The wild nature of South Africa... backpack on my shoulders

SATURDAY 05/08/2006

Here we are at the station in Reggio Emilia at 13:30 anxiously waiting for one of the other two couples: Andrea&Jael. The other couple: Andrea&Raffaella get on at the Parma stop. Once at Milano Centrale we take the bus to Malpensa costing 7.20 € per couple. Our flight is Milan-Athens lasting: about two hours. Athens-Johannesburg takes us about nine hours. Johannesburg-Cape Town about two hours.

SUNDAY 06/08/2006

Fortunately all three of our flights go smoothly and without a hitch. In the air everything is calm and once on the ground we manage to get all six backpacks. We take a taxi (minivan) to take us to the house we booked via the internet in Cape Town, here's the address: 121 loader street.Waterkant. (phone Mercure 2782 4226900 - Petra 2782 4906329 We paid 1032 rand per night about 42 € per couple. (total 170€ per couple for 4 nights) We arrive at our destination at around four o'clock. We call and the lady comes right away to open for us. The house is really nice, we have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, an eat-in kitchen and a cozy living room with TV and DVD, plus the fireplace. In the little garden at the back there's a nice big table for eating outdoors, plus the deckchairs, shame, given the cold, that we can't take advantage of them.

Three days before leaving the television had reported an incredible and extraordinary cold snap in South Africa…let's hope for the best! At departure we had added a sweater and removed an undershirt from our backpack.... We were mentally prepared but leaving in the height of summer you're never 100% prepared for the cold you find. The house is immediately freezing and damp, but fortunately in every room there are electric heaters and little by little everything takes on a more human dimension and warmth. Raffa and Andrea grab the coolest room, practically an open space with a mega double bed, shower with a rock wall and (not too positive) bathroom fixtures positioned in the room without dividing walls, while we take the smaller rooms (but much quicker to heat). The cleaning lady arrives right away (strictly black) who irons the sheets and makes our beds.

For the night we're afraid we'll be cold and have to use the sleeping bags we brought ready for any eventuality. (DO IT TOO!) The duvet provided in the room is more than enough and the heater does the rest. We're tired from the trip but our stomach is demanding food. It's seven in the evening but the neighborhood is very dim and silent. In all the houses there are bars on the windows and you often find a guard on the street corners. Although they tell us that crime in South Africa is very high, Cape Town is still very livable. There aren't many places open, we choose an atmospheric one (the Manatthan) and eating meat, fish and dessert we spend 180 rand per couple. The portions are good and generous. Towards the end of dinner, we look around and see couples quietly sitting romancing, except there are no women.

We realize we're in a place chosen as a meeting spot for men only… Since with us there's Andrea (I won't specify which of the two …(the taller one)) who has already received various propositions from his side, he's in a great hurry to go home….We finish dinner calmly and if it hadn't been for the two men exchanging a gift who kissed on the mouth, honestly we wouldn't have noticed anything…We leave the place with our men keeping their backs to the wall. I'm joking!!!!! It's really cold, they tell us it's due to a weather disturbance… We knew it was winter but we expected a late winter, almost spring, that the temperature would never drop near zero…and instead it drops a lot…. We go straight to bed, since tomorrow morning we have the excursion to see the great white shark and most of us will do the cage dive. The guy will arrive at 05:45. Do it too.

MONDAY 07/08/2006

Right on time, in fact early, the guy from the shark agency arrives (we'd booked everything over the internet) 281 € per couple with SHARK DIVING UNLIMITIDED infosdu@shardivimgunlimited.com tel: +27 (0) 28 384 2787 po box:511 GANSBAII 7220 SOUTH AFRICA

We set off even before the sun begins to rise…The guy drives for about two hours, while we sleep or at least try to, and there's always someone who manages better (Jael) and someone who manages worse…. We arrive at our destination, Gansbaii, and we're served an abundant breakfast. They put the boat out to sea, there are about fifteen of us in all, the weather is nice but cold and the boat isn't very sheltered. After about twenty minutes we're near a colony of seals, the sharks' favorite food. They start chumming by throwing fish entrails and a slop with a bit of blood into the water. The boys and Raffaella get ready…Jael and I film and photograph everything from above. After about fifteen minutes we see the first fin arrive, you go down into the cage in shifts of five at a time.

The cage stays at water level and every time the shark comes to "eat" the thrown bait the guy pulls it toward the boat, allowing the shark to come into view of the boys who, at his every command, dive down holding their breath. In some cases the shark even put its fin or its "snout" inside or against the cage between the two bars. But the space is very small and it can't hurt you…of course it gives you a shot of adrenaline. It's exciting when you see it coming and you think: I'm face to face with a great white shark!!!!! Three specimens came by in all and one was about five meters long. Everyone went down in turn, and some of the less cold-sensitive ones, since the water temperature was around 5 degrees, and those who are braver are given the chance to do a second dive. Diego and the two Andreas do a second round, having a great time.

Let me open a small, brief parenthesis: Not that you who are reading my account are particularly interested, but since this diary of mine is a sort of travel testament of mine to be read as a memory in future years, it must be as complete and faithful as possible; I close the parenthesis and then resume the account. While the others enjoy the dive in the cage with the sharks…I discovered I'm sensitive to the rocking of the water and I contribute to chumming the sea by giving the sharks my breakfast, twice, no less. Before heading back we pass close to the seals (also known as the sharks' mobile fridge), there are so many and they're beautiful, many are in the sea swimming calmly and others are on the rocks warming themselves in the sun. We head back quickly to the joy of my stomach because the sea is getting rough.

