South Africa- The Return

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Africa is such a big country that you need a lifetime to explore it.  I decided to return to see the Mid to Eastern half of the country in order to see the diversity in people, animals, and landscapes during winter (their summer) of 2016-2017. 

Capetown will i will always remember as one of my favorite cities in the world.  What is not to like about this place?  There is a plethora of places to eat (game meat delicacies as well as fresh sea food right from the ocean), as well as places to just walk around the town and enjoy yourself.  There is not shortage of cafe’s and nightlife in this city as you can find just about anything to do on any given night.  Just outside of Capetown you can enjoy penguin and sea lion viewing as well as a trip down to the wine country of Stellenbosch.  If you fancy going down to the most southern point in Africa, then it is just a short ride away.  Capetown I will see you again soon….

Addo Elephant Park is a great game reserve in which you can find most animals  Located just a short ride from Port Elizabeth, this Park has it all.  Of course the elephants dot the rugged landscape wherever you end up.  There is an abundance of bird watching here, with many species you will not find in other parts of South Africa. We were lucky enough to see a lion cub which is not usually seen out in the wild and also two sleeping cheetahs (one of them got up to look at us, yawn, then went back to sleep.  Very beautiful place where you can spend days or weeks at a time soaking in the peace and tranquility of the animals in their natural environment.

 

No trip to South Africa is complete without a hike in the majestic Drakenberg Mountains.  The rugged yet beautiful scenery is seen throughout this beautiful land.  Animals are seen feeding in their environment and do not care if people are around.  The many waterfalls and streams are seen as you hike throughout the many nature trails.  The highlight here (besides having lunch next to the stream) was seeing the beautiful San Rock Art paintings.  These are perhaps some of the best preserved I have seen as the colors of the different animals have withstood the weathering and pollution of the times….

The Nelson Mandela capture site is an ever growing tourist attraction with a very good museum chronicling his early days of living in a tribal village through apartheid and imprisonment to his election as president.  Probably one of the better museums I saw while visiting South Africa with in depth information about everything

As we passed through Durban for the night (not so much to see here), we were on our way to the wonderful sea side town of St. Lucia.  Some of the best food I had on the trip was here with the freshest sea food you can imagine!!!  Not to mention if you walk out at night, you can see Hippos running through the street, but please take care of these animals as they do attack (more of fear than malice).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our accommodation was raided by a troop of Vervet Monkeys, as all you could do was sit back and photograph them playing around.  We had an early morning game drive to Hluhulwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve.  After a lifetime of waiting, I finally got to see my White Rhino, including a baby!!!!  This was definitely a highlight of the trip for me.

I had the chance to take an evening cruise down the St. Lucia Estuary where we saw hippos galore followed by a few huge crocodiles.  We were able to get pretty close to them as some of them had nasty tempers

Kruger National Park is among one of the best known Game Parks in the world.  It certainly lived up to its expectations.  Where else can you find sleeping lions, leopards staring at your in the trees, hippos swimming close to you as they are curious, and mating lions, pretty much all in one go.   These of course are not the only animals seen here, but among the neatest.  This is a place where you can spend weeks on end, if you like game viewing…….

 

To finish off, it was nice to go down the Panorama route to Joburg (even though it rained a lot), but it was beautiful scenery as I left this trip wanting to come back to South Africa again and again and again!!!!

 

One of the last Absolute Monarchies left in the present world

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swaziland is a country that is not talked about much in the world today.  As with Lesotho, this country is entirely surrounded by South Africa.  Like every other African Nation, the people here are always friendly and ready to lend a helping hand.  Along with Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Vatican City, this country is holding one of the last Absolute Monarchies in the world, which was a common theme across the world hundreds of years ago.

The land adorned by hills and green mountains dot the beautifully sunny skies.  Driving down the road the people would yell and scream at us driving by.  The waving of the hands of gestures made me realize we have entered another friendly African Culture. 

We had to opportunity to stay in Milwane Wildlife Preserve, which has some amazing scenery as well as many game animals, including Blue Wildabeest, Crocodiles, Warthogs, Zebra, and many species of birds and Antelope.  The nature walk was amazing to go around and see the natural beauty of this untouched land and how Swaziland is trying to preserve all of the animals found within its borders.  It is not uncommon to have animals walk right through your campsite while you are eating or next to your accommodation while you are sleeping.  Very beautiful place just like the whole country!!!

One of the highest countries in the world also boasts some amazing scenery and people

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When people go to South Africa, they usually overlook going to the Kingdom of Lesotho which is located entirely in South Africa.  This has one of the last kingdoms left in Africa, along with Swaziland and Morocco.  It lays claim to having the highest low point in the world (about 1000 meters above sea level), as well as the only country to be entirely above 1000 meters in the world. 

When driving along this mountainous country, you cannot help but notice how friendly the people are, despite their conditions.  Simple houses adorn the countryside and cities alike.  The rugged landscape leads into the bright blue sky with the thousands of marshmallow like clouds. 

At the campsite we were greeted by the local choir singing folk songs in their native language and also with an interesting band, who made all of their instruments from garbage they had found.  This shows you just how resourceful that Africans are when it comes to using everything around them, even though they have very little money.  Their music with the backdrop of the mountains, and the sun going down was a beautiful way to end the day in this mountainous country.

We had the opportunity on Christmas day to walk around the local village we were staying at.  It was nice to see the everyday life of people moving around with their livestock (a lot of cows) and to see them preparing for the Christmas festivities.  We went to a house where they make homemade beer which was probably not the best tasting, but that is besides the point.  The land again was beautiful as the sun was shining out and the clouds were moving along the sky in full force.

As i am obsessed with the early peoples of Africa (the San Bushman) and their historical and cultural impact on the whole region, I could not pass up going to see the San Bushman paintings (which I saw in Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe).  We took a few hour horseback ride down to the canyon where the paintings are still seen and listened to stories explaining the meaning of the drawings.  Even though they are simple paintings, they give us an insight on how these people lived and what they hunted.

 

Would I go back here……Hell Yea!  Great Country and Great People!  What more can you ask for?