South Africa,Lesotho and Eswatini

*Cape Agulhas - very southern tip of Africa*

SOUTH AFRICA

Arriving in South Africa was a continuation of the journey we started in Namibia of re-entering into travel with easily accessible modern conveniences after six months in West Africa. We continued to experience both a sense of wonder at how easy it was to find resources and information, and a sense of loss, missing the heartbeat of West Africa.

The economic leader on the continent, South Africa is a microcosm of everything Africa has to offer. Cape Town is a gorgeous cosmopolitan city set on the ocean surrounded by mountains and a world class wine industry. The enormous Kruger National Park boasts one of the largest populations of African wildlife, and traditional tribal arts and culture are represented nationally, from the San to the Xhosa to the Zulu. The country’s basic infrastructure - roads, power, water, cell coverage, shopping - is more developed than other African country’s despite inadequate electricity resources causing load shedding right now (scheduled daily power outages).

*View of Cape Town waterfront with Table Mountain as a backdrop. As locals say, it was wearing it’s tablecloth.*

Our first real destination in South Africa was Cape Town where we had a lot of business to take care of. The plan was to deep clean the truck inside and out, drop it off at an offroad shop for much needed maintenance, then fly home to Oregon to visit family. So we opted for an Airbnb.

*We had carefully communicated our height to our Airbnb host to make sure we could fit in the garage. There was one spot we fit in.*

*Our Airbnb had a washer but no dryer so we covered it in drying laundry - seat covers, sheets, duvet . . .*

*But we still found time to have fun. Climbing Table Mountain on a clear day.*

In general, we thought Cape Town was one of the most beautiful and interesting big cities we have been to. The setting on the coast, surrounded by mountains and beaches is stunning. The city itself feels alive and vibrant.

*Visiting Muizenberg Beach with its cheerful changing houses*

*Visiting Boa-Kaap, the historically Muslim neighborhood in Cape Town with its brightly colored homes and the oldest mosque in the country.*

We have not really addressed race in our prior African blogs. Throughout West Africa we were often the only tourists and only white people we saw for days. It did not factor into our experience other than the fact that we were always really obvious. As we learned the history of the countries we visited, we appreciated peoples’ honesty in describing the effect of white colonialism and the slave trade. We felt like we could have real conversations. It is really sobering to think deeply about all these young 40-60 year old nations struggling to figure out a path to prosperity after centuries of colonialism.

Although South Africa technically obtained independence from its most recent European colonizer, the British, in 1960, it did not follow the path of neighboring countries which followed upon independence by seating a government representative of the majority black population. Instead the white minority, Afrikaners culturally descended from the Dutch colonisers, retained control and continued to enact progressively more restrictive rules to control the majority black population. Apartheid was born - a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994 which legalised state oppression of black and “colored” people by a white minority.

For us, being white in South Africa held an additional layer of awareness than in West Africa. The country’s very recent eradication of the apartheid system weighed heavily on us. We continued to be surprised and encouraged by the warmth of the welcome from people, but it was not the same as in West Africa.

South Africa was our first African country with a significant white population and the income disparities were clear and disbturbing. Despite the political power and decision making being held by black people, the economic power still seems to be held by white South Africans. We are very aware of our own country’s past treatment of African Americans (including the Jim Crow laws enforcing separation in the South that were only abolished in the 1960’s).

Topics of race, power, and politics are way outside the realm of this blog or our deep understanding. All we know is as we travel and learn we do not seek to lay blame but to learn and understand. Hopefully with more people seeking to learn from history past mistakes and atrocities will not be repeated.

In our conversations with South Africans, both black and white, it was clear the the discussion around race is constant and honest, people are working to find a way. People we spoke to wish for a corruption free democracy. We took some time to visit important sites related to the work of Nelson Mandela (his home, location of his first speech, Robben Island) and were impressed and amazed by the wisdom and generosity of spirit he brought to his reconciliation work as the first president of a free South Africa after apartheid.

*Painting of Nelson Mandela on building in District Six, an area where 60,000 residents were forcibly removed to outside the city during the apartheid regime.*

Realizing that our Airbnb was in a predominantly white area, we decided to visit a black township to broaden our cultural understanding and experience. Dawn had been to Khayulitsha on a previous visit to Cape Town with our daughter who had spent time as a volunteer there. The idea of the tour can be bizarre - if thought of as wealthy tourists engaging in poverty voyeurism. But in fact the tours are strategically organized by savvy residents who make sure to highlight the important work being done by community activitists, entrepreneurs and non-profits to improve the infrastructure and lives of the residents.

