We started our trip to South Africa from Lusaka, Zambia. We took a bus to Gaboronne, Botswana. It was a 24 hour bus ride (very long) but we arrived safe and sound and without our bags. The good news is that the owner of the bus company was there when we arrived and she made some phone calls to check about our bags. Evidently, we were supposed to hand walk them across the border into Botswana. We didn't know since they were inside the bottom of the bus and Bob had asked if they would be transferred to the other bus across the border. But we did receive them the next night with everything in tact. The customer service was great and the owner gave us 500 Pula for our troubles and we each received a staff shirt as well.
Now off to Johannesburg and guess what another bus ride. This one was about 5 hours and the bus was a lot better. The bus we rode from zambia got crowded, there were even passengers standing at times for over 2 hours. Bob and I sat in the back of the bus on seats for four passengers but they squeezed 5 of us together. I had a large man sitting to my left and everytime he fell asleep he would fall on me. I had to physically push him away each time. Finally, I got up and stood.
Once in Johannesburg we took a taxi to the airport and off to Capetown! We stayed in Capetown for 3 nights. On New Years Eve we took a Day trip to the Cape of Good Hope (where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic). It was beautiful but very windy. Don't forget to view our pics on
We also visited the penguins and took a boat out to visit the seals. Along the way we saw wild ostrich and baboons. I understand the baboons are very common, in fact they are a pest. They have learned to open car doors when left unlocked. They target women with bags (they learned they often carry food!). Our tour guide was attacked by a female baboon and he had to punch it in the face. He said if it was a male he would have been in very bad shape. The sites along the coastline were beautiful.
We saw on one of the cliff sides a German looking castle. It really looked out of place. At one time there was a German man who travelled to Cape Town, loved the area and decided to surprise his wife by building this home. Once it was finished he went back to Germany and brought his wife when he arrived there he showed her the home and her response was "I don't like it and if you don't sell and get rid of it I will divource you". Crazy huh!
We spent New Years Eve on the roof of a backpackers hostel over looking the city. The party itself was boring, the music was not to our liking but we did meet a mother and son (16 years) from Argentina and they were interesting to talk with.
Jan 1 we were on our way to Nature's Valley, another bus ride of about 9 hours. But now we are travelling on the Baz Bus which is a cool bus of no more than 22 people and it stops at various backpacker hostels throughout South Africa. We bought a 7 day pass and could get on and off as we wanted to.
We spent 4 nights in Nature's Valley. It was a lovely area, lots of vegetation and trees.We saw a boboon here. He had come into one of the housing areas. He also stole food from one of the campers. At this place they had a few horses and one horse in particular thought he was human, he would go up to the door into the reception area and stick his head over the door. The door was in two pieces so the bottom could be closed and the top open (like on the show with Mr Ed the horse) We also heard an interesting story, once there was a young girl staying ther (about 4 years old) and she would ask of the workers there for a small bowl of milk everyday for her "pet". After some time one of the workers thought he should check what kind of pet she had. It turned out the girl was feeding a Puff Adder snake! He would come and dring the milk from the bowl. Yikes!
Also while we were here we went on a few hikes. One was to a waterfall and it was great because they had a dog there who actually was our guide on our hike. We felt relieved when he accompanied us since the dogs had just been out chasing the baboons and we didn't want to run into them along the way. So he was our protection. Also, the trail was a bit difficult to follow at times so this dog would keep us on track. Once we arrived to the waterfall I jumped in for a dip. No one else around, it was beautiful and very peaceful.
From Nature's Valley we went to Port Elizabeth and spent one night there. We got there late int he day and left early the next morning. Now off to Durban which was a long bus ride. Maybe 12 hours. Here we spent one night and left early the next morning. But I did get to see the ocean since our backpacker place was just across from the beach.
Frm Durban to Swaziland, another long bus ride but in Swaziland we stayed two nights. We really enjoyed our accomodations here. The place was beautiful. It was relaxing and we enjoyed the hike around hippo lake. On our hike we saw Zebras, Wildebeast, wild pigs and heard the hippo breathing (didn't see him but saw his dung along the trail).
