Thurs 13th sep - Checked out of 'The Ritz' in Jo'burg and got picked up by taxi for drive to Pretoria. Whilst waiting for the taxi, got chatting to a girl from Israel, who happened to be going to Pretoria too but hadn't worked out yet how to get there so offered her a lift. Turned out she had been odd jobbing her way around for a while and was on her way to Pretoria for a job interview. Made interesting company for the trip.
Staying at Twana lodge in the Zwavelpoort area to the east of Pretoria for the next couple of nights. Turned out to be a really great place. The owners
Were really nice and a dutch guy André was great fun as part of the team. An irish guy who had settled in Zimbabwe had adopted the place for a few days and was a full on character and boozer. Insisted on playing pool for bug shots and beers! At 11 o'clock in the morning - bad start to the day!
Met two of the guys from Melbourne who would be on the ame trip as me, so a fun start.
Got an e-mail about another section of my trip that had been cancelled in India. Getting a bit fed up about this now, as it is happening a lot. Mainly due to lack of numbers that makes it non-viable for the companies to run the tours. Had to spend the best part of the next day resolving the situation and worked out a plan that, I hope, may end up hbetter than the original plan anyway. The lesson I am learning about travel is not to book too far in advance and if possible, not at all!
Fri 14th sep (day 1) - another sorting out day today, as you do, laundry and stuff. Am into the Harry Potter and the deathly Hallows book at the moment - gripping stuff eh! Pre-departure meeting for tommorow's tour and a braai laid on. A braai is a S.African BBQ.
Tommorow start a 15 day camping tour of Swaziland, zululand, Drakensberg National Park, Kruger NP and other parts of the eastern africa region that will be described as I go along. Compared with the parts of Africa covered so far. There will be new experiences with different cultures. Further opportunities to see the 'Big 5' as we go into the parks too.
This tour is with a company called Geckos adventures. Similar to the recent overland trip with kumuka, but on this occasion a cook is provided as well as all of the bedding for the camping.
Tour leader is Colin, driver is Michael and the cook is Benson. All three are africans.
The group is a small one, four in total including myself. Brent and Berny from Melbourne and Liz from Sydney. Swamped by Australians again but a good group, so looking forward to it.
The past couple of days at the Twana lodge have been a great opportunity to catch up with stuff. Having had three of my tours in India cancelled, I have been getting money back and sorting out an alternative plan. Turns out that I may have benefited by the cancelations, as I have learnt a lot since I started travelling, so now more laid back about changes and handling the travel aspects. Admittedly, India will be a different experience altogether, so time will tell.
Also managed to get on-line long enough to download photos of katie starting highschool. Almost brought a tear to my eye. She is so grown up and I missed such an important day by not being there. Silly sod! Adds to the pangs of homesickness I have been getting regularly. Oh well :-(
Sat 15th Sep (day 2 of tour) - Back to early starts, leaving Twana lodge at 7am. Today's journey takes us go Royal Natal NP, which is on the northern end of of the Drakensberg mountains.
Turned out funny that the driver and guide didn't know where we were going so we got lost, a few times. Had to stop and ask a local, then went to a police station, then stopped at a camp site and then after a number of wrong turns got to the right entrance of the Natal NP. Not a single sign en-route. An absolutely stunning setting. Well worth the effort. The site was called Mahai camp and is located amidst the Drakensberg mountains in an area called the 'amphitheatre'. Surrounded by yellowwood trees and stunning mountain views. Set our tents up and then went for an hour hike to the 'cascades' waterfalls, whilst dinner was being cooked by Benson. Awesome location scrambling amongst the falls! Nice meal around the campfire and getting to know the team. Off to see the sunrise in the morning so early night.
Sun 16th sep (day 3) - rise at 6am to climb the nearby hill to watch the sunrise. After breakfast, set off to hike to the Tugela gorge. This turned out to be more than we predicted. 32km round trip and 7 1/2 hrs in temperatures around the 30°C mark! Not for the unfit. Fortuntely, my stamina was upto it. There was evidence of substantial areas of the park that had succumb to fire. Whether dedliverate or accidental is uncertain, but most likely the latter. The flora of the area is quick to rejuvenate after fire, so there are splurges of colour where new plants grow back, often with dramatic effect against the charred background. Every colour imaginable on a black canvas, in the most stunning setting. The zulu people call these mountains 'the barrier of spears'. There are some huts throughout the trek where you can stay that have the most awesome views. If you ever want to go somewhere dramatic, check out Thendele hutted camp. Incredible place. Not much wildlife to see oter thn baboons. Did see a funky snake/lizard creature though. About a foot long and skinny but with two pairs of tiny legs. Moved like a snake. The trek concludes in the bottom of the tugela gorge, where the falls plummet 947 metres in wet season. A bit dry at present, so not as dramatic. The water that does fall forms crystal clear rock pools of beautiful drinkable water and fit for a dip - if it wasn't for the freezing temperature. Got in upto my knees and went numb in a few seconds. Chiiled for a bit to recover from the inward trek and re-stock the water bottles. Had been talking to a couple from Pretoria on the way in who offered to give us a lift from a car park on the way out to save us some time, so met up at the end of the trail. Really kind of them.
