Tales From the Chicken Bus

Day 250

The beach at Tofo was great. Soft sand, warm water backed by beautiful dunes. There was lots to like about Tofo. The problem was there was enough that we didn’t like that we have decided to leave after one more night here. Actually we have decided to not travel further north in Mozambique as previously planned. The original plan was to go north up the coast then cut across the country west to Malawi. However after seeing what things cost here in Mozambique we just can’t afford to travel here. We’ve been really surprised at the cost of things here, from hostel rooms to food things are not priced like a budget travel destination. Not only that but the toughest thing is the terrible value here, our $30 grass hut being a perfect example. So the new plan is one more night here in Tofo then back to Maputo for one night and back to big bad Jo’burg. Some backtracking yes, but then its north to Victoria Falls. A sight that we’ve decided we shouldn’t miss.

With our new plan sorted we still had another day on the beautiful beach here in Tofo. Not much to really tell you about it, well if I did it might just make you jealous of the warm blue waters here. So I’ll spare you the details of our lazy day on the beach. We did have a fantastic meal down the beach at Dino’s Restaurant. Jordana had a great fish kebab and I had some fresh and perfectly grilled squid. It was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time.

We hit the bed early as our bus leaves at the ungodly hour of 4am tomorrow. I wish Mozambique worked out differently but it seems the country just doesn’t have the tourist infrastructure yet. So what is available is quite pricey, unfortunately just a bit too pricey for Jordana and I.

Day 249

Up at 4:30am it was another early morning for us as we rushed out to a taxi to make our bus to Tofo. Pronouced tofu, like the food. The bus station, more like a market with a bunch of buses parked around it was a chaotic place. The heavy rain that fell overnight did little to enhance the beauty of the place, turning it into a sea of mud and sitting water. There was a strong stink from the piles of garbage and constant calls from hawkers selling airtime for phones, water, food and trying to get people on their buses. Standing there watching our bags get stuffed in the back of the dirty bus I couldn’t wait to get to the beach. I climbed on the bus, a mid-sized 30 seater. It was packed with bags, and boxes all through the aisle and under seats. Jordana had secured us the only two seats she could find. I sat on a seat that folded down in the aisle and Jordana next to me. We were packed in, behind me was a mother with two young kids. I thought I was in a tight spot, the three of them had the same space plus a few bags. As we finally departed, 1 hour late, Jordana and I wondered why the smell of urine was so prevelant in Maputo? The beach couldn’t come fast enough.

We drove out of the city and every so often through a poor village. The countryside was green and since the bus was full and not many people got off we rarely stopped. We did stop at a service centre for fuel and a washroom break. It took about 15 minutes to empty the bus as everyone had to climb over the bags and everything that was loaded aboard. Eventually we were all back aboard ond off again. The sun had broke through the clouds and the temperature rose. We couldn’t figure out why people wouldn’t open the windows. They would open them just a crack but no more, certainly not enough to cool off the bus. Most certainly not nearly enough to combat scent from the lack of deodorant people wore. It was about then, just after the bus was really heating up that I felt the boy from behind me fall into me. Then I felt a bit wet just under my left shoulder and heard coughing. Oh yeah, you guessed it I was just puked on! Could this ride get any better? “You have GOT to be joking, this kid just puked on me!” I said to Jordana. Apparently the guy next to me had it all over his foot and flipflops. Jordana cleaned it off with a wet wipe, it wasn’t as much as it felt, but it felt gross in the heat. I didn’t even look behind me, I was angry at first but what could I do? Soon I just laughed it off with Jordana.

7 hours after leaving Maputo we were winding down a road with palms swaying and the blue Indian ocean in view. Tofo was a scruffy village built on a beautiful sandy beach. Just up the beach from the village was Fatimas Nest where we were staying. We checked in and someone showed us around. The place has a fantastic setting atop the dunes overlooking the beach. However I think they got a bit greedy with the rooms. Thatch grass huts were everywhere, spread about without any rhyme or reason. To be honest it looked like a shanty town. Inside our grass hut we had enough room for a bed, a hanging lightbulb and a small table. There was no floor, it was sand. We’ve stayed at a place like this before in Thailand, thing is that was about $3/night. This was $30! To say it was bad value would be an understatement.

