Advertisement
Published: January 7th 2007
Ushaka.
We look unhappy, but we weren't really. It was just freezing and raining and crowded at the time of the photoFor new year, Dave and I decided to head down to Durban for some sunny weather and beaches. I packed my bikini and we left rainy Joburg early on the 30th and headed south for 6 hours. Durban is supposed to be very hot and humid, so I was expecting singlet and shorts weather. However, it seemed that the freezing rain decided to take a trip to Durban too, and for the next 3 days we froze our butts off.
Nevertheless, we decided to pretend it wasn’t and proceeded to do what we had planned anyway. The first place we wanted to visit was Ushaka marine world, which is apparently one of the best aquatic centers in the world (well according to the South African’s anyway) and I must admit, it was pretty cool. The aquarium itself is a giant wreck that they have hauled in and converted, and the water for the entire place comes directly from the sea via a number of pipelines underneath a jetty. I was actually very impressed.
Unfortunately, the weather turned shocking and we only managed to get one show in (dolphins) before it started to pour. Then, of course, everyone headed to the
aquarium making it very crowded in there. It hadn’t been too bad when we left for Ushaka, and so our 2 friends decided to come with us in the back of Dave’s little 2 seater bakkie (a small ute). This is, of course, illegal. But in South Africa lots of things are illegal and still common practice anyway. By the time we left Ushaka though, it was decidedly worse, and our poor friends had to endure a half hour trip in the pouring rain in what had now turned into a virtual swimming pool.
Needless to say, our introduction to the New Year later that night was a home affair, as no one was keen to head back out again. We spent midnight enjoying the creative display of homemade fireworks that sprung out of the neighboring properties.. yet another common ‘illegal’ practice, and we had one land right in the front yard too!
The weather the next day was no better, but Dave and I wanted to head to the south beaches to visit a place that had been his childhood holiday destination. The people we were staying with had warned us about the beaches on New Years
day. This is a time that the black people come from all over the countryside and congregate on sea side villages, and in many places, the local businesses will board up their shops and bugger off until it’s over. They also leave rubbish all over the place and the cleanup takes days afterwards. Anyway, we pulled into one of the villages and it was exactly as described to us, so we locked our car doors and left. We didn’t get to see a lot of beach in the end, though we did manage to find a place a few towns down where we could stop and get out for a wander.
We headed back for Durban and on the way I opened a bag we had been given at one of the toll gates to see what was inside. You have to pay extortionate toll fees here, but in exchange you get a bag full of advertising. What a bargain. I did find a map in there though, and that map actually ended up changing the entire course of our trip, so perhaps it was worth it. I joked to Dave that our great map with ‘vodacom’ advertising slathered
Lunch with a view
I was looking at a hippo out there all over every spare millimeter was a bargain for only 300 rand (A$50 which is what we paid in toll fees).
Having a look at my map, I suggested to Dave that we do a little detour and go on a road trip. So we did. We decided that there was no point in hanging around waiting for nice weather just so we could go visit rubbish infested beaches, so we went to Kruger national park instead- 900 km away!
Back north we headed, and after a few hours we broke off the main highway to travel along another ‘highway’..which was really just an excuse for a highway, but the only way to get from A to B. I was driving at this point, Dave was fast asleep, though how he slept through this experience, I have no idea. Firstly, the highway was full of potholes. I don’t know anywhere else in the world where a main highway would proudly display a sign that said “Potholes- next 10 km!” These signs were strategically placed every 10km, except for random sections that had been dug up and then partly been re-tarred. I say partly because, inevitably, at some point the tar would suddenly end and the highway would become a dirt track with no signs warning of the sudden change of road condition. On top of this, the potholes themselves were not minor cracks, they were huge chunks of missing highway. To avoid them, you randomly have to enter the oncoming lane or risk blowing a tire. And the most ridiculous part is that through all this the speed limit does not vary from 120. Add to this the fact that people here apply speed limits loosely and usually add a good 20 k’s on top, and you can probably guess how bad the drive was. Despite the road condition, I still had idiots driving up my backside waiting for an opportunity overtake!
Yet, despite the anxiousness I developed over the course of the drive, I decided it was worth it because of the awesome scenery. Not only that, but you also get to see things that bring to mind the phrase “only in Africa”. Driving through little villages made of the weirdest things that the local people have scrounged around for and utilised inventively, pushbikes piled ridiculously high with stuff so that it seems to defy the laws of nature, and people walking with things on their head. My personal favourite, though, was driving past a house and seeing a herd of goats congregated on the verandah.
We finally made it to the Kruger region in one piece, much to my surprise. Driving on African roads can be an experience and a half. Our first stop was “Harry’s pancakes” a place that rated very highly on Dave’s list of things to talk about non-stop. We even took a detour of around 70km more than we needed to just to go there. All this anticipation he had created go and eat the amazing pancakes here inspired me to inform Dave that by now, my expectation level was so high that there was no way I could possibly be satisfied. Still, the pancakes were quite nice, but for days I had him asking me if they were the best pancakes I had ever tasted (the answer’s no by the way!)
Next stop was an old mining town called Pilgrims rest, which had been preserved exactly the way it had been during the gold rush. Exploring the rustic shops there was amazing, the things you can get there! Mum and Den, you’d love it. We didn’t stay there long as by now, it was getting late and we needed to get outside Kruger to the place we were staying. We had booked at the Kruger park backpackers, and I was a bit skeptical about this as it was quite cheap, but it turned out to be a lovely hut with a thatched roof and slate flooring, with a double bed and 2 singles. I had asked the guy there if they would take credit card as we had no cash, he said yes and pointed to the ‘visa’ sign. After we settled in, I went to pay, pulling out my card and then being told by the same guy that they don’t take cards. And so I said ‘what about the sign?” His reply was that they used to, but they don’t anymore. Annoyingly, we had to take a trip back to the dodgy town we had just come through to go and find an ATM. The town was littered with rubbish and strange types of people and was definitely not the kind of town you want to be in at night. We had to visit 5 ATM’s before we found one that actually worked. Somehow, avoiding being mugged, we took our cash and headed back and we were asleep in about 5 minutes.
We spent the next day in Kruger, which I wont go into again as I talked about Kruger a few weeks ago. But needless to say, I love it there. We left the park around 5:30 pm for the last 450 km leg of our 2000km journey. not fun! We finally made it, but with much complaining from me about the ridiculously expensive tolls of course.
Hope all is well with everyone. Much love to my family!
Kel
Advertisement
Tot: 0.063s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 11; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0334s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mom
non-member comment
Thanks
Hi Babes - well the blog was worth the wait. Funny, when I lived there, the roads were fantastic, especially the highways - I always thought they were better than Australia's - times do change. Weather can really make or break a trip - sorry you didn't have a better Durban experience - perhaps you'll go back sometime. Love you. Mom.