Swaziland to Pretoria
UNITED KINGDOM | Friday, 28 September 2007 | Views [2938] | Comments [2]
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. Interesting uses of termite mounds...if you've never seen one, they are the equivalent of a multi-storey block of flats in the termite world. They are like concrete. The swazis use them to make floors out of. The typical traditional swazi dwelling is a beehive shape made from reeds and very thick construction. The termite mound is broken up into small pieces and mixed with a little water then used like cement to make the floor of the hut. Spread a little water on the surface and polish it. A really hardwearing surface that can be redone easily if needs be. Also, inside the mounds mushrooms grow. Only small though. However, take them out of the mound and let them set their spores and they grow into really big edible mushrooms.
Later in the day went for a game drive up into the mountains to see the sunset. Saw Roan antelope, tortoise, blue crane and mountain buck as well as masses of the beautiful Jacaranda tree which covers the hillside in lilac. Drinks were laid on to add to the atmosphere. Sitting on a rock on the Nyonyane mountain watching the sunset, with forest fires visible in the distance is a great setting to finish the day on. But it didn't stop there. The tour had paid for a 3 course buffet swazi dinner that included one of my favourite meats, impala. There are three superb meats you have to taste...Impala, oryx and warthog. Absolutely gorgeous meats. Having eaten too much...again! I just want to go to sleep and the excess pounds will have vanished when I wake up.
Managed to briefly get on e-mail today, despite the painfully slow connection speed here and ridiculously high price to use It! Things seem to be struggling back home. Wish I was there to help out. I also wish it was a simple decision to quit and go back to sort it all out. If only? Whilst part of me wants to, another part wants to go on further until I have lived enough of the dream to be satisfied, which isn't yet. I would love to get into asia at least. It's all a bit up in the air. When my travels have gone far enough, I hope I will know when it is time to return.
Mon 24th Sep (day 11) - Time to move on again on this whistle stop tour. To be honest, I haven't seen much of the historical swaziland culture, althouth I have red about it and talked to people who live here. Basically, it is like a lot of African countries. Many of the people are poor and cannot afford what we take for granted. There is drought at the moment so water is in short supply. As a kingdom, they are proud of their heritage and so they should continue to be, as it is a rich past they have. It is hard to get to know a country in a few days. But having been thru quite a few now, you can readily make comparisons of how the place feels, how its people react to you, the nature of its buildings and signs of prosperity. Swaziland deserves more time than I can give it right now. Maybe one day?
As usual, another early start to head off to one of the world's most famous national parks at Kruger. Driving north through Swazi seems to be prosperous. Posh hotels, some nice housing areas, neat schools with the children in smart uniforms. The usual odd combination of seeing many kids leaving their thatched mud hut dressed smartly to go to school along with their parents, father dressed in a suit to go to work and mother nicely dressed too. This is a beautiful country, the lilac jacaranda tree everywhere, a profusion of colour and stunning scenery. Stopped to watch a really lively session of dozens of weaver birds nest building. Wonderful sight. Also the very pretty 'African paradise fly-catcher bird'.
As usual, I keep my eyes open for odd signs...'swazi spa & cuddle puddle' sounds cute! 'Spaza phone shop', 'cold storage, fridges & mortuaries'.
Over the mountains going north through the very picturesque forestry area of Pigg's peak, towards the border crossing at Jeppe's reef. So, we saySala Khale (goodbye in Siswati) to Swaziland and Sawubona (hello) to South Africa again.
Kruger park is about the size of Wales at about 20,000 sq km. Formerly established in 1926 to protect wildlife that had been previously almost wiped out fue to uncontrolled hunting. Work is currently going on to enlarge the park to become the 'Transfrontier National Park'. This will bring in areas shared by Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Stopped at Berg-en-dal campsite in the south of the park. Did a couple of gamedrives, afternoon and evening. Managed to see plenty of wildlife and birdlife - including the beautiful lilac-breasted roller bird, the national bird of Botswana. The highlight of the night drive was a mother and baby rhino. Seeing a baby rhino is rare indeed! Also saw duiker, lesser bushbaby, spotted genet and white tailed mongoose. An tree called the Calabash has an interesting use. A creeper kills off the tree but leaves behind very hard round fruit that rattles when completely dried out. They tie them around one ankle of a child that is learning to walk as they like the sound, so it encourages them to take another step and start to walk.
Another snippet about the ever common Impala. They are known locally as McDonalds for two reasons. Fristly they are 'fast food' for a lot of other animals and, secondly, they have a big M exactly like the McD sign on their rear end.
Tue 25th Sep (day 12) - getting fed up with early starts now. 5am today for another game drive on the way north to our next stop. Not long on the road and a herd of elephants crossed the road in front of us with loads of babies. At least that made the early start worth while. Later on saw a Balaleur eagle and honey badger digging for food which was really nice. Very cute creature.
Learned today that my son Tim has got a gig at the Royal Albert hall in november, which is the final leg of a competition. Way to go Tim! Rained tonight. First time in ages and makes camping a messy business. Had a great conversation with a couple from Paraguay in S.America which should come in useful when I get over that side of the world.
