We’re welcomed to South Africa
- Bob Hanna: Someday
- June 2, 2021
- 775
Where were we? Over the continent of Africa headed south to see and hunt wild animals. I have a couple little notes I wrote describing the diversity of our planet from the vast sands of the Sahara Desert to the snow-covered peaks of the Swiss Alps, both of which we passed over in a matter of a couple hours.
Which reminds me, someone explain to me how clouds can exist over the desert with its extremely dry atmosphere and clouds are composed of water vapor.
Another item I wrote that I found humorous was the fact about using the bathroom facilities on these aircrafts is like shutting yourself inside a linen closet (remember the claustrophobic remark), having two or three people stand just outside the door and trying to maintain a level of privacy.
One more thing before we move on. All of this traveling, sleeping and running from plane to plane was with our COVID-19 masks on, which added to our stress levels.
Arriving in Johannesburg, I wrote the following:
“God is good #1 ... landed safely and on time.”
“God is good #2 … got through immigration OK,” which was a lot easier this time since we didn’t bring our own guns.
“God is good #3 … our bags made the transfer and arrived with us.”
“God is good #4 … ‘Uncle Pete’ was there to greet us in the terminal.” Pete is the father-in-law of Andre Stewart, one of the owners of Kuvhima Safaris. We remembered Pete from our last trip seven years ago, and he remembered me. Friendly, talkative and our tour guide for the next three days.
Because of the pandemic curfew in South Africa, we weren’t able to drive past 10 p.m., so Kuvhima had booked us a room in the City Lodge Hotel, which was actually attached to the terminal by way of a causeway. Talk about nice. It felt wonderful to have a shower and great meal, and I don’t remember much after that once we hit that bed.
Monday April 26 — Up and ready by 6 a.m., Pete was there to pick us up, as we had a seven-plus-hour drive to Kruger National Park. We had originally planned our hunting safari first, but because we needed another COVID test within 72 hours of our return flight, this was a lot easier and, as it turned out, more enjoyable to view the animals in the wilds before hunting them.
A few other things we had to get used to. I kept telling Pete he was driving on the wrong side of the road, and the speedometer was reading at 120, which in kilometers per hour is about equivalent to our 75 mph. Also, their monetary system is in rand versus our dollar, which constantly changes according to the world market.
Languages are many, but the primary languages we encountered were Zulu, Sepedi and African, but most of them understood our English or acted like they did.
If you travel internationally, another thing to check is their access to electricity. We had a converter, which plugs into their style of outlet, which is different than ours.
The ride was truly educational. As with most cultures, South Africa has a diverse population from the poverty-ridden communities to the upscale, lavish mansions with the tall iron gates.
We saw vast orange groves scattered amongst the mountainous terrain and vendors along every stretch of highway selling their goods — anything and everything you can imagine. Traveling these highways has its challenges as well. In many communities where businesses and homes were set right next to the highway, they had installed speed bumps to slow down traffic. Not only was this hazardous driving (we didn’t see one and went airborne), but they have cows, goats and donkeys running loose, feeding on the grass within the confines of the highway barriers. The owners only gather them when they need to sell them. If you hit one, no one knows who it belongs to.
“God is good #5 … no matter where, when or how we travel, he was, is and always will be our guide. God’s source of communication is universal. He’s only a prayer away.”
We will continue next time. God bless y’all.