Krueger National Park

George’s parents have a time sharing business so we were allowed to stay at this lodge for 4 days. But since we came a day late we were there only for 3 days. The ride from Coffee Bay to Komatipoort took us 20 hours. The Swiss guy without a driving license in the back and the South African and New Zealander sharing the burden of driving through the RSA. During the night we ended up on really small roads with owls instead of tarmac. At 2 o’clock in the night we arrived and checked into the wonderful bungalow with air-condition, modern kitchen, braai place and with direct view of the Krueger Park. Rhinos, elephants and impalas showed up to drink.

We drank goon and ate as good as possible. The black people who work there live outside the lodge in a compound. We brought wine and love and they thanked us with their best hospitality. They even played us some songs with there funny instruments made out of plastic bottles and wood.

The phantom like two young American girls we never met and the rest of the people who hang out there are middle aged or older, mostly white but also some black people. George who has been in England for the last few years couldn’t believe how much South Africa has changed in recent years. He had never seen black people playing tennis in a posh place like that. He liked it a lot.

The next day we went into Krueger NP. George has been there about 30 times before. He knows it very well and was good at spotting. Once again I saw the Big Five with the exception of the leopard. I am staring to doubt that this animal actually exists. Krueger is nice, but I still think that the savanna National Parks of East Africa are in a different league. The bush of South Africa allows you to see 20 meter in both directions, while in the Masai Mara you can see a kilometer. You just constantly pass game without seeing it.

The next day we were of to Mozambique.

Coffee Bay

Some ship back in the days once sank in the bay of Coffee Bay. The ship was loaded with coffee beans. The boxes were found by settlers at the beach and they decided to name this bay Coffee Bay. This laid back, low key place is in the province of Transkei. Transkei used to be reserve for the black people during Apartheid. Basically there are no white people around. It is a hilly area which is difficult to use for farming. But the views are phenomenal and the dramatic cliffs at the shore overwhelming. We camped at the water, drank goon, bought mussels from the local fisherman (after not finding any ourselves) and hiked around the area. The grassy hills with a healthy green go as far as you can see. The houses are very scattered and built in the distinctively African style - round with straw on top. One house sadly burned down one day. About 5kg of mussels cost about 6$ to buy. To prepare them you put a little water into a huge pot, a lot of garlic and butter. Then you steam the mussels until all of them have opened aka died. Delicious!

Chintsa

By mouth propaganda the nicest backpacker in South Africa is quite cool. Each bungalow has a kitchen on the lower side and the dorm on the second floor. That’s where we drank the first time and then we went with Stacey to the main bar where we got hammered. Hung-over we woke up, fixed ourselves an Aromat toast, realizing that we haven’t seen the dunes and the beach - we took a short stroll down. Only to return 15 minutes later with another 400km ahead of us.

Addo Elephant National Park

The village of Addo is just big enough to call it a village. We found a butchery, a bit of liquor and a nice hostel with a cozy living room with TV. So we watched "The Dude" and "American Beauty".

The next morning we headed into the Park - at South African prices. Lions, kudus, zebras, ostriches, turtles, a jackal are also there, but they will always be in the shadow of the 2'000 elephants living here. At one point we could see about 300 elephants at the same time taking a bath. I never saw anything like it. The park used to be 10% of the current size, but the government is buying up land around the park to expand it. It now stretches all the way from the sea to the steep plateau. An aerial view of the park shows the patchy shape of the park.

After our nice, little safari we still had to drive 300km to Chintsa, since it seemed impossible to reach Coffee Bay before we would have turned into complete lunatics.

Jeffreys Bay

This is the best party place at the whole coast of SA. Filled with travelers from all over. Some pro surfers, a few hippies and overlanders make it a mix of everybody you can meet. I didn’t see many people surfing, but I saw many people with surf boards. I didn’t see many people at the bar, but many with boxed wine and the in South Africa ever present Swazi marijuana.

We stayed two nights and partied hard, didn’t visit the city at all, played sand golf on the beach and ended up with many stories I don’t want to share on this blog.

Next we were of for detoxing in Addo Elephant National Park.

Plettenberg Bay

Plet is a short minibus ride from Knysna. White people don’t know anything about minibuses and hardly ever use it. I never saw a white South African in a minibus. It took me a while to figure out that minibuses are not leaving from the taxi rank because they have to pay a fee to the owner of the rank. So you just go to the main road and hold a 10 Rand bill in your hand and wait. That is much cheaper than the BazBus most tourists use to get a around South Africa. It’s about 10% of the price.

Plet is a town in the hills next to an once more beautiful, endless beach. Nice houses surround the lagoon and try to get a clear view of the horizon. I stayed in the tent once more because South African hostel prices are ridiculously expensive (20$ for the dorm).

I had some really nice evenings at the braai fire and met cool people to hang out with. The last day I went to the National Park on the peninsula just 10km west of town. Seals live there among birds and smaller animals. A cave served the earliest inhabitants as a home and the ANC as a hideout during their struggle for power. The hike was quite cool with ever changing environments. Cliffs, bush lands, trees, dunes, clouds and the sea were playing with the colors and made this hidden jewel definitely worth visiting.

After a 10km walk back along the beach and playing with a tennis ball for 9.5km we met George and Michael again and the three of us were of to the surf city of Jeffrey’s Bay.

