South Africa and Swaziland - 19 to 26 November 2013

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We had asked Albert a guide we had met on our travels to arrange a ‘road trip with a difference’ for us, incorporating everything we had loved from our other three safaris around Southern Africa, mainly concentrating on scenery, wildlife, walking and raw nature - plus we also still needed to find the allusive cheetah!!!! The trip would take us through Swaziland and Lesotho and finally along the Garden Route and into Cape Town arriving in early December. We would be travelling with Albert initially but Ruth, his wife would catch up with us somewhere around the Karoo and join us for the rest of the trip. We were really looking forward to this journey as they both had a real passion for wildlife and a great respect for nature which was the main reason they had set up their African safari business. With their combined knowledge of the countries and people we knew we were in for a real treat and they would be able to get us to places that we would not be able to accomplish on our own.







We spent a final night in Johannesburg and had dinner with a group of other guests at the hotel. There was a couple of men from Nigeria who were on a business course, a lady from Sweden who was visiting her daughter in Mozambique but because of the problems in the country she had changed her travel plans spending longer in Johannesburg and a young female doctor who was also on a course. Sue the host provided a really tasty meal and it was a very pleasant last day in the city chatting to these different people from around the world.





In the morning we had a call from Albert to say that he had a problem with the vehicle and had to take it to a garage so he was late picking us up - not a good start, lets hope it goes well from now on......... However we then got a bit of a shock when he picked us up in a 25 year old white Mercedes - how were we going to get all our luggage in an already cramped car - full of table and chairs, tents, mattresses, gas bottle, cooking equipment, food etc etc - notwithstanding the fact would it actually get us to Cape Town through some very rough and wild countryside! After a bit of a squash and a tight squeeze we did manage to get everything in including ‘ourselves’ and waved Sue our host goodbye, who was rather concerned that we would make it anywhere let alone back to Cape Town!!!!!





So here we were on what Albert had entitled, the South African ’Super Good’ Scenic Route - which would hopefully take us full circle back to Cape Town which we had left a couple of months before. Actually the mercedes turned out to be ‘super good’ and was so comfortable after our bone aching rides in the red bus we had travelled in for so long - so we soon relaxed and started to enjoy our next adventure.







It took a while to get through the sprawling city of Johannesburg, travelling through the Mpumalanga region but because we were late setting off we did not get to Gods Window where Albert wanted to take us as we had missed the magnificent view on our previous trip. We had lunch on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere with such beautiful countryside all around us what more could one want......... We stopped at a bird of prey sanctuary where they looked after injured birds and where possible would return them to the wild, although this was no easy task as we were to learn. A local girl demonstrated the birds flying around the fields and told us that the previous week a recuperating falcon had been attacked by a ‘wild’ eagle but she had managed to frighten the eagle off and the falcon had another narrow escape. The sanctuary was not only home to injured birds but also wild birds had caught on that this was a good place to be fed as well - at the time of our visit a flock of Red Bishops had taken over several trees alongside the recuperating Owl’s enclosures.





Our first overnight stop was at Kingwoody Self Catering, close to Gods Window which we would be able to visit in the morning. George and Fred two brothers who own the land came out to greet us and made sure we had everything we needed for our overnight stay. We had a comfortable wooden cabin for the night which was a great surprise as we thought we would have to put up our camping tents. The three of us cooked chicken and vegetables on the Braai and watched the sun go down before retiring early to bed. We awoke early in the morning to the sound of the birds and had breakfast before heading off to God’s Window. We were in luck this time as although it was covered in mist when we got there it cleared and we were able to see the wonderful view at last as we walked around the various look out points. Albert said people came him many times and never got to see the view but for us it was third time lucky - hope it holds!





We continued on passing through a popular trout fishing area before stopping at Pilgrims Rest which we had visited on our last tour. After a long drive we headed down into the lowveld and into Kruger National Park where we camped for the night (yes we are back under canvas). The tents however were much lighter and easier to put up so we did not need the ‘gardening gloves’ we had used on most of our other camping safaris! Although we had been in this park on our previous trip we had not been to this particular area. Kruger is the largest game reserve in the world and we were now in the southern section staying at Lower Sabie Rest Camp. We spent the next few days going out with Albert on games drives in our new home, the 25 year old Mercedes. However all was fine as most of the roads were paved and Albert was a brilliant driver when we travelled on any of the dirt roads, avoiding any potholes. He was really proud of his car which he had brought from a chap actually called Mr Albert who was the only other owner and Albert had now had it for 5 years. As well as a guide he was also a keen mechanic so we were hoping that all would be well on our journey. We had so many breakdowns, mainly tyre changes on our last trip surely this would not be repeated...........







