Tony Trischka Banjo Safari -South Africa 2019 Dispatch #2

February 23, 2019

Our one day stay in Johannesburg South Africa started with an excursion to the Cradle of Humanity, which includes a museum and caves with a history of humankind with fossilized remains of human skeletons found in the nearby caves.  It was in the Sterkfontein Caves where the skull an adult humanoid more than 2 million years old was discovered in 1947. 

We enjoyed our return to the Clico Boutique Hotel, where we has stayed before our Princeton in Africa auction "won" safari in October 2015, which is a nine room up market boutique hotel in Johannesburg's Central Rosebank district in a renovated Cape Dutch house with.  After leaving the Clico, Pinky and I met up with the banjo safari group at a hotel next to the airport, where we joined seven other banjoists, banjo master Tony Trischka, his son Sean, a couple Tony is friends with from New Jersey, and Wiam and Renee, who organized this whole event. We left the next day for the Lesedi Cultural Village, where we enjoyed cultural dance and historical interpretations  delivered by talented performers, along with an impromptu jam by the local performers, Wiam, Sean and Tony. It was truly magical! 

After spending the night in a thatched roof hut, we left on a 3 hour drive for the Black Rhino Game Lodge in the 150,000 acre  Pilandsberg Game Preserve, centered on the caldera of an extinct volcano dating back 1.3 billion years. We settled in and went out on our first of 8 game rides.

Our five day stay included daily game rides and banjo instruction/lessons with the banjo extraordinaire Tony Trischka. Our daily routine included getting up at 4:30 AM for coffee, leaving on the morning safari at 5:30 AM, returning for the morning banjo session at 10:30 AM or so, then lunch,  a 2:30 PM banjo session, a 4:30 PM game ride, returning in time for dinner at around 8:00 PM. There are eight banjoists and with guests and family, 18 in all. It’'s been a pretty rigorous schedule, and I have come to realize how little I know about how to properly play bluegrass banjo! But I am learning and will have much to work on when I return home.

Today was a magical birthday for Pinky. During the PM game ride, we stopped in a beautiful secluded spot in the bushveld where Tony and Sean put on an unforgettable outdoor concert and where everyone joined in to sing happy birthday to her with Trischka & Trischka leading the way. 

Tony Trischka Banjo Safari -South Africa 2019 Dispatch #1

To my traveling friends and family – Pinky and I are off on an unusual Amorous Adventure, returning to South Africa for a banjo safari. This is really an exclusive music safari where we will be joining banjo master Tony Trischka  as one of six banjoists and spouses at the Black Rhino Lodge for morning and evening game drives and midday master class sessions with Tony. For six days we will be immersed in what should be the perfect music workshop environment. In a small group setting, with lots of individual attention, this Black Rhino banjo safari with Tony Trischka should be a highly rewarding and unforgettable musical experience taking place on the continent where the banjo was first played played. I can only hope that I can remember what I learn. Our first stop will be a return to the Clico Boutique Hotel in Johannesburg, which we greatly enjoyed during our previous visit to South Africa in October 2015.

Ecuador Adventure #5, Quito

This is the last dispatch on Pinky’s and my amorous adventure in Ecuador. I’ve tried to be brief in my descriptions, but the experiences have been so overwhelming that brevity has been a challenge. So, those of you who have been able to sort through all of these, I hope you have had some modicum of enjoyment from following us. On Thu, I left Pinky and went on morning and afternoon “advanced deep-water snorkels.“ I was led to a cove in Pta. Espinoza, Fernandina Is, where I observed countless large marine tortoises swimming around, along with a variety of fish, and I almost swam into buy a large sea lion (or it into me.) The water was cold, so we all wore wet suits, something I had never done before. (Never too old to try something for the first time.) I tried out my GoPro and am ho
peful the results are acceptable. Friday’s highlight took place on South Plaza, Santa Cruz islands, where we observed a frigate attack mother and father swallow tails and their chick, trying to steal the regurgitated squid the parents delivered, and probably the chick as well. It was an extraordinary, up close wildlife experience that we will never forget. I took an amazing photo of the attack, which I posted on Facebook. On Saturday, we returned to civilization at Puerto Ayora , a city on Santa Cruz of about 20,000 population, where we visited the Darwin Research Center and its giant tortoise breeding facility, which has been successful in re-introducing tortoise populations on islands which had been impacted by human introduced goats and cattle (now largely removed.) We departed the Galapagos Sunday to return to Quito and toured sites in the Andes, where we saw Pululahua (an extinct volcano ), a variety of hummingbirds, a small coffee tree reintroduction “finca,” and a tiny chocolate production operation in Mindo. This was a great way to finish our adventure, where we experienced events and saw wildlife we will never forget and made many friendships among the 95 or so we shared our adventures with.

