*******
With Madalina and Chand joining the Alexianu duo, with heavy hearts we left the Green Matatu in Durban for repairs and set off for the Drakensberg Mountains in a somewhat more boring Toyota minivan rental. The Drakensberg range marks the border between KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa and the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho, with its highest peaks reaching an impressive 3,500m in altitude. Given that we were visiting in late June – the heart of winter – we braced ourselves for biting cold at our camp at Injisuthi in the middle of the central Drakensberg.
We were not disappointed - in sharp contrast to the general perception of Africa as a 'hot place', the laws of nature still apply and the mountains in winter are very cold. So, after an eerie drive through Zulu heartland on a horribly potholed road, we bundled up for the night in our bungalow at Injisuthi Camp. The next day we went on a beautiful hike to nearby Van Heyningen's Pass, where the sweeping vistas were only disturbed by a boistetous troop of baboons scheming about how to cross the deep chasm separating them from our tempting lunches.
From Injisuthi we headed north to Royal Natal National Park and the famous Amphitheatre Range. Despite our tight timelines we managed to squeeze in a hike up to the base of the mountain and explore a rock tunnel full of water pools. The hike was certainly the highlight of our time in 'The Berg' and validated the hype about the beauty of these mountains.
After our short sejour in the mountains we dropped Chand off to take a bus back to Johannesburg and made our way back down to Durban to pick up the Matatu. After a pleasant evening in the happening neighborhood around Florida Street, we were in high spirits and ready to embark on the next stage of the trip in Kruger National Park, one of Africa's top safari destinations. However, much to our disappointment, the Matatu was not ready on time so we had to leave it behind again and race to Kruger by rental car. The long road up to our Airbnb in Hazyview, just outside the park, was relatively monotonous but strangely reminded Liz and I of our childhood drives through the Inland Northwest in the US. It was probably the combination of big corn farms alternating with small, nondescript rural towns that resembled Colfax more than Cape Town...
We spent four days in the Kruger area exploring the park and the wider region. For this part of the trip we were joined by my friend and former colleague, Alex, and his girlfriend, Ara, who had flown in directly from Thailand where Ara had been on assignment with her work. Since I was the only one in the group who had been on safari before - and had already seen my share of animals in South Luangwa and Etosha - I took the backseat and let the rest enjoy the experience. I vividly remember my first safari in the Masai Mara in Kenya in 2012 and it was gratifying to accompany others on their first one too.
Kruger is a beautiful park blessed with large numbers of all of the major game you would want to see, including lions, leopards and white rhino. But aside from this, what really struck me here was the quality of the infrastructure which makes the park highly accessible to the public. This is a mixed blessing, as cruising from one restaurant to another on a tarred road within the park does take away from the 'adventure in nature' feel which is much stronger in a park like Serengeti. But given that we had limited time, this allowed us to see much more than we could otherwise have done in a less developed park.
Highlights in the park included seeing a white rhino up close during a night drive, watching a big herd of elephants splash around in a secluded watering hole, and nearly being charged by a protective female elephant while on a walking safari. For me, walking around the park (with two armed rangers, of course!) was a new and particularly exciting way to experience the animals. Our guides, who had trained for years before starting to guide walks and sported rifles throughout the tour, were very knowledgable, particularly about how to interpret animal tracks and droppings. In our short time with them we saw elephants, wildebeest, and (of course) impalas up close, and really got to appreciate how vulnerable we are when out among predators...
We also took a day to visit nearby Blyde River Canyon, which seems to be one of South Africa's most underrated sights. One of the biggest canyons in the world - and probably the greenest - it's a splendid sight to behold and offered us the chance to capture some similarly impressive photos to those from Fish River Canyon in Namibia. Given the sheer beauty of the area, it's surprising that it's not more advertised or visited, but this may soon change as tour buses start taking safari-goers on this worthwhile detour.
After a great couple weeks in the mountains and on the plains, we said goodbye to Madalina and Liz in Nelspruit and sprinted back to Durban to pick up the car. From here, on to Mozambique!
No comments:
Post a Comment