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First
stop South Africa. As we had a month to wait before the car was due in
Port Elizabeth, we decided to take advantage of the tourist infrastructure
along the Garden Route, flying first into Johannesburg and then onto Cape
Town before taking the Baz Bus, a hop on hop off backpacker minibus along
the Garden Route. Not the most challenging travelling but a nice ease
back into the whole thing (bad beds, communal showers, packet food...)
Joburg
was short and sweet. As it was pissing it down we spent our one full day
in the city in the fortuitously enormous and brilliant Apartheid Museum
and then taxied it back to the hostel. Other than that our only
interaction with the city was the local shopping mall, for everything
from post office to restaurant to ATM. As we found out later this was
pretty typical for a South African city they rely on shopping malls and
cars completely and most of the city centres are dead and considered dangerous.
The
only real exception we found to this was Cape Town which is as fantastic
as everyone said it is. A real melting pot for the rainbow nation, full
of nice restaurants and cool bars and, of course, nestled around that
mountain and against that coastline. We relaxed and became tourists here
for a week or so...took the cable car up Table Mountain and walked back
down, visited Robben Island, drank lots of wine, cycled to Cape Point,
and had a picnic in the Botanical Gardens. Bliss.
And then onto the backpacker bus....not as hideous as it sounds but not
recommended if you’re here for a holiday {get a car or take a bus
direct to Plett} as we did have to put up with the odd bore from Hastings
and a few straight to video RomComs..But, I have to admit, we were treating
this section of the trip a bit like treading water anyway, with most conversations
revolving around where the car may be right now {Bay of Biscay, will it
be rough?!}, and what we needed to do when we finally got her. Plus, as
usual, we were camping out of season and getting cold and wet most of
the time. Still there were some highlights, like camping in Storms River
Mouth with the waves crashing just a few foot away from you, and eating
seafood in Plett.
It may sound like a churlish moan to complain about our grand trip already
but when we picked up the car in Port Elizabeth the sun was shining and
the air warm but as soon as we put the tent up on top of the car (its
totally great - who would have guessed!) the heavens opened and the long
predicted South African winter finally started. We had picked a nice site
near the sea so we could sort out all of our gear before heading north
but proved very exposed. It rained so much that when we foolishly closed
the tent (oh how you learn) it immediately filled with water and when
we opened it the next day, in the ten minutes it wasn't raining, all of
our duvet, sheet and mattress all soaked. It rained for another week so
the bedding stayed in black bags and we slept on top of a tarpaulin on
top of the soggy mattress.
All
this made it very cold sleeping as we drove north into the Karoo but the
views more than made up for it - endless skies and little fluffy clouds
(como Mid-West America). The people got more scarce and suddenly everyone
knew each other (in a three hundred km radius) and insisted on knowing
you. Country people. If you don't mind a total lack of privacy and are
happy to not do anything for yourself you won't have a problem in rural
South African. The crime free, friendly band extends from Nieu Bethesda
and Graff Rienet in the west to the border of KZN in the east. We stayed
with a great couple near Macclear at Tsitsa falls. No electricity, showers
heated with wood fires and dogs, cats, goats and a dassy (Dassies are
cat sized rodent, a bit like gophers only with fifties eye make up) ,
that you see crossing the road or on cliff faces through out the Western
and Eastern Cape) running in and out of the house. In fact the dassy in
question took to opening our door and burrowing under our bed clothes
before we had entirely finished with them.
My opinion of KZN cannot be totally relied upon because as soon as we
crossed the border I got done for speeding. The traffic cops had their
gear just behind a hill which, when you approached it, suddenly declared
an 80km sign quickly followed by a 60km sign. Obviously I wasn't concentrating
and it was a fair cop. Apart from the 800 Rand fine (yes - more than in
the UK!) I now have to slow down evey time my navigator tells me to. It
must be such a burden to be right all the time. KZN is a large slice of
land and we travelled up through the Drakensburg mountains to the west,
hugging the great cliffs of Lesotho. The camp sites are beautiful and
the walking trails breathtaking and in Royal Natal you can walk up to
the great walls of the Amphitheatre and look up at the Lesotho kingdom
itself. I have no idea what the coastal area of Zululand is like but the
western and northern side seemed impoverished and for every grand holiday
resort or game lodge you can find three or four townships that don't seem
to be benefiting from their proximity.
The car is in good shape; we are checking it religiously (daily and weekly)
and have found no problems so far. We have only used the transfer box
a couple of times but the tyres and suspension have proved themselves
invaluable already. We have both driven for long stretches and find the
Range Rover very comfortable to sit in for five or six hours a day. We
have also been trying out various tarpaulins and have chairs and a table
to relax in the evening. All we need is some more adventure.
Kruger National Park
The Potjie is bubbling its beef and onion on our braii and is joined by
countless others, sending what must be a maddening waft of food over the
fence into the noses of the circling hyenas. They are so sad-shouldered
and just about the ugliest thing you're likely to see. They say (the famous
'They') that if you sleep out in the bush it's more likely that the hyenas
will eat you than the lions. We are staying at the Balule camp in the
middle of the park and found it wilder than the more southerly ones we
visited later. There are only a handful of pitches and with no electricity
the shower blocks are lit by oil lamp.
Kruger is actually the first bit of Africa we have come across. Most of
South Africa is beautiful but not too wild. It's only here that you start
to get that light and knuckle size bugs. I would recommend this park to
anyone who hasn't seen any wildlife outside a zoo. We have subsequently
met people who have called it a zoo but to us, with virgin eyes, it was
great. We saw elephants by the side of the road, crocs and hippos down
the slope from the car and hundreds of antelope and giraffe around us
within two hours of entering the park at the Phalaborwa gate.
When we left the camp the next morning at 06:30 we unwittingly drove into
a herd of elephants, separating the great bulk of them from one sulking
teenage bull, who reacted by trying out his combat skills. He flapped
his great ears, jabbed his tusks and charged sideways across the front
of the car. As he approached, he must have seen that our car was slightly
bigger than him and so he backed off, side stepping into the bush. An
auspicious start to a day which included sightings of buffalo, white rhino
and, on a night safari organised by the park (from Lower Sabie), we saw
a mature leopard, looking satisfied with a belly of prey, sitting not
two metres from our open, high topped safari vehicle. He eyed us with
cool suspicion but didn't move an inch, putting on a little show. He cleaned
himself, stretched his long limbs and when we still didn't leave, he got
up and scratched his claws on a nearby tree.
Our guide then informed us that the leopard is the most dangerous of wild
cats and can jump quicker that the eye can register, landing on its prey
and mutilating it before leaving it alive to suffer its scalping in slow
death. The cat then began to prowl around the back of the vehicle. "Okay.
We're fine, thanks. Got all the photos we need."
Photos
Camping at Storms River
The Little Karoo
Ade and Angelas place.
and Angelas goat
Speeding fine
Camping in the Drakensburg
Elephant
Zebra
Leopard
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