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#1 South Africa - Pilanesberg NP #2 Botswana - Mokolodi to Maun #4 Botswana, Zambia #6
NAMBIAN DESERT #7
Luderitz #9 Garden Route & Addo Elephant Park #11 Drakensburg
Mtns, Battlefields, Kruger NP |
Road Report #10 The Wild Coast As we left Addo National Park this morning the first thing we noticed was a monkey sitting high up on top of a telephone pole. Below him a platoon of his buddies were scampering back and forth across the road. But the moment we stopped they were spooked and disappeared into the scrub. This morning we are traveling up the coast on the R72. This
road constantly offers up awe insipiring vistas of the ocean. The coastline
is one of gently folded hills, think of a ruffled skirt. Down the valley
of each ruffle runs a river. As it reaches the ocean, the ruffle opens
into a broad sandy We stopped at the waterfront of a small town called Kenton
on Sea to make lunch. The beach is wide with endless expanses of gold
sand fronting the brilliant turquoise Indian Ocean; a stiff wind creates
a white froth at the crest of the surf. Even in this wind the fishermen
are out in full force, casting their lines off impossibly long rods. In
amongst the rocky headlands, protected from the full force of the gale,
Eventually we come to East London, a big city some 370 km from our morning start. It’s time to find a caravan park. None of the listings in our directory provide driving directions so we punch in “accommodations” on the GPS and head for what it suggests, some 27 km out of East London. We seem to be What’s so wonderful about this place are the animals. There is a big gangly giraffe named Abby, shorthand for Abnormally Large Baby. He is a rescued orphan who was hand raised at the property. Last year he achieved sexual maturity and would break out of his enclosure to hump the light standards, breaking several in his enthusiasm. This year they found him a lady and she is now carrying the next generation. There are ostriches, several pairs, ducks and geese and peacocks and guinea fowl. There are deer and nyala and wildebeest. Many of these wander at will. At nightfall the ostrich couple settled down at the foot of our stairs to sleep, blocking our exit but providing a unique security service. The camp is set on a beautiful river that begs one to jump
into a canoe or kayak to explore. We met several people who told us that
they used to come here on weekends and holidays. Once they retired they
moved here permanently, living in a unique kind of structure (to us, anyway).
There are caravans (travel trailers) which have been more or less permanently
situated. Onto the front of this they add a tent that is designed to fit
snugly onto the full length of the It is supposed to snow tomorrow. Port St Johns Leaving this Garden of Eden we continued east up N2 to
Port St John’s. This area of This is dusty, dirty, raw Africa, the streets teeming with
thousands of people. The main road through the town may be tarred or it
may be dirt. Certainly the expanse between the road and the shops will
be dirt. Directly in front of the strips of retail shops, everyone who
cares to claims a patch of space to set up a stall. They sell oranges
and onions and shoes and clothes , tire White people are a rarity in these towns. Even so we never appeared to be of any interest to anyone, either negatively or positively. Children are sometimes drawn to the camper because it is a unique looking vehicle. If we are stopped to shop and the back door is open while I am loading groceries in they will stop and stare, peering around the corner, fascinated that we are carrying our house on our back. The villages march up and down the terrain which is very
different from what we’ve The public spaces in towns are filthy and filled with heaps of garbage. They are also a challenge to navigate through. There is one main road, packed with shops, which are extended out by the aforementioned squatter-vendors, which are fronted by parked mini-buses and vehicles which are fronted by delivery trucks. People are everywhere, walking, laughing, clutching their parcels and babies and chickens. We have to thread our way through each town without hitting anyone or anything. It can take a while but we have also learned patience. We will get there when we get there. We arrive for the night at Port St Johns. The beach here
is again, a place of spectacularly rugged rock formations, surf crashing
and foaming over the rocks, We have picked the Bulalo Resort from the Caravan Park Directory. Could have been a better choice, I am sure. This is the worst park we have been in on this trip. They try, they really do. They have been raking the sand and sweeping the cement. But this park was probably built 30 or 40 years ago and nothing has been replaced since. So it is literally falling apart. But the electricity works and we are in a pretty spot on the grass, in front of the river. The security guard is a very friendly guy who laughs at Steve’s jokes. We settle in for the night. At first it is really warm and we pull out the chairs and read our books outside. As soon as the sun goes down it gets cooler but it never gets cold.
The terrain is the same as yesterday except that today it is gradually but certainly becoming semi tropical – sugar cane plantations, palms, and banana trees. Monkeys are frequently sighted although they are shy and flit away immediately. There are more of the black towns with their dusty streets, horrendous congestion and masses of people. Then we cross the border from the Eastern Cape to Kawazulu
Natal and everything changes, right there in the middle of the bridge
to the town of Port Edwards. Immediately the streets are paved with boulevards
of bougainvillea and jacaranda trees. The houses are trim and affluent.
The parking lot of the mall is fully paved and Continuing on to Port Shepstone we go inland 22 km to Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve. We have booked a campsite – it is basic but good with a scrupulously clean and up-to-date ablution block. The campground has a very nice walk out to a viewpoint over the gorge. We also drive down into the gorge and that is also very pretty. The primary reason for visiting this reserve would be to hike amongst its multitudinous species of wildflowers. This being winter… we carry on the next morning. Durban We left Oribi under cloudy skies but once the sun warmed
the air, they burned off and the bright blue African sky we love is back.
We find the old coastal route, R102 and Our first stop in Durban is the uShaka Aquarium. This is a full day experience for families, a lot like Sea World in the USA. The aquarium, billed as one of the world’s largest, has been cleverly built into the bottom of an old freighter that is rusting on the shoreline. It is all simulated, but excellent. The displays of fish from the Indian Ocean are amazing.
I was particularly taken with The shark tank is huge and teeming with really BIG sharks that don’t look at all friendly. At specific times a diver goes down inside a shark cage. He sticks a fish head on a stick and waves it around outside the cage when sharks wander by. They don’t seem all that interested, obviously overfed. Just the same, you would not find me swimming around in there outside a cage. We watche It was an interesting day; well worth the 95 Rand we paid ($12 Cdn). As we were leaving a group of young drummers and dancers erupted into frenzied action on the concourse in front of the entrance. They appeared to be dancing for the joy of it. There was never any solicitation for funds, or DVD sales or anything but sheer exuberance on their part. When they finished they simply picked up their gear and ran off together laughing and singing. This whole Wild Coast / Durban experience has been such
an eye opener for me. For years I’ve heard what a dangerous place
this is and what a hell hole Durban is. What I found, over the who Southern Africa is bustling and beautiful and a wonderful
place to visit. Next up: Richard’s Bay the Drakensburg Mountains,
the Battlefields and Kruger National Park. Carolyn Usher
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