Author: rr_admin

Among the list of tasks to accomplish while in Johannesburg: collect our South African visa extension.

You get three months on arrival. We knew that we wanted to spend more than that in the area, so we applied as soon as we got here.

This turns out to be expensive, time-consuming, and vexatious. At long last, we pick up our passports with the much-desired extension.

The day we leave Johannesburg, we spend a large part of the day at the Cradle of Humankind Information Centre and nearby sites.

Among other things, we learn that ‘Lucy‘, one of our unimaginably-distant ancestors, is named after ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds‘.

(Cultural tip: good (but a bit violent, like most Luc Besson films) sci-fi film from 2014, ‘Lucy‘, with Scarlett Johansson. It has a barely-there, tangential connection with the fossilized Lucy, too.)

A nearly-complete Australopithecus Africanus skeleton was found in the Sterkfontein caves.

‘Little foot‘ was big news in 1997.

Besides the paleoanthropological interest, the cave is wonderful in itself

This is where the boffins do their work. (But not today, because it’s Saturday.)

Next day, a few more hours of driving brings us to the Botswana frontier post.

Once across, we spend the night in the small town of Kanye. Then we drive 875 kilometres to Maun.

This is the longest single-day drive we’ve ever done, including in Australia, the usual home of the marathon driving session.

Sight or Insight of the Day

‘Pula’ is an interesting setswana word. Besides being the name of the local currency, it also means ‘good fortune’ and ‘rain’ (which is good fortune in this often-dry country.)

Pula also features prominently in the Botswana coat of arms.

We fix a leaky tire in Clarens, South Africa before crossing the border into Lesotho.

Lesotho, like every country in Africa, suffers from appallingly bad government. It’s pretty, though.

(I often marvel how places like Canada and Australia can have politicians that range from ‘mediocre’ to ‘God-awful’ and still be nice places to live. Most places are not that lucky.)

Two aspects of Lesotho stand out: horses and blankets.

Basotho blankets serve many purposes.

The blanket culture starts young.

We spend a week at the Maliba Lodge. We alternate between taking road trips and hiking in the park. (The lodge is located in Ts’ehlanyane National Park.)

One day, we visit the Katse Dam.

You can tour the inside of the dam. (But can’t take pictures, for some reason.)

There are a couple of Danish nurses on our tour of the dam. They’re volunteering at a hospital in a town up the road.

Goats and sheep abound. Lesotho is a big producer of mohair. Or was, until the government gave sold a monopoly on the export of mohair to a single Chinese man. (Who has stopped paying the farmers.)

No part of Lesotho is lower than 1,000 metres above sea level.

Another day, we drive around the northeast of the country as far as the Letseng diamond mine.

We spot this unusual bird along the way.

Some days, we hike the trails that criss-cross the park.

This beast appears nightly near our rondavel in Maliba. It’s a full-grown eland. And it’s huge.

On our way to Roma, we stop near Leribe to see some dinosaur footprints.

Supposed to be 200 million years old.

Roma is an interesting small town. We stay at the historic Roma Trading Post. We are so charmed, we spend five days here.

Our little bungalow has its own garden.

Thaba Bosiu is where the Kingdom of Lesotho got its start, under King Moshoeshoe.

This is Mount Qiloane.

It’s reputed to be the inspiration for the distinctive basotho hat, or mokorotlo.

…which is also found on the license plates….

….and the national flag.

From Thaba Bosiu, we drive to the historic town of Morija.

We get lost on the way back to Roma. Turns out we stumble onto a private dwelling area that belongs to the King of Lesotho.

Security personnel point us to the right track.

Next morning, we spend a few hours in Maseru, the pocket-sized capital city.

After departing Lesotho, we break our journey in Kroonstad, then it’s up the N1 to Johannesburg.

The smooth ribbon of the N1 is a far cry from the potholes of the Lesotho road system.

Sight or Insight of the Day

We admit it – we’re suckers for baby animals. We pass many on the roads here.

The mountain climate seems to make them extra-fuzzy, which amps up the cuteness factor.

From the Natal coast, we go inland to the town of Dundee.

This part of KwaZulu Natal is the site of many battlefields dating from the Boer War and earlier, such as the Zulu War of 1879.

One of the first and most disastrous battles of that war was Isandlwana.

(You might notice we have a different car. Nelson was recalled to the Thrifty rental car lot in Durban ‘to be put on a sales list’. We are given a slightly larger version of the Datsun Go, the Go Plus. We name him Shaka, after the great Zulu king.)

The distinctive saddle-shaped mountain looks just like it does in the famous painting by Charles Fripp in London’s National Army Museum.

Not very far is Rorke’s Drift. Unlike Isandlwana, which was catastrophic for the British, Rorke’s Drift was a scene of almost incredible heroism.

