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I try to add here my travel journals in Dutch and English so that people can see what I'm doing when on a trip. 
Sep 04, 1999 06:00 PM Een zeer aangename kennismaking
Ook hier moet ik weer een dikke 4 uur wachten alvorens ik verder kan reizen. Op de luchthaven van Singapore heb je 2 ruimtes waar je naar buiten kan gaan. Je hebt de cactustuin en een zwembad in de openlucht. Als ik daar naar buiten ga, word ik weer verrast door het warme vochtige klimaat van Singapore. Zelfs als het al donker is, zakt de temperatuur niet. Je begint al gauw te zweten als je buiten bent. Daarom zijn er in Singapore zoveel gebouwen met airconditioning. Ik heb me dan ook een tijdje aan de bar geïnstalleerd en een gesprekje gehad met een persoon uit Adelaide. Hij is ook 33 jaar en komt na 3 maanden Engeland terug naar huis. Hij heeft ook aan een Contiki tour deelgenomen in Europa en vond dit fantastisch. Hij heeft vooral veel tijd doorgebracht met zijn familie. Daar het tot nu toe een vermoeiende tocht is geweest, besluit ik om tijdens de volgende vliegtuigtrip zoveel mogelijk te slapen. Als deze vlucht naar Cairns, mijn eindbestemming, vertrekt om 22h35 verneem ik dat we nog een tussenlanding hebben in Darwin.
Tijdens de vlucht naar Darwin zit ik naast een 45-jarige verkoopster uit Adelaide, ze is een vertegenwoordigster voor een Deense firma in medische apparatuur en verantwoordelijk voor een groot deel van Australië. We kletsen de hele nacht over van alles en nog wat: ze is getrouwd en heeft 2 kinderen en komt nu van het hoofdkantoor in Kopenhagen. Als we ons na 3 uren aan elkaar voorstellen, moeten we een beetje lachen. Je zit al meer dan 3 uur met een wildvreemde te praten en dan leer je pas haar of zijn naam kennen, een vreemde situatie. “Dag Maureen.” In plaats van deze 4 uren te slapen hebben we dus de hele nacht gebabbeld. Ze moet nog een presentatie geven in Darwin alvorens ze naar huis vertrekt. Onze gesprekken gingen wel diep hoor. Alvorens we landen, nodigt ze mij nog uit om haar in Adelaide op te zoeken, maar als ze de datum verneemt, zegt ze dat ze dan waarschijnlijk een medisch congres heeft in Melbourne.
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Sep 03, 1999 06:00 PM Onderweg van Londen naar Singapore
Vandaag is het de eerste dag van mijn trip: het is zaterdag 4 september en dit is dan de start van mijn vakantie naar Australië. Rond 14h45 brengen pa en ma mij naar de luchthaven in Zaventem. Jos Bancken gaat ook mee, want hij is daar nog nooit geweest en wil de vliegtuigen wel eens zien landen en opstijgen. Als ik ingecheckt ben, gaan we nog iets drinken om de bewegingen van de vliegtuigen te bekijken, maar het is niet druk vandaag. Hierna neem ik afscheid van hen, niet tot morgen of volgende week, maar tot over 1,5 maand oftewel 6 weken.
Iets na de middag is Jana nog afscheid komen nemen tezamen met haar papa en mama. Naar het schijnt kan ze het woord kangoeroe al zeggen, zelfs eerder dan dat ze de woorden papa of mama in haar mondje neemt. Dit is toch wat Eddy mij vertelt. Zij schijnt nogal regelmatig te zeggen dat ze graag een grote kangoeroe heeft, liefst nog eentje waar ze in de buidel kan kruipen.