Even though the room was a let down the beach was beautiful and the water warm. We spent the rest of the day swimming until sunset. Oh and what a beautiful sunset. The manmade wasn’t so nice here in Tofo but the natural was beautiful and that’s why we are here. That seemed to be a common theme here in Mozambique.

Day 248

Waking up in the cool air of our comfortable room and flipping on BBC world news was a nice way to wake up. We both had a great sleep, something we needed after some very early morning recently. Out our 7th floor window Maputo looked like most developing world cities. Concrete apartment blocks with laundry hanging out the windows, noisy potholed streets and some faded colonial buildings. We headed out to a large cafe down the street from the hotel for breakfast. With Portuguese being the language here and a sweets for breakfast I almost felt like I was back in Latin America.

Maputo was a huge change from any South African city. Sure it was dirty, lacked infrastructure and every corner seemed to be another disgusting scent, mostly of the urine variety. Even with all that I preferred it over most South African cities, which were a bit lifeless and sterile. Maputo was alive, the streets full with people and several markets around town selling everything from fish to cheap chinese electronics. The wide potholed boulevards were lined with fire orange flowering trees that gave much needed shade in the morning heat.

While it wasn’t a horrible city there isn’t much in the way of tourist sights. The one spot in the city that interested us was an art centre. The centre has a small museum, cafe/restaurant and workspace for artists. We entered the small museum which was free. The art pieces are all local artists and there is some great stuff here. Many of the sculptures are made from guns and weapons from the 25 year civil war. Almost all the pieces were for sale and we definitely saw a few that, if we had the money we would be interested in. Outside we enjoyed a cold beer on the shaded patio. The art centre was an interesting place, a place full of creativity and optimism in a country where it’s been hard to be optimistic.

The art centre pretty much concluded our sightseeing, like I said Maputo is pretty devoid of sights. We stopped for a seafood lunch that was OK, but spicy. If they influenced anything, the Portuguese really left their mark on the food of Mozambique. Which may be just about the only good thing they left behind. Apparently when the Portuguese left they dumped cement down wells, cut off electricity and generally wreaked havoc on their way out. We walked back through the centre of Maputo to our hotel. We passed a beautiful looking park smack in the centre of the city, overgrown with tropical vegetation. Jordana commented, “It must have been beautiful when the Portuguese were here.” Maybe, there were several crumbling colonial buildings that must have been beautiful in their time. Today they stood empty and hollowed out. The park was very rough looking and now looked home to the destitute of Maputo. I guess cities like this must have been nicer back in colonial times but then again these buildings were only occupied by the colonizers, the locals wouldn’t have lived in the same conditions.

Back at the hotel we got comfortable in our a/c room for the evening and ordered in a pizza while we watched tv. The sort of luxury you miss from home. In the morning we are headed north to Tofo, a small beach town 7 hour bus ride up the coast. Considering we haven’t been on a warm beach since Panama we are looking forward to it, and as much as I didn’t mind Maputo one day is just about enough.

Day 248

As soon as we were up and showered we were out of the backpackers. What a waste of a night, especially when we were both not feeling well. Regardless we both felt better and after we showered we took a taxi around the corner to the Crossings Mall where the tourism office is and where the Maputo left from.

We dropped off our bags at the office and went over to the Mugg and Bean coffee shop for breakfast. Even though we had hours to kill it was a good place to be. We backed up our photos on DVD and even posted them home. Inside Super Spar we bought some needed toiletries and spent some time on the internet. Back at Mugg and Bean we had some cold fruit shakes and before we knew it 4pm had come around and we piled into the mini bus with 13 others. All but a young family of 3 were Mozambiqan woman in Nelspruit to shop. The bus actually started from the mall we were at and then picked up more at another large mall. I guess they were shopping for things they couldn’t get at home.

