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#11
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South Africa Report Pt 2
Day 4: My friend drops me off at Simon's Town station and I catch the train to CT. My friend is sceptical that this is a "safe" thing to do for a person on their own with luggage and a camera around my neck but everybody else I have spoken to thinks that it's OK. There another affluent person just behind me with similar luggage - he's on his way to the airport (so he tells everybody who phones him). I don't fell the slightest bit threatened by this ride. I pick up the car and drive out of town. I'm off to the game parks in Western Cape. Stop off at the first service area as I need some (drinking) water. Whilst in the shop there a wonderful smell from the attached bakery so I buy an early lunch, this is something UK services could learn from! There's a huge choice of pies (this is something of an SA speciality) and I decide that given the variable quality of restaurants eating from the bakers each day could be a good move! I arrive at Swellendam, which the guide says is an interesting small town, not in my opinion it isn't. I drive north onto the scenic Route 52. This is an interesting road through the "Little Karoo", starts off as a spectacular mountain pass and then wonderful, almost desert, scenery. I come to a point where they are resurfacing the road and have only a single lane open. They do this is very long sections and the waiting time at the "stop" is 20 minutes!. In a country with no shortage of workers this is all manually operated, I wonder if it has to be manned 24 hours? as even in the middle of the day there were only about a dozen cars in my line. I stop for the first night in Oudtshoorn and get the local Info Office to find me a B&B, which they do for no charge. I have no idea what to expect with this type of accommodation. I have come loaded up with soap, towels, pillow and sleeping bag, but I need none of them, it is wonderfully clean and fully appointed, all for 300 Rand pn. They are not the slightest bit bothered about putting a single person in a double room (though whether they would be in "Summer", I have no idea.) The letting rooms are in a separate "house" in the rear garden. Much of this is to be repeated at every other B&B that I stay at. Apparently, it has been 40 degrees (C) today. I didn't really notice in my AC car. This is an Afrikaans town, no-one speaks English as first choice. Day 5: Breakfast is a cooked "Full English" (which IS what they call it!) plus your choice from a "continental" table of cereal, bread rolls, muffins, and a small selection of cheese and meat. You don't go hungry here. I've decided that I have to lose a day so as not to arrive at the game park on a Saturday, so I drive the short distance north to Cango Caves. There are two tours, the "normal" one and the "adventurous" one. Because it leaves first I book the normal tour at 55 R, but I wonder if I have done the right thing. Then I find a sign which says "if you are over 50 or over (IIRC) 80 Kilo don't book the adventure tour" and there's a display of the smallest tunnel that you have to crawl through, it's 3 metres long and 29 cm high. It looks tiny, even if you are quite a bit under 50 and quite a bit less than 80 Kilo you will want to think twice, I think it's only suitable for under 30, slim, people!, so I did the right thing. The caves are, um caves, moderately interesting but nothing special. North of the caves, I take the un-made road over the Swartberg pass. The road up is fun and well made for a gravel road. There are signs telling you not to feed the Baboons, but these are a different bred of Baboons to the ones at Cape Point. If they see a human they run and hide, even if they are 40 yards away up the mountain, they still run away. No chance of feeding these monkeys! The road surface down is much worse and fallen away in places. It's close to being impassable for a normal car (but I notice that I'm not the only "idiot"), I'm glad that I didn't try this road in the other direction! At the bottom of the pass is the "interesting" town of Prince Albert. Hum, I disagree again, turn around and leave immediately. Take the long way back to Oudtshoorn via Kareendouwberg pass and then the coast road to Knysna where I stay for the night. For tonight's meal I choose Springbok steak. What I am served looks and tastes exactly like a sirloin steak. I'm not sure if I have fallen for a "tourist" trick (akin to Bombay Duck or Buffalo Wings), whether Springbok really tastes exactly like beef or I have been cheated. (Later my friend tells me that it isn't 1 or 2!) Day 6: Today's breakfast is a bit of a let down. I only get cooked eggs to go with my continental plate, though, of course, I don't starve. Today I make the long drive to Craddock. I notice that there are lots of people hitching holding out money and sign saying "PE" (Port Elizabeth). I wonder what the deal is for picking them, feel guilty about not doing so, but with no knowledge of the local situation decide that I can't risk it. Even if they are "safe", the person at the road-side is probably a proxy for a whole family accompanied by a couple of goats and they are really looking for a lift sitting in the back of a pick up (which seems to be the normal method of transport by the locals). On the way I stop off at Tsitsikamma Park which is home to the highest bungee jump in Africa. No I don't give it a try, but watch the people that do for half an hour. I bypass PE, there's little of interest and I suspect (only on the evidence of stopping at the petrol station) that it isn't the most "tourist safe" place to stop. My friend (and the guide books) recommend that I should go to the private Shamwari park as well as the "National" ones so I stop off on the way to suss it out. I'm hoping for a day safari, but I'm told that they only do overnights which are 2 safari, three meals and "all you can drink"! It's 5500 R pp sharing per day, which is staggering. As they aren't busy I'm told that they will do that rate for a single instead of the normal 50% supplement. It's a lot of money for one day, but I can afford it (once) and there are lots of hotels in Europe that change that just for a nights stay so I book a night for later in the week. Have I done the right thing? I later pick up a leaflet with tours to other private parks and this is the normal price! Arriving in Craddock I note that a few kilometres from the town is an African township. A jumble of properly constructed huts, wooden huts and tin nuts. They are all small. I wonder how many people live in each one. There is real separation between this "village" and the main town, but it is obvious that all of the residents (the ones with jobs at all, that is) work in the town as there's nowhere else for 100km. I note that the B&B that I stay in, which seems only to have 3 letting rooms, has five staff as well as the couple that run it. I sense a culture of inventing low paid jobs. And for today's restaurant disaster, I ask for the waitress to choose me a brand of cider, without checking that it was going to be made of apples (as I got a swift, "of course", the previous time I did this) and am served with an apricot flavoured breezer!Where do they get these people! Gotta stop now, Game parks tomorrow! tim |
#12
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South Africa Report Pt 3
Looking for feedback to make sure that people, are reading. You know what
to do I see that no-one corrected my deliberate mistakes! I am, of course, in Eastern Cape and the scenic road is 62! Day 7: I get up early, skip breakfast and arrive at Mountain Zebra park for 7:30 (80 Rand). As soon as I get in the gate, a herd of zebra are crossing the road in front of me, all quite exciting. There are also lots of different types of Antelope here. The locals know their names but to me they are just deer with curly horns, deer with straight horns and deer without horns. This is interesting for a whilst but after a few days you get a bit bored of stripy horses and deer. I drive round all the roads that are good for a normal road and other animals spotted are warthogs, velvet monkeys, a monitor lizard, family of meercats, a mongoose and a buzzard and a herd of buffalo, but they are too far away to be interesting. There are no dangerous animals here so you are allowed out of your car if you want. But it doesn't help, the animals are used to cars passing, but they run away as soon as you stop. After about 4 hours I guess that it has got too hot for the animals and I blag a pass-out from the man on the gate. Apparently you're not supposed to do this. but he lets me. I use the lunch time to drive to Graaff-Reinet, another "interesting" town. Well it's better that the others, but still not that great. On the way, a couple of Kamikaze guinea fowl cross the road just in front of me. I almost get free dinner, but they run out of the way just in time. 20 km down the road there a sign "beware of guinea fowl", gee thanks for the warning! I get back to the park at 4:00 and hope that the cooler afternoon makes the animals come out again, but it doesn't and I see nothing new. I leave at 6:30 (it shuts at 7:00). On entering you are signed in via a simple list. When I sign out I can see by the size of that list that only about 20 people entered after me. It obviously doesn't get busy here. Day 8: I am due at Shamwari at 13:00 so I drive to Georgetown first, expecting another unexciting town. But it's not, it's actually very nice. I think that the fact it's a university town helps a lot. I arrive at Shamwari and it's all too luxurious for me. The man gets my bag out of the car without asking, he parks it without asking, the cleaner comes into my room every hour or so to do some new task, all of which I am perfectly capable of doing for myself. I know that this isn't adding much to the cost, but I still prefer not to have so much fussing. On the afternoon game ride the ranger takes us to see elephant, rhino and hippo plus lots of deer and a couple of buzzards and goliath heron. We also see a giraffe, but for some reason he doesn't try to get close to it. Though, when I say hippo they are almost completely covered by water and I see perhaps 10% of a hippo. You have to be very patient if you want to see them standing out of the water. This was an interesting introduction, hopefully tomorrow morning will be better. We return for the buffet dinner where I get to try warthog and kudu (that's the large antelope with the curly horns. It's the emblem of the nation park service! so I guess that the have to cull them.) Go to bed early as it's a 5:00 start in the morning. Day 9: The 5:00 start is really too early. It's still dark, really cold, you can't see any animals and even if you could see them, you can't take any pictures of them. The ranger spends the first hour looking for footprints. We also drive past a very pungent smell which he doesn't comment upon. I have to ask what it is and he tells me it's the smell of a "kill", as if everybody knew that? We find the footprints, but it doesn't help us