Als mijn vliegtuig om 17h20 de lucht intrekt, zit ik voor deze korte trip naar Londen, naast een jong Franstalig koppel uit Tervuren. Ik geloof dat zij naar Timor trekken, wel niet de meest gelukkige keuze achteraf gezien. Want als ik in Australië ben, trekt de VN Oost-Timor binnen om een einde aan het geweld aldaar te maken. Rond 17h30 landt het vliegtuig in Londen, waar er nog altijd een uur verschil heerst met het vasteland. Hier begint dan het lange wachten in de luchthaven, want mijn vliegtuig vertrekt pas om 22h10 in de richting van Singapore. Ik slenter wat rond door de winkeltjes en probeer een beetje te rusten al liggend op de bank. Maar zo’n 4,5 uur wachten duurt een eeuwigheid. Tijdens de vlucht naar Singapore zit ik langs een koppel uit Milaan, zij gaan ook naar Cairns, maar doen wel een andere tour. Ik heb hier een beetje TV gekeken, iedereen heeft namelijk een privé schermpje in de zetel voor hem. Ik heb hier “The Mummy” en een groot deel van “The Matrix” gezien, maar ik heb vooral proberen te slapen, maar wat meer dan doezelen en half slapen lukt me eigenlijk niet. Maar ik ben toch redelijk goed uitgerust als ik in Singapore op de luchthaven arriveer, het is dan al 18h10 op zondag 5 september.
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Sep 02, 1999 06:00 PM Australie - de voorbeschouwing
Na onze trip naar Zuid-Afrika en Zimbabwe in 1998, dacht ik eraan om in mei met Thieu en Jean terug naar Amerika te gaan, maar daar het al rap december was, is er van deze trip niets meer in huis gekomen. Ik ging dan nog eens, ditmaal alleen, een tweede keer terug op vakantie naar Margate en Pretoria om hier samen met Angie en enkele van haar vrienden kerstmis en nieuwjaar te vieren. Tot dan toe dacht ik nog altijd om naar Amerika te gaan, maar op kerstdag had Marianne gebeld. Zij is van Australië en ze vroeg of we dit jaar niet naar Australië wilden komen ipv in 2000, zoals we eerst hadden gepland. Ik vertel dit aan Jean, maar hij kan dit jaar niet meegaan, vertelt hij. Dus besluit ik dan maar om alleen naar Australië te trekken. De zoektocht naar een geschikte tour kan dan hiermee beginnen. Daar ik dit jaar al 33 word, is dit ook één van mijn laatste kansen om nog met een jongerentour mee te gaan. Deze touren nemen namelijk alleen mensen tussen 18 en 35 jaar mee.
Ik hoor dan ook nog van, een oud medestudent, Marcel Vandebroek, dat een studente van ons jaar in Australië een reisbureau runt. Zij is Katelijne Lenaerts, ik krijg haar e-mailadres en website doorgespeeld en heb haar dan ook een mailtje gestuurd. Maar daar de tochten voor het najaar nog niet vastliggen heb ik een tijdje moeten wachten om mijn volledige vakantie vast te leggen. Dit is dan toch nog goed gelukt en het wordt een tocht van 6 weken, beginnende in Cairns, het noordoosten van Australië en gaande tot Perth, het zuidwesten van dit grote continent. Eerst is er een tour van 19 dagen met Contiki gepland van Cairns naar Sydney, om nadien samen met Marianne wat tijd door te brengen in Melbourne. Het afronden van de trip gebeurt met Nullarbor Traveller, de reisorganisatie van Katelijne gaande van Adelaide naar Perth in 9 dagen. Ik trek door verschillende staten van Australië op deze trip, van Queensland naar New South Wales om dan via South Australia in Western Australia te belanden. Het is alweer een week meer dan de vakantie van vorig jaar, eens zal deze verlenging toch gaan ophouden.
Als voorbereiding op deze trip heb ik een vluchtig gesprek gehad met An van het reisbureau Gazelle, zij heeft verleden jaar al een stuk van deze Contiki-trip gedaan. Ook bekijk ik regelmatig de website van Contiki, daar er soms een berichtje wordt achtergelaten door mensen die op een tour meegaan. Zo ook Anne-Marie van Calgary in Canada, die dezelfde tour gaat volgen. Ik heb haar een mailtje terug gestuurd en we hebben vluchtig kennis gemaakt. We zullen elkaar later in Cairns ontmoeten.