The Mahai camp site is the first site i've been to that had baths as well as showers so indulged in a nice soak after lunch. Soothed away some of the aches and pains. Nice meal around the campfire washed down with some nice south african red wine (2 quid a bottle here for top quality suff), and an early night.
Mon 17th Sep (day 4) - up early for breakfast to hit the road to Ladysmith to the east. This place is well known for two things, one is the music of the group 'Ladysmith black mambazo' and the other is its connection with the anglo-boer war. The seige museum on the main Murchison street details the conflict between the zulu people, boers and the british colonials thru the period of 1840s to 1880s.
There have been differing opinions as to the real reason behind the wars, financial seems to be one claim as diamonds had been recently discovered and the growing commerical prosperity made it an attractive area to control.
Moved on to an area known as 'Rorke's drift'. This played a significant part in the conflict of 22nd January 1879 when the british were severely defeated by the zulu warrior went to the Rorke's drift museum where our guide Tulani showed us around the site and detailed the events that lead to the conflict and the events that took place in 1879. Basically, the british screwed up! Seems to be a constant feature throughout history that! In the drift specifically, platoon leaders, thinking all was safe, decided to go on a reccy of another area, leaving behind 1200 or so men. The officer in charge thought he would take a stroll one evening while his gaffer was away and went to the top of the hill behind them, only to find a mass of zulu warriors the other side in total silence. They were quiet due to their superstitions about the phase of the moon. Once alerted to the presence of the brits they let fly and attacked them with spears and killed them all. The brits being mainly armed with powder loaded guns taking upto 3minutes to re-load were obviously no match and could only use bayonets on their rifles for defence. The zulus vastly outnumbered the brits so a total blood-bath. Part of the zulu tradition was to release the soul of the person they killed by disembowelling them. This was not known at the time so they were classed as barbarians, when in fact they were carrying out an honorable act.
For those film buffs out there, a representation of the events that took place was immortalised in the form of Michael Caine in the movie 'Zulu'. Must watch it again to see how truthful it is?
Stayed at a nice campsite 20km or so down the road called 'Elandsheim'. Decided to upgrade between us into a log cabin for extra comfort. Ded cheap. Borrowed a fishing rod from the owner and went fishing in a nearby pool. Very civilised affair...fishing rod in one hand and a bottle of red pinotage wine in the other. Caught a couple of bass but they got away...honest. Massive they were. 10ft long monsters. Well maybe not that big really! The fishing terms were catch & release anyway, so wouldn't have been able to take them back for the braai anyway. Braai and drinks around the campfire this evening, so nice finish to the day. Strong winds seem to pick up of a night, so noticeable drop in temperature.
Tue 18th Sep (day 5) - early start for journed to hluhluwe-Infolozi. (pron: shu shu we). Crossed buffalo river at 7:30 and started seeing the school kids on their way to school. Like up north, they walk miles along dirt tracks to get to school, but finish at 2:30ish. As we crossed the mountains going east, the scenery changes dramatically to become more green, with forests and logging activity visible. Plus large areas of sugar cane plantations. Very pretty area. Had a pit stop at Zamimpilo Zulu kingdon to look around a craft co-operative. Awesome quality and range of work. Carried on to our home for the next couple of nights at Isingwe backpackers in hluhluwe.
After settling in, was picked up to go to the Dumazulu traditional heritage village. This was a zulu village setup to demonstrate the history and practices of the zulu tribes. Shown the methods of producing pots, spears, basketry and the medicine mans craft. Given a sample of zulu beer - very malty flavour but mot objectionable. Followed on by dance demonstrations which were firey and energetic, to the beat of drums played by the women (in true zulu form, the women were bare breasted). Umililame Jeff, Yebo - a bit of Zulu thrown in there for good measure!
After returning to Isingwe and dinner went to watch the native greater bushbabies (Galago Crassicaudatus), feeding in the trees. They eat bananas and are happy to come up close. Cute little things.
