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Published: October 1st 2009
Another kind of Wild Life!
Sept 22 - Toronto to Johannesburg SA
Left Toronto yesterday afternoon and flew to Amsterdam - a 7 hour flight. After a 3 hour layover, I took a 10 hour flight to
Johannesburg South Africa. On the flight I finished my book,
The Long Way Down , the story of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman who drove their BMW 1200 bikes from the northern tip of Scotland to the Southern tip of Africa.If you are interested in Adventure motorcycle riding I would highly recommend the book or their video series. Their first trip, The Long Way Around,the story of their trip around the world, is in fact what inspired me to start doing these motorcycle trips.
After arriving at out hotel, the city lodge in Sandton, I met our guide, John Jesson, who was also on our last trip. We spent an hour or so catching up. I then hit the sack and thanks to my "magic pill" I slept for 7 hours.
On Sept 23 (Happy Birthday Michelle), I arranged for a driver to give me a personal your of downtown Joburg. My driver Marco, moved from the former Yugoslavia to Joburg 30 years ago. He
explained to me that the downtown core used to be mostly Europeans and had a thriving social life. Today, many business have pulled out, the Europeans have moved to the suburbs, there is very high unemployment and the city is deserted at night. The latest trend is for gangs to "hi-jack" buildings. Basically if a building is vacated, gangs move in and rent the apartments to low income people and collect the rent - totally illegally, they pay no taxes and don't put any money into maintaining the buildings. Very Strange.
Sept 24, Temp high 25, low 14
A new member of our group arrived today, John from Austin TX. John is 39 years old and runs a software company. Together we hired a driver for a private tour to
Soweto (which stands for South West Townships). Soweto is a black community of about 2,000,000 people 30 minutes south west of Joburg. It is the home of many of the migrant workers, and is enjoying rejuvenated growth. While there is a great deal of poverty, there is also a "black middle class" area. Soweto is significant in that both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu grew up here, and
it was the site of the famous 1976 uprising by the blacks about the biased education system. Soweto was surprisingly clean as people seemed to take pride in their homes. Our driver, Temba took us to his family home where we met his 80 year old mother,Latisha, his sister, Luluma, and he lovely daughter Jumbala. We felt very privileged to have been invited to share their home with them. Temba is a member of the Xhosa tribe, who are renowned for speaking the
click language. Instead of using words, they make a clicking sound to communicate. Had dinner with my new friend John and then an early night.
Friday, Sept 25 High 24, low 14
Friday, the last day before we get on our bikes and ride. I'm ready to go! Joburg is interesting, but it is just another industrialized city. We met with our group for an orientation meeting.The meeting was lead by our tour guide, John Jesson from Cape Town South Africa. His side kick and support vehicle driver is Malcolm from Cordoba, Argentina. The riders are: Dale and Cindy from Ohio; Rick and Julie from Nelson, BC; Antonio and Marie, a cattle Farmer from Venezuela; Fernando
and Isabella also from Venezuela;John an IT guy from Austin Texas; Dave, a trade Union negotiator from England; and myself.In total there are 8 motorcycles and 4 passengers. Following the meeting we had a group dinner, consumed a great deal of wine, and got to know each other. Highlights of the dinner included smoked
eland and roasted ostrich.
Saturday, Sept 26, High 30, low 13
7:30 for breakfast, and 8:30 at the bikes. Following a short briefing, we're off. Today we road 360 kms. Our objective was to get to our destination by 3pm.The scenery wasn't too exciting, but it just felt good to get out of the city and get some fresh air. we finally arrived at
Shibula Lodgein the
Welgevonden Game Reserve, a privately owned game reserve encompassing a massive 64,000 acres. On the property, there are 9 lodges and 45 private homes. Shibula Lodge is a 5 star lodge that is not fenced, so wild animals can walk through At any time. After dark we are required to have a staff member escort us between buildings.The rooms are spectacular including private outdoor showers. Too bad i didn't have anyone to share it with. We had a great dinner
featuring
Gemsbok. There was a loud noise during the night that woke me up out a deep sleep. In the morning I was told that an elephant came right into the lodge area.
Sunday, Sept 27, High 25, low 12
Wake up call at 6am for a 6:30 departure on our first official Safari. We leave the lodge in a Land Rover with our tour guide, Jason. Within 5 minutes we come around a corner an spot a giant African Elephant about 150 feet from the road. we stopped to watch, and he proceed to eat branches and work his way towards us. He crossed about 20 feet in front on our vehicle and proceeded to walk up the road before heading back in the bush. Awesome! We continued for another 3 hours, spotting: Zebras; Giraffes; White Rhinos; Lions (although from quit a distance}; Jackals feeding on a Wildebeest that had earlier been breakfast for a pride of lions; Springbok; and Warthogs. Not bad for our first day!
That evening we had an African Boma - the equivalent of an Argentine Asado in a family gathering place. Dinner (nothing too exotic - chicken, pork chops, stewed veggies,
corn) was eaten around a huge fire. For the occasion, I decided to wear the African outfit that I wore at the Bon Voyage party. It was quite a hit with the Africans. When they did their traditional dance, of course I was the first one they picked to join in. I showed them some of my African dance steps. Lots of fun.
Monday, September 28, High 35, low 18
Shibula Lodge, SA to Palapye, Botswana 300 kms
We did one last game drive before leaving. Highlights included; 2 teenage hippos (hippos are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa, causing more deaths than any other large animal); 2 large African Elephants having breakfast beside the road; 6 giraffes chowing down on some tall trees; any many exotic birds. We left on the bikes around 1pm, spent 2 hours at the boarder crossing and arrived at the Desert Sands motel (similar to a motel 6 - rooms are available by the hour!) around 7 pm. It was Fernando's(from Venezuala) birthday, so we went to dinner at a neighbouring motel and consumed a bottle or 2 of rum.
Tuesday, September 29, High 19, low 14
- overcast and rainy all day
Palapye to Nata, Botswana 340 kms
Not a pleasant day for riding - straight roads, cool and wet. Along the way we stopped at a small village and met some of the locals. Everyone in Africa is fascinated by the bikes.In fact, since we left Joburg, i don't think we have encountered another motorcycle! Many of the kids ran over to look at the bikes. I handed out pens, notepads and stickers to the kids (thanks Michelle) and took some photos.
We made pretty good time, averaging around 130 - 140 on the main roads. I think everyone just wanted to get to our destination to dry out and get warm. We stayed at a beautiful place, the
Nata Lodge. However due to the nasty weather we really couldn't enjoy it. A good day to rest, read a book, or update the blog.
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juanita
non-member comment
Wow!!
some great postcards you bought and the backgrounds look sooooooooooooooooooooooo real!! who would know you were actually at african lion safari!! xo