A Dream
It has always been a dream of mine to visit South Africa but I had to wait many years before being able to achieve my ambition.
At the age of 62 I managed to put together what I thought would be a wonderful journey.
Travelling with my wife and son our journey started at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam where we boarded our flight for OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg.
Most passengers, including my wife and son, managed to grab a little sleep on the flight but because of all the excitement I just couldn,t drop off!
At the Airport we up picked our hire car and set off for Pretoria/Tshwane, on the way stopping off at the Voortrekker Monument which so impressed us we stayed for three hours just to enjoy that lovely peaceful feeling we had wherever we went in South Africa.
That evening we stayed at Isiphiwo Guest House and although we had a little trouble finding it it was obviously a wonderful choice for our first couple of nights.
Isiphiwo is the Zulu word for "God Given" which is a very apt word for this lovely place.
We only had one full day so we used it by visiting Pretoria in the morning and the Cullinan Gold Mine in the afternoon where, as we were the only tourists we were given a very personal tour of the mine.
The late afternoon and evening was spent soaking up Isiphiwo,s lovely relaxed atmosphere!
We then drove Eastwards along the N4 and turning off at Belfast we followed the route through Lydenberg, over the beautiful Long Tom Pass eventually reaching our next stop, Rissington Inn near Hazyview.
This place is, even for South Africa, something special and although the owner was away we were greeted with friendship and courtesy.
We spent two full days traversing up and down The Kruger National Park from here--entering the park at the Phabeni gate.
Having seen 4 of the "Big Five" we were wondering what we had to do to see a Leopard and mentioned this to a Ranger who said " if you drive around the next bend you will see one resting in a tree"---we spent over an hour just staring in wonder at this beautiful animal. We had never seen one in the wild and it was a sight we will never forget.
How I envy those Park Rangers---what a wonderful job.
One morning while staying at Rissington Inn I realised I had no permit to drive our car into Swaziland---I had forgotten to ask for one when we picked up the car!!--and I happened to mention it to the Manager who went off to have a word with the Secretary and within 5 minutes the permit was lying alongside the toast and one small problem had been overcome.
We also managed to squeeze in a balloon flight down the Sabie Valley---an unforgettable experience on a lovely South African winters morning.
Our last day here was spent travelling the Panorama Route and on the way back we spent a lovely couple of hours at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre.
Alas, it was time to move on and we headed for Swaziland which we entered at Matsomo/Jeppe,s Reef border crossing.
Heading for our stopover at The Foresters Arms Hotel we were fascinated by the beautiful countryside but at the same time rather upset at the sheer scale of the poverty around us.
While there we visited Mlilwane Game Park which, although lovely and relaxing, when compared to the Game parks in South Africa had a rather rundown feeling.
Leaving Swaziland at the Nerston border post we moved on to KwaZulu-Natal and made our way to the Penny Farthing Guest House near Dundee.
One of the reasons for wanting to visit South Africa was to see the battlefields and while there we managed to see Isandlwana, Rorke,s Drift, Blood River, Talana and Spion Kop.
We were very impressed with them all but Isandlwana is an unforgettable battlefield---it was quiet when we were there ---there were only 6 other people besides us--and I could sit on top of Black,s Koppie/Mhlabamkhosi and just imagine what had happened there on that awful day in 1879.
I could have spent much longer in KwaZulu-Natal but we had to keep to the itinerary so we drove down via Tugela Ferry to Durban to catch our S.A.A. flight to Port Elizabeth.
Again, picking up our hire car we drove to Shamwari Game Reserve.
Here we were treated like Royalty and were given two beautiful rooms at Lobengula Lodge and for the duration of our stay we had the same Ranger who not only took us on astonishing Game Drives but also ate his meals with us in order to make sure we didn,t want for anything.
This was definately one of the highlights of our holiday--our Ranger even took us to within 5-6 yards of a Black Rhino---and I have vowed that one day I will go back to Shamwari.
It was while we were there that we were taken to see the rescued big cats at the Born Free Centre---it was very emotional listening to the Ranger explaining the terrible conditions these animals had been rescued from.
Driving Westwards along the N2 we spent a lovely couple of hours at Knysna--much too short but it was all that time would allow---before making our way to Lands End Guest House at Victoria Bay.
What an experience this was---going to sleep at night to the sound of waves crashing onto the rocks and eating breakfast on the verandah while watching Whales performing their tricks out to sea.
After two days here we reluctantly moved on to our last guest house---Klein Akkerdraai Lodge near Stellenbosch.
We spent the last three days of our holiday here---visiting the lovely wine country---Franschhoek captivated us and the drive over the Kogmanskoof to Montagu is a wonderful memory that will last for many years to come.
Cape Town is stunning and everything we had heard it would be--from Robben Island, Victoria and Albert Waterfront, the beautiful Cape Peninsula, Table Mountain of course and much more---our last few days were kept very busy.
All too soon our holiday was over and we had to deliver the car back at the Airport and catch our evening flight back to Amsterdam.
All in all our holiday was an unbelievable experience and made us all promise each other that one day---finances allowing of course---we will again visit this beautiful country.
Great trip!
Hi Robert, Your trip sounds wonderful - I grew up in South Africa and lived for many years in Swaziland. It sounds like you squeezed in all the best places on your visit - well done! I must agree, Mlilwane has never been a favourite of mine - I would recommend Malolotja (wide open spaces great for hiking) or Mkhaya (fantastic for rhino). I do hope you will be able to visit again some day! (As I live in London at the moment, I do miss those moments in the bush terribly). If you enjoyed the game reserves, I can strongly recommend trips to Malawi and Zambia - it is wilder, often has no fences and the amount of game is incredible.