Knysna

Knysna is set in a bay area with a 100m wide gorge where the tide goes in and out all day long. Each cycle includes the equivalent of 20’000’000 elephants running in and out. As an engineer I was fantasizing about the potential of a tide power plant which could provide electricity to a lot of people and create jobs in a country with 30 percent unemployment. Increasing sea levels could be controlled and low lying properties saved. But the powerful yacht club is apparently against it and all rich decision takers in the city are yacht owners. The views from the heads east and west of the gorge allow you to see where Vasco de Gama sailed past and the whole lagoon inside, the smart neighborhoods and in the hills the townships. It was here where I met Michael and George. They know each other from England where they used to work in the same bar. Michael showed George is home country New Zealand and now George was returning the favor with taking him around South Africa. For the next two weeks I was traveling with them all the way up to Mozambique. There good guys with edges.

Wilderness

This is a village that used to be on the train line to Durban. The train lines have been covered by mudslides and vegetation. The amazing waves smashing in for a stretch of 30km is the main attraction. During low tide a lot of sand is exposed and the combination of wind and waves are steaming the waterfront. My hostel was elevated at the end of the village with a terrace overlooking the whole spectacle. A kitchen with sea view and the dorm bed just next to the terrace made me feel like living in a penthouse. I met a gay Spanish and South African couple who invited me to there house and took me to some nice bays. (Had to avoid a Spanish move)

I mostly chilled after all the hustle of Cape Town and Stellenbosch and spent some nights sober.

Mossel Bay

We arrived in the afternoon after enjoying the wonderful view throughout the coastal area, which sometimes looks similar to how you would imagine the “Yellowstone Park” to look like.

Mussels Bay is the first major city on the “Garden Route” which leads up to the “Wild Coast” . Mussels Bay may used to have charm but the refineries outside of town have had an impact. People are fishing less and working in big companies. The city itself is laid back and also clearly segregates rich whites from blacks. We took a dorm bed in a train that has been put to rest at the coast. Quite funny. Talking of which - burping Stacey was also there and after quickly checking the tourist attractions and the Sea we started drinking and kept it up till late. The bars were quite empty, but we encountered some characters like a sixty years old break-dancer.

But it is not a place where you stay more than one night. So we drove of to Wilderness, where he dropped me because he was in a time situation.

Stellenbosch

The wine region and university town just an hour with the commuter train north of Cape Town lays Stellenbosch. I met Jacques Kratz in Windhoek who studies here and I met him here again. I was there one week before Uni starts and all the kids arrived one week early to get organized and to party. South Africans like to drink in general but in Stellenbosch there are no checks because the kids are on a loose leach for the first time. Fraternities and normal clubs and bars offer everything students want. Boxed half liter wines for 2.5$ and everything from pizza to foam parties.

I camped at an interesting backpackers which is also frequented by overlanders heading to the northern countries. Wine is the obvious beverage and the owners were exceptionally relaxed. I met farting Stacey from Canada, Jacques Kratz’s gang, South African gypsies and the average people from London.

The vineyards are scattered throughout the region and public transport is bad. All white people are rich or studying and all the black people live in the township next door and try to get a slice of the money cake parents give to their loved ones. Most poor people walk wherever they want to go so local public transport sucks. So I hiked from vineyard to vineyard. Fences cut of paths all the time, high walls hinder you to see the magic landscape. It’ s difficult to be a pedestrian in an area where white folks want to feel secure.

The museums gave some insight about how live looked here during the last 300 years. Slavery, horses, rural life and business opportunities have been the driving forces behind this now wonderful region. But in the past a lot of things went wrong here and you can still see it.

I met a guy from Whales who gave me a lift to Mussels Bay. He is a basest and played in front of 30’ 000 people in Glasbury, England.

Cape Town

After the 20 hours haul from Windhoek to “The Mother City” , I was delighted by a place that proved to be the nicest city I have seen in Africa. Initially a Dutch settlement to cut the journey from Rotterdam to Jakarta in half, it turned British and grew larger while the Dutch moved on to “The Great Trek”. Colonial houses remain largely in tact and are major tourist attractions. Surrounded by the “Table Mountain” and “Lions Head” the city center is at the most south-eastern point of Africa. Basically a European city with an African twist. Long Street is the cheapest and hippest place for young people. Bars, clubs, boutiques, Kebab take always and liquor shops are everywhere, while dealers, parking safety “officials”, drunken people and thieves hanging on the street below.

The “Waterfront” is the posh shopping area for privileged citizens and tourists. It was completely reshaped for the World Cup and is only a short walk away from the famous Cape Town Stadium which is now home to the Kaizer Chiefs. Old Dutch style houses are responsible for the charm the Waterfront has. Smart restaurants make it sophisticated and the lack of traffic enjoyable. Cruise ships, whole oil rigs, plenty of fishing trawlers and yachts are scattered all over. There is a ship yard in the middle of the pedestrian area which allows unusual insight.

The whole southern coast of Cape Town is a big waterfront with smelly seaweed, nice parks and smart mansions. You pass the Stadium you walk through a beautiful golf park with lakes and neat gardens and end up a Sea point. If you would walk all the way you’ d end up at the actual “Cap of Good Hope” where penguin’s seals and baboons live.

I walked up the Table Mountain all the way from Long Street and all the way back. It took me 7 hours and was very hot. The sun is out most of the times and a wind is always present. The view from on top is astonishing and took the last breath I had left.

A cosmopolitan city at the end of the world (the closest industrialized country is about a 10 hours flight away) reminded me a lot of Buenos Aires. I love the two cities equally.