I remember seeing this movie, Zulu, as a kid. Later I learn that it’s based on an actual event, the defense of Rorke’s Drift by a handful of British soldiers against an army of thousands of Zulu warriors.

While driving between Islandwana and Rorke’s Drift, we catch sight of some ceremony going on in the fields.

We visit the site of the Boer War battle of Elandslaagte.

All of these battlegrounds are now isolated, peaceful spots. Hard to imagine the blood and slaughter that briefly disturbed the landscape so long ago.

(An interesting historical tidbit: fighting on the Boer side at this battle was a Hollandercorps made up of Dutch volunteers. Among them was a brother of Vincent Van Gogh (Cornelis) AND a brother of Piet Mondrian (Willem).)

Not many people are drawn to these historical places. I complain in a long-past blog entry that even the Second World War holds no interest for most people alive today. So these century-old conflicts are really ancient history. Even though the Boer War had significant Canadian involvement.

We drive though this scenic part of Natal to the Drakensburg and wind up camping at the Hlalanathi Berg Resort.

In Royal Natal National Park, we hike the Rainbow Falls Trail.

As it turns out, this is the same trail we hiked when we were here a few years ago.

Butterflies are everywhere.

From here, our next stop is Lesotho.

Sight or Insight of the Day

At our campground, we form the habit of feeding the birds in the morning.

We get all kinds, including this handsomely-crested hoopoe.

It’s a green drive down to Durban. The highway down from Hluhluey follows rolling hills.

Durban is a modern port and home to many Indo-South Africans. We sample a local specialty – bunny chow.

We visit the KwaMuhle Museum. This building was once the headquarters of the City’s Native Administration Department. It’s now a mini-Apartheid Museum. 

Downtown Durban has many Victorian buildings.

And lots of markets.

A Durban landmark is Moses Mabhida Stadium, built for the soccer World Cup in 2010.

On a sunny Sunday, we go to uShaka Beach.

Next stop up the road is Umkomaas. This is a main town for diving on the Aliwal Shoal.

We use the services of the Aliwal Dive Centre. Our first night, we’re invited by the dive crew to join them for a braai.

I sign up for two dives. The first is a shark dive.

A bucket of sardines attracts the sharks.

The sharks, I’m happy to say, completely ignore you.

To be honest, this breed of shark is not known for its ferociousness, like some sharks.

The second is a plain old shallow reef dive.

One day, we visit the Oribi Gorge.

Among its delights is (what feels like) a death-defying suspension bridge.

Sight or Insight of the Day

We have lunch at the Oribi Gorge Hotel. On our way to the start of the hiking trail is a grassy field that contains half a dozen pigs.

I stand by the fence. One trots over. I pet him through the wire and he immediately sinks into a trance and tumbles on his side, eyes closed in bliss. A second pig rushes up – same thing happens. A thirds waits his turn to feel my magic touch.

We are back in South Africa.

With a sad farewell to Tofo, we drive south to Bilene, passing through some lively towns on the way.

Mozambican women move gracefully in their capulanas.

Corrugated steel is a popular building material here. It looks hot.

People sell cashews at the side of the road. Empty bags flutter in the breeze to catch your attention.

Bilene is a popular beach for Mozambicans.

It’s a good place to spend our final night in Mozambique.

After driving through pullulating Maputo, we cross the Maputo-Katembe bridge to the other side.

This is the closest we care to get to downtown Maputo.

On the other side is a newly-paved road all the way to the South African border.

What used to be a 7-hour journey now takes a mere 90 minutes. The road passes through the Maputo Elephant Park.

Our experience at the border is much calmer than our entrance a month ago at a different border post at the height of the holiday rush.

The accommodation at Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park is full. We stay at a private campground, Sand Forest Lodge, about a twenty minute drive away.

We are the only guests. We have the campground to ourselves. (Except for a resident herd of nyala on the property.)

The males are much larger and more striking in appearance.

Hluhluwe is pronounced ‘shlooSHLOOey’. It’s Zulu for the plant Dalbergia armata.

We see a family of warthogs. The young ones are pretty cute.

Some nyala cross the road.

We come across a black rhino. He seems as big as a tank.

In the middle of the road, a dung beetle does its thing.

Some weaver birds bathe in a puddle.

Weaver birds make colonies of woven nests, like this.

On a sunny day, we visit nearby Sodwana Bay.

Like Tofo, it’s a famous diving spot. With the same heavy surf that makes launching dive boats a challenge.

The peak season is past. A few weeks ago, this would be heaving with people.

We are fortunate to have a vacant lifeguard platform to use as a sun shelter all day.

The beach is nearly deserted.

Thousands of crabs run into and out of the tide.