Once on land we stop at their little shop, the same place where we had breakfast in the morning.. They immediately give us a vegetable soup that's really good, to warm us up given the cold and the wind we took on the boat. Then they have us watch the video that one of their staff members shot both above and below with the help of an underwater camera…We buy a copy for all three of us, which we'll later burn, for 300 rand (35€), they'll send it home within about twenty days……. And that's exactly what happened!!!!!After buying a few t-shirts, we start the journey back….. We stop at a house along the road that serves both as an additional office and as a restaurant, and they serve us drinks and a meal consisting of another hot vegetable soup and an extremely generous plate of spaghetti with bolognese sauce..

Of course it takes a lot of nerve to try to compete with Italian cooking… Anyway, the whole thing is more than edible….They give us a DVD each, a sort of documentary about sharks, and on top of that a certificate each for the dive we did. We're ready to go home, and we take the opportunity to ask the driver if it's possible to make a stop at Hermanus, to see the whales!!!!!He's very kind and accepts. The first bay is empty, but it rewards us with wonderful landscapes, mountains sheer over the sea and vivid colors that look like real colors, not faded like you see in other places. On the second try we find two, we see their spouts, but they're a bit far away and we all go into photographic frenzy again, the best shot at the best moment….One whale very kindly comes close to the coast, it's about 20 meters away..

We watch it play, lie belly up, then on one side and then it starts jumping out of the water……It's an exciting feeling, even if often the urge to immortalize certain events with a photo doesn't give you the chance to savor them the way you would sitting on some of the benches placed at the best spots. The vacation has started well, we managed to see sharks, seals, whales…everything we'd set out to do. Once home, we relax with a nice hot shower and get organized to have dinner at the Waterfront, the most touristy and commercial area of Cape Town and, as you can imagine, also the most expensive, but it's made for us tourists and we, even though we call ourselves travelers, make a little stop, at least so we can judge with our own eyes… We set off on foot, we're trying to get our bearings, to find the right street when we're approached by a car with a middle-aged Indian couple inside..

The woman asks if we need help and then offers, despite her husband's somewhat disapproving look, to give us a ride…Very kind but maybe she didn't count carefully, there are six of us and even though none of us is more or less out of shape, each of us takes up his own space in the world, some a bit more in height: the most is Andrea F….(1.98m) and some in width, but for fairness we'll omit the name even though from the photos you'll figure out who it is…. We accept the ride, five of us get in the back, Raffaella and I on our respective husbands' laps while Jael gets in the front with the little woman and her husband. We laugh like crazy, the trip is about ten minutes and they take us to the underground parking lot of the shopping center.

Shops and restaurants everywhere..From previous accounts we'd noted some names and we head toward one of them: it's called OCEANBASKET and it's on the upper floor of the Waterfront We eat excellent, good-quality fish, well cooked, and we spend 636 rand for six people, about 12 € each. We're treating ourselves very well, quality places, with an excellent standard, tip obligatory, etc… All this will affect our budget more than what happened on other trips, but we're only staying in Cape Town for four days, then we'll see about cutting back a bit…. In proportion with Italy, the food is good and you spend slightly less and the portions are very generous.

TUESDAY 08/08/2006

A day dedicated to picking up the plane tickets for the domestic flight booked months earlier from Italy, which will take us on Thursday to Nelspruit where we'll pick up the two cars to tour the Kruger independently.(booked via tel +27 11 880 8800 fax +27 11 880 8180 )Flight paid 712 rand - 218.50€ per couple. We take a taxi but first we have breakfast at the Manatthan (it's mostly empty and we women act as bodyguards for our men). The night before, while looking for a map of the city and in my mania for collecting everything that's free because you never know...I picked up various guides and maps: one, in my ignorance, turned out to be the pink guide to the city, we discover that the Manatthan is a very in and famous spot among the various gay communities and that the whole area where we're staying is very gay….

But if you don't find out by chance you don't even notice, because everything is very discreet, indeed well-kept and tasteful, we had a great time. Breakfast at the Manatthan arrives after about an hour's wait, even though the place was deserted…It's good and abundant but don't go there if you're in a hurry. We spend 300 rand for six (5.50€ each), not denying ourselves anything. We've found that there are at least two types of taxi, with different per-km rates, some at 8 rand starting from a base of 2 rand, others at 11 with a starting base of 5 rand. They provide the same service, they're just from two different companies. This morning a guy we asked for info kindly called us a taxi and it turned out not to be the cheaper one. The travel agency isn't very close and we spend 300 rand round trip for six. We have them drop us off at the Waterfront.

Our goal is to take a boat trip to see the bay from the sea, visit the aquarium and buy a sweater or a fleece given the absurd cold we're suffering from. We're undecided whether to go up the Table Mountain or not…honestly Jael and I suffer from a bit of vertigo and the idea of the cable car doesn't appeal to us much. Many of you will think we're crazy, the sky is clear, the air a bit freezing but the Table Mountain appears to us in all its fullness, sharpness and we don't go up it. I've read in previous accounts that it's often covered by clouds and many times the cable car doesn't even work because it would be pointless to go all the way up there to see nothing and maybe even dangerous….. We pass on it, in the end everyone has their own tastes and the world is beautiful because it's varied.

The boat trip is nice, it costs 40 rand each (4.50€) for 30 minutes, the guy, we discover, is associated with the shark guys and when we tell him we've just been he gives us an additional discount: we pay 34 rand and in the end he even sells us shark teeth. We buy a tiny little one as a souvenir with the cord for 20 rand (2.50€). The tour is very simple, but the Black guy who acts as our guide is really great, expressive, and his voice is thundering like that of an American-style preacher… In the bay, to my joy and surprise, some seals live, we see them sleeping, basking in the sun and playing in the water. We pass really close to them, so much so that the guy warns us to be careful because sometimes they jump into the boat.

