Phalaborwa -> Pretoria: On The Road

After a 6 hour drive we arrived safely in Pretoria at around 4pm, after a 5.5. hour drive. Here we will be for the next 3 nights. On the 30th in the morning, we are traveling back east to the magnificent Blyde River Canyon, where we will stay for be until the 1st of July.

There's not much to say about today, except sharing a couple photos of the trip:

Phalaborwa: A Lion In The Jungle

At 5:15 in the morning today, before the sun had even announced her presence, Christian and I went outside the comfortable guesthouse we're staying at, in order to go to an all-day safari. Not long after that we were inside the Toyota safari truck, inside Kruger National Park.















By 6:30, the sun was coming up, and as Lawrence our guide was explaining to us how hyenas protect their cubs by placing them in small dens so that predators cannot attack them, we heard a loud loud roar. It was a lion, and he roared from about a kilometre away, but we could hear him clearly, very clearly.

He was announcing the beginning of a new day, and that he was king of this day, in this habitat, the jungle. Lawrence looked at us with great excitment, started the truck, and drove right towards where the roaring came from. Here's what we saw:

More pictures to come...

Polokwane: A Day To Relax

I'm at an internet cafe which has a super super slow connection, but that's Africa. Until now I've been in "modern" Africa - Cape Town, Bloemfontein - where the amenities we have at home are also available. Here in Polokwane, however, I get the sense that I'm in another world, the Africa I thought I'd see:
* more poverty
* more dirt: for example, dirt sidewalks
* people selling goods along the streets: anything from designer watches to cigarette matches
* significantly higher percentage of black population

What still surprises me is the weather, especially at night. It's cold, especially since houses don't have heating, and the floor is almost always tiled. The guesthouses we're staying at are well prepared for this however - many have electric blankets - but if I lived here that would be an adjustment, to be sure.

I don't have any pictures of the city yet, but have a few from our journey here.

The plains of South Africa. At the beginning of our trip terrain was semi-desert: hot, dry, but not too dry so that no vegetation could thrive. Note that there are people walking alongside the highway, that happens relatively frequently:

Driving through Johannesburg:

Towards the end of our journey the terrain changed: from light greens to rich, dark greens and from desert browns to dark, almost reddish, earthy browns:

Tomorrow I plan to go an a hiking tour of the area. Later today there are four games. Here they are, with my score predictions.
* Argentina - Greece (2-0)
* South Korea - Nigeria (1-2)
* France - South Africa (1-2)
* Mexico - Uruguay (2-0)

Bloemfontein: Paraguay 2 - Slovakia 0

It is a great day today, a day of celebration.

This is, of course, because of the great win over Slovakia today, by Paraguay, but more importantly, today is Father's Day. I am very blessed to have a Father who deeply loves and cares for his family, and for that I am very grateful. I imagine that at home, there was a great celebration of this special day today, with a wonderful meal prepared by mom. Happy Father´s Day, dad!

After a hearty breakfast at the guesthouse today, Christian and I made our way towards the stadium on foot. The game began at 1:30pm, but we didn't go to the stadium directly, because we first wanted to see the birthplace of the great writer J. R. R. Tolkien, seen in the picture below:

Afterwards, we went through the waterfront area, straight to the stadium. Here are some pictures of the great win tonight. Before the game, the lineups and national anthems:














A free kick for the good guys:














Celebrating the first goal:

Except for a 20 minute spell in the second half, Paraguay played a very good game: strategically and tactically right on. Noteworthy were the presence of Roque Santa Cruz up front - he won virtually every head ball, he makes such a difference when he plays in the seleccion - the sturdy and reliable defense - Antolin Alcaraz is such a solid rock back there - and finally, that goals came not from forwards, but from the midfield, Enrique Vera and Cristian Riveros.

After the game, it was the locals who showed us how to celebrate! They danced and sang, as if their own team had won. I guess it's true that Africans use whatever they can - absolutely anything - as an excuse to celebrate. It was loud, boisterous, and very very African.

I believe Paraguay will win group F, beating New Zealand in the last group game. This will be good because we can then avoid playing Holland in the 2nd round, playing instead either Denmark or Japan. It doesn't really matter which of the two we play - we'll beat them both - but Japan will be more difficult, so I hope we play Denmark.

Graaff-Reinet: Valley of Desolation

One of the frustrating things about South Africa so far has been the lack of access to public transport. Graaff-Reinet is a tourist hotbed, yet, it´s difficult to get there, unless one has a car: to get here, I had to take a bus that arrives here at 2am, and had the kind woman from the guesthouse not offered to pick me up then, I´d probably have cancelled my trip here.

