Travel to South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Howick.

Despite having been to Africa before, today has been the hardest day of travelling we have ever experienced. Ten hours on the road to cover 600 km, or to put it another way an average speed of 37 mph. For the cyclists among our readers we have had a total gain today of 22,000 feet and we are now up in the Drakensberg Mountains. Meg has been complaining of dehydration and altitude sickness! The Eastern Cape where we started this morning is very different to places we have travelled before in South Africa and Namibia; it has suffered from under-investment for many years and the road infrastructure is fairly poor. We had completed nearly 20km this morning before we were able to get into fourth gear.

Today we had another first, something that we said we never do, that is to travel after dark on the rural roads, where you have to look out for cars without lights, vehicles with one headlight so you think it’s a motorbike, cyclist without lights - normally on your side of the road but coming towards you – oh, and not forgetting the pedestrians.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to, South Africa, Mpumalanga, Kruger National Park.

We enjoyed a later start to the morning today with an 8.30am pick-up time for our day tour covering the Soweto township, the Apartheid Museum and Johannesburg/Joburg. The mini-van was full with many newcomers to our travel group joining us. We had a long drive from our campsite in towards Joburg. We saw where they were mining for gold, which when it was discovered in 1886 Joburg suddenly became a very popular place, especially with the British. We stopped in front of the 2010 World Cup Stadium, where the Spanish team defeated the Dutch in the final. The African Cup of Nations final is being played there tonight (10thFeb) between Nigeria and Burkino Faso. We will be watching this with our Kenyan bus driver Josh who loves his football.

Our next stop was the Soweto township, where the famous 1976 uprisings occurred. Young African school kids were protesting on the way they were being made to sit their school exams in Afrikaans, which was not their first language. When this was introduced only 30% passed their exams. This was just one example of apartheid rule in South Africa during this time. During the protests a 13 year old boy, Hector Pieterson, was shot dead by the police in a peaceful student demonstration and there is a famous picture of another young boy carrying him running down the road with Hector’s sister alongside. We were fortunate enough to meet his sister who works at the Hector Pieterson Museum. We drove to the street where this shooting happened in the Soweto township. We drove down the street where Nelson Mandela lived for part of his early adult life, when he was married to Winnie Mandela. This street was also the home to Desmond Tutu, making it the only street in the world to house two Nobel Peace Prize winners. We were unfortunately not able to spend a lot of time on this street (Vilagase) as we were on a strict schedule, but this particular area had a strong cultural feel to it. The township had a population of about 4.5 million people, made up of 61 suburbs, 19 hostels and one upper class area. We were taken on a very short walk in a shanty town, where we saw how more than 40% of the black South African people live (on less than a £1 per day). They had no mains power electricity, and they had communal running water. Their houses were very basic and small, made out of corrugated iron and often only one bedroom. We were constantly being asked for tips from people. Our driver was also spotted by one of our group taking a sneaky commission from owners of small souvenir stalls that were selling us stuff. We were all, I think a little bit disappointed after this part of the tour as we had expected to see and learn more about the shanty town from our guides and see first hand their day to day life.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Lesotho, South Africa.

Country/Town Visited: Lesotho, South Africa
Date of stay: April 2011
Where you stayed: Lumelang Guesthouse (Pitseng)
Tour or pre planned: Pre-planned visiting friends 

Our destination was Lesotho, known as the Kingdom of the Sky. It’s a tiny country, landlocked in the remote mountains of South Africa. To get there we drove from Johannesburg to Lesotho. 

Touching down in Johannesburg, I felt an incredible mix of emotions, unlike any I have ever felt before in my life. An uneasiness about landing in the city deemed “the rape capital of the world”, and an excitement about entering a completely foreign, exotic continent which I had only dreamed about.  Our friends had arranged a ride from the airport and we were met by man wearing a Scottish soccer jersey. He was the one to drive us, through what I believed to be the gauntlet of rapists, muggers and robbers that my wild imagination had constructed on the long 14 hour flight from Brisbane. Instead we were greeted by a beautiful smile and this was my first experience of the sincerity and kindness that the Basotho people completely encompass. We drove the entirety of the 7 hour journey accompanied by beautiful Sesotho Gospel Music. The only word to describe the experience: surreal. 

