traveldiary.stracke.us

The following story was published in newspapers in South Africa and Europe as well as reported on European and American TV newscasts on the day we were leaving the African continent :
Swaziland’s King Mswati III just bought himself a Mercedes Maybach 62 luxury car for a mere 2.9 million Rand (~$500,000).
Swaziland has a 40% unemployment rate, an estimated 40% of its population is suffering from HIV/AIDS (true figure probably higher), 70% have an average monthly income of $ 11, and 1/3 of the people need food aid for survival. The country has a budget deficit of 800 Million Rand and in April of this year the 36 year old king purchased 10 BMW 7-series for himself and some of his 11 wives!
The industrialized nations send money and food to this country and the spokesperson for Mercedes (DaimlerChrysler) in South Africa told reporters : ” Our customers are exclusive people … We feel great that the King of Swaziland has chosen our product- this shows that our product has arrived!!! ”
Are we living in a sick world or what?? DaimlerChrysler should be ashamed to sell this car to a king with sick and starving subjects.

We arrived in Clifton Park last night after a 41 hour journey. We lifted off the airport runway in Johannesburg, South Africa at 10 PM on December 13th, sitting in row 13. We had food and wine in the BA lounge prior to boarding the plane and told the flight attendants not to disturbe us until breakfast time. The beds in business class are on the firm side and we spread out our fleece sleeping bags and slept pretty well. Some minor turbulance woke me up 4 hours later, and I saw on the flight tracking map that we already had crossed the equator and were cruising above the DRC ( Democratic Republic of Congo). The next time I was awake, it was early morning and I saw the lights of Tunesian oasis towns in the northern Sahara. According to the map on my monitor, we were flying just above the towns Touzeur and Nefta, 2 oasis towns in the Sahara which I had seen on a road trip in 1971. Small coincidence that I woke up at that moment!
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As I just heard the lady next to me say “It’s been lovely, but it’s time to go home now, 3.5 weeks is a long time”….. Really, should I tell her we have been underway for 4 months with a 10 day hiatus? Hey, I’m not complaining at all, except maybe the lack of Christmas. In the States, I was always annoyed of Christmas starting in October, but here how can you feel like Christmas with 90 degrees weather, no Christmas songs, and few decorations? Yeah, yeah, it’s supposed to be about the birth of Jesus and giving and not receiving(remember that, children!), and family. Now that’s IMPORTANT! But, I have been acclimated to the American, or should I say Western way for the last “x” years and I miss it! I can’t wait to get home, get the lights up outside, get my Christmas tree, get decorated inside, get a few presents, and wait for the family! Chevy Chase’s Xmas Vacation—- anyone of the family members, what do you think?Are you ready! Then it will be so nice to see friends again! We’ve met lots of new people, but we can’t call them friends, just acquaintances. In the background, in the British Airways Lounge, they ARE now playing Christmas music!!
Wow, they must have read my mind. Soon we will board the flight to London and then United Airlines will bring us HOME! I feel like a little kid anticipating the holiday………………….:grin: Remember Tom, I’ll be looking for you……..missed my Thanksgiving feast……..am so happy, we can be home for Christmas

A muffler shop is frequently located at busy country road intersections. It looks as follows :
There is no building or sign, but about a half dozen mufflers are mounted on a post by the side of the road. The mechanic has 2 automotive ramps laying in the dirt and a welding torch nearby. That’s it. What we have at home is really overkill!
Some recent highway signs :
“Warning- High Robbery And Prostitution Area”
“Highjacking Hot Spot”
” Please Condomise”
” High Crime Area- Do Not Stop”
” Traffic Calming Zone” ( meaning speed limit coming up)
” Stray Cattle” (with phone number to call)
” High Accident Zone”
” Caution- Truck Wheel Theft Area”
” Hippo Crossing”
You can’t say, that you have not been warned.

