South Africa 2004: A Tight Holiday

Preface

A holiday (even though "journey" would make it more glorious) always begins well before the departure date, to such an extent that as you reach the places more or less planned, you have a slight perception of having already been there. The fact is that for months we worked on it (it's true... not all in equal parts, I mustn't take credit I don't have...!!), helped by the fact that the Kruger requires booking well in advance, otherwise you take what's available..... a bit like what happened to us!! The fruit of our work includes an initial part dedicated to the famous Parks Pilanesberg, Kruger, Hluhluwe-Umfolozi with the right amount of time to savour them properly.....and a big descent down to Cape Town (see title!) through Swaziland, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Wilderness, Oudtshoorn and Stellenbosch.

Just to make us understand that it will be a hectic holiday, the Swiss airline, our great carrier, at Zurich has a nice "DELAYED" next to LX 0288, Zurich-Johannesburg, I thought it only happened to others, but no! All in all these Swiss demonstrate excellent efficiency, flight restored for tomorrow morning at eight, they go out of their way to move our reservations in South Africa and excellent accommodation at the Mövenpick with a bonus for dinner and phone calls. The second attempt is successful, we manage to leave and we travel excellently served, with a personal screen and all. Besides films, music and games (even the legendary millionaire!) you can watch the landscape below from the onboard camera!!! Having landed in Jo'burg after something like 8,500 km, we have to find accommodation for the night, something we hadn't planned.

Hooked onto the info desk, a girl waits for her prey, as soon as we arrive she captures us and leads us to her BB. Used to ferrying tourists around, she drops us at Caesar's for dinner and our first tastings of Impala fillet. We also try to multiply our rand at the casino but with poor results.

Pilanesberg

Yesterday evening coming out of the airport with our gleaming bright red Toyota Condor was a bit under the narcotic effect of the flight.....but today driving on the right side is showing all its diabolical nature!! Windshield wipers activated instead of the turn signals, gear shift on the left, not to mention merging into traffic!! Heading toward Pilanesberg we see the Hartbeespoort Dam which is nothing special and finally at 1 pm we are at the Manyane Chalet of the Golden Leopard Resort. Having taken possession of our lovely Lodge we are impatient to venture into the Park. We have a couple of free hours before the night excursion.

At the first encounters the emotion is really strong also because yes, from travel accounts it comes across that it's fairly easy to see animals but we are not used to seeing zebras or elephants crossing the road in front of us!! We chose this park following the excellent impressions of other travelers and indeed the sightings are fruitful. The most frequent presences are zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and impala. During the evening excursion we are lucky, right away we see a lion, then illuminated by the Ranger's spotlight white rhinos and a coyote. We return half frozen from the tour, the sky is always clear with mega starry skies at night but the nighttime temperature is definitely low. Dinner at the resort restaurant, this time we taste the Kudu, excellent. Today up at the crack of dawn at 5:30, we booked the walking excursion.

After the usual freezing on the open pick-up (we wrap ourselves in blankets....but it's not enough!!) our ranger (armed) tells us all the precautions to take in case of approaching animals....it intimidates us a bit! Three hours of walking in the bushveld.....but zero animals!! Evidently they take you to a "quiet" area and the excursion is good only for a bit of physical activity. We return in time to use the breakfast voucher before the buffet closes. The beauty of these parks is that you can drive around on your own along the various dirt roads, so we resume our exploration. Today's stroke of luck are 2 cheetahs that very calmly walk a hundred meters from the road

Sabie

Today's transfer was planned over 2 days, but to catch up on our schedule we have to halve the time. We therefore give up seeing the Sudwala caves and the Nelspruit Botanical Garden and head straight for Sabie. We make a stop to refuel the car...and ourselves! At the petrol station there are some little tables, we approach, but they are all filthy with bones on the tables!! Better the sidewalk, today we live off our savings with the sandwiches swiped from the buffet!! We arrive in the early afternoon at the Wayfares, Sergio's B&B, a guy from Turin who moved to South Africa many years ago. The advice they gave us was precious: the rooms are very pretty and well kept.