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Nov 09, 1998 09:00 PM Going back home
Tuesday 10 November, is our last day in South Africa, this evening is our fleet to London. We still have to decide what to do today. I tried to let Jean and Thieu handle the things. But they also didn't know what to do. So, first some shopping in a shopping center so that Thieu can find his present. Then we drove around for a while tried to find a nice place at the ocean. We drove up to the eastern side this time, because two days back we were on the western side. After that back we went back to Durban to the Snake Park. There were a lot of snakes here. But the feeding time wasn't as announced, they didn't held it at all. And we were special waiting for 20 minutes for that. All our luck. After that we decided to drive to the airport and have some drinks there and spend our last Rand there. It happened, that spending of our last Rand. But first the drive to the airport. I saw that the tank was very empty when we left the Snake Park and that we maybe may not reach the airport. We tried to find a gas station, but we saw some next to the road but no possibility to reach them. So in all good faith I keep on driving and the meter can't get lower anymore. We managed to get to the airport, but I don't think that we could drive for more then 10 km anymore. Lucky us. Otherwise the South Africa trip ran out of gas.
We boarded the plane, had a stop in Johannesburg and flew to London. We arrived here a little bit later then planned. When we wanted to check in to our flight to Brussels they said that this one was leaving in 15 minutes. But she offered to find out it we could run. (She could that she maybe had a few runners there.) But they didn't allow that anymore. So she booked us a later flight (1-hour). Our trip will end thus one hour later. Arriving at Zaventem we checked our luggage. And yes, they weren't on the belt. Same as for 5 other people who are still waiting there. We had to go to baggage claim to find our luggage, maybe it made it with the earlier flight. But it didn't, it came with a later flight instead. So we all had to wait another hour for our luggage to come. So we started to early because there was no traffic jam and we ended to late because of the busy flight schedule.
But it was a vacation to remember. Total different from the States but also the same. I don't know if you understand that, but that is my impression.
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Nov 08, 1998 09:00 PM Shaka Zulu land
Monday 9 November is the day to go to Shakaland. We started early in the morning to arrive in time in Shakaland. We past it a few days ago, when we were on route to the Drakensbergen. Now we are going this way again. It seemed not that far then. But now it is a longer drive. We enter Shakaland and were greeted on the parkingplace by a young Zulu who gave us the traditional Zulu handshake. I still remembered that from Simunye. For entering the coral, he hits a drum, shouts and he doesn't wait for a reply and we can enter. A little bit more commercial already, don't let the customers wait. We enter the reception and book a tour. There are tours each 15 minutes in different languages. This is a well-run organization. They took us to see a video about Shaka, we see the attack-formation of the Zulu's build with sticks in the ground, entered a medicine hut, get some information about the clothes that they wear and can drink some Zulu bear. Afterwards there is some traditional dancing and a diner. I find the atmosphere in Simunye better then in Shakaland, but if you don't have enough time you can go to Shakaland but for a better experience I recommend Simunye. But maybe this will change also in the future. But the whole Shaka experience it also ok.
After this we drove back across the normal roads, not via the tolroads. This took us off course more time, but you travel then also across the center of some smaller cities. We entered Durban then from a more industrial area. It was very crowded on the roads. This is also regrettable our last full day in South Africa. The end of a long trip, my longest thus far.
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Nov 06, 1998 09:00 PM From Giant Castle towards Durban
Saturday 7 November, it looks like a nice day, the sun is shining and there are only a few clouds hanging over our heads. So the decision is made now, we go to Giant Castle. It is a very nice drive to there and a long one. But the scenery this is gorgeous. Those peaks and the valley in it. This is a nice park to drive through and to go for a walk. But we didn't have enough time to go for a walk because we want to be in Durban before nightfall.