We then devote ourselves to looking for a sweater, some gifts, postcards and souvenirs…having learned ( but not completely) that if you like something and it has an acceptable price you mustn't let it get away by saying maybe in the other areas where I'll go it costs less or I'll get it tomorrow…Certain things are typical of the place and you won't find them elsewhere or you won't pass by the same spot again later. In Mozambique we'll make this mistake again by not buying at the market in Tofo and regretting it to this day...but that's another story… I repeat, being at the start of the vacation we're all very torn, buy now or will we find something better or cheaper as the trip goes on????? Diego buys himself the Cape Town Sea Rescue t-shirt, paying 155 rand (17€) for it.

The t-shirts aren't very cheap like they maybe are in other places like Mexico or Malaysia but the quality of the cotton is definitely much higher. We'll probably never return to South Africa and this certainly isn't the place or the time to start saving,(I do that at home!) The abundant breakfast allowed us to skip lunch but now our stomachs are starting to demand dinner. First we go looking for friends of friends who are here in Cape Town, we find them and spend time in their company. It's touching to see white and black people together and although the place was freezing we receive a warm welcome as if we'd known each other forever and were brothers and sisters. We also meet Fabio and Luana, he's Italian, pure Genoese, he used to live in Celle Ligure and after understanding a lot about Italy, its rhythms of life and what it has to offer, he decided to leave everything and move here.

Luana was born in Scotland but at the age of six she moved with her family to Zimbabwe. Now almost all of her family is scattered all over the world because in Zimbabwe for years there's been a political and economic situation that makes life complicated. Fabio, after quite a bit of real apprenticeship, has now gradually found his dimension: he has two fresh pasta shops where, besides making it with exclusively Italian products, he cooks and sells it already ready and warm to people passing by, in his place he has a few tables to eat it on site. Brotherly, he offers us dinner, invites us into his shop and microwaves all the ready pasta he has, after giving us a ride in his car and that of another couple of friends since we're on foot. We eat gnocchi and fettuccine with ragù and at the end we taste his gelato made entirely with Italian ingredients.

BRAVO FABIO!!!!!and thanks for the hospitality. ESPRESSO&PASTA.BAR 18 LONG STREET tel: 021 419 6975 mailto:pastalaur@co.za.

We take the opportunity to ask questions about the existing situation between whites and blacks…he quickly explains South Africa as seen through the eyes of someone who lives there and not just through those of a tourist. We've noticed a great disparity between whites and blacks, the whites are the rich ones and the blacks continue to serve. We see big villas or nice houses for the whites, while the blacks' townships where they live in tin shacks have a tiny space. We sometimes read a bit of hatred toward us whites in their eyes.. Fabio explains to us that many blacks simply don't feel like working, like building a future for themselves made of sacrifices.The main cause is the education they received: many believe that having fought for FREEDOM, it also includes a house and money and they demand that the government give them everything.

He tells us that he has Black workers among his staff who receive a fair wage but who, rather than paying rent to start a new life, prefer to live in tin shacks…they can't conceive of paying to have a house, the government must give it to them for free. Fortunately there are also hardworking blacks but we're realists and we know and understand that disparities, the rich and the poor in this system will always exist and not only in South Africa. After spending a nice evening together they walk us home and then everyone to bed.

WEDNESDAY 09/08/2006

Yesterday in the late afternoon we rented two cars from AVIS at the price of 366 rand per car (about 43€ per car), we took two not because we're stupid but because the six-seater cars were sold out. This morning after picking them up we set off with three goals: to get as far as the Cape of Good Hope, (even though honestly the exact southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas) but the most famous is the Cape of Good Hope, then we want to see the penguins at Simon's Town and lastly see and photograph the Twelve Apostles…(a cliff sheer over the sea) This morning too the Table Mountain is perfectly clear, there's a limpid sky and luckily the cold front is easing, so the temperature is rising… We can take off our jackets First we arrive at Simon's Town,( BOULDERS…tel +27 21 786 2329 Fax + 27 21 786 5786 P.O.Box 62 Simon's Town 7995 e-mail: boulders@sanparks.org before entering there are stal

ls with typical African items (giraffes, penguins in wood or stone etc…)then at the end of the street there's the entrance. You pay 20 rand each (2.50€) We walk on a raised wooden boardwalk while they're down below.These tiny penguins about forty cm tall. They're super funny, some bask in the sun, some try to take a swim but the water is cold judging by how quickly they come out…They're too cute and there isn't even too much of a smell like I'd read in other accounts. We resume the journey and go down to the Cape, to enter the area you pay 45 rand (5€) each and you can choose whether to go toward the lighthouse at the top of the slope or go toward the sea..We decide to do both, obviously not at the same time.

At the entrance of the lighthouse you have two choices: either walk, taking, they warn us, an hour of walking uphill or use the monorail, paying another 30 rand each if you choose both the ascent and descent, or you pay 24 rand for the ascent only and then walk down in about thirty minutes. We choose the second not for reasons of saving but because we're certain we'll have wonderful views to admire and to take nice photos. And so it was!!!We manage to perceive where the two oceans meet because you see the mixing of two different colors. Their power and majesty is impressive. We then drive down to the final point of the Cape, the waves that crash on the beach and on the rocks are wonderful, they hold within them a sweeping power while at the same time giving a feeling of freedom.