Whilst on one game drive in the park we came across an Impala who had just given birth and we watched her clean herself up and lick the youngster until about 10 minutes later it was up on its wobbly legs. Within another 10 minutes with mother nudging and prodding it was able to walk and feed before they both disappeared into the bush - what an astonishing thing to watch, to be born and moving off into the bush so quickly........... As we drove on it started to rain and we came across a rather large male lion walking up the road in front of us, pausing every now and again to scent mark the bush on each side of the road - we followed him for ages before he wandered of into a clearing. We climbed up a steep hillside and stopped at a view point, however the weather was getting worse which marred the wonderful view across the park but we could see hippos in the river below and a couple of rhinos feeding in the thicket. As we continued troops of baboons paroled down the roads picking up millipedes which seemed to have multiplied in the heavy showers. This part of Kruger had much more wildlife than further north and it was not long before we had seen the Big 5, Elephant, Buffalo, Rhino, Lion and Leopard but alas no Cheetah. Albert had different names for the animals and birds some extremely comical. Like his name for a Yellow Hornbill was Flying Banana and for a Zebra it was a Donkey in Pyjamas. As we drove around the park he would relate tales of his childhood growing up in Zimbabwe, as well as detailed information on the culture of the many African Tribes. His knowledge was great and his spotting of wildlife was second to none, we were lucky to have him as our guide. He could see an animal even whilst safely driving us around and he knew the names of nearly every bird that we came across and if not we were able to find it in my bird book. In Zimbabawe they called a lot of the birds by the sounds they made so he would also tell us what they were as well.





We left Kruger via Crocodile Bridge passing through orchards and fields of Sugar Cane, Bananas and Litchis, the latter in full fruit. We finally arrived at the Matsamo-Jeppes Reef Border and passed smoothly into Swaziland - another country, another border we had lost count on how many - but Paul now only had only two clear pages left in his passport...........





Swaziland is a small landlocked country, no more than 120 miles north to south and 81 miles east to west, bordered by South Africa to the north, south and west and by Mozambique in the east. The area that Swaziland now covers has been continuously inhabited since prehistory. Today, the population is primarily ethnic Swazi whose primary language is Swati. The Swazi people descend from the southern Bantu who migrated from central Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Anglo-Boer War saw the UK make Swaziland a protectorate under its direct control until it gained independence in 1968.





The mountainous kingdom of Swaziland is led by King Mswati III, one of only three monarchies left in Africa. The Swazi people embrace and uphold their own unique ancient traditions and our proud of their heritage. The traditional Swazi dress incorporates wrapping a large piece of fabric around your body that more often than not contains a repeated pattern of their beloved King and his face is also on the currency of the country. Sadly the country is one of the poorest in the world and has the highest HIV rate with over 25%!o(MISSING)f the general population and over 50%!o(MISSING)f adults in their 20's being positive. Albert was telling us that Zimbabwe used to have the highest rate and that Botswana did before Swaziland and this was still a huge health challenge for Africa.







A tiny country with a big heart and warm, friendly people aptly describes Swaziland which is well known for its culture and in the months of August/September and December/January, the most important national events take place. In August, Umhlanga (Reed Dance) is held over a six day period where unmarried girls carry reeds to pay homage to the Queen mother. In December or January, depending on the phases of the moon, Swaziland holds incwala which is the dance of the kingship. Albert said that he had visited during these times and thousands of Swazis travelled for miles to attend these traditional ceremonies. Although we did not get to see these we found that traditional attire, ceremonies and dancing were part of life here and we came across them as we travelled through this delightful country.



We had a long travelling day climbing up through the mountains watching every day life taking place in front of us. We saw many children making their way home after school walking long the roadsides, some of them had to walk for miles and many of them had to travel up very steep hillsides, every day just to get to their school. Albert said that it was not a hardship as children walked long distances from a very young age, so it just came naturally and as they got older were able to walk long distances.







