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Part 9 -- On to a different world: Mpumalanga
The Western Cape was very comfortable for us. It was very cosmopolitan and tolerant, everyone spoke English, the terrain resembles the Arizona/Southern California area, and the visitor services were similar to (but better than) those that we have here in the US. Unlike more exotic places that we have been to in the past, there was little adjustment to be made. We just enjoyed it. But it would be a shame to leave Africa without seeing something a bit more exotic -- something from the Africa of legend; something really different. Mpumalanga had all that. So we started taking our malaria prevention pills, grabbed our rented VodaCom phone (which worked everywhere), and off we flew to the old eastern Transvaal, Afrikaner culture, serious bush country, and lots of big dangerous wild animals. The summer rainy season had started up there and flooding was on the news the day we left. The mosquitos were breeding and the first reports of malaria were streaming in. The bushveld which had been drought-stricken and barren of grass just a few weeks earlier was suddenly coming to life in a carpet of green. Trees were leafing. The rains would make animals harder to spot. We also learned that when there is plenty of water around game animals don't congregate at the waterholes and are more dispersed. That also means that the big cats who prey on them can't be easily found at those same waterholes. Also, it seems that the cats don't like to get their feet wet, and so aren't so active in rainy weather. Plus we would be there during a full moon period, and predatory animals are more easily spotted by the prey during full moons, so stay hidden. Good thing that seeing lions killing a pretty impala wasn't one of our goals on this trip (my wife was quite relieved). And predictably we didn't see any big cats. The dirt roads in Kruger were closed due to mud, and five days simply wasn't enough to tour a park the size of Massachusetts. So rather than rent a car and try to do Kruger National Park on our own, we opted to place ourselves in a lodge and relay on a guide to show us the terrain. That turned out to be a wise decision because with a guide we were able to be taken to the most interesting places by a local expert. It was more expensive, but very cost effective considering the limited time we had. It turned out to be well worth the cost. We would also be very close to other countries -- Mozambique and Swaziland, but didn't know if we could go to those places and re-enter South Africa on our single-entry temporary residence permits. So it was an adventure in many ways. On to Nelspruit and KMIA. |
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