Trip to Johannesburg and Capetown in June 2009

We have been planning for this trip for a long time, We both ( me and my wife ) managed 3 weeks leave from our respective office. In this 3 weeks we had our other plans also and 15 days trip to South Africa.

Our Journey didn't started on a good note,

Our flights from Bangalore to Mumbai got delayed by 2 hrs and after reaching airport again they have changed our arrangement from Indian airlines to Air India, I informed my dad to send car to International airport as Mumbai have separate terminal for Domestic and International flights.

Other problem, our Visa got delayed by 3 days, we have lost hope of getting Visa and went to withdraw our application but again we managed to get it anyhow.

We headed for Johannesburg on 14th early morning. We had got the hopping flight from Mumbai -> Addis Ababa -> Johenesburg, transit time at Addis Ababa was just 40 minutes, our bad luck our flight got delayed by almost 2 hrs and we missed our connecting flight, arrangement were made by the airlines and we were transferred from another route Addis Ababa -> Linogwe -> Johannesburg. My cell was not on roaming so couldn't talk my bro but managed to drop him a sms about our whereabouts, We reached Joburg 4 hrs delayed.

We reached home at Joburg and first thing that we did was had some food, we hadn't had good food in airlines rather I should say it was of not our taste. We had rest that night had planned for Shopping and to visit montecasino next day. It was too cold in night


Next day we went for shopping in the Evening to Sandton City which is ranked among the largest shopping centers in Africa. Together with Nelson Mandela Square, the center boasts over 144,000m² of shopping space making it the largest in the Southern Hemisphere! It is definitely any shoppers Mecca.Joburg have lot of big shopping mall, some are so big that you can easily get lost and hard to locate the parking place. We hadn't shop much, just few necessary thing which was anyhow costlier than India. May be that amount can be cheap for local resident but I will always convert it in INR and which was always at higher side :).

After shopping we left for Montecasino, Bhaiya had given driving seat to me with GPS to get adequate to their driving rules & regulation. Thankfully Indian Driving License was valid for tourists and to the right hand drive.

Montecasino is a typical Italian town - what could easily be mistaken for a quaint Tuscan or Umbrian hilltop village - right in the middle of modern Johannesburg’s northern suburbs. It is marketed as one of Gauteng’s premier entertainment destinations, as indeed it is. Inside the peaceful village is a R1.4 billion gaming, retail and leisure complex that includes a casino area that has more than 1700 slot machines and 70 gaming tables, the 5-star Palazzo MonteCasino Hotel, conferencing facilities, a wide-range of themed restaurants, shops and the Pieter Toerien Theater. We left kids playing in the Game zone and visited Casino which was obivious my first visit, My bro tried his hand on few slot machines and gaming table but we were at loss at maximum place :).

We did the baloon ride, Shilpi was scared to go but I took her up forcibly, later she enjoyed the ride. it was late so we were just 2 on the ride which was again my first experience which was awesome.


Later we had dinner at MacD and came back home. Thankfully Mac Chicken taste almost the same. Shilpi was feeling terribly cold and was not feeling well but she was ok by midnight and then we slept after packing for our trip for Cape town.










We left Cape town, our booking was done by bhaiya including return journey, rental car, 2 BHK service apartment. After reaching Capetown we pickup our booked self driven Car. As instructed by Bhaiya I saved the co-ordinates of the airport on the GPS to avoid any trouble at the time of returning the car.

We reached our apartment comfortably and after getting fresh we left for Victoria & Alfred Waterfront- a working harbor, historical site and pulsating place of gathering. It offers everything from upmarket shopping malls, arts and crafts markets, theaters, live music to entertainment.The history of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront dates back to 1860, when Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria's second son, tipped the first rock for construction on Cape Town's ori- ginal breakwater. The original Alfred basin could not handle the increased shipping volumes brought by the advent of steam, and subsequently a larger basin, the Victoria Basin, was built. I have forgot to keep universal power plug and i couldn't charge my Cell and Camera without that so have to pay almost 500 INR which I could have got in just 50 INR. its well said " Majboori ka fayada har koi uthata hai"

Next morning we had planned for Table Mountain: mountain is sculpted from sandstone and it rises 1086 metres above the bay. Its flat summit measures nearly 3km from end to end. The mountain is home to approximately 1470 species of plants. Many of these are endemic, i.e. appearing nowhere else on earth. Included is the rare Silver Tree and the wild orchid Disa Uniflora.






For reaching Table Mountain we had to take cable car which was revolving to give proper view to all tourist. Table Mountain has an extremely romantic sight, we really enjoyed there, it was highly windy and was very cold out there. View of Table Mountain was awesome.

We had our brunch there but it was not of our taste. Even Lays and other wafers had totally different taste. Food was the only thing that we didn't like at Cape Town, Bhabhi had asked us to keep some thing to cook but we said we can Manage with Restaurant but later regret our decision





After coming down from Table Mountain we went to Camps bay Beach. It is Just behind Table Mountain, nestled beneath Lions Head and the majestic Twelve Apostles, and boasting a magnificent palm fringed sandy beach, Camps Bay is a real gem. It was getting evening and we saw an Indian Restaurant just opposite to our parking. We had proper food there, taste was somewhat ok. We returned to our flat after visiting few more places like Green View beach, sky surfing place.