find the cats, so he drives us to the elephants/rhinos again. I saw them yesterday, though today he parks up on the route of the elephants and they pass within 3 feet of us. I wouldn't do that in my car! Eventually I spot a small cat, a caracal (apparently that's another name for a Lynx?). We hear on the radio that someone has found a cheater, but it's too far away for us to go there and then, eventually, someone finds a pair (mother and son) of leopards, so we rush to that spot. We have to wait whilst the earlier groups get in first and as we get there they are just wandering into the undergrowth, 30 seconds later and we would have missed them, that how hard it is. It's now time to go back for breakfast, but on the way the ranger spots a pair of secretary birds. Initially, I think that he's making a fuss over something that isn't that exciting, but then the female starts to flap her wings and squawks. The ranger says that's she's caught something. So we watch whilst she repeatedly throws her pray (a snake) onto the ground until it is dead and then she eats it, sucking it down in one like some people might eat spaghetti - amazing. Finally, as we approach the base, we spook a herd of deer and I discover why the springbok, is called such. After breakfast I leave the park and drive to Addo. I was going to visit the (Elephant) park tomorrow, but I am early enough to go in now, so I do so. I ask if they have any cabins free to stay in, but they are full. The sign says that entrance is 110 R for me and 25 R for South Africans. I wonder if the other parks have the same rule? The animals here are dangerous, so you must stay in your car. There are 100's of elephants, that is, of course, the reason for the park, and they are easy to spot. During my drive around I get stuck between a herd walking towards me, and a single one behind me and I am stuck for what to do. They like walking on the road as it is easier for them, but it's worrying for me. Fortunately, the one behind me turns off onto the grass and I am able to reverse up to somewhere safe, phew. There are also (as well as the stripy horses and deer) rhino and lions here, but you are very lucky to spot them (I don't). You can get ranger tours for 190R which might increase your chances of seeing these animals, I don't know? Because it's (another) hot day, many of the large animals are in the mud pool, so I get to see the (albeit very dirty) buffalo close up today. The only other new animal I see is a tortoise the size of a dustbin lid. I leave the park and look for somewhere to stay. I am expecting a choice of places but there isn't. There's one B&B only and the only eating place is a supermarket that does a small range of take-away. This is the worse B&B that I stay in. Not because there is anything particularly wrong with the room, but because it doesn't have Air Con, and as it is very (very) warm I have to sleep on top of the bed with the windows open. Consequently I get bitten to death. I make a note to be sure of Air Con in future! Overall, I think Addo is the best value park to visit. But you need to be staying inside overnight. As well as the accommodation being better, you get the opportunity to do safari tours at times when they are closed to day visitors. That's all for now folks tim |
#13
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South Africa Report Pt 3
il Thu, 2 Apr 2009 00:01:19 +0100, "tim....."
ha scritto: Looking for feedback to make sure that people, are reading. You know what to do I see that no-one corrected my deliberate mistakes! I am, of course, in Eastern Cape and the scenic road is 62! Overall, I think Addo is the best value park to visit. But you need to be staying inside overnight. As well as the accommodation being better, you get the opportunity to do safari tours at times when they are closed to day visitors. That's all for now folks tim It's very nice to read of your holydays.... It brings to memory many things of my travel there last september... A very controversial country but I loved it. Please keep writing Tim... Ciao Lelio |
#14
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South Africa Report Pt 4
I was beginning to think everyone had stopped reading! Day 10: I returned to the Park for 7:00 to see if there were any different animals to be seen in the morning. I passed one of the Ranger tours and they were all getting excited - about some paw prints! Oh well. We didn't find the owner and the only thing new that I saw were the "Addo flightless dung beetles" which I think you can guess are unique to the park. They are huge (for beetles) about 4 cm across in both directions. They are all over the road and you have to be careful not to squash them. I stopped in the area of the "hide", one of the few areas where you are allowed to get out and I see what I think is three beetles pushing a perfectly spherical dung ball, about the size of a golf ball, across the path. But when I get closer I see that they are fighting over it. Seems a bit unfair, one beetle spends all that effort making it and another one comes along and steals it from him, it's not like there's a shortage of dung, the park is full of it! I drive back via the other half of Route 62 to George. On the way I stop off at a lay-by for a rest and there's a hitcher by the road. Whilst I am there, someone stops to give her a lift. As I suspected, it was a beat up old car already completely full of locals. Tonight I take a trip to the fish and chip shop, the British tradition that (IME unlike other colonials[1]) the Afrikaans seem to have taken