Blogs from Free State, South Africa, Africa - page 7

Today we ride from Umhlanga to the Cavern. I’m a little weary before I start riding today because of what happen to Otto. I decide to exercise my demons and ride on my own but on the same route as everyone. We follow the coast to Stranger then to Kranskop and Greytown. Murray, Ellen and Dave catch up to me and stop in Stranger to gas. I continue on because there’s only one road to Kranskop. When the group catches up again, Dave is irritated that we’re not sticking together. From Greytown we proceed to Mooiirrvier after a detour around a dirt road. We finally arrive at the Cavern, Drakensberg Holiday Resort. It’s a hot day to be riding! We left the humidity of Durban and now we’re into intense dry heat high thirties. Believe it ... read more

What a blessing the past 6 weeks have been - to soak up being in a family again, to have home cooked meals and just sit and chat face to face; revisit Umhlanga Medigate Centre and enjoy lazy Sunday afternoons in swimming pool with my siblings, just like we used to when we were little.. For Linda’s birthday we had a brilliant weekend away at Highover, where we spent 2 wonderful days tubing down rapids and making the most of the foo-fee slide that had been built across the river. Christmas was also special to have the family all together, and was as hot has hell! For New year we went to a house party where the theme was Mufia - so had a super time getting all dressed up and then dancing the new year ... read more

Hello! After a short stay at Pretoria we went to the Drakensberge. It's a National Park, and so all over green there. We stayed at Tendele, in a Cottage. From our Terrace we could see the Amphitheatre, where we even went hiking. Our first hike led us to "the Gorge". In fact we where walking 14 km, up and down, through forrests, proteas, farns and next to a river. In one forrest and near the river we watched a familiy of baboons. We were shivering a littlebit, they got very big teeth! The sun was shining and so it was a wonderful trip. Next day we did another hike, despite the rain. So we got wet all over, even inside our shoes. We had a luxurous self-catering house with a cook! The view and the sounds ... read more

We called a Bahá’í friend named Ghirmay, drove into Bloemfontein, got lost, and called him again. His wife Flora was in Zimbabwe and expected to be gone for a month. He turned out to be a tall, lanky, Eritrean structural engineer with a kind and quiet demeanor. He immediately offered us a place to stay. He was very warm and welcoming, and he asked Bob if he would like to help him that night during a Bahá’í Ruhi Book #1 class. While I was napping and trying to rid myself of a cold, Bob helped Ghirmay with the class. Because Afrikaans, which is derived from Dutch, is one of the official languages of South Africa, we’ve found that people are quite able to pronounce our name correctly. In Lesotho, there has been no real Afrikaans presence, ... read more

For the second time in as many days we began our day with the intentions of heading to The Ampitheatre in the Northern Drakensburg, however upon hearing advice and recommendations from Lutcho and Veran at Karma BP, decided instead to head to The Champagne Valley in The Central Drak'. The name alone was enough to convince Dani to go, but Veran and Lutcho sold us when they told us of a backpackers paradise - large, immaculately manicured and unspoilt grounds for camping, great self catering and common area facilities, fabulous home cooked meals, free shuttles to the nearby Cathedral and Monks Cowl National Parks and above all else, an extremely friendly and knowledgeable host who was not only a personal friend of theirs, but who had been running his lodge for over 20 years. Again for ... read more