South Africa 1989 (w/Lesotho & Swaziland)

Africa » South Africa
September 25th 1989

Published: September 5th 2011

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Kathy Bernie

Stellenbosch

Bernard at one of the lovely vineyard cafés in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town

This is a continuation of my putting our old travel journals onto this blog site. See previous ones: Guatemala 1988, which is the first in this series; Costa Rica 1989 (w/Christmas in Cozumel, Mexico and last days in Guatemala), which is the second; Cuba & Mexico 1989, the third; Argentina (w/Uruguay, a bit of Brazil & Paraguay) 1989, the fourth; Chile & Bolivia (including Mendoza, Argentina & Tacna, Peru), the fifth; Peru, Ecuador & Galapagos Islands 1989, the sixth; Ecuador Part II & Bogotá, Colombia 1989, the seventh; Brazil Part I 1989, the eighth; Brazil Part II 1989, the ninth; and this will be the tenth.

YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT, THEN GO BACK TO THE JOURNAL OR GO THROUGH THE PHOTOS (CLICK ON THE NUMBERS AT THE TOP) IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT. TO RETURN TO THE JOURNAL, JUST CLICK YOUR BACK BUTTON OR ON THE NAME OF THE BLOG ON THE RIGHT OR BOTTOM OF PHOTO - DEPENDS ON YOUR COMPUTER.

NEAR THE TOP ON THE LEFT ABOVE OUR PHOTO, CLICK ON 'Kathy & Bernie Dougherty' AND YOU'LL GET A PAGE LISTING (BACKWARDS CHRONOLOGICALLY) OUR BLOGS, WHICH YOU CAN SCROLL THROUGH AND

Leopard

A fairly common way to see a leopard - in a tree

CHOOSE ONES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN. IF YOU CLICK ON 'Previous Entry' TOP LEFT OR 'Next Entry' TOP RIGHT, YOU'LL GET ONLY ONE ENTRY. WHEN OFF THIS SITE, YOU CAN GO TO: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kathy---Bernie/ WHICH WILL TAKE YOU TO THE PAGE LISTING ALL OF OUR BLOGS.

(Originally typed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 1989)

South Africa, August/September, 1989

The States of: Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu Natal, Eastern and Western Capes

August 23 - 25, 1989, Johannesburg (aka Jo'burg), South Africa.

No, you didn't misread, we are in South Africa. We originally planned for two months in Brazil, but got restless. You know how spontaneous Bernard can be, that impetuous devil got the idea of hopping over the ocean (only a six-hour flight) and spending a month in the wild game parks of South Africa. It takes very little persuasion to get me to go anywhere, plus I've wanted to see South Africa since Bernard visited there without me in 1981.

So we stored some stuff in Rio, made sure our khaki shorts were packed and flew to Jo'burg, where we spent a few days getting our bearings

Bateleur Eagle

Award winning photo by Steven Pelser

and planning our visit. We rented a nice, new, air-conditioned car for a month (unlimited mileage). The plan: drive north through Pretoria and east to Kruger National Park for a one-week stay; drive south along the coast stopping at various smaller parks; end our trip in Capetown and fly back to Rio.

IMPRESSIONS. Before I continue with the journal, let me give you some first impressions. We had been in a Latin culture for a year at this time, and then suddenly were set down in the middle of a very different culture. The first thing that hit us was that most people spoke English. We didn't have to struggle to get information or read signs. All signs are in English and Afrikaans.

Another impression was that the white South Africans were not as attractive as Latinos - too pale, sharp features. It was inevitable that we would compare them to the Latinos and particularly the Brazilians we'd been with six hours before. In Brazil the melding of the races has created a very attractive people.

Our hotel was very nice; many black people staying there. Bernard said that was new from when he visited in 1981

Cheetah w/kill

Award winning photo by Barbara Kuhlenkamp

when he saw no integrated hotels.

Driving. But before we got to the hotel we had to learn how to drive on the left side of the road. It was scary because all of our instincts were wrong. For example, both of us invariably turned the windshield wipers on when we wanted to activate the turn signal. More dangerous aspects included intersections (the tendency is to look the wrong way and turn into the wrong lane), and not being able to judge how close to the left side of the road we were. Add to that that neither of us had driven a car in eight months. On top of all that they use different traffic terms: A 'robot' is a traffic signal; a 'dual road' is a divided highway. I was a bit perplexed the first time I saw a sign saying there was a robot ahead.

