SOUTH AFTICA the Country

With Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana

 

We spent three weeks in South Africa in August 2022 and visited Eswatini (the Kingdom of Swaziland), Zimbabwe and Botswana.

 

Africa is a CONTINENT. South Africa is a COUNTRY. The Continent of Africa is composed of 54 Nations. Over three USA’s would fit inside the African Continent!  The USA is 8 times larger than the Country of South Africa.

 

There are 60.6 million residents in South Africa.  South Africa has one of the LOWEST unemployment rates of any Nation on the Continent of Africa. One of the lowest! At 35%.!!! Let that sink in.

 

From its founding  in the late 1800's when gold, then diamonds were discovered in the Northern (Johannesburg) Region, there was extreme poverty and extreme racial segregation and discriminatory rules and laws that were codified into the practice of Apartheid in 1948.

 

After flying from Little Rock to St. Louis, St. Louis to NYC, NYC to Amsterdam, and Amsterdam to Cape Town, we began our visit on a rainy day in Cape Town (also spelled Capetown) spending 4 nights at the downtown Southern Sun Waterfront Hotel. Cape Town is the oldest “white” settlement in South Africa having been established as a tall ship re-supply point in 1652.  Small communities of farmers established gardens for fresh vegetables, etc.  The first known visit was in 1488 by the Portuguese but not again until Vasco da Gama in 1497. It is also the main seat of the legislative branch of Government – one of three Capitals for South Africa.   South Africa has three cities that serve as capitals: Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial).  Read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cape_Town

 

The rain and fog prevented any good pictures of the area that first day  but the following day was beautiful and we traveled down the Peninsula to the tip of Africa – the Cape of Good Hope. Be sure and view my picture Gallery.

 

We had the usual City tours, good food, entertainment, and visited the wine country and smaller towns before flying to Durban on day 6.

 

Back on the bus, we headed to the town of St. Lucia on the Eastern Coast and had our first game (wild animal) adventure on the Mfolozi River, which forms the St. Lucia Estuary. It is one of the largest in Africa. We saw mostly Hippopotamus, but in the distance were Zebra, and Impala.  

 

We then drove on up to Hluhluwe where we stayed one night and the next morning we were in the Hluhuwe-Imfolozi Game Preserve. This  was the only place we saw Rhinoceros.  They have both White and the rare and very endangered Black Rhino’s. We only saw a White. However, the birds, Elephant’s, Kudu, and Impala were exciting to see also.

 

Leaving Hluhluwe we traveled to the Kingdom of Swaziland now known as Eswatini. It is an independent Nation bound by South Africa and Madagascar. There we visited the Matsamo Village and the Ngwena Glass Factory  where they turn recycled glass into new products from ornaments to plates to all other types of glassware. Overnight was in Hazyview.

 

The next morning we were to make the “shorter” drive to Kruger National Park to our Lodge, but a local government protest over the lack of road repair had that entrance area closed so we had a much longer drive to go all the way to the Southwest corner of the Park. Then we had to travel all the way across the Park to the Lodge before the Park Gates closed at 6:30! We made it with three minutes to spare!  This turned out very fortuitous as it gave us an extra “game drive” and it allowed for our first sighting of a Leopard, with an Impala kill, and one of the best photographs of the entire trip.  

 

At dawn the next morning, we were in our open Safari vehicle and once again fate was on our side as another very up close sighting of a Leopard was seen crossing the road in front of us!  The birds, Elephants, Giraffes, Hippo’s, Lions, Cape Buffalo, Wart Hogs, Hyenas, Impala, Monkeys and much more made for a great day. Over-night was at the Protea Marriot Hotel.

 

Next day was on to Johannesburg.   Two nights in another Marriott Protea - the Melrose “Fire and Ice Hotel” in a Gated downtown community.

 

While in Johannesburg we were able to meet the sister of Hector Peterson. Who is he? Never heard of him? Google him to learn more. He was shot dead at age 12 during a student protest on June 16, 1976 in Soweto ---- close to Nelson Mandela's home. Soweto was and still is one of the largest slums (over 4 million residents) in this World.