I was very happy today when I returned our rental car at Johannesburg Airport. The car had not been stolen on my watch and we had survived the South African roads. The drivers here must have taken lessons from the Greek drivers! Here they also drive at full speed in the emergency lanes while somebody even faster passes them. The only problem is, that pedestrians and bicyclists also use the emergency lanes of the interstates, not to mention broken down trucks or minibuses, stopping for passengers to get on or off. This necessitates some interesting evasive maneuvers from all parties involved. Frequently local people walk along or cross the interstates on foot, since they have no other path or road available to them. The NY State Police would have their hands full!
The oncoming traffic uses my lane for passing, whenever they are so inclined and I am left with the emergency lane, if I am lucky!The minibuses, which are used for public transport, are real death traps.The newspaper today mentions a minibus crash with 22 people on board, about half of them killed. The buses are overloaded, have bad tires and are driven by young macho road warriors. There was a DWI spot check near Jo’burg yesterday and about 40 drivers were arrested. The newspaper states that ” the highway police ran out of officers to arrest more drivers and quit for the night.” People are being transported on bakkies ( pick-up trucks for yankees), so there is probably no seatbelt law.
Statistics state that 40 people are killed in road crashes in South Africa every day. I am glad we made it!

Today is our last day in South Africa. We are sitting in the Johannesburg British Airways airport lounge and are enjoying internet and food and drink prior to our overnight flight to London and tomorrow, home!!
Gabi and I are ready for a break from Africa and are looking forward to Christmas and hopefully snow!
We spent the last 2 days in Pilanesberg National Park in the Northwest Province and had exceptional animal encounters. First there were rhinos coming very close to the car for great picture taking ( only the “Kodak Picture Spot”sign was missing), then we had a herd of elephants next to us. They were happily munching on yellow flowers and tree leaves, luckily not paying any attention to us . The kudu antelopes were not shy, as they were in Kruger Park, and were also holding still for more pictures. We saw the rare Nyala antelopes, the usual zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, impalas and others. At lunchtime, a mother warthog with her 4 children playing around, kept us entertained. In the late afternoon we spotted 2 cheetahs about 30 yards from the dirt road. They were 2 males rolling in the grass, just waking up from their siesta. After some stretching and yawning, they started to stroll through the high grass meadow, looking for dinner.

They were sitting tall with their backs to us, ears pointed, scanning the area, looking like big twin cats. A herd of giraffes had spotted the cheetahs and ran for about 400 yards where the giraffes stopped, but did not take their eyes of the predators.

It was funny to see how the long necks and heads of all the giraffes kept moving syncronously. Next some zebras and wildebeest (who often graze together) showed up on the scene. We had learned that the zebras take their cues from the giraffes and use the giraffes as a predator warning system. These zebras apparently had not paid enough attention and the 2 cheetahs gave them a chase. I do not believe that the cheetahs tried really hard though. They are the fastest land mammal and can run at a speed of 80 mph for a fairly short distance. So the cheetahs gave up after about a quarter mile and we did not have to feel sorry for a dead zebra. It was a great treat for us though ! We mentioned the episode to a safari guide from Denmark who has lived here for the last 2 years and he still has not seen any cheetahs in the wild.
Just as we were leaving the park we saw a pride of 8 lions lolling around in the grass. The group consisted of females and their cubs who were really cute ( from the safety of our car).
We considered ourselves very lucky and could not have had a better day. The next day we went back and had a picnic inside the park. The picnic areas are fenced- in with electric wires to protect us from the animals, but when you walk from your car to the picnic spot, you do not have any protection at all! I guess we are usually not part of the predators diet !

South African English is a different language. “Takkies” are sneakers, a “bakkie” is a pick-up truck. A slice of bacon is a “rasher” of bacon, hot dogs are “bangers”, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Mercedes-Benz “Lifestyle Center” is a “sod turning” ceremony. Not so nice terms for the different races here are “Kaffer” for Blacks, “Koelie” for Indians and “Bushies” for Coloureds. The sign in the National Park indicating that it is allowed to get out of your car says : “You may alight from your vehicle”.
In Nelspruit we saw a truck belonging to a tile installer with the following logo in big letters displayed on the truck : ” Tile-Tec – Best Lay in Town ” ( No comment!)
Next to this truck was a Zodiac inflatable boat with the proud name “Fucked Up” written on its bow. I was wondering if the captain was worried about an impending maritime disaster ?
Another story we read : The Afrikaan language differs quite a bit from its original Dutch roots. A group of Dutch clergymen was traveling on a tour bus in South Africa, when the driver announced over the intercom in Afrikaan that he was slowing down, so that they could pull off (the highway). The Dutch word for “pulling off”
translates to “masturbating”. Minor faux pas or this shows again the importance of knowing the local language.