We take, or rather we have someone take, the ritual photo of all six of us together in front of the sign that says where you are, as tangible proof that we were there. We then head back toward the Twelve Apostles,(they must be mighty stones sheer over the sea). Unfortunately the panoramic road is closed and time has flown, so we don't even look for alternative routes…it's time to head back. After a good wash and a bit of rest we get organized for dinner…We don't take the car…We stay in the neighborhood…There's a small center full of shops, all behind the Manatthan (there's also an ATM service). We choose a restaurant called ANDIAMO, as soon as we enter our gaze falls on all the couples in the room:men and women!! (Cape quartier centre Greenpoint 8051 tel:(021)421 3687 fax: (021) 421 3689 ANDIAMO is an Italian place and they also make a good pizza.

It's a bit more expensive than the Manatthan but we're already seated…There's excellent service and it's definitely of a certain standard, each of us chooses a different dish to taste more specialties:everything good and very abundant. We spend 636 rand for six. Full as pigs we go to bed.Tomorrow we have the transfer and we hope to leave the great cold behind us.

THURSDAY 10/08/2006

At 9:30 we have the flight from Cape Town to Nelspruit via Johannesburg (218€ per couple) We land and then take off again only to land definitively at 13:30 The two cars booked over the internet are waiting for us with Call centre no:0860 031 666 international car rental We pay 116.94 € per couple for the cars for 4 days Bags sorted and off we go toward the Kruger. We have to be inside the lodge where we'll spend the night by six in the evening.We're at PRETORIUSCOP.(overnight stay 31€ per couple) We enter the Gate a little early and decide to start our first safari right then. We immediately see a herd of impala and start photographing (by the end we'll be sick of them and to top it off some are even inside the lodge where we sleep). We continue and in the middle of the thick vegetation we see three zebras: photo after photo in search of the best angle.

We enter the camp and every time you enter any of the camps just to sleep you have to pay a fee that consists of 120 rand each. Our advice is to inform yourself well to get the wild card which, once bought, allows you to enter all the parks of South Africa for free. There's also the Wild card for couples which will certainly be more convenient. At six the restaurant opens and after settling each couple into their own bungalow we go to dinner. The whole thing is self-service with a base cost of 100 rand to which you only add drinks. We eat to excess and spend 657 rand for six. We go to bed very early because tomorrow we'll get up early again. We hope to see lots of beautiful animals…I go to bed trustingly awaiting tomorrow.

FRIDAY 11/08/2006

Since SKUKUZZA, the second camp where we'll spend the night, isn't very far, we decide to go out at sunrise and then come back for breakfast. Just outside the camp we immediately meet the impalas and then by a miracle a rhinoceros appears in front of us and crosses the road and we see a second little tail disappearing into the savanna..Even though we're in the second car with the video camera we manage to capture the scene..in the cameras, however, there will be lots of vanishing behinds left…Yes, because there are four of them and one of them is a baby..after two minutes they've already disappeared from our sight..What an exciting encounter! I've learned that it's all a matter of moments: two minutes earlier and we would have seen all four of them crossing from one side of the road to the other, arriving two minutes later we wouldn't even have caught the slightest sign of their presence…

As the proverb says: who is content, enjoys…. We go back for breakfast, also self-service, and you pay 65 rand each. We set off again on patrol;we see a few giraffes, zebras and impalas again and many others belonging to the horned and similar family, like kudu, steenbok, etc.. Unfortunately in this area the savanna is full of trees, bushes and tall grass and as already said, if you don't have the luck to catch them on the road afterwards you won't see them anymore… You have to be in the right place at the right time. This is the downside of safaris:you can drive around and around and around for hours and see nothing or drive for an hour and see everything..

Today is an off day for us! After having had the grace to see the rhinos, we drive around for hours and hours and we literally don't meet a living soul, at some moments we're happy to encounter the impalas for the umpteenth time, first because they mean life and second because we hope there's someone nearby who wants to eat them: e.g. a nice lion….. We enter Skukuza at 17:30.It's a huge camp, it really has everything. (overnight stay 69€ per couple) Then you can choose the à la carte restaurant or the self-service one… After a slight doubt and comparison of prices, we choose the self-service one: we're very hungry and having a fixed price already helps!The choice turns out to be excellent, you can also choose the raw meat and the type of seasoning and mix it as you like and then they cook it all for you on the griddle. We always spend, as six, eating and eating again, 680 rand..

Here too every time you ask for the bill you have to leave the tip (the gratuity)..we almost always give 10%. Tomorrow a very long drive awaits us, we'll have to cover many km, we'll sleep at LETABA. We decide to set the alarm for 05:30.

SATURDAY 12/08/2006

We've already been on the road for almost two hours and we still haven't seen anything new, only horned ones (no offense to anyone)and zebras.. We go back for breakfast, always at the usual self-service, spending 70 rand each. We eat a lot because we usually skip lunch, we're finishing breakfast when Andrea F. warns us that in front of the camp there's the hippo eating..we haven't seen one yet and we leave whoever has to pay to do his dirty work and we all rush outside… So in front of the camp there's a river where some kinds of animals live or come to drink. In the river lives a hippo. Allow yourselves some time to sit and relax watching it.

