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Travelogues
Climbing up was easier.
Zebras gave us a curious inquisitive look- as if who are these guys? The abundance of ostrich reminded me of the crows in the streets of Kolkata. Cheetah as cunning as ever, very hard to spot but as we neared the exit of the park out of the blues rather green, came out one and stopped right on our way, it gave us a repulsive look and disappeared into the bush. Other animals that we saw were springbuck, gemsbok, impala, suricate, Siberian tiger, crocodile, mongoose, jaguar, stork and also white lions amongst other unknown ones. Unanimously the best part of the safari was to spend time with the little sambas - lion cubs under supervision.
Naughty little simbas literally jumped on us and few of the visitors got
scratches here and there. When they cushioned their paw on my palm I
could feel how delicately soft they were. Undoubtedly, this was one of
the many memorable experiences of a lifetime to ponder upon and cherish.
It was very difficult to call it a day as the whole place was flooded with exceptional wooden and stone carvings, I had my luggage to think about so I had to wrap up my shopping and head back to the hotel satisfied with my bargain hunt. It was time to bid farewell to the world in one country South Africa – remarkable for its diversity, from spectacular natural beauty to the vibrant ‘rainbow nation’ mix of cultures. Sala kahle (goodbye in Zulu) and the promise Sizobonana (Zulu) – see you again, we boarded the flight on April 12, 2006. April 30, 2006 The Week of April 30, 2006
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The entrance into the cave is quite steep. At the bottom of the stairs,
we squeezed into a cage-like lift. The splendor and sheer size of these
natural wonders had most of us taken aback. We were led around the cave
and informed of the stalactite and stalagmite formation process. The
guide informed us that the miners used to work there by candlelight.
Just to give the feel the lights were dimmed and realization pounded us.
The children were impatiently waiting to see the big beautiful cats. We
set out to our real life safari. The gate keeper of the lion park told
us that the feeding time was around 1 pm. As we impregnated more and
more to the deep savanna, we found a number of cars waiting and there
were curious bystanders – well the onlookers were none other than the
kings and queens. They were all running hither and thither brushing past
our and other cars, for a moment I felt that we were all caged while the
big cats were free.
Soon after they became engrossed feasting on a buffalo. Like dutiful
married women, who wait for their husbands to finish their meal, the
lionesses waited upon their turn to have their share. 
My last day and I kept it free specially to do shopping of artifacts.
Tony took us to a place called Bruma Lake – a successful conversion of
an old sewerage catchments area into a lakeside flea market, shopping
malls and commercial parks. The area offers a string of restaurants and
shopping venues well frequented by bargain hunters of African carvings
and artifacts.
I was at shopping spree and ended up with painted ostrich
egg perched in between kudos horns, wooden carved candle stand and
big-five bread basket, stone sculptured family, Zulu basket, Ndebele
doll, small masks for gift and personal collection three giant masks and
particularly, carved wooden mask called Guro from Ivory Coast. 
