October 27 - November 04,  2004

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Country Facts: South Africa

Latest Updates:     

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
162km

leftover pasta

27 October, 2004

Belule camp

24°03.396’S x 31°44.033’E

Cloudy 78(F)
degrees

It stayed cloudy and a little rainy all morning. We didn’t see much in the way of animals and we spent a couple of hours during the day reading and writing website updates. We went to Balule camp for the evening. Balule is what is known as a “bush” camp in Kruger. There is no grocery store, petrol station, or electricity. Hot showers and flush toilets are of course still available. The camp is much smaller than the others we have stayed at and we enjoyed watching hyenas prowl the perimeter fence near our camp.

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
306km

 beef stir-fry

28October, 2004

Aventura Blydespoort

24°34.717’S x 30°46.518’E

Sunny, 96(F) Degrees

This morning we saw a group of about 7 hyenas lounging on the road near a baboon they had killed. After watching them sleep for awhile, we left the park and drove into the Blyde River Canyon area which is supposed to have some good hiking. We stopped at the information center and booked accommodation at two huts along the trail for the nextg two days. We checked in at a corporate mega-resort aimed mostly at tour busses. It wasn’t quite to our taste, but we made the best of it, enjoying sundowners on their restaurant patio overlooking the canyon.

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
37km

Leftover beef stir-fry

Near Graskop, South Africa

29 October, 2004

Watervalspruit Hut

 Not Recorded

Sunny, 92(F)
degrees

We left the car at Bourke’s Luck Potholes this morning, planning to do a 3 day one-way hike in the Blyde River Canyon. We boarded a minibus that took us to the trailhead where we had lunch. We walked for only about an hour through beautiful rolling grassy hills to reach the first hut. The hut is not as nice as those on Mt. Mulanje, but we have the place to ourselves, and the caretaker had left firewood for us. We found a nice pool in a nearby stream to bathe in. After a beautiful sunset, we cooked our dinner over the fire. We threw the sleeping mats onto the lawn and crawled into our bags as we watched the full moon rise into scattered clouds.

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
14km

 Salmon Curry

30 October, 2004

Clearstream Hut

 Not Recorded

Cloudy, 84F) Degrees

Sleeping outside, we awoke at first light. After breakfast we set off for the next hut. Our hike took us through some beautiful country that reminded us of New Zealand with it’s vivid green rolling hills. We arrived at the hut at about 1230. After lunch Jen did some bird watching (and spotted five species she hadn’t seen before) while Witt napped in the sun. At around 5pm, a group of four South Africans arrived, and we talked with them as we prepared our dinner. Rain was threatening so we elected to sleep inside the hut.

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
75km

Chinese restaurant

31 October, 2004

Graskop Holiday resort

 24°55.922’S x 30°50.798’E

Sunny, 88F) Degrees

We set off a little later this morning after talking with the South Africans for awhile. The trail followed the Teure River for awhile, but the scenery wasn’t as nice as the previous two days. Forestry is big here (we would later learn that we were in the midst of the largest man-made forest in the world) and the evergreen forests are pretty aside from the fact that all of the trees are lined up in nice neat rows. We lost the trail at one point and spent about 30 minutes locating it again. We stopped for lunch on a rock in the river and arrived back at Bourkes Luck at about 230. We bought some cool drinks and headed to Graskop. In the evening we walked into town, which felt exactly like what it was: A tourist town in the off-season on a Sunday night after everyone had driven back to Joburg for the week. We had trouble locating an open restaurant and finally ended out in a pub where we started talking to Garret and Maggie, a couple from the nearby village of Pilgrims Rest. They invited us to join them for dinner at a Chinese place around the corner. Garret and Maggie have so much energy that it’s exhausting just being around them. They interrupt each-other and jump from topic to topic faster than the five oclock news. Their two teenaged sons are even worse. They would sit down and start talking, only to interrupt themselves by jumping up and dashing out of the restaurant on some unknown errand. They invited us to come to visit them at Pilgrim’s Rest tomorrow, and to stay for dinner, an invitation which we appreciated and accepted with some trepidation.

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
50km

Baked potatoes

01 November, 2004

Jock's Lodge

 25°05.871’S x 30°46.631’E

Sunny, 87(F) Degrees

Pilgrim’s Rest is like the little towns in Alaska on the cruise ship itineraries. The local population is about 150, all of whom depend upon the bus loads of tourists that arrive every day to disgorge their souvenir-buying and lunch-eating cargo. A former gold mining town, Pilgrim’s Rest is a string of 1900s era buildings spread out along a road along the hillside. The town will host the world gold panning championship next year. Garret spent the morning taking us around town, introducing us to the locals. “This couple is from America. They’ve driven all the way through Africa! We met them last night in Graskop.” The locals were friendly, but as is usually (and understandably) the case, they didn’t want to spend the energy getting to know another tourist who is just going to get back on the bus (or Land Rover) and leave after an hour. After buying Garret lunch we headed out of town. I had heard there was some good mountain biking in Sabie, so we stopped there at about 230 and spent the afternoon in the internet café. When we returned to our car, we found a note on the windshield saying, “Hi, I’m from Colorado Springs!” We eventually found the author who turned out to be a 70 year old lady who has been living in South Africa for the past 40 years. We also met a Dutch couple after pointing out a low tire on their hired car. We all got together for a few drinks and talked for a couple of hours. The US presidential elections tomorrow are a hot topic. Apparently 90% of the Belgian population supports Kerry. I found it interesting that we had a conversation with Dutch people about American politics while I couldn’t even describe the structure of the Dutch government.

