A Trip to South Africa – South Africa

It is mid-October in London. News bulletins report how, last Sunday, one month worth rainfall fell in just one day. The early mornings are chilled, which now requires the wearing of that old leather jacket that sat unworn at the back of the cupboard for months. The dark evenings are drawing in earlier and the heating in homes is turned up. On 27 October the clocks will be turned back one hour to GMT, ending British Summer time. The summer in England is over.

Over the next month in the UK the weather will worsen and the days will be so short that it will get dark around 4pm. It is time to finish off the work assignment that has drawn me back to London and head for the warmer weather in the Southern Hemisphere.

I will be heading back home to Cape Town to spend two months with family and friends before taking off on an eagerly anticipated and much planned trip around the world in 2002. This year I get to play as a tour guide for 2-3 weeks as I will be accompanied by two English mates, Mark and Dave. We will be travelling overland from Johannesburg to Cape Town, taking in the game reserves of Swaziland and Kwa-zulu Natal and the cities of Durban and Port Elizabeth. We will be travelling mainly south-westwards down the South African coast. These two nutters are insisting they throw themselves of the 216 meter bungi jump at Bloukrans bridge as well as cage diving with the fearsome great white shark in the seas off the southern tip of Africa. These guys will either have the time of their lives or it’s going to be a complete disaster.

Mark is a young typical Londoner. He and I worked together for a UK bank during 2000. Mark has seen me periodically swan off to various destinations over the past two years. Determinedly and with the necessary conviction he has saved the money to take this trip.

Dave was not that hard to convince to come along. He and I had met in Thailand in 1999 and kept in touch over the years. Dave is loud, obnoxious, “in your face”, and loutish, he loves chasing women and drinking copious amount of beer. We should all get on fabulously. He lives in Manchester with his great Dad and lovely mother, who, incidentally also hails from South Africa.

Both these guys are typically crazy about English football. Dave supports Manchester City and Mark supports West Ham United. I, myself don’t care too much for soccer, but am a fanatical supporter of South African rugby. This should make things interesting.

So this is the trip that I have mapped out for the guys. I did a similar trip, in reverse, when I left Cape Town in February of 2001, on my way back to London to start a work assignment. I haven’t gone into to much detail as I do hope to post a travelogue here when we get underway so remember to check back to see how we get on.

Saturday, 1 December 2001.
We fly Olympic Airways from London to Athens, departing Heathrow at 12:20 PM and arriving in Athens 6:00pm

That evening we will surely get out and about a bit in Athens. Mark has previously visited Athens so he can show us around.

Sunday, 2 December 2001.
After spending the day exploring Athens, the Acropolis, Ancient Olympics, etc. we need to get to the airport for about 10pm. We catch another Olympic Airways flight to Johannesburg, departing Athens at 00:40 (actually Monday morning).

Monday, 3 December 2001.

Arrival in Johannesburg on Monday 09:45am.

There is a excellent free booklet available for travellers in South Africa. It is called Coast-to-Coast and is filled with information about most destinations throughout the country.

We hope to arrange a pick up, through one of the many good backpacker hostels in Johannesburg, from Johannesburg International. I think we will hire a car for two days. We must also arrange tickets for the Baz Bus, which is a hop-on hop-off bus which covers all the major routes through South Africa. Then we can spend the afternoon exploring Johannesburg. Go out for a few drinks that evening.

Tuesday, 4 December 2001.
Free day to get out and about. I know Dave has some family friends that he wants to look up. I will also take the guys to the excellent shopping centres.

Wednesday, 5 December 2001.

We get an early start to catch the Baz Bus to Swaziland, where we will check into the Sondzela Backpackers. Spend the afternoon relaxing in the African bush.

Thursday, 6 December 2001 to Saturday, 8 December 2001.
We will have three days in the African bush. Here we will organise some game drives. A real African experience.

Sunday, 9 December 2001.
We now catch the Baz Bus to the Kwazulu-Natal and to the marine reserve of St. Lucia. This is on the eastern coast of Africa. We will stay at BiBs International Backpackers. I have stayed here previously, they are very friendly and organised.

Monday, 10 December 2001.

I hope to arrange transport to go game viewing in Hluhluwe game reserve. We can also snorkel on the beach, visit a crocodile farm and do a sunset cruise.

Tuesday, 11 December 2001.
Around midday we catch the Baz Bus to Durban. My sister has a place in Durban North where we can stay.

Wednesday, 12 December 2001.
Today we can look around Durban, check out the beaches and have a night out on the town.

Thursday, 13 December 2001.
We leave the city of Durban, again with the Baz Bus for the rural district of the Transkei. A good place to stay is the Coffee Shack Hostel on the Wild Coast.

Friday, 14 December 2001.
We can go for a hike along the beautiful coast to see the famous “Hole in the Wall”.

Saturday, 15 December 2001.
Catch Baz Bus to Port Elizabeth. This is a mandatory overnight stop for the bus so we will stay at Port Elizabeth Backpackers.

Sunday, 16 December 2001.

An early departure on the Baz Bus will take us to Knysna and the Overlanders Lodge.

Monday, 17 December 2001 to Tuesday, 18 December 2001.
Knysna is my favourite place in South Africa. Very relaxing, beautiful scenery, there is lots to do and the town has some good pubs and waterfront bars.

This is where we arrange the… BUNGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!

BLOUKRANS BUNGI is the World’s Highest commercial Bungi Jump at 216 metres. Situated approximately 60km from Knysna, this is only for the brave

Wednesday, 19 December 2001.

Our final ride on the Baz Bus will take us to Cape Town. Home at last.

We will stay at my apartment close to the centre of town. I also have a car there so transport will not be a problem.

Thursday, 20 December 2001 to Friday, 21 December 2001.
I will show the guys around. Take some drives around the peninsula. Of course, we will have a couple of big nights out.

Saturday, 22 December 2001.
Mark leaves us today as he needs to get back to the UK for Christmas. We will arrange a flight for him to Johannesburg where he will catch his flight back to Athens and arrive back in London on Sunday 23 December.

Sunday, 23 December 2001.

Dave has decided to spend Christmas and New Year in Cape Town. I am sure we will find some things to do. I will be busy visiting my old friends, who are an obliging and entertaining bunch.

We will need to arrange a flight for Dave early in the New Year. For myself, I will stay in Cape Town for another four to six weeks before returning to London.