Back to us..The waiter, seeing us bolt, immediately thinks we don't want to pay and then he takes advantage of the confusion and instead of 70 x 6=420 he asks for 520…(stealing 100 rand).At the moment we pay… Surely he thought he'd take advantage since for him we were leaving and would never come back…..After all our photos of the hippo and a warthog that kept passing in front of the camp…we first start tallying up the expenses, and since math isn't an opinion, we go back to the waiter to point out the error…He without batting an eye and without protesting (since we didn't even have a piece of paper to prove what was paid…)he says:you're right, right…and he gives us back the 100 rand, maybe he was afraid we'd tell a superior of his…So watch out, guys!!!! We set off again and as already said today the longest drive awaits us, we have to be at the camp by six in the evening and you can't sl

ip up.. Moving a bit further north,we see the savanna landscape transforming:it's really varied.The one to the south is all scrub and trees and dry vegetation (luckily we're in the dry season..I don't dare think what it's like in the green season, you see nothing…except what's on the road… Arriving at the middle of the park (it's about as big as Friuli), to be clear in the area of the camp called SATARA;we find ourselves in front of what for me is the real savanna,or at least how I imagined it… The vegetation is much lower and there are far fewer bushes and you have a very distant visibility….As a result we see a savanna full of life..For the first time we encounter many elephants. Majestic!! We see a group going down to drink,and even though from the other bank of the river we manage to find a good viewing spot..

They're beautiful,there's the male of the herd who is enormous and to my joy there are also the baby elephants….small and fun to watch…some take a bath but some always stay on alert to spot signs of danger… I'd stay for hours and hours watching them,studying their behavior,but the great distance forces us to continue the journey and keep searching for new animals.. The many types of birds and small birds we see certainly deserve a mention…some small but with wonderful colors,we see raptors,vultures circling round, a sign that maybe beneath them some animal has ended its existence and someone thanks to this is continuing theirs….

We meet animals we've already seen..zebras,giraffes,elephants..but each time they're so beautiful or majestic that you keep photographing them..(Thank goodness Diego in his tech-savvy way bought a little box (that's certainly not its name) where every evening he can download the digital cards of our two cameras and also those of our companions, avoiding the anxiety of always having to find a shop to burn them onto cd… On our trip I found it very exciting when an animal or a group crosses the road in front of you, passes in front of your car and especially in the case of elephants you hope not to bother them too much and that they don't notice your presence.

They're all very calm and often ignore you but it's still useful to take the necessary precautions and not attract too much of their attention,so as not to agitate them or make them run off ahead of time….At times we saw them really up close,Andrea on one occasion almost risked hitting a giraffe,luckily you drive slowly and in the case of the giraffe its head came out from behind the tree before its legs and with good reflexes,nothing happened and we took two nice photos of it. Every evening you have to be inside the camp by 18:00 at sunset. Today,right on time,we arrive at the camp chosen in advance from Italy:the LETABA (32€ per couple) and as soon as we enter we pay our fee. The camps are more or less all the same,some bigger others smaller. At Letaba we take the opportunity to do the laundry and with the dryer we manage to have everything ready for the following morning.

We're a bit worn out,it certainly can't be called a vacation of rest and dolce far niente…but we like it that way. Taking it easy turns out to be a small mistake;in fact we arrive at the restaurant at 20:15 since it closes at nine. We discover that hordes of hungry tourists who arrived before us have eaten almost everything and we have to make do with what's left. I think the blame can also be attributed to the restaurant which cooked to a count,whereas in other places every time a dish runs out it's replaced or replenished. We eat enough anyway. Tonight, to save a bit, we booked two three-bed bungalows, because the double ones cost too much….so we girls will sleep together and the guys together….We're all a bit sad at the idea of separating from our other halves,but when we booked we looked at the economic side and it seemed like a good thing.

We'll definitely survive!!!! We've decided that tomorrow morning we won't do the usual 5:30 wake-up call since the next camp, OLIFANTE, isn't very far and judging by the sightings board that you then check every evening at the camp entrance,we deduce that by staying in the area and with a bit of luck we can see many animals including lions,leopards,cheetahs and hyenas etc….

SUNDAY 13/08/2006

We set off around nine,driving up and down the little roads hoping to make some new encounter:so far we're only at two BIG FIVE? The rhino and the elephant,missing from the roll call are buffalo,lion and leopard…… We see animals we've already seen again,until we get near a river and find ourselves literally face to face, in the middle of the road, with a herd of buffalo.. They're so close that I'm a bit scared,their horns certainly don't go unnoticed. We reach a tally of three Big Five. We've decided to change pace and so we'll arrive at the camp in the early afternoon to eat and rest a bit with the goal of booking the night safari! I think this is the best solution,at Olifante they have the safari departing at 16:30 and returning around 19:30…in other camps departure is scheduled for 17:30.

It's not something to underestimate, what we're booking allows you to have 1.30 of daylight where the chance of spotting animals is notably greater and to also do the night part. We arrive at OLIFANTE (59€ per couple) and have a little something to stave off hunger and it's already time to get ready for the safari… We climb onto the truck set up for safari:it's all open and I recommend bringing a jacket for the temperature drop you feel at sunset,even though they provide you with a blanket…which in the end turns out to be useful.

We can admire what we call the usual animals (giraffes,impalas and the like…)then suddenly the complete HYENA family appears in front of us complete with pups…They're at most three months old and look like soft balls of fur (even though I didn't pet them)..they seem adorable even though when grown they'll become uglier and more scraggly with the malicious eye like their parents… There's their den protected by an old disused bridge and the next morning we pass by that off-road spot again and we find them busy drinking milk. Exciting. Continuing our safari we notice that at sunset everything vanishes..