On the good side, we noticed immediately that cars stopped for pedestrians. We were thrilled not to have to run and jump out of the way of speeding Latin drivers who seemed to think pedestrians were just moving obstacles in their way.

POPULATION. We knew the population numbers (5

Vulture, White Headed

Even African vultures are pretty, well if not pretty, at least pretty interesting looking

million whites, 26 million blacks and Asians), but the overwhelming number of blacks struck us. It looked like much more than five to one. That may have something to do with the fact that all the blacks and Asians were on foot and noticeable, while the whites tended to be in cars or the suburbs.

Every waiter, laborer, motel maid, parking attendant, or similar type worker was black. In stores the assistants were black, but a white person usually handled the money.

LANGUAGE. Oh the babble of languages all around us. So many different African languages - fascinating. The blacks speak their own languages, and most spoke English as well. Some spoke Afrikaans. The Asians (Indian mostly) usually spoke Hindi, English and Afrikaans. Most whites spoke English and Afrikaans. All white children are required to study and use English and Afrikaans in school; both official languages. The nightly TV news broadcast, for example, would have one story in English and the next in Afrikaans.

We went into several book stores in Jo'burg looking for books on birds, history and current politics. We were amazed to find large selections of political books by black authors (definitely anti-apartheid), and

Impala with Oxpeckers

anti-government ones by white authors. Definitely a loosening-up happening.

Strange terms: hot tongs = curling iron; dinky = 1/2 carafe of wine; bakki = a pick-up truck*

*We ended up owning a "bakki" when we lived in South Africa years later (2005).

Kruger National Park, northeast corner of country; near border with Mozambique (to the east) and Zimbabwe (to the north); 85˚ F./30˚ C. & Sunny. We drove north from Jo'burg to the park on August 25. It was a long drive and in the late afternoon when we arrived, we just collapsed. Our plan was to be rested to get up very early the next morning and drive farther into the park to the accommodations compound where we'd booked two nights.

It took all morning to drive the 37 miles/60 kilometers because of all the animals we saw: bushbuck, zebra, elephant, baboon, kudu, crocodile, giraffe, to name just a few. This was early spring in the southern hemisphere so many trees and shrubs hadn't leafed out yet - a great time for game viewing. And the birds! I won't bore you with them although they were the most fun for us because they are all

Stork, yellow-billed

Photo by Meg Forbes

new to us and not easily identified. Suffice it to say we were ecstatic to see our first lilac-breasted roller.

The accommodation compound (Letaba) was like a motel/camper park and run by the National Park Service. There were approximately 100 detached units (bedroom, bath, dining area on screened porch with BBQ, a small kitchen with a refrigerator and cooking supplies); a complete cookhouse for every 10 or so units; all units were air-conditioned. Nice, very nice. There were also a few large family units with larger kitchens and two or more bedrooms. In a central area was a store, gas station, cafeteria, restaurant and bar. In another area were campsites for tents and RVs.

The compound was situated on a bluff overlooking a river and the river basin. We could sit on the balcony of the restaurant (me sipping a "dinky" of wine) and watch elephants, hippo, birds and antelope at play.

The compound is fenced* and nobody is allowed out from 5:30 p.m./17:30 to 6:30 a.m. Our usual schedule was: up at 6 and out by 6:30; a stop for a late breakfast (usually a scone & jam - things are terribly British here); more animal

Sleeping Lions

Photo by Michiel Pienaar

and bird watching; back to camp for lunch and a rest; out again game viewing at 3:00 p.m./15:00 until the gates closed.

*We loved the idea of the people being fenced in, not the animals!

August 27 - 31. We stayed at five different compounds within the park, and all had the same set-up described earlier, albeit with different settings - each one more wonderful than the last.