We drove along the same N4 highway that Jordana and I drove on yesterday. Its quite a beautiful drive through a valley with tall mountains on either side. Closer to Kruger the landscape flattens out again. The ride was comfortable and thankfully air-conditioned, it was another very hot day. We approached the border as the sunset, there is something about crossing borders at in darkness that I just don’t enjoy. The minibus stopped outside South African customs. There was a short line that Jordana and I were near the front of, without a question we were stamped out of South Africa. We got back in the bus and drove across to the Mozambique side. “Looks really dark here, I don’t think there is power?” I commented as we approached the dark chaotic customs office. Sure enough, they didn’t have power and the whole customs building was lit by candlelight. It was the most romantic border crossing we’ve done and one of the oddest. We filled out visa applications, paid our 172 Rand fee and then just waited around not knowing what to do. The rest of our bus passengers waited calmly for us. 15 minutes later we were on our way in the darkness towards Maputo.

Just over an hour from the border we entered the mostly dark and deserted streets of Maputo. The friendly driver had called a taxi for us that met us where the bus terminated. We climbed in and drove off along some very rough side streets. Soon we at the Base Backpackers. The hostel looked OK and we were warmly welcomed by the young man at the front desk. All they had available were dorm rooms and while they were a bit expensive we had little choice at this time.

The friendly guy from the front should us around the hostel. It looked typical enough, OK share bathrooms, a sitting area and a somewhat clean kitchen. We were in the kitchen when he turned into a dark, narrow entrance. “OK, and your room here”. I laughed, he was joking right? We walked down stairs into the basement, there were chairs and tables all over and 2 bunk beds. This was ridiculous. It was easily 35 degrees down here even with a large fan blowing. OK we figured one night then we move, although it was tough to be paying $11 each for this. We put our bags down and talked about what to do in the morning. We weren’t even here for 10 minutes when the power went out.

We sat on the breezy and cool upstairs balcony with other travellers. Figuring the power would come back soon and we’d try and just get through this night. Well over an hour went by and still no power and obviously no fan, which equals an unbearably hot room. We asked if they had any other rooms available, they didn’t. “We can’t stay here tonight”, Jordana said. I agreed, sleeping in this room with no fan or window was like torture. I told the night security guy that we were sorry but we couldn’t stay in this room tonight. He called the owner who I explained the situation to, he was very apologetic and helpful. So we called a taxi and were off to the Ibis Hotel.

The Ibis had changed names to Hotel Turismo but with a clean room, a/c and BBC on tv this was a much better option than the hostel dungeon room. We both fell asleep with ease as cold air blasted on to us. An interesting start to Mozambique to say the least.

Day 247

We had plans of being up at 5am and out again by 5:30am. We were both up at 4:30am, problem was not to leave but for the washroom. Seems that last nights dinner had some issues with both of our stomachs. We were back in bed till 6am and after popping some imodium in the car shortly after. With neither of us feeling well we changed our plans for the day. We hoped to have done a good 3 hours of driving in the park along some of the backroads. Instead we headed south on the main road and out to the N4 highway.

Along the way we did see a bush pig, several warthogs and the usual giraffe, imapala, wildebeest and kudu to name a few. It was a good drive but I really needed to get to the crocodile bridge gate to use their washrooms. We arrived at the gate just before 8am. Jordana and I used the facilities, received our exit permit and said goodbye to Kruger. What a few days its been, sure no lion spottings but I think I can safely say one of the highlights of the trip for both of us.
On the N4 highway we were back in civilization again, Steers fastfood and giant service stations lined the roadside. Hard to believe Kruger was just a few km’s away. Our car was to be returned in Nelspruit today and that’s where we were heading. We arrived in about 2 hours and checked in to the Nelspruit Backpackers. I’m not sure what we were thinking but feeling ill had something to do with it. After we checked in we realized this wasn’t really a nice place. They have share 2 toilets for the entire place, which is around 15 people. Plus it could be cleaner, much cleaner. We were kicking ourselves since we had a car and could have went anywhere but we just wanted a bed to sleep in right now.