Ecuador Adventure #4, Isabela Island & Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands

Wednesday we experienced two unscheduled special events that Pinky and I had never seen before, except on TV. The first required our awaking at 5 AM to go on deck to observe in early morning darkness the bright glow of flowing lava from the Sierra Negra volcano on Isabella Island. Because the island is uninhabited, as are most of the Galapagos islands, there was no danger to humans. Volcanic activity has been

quite common over the years – in fact the islands were all created from volcanic activity. The second happened when we were returning on our zodiac from Urbina Bay on Isabella Island and saw a mother and pup hump back whales, which passed between Isabela Is and our ship. To watch such large animals breach from below the water’s surface is unforgettable. Actually, everything we have seen and experienced here in the Galapagos is unforgettable! Our hike around Urbina Bay included stops to examine huge tortoises, serenely munching on poison apples – at least they are poisonous to humans. Our hike on Thursday took us across very slippery lava, where Pinky and I walked hand-in-hand to avoid slipping and falling down. We saw all sorts of wildlife on Isabella Island, including stinky marine iguanas, lots of sea lions, including a mother and her hours-old pup, flightless cormorants, “Princeton“ crabs and a Galapagos hawk. So far my pictures are great – it’s hard to for them not to be considering the subject matter. When friends and family have nothing better to do for a few hours, I’ll be happy to show them off.......For those who may be interested, I have posted a few on Facebook.🌎

Ecuador Adventure #3, Española Island, Galapagos Islands

On Sunday we flew the 600 mile distance across the Pacific ocean from Quito to Baltra Island, Galapagos, where we boarded Celebrity’s Xpedition, a 300 foot long ship with an occupancy of 100 passengers. This is our home for the week. We started touring the islands by circling Daphne Island, and then cruising over to Espanola Island on Monday, where we took a zodiac, a motorized raft that transports 14 passengers, to a remote beach for a walk in the morning. We observed sea lions and a variety of birds and were impressed about how unimpressed the animals were with humans, virtually ignoring us. After returning to the ship for lunch, we circled back to the island for a more difficult hike across a rocky trail to observe more birds, including a “group” of albatrosses. Pinky and I trekked relatively slowly so as not to run into trouble with the difficult terrain. Needless to say, I’ve been taking a myriad of pictures, so many on just the first day. Tuesday was another day of exploration, this time on Floreana Island, with excursions in the morning and afternoon, separated by a lunch break on ship. The afternoon was highlighted by our observing blue footed boobys repeatedly diving from high in the sky into the water to catch fish.

Ecuador Adventure #2, Quito

We spent the first of two nights in the elegant JW Marriott Hotel in Quito, 15 km south of the equator, and joined others who are included in the Celebrity Tours prequel‘s to a Galapagos Islands adventure. After a tour of Quito, located on the ruins of an Inca city at elevation 9350, we were bussed to the hall of the world park and museum, where Pinky and I stood on the equator. With short breath, which comes at such a high elevation, we observed draining water and clockwise just a few feet south of the equatorial line and counterclockwise a few feet north of the equatorial line. The museum also showed how the indigenous people made shrunken heads, and we saw a few of them on display. The grandchildren would have loved this! Also, the indigenous people went around totally naked, and the men had to strap their members to keep them from flopping through the jungle. Pretty amazing all around!

Ecuador Adventure #1, Quito

To my traveling friends and family – Pinky and I are about to embark on yet a new amorous adventure, and I am taking the liberty of including you on what could be a series of brief Dispatches highlighting our experiences. I should add that already this adventure has not been without its drama, as we had planned to travel with Sam and Connie Mitchell, who dropped out at the last minute due to Connie’s appendicitis attack. Unfortunate! Today we are at the Marriott Hotel in Quito and will be taking a tour of the city before disembarking tomorrow for the Galapagos islands tomorrow.