to. The choice is Hake or "Snoek", the latter of which, before I arrived in SA, I (nor my spell checker) have ever heard of. So I try it, it's not very expensive, so if I don't like it I can try something else. My friend did actually show me this fish on the harbour at one of the places we visited and TBH it didn't look very nice as it's a grey fleshed fish. Well, it's actually quite tasty, but it completely full of very large, separate, bones. You've no chance of choking on them as they are massive, but picking them out is very fiddly. This doesn't make a very practical fish to eat with your fingers out of a paper bag! [1] Perhaps the other "southern" colonies have them, I've never been Day 11: Morning in Mossel Bay, the home of the Bartolomeu Dias Museum (he's some important person in the history of the discovery of "Africa", if like me you don't know of him, I'm sure you can look him up!) Whilst on the way to this I stop and ask directions from a policeman, he says "follow me" and drives round the town to the museum, now where else would this happen? Afternoon in the Wine lands - Montague/Robertson/Worcester/Paarl. These are quite nice but none are particularly exciting. I look for accommodation at the last, but the Info office is unhelpful and all of the B&Bs in the list are very expensive, so I decide to press on to Franschhoek. It's no cheaper here, but the Info Office helps me to find a room at one of the cheaper ones. It's still twice the price of anywhere I have previously stayed (and some are twice that again). I can't understand this, I can't see it as a "destination", it's an easy day trip from Cape Town, by car or one many of the organised coach tours. Day 12: Morning at Boschendal Manor House. There I take a trip around the manor house and a "cellar" tour, which isn't really a cellar at all. Quite interesting - recommended. I don't do the wine tasting, that isn't my thing! I drive to Stellenbosch which is a large bustling town. It's quite interesting, but it's the only place where I have a problem parking, I park at a "one hour" space on the street. It isn't really enough, but I make it suffice. I take a look in the African market and notice some, what I'm going to call, "teatowel" paintings of abstract "ethnic" scenes. I ask how much, and am told 350R This is the first thing in the market that I think is expensive, so I say no and wait to look elsewhere. The next destination is Spier Estate, but on the way I pass the Van Ryn Brandy Distillery and they do tours, so I book on that. Another recommendation! The Spier Estate isn't that interesting, it just seems to be a park where you can picnic (only if you buy it from their shop) and a wine shop. I don't see the winery. Drive back to my friend's house and another mediocre restaurant meal. Day 13: Take the car back to CT. Walk to visit: the Castle/Long Street/Cathedral/"The Garden"/Governor's House(outside only)/South Africa Museum. All quite fun, the Museum has the most amazing collection of stuffed animals and bare skeletons. I did want to do the Holocaust Memorial museum, but as it's Saturday, this is closed. Catch the train back to Simon's Town. Day 14: Borrow my friend's car and drive to Constantia, another wine road. There are a dozen wineries here and as it's Sunday, they are all doing a roaring trade in Breakfast/Brunch. Groot (does that mean Great?) Constantia is the one to visit for tours and again I visit the Manor House and go on the Cellar tour. Super. There is a "cafe" in the yard, but around the back is a more upmarket restaurant, "Simons". I look at the menu and surprisingly, it is much the same price as everywhere else. It opens lunchtime at weekends and evenings so I ask it I can have lunch. They turn out to be fully booked, but I can eat at a bar "table", if I wish. As I'm on my own, this is not a problem, but it's wouldn't be practical for a group. The food is superb, highly recommended, don't forget you need to book (http://www.simons.co.za/). Day 15: Today off to Jo'burg as my friend is attending a wedding. We have to be there by Friday afternoon. We're going in the Land Rover so that we can go on the back roads. It takes forever to pack because he's packing for every eventuality, he even packs wood for a BBQ. I made it clear to him before I agreed to the deal, that I don't do "camping" under any circumstances, but of course he has to come back without me, and he has plans for other things if another friend agrees to meet him later. We leave at 1:00. The first stop is a family friend who lives at Fraserburg, a middle of nowhere farming community. The route is across the karoo. An endless scenic wilderness of nothing, with the occasional sheep or cows. On the way we (I was driving) are stopped by the police. She is phased by my foreign license and informs me that the reason for the stop is "my number plate is dirty", later we check and it isn't, what nonsense! Have they got nothing better to do? Arrive at 19:30, after the only restaurant has closed and a take away has been delivered for us! Day 16: I skip breakfast, as I don't feel like it, but I'm amazed to find that the prepared breakfast that I passed on, was porridge. I thought it was just northern Europeans that ate this? Today, we drive cross country because my friend prefers this. It's because the scenery is nicer and it's less busy. I think he's wrong on both counts, the scenery on the main road is just as good, and seeing one car every 5 minutes is hardly "busy". Our destination is Gariep Dam park, as it's assumed that there will be lodgings by the