We drove again through neighborhoods with a lot of tiny huts and fallen down places. It must be hard to live here. I can't imagine me living there. But the people seem to accept it and just go along with it. I toughed one moment of stopping here and taking some pictures of the houses, but each time there were people walking on the road and I think that it was not wise to stop then. But these houses were build against the hillside and close to the road.
Entering Durban brings us to the endpoint of our trip. It seems to go very fast on some moments and these last days in Durban are going very slow. I hoped to go for a swim, but Thieu and Jean didn't want to do that. So I let them decide what to do and where to go. Because I was leading them all the whole way and now they can make up there own minds. But a lot of plans had they not. The place in Durban where we are is a guesthouse run by a Belgian couple. They left Belgium 2 years ago, sold there house there and bought here a new one. This house is in a more residential area; there are no fences around it, so it is a safer neighborhood to life in. His father also moved to Durban and bought his own house. They have 2 black people in permanent employment and 2 more when needed.
The house that they bought needs some fixing up. When I asked to the women what they did for a living she said that here husband and his father are having a business of their own. Oh nice I said, what are they doing then? O at this moment there are thinking about what business they want to start. When I heard this, I concluded that they are already living for 2 year on the interest of their money that they got from selling there home in Belgium.
This is something I maybe have to say about this subject. In South Africa the interest rates are much higher than in Europe. They earn between 15 and 18% on their savings and they have to pay between 25 and 30% on a loan. These figures are unbelievable for us in Belgium with our 2,5% interest on our savings and 5 until 8% interest on the loans. The houses are also cheaper here, you can buy already a house for 1,5 or 2 million Belgian francs (45.000 tot 60.000 US$) were in Belgium the prices of housing are higher 4 until 6 millions (117.000 tot 176.000 US$). This is a big difference and the reason why they maybe can live for so long without having an income other then the guesthouse. Because they all have each day an other hobby: on Monday he plays golf, on Tuesday she plays tennis, … and so on. But their guesthouse is in perfect condition. It feels nice to talk in Flemish again. I know Afrikaans is also almost Flemish, but there is still a difference. They suggested doing some shopping tomorrow and the day after to Shakaland. We heard that this was a more commercial run place then Simunye, but we wanted to see for ourselves.
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Nov 05, 1998 09:00 PM Simunye to the Drakensbergen
The next day is already the 30th day of our trip Friday 6 November. This morning, a Zulu who played a snaar-instrument waked us. He walked up and down, playing that thing. That's is something else then a stupid alarm clock. Ring ring ring, this goes more like pling plink pling. Joke.
We had today another appointment with Vincent to go to the village at the other side of the river. But a girl was getting us instead. I think Vincent was a little bit to tired to come. He was already at the village. Here we saw how they make bier, a stick fight between adults and some history lessons. They showed us how they used to plow the fields by oxen and explained the function of the houses and why everything is located in that way.
Like they put the goats outside because of the smell, yes, they stink. And the cows are located in the middle of the village surrounded by a fence. Because those cows are the most importend possession that a village can have. And by locating them in the middle, they can have an eye on them in sickness and in health. Yes, because they can defend them easily and they see them immediately when they are ill (the cows I mean). Also the Zulu males are very good gentlemen, they always entering and leaving a house as first, before women do. This is their traditional way, because they have to look of there is any danger and so that they can protect them.
Also we hear stories about the famous attack position of Shaka, the king of the Zulu's in the old days. His bullhorn formation. Called like this because of the shape of the formation. They surround the enemy and close them in. He also introduced an smaller spear for stabbing and not for throwing. I don't know anymore the name of that spear. But his name is the same as the noise that the spear makes when they pull it out of your body. O what a nice sound and name, don't you think so? And even if I did remember how do you scribe sush a sound that sounds like that.
