Thursday, January 21st - Jo'burg to Kruger, South Africa

We were up early again for 6:30 breakfast and 7:00 departure.  We have 600 km to drive before dinner time so not a lot of time to waste.  Despite the fact that we didn't get in until 6:30 in the evening, it was a very interesting day and I stayed awake for the whole drive.

We had several stops along the way for rest breaks and food but nothing long.  Even lunch was only 45 minutes that was to walk and find a restaurant, order, eat, pay and walk back to the bus so we were definitely rushing.  The rest stops along the way are a bit more used to that quick pace than the restaurants obviously were.

The countryside was beautiful throughout the journey and so varied.  We started just on the outskirts of Jo'burg and very quickly we were into areas with lots of agriculture. Corn, soybeans, cabbage, beans, and other things were in the fields.  Along the way you could see who had been getting rain or had irrigation and who had neither.  Some of the corn was barely a foot tall and some of it was five feet tall.  Jo'burg had no main river or lake and obviously the first part of our journey also had no ready source, although the guide said the water table was quite high so it was easy to get water.

We went up and down in elevation all day as we had to go through several different passes and mountain ranges.  The countryside was seldom flat.  There were always at least rolling hills but at times there were high mountains, part of the Drakensburg Range, and they were very impressive.  Our driver is great and he drives very smoothly but, since we were going to be going up and down and around curves, I sat in the front.  I never once felt car sick, which was wonderful, and I also discovered that the front seat has a much better view than other seats in the van (as long as you are not sitting right behind the driver where there is a petition so you can't see anything.  One of the other passengers has sort of claimed the front seats for himself.  He has his bags and his food piled on the seat behind the petition and he sits in the middle seat with a great view between the driver and guide at the very front.  I think he was a bit surprised when I joined him in the third seat but it was a great view and we got along find since we were both leaning across each other taking pictures all the time.  He is also probably part of the reason I stayed awake all day because he talks a lot! 

At one point our guide told us that Winston Churchill had been a reporter during one of the wars, sent over by one of the British papers.  He was captured and put in prison somewhere in the area we were driving through but he managed to escape and make it north to another country and from there he eventually made his way back to England.  Who knew?

Okay, back to the countryside.  I don't know what else I can say.  It was very green most of the way.  There were tree farms that have been harvested and replanted in some places and there was a lot of agriculture in other places.  Of course through some of the passes there was not much but rock and trees up the sides of the hills but they were beautiful to see.  We stopped at two lookouts to take pictures and the valleys below were spectacular.  There was a bit of smog but you could still see quite a ways and the view was definitely worth a picture or two.  

We also had one stop where we got to walk what he said was a 2 km trail but it didn't seem even that long.  This was at a place called Potholes where the Sad and Happy Rivers meet.  Legend has that during The Great Trek when 18,000 Dutch people set off to find farm land in South Africa, they made camp on the one river.  The men went out to scout for good places to farm and the ladies stayed behind.  When the men didn't return on the specified day two weeks later, the ladies waited a bit longer but eventually after another week they decide the men were dead and they should pack up and move on.  They named the river they were camped by the Sad River.  They had not gone very far before the men appeared so they made camp and called that river the Happy River.  Where we were walking was where the two rivers meet.

Part of the Rock is a very hard rock (granite I think) and not easily worn away.  Another part is a softer rock (sandstone I think) which can be worn away.  When the two rivers met they created a lot of tidal pools and the sandstone gradually got worn away.  That left large holes that really do look like pots.  It also left great designs and carvings.  It was a beautiful location with the one River coming in one direction over the hard rocks and tumbling down into the gorge to meet the other river flowing past it.  The gorge itself is the third largest in the world (and we think that means in length because it's certainly not deep) and it is quite beautiful to look at.

We eventually entered an area that was drier and less green than any before.  The villages were more like typical African villages with small homes and lots of people walking on the streets.  Of course it was late afternoon / early evening when we got there.  As we got closer to the parks we saw some animals and birds on the roadside.  Well, some people saw them.  I can't say that I actually saw anything.

The Shalati Lodge is really neat.  We are sleeping in tents but not exactly roughing it.  These have ensuites and mosquito nets and wooden floors that are raised off the ground.  They gave us lots of warnings about scorpions, spiders and snakes but it feels pretty safe.  Our "luxury" tents are in one area and in the centre there is a large  outdoor area for us with a covered bar and seating area.  We ate out in the outdoor area which was very nice.  We had a great meal of boboti, rice, squash, beets, salad, beans, etc and it was delicious.  That was at 7:30 and went until about 8:30.  No one last much longer than that as everyone to bed early as we have another early morning ahead - up at 5 with game drive at 6, which is one of the best reasons for getting up early that I can think of.