lake. It is almost dark when we get there and we follow the "accommodation signs" to Oviston on the south side. This is a mistake, the only B&B is closed, so we stay in a self catering cabin, there is no restaurant and the shop closes in 10 minutes. We rush around and buy some provisions, but there's limited choice so we end up with pasta and tomato sauce and a packet of cakes. We are the only person in the cabins. It is well furnished, but basic, we get a two roomed cabin so have a room each, which is nice - we wouldn't have got this in summer though! It is only 90R each. This is out of season and it seems no-one comes here except in the school summer holidays. How can you make a living running tourist accommodation with an 8 week long season? It's not really on the normal route from somewhere to anywhere. Day 17: Drive across the "Orange" river on the viaduct in the middle of the park. A spectacular sight. Another cross country trip takes us to Van Rooyenshek gate into Lesotho. We have to fill in a form, "where are we going, how long are we staying ...." and I get an exit and entry stamp in my passport. At this gate there's a toll of 4 Rand to enter, this is to use the road, not to enter the country. Seems a bit pointless, but I suppose they need the money. Immediately after the gate is a hotel. It doesn't look very nice! BTW Lesotho has its own currency but it's locked to the Rand and everybody accepts and quotes prices in Rand. As soon as you get into Lesotho you can see the difference, and not just in the man made things. The landscape is completely different as well. This "western strip" is where 95% of the people live, and most live in villages, so about every 3 km is another village of 50 houses. This is bad for us as it means that the speed on the road is slow, but good if you want to travel without a car as this relatively dense population means that buses and taxis ply the road frequently. All of the houses are made of mud (and sticks), but most of the shops are tin huts, they must get excruciatingly hot! Farming is different here. In the Karoo, the animals were left to wander on their own. Here, every time you see a small group of sheep or cows, there is a man tending them, only the donkeys are allowed to wander on their own. We drive to the capital Maseru, which is a sprawling bustle of "normal" shops, not worth stopping in. My friend wants to drive the central pass so we head in the direction of "Roma". There's a sign to an accommodation lodge, 40 km down the road so we follow that. It looks quite full, is well appointed and we take a room (actually a lodge in the garden). It is nice and modern and the only minus is the absence of towels, no matter, we have come prepared - 300R pn (for the room). This is a good find, we haven't really seen anywhere else so to get somewhere good is a bonus. There's a sign to another lodge 10km up the road, but when we pass it it looks empty and closed. We drive down the pass for 40 Km, over "God help me pass", Blue mountain pass and something else. This has wonderful scenery and we see more farmers tending their animals. Here it is too far to take them back to a village each night so the farmers stay out on the hills with them They build little round straw houses to sleep in and we can see some under construction. An amazing insight into another way of life. Back at the hotel all of the people who were there in the afternoon have gone, apparently they were there for a day conference. We have dinner in the restaurant and are the only ones. About 75% of the menu is "off" and we have a choice of about 5 things. Oh well, the food that we do get is good. Day 18: The lodge is right next to an unmade road that leads to the Ha Barona rock paintings. The road is 6km long and terrible, un-passable for a normal car! At the end is a modern visitor's centre and the guide comes out to greet us. It is 20R pp. He takes us to the cave 1km away and shows us the paintings. Back in the visitor's centre there is a modern facsimile of them. I note from the visitor's book that 2 people visited the day before and no-one for the previous 5 days! TBH it's not really that exciting. But they need the money. Lesotho is a poor country, 195th out of 230. It's agricultural output is not enough to feed its own people and apart from exporting water to SA, all they have is tourism, and that's quite minimal. We drive to the town of Teyateyaneng, "the craft centre of Lesotho" and according to both of my guide books the number one attraction in the country. What a waste of time. All it is, is a normal domestic market selling food and pots and pans and suchlike. Not a single stall selling "crafts". These guide people went to a different place to me. The only interesting thing is the stall selling what I shall loosely call, "voodoo" items and herbal medicines. Drive to the cave dwellings at Ha Kome. The signs to this are awful, but eventually we find it, and again it is down a terrible unmade road to a modern visitor's centre. This drive seems like miles, but it isn't, it's only 1.6km so you could park at the end and walk. There is a small village of about 200 people just beyond the visitor's centre and the guide lives in that village. This is also 20R pp but we have to "compensate" the people who live in the caves with 50R, so 90R for the two of us. Whilst a couple of hundred years old they have been "modernised" and the people living in them live the same life as the rest of the village. It isn't that interesting an experience, IMHO it would be better if the residents moved into a mud