Not much else to tell you about Nelspruit, its a busy town that serves as a transit point between Jo’burg, Kruger and Mozambique. We were headed to Mozambique tomorrow so wanted to sort out our visa situation here. Turns out a visa at the consulate here is 700 Rand ($70) but 172 Rand at the border. Easy choice to get it at the border, problem was bus companies will not wait for you to get a visa. With some research we found Cheetah Express, a minibus that goes Nelspruit-Maputo daily at 4pm and they would wait for us. So that was our plan, off tomorrow at 4pm to the capital of Mozambique, Maputo.

As for the rest of this night? Bad chinese food and a noisy and drunk staff at the hostel while we tried to get an early sleep. If you are ever in Nelspruit stay away from Nelspruit Backpackers, its a bad place. Sure I didn’t feel well but the girl who was working the night we were there was more interested in getting drunk and listening to loud music till 5am then the comfort of the guests. I guess we should have known since we should up at 10:30am and she tells us that she was already into some long island ice teas and was feeling a bit tipsy. My dear most people call that a problem. Mozambique couldn’t quite come fast enough.

Day 246

“Its cold out there!” I said to Jordana as I walked in from loading the car. The temperature had dropped at least 10 Celsius overnight and it was overcast, an unbelievable change. Last night at 8pm it was easily still 30 Celsius. I actually was cool and zipped on the bottoms to my pants. We were off and out the gates at exactly 5:29am, 1 minute earlier than planned. We were driving to the southern end of the park and spending the night at Lower Sabie restcamp. We hoped that with the cooler weather the animals would be more active.

We followed the same route as our sunset drive did last night. Figuring that early morning may be a good time to see some life around the watering holes. On the way we spotted more hyena and a colourful stork. We also saw a large bird of prey, some kind of eagle, that was tearing apart a large lizard on a tree branch. At the watering hole we saw a large waterbuck and wildebeest but nothing we hadn’t seen before. About an hour outside of camp we came upon 3 rhinos right at the roadside. One was a very young baby. We spent 20 minutes just watching these prehistoric looking animals. This made up for seeing the one last night at such a distance. Easily our best and most enjoyable spotting of the trip. Before stopping at Satara restcamp for breakfast we saw more elephant, kudu, wildebeest, giraffe and of course impala.

We ate a terrible breakfast at Satara but the view was good. Just on the other side of the fence from the restaurant was a water hole and 3 giraffe were their awkwardly bending over for a drink. As we drove away from Satara we saw several giraffe, at least 12 that we could see. They crossed the road in front of us while eating leaves from the trees. From south of Satara Kruger is often referred to as “the zoo”, due to the high density of animals found here. It sure did feel like a zoo sometimes, so many animals and so close to our car, for a second you could forget these are wild animals. We turned off the main road on to a small dirt one that followed a dry river bed, it was one of the most beautiful parts of the park we’ve seen.

Instantly we saw a huge bird with a red beak crossing the road. We couldn’t figure out what type of bird it was as we watched it waddle across the road and into the bush. Just after a grey snake slithered off the road, he easily measured 2 meters. As interesting as this all was we really hoped that we could find a big cat, the day was wearing on and this was our last full day. “Look in the trees, a leopard could be up there. They hide their kill there.” Jordana said as I drove along slowly keeping an eye out for anything in the bush. “Stop! leopard!” Jordana shouted. I just let off the gas and stopped the car. I turned to the left and straight through the rear side window lay a large leopard. I grabbed the head rest and pulled it out to get a better view. “Roll up your window!” I whispered to Jordana. This leopard was 2 meters from our car, just lying there staring at us. To say that didn’t give me a bit of a rush and a fright would be a lie. I thought of what this animal could do to me. We snapped photos and just sat and watched as he watched us back. I’d have to say this is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen in nature. Those David Attenbourgh wildlife specials had come to life. After a few minutes the leopard rose and calmly walked down to the dry river bed. We drove along following the leopard on the farside of the river bed. Eventually the leopard walked into some trees and we lost sight of it. We both agreed this made entire Kruger trip worthwhile, I could have left now and been happy. I never thought we would see anything like this, at least not so close.

