Tuesday, Mar 14. Left Kruger and entered Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). Immigration was simplicity. Stopped at a glass factory/tourist stop. Very nice glassware at a fraction of Venice pricing. Very tempting. Bought an awesome Eswatini t-shirt for $9.

The new hotel is at the top of a short mountain, looking down into a large valley. Gorgeous. Nice bar. Food and drink continues to be insanely inexpensive. Wifi is awful.

Monday, Mar 13. Skipped the morning Nature Walk. I’ve done three in the past six months, didn’t want to do another. 

Later we all visited the local school. So much fun! Terrific principal. I gave him all the running/bicycling medals I’ve collected and they were a much bigger hit than I expected. I didn’t expect them to understand “St.Patrick Days Fun Runs” or “Turkey Trot” medals, but they didn’t seem to care. One was my only Marathon medal, but who cares? Took photos of kids based on who they were assigned to among my group printed them out. Another huge hit. Gave them a package of balloons but didn’t have much time to show how they’re used. 

Afternoon game drive was a bust for me. A kudu, some Cape buffalos and hippos. People who haven’t done a safari before were very satisfied. If they only knew what the northern countries had available. In the morning I’d taken photos of flying birds, which was largely successful.

Sunday, Mar 12. Game viewing drive, beginning at 6AM. As far as four-footed animals goes, it was largely a disappointment compared to other parks. But the birds were wonderful. Very colorful. My photo skills show a big improvement. Picking photos for today was a real challenge.

Lunch was at a park rest area, next to an inoperative train that’s become a hotel. (Nearly all trains in the country are broken. People stole their copper wires.) Really nice gift shop. There were lots of very tempting items begging to be bought. 

I had another quick dinner. I’m doing a great job of not taking full advantage of the buffet.

Saturday, Mar 11. Transition day to Kruger National Park. Peaceful ride on excellent roads. Lunch was at a country store-type place. Had a kind of chicken sandwich, which was excellent. The countryside is strangely familiar. Very unAfrican.

Our accommodations are in the park, but protected by fences. Meaning we could roam freely. Very pretty pool. Huge camp, but apparently OAT has special status as our rooms were near the main lodge. Tented lodgings with AC! For some reason I’ve become terrified of malaria, so I finished the buffet dinner quickly and retreated to my room. Wifi is slow and inconsistent. Load-shedding is a thing, but they have a generator. 

No photos.

Friday, Mar 10. No photos. An agonizing tour of a horrible prison. Then the Apartheid Museum. Both locations showing the worst of humanity. Enough said.

Thursday, Mar 9. (These events are out of order: sue me.) Toured the fringes of Soweto, a depressive shanty town (city). Several local guides spoke of their experiences and how the area struggles to survive, much less improve itself. (I did not take photos of the shacks, which were laughingly called homes.) Watched a performance of a local street group. One was an albino, which was a refreshing change from the horrors facing albinos in Tanzania.

Demonstrations are constitutionally legal in the country. We witnessed one outside a hospital, protesting the 3% pay raise offered when there is 10% inflation. Tasted cow’s head meat with rice and salt. Had lunch at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant which normally serves taxi drivers. A good spread of local foods.

Visited Freedom Square and Sisilu Square in Kliptown. Guided by a thin, lively local. A too brief discussion about Afrlphobia, where locals are against (sometime violently) foreign workers. With upwards of 50% unemployment, it’s a valid issue. I was hoping for a much more expansive briefing, but we were outside under the sun, so haste was okay.

Got a briefing at the Hector Pietersen Memorial (which I visited in 2020) from Hector’s sister. 12 year-old Hector was killed in 1976 during a student demonstration against having to learn the Afrikaans language. Spellbinding narrative. The museum was jammed with a seemingly unending line of children.

Had dinner again at Trumps. Ordered a glass of sparkling wine and Shaun came with a full bottle. “I’m charging you for a glass, but giving you the bottle.” Also had wine and port to go with ribeye, wagyu steak, and “Death By Chocolate”. Talked to a couple of fun servers who were waiting for their reservations to arrive. Another fantastic dinner.

Wednesday, Mar 8. I skipped the morning viewing drive. I just couldn’t stomach another descent/ascent. Honestly, I’ve been to much better places for animal viewing.

