Some thought on traveling in South Africa

I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts as we travelled and then publish them in Johannesburg.

1. Ebola: numerous people expressed concern that we were going to South Africa but keep in mind that 4 Australian continents will fit into Africa. The Ebola affected countries are actually closer to Europe than they are to South Africa.

2. Red Tape: few things happen quickly where government officials are involved. Getting into a national park or going into Lesotho or Swaziland takes more time than it should.

3. Food outlet service:  fast food means slow service, restaurant meals means snail pace service. The one thing they are very good at is taking your plate away, even if you haven't quite finished. However, food and drink is very cheap by Australian standards and generally very tasty so allow enough time in your travels for lunch breaks when traveling. Our tour guide was spot on with this.

4. Internet:  this can be quite hit or miss in many of the hotels we stayed in and most of our group were not happy that it was "broken" in Hazyview because they wanted to tell family about Kruger. I purchased a data SIM for my iPad in Cape Town and it was the best $25 for 30 days that I spent while here. It is the MTN South African Network and it gave me 4 Gb of data. Just remember to turn it off when you aren't using it. The best place to get them is at a dedicated MTN shop in the main towns.

5. Tipping:  we got good advice from Macleay Valley travel on this but make sure you have smaller notes for day tour guides. They like Rand and most people tended to give about 50 Rand ($5) per person for a day trip. Waiters expect at least 10% but if the service is terrible then think twice about it.

6. Safety: be guided by people in hotels and motels about local conditions. We have had no incidents and have enjoyed all contact with the locals. Many houses have Fort Knox security so there must be a problem in many towns, especially considering the high level of unemployment.

7. Charging electronic equipment. Most of us travel with at least 2 things that need topping up so bring at least 2 adapters and don't expect specialized outlets in all hotels. You will find yourself pulling furniture away from walls looking for power outlets, especially in more remote areas. The SA plug is like the British plug except it has round pins. The smaller European plug with round pins won't fit power points.

8. Bring a torch. SA's power grid is on the point of collapse and the whole country went down for 3 hrs while we were here because a coal conveyer broke. There is serious concern until they build new generators.

Pilgrims Rest to Johannesburg

The penultimate day before flying out of Johannesburg and the last scheduled day of travel on our itinerary. It was a casual start to the day with a 9.30am checkout followed by some last minute accumulation of souvenirs from the shopaholics. A pool of cooler air settled over the region overnight bringing a distinct change in temperature and some light drizzle. The best way to describe Pilgrims Rest is to think of Hill End in NSW with the trendiness of Blackheath to give it that mountain freshness. We climbed out of the town and struck light fog immediately and this stayed with us pretty much all the way to Belfast, the start of the high Veld. There were several lashings of quite heavy rain at times but mostly it was misty drizzle all the way to Dullstroom. 

The town's of Lydenburg and Dullstroom were notable for their upmarket appearance and this was probably related to their rich agricultural hinterlands. In relation to Dullstroom, it also had trout ponds for city fisherman and the pub we stopped in for lunch was called the Duck and Trout. We tried the duck and cherry pie, the contents of which were excellent but the pastry wasn't cooked. The old problem of service was still there and those who ordered pizza had to wait until the pies were ready before they got it and then it was cold from sitting around. Apparently these towns are trendy weekend lunching spots for Johannesburg residents. The rose gardens in front of many buildings were magnificent.

The run into Johannesburg on the high veld (they've dropped the "t") was characterised by coal mines and maize crops of both yellow and white varieties for human and animal consumption respectively. Coal mining is a major industry and provides coal for the nearby power stations and for export. This the flattest landform we have seen in South Africa and there was little change all the way to the Airport Grand Hotel. A distinctive feature of the Johannesburg landscape is the high mounds of white sand which are now becoming vegetated. These are the mining dumps from the numerous gold mines that put Johannesburg on the map. The poorer dwellings started about 20kms from the city centre and housing and employment are obviously problems for many people. The city has had to accommodate 4 million extra people in the last 10 years so there are major challenges for the government, especially since 40% of the population pay no tax and this results in a reduced service base.

Tonight is the farewell dinner and tomorrow a ride on the Gau train before packing and departing for the airport. I have attached a few photos, some from the bus showing the changing landscape of the veld. If you are reading this, thanks for sticking with the blog

Hazyview to Pilgrims Rest

The climb up into the Drakensberg Ranges was almost immediate as we left the town of Hazyview on the Panorama Route. The area planted to eucalypts and pine is vast and the timber industry employs about 100,000 people. The eucalypts in particular are straight and tall and grow in what seems to be ideal conditions as I doubt that there are the pests that affect our trees in Australia. The first stop was the viewpoint known as God's Window, a spectacular panorama looking east from a height of 1700 metres a.s.l. Unfortunately it was a little hazy which is quite typical because of the orographic effect but still spectacular. From there to the Blyde River Canyon (pronounced blader) which is also a magnificent example of water erosion over a long geological period. The rock is a distinctive layering of sandstone and mudstone with some underlying granite and you can look past the canyon to see that it sits on an escarpment as there is a flat plain beyond. Within the canyon you can also see the upper reaches of the Blydepoort Dam.

We retreated towards Graskop and stopped at Bourkes Luck potholes, an equally impressive narrow gorge that was carved by the Blyde and Treeur Rivers. The swirling of the waters through the sedimentary rocks has left amazing pothole formations and this walk over the rocks had us looking forward to Harrie's Pancake House where most people had a tasty savoury pancake for lunch. Lunch was quite leisurely and there was ample time for the shoppers to do some damage before heading to Pilgrims Rest. Looking at my photos I don't think they do justice to the scenery today.