We continued our drive slowly along the road, with the leopard sighting we were determined to find a lion. I think we were getting a bit greedy. We passed impala, wildebeest, kudu and then came across some more elephants. We watched them cross the road and then I started to drive past. “Oh there’s more, I should back up.” Just as I put the car in reverse we could see one of the elephants running towards us. It stopped on the road, did a turn and came at us. I fumbled with the gears and revved the engine, the elephants made a loud noise and then stopped and slowly walked into the bush. I think the revving of the engine scarred it off and we both recalled our guide telling us to never get in between a young elephant and the rest of the group. I think we just did that. Talk about a nervous moment, a full grown elephant against a Yaris. Who do you think would win?

About 30 minutes later we drove through an area of tall trees. “Another leopard!” Jordana said. I thought she was joking, no way we could spot two leopards in the same day only hours apart. I backed the car up and sure enough back in the bush was another leopard. This one was small, maybe only a year or so. It appeared something was strong with his tail, most of it was gone. We watched him for a minutes until he walked back into the bush. I tried to follow along the road but we just caught glimpses through the trees.

After our second leopard sighting we were determined to find a lion. As we continued further south we saw loads of animals but mostly the same as we’d seen previously. We did spot warthog, vervet monkey, ostrich and some strange emu like birds. After our lunch stop we saw some huge groups of elephant and buffalo at a waterhole just off to the left of the road. It was quite the scene. Still no lions. We were nearing Lower Sabie camp and the sun was setting. Its been 11 hours since we left Oliphants this morning. After spotting two more white rhinos we decided to head in for the evening, besides we only had 1 hour till the shut the gates to the camp.

Lower Sabie camp was another great setting on a river. The cafe and restaurant are on a beautiful raised patio on the rivers edge from where we watched hippos lumber out of the water to feed for the night. The setting was nice but it was larger and busier, I preferred Oliphants. We sat on the patio for a drink and dinner as we listened and watched the hippos. There were also some loud baboons on the other side of the river. Even though we never did see a lion today the entire day far supassed my expectations. Matter of fact, Kruger has surpassed my expectations.

Day 245

We took full advantage of having a/c and a comfortable bed and slept in till the late hour of 9:30am today. We both felt refreshed and planned on doing some short drives around the camp today then a sunset safari drive through the park. We sat on our bungalows patio for breakfast, the heat once again was intense and I ate my cereal quickly so the milk wouldn’t get too warm.

Even though the chances of seeing animals were slim at this time of day, the heat just being too strong, we decided to go for a drive. Around Oliphants camp are small dirt roads that follow the river, we were headed there. We turned right off the tarred road and down a steep dirt track. The landscape was a bit greener here near the river and around some small streams. Mostly though they were dried up river beds. We spotted kudu, something that we didn’t see yesterday. A kudu is a large antelope with stripes on its side. We saw hippos in the river again and got closer to some giraffe than we did previously. Impala are everywhere here, there are over 200’000 in the park. We also spotted waterbuck near a waterhole and a steenbok. We drove for 2 hours and then returned to the camp. Its hard to get bored of driving around Kruger. You are pretty much guaranteed to see something every time you head out. Thing was we were happy about what wed seen but really wanted to see some big cats, yes we were getting greedy.
After an early dinner and a rest in our cool bungalow we were off on another safari drive with the park. This was a sunset drive and hopefully as the weather cooled we could spot some different wildlife. We drove off and for the first 20 minutes we saw nothing. The heat from the sun was still intense. Soon we came across a group of elephants with a very small baby. They were no more than 5 meters away and the baby was fascinating to watch. Always keeping very close to the mother and the mother always keeping a close eye on us. Our guide told us how you never get in between any elephants and a baby, they will charge you. Further on we spotted a wildebeest. A wildebeest is huge and has large horns, it was an impressive sight. On the other side of the road was a lone hyena at a watering hole. Being the first one we’ve seen it was exciting, the hyena just looks like a huge mangy mut, but could rip you apart. The hyena walked away from the water with his long neck slouched and head lowered. Moving on we stopped at a large watering hole where a waterbuck stood in the distance. We were about to leave and our driver pointed, “rhino”. Wow, this was one of the animals I just didn’t think we would see. A white rhino was far out just walking across the savanah. We took turns looking through our binoculars at the large horned animal.
We began to drive back as the sun went down and we spotted 2 more hyenas on opposite sides of the road. One was a bit in the distance but to our right was a hyena just off the road. He sat like a dog, leaning his head on his front paws and was literally on the shoulder of the road. So close to us I could have stretched out and almost touched him. We sat there just watching him, he never moved much and was un phased by our presence. Just as we were about to leave we heard a noise, lions in the distance. Our guide said he thought it was 2 or 3 but that they were far. Wow, even though we didn’t see them it was impressive to hear and know they were close. Our last sighting was easily the cutest. Sitting just off the road were 7 hyena cubs, small babies that looked just like puppy dogs. At this age hyenas are still cute. We may not have seen a big cat but it was a great drive and a beautiful sunset.