Our routine remained the same, but every day we saw something new: vervet monkeys; hippo; oribi and tsessebe (both antelopes); wild dogs; wildebeest; kori bustards and ground hornbills (both very large ground birds); ostrich; lion (a pride of seven one day, five adults with four cubs the next day and a single female the following day); spotted hyena; black-backed jackal; blue duiker, common duiker, nyala, steenbok (all antelopes); a martial eagle with a kill (looked like a small steenbok); a bateleur eagle eating a snake. I know, enough already, so I won't list the 100 or more birds we positively identified.

Swaziland

September 1 - 2, Piggs Peak, Swaziland. We drove south out of Kruger Park and into Swaziland, which is an independent country (kingdom actually) that

Storks, Saddle-billed

Photo by Rod & Jenny Hide

borders South Africa on the north, south and west, and Mozambique on the east. It is not one of the phony 'homelands' created by South Africa, such as Ciskei, to isolate South African blacks. Swaziland never belonged to South Africa. It was a British protectorate until independence in 1968. They have a 21-year-old king who has reined for about six years already. They have a parliamentary government, so the king is a figure-head.

There is a very different feeling in Swaziland. The blacks run the country. There is none of the timidness so evident in the South African blacks. Generally the people were confident and friendly.

The countryside goes from pine-forested mountains (lumber is their primary export) to tea, sugarcane and banana plantations in the low lands. South Africa has similar topography.

In the towns the people were well-dressed and the shopping plazas packed. There was overall evidence of prosperity.

Back in South Africa

September 2 - 3. Hluhluwe (pronounced sush-louie), South Africa. To pronounce the name of this area you have to click your tongue and do other weird things with your tongue to make it sound like a rainstorm in your mouth.

Buffalo

Photo by Warren Trew

We spent more time in game parks in this area. We saw some new antelopes, but by far the most exciting animal we saw was the white rhino - two of them, and we got close (20 ft./6 meters) to them. There were black rhino in the park as well, but we didn't see any.

September 4 - 6. Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, 75˚ F./24˚ C. & Cloudy. Natal state is predominately black, of course, but with a large population of people of Indian decent. We had some incredible curries!! The service in the Indian restaurant was outstanding as well - turbaned waiters brought perfumed water to wash our hands before eating.

Durban is on the Indian Ocean. We stayed at a hotel along the 'golden mile' of downtown. The beach front area there was turned into a mile-long beach park - wading and lap pools, water-slides, fountains, picnic tables and benches, restaurants and the usual shower and dressing facilities. It is something to behold. There was a wide beach area and more people were in the ocean than in the pools. Hundreds of kids were surfing every day. There was a sign warning of sharks, so

Kingfisher, white collared

Photo by Iver Soendergaard

perhaps the pools weren't a bad idea for non-surfers. There were several incidents of shark attacks on surfers and scuba divers while we were in South Africa.

Our hotel was across from a 'mixed race' beach, but just down from us was a 'whites only' beach, and up from us was a 'black, colored and Asian only' beach. The day before we arrived, 5,000 blacks, coloreds and Asians held a peaceful demonstration/sit-in at the 'whites only' beach.

Guns. One afternoon at a fast-food place there were two young men ahead of us in line and both had pistols concealed in the back of their pants. It seems everybody (white) carries a gun. When we entered Kruger Park they asked if we had weapons because guns must be sealed before entering the park. There were four other vehicles going through at the same time, and all four had weapons. A rather high percentage don't you think?

There was a story on the news one evening about a robbery of an armored truck. Two of the three robbers got away and a policeman was shot; it was a bystander who had shot the robber.

News Coverage: Since there

Gemsbok

Award winning photo by Jan Van Wyk

is still news censorship for foreign journalists, it has been interesting watching the local news. The tear-gassing of Bishop Tutu was reported, along with a statement of justification from the police.

When 50 or so foreign journalists were 'temporarily detained,' a lengthy justification was read - the journalist had insisted on reporting about 'unauthorized subjects' and therefore brought the arrests upon themselves; the censorship laws were broken so the police had no choice but to arrest the lawbreakers.

Interesting that when we applied for our visas to come to South Africa we were asked if we were journalists or writers.

NOTE: Our visit occurred in 1989. In 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from prison and by 1994 was elected president of South Africa. Things changed drastically then, but change was definitely in the air in 1989.