The driver who is also the same person who spots the animals (in Malaysia we'd joined another safari and there were two of them, the one in charge just of driving and the one who spotted the animals…I think it's more logical that way, doing two things at once always penalizes one….even though each of us if he spots an animal can shout it out to the driver).Our driver-guide takes a spotlight and starts moving it back and forth on his side to find animals wandering in the dark or that are half-hidden… Another spotlight is given to Andrea F. who is on the left side of the truck…he really sharpens his eyesight and every time in the dark thanks to the spotlight two fluorescent eyes appear he shouts STOP…. and the whole group tries to figure out which animal it is.

Andrea takes his task very seriously and often finds:STEENBOK a kind of small antelope or deer….and in the end the phrase:stop steenbok will become the motto of our vacation… We do however manage to see very clearly the Janetta and the Civetta (owl) which unlike the name that might make you think of a bird,are actually a sort of small carnivorous skunks and belong to the Mustelid family. We also see the JACKAL that is the jackal searching for some carrion…we also encounter a hippo wandering around grazing on grass even though we know they never stray too far from the river… We head back super stoked but disappointed because even this time we didn't manage to see the lion…The safari cost us 230rand per couple (about 13€ each). We have dinner at the self-service and then straight to bed. Tomorrow we'll say goodbye to Kruger park and head to Mozambique……

MONDAY 14/08/2006

This morning is dedicated to the last extreme attempt to see the felines (lions, leopards and cheetahs) and we are determined that, except for the extreme possibility of seeing a giraffe doing cartwheels in the middle of the road or an elephant doing pirouettes, we will never stop to photograph them, using all the remaining time searching for lions. We meet almost all the animals again, we give them a quick last greeting when suddenly four lionesses cross the road in the distance. We start filming, taking photos but after two minutes they have already disappeared from our view among the scrub… Better than nothing, at least we saw them and we bring our count to 4 big five.

We continue our search and find four or five cars pulled over on one side of the road…there's surely something interesting!!! With time each of us learns to exploit others' eyes…it happens that someone is stopped photographing a tiny bird in a tree and you stand for a quarter of an hour beside their car to understand where the animal is hiding…many times this work of solidarity and exploiting others gives good results. In this specific case we see an impala straddling a tree trunk…..and it surely climbed onto the tree of its own will…and life abandoned it a while ago.Poor thing…..It was probably a leopard's lunch….which then, disturbed by people, came down and hid among the scrub a couple of meters from the tree. We look for it with binoculars, we maybe see the shadow but we can't see it exactly.. The impala on the tree is very striking.

At the end of the vacation we ask ourselves whether it counts as a Big five…..??are we at five or do we remain at four? It doesn't matter much since we don't win anything…it all remains a beautiful experience in our hearts… We set off again and on another little road a car coming the opposite way stops us and tells us that further ahead, turning left, we'll find the lions…Thanks to this tip we change our itinerary, hopeful…. After about twenty minutes and a few doubts our dream comes true: in front of us there are 3 LIONESSES and 1 LION resting on the edge of the road. Andrea and Jael have been to Kenya and have already seen the various animals so for them it's a deja vu…but for us it's the first time!!!!We are truly pumped and happy, photo after photo we immortalize the moment..

Now we can leave the Kruger….satisfied, we managed to see truly many animals even though for many of them I would have wanted more time to dedicate to them. I would have observed elephants for hours and hours, which I believe are animals that give a lot of satisfaction….A giraffe wanders and eats the grass even though it does everything very elegantly, the hippo eats the grass or sleeps or soaks in the river…the zebra eats or flees alerted by our presence….while in my opinion the elephant is beautiful, it is varied in its daily routine and its little ones are adorable…but then all animals have their own wonderful characteristics in praise of whoever Created them!!!!! Leaving the park we head toward Nelspruit where we have to return the rental cars and we have the night bus (165 rand per person, €35 per couple) booked from Italy with the company INTERCAPE that will take us to Maputo in Moz

ambique!!! On the edges of the provincial road there are peacefully cows, sheep and children and sometimes they risk crossing it dangerously. We are aware that we are leaving this world to discover new places, to give our eyes new food to feed on, but our heart cries a little. The animal world has truly touched and fascinated us and it is sad to think how man over time has ruined everything and many are at risk of extinction.. We are happy to have seen them in their natural habitat and not in a zoo…and our hope is that the locals increasingly understand that animals in the current state of things bring tourism and with them comes money and that they take care of the animals instead of killing and hunting them. Animals are a true treasure like their land! We arrive in Nelspruit when it's already dark, Diego and Andrea have driven for 4.5 hours; all ok.

Now we have three small problems to solve: 1) Where do we return the cars? 2) Where is the bus stop? 3) Where will we spend the time until three in the morning, the expected arrival time of the bus? We don't believe in the existence of luck but I can assure you that we got very lucky…. With the help of our ever-present guide LONELY PLANET and its maps we manage to orient ourselves in the city and both the car return and the Intercape stop are really close, separated by three streets… We immediately understand that whatever we do we have to pay or rather, you have to tip. Before returning the cars (it's about seven in the evening) and finding ourselves wandering around the city with only our backpacks, we prefer to have dinner and then find a place where we won't move anymore.

The guide warns us that the cities have a high crime rate and that white people are not very well regarded so we prefer not to stand out too much…In the area there's an Italian restaurant (even though it only has the name in common with Italy!) We park somewhat doubtfully at the idea of leaving the cars unguarded full of luggage….We ask a guard and she reassures us saying she'll keep an eye on them. While we eat (we'll find out later) a man washes both cars and I can assure you that after the dusty roads of Kruger they really needed it. We give him a tip and head to return the cars. We leave them as agreed since it's ten in the evening and the office is closed, in the gas station parking lot, and in front of the office there's a box where you put the keys.