After a 5 day visit in Kruger National Park, we are back in civilization and online. I had booked accomodations in the national park, prior to leaving the US and thanks to the Lonely Planet Guide made some pretty good choices. Our tour started in the north of the park, the still wilder and less touristy section. The vegetation here was astounding, but the fauna life was not as prolific, as it had been in Etosha Park, in Namibia. Our accomodation the first night was a quiet wild rest camp, where you had to make sure you locked up your outside refrigerator and cupboard because there were nightly thieves in the park. No, not human, but rather velvet monkeys and baboons, that had learned how to open the refrigerators and cupboards. The next day we trecked on for 150km, which took 5 hrs because there is always so much to see along the way. In Kruger you feel like you are on a wildlife safari because you really have to “spy” for the animals. Since it is already the beginning of the rainy season, many bushes and grasses are helping the animals stay hidden. A few times we were taken aback, as an elephant or a giraffe, which seemed to appear from nowhere, was suddenly in front of our car on the road. In the afternoon we were greeted by a wonderful rest camp, about 100 meters above the Olifants River, where our little chalet overlooked the animal world. The next day we just sat there and watched the animals go by….elephants, kudus, waterbucks,giraffes, monkeys, hippos, impalas….all came to the river to drink. In the afternoon it was braai time(barbecue, for you Yanks). We made boerswurst, a type of sausage with a distinctly game flavor, fried potatoes and a pepper veggie mix….all accompanied by a Frankenwein, that had traveled all the way from Germany with us. Yes, we know South African wines are great, but we needed a break:grin:.
That night we made a ghastly mistake and left an outside light on our porch on . In the morning, we saw we had been inundated with 100’s of insects and pawprints from who knows what. Thank God it was only outside of the chalet and we were scheduled to leave that morning. Needless to say, breakfast was from hand to mouth and we were off. The next day we drove to the southern end of the park, near the Crocodile River. The vegetation now became more like savannas and thus we saw buffalos, zebras, monkeys, baboons and lots of antelopes.
The last night in the park was at Little Sabie Camp, where the hippos “lulled” us to sleep with their roaring and burping. Yesterday on our drive out was the highlight of the journey in the park, seeing the lions up close* see Lothar’s post. Before that though we had had a black rhino within 20 ft of our car. That, I thought was a bit dangerous since they do not see very well. I’ve read that their sense of smell and hearing was excellent though.
Since they are plant eaters, I guess we had nothing to worry about,…..except maybe that horn, if he decided to charge, which could happen , if he felt that we were infringing on his territory.::shock:

We were driving through the old Venda tribe country near Thohoyandou which still looks like the old Africa. We saw old fashioned round village huts with thatched roofs and their more modern cousins constructed with brick walls and aluminum roofs. 5 to 7 year old children walking in the street, carrying grocery bags home and women balancing loads ranging from a sack of rice to a large water container or a case of soda on their heads. In one case a woman had one small can balancing on top of her head, with her hands completely free. Maybe she was practicing for bigger payloads. The car traffic is very sparse and people usually walk along the center line of the highway since there are no sidewalks.
The area around Thohoyandou is very green with lush tropical vegetation and there are citrus, tea, tomatoes, tobacco farms and the produce is being sold at roadside stands. At one time I passed “Freddies Driving School” which was a small truck with one student driving and about 20 more crowding the back of the truck. Maybe it was road testing day?
Yesterday I saw a sign in our Irish restaurant :
As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction !
That would be a great accomplishment!

We are in Nelspruit and the rainy season has started. Last night and this morning thunderstorms, black skies and pouring rain. We had a leisurely breakfast at “Mug and Bean”, but reading the morning paper is very sobering. A report about 43 children under 18 being raped every hour in this country, numerous killings of children by an estranged parent and the usual robbery murders. There are about 1500 carjackings in Johannesburg every month and the security firms and automobil tracking services run frequent ads on TV. Right next to the automotive pages are the erotic classifieds catering to every taste, gender and ethnicity.
Currently there is a nationwide campaign against violence towards women and children.
We went to a nice shopping mall and noticed that the customers were almost exclusively caucasian, the same picture as in the dinner restaurant last night. 10 % of the population in South Africa is white and they still are among themselves in a lot of places. All the nicer neighborhoods have walls and electric fences around the properties and signs on the entrances threaten the property being protected by an armed response service.
Last night we had dinner in a restaurant that looked like TGIF and an American Football game was shown on the TV behind me. You could not tell that you were outside the US until about 8 PM when the people started to go home. The nights here definitely do not belong to the white minority. We follow the same custom and are usually back in the hotel by 8PM.