Wed 26th Sep (day 13) - moved camp to Timbavani near to Hazyview and then set off to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre & Cheetah project. This is part of the Kapama private game reserve. The centre started off life in the late 80's as the brainchild of Lente Roode after she befriended a cheetah. It has developed from not just conservation work related to the cheetah but many other endangered animals. Saw Sable (the antelope type whose tail fur is used to make brushes), king cheetah (broad stripe down its back), caracal, a 5mth old playful baby white rhino, baby zebra, bengal tiger, lions, ground hornbill, marabou stork, wild dog, white backed vultures in what they call the vulture restaurant. All that is left from the meat that is fed to them is the bones. These are collected weekly and sold to a factory nearby that uses them to make gelatin products. It is a bit like a zoo in parts but the animals are being reared under controlled conditions, so that is to be expected. A bit of a mess-up with tonights plans to go to a Shagaani dinner and dance. The booking didn't get through so will try to recover the situation tomoro. This campsite is adjacent to a river. Before dinner watched the hippos in the bushes. You may not know this but hippos spend a lot of time out of water, covering upto 15km on land by night. They retreat to the water during the day because their skin is sensitive to sunlight so they burn easy.
Thu 27th Sep (day 14) - moving again to Blyde river canyon. Woke up at 4am to the sound of hippos grunting the other side of the fence. Sounded no more than 10m away. Had I not been dazed, I would have got up but didn't. The weather this morning is cloudy and as we rose into the mountains the mist decended, to the point where the views we came to see where completely obliterated. Fortunately, the further north we went it cleared so the plan was re-hashed to re-visit the other sights later in the day.
Stopped at Bourke's luck potholes, which must rate as one of the world's must see landscapes. Basically, millions of years worth of erosion have carved out a weird series of circular gouges in the soft rock and a really nice waterfall flows down into the basin which joins the Blyde river. Going further north the R532 cuts through the lower veldt area, which is a beauty, surrounded by majestic mountains. The next major landmark is called 'The Three Rondels' with a viewing area directly opposite them. As the name implies, they are three round outcrops of rock in a row, with chateau type points to them.
We set up camp early so that we could get on with the rest of today's plan, stopping at the superb Blyde River Canyon campsite run by Forever resorts. This is one swanky campsite, and believe me, over the past 4 months or so, I have been to some incredible ones (and some I would wish to forget!). After lunch headed back south to get another chance to see what we couldn't see earlier. The most important and stunning views are from a place called 'God's Window'. Awesome is the only word for it.
Hungry work this travel...so stopped at the famous 'Harries pancake shop' on Louis Trichardt street in Graskop. Not cheap but worth it. A brief look around the african silk centre - this is where the silk from the Mopani silk worm is turned into some very fine articles. Will be eating them later - the mopani worms that is. They strip the little blighters of their silk to make tablecloths and the like, and then eat them when they've had enough! Bit of a raw deal.
This morning on the way north we booked ourselves into the 'Shangana cultural village' near Hazyview for a dinner and dance show starting at 5pm, so not much time to hang around Graskop before heading off via the low veldt again for another dose of stunning scenery. Had to take a quick look into a coffin makers in town before leaving - just to see what every self respecting south african goes to rest in these days. Travel can be full of such variety!
The evening was superb. Met by a group of girls singing wonderfully. Mopani worms - told yeh so, crocodile (cross between fish and chicken) and Impala for nibbles whilst we waited for everyone to arrive. Yummy! The evening was based around the village of chief Soshangana of the Shangan tribe, who has been chief for 48yrs. Shown around the village and got to meet the gaffer himself in his kraal (group of village huts in a round compound), as well as the Sangoma (medicine man). Some interesting remedies they have for common ailments. I think I will stay ill instead! A great show of music was laid on plus a really nice meal. Audience participation, so got dragged up to do some dancing. A lot of us got involved in playing djembe with them, so a great sound with us all beating out tribal rhythms. Topped off with us joining the choir to sing the south african national anthem (I think my version of the lingo sounded more like klingon) - not quite a tribal ending to the show, but still a thoroughly spiffing evening hey what!
On a separate note - Apparently, the monks are rioting in Burma. Don't know any more than that but can imagine groups of orange clad balding guys, chucking cymbals at each other then bowing very politely to each other before beating the sh1t out one another - all in total silence of course! I'm sure the reality is more like bald headed yobs throwing bricks. Here endeth this news at ten bulletin from South Africa.
Fri 28th Sep (day 15) - Chucked it down last night so a wet start to the day. went to Pilgrim's rest, which is a restored gold-mining town that originates from South Africa,s first gold rush, initiated in 1873 by Alex 'Wheelbarrow' Patterson. 1500 diggers rapidly deluged the area in seek of their fortune, operating around 4000 claims. Conditions were terrible in them there days. Things didn't improve much until they were all bought up by the Transvaal Gold Mining Estates in 1896. The settlement was declared a historic monument in the 1980s and restored to what it is today. The town is split into two, up-town and down-town, down-town being more interesting. The Royal hotel is a beauty. Straight off a postcard and would be great to stay in. Tiny post office with period furnishings and a great General Hardware store full of loads of interesting stuff. An olde worlde photographers, where you can get dressed up in authentic clothes and have youself captured in sepia print. The buildings are really quaint and give the town a great atmosphere. The rest of the daqy was spent travelling back to Pretoria.
Last day of this particular tour, so saying goodbye to yet another group of people. The others move on to other tours so will meet new people and head off tommorrow morning, going to areas I have already visited. Final meal tonight.
Tomorrow will be flying to Madagascar aboard Air Madagascar flight MD125 for a 9 day tour. Another hour forward, so 3hrs ahead of UK time.
Tags: Sightseeing