We returned to the camp as the wind began to gust. Strong blasts of wind that sounded like our roof was about to blow off. The heat from the day had tired us both out though and we quickly were asleep. We planned to be out of the camp by 5:30am for our last full day so a good sleep was in order.

Day 244

We spent last night in the town of Phalaborwa, just outside of the gate of Kruger National Park. From Jo’Burg it was an uneventful full day drive here along good highways. The driving really is easy here and it makes me regret not renting a car for other parts of South Africa. Phalaborwa is a bustling and prosperous town that benefits from its location right at one of the gates to the huge national park. By 7:30am the car was packed to go and we exited our air conditioned room into the already extreme heat of the day. It was easily 30 Celsius already and the forecast was highs near or into the 40’s.

Kruger National Park, the size of Israel was one place in Africa that we’d talked about visiting for years. Over 150 species of mammals live in the park, lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, rhino, buffalo, zebra, hyena, wildebeest and impala to name a few. The best part is that you can easily self drive through the park and stay at the several restcamps within Kruger. We entered the central section of the park through the Phalaborwa gate, paid our entrance fees and were given our permits. I started up the Yaris and we drove under the archway into Kruger National Park, we were on safari!

Not more than 10 minutes of driving did we come across a large group of impala, something we were to discover is very common here. We stopped took a bunch of photos and were surprised how easily we saw these impalas. “Look, an elephant!” I shouted as a large elephant moved across the road behind us. Another slowly strolled through the grassland not more than 10 meters from us. Wow, this was an incredible start we both thought. A further 30 minutes down the road we spotted lots more. Impala, zebra, hippos, waterbuck and then just past one of the restcamps we came across a group of about 60 buffalo. Believe it or not but the buffalo is one of the most dangerous animal in Africa. They will attack unprovoked, especially old males. We slowly drove right by the huge buffalo as they lay in whatever shade they could find. Most were just off the road and not phased at all by our presence. The day was going great and surpassed my expectations already. I mean we spoke to people who said the wildlife viewing was great but you just don’t believe it till you actually are here.

Just before Oliphants restcamp, our stop for the night we came across a giraffe. A giraffe is a funny creature, such an odd comical animal it was incredible to see this one in the wild and so close. He was eating leaves from a shade while trying to shelter himself from the sun. Such elegant looking animals giraffes, I could watch their graceful movements all day. We arrived at the Oliphants camp shortly after 10am. The camp is fenced in with high electrical wire, finally though it was not to keep out criminals but lions! Sitting on a cliff with the wide rocky Oliphant river way below the camp has an incredible setting. We found our bungalow and cranked on our air conditioning. “This heat is ridiculous!” Jordana commented as we unloaded our stuff from the car. I agreed, I’m not sure I have felt heat like this before. With no breeze and not a cloud in sight it was easily 40 Celsius and not even noon. Even the staff said it was hot. The Oliphant camp is a beautiful place complete with restaurant and a well stocked shop. Unfortunately the main restaurant was closed for renovations but the fast food counter was open. We both had a fish burger and veggie burger while we tried to stay cool.

