Travel Report South Africa - Weltenbummler Shumba - Weltreise mit dem Allrad Reisemobil

Travel Report South Africa

03.08.-15.09. and 26.10.-21.12.2016

07.01. - 05.04.2017

our Route

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1€ = 14,50 ZAR 12/16

0,87 €/Ltr

Pont Drift Punta d'Ouro

Giriyondo Alexander Bay

9.907 km

at the border

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Part I > Pont Drift - Giriyondo 03.08.-15.09. and 26.10.-21.12.2016 3.000 km

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The North East and Swasiland

South Africa receives us with broad tar roads and proper road signs.

Also on this side of the Limpopo we are in the farmland. We drive past huge citrus and tomato cultivation areas. In between is a small but fine national park, the Mapungubwe. Some decades ago a farmer has found some ancient graves equipped with gold at this point. Meanwhile the place is a "world heritage site", with a small museum and guided hikes to the excavations.

The scenery is spectacular, gnarled baobabs alternate with bizarre rocks, and the whole is complemented by the wide view across to Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Here we run into the goal camp of a cycling event, a multi-day mountain biking race on elephants tracks, through the absolute wilderness of the three neighboring countries. The annual event is funded by the "Children in the Wilderness" organization.

This is how we get to know Petrus, Robert, Liberty and Oscar, young South Africans, who are honorary doing all the logistics for this event. For 3 weeks they "live" in the respective country camps and look after the participants. We understand each other straight away and they invite us to stay with them at the camp. This gives us the unique opportunity to sleep in the national park.

Together we drive to a nearby viewing platform, the "Tree Top Deck", a long bridge almost built into the tree tops, out to the river to drink our "sundowner". ...read more...

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Part II > Punta d'Oura - Tela Bridge 07.01. - 30.01.2017 2.347 km

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The East and Lesotho

The border crossing to South Africa is easy. The Mozambicans make jokes and the South Africans take their cause "very" seriously. And, if there were not so traffic because of the end of the Christmas season, we would probably be through within half an hour.

From here is tarred road and this is good, because it rains. The route south, through the Maputo Land is boring, we drive through forest and farmland and past small well-kept single-family homes with clean front porches, but we wanted to make some way anyway.

Our goal is the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi National Park, one of the most beautiful national parks in South Africa. In this scenic highlight there are the "Big 5" and many rhinoceroses, which we can observe extensively. Two days we stroll through the park, then we leave west in the direction of the small town of Ulundi. It's nice here.

A hilly, lush green landscape, in which many smaller scattered settlements spread out, colorful houses, painted in funny colors, like bright green, pink, orange, light blue, they emerge, and with each residential complex there are also the traditional circular huts. Everything makes a good impression. Usually there are stone houses in good condition, it is built a lot. The people are dressed clean and neatly, the population seems to have their livelihood. Likewise, the streets are in excellent condition. It is striking that we hardly see white faces and also no huge farms, and up to the many smaller protected areas, everything is open and not fenced. Wide eucalyptus and sugar cane plants cover the hilly landscape.

We are in the middle of the Zulu country, on historical paths. Ulundi is the headquarters of the Zulus. The Zulus have fought serious wars with the former British Kingdom and the Burs. Even today there is a king, without a governmental power, but a very respectable and influential person.

Thus we reach the small town Eshowe. After we have filled our supplies, we visit the old fort and museum. The exhibition of the making of baskets and pottery of the Zulu is very interesting. Directly outside on a hill near a church we find a great sleeping place with 360 ° circular view. In the small village, the Chief is also quickly found to determine whether we can stay.

The next day a fantastic mountain road, with magnificent views, leads us further into the wide landscape of the Zulus, passing small hamlets built on the steep green slopes, waving people on the roadside. What a beautiful country! ... continue reading ...

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Part III > Tela Bridge - Cape Town 30.01. - 17.03.2017 2.922 km

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Eastern Cape and Garden Route

We are back in South Africa.

At first sight, there is not much difference compared to Lesotho, but at second sight we see that the houses are fenced. For the first time in days, the thermometer again hits the 30° mark, we have lost a lot of altitude and are again at 1570m and Klaus is, as always, complaining about the, as he says, nonsensical speed bumps, which force us to break uphill and so we we loos all the speed, which is not very economical.

The search for a sleeping place in this area is rather difficult since everything is fenced. But anyway we want to drive up the fine Joubert Pass.in the small town Lady Gray. This pass, which was built by farmers 100 years ago leads up to 2,235 m and offers in addition to a small "sleeping place" a magnificent all-round view. The road is so narrow that the truck lane fits perfectly. The ride is well worth it, and the route continues through a magnificent landscape, passing large farms with sheep and cows, whose well-groomed fur shines in the sun.

The smaller towns, such as Lady Gray and Dordrecht, seem to have become extinct. Many houses are empty and / or decayed. On the outskirts of the cities, new settlements have emerged for the black population.

We make a great leap towards the coast, cross the state of Eastern Cape and come through lovely Victorian towns such as Fort Beaufort, Queenstown, Grahamstown, whose names show the Victorian, British past.

On the coast in Cannonrocks we meet again our friends Conny and Tommy. Of course, there is a lot to talk about and so it will be a fun and entertaining evening. The next morning the two continue to the north and we continue south to Addo National Park, which is known for its large elephant herds. ... continue reading ...

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Part IV > Cape Town - Alexander Bay 18.03. - 05.04.2017 1.574 km

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Cape Town and Western Cape

Through the suburbs, the cities of Hout Bay and Camps Bay, we arrive along the beautiful coast to Cape Town, the famous Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, with its exclusive shopping malls, exquisite restaurants and other attractions.

Of course, we also stroll through and let the pomp have it's impact on us. So many great things that we do not need and still find one or the other nice. On Saturday we meet our friend Rainer in the "Buiskuit Mill" in Woodstock, an artist's quarter. We have not seen each other for a long time and there is very much to tell. The day is like flying. Rainer lives near Paarl and we arrange another visit in a few days.

This city has always something to offer, so we do not miss the carnival parade in the evening and the next day we explore the city by means of the hop-on-hop-off bus and make extensive "sightseeing". We learn a lot of new and unknown about the history of the city. The weather is fantastic, the sky bright blue, the Tafelberg dominates the city, it could not be nicer.

On the third day, we are dismisses by the security of "our" car park on the waterfront. We drive through the city a little and also through the Boo Cape district with its colorful houses to end the day on the Signal Hill with a sundowner. It is a popular picnic spot where many people meet in the evening to admire the incredible sunsets.

The next day, we will be able to enjoy the natural science museum and stroll along the shady avenues of the Company Garden, where we wait for the arrival of our friends Agathe and Michael. About 9 months ago we were together in North Zimbabwe and now we meet again in Cape Town. A hearty reunion with many interesting stories and the evening is again much too short. For this reason, we decide to spend another day together and drive in the direction of Stellenbosch to go on a small wine estate for the "wine tasting". 4 years ago Agathe and Michael were already here and still rave about the very good red wines and the ambience. ... continue reading ...

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PICTURE GALLERY South Africa -

>> North East and Swasiland

>> East and Lesotho

>> Eastern Cape and Garden Route

>> Cape Town and Western Cape

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Continue Reading....

>>> Namibia II

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