Easter adventures

I flew to the shopping mall airport of Johannesburg early Sunday morning and had to walk through the shops and restaurants a few times; my mind is so much Abuja nowadays that I felt astonished to see the multitude of things for sale. And when we arrived to Port Elizabeth, the streets looked too neat, the crowd too white, and the drivers too polite for my Nigerian eyes. I was just thinking how confused the African immigrants must be on their first arrival to the materialistic western world.

So I’m on the yearly father+daughters-trip, which I managed to lobby this year to Africa, for the first time for my sister and father. The trip is conveniently taking place at the middle of my stay in Nigeria, and it’s been great to catch up with family, and of course to receive some pantteri candies (äidille kiitos!) among other useful things from Finland.

We started the trip luxuriously: meeting with the South African giraffes, rhinos, elephants and lions in a game reserve Amakhala. The lodge where we stayed was fantastic, but especially I loved the shower that had the sky as a ceiling.

following the lion

the swede in the backseat got a bit nervous with the elephant staring at him

break for coffee!

my favourite animal

On Tue we drove to the small & cute town Knysna, and arrived just on time for late lunch of their famous oysters. But the dinner was even better, as the restaurant owner joined our table and shared his favourite wine with us!

The next day we visited a town with 300 ostrich farms and amazing caves, after which I misread the map and guided us on the right road but wrong direction. Noticing it at 30 kilometers east instead of south, we took some consultative drinks and decided to take an alternative route: “a bit smaller road”. Which was very ok until we got to the last 80 kilometers of the 150, the part to go over the mountains. We drove through a scenic pass where the road was wide enough for just one car, and so bumpy that we could proceed maybe 30km an hour. From the pass the tiny road rose to go over the mountains, with a steep fall and no railing, we drove from one cloud to another. We got back to Knysna after four hours of driving, but the beautiful views and the taste of an adventure were worth the detour!

guess who is drinking what

On Thu we enjoyed a bit of sun, sea and sand, before driving to the lovely wine town Stellenbosch. The wine tasting (which we naturally have done since the arrival) was great, of course.

wine tasting in Stellenbosch

And then: Cape Town. This city has such a friendly and welcoming atmosphere that the comparisons to San Francisco are well earned. The mountains are gorgeous, and so are the beaches and and and… Definitely goes to my list of cities I’d love to live in.

on the windy Table mountain

on our way to cape of good hope

the art hotel in Cape Town

at Cape Point

mika oli Kaisan lempiviini matkalla? pingviini

Yankari roadtrip

The hard-working Finnish embassy only celebrates Finnish holidays, but me and Anna decided to take the Nigerian holiday on Friday off work, for a weekend trip to the national park Yankari.

One from our roadtrip group knew the Governor of Bauchi state, and when we finally arrived after the seven-hour drive, the Governor himself welcomed us to the park and invited all twelwe of us to stay in his mansion’s “presidential lodge”. I was very grateful for the hospitality, but couldn’t help but think of what he might be expecting from his friend in return. But this is how Nigeria works.

After the long drive we were happy to grab some ice cold beers and chill out in the grand living room.

Just before midnight we headed to the wikki warm springs, to bath in the 31-degrees warm crystal clear water in the moonlight. The springs were definitely the best part of the trip. I couldn’t count the hours I spent in the water during the weekend.

Saturday started early with a game drive in the park. We were extremely lucky as besides the abundant birdlife, we got to see one of the park’s rare lions.

The wikki springs’ magical atmosphere of the night turned into a tropical paradise setting in the afternoon, and later into a water-park frenzy when a school group invaded our peaceful spot.

The day turned into evening and we lit a fire on the mansion’s backyard for some barbecue. After a feast for the non-vegetarians, we returned to the spring with music and partied and played in the water until late morning hours. I don’t need to tell how fun that was!

On Sunday morning, after our three drivers were good to go, we cleaned the lodge and collected our garbage neatly, just to see one of the staff members empty the garbage bin over the lodge’s fence to the park. Still, I think Yankari was a great weekend destination. Last year visited by three Finns, I think we could break the record this year.

(note: more pictures to come later!)