 

We were honored and privileged to meet, listen to and talk with Hector’s sister, Antoinette Sithole, during our visit. She was a real inspiration to listen to and talk with. She told her story of that horrible day in 1976. The picture of her running from the scene with a man carrying her dead brother in his arms changed the World and was the beginning of the end of Apartheid. Yes, it took another 18 years with the FIRST ever FREE ELECTION that elected Mandela President in a 84% Party landslide! Apartheid, the Afrikaans name given by the white-ruled South Africa's Nationalist Party in 1948 to the country's harsh, institutionalized system of racial segregation, came to an end after the formation of a true democratic government in 1994.

 

We toured Mandela's home and the Apartheid Museum. No one living today in the U.S., not anyone born after the last American slave died in 1940 has any semblance of a clue what real racial discrimination and or segregation is.  

 

For the pictures see my Facebook post at: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=5559552060773158&set=pcb.5559739517421079 

 

We encourage everyone to visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg as a priority if you ever have the opportunity to visit South Africa.

 

https://www.apartheidmuseum.org/about-the-museum

 

From Johannesburg we flew to the Town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and stayed two nights at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge on the Zambezi River. That evening we had our second water game cruise on the Zambezi. WOW! What a great sunset that and the following evening!  In the morning, we toured the Falls.  We did not pay the $400 each for the helicopter ride, which only can get within 500 feet of the Falls but that  is the ONLY way to see the entirety of the Falls. The Zambezi is the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.  We walked across the bridge over the River into Zambia but were not allowed to go farther into the Customs/Immigration area  and beyond, as we had no permits to do so.   

 

The Lodge also served as a Vulture Conservation area and they feed every day at 1 PM. What a sight to see five species of Vultures fighting for every scrap of meat thrown out!  Upon leaving Victoria Falls we visited the Lion Rescue and Conservation Center.  See the video on my Facebook page for THAT feeding. It was heart stopping!  Linda calls it “the cherry on top” for this trip!

 

https://www.facebook.com/discountfreedrugcard/videos/1219990192181272

 

 

On to Botswana and Chobe National Park. Our last two days were at the Chobe Marina Lodge at Kasane, Botswana. Here we had our third river cruise, another fabulous sunset, and three more Game drives.  Some of our best pictures came from here.  Our Lodge rooms were stand alone “Fairy Huts”. While on the Chobe River Game Cruises we did cross over into Namibia waters, so technically, we visited 6 Nations on this trip!

 

Good food and good fellowships were had the entire time.  We made several new friends that we hope to visit again.

 

We found the people of each Country we visited, to be very kind and grateful for our visit. We watched many school children on our way to the various early morning game drives lined up in their blue and white uniforms waiting orderly for the small school bus to arrive. Unlike our schools, these children cherish an education. They are very well behaved. School discipline problems are rare --- not multiday occurrences that require "resource officers" to break up bloody fights as is all too common in most of our schools now. Nor were their racial justice protest marches.  

 

In both Cape Town and Johannesburg we had the opportunity to eat out on our own. Restaurant prices were shockingly low. The wait staff all but hugs you when you give them a $4 tip for a $20 meal! So, we learned to give more. They truly were overwhelmed with our generosity --- that we thought was still frugal on our part.

 

We love Africa and its people. We had a great tour Guide. One of the best ever. (Gate1travel.com) It was a wonderful trip in so many ways.

 

The flights home were very long and very tiring.  We left the Victoria Falls Livingston Airport on what was Wednesday 1 PM CDT (time at home) and arrived home at 1 AM Saturday morning!  Flight to Johannesburg 2 hrs. Johannesburg to Atlanta 16 hours. Atlanta to JFK 2 hrs. LaGuardia to St. Louis 2 hours. St. Louis to Little Rock 1 hour and that is on top of the 36 hours of sitting in airports!