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South Africa used to equate with racist state oppression. More than 10 years after the end of Apartheid how much had changed?
We move north and east from cool Cape Town to car-jack Johannesburg, landlocked Lesotho and famous Kruger Park before making a break for the Botswanan border. |
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Rounding The Cape
With no freighters sailing from Brazil to Cape Town we yielded and hopped on a plane to South Africa. Few towns can follow Rio but Cape Town's Table Mountain backdrop and gorgeous bay come close. It was an unexpected culture shock: instead of the storybook wild "Africa", the city boasted a shiny mall-lined dockside that seemed transplanted from California or Europe. |
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Danger! Danger!
Though Cape Town is a pretty affluent city we were urgently warned not to stray from the main tourist strip or "talk to people on the streets" as we would surely be mugged. Pseudo-racist hysteria or wise council we couldn't be certain, but the news headlines the day we arrived - "STABBED IN THE HEART", "BLOODBATH" were not encouraging... |
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Visiting Various Vineyards In A VW
Steeling ourselves for the lethally intoxicated highways we rented a little VW Golf and headed out on the Garden Route, taking in a beautiful coastline and some of South Africa's best vineyards. We found some lovely white wines but the fact that locals choose to mix their red wine with Coke before drinking tells you all you need to know... |
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The Transport Of The Future?
With climate change and carbon emissions on everyone's radar, we investigated alternative sustainable modes of transport. In 50 years time, we may all be commuting to work by ostrich. |
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Little And Large
On our first safari we saw how the vast array of African wildlife fit together to form an integrated ecosystem. At one end huge elephants (this wrinkled chap stayed in the bath WAY too long...) and at the other the tiny dung beetle. The dung beetle survives on balls of dung - helping to recycle elephant waste back into the soil. |
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Time To Pony Up
Entirely surrounded by South Africa is the tiny, proud and mountainous country of Lesotho. People here live a very traditional lifestyle, living in round mud huts and navigating the perilous passes on hardy and nimble ponies. |
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Dumelang!
As we rode past villages each local greeted us with a hearty "Dumelang!" (How are you?) - usually followed by a string of other questions that left us totally bamboozled and the locals falling over each other laughing. We decided we were lucky to cause such hilarity! |
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Do You Guys Know "Stairway To Heaven"?
The locals can barely conceal their delight as Magnus launches into the third hour of his banjo recital. |
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Soweto
Back in South Africa, Jo'Burg is reputedly the most dangerous city in the world. By comparison, a walking visit to the infamous shanty town of Soweto seemed a "safe" option! |
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Nelson Mandela's Neighbour
Mr. Lollan here took us into his house and chatted about the days of Apartheid, when he hid Nelson Mandela and his ANC comrades in this house. He was a real character, giving 20% historical background on "the struggle" and 80% on his past as the township's leading ladies' man! |
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Strangely Scottish Sunday In Soweto
Walking the streets of Soweto we chanced upon an impromptu service of the Zion Christian Church. Their service involved an impressive leaping Swazi dance circle - improbably executed while dressed in Scottish kilts! It's a funny old world... |
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Leaping Leopards!
Solitary and nocturnal hunters, leopards are consequently very difficult to spot. Unless, of course, they munch their kill in a treetop by the roadside at Kruger National Park! We watched two of these magnificent animals feeding on an unfortunate impala before abandoning the left-overs to a bold hyena. It made off with a gruesomely decapitated head - chuckling gleefully to itself as it went... |
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Safari So Good
We explored Kruger on game drives, night drives and armed walking bush safaris. Our luck held and we saw a host of wild animals, including the Big 5 (cape buffalo, rhino, leopard, lion, elephant). Viewing their interactions gave us a greater appreciation of the intricate and often gruesome "Circle Of Life". |
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George (W) Of The Jungle
The Jane Goodall Reserve provides a refuge for chimpanzees. Unfortunately they are increasingly endangered due to a range of human-created problems (deforestation, poaching, civil wars). Learning about this specie's struggle for survival was deeply disturbing - their DNA is 99% the same as ours after all. A fact perhaps born out by the extremely close resemblance of this chimp to the current U.S. President. |
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