After visiting the village we are getting back to our breakfast table. And there after we were asked to go back to the top. And we could choose again how we wanted to go. And again I took the horse. Now we were with 4 persons to do horseback riding. An other girl joined us. My horse was named foot. And this foot stopped several times for eating. We started after the ox-wagon and past them on the way up. This uphill walk took more time then yesterday the way down. But I was glad I was back on top.
Now we still have a long drive for us to the "Drakensbergen" near Lesotho. This was the only hotel where we didn't have an exact location off. So in Pietermaritzburg we stopped and called for directions. This was another hotel that was located in a dirt road.
We drove a lot of kilometers in South Africa. As you know this is at the left-hand side of the road. A highway is there mostly 1 lane, sometimes 2 lanes and near the big cities 3. But the drivers in South Africa have a way to go around this. Every time you try to pass a slower one or somebody tries to pass you. The passed one drives on the shoulder of the road as far left as possible to let them pass. And the person who passes thanks then by blinking his indicator lights. A nice habit.
Now we came short to our hotel, at the end of that dirt road. It was already getting darker. But the mountains that we looked upon seem very impressive. These mighty peaks covered with clouds and trying to catch the last sunrays. Now we are thus at the "Drakensbergen". This is normally a very beautiful area with a lot of mountains and mountain roads. We decide to go tomorrow to Giant Castle. Again a long way away from the hotel and in the wrong direction for Durban. But we let the weather decide. If it is raining we go directly to Durban; otherwise we go to Giant Castle. This night Thieu had an intruder, a young swallow sat in his hair and afterwards in his suitcase. It startled him.
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Nov 04, 1998 09:00 PM From Swaziland towards Simunye
The following day we had to leave Swaziland and we decided to drive across this land and leave it via the farthest point as possible. A pity that the weather is lousy, there are clouds covering the mountains and the views all day. This is a beautiful area to spend some time, that pictures do walks and just enjoy the surrounding. But first we didn't have the time, but second and most of all the weather was to bad. So we ended up with driving across Swaziland and trying to get an impression of the area. And the impression was a feeling of a miss. We missed the sun to properly enjoy the scenery.
Leaving Swaziland took us to a bordercontrol that seems to have only one side. But when we approached the South-African side, we were send back because we didn’t have the necessary papers. I parked the car and we went to the Swaziland side. Here we were the first ones and we filled in the papers and went to the South-African side. Here there was a line waiting of at least 60 people, there were several cars and a whole busload. We are standing at the end of the line and then Jean remembers something. When we went through the bordercontrol with the bus, we had to stand at one office and then we swarmed out to the other ones. So he went inside and there were 2 lines, the one we were standing and an other with only 4 people. So he called us and we went inside, jumping the row. It was a busload of Dutch people and they didn’t appreciate our attempt to go ahead, but we did it any way and were in and out in 5 minutes. Now we have to drive to Simunye, a typical Zulu village. A place I want to see again. Why you ask. Let me tell you more about that.
We still have to drive a long way before getting there. On the map it doesn't looked that far. Me driving against 140 across the highway. I saw several times the police looking for speeders. But each time I had the correct speed, ok, almost the correct speed. Because each time, there was an other vehicle for me or someone gave me light-signals, or there were some trucks parked next to the road so that you had to slow down. But basically I was very lucky.
Before we arrived at Simunye, we had to drive a dirt road. And it started to rain and hail. The road was messy and slippery. So we didn't advance very fast. Around 15.00 we arrived at the hut. There were already 5 people waiting. After hearing them talk we knew, Dutch people. You know how we think about them. But these ones are ok, because they have the same dialect as we do. And that means that they are from Limburg. Just like us, we are also from Limburg, but then the Belgian side. It seems that we are not the only people visiting Simunye. A Swiss couple called that they will be a little late.