We were staying at Malolotja Nature Reserve, a middleveld and highveld reserve, a true wilderness area with herds of Blesbok that were quite common here and some large Eland which was much rarer, but we were lucky enough to see a couple during our visit. There are no large predators in the reserve so we were free to roam anywhere on foot and there was a network of rough tracks meandering around the hills. As there were no roads the reserve had a really quiet relaxed atmosphere and we all soon became very chilled. Our small log cabin looked out over the wilderness and it was one of the most prettiest place I have ever seen. The garden outside our cabin was also a good spot to sit and watch the birds, with colourful swallows and Red Collared Widowbirds swooping across the meadows. It was lovely to watch nature all around us whilst we ate breakfast from our own viewing platform above the meadows. As we explored Malolotja reserve we saw so many wildflowers a truly stunning unspoiled area it was such a shame we had to move on - a week here would have been just lovely - maybe another time.





Before we left Swaziland we passed through the capital city of Mbabane stopping at a local craft market with over a hundred stalls but we were the only ones visiting at the time. All the stallholders wanted to stop us and chat but we had to give in after 20 otherwise we would still be there. I think we may have been ‘early birds’ but we did not see many tourist on our travels around the country so I do not think they will have many ‘sales‘. The market sold a lot of touristy items but also colourful jewelley, some of which was traditional Zulu beadwork which is unique and gives a fascinating insight into their culture and customs. Jewellery is used for tribal rituals, showing whose tribe the wearer belongs to, similar to how the Scottish wear their own tartan. With the Zulus, colour is just as important as the pattern and the following are common interpretations of the bead colours:



Black: sadness, loneliness, disappointment, but also reassurance

Blue: depending on the shade these beads mean sky, sea or faithfulness

Green: lovesickness, jealousy, but also grass and cattle

Pink: shyness and the suggestion of poverty

Red: blood, tears, anger, boundless love

White: purity, innocence, love, good-luck

Yellow: wealth, estrangement and in some cases hate.





We both agreed that Swaziland was a delight to visit and again it was a shame but we had to move on. We crossed the border back into South Africa and into KwaZulu Natal, the heart of Zululand culture.





We stopped to do some shopping before travelling along a narrow dirt track to get to our next ‘Home Sweet Home‘ - this is what Albert always quoted as we neared our destination. We were following a long range of mountains and the main one dominating the town of Mkhui was called Ghost Mountain after legendary tales of spirits from the local Zulu tribe.





Of all the sub-Saharan Bantu people, the Zulu’s are the most well known. They arose in the late 18th century from the hundreds of small clans occupying the northern regions of KwaZulu-Natal on the eastern seaboard of South Africa. There was always a struggle between the clans for grazing rights and conflict was commonplace but mainly only took the form of shouted insults and some assegai throwing. At assegai is a pole like weapon used for throwing or hurling, made of wood and pointed with iron. It was the most common weapon used all over Africa before the introduction of firearms. The Zulu and Nguni tribes were renowned for their use of this type of spear. This changed however with a man called Shaka who was the illegitimate son of a local chief and who was evicted along with his mother from his own clan. Shaka was born in 1787 and grew to be strong and fearless, he changed tactics and developed a short stabbing spear. Conflicts now assumed a deadly nature and Shaka swept all before him, he was contemporaneous with Napoleon and finally conquered a far greater area. The Zulus then came into contact with the white man and suffered reverses at their hands, firstly with the Voortrekkers and later, against the British. At each engagement, their warriors proved to be brave soldiers. The nation was then broken up and some Zulus assisted both the Boers and the English during the Boer War of 1899 - 1902. Promises of emancipation made to them by the British were not honoured and a growing resentment grew between 1910 and the advent of the Afrikaner Nationalists in 1948. After secession from the Commonwealth in 1960, the Zulus joined with other black groups in the struggle against apartheid until the first democratic elections in 1994.