*The tours begin with a contribution, adding to the community garden*

*Despite the majority of people living in converted shipping containers with minimal resources, art and individuality shine through in addition to a strong sense of supportive community.*

Our guide was an artist and photographer. He described the difficulties of getting from the township into Cape Town to go to work or further his education. He would take a bus into college classes but transportation could be haphazard, making him late and giving teachers and fellow students the excuse to look down on him for being from Khayelitsha. The train that used to operate into the city had broken down years ago and the tracks had been taken over and blocked by informal settlement housing.

*Township mural depicting a wife during the apartheid years, looking to the horizon and hoping her husband will return safely*

*Colorful murals along the main walkways*

*Visiting Storyroom Creatives, young artists providing afterschool programming for school chidren.*

*Images of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela*

*And as a contrast, the predominantly white town of Stellenbosch*

After a week, we left Cape Town and returned six weeks later. We had a fabulous time with our family, returned to stationary house life and were surprised at how far away and unreal our truck life in Africa seemed. We quickly got over our amazement at the abundance of goods in the grocery stores, the size of the streets, the utter familiarity of every moment, the ease of doing laundry and staying cool or warm depending on the weather. But eventually it was time to return. We stocked up on our favorite supplies, spare parts and gadgets and boarded the plane.

We returned to find that our truck was not quite ready so headed off to Stellenbosch to taste some South African wines.

*Red wine and dark chocolate pairing - Dawn’s two favorites*

*Our tour group at the end of the day - many glasses of wine and laughs later*

We were thrilled to move back in to our cozy home on wheels and hit the road again. But all was not rosy. Heading toward the Garden Route, we started hearing strange noises. Andy dropped Dawn off at Dylan Lewis’s sculpture garden (thank you cousin Helen for that recommendation) and returned to the shop.

*Despite the rain, Dawn had a great time exploring Dylan Lewis’s amazing gardens filled with his sculptures*

*For Dawn it was a highlight and she took many more pictures but we will not subject you to them all*

Andy returned from the shop with no clear diagnosis but some more things tightened up and checked. So we hit the road again. Unfortunately, 30 miles out of Cape Town we heard a huge clunk, a shudder and next thing we know our rear tire was rolling out ahead of us on the highway.

*Apparently after re-building the suspension and re-mounting the tires, the shop neglected to adequately tighten the lug nuts*

*Andy saw that three of the studs had sheared, he found two of them alongside the road with the nuts only hand tight*

*We called the shop and they sent a tow truck to pick us up and promised to make it right*

On the upside, more time to explore Cape Town, more walking tours, museums and excellent food.

And then back on the road!! All bolts tightened, marked and double checked.

*We made it to the southern most tip of the continent*

*Heading out to the Garden Route - fields in bloom*

We started along the coastal Garden Route but took a detour to head over the Oudtshoorn mountain pass to Prince Albert.

*Heading into the Outdshoorn Mountain pass*

*Beautiful campsite in the Karoo desert*

Although not technically part of the Garden Route, this mountain drive was our favorite. In general, we found the main Garden Route to be more separated from the coast than we thought. The area was lush and green, filled with farms but it felt like the kind of trip you do to stop and eat and visit small towns along the way rather than a purely scenic drive. Since we prefer remote beauty to small towns and farm stands, the Garden Route was not a South African highlight for us - which surprised us as we had been looking forward to it. We may have just still been feeling grumpy about our false start.

Another thing that surprised us, especially in the areas of South Africa that we drove, was the lack of wild camping spaces. In general, much of the country along the main roads is fenced off in private farms and game reserves (this may be different in the interior areas where we did not venture much). But on the flip side, there is a wide range of types of camping accommodations, farms which let you stay on site, rest camps that are part of the National Park System, and private campgrounds and guesthouses that allow you to camp. We were never far from options. We also enjoyed more hot showers in three weeks than we ever had in our six months in West Africa.

One recommendation we would have for travelers is to count up the number of national park days you plan to have and if it is more than ten, purchase a Wild Card. This card allows you free entrance to all parks in South Africa and Eswatini. By the time we found out about it, we were too far into the trip but it definitely would have saved us money, even at the foreign national rate.

*Nature’s Valley was a great camping spot - we were the only campers and there were great hikes right from camp - from the beach*

*Beautifully maintained campground at Camdeboo NP*

*Enjoying the rock formations at Camdeboo NP*

*Farm stay camping - complete with farm dog*

LESOTHO

Nestled inside of South Africa is the high mountain tiny country of Lesotho. The king of the country, King Moshoeshoe had looked at what was happening with the Dutch Boers moving into South Africa and aligned himself with the English in 1868, becoming a protectorate to keep the the Dutch out. The country became independent in 1966 and is run by a parliament and Prime Minister with the monarchy continuing a primarily ceremonial role. We were not quite sure what to expect but we had heard about the Sani Pass drive into the country being spectacular. It definitely was.