Let me tell something about Simunye. It is located in a valley and is not reachable by a normal car. You can go there by 4x4 drive or with an ox-wagon or by horseback. The car was no option for me, because you can do that every time. The only time that I sat on a horse was when I was maybe 6 years. I sat then on a pony to take a picture at kindergarten. And an ox-wagon I had never seen before. The wagon seems to be the easiest choice to make. But we were with to many people for that and I always wanted to try to ride a horse. My choice was made.
Going down the road on a horse is an experience (I seem to say that a lot). Sitting on that horse his back, shaking up and down. OK shaking is a little bit of a over statement. But after a while I'm feeling a little in my back and my bottom. We were riding behind the ox-wagon and sometimes they make a lot of dust. I took us almost 45 minutes to drive down. The horses were very tam. 2 of the Dutchmen and I took that horse ride (a couple). She also never sat on a horse before.
Below Vincent, the head of the family greeted us. All dressed up, no not traditional, but just casual clothes like an white man. We all were shown to our rooms. Not a standard hotel room. These are very special. They have no electricity and all the rooms have cold running water. Except for mine. The hot water is brought by Zulu-ladies in a jar. The bath was all in stone. We could go to fresh us up. But almost nobody did, we all went straight to the bar to have some drinks. A little later also the older Swiss couple arrived. They were on route with a private driver.
After a while, Vincent came and took us across the river. There were a few young Zulu women (still virgins) getting water. No, shame on you for thinking that, I didn't check that for myself. These ones also have uncovered breast. As long as their breast are uncovered they are virgins and not engaged to be married. At the moment that somebody proposed to them and they are going to marry they were other clothings and cover also their breast. That's why I know that.
We strolled further until we reached the kraal. It was a village in typical Zulu-style. Wooden sticks to bound the premises. The goats in their own kraal outside and the cows in the middle of the homestead. Vincent yells with a load voice to ask for approval to enter the kraal. It is not polite to enter a village without permission. They even could kill you (in the old days).
The chief comes and invites us in. Vincent then gives an explanation about the clothing of the chief. Inside we get a demonstration of the stick fight of the children. And they show us their skills in throwing a stick to a shield. We all can try that. The stick is totally unbalanced. I know that is no excuse. But the children miss a lot of targets. From our group a few people miss. No I throw that unbalanced stick straight at the target. Gloat, gloat.
Then we have to sit around an open fire. I try to sit with the wind in my back, so that the smoke doesn't blow into my face. But when more people sit down and some Zulu's came and stand there also. We wind was rotating constantly and we still get that smoke in our faces. Here they show us some items that they use and we had to taste some Zulu-bier also. This tasted very sour and bitter. It wasn't that a nice taste, but I swallowed the whole contend of the spoon.
It was already dark now and Vincent and some other people escort us back to the "hotel". They bring us the light, they walking with torches next to us. And then at once, a lot of Zulu's jumping out of the bushes and attacked us. Off course this was a fake attack. They also joined us in going back to the "hotel" singing and laughing. Here we had to sit around another open fire. They are sitting at the opposite sight. This is the place of their traditional dancing. It was a great show that they gave us. A lot of singing and dancing. I loved it. The last dance, we all had to join in 3 at the time. It was nice.
After this dancing we could get our meal. Later we all sat at the same table and talked and talked and talked until only I, Thieu and Vincent are left. Then also Thieu went to bed. I talked still a while with Vincent about family and the meaning of a family to them and about the family history. (Because I'm making my own family tree.)
Going to bed, across the walking paths, only lighted with oil-lamps is an unnatural sight. It gives all a more traditional character. I hope they never change this place. Lying in my bed, I'm thinking about this day, and then something flies along my head. Yes those are the things that you can expect in the jungle. The best thing that I could do then is to pull the mosquito net out. Because with only the light of a candle you can't even find your own toes there. I heard it still flew around, but I couldn't come as close any more. So I was save.