TV. Many programs from the US are broadcast in South Africa on a regular basis. The current favorite seems to be L.A. Law. Many people we met asked us if being an attorney in the U.S. was like L.A. Law. We said no, only in L.A, which is a different country culturally from the rest of the USA. We got

Wood Hoopoe, red-billed

to watch the final episode last week. Since we had not seen L.A. Law for over a year, it was a great for me. Bernard, on the other hand, is embarrassed that Hollywood (movies and TV) exports are second in dollar value only to our aerospace industry exports.

September 7, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, 70˚ F./21˚ C. Days, 28˚ F./-2˚ C., Nights. By far the prettiest park yet. The vast prairies abruptly soaring to mountains with sheer rock faces reminded us of the American southwest. We saw five new kinds of antelope; obviously the more mountainous varieties.

We would have liked to spend another day in this park, but our schedule was getting tight. We had only a thirty-day visa. We lost a day because we stayed in Durban longer than we wanted. The extra day in Durban was election day. We knew that demonstrations were taking place and we'd been warned not to drive in rural areas because of the volatile situation. Last election day whites driving in rural areas were stoned. So we stayed in Durban where it was exceptionally quiet. The blacks staged a nationwide strike, and Durban was practically empty.

The government

Genet

Photo by Michiel Pienaar

is claiming only 12 people were killed in election-day violence this year. Bishop Tutu says 28 or more blacks were killed. His argument and statements were, surprisingly, in the local newspapers and news broadcasts. There were also some very harsh anti-Botha editorials. The general feeling is that the new president (de Klerk) is committed to the 'reform' of apartheid. The blacks, coloreds, Asians and many whites want it dismantled, not reformed, and a new constitution drawn up. De Klerk has not ruled out a new constitution, but has not gotten behind the one-man-one-vote idea of democracy either. Time will tell.

We learned later that a huge protest march was held in Cape Town to register outrage at the brutality of the South African police and the deaths that occurred on election day. That the government allowed the march was significant; that the huge demonstration was peaceful was incredible. Several other marches took place after the landmark one in Cape Town - one in the capital city of Pretoria, another in Jo'burg, and many smaller ones in townships. All peaceful. The new president (de Klerk), who sanctioned the marches also kept the often brutal police in line.

Back to

Bee Eater

Photo by Tony Courage

the park. As we pulled into the park complex, seven young, black girls came out of the curio shop and over to the pumps where we were getting gas. Bernie said hello. They must have noticed his American accent because they started asking us question after question. One of their first question was did we have any children. Out came the pictures of Christina and JJ, plus our Argentine daughter Victoria. Well, they oohed and awed over how beautiful they all were, and insisted that Christina looked exactly like the current Miss South Africa. They then decided they wanted to come to the states to meet them. What a riot! I took a group photo and got their addresses to send copies. I now have so many photos of strange and wonderful kids I've promised to send photos to. Hope all the photos come out and that I remember who is who. One of the girls pronounced her name for me after I couldn't even come close: Kgaogelo Nkawe, pronounced: Kă gă ō gē lō Nă kă wē.

Driving. I think we've got this driving on the wrong side of the road down. One thing that has helped is

Lion cubs

Photo by Craig Schraibman

that the drivers in South Africa are sane and courteous. The road system is excellent; like our interstate system, but in perfect repair. The speed limit is 75 mph/120 kph, so of course 85 mph/137 kph is common.

More Observations: We saw a road crew manually painting centerlines on a stretch of newly black-topped highway.

South Africa is a modern country and yet how the whites use the black laborers is bewildering. The above-mentioned road crew, for example, instead of a truck that could do the job in a fraction of the time. At our hotel in Durban work was being done on a part of the restaurant. The workers were hand scraping paint on surfaces where an automatic sander could have easily been used. Also the maids got on their hands and knees and used a short-handled brush to sweep the carpeted rooms. Over and over again we saw evidence of under-mechanization and over-reliance on labor. Job security I guess.