We arrived late at night and fell asleep quickly, only to awake to an incredible 360 degree view of mountains completely and utterly surrounding us (see image below). The feeling of which, I can only describe as “protected”. My anxieties and fears were gone as the sun rose over the landscape. The mountains around us felt Strong, Wise and Beautiful.  

The Sesotho formal greeting is. “Le Gay? Ki Tang. Where are you? I am here.” It is all about being present... The first Basotho person I met that morning, was a woman named Me Mapaballo. She greeted me with a warm welcoming smile, adorned with a giant bucket of water upon her head. As she passed it to me, I realised how heavy the bucket was and I dropped it to the floor, nearly knocking the entire bucket over. She cheerfully laughed at how I could not carry the water like she could. Me Mapaballo and I quickly became friends. I was surprised to learn that she was a Grandmother. One of the many grandmothers who help run the community and take care of the many orphans (including the children to her own children, who have passed away because of HIV – 1 in 3 people in Lesotho have HIV, making it the highest incidence of the disease in the world). She is also the first person that I have ever met that is HIV positive.

Read more at http://www.oetravelblogs.com

Travel to Durban, South Africa.

Durban City Review: Durban, South Africa

Having moved to Duban (Durbs) from London just under a year ago now, I can still say that I’m no closer to being a Durbanite than the day we touched down at King Shaka International Airport. Durban is a city with a HUGE array of cultures and their eccentricities all mixed into one bowl and stirred with a sprinkle of curry powder. It will take years for me to localize here and I can’t wait to discover it all!!

Home to the infamous Bunny Chow, Durban is a smorgasbord for those with a love of curries. Not all the cuisine is Indian though, and for food lovers there is plenty of option. A favourite of mine is eating and drinking out in Florida Road – its hustle and bustle on a Friday night is infectious and no trip to Florida Road is complete without a pizza from Spiga’s. Be sure to book though, this place fills up quickly! Being one of South Africa’s busiest ports it’s not difficult to find some fresh fish on a plate….for those who like to catch what they eat, all you need is a rod. During the Sardinerun not only will you catch glimpses of whale & dolphins from the shore, but for the game fisherman this is a whole new ballgame. Scuba diving along the West Coast of South Africa during this phenomenon is world class and, coupled with some of the best weather and beaches SA has to offer, what better time to visit!?!? 

The province of Kwazulu-Natal, of which Durban is the largest City to, has even more to offer. Without going into too much detail in this write-up, on the doorstep of Durban’s threshold you have, to the North, the Nature reserves of Natal’s Wetlands and border to Mozambique (spectacular for all things wildlife; land and sea). To the South, the sleepy towns of the Hibiscus Coast with Blue Flag rated beaches and the world famous golf course of the Wild Coast (take a right and visit the hometown of Nelson Mandela and the capital of the Transkei, Umtata. Inland to the West there are the Mountains of the Drakensberg for all avid hikers and mountain bikers which borders the inland country of Lesotho, famously accessible via the Sani Pass (for the super brave on Mountain/Motor bike, or like we did, in a 4x4!!). 

Although Durban has some world-class hotels and accommodation, there is a massive camping and caravanning culture in South Africa (with the locals as well as with visitors). So grab a tent and hit some of the campsites that are right on the beach. There is also catering for the backpacker and one of the more popular companies to tour the Backpacker route with, is the Bazz Bus. I haven’t done this myself but read up on the details as this is a great option, not only for Kwazulu-Natal but also for South Africa, they do a very convenient route to all the best (more popular) backpackers in the country. 
Read more at http://www.oetravelblogs.com