Pilgrims Rest is an old gold mining town that dates back to 1873. By 1874 there were over 4000 miners from all over the world trying their luck but it was mostly depleted by 1877. A much larger company was formed (Transvaal Gold Explorations) and they mined until 1971. There is still gold to be found but at present it is not economically viable to extract it. The town is a heritage listed area and the old buildings have mostly been restored. We are staying in a quaint semi period room at the Royal Hotel which in itself is spread over at least 6 different buildings. We look forward to some more exploration of the town in the morning.

Kruger National Park

The knock on the door came at 4.26am as a wake up call for our Kruger Safari. We were loaded onto our 10 seater Nissan 4WD at 5.15 and on our way in the dawn light. There was a fair amount of activity  in the Hazyview streets with people going to work and many gave us a wave as we passed on our way to Numbi Gate at the south west corner of the Park.

It is hard to comprehend the size of Kruger. Think Sydney to Port Macquarie and west from the Pacific Ocean to say Blacktown, some 20,000 square kilometres in area. We drove off the tar onto the dirt trails almost immediately and the animals kept appearing intermittently as we travelled. If you want an analogy, think about drifting down the channel at home fishing for flathead or any other kamikaze species. You watch the scenery go by for some time and then suddenly a run, and then the action starts. 

Our scenery was a combination of undulating hills, flat areas and a panorama at times that was quite awesome. Thorn bushes were quite predominant and the bigger trees were mainly Marula and Silver Cluster Leaf. The former has a fruit that is eaten by the animals when ripe. Older fruit ferments and some some animals have been known to become intoxicated after eating it.

We started the tour in overcast skies and about 15 minutes into the Park the heavens opened. It only lasted on and off for about an hour but luckily our guide ( Breton) had quality ponchos that helped keep us dry but most sitting on the outside had water running down to their seats. The result however was a freshening of the bush and the greens became quite vivid in places as I hope the photos show. I am going to let the photos show you what we saw in rough chronological order but it was an outstanding day and this was echoed by our guide who has been doing it for 19 years but had a rare thrill today.

At this point I need to acknowledge that Jill became the "cat" spotter. First up were the lions. 2 large males sitting beside the dirt road and blending in beautifully. She then followed this up with a distant Cheetah sighting. This had the guide in raptures. There are only 170 cheetahs in 20,000 sq kms and we saw 2 of them. He wanted to know her spotting experience and if she lived on a farm. We also made a dash to a reported leopard sighting but it had gone on arrival. 

The rhino photo below was taken as this big male was checking his territory. He put his head into the dung and came out with it above the horn. He then started spraying urine every 5 metres or so and it was reminiscent of a high pressure cleaner. Another interesting occurrence was with the cheetahs. One was sitting up on the rock watching 2 rhino nearby. Rhino have poor eyesight and they couldn't see the cheetah but they could smell it. They new it was a predator but didn't quite know what to do. In the finish they an away after some very skittish behavior.

What are the big 5 animals and why are they so called? They are the elephant, buffalo, lion leopard and rhino and I've often wondered why you leave out he hippo and giraffe. It goes back to hunting days and these 5 were the animals hunters perceived as most dangerous. We saw four of them today, and were quite happy to substitute the cheetah for the leopard. Over 100 kms of Park trails transversed and a brilliant day by any standards.

Maguga Lodge to hazy view.

An 8am start this morning for the bus trip to Hazyview, our starting point for Friday's safari in Kruger National Park. The road took us north to the border where left Swaziland immigration and re-entered South Africa. I am always intrigued how mobile phones know to switch from global roaming to local once you cross a country's border and sure enough we were back on the SA MTN network within minutes. The northern end of Swaziland appeared to be wealthier than the south with more dispersed and tidier houses. Poverty was still evident however but as always, the school children looked neat and tidy in their uniforms.

We arrived at the Malalane gate entrance to Kruger NP around 11am and stopped at the gate to be head counted for our entry. Red tape is alive and well in South Africa but I think they wanted to check we were paying the right amount of money as we only paid for our 20 people and the coach holds 49. 

I always thought we were taking this route simply because it was the shortest route on tarred road to Hazyview. The animal sightings along the way took us all by surprise. Before we even entered the Park we crossed the Crocodile River and spotted hippos and a lone croc. There were many small herds of Impala and these are referred to cynically as the fast food of Kruger. They are a beautiful sleek animal and my favorite of the antelopes we have seen but when you view their "butt" end the markings make a large M, reinforcing the "fast food"cynics. (See photo). Several small parades of elephants were spotted, some on the road and they didn't disappoint with their young ones in tow, feeding as they went. One thing you do notice on the road is the occasional huge pile of rhino poo. They have a habit of marking their territory and the piles are big enough to fertilize a bowling green. There were 3 sightings of white rhinos, the cutest being a baby under the watchful eye of its mother very close to the road. Giraffes were also encountered in closer proximity. Other animals included wart hogs, kudu, nyala, monkeys with babies clinging on, zebras and southern buffalo. They are not water buffalo as I mistakenly said in an earlier part of the blog. If this was a casual ride through a small part of the Park, what will tomorrow's 4wd safari be like?

Lunch was at the Park's admin headquarters and there was a great range of fast food and restaurant meals available. We exited the Park through the Paul Kruger gate which was appropriate as he was the founder of this vast environmental area. The motel is right in Hazyview and it is a town where I wouldn't walk to by myself and in fact we were warned not to. The Numbi motel is a sprawling mass of reasonably comfortable rooms with a few anomalies. One is that there is a hair dryer in the room with a European 2 pin plug that doesn't fit the SA socket. You then have to go over to reception and hire an adaptor for 20 rand to make it work. The guy even looked a bit like Basil Fawlty. I must say the meals are excellent however. Kruger awaits!