Another obvious inequity is that all the whites drive - there must be more Mercedes in South Africa then in Germany. The blacks hitch-hike or take buses, but we saw very few of those. The number

Sunbird, White Bellied

Photo by Huibrecht de Klerk

of blacks on the sides of the roads was awesome. A white South African told us that public transportation was poor because all the whites had their own cars, which made them indifferent to the needs of the blacks.

Lesotho

September 8, Maseru, Lesotho, 80˚ F./27˚ C. & Sunny. *Lesotho is an independent country landlocked within South Africa. Like Swaziland, Lesotho was a British protectorate and never belonged to South Africa. In 1966 it gained independence and is now governed by a parliamentary system with a figure-head king.

Unlike Swaziland, Lesotho looked poor. It is a high country - the only country in the world with all of its land over 3,000 ft./914 meters. Cattle and sheep raising seemed to be the mainstay. We were told by a Masotho (person of Lesotho) that most of the people went to work in South Africa because of the scarcity of jobs in Lesotho.

We have stayed at some wonderful hotels on this trip, but the one in Maseru was memorable for its food. The lunch buffet had a feature we'd never seen before: an **assemble-it-yourself stir-fry bar. There were fresh sliced vegetables (2 or more) and five kinds

Bloukop Koggelmander

Can you guess how "bloukop" translates? Photo by Allison MacDonald

of meat, shell fish, nuts and seeds to start. After putting your selection on a plate you could add seasonings - minced garlic, sesame seed oil, wine, soy sauce, lemon juice and about five other choices. The plate was then handed to one of several chefs who manned the woks. The food was returned perfectly sauteed. Great idea huh? It was very popular in Maseru, aka the culinary capital of Lesotho.

Brief Lesotho Update:

Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. King Moshoeshoe I was exiled in 1990, but returned to Lesotho in 1992 and reinstated in 1995. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody intervention by South African and Botswanan military forces under the aegis of the Southern African Development Community. Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002.

**Another culinary style that has caught on in most of the west since this was written in 1989.

Back in South Africa

Addo Elephant Park. We didn't overnight in

Lilac Breasted Roller

Photo by Tyron Dall

Addo, but drove through and thoroughly enjoyed the day watching scores and scores of elephant families going about their daily business. That business of course was all about the eating: browsing for food, wrestling the tree or scrub into submission, playing with, breaking it down into bite-size pieces and then eventually swallowing it. The young ones tried to take their older siblings hard-earned food, which much to our delight resulted in chases, trumpeting and general mischief.

September 10 - 12, Tsitsikamma Coastal Park, South Africa, 70˚ F./21˚ C. & Cloudy). We spent two days in Tsitsikamma because of the spectacular location overlooking the ocean. Our chalet had a fabulous ocean view and sliding glass doors that opened onto a patio.

All the parks were tremendous and the accommodations superb. In almost every park our huts was equipped for cooking - some had complete kitchens and provided dinnerware, pots and pans. All of them had private BBQ facilities - the South Africans love to BBQ, which they call "brai" (rhymes with try). The average cost for a cabin was $20. Larger family cabins were also available. A family could spend little money and have an incredible vacation. South Africa

Lilac Breasted Roller in flight

Photo by Valmai le Grange

is a beautiful country, safe and reasonably priced. Safe as long as you follow the rules that is. There was an article in a local newspaper about a man who got out of his car (a definite no-no) in a game park to take a photo of a lion pride. The male lion attacked, killed the man and dragged him back into the pride while the man's companions could only watch.

On the drive from Tsitsikamma to Swellendam we stopped at a roadside cafe. The manager was the curious type and started asking us questions. We jumped at the chance to talk to an Afrikaner - on the whole they were reserved and not overly friendly to us. We soon turned the tables on John and got him talking about his views and opinions about South Africa now and in the future.

John was a young man, in his 20s, of Dutch decent, which means he comes from a very conservative background. The South Africans of British decent are general more liberal and anti-apartheid.

Clarification: South Africans of Dutch decent usually speak Afrikaans, a derivative of Dutch, as their first language, and they mostly all speak English

African Hunting Dogs

Formerly called Wild Dogs, they are now more commonly referred to as African Hunting Dogs. Photo by Geoff Ansell

as well. South Africans of British decent speak English with a British accent and many older ones do not speak Afrikaans, but many younger ones do. They all refer to themselves as South Africans.