The return to Johannesburg was unremarkable, though we had a fun conversation in the van since we all know each other a little better.

Had a fantastic dinner at a poorly named restaurant: “Trumps”. Established in 1994. I asked for the oldest vintage shiraz they had, which elevated our server to the floor manager, Shaun. He showed us a 2006, quoting a price that, though high, was low enough. My friend Tracy dazzled him with conversation, which got the price lowered by 25%. It was incredibly good wine, made doubly so with our entrees.

I ordered ostrich medallions with peppercorn sauce. Massive medallions! (About $15!) Delicious. I couldn’t imagine not eating it all, though it was a struggle. Finished with excellent port, forsaking their “Death By Chocolate” desert. I think we’ll be returning tomorrow.

Tuesday, Mar 7. I haven’t mentioned that the mountaintop that’s always in view is home to the world’s highest and longest par 3 golf hole. Called The Extreme 19th, the tee is 1,300 above the hole and 396 yards away. Obviously, a helicopter is used to arrive at the tee. No hole-in-one yet and only a handful of birdies. The regular course was designed by 18 of the world’s best golfers, one hole each.

Morning viewing was unexceptional. For the afternoon we first had lunch at a watering hole on the descent to the lower valley. There were people who had arrived on horseback. We weren’t told of the pool, so none of us had bathing suits. Bummer.

Nothing too exciting down below, (lions, again at a distance) but while returning on the upper level we came upon a tower of giraffes, frolicking. It was amazing to see how flexible their necks were, left to right.

Had an outdoor BBQ in the evening. Only ten guests, so it was pretty low-key. Delicious sausages.

Monday, Mar 6. Two viewing drives plus a fascinating visit to a rhino orphanage. They had five babies. The setup was interesting in that they didn’t advertise their existence over fear of poachers. The manager asked that we not place photos on social media that could reveal its location. I bought some souvenirs, partly to contribute. 

Driving down into the lower escarpment has quickly become tedious. Slow, with little to see.

In the afternoon we encountered several very friendly rhinos. One came right up to the truck to rub his horn against the step immediately below me. The truck shook. When another approached a wheel, the driver quickly backed us up. Punching a hole in tire was a real possibility.

The lake below our lodge was advertised to have hippos. Haven’t seen one; Also, the literature about this Reserve said the trucks would be able to drive off-road, which is not the case. My unhappiness about this situation is building. We saw lions at a great distance, including a very impressive-looking male, but couldn’t approach.

Sunday, Mar 5. Traveled to Entabeni Game Reserve. First half was on an excellent highway, part of the Cape Town to Cairo Road. After exiting we traveled on roads of decreasing quality until the pavement ended and the dirt began. The final section put us back into the “This is a road?” Category. The lodge is very nice with a breathtaking view of a reservoir and butte. It’s a large resort, but the four of us are its only customers.

At 3:30 we departed on a game drive. As with my other sub-Saharan adventures, it’s no quick or easy drive to the park’s key area. At one point we turned back due to the threat of rain and the resultant detour we’d have to make to return. (The track we were on would become impassable if wet.) But radio reports changed our direction back to the park. Then an update told of a cheetah sighting, so our driver sped up, ignoring any distractions. Success! There were two graceful and indifferent cheetahs, totally bored by our presence. 

On the way back we passed a dead giraffe and a sleeping lion. Later we viewed a pair of rhinos. We aren’t allowed to approach rhinos in any way, so distance viewing seemed our only hope. BUT, after we stopped for “sundowners’ cocktails”. we noticed that the rhinos were passing by, giving us a closer look. Then they made a deliberate course change and approached us. Our driver immediately hustled us into the truck and we sat in silence as both rhinos came near (40 feet). One rhino then came nose-to-nose with the truck. After a little silent contemplation, he did some excited dance steps and moved off. We followed them slowly as they paraded down the track. Priceless experience.

Our return was mostly in the dark. We had a fine fish dinner, slightly rushed as we were soon to experience a scheduled power outage, the result of a long-term shortage of nationwide power generation capacity.

My photos weren’t’t the best, as I’d set the camera specifically for capturing birds in flight. Experimentation continues.