We visit the Imfolozi side of Hluhluwe–Imfolozi park.

First thing we see are three elephants socializing by the river.

A pair of young impala tussle in the road.

We stop at a game hide in front of a waterhole.

The waterhole in question. Nothing turns up, possibly because it’s the hottest part of the day.

We are rewarded at the end of the day with the sight of five white rhinos.

This little rhino is nursing. It must be anatomically awkward to nurse a creature with a horn at the end of its snout.

We depart from our campsite and say goodbye to Cori and Godfrey, our hosts. And their six dogs: four Great Danes and two Jack Russells.

It would be difficult to fit even one of these dogs into Nelson.

And so it’s back on the road to Durban.

Sight or Insight of the Day

I mention in an earlier entry that I’m seeking a FRELIMO t-shirt.

I found one.

More precisely, Maria found it. She negotiated for it virtually off the back of a Mozambican man. It’s authentic, with holes and stains. Just what I was looking for.

‘…I left so much behind.‘ – Leonard Cohen

We can’t seem to tear ourselves away from the beach. While in the neighbourhood of Tofo, we spend four nights at Barra Beach.

We camp in our tent, a stone’s throw from the beach.

We decide to return to Travessia Lodge because it’s so idyllic.

We spend three glorious days here doing absolutely nothing.

It’s a full moon while we’re here.

We return to Tofo to go on a snorkeling safari to see some whale sharks. We actually see some! We get to swim within a few meters of them.

We are so impressed with the Liquid Dive experience that I take a ‘Discover SCUBA Diving’ course. Stu (from the UK) is my first instructor.

After learning some basics in the pool, we depart for a first open water dive.

Getting a boat out to sea against the surf here is a challenge.

I enjoy it so much, we decide to stay on so I can get my PADI certification.

Meanwhile, Maria goes out for a snorkeling trip to see some seahorses.

It’s a long walk to the water.

Along the way, they spot a flock of flamingos.

The locals harvest shellfish at low tide.

Kids, too.

It’s a pleasure staying here for the time it takes to do this PADI course. We stay in the on-site accommodation.

Training is almost complete. This is Naomi (from the UK), my diving guru, and Chris (from the Netherlands), who is qualifying for his Divemaster certification.

This is a shot after Maria gets everyone to wave for the camera.

And eventually, the day arrives that I become a PADI-certified open water diver.

Finally, we must leave the Liquid resort. It’s kind of sad – this place has the same family/community atmosphere we experienced at Zane’s in Sumatra.

In a world with so much disharmonious crap in it – we’re looking at you, Donald Trump – it’s rare to stumble onto a haven of niceness.

May such places thrive and grow. Bye-Bye, Liquid. <sniff>

Sight or Insight of the Day – Happy Birthday, Maria

One of the main reasons we return to Travessia is to celebrate Maria’s birthday. Which we do.

In the evening, Adel makes Maria a delicious chocolate cake.

2020 is off to a good start.

After an enjoyable, low-stress Christmas at Travessia, we travel north to Vilanculos.

Because we left it until quite late to book accommodation – especially considering that Mozambique is a prime destination for South Africans over their Christmas/school holidays – we take what is available.

We spend three days at the perfectly-fine Casa Cabana Beach hotel.

When our three days are over, we must move to the Bahia Mar Resort, just up the beach.

We snag the very last room. It’s kind of expensive. At first we thought this is because it’s New Year’s Eve.

Turns out it’s really because it’s the snazziest room they have – the ‘presidential suite’ or something. Which is probably why it is still unbooked.

We have our own private pool, with jacuzzi.

The bathroom is about three times the size of the average Japanese hotel room. You can take a shower while looking out over the ocean.

On New Year’s Day, we drive the nearly-deserted N1 road south on our way to Tofo Beach.

We drive through Inhambane on our way to Tofo. It has many colonial Portuguese-style buildings. These are rare in post-Independence Mozambique, at least from what we see so far.

We are booked for three nights in a place on the beach. However, as we approach town, there is complete and utter gridlock as people pour into Tofo for a giant January First festa.

We make alternate arrangements and return next day.

Besides tourism, fishing is probably the most common livelihood.

We eat a lot of seafood while we’re on the coast. In Vilanculos, we gorge on enormous Mozambique prawns. Cooked in our ensuite kitchen.

Tofo has a large craft market.

What I’m really looking for is a FRELIMO t-shirt. FRELIMO is the natural party of government here.

Another specialty of the country are these brightly-coloured textiles called capulanas.

I try to remain inconspicuous as a policeman hovers nearby.

Sight or Insight of the Day

After the exotic Travessia Lodge and the deluxe Bahia Mar Resort, it’s a pleasant change to be in our simple grass hut on the beach in Tofo.