Back to John. He told us that all white South Africans knew that one day there would be black rule. They want to work toward that end more gradually than the world was demanding. The building up of a black middle class (through abolishment of business restrictions) was a much needed step. The whites felt that if the whole black population had more of a stake in the economy, anarchy would be less likely when the change-over came. Most of the business restrictions have been lifted, but, naturally, white special interest groups were fighting many of the liberalization moves.

Economic Sanctions: How does the U.S. justify advancing trade with Russia and China and yet impose economic sanctions on South Africa? Both Russia and China are guilty of incredible human rights violations and not just subjugation but mass murder, and yet the U.S. policy says that to afford useful influence we must maintain a dialogue and trade relations with those countries. Seems to have been

Chameleon

Photo by Ella Huges

effective in some instances. Why do we then cut off communication with South Africa? John gave the example of influence through involvement: United Artists said they would no longer release films in South Africa as long as segregated theaters existed. American movies are popular; segregated theaters disappeared.

Swellendam & Bontebok National Parks, 80˚ F./27˚ C. & Sunny. Getting into wine country now - YES! The drive to Swellendam was along the ocean and through some of the prettiest scenery in South Africa. Grape vineyards, olive and almond orchards abound with a back-drop of a rugged mountain range.

We stayed in Swellendam because there were no facilities (except for camping) in Bontebok Park. We went into the park in the late afternoon, saw two new kinds of antelope and many new birds. The highlight was after we left the park. We looked over into a field and saw a pack of five bat-eared fox. They are very shy animals and difficult to see usually. When they saw us, they disappeared into the rocks and undergrowth so effectively that we were unable to spot them again.

Stellenbosch, 75˚ F./24˚ C. & Sunny. Stellenbosch is in the center of wine

Weaver in Nest

Photo by Ann & Geoff Ansell

country. It is a small, picturesque community with wonderful old buildings preserved and/or restored; tree-shaded boulevards abound. It is also a university town, so lots of young people walking, biking or jogging gave it a vibrant feel, yet the town maintained a strong sense of history.

We stayed at one of the oldest inns in South Africa, which had been luxuriously restored. Every room was decorated differently, but all with antiques, canopied beds and overstuff furniture.

Our time there was spent in the countryside visiting vineyards where I tasted wine, Bernard was the designated driver and we had amazing meals. The whole atmosphere was tranquil and peaceful. The scenery was breath-taking; some of the surrounding mountains were so high they were snow-capped.

Another nice aspect of Stellenbosch is that it is only about an hour's drive from cosmopolitan Cape Town. I could live in a place like Stellenbosch.

More Observations. Several things were noticeable as we drove south away from the Afrikaner stronghold of the North into the Cape Town area, which is an English-decent stronghold. One was the difference in appearance of the 'black' people. The other was the difference in black-white interaction.

The

Mozambique Spitting Cobra

Photo by Andrew & Elizabeth McAllister

'blacks' of this area are actually of mixed background and labelled 'colored.' They have little or no connection to, nor do they identify with, any tribes. They do not speak a black language; they speak English and Afrikaans.

In the north the blacks were often timid and withdrawn around whites. It was easy to see why when observing the interaction between blacks and their white bosses. The whites could be curt and belittling.

One time a waitress made a mistake on our order. It was no big deal; we just sent the extra portion back. The waitress returned and meekly apologized for the error. Unfortunately while she was apologizing, her boss came over. The boss sternly demanded to know what the problem was. As we tried to explain that there was no problem, the boss turned on the waitress and lambasted her for being so stupid. The poor girl actually cringed and slunk out of the room. We tried to placate the boss by telling her that the waitress apologized on her own. The boss's response was, "Well, that would be a first."

In the south the attitude was different - the blacks were more self-confident and

Trogon, Nerina

Photo by Willemien Spidalieri

assertive. The whites treated them more fairly, albeit not as equals. There didn't seem to be the tension between black and white that was so thick in the north. The interaction seemed easier.