We continued our journey stopping to camp at Mkhuzi National Park and as we put up our tents a large frog jumped out. It must have travelled with us all the way from Kruger National Park as we had stayed in accommodation during out time in Swaziland and our tents had remained in the Mercedes - hope the frog will be happy in his new National Park!! In Zulu, the name, Mkhuzi means ‘a chorus master of singing and dancing‘. The park’s entrance was close to our campsite and we undertook several game drives looking for the threatened Rhino, as the park was one of their last refuges. Several bird hides and an excellent watering hole were located in the park where you could sit and watch the animals come down to drink without being seen and therefore got close up views without disturbing them. We watched herds of Buffalo, Zebra, Wildebeest and antelope including the pretty Nyala from from these vantage points. The male Nyala is very different from the female you would think it was another species, the coat is rusty or rufous brown in females and juveniles, but grows a dark brown or slate grey, often tinged with blue, in adult males. Females and young males have ten or more white stripes on their sides but adult males do not. Only males have horns which are long and yellow-tipped. We saw one male with only one horn come down to the waterhole but being minus one did not seem to make any difference to him. We watched several families of pumbaa (warthog) come down to drink as well and then wallow in the mud for a while before wandering off - Madeleine you would have loved it here.









The park does not have any lions but does have cheetah and leopard but we were not lucky enough to see either during our visit which was a pity as I do so want to see a cheetah. We did however have excellent viewing of a young rhino and its mother, a really up close encounter as they were feeding on the edge of the bush, a very special moment. The park also had large herds of Giraffe and at one time we saw about 14 all munching away on acacia trees together. Numerous birds called the park home including many birds of prey and we saw many Snake Eagles. We saw Violet-backed Starlings also called Plum-coloured Starling or Amethyst Starling, the male is such a stunning bird but again the female is not quite so.....we also saw a number of sunbirdsincluding the Double-coloured and the Malachite Sunbirds which are so lovely, in the right light and of course the African sun is just perfect........





Compared to most of the other parks we had visited Mkhuzi was particularly scenic, covered in shady acacia trees and a wealth of animals roaming the pleasant grasslands. We left the park early in the morning and as we lifted our tents a number of frogs had ‘encamped’ underneath, I think the one we had brought from Kruger had found a few friends. We could not leave anything on the ground as we packed up the mercedes as the frogs kept coming back even when we shooed them away..........





We finally left - hopefully ‘frog free’ and joined in with a throng of small herds of cattle being driven along the track by Zulu men and boys to be ‘dipped’ nearby - our white mercedes was constantly being swallowed up by the roaming cattle. Dipping of cattle is a routine practice in many parts of South Africa. The objective of dipping is to minimize production losses through ticks and flies, and the diseases associated with these pests. Albert, who still has a farm in Zimbabwe said the cattle here are dipped once or twice a month in the raining season to remove these troublesome and sometimes deadly critters.







The track ended as we entered the town of Mkhuzi and Albert stopped to try and get a spare part for the mercedes. After which we joined a queue of locals as he wanted to wash the car himself at a local facility - it was his pride and joy and he cleaned it whenever he could........... Believe it or not as soon as he put the power hose on a number of frogs jumped out from underneath the bumper...............would we ever leave these multiplying critters behind..........





A very clean (hopefully frog free) car later we continued our journey heading into the Drakensberg Mountains where we were going to do some hiking on the gorge trail to see Tugela Falls and the rock formations in this scenic area. To get there we had to travel through what is known as the Battlefields area of South Africa. Here battles were fought between Zulus, British and the Boer troops. We passed through many of these renowned battlefields like Blood River, Islandlwana, but the one most of you will know is Rourkes Drift made famous by the 1964 film Zulu. This renowned battle saw 11 Victoria Crosses awarded for gallantry and the entire garrison will always be remembered. We will have to watch the film again sometime as you could actually picture the events happening as we travelled through the hills and valleys of this scenic area and I kept a lookout on the top of the hills just in case I saw Zulus ready to advance!





As we passed through Hlobane (meaning ‘the beautiful place’) an area of rich coal deposits, Albert told us of two deeds of heroism that took place in the area. In April 1838 a 14 year old boy, Dirk Uys, seeing his wounded father surrounded by chanting warriors, went back alone and with his father’s rifle shot and killed three Zulus before being killed himself. It is also in this vicinity that General Redvers Buller won the Victoria Cross in the Zulu war of 1879.





