on my laptop for the second time. Really enjoyed it more than on our big TV as the sound is better and I don’t miss a word of all your interesting comments and stories. You do such a great job, Nino, both Photo and Information wise. It was fascinating and I was spellbound from beginning to end. And best of all is that it portrays your love of travel and people and that you really enjoy presenting and sharing this with others. Such passion for the wonderful job you do must give you enormous satisfaction and sense of purpose.
As you can imagine found so many changes from Fall of 1991 when were there—mainly in the size of the cities and infrastructure for tourism, although even then South Africa was a modern country with an enviable highway system and wonderful hotels and resorts and cuisine. Especially remember the Maharani hotel in Durban and the beautiful Sun Properties along our route. And I remember the countryside being so spectacular which your show reinforced. We were there just six months after Apartheid ended so there was euphoria in the very air which made being a tourist very pleasant.
I strongly agree with you that, along with Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It has grown, however, from a kind of sleepy formal place where I was refused entry to a hotel restaurant one night because I was wearing a very elegant but denim skirt! How I would love to go back and visit the places we missed while there like the North Cape when the day we had planned to go was too stormy to venture out on the road. We were lucky though to get to visit a Protea Expo that day at the Waterfront and it was gorgeous. The variety and colors were unbelievable and fed my flower loving soul. We also missed out on the penguins. I don’t think we knew about them or maybe they are more recent, but I did get to see the Fairy Penguins on Phillip Island when in Melbourne in 1996.
So many memories, Nino! Beautiful Knysna where I had the very best oysters ever; The Drakensburg Mountains where we did some spectacular hiking to see the petroglyphs and rock art done by the San Bushmen; Whales engaged in a courtship ritual off the coast at Glentana; One of my favorite keepsakes ever—an ostrich egg beautifully hand painted with a Baobab Tree; Kruger Park—wonder if one still just goes around finding animals in one’s own vehicle?; The incomparable Bird Life; Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe where our plane had to abort the landing because of elephants on the runway. Which brings me to your Lion experience. What an exciting adventure and encounter you had!! I love it and especially the Photos of the angry beast!
I will try and find some of my favorite photos to share with you. Thank you, Nino, so much for your show and for taking me down Memory Land to the African continent.
Looking forward to your South India show this weekend. Good luck!!
Donna