We follow the instructions to the letter and while we are about to walk away the gas station guard calls us: we immediately understand…he wants his tip to make sure the cars arrive safe until morning. Luckily they really settle for very little.. We cross the streets with our backpacks heading to the bus stop. We weren't expecting a waiting room equipped with all comforts but at least a somewhat sheltered shelter with a few chairs would have been, in our eyes, the minimum…instead there's nothing at all!!!!!!! And when I write nothing I mean nothing..not even the sign saying bus stop that at least gives you confirmation that you're in the right place. So we have no certainty other than what the locals tell us. Someone told us we can wait in the lobby of the hotel next door..given the darkness, the hour and what we read about the dangerousness of any city we follow the advice.

We feel calm but it's always better not to push too far. We try, it's truly a luxury hotel, we ask permission and they tell us to sit in a corner without making too much noise. Everything is fine as long as we don't stay out in the cold until three in the morning. Around eleven-thirty the hotel's night watchman comes to call us telling us that our bus is leaving…we explain that ours heading to Maputo will pass later…The night manager takes the opportunity to tell us that this is not the place to wait for buses… We have to leave or pay for the service. We pay just to not stay out in the cold, they immediately quote a somewhat high figure, they're aware of the fact that we have no alternatives…but we are determined not to let ourselves be robbed for free and we negotiate…in the end we pay 140 rand for all of us.We wait until 2:30 and then continue waiting outside on the roadside.

We get into impala formation:all the luggage in the center and us all around…..Fingers crossed….The wait is very tiring and cold. At 3:25 it arrives… We're already at TUESDAY 15/08/2006 everything's ok!!!The people on the bus are asleep…we find our seat and right away the conductor brings us a cup of good tea to warm us up…Shortly after we sink into what can be called sleep…When we open our eyes again we're in MOZAMBIQUE!!!!!

YOU CAN READ MY ACCOUNT OF MOZAMBIQUE ON THIS SAME SITE: Our itinerary is as follows: arrival in Maputo,four nights in TOFO, four nights in VILLANCULOS (in the Bazaruto national park) and then back to Maputo to return to Nelspruit.

FRIDAY 25/08/2006

At 7:45 we take the bus (again from INTERCAPE (0861 287 287 (spending 650 metical each 40€ per couple)that will take us from Maputo to Nelspruit…It's an excellent company,in my opinion reliable and almost luxurious…you feel monitored and guided at the border crossing and they even do the check-in of the luggage complete with a ticket to hand back when you pick up your backpack…I feel I can recommend it as a means of transport. At around 12:00 we're officially back in South Africa. Sunday evening we have the return flight to Johannesburg…. We've decided to visit as much as possible and to satisfy a little desire of Diego's …see the BLYDE RIVER CANYON.

Jael's heart remained in Mozambique and many of us would gladly have spent up to the last minute there but we didn't want to run the risk that any unforeseen event might jeopardize our return….Even though the idea of going back to work doesn't appeal to us at all. In Nelspruit we go back again to the TEMPEST office () to rent a minivan with at least six seats also accounting for the space of the backpacks.

They give us a red Volkswagen and very roomy, we spend 160 € per couple for three days ( because in the end for an hour of delay they'll charge us a full day, raising our expense.) We head toward the mountains where the temperature drops again and we're forced to pull out our jackets and fleeces again…The BLYDE RIVER CAYON NATURE RESERVE is a nature reserve,of about 26,000 hectares and is visited by car following the various routes along the edge of the canyon and stopping at the main panoramic points… We do the same thing,we head north toward Graskop and stop to admire the various viewpoints like the Pinnacle,God's window (called God's window because of the very high vantage point..and others whose names I don't remember….We've completely changed landscape for the umpteenth time, making our trip even more varied..We're undecided about where to spend the night and decide to get as close a

s possible toward the Bourke's Luck Potholes (the guide describes them as bizarre holes carved into the rock by the whirlpools of rivers;from the photos seen they look really distinctive and we want to see them). We arrive at Graskop (alt 1450m) a town that as the guide says is very anonymous but we only need to eat and sleep there so it's just fine… We compare the prices of some B&Bs and immediately understand that the standard is a bit high for what we're used to but there isn't much choice,but at least there should be breakfast included in the price…. Andrea F and Raffaella (the ones who speak English best,Diego drives the van and Andrea B.

injured in one foot is segregated in the back seats without doors of the van…there isn't much choice) go down often to ask the prices and availability for three double rooms…after viewing a B&B they come back enthusiastic saying that one of the rooms is wonderful

SATURDAY 26/08/2006

At seven-thirty we meet downstairs for the breakfast included in the price: it's abundant and we are pampered by Mrs. Ina who, at the moment of goodbye, hugs us and after offering us a delicious Cheesecake even takes a souvenir photo of us…..and shows us a sort of market of jewelry sold for charity for the parish church….We say goodbye and thank her… Before departure we dedicate ourselves to shopping.. These are the last hours to do shopping and buy little gifts…..There are stands of the locals and real shops of all kinds….Passing by the street of yesterday's restaurant we find a very beautiful one of local crafts…all three of us young ladies are captivated by the fabrics, with typically local and animal prints, they have beautiful colors..they are not cheap but we don't want to regret later not having taken them….We buy them….