We still have time to see the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horse Shoe Falls, a glance at the souvenir stalls and then we get ready for dinner, here the restaurants close very early! Since we are here to taste....tonight it's the crocodile's turn!

Sabie

Cloudy weather, so we give up seeing the Blyde River Canyon. We see Mac Mac Falls, Berlin and Lisbon Falls, names given in honor of the colonizers of these regions and Gods Window. Excellent pancakes in Graskop, a specialty of the area. In the evening we absolutely must taste the famous Sabie trout, really not bad at all.

Kruger

We're lucky, the weather is beautiful, we head toward the Blyde River, we see the Bourke's Luck Potholes, unusual erosions in the reddish rock created by the river. Then we look out over the canyon and the Three Rondavels, a breathtaking sight. Of course we couldn't miss the photos on the rock suspended in mid-air (standing on the outer edge was not the best!!!) At 2:30 pm we're at Orpen and we enter Kruger. Along the road leading to the Satara camp we come across zebras, springboks, giraffes and buffaloes, not a bad calling card. At 5:30 pm safari trip, we see few animals (a female elephant with her baby, and a hyena worth noting plus a porcupine, zebras, giraffes, impalas) Freezing cold! Poor dinner at the Satara restaurant, at 9:30 pm we go back and off to bed.

Kruger

Second day at Kruger, we move north to Letaba, a large herd of buffaloes crosses the road in front of us, we keep our distance.....you never know!! Today we're seeing lots of animals, the first hippos and the first crocodiles living together peacefully. Before reaching the camp an elephant, very close, gets nervous, his trumpet blasts make us jump. After taking possession of the lodge at 5 pm we go out to a hide. The camp closes at 6 pm, we rush but it's worth it, a female elephant with her baby crosses the river, it's amazing to see the baby disappear completely in the water. There are also quite a few hippos, the sunset this evening is spectacular, truly African!

Kruger

After the cold of the previous excursions we'd really like to cancel today's, meeting with the ranger at 5:30 am! We're rewarded, Maurizio's hunch comes true, we immediately see a lion lying on the road and a lioness in the bush. We interrupted his nap....soon he too vanishes into the forest. Once the luck is over...the sightings end too. We head back, vacate the lodge and continue north to Mopani. We see few animals. Finally at the camp restaurant you can eat à la carte, the buffet is starting to get tiresome. The meat never disappoints, always excellent.

Kruger-Swaziland

The Mopani is a nice camp, complete with a swimming pool, but not for anyone wanting direct contact with the Kruger and its animals; Satara and Letaba are much better. We cover the 50 km that take us to the Phalabowa gate and head towards Swaziland. We have to drive about 40 km on dirt roads and arrive by 4 p.m., after which the customs closes. In fact we arrive late, the gate locked with a padlock, a lady goes to call the official who kindly, once the visa formalities are done and the usual bribe paid, lets us through. It would have been a mess having to turn back!! We still have quite a few km of dirt roads and mountain roads ahead to reach the capital Mbabane.

A desolate place, at seven in the evening there isn't a living soul, in front of the open establishments there's always an armed guard! We eat excellent meat at the Casserole and sleep at the City Inn...since we can't find the B&B listed by Lonely.

Swaziland-Hluluwe

A brief visit to a Swazi village with a local dance, a long stop for shopping at the craft market and departure for Hluluwe park. No lunch, just snacks in the car. We settle in at the Nyala B&B, 140 Rand for bed and breakfast. For dinner there's only one restaurant, the Savahna. Cla and I get the "flat" chicken, a whole chicken on the grill!!!

Hluluwe-Umfolozi Park

For me a sleepless night because of the chicken, and off to the park without breakfast. It's true that here you see loads of animals, especially rhinos; there's also a capture centre to supply the Game Reserves, an excellent self-financing solution. The elephants at the river are great as they go about their personal grooming. But the highlight is a cheetah we see when we're about to leave; it comes right up to a waterhole to drink just a few metres from us. The baby rhino with its mother crossing the road in front of us is adorable. Unfortunately tonight too we're stuck with the Savahana restaurant, it's not up to much.