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Nov 02, 1998 09:00 PM From the Kruger park towards Swaziland
Today, the 3 November we started our short drive through the Krugerpark. We expected to drive for one hour or so. Due to the rains, there were some little streams flowing across the dirt roads. These weren't very width and are easily being taken with our brand new Audi. We saw some rhino's, a family with 2 small ones. But that's almost all we saw. No leopard, lions and stuff. We keep on encountering those small water streams across the road, but they are still no problem to get through. There is another one and this one is very wide. And something what is wide, can't be that deep. But I was wrong; I put the car at ground. There is one movement any more in the car, and I have still 1-meter water for the car and also 1-meter water after the car. This is not nice to get stuck here in the middle of the Krugerpark with all those wild animals walking around. We looked to each other and Jean and Thieu get out of the car to push. They decided to push the car backwards. Stupid, because we have a front traction. And yes, it moves for 5 cm and then stuck again. So if they had decided to push the other way it didn't help. I also get out of the car. When I opened the door I noticed that the waterlevel is almost as high as the door. A few centimeters more and it will flow in. I took out my shoes and socks and plunged my feet into the water. I was until my ankles in the sand. That is the reason why we get stuck there, the lose sand on the bottom. Here we are then. We are luckily a few kilometers from the restcamp. But we can't walk to there because of the wildlife. We have to wait and are remembering that driving in the previous day we only saw 3 cars the whole day. So we are in for a long wait. About 15 min later there was a jeep coming. These persons pulled us out backwards. At the left hand side there was a much harder underground to drive on and we past that stream along that side.
He off course waited until we got across. After this experience we went on our way to Swaziland. As the word says, this is another country so we had to cross again a border control. Now without the help of a guide. We parked our car and a person pointed us to an office. Here we have to declare our car and pay a fee to drive on Swaziland roads. Then we had to go for the usual stamps in our passports, one for leaving the country, again one for entering. Also each time filling in a form about the purpose of our visit, where we are going and for how long we are going to stay. We are now on our way to Mbabane, the capital city of Swaziland. A small city approximately 20.000 people living there. Before getting there, we visited some waterfalls along the way. Then we had a drive into Mbabane to find our hotel and to find a local information point. We found neither, but asked in a store and they told me the direction to go. After entering the hotel, we decided to go and look for a big waterfall indicated in the books. But the roads are not well indicated here and we didn't found it. We found while driving back via another road, also not well indicated a smaller wildpark and entered there. Yes it is small and there are very bad roads. Some roads are so small that the branches of the bushes are hitting the car a both sides. These roads are also unflat, sometimes if seemed that you need a 4x4 to travel there. But we did some of these roads, because otherwise I had to drive back for a long while. This park is not well maintained. We saw only a few animals like impala, zebra and the wild pig. But this is no place to drive with our car. If it were mine I wouldn't do it. Going there and back we were on the road that the book said to find the waterfall, but they were working on several of the sideroads (they were closed off), and probably one of these was the road to the falls.
We decided to go to Mbabane instead. We parked our car and went for a walk across the marketplace through some shopping streets (or what they looked like). We are the only with people walking across the streets here. And we didn't felt tretend or unsafe. Now and then you saw a white woman or man driving in a car, but walking there no. It seemed that the white ras is disappert from the face of the earth. We eat here something and went back to the hotel to have some drinks.
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Nov 02, 1998 09:00 PM Het wildlife in het Krugerpark
Na ons ontbijt op het terras gaan we op deze vroege morgen van de 3de november beginnen aan onze ochtendtocht door het park. Ook hier krijgen we weer 2 lampen om de dieren te zoeken. Maar vandaag hebben we heel veel geluk gehad. Na eerst de gebruikelijke dieren gezien te hebben, besluit de gids via een doodlopende weg naar een drinkpoel te rijden. Deze is helaas verlaten. Maar als we terug rijden, zien we een aantal gestalten over de weg trekken. Als we dichterbij komen, zien we dat het een groep van een achtal leeuwen zijn die net de weg oversteken. Ze leggen zich nog even neer voor een fotosessie en lijken dan met tegenzin te verdwijnen in de lage struiken. Toch aardig van hen om zo te poseren. Maar als we hier een paar minuten eerder of later waren geweest, dan hadden we deze groep nooit gezien. Je moet het geluk maar hebben. Het is een groep jonge leeuwen, geen enkele heeft die zo karakteristieke manen van een volgroeide leeuw. Maar ja, we hebben er met ons voertuig bijna tussenin gestaan.