hut and they "staged" a traditional way of life in the huts for visitors. But once again there only seems to be a handful of visitors each week so would that be worthwhile? While we are there the "traffic" police turn up (six of them!) and our guide asks us to go back on our own whilst she deals with whatever it is that they want. Quite what traffic police want in a village with no traffic, is anyone's guess. We drive out of Lesotho at Caledonsport (which is free!). I don't get a new SA visa, I just get a second entry stamp for the one that I already have. I wonder if this is special for Lesotho (as what else can you do but go back to SA) or whether any trip to an adjacent country works this way? Outside of Maseru we saw only one sign to any other accommodation. This is a pretty difficult place to stay in. Overnight, we stay in a self catering "hotel" in Caledons for 150R each, which is made up for 8 people so we get a good choice of rooms. As I'm about to go to bed a bat flies into my room. I don't mind these animals outside, but I have to confess I am spooked by the idea of it flying around my room as I sleep. I wait for it to fly back out again and swiftly shut the door! Day 19: Drive to Jo'burg up the highway. We are hoping for a couple of hours to drive around the town but as we arrive it starts to rain really hard. It seems like about 6 inches falls in 30 minutes and the traffic just stops. We are about 10 cars back from a junction that is going nowhere. After some time we have edged up close enough to see and 4 lanes of traffic are trying to pass into one lane. It is obvious that the other 3 are full of water so my friend drive up on the kerb to get into the empty lane, past all the queuing cards and ploughs through 12 inches of water, much to the frustration of the "normal" cars and especially the idiot that tried what we have just done and failed! It is clear that other roads will be like this so we go to the airport. I hope to pick up a car for two days, but because I had no idea of an arrival time (or date) I haven't booked one. I manage to find one at a good price, but it is quite hard and I only get 200 km pd. Apparently, if I'd have pre-booked it would have been unlimited! My plan is to go to Pretoria today and see what options I have. This takes an hour longer than it should because of another flooded road and it is getting dark as I arrive. I have a list of B&B that I picked up at the airport and was going to drive around to find one, but I notice a "stayeasy" hotel. Apart from the colour scheme this has an identical business model to an Ibis and at the weekend is 550 R. I can't be bothered to look for anything better, even though it's next to the main road and will be noisy. I'm just off the town centre so I ask if it's safe to walk in. The girl says "no", actually she says "it isn't even safe for us!" So I drive in to look for a restaurant. At the first traffic light I am bothered by a "squeegee" mugger, though as I've only don't 60km since the rental company cleaned my car it doesn't need cleaning. The centre is hectic and doesn't look safe to park, even if I saw a restaurant, which I don't. I eventually see a Nando's on a quietish road, so go there for a take away. Day 20: After the very basic (included) breakfast I drive into the town centre. It's still early and everything is closed. I park by pretorius square and notice that the few people there have been sleeping there. I am careful to avoid them as I take a few pictures and leave quickly. At the church square, as I park in a space I am approached by the car park mugger who wants to help me put my money in the machine and "guard" my car. I was only going to take a couple of pictures so wasn't going to pay. I can't get rid of him and have to drive away. The other sight in Pretoria is the Union Building on the other side of town. This seems to be a safer area (next to the Sheraton) and I get a few pictures. Finally, I drive to Melrose House, where you can park "safely". I ask if I can tour, but as today is a holiday, it is closed - nowhere does it say it closes on holidays! All in all, Pretoria worried me, even though the guide book said that it was much safer than Jo'burg. It isn't on my repeat visit list. Drive to Hartsbeerspoort dam. Get caught up in a marathon (actually it's a 20K) and am not allowed to take my car down to the town. Driving over the dam is spectacular and I look for somewhere to stay. But there isn't much and I end up in a grotty Self Catering apartment at 400R. I would have been better waiting for the end of the race and going back to the town Down the road is another tat market and I look at the paintings. I like one of a village scene and they want 550. I say that this is much too much. Down to 350 and it's still too much. The guy insists that I "make him an offer" and I say 100, he's insulted and wants more. I make him a final offer of 150 and he grudgingly accepts. Next to this market is a shop, IIRC "Just Africa". This is a fixed price shop and you can buy "stuffed" animals - a baby elephant for 150,000 R or a lion for 80,000R. Even, if I could carry them home, they are out of my price range. Most of the smaller stuff is similarly priced to the market, except for the paintings. These I find are 50R and are marked as Zimbabwean art. I look through them and there isn't one to match that which I have already bought, but a couple of others interest me so I buy them. However they are not as good quality materials. After rolling them up together and packing them in my checked luggage, the cheaper ones