*Looking down on the valley we just drove*

*Road is getting steeper and rougher (now we know why they require 4x4)*

We spent 5 minutes at customs and immigration at the top of the pass, were stamped in, paid $3 for the road tax and entered a whole new world.

Never have we seen such a stark contrast between two neighboring countries. The high mountain plateaus of Lesotho were dotted with traditional round houses made of stone. Shepherds walked the roads with sheep and cows. Villagers dressed in colorful blanket wraps to protect against the cold smiled and waved as we passed. Although an official language, English was not widely spoken by the people in rural areas. The primary tribe of the country, the Basotho speak Sesotho, which is the other official language.

*Our first night - camping at in the yard of a traditional home*

*Traditional stone round houses with thatch rooves*

*We would go for long walks, admiring the homes and how they were built and decorated*

*It was Sunday so this bar was closed but it would have been an interesting place to hang out*

*Another camping spot at a traditional home site - grateful to iOverlander or we never would have found these places*

We were falling in love with the country when disaster struck again. Driving through a rocky construction zone, another clunk and weird noise. Andy did his best to pull over and clearly the wheel was off.

*Another oops from our Cape Town offroad shop - forgot to tighten the bolt on one of the upper control arms*

We were in a bind. We had no cell service as we entered the country on a Friday afternoon and offices to register a sim card were only open on week days. It was getting dark and we were partially blocking the road. Enter Lenka, our good samaritan. An off duty police officer, she stopped and asked us what we needed. She then pulled out her cell phone and called us a tow truck. She translated for us with people who stopped to help and when the tow truck driver arrived and realized we were too heavy for him to tow. Luckily, in true Africa style, a car full of off duty mechanics stopped and had a look. They had a bolt that would get us to the next town. A quick road side fix then advice to drive slowly, slowly. Lenka led us to a place to stay for the night.

We had a restful night in a guest house (with the most blissful heated mattress pad, we had been freezing).

SOUTH AFRICA PART 2

And then we made our way back across the border to get fixed up again in Johannesburg. Luckily we found a shop that were willing to take us on and got us right again.

*The crew at our Johannesburg shop - fixed us up and didn’t want to take any money - Andy brought them hamburgers and fries.*

With some time to explore Johannesburg we took advantage of another walking tour - this time in Soweto.

*Mathapelo, our Soweto tour guide. A resident of the township, she is training to become a primary school teacher. She speaks at least four languages, maybe more.*

Touring Soweto was very different from touring Khayelitsha. Soweto had a thriving tourism hub centered along the street where both Nelson Mandela and and Archbishop Desmond Tutu lived. People were selling souveneirs, performers were out and restaurants and bars lined the street. But our tour guide managed to separate us from all that and did an excellent job in grounding us in the gravity of the place and history.

Memorial to Hector Peterson, one of the youngest school children to be shot by the police and die on June 16, 1976 in the Soweto uprising. In the photo he is being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubu. On that day 15,000 school children marched to protest the new law that they be taught in Afrikaans. At least 600 children died that day.

*Nelson Mandela’s bedroom in his Soweto house.*

*Small side door into Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Soweto home*

*Men from the San tribe performing on the street*

*Soweto Tours - former cooling tanks for a coal power station, now the site of bungee jumping, paint ball and a bar and restaurant.*

Finally, we felt that the truck was fully travel worthy and we were ready to leave the urban centers of South Africa and make our way to Kruger National Park.

*Along the way we found more interesting places to camp*

*Maybe not dangerous but still fun to see around camp*

*And then finally, made it to Kruger National Park!*

After being in Etosha National Park in Namibia, we were not as surprised this time round to learn that Kruger employed the same safety fencing system - campgrounds in the park are surrounded by electric fence. You must enter before sunset and cannot leave until after sunrise.

We were surprised that Kruger has a lot more water and it is a lot more spread out. Although there are water holes, most of the water is in a complex river system throughout the park. When we were there, some of the rivers were full of water and others had a trickle or pools and muddy spots.

Because of this, we had to cover more ground to find the animals, but they were there and we definitely found them. We spent a week in the park, generallly we made our way from the north down to the southern tip. Our first two nights were at Shingwedzi and it was probably our favorite camp. Camping was typical large national park style, a large field with trees. At Shingwedzi, you can pay more to camp along the fence but those sites were taken when we arrived.

It could have been our favorite because we saw a couple of leopards and lions on our game drives there. The animals were relatively close to camp and we heard lions roaring all night. But it also felt more relaxed and less chaotic than some of our later, bigger camps.

It is not an inexpensive park. Fees for foreigners run $25 per person per day. Campgrounds start at about $20 a night. We made our bookings several months in advance but still could not get into some of the smaller, more intimate camping-only rest camps that we probably would have really enjoyed. But staying in the big sites meant we had access to laundry, restaurants with great views, lots of information sharing about animal sightings and we always got woken up in the mornings as fellow campers set out on their early morning game drives.