On the hillsides Albert pointed out circles of white painted stones which outline a Zulu church (no building) and he said that followers attended church out in the open about three times a week. Even if the weather was really wet and cold they would remain in their ‘outdoor church’ until the end of the service - such dedication. As we passed through the countryside many locals were sitting on the sides of the road waiting for a lift from passing traffic as hitching was the only way to get any where because not many people had any other means of transport that we in the western world take for granted. We noticed that many of the women had painted their faces either white or red and Albert told us that this was to stop their skin burning in the intensive heat particularly as many walked long distances without any shade or sat on the road for a very long time hoping for a lift.......







We arrived in the Drakensberg Mountains, the peaks of which form boundary between South Africa and the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. This range stretches an enormous 1000 km from north to east. We had visited the northern part of the range when we stopped at the Blyde River Canyon a few weeks ago. The name Drakensberg in Afrikaans means ‘Dragon Mountain but the Zulu name for the range is uKhahlamba, or the barrier of spears, which does justice to its dramatic basalt buttresses with some of the most awe-inspiring landscapes I have ever seen. Indeed they provided the backdrop for the above mentioned film, Zulu as well as many others and are the most common picture you will see on any postcards.





The mountains here are rich in plant life, including a large number of species listed as threatened plants, with over a hundred species listed as globally endangered. Of over 2000 plant species in the park a remarkable 98 are endemic or near-endemic.



The Drakensberg Mountain is not like any other mountain range in the world as here one can find peaks next to completely flat tops, and rainforests next to meadows and savannas. Historically, this area was inhabited by the Bushmen (a collective name for indigenous African tribes). Little is known about the Bushmen of the Drakensberg as their last group was seen here in 1878 and then they disappeared leaving behind the only reminder of their existence - some amazing rock paintings. The paintings are unique not only because of their good condition, but also because of the variety of subjects; hunting scenes, religious ceremonies, and peaceful life depictions reveal every little detail from the history of these mysterious ancient people. We have seen many rock painting on our travels around Africa, some of them have been really clear but others are sadly disappearing it is still astonishing though to see them and appreciate how long ago they were painted. Currently about 40,000 pieces of the Bushmen art have been found here which is the largest collection of its kind in the world. 20,000 individual rock paintings are located within 500 different caves and on the mountain slopes. It is hard to determine the exact age of the paintings based on used pigment, so it is believed that the oldest one was made about 2,400 years ago.





We undertook several other hikes in the mountains with Albert as our guide - it was so useful having someone who knew the area. Before you set off hiking you have to complete a very detailed report outlining; what age you are, how fit you are, where you are going, what time you plan to be back, your first aid supplies etc etc. Albert told us stories of people that did not go prepared on to the mountain and one group of tourist who got lost having to spend the night in the cold - temperatures really drop here at night. Local boys with horses risked all to go out looking for these foolhardy unprepared visitors but common sense really should prevail. It is certainly not fair to risk the lives of others who were so willing to risk theirs for you. On one of our hikes we set off to visit a large waterfall which had the most spectacular and unforgettable curve, known as the amphitheater, this then drops for 850m and is the second largest in the world, after the Angel Falls in Venezuela. We were visiting in the dry season so there was not a lot of water, but the descent was still huge and we particularly enjoyed this hike which followed the river back to its source.







As we left the Drakensberg Mountain range we passed many local women doing their washing in the river whilst their children played nearby as had been happening for centuries, time certainly stood still here - but we were moving on across the mountain tops and into Lesotho, kingdom in the sky, see you there.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Love the pace of your travel
We've been following you move slowly, one experience, one adventure, one scenic view after another. We love your stories. Please keep blogging.

[silvernomads]

Thanks for your comment...
Glad you are enjoying following our blog and hope you continue to do so - Cheers Silvernomads

[silvernomads]

Thanks for your comment...
Glad you are enjoying following our blog and hope you continue to do so - Cheers Silvernomads

[Christa and Reiner]

Hi Sheila and Paul, again it was a pleasure to be with you " on the road" ( and still is ). Best wishes for the New Year Christa and Reiner

[silvernomads]

On the Road .....
Hi Christa & Reiner - Great to hear from you and glad you are enjoying being 'on the road' with us. Hopefully we may catch up with you two again one day. Merry Christmas, Paul and SheilaX