Als we terug in het kamp komen en naar onze kamer teruggaan, zien we op het gras een boter doosje liggen. Apen denken we, en dan zien we dat onze frigo open staat. Ze hebben het brood, siroop, worst en boter van onze mond naar de hunne gebracht. Die #$%#$#$% bavianen. En dan zeggen de mensen nog wel stomme aap. Maar ze hebben toch geen moeite om een frigo open te krijgen of een schroefdeksel van een siroop pot. Die stomme apen zijn ons blijkbaar te slim afgeweest. Er zit dus niets anders op dan nieuwe inkopen te gaan doen.
We moeten nu ook vertrekken naar ons volgend rustkamp ‘Berg en Dal’ genaamd. We besloten om een zeer lange rit te maken vooraleer daar aan te komen. We hebben dan ook de eer gehad om enkel neushorens te zien passeren. Wat een groot dier is me dat, groter dan onze auto. Dit had ik niet verwacht. We waren een beetje verrast door die verschijning, want hij kwam ineens uit de bossen en we kwamen dan ook zeer kort bij die kolos. Maar Thieu had hem nog op tijd gezien. Ik ben dan gestopt om een kijkje te nemen. Hij rent al snel weg, maar een kleine 5 minuten later zien we 2 andere neushorens, een moeder met een kleintje. Ook zij beginnen te lopen als we proberen dichterbij te geraken om een beter zicht te krijgen. We hebben zelfs enkele giraffen gezien. Rond 2 uur zijn we dan in het rustkamp aangekomen. Alweer onder een verzengende hitte. Het lijkt wel alsof we op een bakplaat rondlopen. Rond 4 uur zijn we nog een kleinere tocht gaan doen, maar buiten een olifant, enkele zebra’s en de gebruikelijke impala’s hebben we niets gezien. Het is veel te warm voor de dieren om hun schuilplaatsen te verlaten.
Die avond besluiten we nog een braai te houden. We hebben de benodigde onderdelen gekocht, zoals vlees, worsten, hout, lucifers en drank. En het lijkt erop dat we een prachtige barbeque gaan hebben. Thieu probeert het hout aan het branden te krijgen. Dit duurt een tijdje, maar uiteindelijk kunnen we beginnen. Maar het vlees heeft nauwelijks boven het vuur gelegen of de eerste druppels beginnen al te vallen. Er hangt nog veel meer in de lucht en dit moet er nu dan ook allemaal uitvallen op dit eigenste moment. Dit is dan al onze tweede barbecue die in het water valt. Gelukkig heeft onze hut een kookplaat zo dat we ons vlees nog in de pan kunnen bakken. Maar dit gaat ook niet zonder problemen, daar de spanning een aantal keren is uitgevallen ten gevolge van het onweer. Je ziet het; een echte wildernis ervaring in de Zuid Afrikaanse brousse. Yeah, in een comfortable blokhut.
Als we gedaan hebben met onze maaltijd houdt het ook op met regenen en wordt het prachtig buiten. Er hangt een heel aangename atmosfeer in de lucht. Een spanning van elektriciteit tegen een voorgrond van een zeer zuurstofrijke lucht. Het is een hele verfrissing na de afgelopen warme dagen. Het lijkt alsof de natuur begint te herademen. We besluiten een kleine wijziging te maken in de plannen van morgen om eerst een korte rondrit te gaan maken alvorens door te stoten naar Swaziland. Want, we weten wat we hier kunnen zien en we weten niet wat we in Swaziland kunnen verwachten.
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