My point to this opening thought is that my intention was to see the Valley of Desolation on my own - a day´s hike - but that was impossible. The only way to access the national park is by vehicle, and there are neither car rental places nor taxis in town, and so therefore, the only way for me to see the great sights this lovely town has to offer was to hire a tour guide, and that, is precisely what I did.

A very kind woman from the Drotsdy Hotel connected me with Anna, a very good tour guide who in the span of 3 hours drove all around the mountain and valley with me. Here are a few of the glorious sights that I saw. This really is a beautiful beautiful country.

Graaff-Reinet from the air:













 

Snow-capped mountains in the background:













 

Spandau Kop:













 

From top of the mountain (1,500km above sea level), the Valley of Desolation:




















































 

Tomorrow is my last day here, before I move on to Bloemfontein (I´m taking a night bus again). On my last day here I plan to do a hike - without a guide, this time - called Erstenfontein.

Graaff Reinet: Walking The Town

Just after 2am this morning I arrived in Graaff-Reinet, after a 7.5 hour bus ride from Stellenbosch.

Leanne, from the guesthouse, kindly picked me up from the bus station at such an ungodly hour in the morning. I slept in until past 9, trying to get some rest before a busy day of exploring the town. My purpose of visiting Graaff-Reinet is actually to view the Valley of Desolation, but as I'd been told before by others, this proved hard to do without a vehicle.

I actually walked from the centre of town to the entrance of the national park (Cambdeboo) - 5+km - but was told that the only way to enter the park is either by vehicle or on bike. That's ok, I guess, but there are a few problems here: I don't have a car, there are no cars for rent in town, there are no taxis, and perhaps worst of all, there are no bike rentals! This means that one pretty much has to either own a car or get a guided tour (expensive) to see the sights the town has to offer. How's that for hospitality!

Actually, the people in the town are very hospitable, but the infrastructure that I'm used to is just not set up. Anyways, I did manage to see pretty much the whole town, it's that small, and I don't regret coming at all. I will be here until late Saturday night, at which point I will take another night bus, this time to Bloemfontein, arriving there at 3am.

I ate breakfast at Sarmies, a charming little house-turned-into-restaurant. The breakfast tramezzini was very delicious, and the cappuccino was excellent. I took the time to write a few postcards as I waited for my order. At the entrance, a little dakel even greeted me!




























The most note-worthy building, architecturally speaking, is the Groot Kerk, the big church at centre of town:

I've come to appreciate the importance of engaging not just the mind in worship, but also the body and the spirit, and so I like a church that has "colour" - art, or especially icons. In contrast, the interior of the Groot Kerk is stark, simple, and yet beautiful in its own way:

Another noteworthy place is the Drostdy Hotel, the entrance to which is at the very end of the road in the picture. The "cottages" on either side are the hotel rooms; they used to be living quarters for slaves.















Here's where I'm staying. It's actually a perfect place: a small cottage, one bedroom with bath. It has a nice back veranda also.

Finally, a few pictures of my walk to the entrance of the national park. The terrain is arid, as it doesn't rain much in the area. The temperature fluctuates between "warm" and "cool" during the day, around 15C, and downright cold at night, around 5C. I'm realizing that I'm barely well-prepared when it comes to clothing. Often times when I'm out at night, walking about town, I'm chilled to the bone.

Note the snow-capped mountain on the left of the next picture. There's snow in South Africa!

Cape Town: Table Top Mountain, Bantry Bay

After a cold, windy, and rainy night last night at the Green Point Stadium, Christian and I ventured out again at around 11am, bound for Cape Town. As we did yesterday, we took the train, a comfortable ride of about an hour.

We had two aims: go to Robben Island, and visit Table Top Mountain. Unfortunately, Robben Island was inaccessible (again) because of strong winds. So instead, we booked ourselves on a city-tour on those ugly red buses that every city seems to have. It was my first such tour, and I must say it was worth the R120 (about $18):

























































I was surprised by the majestic view atop of Table Top Mountain. The view was actually more impressive than the view from Grouse Mountain in Vancouver.

At mountain base:










































At the top:










































Cape Town! Note Robben Island towards the top left of the picture. This is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27+ years.

























































I was also amazed how fast the clouds rolled in, and when they did, they covered the city like a blanket. From atop the mountain, it became impossible to view the city below. The temperature, by the way, was very close to freezing, 1C.




























The lighting in the next picture is not the best, but I like the glittering ocean in the background.















After an hour at the top, it was time to go down.






























Table Top Mountain from below, with the lift in the foreground:































Back on the bus:



































Perhaps my favourite picture is this next one, as we leave Table Top and continue on our tour towards Bantry Bay.















At Bantry Bay, a lovely beach east of the city, we decided to ditch the tour bus and stay for dinner at Zenzero's while watching sundown.