Blogs from Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa - page 6

Umgeben von zwitschernden Vögeln, gurrenden Tauben und sanft plätscherndem Wasser sitze ich hier bei sommerlichen 28 Grad Celsius auf dem Liegestuhl mitten in einem blumigen Garten in Pretoria und geniesse die Ruhe nach den vergangenen, mit neuen Eindrücken vollgepackten Tagen im Krügerpark. Wenn ich zurückdenke, kann ich noch immer kaum fassen, was wir in diesem Nationalpark mit einer Fläche von rund 41 Quadratkilometern (also fast so gross wie die Schweiz!) im Nordosten Südafrikas alles gesehen und erlebt haben. So versuche ich mich nun im Folgenden mit einer Zusammenfassung... Am Tag meines letzten Blogeintrages sind wir mit unserem Mietauto die letzte Strecke von Swellendam (ein kleiner Ort irgendwo im südafrikanischen „Gaggo“) zurück nach Cape Town gefahren, wo wir unser Auto neu getankt und gewaschen sowie einen letzten Einkauf für die bevorstehende Tour im Krüger-Nationalpark g... read more

Rovos Rail  From the Sublime to the. 'Cor Blimey' now a 1600km Train Safari following 160 year old trail forged out of the African Bushveld on - "the most luxuriour train in the world" - owner Rohan Vos. The night and morning in Pretoria we spent busily trying to make our 29ers look like Louis Vuitons and spit and polishing ourselves and the best of our gear so we didn't look like we had been backpacking for the last two months- we didn't really need to worry as we looked just as good as everyone else and occasionally better.  And as the 'Pride of Africa' departed from Rovos' Capital Park private station  we sat on our bed in our suite having our first of many glasses of Champagne (on the train) we just put our heads ... read more

With just 15 days left to go (and only 11 of those working days), it would be an understatement that I am suffering from a cocktail of emotions and stress. There is so much to be done and organised and waiting for visas does not make this any easier. Those things which you have to rely on a third party for really get my goat. I always, somehow, manage to feel out of control and if you know me you would know that Bazil does not do feeling out of control very well. It’s safe to say there is a force working here, because as of yesterday I was the only one to get their Schengen transit visa. One of my colleagues actually missed her flight cos her visa was not and has still not, been ... read more

Here are some photos of the flat that I will be living in until December. Hamburger helper, peanut butter and jelly, and fizzers (candy).... read more

The goal today was to go to Soweto, but after I called a tour company, I quickly realized that it was not going to happen. For a 3hr afternoon tour, they wanted to charge almost as much as the 10hr safari we went on a few days ago. I don’t think so. So we went to Pretoria instead, which is 51km up the road from where we are staying. We didn’t know what we were going to do there, but we thought we’d go anyway. We knew the Union Building is there, which is the South African government building. As you drive into town, you immediately face a massive building that sits on a hillside. As we got closer, we realized it was the University of South Africa, potentially the best and biggest in the country. ... read more