We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa at 6 P.M. on August 29th after a
16 hour flight from Atlanta. I had been dreading this flight every since Vicki
said “we” are going to see the animals and I found out she did not mean Busch
Gardens. Between having a row of seats to ourselves and good drugs, the trip was
tolerable. That and the lead flight attendant had just bought a scooter and we
bonded big time.
Right out of Customs there was a big sign with my name on it and Bryant from the
Africa Moon Corporate Guest House. He was a very jolly fellow and as soon as Lyndie, the owner from Cape Town arrived, we were off. This was a last minute booking and
I chose it because I thought it had an operating restaurant. It did not. It
operates like guesthouses and B & B’s near the airport in that you have to order in
advance for dinner.
We will wait and a see what daylight brings.
Day 2 started with a excellent breakfast in the Africa Moon. We adjusted
to jet lag, did some logistics and planning and went for the rental car. South
Africa drives on the left and I have done that before in the islands where the
roads are small and there are not many chances to get lost. In Johannesburg the airport
dumps right into an 8 lane expressway and then we had to make our way back
through traffic to the Africa Moon. We have a system to handle this. The
driver concentrates on driving. The non-driver navigates and continually says
“stay left, look right” . Occasionally the driver will hear “stay left, look
right, HOLY SH@T" or just a plain “LOOK OUT” and I will have
no idea what the other person is talking about!!!!! We managed to make a few
stops and get back to the Africa Moon with no damage.
The bar at the Africa Moon is a serve yourself and we did.....several
times.
Day 3 we headed for Kruger National Park in the north east of the country
and about 250 miles. When we got the car yesterday behind the counter was an LED
board with all the traffic problems in and around Johannesburg and it was about
20 or more locations. We had to make our way through one, and other than causing
a few wrecks we got through with no damage to our car and hit the highway.
We drove for miles and miles a saw nothing but brown. The land is like
western US with grain fields or grass for as far as the eye can see. The land is
brown, the trees are brown, even the evergreens are brown, the sky is brown.
Everything is brown. The last part of the trip we took the highly touted
“panoramic” route through the hills. There were twisty roads, but again as far
as you could see were tree plantations with trees all in a row with large areas
all the same height depending on age. Then there were the huge areas where they
had clear cut the trees. Nothing to write home about.
With ramshackle towns and less than attractive landscape and areas of
great poverty with large areas of people living in cardboard houses, I am not
impressed. In Johannesburg everything had a tall wall weth barbed wire around it. I
expressed these thoughts to a friend and he said “Ken, remember you are in
Africa”. I had forgotten that and was expecting more I guess because the welcome
sign said South Africa and there are a lot of well-to-do white people. I had
forgotten how they got there.
"panoramic" route
We arrived mid-afternoon at the Sabie River Lodge and checked into tent #2.
It is on the edge of the Sabie River and we were immediately treated to an elephant
parade and at dusk, hippos grunting and frolicking in front of the camp.
from the river looking at our tent
they used to pay me $100's to stay in a tent, now I pay them. funny how life goes in a full circle
the princess watching elephants on the river
elephants in our front yard
hippos
Day 4 we were up and off to see the “Big 5”. There are more interesting
animals to me than the “Big 5”, the most dangerous to hunt, but that is what
everyone needs to check off this list. Patrick was our guide and a good one. It
was very chilly in the morning but was hot by the time we returned at 12:30. We
saw them all: elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, hippos, wart hogs, giraffes,
zebra, etc. etc.
Where there was one of the big 5, there was a big crowd. As you are not allowed out
of your car everyone would jockey for position to see them. Surprisingly
everyone was courteous and worked around so that the most number of people could
see. Our big find where there was no one was a lion with a fresh kill and his
family. He was hard to see as his dead prey was down in a gully. The lioness
and cubs were easy to see and the only time we would see the lion was when the
lioness would try to make her way down to the kill and the lion would charge
out and run her off.
Then we went shopping. First to buy gin at a little dusty, barred liquor store. They had a hard time understanding me but in the end we got it done. The owner came up before we left and said we needed a glass to drink out of and gave us Smirnoff glass.
Then off to the mall. That was a bust. It is pay day and the mall looked like it was Christmas. Wall to wall people. We decided to shop another day and headed back to watch the elephants in the river.
Then we went shopping. First to buy gin at a little dusty, barred liquor store. They had a hard time understanding me but in the end we got it done. The owner came up before we left and said we needed a glass to drink out of and gave us Smirnoff glass.
we stopped by the police. they wanted to know what old white fat guy was doing with such a young girl and did my wife know.
we always get the butt