September 15 - 18, Cape Town, 70˚ F./21˚ C. & Sunny. It is cooler in Cape Town because it is on the Cape of Good Hope where it gets a nice breeze. Cape Town is a city of less than a million people. It is an important shipping center and has a large business district. The beaches around the area have been developed, so it is a tourist area as well.

We took a cable car up famous Table Mountain one clear afternoon for some outrageous views of the area. Last time Bernard was in South Africa (1981) the mountain had been so socked-in (fog) that he wasn't able to go up. We were told it had been socked-in for days before we arrived - looked like our luck was holding.

Our luck with the weather was phenomenal. We didn't have a drop of rain the entire time we were in South Africa until our last day there. That day we drove down to

Spotted Bush Snake

Photo by Louis Braytenbach

the tip of the Cape of Good Hope. The whole tip is a nature preserve, plus you can see the meeting of the waters of the Indian and Atlantic oceans.* We had a fairly clear day for hiking around the area, but didn't spend as much time there as we'd have liked as we needed to get back to Cape Town and prepare to leave South Africa the next day. As we drove out of the park, it began to rain. By nightfall it was thundering and lightening and pouring rain. We both like a good storm, so enjoyed this one from our balcony.

*Turns out that although folks will tell you this is where the waters of the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet, it is actually at Cape Agulhas, east of, not at, the Cape of Good Hope where that happens.

The next morning we spent way too much time trying to mail a parcel home. We bought a few items and didn't want to lug them around for two more months. We thought it would be much easier mailing from South Africa in that we didn't have to take the unwrapped box to the post office

Sunbird, White Bellied

Photo by Harriette Fourie

and fill out umpteen forms as in South America. There was a hitch, however - we needed customs form FEB 61937. Okay, so give it to us? Nope, had to be obtained at a bank. A bank? Off we go to the nearest bank (not far). Once in possession of the proper form, we were told we needed to have our bank in the USA fill out and stamp the form. Again, huh? There was a strict law regarding how much money or valuables could be mailed out of the country. We told the bank clerk we were from Alaska and didn't have a handy way of getting them to sign and stamp our form (ya think?). Oh dear, the bank clerk said, perhaps you should take the form back to the post office and they'll fill it in and stamp it for you. Back we go, it is raining now, but the postal clerk insisted that we must have a bank fill out and stamp the form. Off we go to find another bank where we talked a more amiable clerk into signing and stamping the form, although they did try to turn us away also. Back to the

Honey Badger

Photo by Ian McDonald

post office in the pouring rain; package and forms accepted, whew. Back to the hotel to finish packing and race to the airport for our flight back to Brazil.

Overall our trip to South Africa was fantastic. It is such a big country; more than one month is needed to properly see it. We drove 3,405 miles/5,480 kilometers and only saw a small part. I can see how a return trip might be necessary. Also, we met some Americans who had been with the Peace Corps in Malawi. They loved Malawi, and said travel in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia was great. Oh well, another trip perhaps.*

*I suppose this is where the seed was planted for our eventually living a year in South Africa and traveling to all the above-mentioned countries, with the exception of Malawi.

September 19, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our weather luck was holding, so the first thing we did after settling into our hotel was hit the sand to brown up - felt sooooo good.

We'll spend another two weeks in Brazil and then head to Venezuela. We decided not to go to Colombia (no surprise). Otherwise our plans remain the same:

Darter w/fish

Photo by Deon Oosthuizen

after Venezuela to Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. We fly to Boston from Mexico City on November 20, Thanksgiving on the East Coast with Bernard's family; Christmas on the West Coast with mine; home to Alaska mid-January.

We are looking forward to being home after 20 months (hard to believe!) months - almost two years of travel!

PHOTOS. Almost all of these photos were taken from the South African National Parks website for Kruger: www.sanparks.org. People post their photos on this site (go to the site to see many, many more amazing photos - "Public Sightings"). When I could ascertain who took the photo, I attributed that photo to them. I apologize for an misspellings. For the photos of the accommodations in Kruger, those photos were also taken from their website and often have the SAN logo in the top left corner. Thank you all for sharing your talents!

There are a lot of photos of birds - wanted to show something other than the typical Big 5 mammal shots. There are so many wild and wonderful things to see in southern Africa and these are but a few.

Don't forget to see all the photos below