Durban

We set off again from Hluhluwe and on the way to Durban we stop at Nkawalini to see Shakaland, a village rebuilt for a TV series, now also a hotel in the Protea chain. A short visit with a Zulu guide and then we watch the dance, more impressive and interesting than the Swazi one. A meal of hamburgers at Echove and we reach Durban around 5 p.m. We settle in at the Parade hotel and go out for a stroll, while we try to head towards the centre a gentleman (a white man) seeing us in the classic tourist pose asks us what we're looking for and warns us saying that it's very dangerous to walk around in that area. It's only 6:30 p.m. and we're just a couple of blocks in from the Marine Parade. We head back quickly and indeed it isn't pleasant. We have dinner on the seafront (finally fish!), beer at the hotel pub and at 11 off to sleep.

Durban

We take a look at Durban, we pass quickly through the port area and then the centre to see the Town Hall and the Square. On foot we go as far as Victoria, in the Indian area. There aren't any particular things to see but life around these streets is frenetic, what strikes you are the many "phone" hawkers and various sellers of things like sweets and toilet paper! Lonely says it's a pickpocket area, but we come out unscathed. At 11 we set off again towards Port Elizabeth, a mistake on the motorway takes us onto a detour through inland valleys, the number of people along these roads is incredible, schoolchildren coming home from school, women with unbelievable weights on their heads and men with wheelbarrows. Landscapes all ups and downs, the dwellings very distinctive, made up of a rectangular house alongside a circular structure. We stop at Umtata around 6 p.m.

looking for a B&B but incredibly they're all full, we leave the town and find at the Shell City Inn at 349 R per room (Friday offer). Given the scarcity of restaurants we have dinner at the petrol station fast food, decent fish and chips.

Umtata-Jeffrey's Bay

As usual wake-up at 7:30 (but are we on holiday??!!) breakfast at yesterday evening's fast-food place and then we take advantage of this stop to visit in Umtata the museum dedicated to Nelson Mandela. I manage to translate little and it's a shame. Still, you grasp the various phases of apartheid that led to more than 20,000 opponents of the white regime being imprisoned. We set off again, today too we have to do about 500 km to Port Elizabeth. A stop for lunch at East London, a pub on the Indian Ocean and.....the first pizza of the holiday, acceptable and...heavy!! We arrive at P.E. around 6 p.m., at the exit we go wrong, instead of entering the city we carry on along the R 102. By now it's pitch dark and we don't really know which direction we're going in. We persevere and we're rewarded.

After another 70 km we're finally at Jeffrey's Bay, we couldn't have made a better choice! We stay in a beautiful chalet at 280 R (70 each, less than 10 euros!) with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and living room with TV. On the receptionist's advice we have dinner at De Viswijf, decent fish but excellent white wine!

Wilderness

After so much shopping at the craft stalls, we treat ourselves to a bit of surfer shops in search of t-shirts. We set off again around 10:30, meanwhile the weather has turned bad and soon it's pouring rain. Stop at the big tree, but not very interesting. For lunch we treat ourselves to the exclusive Plattenberg Bay, while we're eating everyone stands up, out at sea you can see 2 whales, so it's true that they're there!! Our destination today is Wilderness, we pass through Knysna, the rain maybe doesn't do it justice, and we settle in at the B&B Dolfhin Dune, on the hill. Too bad that all the sea-view cottages are already gone, it's still a wonderful place, I'd add luxurious, at the great price of 175 R per person. Everything is brand new, the bathroom even has a shower and a whirlpool tub, the accommodation is well furnished and curated down to the details.

Dinner at the Griller, we pay more than 700 R for an oyster each (good!) and the mixed plate, which was very generous. We're here for the whales but so far we haven't been very lucky, we've only seen one.