Pilgrim's Rest

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
43km

Haute Cuisine

02 November, 2004

Sabie Backpackers

 25°05.590’S x 30°46.726’E

Odometer: 41523km

Sunny, 90(F) Degrees

The Dutch couple’s tire was flat this morning, so after breakfast we put some air in it for them so they could drive it to a tire shop rather than dealing with the spare. The bike rental place in Sabie is moving locations and things were a bit hectic as we tried to sort out our bikes. We got underway at 1030. The sun was hot as we followed a dirt logging road out of town. After an hour or so we started to climb steeply. We ran out of water and contemplated turning back. We pressed on and finally made it to the paved road and the promised restaurant. We ordered lots of Coke and water. The lunch menu looked very nice indeed. We started with springbok capriccio, followed by a trout fillet for Jen and a trout/feta/spinach quiche for Witt. We shared a crème brulee for desert as we enjoyed the view over the valley from the restaurant’s patio. With a full stomach and sore bums, we decided we weren’t up for the 22km ride back to town, so we phoned the bike shop and asked them to come and collect us, which they had offered to do. Chantel arrived about 30 minutes later in her tiny blue pickup truck. We threw our bikes in back and headed to town. We had snacks for dinner that evening and went out with Linda searching for glowing mushrooms. I think you have to smoke some of these mushrooms before you can actually see them, and we didn’t see any. We stayed up late talking with Linda and her finance Woody. Woody happens to be the son of Jack, one of the South Africans we met while hiking in Blyde River Canyon a few days ago. He grew up in a town inside Kruger National park and shared some amazing wildlife stories with us.

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
143km

Grilled T-bone, salad

03 November, 2004

Bushcamp

 25°52.034’S x 31°04.231’E

Odometer: 41666km

Sunny, 92(F) Degrees

After saying goodbye to Linda and Woody this morning, we drove south to Nelspruit. It’s time to buy airline tickets home. We stopped at a travel agent in a flashy mall outside of town. The travel agent found us decent fares to Philadelphia on December 9. As a little bonus, we get to spend two days in Amsterdam on our way home. It’s strange knowing that our trip has a set end date now, and a little scary that it’s only five weeks away. We are looking forward to seeing friends and family from home though. We finished with the travel agent and had lunch, then went to an internet café to check on the presidential elections. It’s still up in the air, but it looks like Bush will come out ahead in the end. We looked at a map and decided to try to make it into Swaziland rather than spend the night in Nelspruit. The border we’ll be using is on a little dirt road and closes at four pm. Out of Barberton, the road begins to climb steeply up a large mountain range. With my foot on the floor in second gear, Rafiki started to overheat. As the needle inched toward the red mark, I shifted back to first and we crept slowly up the mountain. The road followed an areal tramway once used to bring asbestos from a mine in Swaziland to Barberton for processing. As we reached the top of the mountain range, the tarmac gave way to dirt and we entered a beautiful area of green mountains flanked by pine forests. As we continued to wind along the road, it became apparent that we wouldn’t reach the border post before it closed at 4pm. Having seen few cars and even fewer people, we decided to bushcamp. We pulled off on one of the many forestry access roads and camped just below the main road, but out of sight of it. Our campsite has a lovely view over a green, forested valley. We built a fire and grilled a steak, enjoying the peace and quiet you can only get bushcamping. As the daylight faded, the starts came out in all their glory and we sat watching for meteors as the fire burned to embers.

Updated Information

Distance  Today:
174km

Impala Stew

04 November, 2004

Sondzela Backpackers

 26°29.704’S x 31°11.740’E

Odometer: 41840km

Sunny, 94(F) Degrees

Last night was wonderfully quiet after the rumbling trucks at Sabie Backpackers the night before. After breakfast (which included a quart of motor oil for Rafiki) we headed to the swazi border. The South African side was deserted and the staff all came out to have a look at our car. They were friendly and efficient and we were soon on our way. The Swazi side was equally deserted and our passports were processed quickly. A woman with a baby asked us for a lift to the nearby town of Pigg’s Peak, so we cleared off our spare seat and she climbed aboard. She told us about the history of the asbestos mine, which closed in 2001, and showed us the empty workers’ housing complex and a golf course quickly being overgrown by the bush. It was like a modern ghost town. She was headed for the capital, Mbabane, which is where we’re going as well, so we said we’d take her all the way. After dropping her off in town,, we had some lunch in a park, then headed to a glass factory. We were able to stand on a catwalk over the factory floor and watch workers turn lumps of molten glass into elephants, lions, beer glasses, and other useful objects. In the afternoon we drove the short distance to Mliliwane National Park. We cooled off in the swimming pool at the backpackers and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Dinner was offered for only 25 Rand each so we decided to enjoy the Impala stew rather than cook.

A bushbuck and baby

November 5 --->