Wed 19th Sep (day 6) - up at 5:30 for a game drive around the hluhluwe-Infolozi game reserves, lead by Ulande. Didn't get back to camp until 5:40 in the evening, so a long drive wildlife hunting. The area is a beauty covering 98,000 hectares and is supposed to be the 2nd oldest game park after yellowstone. Note sure about that one? Ulande was a very knowledgeable guide, with 6 years experience in the park. Despite that experience, she couldn't conjure up any cats, either lions, cheetahs or leopards, although they suppose to exist here. What we did see where lots of rhinos (the more common white variety and the rare black rhino), elephants, giraffes, burchell's zebra, wildebeest, nyala (males are dark with beige stockings, females are fawn with white stripes), impala, crocodiles, warthogs, water buffalo, loads of pretty coloured birds including rainbird, various eagles, buzzards and vultures.
Thu 20th Sep (day 7) - off at 8am heading for Sodwana bay for a couple of days. Short stop at hluhluwe town for shppoing as nothin where we are going. Sodwana bay is part of the St.Lucia wetland area and home to the most south westerly coral reef in the world. Staying Gwalagwala camp, a bit of a walk to places of interest but peaceful. Quick lunch on arrival then off horse riding along the beach, which flanks the indian ocean. My horse was called Freddie and managed to do some fairly decent galloping in him, despite the naff saddles they use. No protective covers over the stirrup straps, so they chafe against your legs when going for it. Only out for an hour so not too bad. Nice experience with the waves lashing along side. The waves were really strong so will be an interesting experience diving around here.
After horse riding, went straight to the 'coral divers' lodge to book the diving for tommorow. Not bad price at 200 rand a dive plus kit hire. Also booked an afternoon's quad biking for tommorow. All a bit of a rush but back to camp for dinner then had to return to coral divers to sort out my kit for the dive and meet the dive master. Was the only one out our group with a PADI licence so made my own way there. Hitched a lift from a passerby, riding on the footplate of their jeep. The only way to travel!
Fri 21st Sep (day 8) - up at 6am to make it to the pick up point for the dive. Whilst I was waiting, watched the monkeys scavenging for food by the bins. Cute little things they have around here. The hedgerows are full of Fireball plants which have a stunning red spiky head on them. Kitted up on the beach and assigned to boat 'the oceanic' with Clayton as dive master. We are going out to 2 mile reef and an area called 'Stinger'. The reef is the most southern reef system in the world and home to a vast array of sealife, so promises to be an interesting dive. 10 of us on board with me the least experienced. Some with hundreds of dives under their belt. The launch is from the beach in very strong wave conditions, so real fun to start with. Max depth 18metres. Saw superb spotted eels, turtles, white tipped reef shark. Hundreds of varieties of fish. The trip was being filmed by Laura, so will see the video tonight if I make it to the presentation. The speedboat return to land is fun as it just goes full throttle and aims for the beach head on, running straight up the sand as fast as it can make it. Of course, everyone on board gets launched forward as it hit the beach. Hitched another lift back to campsite in time for breakfast. Time for some domestics, getting washing up to date as the temp is in the low 30's today so a belter and ideal for drying.
Have noticed that I am putting on a bit of weight with all the good food I am eating and too much drinking. Got to stop before it gets out of hand or will undo all of the effort I put into getting my weight under control before travelling. Not had a dose of the shits in months. Guaranteed to be a good way to lose weight fast, so will have to rely on diet to do it. Damn!
After lunch headed off to 'off-road fun' for a 3 1/2hr quad bike trek. Brilliant fun. Manual geared 160cc suzuki. Much better than the 350cc automatic I had in Swakopmund in Namibia. More manoeverable and just better fun. Loads of hill climbs and lots of time spent in the st lucia wetlands area. I had my daybag with me that got trashed in the fun. Had strapped it to the bike and it came off. Cracked the lcd display on my camera in the process. Nothing else damaged other than the bag itself, which got ripped apart so need a new one. Didn't make it to the coral divers presentation, so missed the dvd. Never mind.
Sat 22nd Sep (day 9) - Off at 8am to Swaziland border. A long day travelling as we got lost on the way. Roads aren't that well marked so it's easy to take the wrong route. It was a bit touch and go whether we would make the border before it cosed at 6pm. Got there at 5:30 and they only just agreed to let us through. Got to our camp late after getting lost again. Another day, another country.
Swaziland is a landlocked kingdom bordered by south africa and Mozambique. Up until 1968 when it got its independence, it was a british protectorate. Its main attractions are wildlife and its culture. The swazi monarch is always a man of the Dlamini family. The currency is the Lilangeni and is equal in value to the Rand. Both are accepted throughout the country. We are to stay at the Mlilwane wildlife park for a couple of nights.
Sun 23rd Sep (day 10) - up early for a walk in the bush with our guide Stu. Lots of wildlife to see: Impala, burchell's zebra, warthog, nyala, blue wildebeest, blesbok, velvet monkey and a 5metre python! Lots of bird species
