Life On 3rd Johannesburg

02/10/09 Return to South Africa- The fertile land

On 2 October 2009, a particularly sunny Friday morning , we touched down in at OR Tambo airport in South Africa....the land of my birth. I was nervous and excited....to the point of nausea actually. Par for the course really, I suck at re-entry. There are many reasons for this nausea inducing nervousness but I will not waste your time with all the gory details........I will say that this time around Trace (and I to a lesser ...

... of frantic searching for the cheapest possible flights passed before I noticed, on the print-out she had given us, it said we must provide proof of onward flights or sufficient funds to leave a refundable deposit in case they needed to deport us at a later stage. I went back to the counter and pointed this out to her. She just said “NO” and pointed at the bit about the flights. After a couple of failed attempts to explain this ...

... stretch our legs after the flight and long drive from Johannesburg. We found a shop that made biltong, a jerky-like dried meat very popular in South Africa, and Chad ate 2 bags in two days, resulting in quite a belly ache.

As we prepared to depart the next morning, Chad had a talk with a large South African man carrying a novel on his way to the washroom. The man asked of our plans and suggested an alternative to where we should camp, as our planned ...

... in South Africa for another 90 days. Border hopping, if done with a little consideration, seems to work, but I'd be curious to know what circumstances would make it suspicious to the average border official. Length of travel abroad? Port of exit and entry? Body language? I wasn't asked a single thing, as one usually is at an airport: no intended destination, no reason for entering the ...

... cheetah's vision. Besides being a predator, the fastest land mammal in the world and not a "true" cat (because it cannot retracts its claws) it is a very "friendly" animal and have been known to be kept as pets. It purs as a cat when you scratch it behind its ear. Cecilies 30th birthday started with a cup of tea on the bed and a birthday song. Unfortunately she still had to work so she was up and ready as usual before 8am. However during the ...

... have been warned not to try and compete with the taxis! Set off on the famous Garden Route on May 18 - from Cape Town, and currently in George. The coast line has been absolutely spectacular and we have been blessed with good weather. Incredible azure ocean and rugged mountains, and sooooooooo many beautiful birds both small and large. And Wes is getting to see a variety of nonthreatening game (although ...

Johannesburg wasn't quite as scary as I expected it to be, I was affraid of coming here by myself because I had heard so many stories about how dangerous it is, and yes it is very dangerous in some areas, the crime rate is really high, but most hostels pick you up from the aiport and arrage transportation for you if you need to go anywhere. So that's why i say hostel hostage because i couldn't actually walk anywhere or go anywhere on my own. I got a ...

... of this chief. Then, when Christian missionaries arrived, he allowed them to work in his country and even took one on as a senior diplomatic advisor to gain street cred with the Europeans. Lesotho became a country. When Apartheid was introduced, it was blissfully free from the Cape Town government and was spared that whole disaster. The result is a totally fascinating little country that, although poor and with very little developed ...

... get things and what not to do. Basically, we spent the next day or 2 lazing on the beach during the day, and practicing our sport of excellence - Hacky-sack - at which we got steadily worse. I think it had something to do with the amount of alcohol consumed... On, I think, our 3rd night there, we met up with 2 girls who were staying at Paje aswell, and became mates with them. Now i must say, they were pretty cool, and put up with 10 savages pretty well. Mind you ...

... 5km hike, we were picked up by the driver who dropped us off, and we returned to the hostel for dinner. We knew that a quiet evening was required to get plenty of rest for our big hike planned for the next day. October 10 - Amphitheatre Hike Another early start had us on the road at 7:30 heading towards the base of our hike. We would be driven to the base of the hiking trail, a ride that would take us about an hour and a half. Shortly after 9:00, we arrived at the base of the trail ...