Next day we had planned for Cape Point and The Cape of Good Hope which was very far from our flat. On the way we went to Boulders Beach which is home to a growing colony of the vulnerable African Penguin, It was good to view the penguins in their natural habitat, Shilpi wanted to stay more time but had to leave as we had to cover more distance.


We reached Capepoint. The lighthouse at Cape Point is the most powerful on the South African coast. It has a range of 63 kilometres, and beams out a group of three flashes of 10 million candlepower each, every 30 seconds. But, through history, mariners had taken a rather dimmer view of warning beacons around the Point. A lighthouse was built In 1857, on Cape Point Peak, 238 metres above sea level. The equipment for the lighthouse had been shipped from England. However, because of its high position, clouds and fog often obscured the lighthouse. In fact, for an alarming 900 hours per year on average, its light was invisible to ships at sea at a certain angle. View from Cape point was really awesome, it was very Windy there, enjoyed a lot


later we went toThe Cape of Good Hope: This the southern tip of Africa and the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans but I read somewhere that southernmost point is Cape Agulhasm, anyway there also we enjoyed.

There were lot of place to go but we had not much time and then we returned back to Joburg, whole trip was possible because of GPS given by bhaiya else I could not have drive so comfortably in Cape town .


At joburg we went to Lion and Rahino park with Bhaiya-Bhabhi and kids, It was a great experience to see few of the South Africa 'Big Five' - Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo and Rhino, we went at the time of their feeding, it was a good experience to catch these animals from so close, you can find them just beside your car, Bhaiya did braai for us, he is really too good at it. we had good picnic out there.







One day we went to Sun City which is almost 200km drive from Joburg. Bhaiya and me enjoyed driving whereas Shilpi and Bhabhi enjoyed a nice sleep at Back seat. Sun City is the entertainment Mecca of South Africa. The resort boasts its own lively casino, health spa, botanical gardens, and extravaganza theater. There are numerous restaurants, pubs, discos and specialty shops. Sun City is in a class of its own, it has everything you will need for an unforgettable holiday, a place where all your desires will be met. it was very cold there so all water sports were closed, but then also we enjoyed the view and had a nice time pass

We couldn't realize how this Vacation got finished and time came when we had to leave SA. Kids were crying to come back with us.

Trip to Hogenakkal

We headed to Hogenakkal at 7:30 am on 27th August morning by one of my colleague Car. It is almost 175 kms from Bangalore, The route we took was Bangalore -> Hosur -> Krishnagiri -> Dharmapuri -> Hogenakkal.

As soon as we left Karnataka and reached in Tamilnadu we fill up the petrol tank as petrol is cheap as compared to Bangalore
Car petrol tank was full and now it was time to fill up our tank, I was feeling hungry before start of journey, Chinmaya told me that we will have breakfast at 9am so I didn't have any other option rather than to wait, as promised we stop at 9:00 am for breakfast. now a days I love to have south Indian food ;) . I had one Masala Dosa, two of my colleagues had mini breakfast which include one small masala dosa, one small vada, one Idli, pongal, rava kesari (halwa) then I thought i could have that mini breakfast.

On the way we went to KRP Dam at Krishnagiri and spend almost an hour there. There was not much water there. We all have snaps in different pose and at different places, it was sunny day and hot but cool breeze was making it normal. We were not carrying water with us and there was no mineral water available so we quenched our thirst by Coconut water

We then headed for Hogenakkal which was alomst 90kms from DAM, we took water in midway, lot of people were carrying Ganesha Idol for immersion (Visharjan) we also did Jaykara of Ganesha with people carrying idol.


After reaching Hogenakkal we parked our vehicle and start looking way to go for fall. few boatmen offered the trips on the Cauvery (Kavery) on a coracle, to get glimpse of falls and to spend time on the banks at interior places and after much bargaining by my colleague in their native we got at cheap rate. We all oracle guys got on coracle :).

The falls was breathtaking, roaring water fell into the deep gorge. At one side of river there was Tamilnadu and at the other side it was Karnataka, even being in Karnataka we have to pay roaming charge of Tamil Nadu for our cell phones,
We got down from coracle and trek 1-2 km to reach another part of river. Boatman was carrying his coracle on his head,


there were few more coracle selling snacks, water and soft drinks, we were back on coracle again to view Karnataka fall, and view was awesome.


Later few of us had head massage for a price, purchased a local herb oil for this which was available with small shop at the bank and then we had bath in the river, it was just 2-3 feet deep but flow was good enough to take us away with its current. Enjoyed a lot in the water, wanted to spend more time in water but we had to return as it was getting late.


There were few local selling different verity of fried fish at the bank, we had fish fry and fish curry in our lunch. taste was different but was too good.
We got off the coracle where we have parked our car, we left Hogenakkal at 6:10pm, had tea on the way back and filled up the petrol tank again we didn't fill up our tank as evertyone's family/friend were waiting for dinner. Reached office at 10:00pm, took my bike from the parking, was too tired after such a wonderful trip.