We bought popsicles and went to the shaded viewpoint to sit on some benches. With an absolutely amazing view of the river and surrounding savannah we hoped to spot some animals from here. Far below in the river we could see hippos in the water and one even walking across a shallow section. We could even hear there snorting and grunting. As good as it was we were absolutely roasting, even sitting in the shade was unbearable so we returned to rest in our cool room for a while.

At nightfall we signed up for a night safari drive organised by the park. The advantage of this is the high height of the vehicles, much easier to spot animals. Also after 6:30pm the gates of the camp close and nobody other than these vehicles is allowed on the roads. As we waited to depart we had our third popsicles of the day to cool off. Bridgeman, our guide and driver introduced himself, switched on a bright spotlight and off we went. There were three other lights along the sides of the truck to spot animals with. We started the drive and soon spotted some hippos in a valley that were out of the water. They were munching away and were quite a sight, during the day they are always submerged in the water. Next we saw some elephants and of course impala. Impala are everywhere in Kruger. Unfortunately the drive wasn’t that successful and the only other new things we saw were a gennet, a small cat that looks like a mongoose, a spring hare and a bush hare. The spring hare is hilarious, picture a rabbits body with mini kangaroo legs. The bush hare is just a plain old rabbit. That was it. We pulled back into camp after 2 hours and the driver apologised about the slow night, wasn’t his fault. I figured it might have something to do with the weather. It was now after 10pm and the temperature was still in the 30’s. I’m lazy in this heat as well. So lazy in fact that we walked right back to our very cold room and crashed for the night. We were more than thankful for the a/c on this night.

Day 242

We spent yesterday hanging out in the trendy Melville area of Jo’Burg and booking some travel plans. This part of Johannesburg was certainly not the bad you always read about. It was full of independent shops, great second hand bookstores, bars and restaurants. We also noticed a good mix of black, white, brown and any other person you could think of. Melville was refreshing and different than anything else we had experienced in South Africa. To common a “nicer” area in South Africa merely means white up scale shopping malls, filled with chain stores and chain restaurants. However the small area of Melville was certainly not that. Of all the South African cities we’ve been to it was our favourite spot hands down. Right, so you heard it here. As is the case in any large city, if you stay in the right neighbourhood in Johannesburg you can easily enjoy the city and dare I say even like it.

We were enjoying it, also staying at iDube helped. The great pool was very welcoming in the 32 degree heat. Today however we were off to see some sights. Transportation may be the biggest issue as a tourist here. Public transit is almost non existent and the transit that does exist is considered to dangerous to ride. So Jordana and I have rented a car. Yep, call us crazy but it is easily the best way to get around and outside the city the highways are just like home.

We jumped in a cab to pickup to car which was downtown at Budget Car Rental. Tim, an American from D.C. came along for the ride as we were going to drive to the Apartheid museum after. Everything went smoothly at the office and soon enough I was climbing into the unfamiliar right side to drive off. Oh and as the cars here are all manual transmission that was another challenge, I drive an automatic at home. Although when I was 21 I worked a summer as a car jockey at a dealership, so I drove manual there. Besides its not that hard. I climbed in to the brand new Toyota Yaris, it only had 3250 km on it, adjusted my mirrors and started the car. So far so good. “Ok, first gear and let’s go!” I drove out of the garage and into the madness of downtown Johannesburg.

“Really? You haven’t ever driven stick”? Tim commented as I explained my lack of experience. I think he may have been worried. Actually I was doing OK, the toughest thing was getting used to shifting with my left hand and of course driving on the left-side! “Left, left, left”. I kept repeating in my head everytime I turned a corner. Which was often since we couldn’t find the on ramp for the M2 south. Soon we did and 10 minutes later on the edge of Soweto we arrived at the Apartheid Museum.