Wilderness - Cape Town ( Strand)

As usual we start early, breakfast at 8, and our host strikes again. He hands us a sheet where you tick what you want to eat, awesome! Today too we have the usual countless hours of driving ahead of us, it's a vacation......you could say spent in the car!! The weather is gorgeous, we head to the Cango caves, beautiful but commercial. It's noon and we still have time to go up the Swartberg Pass. A dirt road that climbs up to 1600 m. There's a crazy wind, we take 2 photos and head back down. By now we can no longer stop at an ostrich farm, the ostrich farms, and so no filet!! To reach Cape Town we go over another pass, the views are always beautiful, helped by these incredible roads. Maurizio does this drive from 1 pm to 7 pm to get all the way to Strand.

This is a vacation area with lots of accommodations but very little hospitality of the B&B or Hotel kind, every now and then there's a sign indicating a B&B but then mysteriously you can't find it. In the end we find a full apartment for 140 R per person. Steak at the usual Steak House and then off to sleep. In these houses it's freezing, luckily there's an incredible thickness of blankets!!

Cape Town- Stellenbosch

Today, exploration of the Cape peninsula, and again good weather today. We start with the penguins at Simmon's, a quick visit......given the unbearable smell they give off. We drive along the coast to the Cape, to enter the park you pay 35 R. It's evocative to think of a map of Africa and imagine dots at the southern tip. The Cape of Good Hope couldn't be missed, the oceans aren't as stormy as I imagined. We arrive at the Waterfront in time for the Robben Island visit....that is, we have to run like madmen to catch the last catamaran. Our thoughts go to the Pulsar...let's hope we don't go dancing!! It's a real shame not to have a translator. The stories about the prison from our guide would be very interesting.

The return trip is a bit "rough" and someone suffers....we pick up the car and go to Stellenbosch to settle in at the Devon Valley, a Protea chain hotel, this time we don't spare expenses, 290 R per person. We go out to dinner......only three of us, GB has been "damaged" by the catamaran. A luxury restaurant and a 180 R splurge, springbok with red wine, not exceptional, wine at 14.5°....it knocks us out. Not satisfied, we also hit the disco-bar, great nightlife in Stellenbosch!

Cape Town

Second day in C.T., going down the highway we see the townships that hadn't been noticed the evening before. Among everything, what strikes me is that here people run across the highway, climb over the concrete guard rail and maybe even survive! Today is a mega day, but we immediately discover that there's wind, we head to the departure station of the cable car for Table Mountain...and indeed it's closed and we settle for the view from here, which is already good. The sky is very blue but the Table doesn't let itself be seen. We move on to visit the city center and the Waterfront. By chance we run into an acquaintance of ours on vacation at his uncle's. Early return to Stellenbosch for wineries. We arrive at 5:30 pm but everything is already closed, we opt for the very well-stocked market. Dinner and off to sleep, tomorrow a big early start at 6:30!

cape Town-Johannesburg-Zurich-Malpensa

We've already reached the last day, returning the car with a good 5400 km. We discover that the low-cost flight with Kulula.com is actually with British and unlike our low-cost flights they serve us an excellent breakfast. On top of that, the hotel prepared a breakfast bag for us! Cla and I, curious to see Jo'burg, organize ourselves, at the usual info point, already useful on our arrival for the B&B, we find a guy who for 50 Euros takes us to visit the city. We stop at the African Museum, which gathers a bit of everything. Interesting is the section dedicated to the first political prisoners and the reconstruction of a slice of the townships, including sounds and noises. We go up to the 50th floor of the top of Africa with a remarkable view over the city.

This brief tour allows us to understand that it's a very dangerous city, even during the day the impression isn't good, especially for a white person. At the airport we spend the last rand on wine before boarding.

Reflections...

Finished writing on 07/09/04, for me it also served to relive the trip, when you're immersed in it it's hard to give a fair assessment. Now I really realize that another trip is over, and I'm happy to keep it in "my archive". After all, it's always a test, I know that for the group I didn't always manage to give what I wanted, I thank my companions, Claudia who with her smiles kept spirits high, Gb for the security he gave us and Maurizio for always accepting our continual changes of plan!

enrico