Wandering thru Southern Africa, 1986-87

7:45 AM, on the bus from Nelspruit back to Johannesburg I had to take the bus because the train would take too much time and I need to get back to Johannesburg to meet with a South African Airways rep to get some internal plane tickets.  This is a super luxurious Greyhound bus.  Probably most people would consider it more comfortable and convenient than the train although the ride can only be as smooth as the road and this one is under construction.  I still prefer to take a train, slow or not.  There is something inexplicably fun about a train – especially the nice South African Railways train I rode on.  The bus is too antiseptic for me with its closed tinted windows, air conditioning, tray tables on the backs of the seats, and cute uniformed hostesses who announce the itinerary over the PA system. Grain silos west of Belfast, Transvaal.   In addition to the train ride, there was one other notable aspect of this trip to Kruger National Park.  Not...

8:00 PM, Figtree Hotel, Nelspruit, eastern Transvaal Alone again in a hotel room with a bottle of wine and my little Brother typewritter.  This is becoming a recurring pattern.  The last couple days I’ve become bored riding around looking at tourist attractions with Louise from the South African Tourist Board (SATOUR).  After collecting me this morning at the guest house where I was staying in White River, Louise stopped to pick up a guy with no explanation as to who he was.  I guessed he was her boyfriend.  He appeared to be in his early 20s and had a very short haircut so maybe he is in the military.  They spoke Afrikaans to each other for most of the day and tended to ignore me. It was unseasonably foggy and rainy, and we drove around looking at waterfalls and a mining town.   I got a few photos but had lost most of my enthusiasm for the tour by the end of the day.   A good tourist I am not.   As a conventional travel writer, I’d be ...

May 5, 1986, 9:15 AM, Bus from Nelspruit to Johannesburg   Two nights ago I was staying at the High Over guest house north of White River in the eastern Transvaal.   Although White River is a small town far removed from South Africa’s large urban centers, it is not immune to the violence sweeping through black townships like Soweto and Alexandra.   There were a couple of deaths recently in White River when police fired on a group of students.   Lionel, the innkeeper at the guest house, made it a point to set me straight about race relations in South Africa.   I did not initiate the one-sided conversation which took place after dinner.   But I sat back and listened making mental notes which I immediately copied into a notebook as soon as he was done with his rant and I had the chance to escape back to my room.         High Over Guest House.  Proprietors, Lionel and Lodie, speaking with Louise van Vuuren, SATOUR (center) Lionel is...

  5:00 PM, High Over Guest House north of White River, eastern Transvaal This morning, Louise from SATOUR picked me up at my Kruger Park accommodation and drove me south to Barberton, a small gold mining community in an area of low mountains, a few kilometers northwest of the Swaziland border.   The winding, paved two-lane highway to the town wound around forested hillsides, passing groves of mangos, sugarcane fields, pink wild rose trees in full bloom, sawmills, little towns, and hundreds of brightly dressed black women and men walking along the highway on their way to do Saturday morning shopping.   Almost all stores in South Africa close at 1:00 PM on Saturday and are closed all day on Sunday.    Therefore, it’s necessary to be an early riser on Saturday to get to all the stores on one’s itinerary.     Barberton is nestled against a mountain side. It’s very clean with oodles of flowered trees lining the streets in the white residential areas. ...

3:30 PM, High Over Guest House, White River, eastern Transvaal. I’m sitting on a lawn chair surrounded by palms and other exotic trees as I type this.   The expansive view from this hillside vantage point looks out over a low veld forest with farms, citrus groves, and sugar plantations here and there.   A big German shepherd and a huge South African bulldog puppy are keeping me company.   During lunch, I got sick of listening to the innkeeper talk politics (the press mistreats South Africa, bla bla bla.)   More on him later. Neglected to write last week about the most recent Rotary Club meeting I’ve attended.   Definitely boring!   If I went to many like this, I’d quit Rotary in no time.   The meeting was held in a dining room on the 30 th floor of the Carlton Hotel – Johannesburg’s finest.   I must admit that the view was fantastic and the food was good.   It should be good since I had to pay R9.00 for it.   Usually, Rotary meals a...

May 1 Louise from SATOUR drove me up to Kruger National Park this morning.   Along the way, the impressive landscape featured forest-covered mountains spotted with kopjes (isolated granite domes). SATOUR is paying park admission fees and petrol.   I’m covering my meals and lodging.   I’ve found Louise very helpful although she is a bit self-conscious about her halting English.   Her first language in Afrikaans.      Once we were in the park, Louise crept along the park roads while I sat in the back seat of the station wagon with the windows rolled down on both sides.   We’d spot some game in the road or at the edge of the bush, she’d find a good photo spot, and I’d fire away.   Actually, it often wasn’t as easy as that.   Usually, the animals would run away before I could shoot or they’d have their heads behind a bush.   Had to wait about ten minutes with camera supported against a tree to stabilize my 200mm telephoto lens for...

Nelspruit, eastern Transvaal   This morning, I’m riding on the “wrong” side of the road in a Toyota Cressida station wagon through the low veld countryside.   Louise, from the South African Tourist Board (SATOUR), is driving.   There are rolling tree-covered hills with colorful flowered trees here and there and scattered farm land.   The climate in this area is sub-tropical.   The sky is mostly overcast today; temperatures are in the low 70s; and it feels somewhat humid. Before we head to Kruger National Park this afternoon, Louise is taking me to the only winery in northeastern South Africa.   Don’t know if I can face alcohol this morning after a heavy bout with demon grape last night while typing up the story of my train ride here yesterday afternoon.   But, I’ll try to be a good sport and not complain about the itinerary.      Our destination is the Rottcher Wineries.   Louise tells me their wine is made from oranges. ...

8:50 PM, Bar at the Crocodile Motel, 30 km east of Nelspruit, eastern Transvaal I’m channeling Ernest Hemingway tonight, sitting in a pub, smoking a Rothmans King Size, and sipping wine while I write this.   I’m not sure whether Hemingway ever wrote in bars or drank wine after dinner but it’s a good fantasy.   Also, I can’t see worth rhino snot in this bar so there may be some typos.   There may also be some interruptions if any of the patrons get friendly with me.   Right now it’s rather dead – only one older guy at the bar and me at a table.   The sidewalks fold up at about 10:00, so it may be a quiet evening.   Just me, my little Brother typewriter, and visions of the very stimulating day I’ve just experienced. I won’t spend time describing the bar or why I’m here except to say that I’m near the entrance to Kruger National Park, South Africa’s finest game reserve for lions, rhinos, elephants, leopards, and other exciting fauna.  Tomorrow, Louise...