We paid our entrance and entered the large and impressive structure. We were assigned a race as we entered. I was “non-white” and Jordana “white”. Each of us had to enter via separate doors and start the museum separately. Instantly the smiles we may have been wearing as we strolled in were wiped from our faces. This museum was incredible. Beginning with the arrival of the first Europeans they traced the policies that led to apartheid. Also shown were intriguing movies of life under apartheid, British news interviews of a young Nelson Mandela before going to prison and propaganda videos from the National Party on why apartheid was needed. Actually they called it a form of “togetherness”, I’m not sure what that means though. Walking through I was left depressed, confused and filled with anger. Yet inspired by the end of it. The museum finishes with the release of Mandela, apartheid finally ending and of course the first democratic elections in 1994. When you see how hard the struggle was and the never ending will of those involved you can’t help but be inspired. I’m not going to go into the historic details of apartheid here but I can tell you that I never really understood how far reaching, organised, sick and disturbing apartheid was. Although the more I knew about it the most confused I was about South Africa, to say its a complex society is an understatement. As we left the museum I was reminded again what has made travelling in South Africa exciting for myself. Even though I’ve sometimes have said the tourist sights are a bit bland, the really interesting thing here has been observing the country. Democracy, an apartheid free country, all these are so new here you really are watching history in the making in South Africa.

We spent 3 hours at the museum, most of the day. We safely and easily drove back to Melville and went grocery shopping. In the morning we are off on safari in Kruger and planning to self cater as much as possible. After shopping and before the evil of darkness fell (I’m exaggerating about evil, kinda) we were back at iDube for a swim, dinner and looking at a map for our 500km drive towards Kruger in the morning.

Day 240

“52 murders a day, a rape every half hour and a car theft every nine minutes”, those are the nationwide South Africa crime statistics and the majority of those occur in Johannesburg. I read this as we drove through the beautifully peaceful countryside about 1 hour south of “Jo’Burg”. Besides the statistics talking to people about the city had created a kind of fear. Nobody really has anything good to say and it seemed any story we heard was crime related.

The bus drove smack through central Jo’Burg, an area void of life. Businesses have all left to the more affluent and safer northern suburbs. It didn’t appear many people lived in the area. Such an odd thing for a city of 8 million people. Roughly the people with money live in the northern, and some eastern suburbs and then in the south you have Soweto. A township where an estimated 3 to 4 million people live. Soweto actually stands for South West Townships. It has one of the highest rates of murder in rape in the world, yet is home to an emerging black middle class and was famous for the uprisings of the eighties that led to the end of apartheid. Driving through this mess of a city didn’t exactly give me a good first impression.

Jordana and I elected to stay in Melville, a neighbourhood outside of the centre with a “villagey” atmosphere as the Roughguides describes. We walked through the gate of the Pension iDube and waited around the pool for the owner. This place was nice, it was a large house with a beautiful pool out back. Eventually we found Trish the owner. “Howsit, How did you get passed the gate?” She asked surprised. (Howsit is the South African greeting equivalent to what’s up) “Through the small gate, it was open”. We both replied back. “Oh my! That should never be unlocked”. She ran to the front of the gate to lock up. The entire house, like every other in Jo’Burg was protected by high walls topped by barbed wire and electrical fence. Trish showed us around and explained that we must never open the gate for anyone, even another guest. We had a key for the front gate which led to the driveway, then another key for a gate that led into the back of the house and the door to enter from. All were topped with razor sharp spikes and in our room was something called a “panic button”. I assumed to be used if a robbery was happening. I thought to myself, this is no way to live.

We settled in to our very comfortable room and Jordana cooked a great meal while I tried to sort out our travel plans for the next few days. Even though Melville was considered a safer part of Jo’Burg Trish advised that we shouldn’t walk the short way to the restaurants of the neighbourhood. It was less than 1km away. We were thinking of renting a car to do our own Kruger National Park safari. So stay tuned, driving a car on the left-side in Africa might just be our greatest adventure or mis-adventure yet.