Cheaper, too.

OK, enough is enough. It’s January 02, 2020 already!

After a long dry spell of no internet availability, we once more strive to catch up. We’re going to throw together a few photos and commentary until we get to more promising WiFi territory.

We spend a wonderful nine days in Kruger Park. Because it’s so fully booked at this time of year, we end up spending time in many different camps in different accommodations, including camping…

…as well as more sophisticated digs.

We see many animals and take many photos, but we’ll just show a few highlights.

Eventually, we head for the Mozambique border.

We broil in our car for 8 hours as we crawl the last six kilometers to the border.

In Mozambique, like many places, most people walk.

If you don’t walk, you have to squish into severely overloaded pickup trucks.

Goats ride on the roof. We see this more than once.

We are met on the road by Ben from the Travessia Lodge.

This is one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been. If you ever win the lottery, book a flight to Mozambique and stay here for a week. Or three.

There are only five cabins. Besides the staff and our hosts Ben and Adel, our fellow guests are a pair of friendly couples from Capetown and Jo’burg and a lovely family (also from Johannesburg) and their delightful daughters.

There are friendly dogs on site. This is Essie, who keeps me company while I give the hammock a workout.

And this is Teekay getting the treatment from Maria, Ben, and Adel.

We spend a wonderful Christmas here before heading north for Vilanculos.

Sight or Insight of the Day – We Are Scatterlings of Africa

When we were in Johannesburg, I was sad to learn that musician Johnny Clegg died recently (July, 2019).

His crossover style in the early eighties on such work as ‘Scatterlings‘ gave the world a vision of South Africa beyond tear gas and unrest. I still belt out a slightly off-key version as we drive across the African landscape.

See you in another life, Johnny.

Just a quick entry to let the world know where we are.

We are happy to be here in Johannesburg, security concerns notwithstanding.

People take their security very seriously in Joburg these days. Most businesses and residential areas cower behind high walls and electrified fencing.

We stay in Sandton, probably the safest area in Johannesburg. Centrally located, we take Ubers everywhere, like most non-poor Joburgers.

Just as well that’s it’s cool and rainy for this time of year. We have a lot of business to take care of.

Our original plan is to purchase a car to drive around South Africa and the surrounding countries.

It turns out you cannot buy a car if you are a casual visitor to South Africa. So we do a long-term rental instead. We pick up a minuscule vehicle called a ‘Datsun Go‘.

We name him Nelson, in honour of Mr. Mandela. Our first stop is Kruger National Park, where we hope to pass some time before spending Christmas in Mozambique.

From Siliguri, we get a drive to Darjeeling over a mountainous route.

Our guest house is associated with the Singtom tea estate.

We take a tour early next morning.

It’s early because that’s when the tea that has been picked the day before is processed.

These are some of the oldest tea estates in the region.

One day, we arrange a drive into town.

Darjeeling is a hilly, busy place.

In Darjeeling, we visit the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.

Then it’s back to the guest house.

Our guest house is very relaxing. It’s a few kilometers down a precipitous winding road from Darjeeling town.

When it’s clear, we can see Kanchenjunga from our property.

At Siliguri Airport, Dagmar arranges the delivery of 20 kilograms of tea she has purchased. This almost fills the freebie duffel bags we got in Nepal.

From Siliguri, we fly back to Delhi. We spend a night in the appalling Aerocity area near the airport. We leave early in the morning for the Jim Corbett National Park.

We stay at Jim’s Jungle Retreat. Despite the folksy-sounding name, this is a beautiful and luxurious resort.

We don’t see any tigers. Nevertheless, we go on a few pleasant drives in the park. We see this eagle of some kind.

And an elephant cavorting in the river.

Some park staff use domesticated elephants for work in the reserve.

We wait patiently by a dry riverbed in hope of a tiger sighting.

Finally, we head for home.

A fitting end to this entry. The next day, we take a seven-hour drive back to New Delhi. At the airport, we go our separate ways. Pete and Dagmar fly back to Canada direct. We fly to Johannesburg, via Addis Ababa.

Sight or Insight of the Day

After nearly six months in the area, we can’t say we’re sorry to be leaving India.

In most places we travel, the majority of people quietly go about their normal lives, whatever that might be. Some people stand out for being unusually kind or helpful, and these stand out in our memory.

In India, as usual, the majority of people quietly go about their normal lives. Some people stand out for being unusually kind or helpful, and these stand out in our memory. But many people here make it their business to cheat, mislead, or otherwise annoy or threaten us.

Besides, the universal dilapidation and general un-cleaness everywhere is dispiriting, as is the infuriating, grotesque inefficiency in getting the simplest tasks done. It’s definitely time to move on.

(Of course, this doesn’t mean we won’t be back one day!)