Katrina and Randy Blaufuss traveled to South Africa in March 2010. This post features some excerpts from Katrina’s trip report, along with pictures from their time in South Africa.

Great White Cage Diving in False Bay, South Africa

“…I asked the bait guy to please make one open its mouth in front of me like “JAWS”. Then we dropped down, I held my breath and tada! There it was: a HUGE 9′ shark. It looked 20′ long to me, chasing the bait probably 7′ away from the cage. Next shark: big open mouth, right in front of our faces. It looked like it was going to eat us in one giant chomp. The teeth looked crooked and dirty like he was in bad need of a toothbrush. I came to the surface, laughing and ready to go down again. I thanked the bait guy for giving me what I came there for. Down we went again, and BAM! SMACK! A big one slammed his head into the cage inches from our hands; I screamed. Loud. So loud that Randy heard me. I popped up (still screaming), took a deep breath and went back down. I wanted him to come back and do it again. The adrenaline was pumping now and any thought of being cold was gone. It was so amazing… “

Private Vacation Rental in Riversdale, South Africa

“…This place is truly gorgeous landscape. Last night we watched the sun go down over green valley of lush indigenous vegetation. We hiked in to caves where bushman painted the walls over 300 years ago…

True pure beauty is waking up to the sounds of a farm knowing that you have babies waiting for you to take care of them. We have had the greatest couple of days being part of Chris Davies farm, land and spirit. My inner “tom boy” definitely surfaced and memories of farm life and how much I enjoy living in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fresh air, beautiful country and playful animals definitely was put front and center…”

World’s Highest Bungee Jump – Bloukrans Bungee Bridge

“…The fun part for me was watching everyone get ready to jump. Since I had done the Flying Fox, that meant I could be on the bridge with the 8-10 jumpers, all excited and nervous at the same time. The music was blaring and the hearts were pounding. One girl was even crying because she was so scared about her husband jumping.

I watched Randy hop to the edge. He was jumper #4 and the three before him really didn’t dive out the way the instructors were suggesting. Out he hopped and did the perfect swan dive. Down he went, 75MPH for 5 seconds to cover the 708 feet he just volunteered to dive off. Bounce, Bounce, Bounce… Hmmmm… Looked easy enough. They actually pull you back up, but that didn’t look so bad either.

My mind was thinking, “Hey- I’m here, I should do it..”. But I kept looking at the people who had jumped, and their eyes were red and they talked about pressure in their head. I was being my Miss Safety self and decided I didn’t want some major headache to keep me from the safari tomorrow so I didn’t jump. I’m mad at myself now. Guess I will have to come back to South Africa again and have it on my “to do” list to hit the Longest Bungee in the World…”

Luxury Safaris at at Phinda Vlei Lodge and Mala Mala Rattrays

“…We get even closer to the animals here it seems. Some of them are literally almost touchable. Randy could have touched a lion (but elected not to) and an elephant could have put his trunk in the vehicle if I would have had peanuts or something he wanted. Let’s put it this way-we can’t use the camera zoom lens as much here or you’d only see whiskers, tongues and teeth.”

“…The evening drive was phenomenal… We found a leopard with the 8 month cub. We had almost given up and then Randy heard the crunching of bones coming from a cluster of bushes and grass. The mommy leopard came out of the bushes with a Dahyka (small antelope) in her mouth and drug it up into the tree and just sort of hung it there. Then the baby jumped up clumsy-like into the tree to try to show us his climbing skills (not so good as he almost fell out). It was so interesting to watch the youngster interact with his mom (and us). He was a curious little guy and even thought he’s try to bite the vehicle’s tire. I am still in awe over the fact that these wild animals are so calm when they don’t feel threatened.

We finally tore ourselves away from the mom and cub and went off to see the Grey Go Away ( a bird that makes a noise that sounds like “go away”. We came across a huge litter of Dwarf Mongooses and even saw another Hyena. After that – time for a sundowner.. Get out of the rig, stretch our legs, grab a beer with our buddies and toast to a fabulous game sighting and a beautiful sunset.”

South African Fables

“…The African fable says a Wildebeest was made by taking bits and pieces from other animals…. The tail of a giraffe, the rear and stripes of a Zebra, the horns of a Kudu, the back of a Hyena….. I can’t look at them the same way anymore as I always thought they looked like a small Buffalo and now I see all of the animals in them….”

Cape Winelands Tour

“…Then we headed from Cape Town to our next destination – Franschhoek – to do some wine tasting. We took the scenic route through Stellenbosch (a wine and university town 30 min from Cape Town). It was such a pretty drive up and over a small pass until we arrived at our Bed and Breakfast only one hour from Cape Town. Our GPS worked SO well, it let us pick different roads instead of the most direct route so we could see the beautiful parts of this area…”

South Africa–A Trip of a Lifetime

“…It is nice to be “back in the States” – and excited to see everyone – but I must admit, I miss South Africa and the people there and Randy and I already are talking about when we can go back someday!! I HIGHLY recommend it. A trip of a lifetime for sure …”

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