*Elephants along the Pafuri River, our first animal sighting*

After Shingwedzi we stayed at Olifants (we had to book a bungalow there as they don’t have camping and nearby campgrounds were full). We would rather sleep in our truck, but Olifants had a nice setting with hippos nearby. Our next camp was Satara, a big grassy field for camping. Fence spots were free there but they were full. However we still managed to sit so that we could watch the hyenas and elephants outside the fence. It definitely felt like a reverse zoo. We also stayed at Letaba which had a restaurant with a beautiful view over the nearby river and the same large field camping situation. Crocodile Bridge was our least favorite spot - people were crammed in next to each other in the smallest campground we saw. It was also right next to an entrance gate so your view was more a valley of farmland than national park. We had stopped by nearby Lower Sabie for lunch and it was overall a much more pleasant camp - we wish we had stayed there. Our final stop was Skukuza which is the biggest camp and a huge jumping off point for guided tours. Camping there was actually more private, with many sites tucked into bushes and trees along curvy roads.

There is a rhythm to wildlife viewing in large African national parks. It is sometimes exhausting, but always worth it. You get up early, set off (Dawn with coffee in hand) to drive for a couple of hours with the morning light, then return to camp for breakfast and relaxation. Late afternoon, you set off again for a few hours to watch the nightlife start to emerge. Every single drive we did in Kruger we found something new or interesting to entertain us. There is a magic to the search, driving along never knowing what is going to pop out of the bushes. We also had an exciting encounter with a very angry elephant who trumpeted out of the bush and charged at us. Luckily Andy punched the gas and we came away unscathed.

*A challenge for Dawn being fenced in was getting her daily 5 mile walk in, sometimes she just looped the fence like a caged lion*

*Andy’s favorite - campground Baobab Tree*

*Paid for a night drive so that we could be out after sunset - it paid off*

*One of our favorite experiences - watching the African wild dogs. Here they are ready to take off on a hunt.*

*Resting after an unsuccessful attempt at a zebra*

*It is not always easy to spot the wildlife - leopard napping*

*Eventually it woke up. Sometimes we would spot something and just park and wait to see if it would do something more exciting than sleep. Usually it paid off.*

*We fell in love with hyenas in this park - we hadn’t seen any in past national park visits and Kruger definitely made up for this.*

*And on our last day - rhinos! Kruger makes the decision to cut off their horns to help discourage poaching.*

ESWATINI

Another land locked country within the borders of South Africa, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) charmed us. We started off by seeking information on the Swazi tribal traditions. Mantenga Village is a well thought out cultural attraction designed for tourists, but also highly educational. It was a fascinating afternoon spent touring the village with a guide and watching traditional performances.

Traditional “bee-hive” style thatch homes. Men and women live very separate lives and traditionally men take the leadership role, often having multiple wives. But the grandma retains a critical authority role in the family.

Our next stop was Sibebe rock, one of the world’s largest granite dome, second only to Uluru in Australia in being the world’s largest rock.

*Male emu getting disturbingly friendly with our front tire. That is a new level of desperation.*

*It was a lovely place to walk. Dawn’s peak rock climb.*

*Whereas Andy made it to the tip of Sibebe itself*

Similar to South Africa, Eswatini had many pleasant developed camp sites, with a wide variety of options.

*And similar to South Africa, we were often the only campers. Mlilwane Wildlife reserve campground.*

Andy getting ready for Mozambique - applying the recommended reflective tape around the camper. Rules were unclear so we went with the Eswatini auto shop recommendation and just ringed the whole truck with it.

*Walking in Mlilwane Wildlife Reserve we spotted a crocodile in the trail. Dawn turned around and Andy got closer to take a selfie.*

Our final stop in Eswatini was Hlane National Park. We did our first walking safari there and it was incredible. It is different to see large animals on foot than from a car. Our two awesome guides were knowledgeable and interesting. And armed with sticks.

*Walking safari at dusk at Hlane National Park*

It was absolutely the best place to see rhinos that we have been. We would walk the scant wire fence around the campground (Dawn getting her walking in again) and see rhinos almost disturbingly close by. The water hole at the campground was also active with hippos, rhinos, giraffes . .

*Andy just can’t help goading an enormous horned animal*

Unlike in Kruger National Park, the rhinos still have their horns. Our guide told us that in Eswatini they are committed to eradicating poachers to the point that they patrol every day and actually shoot them when they find them.

*Hlane National Park campground - another solo camping experience (where is everyone???)*

Well, we are happy to be back to what for us now feels like “real life,” living on the road. Every day is a new experience, we are still learning constantly and we are still grateful.

We like Nelson Mandela’s words of wisdom “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Thank you for reading!

South Africa,Lesotho and Eswatini

Mozambique

Namibia