show some marks from being squashed and the more expensive one doesn't! Outside, I am approached for a "contribution" to a church. The guy shows me his ID and his "bible certificate". I stifle a laugh, but admire his creativity and agree to a contribution. I was thinking 20 R. He tells me that I have to fill in his form and everybody else before me on the list, from the UK/EU/USA, has contributed hundreds and in one case 2500! Nuts, this could easily be a scam. Or perhaps they just contributed the same as me and the guy added a couple of zeros afterwards, who knows? Day 21: Drive to the "cradle of humankind" which includes the caves at Sterkfontein where some ancient humanoid fossils were found. There's an interesting exhibition here but I didn't rate the caves. They were not well lit and there is no real attempt to show you any fossils in situ (or even the holes that the came out of). I found this disappointing. Finally I drive back to the airport, and as the guide book says that it's not safe to go around the centres of Jo'burg on your own, it recommends visiting the suburbs of Sandton and Randburg. Can't think why, they were just shopping centres (and as it was a Sunday, closed). Day 22: Nothing to do with SA. I arrive back at T5. I have to say that the walk off the plane, down three sets of escalators to a stupid train to "immigration" is nuts. Who designed a new building this way? AIH, whilst I was waiting (inside) for the railair bus I was approached by someone taking a survey and I gave this aspect of my "visit to T5" a poor rating. Of course nothing is going to change it, it's built now! That's all folks tim |
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South Africa Report Pt 4
On Apr 6, 12:29*am, "tim....." wrote:
I was beginning to think everyone had stopped reading! Day 10: *I returned to the Park for 7:00 to see if there were any different animals to be seen in the morning. *I passed one of the Ranger tours and they were all getting excited - about some paw prints! *Oh well. *We didn't find the owner and the only thing new that I saw were the "Addo flightless dung beetles" which I think you can guess are unique to the park. *They are huge (for beetles) about 4 cm across in both directions. *They are all over the road and you have to be careful not to squash them. *I stopped in the area of the "hide", one of the few areas where you are allowed to get out and I see what I think is three beetles pushing a perfectly spherical dung ball, about the size of a golf ball, across the path. *But when I get closer I see that they are fighting over it. *Seems a bit unfair, one beetle spends all that effort making it and another one comes along and steals it from him, it's not like there's a shortage of dung, the park is full of it! I drive back via the other half of Route 62 to George. *On the way I stop off at a lay-by for a rest and there's a hitcher by the road. *Whilst I am there, someone stops to give her a lift. *As I suspected, it was a beat up old car already completely full of locals. Tonight I take a trip to the fish and chip shop, the British tradition that (IME unlike other colonials[1]) the Afrikaans seem to have taken to. *The choice is Hake or "Snoek", the latter of which, before I arrived in SA, I (nor my spell checker) have ever heard of. *So I try it, it's not very expensive, so if I don't like it I can try something else. My friend did actually show me this fish on the harbour at one of the places we visited and TBH it didn't look very nice as it's a grey fleshed fish. *Well, it's actually quite tasty, but it completely full of very large, separate, bones. You've no chance of choking on them as they are massive, but picking them out is very fiddly. *This doesn't make a very practical fish to eat with your fingers out of a paper bag! [1] Perhaps the other "southern" colonies have them, I've never been Day 11: Morning in Mossel Bay, the home of the Bartolomeu Dias Museum (he's some important person in the history of the discovery of "Africa", if like me you don't know of him, I'm sure you can look him up!) *Whilst on the way to this I stop and ask directions from a policeman, he says "follow me" and drives round the town to the museum, now where else would this happen? Afternoon in the Wine lands - Montague/Robertson/Worcester/Paarl. *These are quite nice but none are particularly exciting. *I look for accommodation at the last, but the Info office is unhelpful and all of the B&Bs in the list are very expensive, so I decide to press on to Franschhoek. *It's no cheaper here, but the Info Office helps me to find a room at one of the cheaper ones. *It's still twice the price of anywhere I have previously stayed (and some are twice that again). *I can't understand this, I can't see it as a "destination", it's an easy day trip from Cape Town, by car or one many of the organised coach tours. Day 12: Morning at Boschendal Manor House. *There I take a trip around the manor house and a "cellar" tour, which isn't really a cellar at all. *Quite interesting - recommended. *I don't do the wine tasting, that isn't my thing! *I drive to Stellenbosch which is a large bustling town. *It's quite interesting, but it's the only place where I have a problem parking, I park at a "one hour" space on the street. *It isn't really enough, but I make it suffice. *I take a look in the African market and notice some, what I'm going to call, "teatowel" paintings of abstract "ethnic" scenes. *I ask how much, and am told 350R *This is the first thing in the market that I think is expensive, so I say