Around eleven we leave for the Bourke's Luck Potholes…entrance to the park 20 rand each. It is truly a beautiful spectacle; perhaps unique..majestic…these pools at the bottom of the canyon seem in certain points like real natural swimming pools…It is a spectacle that deserves to be seen. We organize our trip down to the last minute and call to book the visit for our last morning in South Africa at a leopard reserve that we learned about thanks to a television show…it is called DE WILD CHEETA RESEARCH CENTRE…..we are lucky, there's still room: we are booked for 8:30. We are so happy, we'll be able to see the cheetahs up close by doing a little safari… Now we have to resume our return journey heading toward Johannesburg; we'll spend the night in the area near the reserve so we can avoid getting up at the crack of dawn..

Diego drives practically all day, we stop only to take a few photos of glimpses of fantastic landscapes and for a break for an afternoon snack that will then turn into our dinner..(but we didn't know that yet!) We witness a wonderful sunset, the sky is colored an exceptional fire red…..emotions that remain also because for the first time we are all in the same car and it is a journey shared 100%. This day has a bit of the taste of the frontier, traveling among unspoiled landscapes, far-west style farms and skies stained with clouds that seem to have no end. This almost unreal horizon will be one of the memories we'll carry inside us after this trip. We also pass through the outskirts of Pretoria but by now it's dark and we don't see much… We arrive at Ravensport but when we start looking for a place to sleep it's already dark and every time we ask, everyone tells us they're already full.

We continue our search for a couple of hours when we understand the reason for the sellout: there was a sort of sporting event and a big party (tomorrow everything will be free..) thanks….but I'm not consoled….We move away from the area starting to get agitated and worry a little bit..(it's not too tragic to spend the night in the car in the worst case scenario but it's not in our plans and moreover the desire for a shower makes itself felt more and more with every moment…).We head up a hill with a dirt road full of potholes and stones without lighting, following only a little drawing of a bed…once at the top they tell us that they too are full, but they offer us a dormitory with tiny bunk beds arranged three per row and with the bathroom outside the building….and it's not even cheap….maybe if it had been free we should have thought about it anyway, the accommodation was so spartan;better

to sleep in the car! We drive around, ask and keep driving around….in one of those shops open 24 hours a day a woman offers to take us at ten in the evening to a B&B she knows…We follow her hopefully but then we realize she's taking us to the same place we came from…everything is closed (remember it's winter and there aren't many tourists) and she kindly calls the owner who prefers to lose our money rather than open his place….for one day… We continue our search now almost resigned….In the end we adopt the woman's technique: instead of following the directions all the way to the building where there's a phone number, we call, at least we don't waste our efforts, time and gas on useless things…. At 22:30, during one of our last attempts, we get a positive answer: they're open and have three rooms free.

We don't even ask the price, for the last night anything goes and at a certain hour you can't be too picky. The place is good and the owners are very kind and helpful.. it is called: OUDESPOOR 10 Jackson Street P.O. BOX 4900 BRITS 0250 Tel: 083 631 9980 Tracy. We pay 350 rand per room (about €41) Straight to bed, the room, again with the electric heater, warms up quickly…

SUNDAY 27/08/2006

Included in the price we also have a very abundant breakfast prepared by the owner still in her bathrobe…we surely dragged her out of bed….We have her explain how to reach the cheetah reserve and resume our journey…. After covering several kilometers and having turned around at least 3-4 times we reach the destination and immerse ourselves in nature…we pay 165 rand per couple (€20) After an explanation of at least thirty minutes about the history of the reserve, about the cheetahs and their situation in Africa and other things that I don't know since it was all in English and I don't understand a word of it…we set off for the visit. We see a few specimens closed in cages near the entrance and discover that they meow like cats but when you throw them some meat they have a slightly more agitated reaction than my cats do.

We climb onto an open little truck like a bus and start the tour of the entire reserve…we thought we'd do a safari like the one we did in Kruger but instead it's a study-tour…that is, we stop and receive an exhaustive and very boring explanation at every cage or enclosure and in front of every animal of different species like small savanna felines, a wildcat, vultures, hyenas, African wild dogs, ostriches and again other cheetahs….the latter are in a large enclosure and are free and this allows us to take nice photos without the net in between.

Every time there's a new animal our guide stops for at least a quarter of an hour to explain everything about the animal and the difficulties it faces today in free life….for example, vultures and similar, since there are no longer many carcasses of dead animals lying around on the roads or in the countryside, find it very difficult to find food….this I know thanks to Raffa who every now and then summarizes everything…Let's say frankly that if it had been in a language I understood (Italian) for me it would have been less heavy….but it was nice anyway! Cheetahs are wonderful animals…too bad that man in general is ruining everything….At the end of the tour, by paying, it's possible to have your photo taken with a very docile cheetah specimen that was also used for some films…it costs 300 rand for a group of 3 people..

We do it too even though it's not very natural…but these are unique things in life for the moment…it has soft fur and purrs exactly like a cat multiplied by its body mass.. you enter the room and you hear it purring…THRILLING!!! At the beginning they explain that previously the reserve, since the cheetah is an animal at very high risk of extinction, was subsidized by the state..over time, since they managed to breed them in captivity and the number rose, the state stopped giving funding…so here they are, forced to open to the public to finance themselves… Satisfied, we hurriedly resume the return journey heading to the AIRPORT… A few more hours together on the road, but we know these are our last moments in Africa…someone sleeps exhausted, someone takes stock of this trip, someone thinks about what awaits them at home…while Diego drives as usual and curses the annoying drivers.

We return the car at the airport and prepare for the hours of waiting before boarding….. It's practically over….Goodbye Africa…..your nature has left a mark on our hearts....WE'RE GOING BACK even though we're already dreaming of the next trip..