Blogs from South Africa, Africa - page 14

Last day of our Malaria prophylaxis. Since our arrival we diligently were taking one tablet of Malanil a day. The North East of South Africa is Malaria country especially in the rainy season and it is certainly prudent to take precautions. Since Rorke's Drift we have exited the Malaria territory, needed however to continue the treatment for another 7 days. Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Malaria is caused by single-celled microorganisms of the Plasmodium group. The disease is most commonly spread by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bite introduces the ... read more

Today's drive is unbelievable scenic. We had to cross the Golden Gate National Park again, which we did not mind. You never get tired observing these majestic rock formations and the colored rock faces shining in the sun. We followed the Drakensberg mountain range in its southernly direction, passing the Sterkfontein Dam, Bergville and Winterton. The road was unfortunately a bit far inland away from the actual Drakensberg mountains. So we only could observe from a distance the beautifully shaped peaks and drops. The Afrikaans name Drakensberge comes from the name the earliest Dutch settlers gave to the escarpment, translated it means Dragons' Mountains. To the Zulu it is known as uKhahlamba and to the Sotho as Maluti, translated from both languages as "Barrier of up-pointed spears", reference to the steep rocky cliffs. Zulus and Sotho ... read more

The safari outings are very much like in Krueger, early morning and late afternoon. After a 5:30 AM wake up we set out for our animal sightseeing and photo sessions. And yes during the time here we saw all the animals we missed out in the Krueger Park; among many other species a Rhino mom with her baby, and a lonely Cheetah gracefully walking the savannah road. Also, a male lion and hippos yawning, we sighted, something which eluded us so far. Nenad far more liked the Krueger atmosphere of the Hoyo Hoyo huts out in the wild nature and the safaris with more unpredictability. Nambiti’s savannah and canyon landscapes were very attractive and completely different to the flat bush of Krueger. Nambiti lies on a high plateau of about 1’500m, whereby the part of Krueger ... read more

The heavy storm still did not pass over night. It rained buckets in the morning, making it impossible to stroll around the area, before our scheduled departure. St Lucia was deserted. It was the off season, but what as more detrimental was the Covid related impact, which completely devastated the tourism business here. Many restaurants and shops were closed, some even shut down permanently. Also, in South Africa the economic impact of the pandemic on the tourism is running deep. We still were remembering yesterday's moment when the territorial and aggressive nature of a hippo surfaced, because our skipper of the river boat approached a male too closely. The big animal looked at us with his fiery eyes, puffed loudly and started chasing us. Hippos can overturn smaller vessels or seriously damage bigger ones easily. Lucky ... read more

Today we make our way to the wetland park a World Heritage Site in St. Lucia. The longest one-day drive is awaiting us. 608 km from Hazyview to St. Lucia a coastal town on the Indian Ocean, close to the border to Mozambique. Due to Covid the borders to Swaziland are closed. Our original plan to drive through this small, independent country had to be changed. Swaziland, officially called eSwatini covers an area of 17,364 km², it is one of Africa's smallest countries, slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey. The country is known for its game reserves with diverse wildlife. But also for the highest tuberculosis and HIV rate in the world. Swaziland has a population of 1.4 million people (est. 2015). Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the ... read more