no and wait to look elsewhere. The next destination is Spier Estate, but on the way I pass the Van Ryn Brandy Distillery and they do tours, so I book on that. *Another recommendation! *The Spier Estate isn't that interesting, it just seems to be a park where you can picnic (only if you buy it from their shop) and a wine shop. *I don't see the winery. Drive back to my friend's house and another mediocre restaurant meal. Day 13: Take the car back to CT. *Walk to visit: the Castle/Long Street/Cathedral/"The Garden"/Governor's House(outside only)/South Africa Museum. *All quite fun, the Museum has the most amazing collection of stuffed animals and bare skeletons. *I did want to do the Holocaust Memorial museum, but as it's Saturday, this is closed. *Catch the train back to Simon's Town. Day 14: Borrow my friend's car and drive to Constantia, another wine road.. There are a dozen wineries here and as it's Sunday, they are all doing a roaring trade in Breakfast/Brunch. *Groot (does that mean Great?) Constantia is the one to visit for tours and again I visit the Manor House and go on the Cellar tour. *Super. *There is a "cafe" in the yard, but around the back is a more upmarket restaurant, "Simons". *I look at the menu and surprisingly, it is much the same price as everywhere else. *It opens lunchtime at weekends and evenings so I ask it I can have lunch. *They turn out to be fully booked, but I can eat at a bar "table", if I wish. *As I'm on my own, this is not a problem, but it's wouldn't be practical for a group. *The food is superb, highly recommended, don't forget you need to book (http://www.simons.co.za/). Day 15: *Today off to Jo'burg as my friend is attending a wedding. *We have to be there by Friday afternoon. *We're going in the Land Rover so that we can go on the back roads. *It takes forever to pack because he's packing for every eventuality, he even packs wood for a BBQ. *I made it clear to him before I agreed to the deal, that I don't do "camping" under any circumstances, but of course he has to come back without me, and he has plans for other things if another friend agrees to meet him later. We leave at 1:00. *The first stop is a family friend who lives at Fraserburg, a middle of nowhere farming community. *The route is across the karoo. *An endless scenic wilderness of nothing, with the occasional sheep or cows. *On the way we (I was driving) are stopped by the police. *She is phased by my foreign license and informs me that the reason for the stop is "my number plate is dirty", later we check and it isn't, what nonsense! Have they got nothing better to do? *Arrive at 19:30, after the only restaurant has closed and a take away has been delivered for us! Day 16: I skip breakfast, as I don't feel like it, but I'm amazed to find that the prepared breakfast that I passed on, was porridge. *I thought it was just northern Europeans that ate this? Today, we drive cross country because my friend prefers this. *It's because the scenery is nicer and it's less busy. *I think he's wrong on both counts, the scenery on the main road is just as good, and seeing one car every 5 minutes is hardly "busy". *Our destination is Gariep Dam park, as it's assumed that there will be lodgings by the lake. *It is almost dark when we get there and we follow the "accommodation signs" to Oviston on the south side. *This is a mistake, the only B&B is closed, so we stay in a self catering cabin, there is no restaurant and the shop closes in 10 minutes. We rush around and buy some provisions, but there's limited choice so we end up with pasta and tomato sauce and a packet of cakes. *We are the only person in the cabins. *It is well furnished, but basic, we get a two roomed cabin so have a room each, which is nice - we wouldn't have got this in summer though! *It is only 90R each. *This is out of season and it seems no-one comes here except in the school summer holidays. *How can you make a living running tourist accommodation with an 8 week long season? *It's not really on the normal route from somewhere to anywhere. Day 17: Drive across the "Orange" river on the viaduct in the middle of the park. *A spectacular sight. *Another cross country trip takes us to Van Rooyenshek gate into Lesotho. *We have to fill in a form, "where are we going, how long are we staying ...." and I get an exit and entry stamp in my passport. *At this gate there's a toll of 4 Rand to enter, this is to use the road, not to enter the country. *Seems a bit pointless, but I suppose they need the money. *Immediately after the gate is a hotel. It doesn't look very nice! *BTW Lesotho has its own currency but it's locked to the Rand and everybody accepts and quotes prices in Rand. As soon as you get into Lesotho you can see the difference, and not just in the man made things. *The landscape is completely different as well. *This "western strip" is where 95% of the people live, and most live in villages, so about every 3 km is another village of 50 houses. *This is bad for us as it means that the speed on the road is slow, but good if you want to travel without a car as this relatively dense population means that buses and taxis ply the road frequently. All of the houses are made of mud (and sticks), but most of the shops are tin huts, they must get excruciatingly hot! Farming is different here. *In the Karoo, the animals were left to wander on their own. *Here, every time you see a small group of sheep or cows, there is a man tending them, only the donkeys are allowed to wander on their own. |
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